Tuesday

I haven't yet heard anything from the new renter - I told him I was holding his check until today. Tomorrow, I am depositing it unless I hear something different from him. I assume he's moving in, just haven't received a phone call from him yet. Of course - if he didn't move in - another person responded to the $475 per month ad that is interested, lol.

I get a call from a Loan Mod place today. Tell you right now, the guy trying to sell me on his firm's version of it sounded like a used car salesman - at best. He tells me to check the BBB concerning his company. I said yes, I will also be reading every word on whatever you are faxing over to me - I wanted to see what kind of fine print is on the paperwork. I told him I would read everything over - but that I was at work. So, I leave work, get home, this yodel calls me again. Wants me to send in the Authorization Form which authorizes them to work on my behalf. Yeah, right, I'll just do that right now, let me get in my car and go back to work.

This guy thought I had time to look up his business under the BBB, read all of the paperwork, fill OUT all the paperwork and get it sent back to him in less than an hour's time? If I ever felt a scam coming on, this is definitely it. Instead of reading all this stuff, I'm going to tear it into pieces and when he calls me tomorrow, I will - be very blunt with him.

Meanwhile, DirectTV saga continues on. Last night, I apparently missed the call from the lady that was going to call me back. She left a message. I went to the bathroom for a minute and she called while I was taking care of business.

So, not a person to like to wait, and having ample experience with these large companies that don't give a damn about it customers and put it's policies on the Throne as some kind of god that oversees everything their portion of life's existence occupies, I called them back.

My experience with these companies? Persistence can eventually pay off. If you are willing to go through the eternity of press 1, press 2, press the red button - go from one menu to another to another, and then have a computer dictating you terms and telling you things that you learned in grade school, then finally getting through to a live person, who asks you the same questions over that the computer asked you - which I find quite annoying - and then talk to that person, who tells you no, the company will not do that, and then ask for their supervisor, they tell you the same thing and then evnetually hang up on you - and do that enough times - you will eventually get through to the "right" person. The right person has no more authority than the rest of the supervisors you talked to, it's just that your story rings a bell with that person and walaah.

I've done it many, many times. Last night, I called DirectTV a total of 8 times. Some of the people were downright rude - and I was being very polite with everyone, even if I was being quite firm in my stance. The last man? Told him the story - the receiver had been stolen, I have the police report number, on and on and on.
Told him I had already spoken with someone else - gave him her name - which did nothing for him since there are so many incoming call centers - and then he started speaking.

A breath of fresh air. Did he HAVE to give me a new receiver for free? Undoubtedly not. They weren't responsible for the box being stolen, why should they be? He looks at my record. So, you've been a Direct TV customer for a year and a half? No, I tell him, I've had 2 accounts with DirectTV, the one before my house burned down and the current one, I've actually been a customer for almost NINE years.

That was the end of that. Okay, Mr. BB, you got it. 2 to 5 business days to receive it, sent FedEX ground. $70 plus shipping/handling for free. Was it worth the unbelievable amount of time I spent getting the deal? Darn straight. In my financial situaition, everything counts, EVERYTHING. Heck, I still haven't got my hair cut (conerning spending money) - it's so long it's getting quite annoying in itself.

But, I had not time for that today. The newest tenant just showed up with a U-Haul. He gave Michael $20 to help him move in - Caleb left for home - I'm not going to tell him he left half an hour too early to make an easy $20 - the guy has some stuff, but it isn't that much stuff.

Swwwwwwweet. This latest round of trying to get a tenant in here certainly put me to the test. I wasn't about to give up, but I was getting a little - uncertain to say the least.

Up - down - up - down - that's life.

Work was nice today- it's been actually very nice weather with overcast skies for what, a week now. Certainly not June type of weather. After running around all over downtown, I drove out to the Lost Dutchman State Park for another delivery. Nice drive. Got the truck stuck back in there little hole they call a construction site - not stuck literally - just that it's a very tight squeeze - but this time noticed that they had removed enough of the gravel piles so that my truck could fit through the gate at the end of the road. Last time, I had to back up - I don't know, several football fields worth, to get out of there. I think I side it was 300 feet last time - it's much further than that. I also noted that they don't like semi trucks going into their park - but - that's the price to pay when you have construction going on.

We were busy enough - downtown? People milling around, wishing there was something to do. A whole crew of them, standing around, looking for something to do.

Long interlude. People flowing in and out of here, lots of conversation - and made myself sliced potatoes with onions fried; 2 eggs runny; a slab of cube steak, medium rare. I mostly like steak rare - but cube steak is better eaten a bit more cooked, I think.

So, with that, I'm outta here.
G'nite.
ben