Charter & Morning Habits

Okay. So it’s Friday. And man! Am I glad it’s Friday. It’s been a hugely stressful week – so much so that my hair is thinning by the day. Sad. But sadly, true.

I have realized that I forgot to smear on some deodorant this morning. I shower before bedtime and put on deodorant then, which is enough to keep me from coming down with a bad case of b.o., but still, I like to put a fresh layer on in the morning just to make sure that I don’t offend anyone.

This whole day is kind of off. Yesterday’s trip home from work was horribly icy. The snow that was coming down was huge wet flakes. The roads froze over and school buses all ran late. It was a mess. Which, in turn, made the kids long for yet another snow day. The school system is currently at their limit for days off for inclement weather. Anymore and the kids will be going to school beyond the official last day of school. So while they’re angry now about having to go, I try to remind them that it’s better that they are sitting in school now while they can’t go to the beach or ride their bikes or skateboard or longboard. But kids are kids and they all want their cake...etc...

So waking up and finding out that school was indeed in session, kind of put me behind the eight ball. But here is where it really started:

My alarm goes off. And yes, I’m “one of those people” that sets my clock to a time that is earlier than it really is. Even though I know it’s early and I can still do the calculations in my half-asleep brain that lets me know I’ve still got “X” amount of minutes before I really have to get up. And yes, I’m “one of those people” that sets the alarm early enough where I can safely press snooze several times before actually getting “up”.

So here’s the kicker.... This morning, alarm goes off, I press snooze, go potty, and then hop back into my nice warm bed. Alarm goes off again, and I figure this time I’d better try to listen to the radio to hear of any school closings. My alarm clock radio... very cool in that it resets itself after the power goes out – even with my “time ahead” idiosyncrasy... but yet it completely sucks at picking up the radio station I always listen to (105.9 – a.k.a. 106 KHQ). This is the radio station the kids and I listen to in the car and when the stereo is on at home, and it’s the only one I know of that will list every closing and delay every few minutes throughout the morning hours.

“So why don’t you just look online? At the radio station website? At the school’s website(s)?” you ask... Because our internet bill is slightly past due and.... well... From my understanding this poverty thing is the new norm so I feel (though not completely) comfortable in telling you this. We had no internet. I couldn’t look online for school closings. I couldn’t look online for the weather report – though living in Northern Michigan has made it a known fact that in mid-February there will be a 100% chance of cold and possible snow.

Which brings me back now to my overdue internet bill... Charter...

And I know I’m not alone out there. I’m not the only one who would completely drop Charter like the rat-infested, steaming turd that it is, if there were some other dependable, affordable ISP that was offering service in our area. But there’s not. Unless I want to go wireless, but according to things I’ve heard, it’s spotty at best.

So Charter… what can you say about Charter? I used to have it all, cable television, phone, internet for a high price. But then, times got hard, then harder. Then finally, things got so hard we started trimming – then hacking things that we didn’t need. We dropped our landline phone through Charter. We dropped our cable television through Charter. Which now leaves us with internet… through Charter.

I tried to work with them. Every time I would log in to pay my bill online, I would see the wonderful deals on “bundles”. You know, “Bundle and Save”?

Huh? And who exactly is this deal for? I can tell you who it’s not for:

            It’s not for current customers.

            It’s not for customers who aren’t bundled yet.

            It’s not for current customers who are bundled, but at a higher price.

            It’s not for faithful customers who currently have every product they offer and who have paid the highest price for years.

It’s for new customers. New customers? Then why is it being advertised to me on my landing page when I log in to my account? Am I supposed to do you a favor and let my friends and neighbors know what a great deal they can get through Charter while I pay the highest price with no chance of a reduction because I’m locked in for years?

So, naturally, when I call to cancel cable television, I ask them if my internet price is going to go up because of this. “Oh no,” they say. “We don’t bundle anymore. Everything’s “al a carte.” So to me, this means that because I’m not breaking a bundle, my price will stay the same for the internet service.

Apparently I was wrong. My price has gone up at least fifteen dollars in the last few months. And I’m fairly certain they have invented some new fees and taxes to charge me.

Well, I see I’ve rambled on for quite a while now. I know that you can all relate and it don’t need no mo’ ‘splainin’. Not to mention my eyelids are getting a bit heavy. Like I said, it’s been a heck of a week.

Hope your weekend is a good one.