Another Way To Do It

GPOM has been restless lately, wandering the place when not killing whatever requires his attention in Fallout. I remember this waiting feeling when looking for work and trying to find ways to fill time when there's nothing but an endless ocean of time, the soft, calming voice in your head screaming, "FAILURE!" and a bank account that mocks you with its very existence. I try to be understanding, am incredibly imperfect at it, but I do try. I also make a point to get out of the house so he doesn't feel the evil eye of my home-based business glaring down on him. I also try to encourage him to get out of the house as well, and I give him tasks and chores so that he's contributing to the household.

I sound like bloody Mother Teresa, don't I? Well, I'm not. I glare in judgment sometimes and don't listen and occasionally lord what I'm doing over him. Really helps his self-confidence, I've found.

Anyway - there was a random $1.99 data charge on our cell phone bill this month, so I asked GPOM to call the company and get them to reverse the charge. We don't use data plans on our phones, and even if there was a one-second mistake, there's no way I'm paying $1.99 (plus tax!) for it. So GPOM called and got what seemed to be a very inexperienced customer service rep, who kept repeating to him that she would figure out what the charge was about (it was on his phone) and that it might be a mandatory upgrade. The phone connection apparently wasn't that good (why I still have a landline) and I'm guessing her English was a second language, so the barriers were pretty insurmountable.

After about fifteen minutes, GPOM let loose with an expletive or two and hung up, telling me that he'd pay the blankedly-blank two dollars.

If you know me at all, you know that's not going to fly. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture and efforts from GPOM, but that my need to screw over the phone company because of $1.99 (plus tax!) is simply too strong. There is very little I can control in this world, but I'll be damned before I pay a charge for a service I did not use (or at least get a credit on next month's bill). After fifty-two minutes of hold and gentle conversations with a charming young woman named Olivia, I got the charge reversed.

I also got laundry done and the entire kitchen cleaned, including offloading the dishwasher. That's what you can do in forty-five minutes of hold music.