My dentist office called me today. Not for an appointment or to dun me for money. Not to explain any procedures or try to get me to try a new treatment. And not just to say Hi. They called me to see how I was. Now, I've been to the dentist off and on my whole life and not one has ever called back to see if I was treated properly or to ask me how I felt after a procedure. But today it happened to me. As I woman I know very slightly would say...there's a real good reason for that.
I spent four hours in the dentist chair Tuesday morning. I was gone from work so long that they were getting ready to send out the national guard to look for me. My family was leaving voice messages and emails all over the place trying to track me down. I was MIA for four whole hours and I only went to the dentist.
The crux of the matter is this...a few weeks ago my company announced that they were changing insurance companies as of June 1st. We had just finished open enrollment in April so this was quite a surprise. Well, I got to thinking about all those things I had been meaning to have done at the dentist office and how much time I had left to use up the existing policy. Dentist work is not cheap. So I decided to use up the benefit on my old policy while it was still good and then come June 1st I would have another company and a brand new police to use.
With that thought in mind I called my dentist and explained the situation. They scheduled me immediately and I had four fillings and two temporary crowns taken care of all at once. They had to let me have a poddy break for heaven's sake! Of course a few other patients were tended to while I was numbing up, or having x-rays or waiting for the clay in my mouth to make a good impression. But all in all I was there 4 hours.
So, today...they called to see if I had survived. I laughed and told them, of course, I'm tough. They breathed a sigh of relief and that was that. But I got a good laugh out of it. :)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Mother's Day
I am so blessed to have a wonderful extended family. This year my son and his wife spent Mother's Day with her mother (by pre-arrangement, next year is my turn) and I was invited to have lunch with my brother's family. We had a very nice time, ate too much, laughed alot and enjoyed the children. They are always sweet to include me in any family gathering. I received very nice cards from all the kiddies who, when I thanked them, each whispered "Mom picked it out". Credit where credit is due, I guess. :)
Then tonight, also by pre-arrangement, I had a lovely dinner with my son and his wife at their home. They are very good hosts and treat me like a queen. We ate barbecued ribs with all the fixings and cheesecake drizzled in chocolate sauce (drizzled is a relative word, it was more like drenched) and whipped cream...so lucious....and laughed alot. The card they gave me was precious. I am very blessed to have such a wonderful son and daughter-in-law.
For all the years I've spent taking care of my son when he was ill, making sure he got to school and band practice, spending all the extra money there was on his clothes, doling out more "life lessons" than he could absorb, attending every concert or performance possible and generally just loving him and tryin to be a good mom....it's paid off. I am reaping benefits more abundant than any sacrifice on my part. Happy Mother's Day to me.
Friday, May 9, 2008
IRS Supplemental Check arrives....
A lovely sight met my eyes this morning when I checked my bank account. There was my IRS supplemental payment boosting my balance! Every little bit helps and $600 will really boost my emergency fund. Whoo Hoo!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Two Months Later....
March 7th I sent off what I thought was to be an end to my association with Wal-Mart credit department. I sent a letter and a check closing my account. That was the beginning of the nightmare....
By March 20th, the day the monthly payment was due, the check had still not cleared my account so I called and asked what the hold up was. They said my account was definitly closed but they had no idea where my check was. "It might have been shredded", was the response I got and "wait seven more days" to see if it would clear. On March 24th I received a letter from Wal-Mart that closed my account and said I still had the same balance. I knew I was in trouble. I called my bank and stopped the missing check. Then on March 28th, three weeks after the check was mailed, Wal-Mart found and deposited the check. On the 29h, thinking that I had taken care of the first check I went into the store and gave them another check for the full amount (over $1000) to close the account.
On my way home I stopped at the bank to deposit my state tax refund and found that the first check had been processed regardless of my stop payment. I hurried home and called the bank. They said the check was off by one digit so they didn't catch it in the stop payment. So I immediately stopped the check that I had just dropped off in the store, the second time I had to pay $25 to stop a check! Now I had to wait and see what happened.
A few days later the bank reversed the first check and put the money back into my account. The second check never hit my account and was stopped by the bank. I waited a week and then mailed the third check for the full amount to Wal-Mart. This check was deposited in a timely manner and cleared by bank with no problems. Now I waited for the statement that I knew would come with all sorts of stupid charges on it that I would have to ask them to remove.
Yesterday I got the statement and called Wal-mart. They had posted two returned check charges, one late fee and finance charges on everything. I was very polite and explained the situation to the pleasant speaking employee. She finally understood after about 5 minutes and said she could remove the returned check charges but that was it. I told her that I would not pay a late fee when I had been trying to pay off the account all month, way before payment was due. She put me on hold for 3-4 minutes (a very long time) and finally came back to say that her manager would refund the late charge but there was nothing to do about the finance charges. I said..$23.00!!!" You can't remove $23.00?" She said no, there was nothing they could do to which I said, Yes, you can. You can remove the finance fee as well.
She wondered, not very politely now, if I would like to speak to her manager and I said, yes, of course! Another 3-4 minute hold ensued in which I'm sure she was hoping I would just hang up, but I waited. Finally she came back on the line and said that her manager was waiving the finance charges as well. I said, "So you are telling me that my balance is now $0.00, is that correct?" to which she replied, "Yes, ma'am" and I said, "Thank you very much and have a nice day."
I was exhilarated! It only took 2 months and $50 to be free of Wal-mart credit. I thought about asking them to pay my stop payment charges, but decided I better not push my luck!
By March 20th, the day the monthly payment was due, the check had still not cleared my account so I called and asked what the hold up was. They said my account was definitly closed but they had no idea where my check was. "It might have been shredded", was the response I got and "wait seven more days" to see if it would clear. On March 24th I received a letter from Wal-Mart that closed my account and said I still had the same balance. I knew I was in trouble. I called my bank and stopped the missing check. Then on March 28th, three weeks after the check was mailed, Wal-Mart found and deposited the check. On the 29h, thinking that I had taken care of the first check I went into the store and gave them another check for the full amount (over $1000) to close the account.
On my way home I stopped at the bank to deposit my state tax refund and found that the first check had been processed regardless of my stop payment. I hurried home and called the bank. They said the check was off by one digit so they didn't catch it in the stop payment. So I immediately stopped the check that I had just dropped off in the store, the second time I had to pay $25 to stop a check! Now I had to wait and see what happened.
A few days later the bank reversed the first check and put the money back into my account. The second check never hit my account and was stopped by the bank. I waited a week and then mailed the third check for the full amount to Wal-Mart. This check was deposited in a timely manner and cleared by bank with no problems. Now I waited for the statement that I knew would come with all sorts of stupid charges on it that I would have to ask them to remove.
Yesterday I got the statement and called Wal-mart. They had posted two returned check charges, one late fee and finance charges on everything. I was very polite and explained the situation to the pleasant speaking employee. She finally understood after about 5 minutes and said she could remove the returned check charges but that was it. I told her that I would not pay a late fee when I had been trying to pay off the account all month, way before payment was due. She put me on hold for 3-4 minutes (a very long time) and finally came back to say that her manager would refund the late charge but there was nothing to do about the finance charges. I said..$23.00!!!" You can't remove $23.00?" She said no, there was nothing they could do to which I said, Yes, you can. You can remove the finance fee as well.
She wondered, not very politely now, if I would like to speak to her manager and I said, yes, of course! Another 3-4 minute hold ensued in which I'm sure she was hoping I would just hang up, but I waited. Finally she came back on the line and said that her manager was waiving the finance charges as well. I said, "So you are telling me that my balance is now $0.00, is that correct?" to which she replied, "Yes, ma'am" and I said, "Thank you very much and have a nice day."
I was exhilarated! It only took 2 months and $50 to be free of Wal-mart credit. I thought about asking them to pay my stop payment charges, but decided I better not push my luck!
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Equal Time
After my post of yesterday about my wonderful son being the best mother's day present ever my daughter-in-law emailed me, first of all to find out what aplomb means, and secondly with the question, "So, does that mean I am the second best mother's day gift you've ever received?" My answer was instant....of course! And I guess what follows is that when they have children they will be third and fourth and so on.The point is that she was right. I couldn't have asked for or even ordered a better daughter-in-law. She's thoughtful, kind, considerate of all my foibles (believe me there are many) and puts up with my old fogey ways without too much fuss. We have good times together even when my son is not around, and sometimes because he is not around. :) She's not afraid to contradict me and sometimes gets a real joy out of proving me wrong--all in good fun. She's witty and fun to be with, but most of all she loves my son with all her heart and it shows. She has become a very important part of my family and by now I think she knows it.
So here's to Sara! Equal time has been granted.
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