Ringing of the telephone has never made me feel such dread and frustration. Robocalls left and right, scam artists trying to put the scare in people, and recorded ramblings found each time I answer the phone these days. The worst offender is the people with the strong Pakistani accent claiming their name is "Shawn" or "Dave", or "Mike", claiming to be from Microsoft technical support. Their spiel? Apparently, they can locate viruses in computers that no longer exist. Regardless of the notion that I got rid of my old computer after having it worked on by an actual tech expert that assured me that there is no viruses. My old computer was just that.... old. Too old to keep working, unless I replace a cooling fan again. I got a new computer because I was long overdue and even with my new computer, I was assured that by the Geek Squad at Best Buy where I bought this thing.... there are no viruses or issues. Especially when it is brand-spanking new.
While buying a new computer is considered frivolous, I took this from my vacation fund I was saving up for to finally take a trip to see my best friend that happened to move to Nevada. With the last actual vacation taken (alone or with my family), being in March of 2007, I can say that I am well overdue for a break. I even considered taking DD with me since her last vacation away from home was the same time I had a vacation. DH gets an annual break from us to go "fishing" with his buddies for a few days in the next state over. The operative word should be he is actually fishing, but every year, he comes home with a sunburn and a hangover with zero fish caught. Knowing that the need for a computer is more important than my apparent sanity, I made the investment in a new computer. I do like it. It works better than my old one. Sadly, I really don't utilize all the bells and whistles this thing has and probably never will.
Okay, back to the topic here....
With some broken or old things being slowly replaced, I am still harassed by these con-artists that want to hijack my computer. Just because I had a remotely nice moment and talked to one of these people - a mistake I now regret - these people just won't stop calling me. They have my first name and ask for me now. Hidden behind caller ID names of "unavailable", "name not found", a random city or state with a hodgepodge of numbers for a telephone number, and the most unsettling of the bunch.... pasting my husband's name with our home phone number as the caller ID. Creepy, as in seeing my home phone show a call from my home phone number on the caller ID. Makes me think of those horror flicks that result in finding out the creepy calls are coming from inside my house. Regardless, these people call and ask for me with their heavily accented English with their scare tactics of viruses on my computer. Of course, they now are claiming my I.P. address is infected. Yep, they have upped their game. I have checked with my I.T. person and this threat does not hold water.
Don't get me wrong, I really do not try to speak to these people. I have tried to kindly ask them to stop calling me and to remove me from their list. Obviously, that did not work. I have answered the call in another language (my limited Spanish is at least passable), but that results in them hanging up and calling again. I have answered the phone stating that they just called the county morgue and same result as the answering the phone in Spanish. DD took a call and answered in German and still no stopping them from calling again. I have hung up on them, too, but they have not given up. There are times I did not look at the caller ID and answered the phone. I have informed them that "Nancy no longer lives here", to "Nancy has died recently". Still, no stopping them. I have told them that I no longer have a computer and that has fallen on deaf ears. All I can say is that these people are persistent. In all honesty.... they have upped their calling to multiple calls a day. Over the past two days, I have received 35 calls, and 20 of them have been from these scam artists. It is really getting out of hand!
While I do say that I am a reasonable and patient person, I am really losing my cool with these people!! My answering machine is getting a workout and I am almost ready to rip the damn phone out of the wall. With no apparent stop in sight and the knowledge that with the upcoming presidential election just over the horizon, I am filled with dread about the constant ringing of my phone I have yet in store for me. Between the scam artists and their brand of harassment, I will be bombarded with robocalls (that computer generated call that gives a recorded message instead of an actual person), regarding the upcoming election. That is, in addition to the robocalls about saving on my electric bill, credit card interest savings, and whatever company that is trying to sell vent cleaning, lawn services, or whatnot.
I have signed up again for the "do not call" registry. I know, a waste of time, but a girl can dream, right? I have called my phone provider with requests for help regarding the harassment and the robocalls. They gave me what they could to deter the barrage of calls with call blocking unidentified or name not available calls. With my begs and pleading for these people to just LEAVE... ME... ALONE, I have been told to "fuck off" by the scammers. Fitting sentiment since I told them to do the same, but that only irked them enough to up their annoyances even more. With a second call to my phone provider, their security department is now looking into finding a solution for me without having to change my phone number. In all honesty, I would change my phone number to something unlisted, but these hacks will figure a way to call again. I just know it. Especially when robocalling is all the rage these days. A computer generated random number dialing machine will eventually find even the most secretive people out there. I just don't have the patience to call every doctor we have, the school, and every family member with the new number that I will most likely never memorize like I have with my current number. The hassle is enough to make me pause. I just fear that these annoyances are going to push me to do just that. I just have to inform DH when I do since he will have to remember the number change, too.
Next topic: the horrors of home ownership....
Paying a mortgage is something everyone does when they buy a residence. DH and I have a home that we are paying for, but as with items in the home..... the home will need repairs and updates from time to time. Something as simple as a fresh coat of paint can make a difference. Sadly, DH has not had any interest in fixing what is broken here that is beyond my scope of abilities. I am not a general contractor and I don't do ladders, but we have a leak in our roof that is now damaging my kitchen cabinets. Not all cabinets... just the corner one. Well, the leak has been fixed, but there is some water damage to the siding on the house that resulted in water seepage into my kitchen. Of course, we are well overdue for an upgrade of our circa 1970 kitchen. Laminate cabinets and laminate countertops, oh joy! We still have the same wallpaper since the sale of this house on the walls of that room. Sure, I can deal with the country kitchen look, but when the laminate is peeling off the cabinets and the counter is looking a little warped.... it is time to upgrade. Well, that and the fact that the oven is original to this house when it was built in 1956 and is so obsolete that replacement parts no longer exist and have been "engineered" by DH. I fear that my house will burn down one of these days, I swear. In all honesty, I am not a real fancy person. Bells and whistles don't excite me. As long as things work (or do their specific task), I am not one to run to the home improvement store to get the newest gadget. I think DH appreciates that about me, but when my house is crumbling around my ankles with water seepage, crumbling cabinets, and bug infestations.... I get a little cranky.... and a little impatient. If DH is lacking motivation much longer.... I will start to have very expensive tastes. I am having my doubts for a new kitchen, but when he returns from his "fishing" trip, he will get the nickle tour of what his lackadaisical ways is costing us. I really want to refuse to cook in my kitchen until it is fixed, but I don't have much choice. I do, though, have to prepare meals to be cooked in another room because of the new tenants that seem to like the waterlogged corner cabinet. Carpenter ants!!! Big Ones!!!! After completely emptying out the damaged cabinet (and its neighbor), I bleached the heck out of them and then sprayed bug killer in them. I have no interest in ever putting anything in those cabinets ever again. Especially, after the storm of dead ants landing on my counter top. Kind-of grosses me out and I have been a little high on bleach fumes since. Not a good combination. It does make me wonder.... am I being punished? Am I being punked? Or am I just so darn unlucky that I have this happening to me. Of course, I doubt that I am alone in these unfortunate events. DH and DD get to suffer with me.
Of course, I almost forgot.... Since DH left for his "fishing" trip this week.... I learned that not all generic medications have a generic price. A prescription for me did a $60 slap to my wallet, DD's drops for her recent bout with pink eye could have slapped my wallet for another $60, but her doctor gave us a coupon and it only slapped my wallet for $25. Gotta love medical insurance.... costs a fortune, but covers practically nothing. I will say that if we did not have prescription coverage (as minimal as it is). my prescription would have been $70 and DD's eye drops would be a whopping $190. Yep, definitely said bye bye to the vacation/craptastrophe fund over the course of a few days and the end is still not in sight.
I decided that it is better to laugh at these unfortunate events than cry. Kind of getting a little hard to keep laughing, so..... here is a message to God:
Dear God,
I am screaming "Uncle" here!!! I can't hold it all together anymore. It is time for you to take the wheel and take over. Please make this stop!! Needing a breather here. Can you do me a solid and take over? Thanks!!
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
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