I had two small victories yesterday:

Cell phone warrioress
About a month ago, I started receiving phone calls from a number I didn’t recognize on my cell phone.  I usually ignore these calls and wait for the person to leave a message, but after receiving the calls almost every day for a week, I decided to answer.  It was somebody offering me a free cell phone if I renewed my contract with my current provider for another two years.

I was at work at the time of this call, so I didn’t really have time to check out the phones being offered so I asked them to call back later.  They didn’t so I called my cell phone provider, explained that I had been offered a deal that I would like to take advantage of.

After keeping me waiting for some time, then telling me they’d call me back within 15 minutes, I was told that the deal that had been offered to me never existed.  However, for my time they were going to offer me a three year contract with a free phone, waiving a $25 fee that would normally apply.  I’m all about saving money so I happily agreed.

Fast forward to yesterday when I received my phone bill, complete with a $25 (+ tax!) charge.  Unimpressed, I called them up, explained my plight and Mary looked up my file.  Thankfully, whoever worked on my file before had indicated that I was to have a $25 credit so Mary told me to simply pay my bill, less $25 + tax.

Even libraries aren’t safe from my wrath
Back when I had overdue books only once in a blue moon, I didn’t mind paying my overdue fees.  In fact, I thought having overdue books every few months was a good way to show support for the library–after all, my $1.50 for a book that’s overdue by three days is a good 1/8 of the price of a new book.  The more overdue books I have, the more books the library can purchase!  I control how many books the library can stock.

I draw the line at paying for books that were returned on time though.

Last week, before my dentist appointment, I dropped off about 17 books (no, I didn’t read them all cover to cover…they were all books on crafting and crafts as I was seeking ideas for this blog).  Later, when I went to check my file on the library’s site, I was surprised that two of the books that I had returned were showing up as unreturned.  The next day, one of them was showing up as still checked out and the other as returned two days late!  Irate but still calm, I patiently waited for the second book to show up as returned.  Sure enough, the book showed up as checked back in five days late, bringing my grand total of overdue charges to $5.50 ($2 of which is legitimate from an overdue book and cd)!

I didn’t think I’d get anywhere without marching into the library, righteous indignation in hand, but I gave it a try anyway:  I phoned the library and explained that I had returned the two books on time.  After listening to me huff and puff and swear that I had returned the two books at the same time as the other books I returned, the librarian informed me that the $3.50 had been cleared off my card.

Hallelujah!  $32 in my pocket for those at home keeping track.

Filed under: Mundane by jummy