Auto-ships Auto-pay: I Don't Need You So Go Away!

I'm done with auto-ships and auto-pays.  If you aren't sure what I mean, these are ways to pay for products or pay bills on a recurring basis.  The bank or company swipes the money out of your bank on a specified day.

Of course, they only do this with your permission.  But sometimes it's difficult to change or cancel it because you need to call customer service.  Often the customer service representative drags out your phone call and tries to up-sell you to keep you from cancelling.  It's the job, but it annoys me.

Most bills drive me crazy with the incessant marketing to go on auto-pay.  I'm picky about what I put on auto-pay.  And budget billing for the gas/electric company?  No way will I enroll in that.  They don't refund you even when you request a refund.  You could have overpaid for a year and have a nice big credit, but forget trying to get your own money back in your own pocket.  I live in Upstate New York.  My electric bill could be $200 one month and $500 the next.  There is no way I will just let auto-pay take the money out of my bank account.  LOL.

I used to belong to a number of companies that I thought I could make a little extra money in my spare time.  They want you to buy a minimum amount of product on auto-ship to qualify you for commissions.  I tried it.  I've tried to explain how it is such a good idea to potential customers.  I'm tired of that.  Really, if I don't like it, how do I expect prospective customers to like it?  But that is how a commission is manufactured.  It's part of the direct selling formula.  I am burned out on it and I don't do it anymore.  That leaves me out of most online business opportunities.

If I want to pay a bill, I will sign in to my account and click on what bank account to withdraw the funds from myself.  That's it.

Mainstream Madness

Welcome to my attempt to blog.  I decided to buy my own name with a dot-com--address.  Whoa. I really mean it.

I have a business blog.  It's a bit too much business.  How much personal stuff should I put in a business blog when I assume someone is only looking for a problem to solve.  They aren't interested in my favorite recipes or books.  Or maybe......who knows.

I am constantly told to specialize your niche.  Make is specific.  It's not that easy.  I call myself a wellness chiropractor in my business, but usually I just work with what the practice member presents with and offer my wellness services.  They don't all take advantage of the full wellness offerings.  But that's their choice.

So, I was just trying to explain to someone that I can offer someone something that is very different from the mainstream madness in health care.  And then it hit me.  I can blog about interests that are opposite from the mainstream madness.  There are plenty of things in the mainstream I turn away from.  If it's in the news on the loud stations, I don't care about it.  If I read it on a website I respect, then that's another story.

I have been in a sort of news fast lately.  Especially from Facebook.  I still post on my wall and read what other people also post.  But, I scroll on past a lot of things I know will infuriate me or make me wonder why I would waste those five or so minutes reading something very useless, insulting, or likely not even true.

And sometimes I comment and get sucked into a worthless conversation that goes nowhere.  Well, where did I think it would go?  Of course I want everyone to agree with me.  I like the camaraderie.
I really crave the camaraderie.  It's hard to come by.  To find a few good friends who like and follow the same things you believe in is quite a life challenge.

Right now my mainstream madness is centered on the presidential election.  When people are behind one guy or gal, the lies are thrown about.  I can't tell you how offensive a lot of the news stories are.  Well, thank goodness I tell people that we have privacy in the voting booth.

I like to listen to interviews on the radio where a host gives the candidate a a nice length of time to just talk.  Do we really need to see how quickly someone can answer a ludicrous questions in 60 seconds.  And the moderators talk to much.  They present such a litany of minutiae before they ask the question you really can't listen for very long.  Media people love to hear their own voices.  It's really nauseating.  

Health information in the media is mainstream madness, as well.  I'll have to go into this topic in a separate post.  Health care is no longer individualized for each person.  There are standards everyone must meet and specific drugs someone should take if a test indicates it.  This absurdity blows me over the edge.  So the media reports on health issues need to be ignored.  They are short and sweet with no meat.  They are meaningless yet manage to incite fear in people.  

So, take your approach to mainstream madness carefully.  Don't watch, read, or listen to most of it.