I really got nothing today

Nothing. The Mariners even won last night so I can't whine about how much they suck. Well, I could but I think I've done that before. See? I knew this would happen the minute I finished with the redesign project. I've got no journal fodder. It's no longer hot so I can't bitch about that. The new TV season is starting so I can't bitch about reruns.

As I type this, I can actually hear Becky's (next cube over) cellphone vibrating. Holy crap, when she puts that thing in her pocket she must feel like every call is a night on the town with a slow cigarette after. My Treo, on vibrate, is a nothing burger. Hymnals give you more action.

Mom says the hurricane is going to North Carolina "They have better schools, they have better taxes, they get everything - even hurricanes. But, it's ok because I couldn't decide what to wear for the evacuation anyway." I can not imagine evacuating the 'home'. They don't do transportation well. A couple of weeks ago they decided to load up a bunch from Mom's assisted living wing - into a van - and drive them through downtown Charleston. A great idea, actually. Mom loves being driven through town so she can see stuff.

But, they finally got all the old people into the van (no minor deal there). And the driver discovered the van had no gas. It was Saturday and the Keeper of the Gas Credit Card wasn't on duty so they couldn't buy gas. And the trip was canceled. Mom said that loading up, discovering no gas, discovering no gas possible, and then unloading, took an hour and 15 minutes. The idea that these people would be responsible for evacuating not only the assisted living folks but the nursing wing and the Alzheimer's wing... arugh. The last evacuation was when Mom still lived in the apartment and was driving - she got in the car and went to visit friends.

I told her I'd drive her through downtown until she had had her fill when I get there at Thanksgiving.

It's Halloween candy time. I see that Brachs has nugats for Halloween but I don't see what flavor they are. I am going to have to investigate. If they are good, then I will have to stake out the best places for post Halloween sales. Which will also lead right into Christmas with the peppermint tree nugats which are, of course, perfect.

When I said I had nothing, I was really not kidding. Oh, cripe, there goes Becky's cellphone again. I think it's a Nokia - Yo, fj, your people selling those as sex toys?

I really got nothing today

Nothing. The Mariners even won last night so I can't whine about how much they suck. Well, I could but I think I've done that before. See? I knew this would happen the minute I finished with the redesign project. I've got no journal fodder. It's no longer hot so I can't bitch about that. The new TV season is starting so I can't bitch about reruns.

As I type this, I can actually hear Becky's (next cube over) cellphone vibrating. Holy crap, when she puts that thing in her pocket she must feel like every call is a night on the town with a slow cigarette after. My Treo, on vibrate, is a nothing burger. Hymnals give you more action.

Mom says the hurricane is going to North Carolina "They have better schools, they have better taxes, they get everything - even hurricanes. But, it's ok because I couldn't decide what to wear for the evacuation anyway." I can not imagine evacuating the 'home'. They don't do transportation well. A couple of weeks ago they decided to load up a bunch from Mom's assisted living wing - into a van - and drive them through downtown Charleston. A great idea, actually. Mom loves being driven through town so she can see stuff.

But, they finally got all the old people into the van (no minor deal there). And the driver discovered the van had no gas. It was Saturday and the Keeper of the Gas Credit Card wasn't on duty so they couldn't buy gas. And the trip was canceled. Mom said that loading up, discovering no gas, discovering no gas possible, and then unloading, took an hour and 15 minutes. The idea that these people would be responsible for evacuating not only the assisted living folks but the nursing wing and the Alzheimer's wing... arugh. The last evacuation was when Mom still lived in the apartment and was driving - she got in the car and went to visit friends.

I told her I'd drive her through downtown until she had had her fill when I get there at Thanksgiving.

It's Halloween candy time. I see that Brachs has nugats for Halloween but I don't see what flavor they are. I am going to have to investigate. If they are good, then I will have to stake out the best places for post Halloween sales. Which will also lead right into Christmas with the peppermint tree nugats which are, of course, perfect.

When I said I had nothing, I was really not kidding. Oh, cripe, there goes Becky's cellphone again. I think it's a Nokia - Yo, fj, your people selling those as sex toys?

I cannot believe I am still fucking with this credit card

For nearly a year now I have been trying to cancel Mom's Bank of America credit card. Turns out this is actually not fucking possible. No matter how many calls I make, how may times I fax the request in writing, no matter how many times they send me a letter confirming that the card is canceled... it is not.

The old canceled card even expired in August of 2005. BUT did this stop Bank of America from accepting a charge, from Time Magazine, and sending a bill? Heck no!

So... I just spent 40 minutes on the phone with Bank of America. I went through two people before I got to a woman who sounded for all the world like a white haired country club matron. She was the one who actually 'got' it. She went through her script and with a fairly ingenious use of pauses and sounds, prompted me through answers that she needed to make sure it all got fixed. She was very clever. "I need to mark down here, when you canceled Time Magazine. [note, I never said the mag was canceled] They want a date - can you pinpoint when it might have been? Near some holiday like maybe Memorial Day?" She was pretty much cracking me up by this time.

Then I call Mom who remembers renewing Time and probably used the Bank of America number but couldn't remember. Since the card had been canceled and was expired, they should not have accepted it. But, I got her to look in her book and her purse and read the the numbers of all credit cards she might ever want to use. Sure enough one of them was the Bank of America one and she swears now it is totally crossed out.

We reviewed which cards she should use again. I also found out that she has never heard from Appleseed after she placed a large and laborious online order the other day. She says she used the right credit card but since she never heard from them, I'm guessing she screwed up the order. That sucks. It takes her so long and now she's going to have to do it all again. Poor thing.

Then on to Time where I got a fun guy who actually made that end of it very easy. He found Mom's account, swapped out the credit cards and said he's see that a credit was sent back to Bank of America.

The next time Bank of America opens up that account again, I am going to call them and tell them the card was stolen. I think that is the only way you can get them to close an account. Fuck 'em.

I cannot believe I am still fucking with this credit card

For nearly a year now I have been trying to cancel Mom's Bank of America credit card. Turns out this is actually not fucking possible. No matter how many calls I make, how may times I fax the request in writing, no matter how many times they send me a letter confirming that the card is canceled... it is not.

The old canceled card even expired in August of 2005. BUT did this stop Bank of America from accepting a charge, from Time Magazine, and sending a bill? Heck no!

So... I just spent 40 minutes on the phone with Bank of America. I went through two people before I got to a woman who sounded for all the world like a white haired country club matron. She was the one who actually 'got' it. She went through her script and with a fairly ingenious use of pauses and sounds, prompted me through answers that she needed to make sure it all got fixed. She was very clever. "I need to mark down here, when you canceled Time Magazine. [note, I never said the mag was canceled] They want a date - can you pinpoint when it might have been? Near some holiday like maybe Memorial Day?" She was pretty much cracking me up by this time.

Then I call Mom who remembers renewing Time and probably used the Bank of America number but couldn't remember. Since the card had been canceled and was expired, they should not have accepted it. But, I got her to look in her book and her purse and read the the numbers of all credit cards she might ever want to use. Sure enough one of them was the Bank of America one and she swears now it is totally crossed out.

We reviewed which cards she should use again. I also found out that she has never heard from Appleseed after she placed a large and laborious online order the other day. She says she used the right credit card but since she never heard from them, I'm guessing she screwed up the order. That sucks. It takes her so long and now she's going to have to do it all again. Poor thing.

Then on to Time where I got a fun guy who actually made that end of it very easy. He found Mom's account, swapped out the credit cards and said he's see that a credit was sent back to Bank of America.

The next time Bank of America opens up that account again, I am going to call them and tell them the card was stolen. I think that is the only way you can get them to close an account. Fuck 'em.

nice

A couple of weeks ago I ordered some heavy duty cat food bowls in hopes that they would be heavy enough to withstand the Roomba bump without spilling the water or the food. Plus they are pretty. The outfit I ordered them from Petcarerx started sending me spam - both email and snail mail - after I was very careful to check 'never send them anything'. Plus the damn things took 13 days to get here.

BUT, they work! Roomba bumps 'em and they just sit there - no spillage at all! Excellent.

Since I've started feeding Jake and Betty wet food at in the evenings - in addition to their always-there dry stuff, they seem to think that the minute I walk in the door, it's dinner time. The new rule is 'no dinner' until Roomba's done.

They are going nuts. No dinner and this thing keeps bumping their dinner ware. I think they are minutes away from calling up the cat union.

Oh and Whacko unzeugmatic has struck again. This time it's a kangaroo sticker on a 1920's picture of Chicago's state street mailed from Perth. I'm going to have to create a special section on the post card boards and just label it "Don't Ask Cause I Got No Explanation".

nice

A couple of weeks ago I ordered some heavy duty cat food bowls in hopes that they would be heavy enough to withstand the Roomba bump without spilling the water or the food. Plus they are pretty. The outfit I ordered them from Petcarerx started sending me spam - both email and snail mail - after I was very careful to check 'never send them anything'. Plus the damn things took 13 days to get here.

BUT, they work! Roomba bumps 'em and they just sit there - no spillage at all! Excellent.

Since I've started feeding Jake and Betty wet food at in the evenings - in addition to their always-there dry stuff, they seem to think that the minute I walk in the door, it's dinner time. The new rule is 'no dinner' until Roomba's done.

They are going nuts. No dinner and this thing keeps bumping their dinner ware. I think they are minutes away from calling up the cat union.

Oh and Whacko unzeugmatic has struck again. This time it's a kangaroo sticker on a 1920's picture of Chicago's state street mailed from Perth. I'm going to have to create a special section on the post card boards and just label it "Don't Ask Cause I Got No Explanation".