Bend The Economy Over

Oh snap, CHECK IT.

We're in a recession, and I'm not sure what that means, other than the fact that we don't manufacture anything (other than war, debt, bad TV, and 1-handed MySpace Photos), we have too-low tariffs on some items with other nations who we buy stuff from and that keeps our money flowing OUTward and they're not buying anything of ours, and we, as a nation, seem to need everything NOW NOW NOW NYESTERDAY.
And we want it cheap.
And we want it perfect.
And we want it because we think we need it.

I used to be this way. Emotionally I still get like that, everytime I see a 23 year old driving an Infiniti G37 or a guy with a full head of hair and it's poorly styled. I WANT WANT WANT IT. But won't it feel better when I can pay for it with cash, and not have the debt of it hanging over every conversation with my wife? GEEEEEEESSHSHSHSHAAAAAAAAAASSHSHSHHSAAAAAAAA!

Unemployment's high right now, too. People gotta make money, yo.
But we've outsourced most of the jobs that deal with most of the English-speaking people in this country, jobs going to people who are following a script and frustrating the bejeezus out of us when we just need to change... our... mailing... address... WHY DO YOU NEED MY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER????
And those jobs went there because Americans are the most-expensive, most self-entitled, rudest people on a planet full of seriously horrible bands and Dick Cheney supporters.

The right answer is to raise tariffs, buy within America, hire more American workers to field the front-line complaints of other Americans, pay workers well, treat workers well, and generate spending from the bottom-up, NOT with the fetid "TrickleDown" Economics of the Reagan Era.

But the real answer is that a guy kissing my ass in a Bangladesh call center beats listening to an undereducated pro-wrestling fan "Uhh" and "like, like uhh" their way through hanging up on me. Too many people's parents have been too kind to them, and haven't instilled enough of a work ethic in most of these kids. Why work when you can get the same amount of $ a week from welfare? Then complain about how the system ain't helpin'!

I'll take Ramu over Trevor any day, unless Trevor can finish a sentence without saying "like" six times. Then again, perhaps "sir" is Bengali for "like." What do I know? I'm just an abused American who wants his IRA back.

Screw it, I'm financing my plugs.

Sexy is officially BACK.

My Opinion of Lingo VOIP

I have an opinion, and in America, it's okay to share those things.
I will not say anything here that is not true.

For the past month I have tried to cancel my Lingo.com VOIP phone account/number. It was our home phone we used in Kirkland, and we no longer need it. Been almost a month now since we used it.

Prior to cancellation, there were frequent times the router would turn off, though plugged in and should have been working. Technology 1, Lotts 0. Then it would click back on like I had not just caught it napping under the rhodies. During the time, the broadband router it ran through was supplying plenty o' internet use, so that connection was fine.

Trying to cancel my account with Lingo has been a restless dream, though not a total nightmare. First line of defense, per usual these days, is a non-English-as-first-language Customer Service Representative. I've called a number of times, and 50% of the time they cannot hear me (there are swarms of voices behind them) or they are having problems with their "system." Shiva forbid you write something down.

So finally I get through and need to cancel this account, which they wouldn't let me do a MONTH ago because I was supposed to call in and have it cancelled, though I handled everything they needed via email.

Finally, I called in and got through, because we haven't used this thing in over a month during our relocation. Option 5 takes you to somebody to verify your information, after being on-hold for a few minutes, then another few minutes on hold to talk to the Cancellation Department...
WHAT?
You have an option to CANCEL which doesn't take you to THE Cancellation Department?
Hospitals are known for this, also. You come in and they ask you if you'd like to see a doctor. Then send you to a doctor.

SO I cancel this thing, and the girl helping me is not very enthusiastic (understandable) nor educated (unconfirmed). Her attitude was on-par with working a 2nd shift at Taco Bell on her due date, BUT I DIGRESSETH...

And then, to get $ back for the month we didn't use after trying to cancel and their problems keeping me from being able to talk to a robot wearing a human suit...
I GO ON HOLD FOR ANOTHER 6 MINUTES, then get disconnected.

Now, I'm not sure how F'ed up Lingo works for other people.
But let's recount...

1. In-house technical issues.
2. Communication issues between customers and the white people that work there.
3. Cancellation Department located in the 2nd circle of Discouraging Careers, 3 doors on the left from the vending machines.
4. Attitude, Attitude, Attitude.
5. The Billing Department is either so busy that they can't handle call volumes (you pay poorly, you get the poorly-abled), or their department is so hated that they can't handle the hate-call volumes.

I, personally, wouldn't ever use Lingo again. You can if you want to, but really, just give me the $20 a month and I'll ass-cram it for you. Go otherwheres.




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