Echolalia

What A Week It Has Been #30DBC

Like many, I am finding it very difficult to concentrate.

What. A. Week. It. Has. Been. 

I've been reading, watching, listening wondering -- why?

What makes two young men, brought to the US at 9 and 16 as refugees -- what makes them feel so displaced that they turn against those in their own community? What makes some one adopt such radical beliefs that he is willing to sacrifice everything including his own life and the lives of innocents for a cause that he is removed from (as US citizens.)

I cannot imagine what their family members are going through. When someone you know (and love) does something so unthinkable one can only go into a state of shock. I saw a clip showing the boys' uncle expressing anger and disbelief that this could happen. It is so frustrating that anyone would assume this reflects on the Chechen community or Muslims.  Those extremists of any nationality, any religion are not representative of there people not matter how you try to profile them.

The other thought in my head goes back to the analysis. Amazing isn't it?  Authorities were able to comb through video, pictures, phone records so quickly, almost magically. Pattern recognition algorithms must have been used to scan through all those digital records.  Our military, our police, CIA and FBI need to have the best equipment and software to be both proactive and reactive. Our best minds must be put to work creating tools which let us look beyond the obvious in order to thwart the cowardly acts of terror being brewed here right at home.

I hate the term, rubber necking, but it is almost impossible to turn off the news, to turn down the twitter chatter. I can't help but participate by observing while this unfolds in front of all of us.  I imagine the victims of the bombing on Monday, still in their hospital beds, lives forever changed, are watching, too.  

This week, we all are from Boston, aren't we?

Of cats and mice. Why my cats go in & out #30DBC

Do you have a pet?

A dog... or maybe a cat? Maybe both?

If so, perhaps you can relate.

My husband and I both grew up with animals.  When we got our first apartment in Hoboken we both wanted to adopt a cat. Over time, and many moves, we picked up cats wherever we settled.  The first two cats lived mostly inside with us as we lived in high rises and multiple-unit dwellings. By the time the third cat was added to our brood, we owned our own home in the 'burbs. All three cats quickly adapted to the indoor/outdoor routine. They'd sleep inside at night, and lounge in the sun on the hot slate during the day.

Eventually we were, in fact, that crazy couple with the big house and five cats and a dog. Yup.  No human offspring, but those pets were our family. Eventually, our son and daughter were born, our family grew.

And if truth be told, when all of our original cats (16 or so years down the line) and our dog moved on to the great big barn in the sky -- as much as we missed our companions, we secretly relished the time we had with no kitty litter to scoop -- and no daily hairballs to vacuum.

But something was missing.

About two years ago a 4 week old kitten came into our lives. It had been found wandering in someone's backyard. That person brought the kitten in a box to his doctor (a cat lover) and in turn, Buddy came to live with us.  A few short months later, while picking up cat food at Pet Smart, the lovely gray kitty you see, Daffodil,  left the shelter and joined us.  She was just 6 months old.

Neither cat is declawed. For the most part, they live inside. But since we live in a fairly quiet neighborhood, we let our cats be, well, cats.  

You're still with me? Bet you are wondering where I am going with this.

Well, I have been reading articles deriding cat owners who let their pets roam outdoors. For example, this article in the New York Times explains how cats are killing machines and they are wiping out the rodent and bird populations.  There are 1000 comments and so many of them come from people who are incredibly judgemental. There is a very angry group of people who call those of us who have indoor/outdoor cats "irresponsible."   

Both cats are neutered.  They visit the vet at least 2x/year -- usually to board if we are away more than a few days. That gives them a chance to been seen by the vet for a quick exam and they get their teeth cleaned or nails clipped or shots or whatever is necessary.

Our felines love to sit outside in the sun -- and often, they like to play in the snow! They sit and the door and beg to go out. And watching them sniff the air and chase after leaves in the wind is delightful.  

Do they kill small rodents? Yes. Moles, especially. Birds? Yes, a few are irresistable. But more often than not, they lay in the grass and play with the moths.  To our delight, they chase the crows away. And when it's dark out, we shake the treat bag and call their names and they come back in. We do our best to get them in every evening as there are coyotes that roam in the hills nearby -- but there are some hot summer nights where it is just too exciting for them to return. As we make our coffee when the sun rises, a hungry cat will show up for a snack, a head butt, and a long nap.

I think animals, like people, are not designed to live exclusively indoors. I think that life itself is greatly improved by being outside in nature.  Would a cat live longer if he didn't have access to a busy road? Sure. Would I be safer if I never left my house? Sure. But what kind of life would that be for either of us?

I know. They are natural born killers. They hunt for fun. But to be honest, I'm glad they keep the moles out of my garden. I am thrilled when they catch a field mouse that has found it's way under my dishwasher.  That's what cats do!

I think to taking creatures that are born to roam and locking them behind screen doors is selfish. Whose life is better? Yours or the cats?  I'd rather my cat have 8 exciting lives than 10 behind bars. But that's just my opinion. What about yours?

 

 

 

 

Related articles

Study: Cats kill billions of small animals in the US each year

Should domestic cats be eradicated? | Gareth Morgan and Tom Cox

That cuddly kitty is deadlier than you think - NDTV

It's called Lifetime Value AT&T, and it's easy to snuff

I've been an AT&T (and briefly Cingular) mobile junkie customer for a long time. (I go back to when cell phones were the size of shoe boxes and you hauled them around in your second purse.)

Since the late 80's, and my first connection to the outside world via a mobile link, I have been connected to the hive. At first it was simple phone calls (and $900 monthly "ouch" bills to my employer as I used the phone to connect/sell with prospects/clients while driving to new appointments.) 

Over time, my obsession grew. When texting came out, I was on board and fat-fingered my way into sending my boyfriend, now husband messages that contained sweet nothings and shopping lists for a quick grocery run on the way home. What's technology if not personal?

I upgrade faithfully, regardless of the plan -- and usually in increments of less than 2 years. I always buy the phones with the most ability to reach out and connect. I love technology and if you know me, you've the gotten "You MUST get one of these!" declaration with a complete show and tell until you roll your eyes cry Uncle. It's funny to think about it, but at one point, I had a blackberry on Verizon and a cell phone on AT&T simply because it was hard to talk and refer to emails without running out of juice quickly.

Bottom line?  I'm a long-time, loyal customer who puts her money where her mouth is, literally. If you summed all the money that I've spent on cell phones and related plans and accessories, you would quickly see that I rise to the top of the list.

So, it was with some surprise that I discovered that loyalty and longevity isn't part of a strategy for some of the vendors from which I buy. 

This week -- it's AT&T. 

Now I've had an account with direct-to-credit-card payment for as long as I can remember. I don't get bills and other than reconciling my checking account, I don't pay much attention to the small fluctuations in price.

My credit card expired -- which prompted a visit to the self-serve customer care site to update my information. While there, I peeked at the offerings - - because if there was something new that I "had to have" I had to know about it.

To my surprise, I noticed that the monthly unlimited rate had dropped from $99 to $69. So I called customer service. I asked about the difference in benefits and discovered there were none.  Then I asked the rep how long the rate had been dropped and she said "some time." I told her that I was surprised that my account wasn't automatically updated. She was kind, but has nothing to really say or do other than to change my plan for the current month.

Hmmmm.

I thought about that a bit.

And posted to Twitter.

AT&T has a group who is responsible for monitoring comments and I was lucky to get a rep to take interest in my posting.  She was great -- really. She researched my issue and offered me a credit after I explained that it concerned me that I wasn't automatically adjusted.  I asked her how long ago this changed. She told me "some time." It was clear to me that this wasn't something anyone cared to talk about. I didn't push it.

I truly appreciated her efforts, took the credit, and thanked her. Any time I get a fraction back on what I spend monthly is a good day.

But last night, I decided to search and see if I could find out when the plan was changed. A great number of people posted in early January 2011, all basically repeating what you can see here  -- and so my guess is that this went into effect 6 MONTHS AGO!

It goes without saying that AT&T should credit me for 6 months of overcharging. What bothers me most though, is the lack of a policy which would have avoided this issue. All they had to do was do a search on their databases and change everyone from $99 to $69. Can you imagine how happy I would have been to discover that they proactively lowered my rate?

Even better, if they were smart, they would reward LOYAL customers with high LIFETIME VALUE with a bonus for staying on board. Can you imagine if once every 13 months they gave me a free month? Or maybe a month of free texting, or something else to reward the fact that for most of the last 20+ years I've been a high yield customer?

Customer acquisition is important, but reducing churn is sometimes even more important.  I never thought I'd think about switching to Verizon or one of the other carriers because I've been pretty happy with AT&T over the years despite dropped calls with my iPhone. I've come to regard that as part of the charm of living on the edge of technology. 

But truly, this is something that goes deeper. My overpayment of $30 times 6 months = $180. Multiply that by millions of subscribers and you can smell a class-action lawsuit, can't you? It's a shame, they are a good company, trying to keep above the fray, but some people in their marketing/sales management chain needs to rethink policy. This is not the smartest way to maintain loyal customers, in fact, it's one way of assuring that they will look elsewhere when their term is up. In other words, holding onto the extra monthly revenue might snuff out your best customers.