verizon can bite me

seriously. they can totally bite me.

my old phone crapped out on me, so i ordered a fancy new nokia open face phone (i.e. not a flip-phone) that had a camera and video capture features.

they sent it to me without a battery cover.

upon calling them, they told me my only option was to buy a new one that they would ship to me, and they'd then credit my visa when i sent them back the one without the battery cover i already had (which wouldn't happen until the next billing cycle). they wouldn't even consider just sending out a new battery cover. that's retarded.

so i told them i wasn't going to pay for another phone when i'd already paid for this one. they told me my other option was to drive down to silverthorne (90 miles away) where there was a dealer that actually had the phone i ordered in stock, since no one in steamboat did. i could then just swap at the store. so i drove down to silverthorne last weekend, where i promptly found the store i was supposed to go to was closed saturday, sunday and monday for a "much-needed vacation."

you know that scene in national lampoon's vacation where clark w. griswold punches the statue of wally the moose, then promptly takes john candy and the entire amusement park hostage so that he can have his godd%mn family vacation?

that was almost me.

instead, i drove home. halfway to steamboat, i stopped at a bar in crappy kremmling and listened to some redneck badmouth everyone in town to his drunk-ass friends while i watched the illini give away a game they had won to washington in the final 5 minutes.

i called verizon on monday and raised hell. they called a local dealer where i finally got this phone for 10 bucks, and they promised me they'd refund my card as soon as i shipped back the other phone (which i did yesterday).

this phone doesn't have a camera, but i don't really care; besides, i have since heard that camera phones get crappier reception anyway. it's tiny, open-faced, and it was ten freaking bucks. i love it.

that was my phone saga.

i'm headed to the bighorn river in montana wednesday through sunday next week, with my denver buddy frank coyne and his flyfishing club, for hopefully some fantastic fishing.

link o' the day:

this show is awesome, and the dudes on these boats are crazy nuts.