MetaChat - My cabal provider just gave me an automated phone call

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15 May 2007

My cabal provider just gave me an automated phone call →[More:]saying that my TV and internet services will be unavailable for several hours tonight, hopefully returning tomorrow at 6AM (they were not specific when they'd be cut off). Any suggestions what I should do to spend the time? [NOT SERIOUS] [NOT A WEB/TUBE ADDICT] Still, some ideas now, while I can still see them?

post by: wendell at: 19:10 | 18 comments

Knitting! I've started knitting again, just dish cloths for now until I can think of "good" big project. I was thinking of these.

Or how about drawing? Sewing? Anything need new buttons or a hem fixed? Any plants that need repotting? Clean out the kitchen drawers and cupboards? The stove need a good cleaning? Any camping/hiking/outdoor/sports equipment need a little TLC? Clean the car?

posted by LunaticFringe 15 May | 19:35

Take the time to write an angry consumer letter.

posted by backseatpilot 15 May | 19:44

Time to catch up on your drinking, if there is no chance of embarrassing yourself by posting drunk.

posted by paulsc 15 May | 19:50

Or you could sit on your couch, compulsively clicking on the remote control every few seconds, to ensure that you don't miss an instant of the crap spewing forth from the screen. Combining that with paulsc's suggestion could see you a very bitter, maudlin person by the end of that few hours. That alone would be worth the effort.

posted by dg 15 May | 20:12

Also: there is no cabal.

posted by dg 15 May | 20:15

Cleaning? Kitchen drawers, the stove, the car?!? Now I know where you got the name LunaticFringe.

And dg, I guess I didn't make clear I wanted to avoid anything that could make me a (more) bitter, maudlin person. (And were you clear that the TV would be out as well as the internet? Nothing would actually be spewing forth...)

posted by wendell 15 May | 20:18

Also: there is no cabal.

Not tonight there isn't. My cabal provider is Charter; please pity me.

posted by wendell 15 May | 20:20

Yes, I was clear that there would be no TV - hence the need to compulsively click the remote to ensure that you were right there when the service resumed. Don't underrate bitter and maudlin, either - they are some of my best qualities.

posted by dg 15 May | 20:32

And you wear them well...

posted by wendell 15 May | 20:34

Read a book, of course!

posted by deborah 15 May | 21:47

I want a cabal provider!

posted by arse_hat 15 May | 22:03

Somebody please tell me what the "There is no cabal." joke means? I don't get it and I feel sad whenever I see it referenced :(

posted by CitrusFreak12 15 May | 23:44

Here

posted by arse_hat 15 May | 23:54

Knock yourself out.

It is a MeFi reference to the suspicion that there is a group of users who make policy and other decisions. It started many years ago (before my time and that covers a month or so short of five years) and is always met with the response "there is no cabal".

The MeFiWiki provides a lengthy and detailed explanation, as usual.

posted by dg 15 May | 23:56

...therefore, when Charter, the CABLE company that provides me my internet and 142 alleged TV channels started acting evil... like two days after installation... I came to the conclusion that it was part of an Evil Cable Cabal, so, it is now known as My Cabal Provider.

Why do I have to explain all my jokes? (no, don't tell me, I don't want to know)

posted by wendell 16 May | 00:19

Hey! They haven't shut me off yet! That mean their 6AM completion target will probably be about Noon...

posted by wendell 16 May | 00:21

The cabal joke antedates MeFi by at least 15, maybe 20 years. It was an antiquated canard when I started using Usenet in 1990.

posted by ikkyu2 16 May | 01:12

The MeFiWiki provides a lengthy and detailed explanation, as usual.

OMG, it's no longer there!

posted by drezdn 16 May | 10:38

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