Working Assets

I was just looking at my scribbled notes from my phone call to Working Assets Long Distance this morning. I’d had to make a long phone call to someone in France for a case study interview and it occurred to me I should find out how much it’s going to cost me. Turns out it could have cost me a helluva lot at $3 for the first minute and almost $2/minute for each additional. Yikes! But the customer service guy offered to put me on an international plan that will cover it for $3.95 monthly fee then 10¢ per minute, and I can just cancel the plan when I get my next statement, because I very rarely make international calls.

I bring this up because I switched to Working Assets a year or so ago after appalling experiences with AT&T. Worst customer service experiences I’ve had with any company, ever. I don’t even want to get into it. I remembered that I used to have Working Assets years ago and I called them after a final phone conversation with AT&T that left me sputtering with outrage. As a friend of mine likes to say, “I was irate and disgruntled.” The switching experience was delightful. They were a pleasure to deal with. And hey, I got free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for a year! Plus I think 6 months of 60 minutes free long distance. I have two phone lines, one for home and one for business, so that goes double. They also donate money to good causes, and if you’re interested, they have an activism network for progressive causes. Incidentally, it’s also costing me a helluva lot less.

So this is not paid advertising, just my endorsement if you’re ever looking for a long distance provider.

10:48:43 PM      trackback [] 

Dog days

I got to my meeting today and back with a couple of top-off’s of antifreeze, and then over to walk Bibi and back with a couple more top-off’s. Fortunately I didn’t get stuck in any traffic, because it was really hot today. My car is now at my mechanic’s. I’m thinking/ hoping it’s a hose or seal or something. Last year I went through three water pumps until the last one worked. If it’s the water pump again my mechanic will be beside himself.

I got to Marta’s at 4:30 and it had to be 90° still, and humid, so I mainly walked Bibi on the shady path along the pond that Marta’s condo overlooks. The other day we were on the path and workers were raking it, which they have to do regularly to remove all the goose turds. I like geese, but really, do they have to leave so much turd behind? Today, I had to keep pulling Bibi away from the goose turd because she wanted desperately to roll in it. “Nee! Nee!” I said, feeling like one of Monty Python’s Knights Who Say ‘Nee’ – which is the way Marta told me the word “No” in Ukrainian is pronounced. She actually said, “It’s ‘nee’ like the Knights Who Say ‘Nee’.”  Anyway, with “nee” and a strong tug on the leash I managed to dissuade Bibi from her intended pursuit. Dogs can be so disgusting. You know something smells foul if a dog wants to roll in it. Which reminds of the time I was napping with my own dog and when I woke up she sniffed at my breath and tried to roll in it. Seriously. You know your breath is really bad if your dog wants to roll in your mouth.

I have yet more offers of project work. It’s like a fire hose opened up. I’m hoping to get some control over the flow, but still taking almost all of it as it comes. After three years of drought conditions, I have a lot to make up for and I don’t know how long the work will be around. So I’d say I’m working like a dog, but that expression strikes me as hilarious because if it were true I’d be sleeping on the floor all day. Tough life.

9:31:55 PM      trackback []