Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Old women, hear us roar

I do apologize to those who might be embarrassed raising their voice and demanding attention. I know more than a few of you, too, and probably love all of you, especially for being so nice.


A person who may or may not be out in the audience owes me a substantial sum of money, and has been paying it on time for some time. I cannot tell you how much I dislike being inconvenienced by, oh, going to the bank, for example. Years ago I asked the debtor to deposit the check into my account. I knew it was possible.

My bank happened to me when I bought the house, thirty odd years ago, and has followed me around ever since. This bank has no drive up windows at their banks in Ohio. Most branches are located in supermarkets I don't shop at. In Hudson I can walk up twenty stairs for the back entrance, or park at a head-in angle at the front.


For thirty odd years I have arranged to have few direct transactions with the bank. Now that I move too slowly for most of the world, and use a cane to boot, I prefer to have no direct transactions with the bank.

The debtor stopped direct deposit. I didn't buy the excuse, but no matter, no more deposits. Check would arrive by mail. In the beginning it didn't, but that seems straightened out now, and today I had a check in hand to deposit.


I do all my banking on line. Or thought I did. If I owe you money and you have a mailing address, I pay the bill. If you skip that step, and directly debit, I pay the bill automatically. Deposits never crossed my mind, until today.


I called my bank. No, you cannot deposit a check via your pc. You need to download the app to your phone. Step by step I replicated the instructions given on my pc to my phone.  All you young people have heard me rage over the years, This Is Not Intuitive!

App downloaded, I opened my account. Then everything that is so easy on my keyboard and with my mouse, just went to shit, as usual. No matter how often I tapped buttons, nothing happened. I called the bank, for walk through instructions.

Still, nothing happened. And the wonderful bank lady, who knows me, did not yell back. And then it began to click. I felt the button pulse under my finger and then move on, as it should. Will you believe, that phone knew what to do. 

"Be sure to sign the back of your check first!"

"Find a darker background!"

"Hold the camera over your check!"

And so forth and so on and then boom, my screen exploded in balloons and ribbons and announced First Time! You deposited a check for the first time! Congratulations!

I was as excited as the phone. The bank lady gave me a couple of tips, like don't write VOID on it yet; put a check mark somewhere to indicate you deposited it. Oh, yes, call us any time.

You know I love pictures, but depositing a check with a phone app really is boring, after the first time, so here are recents. It poured all day yesterday. I love the way the mandevillas wrap and wrap around the poles.

The golf course grows more raggedy, and I have not seen the heron in weeks. Scuttlebutt says the Conservancy is closing in on the amount of money the owner wants. Good for the owner; don't give away Mr. Yesberger's trees!

I am still weaving, but oh, so slowly. The first is all the same colors arranged as stripes, and still on the loom. The second is all the same colors, randomly. Each piece will be the front or back of the same shirt. I'll probably hold them up for approval, after they are fulled.




60 comments:

  1. I seldom have any cash. Most of my debts I pay online. My income is automatically deposited. I find it easier and safer to use my debit card or a credit card.

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  2. Beautiful weaving old woman!! We are spoiled here, as we have a 23 yr old and a 19 yr old in the house at the moment. They (patiently) walk us through a variety of technological tasks, or get frustrated and just grab the devise out of our hands and do it themselves. They are both leaving at the beginning of September. We're screwed.

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    1. I knew I was screwed with Laura leaving, and tried to learn from her. Sadly, she had a negative tolerance level, and her little fingers would slip under mind and handle things. Or worse, she would just snatch the phone from my hands. In the end I just snatched it back. Nothing learned, but at least it was still open for me to figure out.

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    2. Get them to write step by step instructions and use the instructions at least once while the children are still there, so they can help with any mistakes, then you write your version of the instructions to follow.

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    3. I so agree with the step by step instructions - my DIL does this for me perfectly. My son loses patience more quickly and I can feel him trying to stifle his impatience.
      Mary

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  3. Congratulations on your first mobile deposit of a check. I haven’t done that yet, but my children and grandchildren do. They are mostly just checks from me because it seems very few people are using checks any more.



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  4. you go girl! I had no idea you could deposit a check electronically. I'll keep that in mind. ha ha. I don't bank electronically. well, I don't do the banking at all, that's the husband's chore. that's some beautiful fabric you're weaving there.

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  5. Weaving seems like a kind of magic to me, every day I look at your towels with admiration.

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  6. That sounds like a complicated banking procedure. I'm thankful for drive through banks around here, and non-smart phone banking.

    Your Mandevilla flower is so pretty. I love Mandevillas. I had a big one in a big flower pot that I brought inside to winter for several years, and then my goofy little Fuzzy Pomeranian decided that he would start searching out every fallen leaf from it and eat it. I would hear him in there crunching around on them like potato chips. He always managed to find at least one a day even with me sweeping under it every day. They made him throw up, so that was the final year of me overwintering them inside.

    It was in a south window and grew and bloomed like crazy all winter. It grew up into, around, and through the open mini blinds I had in that window. It looked gorgeous. I didn't give any thought to how hard it was going to be to get all of those tendrils, vines and leaves out from around those mini blinds, it took forever. I had no idea that mandevilla would grow and bloom so well in a sunny window. It would grow right up against the single pane glass window and get a little browning at the edges if the window frosted over and that was all. That room is unheated, only gets heat from being attached to the house when the door to that room is closed, so it continued to bloom even during very cold spells.

    You may be able to overwinter the one you have inside if your pretty kitty has the good sense not to chew around on it.

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    1. My pretty little kitty doesn't have the sense he was born with, if he had any.
      Those pots are so heavy! But I wonder if I could overwinter a cutting. I'll look into it.

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  7. I admire your willingness to adopt new technology. I have never deposited a cheque by photo & phone app. I don't even deposit them by envelope at an ATM. I go and stand in line to give it to an actual-to-god teller. Stuck in the 20th century, that's me!

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  8. Well I've never deposited a check via phone and I am damn proud of you! We CAN do things we never thought we could. Sometimes we need some help. Who doesn't?
    Love the new pattern. Patterns? I am so confused as to how weaving works but I wish I had learned earlier in my life. It is a beautiful art.

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  9. Lovely weaving...the colors are perfect.

    My husband does the online banking and paying bills. He has shown me, and has promised to write it all down for me.

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    1. My sister wrote it all down when I quit being her bookkeeper. She still calls me to come look at her books and figure out where she messed up.

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  10. Wow! I couldn't do that - I bought my phone in 2003.

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  11. Great resource!
    We don't have anything like that in Brazil yet. At least not that I know of...Hope we do in the future.

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  12. I don't know how to do that either! I watched my granddaughter deposit all the graduation checks with her phone and I am still clueless. HeWho does a lot more with his phone than I do. I prefer good old cash, but everyone wants to use debit cards these days. Makes me feel out-dated.

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  13. Yay for you! I watch my daughters deposit checks I give them from time to time on their phones. It is so amusing. The phone makes a cha-ching sound when they are deposited. I don't do this and just have one local account I can drive deposit for cash back checks from my credit card. I like everything to be as simple as possible. Well done, Joanne!

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  14. I love those colors on your weaving. Subtle and interesting.

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  15. Hari OM
    Even if my bank offered that service (which it doesn't) I couldn't do it due to not having that 'smart' a phone. The one cheque I Have had since ever I landed in the Bonny Land came last week. I took it to branch in hopes, at least, of deposit via ATM. Nope. Had to line up and wait for a teller. Sigh...

    The weaving is GAWJUSS!!! YAM xx

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  16. I do some ebanking, but not a lot.

    Most of my purchases are straight cash.

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  17. I’ve used the app for depositing cheques a number of times now. It sure beats the trip to the bank. It wasn’t easy the first time as I recall.

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  18. Wow, now you've made me consider downloading that app to my phone, something it's never occurred to me to do. Gregg gets lots of printed checks from his aquarium servicing jobs and I hate constantly running to the bank. Good for you for figuring out how! I hope I can!

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  19. i haven't tried that yet...but I have now found out how to 'sign' a document without printing it up first.

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  20. Wow. I'm quite impressed. Depositing a check via phone sounds like magic to me. Congrats! And OH, the woven fabrics! So beautiful.

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  21. Once I knew a lady who insisted that she needed a checkbook. Now she can make deposits by phone. Wow. I haven't put that app on my phone yet. I just insert the checks in the ATM. No envelope. Have considered getting a Sam's app so I wouldn't need to go through checkout there. Then they put in lots of self checkouts. But. Am finding those checkouts out of order too often lately. Then, again, to buy Old Man's beer, somebody has to verify that I am old enough. One thing after another. Several of my friends are doing their grocery shopping online. Gee, daughter even did an online order and had it delivered free to her home in just a couple of hours. Pretty soon we will be able to do everything from our recliners. I LOVE the woven fabric. All my favorite colors in one piece!

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    1. You sure unleashed a demon when you convinced me I didn't need a checkbook.

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  22. You are brave!
    Cell phones still scare me.

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  23. Someone who owes me far more money than I will ever receive refuses to set up direct deposit. At first, I had a hard time taking the damned photo of the check because my hands shake. Then all of a sudden the app became easier to use and the phone takes the photo as soon as I hover over the check. I don't even have to press the button to take a picture. Now that it's easier, making deposits this way is quite the godsend.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Good for your bank, for upgrading. I've noticed, a couple of phones later, though my hands still shake, my pictures are better. The phones are pretty good with the f stop these days.

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  24. Congrats on using the phone app for bank deposit. You are ahead of me. I still do old fashioned in bank deposits, usually in ATM though I do e transfers.

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  25. I don't get many bills these days, only the electricity comes in the mail and I pay it online. The gas bill comes online and I pay that online too. Twice a year I get a water bill in the mail and pay that online. I only need to go to the bank once a month and draw out my living expenses, groceries and cat food. I haven't seen a cheque (English spelling) in years. I don't know anyone here that still uses them. I'm glad you learned how to do the deposits via your phone, the first time is always the hardest.

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  26. And I'm excited for you as well! I have never done what you've done, but see a phone deposit in my future.

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  27. Well, that's an accomplishment and very convenient, too. I still prefer to deal with humans when banking though.

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  28. Kudos for the bank lady who took the time to explain things to you and made sure you understood them and that it worked! Its pretty scary what can be done online with banking and getting money from one individual to another. I pretty much do everything electronically but our new church we are going to, I don't like their online donation set up. It is more complicated than other churches we've gone to so I've just written checks. I'm thinking someone at the church is not fond of depositing checks either as it takes a few weeks to get them cashed, LOL.

    We could use a good rain!

    betty

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  29. Good for you on another learning curve.I know when I did that for the first time I was amazed at myself and I'm sure I texted out my victory.

    Love the colours on your loom. And your plant.

    XO
    WWW

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  30. Well done you. This is not something I have heard of - or would willingly attempt.
    However, this afternoon I did a little roaring. The bus driver stopped at my stop (reluctantly) and told me he was 'doing a favour' and they don't stop there because it is inconvenient. So I rang the company. It is a bus stop, and they should stop - so I made a complaint.

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    1. Good for you! I'd have done that, too. I've seen buses stop at empty stops or not and decided it was a regular stop. But to have a passenger for the stop and tell them it a "favor" is the wrong kind of insubordination.

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  31. I have never understood why banks and libraries are not open on Sundays. I like reading about natures reclamation of the golf course.

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  32. Good for you!!! I do all my bill paying by auto-pay from our checking account. Checks are direct-deposited and so I never really have to go to the bank. I've watched our kids deposit checks via their phone, but I haven't done that one yet. I tack a bit onto the bill when I buy groceries so I always have a bit of cash in hand. Love those fabrics--can't decide which one I like better. Wish I knew how to weave. Fascinating!

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  33. You've beaten me..I still want to deal with a human being! I've changed to a building society to do my banking and they believe in branches and people..funnily enough its the one over here that's growing fastest and that is probably the reason!
    All the big banks are shouting about making a profit,but its only by closing branches and getting rid of staff.

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  34. I love the weaving; the colours are beautifully heathery and warm.
    As for banking wizardry? I always envisage being left penniless with the touch of just the wrong button so just use my debit card.

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  35. Congratulations on overcoming technology. I only recently gave in to 'on line' banking and now wonder why I waited so long. Sadly I don't have a smart phone or I phone so the picture of the cheque thing is not going to happen for me.

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  36. Two of my granddaughters deposit checks the same way - via phone app. I was impressed and intimidated to watch the process, thinking - is the $$ really in the bank. Both have assured me yes. Good to know from an acknowledged adult that it does work. Yay you!

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  37. ohhhh the weaving, Swoon, just gorgeous!

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  38. Yes, phones. They tell me that many older folks can't slide anything with their fingers. I'm one. Finally got a stylus and low and behold the phone works at last. You are a shining star.

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  39. Oh, good brief. The kids live by their phones, so they are what get supported. My daughter chides me for not using the app, but I don't need it as I am always close to my handy dandy computer. Like you, I do almost all banking online.

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  40. Oh Joanne, I've never roared... young or old. But perhaps now that I'm older, I feel less intimidated to speak up when I feel the need. However, these days I'm not sure our voices are even heard.
    As for online banking - yes! Banking by cell-phone - not yet!

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    1. I agree, our voices generally are not heard, unless we constitute a majority of the gathering.

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  41. You can always do what i do - bank by mail! Call your bank and ask them to mail you some of their return address envelopes. They will. If you're lucky, they may even be postage paid! Then use a deposit slip from your check book to included with your signed check. In a week, or so, your bank will mail you a deposit receipt. Been doing this for years and years. I love your blog, by the way. Thank you for these glimpses into your life.

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    1. My bank does not offer bank by mail service. And I don't have easy access to a mail box. It's been years since I've done banking by mail. Thanks for the advice, and for being a reader.

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  42. This does sound very convenient. We don't have smart phones but if we ever get them this is something to remember.

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  43. Your banking services are very different from ours in the UK. We don't have drive-in counters or branches in supermarkets, except for the supermarket's own bank. And I don't think we can deposit a cheque by taking a photo of it. The big problem in Britain is endless branch closures, even in rural areas where there's no other branch for miles.

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  44. After I learned to deposit checks at the ATM, there is less reason to go into the bank. But I'll say going into the bank can leave you with a story about the other customers you find in there. Oh about the phone and your fingers - those touch screen don't always pick up your touch. There are special styluses with metal mesh ends made to work with touch screens.

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  45. Congrats on getting the bank app to work on your phone. I am so grateful that I have direct deposit and I can pay most of my bills online. Take care.

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  46. Boring it is, but much less waste of my time than spending the best part of an hour driving into town, finding somewhere to park (the bank is in a pedestrian zone), queuing to pay the cheque in, resisting buying things I don't need just because I'm in town, walking back to the car and driving home. Once it's set up, it's a brilliant idea.

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  47. You are ahead of me. I have never deposited a cheque by app, or even downloaded a bank app to my phone. It sounds like a life-saver for you.

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