Forever Tainted

In May of 2010 I purchased a Blackberry on a 3-year contract from Virgin Mobile. I have paid every bill in advance usually over the amount owing on my next invoice since.

In April of 2011, Virgin had some technical difficulties with their system, which meant my data services all failed for days. That was a nightmare on its own. Click here for the complete story on that. One of their technicians looked at the RIM side of my Blackberry to determine the cause & fix. From there, he used all of the email addresses that I’d validated on my phone for me to view my personal emails, and he sent me an email about the case copying every single email address I validated. I never authorized Virgin to use any of these email addresses to contact me. The email he sent was sent to my work email address and was thus copied to every member of my company’s management team. I could have lost my job as a result of Virgin’s breach of privacy. When the event was looked into, the Virgin team told me they would ‘talk’ to the technician who breached privacy:



At the time I was out of town on work and was unable to legally pursue the issue, despite totally intending to – as even at that time they would not let me out of the contract they made me sign despite them breaching privacy terms. By the time I got back home, I was exhausted and busy with other things, like my mother’s estate and I decided to let it go.

In Sept/Oct of 2011, I purchased an internet stick through Virgin Mobile on their Supertab – so Lars could access the net while he was in Manitoba. In November or December of 2011, I realized I hadn’t been charged for the Internet stick so I went to a Virgin Kiosk and asked them about it. They explained they had created a secondary account for the mobile stick and clearly didn’t have my address correct on it as I hadn’t received a bill for it. There was a $70 outstanding balance they told me I’d have to pay in order to combine the two accounts. I paid the outstanding fee and at the same time purchased a new cell phone (not on contract) for my father. The next day, I got a collections letter from Virgin in the mail about the Internet Stick and the $70 owing on it. Not once did they call, mail or email me a bill for the thing, but they sure did know my address to send me their threatening collections letter. Knowing I’d dealt with the issue the day before, I simply ignored this despite how aggravating and insulting it was.

In January, 2012 I cancelled my internet stick with them and put a $200 credit in my account to pay off the super-tab fee owing.

Three days ago, I received a letter in the mail from Virgin Mobile stating that they had cancelled my accounts, that I owed them $30 and that they were forwarding the complaint to a collections agency.

Apparently they had not cancelled my secondary account for the internet stick, which never should have been created in the first place. And they are once again threatening my good credit because they can’t manage their accounts – nor have they sent me a single bill via email, mail or even telephone call prior to this threatening letter.

As I have a credit of $200 on my account, I contact them and ask them to do as they said by canceling all my accounts and waive any penalties for the Blackberry as I am only canceling everything only because they keep threatening and abusing me as a customer. The response they give is that they simply cannot do that and that I am stuck with them until May 2013 or I have to pay an addition $260 penalty.

If Virgin didn’t keep breaching the contract conditions on my account, or threatening me as a client I would be happy to still deal with them. I definitely do need cell & data services – in fact I have a 3G iPad with Telus and am yet to experience a real problem. Virgin told me in November that the 2nd account they created had been paid and closed – in fact, they insisted I had to pay it all off before they could merge the two, to solve the problem. I’ve been paying for the Internet Stick every month since on my real virgin account. They tell me the same thing now – that they’ve waived the $30 owing (I don’t see how the hell I owe more on it in the first place) and I should be happy they’ve now closed the account. How can I be sure that in two months time they are not going to send a bill collector after me – damaging my credit, because of some other mess up on their end? Why should the second time they say they have fixed their mistake be any different than the 1st?

It’s absolutely wrong that companies can get away with threatening their customers this way, binding us to contract terms that they do not abide by themselves, threatening and abusing their customers along the way. Something needs to be done about this!

Virgin insists on keeping me until my Blackberry contact expires in September. That’s a long time for me to come up with a campaign, eCards, perhaps even print T-shirts about their absolute lacking in service and how you shouldn’t make the same mistake I did. Don’t expect this will be the last you hear from me about Virgin's unethical business practices. Perhaps Virgin Mobile will get upset enough to bring it to the attention of their legal department. At least I’ll find some comfort in knowing they will have to pay more for any legal action than the $260 they are holding me hostage with. (I’ll gladly spend more than that warning people not to sign on with them – and defending my actions towards it!).

I am not using my Virgin Blackberry anymore. I spilled chicken stock on it a few weeks back, decided I’d rather wash it and lose it then stick salmonella-infested water to my cheek. It didn’t make it through the bath, so I purchased an iPhone from apple.com. It’s due to arrive on the 21st. I have decreased my BB plan with Virgin to the $15 minimum it can be according to their control. I will cancel my father’s cell as soon as I’m back home (I’m leaving again for Squamish tomorrow). I will sign up the iPhone with Telus or Koodoo – any company that is not Virgin. And I’ll continue to make eCards, comments and other items expressing my distaste for Virgin Mobile Canada and validating my reasoning. Who knows, maybe they’ll catch on...

I’m thinking about giving away mugs and t-shirts for free if only people promise to wear/use them and take a photo of them doing so, that I can share on my blog here. Would you like a mug or a T-shirt under this agreement?

I finally got a response from the lawyer today. It didn’t come without pulling teeth though. Here’s how the conversation goes:

~*~

“Hello ***,
This is my 4th email to you about the status of my mother’s estate and whether or not Sheila’s refusal has had an effect on the same. There are two other beneficiaries here that are interested in the outcome who are looking to me for an answer. Are we going to get a cheque soon from my mom’s estate?
Martin and I are now questioning whether or not we wish to use you as legal counsel in the future as you are simply ignoring my request for an update. This is not what we look for in a lawyer at all.
As the legal executor of my mom’s estate, you have the right to charge us, but legally we question whether or not you have the right to ignore us when we have been as cooperative as we can about the entire situation.
If you could please update us as soon as possible on the same, we would appreciate the same much. We understand how frustrating it can be to deal with Sheila, but it is still not our fault.
Thanking you in advance for a response,
***”

~*~

“Hi ***, I sincerely apologize for not getting back to you. I spoke with (insert name of nasty former fireman who is fucking my sister and thus thinks it’s his business to get involved) last month and he indicated that Sheila is not prepared to waive a formal accounting of the estate, as they feel I acted inappropriately in selling the trailers to Martin. I have given a lot of thought to how to proceed. A formal application to the court to approve the estate administration may be inevitable given Sheila’s refusal. However, I will be speaking to (insert name of very expensive lawyer) on Monday about this to see if there are any alternatives and will report back to you after our call.
***”

~*~

“Thanks for the reply ***,
Is it safe for me to assume (and to tell others) that we are not going to get any money from my mom's estate, due to Sheila's refusal?”

~*~

“Hi ***, we will try to have the cost of the court application paid out of Sheila’s share, but it is possible that everyone’s share will be reduced.
***”
~*~

That fucking bitch and that dirty fat old bastard that’s fucking her, has issues with the executor selling my father the trailers for a thousand dollars after the appraisal came back and literally said they were worth nothing and should be recycled at the nearest dump. Do they really think they are going to get anywhere with this?

They’re not. Nope.

Just one more way that bitch can piss away any bits of remaining cash from my mom’s estate. It’s not bad enough she’s single-handedly forced us to spends thousands upon thousands of dollars on lawyers we would not otherwise need or want. But now, she has to deplete the little bit that’s less with an illogical refusal to end it all.

Some people truly are a waste of fucking air and should not have been born in the first place. This fucking cunt is the reason abortion should not only be legalized but FORCED upon some people. If my mom knew upon conception what Sheila would turn out to be and to do, there’s not a doubt in my mind she’d have aborted that fetus herself with a fucking hanger had she no other choice.

Sheila Fouchier (and all those dirty bastards who Google her name from time to time, know all you need to know about her is said in the next 7 words) you are a waste of human life.

I forgot to set the timer on the TV last night, so I woke up this morning to the sound of a really annoying pro-HST commercial. Here:


Stickman: HST and PST+GST Rally from HSTinBC on Vimeo.

What annoys me most about this is how stupid our government thinks we are, and how so many of us are bound to prove them right with this upcoming election. We’ll do this by voting to keep the HST either because we sincerely believe that the 10% HST promised to us in 3 years time (like the government never breaks its promises) really is cheaper on us, or we’re greedy business owners who will now get a higher tax credit at the cost of our very own customers, or simply because the confusing way in which this election is being worded.

Vote YES to get rid of the HST and go back to the GST & PST.

Vote NO to keep the HST at 12% with a promise of lowering it to 10% in 3 years time, which still applies to more products and services than the GST & PST ever did.

What this commercial fails to tell you is that HST applies to up to 60% more services and products than GST or PST alone and is also applied to purchases that had no tax at all in the past.






The big financial benefits for HST in BC go to big and moderate sized companies who get to write off their HST and get a bigger tax back credit at their year-ends. How many average sized families in BC, do you figure get to write off their expenses in order to get tax back each year? There are slight benefits of HST that go to Accountants and Bookkeepers as having one tax over two simplifies their job and gives them the satisfaction of telling their clients about the large tax refund they should expect each year.

“It’s the one issue that most observers can agree on. The HST is good for most businesses, especially for big and medium businesses. The independent review concluded that consumers this year were paying $1.33-billion more in sales taxes, after rebates and tax breaks, and business is paying $730-million less.
The HST reduces the cost of production and simplifies bookkeeping. With the provincial sales tax, business paid tax on goods and services used in each stage of production, a tax upon the tax. But under the HST, the tax is applied only when the goods are sold, or the services provided, to the consumer.
The HST has been endorsed by several businesses and business organizations, from the Business Council of B.C., which represents companies accounting for 25 per cent of all jobs in the province, to the B.C. Guide Outfitters Association.
Not all businesses benefit. Smaller enterprises and service-based companies that were not previously subject to sales tax take a hit. But many smaller businesses are agile and adjust quickly to changing circumstances. After a year of HST, small businesses may be reluctant to go back to the time-consuming bookkeeping required by the PST. “

The rationalization that the HST promises to help our economy by making it more profitable for business is not factual, but it’s hopeful predictions.

“It may take years to find out whether HST provided a boost to the economy.”

”After 2014, the HST may bring in less than the PST. Without an increase in economic growth, the HST would be cutting a big hole in government budgets, roughly $3-billion over the following five years. In other words, the reduction in the HST rate to 10 per cent could make a significant dent in provincial budgets for years. The government would be financially better off by bringing back the provincial sales tax.”

Quotes taken from the 4 page Globe and Mail article here.

We all predicted the Canucks were going to win the Stanley Cup this year too…

Personally, I come from a family on entrepreneurs and small business owners. I’m hoping to venture into my own business at this very moment. I’m still voting YES to scrap the HST this year, because I don’t want to personally benefit at the cost of my society or my clients. Under the old GST & PST system, you’d only have to pay 5% GST tax on most* of my web designing services. With HST, you get to pay 12% on everything now and maybe in 3 years that will be lowered to 10% (still double what voting YES, will cost you)! My write-offs and my end of year tax back cheques may be smaller, but it’s a small price to pay to help lessen our societies tendency to help the rich get richer while the poor are pushed deeper into poverty. It’s a small price for me to pay to discourage more big business from inhabiting our society and hopefully encouraging and empowering individuals to become entrepreneurs on their own –the decent, old-fashioned way, with social-conscience.

The pro-HST commercials make me nauseous. It doesn’t take a genius to know the reality of the decision our society has to make here – and our government clearly thinks far less of our intelligence levels than that. Help us prove them wrong!





*The only web designing services that must charge both GST and PST are those that include executable compute program within the site.

Lars and I have been having a blast, preparing the other suite for us. I live in a big house. In fact, it’s so big; there are 2 basement suites. My father finished the one I moved into around this time last year, when he asked me to move back home. At the time, we rented the other incomplete suite out at a fraction of its value. The renter (who rarely paid rent at all, actually) moved out, and Lars and I have decided to move in there – to a space that’s ours, rather than him and I staying in a space that’s mine with a few of his things thrown in the mix. We need to finish it before we can move in (as I’m spoiled that way – and my dad sees the value in the house increasing with 2 complete basement suites anyway), so it means, shopping, building, dry-walling, more shopping, painting, and more shopping even. So far, we’re re-modelling the kitchen, have bought a great black stove (with 5 ceramic burners!) and a fridge to match, new cabinets for the kitchen (enough to build an island, YAY!) and flooring.

At this very moment, Lars is next door and I can hear him dry-walling away. He’s really very good at it and considering it’s exactly what he decided to make a career out of when we met, that’s an excellent thing in all areas. Anyway, we’ve now spent countless hours together working away, and I can honestly say… I love working with him. He’s competent, strong, and inspired. He helps me when I need him to lift something heavy or move something awkward – and he helps fix my rookie construction mistakes (and he does it with a smile!). Then, when we’re all tired and dirty we get to shower, then lay down and cuddle up at night, in one another’s arms, knowing that’s exactly where we belong.

I keep waiting for the romance to die. I expect it. I wonder about it. I ponder whether or not that time will come. And then he holds my hand, or comes in here just to hug me, or sends me a BBM just to say he loves me. My thoughts easily move to how lucky we are to have found each other… Each other’s forever I’m sure.

~*~

In some not-so fun news… I tried calling my son this morning and as usual he didn’t answer his cell phone. I called the house (something I really dislike doing because it means long uncomfortable conversations in Arabic with my former in-laws!), and his toddler cousin answered – only to tell me my son was travelling before hanging up the phone. This pissed me right off and I sent my ex-husband a raving email, pretty much letting him know I was sick and tired of him not keeping me in the loop on what’s happening my son, and I threatened legal action if he doesn’t smarten up. My baby is going on 9 years old now. I’m sure if I just went to Dubai, the UAE courts would let him decide where he wanted to live. And I’m sure they would eventually give me legal right to travel with him. But it takes going to Dubai. It takes retaining another lawyer. And it would take years, and years in their court system. I don’t know if I can handle any more time in those kangaroo courts. God knows I’ve spent way too much time in Middle Eastern courthouses as it is.

Anyway… I’m still waiting on a response. Lets hope it’s favourable one.

While ranting out about issues in the UAE, I should mention my bank issue is STILL not sorted out and I still don’t have my bank card, despite doing everything they asked, AND more – even sending TWO friends with letters and my passport copy to the bank trying to sort it out. Fucking monkeys, the entire country is run by them.

Anyway… it’s enough ranting for now. There are so many great things to think about… like curling up with my Lars in an hour or so.

Bullshit.

It occurred to me the other day that my mother paid into CPP (Canadian Pension Plan) her whole life. This payment isn’t a payment by choice, but by force. Employers take a percentage off every paycheck and submit to CPP (as well as a federal and provincial taxes AND employment insurance), before handing the checks over to the employee. Businesses get closed down if they fail to do this. Each payday I watch as about a quarter of the money I earned gets sent off into taxes or funds that I’ll most-likely never see again.

My mom’s dead. She doesn’t need a pension. She won’t get her CPP money back. Though she was forced to pay thousands upon thousands into this fund to ‘protect her future’ for her retirement. She won’t retire now, so you’d expect that money be returned to her estate, used to pay some of her burial fees, or even pay off her debts. But it doesn’t. It doesn’t go anywhere. The goddamned government gets to keep it.

Lovely. What's almost as lovely? She paid taxes on that CPP as she paid into it. Had she lived, and been paid a pension... She'd have to pay takes on the money CPP returns to her. Cock-sucking-robbers - taxed twice on the same funds!

The government got to murder my mother and they are robbing her for the last time. And only now, now that a drug addicted crazy man stabbed some unsuspecting 15-year-old down town, now are people standing up and saying, “HEY! BC’s neglect of the mentally instable and those with addictions (because those go hand in fucking hand assholes) is ruining lives and our society! SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT IT!”

Reminds me of a cry I made years ago – around the same time my mom was threatening to annihilate strangers because her ‘six sense’ told her that they were child molesters. Assholes. If we weren’t there, my mother may have been that same god-damned murderer! If you had listened to us, this poor 15-year-old may NOT be dead today. And my mother may still be alive.

But ranting does nothing. Begging does nothing. No one fucking cares until it affects him or her personally. The god-dammed public on this side of the planet is a bunch of thoughtless, lazy, inconsiderate, pansies that are too scared of change. They need to be sheep – need to be told what to do, even if that means doing nothing at all and watching people around them die. So what, if it isn’t you or your loved one?

But blah… I wonder why I’m so pissed. Aside from the fact that its an out-fucking-rageous situation to begin with. It could be the fact that I’m PMSing. Or the fact that this morning, I decided to go red:



Redheads are supposed to have tempers, aren’t they?

About done with humanity…

I’m 28 years old and I think I sincerely hate humanity now. And perhaps that’s my problem and mine alone. I wish I’d just die. There’s no point in life when you see no fucking good. I wish I had died and my mother lived. She’d be far better at cleaning up the after-mess than I am.

I need to write my will.

I feel as though I’ve given my whole self, my whole life to people that do not deserve it – which not only offer nothing in return, but also rape me of myself in the process.

I’m fairly certain my heart is already stone cold. I find it almost impossible to connect with a person romantically. My view of most relationships is a lot like business transactions, whether or not it’s cash in trade. Each and every person is a whore in some way or another. Perhaps the streetwalkers have it right.

Today I learned that a friend I’ve had for more than 15 years is a hypocritical, disloyal, delusional piece of work. I was forced to disown him. If 15 years can and must be thrown away because for 15 years you believed someone was someone they weren’t… I’ll never really know another person nor the evils which all people are capable of.

I fucking hate you. I hate you all. Perhaps not for what you are or have been, but for what you are capable of becoming.

Go fuck yourselves.

Do you remember the attached letters? Do you remember the other letters, the phone calls other family members made to you, begging you to help us help my mother? Do you remember shooing away the ambulance, just minutes after you watched my mother seizure – denying her medical care when she probably needed it most?

May you never forget, bitch. May you live a long life, knowing that in my opinion and that of many, MANY other people who loved my mother, YOU are responsible for her death through sheer neglect and ignorance! May you grow to be a hundred years old, alone and unloved and with the guilt of knowing you murdered the ONLY good thing that came from you in your entire life. May your heart slowly eat you from the inside out, and when you go may it be the most excruciating, humiliating, disgusting way possible! And may people laugh at your remains!

My mother was a miracle. The fact a person with such morals, such modesty, such love and compassion, and such nobility came out of such a dirty cunt as you, is a fucking miracle. And now that she’s dead you have raped her body, and attempted to steal all her humanly possessions. May you rot in fucking hell you dirty fucking cunt, disgrace of a human being, bitch.

I’d kill you myself, if only I believed you deserved that quick a way out.

Some anonymous dickhead who got a hard-on for me on another site decided to tell me what my problem was in comments here earlier today. Oh feeble minded anonymous and those like you, please allow me to make it easier for you by pointing out what my fucking problems are, so you can gladly copy & paste them in the future and be at least remotely accurate in your findings.

My biggest problem is myself. I’m a fucking cunt, not only to you but also to me. There is NOTHING you can say to me that I haven’t already told myself. I suffer a number of psychological disorders, I grew up in an alcoholic family, I have been molested more than once. I seek love in the wrong places from the wrong types of men. I cut myself. I snap, and have attempted to commit suicide (and murder) on more than one occasion. I burn way too many bridges and I find it really hard to forgive. I have to take pills to get my pitiful ass out of bed most mornings. I over-analyze just about everything. I don’t trust people, and I don’t trust myself. I make piss-poor decisions. I judge harshly, and I’m even a little racist not to mention bias concerning some things. I’m a little over weight and on the verge of becoming anorexic, my mother lost her mind and thinks I’m the antichrist. My son is on the other side of the planet, and I have made a miserable mess of my whole fucking life.

I never should have been born in the first place. But guess what dickhead, I was. And I’m not going anywhere real quick, and most certainly not because you believe the world would be a better place if it only existed of people as oblivious of themselves as you are. I may be a royal fuck up, but I know myself and I know along with all these ‘problems’ (that many, many more people face without even realizing), I’m also more intelligent than your average twat, more loved than most online trolls, more intuitive, more artistic, more creative, funnier, more accepting, kinder, bolder, stronger, with a broader view of the world, and I have a brilliant future waiting me. I excel in everything I do!

I’m 27 years old and I’m well on my way to fixing my problems, thanks to the fact that I realize they exist. Maybe instead of telling other’s what you think their problems are, you should spend more time asking yourself what the fuck your own problems are and counting your fucking virtues.