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After getting no sense of satisfaction, and fearing threat they would wreck her good credit, my wife also wrote to the collection agency on February 6, with a copy to the PSC, fully documenting the debacle of their billing process. A day later, we got a letter from the PSC saying, essentially that they were going to aggressively look into this matter. In a letter dated February 10, Verizon wrote:

“Thank you for the opportunity to address your concern regarding the above account. This letter is to confirm that the above mentioned telephone number is satisfied in full.” It also noted the collection agency was notified, that we’d have no derogatory notice on our credit report and that we could call them if we had questions.

Finally.

Subsequently, we’ve gotten letters from Verizon asking us to come back, even offering us $25 to return. $25? A few years back, phone companies were offering us twice that, THRICE that to switch. No thanks.

Meanwhile, we need to get a couple cell phones. (Wait a minute: did I write “cell phones” and “need to get” in the same sentence? What’s happened to me?) OK, we OUGHT to get a couple cell phones; the troubles I’ve had getting home from the new work place have convinced me of the efficacy of doing so. The last time we had cell phones, we had Verizon, we didn’t use them all that much, probably 3 or 4 times a week max, and it was costing us WAY too much, maybe $70-$80/month.

And I’ve been peeved about how Verizon capitulated so easily in this NSA thing, though I’ve read that they said they did resist.

When I went down to my first conference this month down in Catskill, I was going to use someone’s cell phone, with service provided by Cingular. Unfortunately, the phone didn’t work. The only phones that were functional there were those that had services provided by…Verizon.

So, what does one do? Get one of those “per call” phones? And Allah knows I don’t want to spend a fortune on the phones themselves. What does someone who wants to have two phones but for emergency use only want to get?

Know that if we DO get cell phones, I won’t be giving out the number except to my spouse, and maybe my child’s daycare. My need to be available 24/7 is virtually nil. I don’t want to become one of those cell phone users who utter the words, “Oh, I have to take this call.”

At some level, I have some contempt for cell phones, or is it the users? Three out the last four times I almost got hit by a car at a street corner, it was with the driver’s ear in the cell phone. New York State’s anti-cell ban is ineffectual, as it is unenforceable. So, I feel as though I’m going over to the dark side.

Thanks to Tosy for pointing out The Futon Critic. Thanks also to Tom the Dog, who has previewed all the new shows on his blog (May 16-19), so I don’t have to.

Mondays
10PM What About Brian? – I started watching this soap opera on a lark last season and decided I liked it enough to give it another go. Saw the final episode of THIS season only yesterday.

Tuesdays
8PM – Gilmore Girls – As if you didn’t know, though Friday Night Lights is interesting enough of a concept to tape at least once.
9PM I’m curious enough about Let’s Rob to at least watch it once. Mick Jagger?
10PM Boston Legal – with more ex-Star Trek people than any cast on TV right now. And haven’t watched the last two-hour episode of this season.

Wednesdays
Nothing. Oh, I might try a show or two – mostly likely 30 Rock – but nothing is yet must see.

Thursdays
8PM My Name Is Earl – Both my wife and I are very fond of this show.
8:30PM The Office – and also this one. STILL haven’t seen the last two episodes of either of these programs.
9PM Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip – Is anyone who is a TV junkie NOT anticipating this?
9PM Grey’s Anatomy – The joy of being able to record two shows at once, since it’s choir night and I’m unlikely to see either one in real time. Three episodes to go this season.

Fridays
Nothing.

Saturdays
Definitely nothing.

Sundays
7PM Everybody Hates Chris – all the new shows I added this year have male names (Brian, Earl, Chris) – what is the significance of that? One episode to go this season.
7PM 60 Minutes – three episodes to watch.
8PM The Simpsons
8PM NFL Football, if the game is interesting, especially later in the season.
10PM Brothers & Sisters – here’s where I agree with Tosy about Ally McBeal enough to try this Calista Flockhart-starring vehicle.

The Senate’s largely meaningless gesture to designate English as the national language seemed designed more to be able to tell the folks at home about how they’ve “stood up for America”, because the bill wouldn’t alter multilingual ballots, signage, or government websites, nor should it. Next thing you know, they’ll be an official muffin.

I find that white noise sometimes helps. In my new office, they have white noise, which is supposed to prevent us from hearing other conversations. It doesn’t, but it does make me sleepy. Unfortunately, our country has not adopted the concept of the siesta, and being in a cubicle, I can’t take a cat nap.

The idea of the nap used to be foreign to me, but lately, one a weekend can get me through the next week.

I find pills don’t really help, even the prescription stuff such as Ambien, but Nyquil often does. But I don’t want to become habituated to it, especially if I’m not sick.

The other thing that helps somewhat is heavy breathing (no, not that – get your mind out of the gutter), filling my lungs as much as possible then exhaling slowly.

Lately Lydia has been experiencing something similar. Like me, she generally falls asleep, but then wakes up in the middle of the night.

So my questions, if you would be so kind to answer:

Do you, or have you suffered from insomnia? For how long? Under what circumstances (stress caused by a particular event, e.g.)?

How did you treat your insomnia? Did you ever go to a sleep clinic?

Well, I need to back up a bit.

Monday, May 15- go to Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown with my father-in-law, Richard. While it was lovely at noon for the parade, it started clouding up during the Home Run Derby at 1, and they started the game early, at 1:35 instead of 2. If they could get in five innings, it’d be a legit game and they wouldn’t have to refund 9000 tickets. But the rain increased, and we got soaked, so the game was called after 2 1/2 innings. My mother-in-law Joyce and I rendezvoused with Carol and Lydia. Our anniversary dinner consisted of salads at the McDonald’s in Cobleskill, NY, then home.
Tuesday, May 16- First day in new office. Getting there was easier than I thought. We’d all done floor designs for our cubicles. I don’t know why we bothered, as our designs had nothing to do with what they set up – in my case, my back to the entranceway. My Chinese colleague Jinshui said it was bad feng shui.
So I rearranged the office, and started putting my stuff away. Sometimes, I feel as though I have ADHD, because I simply cannot stay on a task for two or three hours at a time. I did some reference, what I could do that didn’t involve copying (copier not there yet) or the CD-ROMs (LAN not working).
I wait at the bus stop to go home. The bus passes in one direction, so I figure it’ll make a stop on the return trip. But then it comes back and passes me again. Fortunately, I flag down another bus and make it home.

Wednesday, May 17 – finish unpacking and do some reference. While getting there is easy (because other buses stop at the designated locales), I manage to miss BOTH late buses and have to walk home. Now, as the eagle flies, my new office is much closer to my home than my old. Of course, roads aren’t designed that way, and I end up walking along I-90, which is dangerous enough in the best of circumstances, but potentially lethal during construction. Fortunately, some construction worker invited me to walk inside the barrier, and I got home a little less than an hour and a half after I left, soaked from a brief but torrential downpour.