Getting little things out of the way

 

OK, this is not a good shot of it.  But this piece of equipment cost me the better part of 2 hours (maybe more) in trying to get my internet running with a faster interface unit.  If I had known what I was about to get into, I might have said: "To Hell With It!" and waited until I got back from my trip.

But first....

I spent much of the day as Mario, simply because the co-op's board meeting was to be held thins evening, and I was in charge of the Zoom link.  It didn't make much sense for me to go out as Marian, especially when I wasn't going to have enough time to enjoy myself before the meeting.

Around 4 pm, I started to work on switching over from the old cable interface box to a new one, and this is where the trouble began.  Given that the new unit was not registered to my account, I would have to call the cable company for technical support.  Unfortunately their IVR ("Intelligent" Voice Response) got me hung up in the wrong part of a diagnostic loop and wanted to have a service technician come to my house to fix the problem.  Given that I knew that the problem could be fixed remotely, I stumbled into the opportunity to reach out to a human for help - and was on the phone for over an hour.  But this wasn't the end to my troubles.  Although I got my main computer up and running with a wireless connection (I prefer wired connections to some hardware) I couldn't get anything else running with a wired connection, as the old router no longer worked.  This meant that I was stuck having to use a new wireless network name, and this triggered more work for me.

The next task I started was to get my Roku devices up and running.  This was a minor headache, as all I had to do was find the network and enter the password. Next, I had to configure both my Chromebook and my laptop to use the new network.  And this was a little bit more of a pain than I expected. But then, the fun began.  I wanted to set up the wireless connection to my all-in-one printer/scanner/copier. Given that the machine is a little bit old, I had to use an awkward setup routine to enter in both the network name and its password.  This also meant that I had to get up on a stool to use the controls on the machine to enter this data.  Aargh!  One slip, and I'd have broken my neck.

For the most part, connecting to the new network is done.  Yes, I have to update settings on both my iPad and my cellphones to use the new network.  But this is a lower priority than just getting the important stuff up and running.

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I did a little packing today for my upcoming vacation.  There's still a lot that has to be done.  But I'll do the bulk of this tomorrow, as this will be the last, best chance to get this done before I go down to RQS's place....

Caught in-between the holidays

 

This past Friday (12/22/23 - as I write this), I put in a phone call to the custodian of my 401k to take a distribution.  I thought everything went well, even though I was on an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system, as I arranged to take a 401k distribution.  Well, this evening, I found that nothing has gone through yet.  Since this money needs to be distributed before year-end, as not to screw up my tax status for next year, I will need to make another call in the morning and try to reach a human.

I hate IVR systems, but see their value.  Yet, I find that my needs are rarely dealt with properly by these systems.  For example, when I last took a distribution, I made sure that I took out extra money for both Federal and State taxes.  This time, going through the IVR, I could do this for the Federal taxes, but not for the State taxes - I had to guesstimate them, and then include them as a fixed figure.  AARGH!  Things will be much worse next year, as I will need to figure out the total for both Federal and State taxes, and manually enter the amounts to be taken out of my corporate pension to compensate for Social Security issues.  To make things worse, my accountant has retired, and I will need to find someone new before I file my returns for t/y 2023.  

With all this being said, these are first world problems.  I have the resources to take care of things, and will likely consider doing a trustee to trustee transfer of my 401k funds, so that I have more control over them, including tax withholding.

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Why am I mentioning this here now?

Well, I usually have a lot of things to take care of at year end.  A little bit of financial confusion is just a little more stress to add to my life - but a stress that I'm lucky to have compared with many people I know.  For example, one of my acquaintances has not had good health lately.  His relationship with his on/off girlfriend leaves much to be desired.  And his employment record makes him a high risk hire.  He will never escape the claws of defeat.  There are others I know that have been in worse shape than this acquaintance.  So I am grateful to have my set of problems than that of someone else.

Bureaucracies, the bane of modern civilization - a short post.

 

The "All American Cubicle Farm" - it's one of our culture's unfortunate exports to other countries. When one has to deal with a problem transaction, your call is often routed to people like these to deal with you and your problem.  Sadly, it's the very reason many people prefer IVR systems (IVR - Intelligent Voice Recognition) over interacting with people.  As for me, I prefer people to machines, as only they can point a person in the right direction for problem resolution when a SNAFU is encountered.

Tonight, I had to deal with a problem getting my NCL Latitudes Points (frequent cruiser points) credited properly. Only after getting someone somewhat knowledgeable, I was pointed to the right area (an email form, sad to say) that will get to the right people who can help me with my problem.  AARGH!!!  While I was in the mood, I was also inclined to communicate with the travel agent who handled my most recent cruise.  I figure that I'd pose some questions, and see what he comes up with before I call him tomorrow evening.

In both cases, I was dealing with people in a Cubicle Farm.  And it's something I don't like about our modern age.  Hopefully, I'll get things resolved before I take my Hawaii cruise.  If so, it'll be another trip as Marian unless I'm sailing with a new girlfriend.  Either way, keep your fingers crossed.