Credit where credit isn't due

Well, on Friday I did two things: one smart thing, one stupid thing. Perhaps they balance out, I don't know.

The smart thing: outside the Panera Bread shop, there were volunteers set up registering people to vote. I'd been worrying about getting registered, finding out where to do it, and so on—and suddenly I didn't have that worry anymore.

The stupid thing: I lost my debit card. Apparently while I was eating lunch at Schlotzky's Deli. I didn't notice the loss until after work heading home, and I thought I'd just left it in my other pair of pants. (Sometimes I'm too lazy to take my wallet out and stick the card back in, so I just stick it in the pocket next to the wallet and put it back in later. I thought that was what had happened here.)

I really didn't want to have to report the card missing and go through the rigamarole of getting a new credit card number and changing it in the half a zillion places I use it only to discover I'd just left it in my pocket when I got back to work on Monday, so I figured I'd wait 'til Monday morning to call it in. When I got to work today, I checked my pants but it wasn't there. What I should have done, I found out when I called it in today, was call them to put a hold on it until I could check it...as it looks like someone else did find the card and has been using it in places like self-service gas pumps.

Anyway, the credit card fraud people are going to lock down the card and refund the fraudulent uses, so I guess no harm done in the end. Still, it's annoying to lose the thing. I guess I'm going to be eating a lot at Sonic off of my "real" credit card until I get my new debit card.

Monday happenstances

Fairly quiet day here at the webhosting firm. Had a few easy requests to take care of, but one call just a few minutes ago that made me boggle a little. Some woman calling and and asking if we were the people who sponsored the Labor Day parade. I said something to the effect of how I just work here and transferred her to the boss.

Updated my essay journal again, with an entry about the freeiPods thing. Not more shameless self-promotion, but an actual impartial (or at least, as impartial as I'm capable of being) look at the rationale behind the offer and its pros and cons.

Monday evening

I asked my boss what was up with the "Labor Day Parade" lady, and it turned out to be one of those things like you read about in Reader's Digest humor-in-real-life columns. She called us, the Team (mumble mumble) webhosting service (call me paranoid, but I don't like mentioning the names of current employers in LJ posts)...but apparently she thought she had called the Teamsters. The boss told me she said that about a dozen times over the course of the call: "I called the Teamsters." "No, this is Team (mumble mumble), an Internet company." "But I called the Teamsters!" Definitely one for User Friendly.

To my annoyance, I have discovered that my 6-month-old CD/DVD burning drive has abruptly stopped taking any notice of CDs, blank or written, that get placed into it. This is troublesome, as I'd hoped to copy a couple of CDs today. Oh well...back to NewEgg it goes via RMA. Annoying, as I dislike having to crack the case on my computers...

Finally, I found out that a friend of mine, arconius, has just been in a bad auto accident. Totalled his car, injured himself (and it could have gone much worse). Seems to be a bad year for auto accidents. :/

Good news for the evening

In a feeble gasp of good news for the evening...

My copy of the A Mighty Wind soundtrack arrived today. Never done no wandering after all!

My latest essay journal entry, Free iPods: Worth the Cost?, has gotten linked from Seth Godin's blog. Granted, this is in large part because I emailed him the link, but on the other hand, he wouldn't have linked it if he hadn't found it interesting.

Also, I've had my first completed trial offer show up on my FreeiPod referral page. Four to go!