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I have been a member of the American Automobile Association (AAA) for 30 years. The $57 annual fee pays for itself if I have just one incident during the year where I need assistance – a tow, a boost for a low battery or help changing a tire. They are generally a fine organization.
But…
Their website is absolutely idiotic. I have been unable to log in for a year. I didn’t bother to follow up on that problem until this week, when I was compelled to do so. I received a new membership card in the mail and had to go online to pay my annual membership fee. So I went to aaa.com/billpay, as instructed by the information that accompanied the card, entered my name, my membership number and the billing zip code and… was informed that the card number was not recognized. This was a new card, just received in the mail. How could the number not be recognized?
I thought the problem might be with my account, so I tried to create a new one. Entered the same information and got the same result.
I called AAA. To their credit they answered the phone in less than 5 minutes. But I got a customer service agent who clearly had no clue what she was talking about. She asked, first, if I had tried to create a new account. I had. Was I sure I had entered all information correctly? I was. Hmmm…
She obviously had my account information in front of her, so I was in their system. What could be the problem? She asked if I was in Texas. No, I was in Florida. “THAT’S the problem” she says. The fact that I am in Florida prevents me from logging in? Yes, she says. The system uses my location to determine the login site and I needed to log into the Texas region. “But you are a national organization” I said. Yes, she said, but different regions have separate websites and I am directed to the one that matches the location from which I am logging in. “Can you tell from the account number which region I belong to?” Oh, yes, she said. “So why doesn’t the website automatically redirect me to the right one using the account number instead of the login location?”
Stumped.
I am now able to log in if I go straight to the Texas website. But I shouldn’t have to do that. Idiotic.
Punta Gorda is a nice little harbor town and former fishing village just north of Fort Myers. Like Fort Myers, it was blasted by Hurricane Ian. Also like Fort Myers, it is recovering quickly. I visited Punta Gorda last Friday and, yes, there was debris lining the streets, mostly furnishings from homes that were flooded. The main destination was Fisherman’s Village, a large complex of shops and restaurants right on the harbor. It was in better shape than I expected. About a third of the shops were closed for repairs but mostly for wind damage – windows breaking and rain getting in. The structure itself was intact. The builders had wisely elevated it a bit so that it was maybe 10′ above sea level, just enough to keep from flooding in Ian’s storm surge.
I was with 3 friends. We mostly wandered around, visited a few shops, had some ice cream and a margarita on the beach. We toasted a lovely sunset.
I haven’t had anything major to mention lately, but there has been an accumulation of little things that I will mention.
I got a new laptop. This is the first post that I have written on the new computer. The old one was still working, but barely. It was getting slower. The microphone didn’t work. The battery was wearing down. I figured it was better to replace it before it became necessary. Replacing a computer is never fun. I have spent nearly 2 full days getting apps reinstalled and getting files transferred. Once again I failed at transferring emails. Don’t know why that is so difficult. I will keep the old computer for a while, if only to be able to search for old emails.
Pavers before and after washing
I also got a new pressure washer. That is because my old one – which I bought on the cheap for about $60 refurbished – failed after 2 days of use way back in June. I left it sitting outside for a few days last week, hoping someone would steal it. Then, the day before the new one arrived, I decided to try it again, thinking maybe I could put it in the trash area with a note describing what I thought the problem might be. Well, surprise… it worked flawlessly! I used it to clean the pavers on the backside of my shed. Now I don’t know what to do with it. I certainly don’t need two pressure washers. Maybe I will return the new one. I will think about it.
Concert
The resort is nearly recovered from the hurricane. It had an outdoor concert on Friday that was well attended (the resort is now about 40% full). The band is three residents who are pretty good and the weather was fine. Felt like normal. However, things around us are definitely not normal. The coastal areas are still devastated and there are many low-lying areas where the streets are lined with household furnishings removed from flooded houses. Very sad. I was also notified that there will be no senior softball season as there is field damage and the guy who runs the league lost his home. Doubly sad.
Trucks getting water at the firehouseSoftball field damage
First Street, lookin’ good
Downtown Fort Myers suffered significant hurricane damage and many shops and restaurants remain closed. But First Street is beginning to look normal again.. MusicWalk – the once-a-month event where the downtown streets are closed to vehicular traffic so bands can set up and play – was cancelled this month but one or two bands played anyway. I went with some friends and enjoyed the music and even did a bit of dancing.
And last night, a first for me: I was ejected from a nightclub. I went to Rusty’s with those same dancing friends and, due to a complex series of misunderstandings, we were asked (not very nicely) to leave just as the band began to play. We went to another Rusty’s location, had some good food and danced to some good music.
This is #24 (of 27 currently) in the Jack Reacher series of adventure/mystery books by Lee Child. I have read quite a few. But not 24. I will eventually read all of them, I think. But it will take some time.
I like all of the Reacher books. He is a larger-than-life hero. An iconoclast. One man against the world. Or, in the case of Blue Moon, one man against two rival organized crime gangs that have split a city in two: a Ukranian gang on the west and an Albanian gang on the east.
How does Reacher get involved in this mess? He sees a man on the bus with a large envelope of cash and another passenger on that bus who is clearly aiming to take it. He follows both off the bus, prevents the mugging and helps the man to his house.
The envelope contains $15,000, the proceeds from the sale of their car. This poor, elderly couple had sold their only car to pay for medical treatment for their only child, a grown daughter who thought she had insurance but had the misfortune to work for an unethical computer genius who let the company’s medical insurance lapse.
Well, that just ain’t right. Reacher starts looking into it and rather inadverantly runs afoul of one gang, then the other. What’s a lone, unarmed man to do when confronted by two vicious, highly competent criminal organizations? Kill them all, of course.
This is the most violent and unrealistic Reacher book that I have read. Highly implausible plot. An immense body count. Gratuitous murder. But still a fun read.
Yesterday my hibiscus had 12 blooms. It had only 6 today, but it usually has only 1 to 3. I think this is the hibiscus’ way of giving an emphatic finger to Hurricane Ian. “Is THAT the best you’ve got? Ha! I spit at your wind!”
I have, in the 18 days since I returned from the 10-week TN8/TS8 road trip, shed all of the 7 pounds that I gained. But I am not in shape, softball season is approaching and pickleball beckons… So time to get back to the gym. I started today with a 1.5-mile brisk walk but hope to get up to at least 3 miles within a week. Then I will add in some jogging and some rowing, to tighten my gut. The aim is to thumb my nose at Father Time and have the best softball season ever. Starting weight: 210.
UPDATE 10/15: 2.5 miles walking, 20 minutes of core exercise. 208 lbs.
UPDATE 10/28: 3.5 miles walking, 25 minutes of core work, 204 lbs <– lightest on this date since 10/2016
This eponymous mystery is #6 in the series by David Baldacci featuring Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, two former Secret Service agents who formed their own private investigation business. It is a small, 2-person operation (though at the end of the book they take on an employee). Being fit and attractive and forced to spend long hours together, there is some sexual tension between them, but in this book it is (almost) all business.
In this book they acquire a client – a 16-year-old high school student and swimmer who they happen to see running down the street carrying an antique revolver. It is never quite clear why he had the gun, but it doesn’t matter – it is just a “meet cute”, a device to get the plot rolling.
Maxwell chases the boy down, subdues him and calms him down. She learns that his father – an army reservist who was called to duty in Afghanistan – has been killed in action. She comforts the boy, takes him home and explains the situation to his stepmother, who married the father just a short time before he went overseas. They leave, having done their good deed for the day, but Michelle does not return the gun. She wants an excuse to return because she senses something is not quite right.
Nope, not right at all. Soon the questions start piling up. Is the father really dead? Is he really a reservist? Is the stepmom really his wife? It is the start of a slide down a slippery slope into a very deep mystery involving huge amounts of cash, treason, kidnapping, murder, the settling of a 25-year-old grudge and a renewed relationship between King and his ex-wife. They have to survive several attempts on their lives to get to the bottom of it all.
It is a fun ride. Quick-moving with interesting characters and plot.
It is now Ian+10 days. I have all of my utilities back, though my internet is still very slow. My life, unlike many around me, is almost back to normal. Tony, my son, got his electricity back on Friday and water returned on Saturday.
But for many in Fort Myers, life will never be the same again. And for 54 people in Lee County, there will be no more life at all.
UPDATE 10/12/22: OpticalTel, my internet service provider, has admitted that there is a resort-wide problem with internet speed! So maybe it will actually be fixed.
AAAbsolutely idiotic
I have been a member of the American Automobile Association (AAA) for 30 years. The $57 annual fee pays for itself if I have just one incident during the year where I need assistance – a tow, a boost for a low battery or help changing a tire. They are generally a fine organization.
But…
Their website is absolutely idiotic. I have been unable to log in for a year. I didn’t bother to follow up on that problem until this week, when I was compelled to do so. I received a new membership card in the mail and had to go online to pay my annual membership fee. So I went to aaa.com/billpay, as instructed by the information that accompanied the card, entered my name, my membership number and the billing zip code and… was informed that the card number was not recognized. This was a new card, just received in the mail. How could the number not be recognized?
I thought the problem might be with my account, so I tried to create a new one. Entered the same information and got the same result.
I called AAA. To their credit they answered the phone in less than 5 minutes. But I got a customer service agent who clearly had no clue what she was talking about. She asked, first, if I had tried to create a new account. I had. Was I sure I had entered all information correctly? I was. Hmmm…
She obviously had my account information in front of her, so I was in their system. What could be the problem? She asked if I was in Texas. No, I was in Florida. “THAT’S the problem” she says. The fact that I am in Florida prevents me from logging in? Yes, she says. The system uses my location to determine the login site and I needed to log into the Texas region. “But you are a national organization” I said. Yes, she said, but different regions have separate websites and I am directed to the one that matches the location from which I am logging in. “Can you tell from the account number which region I belong to?” Oh, yes, she said. “So why doesn’t the website automatically redirect me to the right one using the account number instead of the login location?”
Stumped.
I am now able to log in if I go straight to the Texas website. But I shouldn’t have to do that. Idiotic.