goodbye to sbc

so sbc is no more. if you ever had my land line, don't call it. it's going goodbye as of monday midnight. that's it. no more.

and do you know, it takes a person longer to cancel phone service than to sign up [with all the filling in of blanks and waiting that that entails] for it. lots of 'i understand ma'am, but let me just say' phrases, and 'i'd recommend at least keeping the single line' suggestions. hello, dear operator. i have only the one line, and that's the one i'm interested in canceling. thanks. and i don't use it.

i don't call from it... ever. i only receive calls from telemarketers and fundraisers. oh, and government transportation people asking me how long it takes me to get to work, and how many streetlights i go through, and who is in the car with me, and whatever else. in short, things i'd rather not deal with.

since i'm never here, when people ask me what number they can use to reach me i give them the cell. and let's be honest. almost no one ever calls me anyway. now if i *ever* received calls on that line from people i want to talk to, this wouldn't be happening. but not one call on that line since i moved here. it's been well nigh a semester. i'm finished. i'm discarding the line.

i have tried to cut it back to the basic. i have. and it cost me a whopping 75 dollars to get a cheaper line. [WTF is THAT?] sort of defeats the purpose, right? so this dear lady offers to reduce the line. i've been through this with these people. there's no way i'm signing up for a 6 dollar a month phone service and then paying a year's worth of it on a single bill just because i changed the service. no thanks, my friend.

and i doubt there is a lower phone plan out there for me from this company anyway. i've searched. i found on for '4-9' dollars online, and tried to get it. it turns into 15 dollars a month. yeah, i know. that's peanuts to some people's phone bills. 15 dollars. i should be so lucky. shut up. the people who have bills like that actually get phone calls. they use the phone. they're using what they pay for. i'm paying for something i never use.

so. the dear lady offers to lower the bill by reducing my phone service. i tell her to go ahead and try. if she can hit the 6 dollar range, she's got me. bit it has to stay in the 6 dollar range, and not be lower for a whole six months. she does a double take when she sees that my current setup is the absolute lowest option they offer.

next, the scare tactics. i may be incapacitated and unable to speak, and my cell phone will not tell the 911 folks where i am. okay. she's got a point. and it's a point i've considered. i may need to make a call and my phone could be uncharged and my electricity out. another point that i've considered. and if they can offer me a pay-per use land line that only makes calls out and never receives them and that costs me nothing unless i make a call, well then, keep talking. i'll pay a whole 20 dollars a call if i'm only paying for the call. But paying for a phone that sits like a lump until i receive a call from the police department trying to guilt me into paying for a truckload of teddy bears? no thanks, ma'am.

i think that got through. at the very least, her voice became fast-paced and high-pitched as she told me all the fine print involved in canceling a line. we thanked each other and that was that.



in other news, the fuse my heater is on flipped itself off in the middle of the night, and my sleepless mind couldn't figure it out until noon today. i'd have called the office, but they're closed on saturdays. well, the heat is on again, and my feet have thawed out. fingers still have some residual stiffness to them, but they're on their way.

conclusion: gremlins.



have turned in the final-that-ought-not-ever-to-have-been-assigned. and asked for information for the fourth time. polite and squeaky is taking a while this time, sr.

now i've another final to do by monday, but i'm hoping to write it today and turn it in tonight. i have to work on monday, and so will be unable to work on it then. it's got to be in sunday at the latest. i also work tuesday and wednesday, so i would like to be able to spend the better part of sunday working on the paper due wednesday, even though i have monday and tuesday night to devote to it as well.



and now i'm off. i slept some last night[?], but was too cold to really enjoy my time. i'm all for a nap now and final-writing after dinner hour.

love and peace