iphone

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Rogers May Not Be Recording Their Conversations

I’m not so sure if companies like Rogers record phone conversations as they say they do.

Rogers may not be recording their conversations

For the last month I’ve been in conversations with Rogers Cell Network. They promised me something that now they have no intention of doing.

Rogers has been my cellphone company for 15 years, since they first started selling iPhones. Needless to say, I have history with them. 

Over the years I’ve never really had a reason to question whether to stay with them or go to another carrier. 

… Well, that is until now. 

I received a phone call from them in early September saying that I could upgrade my plan to a forever plan. It would cost me an extra $10 per month and it came with 50 gigs of data. 

I wasn’t that interested in the idea of paying more money and I certainly didn’t need 50 gigs of data. But I knew my wife Lily would need a plan in a month and maybe we could share the data.

I suggested that idea to the salesperson on the phone. She said that, yes, that could happen and the price she quoted me to add Lily was very reasonable. I just needed to call back at the end of the month when Lily was ready to bring her phone over. 

… Well, that didn’t happen.  

Even though every time I called Rogers they said each conversation was being recorded for training, safety and to verify my voice, the recordings were not used.  

Over the next month I phoned Rogers four times and each time I was told that I would receive a call within 24 to 48 hours to set the deal in motion. 

… It never happened; I never got a call.

Finally, on my last call, the person said there was no such rate as I was quoted and that the salesperson had not made notes of that offer to me.

I responded with, “Just listen to the recording.” But each person I spoke with said they had no access to the recordings. 

I thought that was rather convenient: tell someone something, don’t make a note about it and it’s like it never happened.

Rogers believed the salesperson’s notes, but not the verbal offer I described was made to me. 

Easy solution: just listen to the recording! If the offer was not on the recording, they could just say no. But if the recording revealed that an offer was made, then make good on the offer. After that, use the recording for training purposes so the salesperson doesn’t do that again. 

But Rogers just said they don’t have access to the recordings. 

I wonder if they really make recordings or just say they do. 

The crazy thing is, why would I agree to increase my monthly payment by $10 to get an absurd amount of data, when I only use a fraction of my present data? The only logical reason is that they offered me something that I could benefit from. 

My days with Rogers may be numbered. I don’t need the plan I have.

Maybe WE should start recording phone conversations with these companies!

Here’s the thing: God offers us a simple plan for life and eternity. We can have our sins forgiven, start a relationship with Him and spend eternity in heaven. Our part is to put our faith in Jesus Christ in a way that shows it’s true faith. We don’t have to wonder if God will make good on His promise. John 5:24 tells us that God will fulfill His part of the offer. Look it up and take God up on His plan.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Who can you trust to do what they say they will do? Leave your comments and questions below.

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My To-dos May Become My Daily Score Card

I’m thinking about changing up how I keep track of my to-dos each day.

my to-dos may become my daily score card

Probably everyone has a method for making sure they remember what they have to do. Some people have everything organized in their steel trap of a mind. But not everyone can remember all the little things they either need to or want to get done in a day.

That’s were a system comes in handy.

The tried and true method is to write things down on a piece of paper and mark them off when they are done.

In our day and age we can do that but we also have the luxury of tracking to-dos electronically. We can make lists on our phone or computer or tablet. 

For a long time I’ve gravitated to the digital method. I have an app on my phone, tablet and computer that instantly is updated regardless of what device I’m using at the time. 

Over the last several months, however, I’ve gravitated to the more traditional method. I write out my list and check each item off with a pen.

I’ve noticed a couple of things during this time: 

First, I really like scratching several lines through a task I’ve completed AND making a big check mark beside it. There is something satisfying about doing that, more satisfying than merely clicking the item on my phone and having it disappear. 

I actually like to see the things I’ve completed. I somehow get pleasure in it. Just having a shorter list in front of me doesn’t give me the same sense of accomplishment.

It’s like playing hockey as a kid versus playing hockey as an adult. 

In some kids’ leagues they don’t post the real score, presumably to not discourage the kids. But believe me, when my son was a kid, he didn’t need a score board to know whether his team was winning or losing. 

As adults we like to see the score on the screen. It’s comforting to see a lead building up or to visualize that you just have one goal to catch up.

Every scratch and check mark I make is like I scored another goal. I am defeating the list. 

The second thing I noticed is I don’t like having to write everything out again every day. Nor do I like having to keep the paper with me. 

I want to make my list and, if I have to roll things over to the next day, I don’t want to have to write them out again. I also want to see it on all my devices.

You can’t do that with paper.

So with my recent desire to obliterate each of my to-dos with a heavy line that almost tears through the paper, and my aversion to writing things out again and again, I’m experimenting with a change.

I may go to a hybrid method where I have my to-dos on an electronic list, but also print a copy that I can rough up, check into the boards and score some goals on.

Here’s the thing: Like with our to-dos, we may at times feel we need to change things with our time with God. You can keep doing the same thing, but if your time with God is not satisfying, find a way to change it a little. Try a different time of day, journaling, writing out your prayer, using a devotional guide, or a different one. Don’t keep doing the same thing expecting different results. We all know what that’s a definition of.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to consider doing differently? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Half Full Or Half Empty, What Kind Of Person Are You?

You’ve likely heard of looking at something as being half empty or half full. People who have a positive view on life are usually half full people. Negative people – those who focus on the problems of the world – are usually half empty. 

half full or half empty, what kind of person are you

I would say that I’m more of a half full person. Even when things are not the best, I can usually find something that is good about them. 

But I have to say that my phone is more of a half empty device now. 

It wasn’t always like this. My phone has worked really well. I’ve had no desire to upgrade to the latest and greatest iPhone … well, until lately. 

Now my phone can barely make it through a day on its battery. It’s strange because this is not something that has happened gradually … or at least I haven’t noticed a gradual decline. 

It just started happening that my battery was running low near the end of each day. Now it needs a charge partly through the day. 

I didn’t know what the problem was so I took to Google. 

I found out that battery life does deteriorate over time. My phone is three and half years old … which in people years isn’t much, but in dog years would be like thirty. In phone years that translates to about fifty-five years.

My research also gave me some tips of what I could do to help preserve my battery life. Some of them were helpful; one I found strange. 

The tip was to put the phone in airplane mode. In airplane mode you can’t receive phone calls, texts or connect to wifi, but it really reduces the battery usage. In other words, if you render your phone useless, this will preserve your battery. Great tip!

I checked out the battery tab in my settings and discovered something very interesting about my phone. My phone is only running on 89 percent of its battery. In other words, when my phone says it is fully charged, it’s really only at 89 percent. 

My phone is a half empty kind of phone. 

Even when I first take it off its charger, I’m not getting 100 percent of battery out of it. 

The setting didn’t say that the battery was in bad health, I just took it as it was old. The battery doesn’t have the same stamina it used to. 

I kind of understand how my phone feels because I don’t have the same stamina I once had either. There are times when I could go for a nap in the afternoon to recharge myself. 

The difference is I’m not looking to exchange myself for a new me.  

But I did hear that my cell phone company has a good deal on the latest iPhone. Maybe I need to look into getting a new one and sending my current phone off to cell phone heaven. 

Here’s the thing: How you look at life now could have something to do with what you believe about the future. If you believe that it all ends when you die, then the older you get the more half empty life is. But if you have your faith in Jesus Christ, you have an eternity to look forward to. So, as this life runs down, you still can view life as half full. I recommend it.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: Are you a half empty or half full person? Leave your comments and questions below. 

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There’s A New Fixer Now

If you’re a dad, you’re a fixer. If you’re not good at fixing things, you become good, because as a dad, you get lots of opportunities.

Requests for your assistance come from all kinds of sources and for all kinds of fixes.  As a dad, you have to be a generalist fixer, not a specialty guy. One minute you can be fixing a dishwasher for your wife (it’s still broken), and then asked to fix your son’s latest gadget or your daughter’s computer.

iphonefix

Sometimes the fixing is more like doing things no one else can do, like unscrewing the lid on the pickle jar, or raising the basketball net, or untangling a necklace. When you think of it, dads are really miracle workers.

As a dad, you fix things for so long that you never think that there will be anyone to take your place. You look at the potential and all you can see are people who need you to fix things.

But there comes a time when the mantle of fixer changes hands. It’s not a quick hand off, mind you. There is training that comes into play, until slowly a new fixer is developed. I witnessed the beginning of that development this past week.

My son got an iPhone 5 on Wednesday. On Thursday night at his work, he plugged the speaker system into his phone but no sound came out. He didn’t think much of it until the next day when he couldn’t hear calls that were coming in to his phone.

When he looked into it, he discovered the tip of the sound jack from work was stuck in the earphone hole of his iPhone. The iPhone reacted like there were headphones plugged in it so its internal speakers weren’t activated.

When I got wind of this, I went right into fixer mode. I looked at the phone, got some tools out and started to work. I got on the internet and researched if this had happened to anyone else. Surprisingly, it’s happened often.

I found a couple of solutions that I tried without any success. But there was one solution I didn’t want to try. I didn’t think it would work and felt it was too risky. We all got busy and, for a couple of days, Mike was only able to text his friends.

But then one day we were mulling over what to do about the phone. Mike decided he was going to try crazy glue – the solution I thought was too risky. I wasn’t convinced, but it was his phone, so I gave him a couple of tips and he went at it.

He used a Q-Tip, took the cotton off and filled the hollow end with crazy glue. He carefully put the Q-Tip into the earphone hole and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Then he pulled on the Q-Tip and, unbelievably, the end of the earphone jack came out.

The iPhone was fixed and this house has a new fixer! He’s not ready to take on this responsibility full time yet, but I’m confident that with more coaching and lots more opportunities, this guy will be able to fix anything … just like me … well, almost.

Here’s the thing: We may get confident fixing iPhones or dishwashers, but God is the real fixer. He’s the one we need to take our brokenness and problems to. There’s nothing He can’t fix.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: When was the last time you turned to God to help or fix something in your life?  Leave your comment below.