Feb 17 2006


Ah, drink no wine before its time.

Feb 03 2006 I have just tried to publish a photo album to my .Mac website using Apple's new iPhoto 2006. What a bust. You cannot do what you could always do. The album does not go where all the rest of my albums are. The templates available are a pale subset of what used to be available. It really sucks. Hope Apple fixes this.

Feb 16 2006

When we got home from our trip, I downloaded my credit card bills onto Quicken. I saw that we had two charges the same day from Barnes West County Hospital, each at $35.10. Before we left on vacation, I had called the hospital’s billing department and charged that amount. So, while the amount was correct, it was clear to me that they had double charged me.

Bright and early the next morning, I called the billing inquiries number for the hospital. I told the person there about the two charges on the same day for the same amount. She looked up the account and said that they only showed that they charged a single $35.10. I was asked what proof I had. I told her of the downloaded credit card statement, the two like amounts, the same date, ete. Could I fax that to her? What good would that do her since I told her all that was on the printout. I offered to give her the credit card transaction numbers, but she said that would do them no good. And try as she might looking through her records on the computer, she could not find that they had charged us twice. As far as she was concerned, it didn’t happen.

Somehow, she did not understand why I might be upset with a double charge that she could not find. When she started to tell me how their accounting system works and its complications, I pulled out the accounting card: “I taught accounting for 25 years and fully understand accounting systems. What I cannot understand is your losing the second $35.10 you charged to my credit card.” I offered to dispute the bill with VISA, but she didn’t want me to do that. At that point, I asked for a supervisor. However, the supervisor was on the phone. I left her a voicemail message regarding my problem.

The next day, the supervisor called me back. She said they had checked all their postings and that they could not find the second $35.10. Surely, she posited, this was an error at the credit card company and not at the hospital. Could I fax her my statement? No, since we don’t have a fax. Could she use the transaction numbers? No, they don’t have access to those at her end. So, I was told to call the credit card company who had obviously made a mistake.

Using my land line, I called the number on the back of my VISA card. When I explained the problem to the attendant who answered, she told me that she could not handle this and this would have to go to the resolution department. While I was being transferred, I called the hospital supervisor on my mobile phone. The resolution person came on the phone, a woman with absolutely no sense of humor or any customer service conversation training. I told her of my problem. She told me that the hospital made the mistake and she would charge back $35.10 against them and give me a credit. I told the supervisor who said that was fine.

So, I invested about 45 minutes in four conversations for a matter of $35.10 that could have been solved in five minutes in the first conversation. Next time, no Mr. Nice Guy. It’s right to the resolutions lady at VISA.

Jan 26 2006 About two months ago, one of my Country Day School classmates sent out a flyer about our 50th reunion and some plans we are formulating for it. Attached to the flyer was a stickie note that said: “Bud, can I get a sentence or two from you about what CDS meant to you?”

I did not know whether to just pitch the flyer and note into the recycle bin or what. I put it on the floor beside my desk on the top of a couple of catalogs and food magazines. Yesterday, I was cleaning out the pile and came across the flyer and its attached note. Frankly, my first instinct was to pitch it.

I probably dwell too much and too long on the things that I did not like about my school and my place it in. I have written poems about some of this (“Training Ground” in Roots and Paths and “Forty-Fifth Reunion” in my upcoming book, Taking Stock). On one hand, I have resolved my issues and feelings from those times. On the other hand, what was was.

Instead of throwing the note away, I put it by my computer to look at while I did other work last night and this morning. My classmate (and friend) asked a good question: What did CDS mean to me? Below is the answer I sent this morning. In it, Mr. Reeves was our music appreciation teacher. The Masque is the drama society where I acted in a play each year. The News is the weekly newspaper. And instead of playing sports (which I really hated), I always got myself appointed manager of the team, a position revered in college, but thought populated by sissies at CDS.

What CDS meant to me:

I gained a lifelong love of the arts through Mr. Reeves, the Masque, trips to the St. Louis Symphony youth concerts, photography for The News and the yearbook. Even though I could not write worth a hoot in those days, something must have registered given my publications as an academic and now as a poet. And I learned how to keep records and the score in every sport offered!