I conquered technology!
Okay, not really but I made some giant steps.
It all began Saturday when the brokerage where I have a bit of money
notified me of a transfer of funds. I went online to check it and was told the
account was suspended. Of course, I tried again, and the more times you try,
the more vehement they get about locking you out. So I called. One thing high
on my list of pet peeves is automated telephone systems, but I tried. That
bodiless voice quoted me the balance in my account—and it was considerably less
than I thought it should be. So I did what I do in moments of financial panic—I
called Colin, my oldest son. He tried, but of course he couldn’t get in because
I had caused them to lock the account.
Finally I called
again and went through the necessary rigamarole to speak to a living, breathing
person. What a relief! The balance was just what I thought it should be. The
gentleman ushered me through changing my password, checking the transfer of
funds, etc. One monster conquered.
I also tried to
log into the web site of the service that TCU uses for benefit payments to
retirees. I wanted to notify them of a change in my insurance payment. No deal.
They apparently never had heard of me. Disregard the fact that I just gotten a
check from them. They didn’t recognize my username, my password, my social number,
or my TCU employee i.d. And worst of all, until you could get into their web
site, there was no phone number to call. I emailed the retiree coordinator at
TCU and she promptly replied with the phone number.
So today I called.
It seems I had logged in to the employee site and not the TCU one. They need to
be more clear with the names of their sites. And for some reason, maybe because
I did that, it treated me as a new registrant. So I had to supply all my data
and wait for a code to be sent. That took so long that the customer service guy
begged off and left me on my own. Then it seems that I had repeated the
request, so now I had two codes and no idea which one worked. Hit and miss, I
found it. Then it asked for confirmation by my phone number. I supplied that
and was told I would receive a text with a code. By now bumfuzzled with the rigamarole,
I tried the previous codes—nope. Finally I remembered “text”—whoopee! I got
into my account. Only to find out they already knew my insurance premium had
changed—the insurance company notifies them.
But the biggie was
today’s adventure with my Apple watch and phone. The watch has been sending me
alert notices about a health problem. I only recently knew to check that, so
who knows how long I’ve been getting those notices. But I didn’t know how to
find the notices again when I called the doctor’s office. They wanted a screen
shot, and I said I didn’t know how to do that. So they suggested I bring the
phone in and let them collect information. Now they’re a good half hour away,
and Jordan wasn’t thrilled at the idea. “Surely,” she said, “ you can find
someone to walk you through finding the information.
I did. My
twenty-year-old granddaughter, a Colorado University student who works
part-time at the genius bar in an Apple store. With Maddie’s help by text, I
took my first ECG (electrocardiogram) on my phone and also found the alert reports.
Sent it all to the doctor’s office, where the nurse rejoiced with me over my
advance in technical knowledge. The nurse sent it to the doctor, and the
eventual verdict was that I am to wear a halter monitor for 24 hours. But how
easy to do all that with my phone. And much love and thanks to Maddie—it’s so
nice to have a genius in the family, even if it isn’t me.
I don’t mean to
brag, but I had a great supper tonight. Fried some bacon, then sliced and fried
those potatoes that I thought were a bust last night (much better with salt and
pepper and a crisp crust), and soft scrambled two eggs. So good. I will sleep
better tonight, having been reassured that I should not worry about the health
alerts.
