Stupid Consumer, Freebies, & Voting

I know that’s a lot. But a lot is going on. And I didn’t even mention health issues. Bob has been quite sick (though now thankfully is much improved). I’ve had major allergy issues which put me out of commission for a couple of days. (Which is why I didn’t have a blog post last week.) But like Bob, and thankfully, I’m better, too. You know you just take good health for granted until it’s not there, and then your life is upended! Getting my steps in has fallen off the radar. I will get back to them, but….

Though I thought I had Gym pics, I couldn’ t find any, but in searching I came across this pic I took from our calendar of these prescious pups. The little guy in the front really reminds me of our Simon who we lost in 2013. Now, let’s talk Stupid Consumer. That stupid consumer is me. I really should’ve known better, but I got suckered. Here’s the deal. Last June I signed up at LA Fitness to work with a trainer. I wanted to be checked out on the equipment and pick up a few new things to do. I never intended to do more than one month’s of work with a trainer. It was just more money than I was comfortable with, and I like to work on my own. So the employee at LA Fitness told me: “You can sign this contract for a year, and after the first month if you want to quit, you can. We’ll just stop billing you.” I thought that sounds great. I signed.I did my 4 trainings that first month. And continued to go to the gym (which my health insurance covers) but didn’t schedule any more trainings. And then ultimately, I stopped going to the gym. Life happens and it became just a hassle when I can do a lot of stuff at home and walk at the mall or neighborhood depending on the weather.

Picture goes with text farther below.Several weeks ago, Bob asked me if I’m still going to the gym. I tell him no. He points out the charge on our Credit Card bill. Dadgum if they haven’t continued to charge me for personal trainings I’m not taking.I called the gym, they said they’d check on the issue, and oh, by the way, that employee no longer works there. Ultimately, I called back, and they said they couldn’t do anything about it because I signed the contract. I pushed and got sent to Customer Services and talked with two people there, ending the call by saying I’d be talking with a lawyer.Now of course, the lawyer is Bob who informed me Texas Law is pretty clear. You sign a contract, and it’s binding, no matter how unfair. The best I’ve been able to do is work a deal to pay off half of what’s left on the yearly contract. It’s a good chunk but way better than sticking with the monthly charge. I’m sure you must be thinking, well, why don’t you just do the trainings? Simple. I don’t like personal trainings. (Except for Pilates) I got into the gym hoping to encourage Bob to go (who of course hasn’t gone.) LOLSo here’s my message to all consumers. Do Not Believe what an employee tells you if it’s different than what is in the printed contract. Period .

Here comes some really fun stuff. I’m inviting you to join me this coming Saturday, October 28, at the Never Too Late to Fall in Love Facebook Event. Lots of authors (all of seasoned romances), lots of giveaways including e & print books, Gift Cards, and other fun stuff. All you have to do is to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/worththewaitseasonedromancereaders/This is the simplest event. You join the group, and on Saturday, go to the group and you’ll see posts from the authors. You comment, and that gives you a chance to win. The more you comment the more you increase your chances of winning. The characters in the books are all over thirty. (You know I personally think seasoned characters need to be at least 40—the youngest age of any of my characters.) All the posts will tell you the age of the H & H.

I do hope you will sign up. I’d love to see you. I’ll give away one e-copy of VERMONT ESCAPE, and one e-copy of TRUTH Be TOLD, both great Fall reads, and a $10 Amazon Gift Card. Three lucky winners. That’s just me, there are lots of authors.

Lastly, for those of you in Texas, on November 7th, we vote on 14 Constitutional Amendments. (Other states have other kinds of elections taking place that day. Please make sure to educate yourself about the ballot and to make plans to vote.!) One Texas ammendment is particularly important to me and other retired teachers. It would provide a cost of living increase for the first time since 2004. This ammendment is supported by the Governor, House & Senate. So if you know anyone in Texas please share. If you’d like an explanation of each of those amendments, click here. Guide to the Nov. 7 Texas Constitutional Amendment Election – Texas Freedom Network (tfn.org)