Cancel Your Credit Cards Before You Die

I received this 'joke' via email. Since dealing with Verizon, I can definitely see this happening.

Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die.

This is so priceless, and so, so easy to see happening, customer service being what it is today.

A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00 when she died, but now somewhere around $60.00. A family member placed a call to Citibank. Here is the exchange :

Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you she died back in January.'

Citibank: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.'

Citibank: 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'

Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

Citibank: 'Either report her account to frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

Citibank: 'Excuse me?'

Family Member: 'Did you just get what I was telling you - the part about her being dead?'

Citibank: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'

Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member: 'I'm calling to tell you, she died back in January with a $0 balance.'

Citibank: 'The account was never closed and late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

Citibank: (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'

Family Member: 'No, I'm her great nephew.' (Lawyer info was given)

Citibank: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Family Member: 'Sure.' (Fax number was given )

After they get the fax :

Citibank: 'Our system just isn't setup for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'

Family Member: 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. She won't care'

Citibank: 'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.' (What is wrong with these people?!?)

Family Member: 'Would you like her new billing address?'

Citibank: 'That might help.'

Family Member: '___, Highway 129, Plot Number 69.'

Citibank: 'Sir, that's a cemetery!'

Family Member: 'And what do you do with dead people on your planet???'

I can see it happening...with strong accents involved, of course. Customer Service isn't generally handled by anyone in this country anymore.

Dental health

When my mom was in her late twenties, her dentist recommended that she have all of her teeth removed except for 8 teeth in the lower front. She had this done because her teeth were abscessed and generally unhealthy, with many cavities, extreme sensitivity and pain. I remember her saying it was the best thing she could have done. She couldn't chew her food with her own teeth, and she felt so much better with her plastics.

When my dad was 40, his dentist recommended the same. His teeth were abscessed also, and very unhealthy. I asked him recently about it, and he also said it was the best thing he could have done. His teeth were falling apart, as did his father's, and there was no saving them.

I am missing ten teeth - four extractions for braces, four wisdom teeth extractions, and two extractions because of abscesses when I had no money for root canals. I have five more root canals, and two additional teeth in my mouth that are abscessed as we speak - root canals waiting to happen - which means at this very moment in time, seven of the teeth currently in my mouth are dead or dying.

Yesterday, I made an emergency trip to the dentist because one of my crowns came loose. Ah, if only it was that easy. It turned out it wasn't the crown - it was the entire top of the tooth, crown, post and all. My tooth disintegrated under the crown. She repaired it the best she could, and said unfortunately, the next step is extraction. There is nothing more that can be done to save it. $1800 down the drain.

I have begun to question why I do not just have the remaining teeth I have pulled, seven of which are dead anyway, be rid of the constant cavities (which even form in the dead teeth), extreme sensitivity, and pain. I would leave enough of my teeth intact on the bottom to anchor a partial, and get a nice pretty set of plastics for the uppers.

My dad said he got tired of throwing good money after bad, and I know what he means. I have sunk thousands of dollars into saving my teeth, and they fall apart anyway.

Of course, I have no dental insurance, so all of this repair comes straight out of the grocery money.

I just don't know what to do...

Calvin Strikes Again

Mommy! I know how to get a bird as a pet!

You do?

Yes! First, you have to buy me a lasso.

Um, not today, honey.

JT said...

Polly want a cracker... LMAO

Serena said...

Me, too! He scares me, sometimes.

Waving to Unko Myko

It was a cold, dreary day in Western New York when I decided my brother and I could liven things up a little by screwing with Calvin's head. :D

He was very excited to be 'chatting' with Unko Myko, so excited, in fact, that he forgot to put his jammie bottoms on. I opened a separate chat session and told my brother, hey, if you want to get a rise out of Calvin, ask him where his jammie bottoms are. Mike was off and running. "WHERE ARE YOUR JAMMIES?"

Poor Calvin was shocked to the core. "How does he Know?" So we told him. Unko Myko has a magic sattelite that keeps an eye on him.

Hook, line and sinker. And it doesn't end there!

Jeff was home last weekend, and he told Ian that Unko Myko had his sattelite on to make sure everything was okay and to keep an eye on things. And here he is, waving to Unko Myko. Who is in Seattle. With a magic sattelite.

Oh, the stories I'll have to tell his future girlfriends...

Chinese

Our neighbor had a visitor from China. I'm not sure how to spell her name, but her name is Jo-Lin. She showed Ian, with sidewalk chalk in the driveway, how to write "Hello, Jo-Lin". She said "Hello" in Chinese is actually "You good".


This is how you would write "Ian". There are over 5,000 symbols that represent syllables in Chinese. She explained the way his name is written is actually the symbol that represents the sound "e" and the symbol that represents the sound "n".

Here, she showed the slightest difference in the sign makes the sign mean something entirely different. The sign on the left means "loyalty", and the sign on the right, she said, means something to do with the earth, the ground. She was unsure of the English translation. Just the slight extension of the top vertical line makes a great difference. Jo-Lin showed us how important it is to be precise when writing the symbols.

She told Ian he is very lucky - children in China go to school from 7 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, and then there are after school study programs until 9 at night. What long days!

Michael said...
There are no characters to represent "Michael," only the sounds "My" and "Ko." That is how I arrived at "Unko - Miko" as an approximation of Ian's pronunciation - it was a nod to the lack of direct Chinese translation.

Serena said... Son of a gun. I had no idea. I found the entire conversation with Jo-Lin riveting. She spent a great deal of time speaking with us, repeating some of the things we said and asking many questions. When she returns to China, her husband is going to Australia for a period of time. She plans to take what she has learned here back to him, and to speak only English in their home until he leaves so he may learn as much as possible. The thought occurred to me that American English isn't always the best example to follow. :)

Michael said...
>children in China go to school from 7 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, and then there are after school study programs until 9 at night...

That's why they kick our fat American asses in math and science.

Serena said... You betcha! And we have the nerve to complain about it - from our lazee-boys, of course.

Assistant Chef

Memorial Day Weekend at 'Uncle' Hope's house:

Harry was teaching Ian how to use the grill. The advantage, of course, of being the grill master is you can taste all the food first!



Austin wanted to learn, too:

Getting it off the grill and ready to serve:

After the party, Ian wanted to stop and take carnations to Abuela. I hope he isn't feeling guilty - he never wanted to visit with her when she was alive...

Playing with Mommy's Camera

He wanted to take a picture of himself - turned out pretty good!


Studying:

Biking

I've braved the elements (mostly cold and wind) and biked to work a number of times over the past month.

My hands are ridiculously chapped, but I've lost 8 pounds.

Life is good!

Widgets

So I stayed up WAY too late last night checking out widgets for my blog. (Now there's a sentence that wouldn't have been constructed 20 years ago...)

Google has a ton of widgets, over 3,000! I was really impressed with neoworx.net, though. They have some really cool counters, one of which I am now using. It has an option to exclude my own visits from the counter, so I get a more accurate idea of how many visitors I actually have. They have a two week free trial period, and after that, the counter reverts to the original free version.

I also posted the Einstein Quote of the Day at the bottom of my blog. Enjoy!

I survived Survey Calculus I.

73 on the final, overall B- average. I'll take it.

I'm going to work on it over the summer, go over the lessons again. Now that I have the remainder of the course materials I should have had from day one, it should be a bit easier. At least I hope so. I want to get a handle on it before I hit Survey Calculus II!

Got an A in Business Law. Still waiting (impatiently) for my final grades in Microeconomics and Statistics. Statistics was fun... I'd take another class like that in a New York minute if I could!

The end is near...

Well, this semester is almost over. I have a Nutrition class to take over the summer and four more classes to take in the fall, and then I will have (finally!) achieved my Associates in Business Administration. One of my friends told me, "I have one of those and it didn't help me a bit!", so I am not stopping here.

I am looking into Jones International University, University of Phoenix or Western Governors University to further my education with a Bachelors in Finance. All are regionally accredited, which I understand is very important and even necessary if I am going to move on to obtain a Masters. If anyone has any advice, or even knows of another institution I should look into, please feel free to comment! I am a member of phi theta kappa, so if anyone knows of an institution that offers a discount in tuition for that, I am all ears.

lbawden said...
It's awesome you're going to continue your schooling! I know it's a tough decision with considerations of time and money. I made that decision when my kids were little and though it was a sacrifice, it was worth it.

I happen to work for one of the universities you mentioned, and am somewhat familiar with each of them. They're all good, quality programs, so looks like you've done a good job of narrowing it down. I would suggest a little further investigation into each to see what will be the best fit for you. If you prefer a classroom environment, Jones may work better for you, UofP has both online and physical campuses. If you prefer online plus a more flexible schedule and you're an independent learner, you may like WGU. All 3 options accept transfer credits and offer financial aid assistance, but WGU has an edge on the tuition, as it is non-profit and tends to have tuition that can sometimes be even half of what for-profit institutions offer for comparable programs.

If you're looking to take a few classes, Jones or UofP may be the better choice. WGU only offers full degree programs.

One last item, WGU starts new students at the beginning of every month (you don't have to wait for a new quarter/semester). Also, their semesters are longer--6 months and they charge a flat rate tuition per term no matter how much of your program you complete. So if you can get more done in a term, it costs you less and you can graduate faster.

I hope this helps, best of luck!
Lori

Serena said...
It does - Thank you so much!

Today in Baseball History

May 17, 1939 - The first baseball game ever televised — Princeton against Columbia at Baker Field, Columbia's home field — is seen by a handful of viewers via W2XBS in New York City. Bill Stern announces Princeton's 2-1, ten inning win. Reviewing the game the next day, the New York Times sniffs, "it is difficult to see how this sort of thing can catch the public fancy."

- taken from www.todayinbaseballhistory.com

Scroll down...

(I tried to catch up.) New posts back to March 14th!

I just love my Uncle Gene

Here he is, demonstrating to Ian the proper technique to get every last bit of ice cream from the dish:

Life is short - Eat Dessert First!

The Families

The family of the groom:
The family of the bride:

The couple with the grandchildren:
and The King and I:

Dad Got Married!

You couldn't have asked for a nicer day. It was sunny and clear, temps in the high 60s, which just inspired a joyous feeling in everyone after such a long, cold winter.

Dad and Lani decided to walk down the aisle together.

And here is 'Calvin', wanting to know when we're going to dig in...

Here are Dad and Lani with Dad's siblings, Marlene, Gene and Dennie:

New cousins, Ethan and Ian:

My new sister, Cindee, and her daughter, Justine. The funny thing about this is that I have known Cindee for years! We used to work together at a law firm in Buffalo from 2001 to 2003.

I wish Dad and Lani many, many happy years together. It looks like they are already off to a great start!

I hate Verizon.

I took this past week off as vacation to catch up on my course work. I have been spending so much time on Calculus and Statistics that I have fallen severely behind in Microeconomics and Law. My biggest goal was to complete the last four chapters in my Microeconomics course and to get my Law paper done. I also planned to take my new bicycle out every afternoon to practice riding and build up my strength. Verizon had other plans.

Monday morning, 7:00 a.m., I find my Internet connection speed is so slow it took 7 to 11 minutes to load a page. I spent from 7:30 to 12:30 pm on and off the phone with various non-English-speaking Verizon employees getting the connection up, only to have it go down again. At 12:30, it came up for the afternoon, and then at 9:10 p.m., it went down completely, and I spent from 9:15 to 11:30 p.m. on the phone with Verizon again. They blamed my computer, the number of processes the computer is running, the ethernet cable (which they had supplied), the setting in the modem (which they repeatedly changed and finally 'bridged' with my router), my telephone line that is inside my home, and my router itself.

They asked how long I had been having problems with my service. I told them - approximately a year and a half. As a matter of fact, when my brother came to visit from Seattle about in June of 2006 and used my Internet service, he said, "Boy, your Verizon service really sucks." And I said, yes, yes it does. They finally, after over a year of connection issues, decided to send a technician.

I asked when the technician would be arriving. I was assured one would be at my home within the next 24 to 48 hours. No kidding.

So Monday, I spent most of the day on the phone, getting nothing done.

Tuesday morning at about 9 I received an automated call that informed me a technician would be at my home the next day between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. That certainly narrows it down, doesn't it? There was no way to speak to an actual person on this call, so I pressed the appropriate number to okay the appointment, hung up, and called Verizon back. I asked for someone in Customer Service. I actually was able to speak to an English-speaking customer service representative, and she was unable to help me. I had to speak to the DSL Department (which, by the way, is in another non-English-speaking location). She connected me, and stayed on the line with me trying to explain to the non-English-speaking person that I was on the line with her, and that I needed a narrower window for my appointment with the technician.

Good luck with that one. I was finally assured that although they could 'request' a more specific time, it could not be arranged. I asked to be transferred to their billing department, who is the only department who could tell me when my contract expires with them so I can move on to another ISP provider.

Two hours later, I received another call from Verizon. This person was actually able to narrow the window of time from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday for my appointment with the technician.

So Tuesday, I had no connection, could not view the lectures that are online, and got nothing done.

Wednesday morning, at about 10:30 a.m., I noticed the Verizon truck sitting outside my house. He did something in the back of his truck, got back into his truck, and started it up. I went running out there to catch him. He said everything was fine. I asked him, 'Then why don't I have an Internet connection?" He said he would take a look. He shut off the truck and came in, and said, "Oh. They told me you were on the right." (I am actually in the apartment on the left.) He ended up re-wiring my place, gave me a dedicated DSL line, made sure my connection was working, told me that if I was having any problems again, to call, and he would come right back, and he left.

Ten minutes later, I have no internect connection. I called Verizon and asked them to send the technician back. That's impossible, they said. The ticket is closed. So re-open it, I said. No, that is impossible. We could send a technician back, it would be 24 to 48 hours before they would arrive. They would not send the technician back, however, because my line was working fine, so that obviously is not the problem.

I was on the telephone with this non-English-speaking person for a few hours, at which time it was ascertained that it (of course) is not Verizon's problem, it is my network card. How do we fix that? It was recommended that I call a service like Geek Squad or someone like that to have it repaired. By this time, it is 10:00 p.m.

I called Rescue.com. They would have a technician contact me at 8:30 Thursday morning. Here it was, Wednesday, and I got nothing done.

At 9:30 a.m., I received the call, and actually got to speak to someone whose native language is English, which made up for his being an hour late. He ran numerous diagnostic tests and ascertained that it was indeed a problem with my network card, and it would have to be replaced. In the meantime, he got me up and running with my laptop. It cost me $148, and the desktop was still useless.

At 10:30 a.m., I pulled out the Verizon telephone book and called Circuit City and CompUSA. Every single telephone number that is listed in the book for the locations nearest to me was a non-working number. Verizon was very helpful there. I called the Cheektowaga Circuit City location, and they gave me the correct number for the Amherst location. CompUSA is no longer in business. They're still listed, though, just in case you want to know what their number used to be. Verizon can be very helpful that way.

Circuit City has a service called FireDog. I took my tower in, they replaced the network card ($30) for a service fee of $40. I brought the tower back home, plugged everything back in, and lo' and behold! No Internet connection!

So at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, I am back on the phone with Verizon. They again blamed the router. I told them, this router is my third router. Why can't Verizon make my service work with any of three different routers? It's the router, ma'am. It's been working with this router, why isn't it working now with this router? There is a problem with your router, ma'am. You have to call the company that manufactured your router.

Linksys is the manufacturer of my router. I called them, they changed settings, and I was up and running again.

Until about 7:30 Thursday evening. Then - here's a shocker - no Internet connection! I called Verizon. Of course, it isn't their problem, they had me disconnect the router, and after numerous recyclings of the modem and computer, various changes in settings, more recycling, I was finally up and running again - but without my router. I had to call Linksys back to get my router working again. I plugged everything back in, called Linksys, and spent a couple hours on the phone with them. By midnight, I had an Internet connection again, but was too exhausted to do any coursework! All day Thursday - nothing done.

Friday morning, I get up, take Ian to the bus stop, come home, fire up the computer, and I have no Internet connection. I called Linksys this time. After two hours on the phone, it was determined that the modem was not set to work with the router. I would have to call Verizon and have them 'unbridge' the modem. Westell modems do not work well when they are bridged to work with routers, and there have been numerous problems with them. I wasn't surprised at all by this - the Westell modem was the modem that Verizon provided to me with my DSL service.

I called Verizon. They reset my modem, unbridged it, and made sure I had an Internet connection. I then plugged in my router, and had - you guessed it - no Internet connection. So I called Linksys back.

I spoke with someone who changed the settings in my router to again work with my modem. I had an Internet connection. I was happy. I could still work on my course work and watch the required lectures for three hours before I had to pick up Ian.

Guess again.

I launched my Internet Explorer from my laptop, which said I was 'connected' and my signal strength was 'Excellent', and it took 11 minutes to download the home page for the course work. I tried loading Google. Another 7 minutes. I called Verizon.

No, they assured me, it isn't their problem. I recycled the system again, had to disconnect the router, recycle the system, change settings, etc., etc., etc., and finally they got my connection up again, without the router.

So I called Linksys again. I spent until 5:30 p.m. on the phone with them, and the bottom line is, they can't tell me what is wrong, perhaps the router is defective, and they gave me an option to return the router for replacement. So here it is, Friday evening, and I've gotten nothing done. I have effectively spent my entire week of vacation on the phone.

This is the third router that I have tried over the past year and a half. I have a Netgear router that would not work with the Verizon Westell modem, a Microsoft Broadband Networking router that would not work with the Verizon Westell modem, and now the Linksys. I can only connect from my desktop, which is in my bedroom, and cannot use my laptop.

I decided to take the laptop to Barnes & Noble, who has free wi-fi, get a cup of tea, and do some coursework in their cafe. I tried to connect up to the Internet, but got an error message with a telephone number to call. I spent half an hour on the phone with their customer service rep, and was finally told that they were having a network issue, and they did not know when the internet would be available. I looked around, and everyone was tapping on keys and looking rather aggravated, so I knew it wasn't just me.

It sure felt like it, though.

My entire vacation - shot to hell. I am still facing the last four chapters of Microeconomics, and I have only been able to read one of the seven chapters I have left in order to prepare the paper for Law, I got no bike time in, I have a Statistics assignment due today that I haven't even started on, another Calculus assignment due on Monday, and the semester ends May 15th. If I cancel my Verizon service and go with one of their competitors, they want an early cancellation fee.

Haven't I paid enough?

Dolores said...

Kelly,

Here is what is wrong with Verizon.

Love, Dolores

This is India. It is where you call when you have a technical problem with your computer.