Yukon Chatter Bug

We purchased a bell prepaid calling card last summer during our travels across Canada. When we tried to add money on it using their online site, our PIN, for some reason, would not be recognized as valid. We called the toll-free number on the back of the card, were told that the glitch was fixed, and added money to the card while we were on the phone.

Just a couple of weeks ago, we tried again to add money to the card online (even though it still had a $9 balance) and ran into the same problem as before, so again, I called the toll-free number. After explaining the problem:

Lady: Did you try closing and re-opening your browser?

Me: The problem isn’t with my browser but with your online system because we’ve had the same problem before using a different computer.

Lady: Is your card expired?

Me: I doubt it because I just checked the balance by calling your other toll-free number and I still have a $9 balance.

Snotty Lady: That’s not what I asked Ma’am. Is your card expired?

Me: (hair starts to stand on back of neck; turns card upside-down, inside-out) I don’t see an expiry date anywhere on the card.

Snotty Lady: No Ma’am, I’m the one who has to check to see if your card is expired.

Me: (Thinking, So why the hell are you asking ME if the card is expired? Idiot! TWICE! GGRRR…) Okay, so is my card expired? I hope not as I still have a balance on it. (Now I’m starting to get annoyed with her snotty attitude.)

Lady: No, your card’s not expired. Let me just check something…..no, everything looks fine with your PIN. I don’t know why you can’t use our online system. I can do this over the telephone for you.

Me: Okay, except that I’d really like to eventually be able to do it online. Is there any way you can contact your techie people?

Snotty Lady: (interrupts) Ma’am it’s 10pm here (or whatever time it was), there are no other people…

Me: (interrupts) I don’t mean right this minute. Could you arrange to let them know, at your convenience?…there may be others with the same problem.

Snotty Lady: (starts rattling off another toll-free number for ME to call during their techie people’s business hours)

Me: No, I’m asking if YOU could somehow let them know there’s a problem here.

Snotty Lady: There’s no way I can do that…

Me: (Incredulous) You mean you don’t have access, even by e-mail, to your techie people?

Snotty Lady: No Ma’am, I mean that you’re the one who has to call…

I hung up.

I’m tired Bell. I’m just tired of your crappy service. Kind of like when you inform me through a text message on my cell phone that I’m eligible for a credit to be used toward a new mobile phone. Curious, I called and learned that I have a $200 credit that I can use toward a new phone and plan.

I go to one of the Bell distributors (right term?) in town with a techie friend and yup, I have a $200 credit. After inquiring about the i-Phone with all its bells and whistles, I ask how much.

$200 for the cost of the phone (reduced from $500-600 – can’t remember the ridiculous amount).

Okay, so I’m ready to jump on when I confirm with the girl that, after using my $200 credit, then I don’t have to pay anything upfront for the phone right?

“No Ma’am, you still have to pay $200 (actually, I think it was $199) for the cost of the phone.”

Me: What about my $200 credit?

Lady: You’re already getting  a reduced rate for the phone. Its full cost is $some ridiculous amount.

We learn that the so-called reduced rate I’m being offered is the same one offered to new Bell customers. I was under the impression that my $200 credit had to do with customer loyalty. I have had a cell phone plan for several years now with a contract that has long expired. They want to keep this Bell customer, they want this Bell customer to get into another 3 or 4 year contract, so they offer this Bell customer a credit toward a new phone (and contract). Clever!

Except when this Bell customer decides to use her $200 credit, it completely disappears. WTF?

Thank you Bell. I’ll leave you to what you do best, and I’ll be on my way.

What do French toast, waffles, deviled eggs, smoked salmon artichoke dip, apple cider, moose juice, crackers, French bread, and fried sausage have in common? (Oops, I forgot the delicious baked beans and the marshmallow desserts.)

Five bloggers (Michael’s Meanderings, Fawnahareo’s Place, Yukon Jen, What He Said, and moi), two sweet peas (Jade and Halia), two papas, and a mama at the Urban Yukon Bloggy Brunch!

Thank you, Yukon Jen, for organizing this year’s brunch. It was nice to meet new faces and share some good food. I guess next time it’ll be our turn to host.

Quick Update: I linked the recipe I used for the dip.

It’s c-c-c-cold these days, but the mutt still needs her regular exercise (as I do). Last spring, I purchased a harness for us to try bikejoring, which Smidgen seemed to take to quite naturally, so I thought I’d try it with my skis.

I’m not yet stable on my skis (aka falling a lot), so I decided to start out at Chadburn Lake where there are one-way trails and less people to run into (aka injure).

As you know, daylight time is short at this time of year in the Great White North, so if I don’t get off my butt early enough, I miss the window of opportunity. Because I didn’t get going until 1 or 1:30 yesterday, I couldn’t venture too far and ended up in the subdivision being built next to Arkell, a place that used to be part of a beautiful trail where I walked my dog.

Oh, and did I mention that it’s much more fun on skis?

Although the sky was cloudy, you could still get a glimpse of Grey Mountain in the distance. Of course, Smidgen kept wanting to go toward Dave who was taking the photos:

“Are you a sleeper?” Michael Kersterton asked this question in his column of the December 31st Globe and Mail, Should You Be Out? He was referring to how people chime in the New Year.

You see, this New Year’s Eve, I sat at home curled up next to my hubby watching episodes of 30 Rock, a nightly ritual of ours. I couldn’t keep my eyes open long enough to do the countdown, so we went to bed and turned on the radio to hear the sketch comedy The Irrelevant Show where I just couldn’t keep up despite its hilarious description:

…You’ll hear the National Pronunciation Bee, which is much easier than the spelling bee, but just as dramatic. Plus a helpline for people who can’t stop imitating William Shatner and George Takei, and a relaxation cd that screams at you…

Needless to say, I went to sleep only to rouse for the last three numbers of the countdown, gave my hunny a quick NYE kiss, and was konked out before the end of Auld Lang Syne. A sign of hitting my 40th this past year?

That article I mentioned from The Globe?

Tonight, some Canadians will be sound asleep while others are out celebrating midnight and the start of a new year. When should you be ready to admit to middle age and join the sleepers? …

Blerg!