One, YAHOO!
Two, it’s football season! Ya-double-hoo! And Brett Favre has started it out as the diva that he is and then — whomp! — a nasty sack! Love it.
Three, is anyone watching Project Runway this season? If so, let’s chat.
Archive for the 'bling blog' Category
I used to think of myself as someone who really hated change. Things are tolerable, why change? I don’t think I’m really like that anymore. While I may not embrace change like some, I think I’m pretty open to doing things differently now and then. Particularly when it makes a lot of sense to change things up and the only thing holding back the change is sentimentality or tradition. Not that the latter two things aren’t important, but I try not to overvalue them and instead focus more on function and purpose. Though not always.
But here’s one thing I don’t get: why are websites always changing? I know I am guilty of that somewhat with my blog — I change the layout from time to time — but I don’t think I’ve done anything that ever creates any confusion. It seems that facebook makes weird layout changes weekly and I just noticed that wordpress, the host for this blog, has gone on and changed things up and I’m trying to adjust to it. And don’t get my started on flickr’s latest changes! The thing is, there are things I’d really like to change about all of those sites and they all pertain to function and making things more intuitive. But these are not the changes that have been imposed. No, no. They just seem to be change for the sake of change. Something I really have trouble supporting.
But, on the other hand, here’s a change I can really get behind. It feels like the tide is really turning. And that is something I support.
And, finally, on a lighter note: a shout out to Terry with oodles of thanks for sharing this. I didn’t think the first ones were all that funny, but as I paged through I had trouble containing my laughter and admit to doing a spit-take or two.
This is not a great article, but it made me want to blog today about something I think a lot about.
Lately it seems that I am going to a baby shower every other day. Of course this is not actually true. But I am at a stage in my life where I seem to always have at least one friend who is preggers. Right now, I can name four friends who are with child. I can also name several more who have produced babes in the last year or so. I still have a lot friends who, like me, are childless, but those numbers are dropping quickly.
Where am I going with this, you ask. Well, I’ll tell you. I like kids. I like babies. I like kids more, but babies are fun. I think I’m pretty good with kids. I think I’m pretty funny and a decent person to have around your kid. Yet, I still don’t know — and I’m 35 — whether or not I want one of my own. Most women I know seem to be pretty clear on the answer to that question, but I am not. Of course, at some point — and maybe that point is now — I won’t be able to have one, whether I want to or not. I don’t know if I want to be pregnant. I don’t know if I want to adopt. I don’t know if I want another person living in my house.
I think I have some of the biological desire for kids, but my head gets really caught up in the question. Frankly, and I know this is going to be shocking, I see having a kid as a really selfish thing. Not a bad thing, but a very self-centered thing (adoption aside, really). I see it as saying, hey world, there should be more of me. And hey world, support my offspring.
I do not condemn anyone for choosing to reproduce. Obviously I don’t. Quite the contrary. Like I said, I love kids. I love my friends’ kids, I love my relatives’ kids. I like babysitting and being around kids. I just don’t know about one of my own. I worry.
I worry about the environmental impact of bringing another person into this too crowded world. I worry about the economic impact on me and the kid (I read recently that the average American child costs his/her parents $285k or something before you figure in the cost of college). I worry that the kid would be unhealthy. I worry that the kid would be too much like me. I worry that I would mess the kid up in all sorts of stupid ways. I worry that I would never get a decent amount of sleep again.
I worry most of all that the kid would be unhappy. The world is such a tough place. And while I would hope I would do my best to smother the kid with love and support and patience and compassion and education and laughter and all things good and decent, I worry that the world would come between us. I worry that I couldn’t stand seeing the heartbreak or the depression or the inevitable tears. I worry I would pass along all of my neuroses and insecurities and produce an unhappy soul.
I just worry. So, for now, I don’t know if I’ll remain childless forever like the women in the Slate article (though I note the oldest was, what? 32? I’m not sure those women can count as choosing-to-be-childless-for-life) or whether I’ll try to join the club of reproducers.
Raoser last posted that she missed my blog. That made me feel nice. The truth is, I miss it too. I have thought of at least a half dozen blog posts over the last week, but have not posted any of them. By the time the idea (usually thought of on the bike ride to work or as I’m trying to fall asleep at night) came to my fingertips at the computer, it didn’t seem so relevant or interesting (I know, I set a low bar for this, so consider how bad the ideas must have been). And today is probably no different but I feel like posting. Interest be damned.
Music. I grew up with my music. I thought my house growing up was grand and extravagant, but I realize now that it was just nice and of pretty average size for an upper middle class family in Madison. Maybe even undersized for that family. Though it never felt small for me. It had no garage, but it had a “music room.” Actually, I always thought of it as a Music Room. In the unfinished basement, my dad had crafted a semi-finished room that housed his serious stereo equipment (including four floor speakers), bookshelfs full of records, bookshelfs full of books and lots of stuff in lots of places. It had an unused fireplace and an unfinished, but beamed-in, ceiling. I can picture it as if I’m sitting here today. It was my dad’s sanctuary.
My dad listens to music like it’s medicine. Or, more specifially, like it’s Oxygen. I’ve always had some admiration for that. I realized recently that my interest in music waxes and wanes. I rarely, if ever, come home and want to listen to music. I’d rather watch television or read. I don’t do well listening to music at work — lyrical or classical — because it distracts me. I have trouble not thinking about the music, which makes it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
There have been times when I’ve been really into music. I can point to certain times when I couldn’t get enough: (1) the Footloose soundtrack in fourth grade; (2) the Beatles in general in 8th grade; (3) everything Buddy Holly-like in high school; (4) the Dead/Phish/Dave Matthews in early college; (5) the Neil Young/Eric Clapton/Bob Dylan college years; (6) all things Tom Petty for decades; (7) Cowboy Junkies for a lifetime; (8) Neko Case forever. When I hear a song I know and love, or a new (to me) song that catches me offguard, I’m right back there. I’m interested, captivated and — frankly — nearly paralyzed by the sounds I hear. Right now, I find myself missing that because I’m, well, waning at the moment. When I listen to music I like, I become seriously emotionally involved. Tears, laughter and involvement are the norm. So, right now, when I feel like I’m juggling a bit too much, I’m not totally interested in involving myself in the emotional work that is music.
Is that bad? Is it ok? I don’t know. I just know that that’s how I am. I think that if I had an actual “commute” of any sort, I might return to music and I might be able to separate myself a bit more. Or if I went back to running. I might, then, be able to separate music from total emotional investment or, maybe even better, enjoy some music that doesn’t involve such a commitment. But I don’t know.
I know right now, though, that I miss music. If that makes any sense.
Hostility
Published May 26, 2010 bling blog , craptastic treatment 17 CommentsTags: bad customer service, Charter Communications
As I have mentioned previously, I have been battling with Charter over a $300.00 gift card that I was to receive from the cable company upon signing up for a promotion. I signed up for the promotion in February. The gift card has still not arrived. I spoke to over a dozen Charter employees about the issue and got nowhere. Well, next to nowhere. I received a $75.00 gift card. After being told story after story about how they were “working” on the problem, I hit the wall on Monday. I couldn’t talk about the problem anymore. Instead, I decided to mail them the following letter.
To Whom It May Concern:
I have been a Charter Communications (“Charter”) customer continuously since 2005. I am also a licensed attorney in the State of Wisconsin employed as an Assistant Attorney General at the Wisconsin Department of Justice. My bar number is xxxxxxx.
In February 2010, I noticed that Charter was offering a special that required the customer to commit to Charter for two years of service. If the customer enrolled in three services – ie, internet, telephone and cable television – Charter would provide the customer with a $300.00 Visa gift card. On February 19, 2010, I signed up for these three services and was told I would receive the $300.00 gift card in six to eight weeks from the date of installation. The installation was done on February 20, 2010, making my receipt of the gift card due no later than Monday April 19, 2010.[1]
On or about April 5, 2010, I telephoned Charter to inquire into the status of my gift card. A Charter representative informed me that she was unable to assist in any way and that I must call a company called ‘Customer Motivators.’ Customer Motivators, I was told, handles all Charter promotions, a category into which the gift card apparently falls. I telephoned Customer Motivators, was asked for some personal information and was told that the gift card would be sent to me shortly. A few days later a letter came in the mail that contained a piece of paper that allowed me to choose one of several gift cards – including a Visa gift card – by checking off a box, returning the form and waiting another six to eight weeks. The gift card was to be in the amount of $75.00.
On April 13, 2010, I contacted Charter by “live chat” to ask why I had received this instead of my $300.00 gift card. After “talking” with several representatives, I was told that no one at Charter could help me and that I must contact Customer Motivators. I telephoned Customer Motivators on April 13, 2010, but the office was closed. When I finally reached a person at Customer Motivators I was told that Charter had authorized only a $75.00 gift card for me and that Customer Motivators could do nothing for me without approval from Charter for a greater amount.
On April 24, 2010, I contacted Charter again and explained the situation. After being told several times that no one could help me and that I must call Customer Motivators, a representative finally told me that she would draft a “Research Request” to look into my situation. She told me that within 24-72 hours I would hear from a representative regarding the outcome of the “Research Request.” I heard nothing.
On April 27, 2010, I contacted Charter again and relayed my entire grievance. I was told that the “Research Request” was still open and that I would hear from a representative within 24-72 hours. Again, I heard nothing.
On April 30, 2010, I contacted Charter again and explained that I was owed a $300.00 gift card and had not yet received it. I was told, again, that someone would contact me regarding the still-open “Research Request.” I was also told that I would be given a $20.00 credit on my bill. I did not hear from a representative nor did I receive any credit on my bill.
On or about May 17, 2010, I received an envelope in the mail from Customer Motivators. Inside was a $75.00 Visa gift card and a request to return any previously sent gift cards.
On May 19, 2010, I contacted Charter and was told that my gift card had been sent and I should have received it. I relayed that I had received a $75.00 gift card but that my contract entitled me to a $300.00 gift card. The representative to whom I spoke drafted a new “Research Request” or other document to be sent to a “team” who works on complaints detailing my frustration and Charter’s poor efforts to remedy the problem. I was told that I would be contacted within 24 hours about the complaint. I have not heard from Charter.
Every one of these contacts has taken up considerable time and emotional energy on my behalf.
My position is that Charter has breached its contract with me and has made no effort to fulfill its obligations. I believe that Charter has engaged in a deliberate scheme to entice customers into contracts that Charter has no intention to satisfy.
This letter serves as my last effort to resolve my gift card issue before I file a complaint in Dane County Circuit Court. If I do not receive my $300.00 gift card within two weeks of the date of this letter, or June 7, 2010, I will file a formal complaint.
Sincerely,
Kate —–
cc: Federal Trade Commission
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20580
Wisconsin Department of Trade and Consumer Protection
PO Box 8911
Madison, WI 53708-8911
[1] Fifty-six days, or eight weeks, from February 20, 2010, was Saturday, April 17, 2010.
I sent the letter to an address in Missouri, as well as to some fax number I was given by a guy in their “law enforcement” division who actually laughed at me. As you probably noted, I also sent the letter to the FTC and DATCP.
Today I received a telephone call from Charter telling me that my gift card was on its way. They also sent me an email with a tracking number. The package is currently in Florida. We’ll see if it’s the right amount, but I’m hopeful. And quietly content.
I really loathe that it takes so much effort and tenacity to get major corporations to fulfill their obligations. I am certain Charter wouldn’t sit by quietly while I failed to pay my bill month after month. What really bugs me, though, is that there are thousands of other consumers out there who may not know their rights or understand them. They may be intimidated by the bureaucracy. Or they may flat out not have the time or energy to spend what is required to make sure they are not taken advantage of. I wish I could get everyone their $300.00 gift card.
life and puppies 