I am the most shady honest person I know! True, I don't know a lot of people. People piss me off. I tend to shun them. According to Farmer H, "You ALWAYS seem to have trouble with stuff, HM. The littlest things." To which I replied,
"DON'T I KNOW IT!"
I think he was probably being sarcastic with me. He is so NOT-nuanced in his statements that I took him on face value, as if he was agreeing that life wants me to make a lake-full of lemonade.
Saturday night, for instance, I wasted THREE HOURS trying to do the simplest of internet chores. The first was to check my DISH account, to make sure they had credited my last payment by mail that was still in transit when I paid online. They HAD, but it took me over 45 minutes to log in. I still can't tell you how I succeeded.
Seriously. I went to the login page, and put in my info. After several responses of SOMETHING WENT WRONG, TRY AGAIN LATER, I clicked that I forgot my password. I didn't forget it, but this is how I got logged in last time. Back then, I followed the reset link in my email, entered the same password, and it worked. Not this time.
I also said I forgot my username. I didn't. But I opened the email that told me the exact username I'd been using, and followed the link, and tried again. Several times. No luck. I closed out and restarted New Delly. Nope. I checked isitdownrightnow.com, which said DISH was working for everyone else. I gave up for several hours. Went back to try again. On about the seventh try that time, it WORKED! Even though I had done nothing differently!
Well, fresh from that success of finding out that I was current on my DISH bill... I caved to Farmer H's command that I try to file for social security. I don't think I can get it. I only have 36 quarters of non-teacher work, not the required 40. Farmer H says I can get a portion of his, but I think my teacher retirement is too high for that. Anyhoo... he's been hounding me since February, so I gave it a try.
SWEET GUMMI MARY! How I wished I had not pushed my luck after the DISH success!
I looked at the conditions to file. I met them. I even printed out a list of info I would need. I had all that at my elbow. Once I entered the portal, I put in my name, SS number, address, phone. Then I clicked the NEXT button to open an account to file.
A page of ridiculous questions came up! I was not warned about this! I did not have such information! For example, it said that I may or may not have filed for a student loan in 2013, and which company was the underwriter of the student loan. I had five choices, the last being NONE OF THE ABOVE. Of course I picked that. I never filed for a student loan! We didn't need a student loan. That was the year Genius went off to college. He had a scholarship, and we had a college fund for him. Yet that question did not give me the option of saying I DIDN'T FILE FOR A STUDENT LOAN. One of the choices, the only one I recognized, was GMAC. That's a car dealer loan! Which we didn't file during that year, either!
SHEESH. Long story put to rest... the next screen LOCKED ME OUT! Or, as the gov website politely put it, "We have suspended electronic access to your personal information." It SAYS they will let me back in after 24 hours.
I am really an honest person who has always paid my bills and lived within the rules of society. WHY can't I do a simple task or two without being treated like a criminal by the innernets???
I went through the exact same thing when I tried to sign up just to see how much I would get when I actually apply for SS. One of the questions had some guys name affiliated with a financial company. I have never had business with him or the financial company - turned out he was the actual owner of the bank we now use. Bank vs some other financial institution I'd never heard of before. None of the other questions worked for me either. The one that was closest was not 100% accurate, so I didn't want to use that as an acceptable question/answer. Got shut out the first time, second time went through same thing - husband informs me I have to accept one of the questions as fact. I was concerned about the legality of said question and he said I would get shut out again. And he was right. Ended up having to drive over to our SS office without an appointment - appointments can be as far out as 6 months - and sat in our vehicle waiting for the office to open, not knowing that the waiting room was already full of people and it's first come, first served. It took over 2 hours before we got in and then I had to go through the same thing only using their computer. Finally picked an answer that was the closest to accurate and ran with it. What a PITA!! My husband has a lot of patience that I don't which kept me from running away from the situation. Good luck. I have not officially applied yet but am considering doing it this year - I hope to gosh golly sake that I don't go through the same thing. Going to the SS office is not for sissies and there were a lot of people that knew what they were doing. Just not me. Ranee (MN)
ReplyDeleteHM--First, I loved the title of the post from your other blog. A little Rod, eh? The use of the word "sure" certainly helped make it a sound-alike.
ReplyDeleteWhy? Why did you have that experience? Because you were dealing with the government, that's why. They hope you get so frustrated, you give up.
Don't give up. Tick them off with your determination.
Rae,
ReplyDeleteNow I am even more pessimistic about trying again! THEN it had one about my previous phone number! Like I remember that, after 30 years of marriage and having this one. Maybe I should make a list of my answers, and then mix and match until I happen to hit the right combination...
***
Sioux,
I'm so glad that title wasn't wasted! I was hoping someone would get it.
As a former (state) government worker myself, I understand that tactic. I will keep trying, as long as there's not a limit to trials after which they put a hold on my SS number, like those scam callers claim!
I say just keep trying. At some point the innernets will recognise you and say amongst themselves, we know this person, she's here everyday, then you'll get the service you are looking for. and since "they" now already know you, applying for Social Security when the time comes should be a snap. Notice I said "should" not "will be".
ReplyDeleteRiver,
ReplyDeleteWell, as Farmer H says, I always seem to have trouble with things! The only choice is to keep trying, or give up. So I'll keep trying.
I get frustrated with that sort of thing and will just make my son do it for me. He was a breech birth and I remind him of that. Just don't add that he only weighed 5 lbs. He is a loving sensitive son!!
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteGenius used to do that stuff for me. When he was 10 and younger. Then he got all know-it-all-y, and required more coercion. Now he's too far away. Genius was not breech, but he was the next worse thing, in being FACE UP and 7lb 14oz, with Farmer H's giant bowling ball head! Genius is a tolerant no-nonsense son...