Nelsonshack

I got this “Friend” Invitation, today: Maybe somebody else would like to help this lonely man out?

Tonight, Roxie got stung by a bee that we’d trapped in our sliding glass door.  I guess someone opened it up when Roxie was standing there, so the bee took its frustrations out on her.

Wendy figured that she’d been stung, but when I examined her arm (where we thought she’d been stung), I couldn’t find anything.  I asked her to show me where it hurt.  She showed me her hand and I saw it- a big, black stinger right in the tip of her left, middle finger.

At first it looked like a thorn of some kind, but when we used I used tweezers and pulled it out, it was definitely a stinger.  Even though I got the whole thing out, it left a little bruise on her finger, which mostly disappeared in an hour.

Anyway, it was all quite traumatic and has finally become a recent memory.  I just checked on Roxie, who is asleep in bed, and she seems to be doing well.

Mobile Blogging from here.

Ever since the Original Philadelphia Deli closed, many of us in the family have experimented with “cheesesteak” places, only to get burned. Today, Wendy, Kristi, and Holly and me happened upon DP Cheesesteaks. It is as close as I’m going to get to having dad’s cheesesteak. Many of you know that my parents operated The Original Philadelpia Deli out of Chico, California for 20 (?) years. The Nelson children grew up on Cheesesteaks, Tennessee Barbecues, and Dr. Pepper. I told my mom, today, that the deli was where the family grew up.
So for me, having a DP Cheesesteaks in Lehi (only about 15 miles from my house), is a real treat. They even carry Pensylvania Dutch Birtch Beer, which we also used to carry at the OPD. I was nervous to even try the cheesesteak, afraid that I’d be let down, once again. But honest to goodness, it was great. The meat was trim, the onions and peppers cooked, and the sandwich was altogether familiar to me (a good sign).
Now, let’s be honest. I’m never going to think that any place is as good as my dad’s was (because it isn’t). But, I know a good cheesesteak when I have one, and today, I had a great cheesesteak.

Mobile Blogging from here.

My PFSense box pulled in the new Dynamic Static IP address info, so all I had to do was change the information that I had in EveryDNS. After that, everything came up roses. Yay! Wish I had known this was going to happen, ahead of time. Oh, well.

Justin, who was on his game at Broadweave let me know that I was probably just transitioned over from Nuvont to Broadweave, so my public IP address changed (I wish there was some way, technically, that a company could let its customers know that it was changing IP address information…if only there was some way to communicate, possibly over the internet…)

Anyway, he gave me the new IP information, which I’ve set in everydns.com…so we’ll wait and see… Thanks, Justin.

Spoke to a rep over at Broadweave, who was about as helpful as a he could have been (I’m assuming that he was tied up, unconscious, and bound by law to not be helpful). Apparently, they can only talk to whoever is at home, so that they can run through a checklist of what lights are lit up on the WWP box. I asked him what they needed to know, that I could find out from Wendy. He insisted that Wendy had to call them. This is the kind of effort that I’ve come to appreciate from Broadweave and other such companies.

This morning, I woke up and checked my email. I noticed that I had an SMS from http://mon.itor.us, letting me know that nelsonshack.com was down, as of 12:54 AM, this morning…So I tried to browse to www.bloodytoe.com from my phone and sure enough- it was down. I tried to browse the internet on my Mac and had no luck. So I used PDANet to get online with my Mac and sent Broadweave a note that I was having issues.

On my way to work, I called Broadweave to let them know what was going on. A friendly agent named Ricky created a ticket, but there seems to be some disconnect between my home phone number and my Broadweave account (seems like this was an issue, before…)

So I’m hoping they can get me back up, soon…

If I’m not up by tonight, I’ll have to look at the Word Wide Packets box, downstairs (didn’t have time, this morning.)

After Slashdot posted this, The Daily Herald took a dive. Time to upgrade those servers, guys.

Chat InformationWelcome to an online chat session at Bank of America. Please hold while we connect you to the next available Bank of America Online Banking Specialist. Your chat may be monitored and recorded for quality purposes. Your current wait time is approximately 0 minutes. You are currently 1 in queue. Thank you for your patience.

Chat InformationThank you for choosing Bank of America. You are now being connected to a Bank of America Online Banking Specialist.

Henry: Hello, my name is Henry. Thank you for choosing Bank of America and our Online Banking Text Chat service. May I have your full name and zip code as on your account?

You: Nathan Nelson and <edited>

Henry: Thank you, Nathan.

Henry: How may I assist you today?

You: I’m trying to reset my passcode.

Henry: I understand your concern. (Every time I get a response like this, online, I start trying to guess whether I’m talking to man or machine)

Henry: Let us quickly work together to resolve this.

Henry: May I have your Online ID?

You: It’s <edited>

Henry: Thank you.

Henry: Let me check that for you right away.

You: np

Henry: I see that you are not enrolled into Online.

You: Oh, I assumed we were, since we had an Online ID.

Henry: Okay. That’s not a problem.

You: Ok, good.

Henry: I shall give you a series of simple guidelines (as below) which would make the enrollment process easier.

Henry: I request you to copy and save or take a print of the guidelines so that it makes the process much easier.

You: ok

Henry: Would that be alright?

You: I think so, as long as it’s different from what I’m already trying.

Henry: Okay.

Henry: May I ask you a few questions for verification before I can proceed?

You: Sure.

Henry: Once again, thank you, Nathan.

Henry: Could you please confirm the credit limit and expiry date on your credit card ending with <edited>?

You: one sec.

Henry: Sure! I will be glad to wait for you.

You: My wife and I have cards ending in <edited>

You: With an expiry date of <edited>

Henry: Alright! (He’s way too excited about this)

Henry: May I know the account number you are trying to access now?

You: I’m not sure what it is, it’s the one associated with the two credit cards that BOA issued to us

You: Do I need to find a statement, then?

Henry: Yes, please.

Henry: I am sorry we are having trouble connecting. I received your last message. I will be closing this chat session. Please feel free to chat with us in the future. You can find us by clicking on the “Chat Online Now” link wherever it appears in the Talk to a Specialist module. Thank you for choosing Bank of America.

You: Are you there?

Henry: Yes, may I know the account number?

You: Yes, let me type that…

Henry: Sure! (Again, with the unnecessary enthusiasm)

You: <edited>

Henry: Thank you.

Henry: Please give me a moment.

Henry: I personally apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. (I soon learn that this kind of statement means there is bad news coming)

Henry: I do not see your name listed in the above account number provided by you. (And there it is)

Henry: This account does not belong to you.

Henry: Are you still with me? Please respond so I can leave this chat window open to answer any questions for you.

You: one sec

Henry: Okay. (Henry’s getting bummed out that I responded. What, no “Okay!”?

You: This account is my wife’s, but I have a card under this account.

Henry: So is it possible for me to chat with the account holder?

You: She’s in the room with me, now. (Me, sort of lying. I figured, this is the internet. He’s giving my false apologies; I’ll step in as my wife, for a sec…)

Henry: Okay.

Henry: May I have your full name and zip code as on your account?

You: <edited>

Henry: Thank you, Wendy.

Henry: One moment please, while I look up your account information.

You: Thanks (Me, Insincere)

Henry: May I ask you a few questions for verification before I can proceed?

You: Yes

Henry: Once again, thank you, <edited>.

Henry: Do you recall your verbal password?

You: No, I don’t.

Henry: That’s not a problem. I can ask you another question.

You: Sure.

Henry: Could you please confirm the date of birth of your joint-signer Nathan?

You: Yes, it’s <edited>

Henry: Thank you.

Henry: Could you please confirm the last 4 digits of the Social Security Number of your joint signer Nathan?

You: <edited>

Henry: Thank you.

Henry: Could you please confirm the credit limit on your credit card ending with <edited>?

You: The last statement that I have shows the credit line being <edited>

Henry: Thank you.

Henry: I apologize, the information provided does not match our records and for the security of your account we need to ask you additional questions.

You: That’s fine.

Henry: Could you please confirm the current balance on the card?

You: Ok, I am working with an old statement, so the information will not be correct, but what I have on a statement from 2008 is <edited>

Henry: Thank you.

Henry: I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience but I am not able to successfully verify you at this time.

Henry: Personally I request you the next time you chat with us please have your account related information with you. (Not sure why this needs to be “personal”, but ok…)

Henry: We will be more than happy to assist you with your Online Banking. (Except, apparently not)

Henry: I recommend calling our trained specialists for telephone assistance directly at 1.800.933.6262.

You: After 40 minutes of this, there’s nothing you can do for me? What do I do if I don’t have a recent statement? What do you do for those of us who don’t receive paper

statements, but can’t login, online?

Henry: We understand the urgency of your need to have immediate access to your accounts.

Henry: However, the account security is the prime importance for us.

Henry: Please call us at 1.800.933.6262.

You: Can they help me, or are they going to put me off, also?

You: Nevermind. Have a great day. (Me, giving up)

Henry: I am pretty sure they will be assisting you. (Even he’s not optimistic)

Henry: I appreciate your time and patience in this matter.

Henry: It was nice chatting with you. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Last text message receivedHenry: Take care and bye.

You: I’m pretty sure they won’t. Bye. (Me, responding to his “I am pretty sure they will be assisting you” line

To be fair, I ended up calling the above telephone number and had this thing resolved in about 10 minutes. Usually, for me, it’s the opposite- I have less luck with a real person, than I do a website…