Let the children come out to play

I'm really a little annoyed that I seem to be the only person who is not mourning the death of Michael Jackson.

I was a huge fan in the late 70's and early 80's. Most of my family will attest to that!! To say I was obsessed would be an understatement.

As he started to get 'weird' I defended him!! Yes I did!! And then in the 90's when the Jordy Chandler case came to light, I defended him again! I believed that the family was just out for money...

So if anyone was going to mourn him, it would have been me.

But you can't have someone being continually accused with more and more evidence coming up against them without some of it sticking.

I do believe that Michael Jackson was guilty of molesting those children. My heart breaks for all those that were affected by him. Just because you have fame and fortune, doesn't mean you have the right to do as you please. You can't own people no matter how much you think you can, and eventually, karma will catch up with you.

So Michael Jackson, thank you for your music but we could have done without your extra curricular activities and I for one am glad that no more children will be hurt by your desires.

She's Back

It's been a while since my last blog.

But what else could spur me out of a blog drought but my lovely dear customers…

Today I had a customer who was enquiring about his overdue bills. I told him he had two bills that were overdue and that together they totalled $103.
"Are you sure?" he replied.
"Yes. You have two invoices, and together they total $103"
He paused
"Are you sure? Haven't I paid those already" he asked, incredulous that he had charges.
"Yes I'm sure."
"There's still $103 over due?" He asked again.

This was when I took a deep breath and repeated yes, it was still overdue, I was sure.

What I wanted to say was "Yes you moran, unless the magic pixies paid your account within the last 2.5 seconds, it's fricken overdue!"

Or another favourite fantasy response is "Ha, ha. Got you! No there's nothing owing! You're our lucky 100 000 customer and as a prize, you get your charges wiped! Congratulations!"

Or - "Yes you're right, we were joking… you don't owe anything. Don't know why we sent you those invoices saying you owed us that money when you didn't. What were we thinking *slaps forehead with hand*"

No wonder I have a headache!

Need patience when I'm a patient

Late last week I felt a cold coming on. My chest was tight.
I refused to believe it though and put it down to anything from indigestion to the cold weather we're currently experiencing.

Wednesday I was supposed to go to work. I got up... got dressed... but didn't make it. Instead of going to work I went to the doctors. I thought he'd just give me the day off but instead he insisted I shouldn't be going anywhere for at least three days.

THREE DAYS???

That's an eternity!

Actually it was pretty easy to do nothing on Wednesday as I really did feel terrible.. but as the week progressed and I've started to feel a little better, I just want to start doing things. I'm sick of being home. I'm sick of being stuck in this house. I hate feeling miserable! I hate that my throat hurts, that it's hard to breathe and my nose runs like a tap!
I hate it!
I'm not a patient!! I don't get sick!
Anyone that knows me knows that I say this over and over again so when a bug does dare to infect me, I become very indignant. How dare it!! Everyone else gets sick not me!!
Reality is bummer...

What was that again?

From time to time I get calls from the interperting service at work.
These are always interesting if nothing else.
Once they've identified themselves, they'll proceed talking to their non english speaking client about the nature of the call to me. This conversation can take a very long time! During this time I busy myself with my handy, pocket sized, sudoku puzzle book.

Very often the interpreter has a thick accent and if I'm not listening carefully, I can miss when the interpreter stops talking to their client and starts talking to me.

Sometimes I'll get an italian interpreter. I always enjoy those calls as I can understand their conversation but quietly sit back, pretending I can't. Or sometimes I do the opposite and jump right in, answering the question before the interpreter has repeated it to me in English.

Sometimes you can tell what's being said. For example, the non english speaking person could be spelling out their name meaning we have it incorrect on their account.

If they're yelling and agitated it's most likely they've got a high bill enquiry. At those times I'm glad to have an interpreter to act as a buffer between me and the customer.

Sometimes the interpreter and client go off into their own world talking back and forth in their language. I wonder if they remember I'm still there at times. I want to break in and say "hey, did you still need me?" but I like the fact that I'm on a call, without actually having to do any work so I let them go on and on while I do my puzzles.

The only time an interpreter call is a bad thing is when you get it a few minutes before home or lunch time. I've been caught before! Not nice..

So far I haven't had any interpreter calls today but it's almost lunch time so the probability rate is increasing I'm sure!

Stay tuned...