Tale of Sorrow

So, I have decided I need to share my awful tale of sorrow that began last evening...

Last night was supposed to be a busy, but productive evening, as Cat was teaching until 8:30 and I had some work I needed to a tend to at home to help me get caught up on my projects.

When we got home however, we were hit with a hard, hot reality... The air conditioner, which we knew was not doing a stellar job cooling the house down has not totally failed. Two days into the heat wave, the house was now 88 degrees at 6pm. This was not good.

With a heavy heart, Cat then left for teaching. I decided I would go out and find something to eat at the grocery store in the hope that the house will begin to cool down. By the time I returned and made dinner, it was nearly 8 o'clock and the temperature was unbearable. Cat called to say she was coming home early and I knew she would not be pleased.

When she arrived she sat and ate some food of her own and we both decided, after I finished loading the dishwasher that we needed to make our escape. I called our friends who we knew would take us in, but there was no answer... After contemplating our options, we thought that Best Buy and then Borders would be the best options... They are cool and would keep us out of the house until a decently late hour.

As I went to the kitchen to get my keys, I noticed a disturbing sensation by my feet... Water! It was coming from under the sink. I opened up the cabinet, began moving items only to find that as the dishwasher began to drain water was gushing out from the seal. At this point, I quickly began to get some towels as it seemed that the worst was over.

As this was happening, the phone rang and Cat handed the phone over to me... It was a collection agency! It would appear that Cingular, who we had recently ended our service with, had decided to send my account to collections, despite the fact I had called last week to ensure that my account was OK. About three weeks earlier I received a letter stating that I owed an absurd amount of money, but quickly called and was assured I would only be responsible for my final payment, and that I should not pay anything until the charge was reversed over the next seven days.

Understandably, the collector didn't not care about this story and just wanted his money. I then had to call Cingular and spent 45 minutes on the phone with them only to find that they could not do anything for me for at least another 2 hours, since these kind of adjustments had to be handled by a manager. He did however assure me that I would get a call from him in two hours.

Well, one trip to borders (where I fell asleep briefly) and 2 hours and 45 minutes later, which would be 11:45 EST, I received a call stating that my account was now reconciled. Of course, I could not receive written confirmation of this, in a form such as a bill, or anything as conventional... And of course an email now has to be sent to billing, which in turn must be sent to collections to get them off my back. They claim this will be done in 72 hours. The guy at the collection agency doesn't seem so confident of this, and I am still sitting in my 90+ degree house right now, with my animals, who I decided should not have to suffer alone, and I have still not been able to get any work done due to the conditions in my house.

Well, that is my story. I didn't share it for "Poor Joe" purposes or anything. I simply think it is crazy, and one of those stories I would burst into someone's room in college and tell them about with my hands flailing and that pitchy sound I get in my voice when I am excited in a not so good type of way.

Thank you for your time.

Joe