The Vent and Rant Thread

[Hemmi]

And why won't the merchant just credit my $2.50 when they admit they can find no record of the purchase? I'm not faxing you anything, my credit card can take care of you and your lousy $2.50.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hemmi

I want to dispute a $2.50 charge on my credit card. WHY do I have to call to do that????

So they can verify you are you.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Hitch, maybe you need to ask clients "what direction do electrons spin on your planet".
http://www.askamathematician.com/201...-way-is-right/

I caved in and did another TeamViewer today. I just can't take the endless chain of emails any longer. It's like..."Ve haff vays to make you see das files. Surrender, or I vill exterminate you." I mean...ENOUGH, already!

Spoiler:

n.b. Greek guy is back. After all that, he wants to know why he doesn't see his book up on Amazon? AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I've had fun with similar concepts in the past, because just about everything is relative to something else. What happens when there is no something else to be relative to?

Troo. If you all disappeared...well, no, I'd still be old.

If you were magically transported to an empty universe, where you were the only thing in it that existed, the question of precisely where you were would be meaningless. So would how fast you were going if if you were in a spacecraft and gunned the engines to move, and the direction in which you were moving. (The fact that you were moving would have to be taken on faith, because there would be no way to measure and prove it.)

I dunno. I'd probably like to know, just in case I ever had the opportunity to move in some other (relative) direction. :-)

But in Hitch's case, I'd stick to color of sky. Electron spin would be rather beyond the client's knowledge.
______
Dennis

In my case, I think that ...you know I can't think of anything. (I GOTTA find a replacement for my assistant. I'm turning into a vegetable with lack of sleep.)


Hitch

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I caved in and did another TeamViewer today. I just can't take the endless chain of emails any longer. It's like..."Ve haff vays to make you see das files. Surrender, or I vill exterminate you." I mean...ENOUGH, already!

Spoiler:

n.b. Greek guy is back. After all that, he wants to know why he doesn't see his book up on Amazon? AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Troo. If you all disappeared...well, no, I'd still be old.



I dunno. I'd probably like to know, just in case I ever had the opportunity to move in some other (relative) direction. :-)



In my case, I think that ...you know I can't think of anything. (I GOTTA find a replacement for my assistant. I'm turning into a vegetable with lack of sleep.)


Hitch

Does your assistant need to be local to you?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Does your assistant need to be local to you?

NO, praise jesus and pass the ammunition. Most of my "crew" actually don't have to. The bookmakers by and large are contract, working a book at a time, so to speak.

Spoiler:

(The telecommuting allows me to hire folks that otherwise couldn't take the job. As a Vet, I like to hire my brothers and sisters that served, that maybe can do this job, but couldn't get a regular gig if they had to drive, dress-up, etc. I had a guy with Asperger's, same thing. Helps them, helps me.)

In fact, the 4 folks currently on the interview schedule are, lessee, one in San Salvador, a young lady in the Carribean, an Italian gentleman (who is grossly overqualified, but, he's multilingual and that's always a plus here), and a lovely lady in Sydney, AUS.

It's really not that I have a dearth of folks. It's the training period that sort of makes me almost rather keep up the 16+ hour days, rather than bite the bullet and hire/train someone. :-)

Although I've spent a lifetime with pretty fabulous working stamina, I've reached the point at which I now fade earlier, and I can't do those marathon weeks/months, like I used to, not at ALL. When I look back at how little sleep I got, on a major 5-star hotel that I built a few decades back...while also doing domestic stuff...I seriously wonder how the hell I did it. Now, the idea of facing the damn grocery store makes me want to take a nap, LOL!

All that just means that unbelievably, it's just now only a WEEK since she had her last day. I'd say that I'd be surprised if I last at this pace for another. I'll break down and try someone first. That's my best guesstimate of what will occur. (And then...it'll take me a month to train 'em. [deep sigh]). The only thing I truly hope for is that they don't last just long enough to get trained, but also long enough to decide that they don't need to take this crap (from our clientele). They ALL burn out, eventually--bookmakers, admin, etc.--but I hope that this one will last as long as the last (just on 3 years). Don't misunderstand--I don't allow the clients to abuse them, not at all. It's just...it's a wearing business, it really is.

I've retained a GUI and forms expert, to help us try to simplify everything, to make it easier for the clients to help themselves, I guess. Or to make what we hand out less confusing, or...whatever. Maybe that, plus some other things I'm doing will make it easier to work here. shrug.

We'll see.

Hitch

[Blossom]

Hitch. From a wife of a Vet. Thank you for helping our Veterans. I would think if they can work from home. There would be many applying for the job. I hope you find the perfect person for the position.

Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

You desperately need to call for an energy assessment. It is obvious from your kw usage and the size of your apartment that you are either paying someone else's bill or you are paying for the entire building. Something is very wrong. Or you are burning incandescent lights and running both heaters and the stove almost non-stop.

I opened the fridge today. Everything on the second shelf is frozen. I turn down the settings. I suspect it may be the culprit.

Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

This isn't really a rant and yet it is. As of today all bills for January are paid. *big happy sigh* 6 days till February bills start coming due. It never stops does it? I wish I could hit a pause button and have at least a two week breather.

Sent from my XT1528

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I opened the fridge today. Everything on the second shelf is frozen. I turn down the settings. I suspect it may be the culprit.

That will help, but I very much doubt it's the problem. I don't know what make/model you have, or what its power consumption might be, but I can't imagine it alone would cause the usage you are being billed for.

It looks very much like you are paying for someone else's usage as well as your own, and the wiring to your apartment needs to be checked. This is something your utility should do for you. You might find their rates outrageous, but they will want to bill you for your actual usage, and if you say "This is what I have, and this is what I am getting billed for. I cannot understand how what I have can generate the usage on my bill. Please check my wiring!", they should. (If they balk at doing so, a compliant to your state utility commission is in order.)

If they check and discover you are getting billed for someone else's usage as well as your own, you ought to be able to get a refund on the amount incorrectly billed.
______
Dennis

[pdurrant]

I'm not sure if US domestic electrical supplies are the same, but all UK ones have a meter showing electricity consumption. To check whether the power is going somewhere it shouldn't, just turn off all your electrical devices and see if the meter is still counting up.

[Hemmi]

I was sick just a couple of weeks ago. Why do I have to be sick again? It's not like I can stay home from work and wallow in my misery.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

That will help, but I very much doubt it's the problem. I don't know what make/model you have, or what its power consumption might be, but I can't imagine it alone would cause the usage you are being billed for.

Well... at some older people I know, they happily keep using their old appliances, and have family members order incandescent light bulbs over the internet. Selling them in the EU has been prohibited since 2009, but through a loophole, webshops can still import them from China and sell them.

So, you get two elderly people, in a house with 40+ year old appliances and when they flick a light switch, 3-6 100W light bulbs will be drawing power. It's also the generation where 'more watts = better'.

I wouldn't be surprised if Blossom, in view of her current situation, has some older appliances around that saddle her with a huge bill. (I can't speak about the rates, because they're different here.)

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I opened the fridge today. Everything on the second shelf is frozen. I turn down the settings. I suspect it may be the culprit.

Sent from my XT1528

It may be part of the problem but unless it is a 1970's era refrigerator, not that much.
Out of curiosity, can you see what brand it is?
Also see what temperature your water heater is set on.
And call the electric company. If it is their error, you may not have to pay those previous bills off.

Just from what little I have read about where you are living, I have some suspicions.
Not a fantastic neighborhood, landlord doesn't want to invest any money, looks like things have been jerry-rigged, (I may have misspelled that), rent cheaper than nearly everywhere else, etc.
My suspicion is that the owner is counting on the landlord to rent to desperate people who won't question a high electric bill or like you will just think it is the rates.

My guess is they have common stuff rigged to your apartment or maybe they have the meters labeled wrong.


There is no telling what you are paying for. Even my old 40 year old dryer didn't use that many kw and it was no where near energy-efficient. An electric dryer uses way more kw than a refrigerator.

Look the check is free so why the procrastination?

[Blossom]

I did call Ameren this morning. They said they see nothing out of the ordinary. My bill is pretty average which is why they have so many assistance programs in place. She hinted there is some formula they use so the actually energy used is added with that forumla then you are charged. I kind of knew this as my mom's bill is Sky high and growing up here people always complain about the electric company being rip off artists So even if your bill says actual reading it's not.

Union Electric now Ameren has always baffled my mind.

Sent from my XT1528

[Katsunami]

"We use some sort of formula and then add the energy you've used." That sounds ridiculous, as if they don't know themselves how their bills are calculated. I'd never accept that.

"Your bill looks quite average, ma'am." Yeah, and if there are "so many" people who need assistance in paying an average bill, it means you're hugely expensive; something that can only happen if you are either a monopolist or there are multiple companies forming a price cartel.