On Friday night, when we had dinner with Linda and Ken, Tom asked me to bring my credit card that has substantial credit on it as a result of refunds for trips we’d canceled due to Covid-19 issues we mentioned prior posts. Unusual for me, I forgot to bring my “phone/wallet,” Since I’d planned to pay, Tom didn’t get his wallet.
As a result, this morning, Tom drove to Jabula to pay our bill using my credit card to reduce its credit further. Dawn, knowing we’d undoubtedly return to pay our bill, didn’t hesitate to let us out the door without paying. This morning, Tom drove to Jabula and paid the bill, using my card with the credit on it.
When there’s an enormous credit on a credit card, we’ve found that most credit card companies eventually send a check to the address on file. They don’t like customers having credits on a card. I suppose it means they don’t make any money from us, unable to charge us interest on debit balances. We pay off our credit cards every month to prepare for any possible travel-related expenses which may arise.
This wouldn’t work for us. Our billing address is in Nevada. If a check were sent to our mailing service in Nevada, we’d have to pay extra fees to have it sent to our bank in the US. We called the credit card company and asked them to keep the credit on file for three months while we’ll use the card as often as possible to reduce the credit to zero.
We prefer not to use that particular card in local shops, a favorite card offering many travel benefits and rewards. When out and about, the card had been used fraudulently in the past, requiring canceling the card and ordering a new one. To get a replacement credit card here to use in South Africa could take upwards of three months since they send them via USPS snail mail which is a disaster on the receiving end in SA.
During Covid-19, we’ve hardly been on the move, incurring new charges other than rental fees, car rental, food, and entertainment. In the pre-Covid past, we’d have considerable sums to charge on credit cards when we were often cruising, flying, and staying in hotels. We often accumulated many rewards points. It’s certainly not so much now.
There are often “little things” like this that we must pay attention to, often by-products of this extraordinary life we live. Indeed, most of you experience similar issues from time to time, and they can be frustrating, however small. We try to stay on top of such things to ensure they “don’t get away from us.”
In our old lives, we frequently had to call utility companies, cable TV, and other services for errors in billing or service. Now, with our relatively simple lives, with no bills to pay other than credit cards and insurance, it’s considerably more manageable.
Last night, we had another fantastic evening with Linda and Ken. We didn’t get to bed until almost midnight but managed to get a good night’s sleep. I couldn’t help but linger for a while when Tom was up and already outdoors this morning. But finally, always afraid I’d miss something, I bolted out of bed to begin my day.
Recently, I signed up for a free week of AMC to watch season 10 of The Walking Dead. I can’t believe I love this zombie show. Zombies have never been on my radar. Tom had watched seasons one through nine with me in India but finally lost interest in the snarling. I wondered how I’d manage to watch 20 episodes in one week. But I came up with a plan.
If I could multi-task and do old-post corrections on one screen on my laptop and have the show running on a spit screen, I could get the 20 episodes completed by the end of the seven days. I have until midnight tomorrow, May 3rd. So each afternoon, while I worked on the corrections, I found I had no trouble doing both. By the end of today, I should be able to complete and season and then cancel AMC.
Based on the above scenario, I’ve discovered that doing the corrections is made more accessible if simultaneously, I watch something on the split-screen. Tom made fun of me for two reasons; my love of the show and my weird ability to do both activities simultaneously. He always says, “I don’t multi-task, like you.”
So there’s our past 24 hours, nothing earth-shattering but quite enjoyable. At the moment, we’re both sitting at the table on the veranda on a blissfully cool and sunny day, watching Mother Nature present one of her precious beasts after another to bring us more joy.
Photo from one year ago today, May 2, 2020:
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| A mom and her calf cooling off in the river. For more year-ago photos, please click here. |