Wednesday, 18 February 2015

I was a bit tired this morning and so got up late and didn't go out for a walk.

The rest of today went almost completely NOT according to plan! When I tried to go into my 9:00-10:30 lesson, I found that I wasn't connected to the internet. Usually, a quick re-start of the router fixes the problem, but this time it didn't. Luckily, I had started early so I had time to call Berlitz and let them know, and they got someone else to do the lesson. Of course, I then had to call HOT, my internet service provider. They have a new feature that allows us to hang up and get a call when it's our turn, so that we don't have to just sit there listening to music and waiting. But I still couldn't really get anything done because I had to stay at home in order to be ready when they called and, of course, I couldn't do anything on the internet, which is where I do just about EVERYthing nowadays!

Finally, I received the call, but the guy decided his English wasn't good enough (nor was my Hebrew), so he offered to transfer me to a fluent English speaker. What he DIDN'T tell me, though, was that I'd have to wait (and this time there was no "call me" option!). Finally, the fluent English speaker did answer, and he determined that they'd have to send a technician out. A different department, though, actually arranges that, so next I had to wait for THEIR call. At least I didn't have to wait on hold.

Finally, it was getting close enough to 12:00 that I knew I needed to call Berlitz and give up yet another 2-unit lesson. I got their voice mail and left a message, but when it got even closer to noon, I figured I'd better call to make SURE that they knew I wouldn't be teaching the lesson (scheduled for 12:00-1:00). It's a good thing I did, too, because they had NOT gotten the message. But, while I was on the line with them, apparently HOT called. Luckily, I was able to get back to them fairly quickly and found that a technician was scheduled to come between 1:00 and 3:00.

For lunch, I ordered pizza delivered (one of the few things that we did that we had actually PLANNED to do!).

David had an EEG scheduled for 3:00 (for which I had already had to give up 3 units of lessons). But he got sick and threw up almost immediately after breakfast, so I had to cancel that appointment. Actually, it was just as well, because the HOT technician didn't get here until about 3:00.

Apparently the problem was that someone had connected our cable to the wrong company's service. How that happened I have no idea! And it had to have been this morning, because I was able to go on the internet just fine before breakfast and even right after. Very strange, indeed! Whoever did it cost me 4 units of work.

This is one of the things I really do NOT like about Berlitz. They have managed to shift a large amount of their business risk onto us employees. If their salesmen don't sell enough, or if students cancel or reschedule lessons, or if I have internet connection problems, I am the one who loses, and Berlitz suffers almost no loss. It really doesn't seem fair.

So, all of this left me with just 2 units: 6:00-7:30. This student, in fact, turned out to be a no-show (for which I do get paid, but, then, so does Berlitz).