I’m wishing right now I had a chat feature on this site. I did at one time but took it down. I know that Moriah and Janae are right now on the site and I would love it if we could all talk right here. What do you think?

Testing: I put up a quick shout box, let see how it works, if we like it I can tweak the side bar and make it look better, seems like everyone has gone to bed now. Let me know tomorrow if you think we could use this.

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Oh the joys of calling customer service. I’ve endured many struggles in the past. Like the time it took me being on hold for hours on end day after day for more than two months to cancel a certain internet service provider. Or the epic battle with my insurance company where I had to prove that I in fact was now and alway had been a female so they would cover child birth. They were sure I was either committing gender fraud or had at one time had a sex change so they refused to pay for any female related charges.

I’ve learned when calling any form of customer service to document all conversation. Not only does it help in further disputes but it keeps me sane. I’ve even considered recording all conversations. I could start it out by informing them the call is being recorded for quality assurance purposes.

Today my mission is to cancel XM Radio Service.

I will take you on my journey:
11:20 AM 3-9-07 Call to Cancel
Automated Answer

11:25AM 3-9-07
Put on hold, (I’m sure my call is very “important” to them, it shouldn’t take too long)

11:30 still on hold- jazz music playing.

11:32 I realize I can use the ear piece and move about the house.
-Cleanse and moisturize face
- Lose glasses
- Look for glasses
-Find glasses on my head.

11:35 Music stops, silence.
I wait…

11:36 Brian answers. Before I’m able to open my mouth he says he is sorry to inform me but they are experiencing problems with their system and if I would like to call back in two hours they would be more than happy to assist me.

11:37 I hang up, they may have won this round but I’ll be back…

Not too bad so far…we shall see how this one plays out.

UPDATE:

2 hours later:
1:36 Called Kaitlyn Xm’s automated attendent
“Beyond AM beyond Fm…XM Radio”
I forgo options and try hitting 0…it works
‘Listener care reps are currently caring for other listeners…please hold and your call will be…”

1:37 on hold

1:39 silence…

1:40 Melissa (real person) answers. I give her my account #
…waiting…silence…waiting…

1:42 She speaks

Melissa asks for my name, can’t find account, repeats account # to me. No, thats not it; I repeat account # slowly. She finds it. Various random questions confirming information. Most information is old, she’s fine with that and makes no effort to change it.

Melissa asks why I’m calling, I tell her I want to cancel service, she kindly asks why, I kindly explain.

1:44 she transfers me to the cancelation department…
On Hold- Swing Music…

1:48…Various XM ads and info…your call will be answered in the order in which it was received…

1:49 Tom answers an reverifies info.

Very Friendly, asks why I want to cancel, I explain we just don’t use it very often anymore. Offers 2 free months, I say thanks but I’d really like to go ahead and cancel. He says perhaps I should take advantage of 3 free months and asks if I like the service. I adsure him I do like the service and that I am aware of the various genres but I would like to go ahead and cancel. He assures me all I will need to do to cancel would be to call in three months I explain how despite his great service I have already spent 30 minutes today trying to disconnect this time so I’d better get it done now, especially since I’ve already been putting it off for 6 months.

1:53 service cancelled.

Not too bad XM. I accomplished my goal in only 2 phone calls and at no time did I feel like weeping. I’ll give them a low A.

That only took 34 minutes, Man! I should have taken the 3 free months, it would have been worth another 3o minutes to me. Do you think I should call Tom back?

Oh, and on another note, does anyone want to buy my radio?

With nothing to write today, I was wondering what I had to say this time last year. Still relevant today; this is what I found:
Cracked Heels, Dry Hearts…again.

Living in such a dry climate I have a terrible time with dry skin.

Do any of you have this problem? My feet are the worse; it doesn’t help when I walk around bare foot all the time. I also love to wear sandals. I love to sneak over to Mom’s house and borrow her newest pair.

Until all of a sudden it happens: cracked and calloused my feet cry out to me for help. Not attractive at all I hide them in embarrassment. They look awful and to top off the unlovely appearance they hurt! When did this happen? How did I not notice till now? I go out and purchase the most nourishing lotion I can find then I tenderly nurse them back to health by applying the salve morning, noon and night. I also make myself wear shoes or at least socks through out the day, to protect my feet from the harmful environment. The pain I experience with each step reminds me of how important it is to moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. I follow this regiment faithfully until I get my feet presentable again, until they are “sandal worthy”. It generally takes a week till I can bare my toes with pride. Awh, it feels so good when I get them back nice and smooth.

But then I forget. Somewhere in there I forget. I start by reducing the lotion applications. “I’m running late, skipping this once won’t hurt.” Right? Then I bare my feet, kicking off my shoes each time I step in the door. Who needs shoes anyway? No big deal.

Then with out any notice at all (or so I think) I look down one morning and realize I’m back where I started with rough, dry feet, cracked and not at all up to being displayed in a strappy sandal. Why do I do this? Why do I ignore the signs, surely my skin doesn’t dry up instantly. Why don’t I just take the time to nourish my skin like I know I should? If I only would spend a bit of time a day it wouldn’t be such a big deal. A quick application of lotion after I got out of the shower and maybe one before bed would suffice. But no, I ignore, I put off, I make excuses.

I do this with other things as well; with prayer and Bible study. If I consistently do these each day my heart stays soft and supple; I’m growing, learning, actually being nice to people. Then I skip a morning because I wake up late. After you skip the first time it’s easier to skip the second and then the third. Till all of a sudden I look down and realize my heart is dry, cracked and calloused. I look awful! Grouchy, grumpy, snappy, snotty and to top off the unlovely outward appearance, it hurts! When did this happen? How did I not notice till now? Surely there were signs, why do I ignore them?

And so I go into moisturize mode. I go back to spending time with the Father, sitting at his feet each day; reading my Bible, listening to his word. I also go back to protecting my heart, covering my life with prayer and keeping it safe from the harmful environment. In no time I’m getting things back together. I’m actually easier to live with and I’m able to fulfill my purpose.

How easy it is to forget to nourish our hearts, to spend time with the living word, with the living God. Why do we do this? Why wait till it hurts, till we’re ugly and hard? I don’t know. But I do know that when we find ourselves in this predicament we can fix it. Hopefully we’ll learn a lesson, we’ll stop making excuses stop forgetting to take care of things and if we do forget again, maybe we’ll see the signs sooner and turn back before it hurts.

Maybe we can help each other. If you see me getting dry and cracked, please remind me to moisturize.

Here’s —>the original post with comments.