Wish I Were Back in the U.P.

We're back from our final vacation of the summer. The lazy days of canoe rides, late-night card games and snoozes in the sun have given way to the realities of laundry (nothing more depressing than washing the beach towels and tucking them in the back of the linen closet for their 9-month hibernation), 65 email messages and a $211 Verizon bill. Apparently, when the customer service representative told us that "phone calls to other Verizon customers do not count toward your minutes," what he really meant was "phone calls to other Verizon customers DO count toward your minutes." A minor distinction.