Up and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed

For all that I had trouble sleeping last night, and probably got to bed about 2 am and then listened to some Depeche Mode for awhile after that, I got up at 7:45 am and am pretty perky, or about as perky as I get in the morning. Yesterday I was not as vigilant about doing all the stuff to keep my blood sugar in control, and my bedtime glucose was high, so I took both Lantus and Humalog (long-acting and short-acting insulin, respectively). This morning my fasting blood sugar is 117, which is very good, and I’m back on track. I only missed one pill and one injection, really, but I felt a bit like a slacker, when I’ve been doing so well. So, here’s to being back in form today.

It is 9 degrees outside, quite cold, and sunny. I plan on waiting for it to warm up before going anywhere. I’d like to pop by the library today, as it’s been closed, but on Sundays they open at 1 pm, so I may not be able to. We’ll see. A friend wants me to get a book from the Beaumont Library for him, and I’d like to hook the computer up to Wi-Fi for just a bit to get any updates there might be.

But I’ve got some time today before then to maybe work on my to-do list, since I haven’t really done anything on it except dishes.

You’d think with this much snow on the ground, nothing would be bothering my allergies, but I have inside allergies as well. My eyes are watering to the point of crying and I just blew my nose and unstopped it. I just took my allergy pill and I’m taking eye drops for that as well. These help. I really need to get back on track with my allergy shots, since the phials are at the practice and ready.

A few things to do this week:

1. Get my allergy shots, at least once, but twice if possible.
2. Take YKWIA to an appointment during the workday and three appointments in the evening.
3. Go to Time Warner Cable and give back the modem/router.
4. Go to one appointment of mine during the day and one evening appointment, the second of which coincides with YKWIA’s, at least. Getting allergy shots twice this week is looking slim. But there’s Wednesday, when they’re open late, and that’s free, for now.

Oh, by the way, speaking of taking the box back to TWC:

Vonage will not let me go. As you may know, Vonage is a voice-over-Internet phone provider, meaning that an internet connexion is required to use the phone, unlike bundled phones from the cable company. I have had Vonage for (apparently) nine years and five months. During that time, I have happily paid my bill through an automatic draught month in and month out. So they consider me a wonderful customer. Years ago, I was having trouble making a payment, and they actually comped the entire month. Last year, I lost my internet for a couple of months and they forwarded my calls and gave me credit for two or three months so I wouldn’t be charged.

Yesterday I called to cancel, and they really did all they could to make sure I didn’t. They dropped it down to an account that would be $6 a month with taxes, then gave me the credit for six months so that I could call back in that time to see if I got a connexion back in that time. That way I get to keep my phone number. I agreed to this (probably I will get the internet back in that time, through some provider, if I can find a good rate that I can afford, so I can watch Netflix on my TV again). So, everyone was happy. They really have bent over backwards to try to keep me as a customer. I certainly would recommend them to anyone. Anyway, thank you, Vonage.

I’ve been playing more of ‘Inside Out: Thought Bubbles’ and I finally got through that one level, but I’m stuck again, getting within one ball several times, using both Joy’s and Sadness’ powers. :( I’m assuming I’ll eventually unlock the other emotions, if I can just get past level 24.

Okay, it’s nice and bright in here, with the sun reflecting off the snow. I think I’ll read for a bit. I’ll write later, hopefully.

Snow Day!

So the snow didn’t actually start until the early morning commute. I got up and watched the conditions being predicted on the weather, though, and decided that while I most likely could drive or take the bus to work, getting back was going to be an absolute problem, whichever I chose. So I called my boss, who bless her heart planned on being in, as her husband was going to bring her from Garrard County, and left a message on her voicemail that I was going to heed the warnings and stay off the road, hunkered down in my apartment.

And then the snow came. And came. And came.

I went back to sleep till about 10:20 and fixed a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast with fruit, a banana, and Morningstar farm veggie sausage patties. As I ate, I watched the snow coming down. It was about two or so inches then, and it was coming down probably at about 1-2 inches per hour. Some of my neighbours, mostly from South Asia, were coming up by foot and visiting others here in the building. No one was out clearing vehicles or trying to drive anywhere that I saw. (I have a front living room window, facing the parking lot, so I can sort of watch the world as it goes by. I did a lot of that after I was hit by the car and was laid up for three months with a broken foot and ankle.) Anyway, one of our maintenance men came and shoveled the walk, stairs, and porch, clearing the snow. It seems to be a heavy, wet type of snow. I decided to go back to bed for awhile (I didn’t sleep that well last night), and so I slept from about 11:45 to 1:00 and got up to about six inches of snow. The walk is completely covered again, and it looks like the snow has been blowing and drifting some. The southern part of the state apparently got ice before the snow, so things have been worse for them. We’re at about the limit of my ability to drive in the snow now; if it continues like this for three more hours, I really don’t think I could have gotten home, and it is supposed to go for some time, up through tomorrow morning.

Now I’m going to try to do some things around the house. I’m a little chilly, but getting up and doing some things should help (it’s one reason I went back to bed.) So I’m going to turn the heat up a notch and then try to (over the next couple of days, since I’m probably not going anywhere soon):

1. Wash dishes.
2. Straighten up the kitchen.
3. Bag up the recyclables.
4. Take out the trash and recyclables if possible.
5. Straighten up the dining room.
6. Fold the remaining clean laundry.
7. Gather the dirty laundry for tomorrow, after the snow stops.
8. Straighten up the living room a bit.
9. Do a quick once-over on the bathroom.
10. Tackle the bedroom, which need to be excavated, as for once I have dirty laundry on the floor rather than the hamper, some clean laundry stacked up, the boxes of Christmas ornaments to still put away, and some things pulled out of the closets that need to go back. Then I can make the bed and all should be right with the world, and I can mark things off my to-do list.
11. I also need to call Vonage today and cancel my service, since I don’t have Internet at home anymore. To save on data, I’m also typing this up in Word first and then pasting into Blogger.

I’d also like to do some things for fun while I’m off (what’s a snow day without reading, for example). And while I can’t watch any streaming video, I have some DVDs to catch up on, including Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1, some Phryne Fisher mysteries, and of course, ‘Downton Abbey’, where I’ve only finished the first season and have two and three on DVD, so I’m hopelessly behind.

Depending on how things look tomorrow afternoon, I may try to dig out and get A for a trip to the store, assuming there is anything left to get. :) But it may be Sunday before we can do that. I did bring them milk, creamer, and bread yesterday to help bridge that time.

Okay, I guess I’ll start with the dishes. Stay safe if this storm is impacting you.

Just got off the phone

With a Vonage representative.  I had called to cancel my phone service because it piggy-backs onto the high-speed Internet,  which I no longer have.  I explained that I have always had great service,  but that I don't have cable and am unlikely to get the connexion back for a couple of months or so.  I have been with them for eight and a half years,  so she really didn't want me to cancel.  She offered a deal that would halve my bill and increase service,  but of course,  I still don't have the Internet,  so that's a problem.  So she comped me two months' worth of service to give me time to find an Internet provider but still keep my phone number,  at the new rate.  Have I mentioned there are concrete reasons I am a loyal Vonage customer?  They once gave me a free month when I couldn't pay the bill years ago.  I've never forgotten that.

Anyway,  thank you,  Vonage!

I am stunned

I have just gotten off the phone after trying to make payment arrangements with a couple of companies to get an extension until the next time I get paid, on the 25th.

Vonage couldn't change the date temporarily, but there's a 53-day grace period where it would periodically try to get the payment from my card. Unfortunately, since I pay through my checking debit card, this would bounce my account several times, putting me further and further into the negative. So the customer rep got with my supervisor, and came back with this: since I've been such a good customer (no problems at all), they were willing to credit my account for the month so the payment wouldn't be triggered. No repayment necessary, just a gift from Vonage. Wow, right?

Then I called RealArcade. After a rough start over trying to spell my name and e-mail address to a non-native speaker (the call centre was in India), I explained that I was happy with the service but had to cancel due to financial issues. He was perfectly willing to cancel my account, but offered to credit a month so that I wouldn't have to pay this month and could take it back up in November, still getting my game credit for the month. Wow, again!

Maybe this dealing with things directly has its merit. Anyway, thank you Vonage and RealArcade. You really made my day. I'd recommend them to anyone else. What are the chances of two big companies wanting to keep me as a customer enough to do this?