When the end is not THE END - The Falcon picks the flesh off the dying cardholder

In my last post I declared it was the end but the Falcon had other ideas.  The day we were to depart for India Kato went to use her credit card but alas no luck - continual rejection of the card.

What to do but revisit the Falcon's home to seek information.  You will not believe what the Falcon had done.  While Kato in Africa and AM in Australia were trying to sort out the continued fiasco of the skimmed/cancelled/reissued/recancelled card and seeking compensation for the X thousand dollars stolen from her card apparently she HAD MISSED THE $10 MINIMUM MONTHLY PAYMENT and without notice the Falcon had cancelled the card again.

So we have Kate in tears talking to the friendly crying Falcon branch manager and being joined by IW in tears as well.  They had to put out the large yellow warning signs 'Slippery Floor - Please Take Care' for fear that a customer would slip on the now very wet branch floor and sue them.

To the branch managers credit she resurrected the card and informed Kato to never ring ANZ Card Services again but to please come and see her and she would sort it out.  Her best quote was:

Please don't ring Card Services, they don't know what they are doing.

The card is now in Singapore en route to India:

• Will the Falcon detect this suspicious movement and again cancel it to save Kato
• Will the crying bank manager have the power to stop the Falcon interfering
• Will Kato have the courage to stay with the Falcon
• Will AM be sued for defamation for the slanderous reporting of this now 10 week epic

Stay tuned for it is NOT the end

The Falcon - The Final Episode

This is the final act of the Falcon's incredible power to protect you even when you feel safe in his nest.

It is the closing chapter of the story related in this post.

Katie has returned home and applied for a new credit card with the Falcon - it was just way too hard for her to go elsewhere with all the links to this account.  She listened intently to her fathers lecture about rewarding bad behaviour but decide that this was the path she would travel.

She visited the branch of the crying manager and checked that the card would go to the correct address, received all the correct assurances and waited......

Well the card arrived, she phoned the number and activated it, went to a shop and used it by signing for the transaction.  All seemed good.  Since all her accounts were linked she thought she would toddle in to the branch and get the pin reset so that she could then withdraw money from her savings through the miraculous electronic connection of savings and credit account.  This was how she has always used the card - only one card but choose savings or credit.

She chose this method because the bank informed her it would take a week for the new pin to arrive by mail.

Into the bank she went armed with her credit card, duly signed on the back, her drivers licence with her photo and signature which matched the signature on the card and the simple request to reset the pin.

Can anyone spot any difficulty with this?

Are you sure this should be a simple straightforward request?

Are you aware of how powerful the Falcon's protective powers are? Remember his incredible ability to cancel a card even when a Branch Manager had identified me.

Well it appears that despite the owner of the card being present and not in Africa, and despite having her signed drivers licence with her, and despite being able to rack up thousands of dollars debt by presenting the card and signing for transactions, the Falcon's assistant could not reset the pin because to do that he required two pieces of identification and Katie only had one.  He politely asked Katie if she could go home and return with her passport to support her drivers licence in this incredible process of identification despite being in the branch where the account was opened.

If she did that then he could reset the pin for her.

I am all for the bank protecting me from my own stupidity but the Falcon and his master the mighty ANZ bank have automated things to such a degree and created so many rules that they have completely removed any chance of personal conversation and common sense to come to the fore.

Don't you realise that you issued the card on a person's word and her drivers licence - no worries about doing that.  

You would let her run up a debt to the limit of the card on her signature - no worries about that.

But to let her have access to all the things connected to the card THAT YOU GAVE HER on the basis of her photo identification apparently requires something else.

I do not understand - I will never understand why staff in branches are not allowed to exercise basic common sense in dealing with their customers.  As Kato would say

the end

The Falcon has Crashed and Burned

WARNING: This has turned out to be a long story - but it is worth persevering to the end.

Four weeks have elapsed since I first reported Kato's Credit Card fiasco.  I will now share with you the conclusion to the story which in Wallis terminology is possibly one of the funniest days of my life.  This is also a story of how my life was completely shredded in one 3 hour period. 

Anyway - off we go.  We duly received the 'Secret Pin" letter so knew that the card was on the way.  Two days later the new Credit Card arrived with a letter stating that the new card had the same pin as the one it was replacing.  Why the 'Secret Pin' letter then?  Ring the Falcon - he will have the answer.  Believe it or not but the cancelling of Kato's stolen card coincided with the replacement date of it so we had a card cancelled, a new card issued with the same pin number that was unusable and a new pin number for a card that was not issued because a replacement card was sent because the stolen one was expiring.  Everyone keeping up with the story.

Easy I thought, we have a replacement card so the Falcon can enable it and we get it to Kato and everything is OK.  WRONG.  The Falcon says throw that card away, keep the secret pin number because that will match the new card when it arrives.  Well we wait, and wait, and wait.  Time is running out so another call to one of the Falcon's assistants to try to find out what was happening.

As much as I trust the Falcon, I am feeling a bit shakey.  Despite the replacement for the expired/stolen/cancelled (call it what you like) plus the secret pin letter arriving safely at our postal address it seems that the new card has been posted to an address that Kato stayed at briefly before departing for Africa.  How did this happen?  The Falcon's assistant quickly pointed out that it was sent to the address on file.  When I asked how the expired/stolen/cancelled card had arrived at our address and the secret pin letter had arrived at our address but the matching card didn't the Falcon faltered slightly.  He never once admitted there could have been a mistake, just that 'THE SYSTEM' sends these things so it wasn't his fault.

Thank goodness it wasn't his fault..  We arrange to retrieve the letter, I make the phone call and activate the card.  This was easy as I did not need to speak to anyone just keyed the card number and Kato's birthdate in (got the right birthdate this time) and 'THE SYSTEM' works with me to achieve the desired result.

Next day I visit the ATM and with the secret pin manage to change the pin to the one Kato uses so when she receives the card it will be ready to go.  This change flows perfectly.  I notice a pattern - when I can communicate direct to the Falcon's heart without an assistants intervention things seem to work smoothly.  Now to get the card to Kato.

I had received an email from Kato suggesting that I send the card by FedEx as it would be safer and they would phone her when it arrived in Livingstone and she would pick it up.  Where is FedEx?  Where else but near the airport - that is on the way to everywhere!!!!  Love of father knows no bounds so off I set to tackle the Airport Roundabout - a fantastic piece of engineering where we have a roundabout with three sets of traffic lights on it.  Many people have explained why this is a good idea but I can never see the sense of traffic lights on a roundabout.  Follow the directions and a few minutes later I spot the FedEx sign and stop.

Inside I am greeted by a very helpful man who furnishes me with the quadruple copy form and instructs me to 'press very hard' when filling it out.  I duly do this - an act more like engraving than writing.  Then the helpful man's assistant comes to work out how much it will cost - in a flash I am told $110.  They both comment that this seems a bit excessive.  Great judgment guys.  Anyway after changing categories, sizes and weights they both look at me and say the price is ...... $110.  There is nothing they can do.

I pause for a moment, think about the money Kato has spent in phone calls etc, her need to get access to her funds etc and decide to pay the money and get the card on its way.  They guarantee delivery in under 5 days.  A thought flashes through my mind, "Does the Falcon fly it over?"  I immediately come to my senses as a cold shiver runs down my spine.  Package delivered, pen broken from filling out the form and a strange feeling of satisfaction floods over me.

Back in the car to negotiate the Airport Roundabout and off to Indooroopilly Shoppingtown on my next errand.  It is strange how a feeling of satisfaction can disappear so rapidly.  I had just turned on to Milton Road when my phone rang - unknown number but for some reason I answered.  It was Jim, my best friend from FedEx - bad news - we can't send the parcel as Federal Laws forbid the transport of credit cards to quite a few places, Zambia and Zimbabwe included.  I asked if they could just change the description but apparently Customs will XRay the parcel anyway and stop it.  Turn at the Brewery and head back to tackle the Airport Roundabout again.

Jim shows me the big book with the clear message of why they could not send it.  Returns the parcel then refunds the money.  I head off again through the dreaded roundabout with traffic lights and reach Indooroopilly Shoppingtown.  It was here that I had a thought.  The Falcon has a branch here, they must send cards to Zambia, they could help me.  What a disastrous thought and action.

I walk into the Falcon's Lair an am greeted by the Manager, a delightful lady who listens to my story intently and assures me that they can help.  I sit at her desk as she dials a number, identifies herself to the person on the other end with a code number and begins to explain the situation.  After a couple of minutes she appears to be agitated as her voice gets ever so slightly louder as she keeps repeating "Do not do that, DO NOT DO THAT".  This is followed by statements such as "I am trying to help these people you cannot do that".

The phone is hung up, tears stream down her face.  The person at the other end has cancelled the card because someone other than the owner is in possession of it.  I try to console the  Manager but her rage overflows.  All of a sudden I find that I am arguing the Falcon's side of the argument - she is only following procedure - I get shouted down by the Manager as she continues to apologise for the stupidity of the system.  The system is stupid and allows for no human intervention.  The face to face was good and there was understanding but the tragic result was that the card was cancelled and Kato would have to ring from Africa to order another one.

I thought that was enough so wandered off to buy a paper and sit with a cup of coffee before ringing Katie.  She turns her phone off when she sleeps so I send her a text message asking her to text me when she wakes as I have a good story for her.

I head to the Newsagent and just before entering pull out my wallet and realise I have no money.  No worries, an ATM for my bank is on the same floor but right at the other end.  I stroll down to it trying to relax a bit.  As I reach the ATM I see the dreaded words "Temporarily out of Service".  Just how long is Temporarily I ask myself.  I shove my card in the adjacent machine and withdraw the money including the "Yes I will pay a $2 fee for the extreme pleasure of using your machine".

I trudge back to the Newsagent and as I reach down THERE ARE NO PAPERS - they have sold out.  This is the end for me as I head for a coffee.  As I sit down my phone beeps with a message from Kate.  I phone her and we laugh long and loud about the comical situation we are in.  We devise a plan for her to get money, robbing a bank is not that hard is it.  I remind her of one of my fathers favourite sayings:

"If you are going to rob a bank then do it yourself because if you get someone to help you they always turn out to be a thief."

She agrees.  I drink my coffee and head home to tell IW the next chapter of Wallis folklore.

It Never Rains but it Pours - Part 2

Continued ....

Kato's latest text to me was:

"Hallelujah!!! I just spoke to someone with a brain!! Will email tonight with an update."

Well the Falcon appears to have risen and taken flight and things are on the rise.  AM still has a lot of questions about the lack of understanding displayed by the Falcon's assistants but at last we found a gem.  She is the Assistant with a Brain. (Hereafter called AwaB).

She listed the bogus transactions for Kato to fill out the form so that the bank can 'officially consider' refunding the money.  AwaB could have posted the card to Zambia but unfortunately the lesser assistant has already posted it to us so we will now have to find a way to get it to Zambia.  AwaB could also re-enable internet banking so Kato can access other accounts.

It begs the question as to how many AwaB's does the mighty Falcon have as we have only encountered one on this journey with him?

Anyway, things are on the up.  IW has three radiography sessions to go this week and then the treatment is over and we look for the improvement in pain relief and movement.  AMandIW expect normal transmission to be resumed shortly.  Thanks again for all the support we have received.

It Never Rains but it Pours

It never rains but it pours.  An old saying and a true one.  It was the title of the last email I received from daughter 3 presently in Zambia. For me it transports my mind in several areas at once.  Firstly that original meaning of "When troubles come they come together" and secondly back to my childhood and one of the few things that I can still recite from my Primary School days the poem My Country by Dorothea Mackellar.

The second verse in particular which transports us from the staid first verse referring to England to the second verse which bursts forth with the vast contrasts of my country. 

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror—

The wide brown land for me. 

It has always puzzled me as to why in our country when people suffer through years of drought it is generally broken by the heartbreak of floods that follow the rains that break the drought.  It is a land of excess and I guess our lives are ones of excesses.

IW is halfway through the radiotherapy and going OK.  The major obstacles being the constant nausea and general tiredness.  Sleep is patchy but all in all we say to each other "Half way now - in a week we will be in a better place".

Back to the "It never rains but it pours" email.  It really started with my mobile phone signalling a message Thursday morning at about 5:45 am just as I arrived home from my daily gym session.

The message read:

 "Hi.  Sorry if this wakes you. I've sent you an email, can you read it asap.  I need my credit card cancelled'  Leaving my phone on.  You can call anytime."

It was from Kato.  Didn't bother to read the email but phoned straight away to find that the details of both her credit card and the card of one of her travelling companions had been skimmed while using an ATM in Livingstone.  She has had several thousand dollars of transactions run up on the card and could not get through to the bank on her phone from Zambia - could I do something?

I felt comfortable with the situation - I had seen the ad for the ANZ Falcon and knew everything would be OK.

Found the number, rang, waited for the helpful Falcon to swoop to my assistance.  Initially there was some success.  I managed to get the card cancelled despite giving the wrong birthday for Kato when quizzed by the Falcon's assistant.  It still amazes me how easy it was to get a card for a female cancelled when obviously I was a male providing a wrong birthdate.  Maybe it was the genuine desperation in my voice.

The Falcon's assistant then switched on super-helpful mode.  There was no more I could do, Kato would have to ring them but they have a wonderful toll-free number so she can ring for no cost and get everything sorted out.  I jump on the phone and tell her the good news.

1. 
   
   The card is cancelled
2. 
   
   She is slightly younger that she thinks she is.

 Gee the Falcon is pretty good.  Last night I received the following text message:

"This is a nightmare!  Just spent $30 talking to the most useless person on the face of the planet. Will send you an email tonight."

I guess the Falcon has crashed and burned.

To be continued ....

Session One is complete

It was indeed a long weekend.  Pain from the hips and across the back was not being contained by the medication.  IW had not slept well for quite a few days and the lack of sleep and pain was making her life a real misery.  A phone call to the Oncologist on Sunday led AMandIW to the Emergency Ward at the Mater Hospital, there we spent about 5 hours being attended to by some great medical people.

IW was put on a drip and it was not long before the pain subsided and she slipped into a deep sleep.  They prescribed some stronger medication for pain and sleep and off we went home.

Sunday night saw the best sleep for quite a while and a refreshed and renewed IW ready to face her first session of radiotherapy this morning.

A 40 minute session and we were done and heading home for IW to rest.  Another four sessions this week and three next week to complete the course then wait for the signs of healing.

Thanks for all the messages from near and far, from friends of long standing here at home to our extended family in Puyallup and Grand Rapids.

Sorry for our lack of personal replies to you wonderful people

Flattening the Bump

It has been a long couple of weeks, tests, listening to the experts, long periods of wondering and the amazing presence of God in our lives as expressed by His Saints.

IW starts radiotherapy on Monday.  Four sessions this week and four sessions next week. That's it.  Then we wait for the signs of healing, relief from pain, regaining energy and a renewed sense of being back on the road again.

Thanks for all the support we have received from close to home and around the world. AMandIW are indeed fortunate people.

gnuspeak

Since resuming the blog we have picked up quite a few people who don't know some of the abbreviations (or gnuspeak as we refer to it as) that we use so AM thought it would be good to list these and link them to where they are first used.  Here they are in no particular order. We hope this helps.

• AAPS - Allocated Australian Personal Space
• CIC - Check In Clerk
• IW - Invisible Woman
• BP - Beauty Parlour
• TG - Tour Guide
• AM - Action Man
• GMP - God's Mighty Provision
• TIC - Teacher In Charge
• AMandIW - the collective noun when AM and IW are together
• AwaB - Assistant with a Brain

A Bump in the Road

It has been a long time but it is time for AM and IW to return to the blogosphere.

A lot of things have happened since our return from India over 12 months ago.  We have been exploring a direction for our life with the help of UnitingWorld and arrived at the decision that the next step for AMandIW (this is the new collective term for us) would be Zimbabwe.  The basic plan is to resign from our jobs and in late January head off to work with the Uniting Church of Zimbabwe in the area of Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

Well this is still our goal but there has been a 'Bump in the Road'.

AMandIW have been working hard on our health the past few months, changed our eating patterns, joined a Gym and have lost a combined total of about 26 kg.  Pretty impressive we thought.  About a month ago IW got a sore hip - overdone the exercise was the popular opinion so off to the local chiropractor for a bit of relief.

After a session or so it was suggested that we should get some XRay's.  This was followed by a trip to the GP, some bone scans, some CT scans an MRI a trip to IW's Oncologist and a diagnosis that there was cancer present in the left pelvis and right femur plus various spots on the shoulders/back.  We were both in disbelief.  How could this happen when our plans were set and everything seemed so straight forward.

Everything was put on hold as we plotted a new way forward with the help of some very good medical practitioners.  The end result is that IW will soon begin a regime of Radiotherapy to the left pelvis and right femur plus some to the right chest area where there is some suspicious 'thickening'.

We have been encouraged by the advice that we should be able to continue our adventure to Zimbabwe next year but will wait a couple of months to test the effectiveness of the treatment being given.

Stay tuned as AMandIW deal with the 'Bump in the Road' and see where the next adventure is.

On the Road (Plane) Again

Well here we sit at Kuala Lumpur waiting for our connecting flight back to Chennai.

What are we doing here? - well a small window of opportunity opened up that allowed us to see the 12 Std girls (aka Year 12 girls in Oz) before their final Public Exams and then their disappearance back to their villages or hopefully for some, tertiary studies.

When the window opened both IW and AM grabbed it and ripped it wide open. After consultation with the Principal and Uniting World it was agreed that we would come back for a couple of weeks.

We hope it has been kept a secret from our Hostel girls so we can surprise them. We don't know how successful this has been as we received an email from one of the day students from the Orchestra telling us that when they were practicing on Tuesday (in the house where we stayed) the groundsman came in and told them to leave as they had to get the house ready for the return of Uncle and Aunty (AM and IW).

They have assured us that they won't tell the Hostel girls so we will wait and see.

We will arrive at the school at about 11:00 Saturday night and hopefully slip in unnoticed (by the girls). Then we will just walk down and meet them when they are boarding the bus to go to Church on Sunday morning.

Well that's the plan, so stay tuned to see how it works out.

Bye for now.

AM and his editorial assistant IW.

Back at Work

IW and AM have returned to work so expect details of the departure from Jessie Moses and the resumption of responses to agr's questions shortly.

We did get through all the questions so only have to write them up now so expect them to come at a rapid pace. AM just has to get IW's hands back on the keyboard to complete her answers.

Thanks for your patience.

Blog pause

Sorry for the delay in posting.

Last few days have been very hectic. We fly out of India tomorrow morning for a three day break in Singapore before arriving back in BrisVegas on Friday morning.

May be able to answer a few more of agr's questions from Singapore but no promises.

Questions 21-27 have been submitted by agr so stay tuned for the answers plus some news about our many farewell parties we had.

Question 20

agr's question: "What is your view of the Madras Diocese of the Church of South India?"

I have been encouraged by what I have seen. The range of services they provide is extensive. Their focus on Mission and Evangelism is quite incredible and the way they send missionaries into the villages to live with and help the people is a great model.

The sacrifice that is made to meet the needs of others has challenged me.

Question 19

agr's question: "Some advice for me and my community?"

A community seems to be made up of people headed in the same direction but not necessarily all thinking the same so what direction do you and the Hostel want to go?

agr and I have spoken about the force of 91 girls wanting to head in the same direction and the impact that would have on the greater school community at CSI Jessie Moses.

Most girls here know what they want but at the moment they are individuals. The Hostel community needs leaders to focus the group but not to take control. Community is a gentle moving of people as they see what they have to offer each other and those outside their particular community.

The next question for agr and the Hostel girls is how do they as individuals influence each other to focus on the common community good rather than on the individual good.

Question 18

agr's question: "Who is the most highly regarded person in your life other than IW and God"

The short answer is there is no definitive answer.

There have been many people in my life that I look up to and regard highly, who because of their actions have helped me to grow in my understanding of who I am.

I guess I should stop sitting on the fence as I know in my mind there is one person who has exhibited God's grace to me and taught me more about grace than anyone else.

To find out the name just click and drag the mouse between the two asterisks below.

* Ken Neill *

agr away

Sorry for the delay in questions from agr but she returned home for her sister's wedding. She arrived back last night with a sheet of paper with 11 questions on it for us. We will try to get them up as soon as possible, so expect a bundle of new posts over the next few days.

We only have four days left so it is one of those happy/sad occasions. A bit like seeing your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your brand new Mercedes.

Thursday night we are having a party for the girls. They are busy preparing all sorts of entertainment that they will not tell us about so it should be a fun night. AM might have to do some action songs for them.

Question 17

agr's question: "Having worked through the de-briefing process with most girls now how do you think it will be for us after you leave?"

Life will go on but will be different. I do not believe the Principal or the teachers have a good understanding of our journey together over the last six months. Most girls are aware of the change that is happening but I think some are denying it.

It is hard on both sides but the similarities between us leaving and a death in the family are very similar. The big difference is that we know when the death is going to occur so we need to make sure that we have said and done all that we want to before that date.

Now that we have been through the process with all of you we are trying to get time with the Principal so that the teachers are made aware of it.

Everyone in the Hostel needs to look after each other and watch out for behaviour changes and help each other through it. We will have exactly the same problems as we leave.

Question 16

agr's question: "What is the importance of Community living in Australia and how well has that been achieved?"

I think it is becoming less and less important as the years roll on. Nowdays people seem to live more for themselves and don't care about their neighbour.

Increased population, more unit living, lack of contact erodes relationships. People seem to be too busy with their own pursuits and do not want to invest time in others.

Question 15

agr's question: "What places in Indian do you love?"

My knowledge is limited as apart from two weeks touring North India the rest of the time has been spent at the famous CSI Jessie Moses Matriculation and Senior Secondary School.

Jessie Moses has nice dirt that I walk in daily and has become my home so I am familiar with it and love it. I also love the Cafe Coffee Day on 3rd Avenue which has been the scene of daily ventures for good coffee.

As mentioned before you cannot go past the Taj Mahal for a truly spectacular historical place. A truly breathtaking place.

Question 14

agr's question: "How are Worship Services conducted in Australia?"

I first gave the traditional Australian answer "Very badly". The answer gave me that warm inner glow that I had missed for six months.

After spending 10 minutes with agr explaining sarcasm we got back to the question.

agr is used to the Church of South India service so with that as a base we looked at the elements contained in it and could see those same elements of worship being present in other churches in different forms.

It does not matter which continent you are on when you go to worship you have to remember it is not about you but about God.