There are things in life that should be easy, but just aren’t. Danita wants to consolidate Bud’s 3 checking accounts into one. Bud’s primary checking account is at PNC, which has two branches right in Riderwood, and a branch less than a mile from us.
She started by closing Bud’s account at Wells Fargo. Danita is a signatory on both accounts, so this should be an easy deal for her to do without bothering Bud. She got it done, but ended up making two extra trips this week, both of which required using the gas car. She discovered at the last minute that the Wells Fargo account had a safe deposit box. It wasn’t a total shock. After all, there were two extra keys that looked a lot like safe deposit box keys but nobody knew anything about. Of course, the only way to return the keys and make sure the box was empty was to drive to Rockville. Danita called ahead to make sure she would be able to get into the safe deposit box. The branch manager assured her that everything would be set up and ready for her. I volunteered to be the driver. When we got there, everything was not set up, and the manager was no where to be found. I finally got bored and went next door to grab a hamburger at 5 Guys. I had plenty of time to enjoy the hamburger plus a bowl of peanuts before Danita was done. We drove to our PNC branch, where Danita presented a completed deposit ticket and a certified check. PNC agreed that Danita was a signatory, but insisted that only Bud could deposit the money into his account. Who would think it’s easier to take money out of a checking account than it is to put it in? So it was back to Riderwood the next day for Danita, where she met Bud and finally got the deed done.
Yesterday, Danita went downstairs to watch Ben Cartwright in “Bonanza” and tool around on her PC. She plugged her PC into the charger. Smoke came out, and the PC got very hot (melting some of the case). The PC is under warranty. Dell wisely decided not to ask us to turn the computer back on for remote diagnostics. Danita will be without her computer for at least a week.
All this made us re-evaluate the warranty on my PC. My computer is a year older than Danita’s. The warranty expires at the end of this month. It’s a way-cool warranty that covers anything, even accidental damage. If I accidentally drop the computer in the ocean, and I can retrieve it, I can get it fixed for free. Dell offered me a 20% discount on a 2 year warranty extension if I would be willing to part with $580. I have a very nice computer and it’s not cheap. But I couldn’t see spending that much on a 2-year warranty. So Dell offered me a second discount, then a third. I turned them all down, and hung up. Less than 5 minutes later, Dell called me back and offered the warranty for $330, still including the accidental damage coverage. That made sense. I won’t be replacing my computer for at least two more years. I was amazed how much the warranty came down simply by saying, “Sorry, it costs too much”.
My week was considerably less stressful than Danita’s. (Other than driving in the DC area, that is.) I finished reading two very good books recently. The first is “Rocket Men” by Robert Kurson. This is the story of Apollo 8 — the first manned mission to leave the Earth, and the first to orbit the moon. According to Kurson, this was the mission where the US beat the USSR to the moon. Russia could have beat us by launching a week before we did, but they didn’t think we would be crazy enough to leave earth orbit on the first manned mission using the Atlas rocket, plus the first mission to use the lunar orbiter. It’s a great story that explains the risks NASA took, and why Apollo 8 is just as important as Apollo 11 in the history of deep space manned exploration.
The other great book is “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. This is a fictional account of a Russian “non-person” who is sentenced to house arrest in a luxury hotel in Moscow. I don’t know if there was ever a similar situation in reality. Probably not. But the story is extremely well told. The book is absolutely worth reading.
We have a SOCA dinner party this evening. Danita is especially looking forward to kicking back tonight.
I hope this finds everybody doing well.