Thou Shalt Not Steal...
Think you can steal from Mr. Lance R. Johnson and get away with it? Think again!
I'm not sure who, but somebody decided that it would be a good idea to steal my Wells Fargo ATM Card and use it to make a purchase at a gas station in Morgan Hill, CA. I keep a close eye on my account activity online and when I noticed a strange check card purchase, I knew right away that it wasn't mine. First off, I can't remember the last time I used my check card to make a purchase. The second clue was that I have never in my life been to Morgan Hill, CA. I know where it is, of course, but I have never been there. Thankfully the unauthorized charge was only $20 and I noticed it immediately so I was able to cancel the card right away.
Cancelling the card only took a brief 40 minutes. Yes, 40 minutes. The people I talked to apparently didn't know much about what they were doing. I had to talk to four different people to get everything taken care of. The first person I talked to was able to cancel the current card, but couldn't issue me a new one, so I was transferred to someone else. He took all the information and then said that his computer "froze up" and wouldn't let him continue. It turns out that, since I am Private Banking customer, he couldn't issue me a new card since he was not a Private Banker. So he transferred me to someone else who also decided he couldn't help me. Finally, after 35 minutes, I finally got on the line with a Private Banker! My Private Banker was not pleased that anyone else had done anything at all to my account. He said that the first guy should have transferred me to Private Client Services immediately and that would have saved all the other trouble. Long story short, the Private Banker was able to order me a new card, but because someone else had cancelled the card, he also had to order a new PIN number, meaning that it will take 2-3 weeks for me to get a working replacement instead of 7 days. Oh well...
I've decided that I need to stop spending money. I'm unemployed, but I've been spending money like it's my job. Partly that has to do with the fact that it is the holiday season, but there are definitely some things that I've bought that I could have lived without. Did I really need that original 1956-57 Boston Celtics vs. St. Louis Hawks Championship Game basketball net? Or how about that giant inflatable pizza? To be fair, the inflatable pizza DOES makes a great addition to Jeanne's outdoor holiday decor, so maybe that was a good buy afterall.
On the job front, I have received two offers. I am not at all surprised to have received offers from both Northwestern Mutual and Ameriprise Financial. Despite having the offers, though, I feel I am going to turn both down. There are several reasons. First, they are both located in the South Bay. While the South Bay is a very nice area, it is 100 miles round trip every time I drive into San Francisco, and I just don't think I can tolerate that. Second, both jobs rely very heavily on sales instead of analysis. I feel that my strengths are more analysis than sales oriented. It isn't that I don't think I could be a good salesperson, it is just that I don't feel passionate about it, and sales is the type of thing you have to be passionate about. If you aren't, every day is a chore.