REMEMBER TO CANCEL YOUR CREDIT CARDS BEFORE YOU DIE

Remember to cancel your credit cards before you die

This is so priceless, and so, so easy to see happening, customer service being what it is today.

A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00 when she died, but now somewhere around $60.00. A family member placed a call to Citibank.

Here is the exchange:

Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you she died back in January.'

Citibank : 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member : 'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.'

Citibank : 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'

Family Member : 'So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

Citibank : 'Either report her account to frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member : 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

Citibank: 'Excuse me?'

Family Member : 'Did you just get what I was telling you - the part about her being dead?'

Citibank : 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'


Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member : 'I'm calling to tell you, she died back in January with a $0 balance.'

Citibank : 'The account was never closed and late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member : 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

Citibank : (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'

Family Member : 'No, I'm her great nephew.' (Lawyer info was given)

Citibank: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Family Member 'Sure.' (Fax number was given )


After they get the fax:

Citibank : 'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'

Family Member : 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. She won't care.'

Citibank: 'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.' (What is wrong with these people?!?)

Family Member : 'Would you like her new billing address?'

Citibank : 'That might help.'

Family Member : '    Odessa   Memorial   Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69.'

Citibank : 'Sir, that's a cemetery!'

Family Member : 'What do you do with dead people on your planet???

GOPHER HOLE

Just when you think it is safe to stick your head out of the gopher hole, here comes a dang lawnmower………………(think about it, you will get it).

 

I was fortunate enough to get an appointment with the free clinic I go to for today, Thursday.  I made the appointment a couple of weeks ago and was able to get off work early enough today to make the appointment.  Of course, I have needed to go anyway, since I am diabetic and hypertensive, but I have also been having a few problems with my health of late.  I won’t go into my problems, but once I got to the clinic, I realized that I wasn’t as bad off as I thought I was.

 

I was early for my appointment, as usual, since I don’t like being late for anything.  There were only a handful of people in the waiting area, and it was nice and cool and quiet.  As soon as the volunteer doctors arrived, they started calling people back.  One lady had gone back as soon as the head nurse came in and hadn’t come back yet.  When she did come out of the room, she sat down in the waiting area, opened her cell phone, made a call and said “Honey, I am still at the doctor’s office.  I am going to have to start taking the ________ (some medication I didn’t know) again.  I am no longer in remission.  Ok, I love you too.”  I don’t know if she meant cancer, but whatever it is that she had has returned, and it appeared to devastate her.  She started tearing up and a woman across from her said “I’m so sorry.  My heart goes out to you.”  Then she got up and gave the crying woman a hug.  (I have a story to tell about the woman who hugged her that I will tell a little later in this entry.)

 

The woman sat and cried a little then went outside and walked around by herself.  I said a prayer for her and her family.  I felt it was the best thing I could do at that moment.

 

I cannot imagine what that moment must have been like for her.  I am sure she has already been through hell and back, and just gets the news she has to take another trip to hell.  If anyone out there in j-land would like to say a prayer for an anonymous woman in the state of Georgia who may or may not be a Christian, please do so.  I believe in the power of prayer, and in miracles.  Thank you.

 

Now, about the woman who hugged this woman who was crying.  She came into the clinic after I did and was a little loud when she spoke to the nurse at the reception desk.  She came over and sat down and I spoke to her, making a short comment about something she had said, and we laughed together.  She got up again and went to the desk and asked the nurse something else and kept bothering her with something the nurse had already said she couldn’t help her with, that she should talk to the doctor about it when she went back.

 

The woman came back and sat down and was talking about how wonderful these people were and how they had saved her life.  Well, this is true.  The concept is great.  And yes, it costs mostly nothing to be seen by a doctor and/or get treatment.  But sometimes the best-laid plans go awry.  I have had numerous problems with the “non-medical” staff that has sometimes caused me medical problems.  Remember when they didn’t order my meds and I was out for several weeks and having panic attacks?  That was an error made by the staff that could have had some serious medical repercussions.  When I mentioned how they often didn’t call you back when they say they will, or call you when you have meds waiting to be picked up, the woman went ballistic on me.  I was trying to explain how, though it IS mostly a volunteer staff and there are different volunteers tending to your case on different days, and errors are made, any organization needs some strict guidelines that guarantee a modicum of responsibility and attention to detail.  Especially when someone’s life or health depends on it.  Even volunteers should be responsible and do things correctly, or they shouldn’t volunteer. 

 

Anywho………..she said that these people were wonderful, and they couldn’t help errors being made and they were doing the best they could.  I mentioned that in Canada they had organized medicine and it seemed to work (even though some Canadians may disagree) and this woman said “well then maybe you should move to Canada, if you don’t mind me saying that”.  Then she said that she didn’t appreciate the way I was talking and was very uncomfortable having that conversation.  I just got up and walked out of the room to the porch and sat down and prayed for my anger and for that woman’s attitude.  When I came back in, another lady said she thought they called me when I went outside.  I asked, and they said they hadn’t.

 

When I came back from seeing the nurse (you have to be triaged before seeing the doctor) the weird woman was talking loudly and kidding around with another woman who sat down beside her, and was hanging all over her and joking with her, asking her her name and shaking her hand.  I more or less took it as a “floor show” just for me.  I could see her in my peripheral vision sneaking peeks at me from time to time to see how I was reacting.  I just ignored her and eventually a husband and wife sitting near me struck up a conversation about good ole southern home cooking and eventually the weirdo went back to be seen by the nurse.  I was then called to see the doctor and didn’t have to face her again.

 

I went in with my concerns and this very attractive young African-American doctor sat down and patiently explained what I possibly had and what he was going to do to try to fix it.  He wrote me orders for several blood tests and I have to go to the Health Dept. for a, um, well, um, pap smear.  I hate doing that, lol.  But it has been many many years since I have done so, and my best friend is the head nurse at the Health Dept., so maybe she can help me cope with it.  The clinic doesn’t refer you and pay for Health Dept. visits anymore, so I have to come up with the money to get the pap done.  The other lab work for my diabetes, cholesterol and other blood tests will be paid for by the clinic.  If the pap smear comes back abnormal, then the clinic will refer me to a GYN for free. 

 

Sooooooooooooooo, my friends, it appears the lawnmower has cut off my head………

 

As for the little white kitten, it hasn’t made an appearance with its sibling and mother, so I can only assume the worst.  I feel badly still, but, as Sybil said, I didn’t have much of a choice. 

 

I cannot believe I have had wifi service for the last 2 days.  Of course, now that I have said that, it will die on me and I will not be able to put this entry into my journal….. I know, I am a pessimist, lol.

 

I would also like to let each of you know that I have been visiting journals and even commenting in some of them in older entries.  Not sure if all alerts went out, but I have been lurking out there, reading your innermost secrets, lol.  With all this mess with the landlord and working, I haven’t had much energy to comment after I read the entry. 

 

I have also joined my local Freecycle.com and it fills my inbox with emails that I have to peruse and respond to or delete.  When I went to bed last night I had 18 emails left.  When I came home tonight and got online, I had 191.  So that is a lot of reading in itself.

 

I will close this entry now, as I am not seeing the screen too well.  Not sure if it is my sugar levels messing with my eyes, or I am just tired. Either way, GOOD NIGHT MY FRIENDS.

STILL KICKING

not sure if i will be allowed to enter this, due to not having a strong wifi signal.  i haven't even HAD a wifi signal for the last couple of weeks.  well, since my last entry.

i am saddened by what i might have done recently.  my wild kitty, gray, had 2 kittens, 1 black with a couple of white spots and one that looked a lot like her, a gray point siamese, but fluffier.  they got under my car one day last week and when i tried to get them out, the momma and black kitten moved out from under the car.  the off white 1 was up in the motor mount, sitting there staring up at me.  i had to go to work so had to do something to try to get the little critter out, so i broke off a leafy bush branch and stuck it down in the motor and swished it around.  no good.  so i did what i didn't want to do.  i started the car and raced the motor.  still no sight of the little brat.  then, i figured there was nothing else i could do, so i started slowly backing out.  as i reached the end of the drive and backed out into the street, i noticed the kitten laying flat on the gravel driveway.  i just knew i had flattened it with my tire.  i pulled the car up the curb and got out and went to check on it.  i didn't run, but raised it's little head.  it's left leg was a bit askew, but didn't appear to be broken.  i lifted the kitten up by the scruff of the neck and took it to the bushes and put it down.  i went to work, narrowly making it on time.

when i got home, the kitten wasn't in the spot where i left it, but i didn't see gray or the black one either.  the next day i saw gray out in the side yard, nursing the black kitten.  the other 1 was nowhere to be seen.  i am afraid i DID hurt the baby and it either died or is laying somewhere not able to walk.  i have looked around the garage where i usually see them, and there is no evidence of a live or dead kitten.  i just hope it is only slightly hurt and will mend.  i am 54 and still cannot stand the thought of losing a little one. 

well, i was off 4 days and went back to work today and am tired.  and i have to work tomorrow and thursday, so i will close here.  hopefully i will be able to send this to my journal.  hope everyone is well and happy.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HUMANITY?

just a brief entry tonight about my visit from my landlord yesterday.

i had set up an appointment with him for august 7 to come over and do an apartment inspection.  he has been trying to do one since the first of june, but he never seems to be able to find the time to get over here.

i had told him i would be available until 4 pm.  i had an appointment in another town about 30 minutes away at 5 pm.  i sit here all day waiting on him, and he drags his butt in at 3:30 pm. 

let me preface this next paragraph with a little note.  i have been purchasing furniture and other items of decor from work since i started working there.  i have more or less placed all the items in piles around the house, due to the fact i haven't been able to get my big furniture out of storage and into the house.  it appears cluttered, but not nasty or dirty.  there is also a leak in the guest bedroom ceiling that prevents me from putting anything on that side of the room, thus, i am limited as to where i can put items.

immediately he said it was extremely cluttered and he didn't know how i was able to get around in there.  he inspected the leak and didn't seem too eager to see about getting it fixed.  he then inspected the kitchen, saying it looked clean.  he walked into the bedroom and was once again "appalled" by the amount of "stuff" in there.  he never even went into the den or bathroom area.  (and he never spotted my fat cat).

while he was in the kitchen, he noticed a box of baked doritoes chips and sunchips.  it is a very large box and is full of snack size bags of chips.  i get them at the food pantry in cases and eat them until we cannot stand them anymore.  then i take the rest to work with me for all the folks there to eat.  he asked me why i had such a large box of chips there.  i told him what i just stated above and asked if he wanted any, and he immediately stated "NO!".  he didn't seem very concerned about the box at that time.  he told me he was going to return in a month to check the status of the "piles of stuff" around the house.

today, when i got home from work, there was a note on my stair post addressed to me.  i won't go into it all, but he was saying he would return on the 28th to recheck the apartment.  then he said "in no way would i have allowed these articles, i.e., materials, food, filled bags and boxes, and other items stored in my home."  SO I AM NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT???!!!!  he has stepped over the line as far as i am concerned.  and i fully intend on telling him so.  i am very thankful to the food pantry for giving us food when we fall short each month on being able to buy groceries outright.  but now i am being told that i cannot have bulk items in my house??!!  i thought we lived in a land of democracy, not dictatorship.  i have to handle this properly or i will end up paying a stiff price.  but i do not intend to let him run over me like this. 

once again i come to you with complaints.  sorry, but i have to vent.

hope everyone else is doing well out there in j-land.

i am boycotting the olympics by not watching them.  my reasons are strictly personal, and i still hope the americans win much gold.  i just won't be watching them do so.  i don't agree with china's policies on many things, as well as how 6000 homes were destroyed to build the "bird's nest".  i also feel the quality of air there is not conducive for any type of sports.

i am currently trying to eradicate the 1000 emails i have amassed, so better return to my chore.