WDM, IA - Our Mail is 'in the System'

THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL

(I actually wrote this on 3/25 but, got busy with some other issues and forgot to publish it.)

Today we found out that our ‘mail in the system.’ Whoo-boy. What in the world does that mean? Well. it means that we don’t get any mail. Let me back up a minute. When we travel we have our mail forwarded to Cathy, Gary’s sister, who then sends it on to us when we stay in one place long enough to receive mail. We kept this system in place for a few weeks when we got back to Iowa this year since we were staying in Fort Dodge so much. That is tapering off now so on 3/10 we went on line to the USPS and asked for them to cancel the forwarding. 15 DAYS AGO.

For a week Cathy kept getting us our mail but we expected this to end. The next week passed and she was still getting our mail. Then she stopped getting it and we expected some in our mail box. Nope. nothing, nada, zip. Finally today we went to the Post Office in person to ask where our mail was only to find out that they didn’t know. It was ‘in the system and will get to us in a few days or so’. Can we go somewhere to get it? Nope, it is in the system and will get to us in a few days or so’. And, we walked out with nothing. We were told that no one had ever told our mailman that we were back. He hadn’t gotten the notice that we had filled in online.

What we have learned is: talk with your mail-person. We learned that same lesson when Gary talked with the estate lawyer about Lug’s mail. He told us that it was a long process to get the Post Office to send the mail to someone else, even an appointed executor. That same day, Gary saw Lug’s mail lady, told her and she took care of it. Simple. Don’t talk to the office, don’t do it online, speak with your mail person. So, today we returned home, Gary put a note in the mail box for our mail person and - guess what - we got some mail.

TOOTH ACHE

Gary recently had a toothache but was having trouble locating the tooth where it was. It seemed to move around his mouth, first on top, then on the bottom. Which tooth is it, Gary? I don’t know, it keeps changing. Hmmm.. So, he went into the dentist - for an hour. The dentist poked and prodded, touched each tooth with ice, took x-rays. Nothing. No hairline fracture, no gum problem, nothing. He recommended a mouth guard like athletes wear, thinking that Gary is grinding his teeth. Believe me, I’m awake several times each night and the only noise I hear is his snoring. The dentist also thought it could be sinuses.

On the way home, we bought a $27.99 mouth guard and also some $11.99 Mucinex which the Pharmacist recommended for sinus conditions. Gary tried the Musinex first (the cheapest), his tooth pain vanished and he’s ok. Now, to return that mouth guard.

CHARGE IT, PLEASE

Several weeks ago, I went into Kohl’s to buy a pair of shoes. When I reached the counter I put out my Visa to pay for them and, natch, the clerk tried to sell me a Kohl’s credit card. I could save 30% on a $90 charge which means that I could save $27.00. Who wouldn’t want to do this? Unfortunately, applying for credit cards damages your credit rating since every time someone accesses your credit report, it dings your credit. Save $27? Damage our credit? Save $27? Damage our credit? Hmm. Tough choice. But as you can well guess, I saved the $27. At my age, I’m don’t think I’ll ever need credit again. Of course, there’s my father’s and mother’s example: at the age of 68, they took out a 15-year mortgage.

And, sure enough, Kohl’s accessed my credit rating and it went down. I know it went down because shortly thereafter I went online with a Wells Fargo promotion and checked my credit rating. Now, I was expecting it to be pretty top notch since I pay all our bills on time and haven’t had a late fee for years (when I goofed.) However, we got dinged because someone had accessed our credit rating recently. Bingo. But, and here’s the frosting on the cake, we got dinged because we do not have a car loan. We also got dinged because we do not have a mortgage. Aha, I got it: to get a good credit rating you need to use credit. Isn’t that a kick in the pants? Be debt-free and your credit rating goes down.

To continue with the Kohl’s story - today I did something I haven’t done in a long time: I paid my Kohl’s bill with a check and mailed it off with the little stub in the enclosed envelope. I can’t remember the last time I did this since I’ve been using ‘Bill Pay’ through Wells Fargo for years. Anyone who lives in a motorhome will tell you, automatic deposit and bill pay are the way to go. Saves time, saves paper, saves stamps and saves aggravation. A win, win, win, win. Firstly I go online to find out how much we owe, then I enter it into Quicken and finally, when the date arrives, I go to our WF account and pay it with Bill Pay.

But, hey, wait a minute - I’m doing all the work now. Isn’t it amazing how companies have accustomed us to doing things ourselves and call it a convenience? Didn’t it used to be a service that they provided to us? When did taking away a service become giving a convenience? We pump our own gas and isn’t that convenient - especially in the cold with the wind blowing. Remember the guy who used to check your oil after he filled your gas tank? Then we take valuable time, join the paperless society and go online to ascertain what our bill is then we use Bill Pay so companies don’t have to send us bills and open our mail when we send them our checks. Whose convenience is it anyway? It sure seems like this is pretty convenient for the companies: saves them time and saves them employees. And, by the way, did they lower the prices because we were doing all the work? Heck, no.

And, by the way, we’ve cut the Kohl’s card up and tossed it. I don’t need that many charge cards. Having a Kohl’s charge card isn’t going to entice me to shop there any more than I shop anywhere else.