Or has the intelligence of the average person in this country dropped to about the same as dubya or lower? I have NOT had a good day today. First, Ana and I opened up the two pckages supposedly with the kitchen pots I ordered from a company whose name I shall not mention unless they don't straighten out the problems they have involved me in. I had opened up their sale catalog some months ago and noticed some lovely kitchen utensils advertised as being made of 'steel with ceramic coating.' Since the gals who work for me apparently don't believe in using wooden or nylon stirring utensils, all of my old pans are now scraped clean of their black lining meant to make food not stick. So, I figured the lovely looking yellow ceramic coating would be like cooking on glass and just as slippery for food, and ordered two sets -- one of 1, 2 &3 quart pans, the second of a huge hi-sided frying type pan and about a 4 or 5 quart pot. Not so good... they started to crack and peel immediately, in spite of the fact that we used nothing but medium heat and were extra careful with them. That coating was THIN and I sure ate a lot of it... little yellow flecks in the food often... then grey water from the 'steel'... and I finally sent them a long letter about what had happened. I will say they were prompt in sending me a credit (covering only just barely the cost of the pans, no tax, shipping and handling). So I got out the catalog and found two nice little iron pots, and a set of 1, 2, & 3 qt. pans with lids and a frying pan... this time all red, with what looked like black interiors and in aluminum, so I felt they would be safe. But no.... here we go again... they sent the two red iron pots, and a packing slip with the CORRECT things on it, but the package contained a set of blue, yellow interior frying pans (they also are cheaper in the sale catalog than the red pans). So I wrote them a LONG, long note saying 'remember the old adage... three strikes and you're out,' and please send me something I can use as I tossed the junk pans and have NOTHING to cook in. So they got another long, long letter today telling them I figured they would be a bit more careful and I feel that I should have my order here soon... and NO MORE SHIPPING, HANDLING, EXTRAS, TAX, etc. Of course I also told them if they screw up again, I shall use my expert skills in advertising promoting their lack of talent in the mail order business.
That was just the beginning. Ana handed me my mail and I noticed I had something from UC/SF and was amazed that they would come through with my stipend for doing the senior study with them, but pleased to think I was getting a little extra money, since my rent just went up a shockingly high amount. But, again... what on earth? It was a large bill for the weird PET scan I wrote about in my last entry... it said:
Patient: Margaret Cartwright Provider: Franc, Benjamin L. (now who the hell is he???)
Nuclear Medicine - charge amount: 2,995.00 - Patient adjustment: -2,662.96 - Patient Liability - 331.04
I guess they figured... Oh, hell, she has a hole in her head, she'll just pay it. Jeeze... they asked me to be in the study, they told me I would get paid for being in it (not even the $331.04 they are billing me for), and even took my address a second or third time, so they could send me the money... now they bill me. I repeat... have I gone mad? Am I missing something? Or do all the mail order companies and the hospitals simply hire imbeciles to do their work for them?
We are having something of the same kind of problem in our building... we have had three different managers this year... each one seems to know less about managing a building than the one before. The latest is from Sudan and speaks Sudanese French, plus English with such a Sudanese accent that I (who can understand almost anyone who can speak a little English) cannot understand a word he speaks. He called a meeting just after ordering all new furniture for his office (which was fairly new before he came) and a lot of extra junk for another room they lock up... FOR OFFICE USE ONLY... and the bathroom on the first floor is now FOR OFFICE USE ONLY (meaning for 3-4 people only... that's all we have). At the meeting, with no microphone and almost no voice, he informed us that WE had to save money (OH, he can spend?) and that we cannot use the room that used to be open, or the bathroom... and that he will no longer receive packages in the office... we should make our own arrangement with the Post Office or anyone else delivering to us... they are there only to run things, but not for our business... I have no idea what else he said, as I got up, told the gal next to me that if they asked, I simply said, "Go to hell" and left. Luckily, the gal who delivers our mail knows me well (we chat a lot) and knows my apartment number and delivers stuff directly to me. But I have had problems with stuff being just dumped at the door that should be delivered to me. I finally wrote a letter to the girl who is our so-called "Program Director" (I'd love to know what the 'programs' are... so far none), telling her I was a little unhappy to find out that we now have NO RIGHTS in the building, we simply are asked to pay more rent and get NO SERVICE at all from anyone. I will say she came to discuss it with me, dragging along the idiot, who said nothing, but did listen. I think he got the story that the tenants here are not happy with the 'I get everything... you get nothing' attitude. And I am sad to say that Mercy Housing now has a MAN CEO... Sister Lillian is gone and there are no more nuns running things... well, I'm old and I won't be here to put up with all the idiots for long. So from now on I just keep my head down, my mouth shut and go about my business with no help from anyone. Thank god I still have my wits about me... and I am sorry for the rest of the tenants. I also wonder where they find their 'managers,' and if they train them.
My poor, poor country. I wonder what the children are being taught. There was a wonderful story in the latest Atlantic about "The End of Work" --- we had better start training some of these guys on how to sweep the streets or something. If the republicans get in we are done for, as they are just interested in shifting any money to corporations and our infrastructure is rotting. We should be thinking of starting up a new WPA and rebuilding the country, and start thinking about it now... and we should start thinking about a completely different way of teaching... peer group learning, as I have said so many times before, and a lot better training of teachers, along with much better pay for the good teachers. I am a strong believer in unions, but I am also a strong believer in not having old teachers who simply float through their later years not learning new things and not actually teaching. I have seen this happen once too often. I am NOT a believer in 'charter' schools... anything with a corporation behind it shouldn't be teaching little kids. What's the answer?...... god, I wish I knew. But somehow, we had better start realizing that the average person in this country seems to be very, very, very unintelligent. We'd better find out why... and fast!
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