October 25, 2004

• Ahhhh….
  What a relief!

  I just looked at my latest credit card bill online.  They’d
  considerately sent me an email notice that it was ready.  How
  sweet they are.

  That I owe them money isn’t the cause of my relief.  I’m relieved
  that there are no charges on the bill this month that I have to
  dispute.  I’m getting really tired of bogus charges.  I
  suppose that’s the cost of doing business online and having my numbers
  out there to be plucked by the scam artists.  They’re usually
  small amounts, and the credit card company is fast and polite about
  crediting me for them, but making those phone calls can be a pain.

  It’s
  usually the same:  the charge on my bill lists some name I don’t
  recognize and a toll-free number.  I try to call the number and
  get a recording telling me the call can’t be completed.  Then I
  have to call my credit card company.

  When I was telling Greyfox about the latest crop, he suggested that
  there are many people who would just disregard a $9.95 or $19.99 charge
  on their bill, either because they didn’t read the itemized statement
  or assumed it was something they’d authorized and forgot, or because it
  was small and not worth their bother.  I’ve learned that if it’s
  under $10, the credit card company just writes it off and doesn’t
  bother with the disputed charge routine.  Probably costs them more
  to chase it down than it’s worth.  Maybe there would be a
  lucrative career in that somewhere, if I  had the skills and the
  inclination.

  While
  I was writing my first paragraph above, I noticed the rising sun
  lighting the new snow outside, and went out to capture the light. 
  I should have put on a coat, and maybe some socks  I got a little
  chilled out there in my pajamas — it’s thirteen degrees
  Fahrenheit.  My fingers are still cold, the snow that got into my
  right boot hasn’t all melted yet, and my breathing is just about back
  to normal.   But I caught some great light, anyway.

  Doug has just gotten up.  I’ve been up for a while, packing up a
  necklace to mail to Kansas and sending emails to Kansas and Canada
  about the transaction.  Neither of us has had breakfast yet, and
  for me the blood sugar is overdue.  It’s okay, I’m almost through
  here.  He assured me upon my query that he wouldn’t cook breakfast
  for us both, so instead of having him fix himself a Hot Pocket or a
  pizza, I’m going to cook oatmeal for us when I’m done with this.

  He
  has to shovel out the car, load it with water jugs and buckets (unload
  the summer tires and put them in the cabin if he hasn’t done that yet)
  and get ready for the water run later today.  We must get water
  today, so he can wash dishes tomorrow.  Isn’t that fine motivation
  for shoveling snow, though?

  

  • 2:29 pm
  • 6 Comments