Expecting a Different Result
Changeling Turkey -- The Life and Times of a Minor Local Celebrity
I went through an essentially disastrous situation last night, and this morning, and it never had to happen.Last night, on the way to the bus, I stopped off to pick up some cigarettes. No big deal,
right? Quick, I'm in, I'm out, I catch the bus, no problem.Didn't have enough cash, so I went to the ATM machine. Put my card in, punched in my code: "This card not authorized on this machine."
Hmmm...L...
read more
I went through an essentially disastrous situation last night, and this morning, and it never had to happen.Last night, on the way to the bus, I stopped off to pick up some cigarettes. No big deal,
right? Quick, I'm in, I'm out, I catch the bus, no problem.Didn't have enough cash, so I went to the ATM machine. Put my card in, punched in my code: "This card not authorized on this machine."
Hmmm...Luckily, I had my Paypal Debit/ATM card. Never had to use it before, but this was the right time. Put my card in, punched in my code: "This card not authorized on this machine." Oh, okay, the
machine must be broken.Walked a block away, where there were two different ATMs from two different banks/ATM Networks. Both machines had out of order signs on them. This is where I nearly clevered
myself to death. "Ah, must be some problem with all the ATM networks in this neighborhood. Went to my usual-hangout bar, not far away, they've got an ATM machine, too. It's close to my bus stop, but
by then I think I'd already missed the bus. Needed them cigarettes, though.Tried my regular card in their ATM. "This card not authorized..." Tried the Paypal card. "This card not authorized." Uh-oh.
But this confirmed my oh-so-clever theory; all the ATM networks were Broken.Figured I had one last option to try. The Paypal card has one a them MasterCard thingies on it. Tried to charge something
at the bar on the card. Worked just fine. Of course. There's nothing wrong with the card, so there sure must be something wrong with all the ATM networks in the area. I'm not one to give up easily on
an apparently clever idea.So I sat at the bar and puzzled over why I couldn't use the ATM. Eventually I realized why the Bank's card stopped working. My bank had recently been bought by a larger
bank, and the new guys must have cancelled the old guys' cards. Fine, makes sense. But the Paypal card doesn't work, either. So they must have changed the bank account, and Paypal can't access my
bank account anymore. Obviously, of course. Sure. Except the credit card side kept working.If I could just have gotten the cash, I would have called a cab and gone home. I was exhausted from a long
night the previous night recording my "Grizzly's Growls" podcast, which hadda get done right then to keep me in the NaPodPoMo running. I was in no shape to be clever. But the bartender wouldn't give
me the cash with a cash-plus thing for a charge on the Mastercard part that was still mysteriously working, because no one else was having a problem with the ATM, so there must be something wrong
with my account. (Of course, she was wrong, too.)I briefly walked back to the gas station where I'd started, and bought cigarettes with the credit card thingie, which worked fine. The cashier there
couldn't give cash-over, either.I was still stuck when the bar closed at 2:00 am and I was out on the cold, dark streets. I suppose I could have called someone to give me a ride, but I knew I would
figure out the problem eventually, even if only on a couple hours sleep. It was VERY cold, or I would have simply walked home over the Bong bridge in the middle of the night. Yes, I've done that
before. I prefer to fix my own problems. But it was just to damn cold for that, and of course I also wasn't wearing a warm enough coat.I walked 10 blocks to the ATM machine at the bank of the New
Guys, figuring maybe it'd be somehow more forgiving of a guy from their own bank. Neither card would work. I walked to a convenience store near the older bridge across the bay, and even tried their
ATM, and again, neither card would work. But I was able to buy a couple breakfast sandwiches (it was now 4:00 am or so) with the MasterCard thingie, which was still working fine. Turned out only one
of the cab companies I called would take a "credit card," and they were on the other side of the bridge and not authorized to pick up fares on the side I was on, so I was still stranded. I sat at the
little table in the convenience store for another two and a half hours, and finally caught the first bus of the morning, getting home about 7:00 am, and falling into bed, way beyond exhausted.I
missed a day of work. When I finally woke this afternoon, I called my new bank, and they confirmed my old card had been deactivated. They claimed to have sent a replacement card for the new bank
owners, but I never saw it. But they also confirmed that nothing at all had changed about the account otherwise, and the Paypal card should continue to work.Einstein is supposed to have defined
insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I had repeatedly tried the bank card, and it repeatedly failed to work. I had repeatedly tried the Paypal card,
and it repeatedly failed to work. I expected to figure out the problem, clever fellow that I am, though I'd been wrong over and over and over and over again, and none of my theories had fit all the
facts. The MasterCard part of the card kept working fine.Okay, we've come around the clubhouse turn, now let's cross the finish line. When I woke up this afternoon, I went to the Paypal website, and
poked around with the configuration stuff for the Paypal debit card. Everything seemed to be just fine, as far as Paypal was concerned. And then I noticed the little mechanism they had for changing
the PIN number.I'd spent the entire night using the same PIN number for both cards. I'd spent the night assuming that of course I'd set the PINs the same, that's the easy way. I'd spent the night
wandering in the cold, trying ATM after ATM, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."To be fair, I'm not absolutely sure that the Paypal card had a different PIN.
But I probably did that, though. I had never used the ATM-card thing in that card, because I'd never needed to; the old bank card worked fine. If I'd have once thought to try a different PIN, I could
have simply gotten my cash and gone home. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the card, after all. And I've since changed the PIN on the Paypal card, so I know what it is now. The error messages
on the ATMs just said "you can't use this card here," didn't say why.For that matter, even if I knew the PIN was different, but had forgotten what the new PIN was, the Paypal site has a place for
changing the PIN online, and the bar I was in had wireless Internet, which I used all that night. But it never once even flickered at the back of my mind that I might be using the wrong PIN. I never
even considered it.Insanity. I mighta froze to death. Luckily, eventually, I got "different results."Griz Click here to play
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Tue November 18 2008
I went through an essentially disastrous situation last night, and this morning, and it never had to happen.Last night, on the way to the bus, I stopp...
read more
I went through an essentially disastrous situation last night, and this morning, and it never had to happen.Last night, on the way to the bus, I stopped off to pick up some cigarettes. No big deal,
right? Quick, I'm in, I'm out, I catch the bus, no problem.Didn't have enough cash, so I went to the ATM machine. Put my card in, punched in my code: "This card not authorized on this machine."
Hmmm...L...
read more
I went through an essentially disastrous situation last night, and this morning, and it never had to happen.Last night, on the way to the bus, I stopped off to pick up some cigarettes. No big deal,
right? Quick, I'm in, I'm out, I catch the bus, no problem.Didn't have enough cash, so I went to the ATM machine. Put my card in, punched in my code: "This card not authorized on this machine."
Hmmm...Luckily, I had my Paypal Debit/ATM card. Never had to use it before, but this was the right time. Put my card in, punched in my code: "This card not authorized on this machine." Oh, okay, the
machine must be broken.Walked a block away, where there were two different ATMs from two different banks/ATM Networks. Both machines had out of order signs on them. This is where I nearly clevered
myself to death. "Ah, must be some problem with all the ATM networks in this neighborhood. Went to my usual-hangout bar, not far away, they've got an ATM machine, too. It's close to my bus stop, but
by then I think I'd already missed the bus. Needed them cigarettes, though.Tried my regular card in their ATM. "This card not authorized..." Tried the Paypal card. "This card not authorized." Uh-oh.
But this confirmed my oh-so-clever theory; all the ATM networks were Broken.Figured I had one last option to try. The Paypal card has one a them MasterCard thingies on it. Tried to charge something
at the bar on the card. Worked just fine. Of course. There's nothing wrong with the card, so there sure must be something wrong with all the ATM networks in the area. I'm not one to give up easily on
an apparently clever idea.So I sat at the bar and puzzled over why I couldn't use the ATM. Eventually I realized why the Bank's card stopped working. My bank had recently been bought by a larger
bank, and the new guys must have cancelled the old guys' cards. Fine, makes sense. But the Paypal card doesn't work, either. So they must have changed the bank account, and Paypal can't access my
bank account anymore. Obviously, of course. Sure. Except the credit card side kept working.If I could just have gotten the cash, I would have called a cab and gone home. I was exhausted from a long
night the previous night recording my "Grizzly's Growls" podcast, which hadda get done right then to keep me in the NaPodPoMo running. I was in no shape to be clever. But the bartender wouldn't give
me the cash with a cash-plus thing for a charge on the Mastercard part that was still mysteriously working, because no one else was having a problem with the ATM, so there must be something wrong
with my account. (Of course, she was wrong, too.)I briefly walked back to the gas station where I'd started, and bought cigarettes with the credit card thingie, which worked fine. The cashier there
couldn't give cash-over, either.I was still stuck when the bar closed at 2:00 am and I was out on the cold, dark streets. I suppose I could have called someone to give me a ride, but I knew I would
figure out the problem eventually, even if only on a couple hours sleep. It was VERY cold, or I would have simply walked home over the Bong bridge in the middle of the night. Yes, I've done that
before. I prefer to fix my own problems. But it was just to damn cold for that, and of course I also wasn't wearing a warm enough coat.I walked 10 blocks to the ATM machine at the bank of the New
Guys, figuring maybe it'd be somehow more forgiving of a guy from their own bank. Neither card would work. I walked to a convenience store near the older bridge across the bay, and even tried their
ATM, and again, neither card would work. But I was able to buy a couple breakfast sandwiches (it was now 4:00 am or so) with the MasterCard thingie, which was still working fine. Turned out only one
of the cab companies I called would take a "credit card," and they were on the other side of the bridge and not authorized to pick up fares on the side I was on, so I was still stranded. I sat at the
little table in the convenience store for another two and a half hours, and finally caught the first bus of the morning, getting home about 7:00 am, and falling into bed, way beyond exhausted.I
missed a day of work. When I finally woke this afternoon, I called my new bank, and they confirmed my old card had been deactivated. They claimed to have sent a replacement card for the new bank
owners, but I never saw it. But they also confirmed that nothing at all had changed about the account otherwise, and the Paypal card should continue to work.Einstein is supposed to have defined
insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I had repeatedly tried the bank card, and it repeatedly failed to work. I had repeatedly tried the Paypal card,
and it repeatedly failed to work. I expected to figure out the problem, clever fellow that I am, though I'd been wrong over and over and over and over again, and none of my theories had fit all the
facts. The MasterCard part of the card kept working fine.Okay, we've come around the clubhouse turn, now let's cross the finish line. When I woke up this afternoon, I went to the Paypal website, and
poked around with the configuration stuff for the Paypal debit card. Everything seemed to be just fine, as far as Paypal was concerned. And then I noticed the little mechanism they had for changing
the PIN number.I'd spent the entire night using the same PIN number for both cards. I'd spent the night assuming that of course I'd set the PINs the same, that's the easy way. I'd spent the night
wandering in the cold, trying ATM after ATM, "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."To be fair, I'm not absolutely sure that the Paypal card had a different PIN.
But I probably did that, though. I had never used the ATM-card thing in that card, because I'd never needed to; the old bank card worked fine. If I'd have once thought to try a different PIN, I could
have simply gotten my cash and gone home. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the card, after all. And I've since changed the PIN on the Paypal card, so I know what it is now. The error messages
on the ATMs just said "you can't use this card here," didn't say why.For that matter, even if I knew the PIN was different, but had forgotten what the new PIN was, the Paypal site has a place for
changing the PIN online, and the bar I was in had wireless Internet, which I used all that night. But it never once even flickered at the back of my mind that I might be using the wrong PIN. I never
even considered it.Insanity. I mighta froze to death. Luckily, eventually, I got "different results."Griz Click here to play
read less
Mon November 17 2008
Was just looking at my Podcast page. At the top, there was a Google AdSense link (yes, that's my fault, too) pointing to a place where I can get a Gui...
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Was just looking at my Podcast page. At the top, there was a Google AdSense link (yes, that's my fault, too) pointing to a place where I can get a Guide to getting a book published, sent to me by
mail. You remember mail, it involved paper and stamps and whatnot.And I'm thinkin, I've basically been producing a book for a few years now, published it myself to the whole damn world (HINT: You're
looki...
read more
Was just looking at my Podcast page. At the top, there was a Google AdSense link (yes, that's my fault, too) pointing to a place where I can get a Guide to getting a book published, sent to me by
mail. You remember mail, it involved paper and stamps and whatnot.And I'm thinkin, I've basically been producing a book for a few years now, published it myself to the whole damn world (HINT: You're
looking at the current last page) and nobody had to send me a package in the mail to explain how to do it, or an envelope within which to enclose the check. I just started typing, and here I am still
typing. And everybody in the world who knows how can come find it.Then there's the mult-volume, unabridged, audio book I've produced since February of last year, some of it explaining my life, some
of it just rambling on incoherently and playing other people's music. You might have heard of it. (See Other Webpage, hint, hint.)Then there's the three books written by two other people that I've
produced in audio form -- and rather well, in my own humble opinion.So, if I click on the link and get the package in the mail about "How to Get a Book Published," what do I get? Anything new, or
just another way to send other folks money?Stay tuned for another Thrilling Adventure. Click here to play
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Mon November 17 2008
Had a brief problem with the Feeds address. Went out to GoDaddy and fiddled around with the domain settings, helped a little.Finally changed the domai...
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Had a brief problem with the Feeds address. Went out to GoDaddy and fiddled around with the domain settings, helped a little.Finally changed the domain servers my computer was using from Qwest's
local DNS to OpenDNS. Problem went away, apparently. Go figure.Anyway, at the moment, http://feeds.nanapoopoo.com works just fine, and the current three subscribers (!) will get the show just
fine.Gotta lo...
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Had a brief problem with the Feeds address. Went out to GoDaddy and fiddled around with the domain settings, helped a little.Finally changed the domain servers my computer was using from Qwest's
local DNS to OpenDNS. Problem went away, apparently. Go figure.Anyway, at the moment, http://feeds.nanapoopoo.com works just fine, and the current three subscribers (!) will get the show just
fine.Gotta love technology.Oh, and I've had yet another podcaster inquire about joining the network. Which is cool; two proactive requests to join from non-NaPodPoMo podcasts. I did add the various
NaPodPoMo special feeds on my own hook, just to stress-test the Pipe. Got a few nifty features in there now. And a couple that are installed but "unplugged;" I wanted to stick with the plain-vanilla
network till I'm sure there's interest in pursuing the project. Most of the feed-aggregating work will be done by Yahoo! Pipes, but managing the list will be all on me for the moment.I hope those
that -are- trying out the network are as intrigued by the possibilities as I am. After all, it's supposed to be fun, isn't it?Thanks for your interest!GrizI gotta work to keep track of who's actually
joined the network.Griz Click here to play
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Thu November 13 2008
I've posted elsewhere about the NaNaPooPoo Network, my current baby. I think, I hope, it's a clever idea, and I think it can work. I think my reasonin...
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I've posted elsewhere about the NaNaPooPoo Network, my current baby. I think, I hope, it's a clever idea, and I think it can work. I think my reasoning on why it ought to work is sound. There may be
some aspect I'm missing.Just had another podcast join the fun. Since it's all still bleeding-edge beta -- just no way to do a podcast network in alpha -- I'm pretty much taking all comers. Down the
roa...
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I've posted elsewhere about the NaNaPooPoo Network, my current baby. I think, I hope, it's a clever idea, and I think it can work. I think my reasoning on why it ought to work is sound. There may be
some aspect I'm missing.Just had another podcast join the fun. Since it's all still bleeding-edge beta -- just no way to do a podcast network in alpha -- I'm pretty much taking all comers. Down the
road, there'll have to be some standards as to what belongs in the Net. Right now, the standard is More is Better.I just might have started something with legs. We'll see. I'm proud of having thought
of it. But I worry.Griz Click here to play
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Tue November 11 2008
At the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, the War to End All Wars, ended.Wasn't till the following June, I think, that they sign...
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At the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, the War to End All Wars, ended.Wasn't till the following June, I think, that they signed the Treaty of Versailles and officially ended
the war. But at that Eleventh Hour, everyone agreed they'd fought enough, and they stopped.Didn't work out to End All Wars -- we've had some doozies since then -- but at that moment, at least, they
man...
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At the Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month, the War to End All Wars, ended.Wasn't till the following June, I think, that they signed the Treaty of Versailles and officially ended
the war. But at that Eleventh Hour, everyone agreed they'd fought enough, and they stopped.Didn't work out to End All Wars -- we've had some doozies since then -- but at that moment, at least, they
managed to stop that war. Till next time. In the UK and the former British Empire they take a moment at that Eleventh Hour, stop, stand, and stay silent for a minute. Remembrance Day. Armistice Day.
Veterans Day. Because it needs to be remembered.I'm a veteran myself -- a Service veteran, not a combat veteran. Seems while I was in they managed to not have any significant wars. Which strikes me
as a good thing. And "I did not stand up," at 11:00 am at work here in the US. But all over the world, folks did stand up, and remember.I recommend for your consideration the Oroboros podcast from
the NaPodPoMo feed for today. He did a really beautiful job with this one. Wish I'd have thought of it.I hope you all did a better job of Remembering than I did.Griz Click here to play
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