For me, an all-new level of senility!

TTSH

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It's no secret that I am old and at least half-senile anyway, but it seems that I set a new low for myself last month... and just found out about it yesterday. :o I got a call on my cell phone from an out-of-state number. I figured it for spam, but I picked it up anyway. Darn good thing I did. :eek:

Turns out that I won an auction on GB last month and didn't even remember bidding on the gun. I quickly went to my computer and, HOLY COW, the caller was right! :eek: OMG!!! :eek:

Like a madman, I threw on some clean clothes, drove to the bank at top speed, got a money order and made it to the post office just before the 2 PM dispatch. Practically out of breath at that point, I explained to the post office lady that it was payment for a month-old overdue late bill so would she please hand carry it to the waiting truck? :o It was the best I could do under the circumstances. :(

Perhaps the funniest (or saddest?) part was when I told the story to the bank teller while she was arranging for the money order. She stopped everything, squinted her eyes, looked at me like I was some gullible old fool and asked me dead seriously if I was possibly being the victim of a phone scam? :eek: :eek: :eek: I had to assure her multiple times before she would complete the money order that it was no scam. I had just been extremely forgetful. :o Please don't call the police on me!!! :eek:

Fortunately, the GB seller thought the whole thing was funny. He was laughing out loud at my frantic senile old man responses as it slowly dawned on me that I had blown it bigtime. He was actually extremely nice about the whole thing. I was damn lucky. :)

Has this ever happened to you? :confused: Dirt poor as I am, I still ALWAYS pay my bills on time. ALWAYS! This was the first time in my long, sorry life that I was late on a payment. :o Thank God the GB seller had a really good sense of humor. :D

++++++++++

p.s., I still don't remember bidding on that gun. :D
 
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Was alcohol �� involved during your bidding, by any chance?

I love your story. Great story. Thanks for telling it
No booze, but your question caused me to look back into my daily log... a sort of electronic diary I keep. And now it makes a little more sense how I could forget such a thing.

The day before I placed the bid, I had gotten the second of two shingles vaccine shots (something us old people do). The next day... the day of the bid... I was totally blown away by an adverse reaction to that shot... fever, chills, congestion, the works! The worst of it lasted about a week with lingering symptoms right up until last week. :eek: The bid was placed mid-afternoon, which would have been right between a couple extended naps I was forced to take that day along with (likely, can't remember) multiple pain or flu symptom pills. Now, it all makes sense. Thank you. :)

I should also point out that while I am scanning GB almost daily, I never noticed the win. Quite simply, I wasn't looking for it. Also, the e-mail account that I have linked to GB is neither my main or principle back-up e-mail account. It's a third account that I access on a different browser for convenience. But I also use that browser and e-mail provider for my elderly mother's e-mail account. So unless I am aware of and closely watching an auction, I keep that browser and e-mail provider on her e-mail account. :o Duh! :rolleyes:

And now you know the rest of the story. :D
 
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I'm glad it's worked out ok.
I wouldn't bother explaining circumstances to bank clerks, postal clerks etc.. it will just muddy the waters. TMI
 
I'm glad it's worked out ok.
I wouldn't bother explaining circumstances to bank clerks, postal clerks etc.. it will just muddy the waters. TMI
Yeah, I know. :) It's just the way I am... a bit on the conversational side. ;) But it was important to me that the money order make that 2 PM dispatch. It probably saved the GB seller having to wait out the weekend to receive it. Going out with the early dispatch guaranteed he will get it by Saturday. :)

As for the bank lady, I never expected her response. :D It's funny now, but she was dead serious. :eek: Almost frighteningly so. :eek: I think they must be told to watch out for and report senile old fools withdrawing money to pay some person who called them on the phone. ;)
 
Yes, they are trained to watch out for older folks being scammed. We sell money orders and gift cards and the folks who deal with that counter have to do the same. We had an older fellow just a few days ago who wanted to buy $900 in Google Play gift cards to "send to Apple" so they wouldn't deactivate his iphone.

I know it seems unlikely that anyone would fall for sending Google cards to "Apple," but he was frantic when they refused to sell them to him. The police were called, and the officer told him he was being scammed, but he still refused to believe it. I imagine he went somewhere else and bought the cards anyway.
 
Yes, they are trained to watch out for older folks being scammed. We sell money orders and gift cards and the folks who deal with that counter have to do the same. We had an older fellow just a few days ago who wanted to buy $900 in Google Play gift cards to "send to Apple" so they wouldn't deactivate his iphone.

I know it seems unlikely that anyone would fall for sending Google cards to "Apple," but he was frantic when they refused to sell them to him. The police were called, and the officer told him he was being scammed, but he still refused to believe it. I imagine he went somewhere else and bought the cards anyway.
Yeah, lesson learned. :) I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. ;) But the look she gave me was really something... like she was trying to look right into my brain! :p I don't recall ever going to that particular teller before. I should probably try to avoid going to her in the future for money orders... or at least keep my mouth shut if I do. :p
 
TTSH...... just remember to..... TTSH!!!!!!!
I'll try Bam. :) The good wife wants to go out for seafood tomorrow night. Isn't fish supposed to be brain food? :confused: I think there might be a connection. ;)
 
TTSH, I know what you mean about never being late with a bill, and how it really bugged you that you were this one time. I'm obsessive about that, too.

About getting senile (;-), I'm only 67 but have started to notice that young people occasionally — out of kindness I, believe — start speaking to me slowly and carefully. I realize, "Hey, they think they are talking to a bewildered old man! What the...?!" Then I realize, often when this happens, that I am a bit confused about whatever the topic is — although, of course, my mind is sharp as a tack about stuff I know about, doggone it! — and that I appreciate the extra care being taken to explain something to the old man...
 
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TTSH, I know what you mean about never being late with a bill, and how it really bugged you that you were this one time. I'm obsessive about that, too.

About getting senile (;-), I'm only 67 but have started to notice that young people occasionally — out of kindness I, believe — start speaking to my slowly and carefully. I realize, "Hey, they think they are talking to a bewildered old man! What the...?!" Then I realize, often when this happens, that I am a bit confused about whatever the topic is — although, of course, my mind is sharp as a tack about stuff I know about, doggone it! — and that I appreciate the extra care being taken to explain something to the old man...
It's well known that I struggle with OCPD. :o It's why every gun in my gun collection has to be as close to flawlessly perfect as I can reasonably achieve! :D But it also means that I pay all my bills at the earliest possible date. I do not wait for a bill to become due. I pay in advance. In the case of winning an auction, I always pay (i.e., mail my money order out) the same day. Day 2 will not do. This is why I was so horrified that I had screwed up so badly. :o I am very lucky that the seller held off and did not give me negative feedback. But can you imagine if I hadn't answered that phone call? :confused:
 
They are told to do that, especially for older people who look gullible. ;)

If it makes you feel better, I recently got a "past due" water bill. I looked at my check book and saw that I had paid it back in March. I called the treasurer's office and spoke to a nice young man. Who looked it up and told me that I had indeed paid the first quarter bill. I had not, OTOH, paid the SECOND quarter bill. Which was what the past due notice was for.

In fact, I do not recall ever seeing that one. Sooooo, I wrote out the check.

As for the bank lady, I never expected her response. :D It's funny now, but she was dead serious. :eek: Almost frighteningly so. :eek: I think they must be told to watch out for and report senile old fools withdrawing money to pay some person who called them on the phone. ;)
 
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They are told to do that, especially for older people who look gullible. ;)
Well, I suppose that would fit my description alright. :D

:eek:Just do not go back to the bank, show her the gun, to prove it was not a scam.
Jim
Oh, no no no. :eek: When they ask me what GB stands for, I tell them "Good Buys"! :) When they want to know the URL of the website, I give them the website of a local antiques shop with a similar name. :) My mama didn't raise no dummy child. :).

For those of us that have no idea who Maura Healy may be, I looked her up. She is the AG for Massachusetts.
Ugh! :( No comment.
 
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