Last year, Comcast took over Adelphia cable. I was not very happy about this, because Adelphia was -extremely- good service, and I had absolutely no complaints. They were prompt, efficient, and didn’t piss me off (the main stickler).

But I was willing to give Comcast a try.

Apparently sometime in March, I was somehow signed up for automatic billing. I don’t automatically bill anything, as I like to be in control of my finances. I didn’t discover this little fact till the end of May when I noticed two charges on my bank statement (which I check daily). One that I paid, and one that Comcast automatically billed me for.

I called, was on hold for 15 minutes, but was able to talk to a gentleman who had the charge removed. He actually said he’d have to talk to his supervisor and call me back. I gave him my cellphone number to call me back. He called the house and left a message on the answering machine instead.

The good news though, he was able to get the second charge reversed, but he was not, however, able to remove the automatic billing.

So I called up again today during my lunch break, after having been on the hold with the MVA for 20 minutes, and was on hold for another 21 minutes and 5 seconds waiting for Comcast (there went my lunch break). The woman I spoke with seemed like an unintelligent lass just paid to answer the phone and type a few numbers into the computer.

She stated that the only way to remove automatic billing is to have them send me a form. They could not do it over the phone, or the website (I tried, the site gives an error). So it was easy enough for me to unknowingly sign up for this POS service, but I have to walk through fire to remove it. Nice.

I brewed on that for the rest of the day and decided I was unsatisfied with that answer, so I called again when I got home. 1 hour and 5 minutes later of being on hold, another woman, sounding just as unintelligent answered the phone. She also stated that something like that would have to be handled by the accounting department, and that they would have to mail me a form. So I asked to speak with the accounting department, to which she replies “I’m sorry ma’am, but customers do not have direct access to the accounting department.”

OH REALLY.

So she put me on hold for another 10 minutes or so regarding a billing error I also wanted to correct. During that time I hop onto their 24/7 chatroom customer service (yeah like these things are ever helpful) and talk to two separate assistants, one who was too much of a n00b to help, and the second who stated I could call or visit my local office to have the automatic billing removed. I even told her that I had switched banks last week (which I did, from BB&T to ING Electric Orange) so any charges they try to put through will not only bounce, but will create NSF fees, which I guarantee they will pay, not me.

Great. So I get to make another phonecall tomorrow during lunch. But these bitches better believe I’ll be calling every day till I get this issue resolved.

And let me tell you something, I was a Customer Service Representative for Terminix (an international company as well) for several years. We were -not- allowed to have anyone on hold for over a minute, and we used the Mission database system to keep track of every phonecall that came in, who they were, and I wrote ridiculously detailed notes into their account with every phonecall. I made sure their issues were resolved, I kept track and did follow-up phonecalls to make sure their issues were resolved, and I especially kept track of when my co-workers fucked up and DIDN’T keep track of the issues they were supposed to be resolving. So don’t tell me it’s so fucking hard to answer a phone and deal with a customer complaint.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my rant for today.

My weekend was spent being productive. I love the feeling of completing tasks and getting them out of the way. It’s almost addicting, and often problematic, mainly because I will disappoint myself if I do not finish all the tasks I set for myself.

So I am learning that smaller daily and weekly todo lists are most beneficial.

My father picked up some more baby keets (baby guinea hens) on Saturday. We had a bunch about a year and a half ago, but something carried most of them off. I will probably have my father pick up a few more next weekend, and a few extras to donate to Highland Farms if I can afford it.

Incidentally, and since this was recently brought up on not only the naturalliving livejournal community, but also the naturalists guild for ADF, but guinea hens are by far the best tick preventative available, as it is their main meal course. At first our neighbors were fairly uninterested in our guineas, and sometimes even upset that they were running around their yard. But once they realized they hadn’t seen a tick all summer, they all now enjoy the company of our feathered friends.

An impromptu closed Witan meeting was called after work. We all met at an indian restaurant to discuss some business oriented things. Some excellent, some not so good. Some secret to be announced during Midsummer.

I enjoy the business end of running a Grove, but it’s a lot more hectic when you own and maintain a building in the Grove’s name. Still, it’s great experience for landlordship, which I hope to do some day.

I suppose I am just a business oriented person.

On the way to the restaurant, I had to drive through where our old farm used to be by Liberty Reservoir. I almost stopped to visit the graves of all my old ancestors, but didn’t. Just driving through there I could feel an incredible amount of energy from my childhood. It almost made my heart stop until I was through. It’s sad, and at the same time it gives me strength and makes me want to hold onto those absolutely perfect memories of growing up on the farm. I only hope I can provide that for my future children.

I stayed up last night shootin the shit with Anthony (acclaimed web god of ADF), which is always fun. I’ve been busting my ass on Grove business lately, getting things organized and written up. We now have a completely accurate membership database thanks to Anthony’s help and me picking Caryn’s brain.

I’m succumbing to a slight consumerism effort by getting my father a few odds and ends for fathers day. One being the Homeland Security t-shirt with the Native warriors on the front, which I am purchasing directly from the Lakota-Sioux leader I met in April to support their cause. I also made him some “Mr. Ed the Egg Man” hat and mug items.

A hot topic on my mind lately as I try and reduce my bills as much as I am currently able.
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I seem to have the weirdest dreams when I stay up late and have a lot on my mind.

This one took place in Baltimore City. I think my father and I had just left the Grove and had stopped off at a bank somewhere in the ghetto. The odd thing was, it was bank with drive-by for people on foot, so you had to stand in line outside.

So we’re both waiting in line, when I look over and see two guys breaking the windows in our car. My father runs down and scares them off, but they had a friend off in a building in the distance who shot him with an arrow. So I ran down and grabbed a rifle from inside the car that we had (It looked like a mauzer but was pump-action) and fired a few shots in the air, which caused most of the people outside to flee.

The carjackers ran off temporarily, but came back with their own guns, and more buddies. I started picking them off one by one, but also trying to drive at the same time to get my father to a hospital.

I don’t remember much of what happened after that, except that it was dark, I still hadn’t found a hospital, and I woke up.

I don’t know what’s with my dreams about guns lately.

The Consumerism Commentary, (one of the many financial blogs I frequent) recently posted an article about The Components of your FICO Credit Score.

As you can see, the main stickler for helping out your credit is making all your payments on time. It helps to incorporate the mindset that I have adopted over the last year or so in that I pay all my bills and myself first, then figuring everything else out later. Before everything else, including groceries, festivals, etc, I make sure my bills are taken care of, and that I have put something away into savings, and this has worked out quite well. It has also instilled in me the value of frugality.

A lot of people don’t seem to understand how credit (or even their own personal finances) works, and surprisingly I used to be in the same boat when I was married. I chock that up to being young and stupid.

When I left my husband, my credit score was 525. Granted that’s somewhere “in the middle” but the reality is, to people looking at your credit, that’s awful. I couldn’t get approved for anything, and I certainly wasn’t going to get approved for a car loan at that point.

Since then however, I’ve been slowly hacking away at my credit, and last I checked it was close to if not 700 or more. And being over 700 is right where you want to be.

I got my start with Capital One, which approved me for a meager $250 credit card a few years ago. I slowly worked up my credit, have an increase to $500 on that particular card, and was approved for another one with my military insurance for $5,500. After building up my credit with both of those cards, I was finally approved for an auto loan and now have my lovely mustang, and my very first new car. All it takes is time, regular payments, and understanding that buying things on credit is never a good idea. I do not buy anything unless I have the money to pay for it. If I don’t, it takes a lot of convincing for me to even consider it.

There are several agencies that claim that they will give you a free credit report. I used one called FreeCreditReport.com once, and while detailed and very use-friendly, it was also a scam, because it wasn’t actually free. And they also enroll you in a $12.95/month credit monitoring service.

Your best bet is to check your credit once a year at annualcreditreport.com, which will check with all 3 major agencies, and it -is- absolutely free.

My next step will be my first mortgage in the next year or two. By then my car should be paid off completely (if not sooner).

And remember, you are never too poor to fix your finances, and make sure you don’t commit the 10 most common mistakes when dealing with credit.

Article Here.

Slowly I run away from meat even more.

Identification Devices are producing a medical ID USB stick which is used to store your name and medical information — including medications, medical history, insurance info, and even living wills. iD does not require special software, and its data can be easily accessed by laptops in emergency vehicles.

This sounds like a great idea, and one I would get for my father if I wasn’t afraid of him losing it. I also wonder about whether this is something that certified professionals will be trained to look for, as I imagine it’s not always going to be out in the open like a medical ID bracelet or necklace.

Another tip I’ve heard spread around the internet lately, in case of emergencies, place a contact in your cellphone under the name ICE (In Case of Emergency), as the person you wish to be contacted. Many folks are trying to make this more mainstream so that medical professionals know to look for it.