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Thursday, April 5, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
The Kitty Room
I drove across a couple of states on the west coast recently...with my beloved cat. I usually refer to myself as a crazy or neurotic cat mommy, but I'm not going to today. Turns out I'm not as overly cautious and careful as I had thought.
I did my homework and looked up "pet friendly" hotels on the internet. I booked a room at a Holiday Inn Express. I made them aware of the fact that I would have a cat in the room. I arranged a late check out and got assurances from the front desk that no one would attempt to enter my room until after I checked out because I was going to let my cat loose in the room, out of her carrier, and did not want her to get spooked or get out. I wanted her to be secured in my private, locked room. "You promise?" "Yes. Absolutely."
So I got a promise from the front desk. I left my cat in the room, put her empty carrier right behind the door so that anyone walking in would know there was an animal loose in the room and think twice and I put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. I double-checked the door to make sure it had closed securely and locked properly. I thought I'd done everything necessary to make sure she'd be left undisturbed.
I returned a couple of hours later and found that my door was open and ajar. I was immediately alarmed. I pushed the door wide and saw my beloved cat drinking water from the bowl I'd left for her and breathed a sigh of relief and gave her some head rubs.
I was relieved, irritated and validated. I did everything I could to secure that situation and someone still opened the door and exposed me to a potentially awful situation with regards to my beloved cat. No more referring to myself as the crazy cat mommy! It's not neurosis, it's practicality!
I packed and prepared to leave. I walked out into the hallway and saw two women from the cleaning staff down the hall. They saw me too. "Hey! It's the kitty room." Really? Argh. I walked past and one of the women said, "Your cat is so pretty." Argh. Killin' me. I just said "thank you" and got the hell out of there.
I did my homework and looked up "pet friendly" hotels on the internet. I booked a room at a Holiday Inn Express. I made them aware of the fact that I would have a cat in the room. I arranged a late check out and got assurances from the front desk that no one would attempt to enter my room until after I checked out because I was going to let my cat loose in the room, out of her carrier, and did not want her to get spooked or get out. I wanted her to be secured in my private, locked room. "You promise?" "Yes. Absolutely."
So I got a promise from the front desk. I left my cat in the room, put her empty carrier right behind the door so that anyone walking in would know there was an animal loose in the room and think twice and I put the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. I double-checked the door to make sure it had closed securely and locked properly. I thought I'd done everything necessary to make sure she'd be left undisturbed.
I returned a couple of hours later and found that my door was open and ajar. I was immediately alarmed. I pushed the door wide and saw my beloved cat drinking water from the bowl I'd left for her and breathed a sigh of relief and gave her some head rubs.
I was relieved, irritated and validated. I did everything I could to secure that situation and someone still opened the door and exposed me to a potentially awful situation with regards to my beloved cat. No more referring to myself as the crazy cat mommy! It's not neurosis, it's practicality!
I packed and prepared to leave. I walked out into the hallway and saw two women from the cleaning staff down the hall. They saw me too. "Hey! It's the kitty room." Really? Argh. I walked past and one of the women said, "Your cat is so pretty." Argh. Killin' me. I just said "thank you" and got the hell out of there.
Monday, January 16, 2012
B of A Hell Zone Part II
I wrote about not being able to access my accounts online back in September of 2011. I still can't access my account online. I'm a fairly tech savvy person, savvy enough to manage all my other accounts, but B of A has me stymied.
These days I do my B of A business the old fashioned way. I walk down to the brick-and-mortar branch and stand in the lobby while waiting the de rigueur 20 minutes for the teller to wrangle the situation for me just so I can post a mortgage payment and get account information. She's a good sport. She doesn't even duck when she sees me coming. Although last time, for reasons unknown to me, she had to use the computer at the drive-thru window. Since it takes so long to access my account and post a payment and I'm standing right there waiting, she drew the attention and ire of people driving through the drive-thru window. They saw her, but couldn't have her. Fortunately she saved her frustration for the drive-thru customers, telling me about it on her return to the computer I was standing next to, and did not blame me for the small slice of hell that is trying to conduct my B of A business. She's a terrific surrogate.
I decided to have yet another go at logging into my B of A online account. I put in the correct User ID and the correct passcode. I answered security questions for the umpteenth time. I received yet another message telling me the SiteKey could not be processed. It keeps telling me this is a temporary situation, but it's been temporary for over six months. That's a helluva long time in the online world.
I tried the 800 number for tech support again. It asks for your social security number. I gave it. Then it wants an account number. I'm so spoiled by other organizations that let you wait out or press through that prompt to a live person who will look your account up for you that I was surprised when the system told me that if I could not provide my account number it would hang up on me. And it did. How rude!
I rummaged through my paperwork, called again, provided all the required information and was then reminded that today is a holiday and that I may call back during regular office hours provided I have all the necessary information at hand.
I'm still the customer, right?
If and when I log into my account, I'll let you know.
http://totalrandomnesshere.blogspot.com/2011/09/b-of-hell-zone.html
These days I do my B of A business the old fashioned way. I walk down to the brick-and-mortar branch and stand in the lobby while waiting the de rigueur 20 minutes for the teller to wrangle the situation for me just so I can post a mortgage payment and get account information. She's a good sport. She doesn't even duck when she sees me coming. Although last time, for reasons unknown to me, she had to use the computer at the drive-thru window. Since it takes so long to access my account and post a payment and I'm standing right there waiting, she drew the attention and ire of people driving through the drive-thru window. They saw her, but couldn't have her. Fortunately she saved her frustration for the drive-thru customers, telling me about it on her return to the computer I was standing next to, and did not blame me for the small slice of hell that is trying to conduct my B of A business. She's a terrific surrogate.
I decided to have yet another go at logging into my B of A online account. I put in the correct User ID and the correct passcode. I answered security questions for the umpteenth time. I received yet another message telling me the SiteKey could not be processed. It keeps telling me this is a temporary situation, but it's been temporary for over six months. That's a helluva long time in the online world.
I tried the 800 number for tech support again. It asks for your social security number. I gave it. Then it wants an account number. I'm so spoiled by other organizations that let you wait out or press through that prompt to a live person who will look your account up for you that I was surprised when the system told me that if I could not provide my account number it would hang up on me. And it did. How rude!
I rummaged through my paperwork, called again, provided all the required information and was then reminded that today is a holiday and that I may call back during regular office hours provided I have all the necessary information at hand.
I'm still the customer, right?
If and when I log into my account, I'll let you know.
http://totalrandomnesshere.blogspot.com/2011/09/b-of-hell-zone.html
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