Opuscula It isn’t easy Saying good-bye To some vendors

KERMIT THE FROG sang “It isn’t easy being green.”

If he ever tried to close out technology accounts, he would find that “being green” is the least of his worries.

 

We — my Spouse and I — are relocating.

We’re going to move closer to the grandchildren.

We have accounts for (alphabetically)

Electric
Internet
Mobile phones (2)
Water

We also are selling a car. In Florida, the plate stays with the seller, an inconvenience implemented in the 1970s.

Finally, we have to get an OK from the homeowners’ management association. (The buyers have even more association hoops to clear.)

Closing proof

In order to terminate our account with the city’s Water Department, we have to PROVE we sold the house. Present a copy of the closing papers.

Just to turn off the WATER!

What if we were leaving for our vacation home in the UP of Michigan. Seems fair; the snowbirds come south every winter. Turn off the water for “n” months. What do I have to do to prove I’m leaving town and I don’t want to chance a water pipe might break?

What is the Water Department going to demand of the buyers? ANOTHER copy of the closing?

Ridiculous.

Our homeowner’s insurance carrier also wants a copy of the closing document.

Perhaps I simply don’t want to pay for homeowner’s insurance. The house is free and clear. I am not obliged by law (so far) to have homeowner’s insurance.

People would be foolish not to have homeowner’s insurance — never mind that it fails to include flood insurance and that every time a hurricane comes ashore in Louisiana or Texas the insurers raise OUR rates in south Florida.

I thought this was 2011, not an Orwellian 1984.

Our mobile phones are with Consumer Cellular. Normally it is a “so-so” company. That’s probably the “norm” for phone companies in the 20s (2000, 2001, etc.).

The Spouse called Consumer Cellular and told Customer Service we want to cancel service on a specific date.

CSR replied: We can’t do that. You have to call us on the day you are canceling service.

Hopefully we will be able to call Consumer Cellular from the airport to get the service stopped.

Alternatively, we could just ignore bills from Consumer Cellular, but I was not brought up that way.

I may have to remember to bring a Consumer Cellular statement with us so I’ll know what to cancel — in case our phone numbers are insufficient.

One would think we were Consumer Cellular’s only customer and that our bill is in the hundreds of thousands every month. (We are not and our bill is not.)

AT&T only asks that we return a modem/router we had for internet connectivity. I’ve had the device for a number of years and, frankly, I cannot conceive of a reason AT&T would want it back. Maybe AT&T techs can salvage or scavenge parts from it.

To AT&T’s credit, it is proving pre-paid FedEx service back to a company address. It also is allowing sufficient time for one of my sons to get to a local FedEx to get the device on its way.

AT&T told my Spouse that the device could be returned by either UPS or FedEx, but it sent a document to ship via FedEx. Both work for me.

What AT&T apparently was unable to accomplish was a change of address so we will have to trust our highly unreliable and oft complained about letter carrier to get the bill forwarded.

I’ve lived all over the U.S. and I NEVER had such lousy mail service. There are days when no one on my city block gets mail — the carrier simply doesn’t deliver or collect mail and nothing can be done to replace the carrier.

Florida Power & Light, FPL, was the easiest of all to terminate.

The Spouse called FPL — I prefer email; she’s great on the phone — and asked that the power be turned off on a specific date.

FPL said no problem; the power would be turned off one (1) day after the requested date. The helpful clerk even gave my Spouse a “guesstimated” bill.

USPS The Post Office now charges for a Change of Address: US$1.05.

I’ve moved a lot and I never had to pay for a change of address. USPS is happy to bill my credit card.

Of course, the “modern” Post Office (that may or may not deliver mail, ibid.) also has a steep surcharge for Stamps By Mail. Almost like buying stamps from a vending machine (do they still have those?).

I could understand if the surcharge and the postage to get the stamps to me were about the same, but they are far from that.

We got a Change of Address form from the USPS and mailed it — postage free — at a free-standing mail box (almost an anomaly anymore, akin to corner pay phones).

If we waited for the lazy letter carrier to collect the card — the alternate carrier is great — we would be well settled in into our new residence.

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Comment on Saying good-byed

ERM-BC-COOP Paper trumps experience

a rant

 

I applied for a job today via a recruiter.

I am an "Ivory Soap" match for the job.

But the 66/100% I lack (Ivory Soap advertises it is 99 44/100th percent pure), when confirmed, caused the recruiter to hang up on me.

I could have brought more than 15 years' experience to the recruiter's client.

But the lack of a degree - the "66/100th percent" - ended the phone call.

"The client requires it," she said.

I can't entirely fault the recruiter. After all, "the client requires a degree."

I know the client - Florida Power & Light, FPL. I send it a check every month.

What I am beginning to think is that whomever created this job requisition for FPL doesn't know much about business continuity.

Would a degree in InfoTech Security meet the requirements?

You bet. Forget that InfoTech security is only a very small part of business continuity.

How about a degree in journalism?

Actually that might be BETTER than a degree in InfoTech security since there is a great deal of documentation involved in creating and maintaining a business continuity plan or program.

The FPL job req writer is telling me that four years of listening to people pontificate about subjects in which they may have zero practical experience is better than 15 years' hands-on experience.

OK, to be fair, I know there are some college instructors who DO have "real world" experience. I had a couple when I attended Barry U and Sarasota U. But I also had the "other" kind. I'm a former journalist - reporter to managing editor. The required English 1 course had the instructor - a high school English teacher during the day - try to teach the class how to write a story for a newspaper. The gentleman could hardly spell "newspaper," let alone create copy for one.

But he had a degree, maybe two, and therefore was an "expert" in the field.

America was not built on degrees. It was built on people developing expertise.

Admittedly, my profession lacks - sadly - an apprentice program.

Likewise "admittedly," there are people who claim expertise, some with certifications, who can't plan their way across a deserted country road.

But if they have a degree . . .

FPL, or at least the contracting agencies, are offering a below market rate so maybe it is just as well that this recruiter abruptly ended the call.

Still, it would have been a good match: FPL and this practitioner.

If I wrote it, you may quote it.

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