I don't have problem paying for services I USE. I DO have problem paying for services I do NOT use, OR, services "not rendered" - (a whole different story), When we were moving into this house, I called to have phone service turned on. We finally got moved in, but no phone service! I kept calling, (from another phone), telling them I STILL don't have phone service. "THEY" kept telling me I DID! Well, I didn't. "They" said they would send someone out (btwn 8am-5pm). I was up early EVERY MORNING - sitting at dining table - waiting...all day long every day. Nobody ever showed. I kept calling - daily. They kept insisting I HAD phone service. I kept insisting I did NOT! Then I got my phone bill! I blew my lid! I STILL had no phone service, and I'm getting billed for it?!!! Took almost two months. Someone FINALLY showed up. He checked the lines, and guess what? There was no line connected to the house! Just about two minutes (literally) after the PHYSICAL phone tech told us the problem and said he connected a line to the house, the guy (whom I'd been speaking with that past couple weeks) who PROMISED someone would be out - about two days prior (which never happened) - called on MY phone to tell me the phone repair guy was running late! Well, needless to say, I had a LOT of stuff to say to HIM! And (besides all the carp I told him), I told him that the guy is NOT running late, as he's standing right here next to me and just NOW got my phone connected - and he was "just now in process" of calling the company to report the "problem". (The repair guy was literally on his phone right beside me calling into office about it). I passed the phone on so the tech could talk to the dingbat on the other end. I figured from beginning, that they are relying on a computer or something. The phone I wanted connected to begin with was an existing line to the house, and I KNEW it worked, 'cuz during escrow, we came to check some things out, and the previous owner rec'd a 'landline' phone call while we were there. I DID get charges reversed for "non-service". Now, this past week, DH called to have some "x-tra" services REMOVED from HIS phone service with this company (since he no longer has need for those), and they call back and say they can't... AMAZING...they will bend over backwards to "sell" their services (yes, we STILL get junk from them every week), but they can't do a simple thing to "REMOVE" services. DH "thought" he would just cancel ALL service and go with another company...the CABLE TV COMPANY I'VE BEEN FIGHTING FOR ALMOST THREE YEARS NOW! Guess what? I blew it AGAIN! Told him he's crazy, and if he does THAT, I will certainly TOTALLY divorce him! LOLOL! I could NOT believe he even pondered that one - as I complain about it almost daily. Whatever...If HE wants to deal with THAT headache, I told him "If you go 'there', DON'T complain to ME, as I'm totally against it!" Funny thing is, all the phone company needs to do is send a truck out to switch 2 wires - and mission accomplished. But they don't want to do that. ================================= I've decided I'm not going to mess with phone cards or get a cell phone. (Altho, I'm still wondering why the "dial-around" didn't show ANYTHING on this last bill...did I get dropped? I donno...) I'm just going to make a point to call ex-hubby, or have son call every month on our landline LD. Which, BTW, I'm guessing it's time to call him this weekend! (Good thing we are still friends even tho divorced! haha)

Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different.

Please be aware that rats and mice develop tumors much more easily than dogs or people. I read this on the AOL vet board. Furthermore, the tumors they are correlating with the microchips formed right around the microchip, and they are not seeing this in pets. My dog did die of a brain tumor, but since she was a wandering breed, I feel it was prudent to microchip her. And her tumor was very deep and not close to the chip. I am fairly confident the 2 were not related, though certainly I can't be sure. Then again, every time she escaped, it was the tag on her collar that was used to find me.

I just set up my iAqualink. Seems to work really well and is certainly more responsive then my wireless RS on-touch. I have the intellibrite lights, and I have no problem setting/changing the colors. I do have a growing list of enhancements I'd like to see such as tracking energy consumption of the ePump and the ability to backup and store the configuration. Given the web interface, I think a more streamlined scheduling interface (drag and drop items onto a timeline) is in order. Oh, and let's get the iPhone app revised so it takes advantage of the iPads greater screen real-estate. For the technical inclined people, the iAqualink is actually based on the ioBridge platform (including the phone apps). It's nice to see Jandy/Zodiac leveraging existing technology vs trying to develop this in-house. Jeff