Read Drink & Be Merry

The man from Comcast stopped by this morning and…. at this point all is well. One scheduled service call, two additional follow-ups, three hours spent on hold, and in need of a martini…

The open house went well. The gravlax was well received. Made a nice dill honey mustard sauce. Added a couple of tablespoons of strong coffee to round out the flavour of the sauce.

From Belmont Butchery we acquired 3 flat iron steaks. Seasoned lightly and grilled the night before, chilled then thin sliced and served with rolls and horseradish sour cream.

A wild-mushroom pate rounded out the items made in house. The pate was made with 3 pounds of mushrooms (shitake, crimini, chanterelle, oyster, porcini), seasoned with thyme, parsley, shallots and sherry, then finished with eggs, cream, and ground almonds. Baked and allowed to set overnight. It was a hit, especially with a newly pregnant friend of ours.

All in all, a nice evening.

Took Finn to see Santa at the Children’s Museum yesterday. It went fairly well, he melted down the last 5 or 10 minutes we were in line. Not bad for a 3 year old after spending over an hour in line. Pictures turned out great and we headed over to Buddy’s for a quick G&T and some fries.

The real fun began at home. Comcast called. Me! They called me! OK, a computer called me. To find out if the service call went well…. Needless to say 2 (for no) was pushed a lot over the next couple of minutes. The computer then inquired as to whether I wanted to speak to a live rep. I assumed this queue would be staffed and pressed 1 (for yes). Forty-five minutes later what must be the only Comcast rep in the country answered the phone.

No need to share what transpired. M said I was fairly restrained. So, on the 24th, we will be awaiting the arrival of Santa and the man from Comcast….

The visit from the man from Comcast was as expected. The prelude to another visit.

Sadly, I wasn’t there but it really isn’t M’s fault. The problem with the phone was relatively simple yet very sad. M described the problem. The man from Comcast said:

‘I’m seeing this a lot with the new upgrade. Techs forget to set this one switch and you can’t receive phone calls.’

Sigh. So Comcast techs all over the country are running around flipping the switch because the first tech didn’t flip it. Next time you pay your mammoth Comcast bill think of all the scurry little tech ants running one after another because the one before didn’t get the memo. Kinda sad that a company the deals in the movement and transfer of data cannot communicate with itself.

The replaced DVR box is why they will be back, and soon. Simply put, they brought an old box. M knew there was a problem with the old box but thought it was specific to ours. You see, the fan ran 24/7 with bouts of strange and disturbing noises. According to the first man from Comcast, the fans are defective. It’s not that I have to have the spiffy new box that they are providing, but the noise was driving me batty. M assured me that the new box was not making any noise but then called back a few minutes later. The fan won’t stop and it’s making crunching noises….

Comcast – ‘Why do it right the first time when we can drag it out and hope you give up.’
The man from Comcast shall return!

The brisket was more of a success. T from Belmont Butchery recommended it as I seem to be on a slow roast/braising kick with the new kitchen. It was actually a leftover before it was even eaten. On T’s advice I cooked it at a low temp, very simply with red wine, stock, fingerling potatoes, parsnips and onion. Only used salt and pepper for spice. During the last 10 minutes of cooking I turned up the heat to caramelize the top.
Cooked on Sunday then placed in the fridge.

Last night we skimmed the fat then sliced the brisket. Slipped the brisket into the oven while the root veggies were spread onto a sheet pan to roast. The result was good. The texture was correct and the flavours basic.

You are wondering – Piet, why so basic?

Well, after 25+ years of smoking I gave it up after Finn’s birth. My taste buds are coming back bit by bit. With the new kitchen I am cooking very plain to reintroduce myself to these ingredients. As I relearn all the base flavours, then I will layer on the spices and add complexity.

Check back for the re-education of my taste buds.

As part of our home refurbishment we had added a cable line into our new kitchen. Planning for the joys of a Comcast home visit we ensured the new cable jack was complete, the hole drilled through the brick and the wire (with 8 extra feet) run through and coiled neatly next to the Comcast box outside. Comcast was overjoyed at our call since it seems our type of phone service is being discontinued (you were planning to tell us when?) and new equipment must be installed. So, an appointment was made, details discussed as well as two new DVR boxes requested. What could possibly go wrong?

Friday arrived and I, fortified with a glass of Tanqueray 10 properly chilled to -1 F, awaited the arrival of the man from Comcast. He arrived well within his 4 hour window and quickly and efficiently installed, switched out, and connected all the things that needed to be installed, switched out, and connected. Then he called Comcast to authorize all these fun new toys and get them to work…. Oh, did I mention that he had to make the authorization on my phone as his company phone as well as his personal phones had dead batteries haven given their electrical all while waiting on hold.

With muzak playing softly from my phone we discussed the false economy of saving money on phone reps when compared to his hourly and, as the hour grew later, his overtime rate. The actual authorization took less than 5 minutes. I imagined hundreds, possibly thousands, of Comcast technicians around the country waiting on hold for this one, poor, lonely phone rep.

His mission complete I waved goodbye to the man from Comcast, blissfully unaware of what the weekend had in store for me.

After a light dinner we went upstairs to relax. Time to set the controls on the new cable box and set a couple of shows to record. Wait, where’s the DVR option? After checking the tv downstairs and some fiddling upstairs it was time to call Comcast, after 9 on a Friday… The hold was a ‘Comcast reasonable’ 45 minutes I informed the rep that ‘DVR only seems to work on one of our two boxes’ whereupon I was informed of what seemed to be obvious to me ‘you only have one DVR box’. She asked if I would like to have the second box upgraded to DVR, I sighed, sipped a little gin, and stated that, as that was the original request then, well, yes, I would like a second box. No real point in arguing that this was what was supposed to have happened. I was just hoping not to repeat my last Comcast ‘upgrade’ a couple of years ago which resulted in no less than 6 visits over a two month period.

An appointment was made and I settled back into my easy chair, wondering what Comcast had next in store for me.

Saturday dawned bright and clear and I headed off for my store. It was a quiet morning, which was ok as I felt like the cold I have been fighting was making a bit of a comeback. After my assistant, ‘N’, arrived I took off for Ellwood Thompson’s with a hankering for split pea soup, of the homemade variety. Stopped by Belmont Butchery and asked T and C what they might have for the soup pot. A nice ham hock and some bacon ends acquired and it was off for home.

I walked in the door and the house smelled great. M had some friends from C1 over and the girls were giving the new kitchen a full test run by having a cookie bake. Racks and boxes of freshly baked cookies were everywhere and several sugar charged children were stress testing the newly refinished hardwood floors.

I grabbed a cutting board and after some chopping and a short sweat in the pot the soup was ready for an afternoon of simmering. I grabbed a few cookies, including an interesting cayenne infused ginger cookie, and retreated upstairs for some serious relaxation. Little did I know that Comcast had a little surprise for me.

M came up and informed me of a text message wondering why we weren’t answering our phone. A bit of checking and….. we can make outgoing phone calls but incoming, not so much. The thought of another Comcast hold held no desire for me so I decided to call on Monday when they have two reps scheduled instead of one. We already had an appointment for that afternoon so just a heads up so the tech is properly equipped.

So, once again all is in place. M is on her way here to pick up Finn and then to home for the man from Comcast. What will be in store for us? Only time will tell. Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion… or will it be just the next installment?….