Issues

Okay, so this is not about comics or magazines or anything like that; this is just another one of my bitching, moaning posts that you may or may not care to read.

I just want to give you an idea of what I am dealing with:

I got my first DirecTV bill and it's $71.00. Why? Well, I got the "Xtra Package" for the advertised $35.99 - that's why I got it, mind you - I kept the ad and even showed it to the installer the other day. So I get the first bill and the damned thing charged me $57.99. So I logoff (we'll get to that) and call and jump through the flaming hoops and a recorded voice comes on and says, "Call times are unusually long today..." So I hung up.

Whatever happens, I am sending them a check for $45.00 and that's that. I pray they'll see things my way - especially since I have the frigging promotional flier they sent me to prove what I signed-on for - so I'll keep you apprised of that. I'll send the check along with a copy of the ad.

Next up, I spent the last two hours trying to upload the last post. It kept giving me some "Server Error." I finally logged-off, rebooted, and uploaded a single picture. For those who don't know, Blogger opens a child-window (a second, pop-up window) in which you upload the picture. While that was loading, I used the bathroom, came back and checked it, went back in the bathroom and washed my face, came back and checked it, went back in the bathroom and did the whole hygiene routine, then it finally came up.

I chose the picture and hit "Upload," then rummaged through the house for my keys and sunglasses. I walked downstairs and across the parking lot, checked the mail, opened and read it on the way back up to the apartment, and the damned thing was still uploading. All in all, I started the post at about 10:30 AM; it finally uploaded (with the picture) around 12:34 PM.

Yesterday, I found out a family friend had a massive heart attack and is in the hospital. No one knows anything at this point; all we've been told is "it's bad." I absolutely hate things like that.

One of my female friends was supposed to come by this weekend, but she had to go pick up her child... and literally no one has heard from her since! In fact, the boy's father called Saturday and asked if anyone knew where she was! I'm not, like, emotionally hurt or anything, it's just one more thing, you know? Another female friend is having a rough personal time and I have been trying to - whatever - advise her or just be a shoulder to cry on or what-have-you...

PayPal double-charged my account, which caused $5.50 to rollover to my checking account and I only had $4.66 in there, so I had to get up early this morning and roll pennies, then walk the two miles to the bank to deposit $2.00 to cover it. I get home and call PayPal, jump through their flaming hoops, and a recorded message says, "Your expected wait-time may exceed 15 minutes..." I hung up the fucking phone in disgust.

At the end of April, when I had the entire living room covered in bills, checks, and papers, proving I had overpaid Charter Communications like $300 in the last year and a half (because they overbilled me, double-billed me, "dropped" payments, added late fees, etc., etc.), my credit card got shuffled into everything, so I had to call and report it lost. (Of course, it literally fell out of a stack of papers 3-4 days later - after I'd been charged for the replacement card!) The replacement card has yet to show up! So they supposedly issued me yet another one and I got the "confirmation letter" today, but still no card. In the meantime, I have had to juggle accounts, which is how this whole PayPal thing happened. (Technically, it's PayPal's fault: they "approved" a payment and subtracted it from my account [which showed up as "pending"], then subtracted it again, once it had "Completed" - far from the first time I've had this problem with them.)

But wait:

One of our longest-standing sponsors has gotten to where they pay whenever they want to. Right now, they owe me $160 (by my count, according to the approvals they've sent me) and have for about a month now. It took them three months to pay me the $250 they owed me last year. In the meantime, I was unable to pay my rent last month, thanks to this rigamarole with Charter, non-payment by sponsors, and the like. If they bothered to let me know what's going on, then I would at least have something to tell the landlord and she'd likely give me some leniency on late fees and all, but they just can't be bothered.

And you should completely avoid that new SocialSpark fiasco! I won't go into it right now, but trust me on this one.

So, yeah... things are, like, super-rough this minute and literally none of it has to do with anything I have done; I am totally blameless in every one of these situations, but since all these buttholes are making money off the situation (through late fees, "mistakes", and so forth) they all keep shrugging and pointing the finger at me and one another.

And this dial-up is really taking the piss out of me.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008