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So today I spent my third entire lunch break on the phone with my bank. If anyone else apologizes to me on the phone (who’s not a customer I’m supporting), I think I’ll scream, blood will spray from my eyeballs, and my head will summarily explode. Here’s the deal. This may be a bit of review, but I think it will help when I explain why I’m as hacked as I am at the situation. Two transactions for $250 each were made on my card number on Tuesday morning at some store on the northeast side of town. I called my bank shortly thereafter and was told that they could do nothing more than merely cancel my card as the two transactions were pending. I was also told that my PIN had been used. I was told to call back the next day because the transactions would have cleared by then and I could open a claim. Yesterday, I called back and was told that one of these charges had dropped off, but one was still pending. The merchant has three days to send through the final authorization when a PIN is used, or so the story from the bank went. They released the hold on the remaining $250, but warned the transaction could still clear if the merchant put it through. It was performed with a PIN, remember? Well, today I called ‘em back again. To make a very long story a bit shorter, I’ll just hit the highlights. The transaction did not use a PIN. This should have been taken care of on Tuesday. The claim has been filed and I should have the money back as a credit tomorrow. The final resolution will take around 30 days or so. What it all boils down to is yet another demonstration of the incompetence I’ve sadly come to expect in most of my dealings with businesses and other entities that can only be reached over the phone. It’s encounters like this one that remind me of how much better I want to be at my own call center support job. It ain’t over until, well you know. More updates will likely be posted soon. Thanks again for all the comments and support   16 February 2010 - High above Las Vegas and heading somewhere fast The past couple of days have been a bit weird. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but I’ve been in a decent mood, but just not really all that up for most things. Like blogging. I think it might have something to do with the stuff going on with the bank, but I’m not quite sure. Speaking of the bank, it’s not over yet, but it’s looking better. Somehow, one of the $250 charges “dropped off” and I got them to release the funds on the other one. The second one still hadn’t cleared yet and may still go through, but I have to wait (possibly until Friday) for it to go one way or the other. I hate not knowing things like this, but at least I’ve still got plenty of money and I’m not totally hosed. I know it wasn’t AT&T or Verizon that pulled this stunt, but it looks like it was some store near Nellis AFB. How they got my card number and my PIN is a mystery. I just want it all over with. I could also go for a seat on that jet in the picture. I don’t know where it’s going, but I could use a break from here. But I’ll make it through. I’ve got something pretty cool happening on Sunday, so expect pics Have a better Thursday everyone I can’t wait to close that stinking account now. I called my bank during my lunch break and was basically told there was nothing that they could as the charges were only pending. I have to call back tomorrow after they’ve posted. In the mean time, I’ve managed to get the card canceled and the PIN changed. I’m still fuming… $250 transactions this time. Two of them The thing that pisses me off the most is that I haven’t even used my card except for twice since I last got paid and it wasn’t in the area where this shows it was used. Wish me luck – I’m gonna need it. I found this over on Sipsey Street where nothing about the BATFE escapes Mike Vanderboegh’s view. It’s just a snippet and I highly recommend reading the whole darn thing.
To say I was shocked by this is a serious understatement. I checked with a trusted source in the industry who confirmed that it’s the real deal. This is no email or Internet rumor. A bit of background would probably help at this point. ATI is American Tactical Imports. They import guns from Germany that look like military weapons but which fire .22 long rifle ammunition and don’t actually break the bank. These are guns that people buy just for fun and the “cool factor” that comes with the looks. The original Heckler & Koch MP-5 SD is a 9mm submachinegun which features a suppressor that’s integral to the barrel. ATI wanted to give this look to one of their consumer guns, so they fitted them with a hollow barrel shroud. The barrel actually extends completely through the shroud, so there’s no chance of it actually providing any sound reduction. It was approved by the BATFE and over 13,000 were imported and sold. But then the BATFE simply changed its mind. They suddenly decided that these barrel shrouds are actually real suppressors covered by the National Firearms Act of 1934, that they’re unregistered, and that they need to go away. This is the subject of great legal consternation as possession of an unregistered NFA weapon is a federal felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. And that’s not the end of it, either. For some reason the BATFE hasn’t issued any sort of written rule and is preventing ATI from disclosing all the details of what’s supposed to happen or how this all happened. Add to that the fact that the BATFE says they’ll have an amnesty period for people who bought these items in good faith, but they decline to say just how long that amnesty will last. And just imagine if you’d bought one of these items used and the dealers and manufacturer had no idea you’d need to know about it. Go read the whole thing over at Sipsey Street and make sure to stop by David Hardy’s place – Of Arms and the Law – for a much better explanation of all that’s involved in this situation. My own personal opinion as I’ve alluded to in the title of this post is that this sort of behavior is dangerous in many ways. It shows a capricious, callous indifference to the Citizenry the BATFE is supposed to serve, damages the faith of that Citizenry, financially damages a legitimate business, and serves no purpose in furthering safety or any other worthwhile goal I can think of. It’s by far not the first time the BATFE has done something like this (just look at the Adkins Accelerator saga). Actions like this do frighten me a bit, I’ll admit it. But they also piss me off to no end. This is exactly the kind of government we need less of.  15 February 2010 - This really doesn't do it justice Not too much to “write home about” today, but I’m working up a post for tomorrow about something that really ticked me off in the news today. Basically, work went pretty smooth and I picked up a few more rounds of 7.62×39 for my communist inspired semi-auto rifle, so it was actually a pretty good day come to think of it Leaving New Frontier Armory / Infinite Arms, I saw one of the most gorgeous sunsets we’ve had in quite a while. The picture really doesn’t do it justice in the least, but it’s the best I could do. The crystal clear glow of the last light of the day silhouetted the mountains and the crescent moon, illuminated by quite a bit of Earthshine, hung suspended over it. I swear it could’ve been a scene out of a sci-fi movie about some distant planet and some alien moon. It was just too cool Tomorrow’s only Tuesday, so we’ve got a lot of the week left to go. Make it a good one, everyone  The Patio It was a splendid day here in the Mojave Desert. Highs in the mid to upper sixties, a very light breeze and sunshine galore! The BBQ was fired up later for a couple of rather nice Filets Mignon. Oh Yes! With lobster tails, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The Welcome Gnome and the new solar lights I did the install of the lights today. The Gnome was put out about two weeks ago. I also did boxes in the garage. And I have a house number like the one you see. Never would have thought it.  Scenery to the North Looking toward the Tehachapi Mountains and the Red Rock Canyon State Park to the lower right.The park is a financial aid to the city. The off highway vehicle riders show up to play in the desert and spend money in our businesses. Oh, and Kath, it was a most splendid day! Sorry you are snowed in. Looking back in time can be a mixed experience. So many things you’d do different, so many you wouldn’t change at all. Time changes your perspective in many ways. Yeah, I know it’s something most of us have heard for years. Books and movies have been based on it. Songs have been written and some of them have even been rather popular. Still, it’s something I’ve come to really realize and understand over the past few years. Maybe it means I’m growing up, but I certainly hope that’s not the case. I don’t know that I could deal with that. Some of my best memories still come from many years ago and I’d rather not become too unlike I was back then if at all possible.  Kerry and yours truly circa 1994  Kerry and yours truly circa 1994 Long time readers will likely remember some of my previous posts about one of my most dear friends from high school. Kerry is someone I loved dearly back then and who I still love to this day – I’ll never consider her anything less than an incredibly close friend. She sent me these pics a few days ago and yeah, a whole bunch of those memories came flooding back. Mostly they were lots of good ones. Going to the movies, out for drives, just hanging around and laughing about this and that and generally being a couple of average teenagers who seemed to work out pretty well together I must confess that there was also a bit of the sting from when Kerry had to move back to South Africa, too. True, I’d have much preferred that she wouldn’t have left and I wish I could find out where that path would have led, but life had different paths for us to follow. While it might sound cliché, I wouldn’t trade knowing her for missing out on having her leave. And I always say this with a smile, too But things got much better a few years ago when I got an email in my inbox from someone I’d not been in touch with for many years. Yep, it was Kerry Kerry, thank you again for the pics, the memories, and for sticking with the likes of me all these years Sorry for posting these a day late, but I was pretty much busy all day yesterday Activities yesterday started at about 1100 hours up at the Clark County Shooting Park  13 February 2010 - First target of the day - they did get better over time  13 February 2010 - Ulises got pretty good over the day with his new pistol - this was 7 yards I should’ve gotten more pics of Uli’s new CZ 9mm, but I goofed it up. Still, I think he’s doing pretty darn good actually shooting it  13 February 2010 - Ulises with my .22 Heritage Rough Rider revolver  13 February 2010 - Our table on the pistol side of the range From left to right are Uli’s CZ, my Hi-Point, and my Heritage Rough Rider along with magazines and some spent shell casings. This was all very good fun, but we weren’t done yet  13 February 2010 - Uli rocked with the Maverick 88 firing slugs at 50 yards! I wanted to have some fun with my shotgun, but they don’t want you using buckshot on the rifle range so we stuck to slugs. We could’ve shot on the pistol side of the range, but I wanted to shoot farther than 7 or 15 yards – I’ll happily stick to buckshot at that range  13 February 2010 - Uli getting some trigger time with the M-44 8) I also brought out the M-44 for some range time and we had some fun with that gun, too. I managed to burn my thumb on the rear sight block, but it doesn’t hurt much. We also had a fun time with the 10/22 as well. After we left the range at about 1730 hours, we went back down to New Frontier Armory / Infinite Arms where Uli set up the purchase of a couple of other guns which will likely show up on this page in the not too distant future  13 February 2010 - Vegas in the distance as seen from the shooting park  13 February 2010 - Pretty nice sunset  13 February 2010 - Evening falls over the shooting park There’s some pretty darn good views to take in from the shooting park That was the end of the Recoil Therapy™ for the day, but I wasn’t done yet. No, I was on the move until about 0300. Kyleigh, Anthony, and I went down to Mr. Lucky’s for dinner and on to Palazzo for a look around. After yesterday’s activities, I’m still pretty worn out so it’s looking like I’m going to just kick back and relax today. Here’s hoping you have a great weekend |
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LOTS of them, too 
They happened today by the looks of it. I really didn’t want to spend my lunch on the phone with the bank, but I don’t have much of a choice. I’m about sick and tired of this bullshit 
I also think of her anytime I see Stargate (the movie or TV show) or Star Trek – there’s a reason she says she’s a geek and I can’t say I mind any of it one little bit!
Friends like you are rare indeed and I’m thankful to be able to count you as one of mine! You might say I’m sweet and lovable, but that goes double for you 