Trio Jeepy by Branford Marsalis - Amazing Music!

Trio Jeepy
by Branford Marsalis

I bought this album (vinyl) at a used record store in Harvard Square. I didn't realize how incredible it would be, I want to keep listening to it over and over. The sound from the vinyl and the incredible mastering on these recordings makes the listening experience HEAVENLY!

Now that I have the decent turntable, I need a good pre-amp. A tube preamp would be great, to match my tube amp. Something about making the entire flow of amplification pure by avoiding transistors. But in reality it's probably one of those mental things. A blindfold test is in order.

The Birds Keep Coming

It's a constant racket out on my deck! These birds go through 8 lbs of bird seed every couple of days.

These doves sit in the trees for hours, watching the sparrows at the feeders.

 This is what a chickadee looks like when taking off - at a shutter speed of 640, these guys move fast!

The Downy Woodpecker is coming every day now. I need a vertical feeder - He uses the suet boxes that are on the railing but never goes to the feeders - I think he needs to be vertically perched to maneuver.

Backyard Birds Today: Hairy Woodpecker, European Starlings, Mourning Doves

Hairy Woodpecker

This was my first time seeing a Hairy Woodpecker at the birdfeeders. He seemed more inclined to perch on the vertical support post instead of actually getting into the feeder. Maybe the woodpeckers need a vertically-oriented feeder.

Mourning Dove

3 Mourning Doves...

 

European Starling

This was the first time I'd gotten European Starlings at the feeders. They're very fiesty, constantly fighting with each other. I got a good shot of one nipping the other in the neck. They like the suet feeders that are on the railing

European Starlings Fighting at Suet Feeder

American Express: Should be called "American Extreme Mess"

I was trying to find out the amount of the recent late payment charge and finance charge hikes that Amex hit my account with due to Bank of America's erroneous cancellation of all of my ebills and automated payments. So I logged onto the Amex site and got a message that there was still $10 due - I clicked on the prominent "pay here" link, and this is the page I got: (click image to see full size version)

So on the same page, they are saying the account is cancelled and there is an outstanding balance, but on the very next line it says "there is no balance due on this account at this time".

So do I pay or not?

To make things worse, I clicked on the "contact us" link and was given an option to send them an email, however when I clicked "compose", I got a message stating:

We're Sorry

At this moment, we are experiencing technical difficulties accessing the Secure Message Center. This issue is being addressed and will be resolved very soon.

Until then, please try these options:

(1) click on one of the navigational tabs on the top (sometimes this resolves the problem)

They can't run a website - how do they expect to run a complicated financial services company?

Now it's not like I just made a payment and they haven't had a chance to update it yet - I paid off the total amount due many days ago, at which time I also cancelled my account because I got a notice saying they were raising my interest rate to 29.9%, which should be illegal. 

I never carry a balance, but what if I were to get sick and Bank of America screwed up again and cancelled all my payments? Now I'd be paying that $29.9% rate! That made me so mad I told them to cancel my account and to make SURE they put it down on the record as me having cancelled, not them cancelling me.

DNA Testing, I Guess It's a Waste of Time and Money

I had been considering having my DNA tested to see what I could uncover about my family tree until I read this article on the bogus factors of DNA testing for genealogical purposes. My grandfather was a draft dodger in Russia and that's how he wound up in the US, my grandmother was born in Austria but is from a Ukrainian family. She was sent over here on a boat when she was 16, in 1914. They met and got married in Boston. Then their youngest daughter (my mother) met my father, who comes from a working class Irish family that had been living in Boston for many generations.

If I were to do a DNA test, it would probably show a background that contained Eastern European and Irish. Since I already know that...I've decided not to throw money away to one of these scammy hyped up DNA testing companies. I'd rather blow that money at the poker table!

Bank of America, How Can You Screw Me So Royally?

So I went into my local Bank of America office yesterday. I had opened a new business account and needed to sign the paperwork in person. I sat down with the rep and signed everything and watched as she set up my online access, etc. I then went ahead an deposited several thousand dollars in checks into that new account using the ATM and the card for my new business account.

I logged in from home later that day and saw that everything was there - I could see my new account from my main Bank of America login, along with my other existing business and personal accounts.

Today, I logged in and guess what? My new account was missing. So I called Bank of America small business customer support. I entered my new account number into their automated system (which you must do before you can get to a live person). The system did not recognize my new account number. Finally got through by entering my bank card number. I told the rep what was going on, and spent about 15 minutes total waiting for him to try to get my account to show up. He could not, something about the system that does the account linking wouldn't work right. He tried to get a "team member" or whatever happy-happy name they have to use when referring to their fellow workers. After waiting on hold another 5 minutes, it turns out the other guy couldn't do it either.

At that point he placed the blame on the banking center rep who opened the account for me. He said they couldn't give me access to my account because there was no signature card on file. Ok...so why did I go into the banking center yesterday to sign all the paperwork? Seems like the banking center rep didn't complete the process. She didn't do whatever it is that she has to do to upload my signature card to the mother ship.

And of course, bankers do not work past 4pm, max (it's now getting close to 5). So now have to follow up and call the local banking center tomorrow. I feel like a babysitter - I have to call to remind this person to complete her job so that I can access my money.

I know I am wasting even more time by making this post, but I want to share my frustration with others...and I have this odd, far-fetched idea that someone from BofA will actually read this and do something about their broken system. I know, it's nuts.

I'd switch to another bank, but BofA has me hostage with all my online payees - I can't even contemplate setting all of that up again with a different bank. Not to mention the fact that any other bank is probably just as screwed up as Bank of America.

Fidelity.com Broken All Day

I've been trying to get cost basis info from my Fidelity Account all day - there's a whole bunch of "n/a"s in that column for all my holdings. I just got off the phone with a fidelity rep who confirmed it's been down all day. What do I do when they start showing n/a's for other things like my balances??? Rep said it "should" be back tomorrow. Time to switck brokers?