It's my money -- gimme it!

The other day, I needed to move some money around to cover a check (if you're curious, it was a check for the security deposit and some pro-rated rent on an apartment in Providence, Rhode Island -- yes, it's official: Kafalas.com and its principals are relocating to Providence), so I logged into my bank's Web site and tried to find the "Transfer Funds" choice. I wanted to move some money into my checking account from a CD I have at the same bank.

Well, there is a "Transfer Funds" link on the bank's Web site, but when you go there, you find that it just lets you set up a transfer from an account outside that bank -- or, possibly, from another checking or savings account you might have at the same bank.

That was no good -- I don't have another checking or savings account; I just have the CD. And there's no way to pull money out of the CD and put it in your checking account on the site.

So I tried it by phone. Naturally, this was Sunday afternoon -- but these days, it's a 24/7 world, and I thought it was not unreasonable to expect that I could get customer support, possibly from Bangalore, on a Sunday.

No dice -- although they did have someone on the phone, they couldn't do anything with my CD. Call back after 7:00 a.m. on Monday, they said, for that. Well, how about a cash advance on my credit card, I asked. Sorry, can't help you, they said. You'll have to call your credit-card issuer.

So I tried that. My Visa card has 24-hour customer service, and given my bank routing number, they said sure, they'd take a cash advance on the card and stick it in my checking account -- in 3-5 business days. What's that about, I asked. That's how long it takes, they told me. That's not good enough, I replied, because I've already written this check and need to get some money into my checking account ASAP, so it won't bounce. Sorry, can't help you, they told me, but you can go to an ATM with the card, take out a cash advance, then deposit it in the bank. An option, but a clumsy one, in my opinion, so I didn't want to do that.

So I went to the bank (in the big 25-story bank building in downtown Providence, reportedly the model for the building that Superman "leaps in a single bound" in the original comics) first thing Monday morning and was able to make the transfer the old-fashioned way: by sitting down with one of their customer service staffers and filling out a couple of forms.

But I wondered why it was not possible to make the transaction on-line or by phone. Everything's electronic and instant these days... isn't it? Why couldn't I transfer money from the CD (incurring a small penalty) on the Web site? And why couldn't I take a cash advance on my credit card and have it show up immediately, instead of in 3-5 business days?

I think it's that financial institutions have become so paranoid about identity theft (admittedly a huge problem these days) that the default setting is "Sorry, can't help you" instead of "Right away, sir." Even though there was no evidence, in this case, that I was not who I said I was, my bank and credit-card issuer have both instituted policies under which it is not possible to get your money instantly, despite the technology that should make it not just possible, but easy.

I'm not sure what I think about this. On the one hand, I was really frustrated on Sunday, when I couldn't get at my own money to put it in my checking account (although my bank will cover overdrafts up to a certain amount, because of that CD I have on deposit -- so even if I hadn't been able to move the money at all, the check would not have bounced). But at the same time, I can see the merits of building some delay into the system -- so that if it had been an identity thief instead of the real me, on the Web and phone last Sunday, they wouldn't have been able to clean me out.

Urb's Blog

All finished!

I've done everything I need to do for my accounting degree. Last Friday was the last day of my internship, and I got the term paper in early (it's not due until August 1, but I figured I'd get it in early because I had the time). So it's almost time to tune up the orchestra for Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1, Take 2 (Take 1 having occurred 21 years ago, which is a scary thought).

It's been a long march, and there was a time, along about last November or so, when I was starting to have doubts as to whether I'd even finish my degree. Perseverance, however, has paid off, and I should have a newly-minted degree by sometime next month. Once I get a couple of forms dropped off at the NAU business school this afternoon, all that remains is to sit by the mailbox and wait for my diploma to arrive.

With that settled, stay tuned for Kafalas.com's upcoming relocation and Long March Back East. Details, I hope, next week!

Urb's Blog

Coincidence... or not?

Today, I experienced one of those little coincidences -- well, the events happened a week apart, so technically, it's not a coincidence, and I'm not sure what I should call it -- that make people of faith say, "HA! This proves conclusively that there is a God, because there's no possible, conceivable way this could happen just by chance."

Let's rewind back to last Saturday, when I played an early-morning round of golf down at Beaver Creek GC in the Verde Valley. The 16th hole at Beaver Creek is a par-3 of some 157 yards from the white tees; not a particularly difficult hole, and in fact, one that I've parred numerous times, but no pushover, either. I took out my hybrid 5-iron, teed the ball up, and hit a fantastic shot, which scooted up onto the green and ended up some 10 inches southwest of the cup -- that is, just barely left and short. It was so close to an ace that I marked off the distance from edge-of-ball to edge-of-cup on my scorecard, before tapping in for birdie.

OK, fine. So today, again I drove down to Beaver Creek and teed off at around 7:30. Didn't have a great round, but on the 16th hole, once again, I used the 5-hybrid, again the pin was in an accessible location near the front-left of the green, and again, I hit a good shot (although as it left the tee, I thought, "Not as good as last week!"). I saw the ball start left, then fade back toward the pin, but I lost sight of it as it got close to the green.

When I got there, I found that it was, once again, within tap-in range. I measured it and marked the distance on my scorecard, and as far as I could tell -- within the accuracy of measuring with a piece of cardboard -- the ball was exactly the same distance from the cup as last week! This time, though, it was even closer to being an ace, because it was headed for home. My pitch mark was some 3-1/2 feet short of the pin, and the ball came to rest on a line aimed dead-center from the pitch mark to the center of the cup. Had the green not been quite so soft from last night's rain, I'd have put a 1 on my scorecard.

I'm not sure what this means. Possibly nothing much -- I do not now believe and never really have believed that there is a "higher power" up there, looking down on us -- certainly not one that takes a great deal of interest in the fortunes of a bogey golfer. A couple of virtually-identical brushes-with-ace are probably not going to convince me there is such a being. Still, it's one of those "things that make you go 'hmmmmmmm,'" ¿no?

Urb's Blog

Youth movement? What youth movement?

Reports of a changing-of-the-guard on the LPGA Tour are, it is safe to say, greatly exaggerated. Despite the influx of teenage phenoms, young Korean stars, and new talent from every quarter, the three major championships contested so far this year have all gone to veterans: Karrie Webb won the Kraft-Nabisco (the event most of us still refer to as the Dinah Shore) in March, Se Ri Pak won the LPGA Championship a few weeks ago, and today, Annika Sorenstam took the US Open title.

Those of us who have had about enough of the overkill publicity surrounding certain young stars take a certain amount of satisfaction that experience still counts for something out there. Photogenic teenagers with game certainly make for good TV -- and good publicity for the tour -- but it would be a shame if the sport turned into tennis, where you're washed up and put out to pasture by 30, for the most part. In golf, this is not likely to happen, simply because the game is not suited to people who are young, impatient, and of poor judgment. I keep thinking back to some words of wisdom from an early golf mentor of mine: "Golf is a game of patience," he told me. Having grown up in Jamaica, where cricket is a popular sport and six-hour rounds of golf are not unheard of, this guy knew a thing or two about patience -- but in any setting, his point was well taken. To put a good round or tournament together, you have to play one shot at a time, forget the bad shot you just made, and don't try to make up a whole bunch of strokes at once. Keep grinding until you've got a good score on the card, is what my mentor was getting at. And even at my humble bogey-golf station in life, I'm finding that although my swing hasn't changed much in the past 10 years, my game is getting better gradually over time.

As far as the tour is concerned, it's always been true that players tend to peak in their 30s. This will undoubtedly prove the case with most of today's teenage phenoms on the LPGA Tour. It's certainly been the case with Webb and Sorenstam, and may turn out that way with Pak, who is only 28, despite having been on tour since 1998. In any case, the veterans have shown that they can still teach the kids a thing or two.

Urb's Blog