[geeks] a warning to the self assured

[alex j avriette]

for years, i have been not keeping a checkbook. i make enough that i am 
not worried about "running out" of money. the only time ive ever really 
been bitten by this system is every once in a while (its happened two or 
three times), i find out i have less money than i thought i did. so, i 
pay the $20 (or x checks * $20) "being cocky" tax, and move on.

i pay for almost everything with my credit card, so i can track it all 
online. but things like my water (drinking not utility), cable, and 
phone need to be paid by check. this is ok, since theyre all less than 
$100.

i literally get my statements from the bank and throw them away without 
reading them because i dont want them cluttering up the house. i check 
my online statement every other day or so, and things mostly stay in 
check. im pretty happy with the system.

today, all this changes. i bought myself a handspring treo, im getting 
quicken, and im going to be keeping track of all these damn transactions.

here's what happened:

so i get a phone call this morning from a machine and im thinking its 
telespam. however, i hear that its comcast and theyre concerned my cable 
might be off. so i push 1 to talk to the operator, and they explain i 
have a $230 overdue balance. well *i* know that all my bills have been 
paid with comcast since i wrote the checks, and they were cashed. i even 
review the checks when they come every month from the bank just to see 
(call me weird) what they look like after theyve gone through X 
institutions billing department.

anyhow, so i call them up, and im not a little pissed. i explain that i 
pay my bill _every_ month. they said that they havent gotten a payment 
for december, january, or february. ugh.

so i hang up on the drone, and go look at my current bank statement and 
my current comcast bill. the bill says (i just got it yesterday) that i 
have a $230 balance, and that they received a payment on 3/26 for my 
february bill. well my bank statement here has a check dated 2/1 for the 
amount they say they received 3/26. the date on the check says it was 
cashed 3/11.

i realize, looking at my statement, that there is no way i can prove i 
paid these damn comcast people without paying significant bank charges - 
$X per copy-of-check and $Y per copy-of-statement. plus time and hassle 
when my account is overdue and im applying for a damn DoD clearance (so 
I cant afford any "black marks" right now!).

all i can do is pay the comcast bill. which i know is an error. for 
$250. and swallow my pride. and keep track of my damn cash flow in the 
future.

what makes me sick is i didnt make a mistake here, comcast made a 
mistake. i did in fact pay my bills. this, i guess, is similar to the 
adage "youre only as safe as the least safe driver on the road" -- you 
shouldnt drive around without a seatbelt because you are convinced you 
wont get yourself into a car accident.

ive met many geeks (interestingly, mostly all unix geeks) who practice 
this banking-by-iq methodology. perhaps this stems from the "that could 
never happen, i know every byte of every file on this machine" ideology. 
at any rate, consider this fair warning that the idiots out there will 
take advantage of your trust in them (and your trust in yourself).

alex

--
alex j avriette, perl hacker
avriettea at speakeasy.net
http://envy.posixnap.net/