Thursday, December 01, 2005

Well.

There was sooooo little to be pissed about for the entire three months of aimless wandering. Until the last week.

I was zooming across the Mojave desert when I got the first clue that my bank had really screwed up. I stopped at an ATM, and couldn't get cash out. I thought maybe it was just not on our network, and continued on my way.

That night, I stopped into a hotel and got ready to pay with my check card. The clerk told me he'd received a message to confiscate the card. After showing him my ID, he gave the card back, but there was obiously something wrong. I went to another hotel that took my credit card, but was leary -- I had only seven dollars in cash on me at that point.

I stopped at a McDonalds the next day, and despite their claim that they take Discover, they did not. I tried to use the ATM there, and out came a message -- "Lost/Stolen card." Paying cash for the meal left me with 2 dollars.

I called the bank, and they said, "Ohh, no. Your account is perfectly fine and active." Even after I explained that my last three attempts to use the card were refused, and that 2 of the 3 came with "Stolen Card," they insisted it was fine.

I called the bank again later to force the issue. They told me they'd sent a replacement to my old address, it had been returned to them, and therefore they listed the card as missing or stolen.

I stopped at the bank before I left Alaska. I explained to them that I would be on the road for months, and NOT to mail anything. We even discussed the expiration of my ATM at the time. I didn't want my statements or ATM card landing in someone else's hands accidentally, and so told them, "DON'T MAIL ANYTHING."

So they mailed it. And left me in the middle of the freakin' Mojave desert without access to cash.

They've made it right, now -- they wired me money and sent a new ATM card to my place in PDX.

I haven't really moved in yet -- all the stuff is still in the truck, just due to lack of organization inside, and lack of motivation toward that organization.

The plan is at this point to take the rest of the month to get to know Portland a little better, then start applying for (ick) WORK after the first of the year. In the meantime I can find room for my thingies and take part in the Portland and Seattle Santa Cons. I'll be leaving for Seattle next weekend to don a Santa suit and go bar-hopping and acting obnoxious and abbrasive in order to mar Santa's image amongst the Seattle drunkards. Or something like that.