I was in fact a bit taken aback by all the Christianity matter on her altar. I found her "speaking from On High" manner a bit off-putting but she got some apparent hits without my telling anything about me. (But now that I realize her game, I see that her "hits" were more off than on.) She probably based her rather generalized statements on the fact that I'm a heavy-set Gen-X fellow with a dour and reserved demeanor, and certain things are very likely going to be true about somebody such as myself, especially if that person is seeing a shrink or a psychic.

She said that I have a "negativity" that is holding me back, but paying $150 for a meditative partnership with her would help me rid myself of this negativity. Why did I fall for it? What I thought this "meditative partnership" was going to involve was her using her psychic mojo to help me be a better meditator. Meditation does seem to help those who are good at it, but to be good at it, one must quiet the inane chatter of the conscious mind. So in other words, I mistakenly thought she was going to help me empower myself rather than doing the opposite that she ended up trying to do.

I am not an early riser, so she had me getting up earlier than was my wont for these morning sessions as part of this meditation therapy. That should have made me wonder, I suppose, because the TM people taught me that one needs to be well-rested to meditate effectively. I guess I just thought that Ms. Johns was putting me through spiritual bootcamp.

What raised a red flag first was her claim in a meeting on early Sunday afternoon that my negativity was going to "destroy" my life if I didn't purify myself of it. Now I know my [butt] from a hole in the ground spirituality-wise, and I know that creating fear around a spiritual process is not appropriate spirituality.

Sure enough, Ms. Johns asked for more money in our session yesterday. For me, it has always been an iron truism that when someone isn't straight with you from the get-go about how much money they're going to ultimately want from you, they are a swindler. When I told Ms. Johns that I had paid as much money as I was going to pay, she then laid on me the hardest sell to which I had ever been subjected. Had I been the weak-minded and naive type who very likely comprises Ms. John's mostly working-class clientele, it probably would have worked better than any telemarketer's spiel ever could. But for [me], it all just screamed, "Scam, scam, scam, scam; scam, scam, scam, scam!" So I just held up my hand and said, "I am terminating this association." And that was that. I felt as if the 27 Bus couldn't convey me away from Ms. Johns's Greenfield neighborhood fast enough. When the 15 Bus brought me back to the Cudahy-South Milwaukee area where I live, I experienced the odd sensation of actually being glad to see the sorry old place.

My credit card bill is due today, however, when I went on line to pay the bill I was told that I would have to pay an additional $10 if I wanted to make my payment the same day. Did I miss something? I do not understand why I am being pinalized for paying on time. the payment should be credited to your account the same day. when I called their cusotmer service from hell I was basically told
that I had no choice and that I had to pay the extra $10, I then asked for a manager and then I was transferred to a Brian at ext 3159 who had no intention of resolving this matter but rather got anoyed because I wanted some answers. I got so frustrated that I told him to cancel my credit card after years of shopping at Ann Taylor . I will never, ever step foof in any of their stores again. Thank goodness for
Macy's. YOUR LOSS ANNT TAYLOR STORES, HOPE YOU GOT RICHER WITH THE EXTRA $10 YOU STORE FROM ME TODAY!