It seems to have become a recurring situation in my life—this starting over. I’ve grown accustomed to expecting new avenues and experiences around every turn. After many years of dealing with the same things every day…same routines, etc. I am enjoying the diversity change brings.
In the midst of a new beginning at the moment—just waiting for the pieces to all fit together. Time manages to stand still one minute and race ahead at the next. As I ponder where the next adventure will lead I find my life is at a dead calm stop. Sailors sailing on the ocean have experienced this phenomena. It’s a scientific condition called the doldrums—mesmerizing in the sheer calmness of wind, water and waves. Skyline and water becoming one as thought processes fade to oblivion in the smooth as glass surface of the deep. It is peaceful, hypnotic. I could easily see myself becoming lulled into inactivity. Not to worry as there always seems to be one area or another of my existence that screams for attention.
This week it is the area of finance that has called my attention—more precisely banking. We have all had struggles from time to time perhaps in securing funds from a lending institute. I have been trying, unsuccessfully to make long distance deposits into my account. One would imagine with the current economy that banks would want your money, right? That they might go out of their way to assist in getting funds IN to their financial facility. Not so for one Florida financial corporation—which shall remain nameless.
A month ago I began my efforts to deposit funds in my bank—I was assured by my personal banker that being in Texas would make “no difference at all”… The banker went on to explain the mobile app that would allow me to make a deposit from anywhere by using my smart phone. Sounds too good to be true—it was. I was informed the first 2 checks could not be deposited until I met a time requirement. Check number 3 was declined because the app could not be downloaded to work on a negative balance—which occurred in service fees while waiting to get checks 1 & 2 in to the account. After mailing the check—which oddly enough originated in Florida, to the bank effectively fixed that problem. All criteria met check 4 was dutifully endorsed and photographed ready to be deposited in my account. ERROR followed error. One bank representative claimed ONLY personal checks could be deposited in this manner. Another suggested it was a lighting error that I should try snapping the photo OUTSIDE in sunlight. (That one resulted in not only another error but the wind caught the document and blew it into a locked fence around the motels swimming pool.)
Once more I called tech support and shared my woeful tale—which had become more of an I Love Lucy-esque caper sans Ethel. The lovely bank representative, Jessica, got the whole story. The more I shared the harder I laughed at the sheer magnitude of apparent ineptitude of my efforts. Fortunately she laughed as well—in fact I think I made her day! There was little else to do.
The final verdict on why my check could not be deposited…yes, much thanks to Jessica for solving the mystery. The check was printed with a small ($) sign in the field with the numeric amount of the check. The software for verifying the check amount understood it as another character in the total. It failed to match up to the printed amount of the check value and as a result could never be deposited using the app.
Moral of the story…when your smart phone isn’t smart enough the best thing to do is laugh. It will make you feel better than crying and you may end up with a great story to share on the next part of your journey. Live loving the journey my friends.
makingreatime 