Bell Canada woes

A couple of years ago I received a call from a Bell Canada marketing call centre representative. I don't remember what the offer was at the time but I know I said No Thank you in no uncertain terms. A couple of weeks later, my phone bill comes in and I've got new charges on it. I call Bell customer service to ask why these services are showing up on my bill and they inform me that I requested the services. ... which was pure bs.

I asked the rep if I gave my authorization password and she answers, what password? So she goes through and sees in past calls that I had password protected my phone accounts so they couldn't be tampered with. And sure enough, my password had not been given. So everything went back to what it was and I was happy.

Today I get another one of those calls that the marketing person on the other end isn't answering my questions and keeps going back to the point that I've won a new cellphone free of charge with no s&h. This is the 12th day in a row that they call and I keep saying no, I don't want it. So today after the call, I called Bell Customer service and asked how to stop these marketing calls without losing my Bell service calls in case of interruption of service, advance warnings, etc... Well, now they actually have a do not call list specifically for marketing calls! Guess who's numbers are on that list now!!?!!!

I wonder if Mr. Alexander Graham Bell would have invented the telephone if he had known what uses it would be turned to. The telephone is one of these inventions that has completely taken over our lives. Between the cell phones and the home phones, you are never disconnected. So making sure that marketing calls do not encroach on my life, I added my phone numbers to the National Do Not Call List. I can vouch for this program, it works and very well. The only calls that come through now are the ones for political party announcements which if they showed a number I'd report it to the do not call list. I'll make my own choices thank you.

Clean up and clear out

Today I spent cleaning up my file folder. Why? Because we had a bit of a scare with our old computer. We thought she had breathed her last on Friday night. But, with much canned air, patience, a bit of poking here and some prodding there, replaced the 2nd drive that had croaked a few months ago with the one from my computer who had croaked last year, we managed to get the old girl up and running again.

And since most of the files I do have I want to keep, I went through everything, pitched what wasn't needed anymore and copied the whole lot over to the new drive as a back up to the back up. Yeah i know, a bit fanatical? Well, if I don't do this, some of the things I would lose that are near and dear to my heart are photos, a print of the last conversation i had with my sister over MSN before she passed away last year, more photos of my children, friends, places we've been, family, our life and I can't forget Gambit!

The print of the convo with my sister really made me sit back when I read through it. If' we'd only known... I'm sure that talking about our respective work would not have been at the top of our convo list. Discussing our children, husbands, old memories, our Dad, at least featured in the convo. Rereading it now, just I don't quite know how to explain it, but it feels like she's with me. i can hear her voice in my mind as we're talking and laughing about our lives. I miss her.

At least now, I know what i have, and where it's stored. Yeah for scares I guess LOL

 I had to add this one today. As I read it, I realised how anyone who is OCD about having everything in it's place must feel when they can't fix the letters for OCD :P.... right hon? :P

Lest we forget - Proud to be a free Canadian

Thank you

And the heavens rejoiced!

I finally have a family Doctor!!! 

6 years, multiple waiting lists, and uncounted phone calls canvassing for one and I finally get one using Healthcare Connect.

And I wasn't expecting anything to happen so quick either. When I registered with the service yesterday, I was told to not expect an answer for a while if I even got an answer. Nothing new there since it's all I've been told in the past. The phone rings this morning and it's the local placement agent for Healthcare connect who tells me she's found a doctor for me! The last place I thought to look; the french canadian health services! duh!

So after going through the 30 minute intake interview (in french) over the phone, I have an appointment for December 14th at 1:45!!!! Bloody amazing, my jaw just about hit the floor.

I'm still in shock, can't quite believe it. Almost too good to be true so I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming or hallucinating LOL

I wish to thank my darling daughter for sending me all the doctor names via email (couldn't access the website from here) I don't have to do any more calls! I also wish to thank my darling soulsister for encouraging me and just holding me up at times through this whole mess.

Now to figure out what the next step is so we're not on the street by December.

More phone calls to make. But I still need to hear from the neurologist before I can proceed to the next step. If I jump the gun so to speak, I may end up landing on the wrong spot.

If you know anyone who has serious health problems, lives in Ontario, has a valid health card and doesn't have a family doctor, pass on the information to call Healthcare Connect. I was seriously sceptical when I called them yesterday, but after today's response, I'm sold! Registration is only a phone call away 1-800-445-1822. My days of relying on walk-in clinics are finally over!

The Mom (Mum) Song

My darling daughter sent me this clip from Youtube. I laughed by the time it was done. Sooo true :)

And my daughter tells me she doesn't remember many lectures from me. I told her my lectures were done without screaming since she listened so well I didn't have to keep repeating myself. Mind you, her brother made up for that in spades  LOL

So without further ado, for your listening pleasure, The Mom Song.

We've all been there, we've all done this. Sit back and have a good laugh. The singer is amazing btw :)

What Inspires Me to Create

I've been rather busy these past weeks creating and developing patterns. This morning I'm checking out blogs and someone made a post about what inspires her. I started thinking about it and discovered that it's rather a difficult question to answer.... at least for me it is.

I've always worked with textiles in one form or another over the years. And as a norm, what gets the old brain brewing and stewing is a need. Much like the idiom, "Necessity is the Mother of Invention". For me the Necessity has always been replaced by Desperation. When I can't find something I really need, my brain produces an answer to the problem.

This is why I initially taught myself 

• crochet: I needed a shawl
• machine sewing: I needed clothing
• knitting: (had to relearn)  my premature son needed a hat
• hand stitching: I didn't have a sewing machine
• embroidery: I wanted to give my grandmother a handkerchief with blue birds on it
• painting: I wanted to express what I saw and felt in colors
• pattern making: I needed a cocoon for my premature son

Today I can use any and all of the above skills I developed at a time when I was desperately seeking an answer to whatever problem presented itself. 

I've also found over the years that I also require a certain level of urgency or stress to get the brain stewing and brewing. If those 2 ingredients are lacking, nothing I attempt to create works.

As for the creativity, I try different ways of viewing what I need an answer to from different angles. A different viewpoint, not necessarily of a different point of view. 

What inspires you to create?