On hold!

It can refer to many things.

In my specific case, it has two current meanings. The first is dealing with customer service. You see, I've been a loyal PayPal customer for almost 6 years now, and I've been a Verified account for just as long. I've used the same bank account and the same debit card for years, with no issues. Last week I found himself in a situation where I needed to sign up for a Click and Buy account, due to a merchant whose services I wanted to use not accepting PayPal (which I found weird in the first place).

They refused to verify my account, using the same bank account and debit card information I've used with PayPal for years. Not only that, but they have still not replied to my e-mail, sent over a week ago, and the few times I have called in I have enjoyed the sound of being put on hold for 15+ minutes each time. I finally gave up even bothering to try.

However, I also had another "good" kind of hold. One of my recent spec-fic comedy short stories has been put on the short list for an Australian publication. It made it past the first two rounds of readership and is now waiting for the "full time" editors of the publication to take a look. Not a big thing, maybe, but I find it encouraging. It's always good to know your story is getting looked at rather than being simply rejected outright. The slush-pile lady says they publish 30-40% of the stories that get put on hold, so finger's crossed. This is only the second place I've sent the story, so I'm hopeful.

That's it for my Tuesday morning blurb. Work calls, and I've a busy day ahead. On a side note, I've already lost another kilo since my last post about diets and weight (about 3 days ago I think), so I'm right on track to be down to 74 kilos by the end of the week. Go go Mediterranean diet!