(Awe...)

Can you believe it? Saturday... and it seems as though only yesterday it was Friday... Oh... I guess it was.  Oh... sorry for my calendar faux pas. 
My little Spanish customer was back in the store yesterday.  She  needed to pick tile for her bathroom and, because of floor problems, vinyl sheeting for her laundry room.  She had seen that if she applied for a credit card she could get $100 off her charge, and so wanted to apply.  This is done by keying information into the credit card key pad.  She needed to give me her driver's license so I could verify her address.  Dear Me... she's 87 years old... and wants to have new flooring put in her bathroom... and she confused the first 3 digits of her social security number.  She told me "I haven't had to give this out in years."  In the end she was denied (awe...), though I will admit to being relieved.
And I don't know about you, but I had to laugh when I read Bernie was warned that the Russkies were trying to get him elected.  (awe...).  That's right, they want either he or the Idiot Jerk in the White House in 2020.  No wonder the Idiot Jerk was furious when both Democrats and Republicans in the House were given this information.  You see, the Russkies don't  really care who's President, as long as that individual is a disruptive force in American Politics.  What a slap in the face to the Idiot Jerk that must have been.  They don't really like him (awe...).  For them, having an egotistical, self-centered, white supremacist, misogynist in the Oval Office is an asset.  And because of Bernie's crazy, socialistic tendencies, they see him as being just as disruptive (awe...).
Another little tidbit that came out on... Thursday, I believe, is that the White House is considering an additional $26 billion in aid to America's farmers.  The Idiot Jerk's trade policies were born to fail... just like him.
Finally, I thought I'd give you and updated picture of my Christmas cactus.

Look at all of the little, red buds...  (Awe...)

An Incarcerating Moment

We are in the middle of Cashier Appreciation Month at the store and, as a result, Department Managers are voluntarily going front and giving cashiers fifteen minute breaks as a way of saying 'thank you.'  Yesterday I did two stints at the Pro-Registers since I tend to get along well with contractors.  On my last stint I had a customer come with $168 of merchandise.  When it came time to pay he told me it would be with a credit card and pulled a small sheet of paper from his pocket with a number written on it.  This may seem unusual but a lot of contractors will send in their workers with just the number if they need product in a hurry.  Unfortunately for this customer, after he had keyed in the number, he got an error message.  I explained to him that things were rapidly changing with the way we handle credit cards because of the data breach.  His response was "really?  I've been incarcerated for a while.  I didn't know anything about that."  To which I said "Really?"

As it turned the sale was legitimate, the credit card was good and he had been honest about his incarceration.  I didn't ask him why he had been behind bars for "a while" since it really wasn't any of my business.  I did think that under the circumstances his boss should have actually given him the card rather then writing the number down on a piece of paper.  It was an interesting end to my day, to say the least.

Chase Sucks!

When I opened my email this morning I saw I had received one from Chase - I have my Amazon.com credit card through them.  They send me monthly notifications since I no longer receive paper statements.  It's rare if there's a balance carrying over from month to month so normally I just do an online payment.  This month, however, I am going to be carrying a balance forward thanks to the new phone $600 (to replace the one the dog chewed up), $387 for a plumbing issue, and $150 for the new Ipod to replace the one which vanished.  So today I really did look at my online statement.  Holy shit!  They're charging me 17.24% interest.  The last time I looked it was 12.7%.  My credit rating is outstanding.  I know this because last year, when I purchased my fairly expensive CR-V the deal gave me a copy of my credit report.  Like 93% of the country rate lower then I do.  That's right, I'm in the top 7%.  Anyway, since I'm going to have to pay an interest payment, I wanted to find out why it was going to be higher then I was expecting.  I called Chase.

Pay us more money!

I was told that I "was receiving the lowest APR I could get at this time."  My credit rating, so I was told, has nothing to do with it, nor does the fact that I rarely carry much of a balance.  I was also told by the Customer Service Rep that "we are trying to get you a lower rate, and we may be able to get you a lower rate in six months time, however right now there's nothing they can do."  And I'm sitting there listening to this guy thinking "those dirty bastards, they're going to nail you anyway they can."  For every guy like me who does happen to look at his statement, (even though it's done rarely) there are thousands out there who don't.  And if I'm getting the lowest APR possible, what are the highest APR's?  There are people out there paying those rates.  Just like every other large bank, Chase has no problem screwing people over.  The bottom line is, Chase Sucks, almost literally, every penny they can from you.