Answer Mode "On"

1.  Planted the Fall veggie garden.

Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, pak choy, brussels sprouts for "cole" crops, carrots, radishes, beets, leeks, corn, beets, cukes, spinach.

2.  Got new checks.
Hurray, I can spend money the old-fashioned way again!

3.  Attached trailer ball on riding mower.
Cavebear's First Law Of Applied Geometry:  If you can bend it enough, it will fit.  Cavebear's First Law Of Physics:  The bigger the bench vise, the more you can bend stuff.

4.  Bought new car.
New checks burned a hole in my pocket.  Actually, it was a race to see if the checks would arrive before the dealer incentives ran out.  I deliver the check today after the towing hitch is installed and they drive the car here.  More about the new car tomorrow.  But it looks like this.  I like green.

5.  Figured out new edging better than that plastic crap.
Randomly-cut pressure treated wood 6-12" high, connected with stiff zinc-coated wire attached throgh screw-eyes at the top and bottom.  I'll show pictures when I do it.  I was going to do stackable concrete blocks but the neighbor beat me to it and I don't copy.
6.  Got non-subscription 2019 MS Office for Mac. 
MS demanded an annual subscription on $69.95 per year, but I found a site that sells it for $99 no renewal cost or expiration.  I'll be good for 10 years with that.
7.  Made a pizza from scratch.
Bread machine has a "dough" setting.  But their recipe sucks.  I used a 20 year old one taped to the inside of a cabinet.  But I screwed it up royally this time and had to add water during the process.  Amazingly, it came out perfect.  I won't ever be able to duplicate it.  On the other hand, I know what dough should feel like.  I make a loaf of bread* every couple of weeks.  Pizza dough can be a bit thinner for easy rolling.

I have a pizza stone, that helps.  And a paddle.  I usually simmer crushed canned tomato until it is thick.  Spread some thinly on the dough, add sliced pepperoni (or hot italian sausage), green peppers, mushrooms, and onion.  More sauce, then add provelone slices and bagged "italian" shredded cheese.  Not too much cheese.  Baked on the pre-heated pizza stone at 500F about 10 minutes...

I can't understand why my pizza (with a tossed salad) isn't considered the healthiest food on earth.

* Use beer instead of water, and add a heaping tablespoon of oregano, crushed garlic, and onion flakes and friends will BEG you to bring bread to the party...

Resolved Issues

This past week...

1.  Planted the Fall veggie garden.
2.  Got new checks.
3.  Attached trailer ball on riding mower.
4.  Bought new car.
5.  Figured out new edging better than that plastic crap.
6.  Got non-subscription 2019 MS Office for Mac.
7.  Made a pizza from scratch.

Lost The Checks, Part 3

In the previous post, I described the frustrations dealing with Walmart's Check Printing Service.  I messed up the first order because their website was confusing.  The checks arrived short 4 digits of my bank account number and therefore unusable.

So I called them and an agent helped me get it all entered correctly.  Walmart sent me an email several days later that the checks had been shipped.  Then they emailed me saying they were recalling the package due to "security reasons" that they would not explain.

But I kept getting tracking data say that the package was moving in my direction.  So I thought maybe the email was in error, that they had changed their minds, or that they couldn't get it back from the US Post Office.

A package did arrive.  It was the extra check register I had requested...  Whoop-de-doo!  I fired off an email to Walmart telling them how angry I was about the whole thing in the strongest language I thought might avoid a defamation suit and telling them I would mention my unhappiness at every oppurtunity.  I'm sure Walmart is quaking in their boots...

So I called my bank and threw myself on their tender mercy.  I knew getting checks through the bank would be expensive, but at least surely they knew who I was and would make sure the checks were printed correctly.  And it occurred to me that my blank checks might be out there" in some stranger's hands, so I assumed I needed to get my account number changed and that required a personal visit.  I made an appointment.

An hour beforehand, a bank representative called to ask exactly what I thought needed to be done.  I exlained, and she said she thought she could help me without a personal visit.

First, she said I didn't need to change the account.  That it would take some effort on my part because I had automatic deposits and payments.  She said she could just put a hold on the missing checks.  Since I didn't know the exact check numbers, she said she would just put a stop order several hundred numbers ahead.  I asked about the fee and she said she would waive it.  Wow!

So she asked about new checks numbered after the stop range.  I asked the cost.  She said $36 for a box of checks (100?).  I said "Wow, Walmart only charges $3.95".  She said she understood that, and was waiving the cost of the checks as well.  WOW!

I used to buy theme checks.  Pale ones so that I could see what I was writing.  Landscapes, hummingbirds, cats...  Some choices are positively psychedelic.  I don't understand how anyone can even write of those.   But checks are barely used these days.  And I have no personal need to impress my water/sewage company, the IRS, or magazine subscription companies.  I opted for a pale blue.  I use black pens.

I got a shipping confirmation from the bank's printer.  It said delivery by July 4th.  Pretty darn slow considering they are coming from only 200 miles away (New Jersey), but free is free.  But I received a delivery update changing that to June 29.  And since they are being delivered by the US Post Office, I bet they arrive sooner.

Funny afterthought...  The check printer is in "Mountain Lakes, NJ".  To my knowledge, NJ is almost as flat as a pool table.  I can't picture either a mountain or a lake in NJ, LOL!

Today is the 1 month anniversary of trying to get replacement checks.  It has been an adventure.

Some people have car problems that get fixed.  Some people have appliances that need to be replaced.  Some people have leaky raingutters that get fixed.  I never have normal problems.  On the other hand, my strange problems are never all that serious, just oddly frustrating.  I am satisfied to have only odd but non-serious problems.

So in that sense, they are almost funny to have and write about...

Lost The Checks, Part 2

I mentioned 2 weeks ago that I couldn't find my shoebox of old statements, old check registers, and unused blank checks.  Well the situation has become both a comedy of errors and a source of anger and frustration!

First, I have become convinced the shoebox is no longer in the house.  On 2 different occasions, I have searched the house square foot by square foot for anything resembling a shoebox.  This morning, considering the possibility that I decided to dispose of the old statements, I looked for any spot tat could hold just a single pack of checks. 

Nothing...

Second, Several months ago, I did some rearranging  and cleaning.  Mostly, moved a bookcase into the bedroom and boxed up a 100 out of date science/nature/information books (what use is a 1960s astronomy book?) and recycled them.  I suspect that somehow, my check shoebox got included by accident.

My shoebox search started in late May, I wrote the last of the checks in my checkbook and went to get the next.  I know I had some because the last book of checks always has a "reorder now" note on the top.  I would have reordered checks.  The first time I couldn't find them, I decided to just order more and I went to Walmart Check-printing Services online.

I messed up my account number.  The form offerred 9 digit and mine is 13, so I assumed the last 4 weren't important or that somehow they knew what they were for my bank and would just show up on the checks.  I can be very stupid sometimes.  But when I received the checks and the 4 digits weren't there, I called my bank.  They said the last 4 digits were essential. 

So I called Walmart.  They said the form offerred 9, 11, 0r 13 digits.  So it was my fault.  I accepted that, and the Walmart agent took a new order for checks (and corrected where I had entered my address 2x on the previous order.  I paid a fee for rapid printing and delivery. 

Two days later, I received an email from Walmart saying the checks had been shipped.  Two days after that, I received an email "acknowledging" that the order had been cancelled.  That was confusing.  Before I called them the next day to see what I had done wrong THIS TIME, I received an email saying the order was cancelled due to "security concerns" and that they would not answer any questions because "it might reveal information about their security system".  And, they said, they were taking the shipment back.

I called anyway.  When I entered the order number in their initial automated system, they terminated the call.  I called again and chose to speak to an agent.  I told the agent that I didn't want to know anything about their security system, but if there was any information I could provide on the phone or by email I would be happy to do so.  The agent said he had no information on the cause of the "security concern" and was not permitted to forward my call to the security office.

I suspect it was because their security system detected 2 orders for the same series of check numbers.  The first one that I messed up and the second that the previous agent had helped me with.  That would have been easily explainable, but I was refused the chance to do so.

But there was the email saying the checks had been shipped.  How could they stop the delivery?  I had the tracking number and checked it.  It gets weird here.  The tracking data showed that DHL had gotten the package to Maryland and then missent it to Louisiana and was resending it to Maryland via the US Postal Service.  Well, who can take back a package from the USPS?  So I expected to receive it anyway.  It bounced around in Louisiana for 2 days, then showed up as arriving in Maryland again and scheduled for delivery June 19.  Hurray, at least I would see what was wrong with the checks (if anything).

It arrived.  Only it was just the "extra" check register I had requested.  Walmart actually did grab the package of checks back.  And then it occurred to me that there were blank checks "somewhere" out there (unless they are still lost somewhere in the house).

Third, so Saturday morning, I accepted the inevitable.  I needed to have the bank cancel my checking account number, establish a new account, and THIS TIME order the new checks through the bank so there could be no errors or "security concerns".  I have an appointment with them on Monday to do all that.

I vaguely suspect that someday I will find that missing shoebox of old statements, registers and blank checks in a weird place in the house (and suddenly recall why it is there).  I will be amazed.  And I will just burn them.  But for now, I can't imagine living without checks.

And BTW, HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the dads out there.

Lost The Checks

They have to be around here SOMEWHERE but I'll be darned if I can find them.  I kept them in a shoebox (they fit perfectly).  I wouldn't have thrown them out.  If nothing else, the old statements are the records of my past addresses.  And I had more checks.  Or I would have ordered more.

I am utterly baffled.  I have searched through the house.  I've gone through every small box.  Room by room, drawer by drawer, file by file.  They have to be here. but I can't find them. 

What is worse is that I discovered this 3 weeks ago while writing my last check.  I ordered new ones as a precaution (sometimes you really do need checks and I am trying to buy a new car).  And I think the account number on the new checks are missing 4 digits. but I'm not sure if those 4 digits matter. 

Of course the bank had closed when I discovered this and won't open for 2 days and the lobby is closed anyway.

Losing my mind...

IF the car dealerships agrees to my offer (which I expect they will) I can't use these replacement checks unless I know they work.

I'm trying to buy a Mazda CX-5 Sport (I don't want a moonroof or fancy tires and I don't care about the comfort of the rear seats that will never be used).   But I need a working check...