Just One of "Those Days!"

Ever have one of those days when it seems nothing wants to go right for you? They pop up now and again - usually fairly randomly too, thank goodness. But today, it seems was one of those days for me.

First -I've been trying for almost three weeks to speak to someone with Verizon - my telephone company - about paying my bill online. I had set up an account back in April to do that and about two weeks later, my bank sent me a new bank card, with a new expiration date - also a new three digit code too on the back -but everything else on it was the same as before, same account number, name, etc. I went into "my account" on the Verizon set-up and was able to change the expiration date, but it wouldn't let me do anything to change that pesky three digit code so therefore, when my bill came due, I couldn't pay it online.

I had called the phone company then - after a lot of searching to find a number in which you could call and actually speak to a real person ya know. They in turn, gave me the number for their "tech support" - which number by the way, is not listed on the online bill nor is it on any paper copies of phone bills either! So I tried to call that number several times and each time I would wait and wait and wait for someone to answer, but to no avail.

Today, I really had to get this resolved because it was the last day to pay before I would be getting a third month's billing added to it!

I didn't even try today to call anyone - just went online and after much searching, finally found a way to get the darned set up to change all the data on my account and then was able to pay the freaking bill! Things like that really annoy me! A choice example of technology supposedly helping us but yet, making things just a tad more difficult!

Then, since I had some success with the phone company an my issues with them, I decided to tackle the problems with my internet provider - try to see if they could explain why for the past 10-12 days - at least - my e-mail has been returning mail to some senders with a message that my e-mail is closed "due to inactivity." When the heck this "inactivity" took place is beyond me because my computer is online almost 24/7! Go figure.

Well, two days ago the provider, after I had sent an e-mail complaint to them, they had responded asking me to please send them a copy of the e-mail that had been returned due to inactivity. Now, talk about a stupid request - that one takes the cake! How the heck can I send them a copy of an e-mail I never received because they had returned it to the sender, marking it undeliverable, due to "inactivity" of my account?

I explained that -again - to the techie guy and this clown thought I was referring to "undeliverable" messages in my webmail that my e-mail software either won't bring over from the webmail or Peoplepc.com decides it doesn't want to send them through - I dunno the answer there either. Anyway, these are messages with attachments that get dumped into an undeliverable box because they are over 1mb in size. (And no matter what setting I put on my e-mail settings, it still can't or won't pull these through and they have to be opened then in the webmail, which I had because I hate the way it handles attachments!) I know, picky, picky, huh?

Well anyway, back to the "inactivity" problem - the tech guy monkeyed around a while, kept me on hold for a good 3-5 minutes while he said he was "checking things out" and when he came back to me, his explanation for the problems I'd been having was that my spaminator level was set at too high a detection level and he had lowered that and now, presto-magic, all should be operating fine and dandy! Frankly, I don't see how the spaminator level could have caused my e-mail to return mail to the senders saying my account was closed due to "inactivity" but if you say so buster, I'll take you at your word for the time being anyway!

After all that took place, a lady from one of the yahoo groups I belong to happened to post some questions she had about spam and how she was currently getting slammed with all kinds of dating service ads in the spam and I, feeling quite cocky, put up a post about my provider being basically a piece of crap but I did have to give them high marks for the anti-spam stuff they have in play because if I am lucky, the most spam I would generally get -that would slip by - in a month, was about maybe 6-8 pieces. Remind me never to say anything nice again about Peoplepc.com, will ya?

After having put that post up on our message boards, suddenly I started gett e-mail and what was it? Freaking SPAM! So far tonight, I have received around 15 pieces of SPAM - more than I generally would get in a two month time period!

So, what do I do now? Do I go back to Peoplepc.com and tell them to re-elevate my spaminator levels, not get the spam but run the risk of people sending me stuff and the provider sends it back marked as undeliverable - due to "inactivity?" Or do I contend with the damned SPAM, just deep six it as it comes in and be grateful that my e-mail is coming through to me!

Why can't I have the best of both worlds ya know - no SPAM and get my e-mail meant to come to me too?

ARRGH! What the heck is a USER to do anyway?

Tonight though - just to prove that my e-mail is working ok on the outbound message service, I sent 86 photos through to a cousin of mine for her to use in a family DVD of photos she is putting together for our family reunion to be held on June 23rd over at DelGrosso's (formerly Bland Park) in Tyrone, PA! Bet she was happy to get all that incoming mail, huh?

And, now, in closing for today - here's some Bushism for you - that will carry you through the weekend, just in case your e-mail gets blocked after tonight or mine does and no one can get any e-mail in or out!

For Thursday, June 7, 2007

"Part of the facts is understanding we have a problem, and part of the facts is what you're going to do about it." Kirtland, Ohio; April 15, 2005.

Friday, June 8, 2007
"A tax cut is really one of the anecdotes to coming out of an economic illness." - on The Edge with Paula Zahn; September 18, 2000

and finally - for Saturday and Sunday - June 9th and 10th, 2007
"I think it's very important for world leaders to understand that when a new administration comes in, the new administration will be running the foreign policy." Interview with USA Today; January 12, 2001

No lie, DUBYA! Great display of 'correct' grammar in the first Bushism for June 7th. And, how about the line for the weekend - isn't that just a wonderful piece of news to learn that with a new administration, we will get that "new administration" running foreign policy too? And silly me, I thought maybe the Clinton administration would just stay on and run the foreign policy, didn't I? Sure I did, didn't you? Apparantly DUBYA must have been surprised to learn they wouldn't though or why else would he make an idiotic statement then like that one? Don't answer that, Tomcat!!!