Bad Luck Sunday

Hi everyone and welcome in. 

Today was one of those days for me.  I woke up to feed the cats at their normal time and I just wanted to go back to bed.  Hey, I’m on vacation so I’ve got the option so I took it.  Damn that felt so good! When I woke up around 10a I knew I had a box of Eggo Blueberry Thick & Fluffy Waffles.  I polished the whole box off and had a very large glass of milk.  I put Blueberry Syrup on the waffles and knew that when the sugar high wore off I would be drowsy again. 

Back in my room I powered on my phone and got caught up on what little bit there was in my personal email and notifications.  Work email is still turned off.  Since it was later in the day I plan to do my normal Sunday tasks on Monday. 

Curses but I have 2 outstanding issues @ AT&T so I attempted to remedy them.  I got on the phone merry go round with their customer service.  My fuse is very short with them and I let some supervisor have it.  I started cussing and he got very firm with me and told me I had to keep the call professional.  I told him my problem, professionally.  His response was I don’t know how to fix it.  That’s when I told him to FUCK OFF and hung up on his ass.  Damn that felt so good but I hated that I got to that point.  I was all set to port away from AT&T but considering that my issues all stemmed from me acting out of anger, I thought better take a step back.  I did and inquired about the large credit balance on my account and what would happen to it.  I was told that they would deduct my current months bill from it and then it would just vaporize.  Well glad I asked.  Now I know that I am stuck riding out a few more months with AT&T to use their money and then I will likely part ways with them.  No one was able to resolve my issues after multiple calls, talking with multiple departments and spending hours on this.  I eventually gave up and resorted to letter writing.  I will get a call on Tuesday since Monday is a holiday and hopefully that will bring about an end to this mess.  I just want to do something else with my time other than work with AT&T.  I am starting to think that AT&T stands for All Talk and Turmoil. 

I wound up watching some porn and after I got off, I switched to normal TV and eventually wound up going back to bed.  I woke up around 3p.  I wanted Nachos and headed to a sports bar but damn if they weren’t closed when I got there.  I wound up going to Denny’s because they have nachos but service was so slow that I never did get waited on and wound up walking out.  I wound up at IHOP and had Fish, Shrimp and Fries for supper.  It wasn’t bad but service at IHOP wasn’t a whole lot better.  I got waited on right away and got a drink but my food took forever to get to me.

Finally I was able to return home and I was never so glad to see Mora greet me at the door.  I got food for her and her brother passed out.  Then started working on getting my medicine set out for the week ahead.  I felt pretty lousy from a mood stand point.  It was a little depression mixed with disgust.  I emptied out the cat’s litter boxes and took care of cleaning their drinking water fountain and putting a new filter in it. 

I’ve got my complaint letter off to AT&T and submitted electronically.  Backed up my iPhone and loaded on my music from my iTunes library.  Laundry is in the dryer and I am just waiting for it to go off. 

I don’t really want to go upstairs and I know I am not nearly ready for bed but it’s actually bedtime now 9p.  Mora has already come to get me and I told her that I am working on a few things.  She is sleeping in a chair outside my office and when she wakes up I know she will come nag me again.  She’s got my best interest at heart and I love her so much. 

My friends haven’t reached out about any dinner/get together plans for the holiday like they normally would.  Not sure if they aren’t doing anything this year or if they are pissed at me because I called them out for my Easter invite that I got that didn’t include a time.  I’m super lonely and being around other people would be very helpful but I am not calling and nosing my way into something.  If they are having a get together and want to invite me that’s fine.  I learned a long time ago don’t invite yourself or beg for an invite.  If people want to invite you they will and if they don’t they won’t.  Pretty simple stuff.  Besides that I don’t want to be somewhere that I am really not wanted.  That’s not helpful for anyone. 

I’ve got a small list of things to do that I may work on next after I publish this.  I also know there is an item lingering at work that I really need to knock out to help myself but I am kind of resistant to doing so.  It seems I always wind up working when I am on vacation, that gets old and no one else does it. 

I hope that you had a good day and I really appreciate you dropping by.  Looks like I am off to get into mischief.  I just hope that I am able to force myself to get moving come early morning or nothing will get done tomorrow either.  Take care!

Catching up

Friday I made it to Sam’s as well as the Cat Food Store.  Wow two places that I am not fond of visiting and my money evaporated.  I also stopped by the local Office Depot/Max to get some photo paper. 

The teenager in me has never died and I print out photos of cute guys both naked and clothed and hang them up in my office.  I thought photo paper would help make them pop a bit more.  It’s kind of like looking at guys, watching porn and breathing it just seems natural to me.  Yeah I know it seems like something a teenager would do.  Only difference is back then I was hanging up photos from teenage magazines of boys and the most they might have removed is their shirt. 

I can’t remember what I had for breakfast but I know I went out for supper at The Olive Garden.  Wow I got a good view of a bussers butt.  He might have been 19 at best but damn he looked so fine.  He was wearing an air pod and dancing & mouthing the words to some song.  It was quite the show and I got to eat and enjoy this.  It was early in the afternoon so there was no wait for a table. 

After that I hit up a new car wash that came to town.  I have heard on the scanner that they had a lot of accidents at this particular car wash and wanted to see if the wash was any good and next to see if I could solve the mystery of the accidents.  Well the wash is shit, my car looks way worse than when I went in.  I won’t be going back.  The accidents happen because you go so far on the track with your vehicle in neutral and then the track stops and you have to put your car in drive to finish up the wash, people likely forget they are in drive and they plow in to the car that is in front of them.  I had no one in front of me.  It’s a poor design for a car wash and the accidents are going to continue.  As for me I will go to the place that I have been going for a while.  Both places are priced sky high at $25.  For that price there shouldn’t be a spot or spec on my vehicle but I have yet to complain about it. 

Passed some time at home while I waited for my massage time to roll around.  It went well but an hour goes by so fast.  Came home and used some spray Biofreeze to help dull the pain and help ease the soreness the next day.  I had to put my shirt back on until that stuff dried.  Rudy was clawing to smell me and once he did, the strangest look came over his face.  He was sorry he did that. 

I added to my latest story and got drowsy.  I wanted to get off before calling it a night and watched some porn.  Man that was fun.  Got up to clean up a bit and then I laid down and it was goodnight.  Woke up at 5a and managed to go back to sleep until 6a and then my body told me I had to get up despite not wanting to.  Snuggled for a little bit with Rudy and he made some biscuits.  Then it was out of bed and I was passing food out for him. 

Grabbed a shower and used my new shampoo & conditioner.  It’s not bad.  I felt upbeat and put some product in my hair to help it shine.  Put on a jock strap to feel sexy.  It feels strange but also sexy hot at the same time.  Finished getting dressed and then it was off to a fast food place for breakfast. 

Came back home after that.  Then changed batteries in one of my outdoor security cameras.  I tried out a new app on my phone that identifies plants.  I walked to the only plant that I for sure knew what it was and it identified it correctly as a Japanese Maple.  I walked around my house finding out what exactly I have, it was kind of fun and interesting at the same time. 

Then it was back inside and I was back playing with my phone and working with AT&T on a new issue.  Fuck no one knows a God Damn thing there.  They hire morons and you just get endlessly transferred around like your a bottom and they are running a train on you, until eventually luck kicks in and you get a person who has some actual knowledge.  My problem is unresolved and I have to call back on Tuesday unless by chance some miracle happens in the next couple days. 

Yesterday I talked with Verizon and I can get a much better plan loaded up with discounts to knock down the price it’s their entry level Unlimited plan (no hot spot) for $45 per month before taxes and fees.  They offer the same ability to control your name for caller id, a spam/junk call protection app (there is a free version and a paid version) just like AT&T has.  Plus they also have a service where you can get a second number to separate business & personal calls or use it for dating or selling an item.  It’s a $15 add on.  I don’t fully grasp how it works but it sounds like I could dump my Visible # and get this instead.  I would wind up paying a bit more for my monthly service because I need that hotspot data since I work from home and my cell phone is my backup if my home internet goes out. 

This afternoon I almost unfroze my credit and made the switch.  I’ve got one hell of a bill credit from AT&T so it will be a few months before I see an actual bill.  I am quite tired of the whole phone thing but who knows I still have next week.  I would kind of like to take their money and run leaving them in the dust and not looking back, just as I told them I would if I ever found a carrier who had a similar offering as them.  Verizon’s service/signal in my area is way better than AT&T but it is kind of nice having two lines of service with 2 different carriers.  I use Visible/Verizon as my primary data line and AT&T as my primary voice line.  My work calls all come in on my Visible/Verizon line and I have different ring tones set to be able to tell what line is ringing.  Yeah it’s a little extravagant but it works out quite well for me and cost wasn’t an issue until I got mad at AT&T and ported away, my bill was like a yo-yo going down, up, down and now it’s back up. 

I honestly don’t know if Verizon would treat me better but I do like the idea of starting new and fresh.  I am just very familiar/comfortable with how AT&T does things and every carrier is slightly different.  They all share the same thing in that they want your money!

I digress, I went on to eat lunch which was some cookies from Sam’s and a soda.  I fed the cat’s their lunch and worked on laundry as well as surfing the web and goofing off. 

Went to the usual Mexican place for supper and then back home.  I joined a few more porn stars Only Fans.  1 is all a tease in that if you want to see the full show it’s all pay per view.  I fucking hate that, nothing like a cock tease to make me angry.  The other two were not like that but one repeated content over and over it was mostly solo stuff and the other one had some full length scenes but all of the good stuff was pay per view.  He wasn’t as big of a cock tease as the first guy.  I’ve got a few more sites to check out not sure if I will join now or let this play out over a couple months to keep the spark alive.  I only subscribe for one month and then I am gone. 

Laundry is done but now I have to climb the stairs and go make the bed before I get ready to climb in it.  Need to make a Target run tomorrow morning time for more cat treats.  There is the usual stops of breakfast, grocery store and gas station.  I will also venture out for supper unless I manage to find something of interest at the grocery store for supper.  Things are getting rather expensive quickly but it’s not like I am digging a huge hole for myself, I’ve got some money and that’s kind of what vacation is all about, spending money and having a good time while doing it. 

I did peek at work email and man things are a cluster already.  I will be walking back in to a hornets nest, so I might knock out a few things tomorrow or Monday just to help myself out.  I know I shouldn’t but in the end I am only hurting myself.  I know my boss won’t hold things together as tightly as I asked and want him to. 

Well that’s about it, I am tired and my back is sore.  The cats miss me even though were all in the same house.  I am not upstairs where I should be and that is upsetting to them.  Time to go back to the fur and unwind.  I’ve already powered my phone off for the evening so no one will disturb me, that is until I turn it back on tomorrow. 

I am half way expecting an invite to my friends place, they usually do something for Memorial Day but considering how they fucked up my Easter I am not holding my breath.  It would be nice if it happens but if not so what, I am still on vacation and am doing my own thing. 

Thanks for stopping by, I will talk with you all again soon.  Hope you had a great Saturday!

Still Kicking

Hi everyone, hope that your all doing well.  Thursday evening I opted to port my cell service away from AT&T, they made me mad.  It took mere minutes for that to go through.  I ported to one of their MVNO’s so I was still on the AT&T network just had a better deal or so I thought.  I realized after the fact there was no Active Armor spam/junk call protection and no call forwarding.  Things started off bad with the port over in that I had data service but no voice service.  It took hours to get that fixed.  The MVNO tried to pass it off as a problem with my device but in the end it was a problem with the activation and it had to be re-sent three times before it went through.  That mixed with the aforementioned things I discovered after the fact made me regret my decision.  I actually lost sleep over this, which is kind of silly. 

Friday morning I woke up at 4am and just couldn’t go back to sleep I was sick over the whole thing.  I called the MVNO that I just ported to and told them that I wanted to port back to AT&T.  They put up a little bit of a fight but in the end gave me the codes so that I could port away.  I was one of the first calls AT&T got on Friday morning to port back.  I was told that since it had only been a day and not longer than 59 days I could port back and it would be as if I never left.  If only that was true.  There was a technical issue that kept AT&T from completing the port back but the transfer went through so as soon as they fixed this technical issue I would be back with them.  They told me I had to wait 48 to 72 hours for that to get fixed.  It amazing that I could port away quickly but porting back was some how more complex.  I called bullshit and just kept calling until I got someone who was able to complete the port back.  It was a lot of time on the phone.  Once the port back was completed I though I was done for sure but that was only half of the battle. 

I got a bunch of text messages from AT&T telling me that my data was throttled because of excessive use.  Then I got a warning that my bill was over $100 and then another warning that my bill was over $200.  Seriously I knew something went awry.  That’s when I logged into my account and found that I was on a new rate plan and didn’t get my old rate plan back.  That started another round of phone calls and being transferred around like I was on a merry go round.  Never mind that Friday was just another work day for me and things were super busy at work so I had to talk with AT&T and work at the same time.  Not fun at all.  Eventually I was told that the rate plan I had was grandfathered in and quite old they didn’t offer it any longer.  I apparently forfeited it when I ported over but no one told me that.  I was told that things would go back like they were, just another lie.  They wanted to charge me $20 more than I was used to paying them and I wasn’t going to stand for it.  They offer a rate plan that was similar but actually a bit better of an offering on their pre-paid side.  I was a post-paid customer and had been ever since I was a teenager.  This is how they are rewarding me for my loyalty by lying to me and making what should be very simple and straight forward process more complicated than it needed to be.  I asked to convert over and was told I needed to go to a corporate store to make that change. 

I went to the corporate store and they told me that my account was locked and I had to call in to customer service they would be the ones who could remove the lock and make the change.  Turns out that it was a protection feature they offer that I enabled called Wireless Lock that was causing the problem.  I got another person on the phone went I went back home and he walked me through how to remove that so he could make changes.  He knew his stuff and I wished that I had talked to him much earlier in the day.  He got me converted.  Just when you though things couldn’t get worse they did for a bit. 

When we hung up he had transferred me to pre-paid customer service.  Their automated attendant told me that I needed to call from my pre-paid cell phone for security issues.  However, I had no service since I hadn’t paid for it.  I called for help but kept running into the same brick wall and couldn’t get a human on the phone.  Finally logic kicked in and I had an option on screen to make a payment on my account without logging in.  I did that and magically my phone came back to life.  Then I was able to complete the setup process.  It was a little after 5p when that happened. 

I spent all damn day on the phone with AT&T, minus the short trip to their corporate store.  It wasn’t a total waste they had a hottie that I was eyeing.  He was busy with a customer but I wished he was busy with me instead.  Fucking cute and hot!  Anyway, I did some testing and confirmed all was well. 

I was physically drained and mentally wiped out.  I had a bunch of rush work that I completed and hope that I didn’t mess anything up since I wasn’t fully concentrating on work.  I think I am okay but it’s a bit of a blur to me. 

I had some supper and passed time with the cats until it was time to leave for my massage, which I desperately needed.  My back was a landmine full of knots.  Just when she though she got them all another one would pop up.  It hurt like hell but I knew that I would feel better in the end.  As I was turning over I did something to my wrist on my dominant hand and something felt like it snapped and I was in pain.  It wasn’t horrible but it didn’t feel good.  I said nothing and when I got home I wrapped up that wrist.  I had some chocolate cake and milk.  Then watched some TV with the cats and went to bed.  I was exhausted like I haven’t been in years. 

Saturday I woke up with the intention of trying to get ahead at work I’ve got some work looming and based on the fact the boss is on call next week I know that no one will do a damn thing and it will all fall to me.  Well I was still a bit out of it.  I wound up sleeping most of the day away and didn’t really get going until 3p.  It was pouring buckets outside and while I hate going out in the rain I needed to get out and go for a drive.  I had some Mexican food which was enjoyable and then came back home after stopping to grab the mail.  It rained the whole time I was gone and it was colder out too, so much that I had to grab my winter coat.  I got in front of the computer when I got home but I felt much like a zombie and said screw work I am getting away from the computer and watching TV.  I went to bed early.  The cats wanted to play but I wasn’t in the mood for that.  I felt bad about it because this wasn’t their fault but I just had to zone out and get back to sleep. 

This morning I woke up feeling much better.  Had Strawberry French Toast and Eggs for breakfast.  Pretty damn good.  Didn’t fill me up but I had enough that I was satisfied and think that I will be ordering the same thing next weekend.  Hit up Target and found the Greenies treats for the cats, they cost $2 more than what I normally get them and I got the same size container it just wasn’t as full as it could have been.  Picked up a few other items and I just knew I had spent $100 and I was right.  Had a hottie for a cashier which was nice.  Then on to the grocery store where I spent less than I normally do.  Came home and put everything away. 

Then as per usual I got in front of the TV.  I wanted to get in front of the computer and kind of wish that I did because I had much to do.  I wound up watching TV and napping.  I didn’t think that I could possibly nap with all of the sleep that I had from the day prior but I was wrong.  I got up an hour earlier than I normally do.  Passed out lunch for the cats.  Had a donut and a soda.  Then put out my pills for the week and got in front of the computer. 

I decided that AT&T was going to pay for the hell they put me through and I went on quite the letter writing campaign which cost me time, ink, paper and $7 in postage but if I get what I want out of it then it will be time well spent.  I not only wrote AT&T but regulatory agencies as well as legislative bodies.  I think I will get something out of this but time will tell.  I should probably have my head examined for sticking with them after how I have been treated.  However, in the end I did wind up saving myself money and getting a better rate plan.  It also appears to me that I got away from their dumb administrative fees that they tacked on to my bill when I was a post paid customer.  As a pre-paid customer I only pay a 9-1-1 fee as well as taxes, which amounts to like 40 cents.  Everything works just like it did before and I should be getting a refund for the service I had already paid for, just have to wait for that to come rolling in. 

I am still mentally spent but tomorrow is a new day and unless something goes awry I should be able to concentrate on work and be more productive.  Here’s hoping that I don’t feel as mentally spent as I do at the moment. 

I know that was quite a lot of yapping but it feels good to share.  I know that no one else would put up with what I have.  I kind of created my own nightmare but honestly it shouldn’t have been such a nightmare to port back and I shouldn’t have lost my original rate plan.  I never understood why there was such hate in the world for AT&T but after this I totally get it.  They suck and are awful but if it wasn’t for their superior spam protection I would dump them and not look back. 

Well here’s hoping that things get back to normal and I can look at porn, work and just exist in my own world with my two cats.  They both knew that something was wrong and they have both shown me extra affection and I have really enjoyed their support.  Animals are amazing.  Feed them, pet them, take care of them and show them affection and they are your friends for life no matter what, no judgement.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again if it wasn’t for these two cats I don’t know how I would have made it this far totally on my own after Gator passed. 

Bring on the sunshine, good times, and hot guys!  I might not be able to post tomorrow or much this coming week but I will certainly try.  Thanks for stopping by.  Take care!

Let’s get ready to RUMBLE

Morning … hope your enjoying these final days of 2023.  We got snow finally!  It’s just a dusting and more is coming but little to no accumulation.  It’s kind of a sloppy mess to drive in because as the storm started it’s mixed with rain.  It changed over to snow.  Late yesterday afternoon when I went up, you could see a dusting on grassy areas.  The cats were looking up at the sky like what in the world is this stuff falling?  It would be great to get a bunch of snow and take them each outside to see their reactions.  I did that with the kittens way back when and it was a fun experience.  I won’t be doing that with adult cats because of their desire to run.  I’d be the next person posting about a lost cat or two, not to mention the emotional and psychological damage it would do.  I might gather some snow if we ever get a decent amount and bring it in for them to look at and sniff.  I think I did that last year but honestly don’t remember. 

Yesterday was a nice relaxing day with not much going on.  I had a couple things to deal with but overall I worked in a cat nap, got lunch and spent time with the cats, either being present in the same room, cuddling with them or feeding them.  Watched some TV.  I was looking for a movie and found Madea goes to jail on Starz, so we saw that in the early afternoon.  I’ve seen it several times but it’s always a good time.  Madea is a great character who not only is funny but educational.  I loved how she moved that lady’s red sports car with a JLG (forklift).  The letters JLG are painted on the side and in the auto industry that is how they refer to them.  Traditional forklifts are referred to as HILO’s because it go HI and it go LOW. 

This morning brought me a warning message from Amazon about the dispute I filed.  They are eager to get their money back and scolded me for filing a dispute and said I should have contacted customer service.  I fired back one hell of a retort that leaves no room for argument.  The tracking number, photos of the shipping label and screen shot of the confirmed delivery as well as a written email where Customer Service acknowledged receipt of the return and told me that a credit would be issued but not until mid month in January.  That should do the trick.  However, it’s Amazon so I am sure that it will linger for a bit and possibly even get more fucked up than it already is.  The bank has yet to ask for any documentation, but I’m ready to fork it over.  I want my money back.  I’ve got a temporary credit as is.  If Amazon agrees then that temporary credit will be permeant and we will be done, which is how I hope this turns out.  If they would have just shipped me what I actually ordered that could have avoided the whole mess. 

The evening was nice, I had the Ham Meal from the grocery store and it was really good.  They make a pineapple/brown sugar glaze that is included on the side.  I heated that up and poured it over the slices of ham, very good.  The cats smelled the goodness in the air and both were begging me for some.  I of course did not give in.  For some reason I have seen an uptick in begging now that the weather is colder.  I know without a doubt someone at some point fed them table scraps.  They got a taste of human food and they want more.  Sadly that won’t happen here unless it’s an accident.  Both scour underneath my chair when I am done as if I would drop something.  They will both lick the carpet as if there is something there but I know nothing is there.  I had a close call on Sunday when I dropped a pill and Mora was about to scarf it up, I yelled and stopped her.  It was only a B vitamin but it would have meant a trip to the vet and ain’t nobody got time for that. 

I’ve not done any of my usual morning surfing, just checked a social media feed.  Rudy seems to think that 6a is 7a and he keeps waking me up an hour early.  I had lots of time on my hands and it wasn’t moving so I opted to come down and get an early start.  That’s is what enabled me to fire back at Amazon so quickly.  They said they would respond within 24 hours of my response, we will see if that actually happens. 

Speaking of Amazon I got the bad news yesterday that late in January they are going to start with commercials as a way to make even more money.  I pay for the benefit of watching Prime TV and Movies, I don’t think it’s right and I imagine there will be quite the uprising.  They have an ad free option for $2.99 per month, I signed up for that.  I hated to do so but damn when I watch something I am paying for the last thing I want is a commercial or ad popping up.  I get it on YouTube but that’s a free service.  Amazon is trying to be like Netflix but they are going about modifying their service in a very poor way, just my opinion.  As if Amazon doesn’t already make enough money from Prime Memberships.  They touted all of the benefits I am getting of which more than half aren’t something I don’t need and use.  Nice marketing spin but I see the greed in the email, it’s all about money not service or caring about customers. 

On the TV front I am in the 10th and final season of Roseanne.  This is the last year when it was back on the air and Roseanne fucked up and cost the cast their jobs.  They rebranded the show afterwards as The Connors but that isn’t streaming as far as I know.  It’s interesting because in the 9th season the kids had grown up but in the 10th season they are all full adults, with kids of their own.  You can really see the age progression.  Just one of many shows I grew up with and re-watching it has been quite fun. 

I am trying to get into the King of Queens and started that last night just before I passed out.  I’ve been staying up a little later, doing a little writing before bed, then watching a short amount of TV from bed at which point I am sleepy and just ready to go.  Seems to be working out well.  Despite the early morning wake up call, I fight it at first but once I give in I am okay from an energy and motivation standpoint.  However, if I am idle for a long period of time my brain much like a computer goes into sleep mode and that will cause me trouble in the end if I get too much sleep during the day. 

Here’s hoping for an even quieter and calmer day that will afford me the luxury of being upstairs more than I am downstairs working.  I know I am getting paid so I stay available but honestly there isn’t much of anything going on the last week of the year.  The last day of the year for me is my busy time, lots of moving parts then.  Right now it’s like the calm before the storm.  Then I get New Year’s Day as a day of rest and it’s back to a slow start of the new year on the 2nd.  No one wants to get back to it but the more you keep your feet moving the easier it becomes. 

Stay warm, have a great day and be well. 

Pay Attention

    People just don’t pay attention when you call for customer service.  I called Amazon and provided all of the information they needed in my first statement but I was quizzed on when I returned the item and when Amazon got it.  For some dumb reason they won’t issue credit until the 15th of January, despite having the item.  I’ve never experienced this before and tried to help the person I was talking to understand this but she had a script and stuck to it, there was no wiggle room and she didn’t take time to listen to me. 

I figured I would be able to work some magic with my credit card so I called.  Damn it if they too didn’t have a script and wouldn’t take the new information that I was calling to offer them.  They said I had to wait 7 more days before they issued a credit.  They were waiting on the merchant to issue a credit, if no credit issued then the credit card would start the dispute process and issue a “temporary credit”. 

Looks like I have to go through the dispute process to get my money back and that’s kind of sad.  It’s very plain and simple.  I returned the item, you got the item back now I want my money back.  Track the shipment and you’ll see I’m telling you the truth.  Guess communication and common sense have gone on holiday. 

It gets worse at work I sent a large message out and told everyone that I had taken steps to correct a mistake the HR made and I just got a message asking me if I had already taken steps to start the process.  It’s like no one is reading today and everyone is a damn zombie. 

I hate stupid people, no tolerance level and it will get my blood to boil quicker than anything.  Here’s hoping it all works out in my favor even if it takes a few more days.  I don’t plan on paying for something I returned.  Let’s hope the day and rest of the week get better!

Hump Day–Regular Post

 Colby Knox – Southwest Boys Group Fuck

Howdy how are you doing today?  Glad to see you stopped by.  Today’s photo is from Colby Knox and their latest scene release with Southwest College Boys.  The scene looks to be red hot and I am eager to watch.

It’s been a bitch of a day.  My insomnia got me up early, I tried to go back to sleep but it was no use.  I had a lot of tasks to take care of this morning and it wasn’t something I looked forward to.  I saw the request come in late yesterday afternoon and I automatically deferred it to tomorrow.  Famous last words.  Tomorrow actually comes for somethings and you can’t put them off until someday, because that day never comes around.  I had a real gem to deal with first though.  I worked with an internal resource to get an order placed for something we need and have a low supply.  I put my request in last year because I knew that it was only a matter of time.  This person is known for dragging their feet.  Look I don’t think they actually placed the order because it doesn’t take over a year to get what we need, maybe a few weeks to a month tops.  It’s always like pulling teeth and this person is a Manager.  I woke up to another one of their excuse emails, hey I didn’t forget you I am still checking on the order.  Bullshit, you never fucking placed it, just man up and tell me.  I know when someone is telling me it’s raining outside because they are peeing on my leg.  I had it.  I went to my boss and told him enough of the BS and games, were critically low and we need this.  Can you compel this person or have the higher ups compel this person to fucking do their job and place the order.  I used rather colorful language without cussing to make my point.  I had hoped my boss would forward the email to his boss but damn he didn’t.  Instead I got a response I feel you and I am going to try to take care of this and place the order myself.  Yeah well good fucking luck.  Then after that I plowed through all of those tasks that I put off and then the morning shit show began.  All sorts of wacky strange problems starting flowing up.  Sprinkled in with email requests, I need this now, take care of this for me, hey can you help me with this.  My circuits were overloaded.  I was hopping here, jumping there and trying to remember how to focus. 

Of course what time was it, meeting time.  Something urgent came in and I had to take care of that.  Which resulted in me spending part of my afternoon dealing with someone who decided to travel but not tell anyone until they were overseas and couldn’t connect.  Wow, my bladder started itching for attention.  I just couldn’t get away.  More time passed.

Finally lunch time.  Well actually bathroom break then lunch.  I was looking forward to lunch.  I had two soft pretzels.  I bought some Tostito’s Nacho Cheese.  I never had it before, one taste and I was so sorry I bought it instead of the queso .  Thank God tomorrow is trash day because that shit is going out.  I’ll grab the queso when I get to the store on Sunday.  Holy cow.  Plain pretzels, not so bad.  I had to hurry because don’t you know as soon as I sat down to eat, more email came pouring in and there was a high priority request, which is the aforementioned person who traveled.  Then an executive reached out for help.  I was just juggling.  Then the cats got into it upstairs and one of them was crying like they were seriously hurt.  I went to go check on them and they both came running to the stairs, like hey can we come down or are you coming back up?  Don’t kill each other, go lay down.  Back to work for me.  The cats were confined to upstairs, which isn’t so bad. 

Had a 1pm meeting but wasn’t able to make it, aw shucks.  Kept on plugging away at work and putting out fires.  Finally got caught up around 2:30p.  Hallelujah!  Finally time to surf for porn and goof off.  Which I usually do in the morning before things really get hopping. 

Things are calm at the moment and I am kind of afraid to go up because the cats will need attention and then I figure more crap will happen at work and it will turn into another late night.  I want to be able to relax and get back to writing to escape the madness of this world.  Hopefully, that will happen and I can find something good for supper in the freezer.  Fingers crossed.

Just before my insomnia kicked in I had a dream where my late spouse was alive, I was talking with him, I could touch him.  I never knew in the dream that he passed.  We even had sex.  Then reality set in when I woke up.  It’s been 10 long years, damn I still miss that man.  The heart wants, what the heart wants.  It’s not possible but tell that to my heart.  Every now and then I get a dose of reality like that or I will have the thought that he is coming home or I need to check with him.  Then I remember, nope.  I think writing out sexual fantasies of guys that I have crushes on contributed to my dream.  In a very small way it kind of feels like I am cheating.  I don’t feel that way about porn.  I can only imagine how I will feel if I am ever lucky enough to “get lucky” again be it with casual sex or with something long term.  I want a guy but who knows if something will ever actually click, I sure do hope so and I hope that psychologically it doesn’t mess with me. 

That’s about it for the regular post of the day.  Between AT&T last night and the BS from today I am not exactly in a chipper mood, but you probably didn’t know that by my sunny disposition, right?  Yeah I am being a smart ass, I mean who wants to be a dumb ass?  There I did it again.  Now if I keep on doing that I might just perk up and snap out of it. 

Two more days, here’s hoping I can hold it together and the weekend is quiet as normal.  Hope you had a great day and that your evening is enjoyable as well.  Talk with you all again soon.  Seriously, thank you for your readership, it means the world to me.  Cheers!

Don’t Lie to me

Good Morning Everyone!  Welcome to another day.  I’ve got one hell of a story for you.  Buckle up, here we go!

About a month ago I got a notice from AT&T that my autopay discount would be reduced from $10 per month to $5 per month starting in September.  This is because I was paying with a credit card.  If I switched that to a debit card or a checking account they would keep the $10 discount.  This did not please me as you might imagine.  I wrote a letter and got a response late last week in the form of a phone call.  The person whom I spoke to told me that this would be a straight forward conversation in that they weren’t able to help me.  Well, why bother calling me back?  That’s rhetorical. 

My letter not only complained about this but also their overall pricing.  I was on a 4GB plan paying more than $30 per month but I have a second line of service with Visible and get unlimited everything (talk, text, data and hotspot) for $30 per month taxes and fees included.  I asked AT&T why they were so much higher and what we could do about that.  The response I got was well you’ve been a loyal customer for well over 30 years.  If you wanted to change to our unlimited rate plan and get a new phone that would contractually lock you into an agreement with us, we’d give you $180.  I explained that wasn’t lowering my monthly bill but raising it and throwing in an obligation to AT&T.  I wasn’t willing to be locked into a contract.  I am fortunate that if I want a new phone I walk in, pay cash and walk out with the new phone, no need for financing.  Well, uh gee what if we gave you $180 and you just promised not to change carriers, would that work?  So no contract?  No.  Okay, deal but before we move forward let’s suppose I was to cancel at the 11th hour AT&T wouldn’t come up with some lower rate plan or some other way to help me, would they?  No, I can absolutely assure you that you are on our lowest rate plan and getting the maximum discounts available.  There just isn’t anything lower.  Okay so I took the money. 

Then I learned about AT&T pre-paid which has way better rate plans in exchange for parting with your cash up front before they provide service.  Presently I am a post paid customer, which required a credit check at the time service was established.  It wouldn’t exactly lower by bill but I’d get a better deal by switching.  I went to compare rate plans with what was available in my account.  Previously I only had 3 choices total.  Magically now I have 7 choices and wouldn’t you know it one of them has a lower price by $10 to that $30 price but it’s not unlimited.  It’s 2GB per month and if you go over they charge you an overage fee but will advance you the data.  Hot spot included up to the monthly plan limit.  Unlimited talk and text. 

I thought about it and thought about it, hell I’d save $10 per month, which once my auto pay increases it would work out to $5 per month in savings.  I use Visible for all of my data & hot spot needs, as well as some calling.  I got the line because of getting back into the dating scene and not wanting to give out my real phone number.  I just keep AT&T because it’s the number that is tied to damn near everything and everyone I know or want to be able to reach me.  I could port it but I did that once and it’s super messy and AT&T has port protection in place and you have to make multiple calls before you actually talk to the right person who will finally release your number and give you a port out PIN.  It’s simply not worth the time or aggravation.  Plus AT&T to their credit for extra money has the best spam call protection I have found.  It’s $4 extra per month but well worth it. 

Last night after dealing with some frustrations at work that kept me working much later than I needed to be.  I opted to make the change.  I logged into my account and selected the $30 rate plan.  I got the usual warning screens your lowering your bill and changing your rate plan, are you really sure you want to do this?  Yeah, okay hang on were making the change for you.  Then I got an error screen, something went wrong you need to call us.  I tried once more got the same results and then called. 

I spoke with ye old average regular customer service person.  He tried to switch me to a higher rate plan and I had to put my foot down and explain exactly what I wanted to switch to.  Then he comes back with Sorry sir, that rate plan is for AT&T employees only and isn’t offered to the general public.  Did you read the disclosures?  I said of course not no one ever reads that bullshit, which is true.  It’s all a contract of adhesion that if you don’t agree to it you can’t have it.  Were all conditioned to say yes I agree and move on, which is what I did.  Well, Sir it’s spelled out there.  I asked for a manager.  The person stalled let me double check my records to make sure the information I am giving you is accurate.  Long pause, yeah it’s correct.  Meanwhile that gave me time to read the disclosures and there isn’t a damn thing in there that said it’s for AT&T employees only.  I asked for a Manager and I was told they are very busy but to hang on and a manager would be right with me.  This went on for over a 1/2 hour.  Finally just as I was about to be transferred I hear hold music and the wait just got longer.  Fuck this, I hung up. 

I called from my cell phone and asked to cancel my service.  That puts you in the Retention Department and those are the folks that can wheel and deal to keep you on as a customer.  I’ve played this little game more than once in the 30 plus years I have been a customer.  I explained to the person calmly but with some frustration in my voice what I had just been through with customer service.  This person told me that it is a legacy rate plan that isn’t really offered any more and that you did have to be an AT&T employee but she’d be happy to switch me to that plan if it’s what I really wanted.  That took about 15 minutes and I had to confirm several times that it is what I wanted.  Finally, presto it’s a done deal and at the moment I just saved myself $10 per month. 

I was glad that was over with, I also got the $180 that I was promised last night.  So this situation has worked out well for me.  I kept thinking about how I was lied to and nothing will make me madder than if you lie to me.  Now I really want to leave them.  Will I probably not at this point in time but eventually yeah I think they are on the way out.  There are better deals out there.  AT&T used to have the #1 cellular network now they are #2 and Verizon is the #1 contender.  Visible is pre-paid service on the Verizon network.  The coverage I get from them far exceeds what AT&T provides.  I run both lines simultaneously and can see the signal strength for both in real time.  Visible (Verizon) is always one bar or better than AT&T on average. 

AT&T is like any large organization where the more people you have involved the more misinformation you have.  I just want the best value for my money and to part with as little cash as possible for service.  That’s what the average person wants as well.  I don’t get why they had to lie to me.  You might say it’s misinformation or a misunderstanding but nope it’s a lie.  The person who told me that I had the best rate plan possible and they couldn’t do better worked in the Office of the President, he knew exactly what he was doing. 

While I am not going to do this, I’d bet that if I called back today said I was going to cancel AT&T would make me some offer to try to keep my business and I would get an even sweeter deal.  It’s not worth my time or the aggravation.  For now I am pissed but happy.  I am taking my marbles and moving on with life. 

I understand why now after 30 plus years so many people hate AT&T.  My late grandmother worked for the bell system and I was raised and conditioned to always go with the bell or AT&T because it was hands down the best.  That was true years ago but certainly not today.  They pillage and bleed their customers just like every other carrier but they go out of their way to make sure you get the least for what your paying for instead of the best or most, which in the end I am sure is the same for all of the carriers but the other carriers do a much better job of marketing it and making it palatable and easier to swallow.

I’ve been up since 5a and this has just been eating away at me, so here it is for the world at large to read.  AT&T  eff u see kay, why owe u!

end rant.  Have a great day everyone, thanks for reading this. 

Going Back

Hey everyone – It’s been a crazy weekend. 

I got to see Un Coupled in fact I watched it twice.  Once on Friday and then again on Saturday.  It didn’t disappoint me and based on how it ended I think there will be another season but I don’t know that for certain.  NPH has a great behind.  He was mostly skin and bones though in front which is not appealing to me.  I mean you need some meat on your bones, not a lot but something.  If you were on the fence about watching this, I’d say go for it.  There are 8 episodes which are a 1/2 hour each.  You can easily finish it in a day if you binge it. 

I ventured out to eat on Saturday.  I wound up at the Mexican place, which isn’t where I had planned to go.  I always like to check on Gator when I am away.  Sadly I had 1 bar of service, my VPN stopped working which means all internet traffic came to a halt.  I disabled the VPN just in case work tried to reach me via email, I doubt that the message would have come through but I wanted to at least give it a fighting chance. 

I guess I learned that old lesson, “you get what you pay for” the hard way.  Mint Mobile is great but their signal strength in certain areas isn’t the best.  They ride on T-Mobile and I found out why the price is so low.  I really had no choice but to go back to AT&T, which is something I wanted to avoid.  I tried to sign up with Verizon but they couldn’t beat the rate I had with AT&T and all of VZW’s plans are unlimited, they don’t have a data limit plan like 4GB. 

I found myself stuck in the nightmare that is porting a number.  Mint made it pretty simple but sadly I didn’t have all of the information so I had to call them a couple times.  You need a transfer PIN and your Account Number.  The only way you can get either of these is via Customer Service in speaking with a human.  The first guy I talked to was a dick.  He knew good and hell well that I would need my Account Number to transfer but he only gave me what I asked for which was a transfer PIN, which is what caused the second call. 

Once I ported back to AT&T I got everything back the way it was when I left, which was nice.  Only problem is that because of porting back I lost the ability to get short code messages.  These are codes from your bank or 2 Factor Codes.  I couldn’t login to a couple of accounts.  I literally had to call about 20 times and it wasn’t until around 2a that I finally got someone that knew what they were doing and she fixed it.  I learned of the problem when I tried to transfer my YouMail setup and in going back through the activation process.  I managed to break my YouMail so I am back on carrier voice mail for the time being.  I expect that my YouMail issues will be sorted out tomorrow.  I don’t really need that service but I like their product, it’s much more robust than carrier voice mail. 

My next issue is with Amazon.  I had 2 deliveries yesterday but the carrier managed to deliver one of my items to someone else.  I have no idea where it is and I really don’t want to go looking for it, that’s not my job.  You have to wait a full 48 hours before they will issue a replacement.  Thankfully it’s nothing critical and/or expensive.  I really wish they would let UPS do their deliveries they are the shipping carrier I have the least amount of problems with.  Amazon & FEDEX both seem to have issues getting stuff to me.  DHL does a good job but almost no one uses them anymore. 

My next biggest problem is Ms. Gator.  I gave her Friday night off of her medicine.  Saturday I forgot to give her the Probiotic powder.  She had some bowel issues and also managed to throw up.  Funny thing as soon as she puked she was asking for more food.  I was reluctant but gave her some Fish & Shrimp.  She gobbled that up.  I was up pretty late between AT&T and her I was a mess. 

This morning I managed to wake up at 6a after going to bed around 2:30a.  I am honestly not sure how I am functioning but I am.  I found Gator by the water fountain.  I gave her some breakfast which she ate and then retreated to the couch where she asked me to feed her again.  I stayed with her for a bit as she managed to gobble down more food.  I also filled her up with some fluids.  I don’t know how much her body actually absorbed because some of it leaked back out.  I kind of wish she had a one way valve I could connect to but that is just a wish.  I know that it’s probably an error on my part.  I let her rest and I went out for breakfast and hit up the grocery store.  I found a bunch of food for her in addition to all of the Chewy stuff.  I am well above my limit for storage for cat food.  I just have a feeling that she is going to die on me and leave me with all of this food, I thought that with the first Chewy order as well. 

Seriously she has scared me to death.  When I came home I found her passed out cold by the fountain.  I couldn’t tell if she was breathing but I looked at her eyes and thankfully they were closed.  It takes muscles to keep your eyes closed, they naturally pop open once you die, at least for cats and dogs.  I tried to be quiet but managed to make some noise and she was startled awake.  I got her to eat some more food and eventually move away from the fountain.  It needed to be changed, I got that task done pretty fast.  I sat with her again and she ate more of her food. 

I hated to but I had to come downstairs to start laundry and I had pending tasks at work that I put off for as long as I could.  I got those done.  It’s time to swap the laundry over to the dryer.  I am going back up to be next to her.  She will probably want more food, which is fine for me.  As an insurance policy in case she would stop eating I got 2 jars of baby food, it’s a cheap insurance policy and can get you out of a jam.  Gator has yet to stop eating and I don’t want that process to start now.  All of Momma’s family is tough to get their appetite back once it’s gone.  I do think that Gator is a little closer to checking out but were not quite there yet. 

Friday night I wound up removing a good portion of the fur from her tail.  It was all full of oil build up.  This happened once before.  It’s not fun for her or for me.  She also usually gets sick the next day now that I think about it.  I stopped because I got tired of hearing her scream at me and I already had a handful of fur, I figured if I kept going she would have a tail with no fur and that’s probably not good.  It all looks fine now.  Nice and shiny.  No oil build up.

I know this is old hat but she is an old girl and she is eventually going to wear out on me.  Neither one of us are in a hurry for that to happen.  However, I can’t help but think to myself about life without her.  That is going to be a most difficult time as I will be without any animals and I’ve had a cat in my life for more than 20 years.  I just keep praying that I am prepared for when it happens.  It’s not a case of IF.  There is no real great way for that chapter of my life to come to an end.  I just want a chance to be able to say goodbye.  I think she knows I am doing all that I can and she is pushing all of my buttons and tugging on all of the strings she has so tightly wrapped around my heart.  She is all I have left and I think she likes taking advantage of me.  It’s fine I want her to have the very best life she possibly can, she deserves it. 

Well time to publish and get back to her.  Maybe I will collapse a bit to take a nap, it’s been go go do do and I am really emotionally tired.  I can’t help but share a thought I had earlier today.  Instead of winning the lottery I’d like to have the opportunity to start all over with Gator knowing full well that I would have at least 18 years would give me a lot of comfort.  Yeah I know I can always get another one after she goes and I very well may but it won’t be Gator.  They are all so unique just like a person with a personality, they have their quirks, likes and dislikes. 

Hope your enjoying your day.  Monday will be calling soon enough.  Take care and be well.  

Electronic Hell

What a week! Sub Zero and below temperatures, along with Winter Weather made for a scary week for a lot of people. Thankfully I never lost power or was subject to rolling blackouts. We had issues with several of our offices with blackouts and water pipes bursting. Our Dallas Office was by far the hardest hit. To my knowledge no one that I work with died or was seriously injured, which is a very good thing. My furnace has been running a lot more and I am thankful to have it along with a roof over my head. The weather even affected my cat, Gator. She spent a lot of time in my room away from me sleeping. She did get sick on Friday but by then she had snapped out of her sudden winter blues and was much more social. To say she worries me is an understatement.

The worst part of my week was that I spent a good portion of it on the phone with AT&T. I was sitting with Gator in my room resting when I happened to glance up towards to the TV (which was off) and noticed that the lights on my U-verse set top box were flashing from on to off. The box was hot to the touch and I unplugged it. I gave it 15 minutes and plugged it back in, that just wasn’t long enough as the same thing started happening over again. I unplugged it and gave it an hour. By then everything was cool and when I plugged it back in, nothing worked. I thought to myself I’ll bet you it’s the power supply. I bought a Universal Power Supply sometime ago to replace on a phone that was bit by a lightning storm. Sadly, the power supply worked but the phone was toast. I hid the power supply away so well that now when I actually needed it, I had no idea where it was. What to do? You guessed it, I called AT&T and reported a dead box. The guy on the other end of the line asked me to try a different outlet and to press & hold the power button. I told him I tried all of that and even stood on one foot, while crossing my eyes, ears and toes. That got a laugh and he replaced the box. No surprise to me but the shipping carriers were affected by the storms so he told me it would be a couple days before the replacement box would show up. This was all on Tuesday.

Wednesday morning, I was greeted with an email telling me that the equipment shipped and a box would be delivered to me on Friday. I also found another interesting email that told me I was being charged $49 plus tax because I made a change to my service. Seems that the way the order was placed it was an additional box and not a replacement. I called and spoke with a very argumentative dumb fuck at AT&T. I went Judge Judy on his ass and demanded a supervisor. To which he told me that that wouldn’t help the situation, his supervisor couldn’t waive the fee. The bastard was right. The funny thing was he was in the billing office and could only tell me that it was a valid charge. The only way to stop it was to cancel the order and start over. FUN. I got to talk with another person and by then I was in Lewis Black mode. I caught myself cussing and quickly calmed myself. The new person asked me how I knew for certain the box was defective. To which I replied the God Damned thing won’t turn on, that’s how I know it’s defective. Oh sir, did you try another outlet. I wanted to say oh fuck I never even thought of that but instead just replied Yes and it didn’t help. He placed a replacement order and saw that there was in fact a charge. He was thinking that a colleague made a mistake but nope it was their system. Another order had to be cancelled. They placed a new order which kept pushing out the ship date for the replacement equipment. He assured me there would be no charge and there shouldn’t be a charge since I was merely replacing and not adding a box, which is what I was saying from the start.

Want to guess what I woke up to on Friday morning? If you said another email telling me that I was being charged, you deserve a gold star. That enraged me further and I called to get that order cancelled. A lady who was too close to the microphone worked with me and said that she would just credit my account. Fine. A couple hours later, the door bell rang. It was the UPS man and he had my box from my call on Tuesday. As soon as he scanned the box my phone went nuts. I got an email telling me the package was delivered, an email telling me to return the old equipment and another email telling me that AT&T had the box that the UPS guy just dropped at my front door in their possession. They sure run a fucked-up operation. It’s a wonder that they can generate bills and paychecks.

My curiosity got the best of me and I tried to hook up the new box but since that order was cancelled and all equipment is addressable via the MAC Address (which is an electronic serial number) it didn’t match up with the boxes that were authorized for my account and it refused to work. I tried a couple times just to make sure. Then I thought well it’s the same box, what if I took the new power supply and hooked it up to the old box. Presto everything works now.

I had another replacement box coming next Thursday, so I called and waited on hold for 45 minutes just to talk to someone. I explained the situation to her and told her it was the biggest mess I had ever seen. She got someone on the phone in programming who was of oriental dissent and who spoke broken English. Neither of them wanted to cancel the order for the box coming next Thursday, until this was sorted out. I had to give them Serial Numbers from each box and tell them what I wanted to do with each box. I’m keeping the original box reported as defective and the new power supply. I am returning the new box and bad power supply. They got it all sorted out and then I couldn’t get this oriental lady to cancel the order for the equipment that was coming next Thursday. The original lady I spoke with promised me that she would cancel the order but she too failed. I wound up having to call back and wait another hour to talk with another person. I just said look, I’ve been to hell and back please just look up my account and cancel the order. That was the easiest phone call ever. The guy did exactly what I wanted him to do and he didn’t try to upsell me with other products like everyone I previously spoke with did.

I had to be a bit of a juggler as these calls took place while shit was also going on at work and I was having to work and talk with AT&T at the same damn time.  I think I deserve some credit for my time, but that is another story. Point is it’s finally done. Now the hard part is making it to the UPS store to return the box. I have a sneaking suspicion they are going to hit me with a $150 fee because I am returning the wrong box and they will also wind up deactivating the working box, which will cause me to have to call and get this sorted out. Until that happens all I can do is what I agreed to do and hope for the best. My hope is that this goes off with out a hitch but based on how the week went with them I don’t really have high hopes that will happen. My saving grace will hopefully be a recent letter I sent to renegotiate pricing, I should be getting a call soon from an Executive and I’ll be sure to keep their name & number handy in case things fall apart as I expect them to. If that doesn’t happen then I will have to make a call to renegotiate pricing on my own and I already know that will be a nightmare. Going through an Executive has proven each year to be the easiest way to get the best price.

My co-worker had his kid on Monday afternoon, so he is out for a couple weeks. That means extra pressure, stress and work for me. He called me once and sent me a photo. I’ve tried to reach him a couple times and he’s pretty well checked out. I wasn’t calling for work stuff but personal just to check on him. He told me that they have to feed the baby every 2 hours round the clock. Fuck no wonder new parents never get any sleep. Between feeding and changing there isn’t much of a break. Not to mention his wife went into labor Sunday afternoon and it didn’t stop until Monday afternoon. Her ass has to be worn out, sore beyond belief and oh the pain. I remember what it was like watching Momma give birth and how much she screamed, especially when Ruth was born super late (hours after everyone else). Jesus that poor woman. I am sure I will hear all about the adventures when he comes back. For now, I am just trying desperately to hang on to what little sanity I have left, since I lost the person that I talk with the most until he comes back.

Before all of this super cold weather hit, I had this horribly odd smell in my house that I couldn’t get rid of. Well, the cold weather did its job and that took care of it. Now that it’s starting to warm up, the odor is making its way back. I noticed it in my room yesterday and again this morning. It’s faint and not so overwhelming but I am thinking with a little bit of time as we continue to thaw my problem will be back again. I really think it’s either something in the carpet or something in the attic or walls. I put down carpet cleaner which masks the smell temporarily. I really want to climb into the attic with my o-zone generator and run it to dispel and hopefully cure this problem. I’d like to find the source as that would be the quickest way to fix this issue but that seems to be the larger issue. It’s like something has crawled up and died some place. While I don’t know what death smells like it’s such a fowl and odd odor that I am thinking it has to be associated with death. At least I am not nauseated like I was, but if the smell returns full force the nausea will likely return. Here’s hoping for the best on this one. I’ve looked outside and prior to the snow falling I couldn’t find anything dead. I don’t know how to walk in an attic and chances are really good if I get up there, I will fall through and cause much more damage and/or injure myself or worse yet wind up killing or hurting Gator. I know my limitations and I won’t go beyond them. I can easily pop the cover stand on a ladder and look around with a flash light, if that doesn’t give me a clue then set up the ozone generator and leave. The odd thing is that the attic is well ventilated so you wouldn’t think odor would come through, but if there truly is something that somehow worked its way in and died then of course the odor is going to come through until whatever it is fully decomposes. If I can see something, I can call someone to have it removed. I am honestly wondering if I am not going crazy and imagining this since thus far it’s been impossible to locate the source.

I had an additional annoying adventure this week. Gator woke me up in the middle of the night to feed her. I think it was Wednesday. I passed out her food and then started hearing this chirping. You know like when a smoke detector battery is about to die and the detector warns you? I was half asleep so figuring out what the problem was took me a bit and by the time I did, I was fully awake. My carbon monoxide detector decided to die. I unplugged it and went back to bed. I plugged it back in the next day and it was fine for about 5 minutes and then I was back to the chirp. I ordered a new one and have it plugged in today (Saturday). Sleeping is a big enough problem with Gator chirping and the stress from being isolated, I really didn’t need this now but then again there never really is a good time for an electronic piece of equipment to die. Better it be a thing than a person or an animal. I had that thing since the 90’s so I got my moneys worth from it and then some. My state mandates that all homes and apartments have at least 1 working CO2 detector.

I guess this just hasn’t been my week for electronics or for dealing with AT&T. There are much worse things though.

I do hope that you’re doing okay and that you weren’t affected by the winter weather. Here’s hoping for a better week ahead! Cheers for now.

Super Sunday

Happy Superbowl Sunday, it’s just another Sunday for me.  I know a lot of people watch the game, place bets and have parties.  Sports is just not my thing.  I can say that some of the guys look really good in their uniforms.  Baseball players by far show off their assets really well. 

Yesterday I went through with the upgrade of my phone.  Wow I got there later than I wanted but walked in and got helped right away.  I explained that I was apprehensive about the upgrade due to cost and that I needed to know what it would cost me before I went through with moving to a new phone.  The sales person I got took this as a green light that I was going to upgrade.  She said $25 per month on top of what your paying.  Great I knew I could afford that.  Now wait for it, there are hidden fees and surprise charges that I wasn’t told about until the deal was done.  First, there is a $25.00 upgrade fee, it’s a one-time charge and I’ll never be charged it again when upgrading.  Second, AT&T forces insurance coverage on the device at the cost of $8.99 per month.  You can cancel the insurance but you can never put it back on once cancelled.  I always get Apple Care.  However, the salesperson really sold the insurance in that anything and everything is covered, no matter what you bring it back to an AT&T store and they will take care of it.  There is a sliding deductible it starts out at around $250 and over time goes down as you begin to pay off the phone.  I can’t go without mentioning that I was pressured pretty hard to purchase 3 accessories because that would build a bundle and give me a discount.  Once all of the dust settled with this I learned that I no longer got a discount on accessories.  Glad I only got what I absolutely needed.  I would have purchased my Mophie from them but dumb dumb told me that it wasn’t available in bright colors.  When I showed her the Mophie web page she didn’t know what to say, other than oh we don’t carry that.  No fucking shit. 

I asked about getting the upgrade fee waived, which has been done for me in times past.  She told me it wouldn’t happen.  The store manager couldn’t do it and I would have to phone into customer care and they may do it but it was very doubtful.  Yeah, well you don’t know me very well.  I was all worked up and really ready to call it quits but then the real kicker, even though the new phone hadn’t been taken out of the store if I wanted to return it, I would have to pay a restocking fee of $45.00.  So they got you no matter what.  This is deceptive at best.  Moving right along being frazzled as I was I forgot to mention before the deal was done that my voice mail is special and upgrading caused problems in the past.  So the sales person insisted on holding me hostage until the phone was done restoring from iCloud.  The estimated time was 2 hours.  Fuck I was mad and I was hot – I just wanted out of that store so bad.  She changed to different WIFI Networks in the hopes of bringing the time down, eventually we got it to around 1 hour.  I asked about checking my voice mail and she said nope not until the restore was done.  I had to watch her yawn, which was aggravating.  She left me alone for a short period of time and went into the back.  Then I happened to start looking at who was in the store and saw a cute guy salesperson.  What a nice ass and a pretty face.  I wanted him to be my boyfriend but never approached him.  The cock blocker returned to tell me that she went to blow her nose.  Like that was information that I needed to know.  Then she yammered on and on about how she gets no sleep, has to constantly work and when she does try to sleep she has to have a fan going.  All useless information to me.  She was buying time.  I would have rather taken off my jacket and went into the back with the cute guy salesperson, I mean I am sure my idea of passing time would have been better and much more fun provided that he was up for it.  Finally I posed the question about my voice mail differently and she called my number, which stopped the restore process.  As soon as I heard the greeting I knew that everything was fine.  Then thankfully I was allowed to leave.   The whole process seemed to take 2 hours in it’s self but really I was in there for 45 minutes to an hour tops. 

Remember when I said that she didn’t know me?  I was really pissed about the way I was treated and how I was deceived.  So I wrote a letter to the president of AT&T and told them to fix this or else I am leaving, I’ll take my TV and Home Phone along with my wireless to another provider and wash my hands of them if they don’t.  Bet you I get the upgrade fee waived at a minimum.  I’m asking for a lot more than that.  Start high work low – always your best option when negotiating.  All of the carriers have you sign an agreement that you can’t sue them and can’t participate in a class action lawsuit.  Your only remedy for settling disputes is binding arbitration.  That’s crap but legal fees can get out of hand quickly, don’t I know that.  The cost to file a complaint for arbitration is around $200 and in my case AT&T will pay that fee, regardless of the outcome.  That sounds a little more fair to me. 

Funny thing is when we talked about a Mophie and also the color of the phone, she pressed me to get black.  I told her to look at the parking lot at the black car, it’s a piece of shit and it’s brand new.  Then there is Bear, an all black cat.  I have had nothing but problems with both of them.  Black is clearly not my color and I will never, ever buy something in black if I have the choice of another color, even if that other color is bright neon pink.  She couldn’t believe my reaction but I told her if you went through what I have been through, you’d avoid black as well.  Bear is a sweet boy and none of his health problems are his fault.  I would easily own an all black cat again as long as it was as sweet as Bear is, I wouldn’t go out of my way to get an all black cat but if one wondered into my life I wouldn’t object.  Taz was all black as well and he too was sweet once he got his nuts chopped off.  Then again I think any man would be sweeter without nuts. 

Spent most of the day on Saturday with the phone thing.  It was frustrating, I got my 2 factor authentication app all set up and working.  I even found a way to move accounts that I had in Google Authenticator all to my preferred app which is Duo.  So I got to delete an app from my phone, happy about that.  Tested everything and it’s all working fine.  This was my biggest fear and what kept me from moving forward.  Now that I know it’s easy I wouldn’t hesitate to switch phones again if the need was there.  I had to hook the phone up to my computer in order to get all of my music to download on it and that went quickly. 

Wiped the old phone this morning, multiple times.  Got a great offer from Gazelle to sell it, so I am mailing it off tomorrow and within a few weeks should have my check.  I could have gotten faster payment and $3 more if I opted for an electronic Amazon gift card but decided that $3 wasn’t worth it and having the cash in hand is far better.  That way I can spend or save it as I see fit.  It was also good to be able to pay cash for all of the accessories that I ordered, dropped around $400 but that is normal for me when switching devices.  Got a case from Best Buy for $40 and it looks great the only problem is it easily slips off my belt while I am wearing my coat.  That won’t work.  So I ordered a case directly from Mophie for around the same cost.  If the new case arrives in time, I will take the old case back to Best Buy and get my money back, no sense in keeping something that I won’t use.  Finding a decent belt clip is hard, but I know Mophie products and love their belt clip so it should be a great fit. I look forward to getting it.

Last night (Saturday)I got a call from my pal that just lost his wife.  He told me that he met a woman and went on a date last night (Friday).  I was flabbergasted and happy for him.  They went back to his place after enjoying a nice meal and some wine.  He could have easily put the moves on her but they watched TV and talked a bit more.  He made it clear that he wasn’t interested in having sex off the bat, if the chemistry develops and the time is right then he would not be against it, but right now he is just interested in a companion.  Turns out she is recently widowed within the past year.  Her late husband had a stroke, was in a nursing home for years and finally passed away.  I told him after I got done setting up my phone I would be driving to his house and maybe he could find me a man.  We talked about how difficult it was to actually hold a conversation with anyone on-line and to actually get meaningful replies.  Dating in general seems to be a lot of people that want to get off and then move on.  That’s all well and good but not what either of us is looking for.  Not sure if things will progress with his lady friend but I do wish him the very best.  It would be awesome if things worked out for him.  He was on the site our-time when they met.  He’s on many sites but this one seems to be the best.  I know they also cater to the gay community but it’s typically older people in their 50’s and 60’s.  I really want someone closer to my age or younger. 

This morning I woke up very early from a horrible dream.  It was 5:45a and I couldn’t go back to sleep, even switched beds – it was a no go.  So I got up, fed the children and then came to the basement to write the complaint letter I spoke of earlier.  By the time I was done, dressed and out of the house it was 7:30.  I went to Cracker Barrel it was so early I walked in and was seated right away.  I also knew that the guy that allegedly liked me wouldn’t be there because it was so early.  Had their famous Blueberry Pancakes.  The kitchen messed up and gave me bacon (not my fav) so I got that and sausage.  It was really a great meal.  Then I moved on to the grocery store where I glided through the store, no worries everything I needed was in stock and I got out for under $100 so I was happy about that. 

Came home, unloaded the groceries rented a movie started watching it and got sleepy.  Took a much needed nap and Gator made sure I was up in time to feed her lunch so I didn’t sleep the day away, which I could have easily done.  My back is killing me from my massage, it’s getting worse instead of better or so it feels.  Not sure if I will be getting a another massage on Thursday but if I do I will tell her to ease up.  If I wanted to be in pain I could easily find someone to beat the shit out of me, I pay her to feel good not to feel like shit. 

Supper will be the Chicken, Broccoli and Pasta casserole with breadcrumb topping from Stouffers that I like.  It takes forever to cook which is why I always have it on weekends when time isn’t of the essence.  Plus I will cut myself off after eating half of it so that I can have some left for tomorrow night.  I know I’ll look forward to coming home to that.  I’ll be finishing my movie while it cooks but first I have to put away the laundry.  Shave and shower and then I’ll be ready to make me some delicious dinner and feed the needy and greedy furry children. 

I will be on call starting tomorrow.  Last week was hellish and I was very glad it wasn’t my week.  Not sure what this week will be like but I am sure I will be busy, which is fine so long as it’s during working hours and doesn’t take up too much of my night.  I am not against overtime but would rather not work it unless I have to.  Oh and I found out that were getting corrected W-2’s because they screwed up so I may have to file an amended return after all.  My employer says not but I’ll take Turbo Taxes word over theirs when it comes to taxes.  The best part about my new phone is that I can’t get company email on it until tomorrow when someone releases it, after that then it will be buzzing and humming.  So for now I am enjoying the silence.  I am going to under take my first big project and upgrade our Anti-Virus client.  Working with my boss tomorrow to put together a plan and Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday I will be starting.  There shouldn’t be any problems it’s pretty straight forward.  I hope it goes as well as everyone says it will.  I am a little nervous but you have to start somewhere and I realize this is giving me a chance to learn in the process, which I am truly grateful for.  I have been so happy that my boss took a chance on me – I know he’s pleased and I am as well.  This job has it’s difficult aspects but most things are pretty easy.

Well on to my chores, dinner and my movie.  Stay warm, be safe and if your watching the big game, I hope that your team wins.  Take care and I will talk with you again soon. 

Diamonds not forever

Last night I went to empty the dryer and found one of my rings sitting on the inside next to the lint filter.  I picked it up and it was the ring my grandfather left to me.  We shared the same initials and this ring has our initials in it all in diamonds.  Looks like 2 of them fell out.  I was upset but I can only blame myself.  Many nights when I come home from work I have to pee and probably was in a hurry to either get out of my clothes or I put the ring in my pocket and had planned on taking it out after I was done using the bathroom.  I have looked for the diamonds but can’t find them.  I suspect they probably fell out in the wash and are long gone.  This is the one reason why I would rather leave the valuable / mementos in a safe deposit box.  You can’t damage them if they are not being worn.  I will be more careful in the future.  I thought about taking the ring in for repair but chances are it will cost way more than I want to spend to replace two small diamonds.  For now I am leaving it alone.

Went out to breakfast this morning, ordered 2 biscuits for biscuits and gravy, they gave me 1.  I placed an order for 2 more and got 4.  Wow no one knows what they are doing.  The food was really good but I wound up paying way more than I wanted to.  I won’t be going back there because of this.  There were warnings all over FB how they screw up your order but the food whatever you get does taste good.  That’s nice but I want what I ordered if I didn’t I would let a stranger place my order and eat as if it were a grab bag. 

Headed to the grocery store.  Had problems at the checkout with my chip card.  I put it in the reader and it asked me Debit or Debit MasterCard.  I chose Debit MasterCard and then it went dark.  So the checker had to get a supervisor to clear it up.  Then I was able to run my card back through, all was well.  I left not realizing that I left behind my milk and yogurt, until I got home.  Then I had to make a second trip back.  I was not pleased about that but happy that they had the bag waiting to see if I would come back.  It didn’t help things that there was a local group of kids out front asking for donations to some baseball team or something like that.  I call it pan handling and think that it should be prohibited in front of the grocery store and also at a certain intersection in town.  Seems no matter where you look these days everyone wants or needs money.  I’m no different but I work hard for everything and I do mean everything that I have.  This particular group of kids was asking for donations but didn’t have anything to give away, why do I want to just give my money away for nothing in return?  Yeah I get it might give me a warm fuzzy but thanks anyways.

Trimmed the cat claws.  I got the gloves but never had to put them on.  Ruth was just laying under the couch and I moved it.  She was still and everything was fine until I knelt down next to her and then she started in with her wailing, crying and general protesting.  She hissed at me but I kept talking to her and got to trim those sharp little needles of hers.  I got her sister as well but she managed to get me in the neck, thankfully I think my scruff deflected her claw enough that there isn’t any damage but it hurt like hell.  Everyone but Marv got there claws trimmed.  I will take a look at his tonight. 

Got connected to my work pc and found out that the company that is doing the training tomorrow told me it started at 7:30a but it actually starts at 7a.  I was not happy about that but glad I caught it now versus tomorrow morning.  I have already figured out that I need to be up by 5a and out the door by 6a which should allow me to arrive at work just before 7a, give me time to grab some water, a note pad & pen and then off to the office I reserved.  I think I will enjoy being in an office but not 100%, kind of depends on the ventilation.  The good news is that I will be able to leave at 4p.  Just figured out that on Tuesday it will afford me the privilege of hitting up the local bar for Taco Tuesday.  Kind of looking forward to that, last time I did that it was either earlier this year or late last year.  Either way it’s been far too long. 

The knot in my back has gotten smaller but is still lingering.  I am still working it to make it go away but don’t know that I will be successful in making it go away on my time schedule.  So long as it goes away and doesn’t cause me any problems.

Saw 2 good movies on HBO On Demand.  #1 was The Intern and #2 was Trainwreck.  I wasn’t so sure about either of them but once I started watching I knew I was in for a treat.  Looking to find something like that for this evenings entertainment before I head back to the grind tomorrow for five long days. 

I need to grab laundry and put it away, then feed the children.  Insty is down here pandering.  Funny about an hour ago she was mad as hell because I was trimming her claws.  My how her emotions change!  She is quite the ham and knows it, she has no shame in her game. 

I will also take time to shave, shower and then fix the left over pizza for myself. Need to make my lunch as well.  Time does have a way of passing by rather quickly.  I will be a much happier person I think once Monday & Tuesday are behind me.  I like my normal and no interruptions outside of that.  Getting up early is going to suck but I am sure I will be just fine. 

Hope you all have a great week and that the sun is shining in your neck of the woods.  Decent weather and sunshine affects our moods and nice weather means nice mood, at least for me.  We have sun for the bulk of the week as of now but there is some rain that will be moving in later this week.  Of course it’s the weather so it’s subject to change. 

Be well and we will talk again soon.  Maybe not on Monday or Tuesday but again soon. 

Very Lazy Saturday

As the title of the post says, it’s been a very lazy Saturday for me.  My sleeping hasn’t been the best this week.  I think it’s the pillow that is driving me nuts.  So I got up had the worst possible thing for breakfast, that would be a banana and several chocolate mini donuts along with a glass of milk.  It’s not so bad if your not a diabetic like me.  We all have our vices and I’ve realized mine are food, sex, and pens.  Not always in that order!

I also fed the cats while I was up.  Then back to my room to watch some TV but first I played on my iPhone to see what new mail came in, checked social media and then TV.  Nothing on to capture my interest, so I turned the TV off and laid back in my chair.  One cat at the foot of my bed, another in the middle of the bed.  Me and Momma sitting in my chair.  I dozed off and woke up a couple times.  Pretty soon it was 1pm and I knew if I didn’t force myself that I would never get anything accomplished.

I threw on some clothes and dashed off to grab the mail, get gas for the car, pick up a litter box, get cat litter, wipers and 2 new pillows.  I dropped around $145 for all of it.  Yeah, I was shocked.  Wipers were the most expensive thing.  However, I have had my car for 4 years and this is the first time I have ever replaced the wipers.  Not bad if I do say so myself.  My experience has been less than positive when I replace wipers on any car – be it with an aftermarket product or OEM wipers from the dealer.  Nothing seems to work as good as the original.  Hopefully, that is not the case here.

Back at home I went to open the garage door and we had hundreds of bugs just nesting in large groups.  They look like lightning bugs but they aren’t.  My partner swore they were carpenter ants.  They are not, I checked the internet.  However, I don’t know what they are and I would really like to know.  They showed up last year in the summer.  They haven’t ever left.  I sprayed bug spray but that didn’t seem to work.  I got out some Diazinon and even that didn’t seem to affect them.  That smelled horrible so I got some water to try to wash it away.  By then they were dying slowly.  I came back about an hour later and most of them were dead, those that survived knew it was time to get out of Dodge.  I don’t think I have seen the last of them but hopefully with a trip to the hardware store I can manage to get rid of them for good.

We went to grab a bite to eat at a Mexican place I have been wanting to go.  I got a combination dish, one beef and one chicken burrito.  The beef was tasty.  The chicken was not.  I only 1/2 way enjoyed my meal.  We finished up with Fried Ice Cream.  My partner really liked his meal, he got some chicken dish with cheese and peppers.  Of course it was more expensive than what I ordered, usually the case.  You can pretty well make the Ice Cream at home on your own.  It tasted like corn flakes, honey, chocolate syrup and whipped cream.  Not a smart choice for me but then again I will only live once!  Might as well have something good.

Back home to catch a movie on Amazon Prime.  It stopped a 1/2 hour before it was over, I suspect there was an issue with WIFI.  I just took it as a sign to get moving again.  So I cleaned the house.  Got the new litter box down for the kids and the trash is out.  I’m laundering my bed clothes and cleaning the dishwasher.  All while I sit here and type.  Thank God for Machines to do some of the work. 

I will be flipping the mattress tonight and putting on fresh bedding.  I plan on shaving, which I hate.  But I am ready to claw my face to death because it itches so much.  It has been a full week since I shaved last.  Then a nice shower and I should sleep very well.  That is my hope at least. 

Friday I did have pizza but it wasn’t from where I wanted to go. I mentioned another place when I got home because I knew he wasn’t into pizza .  Marriage is all about compromise.  I had a coupon for $10 off which was good, but it was pretty well like making a trip back to the office so I used up some gas.  It was just an okay meal.  I got served Pepsi instead of Diet Pepsi.  It tasted horrible to me, I am so not used to all of that sugar in soda.  I’ve been on Diet soda ever since I was diagnosed diabetic.  My partner on the other hand drinks Coke like it’s going out of style.  His diabetes is way worse than mine.  He is always thirsty, some of the medications he takes have that side effect but the way he drinks I can’t help but think part of it is due to diabetes. 

Speaking of my darling, when he fell earlier this week and broke the litter box.  He hit his head.  His eye is all blood shot, he thinks it’s from the fall.  I know that it’s his Coumadin level.  I think his blood might be too thick.  He was just at the doctor and they didn’t check his level.  His doc is on vacation for 2 weeks so no chance of that happening anytime soon.  I tried to get him to seek care for it because it looks horrible and I know it’s a sign – your body gives you signs and if you ignore them you usually pay a price for it.  He is so bullheaded he said oh it will go away.  I feel fine, I can see okay so there is no problem.  Okay.

I got a mailer from his Life Insurance company about taking out an Accidental Death Policy on him.  It’s $100,000.00 worth of coverage for $10.46 per month.  The way he is falling lately I am tempted to sign up.  However from working in the Insurance Industry years ago I learned AD&D policies are quick money makers for the Insurance Companies and not that many people die from Accidents.  Sure they put in stats in the mailer to try to let fear sell you the product.  I’m not buying it.  Besides that I really can’t afford it.  I am barley able to make the payments on his Life Insurance Policy.

The cable bill came and I realized they didn’t give us credit for paying our internet for last month.  It took me 2 phone calls and about an hour with a lot of back and fort.  The people I spoke to didn’t want to stick to the subject, they tried to upsell me things, go over different parts of my bill.  When I made it really simple I said I gave you X dollars last month.  I only see credit for X dollars.  Where is the rest of the money?  Oh, since I put it like that it seemed to click.  Turns out I will be getting a refund in 6 to 8 weeks.  I felt like saying okay then I will pay my bill again in 6 to 8 weeks when the check gets here.  I tried to get them to transfer the credit to our account as it stands today but oh no, the check is in the mail.  I said then it won’t take 6 to 8 weeks to get here, maybe 6 to 8 days.  Oh no sir, what I meant to say is the credit has been processed and we will be cutting the check and mailing it.  You should receive it in about 6 to 8 weeks.  Yeah, okay.  The bill has already been scheduled to be paid on Monday and I doubt I could stop it now, even if I wanted to. 

A friend of mine checked in at a local restaurant that was pretty much in my back yard.  We haven’t seen each other in years.  I suspect he is gay but we never had that conversation.  I commented on his check in that he was in my neck of the woods.  No response to that.  I figured he would want to meet up, but I guess time has a way of separating people.  I look at it like this, I did my part.  I am not terribly upset over it  A little disappointed but I will bounce back quickly.

We had such a great weather day today.  It’s hard to believe that we have a winter storm rolling our way and we could be shoving snow tomorrow and Monday.  I don’t shovel, it kills my back.  Thankfully I haven’t had the need to shovel in years.  We have a snow blower but it’s so gummed up I doubt it would start if we really needed it.  So my guess is with the warm weather we had today that the storm will either pass us by or if it shows up what falls won’t sick to the ground because it will be too warm.  Now if it gets me out of work on Monday, well then I hope we get a mountain of it, I mean anything for an extra day at home. 

Time to surf the web and see if I can get into any trouble.  Plus I have laundry to work on.  So I will talk with you peeps again soon.  Be well and stay safe.