Hanging in There

Last night I received an email from a former neighbor in Beaumont. She
told me not to worry so much and that my realtor would make it happen.
Some how those words made me feel better. My realtor has not given up
on the sale and sounded confident when I talked to her on Friday that
the sale will take place.

The new washing machine seems to work much better and finish its
cycles in a shorter time than the first machine. I am beginning to
think the first machine had problems from day one. It would sit and
pause for periods of time. The new one does not pause as much. These
machines are a radical new design, and it is not possible to know
exactly how they are supposed to operate.

I got out yesterday and did a little Christmas shopping. The traffic
on Preston Rd. close to the mall was bumper to bumper. Everybody had
the same idea.

This morning I had the fireplace on for twenty minutes. Tomorrow I
will give it the lengthy test to tell the story. At least it is
improved over the way it originally was. The first time the limit
switch tripped, I think it had been on less than ten minutes. The
cause of that problem was obviously the disconnected vent pipe elbow
inside the fireplace. I am not convinced the piping in the attic is
free of restrictions. Tomorrow I will know.

I have been having problems with my bank concerning my ATM and Visa
CheckCard. Last weekend I noticed the Visa CheckCard had expired. I
use the CheckCard only when I am travelling out of the country.
Foreign ATM's do not recognize the plain ATM card. I have had success
with the card with the Visa logo on it. Foreign ATM's also require a
four-digit PIN and do not accept longer ones. Last Monday I called
customer service and was on the phone over thirty minutes trying to
get them to link my cards as I wanted them and send me a new Visa
CheckCard. I did determine that they had not mailed a new Visa
CheckCard. They could give me no reason for that. The woman I talked
to cancelled my ATM card and then told me she could not link the ATM
card to the checking and savings as it had been if the Visa CheckCard
was linked only to the checking account. She called her supervisor and
she could not fix things. I gave up in frustration and called the vice
president back in Houston who is my personal customer service contact.
He immediately linked my accounts the way I wanted them to the new
cards. I cannot understand how two people who set up the cards full
time could not accomplish what a man who has many responsibilities and
who does not spend much time with the cards could do immediately.

Anyway yesterday afternoon my neighbor knocked on my door. She had a
sealed paper that looked like it might be a check for me that was left
in her mailbox. It turned out to be a six-digit PIN for the new Visa
CheckCard. The new ATM and the new Visa CheckCard were in my mailbox.
I was really mad when I saw that six-digit PIN. Also the new Visa
CheckCard did not have my picture on it. I sent an email to the vice
president with my latest complaints. I called and activated the new
Visa CheckCard and then drove to a bank branch to test the new cards.
The Visa CheckCard would not allow me to draw money out of the savings
account, but I did make a withdrawal from the checking account. I was
able to get balances on both accounts with the new ATM card. I
concluded both cards were linked the way I wanted them. I am hoping I
can go back to the back and change the PIN. Why am I always fighting
these complications?