this was already getting old- six months ago

As promised, I called my mother to walk her through the itinerary-retrieval process. She'd apparently managed on her own earlier today. We discussed the trip for a a minute or so; then, she launched into... the Verizon saga (recap: she got Verizon; it didn't work (i.e. phone calls were not getting through) and they were not willing/able to fix it, so she canceled it and returned the equipment; they continued to bill her for said equipment and for service that was never provided; she faxed them receipts, etc.; they reported her to a collections agency; she wrote (i.e. I wrote) the MA attorney general and communications board; they're confused about what she wants-- largely because I thought she wanted to move on with her life, but I've come to understand that she is on a mission to expose their predatory billing practices). So the update is that the state attorney general called Verizon for mediation, resulting in Verizon's leaving her a message along the lines of, "we understand that you're having trouble paying your bill."

Mom's comment, to the person who writes her letters and listens to her saga? "Your entire government system is populated with idiots."

Did I mention that we'll be traveling together for three weeks?