That other plastic problem
Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 11:54 pm
A whinge or vent, take your pick
It is that time of year again; the time when your various plastic card replacements arrive and you need to "activate" them etc.
I have had three arrive this week and it started me thing about just what we are doing (I will reaffirm that selfsufficientish in practice is still on my dream list but not there yet - the bank insists I keep paying the mortgage)
I took at look at my plastic card collection - I currently have 2 Eftpos cards (1 joint account and 1 personal) 2 Mastercards (as per the eftpos cards) 2 Visa cards (1 corporate (work) and 1 farm) 2 Fishing licences (1 NSW and 1 Vic) 1 Firearms Licence, 1 Drivers Licence, 1 I.D & Authority card (corporate / enforcement) 1 Security Passcard (Dept offices), 1 NRMA Card (viz RAC or AA), 1 Medicare card (public health) 3 membership cards (Co-ops etc) 1 Opal card (public transport NSW) and 1 Myki card (public transport Vic) 19 Plastic Cards!
This prompted me to look at others things I regularly cart around such as technology - 1 laptop plus ancillaries, 1 iPad plus ancillaries (because some programs (Apps) I need to use only run on iPad or iPhone and I can only remotely access my corporate network etc. via laptop) 2 smart (sic) phones plus ancillaries(1 corporate and 1 private because I can't use the corporate for personal tasks and refuse to use the private for corporate) 1 external 1tb hard drive (for secure backup) plus various other pieces. This makes a neat little package of 5 Kg; just withing the cabin luggage allowanges for regional airlines and a little heavier than my overnight bag.
Before I became enlightened and grew wise I innapropriately carried cash and perhaps a cheque book; the people behind the counter at the co-ops knew who I was and asked how the family was; I did have a drivers, firearms and fishing licence (paper); I did have official Identification (paper); I carried 2 pens (waterprooof ink) 1 pocket notebook and 1 A4 hardback diary; if I needed bulky paperwork at my destination I mailed it forward; I bought transport tickets from delightfully helpful people behind little wire screens; I actually could talk to a bank manager who actually made decisions and my offices were not locked in behind automatic security doors and video surveillance.
It is that time of year again; the time when your various plastic card replacements arrive and you need to "activate" them etc.
I have had three arrive this week and it started me thing about just what we are doing (I will reaffirm that selfsufficientish in practice is still on my dream list but not there yet - the bank insists I keep paying the mortgage)
I took at look at my plastic card collection - I currently have 2 Eftpos cards (1 joint account and 1 personal) 2 Mastercards (as per the eftpos cards) 2 Visa cards (1 corporate (work) and 1 farm) 2 Fishing licences (1 NSW and 1 Vic) 1 Firearms Licence, 1 Drivers Licence, 1 I.D & Authority card (corporate / enforcement) 1 Security Passcard (Dept offices), 1 NRMA Card (viz RAC or AA), 1 Medicare card (public health) 3 membership cards (Co-ops etc) 1 Opal card (public transport NSW) and 1 Myki card (public transport Vic) 19 Plastic Cards!
This prompted me to look at others things I regularly cart around such as technology - 1 laptop plus ancillaries, 1 iPad plus ancillaries (because some programs (Apps) I need to use only run on iPad or iPhone and I can only remotely access my corporate network etc. via laptop) 2 smart (sic) phones plus ancillaries(1 corporate and 1 private because I can't use the corporate for personal tasks and refuse to use the private for corporate) 1 external 1tb hard drive (for secure backup) plus various other pieces. This makes a neat little package of 5 Kg; just withing the cabin luggage allowanges for regional airlines and a little heavier than my overnight bag.
Before I became enlightened and grew wise I innapropriately carried cash and perhaps a cheque book; the people behind the counter at the co-ops knew who I was and asked how the family was; I did have a drivers, firearms and fishing licence (paper); I did have official Identification (paper); I carried 2 pens (waterprooof ink) 1 pocket notebook and 1 A4 hardback diary; if I needed bulky paperwork at my destination I mailed it forward; I bought transport tickets from delightfully helpful people behind little wire screens; I actually could talk to a bank manager who actually made decisions and my offices were not locked in behind automatic security doors and video surveillance.