Wednesday Was Truly Awful . . . .

SHIP'S LOG:

. . . and I am not just talking about the weather either! Since it was going to rain all day Tuesday and Wednesday as well, I decided that life would be better ashore than on Abishag. Trust me, two solid days of rain and wind are no fun on a 39 foot sailboat and it made good sense to get off for awhile.

Tuesday it just rained and rained and rained. We had 40 mph winds along with the rain Tuesday morning. We got more rain on Tuesday than we received from Tropical Storm Irene! It was grey and cold and yuchie!, but with online access that was free and unlimited electricity, I got to watch several shows and movies for free on my computer. Sleeping on the floor in the clubhouse wasn't all that much less comfortable than sleeping on the closed-cell foam mattress in the aft berth aboard, plus the clubhouse didn't roll as much. It was a good day to curl up with a book an with the computer.

Wednesday, I got up about 6 and hit Dunkin' Domuts for coffee and breakfast. I went back to the club hose, performed my morning ablutions and then resumed my search for winter destination for ABISHAG . . . here in Connecticut. Seems like Yankee Boatworks in Portland will be the likely landing spot. It will probably be a two day trip to get there for the flow in the Connecticut River is strong and will be more so as the run off from Irene continues and from whatever others storms get sent our way. There are a couple of other boats from here that will be heading to the same spot so I won't be making the trip alone, probably.

I was getting set to go up to Portland and check out Yankee Boatworks when I suddenly couldn't find my wallet. My wallet is a leather passport folder style and is hard to miss but it wasn't anywhere that I could see in the upstairs of the clubhouse, not on the floor or on the table nor on the chairs. I went through all the stuff that I had up there and didn't find it any place. I figured that I must have left it in the car but didn't find it their either, even after several exhaustive searches. I drove back to Dunkin' Donuts thinking I might have left it there or possibly dropped it in the parking lot. No Joy! I even went through the trash can by the counter on the off chance that I had dropped it inside when I was getting some napkins. Again, no joy. It appears that it is well and truly lost. And that's where the fun began.

Across the street was a Citizens Bank Branch and I went over and explain what had happen, how "someone" (perhaps) was now in possession of my debit card, drivers license, credit card, and all the other items in the wallet, including the money . . .about $15 or so. Since I have been doing all my banking online, no one knew me at the bank. I ha no picture ID as my license was in the wallet and the wallet was gone. But I did have my passport . . .which was out on ABISHAG. OS I ha to go back to TYC, row out to ABISHAG, retrieve the Passport, row back to shore, drive back to the bank and go through the process of closing my accounts and opening new ones, canceling my debit card and applying for a new one(which will show up in 7 - 10 days) and leaving my checking account open - with the minimal amount required - to receive my SS check in case I couldn't get the direct deposit info to them quickly enough. In spite of the wonderful effort made by the bank, it took most of the afternoon to get everything at the bank square away. I withdrew some money and then went off to buy a wallet in which to carry it. Then I had to hustle to the UPS Store to inform them of the impending arrival of a couple of letters(from the bank) for which they would have to sign, one containing the new debit card and one, some days later, containing the new pin to activate the card.

The it was back to TYC and back online to contact Social Security. They actually ave a very good website but it was difficult trying to correct the direct deposit information. I decidied to contact a "human" at the local office who could get me through the process. I had been hopeful that they would vbe able to route the next check to the new account but, wouldn't you know it, the cut-off date for such a change was the day before. Now I have to monitor the "old checking account" for the arrival of this month's check, then transfer all of the funds out and into the "new checking account" and then closed thee old checking account. As far as I can tell, no one has accessed or attempted to access the "old checking account" so maybe, if the wallet was found, they took the money and ditched the rest in the trash. Still, I have a funny feeling that it will turn up sooner or later.

I have one credit card and I had to get that one closed out. It was a Sears Master Card and despite several attempts to do so online, I had to eventually do it with a "real person." The only problem with that is that it took forever to get to a "real Person" and the process of closing one and opening another was long and tedious, sprinkled throughout with all sorts of advertisements and come-ons. Eventually, it was done, but by now the whole day was shot.

There was contained within the wallet now lost, several appointment cards for the coming months that were now gone. I had transferred them to my cell phone, but when that went up the spout and I had to get a new one, the transfer process, while included contact information ad numbers, but for some reason didn't transfer the appointments on the calendar. I'll have to spend today calling everyone I can think of with whom I might have had an upcoming appointment to see if, if fact, I did and then record who, when, were and when back into the phone. I am sure that I will miss one or two just to make things interesting.

The real "fun" would be going to get a replacement driver's license. Even at the best of times, the DMV is a nightmare, made even more so by the fact that the state is closing a number of offices as a cost cutting measure. To combat the expected crowds, I got up early and drove to the Old Saybrook DMV office, getting there at 7am only to find that it, because of the closures, it had changed its hours and so was open late on Thursday Thursday evenings. It also meant that it would open late on Thursday mornings, 9:15 to be exact. Good thing I brought a book. Good thing also I brought my passport as they wouldn't even look up your license without a proper picture ID. but with that, a filled-out form and 30 bucks, I became the proud possessor of a "new license!" And it didn't take all that long . . .by DMV standards and I was through by noon. That meant I had time to go through all of the other phone calls I needed to make correct, update, cancel, change, open and close all the other items contained in the wallet, at least those I could remember. one thing I will really miss and can't replace, is a 1,000 Lira note from my last trip to Italy. True, it was absolutely worthless, but it was the memories it held. Well, c'est la vie!