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Bank of America, Caribou Barbie: How one's day gets shot to hell

An easy way to ruin my day is by having to deal with Bank of America on any issue more technical than getting money out of the bank. The second easiest way is to see Sarah Palin giving a speech, live, on all three cable news channels.

My day today is pretty much shot because of the above.

I tried to get gas at the Texaco across the street. I had bought some chips there about 45 minutes earlier. When I inserted my bank card the pump said: “See cashier inside.” Well, the whole point of the exercise was to not see the cashier inside so I left. A short time later, I tried the pump at the Kroger gas station. The pump read this time: “Unauthorized transaction.” I was saying WTF? by that time. I knew I had money in the bank. So I called Bank of America.

My conversation went rather smoothly for once — considering I stayed up until 2:30 this morning arguing with idiots at Dell about my computer — and the bank customer service guy said they would send me a new card, that all I had to do was go to a bank and get a temporary card.

The nearest Bank of America was less than a mile. I drove there and told this young woman at the door my problem. She then told me that since I had asked for a new card on the phone I couldn’t get one at the bank. She said that if I did get one at the bank, I would have to mail it back in when I get a new card and the card number would be different from the interim card. This was, exactly opposite, from what was told to me on the phone.

I waited to see one of the two, I don’t know what they call them, if it was a real bank they would be like loan officers. This young woman with whom I first spoke came back after talking to one of the loan officers, I believe the person she spoke with is the branch vice president. I was told they could “work around” the problem.

When I finally got to see the VP, I asked her if her bank was competing against the telephone customer service. She looked baffled and then I told her what the first woman I spoke with told me. Basically, what the young “greeter” told me was a load of crap. The VP knew it but would not admit as much although I tried to make her do so. After a bit, the VP then said there was something wrong, that for some reason the system wasn’t letting her  in to do my transaction. I finally asked: “Well what if you cancel my credit card and then give me a temporary one?” Duh. She hadn’t thought of that. Either that or didn’t want to think of that.

I got to thinking that probably the VP wanted to just make more money by bringing in loans and not spend her time on customer service issues for someone who is rightly peeved. But finally I got my temporary card and it worked in the bank’s ATM.

So there you are. Six paragraphs about how my day began being ruined.

Then, I come home, turn on CNN and see they are covering live a Sarah Palin speech, like she is the president or Ben Bernanke or someone.

Supposedly, Palin actually talked about some policy issues for once although what I heard and what I read just seemed like more cliches. Of course, she had to criticize the president. That same president who is commander-in-chief with two wars taking place. That type of rhetoric during the Bush administration would have landed you on the “traitor” list.

But Moose Lady was speaking to a bunch of her own. The right-wing “Hypocrite Be Thy Name” wing of the Republican party. Similar to their brethern of the antebellum era of our country, those nativist Americans who were given the name “The Know Nothing Party,” Palin and her ilk embrace the obstructionism which if not should give to the party the name of “The Do Nothing Party.”

When I see Palin I know it’s time to watch “Law and Order: SVU” or “NCIS” reruns, read a book or do anything but listen to Moose Lady’s whiny, nasal Alaskan silliness. What do I have to lose?  Bank of America and Caribou Barbie have already screwed my day to the max.

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E. Texas bomb suspect makes one ask: "What's in the water up there?"

Outsiders might wonder: “What’s in the water there?”

I’m talking about northern East Texas. First there was a rash of church fires. Then came a series of pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails being found, many in mailboxes. Of the latter, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives offered a $25,000 reward for “suspicious devices:”

“Numerous of these devices have been placed in blue United States Postal Service collection boxes. The suspicious items have been incendiary-style devices as well as devices that resemble pipe bombs. These incidents have occurred in the counties of Smith, Rusk, Gregg, Harrison, and Panola.”

They resembled pipe bombs? Oh well, it must be a government thing. In fact it was, allegedly.

Authorities say Larry Eugene North, 52, of Henderson, Texas, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday and arrested the same day without incident.

“North had previously been identified as a person of interest in connection with destructive devices which were being placed in postal collection boxes in East Texas,” said a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas. ” On the morning on Apr. 7, 2010, North was observed placing such a device in a Tyler collection box leading to his subsequent arrest in the 3400 block of Corporate Drive.  Following his arrest, a search of North’s vehicle revealed an additional destructive device.”

The suspect apparently ” … did not care for the U.S. government,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston said at a press conference in Tyler this morning. Maybe he was mad about the plan to close post offices on Saturday although somehow I think not.

As to my earlier question of what’s in the water in northern East Texas? It depends on where you go. There are some places up there — as opposed to Southeast Texas to which we refer as “down here” — where the water could be contaminated with chicken waste. Chicken growing is a big deal in that part of the country. Why you can’t go up there to down here without coming across a chicken grove. Or perhaps it is chicken patties. Chicken pastures? Hey, I used to raise chickens and shovel out their excrement, so my knowledge of chickens is not a total waste.

Seriously, all of this coming on the heels of the string of church fires in the same vicinity causes one to pause and ask: What gives? The brother of one of my sister-in-laws is the pastor of one of the churches torched and is a fine man. So, even though I don’t feel his “pain” all of this is to me is not so much an abstraction. It is gratifying to many, and to me as well, that two suspects were arrested. If there has been a motive learned in these arsons I have not heard it even though a motive sometimes seems irrelevant.

Let’s let the law take its course in both of these cases of serial idiocy. These cases that just all coincidentally, perhaps,  happened in roughly the same vicinity.

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No Hollywood endings for the Bulldogs. I hope The Barack remembers that.

How long it has been since I watched an NCAA men’s basketball national championship? Well, before last night’s spectacular game I would probably say never. However, I’m prone never to say never so it probably has been a long while.

Most everyone knows about “ifs.” You know, if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump  his ass? If Butler’s Gordon Hayward had made the last second half-court shot that he just missed it would have been a storybook ending. Instead, Duke won their however many titles they have won.

That is precisely the reason I hardly ever watch a NCAA title game. It’s always Duke. Or Kentucky. Or some perennial power basketball machine factory. But the Butler Bulldogs, the hometown team for the venue of Indianapolis  and, hate them though you (I) may, Duke, both are reputed for turning out “student-athletes.” The graduation rate for both schools is more than 90 percent.

It was a great game all the way through. I wish Butler had won. I wish Hayward had made that half-court bucket. I wish I had millions of dollars. But at least, Butler has the chance to win it all next year, at least the Bulldogs have a much better chance than me having millions of dollars.

Meanwhile, back in the Oval Office

Even though I like The Barack and many of the things he has been getting done this one latest move leaves me with a big one of these: ?

What gives with his nuclear posture idea?

I haven’t had time to thoroughly review all of the elements of what the U.S. policy on our use of nuclear weapons will be. Although he wants no nukes used against powers that hit us first with biological or chemical weapons he hasn’t done away with the “first-strike” option. As good as his intentions are, it seems Obama is trying to put the genie back in the bottle and, to mix metaphors, that ship has done sailed.

I just hope the president reserves the right to change his mind, at least on policies of such dire consequences.

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Computer work day

Computer are so much fun. Computers are so much fun. Computers are so much fun. Computers are so much fun. You get my drift. Perhaps I can write something with a tad less sarcasm tomorrow.