Unbundling

I guess today wouldn't qualify as the greatest day ever. Not the worst, no, no, not at all. The weather was pleasant -- barely 100 degrees -- the boos went to daycare in the afternoon, I got to spend some time sitting in a chair reading a novel, I made a nice easy dinner that turned out well. Lots of good things about today.

So what wasn't so great?

Well, Rocket Boy is sick, for one thing. He stayed home from work and spent most of the day in bed, asleep. That always worries me -- what could be wrong, is he going to get better, what do I do if he doesn't? Our serious lack of healthcare in Ridgecrest comes into play here. I wouldn't know where to take him if he got really sick. Urgent Care, I suppose, or the hospital. We don't have doctors.

Anyway, around 3pm RB finally got out of bed and sat in front of his computer, so I relaxed a little. But in the meantime I had finally called to cancel DirecTV, something I'd been meaning to do for ages, ever since we decided to go back to the Stone Age and make do with over-the-air TV. But before we could do that we had to buy an antenna, and a converter box, since we still have an analog TV, and then we had to take back the converter box, because it was defective, and order another one, and then RB had to put the antenna on the roof and hook up the converter box, and all this took time. Finally last weekend he got it all done and we tried it out -- and what do you know? We get great reception! For free! So that was nice.

But I still had to call DirecTV and cancel, and I was nervous about that. I knew they would try to screw me over and they did. First they offered me various discounts -- $5 off per month, $20 off per quarter. I said no, no, we're done. So then they told me that we had a 2-year contract with 6 months left to run, so they would charge me $100 for breaking the contract. I argued, sputtering, saying there is NO WAY I would have signed up for a 2-year contract, but the man held his ground, yes I had done so. And then I remembered that I had signed up for DirecTV on the phone, my first full day in Ridgecrest, back in February 2009, when I was calling Verizon from my hotel room, 11-month-old twins screaming in the background, to sign up for local phone and internet. The Verizon salesperson told me they could bundle in DirecTV for some low price and I said OK, sure, whatever. Did the perky young woman on the phone mention a 2-year contract? I don't THINK so, but I can't prove it.

I hate Verizon. I hate DirecTV too, but I *REALLY* hate Verizon.

So after I lost my temper with the DirecTV guy, and probably hurt his feelings and made him want to slide down an emergency chute while drinking a beer, I called Verizon to find out what's going to happen to my phone and internet rates, now that I've unbundled DirecTV. As I feared, they are going to skyrocket. Phone is going to go up $19/month and internet is going to go up $9/month. So even though we're losing the $68.99/month DirecTV charge, we're gaining $28 in phone/internet charges. It's still a savings of $40/month, but then there's that $100 cancellation fine. The Verizon lady said I could bundle my phone and internet together for $19 less per month than the unbundled price, but I would have to make a 1-year commitment and if I broke THAT contract early they would charge me $165.

I said NO. NO more contracts, NO more bundling. NO NO NO.

Now I'm going to wait and see what the next few bills look like. Maybe something else needs to be changed, but I'm not going to make every decision today.

The rest of the afternoon passed quietly, and then it was time to pick up the boos from daycare. We brought them home and I made dinner, while Rocket Boy theoretically watched over them. Suddenly I heard Baby B screaming. A moment later, Baby A appeared in the kitchen, rubbing his hands together and saying "Owie! Owie!" I took his hands and realized they were covered with a sticky substance. "Eww, what is this?" I said, taking him to the sink, and washing his hands with soap. I noticed a smell, a minty smell. Oh no.

"Did they get into my toothpaste?" I shouted down the hall. Baby B was still screaming, but I could also hear water running.

"Yes!" Rocket Boy shouted back, sounding tired. I went to see what was going on and found him scrubbing both Baby B and the master bathroom ("my" bathroom), which was covered with toothpaste. He handed me the tube, formerly almost full, now almost empty. Oh dear.

Dinner was ready, so we all went out to the kitchen. As I was filling the plates, Baby A said, again, "Owie!" and then threw up all over the kitchen floor. So we cleaned that up and then Baby B and I ate dinner, while Rocket Boy comforted Baby A, and then Rocket Boy ate dinner while I comforted Baby A, and then Baby A decided he wanted to eat some dinner after all.

After dinner I studied the small print on the back of the tube of toothpaste. It said that if you swallow more than you would normally use for brushing your teeth, call the Poison Center. So I called the Poison Center and told them what had happened, including the fact that Baby A had thrown up. The nice Poison Center lady, whose name was Lisa, told me that vomiting was to be expected, but it should not continue, and that they would also poop a lot, but then they would be fine.

I hung up in relief, but then the phone rang again. It was DirecTV, calling me with their best offer yet. I could have the next 4 months of DirecTV for FREE, and then I could cancel in December and the cancellation fee would only be $40.

I admit it, I thought about it. Four more months for free, who would turn that down? But I'd have to remember to cancel it again in December. December, the month when nothing gets done except Christmas, the month when everyone starts getting sick, the month when all else is forgotten. "No thanks," I said to the man. "We're really done."