Very frustrated… Sometimes forget why I’m spending time on this but I do know why…

When I first thought of moving to Saskatoon I was warned about the limited affordable wheelchair accessible housing for rent. My plan was to rent awhile, learn the city, find the right condo and then go from there. I decided just to buy because I’ve always hated the thought of renting. *Toilet flushing, money slurping down the drain* But I suppose renting has a few advantages though certainly not enough compared to ownership. The same can be said for leased vehicles, but that’s another posting for another day.

My friend has been searching for suitable accessible housing. In ways, he needs a wheelchair accessible home more than I do. So as he stays with his parents, feeling as irritated as can be with this crappy system and his parents mannerisms (we all have some), I just cannot understand the information I heard today.

Of 254 suites in the two Saskatoon Housing Authority towers by Market Mall, designed for the elderly and the disabled, there are only two wheelchair accessible suites! They want my friend to go downtown in one of their buildings with standard equipment, big tubs that he could never get in or out of, unusable toilets… I’m so frustrated for him I don’t know what to do. There are only a dozen or so wheelchair accessible suites in Saskatoon that are for low income people. That’s about one for every 21,000 citizens. For goodness sake, Moose Jaw had 18 suites! And there is nothing that can be done.

So that’s one thing. I had 9 views of my page last week & I know I went there about 5 times to look for comments… See topic sentence.

Finally, I don’t want to go to Swift Current this weekend. It’s going to be hot in that old Catholic church, I want to swim, maybe ski, Sunday but I don’t want my dad making a big production of it or hurting his or anyone else’s back… Just one of those “more hassle than it is worth” cases. I have my memories of waterskiing. They would probably serve me better than my drowning or getting hurt. I do want to see Angie tube, but for the most part, I’m not excited. It has been a busy week for Angie. That is super, but her body is sore & there is little I can do to help. My guts are their usual crampy selves and I can’t do anything about it. And I just don’t feel like being seen. No thunderstorms to watch, way too much commotion going on, I think I’m looking forward to January and that calmness of it… that & ice feeshin’. Maybe I'll go gopher hunting or target shooting when I get back. Fire off some anger and testosterone. Still gotta make that gun powder scented air freshener and make my millions. Love that smell.

Caught in limbo...

So last night was the first time since we got married that I slept alone in this bed. There was the women's retreat when Angie was gone, but I was in Swift Current so I slept alone in that bed which was nothing new at that point. We have since slept in that bed together. So I thought that, though I really missed my wife being next to me, I would have a great sleep since I haven't yet fully adapted to sleeping next to someone. I had the hardest time falling asleep. I'm always so careful to make sure my arm never flails over in her direction after I'm sure I elbowed her in my sleep not a week after we were married. She never woke from it & thought I might have dreamed it... I hope so, but it sure seemed real. But last night when I was half asleep & looked over there was no Angie. A person always wants what they cannot have & I wanted a hug! :) Tomorrow afternoon. Yay! Thankfully this is not more than a few days... this time. Her trip to Calgary at the end of August will be for longer but I'll be in Swift Current so hopefully it will be easier. Anyway, I'm caught in limbo, not yet sleeping perfectly next to Angie, but not sleeping perfectly by myself.

One more note about my letter to the Credit Union. It deserves to be said what I said in it. But my dad still has to deal there. I'm not trying to cause trouble but I do not like being treated that way and acused of being a crook! I think I will adjust it, remove some names and send it. I cannot let this injustice go unanswered, but "a gentle answer turns away wrath."

So I didn't do the garlic bomb, but my letter to the Credit Union and applicable parties is nearly finished. Apparently the woman that helped us calculated incorrectly. That doesn't change the fact that we signed our names for an amount higher than what was received. Okay, we did not deserve as much as we signed for. I’m not about to get nasty but the facts will be presented in a letter to the CEO.
The few recent unpleasant experiences (excluding the most recent miscalculation) were frustrating, but I was going to try to let it roll off my back. It was the fact that no letter or email was sent or phone call made to inform me of the mistake and that a smaller amount would be transferred to our account. When I inquired about it politely by email, I was pushed to the bottom of the list and then when the record of the transaction couldn’t even be found, I was told to wait until the incompetent employee that Angie and I dealt with returned from holidays. That was not an option so I got my dad to invoke his power of attorney over me & get this looked into. One quick note about that employee: While Angie & I were trying to get these few things accomplished last time we were in Swift Current I presented the three actions I wished to be made. It must’ve been overload because I’ve never seen someone look so flustered. In the time we were there she got up to leave her office & get assistance at least five times. The same thing happened to my mother’s hair dresser when she wanted to transfer some RRSPs. Not qualified for the position she holds and the paycheque she’s pulling down!

So my dad booked an appointment with an employee he and I had dealt with previously. She informed him of the error but not politely. She called me “a clever guy” & implied that I knew the amount was incorrect and that I was trying to defraud the Southwest Credit Union. My dad firmly responded that he did not care for her comment and asked that since they could not find the records from less than two weeks ago what would have happened if the incompetent employee had resigned. The response was that they would have called her. Well, not to be too negative, but what if she had been injured or died? Just another proof of the ineptness of the Credit Union’s recordkeeping. So oh behalf of the incompetent employee on holidays I was given an apology from that employee and through my dad to me. I should have received a phone call or email while my dad sat there.

So the reason for the miscalculation was in that from what I thought and what I was told the day Angie & I were there was that the investment was a year older than it was in which case my calculations & hers that day would have been correct. So I made a mistake & I am willing to accept the consequences of a lowered value credited to our account. Last time I checked people should pay for their mistakes. I would have easily been appeased as I’m just aching to finally get out of that institution. Had they informed me and apologized, not simply lowered the amount and left us hanging as to where the rest was I probably wouldn’t be typing this or the most strongly worded letter I’ve ever written and the only letter I’ve written to a CEO.

Finally, there were other things that added to the breaking of this mule’s back. The previously dealt with employee not being able to get straight the penalty that would be placed on us for the early redemption (huge difference between ½% and ½ of the interest earned to date!), unfamiliarity with their own documents and photocopy protection on those documents and the accusations, crappy new multi-million dollar building that all of Swift Current is complaining about because of it’s terrible acoustics and accessibility, lack of service over the years that I tried to ignore… The list continues but I’m exhausted. Yay for PC Financial! They’ve shown me more respect and service in five months than the Credit Union has in 14 years… Good night. :)

Non-Violent Assault Tactic #1

I've been very frustrated with the Southwest Credit Union and SGI and their consultants. I think I may use a story my father-in-law told me about for my purposes. Essentially, once when Angie was young and needed to be taken to the hospital, her dad had just eaten a bulb of garlic microwaved with a bit of margerine and seasoning. He couldn't figure out why the nurses at the registration desk kept leaving and switching. It was his breath.
Tomorrow I have a meeting with of one of SGI's long-winded (by his own admission) consultants for the third time. Maybe once this is all over I'll tell that story. But for now, I think I'll have some serious garlic & onions for lunch. If the meeting is remarkably fast, especially in comparison to the previous ones, I'll know the secret. Then next time I'm in Swift Current I'll do the same to that blasted Southwest Credit Union who so conveniently misplaced a huge chunk of our money & can't find it on their records. Thankfully I have the paperwork, and if my dad cannot get them to figure it out tomorrow I'll be in and give them the garlic treatment until eyes are gushing tears. I'm so frustrated with the incompetence of the Credit Union I could holler. I decided to give it to them in black and white. I will compose the most thorough letter I've ever written... Still might go give the garlic treatment just for the grief and interest they've cost us! But our money will be found! It amazes me how they can put me off when I email. Had I been a grumpy old man coming in in person we'd have our money by now. Makes me want to be less patient. Never in 13 years has the Credit Union called me to see how I was enjoying their services. In a few months PC financial, with their minimal 2 employees has called three times! RBC did the same to Angie. The minutes she deposits some money they're kissing butt like you're their best friend.
Do they think we are stupid, that we don't see through all this!? I'm a man on a mission... tomorrow. Now I need sleep.

Ok, so obviously no one really wanted the comments back, but I’ll leave it alone and save bandwidth on my Angelfire account. But I’m in Swift Current on my dad’s computer. Upon clicking a link to any of my webpage’s sections as seen in the contents to the left if you’re actually on the page, I got a save file dialogue. I haven’t figured out why or what it is. It appears as follows with some variation in the numbers of the file name.

File name: 19559420@Top1
From: network.realmedia.com

Does this happen to anyone else? If it does, I’d like to fix it. Now I know in the past my most urgent requests for comments have been ignored but I would really appreciate comments on this for the sake of my ministry. Excuse the attitude please, but I’m really frustrated. Does a save dialogue come up when you enter any on the other sections on my website? A simple yes or no comment would be nice…
Oh, & Happy Canada Day...