Order-out-of-Chaos

Last night (Tuesday, March 27, 2007) I decided to update the Quicken Canandaigua-National-Bank checking-account register relative to our online Canandaigua-National-Bank whatever.

The mighty MAC.

Used to be CNB updated the Quicken-register via the Internet — nifty, but rather flaky. Occasionally transactions wouldn’t download; or post, whatever; in which case you had to go through the CNB online statement and post the transactions yourself.
Then Quicken decided to no longer support Internet-functions for Quicken-2003 — which is what I use.
I thought it might lunch the stockbox at the mighty Mezz, but apparently it didn’t. Apparently all it was was the login. Since the mighty Mezz was logging-in every day, it never tanked on them.
But since I wasn’t, and could no longer log in, I can no longer access the Quicken-portfolio.
This also meant I was no longer able to download the CNB transactions; which meant posting them manually myself.
But that wasn’t a hairball; since I already had to go through the CNB site to see what transactions hadn’t posted.
The download posted online bill-pays, ATM-transactions, deposits, and cleared checks.
Doing it that way saved a lotta time, but I had to check the CNB-site anyway for what hadn’t posted.
So now I post manually; since 2003 can’t do Internet.
Conceivably I could upgrade Quicken, but why bother? 2003 is doing all I do, and I’ve heard various sordid dramas about Quicken-upgrades — like how it likes to delete data-files (the executive-Es just passed; uphill, no train).
In fact, 2003 has bells-and-whistles I don’t use — all I’m doing is account-registers which it will reconcile. I have our checking-account, our Visa-account, and our home-equity loan (which — cue Bluster-King — is only a tiny maintaining balance).
In fact, it even operates under OS-X; a pleasant surprise. I wasn’t expecting it to.
I figured it would end up being the onliest “classic-mode” app I had — it’s antique. But it operates under OS-X.
When I update the Quicken CNB-register I see if it balances against their web-site. All it would be is add the uncleared checks to the ending balance.
But CNB was $560 less than Quicken.
“So what?” bellows the bluster-boy.
But long ago I worked for a bank, and know 1) the account can and should balance; and 2) the bank occasionally makes mistakes, and likes to hang their customers relative to how much income they turn over — for which reason you have to watch them like a hawk.
We’re just small potatoes; not an executive vice-president of Xerox with 89-bazilyun dollar loan balances.
Our checking-account probably costs them money, despite a $15,000 balance.
And according to the latest scuttlebutt, our Visa-account is worth little, since we pay off the entire outstanding balance monthly; instead of maintaining a huge outstanding balance and paying them mega-loads of interest.
So when I update the CNB-account I verify that it balances.
But last night it didn’t — to reiterate: The CNB-balance was $560 less than the Quicken.
It was about 9:30 when I discovered this — which meant by 10 p.m. things were getting insane.
You’re also dealing with overlapping on a ‘pyooter-screen. One thing obliterates the other.
I’ve also learned it makes little sense to try finding an error at 10 p.m. It’s called stroke-overload. Frustration overtakes reason. I have two Visa-statements to put together, but they’re waiting for a morning; since p.m. turns into a disorderly mess.
Our taxes need a morning too. I started them the other night, but only did “Schedule A;” doable even at 9 p.m.
So finally at about 10:30 I shut off this here rig and we went to bed — error unsolved.
This morning was “down-and-dirty” time. I printed the entire CNB-site, and then the entire Quicken-register: over 40 pages in all. Back-and-forth on a ‘pyooter-screen is impossible for a stroke-survivor.
The print-outs went next to the can. I know there are two outstanding checks, each a membership in the Western New York Irish-Setter Club; $20 each.
That’s $40; subtracted from $560 equals $520; added is $600, which — hello — is the amount of an online bill-pay against our line-of-credit.
So, easy-as-pie; the online bill-pay for $600 had never been entered.
So now the Quicken-register balances. Toy not with the master!

RE: “Stockbox at the mighty Mezz:” every day the Canandaigua Daily-Messenger newspaper ran a small stockbox of about 15 local stocks: the open/close/change/percent change thereto. I had preparation of that stockbox down to about 5-10 minutes by using the Internet.

I’m watching the Horseshoe Curve web-cam in the background. The “executive-Es” are antique streamlined E-units, preserved by Conrail for use on its Executive-trains. The locomotives were still in Conrail paint, even though Conrail no longer exists, and Horseshoe Curve, in Altoona, Pa., is now operated by Norfolk Southern (railroad).

“Bluster-King” and “bluster-boy” are my all-knowing younger brother in Boston who bad-mouths everything I do or say.

I had a stroke 10/26/93.