I would like to have a day off I can do what I want to do and not what is dictated for me to do.

I thought I had my yesterday planned. But that didn't happen.

Late Thursday night I received a call from a driver, telling me he was having a problem with his fuel card. We began investigating and went on line to check available card balance and transaction history. His fueling total was $294. His card balance was $295. But for some weird reason, his card would not work.

As regular readers know, we are using a prepaid debit card from Walmart. It had actually worked very well. It allows us to load money as needed and has reports you can print out on weekly, monthly or yearly scheduling.

Krl tried to call customer service, and reached a recording telling us to call between 8 and 5.

Finally, about midnight. Krl put the fuel on one of her personal credit cards.

Friday morning I got up and printed the on-line reports. I was getting all my ducks in a row before I called customer service. One thing I could not believe was how many times the truck driver tried to use his card, even after Krl told him not to. 18. He would go from the fuel desk to the ATM.

The reports showed the card had been closed. ??? I couldn't understand why. It had money on it. I called customer service and talked with Milo. I guess he is in India or Pakistan. His English was short and choppy and the more questions I asked him the worse it got. He told me the card was closed because the card use was not consistent. ????? "Not consistent?", I asked. "We have had these cards since March, loading between $1200 and $1600 per week, and with only a few exceptions the card use has been for fuel (the exceptions being tire service and a couple of motel bills)". Milo told me the system reviewed the card and closed the account. I wanted to know who is the system. Walmart he replied. I asked to talk to his supervisor. He put me on hold, finally returning and telling me his supervisor would have to call back. He assured me it would be no more than ten minutes.

Two hour later I called customer service again. This time I talked with Ryan. I told him I had talked to Milo and needed to talk to their supervisor. He assured me, "I am very good at what I do. I can help you." I told him my problem and began asking questions. He had no answers, at least not any that went beyond "I am vely sorry for your inconvenience". I asked him "when" the card was closed. He told me the card was closed at 9 in the morning August 20, 2009. "Why then, did the system allow money to be loaded on the card at 12:49 in the afternoon August 20, 2009?", I asked. He told me that is not possible. By this time I was getting pretty heated. I told him I was holding the load confirmation in my hand and asked if he wanted the number. He told me it was not possible to put money on a card after the card was closed. I assured him he was wrong, and told him again I had the receipt, and if he would look at the transaction history he could see the card load. Finally he told me, "Yes, I can see it now. I don't know why it did this". Yeah, let me talk to your supervisor. He wanted to argue. I told him either activate the card or let me talk to your supervisor. He told me he could not activate the card again, the computer had already generated a refund check and I would receive it in ten to fourteen days. I told him if they had indeed closed the card and were refunding the load balance, I wanted the purchase price of the card included plus the load fee for the money loaded on the card after it was closed. He told me he could not do this, so I asked for his supervisor again. He told me his supervisor was not available and would have to give me a call back. I told him I had received the run around before, I would hold. He told me he was not allowed to have a call on hold more than a minute.

By that time, I was really steamed and just wanted to piss this little foreign jerk off. He made the mistake of asking me, "Is there anything else I can do to help you today?". I couldn't resist. I told him, "You haven't helped with anything yet!" I could tell he was getting exasperated. I asked him if their calls were recorded and monitored. He said, "Yes". I told him "I hope they are monitored, because you are a liar and a jerk. You assured me you were quite good at what you do but you are not!" He decided he would give it one more try to satisfy me. What a dummy! He told me Walmart was not comfortable with how the card was being used. I told him I didn't buy it because there had not been a problem for six months and all the sudden there was. I took my argument farther and told him obviously they could tell that the card was being used for "fuel and auto expenses" by where the card was used. Finally the man gave up. But not before he began asking me "Is there anything ... . . . . . . "Don't do it", I said, "and tell your supervisor I will expect their call." With that, he hung up.

Why are all the United States companies outsourcing their customer service to foreign countries? I get so tired of hearing "I am so sorry" in choppy English, or they begin giving you a claim or complaint number "aight, fiv, cero, cero". It just makes me sick.

I really believe the companies do this on purpose hoping that callers will become frustrated and give up.

They don't know me.

The rest of my day was spent at Roscoe. I had to meet the driver with the closed card and give him cash for fuel until we decide what we are going to do from here. After I met him I went to the barn to do some truck work. Later in the afternoon, after I had sweated down and been stung by a wasp, I loaded up and headed home.

My Friday got moved to Saturday and now we have a thunder storm in the area which may move it to Sunday or Monday.

Crudola. Hope your day was better!

I took a break and drove to Tye to meet one of the truck drivers to pick up his and another drivers paperwork. This driver always wants to meet in the restaurant. I had asked him to call me from Trent so we could arrive about the same time. When he called he was already sitting in the truck stop. I drove there and sat down with him. He always wants to visit. I don't want to be rude. Anyhow, we were visiting about the fuel card we are having the problems with when two older gentlemen walked in. One went to the breakfast buffet, the other went to the restroom after the waitress brought their coffee. In a short while the man returning from the restroom became visible to me down the hall. He was staggering back and forth, using the wall for support. When he walked through the door he mis-judged it and walked into the wall. Finally he staggered into the dining room, almost falling into another customer's lap before he sat in his chair.

Initially I thought these men might be finishing up a bender from last night, but in a moment, the man who had been staggering told his friend, "I don't feel right". I didn't want to be intrusive, so my truck driver and I resumed our conversation. In a moment we heard the friend of the man saying, "Richard. Richard. Wake up Richard. Are you all right", and the friend started rounding the table. My truck driver had realized what was going on before I did and was up in a flash. The man who had been staggering was on his way to going down in a pile. They got the man upright in his chair and under control so they could lay him gently down in the floor. An ambulance was called and the police began arriving. This man was breathing, and the people helping out said he had a pulse, but he was unconscious at least ten minutes. When he came to, he immediately began fighting and arguing wanting to get up. His friend told him what had happened and the others kept the man on the floor. I heard the friend tell the man, "I have called an ambulance and they are on their way. We are going to find out what is causing this".

As we heard the ambulance arrive, I told my driver I was going to go. He agreed. As we were walking out they were asking about blood pressure medication and blood sugar. I don't know what was going on but it didn't appear to be good.

I ran by the post office on the way home with one more stop to pick up breakfast burritos. Yum!

By the way, guess what? It rained while I was gone. Now another day is trashed.

Oh well. I may watch the little league world series. Now that is really a game. No over paid prima donnas there!

Have a weekend!

FATHER, thank YOU for all the blessing we overlook and take for granted. I lift up the man from the truck stop for YOUR gifts of healing. Thank YOU for good days that off set the bad ones. I ask for YOUR blessing of patience. For YOUR love FATHER.