Is This What Passes For Entertainment?
"I took in a movie. An appalling little piece of filth, its "leading lady" was a blonde harlot who spent half the film strolling around naked as a jaybird! No, just give the Great Unwashed a pair of oversized breasts and a happy ending, and they'll oink for more every time!" - Mr. Burns
Back from the movies. Harry insisted on seeing "Surf's Up", and although the reviews for the surfing penguin movie weren't as bad as I thought, but I was in no mood for it anyway after finding out that my phone company is charging me nearly $1600 in roaming charges. That's right: every single call for the last four weeks has been charged as roaming, and now I have till July 10th to pay up. I felt a save of sickness in my stomach as I read it, unbelieving. I called my dad first thing, hoping he'd act nonchalant and make me feel a bit more confident about reasoning with Cingular about this. I've been a loyal customer for six years; I don't think I've even ever paid a bill late. Still, I can just picture some customer service flunky telling me to read mhy contract. I checked my plan online and found no details limiting me to California or the West Coast...I know that originally, I was charged for roaming, but never in a major metropolitan area like Chicago. Also, whenever I was charged for roaming in the past, I was given a different network, so I was aware that I wasn't being charged the same as with Cingular, but now that they merged with AT&T, I just assumed coverage had widened. I'm not even employed, and was using the phone to search for jobs, so I'm hoping that maybe they'll see to reason, but otherwise I'll be out all my savings, for the most part.
We ended up going to the movies and Harry was so high he spazzed out and cut across three lines, rushing to get us to a movie that had technically started twenty minutes earlier. Right before heading in, he told me I could go where I wanted since "Pirates 3" was right next door. I found the first film halfway decent and knew I'd rather see that anyway, so we split up. The Cingular ad before the movie rubbed my nose in it a bit and the movie itself was unimpressive...I walked out after an hour and figured I'd sit through the rest of Harry's. I came in five minutes before the end, but like a kid, Harry insisted on stretching our movie dollar and we caught the last fifteen minutes of "Shrek the Third", which was mostly awful. Updated fairy tales are kind of passe and I counted two gags about a baby farting in the last five minutes, plus an audible one from a child behind me. Also bad, inexplicably enough, was Harry's breath. I know what a cheap shot that sounds like, but Harry laughed out loud a lot and would let lose this smell that I initially thought was a dirty diaper a row or two back. I exhaled myself, seeing if I was to blame, but it only came when he opened his mouth. I leaned sideways, towards the aisle.
I'm thinking of leaving this Thursday. I'll drive down to L.A. in the morning, take care of business, and end the day seeing "The Great Escape" at the Egyptian on Hollywood Blvd., then drive to Barstow and get a motel for the night, then head up to Utah and Monument Valley, and then in probably Nebraska and then Iowa on my way back. Harry wants me to stay longer, but as flattering as that is to hear, I really don't want to sit around here any longer. If I need to pay that fucking roaming bill, I'm gonna need to get out on some temp assignments. At least, at least, at least I still have my unemployment!
Now I'm home and going to bed soon. What a way to spend my thirtieth birthday: trying to argue my way out of a $1500 phone bill, buying pot and tickets to see "the new Cars" at some casino up north in Coarsegold (though I still need to decide if I'm leaving Thursday; I'm guessing I won't spend the money for me, but will pick up the other tickets as a courtesy to Harry), send out my unemployment claim forms, and go to dinner that night at Joe Roma's.
Back from the movies. Harry insisted on seeing "Surf's Up", and although the reviews for the surfing penguin movie weren't as bad as I thought, but I was in no mood for it anyway after finding out that my phone company is charging me nearly $1600 in roaming charges. That's right: every single call for the last four weeks has been charged as roaming, and now I have till July 10th to pay up. I felt a save of sickness in my stomach as I read it, unbelieving. I called my dad first thing, hoping he'd act nonchalant and make me feel a bit more confident about reasoning with Cingular about this. I've been a loyal customer for six years; I don't think I've even ever paid a bill late. Still, I can just picture some customer service flunky telling me to read mhy contract. I checked my plan online and found no details limiting me to California or the West Coast...I know that originally, I was charged for roaming, but never in a major metropolitan area like Chicago. Also, whenever I was charged for roaming in the past, I was given a different network, so I was aware that I wasn't being charged the same as with Cingular, but now that they merged with AT&T, I just assumed coverage had widened. I'm not even employed, and was using the phone to search for jobs, so I'm hoping that maybe they'll see to reason, but otherwise I'll be out all my savings, for the most part.
We ended up going to the movies and Harry was so high he spazzed out and cut across three lines, rushing to get us to a movie that had technically started twenty minutes earlier. Right before heading in, he told me I could go where I wanted since "Pirates 3" was right next door. I found the first film halfway decent and knew I'd rather see that anyway, so we split up. The Cingular ad before the movie rubbed my nose in it a bit and the movie itself was unimpressive...I walked out after an hour and figured I'd sit through the rest of Harry's. I came in five minutes before the end, but like a kid, Harry insisted on stretching our movie dollar and we caught the last fifteen minutes of "Shrek the Third", which was mostly awful. Updated fairy tales are kind of passe and I counted two gags about a baby farting in the last five minutes, plus an audible one from a child behind me. Also bad, inexplicably enough, was Harry's breath. I know what a cheap shot that sounds like, but Harry laughed out loud a lot and would let lose this smell that I initially thought was a dirty diaper a row or two back. I exhaled myself, seeing if I was to blame, but it only came when he opened his mouth. I leaned sideways, towards the aisle.
I'm thinking of leaving this Thursday. I'll drive down to L.A. in the morning, take care of business, and end the day seeing "The Great Escape" at the Egyptian on Hollywood Blvd., then drive to Barstow and get a motel for the night, then head up to Utah and Monument Valley, and then in probably Nebraska and then Iowa on my way back. Harry wants me to stay longer, but as flattering as that is to hear, I really don't want to sit around here any longer. If I need to pay that fucking roaming bill, I'm gonna need to get out on some temp assignments. At least, at least, at least I still have my unemployment!
Now I'm home and going to bed soon. What a way to spend my thirtieth birthday: trying to argue my way out of a $1500 phone bill, buying pot and tickets to see "the new Cars" at some casino up north in Coarsegold (though I still need to decide if I'm leaving Thursday; I'm guessing I won't spend the money for me, but will pick up the other tickets as a courtesy to Harry), send out my unemployment claim forms, and go to dinner that night at Joe Roma's.