Talk'in to India

So, our TV (satellite) has been out of commission for 4 days now - GASP I know, how are we surviving?!!?% In order to resolve the problem, I've been on the phone to our providers technical assistance (coughBELLcough) for the past 4 days. And that has been even more painful that being without TV. As you all know calling these places you are in fact phoning the wonderful country of India, a place that I have always wanted to visit and not "TALK" to while trying to make our TV work! It's the same everytime and I'm getting to know their script very well. How it works is that you call the 1-888 # you enter your phone number with which the account is assiciated (and this is my first point of confusion - why bother when they ask you two more times anyway). Then you select 2 for Techincal assistance, which is in fact not the technical assistance, it is the "screener layer" which I call it where they once again ask you for your phone number, what the problem is and your security pin (which I can NEVER remember). And then they pass you on to Technical assistance, where they once again ask you your phone number, your name and what the problem is again. This is of course all speaking with the call center located in India so along with all of this speaking comes the international phone line delay, where you say something and a couple seconds pass, then they say something and there is more delay... you know how it goes. Now comes the "Script" they first ask if they can call you by your first name, which for me is "Miss Christine" (not sure why they do that since I'm not a Miss anymore) , then they ask you the issue, which they try to resolve, and during the "dead air time" they always say "Other than the problem with your TV, so may I ask you how your day is going?" followed by "How is the weather" and they are all so good at acting interested in my responses to those questions. I actually asked one technician how the weather was where he was located and he said "Well you know I'm in India - and it's 20 degrees" (That surprised me because they rarely disclose their locations - not that the accents give it away or anything... :) ) Then they start into the sales pitch - "OH, I see you've been a customer with us for 5 years, that puts you into our preferred customer category....blah blah blah". Then the call ends with "What did you think about my service today, can you rate me from 1 -10, 10 being high". I always give them 10 since I don't have the heart to say 2...

Hopefully I don't have to call India again any time soon. I'd rather visit in person!

On another note here is the challenege that lays before me now:


This is a photo of Eric's Dad on the Santa Paula in May 1946 on is way from war torn England to start a new life in Canada (well his second time - but that is a story for later). The photo has a lot of damage: scratches, folds, cracks and rips... so it will take me a while. But stay tuned for the before and after... Can't wait to get started!