I’m thinking seriously about discontinuing television, internet and my landline phone.  At one time I would have been horrified at the thought, all the people and important contacts I would fall out of touch with.  But these days, I can do without the overbearing and under-par service providers.

Don’t want Windows 10?  Too bad, you’re getting it anyway.

Some clown with an accent from India calling and harassing you on the phone?  The phone company can’t do anything about it.  Sorry.

Everything we pay so much money for, all this “connectedness” and you get to be my age and realize, I really would love to not be connected.  Because even if these services help us be connected with the people we care about, more and more often they are bringing unsavory and unwelcome contact as well.

I called the FCC about the guy with the India accent calling and posing as the IRS and threatening to sue me.  Both he and the phone company were aware of this scam, but the phone company was utterly unhelpful.

By the way, the number is 1-469-212-8030.  First they call with a recording, saying

“This call is officially a final notice from IRS.  Internal Revenue Service.  The reason of this call is to inform you that IRS is filing lawsuit against you. To get more information about this case file, please call immediately at our department number.”

I called, and the person knew my first and last name, which was a bit unsettling, but when his accent was from India, I thought, okay, everyone else is outsourcing so who the heck knows, maybe the IRS is too.  I asked the guy what it was about, and he essentially said he had a warrant for my arrest for incorrect filing of taxes.  I told him to bring it to my house then, and he snickered and said “okay, I will do that” and hung up.

So, if you get a call from  a number in Grand Prairie, Texas telling you it’s your final notice and the IRS is bringing a lawsuit against you. Don’t panic.  Apparently this is a scam that all the officials know about.  I didn’t give the guy any further information, but it’s bad enough, in my opinion, that with an unlisted number and being on the Do not call registry, anyone can still get the info. There truly is no such thing as privacy anymore.

Other than that, I have been in a wrestling match to try and keep Win10 from installing, even though I delete the files that are the “reservation” and hide the eighteen “updates” it’s trying to put on there, even when I click to install something for my Windows 8, the only thing that comes up is “Windows 10 now loading”.  And of course we have all heard how Windows 10 is going to record everything we do online.  All the forums are filed with people making the same complaint that Windows 10 is forcing itself on their computer.  My computer keeps freezing up, my cursor won’t move, I’ve hard booted at least twenty times in the last 24 hours.  They wear you down, is what they do.  It’s inevitable, I suppose, so Windows 10 is doing it’s thing even as I write this.  I figure I’m on all the “lists” anyway, so whatevs.

I’m still gonna praise my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and keep serving Him. You know the old question “if you were tried in a court of law for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Well, I haven’t ever stood down to bullies before and I don’t plan to start now.

This world is pretty messed up, and getting more so by the day.  The devil comes knocking on my door with harassments and irritations, interruptions and inconveniences.  I’ll just say, “Lord, get that for me, will ya?”  I’m like a Buffalo that smells water, man, I am too close to the promised land now to let anything get me down.

So anyway, if you have been wondering why I haven’t posted much since I got home, that’s why.  The devil may try and get in our way, but only succeeds when the Lord permits it.  If I don’t post it ain’t the end of the world.  Unless, well, I don’t post because I’ve gone up in the rapture, but then it’s still not the end of the world.  Got at least a thousand years and seven days before then.