Hi Cathryn,

My check will be in the mail tomorrow to Debby and her family. That's what life in the USA is supposed to be founded upon, families, though often times you'd find it hard to realize.

While we are going off topic, I'll give you a word to the wise and a huge CAUTION about changing your long distance service.

Recently Don and I decided to try out A T & T's $19.99 special. The plan says that if you talk to someone else who is also a member, then you can talk all you want for free. As Don and I talk daily, it would save us quite a bit of money. So I signed up first and then Don. But something occurred on my end that was a rather rude surprise.

Friday my phone service was disconnected. I called to inquire about what the problem was and they told me I had a phone bill for $521.00 for the last month of service. After reviewing the charges on the account it seems A T & T suddenly without authorization billed me for Pacific Bells local calls all as long distance. Thus the erroneous billing. This occurred before I signed up for the savings plan.

According to those in the know, this is commonly called "slamming." I'm not quite certain how this works, but the deal was I had to pay up on the spot or have no phone service until Monday. Apparently its a prevalent problem as phone companies have a staff of people who handle slamming cases.

So before you decide to change your phone service thinking you'll be getting a bargain, beware my friends because it may come with a price tag that is unbelieveable and your service cut off at the same time.

God, life is interesting. Now the question remains as to how quickly they'll give me my money back. I'll bet it won't be as quickly as they took it.

Petra