Small Talk: The Welcome Mat

[Netfoot]

Just watched S01E01.  Amazing! Just some points:

• It as shot at 4:3 aspect ratio!
• Phil looks like a schoolboy. He was 34, I think.
• I'd forgotten many of the teams. 
• Frank is making fun of the Guidos matching outfits.
• It's 13:27 into the show before the first plane leaves NYC.
• Welcome to Johannesburg!
• Yellow and white race flags & markings.
• Victoria Falls - The Smoke That Thunders.
• The Knife's Edge, a narrow foot-bridge within the spray of the falls.
• Kevin: "That's Namibia. Jackass..."
• Rob & Brennan find the FF at The Boiling Pot.
• Dave & Margaretta late to the FF.
• Detour: Batoka Gorge.
• Zipline & rope-drop down or walk all the way down to the bottom.
• Aime threatens to kill Paul.....
• That rope-drop is the scariest thing I've ever seen on TAR. 
• Pitstop: Songwe Village, Zambia.
• First to arrive: Rob & Brennan (thanks to the FF). No sign of Phil.
• Paul wants to quit because they are running last.
• "Swing, ya fat bastard! Swing!"
• Last team to arrive: Matt & Ana. Phil eliminates them on the mat.
• Next week: Alliances and feuds.

Thoroughly enjoyed that. But honestly, that rope-drop challenge has given me nightmares since this episode first aired. Nothing TAR has ever presented as a challenge has ever surpassed this for sheer terror.

In other news: Blood sugar this morning was 4.7 mmol/L so the veg-heavy meal last night seemed to help.

Internet banking still reports the total in my account to be $120 lower than the net of all the transactions listed. And there are no outstanding transactions to acount for it. Going out to get diabetic strips and to buy tires but have no idea how many tires I will be able to get. 

[Netfoot]

9:55 @ Edgar Cochrane. Now serving #421. My number is #433.

The long post I wrote before leaving home is mysteriously absent from the forum. 

Checked with an ATM and it agrees with internet banking. ☹️

Mo is being insufferable in the van. Shrill barking right against my eardrum. Won't stop no matter what I threaten him with.

Not feeling well. 

Now serving #422. 

10:29 and I am being served. How long does it take to pick up.s box of test strips and hand it to me?

10:29 and apparently not long.  On my way ....

Edited Monday at 02:30 PM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

10:47 @ Quality Tyre. Waiting to confirm the price I was quoted on the phone.

Price confirmed. Buying two tires for the rear They also applied an additional $25 discount! Yay! 

11:05 and the car is in and just waiting for a wheelman to be free to do the job. 

11:09 and a happy looking is working on the van. (He asked me if I would sell it to him.)

Mo is being surprisingly well behaved And I'd not barking the place down at all. 

If I could get confirmation on the bank balance is as I compute it, I would buy three tires. But I don't want to take the chance and end up unable to pay rent in 12 days time. No success selling that extra towel rack as yet.

Sweating in the A/C and generally feeling "frowsy". 

11:18 and the two back tires are off.  All the full hoists are occupied so they are using a hydraulic jack on the rest axle. The back had to go down on the floor before the front tires can be worked on. Wait,they are using axle stands in the rear axle do they could lift the whole vehicle off the floor if they wanted to. (All that has to be done at the front is fit the best two of the old tires and set their pressure at 28 PSI.) 

Went and gave Mo a comforting head rub. He does not seem distressed but the very fact he isn't blowing the place up with barking tells me he is a little unsure what is going on. Normally he barks with excitement at every possible opportunity. And he barks greetings at everyone he meets. Or sees on the pavement as we drive by. Or is driving in another car in the next lane. I speak enough dog to know what he is saying: "Look at me! Out for a drive in my van! Yippee!"

11:30 and no sign of the new tires yet. It's c-c-cold in here but there are no seats outside. I think they prefer if you kept out of their hair while they work anyhow.

11:52 and one tire fitted. Bill paid.

They are uncharacteristically slow today.  These guys are usually a ball of fire! Zip, zip, quick and done! But a little sluggish today for some reason.

I think they have a problem with the tire machines that remove old tires from the rim and put the new ones on. They have more than one of these machines but some may not be working properly because they seem to be concentrating on the one at the end. This makes for a bottleneck. And they are dealing with four other vehicles besides mine.

11:59 and... Wait! The second new tire has appeared on the rear while I was typing! Axle stands out... Jack out... Back down.... Front going up..... Left front removed.... One of the other oldies going on.... 

12:04 and all done. Just waiting to shake hands with the men before intake Mo back home. 

Edited Monday at 04:05 PM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

12:49 @ home.  The car felt very different on the road. I've been afraid to put air in the tires for fear they burst. Got the fronts at 28 and the (new!) tears rears at 32 and she drives much nicer now.  

Cheese & tomato sandwiches for lunch. Mo sneered at his chow...

Edited Monday at 05:02 PM by Netfoot

[Netfoot]

OK, I paid $313.60 for the tires or $156.80 each.  According to the bank I now have $84.94 to my name.

But according to my own calculations I should have $204.94 in the bank and I could have bought a third tire.  This is driving me mad.  I know I'm not good at arithmetic which ios why computers always appealed to me - they do the math for you.  But I just can't get my head around these numbers. Can anyone make sense of this screen grab of part of my ninternet banking screen? If you decide to take a look, you will prolly have to zoom in.

I've annotated the image. 

1. On the left circled in blue is the current balance according to the bank.
2. On the right, nine transactions consisting of five columns.
3. Transactions are listed with the earliest at the bottom so you have to read bottom-up.
4. Column #1 is the date of the transaction and (for the top five trnsactions) the word "Pending".
5. Column #2 is a description of the transaction.  
6. Column #3 is the amount of the transaction.
7. Column #4 is the running total for the account, not available for "pending" transactions.  I have added my own running total in green.
8. Column #5 is my description of things which I've talked about buying.

At the top of column #4 is my calculation of what the account balance should be:  $438.44 which differs from the bank's figure of $318.44, circled in blue on the left. If my arithmetic is faulty - which I don't think it is - it will only be by a digit or two which will not materially affect the issue.Their total is $120 too low. 

Could there be transactions that are not yet listed?  I suppose so, but the bank e-mails me a notification of every transaction within minutes of my making it. I have gone back through my e-mails and there are no transactions listed thatare not in the Internet Nanking display. 

My $438.44 includes $180 for adding to my pension to pay rent at month end, and $43.50 for a cylinder of gas for the stove when it runs out.  This leaves me with just over $200, which would have bought another tire! But I couldn't risk to do that. Because if I did and then the bank insists their arithmetic is correct, I won't be able to pay the rent in 12 days time.  

Now, sometime soon, those "pending" transactions will have to become "non-pending" at which point the bank will include them in it's running total.  At that point, I suspect, my official balance will jump upwards by the missing $120. But in the mean time, I have an internet banking service that is giving me numbers that can't be trusted! And by time the "pending" transactions are fully processed, I will have made nw transacdtions which will bugger up the total again. 

 

 

[andidante]

43 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

OK, I paid $313.60 for the tires or $156.80 each.  According to the bank I now have $84.94 to my name.

But according to my own calculations I should have $204.94 in the bank and I could have bought a third tire.  This is driving me mad.  I know I'm not good at arithmetic which ios why computers always appealed to me - they do the math for you.  But I just can't get my head around these numbers. Can anyone make sense of this screen grab of part of my ninternet banking screen? If you decide to take a look, you will prolly have to zoom in.

I've annotated the image. 

1. On the left circled in blue is the current balance according to the bank.
2. On the right, nine transactions consisting of five columns.
3. Transactions are listed with the earliest at the bottom so you have to read bottom-up.
4. Column #1 is the date of the transaction and (for the top five trnsactions) the word "Pending".
5. Column #2 is a description of the transaction.  
6. Column #3 is the amount of the transaction.
7. Column #4 is the running total for the account, not available for "pending" transactions.  I have added my own running total in green.
8. Column #5 is my description of things which I've talked about buying.

At the top of column #4 is my calculation of what the account balance should be:  $438.44 which differs from the bank's figure of $318.44, circled in blue on the left. If my arithmetic is faulty - which I don't think it is - it will only be by a digit or two which will not materially affect the issue.Their total is $120 too low. 

Could there be transactions that are not yet listed?  I suppose so, but the bank e-mails me a notification of every transaction within minutes of my making it. I have gone back through my e-mails and there are no transactions listed thatare not in the Internet Nanking display. 

My $438.44 includes $180 for adding to my pension to pay rent at month end, and $43.50 for a cylinder of gas for the stove when it runs out.  This leaves me with just over $200, which would have bought another tire! But I couldn't risk to do that. Because if I did and then the bank insists their arithmetic is correct, I won't be able to pay the rent in 12 days time.  

Now, sometime soon, those "pending" transactions will have to become "non-pending" at which point the bank will include them in it's running total.  At that point, I suspect, my official balance will jump upwards by the missing $120. But in the mean time, I have an internet banking service that is giving me numbers that can't be trusted! And by time the "pending" transactions are fully processed, I will have made nw transacdtions which will bugger up the total again. 

 

 

I got the same total that you have! You may have to make a trip to the bank and speak with someone as this is not the first time this has happened. Usually internet banking is spot on, but technology is not without fault sometimes.

[b4pjoe]

Since the difference is the exact amount as the deposit on May 16 ($120) I think that is the difference even though it is not showing as pending. Banks are notorious for dragging their feet when adding money to your account but they immediately take it out as soon as you spend it. An example is credit cards…if you buy something using your credit card it is instantaneously deducted from your account but if you return something for a refund it takes a few days before they add the money back into your account. So I think they are just holding on to those deposits for few days before they add it to the total even though the transaction is listed.

[Netfoot]

5 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

Since the difference is the exact amount as the deposit on May 16 ($120) I think that is the difference even though it is not showing as pending. Banks are notorious for dragging their feet when adding money to your account but they immediately take it out as soon as you spend it. An example is credit cards…if you buy something using your credit card it is instantaneously deducted from your account but if you return something for a refund it takes a few days before they add the money back into your account. So I think they are just holding on to those deposits for few days before they add it to the total even though the transaction is listed.

Your comment is all valid.  But I notice that the bank's own running total includes the $120 deposit. This means the running total and the grand total (circled in blue) are not based on the same series of numbers. If the grand total were the running total plus the "pending" transactions, the grand total would be correct. Which is not the case. This implies that the granjd total does not start with the same summation that gives the running total with the pending transactions  then added. They must be starting further back somewhere. and summing all transactions including the pending ones but excluding the $120 deposit.

One way or another, their code is cooked!

[b4pjoe]

57 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Your comment is all valid.  But I notice that the bank's own running total includes the $120 deposit. This means the running total and the grand total (circled in blue) are not based on the same series of numbers. If the grand total were the running total plus the "pending" transactions, the grand total would be correct. Which is not the case. This implies that the granjd total does not start with the same summation that gives the running total with the pending transactions  then added. They must be starting further back somewhere. and summing all transactions including the pending ones but excluding the $120 deposit.

One way or another, their code is cooked!

I still think they are just holding onto your deposits for an extra couple of days before they are adding them into the grand total. The skeptic in me thinks they are earning a couple of extra days of interest on the cash…but it just may be a security issue where they want to make sure the check deposited is valid before they add it into the grand total. Keep an eye on it each time a deposit is made and see if it shows that same amount of the deposit is short for a few days after the deposit shows in the running total.

[Netfoot]

5 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

The skeptic in me thinks they are earning a couple of extra days of interest on the cash…

We are skeptics together, then!

But yes, I will have to keep an eye on the situation and see what prevails. The welfare cheques are the only cheques I find myself depositing these days. The pension and Mia's gift were direct deposit and don't refall any issues. If I get paid for some woodwork it will be cash and will be deposited via the same fast-deposit drop-box. The really wouldn't have any legitimate reason to delay making cash available.

Previously I used to cash the cheques at the post office and then deposit the cash. But it's two miles to the PO and two miles back so I hope the bank doesn't force me to going back to that process!

[Netfoot]

I've already posted most of my day, so I'll just say that I ate the remainder of my veggies & minced beef from yesterday for dinner tonight. Mo polished his off rapidly and I enjoyed mine too. I don't want to give the impression that it was ambrosia- grade delicious. It tasted fine and I ate it happily but it didn't have the depth of flavour that it might have. 

Sweet peppers, mushrooms, jalapenos, etc would have made for an improvement but I can't afford that stuff. More tomatoes too, but again, I could only afford a couple small ones. And additional minced meat, some chopped olives, diced pepperoni and/or bacon..... some Worcester sauce..... There is much that could be done to improve the flavour but I was interested in getting the blood sugar down and while it could have been tastier it would have cost more. And it was tasty enough to be enjoyed. Just ask Mo!

Of course I ruined it by having a couple PB&J with a glass of milk after midnight because I just felt like it. 

Not sure what I'm doing up so late. But my eyelids have only just started to droop. I'm playing some music and thinking about turning in. Mo was here earlier and I doubt he has gone far. 

Listening to Fundamentally Loathsome by Marilyn Manson. Some may find his music loathsome but I found myself quite liking it. This particular track is off Mechanical Animals, an album that was widely condemned in Japan. Not because of the music, but because the cover displayed him as an androgynous alien with six fingers! The Japanese couldn't handle the extra digit. 

I have a bud that I stay in touch with via WhatsApp. I sent him a message Friday afternoon and not only has he not answered three days later, the message has not been delivered yet! He does travel, but he has only just come back from a trip. And anywhere in the connected world, my message would have reached him in a few seconds. So his phone is either off for three plus days, is not able to connect via wifi, or has been destroyed. Should I be worried? I don't want to make a fuss over nothing. Maybe he and the wyf are on a second honeymoon or taking a cruise and have left their phones switched off at home?

Watched TAR S01E02 tonight. Great fun. They got lost and took hours to find the museum 100 yards from the pitstart. Then, they are all down near Victoria falls and their next clue is a model of the Eiffel tower. Nothing else. No pointer to a travel agent, no recommended flights, nothing. They just beat their way to the nearest airport and scramble to find flights to Paris.  Offering to bribe ticket counter clerks, asking about flights to Holland and Germany when no flights to France are immediately forthcoming.... Airport drama was more interesting when getting a flight was actually hard!

Rather than use the telescope at the Eiffel tower Roadblock to locate the monument they were to go to, Lenny guessed it was Notre Dame and led Karyn on a wild goose chase. 

Ok, I will douse the lights now. I'm sure I will have no difficulty going to sleep. It's 2:28 AM. Not that I feel particularly tired....

[Netfoot]

Woke spontaneously at around 6:30 despite not going to bed until around 2:30. So four hours kip.  Will probably crash this afternoon. 

Blood sugar back in the sky again at 7.4 mmol/L which doesn't surprise me. I did wilfully eat PB&Js late last night! What a stupid thing to do. Eat a veg-heavy dinner to try and get the glucose down and then spoil it with PB&Js later.  I could as well have eaten pasta, if I was just going to midnight-snack on sugar & sugar on sliced carbs!

Checked the internet banking and there are no changes.  Other that the order of the "pending" transactions in the list have changed.  Their total is still $120 lower than I think it should be. I screen-grabbed the page and saved it.  What I hope to do is generate no transactions until all the pending ones cease to be pending. Then (if as I suspect it will), the balance changes upward by the missing $120 I will do another screen-grab.  With the two of those grabs, I should be able to get someone to pay some attention. "Here is a list of transactions that come to a grand total of $318. Here is the identical list of transactions that now total $438. Please explain how the balance changed if there were no new transactions on the account."

[Spunkygal]

I just recently discovered that in the Competitive Reality listings, the free Pluto TV app has a TAR channel. It’s nothing but one episode after another all day long. I need to find the time to watch the early seasons.

[Netfoot]

Watched the first two episodes of season one and really enjoyed them. It's been long enough that while I know generally what to expect, it is all fresh. And when someone does or says something that strikes a chord in my memory it is like a flashbulb going off in my brain. 

[Netfoot]

Tired. Four hours last night and no nap today.

Cooked corned beef & cabbage with onions and a tin of whole-kernel corn. Had half for lunch and the rest for dinner. Yes, with more vegetables & spices it might have been improved on, but it tasted pretty good.

Going to put my head down immediately. Just waiting on Mo.

[Netfoot]

Just checked Internet Banking.  And guess what?

Only two transactions remain "Pending". 

1. The tires I bought for $313.60 on the 19th.
2. The $20 in gasoline I bought on the 21st.

But wait.  Today is the 21st and I have not left home for the day. I bought $20 in gas on the 16th.  Let me check with that screen-grab I posted... Yep! The gasoline was bought on the 16th!

But all that is an aside. The date on the transaction(s) may have changed but there are no NEW transactions.  And yet, the balance has gone from $318.44 to $438.44 for an increase of $120.

I have before and after screenshots.  And if I take them to the bank I can tell you exactly what they will say. "That cheque had not cleared yet, so we couldn't add it into the grand total!" But if it had not cleared yet, why was it added to the running total? I mean, if it was cleared, it should be included in both the running total and the grand total. If it wasn't cleared then it should be excluded from both the running and grand totals.

By the way, this is a government cheque.  Admittedly, that is no guarantee there are funds to back it up, especially in a banana republic primitive country backward nation 3rd-World state under-developed country developing nation. But if there isn't, we're in bigger trouble than my $120!  Or the government might just fire up the presses and print some more money.....

 

[b4pjoe]

14 minutes ago, Netfoot said:

Just checked Internet Banking.  And guess what?

Only two transactions remain "Pending". 

1. The tires I bought for $313.60 on the 19th.
2. The $20 in gasoline I bought on the 21st.

But wait.  Today is the 21st and I have not left home for the day. I bought $20 in gas on the 16th.  Let me check with that screen-grab I posted... Yep! The gasoline was bought on the 16th!

But all that is an aside. The date on the transaction(s) may have changed but there are no NEW transactions.  And yet, the balance has gone from $318.44 to $438.44 for an increase of $120.

I have before and after screenshots.  And if I take them to the bank I can tell you exactly what they will say. "That cheque had not cleared yet, so we couldn't add it into the grand total!" But if it had not cleared yet, why was it added to the running total? I mean, if it was cleared, it should be included in both the running total and the grand total. If it wasn't cleared then it should be excluded from both the running and grand totals.

By the way, this is a government cheque.  Admittedly, that is no guarantee there are funds to back it up, especially in a banana republic primitive country backward nation 3rd-World state under-developed country developing nation. But if there isn't, we're in bigger trouble than my $120!  Or the government might just fire up the presses and print some more money.....

My local bank for my checking account adds transactions as pending in the running total and the grand total. My non local bank for my credit card, Capital One, lists pending transaction but doesn't include pending transactions into the grand total until they clear pending status. Yours sounds more deceptive than either of mine. Have you considered trying a different bank?

[Netfoot]

16 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

My local bank for my checking account adds transactions as pending in the running total and the grand total.

The key word is "and".  If you add it, you add it.  If you don't, you don't.  I'd be fine with either option.  But when you show it included on the right hand side of the page and not included on the left side of the page...

14 minutes ago, b4pjoe said:

Have you considered trying a different bank?

Well, I've been banking there for the last 59 years... But yes, I've considered it many times.  Just not sure whether any other local bank would be any better.  

I think I'm going to have to go back to cashing the cheque at the post office and banking the cash.

Looking at the back of the cheque, it says:

Cheques may be cashed at the following: (a) Commercial Banks (b) Post Offices (c) Shops (d) Supermarkets.

I can get the cheque cashed at the PO but the nearest one is a couple miles away.  Or I can actually cash it in the bank itself, but that means standing in line for an hour or more.

I know I can go and use the cheque at the shops/supermarkets but I don't know that I can get them to cash it. I assume I can buy $100 in groceries and get $20 in change but what if I buy 85¢ worth of TeaTime biscuits?  Will they take the cheque and give me $119.15 in change? Doubt it.