long distance
Well, I spent an entertaining hour on the
phone today trying to
change my long distance
carrier for the third time this month. Once Minimum Rate
Pricing gets you in their clutches it's the Hotel California
- you can check out but you can never leave! I would change
to MCI, MRP would change me back and send me a postcard
several days later telling me that I could only cancel by
calling them between certain hours. I'd call them and get a
recording. I'd change back to MCI again. They'd change me
again. As of this morning, I had no idea who my long
distance carrier actually was!
I called Minimum Rate Pricing at the number on the
postcard as soon as I got home from the shelter this
afternoon. They told me they could cancel my account "in the
computer" but it wouldn't really be canceled unless I called
my local phone company to switch to another carrier.
I called Nynex. They said, "oh, you don't have to do that
- MCI notify us and change you". I told them the whole saga.
They were sympathetic. Finally they agreed to freeze my
account so that only I could change it - MCI, MRP, nobody
could change it even with my authorization. This made me
feel a whole lot better. Nynex checked to see what long
distance I had. I was back on MRP again! So, the Nynex
person changed me to MCI again for the final time.
I called MCI. I told them the whole story. They put
through all the "in the computer" stuff and the person I
talked to told me how much she appreciated how good-humored
I was about it. She'd talked to 10 angry customers in a row
and was relieved that I could laugh and joke about this.
Meanwhile, I temporarily have no calling card. Hope I
don't have to use a pay phone anytime soon!
local calls
Flush with my success at changing long
distance service, I called Essex Orthopedics and made an
appointment for them to look at my knee. The soonest I could
get is July 10. Sigh.
I thought briefly of calling Bank of Boston to find out
whatever happened to my
credit card, but I wasn't up for another hour on the
phone.
I thought: "I know, I'll check my e-mail!" Wrong. My ISP
is busy. I try repeatedly. Still busy. I go eat ice cream,
take a shower, get dressed, pet Wilbur, try again. Still
busy. It is now 4:15 PM. The local dial up number has been
busy since 2:00. Grrrr!
My cleaning lady claims she tried to call me twice to
tell me she was coming today instead of tomorrow and my
voice mail didn't pick up either time.
So nothing in the communications universe works as
advertised. Would somebody let me know when the brave new
world actually arrives? :-)
lawn kitsch vandalism
The vandalism that plagued the basketball
hoops has now escalated to the Beans of Egypt Maine's lawn
kitsch. When I came home I saw the top half of the
particularly ugly two story birdhouse in a half dozen pieces
on the ground. Umm, no bird did that and I'm sure no
squirrel did it. Must've been the anti-basketball
terrorists. Either that or the pro-basketball forces think
the Beans had something to do with the basketball hoop
destruction and they're exacting revenge.
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