Nasty Surprises

We all feel it. That stomach-dropping feeling at the sight of our credit card bill. In some extreme cases, just the envelope can trigger fight-or-flight instincts. People of my acquaintance have tossed bill after bill onto the front hall table unopened because they're so afraid of what's inside.

I pay my bill off every month, usually. And I thought I'd made it through Christmas unscathed, even after the purchase of a new computer for the SO.
Alas, it is not so. Yesterday I checked on my balances and discovered that I am a significant portion of my monthly salary in the hole. Just under two weeks' pay in fact.

The real shock came when I decided to sort out where all that money had gone and discovered that my erstwhile internet provider of 2002-2003 had decided not to stop charging me through 2004, and was trying to rack me up through 2005.

I paid a heavy cancellation fee to break free of the contract I was in, and to find that I had since been billed for ten months' worth of service I wasn't using was almost funny.

So today's project is prying loose the $284.96 they owe me.

Plus a little interest, if possible.