“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
Walt Disney
It’s a good job I’m a seasoned backward runner (14th fastest backward runner in the UK in 2011!) [Editors note: Is there any limit to your talents?] because I’ve been taking a lot of backward steps recently! Annihilating my feet thus preventing my volcano traverse, the beating and mugging in Chile which effectively prevented my Peruvian journey (and led to me having to buy phone number 5!!!).
I needed some good news… a little nugget of joy to chase the blues away.
I’d contacted my bank the day after the shenanigans in Valparaiso, Chile. I asked them to cancel my card, advised them that there was a strange transaction and also supplied them with a secure address to send my replacement card. This was all done via secure email… a very handy service provided by N&P Building Society (coupled with zero overseas transaction fees… I highly recommend them to my fellow travellers, although they do have one flaw, but we’ll get to that later).
So the new card arrived in 7 days! Winner! Much handier than the 6 weeks it took for the last one to arrive (oh Costa Rica… what memories).
The blues were officially banished! I just needed my PIN to arrive and I’d be off on my wanderings again…
….. no, no, no Fray!
I’m not aware of committing any heinous acts recently, but it would appear that Karma is a harsher judge (either that or she just takes great delight in repeatedly kicking me in the nuts).
A quick scan of my online banking revealed that, 2 days after emailing the bank to cancel my card, there were a few transactions!
In these harsh economic times it seems most countries are feeling the squeeze… but not Chile! Well, certainly not after that weekend! Apparently I single-handedly boosted their economy to the tune of £400…… how nice am I??????
How the punchy fellows got my PIN is beyond me, but I hope they invest it in something worthwhile… a nice handbag perhaps, that would be apt… because you punch like a girl!!!
The one flaw with the secure email service? They don’t do weekends.
Now let’s hope their fraud team are as efficient as their postal team… otherwise my remaining weeks are going to be PRETTY grim!