Please hold...your call is very important to us....

I hate that sentence because it means one thing...I'm on hold and they don't give a damn how long it takes. I had a slight problem with Verizon (apparently you have to pay your phone bills now and I was a bit overdue...oops...I have my priorities and Verizon certainly isn't one of them...although their call would be very important to me.) Anyway, I think they've disconnected which means I have to go through this whole thing all over again...Crap! I'm telling you now, today is certainly not a customer service day anywhere. While in Nashville, we picked up product in one showroom where the items are tiny and you fill a basket, drop it off on Saturday and go back Sunday and pick your stuff up and pay for it. It's a great system, so we did that, went back Sunday, paid for it and left. When I was pricing the stuff in Nashville I knew there was stuff in the bag which didn't look paid for (it wasn't on the bill)...but I thought perhaps Sara had gone back on her own and the show was over so what was I to do. I waited until we got home, unpacked all of Nashville (I forgot about the bag and until we unearthed it again)...and asked Sara is she had gone back and written a 2nd check...which she did not. So yesterday I e-mailed the company and explained that we had not been charged for several items...and then I listed the amounts of each item and the item #. I ended with, just send me a bill and I'll take care of it. (Hopefully they haven't been in touch with Verizon). Anyway, today I get a call and they say, "We got your e-mail, and we have no record of this. " DUH, sort of why I e-mailed you! I said in my nice voice, "Yes, that's why I contacted you...so I could pay you for the items that we received that were not paid for." She repeated, "We don't show that." HELLO!!! Am I speaking with a machine or a person here? So then I said, "Well, things were very hectic in your showroom, there were 3 of us at one time pulling things, and clearly what happened is you didn't look at the 2nd side of the tally sheet. You only billed us for the items on the first side." To which she said, "You have a tally sheet." I answered, "Yes, unless I threw it away..but I probably still have it by the looks of my desk." Actually to my credit it was filed in the proper place stapled to the invoice...yes, I'm trying to get organized. So she says, "I will need the tally sheet, please fax it to us." You know, there was never a oh, how nice that you would be so honest and not keep our merchandise without paying for it, because you know...no one would have known. I could have kept these items and just figured it was a win win for me...free goods to sell, but being a Christian and knowing I've been given several breaks from God, and knowing it won't be long before I'll be seeing him I figure at this time of my life I need all the brownie points I can get. But I have to say, they have made it more of a pain in my ass than I had anticipated. I'm not sure why, when they had nothing, they weren't thrilled to have someone say, I owe you money, and just tell me how much. Anyway, I've sent the tally sheet along with a memo asking them what the heck the problem is. All I'm trying to do is give them money....hello!!!! Now, back to Verizon...first I talked to the machine who apparently hung up on me...and then I called back and refused to speak with the machine so they had to put a rep on. Now might I add, she was pleasant and took the information I gave her...I actually paid on line (love on line pay) and she couldn't have been nicer...she enjoyed getting my money...I need her to call the other company and tell them how they should act. I'm sure the other company is now wondering how many other people went out without paying fully....perhaps there is a glitch in their Nashville system. Although we do this everyyear and this is the first time we've walked away with so much as one thing they didn't charge us for. Nashville...just keeps coming back to haunt me. Merchandise is still dribbling in....it's like Christmas all over again. I love getting boxes. Stitched like a demon last night and got to the last part of the section and was one row off because I forgot to move everything down a row to compensate for an earlier mistake...crap! crap! crap! So tonight I'll be redoing a few things, no big deal though because I will get this block done tonight. And then it's on to STU and then once that's done I have to wait for the rest of the alphabet to be designed and shipped. So I'll no doubt be moving on the finished the Mermaids piece...and then...oh, my God...I get to start a new project, my heart is beating a mile a minute at the prospect. I know we're all experiencing the warm weather today..it's it beautiful...sunny, still cooler here than where you are, but lovely none the less. I feel spring is right around the corner...clocks spring forward this week...you just know I'm going to forget and miss church...a couple of years ago that happened, almost. I got to church thinking it was 7:50 a.m., thought there were a lot of cars, but still I wasn't thinking anything was amiss, then as I'm going through Dewees Hall and people were in the Kitchen I thought, how unusual, everyone got up early today...and then when I got upstairs, just outside the santuary I heard voices and though, uh-oh...something is not right...so I peek inside, see that the Bishop (who was visiting for the day) was giving his sermon. I thought...I'll just go in quietly, sit in the back pew, and no one will be the wiser. I sit alright, however, the Bishop stopped the sermon and says, "Well, welcome to church, we assume you overslept." I was like a deer in headlights. He then came down the aisle, shook my hand, with our minister at his heels smiling and doing the same thing...so much for my sneaking in. What made matters worse.....I had just been elected to the Diocesan Finance Committee, however, the Bishop had not met me up to this point. I figured I was still in the clear on that because he wouldn't remember by the time we had a meeting several months later. Unfortunately, I snuck out after the service and while at the Bishop's reception after the service Bishop Shand asked Father David to introduce him to Sally Rutka, the new appointee....yea I heard about this for months. Father David said, "you already met her, she was the one sneaking into the service late." What's amazing about this is I came from the era where you arrived early, never on time, slidding in as the clock struck the hour, I have always been anywhere I had to be 1/2 - 1 hr. early. You never know when you will have to call a tow truck, fix a flat tire (does anyone actually do that anymore, etc.) so I've always started out early. For the Diocesan meetings which are 1 1/2 hr. away, I usually arrive 1 hr early. They make fun of me because I'm so early, but I prefer to be prepared. So to forget the time change, especially with the Bishop there...well, it still haunts me (obviously). On the other hand, I can use it as a excuse to skip church (do you suppose God would know?) I'm sure my conscious will get the better of me and I'll be sitting there in my usual spot. It's it strange...an hour of stitching is over before I know it, but an hour of church feels like a long hour. What's that about? Have a great evening stitching...talk to you tomorrow..maybe.