Well this could be my last blog for a while. It looks like Nov.8th ( tomorrow  ) is going to be my last day with internet access ( at least at home ). Next week is my last week of work . So I am taking 2 days off ( Thursday & Friday ) & I am calling in sick the other two ( Monday & Tuesday ) So my official last day at my current job is Wednesday, Nov. 16th . 

There is a small possibility that I can squeeze in one last blog ( at work ) before I am officially out of here ( MD ) . I will check my email periodically and somehow still try to keep on top of my Fantasy Football & Basketball Teams. For those of you that have my cell number ( as bulletin earlier ) I will keep the current number until Nov. 29th when my cell phone contract is up with Sprint. I will probably get a North Carolina Number unless I have a date setup for the move to Florida by then.

Well that’s pretty much it for me after today my life will consist of packing, packing , & more packing.

Peace Out ( In my best Kip Dynamite voice )

I always thought things would get better once I get away from Maryland. Yet last week was the worst most stressful week I have ever had.

It all started off on Wednesday with me checking my email and getting my daily Wachovia Balance Alerts. I open the email and what do I see but that my account has a balance of - $931.44. At this point I am like WTF. I look go to Wachovia's On-line Banking Site and look-up my account and see why this is so. Last Saturday I got a letter in mail from my Apartment Complex saying that I was over due on my rent, and that the only form of payment they will take now do to the lateness is Certified Check or money order.

So on Monday they get their certified check. Then come to find out on Tuesday they cashed my original check that I wrote them on Sept. 30th for Octobers rent. Thust putting my account in the negative. Boy did I give them an ear full. At first I was told, “Well now you don't have to pay next months rent,” I was like “um no now my account is -$931.44 . You guys owe me some money. " We don't have money here", she said, " I said , " Well you better F*n go find some cause my account is in the negative thanks to you cashing in a check that was dated September 30th and taking my certified check for another payment." Finally I get put through to the property manager and she gives me the same spill on how they don't have money there. I told her, "Well who does cause maybe that is who I need to talk to". “The regional manager does”, she says. “I am like good give me his number.”, She is like, “I think I better talk to him first.” I was like “I think so too”.

Anyway to make a long story a little shorter, I didn't get my money until Saturday. Lucky for me my g/f got paid on Thursday so we cashed her check at another bank to have money to live on for 2 days ( not to mention I was low on gas and was basically riding on fumes).

So Saturday comes I get the check in end of story right...........
NO ! It gets deposited as a check and not cash so I won't be out of the negatives until TUESDAY ! ! ! , after the check clears.

After $ 360 in overdraft fees ( because I have other things in my account that hadn't cleared yet  and I was already negative ) I ended up being  - $1,144.79 . The only good that came out of it is my next month ( last month ) rent is going to be $250 cheaper because of all the hassle.

Three more weeks left..........

Can't come fast enough

John

When I got up Monday morning who could of predicted that come Friday I would know when my last day in Maryland would be & I would become an unwilling reality tv star.

I guess I will go in order:

Monday: Indianapolis Colts beats St. Louis Rams ( 45 - 28 ) I win my Fantasy Game ( 174.64 - 113.02 ) for the week thanks to 3 TDs by Edgerrin James the Colts Running Back.

Tuesday: I start to make my predictions for this weeks game in my own office pool that only I am in just for fun.

Wednesday: They put up a security camera in the room that I work in. Needless to say I wasn’t happy. Its supposivily for safety reasons but its more for "Micro-managing reasons". I work in a limited access room and I am the only one that works back there for 8hrs straight a day, 5 days a week. Also everyone else uses a program to account for their every min of work; while I don't . So did any other "security cameras" go up....NO....
coincidence.... I don't think so, Did I mention the guy who was in charge of getting it put in was also the Manager that was known to listen in on other's phone conversations ? So yeah I know why it was put in.  ( Just was the icing on the cake that I needed to leave. )

Thursday : I go to the Leasing Office at my apartment complex and find out what all needs to be done before they can give us a walk through and we get our security deposit back.  Since Thanksgiving is in this coming month of November I decided that it would be best to move out before then even though we had til Nov 30th to leave. After the date was set for Nov 18th, we went out to Outback and  celebrated the leaving of Maryland.

Friday: Went to work told them to kiss my @$$ , I was leaving.
Oh ok went to work thought about telling them to kiss my @$$ , but just told them Nov 18th would be my last day. Made arrangements for my Home Phone to be turned off on Nov. 11th & on Nov 29th I will no longer have a contract with Sprint for my cell phone and will officially become a " Free Agent " After work I came home and follow the Miami Dolphins until their loss was official. So at least I got the Dolphins weekend loss over with before the weekend actually started .

Saturday: Today I made breakfast and now I am getting ready to watch UNC give me my second loss for the Weekend. Jacksonville ( Jaguars) & Tampa Bay ( Bucs)  are off this week so the best I can hope for is a 1-1 this week if UNC can pull it off over Virigina .

Well that was my week, I left out some other things but that was the bases.

Take care of yourself & of each other

John

Well as this week comes to a wrap it brings me one more week closer to getting out of Maryland.

With a Combo of late last night ( 1am - 3am ) & most of today ( 10am-8pm ) I am pleased to say I am done formatting my hard drive.

It was something that needed to be done. First all about 90 % of my hard drive was taken up. Second  I accidentally download a virus ( as if people ever do it on purpose ) . Third it was starting to get slow ( due to a combo of  90 % the space being tied up & Norton which takes forever to load )  So to make a long day sound short I got McAfee Virus Scan now which loads super quick compared to Norton. Even though McAfee isn't the full suite like Norton was, most of the extras Norton had. I have on other programs.

Ok don't want to bore the people that do read this with Tech stuff.

Another thing I did this week is
 Thursday I called in sick & had some good Texas Brisket at a place called  " Famous Dave's BBQ" which is opening up 10 new franchises in & around  Tampa, FL.  I was in the area... And no that wasn't why I called in sick.

In Sports News:

My beloved Tar Heels are off in Football this week which they could use the time to ponder the 69 point lost they were handed by Louisville.

The Coin Flip Game is on tomorrow Miami Dolphins Vs Tampa Bay Bucs.
I like both teams so either way I lose. I guess I will pull for Miami more they need the win more.

The Jags are supposed to play Pittsburg with Tommy Maddux at QB.
That's another win for the Jags.

This has been another Blog production

John

I forgot to mention this also applies with Master Card Credit / Check Cards.

 They have a forum on-line for consumers to fill out if they are told  “ There is a ( enter an amount here ) minimum to use your card.

 Just check off the first box at the bottom of the form:

 “In order to make a MasterCard purchase, the merchant/retailer required a minimum or maximum amount.”
 
Master Card’s Form

 
Unfortunately for American Express cards they don’t

American Express's regulations do not explicitly prohibit minimum charges, but its policy is to discourage any merchant practices that create a "barrier to acceptance." Amex does prohibit "discrimination" against the Amex card, however, so if a merchant has no minimum charge for Visa and MasterCard, the merchant may not discriminate against Amex by imposing a minimum charge. ( Another reason not to have one )

 I didn’t bother to look at Discover’s policy , cause honestly who has a Discover Card.

blog
     n : a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries
         about their personal experiences and hobbies [syn: web
         log]

Ok that didn't take up that much space. On to my next topic.

Here is the helpful knowledge fact of the day/week/year.

If you are like me and use your Check Card / Credit Card on almost everthing and are tired of getting up to the register ready to pay & get told , " I'm sorry there is a ( enter amount here ) limit to use your card "

Then have I got the help for you.

The following is a email that I sent Visa and is their response back to me:

I found this info on your website:

"Are merchants allowed to set a minimum transaction amount for consumers who wish to use their Visa card?"

Merchants are prohibited from establishing a minimum transaction amount for all Visa transactions.

What I wanted to know is who I contact when a merchant is requiring me to spend $5.00 minimum to use my Visa card. I am constantly running into places that are doing this thinking it is legal. I work for a credit card processor ( Global Payments Inc ) and I know that what they are doing is illegal according to your policy. I would like to report them but I couldn't find any info on who to report them to or how to contact the appropriate department that over see this matter.

John Burke

Visa's reply:

" I'm sorry there is a ( enter amount here ) limit to use your card "

This concludes my first blog.

Good Day.