Signs of Fascism

     Definition: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. 

    Sounds like Trump and his supporters to me. They meet the definition. I wonder how many of Trump's supporters are aware enough to see it? They blame Antifa for any violence the Right perpetrates so I'm thinking not many. The ones who stand to make some big bucks if Trump returns to power certainly should know better. But I'm betting the majority of them are ignorant of where that support is taking us as a country. If they knew I'd doubt they would continue to support their former criminal and thief. 

Fear of Flying Signs

     Just got back from visiting with my son and his family in Georgia. Had anxiety attacks throughout both flights there and back. Partially due to wearing a mask for 11 hours straight getting there and 7 hours on the way back (direct) but mostly due to being in that big ol' jet airliner. Who knew I was this scared to fly. I sure didn't. Previous flights caused no were near the level of anxiety that these did although my last was nearly 20 years ago. I'm thinking that I'm much more in touch with my feelings about flying as I'm not in as much denial about those feelings. Becoming aware of and changing my behavior has gradually released many things that I previously buried and among those things were my actual feelings as I made my way through life. Crazy high were the walls that I maintained for too long. It was no fun but it's hard to deal with one's fears when one ignores them. Now I can face them and sort them out. Grateful be I.

Smart Phone Initialized

     So Tuesday I got the phone to work for outgoing calls and messages only. I could also receive messages but not phone calls and when someone called there was nothing on the line. No voice mail, no anything. Spent an hour on the phone and still couldn't get any love. While AT&T was sending me to their techs I was sidetracked by some BS while on hold and lost the connection. That was my last call for Tuesday as I'd reached my limit for profanity free conversation with people who were no help.

    Wednesday I made my final call and after an hour of holding and whatever I was in business. They reset the connection and I've finally joined the smart phone crowd.

    I'd like to thank You Tube for the many videos about how to navigate your new I-Phone 12 and get the most out of your phone. I'm finding them very helpful.

Signs Concerning a Smart Phone Purchase

     So I finally decided to get a smart phone. I've held off but as my home phone is useless in a power outage, I felt it was time. I did a bunch of online research and then began my journey began last Tuesday when I stopped by the T-Mobile store in Ukiah.

    They had the phone I wanted in stock at their warehouse and said it would be in shortly. I left with a sim card and thought we were through. Called them back Thursday to find that the phone was on back order and it would be several weeks before it would arrive. They'd be more than happy to upgrade to a more expensive phone that they had in stock which chapped my hide. Since I couldn't log into my T-Mobile account without my smartphone I was unable to cancel my order online which forced me to drive back to their Ukiah store in order to cancel the whole thing. Verizon was next.

    They had a store in Lakeport so I stopped by to get some quotes and was disappointed to say the least. I went home Thursday evening and started looking at what AT&T had to offer online.

    Decided to give AT&T a shot as I already had an account with them for my current phone and internet. This despite previously horrible interactions with their customer service department, including nearly a month where I was without internet during the holidays. Got someone on their website via phone and 90 minutes later I thought we'd completed the order. One problem during that process was that they were unable to ship the phone to my physical address. You know, the place where my utility lines end. Their wireless department seems to be using a USPS database to confirm shipping addresses and they won't ship to the PO Box that I'm given free due to USPS not delivering mail to our house. They can't seem to wrap their minds around the concept that the address where I get their services isn't in the USPS database. I asked him to look up my address via Google Maps to see that it fucking existed and that Fed-X and UPS delivered here at least once a month but that didn't matter to his software. I was forced to use the UPS Store's address in Lakeport for the phone's destination and my credit card company flagged the transaction and requested that I confirm it. I did that but the order is still on hold. AT&T tells me that it will ship shortly but it's Monday, the transaction hasn't cleared yet (Now I'm worried that they have the billing address wrong) and I'm getting nowhere with customer service. Even called the order department directly and got the same bullshit. The only order that they've confirmed is the one to stop my current phone and increase my internet payment. That's right, I'm keeping my phone number to go wireless with them and their dinging me for shutting my phoneline down to go wireless.....with them. Maybe once I've activated my new phone and combined my accounts (they opened a new one for the wireless order but I can't access it until I activate the phone) that might lower it again but I doubt it. Looks like I'm being royally fucked in about every aspect of this transaction. I haven't even seen exactly what I signed up for. They finally emailed a copy of the order I requested via phone today but there's nothing on it other than the phone I ordered. 

    As it stands, I'm starting to think this might be a sign but of what exactly I'm clueless. Maybe I should have let T-Mobile screw me without complaint. Possibly it means I'm in over my head with this type of transaction. My favorite so far is that these companies are here to get every fucking dollar out of you that they can by any means necessary and Jeffery don't do that. That's a problem but I doubt it's my problem. Just sayin'.