Praxis...check.

At 7:30 this morning, I was found sitting in room 445 of the MARB getting ready to take the Praxis exam. What is the Praxis? Well, it's a qualifying test for secondary teachers. You have to take it in your subject area. Someone today said, "It's like the bar for history teachers!" While I would say that that's a gross exaggeration, it is an important test. It's also stringently proctored--like the ACT.

Well, our proctor was kind of rude. I understand that she's supposed to be strict, but she took that to a whole new level. Examples:

1. Everyone was waiting to start the test, and a few people were missing, apparently. Someone asked if they could know who was missing so that they could call them. Now, the answer she gave was reasonable...it's not like we all didn't know about this test, but she scoffed at the student who was trying to be nice, and just said, "Nope! They can take it in January!"
2. This is 7:30 in the morning...on a Saturday, and someone asked if we could eat. There was no explanation, just a hearty...and rude..."Absolutely Not!"
3. No eating or drinking was allowed during the test. A girl in front of me took a drink out of her water bottle, which made one of those loud pop sounds when the plastic sucks in. She was quickly approached by the proctor, who said, in no uncertain terms, "Do you realize that I could confiscate your test for that? There is NO eating or drinking during this test, and you are making so much noise and disrupting other people."

It was one of those awful awkward feelings...like when the teachers in school would lecture someone in front of the class. I would say that it's more likely that SHE was more distracting than any plastic popping.

Oh well, it's over, and that's really all that matters at this point.

Maybe just blogging more often is the goal...

Yesterday we went and saw "Hello Dolly" at a local high school. It was really good. I was impressed with the soloists, and only a little disappointed that I couldn't quite understand the whole group numbers. The people were really talented though. It was great.

Yesterday we went to get our car tested for safety again, and the guy failed us. He said something needed to be fixed that the mechanic said didn't. Unfortunately, this means that we have to fix it, or we don't pass. Thankfully, the mechanic is giving us a little bit of a discount on fixing it, even though he thinks it's silly. I'm grateful for this guy's customer service skills. Honestly, if you need your car fixed, we highly recommend Midas on State Street in Orem. They're great.

Today, I had to take two tests. First, Modern Physics in the Testing Center, and then another midterm in another class right afterwards. Because of devotional, I couldn't take my physics test until 12...which meant I only had an hour and a half to do it. Needless to say, I was a little bit stressed. Nate was a total sweetheart though, and left me a note and some fruit snacks to find when I was done in the testing center, and is currently making some dinner stuffs and doing the dishes. Boy howdy, did I ever snag a good one.

Also, I think the tests both went moderately well. So that's nice too.

Free Credit Reports

About a month ago, Nate and I were signing up for some offers in the hopes of getting a free ipod touch. All of the offers went smoothly, and I decided to sign up for a free credit report so I could see what's going on there, and I figured I'd just cancel the membership before the thirty day trial was up. Easy.

Well, it didn't work out that way. Apparently, some of the information I provided did not exactly match the information they had on file, (like my address history, which is complicated) and they said they would send me an access code in the mail. I think I figured that, because I hadn't ever actually accessed my account, I wouldn't be charged for anything, the trail must not have started, and I'd just give it a rest.

Well, that didn't work. Because I'd attempted to get a credit report, my account was charged 30 days later.

Strike one.

AND I had never received the promised access code in the mail. As a result, as soon as my account was charged, I attempted to log in to cancel the account, and I couldn't get in because I was without said access code.

Strike two.

So I finally call the customer service number to cancel the account. The lady on the other end of the line is clearly hired to help me keep my account, and so she asks exactly what happened, etc. I explain the situation, and she tells me that security can unlock my account so that I can check my report. I agree that, because I've paid for the service, I should probably check it at least once, since it's clear that I'm not getting my money back. I'm transferred.

The woman on that line is also pretty nice. She asks me the questions that I apparently missed when trying in the first place, and then, after checking with her supervisor, unlocks my account. I hang up, go online, print the report, and immediately call back to cancel the account.

I'm on hold this time for a minute or two. Then a man answers the phone. All of these people who I've talked to have accents, by the way, the first sounded Spanish--but like my friend from Spain, not my friends from South America. Maybe Argentina. Anyway. The second was Southern, and I would guess she was from North-east Texas or Arkansas if I had to. This guy though, had this odd cross between a stereotyped southern Californian, and a southern gent. Seriously, it was a weird combination. He's also clearly hired to make me keep my account, and he starts by asking what happened. From here on out, every phrase or statement I made ended with, "Thank you, but I want to close my account."

ME: Explain story to him, basically the same as before with the lady, but with the update of accessing my account.
HIM: Pause..."well," pause "Why don't you just keep your account?"
ME: "Because I've already accessed it, and the benefits are not worth the price per month for me." Add phrase.
HIM: But, I see that you've accessed your account now, and (insert some company information)
ME: same phrase
HIM: Benefits of staying with the company
ME: Same phrase
HIM: finally cancels my account.

Strike three, and I'm finally out of there.

The funny thing was is, if I had to guess, I would say that I was his first call of the day. The first statement couldn't be on the script that he was using for the rest of it, and there were definite pauses at times. I also don't understand why this works the way it does, because most businesses have these people who are supposed to talk you out of your decision to cancel. Seems to me, that if someone's already decided to quit, you should just let them go.

All-in-all, I think the service is worth only the free trial, and now that I've got a list of my own information, at least I can answer those silly questions right the first time.