Which came first, the phone or the phone call?

I had a better idea for this blog but it's on my phone and my phone is DEAD. I was watching Netflix, reached over to check my Facebook on my phone (which had 40% battery before I plugged it into the charger half an hour prior) and it was a paperweight. I couldn't even do a factory reset on it. Something failed inside the phone and it failed dramatically.

So I went online to figure out how to file a claim with Google Fi as the phone is less than a year old. Guys, you have to call them. The entire point is the phone doesn't work, but they want you to call. What cruelty is this? MY PHONE IS BROKEN; WHY DO I HAVE TO CALL TO FIX IT?!?!

Okay, well it's Google Fi so it works with Hangouts which I can use on my laptop. Except the phone number is 1-844-Talk2Fi. In every help forum I could find, that was the number. Which is great if you have a phone with a keypad that has the letters. But if your phone is broken and you have a laptop and you are calling with Hangouts, you have this:

There's no keypad with letters; you need the actual numbers to type in. So I went on Facebook and messaged the first friend that said they were online, and I was like "This sounds weird and pathetic, but can I send you this phone number and can you look at your keypad and convert it to an actual NUMBER for me?" After she figured out I was serious I finally got the number. (Yes, in hindsight, I probably could have done an image search for a keypad, but I was in an emotional state!)

To rub salt in the wound, after you start a call on Hangouts, this happens:

Those shifty mutherfuckers.

So I call and the call is fine except they have my old address. I moved like a month and a half ago and I could swear I updated the address, but whatever. The rep updates my address and reads it back to me and it's all good. My shipping labels to send back my old phone are mailed to me and the new phone should be en route.

Except they shipped the phone to my old address.

I got on a web chat with support to see if there was any way they could possibly stop it in transit. I am so glad it was a web chat because I wanted to scream. First they asked if I could go get it from the old address. Um, I can't take time off work to camp out in front of my old address where strangers live and then take the package off their porch when it arrives....that's creepy. Then they tried to see if they could have FedEx call when they were ready to deliver the package and have me update my address with them at that point. How would they call if I didn't have a phone?!?!

I ended up with a vague "We'll contact FedEx and figure it out," which wasn't very comforting, especially since today the email says they delivered it. So now I've left a message with my old landlord to see if they can get in touch with the tenants to see if they have the package, though without a phone I am not sure how I'm going to coordinate a pickup if they do have it.

I'm up to over 48 hours now without a phone and I might shank something. Pray for me.


And the cherry on top of this entire cake? The night my phone died was the same night someone hacked my Facebook account and tried to send themselves almost $2000 through Messenger. Fortunately I don't have any payment accounts hooked up to Messenger (and if I did, none of them have that much in them, hah! *sobbing*), and Facebook was on it and locked my account almost instantly. So I had to change all my passwords in the morning.

I can't file a fraud claim, however, because Facebook wants a copy of my ID to do so, and I don't have a phone to take a picture of my ID with! I tried to fill out a claim without my ID because I don't care if they keep the Messenger payment account locked; I just want to be like "yeah that wasn't me that was fraudulent", but you can't submit the form without attaching a copy of your ID. Guess I just have to wait until I someday get my replacement phone, if it ever even happens.

TLDR Google Fi and Facebook support both make me want to cry (and may have made me literally cry...no I definitely literally cried).

EDIT: I went trick-or-treating at my old address and got my phone?

And when I opened it and opened the Fi app, do you think my address was updated? Do you? TAKE A WILD GUESS?!?!?!

Holy fuck, how many times do I need to update my address before they GET it?!?! Get it together, Google! PEOPLE MOVE!

Why I'm leaving the church

As a Roman Catholic, it's hard to watch the recent news coming out of Pennsylvania and other places. It's been an ongoing issue for years, but the recent news shows just how high up the chain of command the corruption goes. It's upsetting, it's infuriating, and it's disgusting.

As someone who has been sexually assaulted and abused by an ex husband, I have a special sympathy for the victims. The more I reflect on it, and how long it's been plaguing the church, the more I've come to a central conclusion.

You see, I simply cannot support an organization that supports child molesters and suppresses the voices of victims. I can't give money to an organization knowing that some of that money could be used to shuffle corrupt priests within the organization to hide their sins. My local diocese is currently under a lawsuit for sexual abuse. Even if it wasn't, I don't even want to peripherally support any of the corruption in the church.

I'm not turning my back on God, just the church. God is divine; the church is an organization built and managed by fallible humans. To conflate the two is an error.

It's an inconvenient truth, and saying "not my church" or "but the church still does other good things" is not good enough. The issue is widespread. The sexual abuse of innocent children is horrific itself; the relocation of priests and intentional hiding of this abuse by leaders in the organization is downright criminal and unacceptable. Beating around the bush isn't going to solve it. It's time to hold the bishops, cardinals, and the Pope himself responsible directly. It's time to stand up for the victims. This cannot be tolerated. It's wrong, it's unholy, and it needs to come to a stop immediately.

If the church ever manages to fix things, then I will consider going back. But for now, I'm out. I'm not sure how fixing things will look, considering how widespread the issue is. Serious reform and reparations are required.

To those who have been victimized, I am sorry. I"m sorry you went through what you did. I'm sorry you had to hide for so long. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to leave the organization that abused you. But I hear you. I recognize you. I believe you. And I promise, I will not support your abusers. I am listening.