Another dose of Anthony

Ok, so I've been busy...

I just got off the phone with Amazon.com. I just happened to be looking at my account online (for my new 52" super-hi-def, 120mhz LCD TV), when I noticed that the balance didn't seem right. Being half rain-man, I recognized that the amount I'd sent in on the first should have brought the total down to approximately $2100, but there was a balance of around $2200 instead. This "puzzled" me - by puzzled, of course it pissed me the fuck off because I'm positive that I haven't been late on any of my payments... if anything, I've been careful to be extra early so as to avoid having to pay the finance charges and/or late fees.

I dug a little deeper and sure enough, I'd racked up roughly $90 in "other" fees. Since I pay about $100 a month, and they're taking roughly $45 a month in fees, I was getting buggered pretty damn good.

Naturally, a call to the "customer service" people was in order. You'll notice I quoted customer service - that's sarcasm, Lois.

So, I call the 866 number and eventually get around to being directed to one of their live-human techs. When I heard his Indian accent, I nearly gave up right there presuming that I was about to spend a couple of hours in mind-splitting frustration. Don't get me wrong, I like Indian people, for the most part, I just didn't want to have to play "guess which language I'm murdering".

Surprise - the guy spoke perfectly well, and immediately diagnosed the problem: They never applied the promotional rate of zero percent interest if paid within 24 months. A simple mistake, he assured me, and easily remedied by dialing another number which he immediately proffered. He told me they'd be open at 9am tomorrow and would be able to apply the rate and credit my account appropriately.

Stunned almost to speechlessness, I thanked him and hung up. I was fully prepared to don the armor of righteousness and attack the dragon of corporate red tape. (The simile well is in great shape tonight!) Alas, I'm nearly disappointed. I can't remember going from red hot rage to cautious optimism in such a short period of time.

So, here's hoping that tomorrow's conversation with the promotional rate people goes as well. If so, I will be sure to sing their praises via a new post tomorrow night. I'm already desperately in love with my television, and pleased with every other aspect of the purchase transaction. I really hope that this is as easily remedied as I've been led to believe.

On another note, Suzanne and Chris just left this morning for Sidrock. They were here since last Wednesday night. It was great having them here, but it really pointed out how small my one-bedroom apartment really is - four people and two large German Shepherds take up every bit of available space. Not to mention, one bathroom is stretched to its limits under these circumstances. I'm really hopeful that we can get into a two-bedroom by the time they're ready to come out for good.

Finally, things at work are going great. I'm able to keep busy most of the time, and the work is usually pretty interesting. I'm doing a lot more Windows stuff than I've done in the last ten years, which has turned out to be oddly entertaining.

Oh, and my favorite kid (until Chris gets a little older) just turned 21 last week. I believe she celebrated by staying in. ;-)

That's about all I got for now. Oh, except to say that my early pick for this season's American Idol is Stevie Wright (not to be confused with Steven Wright, albeit a fantastic singer in his own right). She's really young and doesn't really stand out, but I got a funny feeling about that kid.

And, if you get the chance, please, I'm begging you, buy my house!!