Dateline Dayton – According to our son Chris, the planner/decorator assistant/ advisor, we are scheduled to move into our condo on Saturday, March 8.

Nothing is going exactly as planned. We continually hit roadblocks. We should have known this would be the case from the start. Purchasing the condo was not easy.

Trying to determine furniture layout, what to keep and what to purchase. Do we get drapes, curtains or blinds?  These have been difficult decisions. We are mostly past them by now.

Then there was the cable service for the television. Chris made arrangements for us, because I do not do well dealing with the major cable company that serves our area. Nothing can ever be simple with these people. Customer service is near the bottom of their priorities, like the cell phone company we use.

I met the installer, using the word loosely, only to learn that he was nothing more than a hooker. He only connected service to existing wiring. If you need cable installed, you must have a cable installer. Chris made it clear to the customer service representative. I told the hooker that they knew we must have cable installed. “Customer Service works from a script,” he said. “They know nothing”.

When Chris made another phone call to customer service, he was told the person should have installed the cable and that another appointment had been scheduled, which it was with the hooker.

Since the hooker was insistent that I needed a cable installer, I still doubted that this new person would actually install my service, consisting of cable television, telephone and internet.

Chris decided that we should pay a visit to the local cable store. It is based in the high rent district since moving from a few blocks from both our home and the condo. In speaking to the customer service representative at the store, she agreed that the hooker should have installed the service. After telling her his comment about customer service, she said she “would report him to his supervisor.”

The next installer arrived last Monday. As a contract employee, he completed the job.

However, billing tried to charge me an additional $50. Again I had Chris take care of the problem. I doubt if I could have remained calm.

“Beware of the wrath of a patient man.”

Now our problem is getting a countertop for new cabinets that Bill and I installed last weekend. Seems the big box store will not sell me the quantity I need because it doesn’t meet their minimum.

We wanted a new patio door in our bedroom. That will only take nine weeks. I guess patio doors are a hot item this time of year. At least it will be warmer when it is installed.

Simple things are being made very difficult by Big Business.

Mr. Hennessey may be contacted at pmhenn@sbcglobal.net