cutting corners

"Pride goes before destruction, and arrogance before failure."

So says the Good Book.  And I am living proof.

On Tuesday, I switched a number of "to do"s to "done did it"s.  Including switching my bank addresses from Salem to Reno. 

I should have done that two years ago.  But it didn't seem to matter since my financial matters are almost exclusively electronic.

That afternoon I received my new debit card from what we will call Bank A.  A spiffy silver card to replace my old silver card.  I was happy to see it because I thought I would be on my way back to Mexico before it arrived.

I called the telephone number on the card for activation.  As I slipped the new card into my wallet, I pulled out the old one and started snipping it up.

Only after it was in four pieces did I realize the card I was snipping was black, not silver.  And it was from Bank B, not Bank A.

My credit card!  The only credit card I brought north with me.

But there was no need for panic.  I called the bank and told the woman on the other end of the telephone what I had done.  That I was reading the numbers off of a cut-up card.  That she should ignore the earlier address change.  I was not at that address, but at the old address.

When she started asking me additional questions (the color of my first car, the street where I lived in the third grade), I knew this was not going to be an easy process.  Then she asked if I had an address before my current address.  Responded I, the old address where I currently am or the new address where I am not.

She transferred me to the security unit.  Or tried to.  Somehow I lost the connection.

So, I waited thirty minutes and called in on another telephone.  This woman was far less suspicious.  Even though the circumstances raised concerns.  She asked me where I lived before Salem.  A far better way of wording the question.

Satisfied that I was not someone who had dug a credit card out of a trash can, she set up a schedule to get my credit card to me today.  Of course, I am still in Bend.  But that would really have confused the situation.

With the exception of being without my credit card for a few days, all is going well.  If I can get the freezer out of the basement by Monday, the closing can be scheduled for next week. 

At least, I think it can.  Apparently, the appraiser confused the darkroom in the basement with a kitchen.  The freezer did not help to correct the misconception.

By Monday afternoon everything should be on track.  And I will have a credit card in hand to do my few purchases for the return trip south.