This was in a cyber security thing at work. I love how clip art and stock photos mash up something computer-y and an old school caricature of a thief, usually a mask and gloves, to represent cyber crimes. This one is extra funny because touchscreens don’t work with these $2.00 a pair drugstore gloves.
“Smartphone in hand with gloves” by Adam Radosavljevic – GettyImages/iStockphoto
Just got off of a phone call with Toyota Financial. Does everyone just put “Wait times may be longer than normal” at the beginning of their message now? It was an 18 minute call, with literally, 1 minute spent speaking to a human to get the information I needed. No touch tone — voice menu only. It got right up to the part I needed, payoff information (mysteriously under “something else” and not “payment information”), before deciding to not understand me. I could hang up or suck it up and hold. I
really needed the information so I held.
Not to be too Seinfeld but, what is the deal with hold music? It wasn’t a particularly hideous mix but why does digital hold music always sound like a stretched cassette tape with the tempo and volume wobbling in and out? Is it mixed into the “please have your account number ready, blah blah” (that I already gave to the voice menu bot) from an outsourced service?
I can see some telco room in Mumbai with a 90s MP3 player jacked into the sound card of an even older PC. Not one of those cool, tidy, color coded telcos either. A working room with fans, extension cords, and cables everywhere and a UPS that died years ago beeping away — still used to get more outlets. A profitable room. The kind of room that would make an OSHA nerd weep.
Toyota really doesn’t want you to pay off early. There’s no place on the coupon for extra principal. One time I sent extra and the next bill was reduced by the extra amount. I wondered why the payoff is more than the “outstanding balance” on the bill. Sneaky buggers, the balance on the bill is just principal owed. The bill amount times the number of payments to go is considerably more.
On a more up note, I found this card for my sister’s birthday. I really like it. The card is available in the “Mischievous Menagerie” box from
Pomegranate. I may try and find a print.
“Barry and Pumpkin On the Way Up” by Kathy DeZarn Beynette
