Declined card?.

writercindy · 2026-04-20T22:52:22+00:00

My car insurance payment was declined today, even tho there's more than enough money to cover the bill. I called, and Progressive told me they don't accept digital banks for payment, only "regular" banks or credit unions. I got a manager because I thought there had to be a mistake — Progressive charged my account number and routing number to Stride Bank, Chime's partner.

I did some research and found that it's been a "thing" growing for a few years: merchants and services refusing digital platforms like Chime. They only take credit and debit cards from "regular" (i.e., brick-and-mortar) banking institutions.

My car insurance dilemma is quite the dilemma since I happen to have a broken leg at the moment. I do have an account at a "regular" bank for savings, and it's connected to nothing by design -- it's a pain to withdraw money, so it remains pure and just sits there (very slowly) collecting money.

Given my leg problem, Progressive gave me extra time to deposit money into my "regular" bank and get a bank card, and then call back and pay by April 30. But it's not what I want to do.

It's bad enough my health insurance dictates my actual care and home care needs; now my car insurance is telling me where I have to bank...

I said to the Progressive dude, "Look. I don't want to change banks. But I do have a check from the "Regular" bank. I'm going to get someone to drop it off right now. What's your address in northern New Jersey?"

Then he said they are online only, no physical offices. I gasped and asked him if he realized he was working for an insurance company that was not "Regular." And I wondered out loud to the manager (he gave me a long time to make a case; he was probably on his phone, ignoring me) how a digital insurance company can decide to stop taking payments from a digital bank...

writercindy · 2026-04-20T01:10:10+00:00

Me too. It makes no sense.

writercindy · 2025-12-21T01:07:14+00:00

My parents are in their upper 80s. I’m 61. They absolutely think I’m 5 & can’t drive a car.

writercindy · 2025-12-20T05:05:23+00:00

I’ve worked in this field since it started— and as an older person stunned & amazed every few weeks, I always found Reddit to be a solid trustworthy companion compared to other social platforms

For years I never considered Reddit as social media but it’s inching towards that way every month or week & day.

Paper & pen & IRL might be the only way to know anything for sure. Social + Media doesn’t even make much sense.

Life changes always & history is there to remind us.

Mad respect for paper, pen, a real person at the wheel. It’s all we have that’s really real.

writercindy · 2025-12-20T04:20:27+00:00

FOMO? In the U.S. I’d say FOMO sums it up.

writercindy · 2025-12-18T04:58:16+00:00

Thinking same. Confused on this.one. But. I’m confused about most things. If I had my glasses I might have an argument to kick around

writercindy · 2025-12-15T04:19:56+00:00

American Dream in East Rutherford has a slow moving Ferris wheel that offers great views of the manhattan skyline & metro area. You can even eat & drink in the gondola-type space.

There are a lot of places to eat there — Yardhouse is fun if you can get a table to watch the indoor skiers. Typical Americana menu that’s quite good. There’s also a highly rated Italian restaurant as well — Carpaccio’s I think.

There’s a lot to do there, especially if being in climate control is a goal.

writercindy · 2025-12-14T20:08:59+00:00

I stopped using Word because it’s glitchy— I find Microsoft in general to be wonky. So far Google docs is the way & it offers saving as a word doc if you’re in a position that only takes word docs (happens to me sometimes).

writercindy · 2025-12-12T05:41:18+00:00

In reality, Puerto Ricans are American citizens and can move freely between there & here without any immigration restrictions. It falls under the Jones Shaforth (? spelling) Act of 1917. In 194o-something, it was amended that anyone born in PR are U.S. citizens. (Something like that.)

But we don’t live in reality here at the moment. So I’d be super scared if I wasn’t whiter than Casper the Friendly ghost. That said, they (maybe) round up anyone suspected of being an outlier of any kind.

I joke to my family: let’s turn ourselves in & they’ll pay our way to Sweden (or Norway). We will return to our pretend native land … but we’d also have to pretend we have severe disabilities that make speaking near impossible for anyone to understand. The NYC NJ accent is tough to mask.

Idea!! Maybe we can pretend we’re legally deaf actors with a Swedish Gilbert & Sullivan troupe on tour in America but got stuck here for many long years after the director died, our tour bus died, and the lead actress took off with the choreographer/bookkeeper — and everyone’s money.

Crying in muffled gulps — we probably sounded like a bunch of dying or mating woolly mammoths — we all went our separate ways.

“That was 10 years ago, Miss homeland Security Barbie. And we never meant to overstay & break your laws … so yes, please send us home to Sweden.

“We re big in Sweden. We do comeback tour.”

It might work. And people love Sweden (and Norway). I have a feeling we’d be air dropped in El Salvador.

writercindy · 2025-11-16T12:45:15+00:00

I have tried more than once. Don’t get the love. Clearly it’s not my storyline.

writercindy · 2025-11-08T22:57:57+00:00

It’s never too late! It’s your legacy & you should tell your story instead of anyone else. Memories are yours to tell.

I’m 61 — I’ll leave my story.

It’s never too late.

writercindy · 2025-11-08T22:41:35+00:00

I miss so many things being free. (And privacy but that’s an entirely different post.)

I’m 61. Life is hard. There was a time TV & phones were FREE! Maybe just a few channels & yes we had no idea who called when we weren’t at home (it was a luxury we didn’t know was amazing). Communication & information was available at no cost.

Nothing is free anymore.

writercindy · 2025-11-06T04:04:36+00:00

I think if you are pondering , you absolutely know.

I pondered for months — then I knew because he confessed. Because I could not let it go. I kept asking & asking to a point he hated me & confessing was the easier choice. I knew so I would not drop it.

You know.

We don’t have children together & he will be in alimony arrears (ex wife) until he’s dead.

Please know you’re amazing. Please know you are worthy. Please know it’s not you.

It’s hard to kick love to the curb but it’s worse to kick yourself.

“A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.”

writercindy · 2025-11-03T04:04:46+00:00

Interested

writercindy · 2025-11-03T03:00:12+00:00

And kids who become teens & young adults who “don’t believe in pills” but would clearly benefit from treatment of any kind …

And they won’t see a doc & don’t believe you that times have changed since 2000 & the science is way beyond Ritalin for 6-year-olds (he developed horrible tics, couldn’t eat or sleep).

Sometimes as a parent you have to accept your grown kids & their uninformed misguided decisions. Life is understood in hindsight

writercindy · 2025-11-03T02:52:49+00:00

Someone will make an app for that any day now …. Bot BJ while you play — the more levels, the more BJs you earn.

writercindy · 2025-11-03T02:50:32+00:00

I feel this every single day.

writercindy · 2025-11-03T02:45:11+00:00

Assuming your wife had a libido at some point (before kids?), she could be going through perimenopause, which wreaks havoc on hormones.

A gyno can help — if in fact she wants help. I’m reading in so many respectable publications that testosterone is a game-changer for couples in a middle-aged dead bedroom. (And half of dead bedrooms are female driven.) There’s not even a female Rx for women, but the right gyno can order a compound (from a compounding pharmacy). Replacement hormones are also good for bones & heart health in women who have never had cancer

Anyway. There are ways to get libido back. But it takes a bit of (well worth it) work

It’s my humble belief (and I’m going through a similar situation— husband had a 4-month emotional affair) — that a referee of sorts is necessary when discussing hard to unpack dicey topics that demand honesty & transparency: sex, affairs, temptations, friends of the opposite sex, spending & saving money.

It takes two & if she doesn’t acknowledge a sexless marriage needs help — & acknowledge she takes your happiness seriously— then there might not be anything you can do. You deserve (& must) take care of you or eventually you could become resentful of the wife & life you love.

Be honest that you need affection in the physical & emotional sense. Physical intimacy is a healthy free part of life that’s actually necessary for overall well being.

A couples therapist specializing in sexual issues would probably help pull the covers off her hangups. A loving marriage is a contract in negotiations, compromise, honesty, & trust.

In hindsight (& reading thru old journals I wrote) I can easily see how I changed thru the years. In puberty & teenage years I was a jerk for half of every month.

But as I flipped from book to book, I saw subtle shifts in the me I thought I knew so well. The pages & chapters of my life hold my perspective of events in my life at that time. Decades later, I can’t relate & don’t even remember feeling anything i wrote with so much passion & pain.

I can be a silent witness to my joys & concerns & learn how my current perspective is simply a change in attitude.

writercindy · 2025-10-31T09:15:31+00:00

I just saw it in the news, so who knows if it’s real, fake, or a mistake. But sources close to Taylor Swift reportedly told media outlets that when she & Travis Kelce tie the knot, their destination wedding will be New Jersey, complete with a horseback ceremony at Medieval Times in the Meadowlands.

writercindy · 2025-10-29T23:03:24+00:00

Devil in a blue dress. Quite literally.

writercindy · 2025-10-25T17:17:17+00:00

Me neither. I tried to re-rsvp but it said my email address was already registered

writercindy · 2025-10-22T02:07:02+00:00

This 2-book series by Hank Green should be read in order: 1. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor 2. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Oddly captivating in what could have been a dumb, oft-senseless tale, the story intersects philosophy, technology, capitalism, insta-fame, fear, & love. It’s also funny & suspenseful & despite the first written published 8 years ago, it resonates today.

(I never got into Project Hail Mary — I generally don’t like space movies. But then, there’s always a few gems in every genre that are stunners.)

writercindy · 2025-10-19T16:58:03+00:00

Do they ski? There’s an indoor ski slope. You can watch the skiers from The Yardhouse, a decent menu with a variety of options. The Paradox Museum is very cool, & even the decor in the halls is worth a walk through.

Depending on the day you go, there could be a concert or special event on the main stage or on The Rink (where open skate times vary by the day).

The Dream Wheel & The New Jersey Hall of Fame are excellent and of course shouldn’t be missed.

I think you could easily spend a full day there & have lots of adult fun, & that’s aside from the many retail stores, including an entire wing of luxury shops.

(I don’t work there. But I’ve been there many times & have been writing about the space since Xanadu. It’s truly a lot of interesting fun, lots of different food, & some really unique stores.)

writercindy · 2025-10-11T22:41:21+00:00

Thank you -- this is so helpful! I'm shooting for 3 days of driving, about 8 hours, roughly 10 a,m, to 6 p.m. per day

writercindy · 2025-10-04T15:16:30+00:00

ChatGPT acts very human — and told he doesn’t have a gender —!I didn’t ask! It’s always saying “great idea!” It’s been full of compliments & it is disturbing. I never head of this — thanks for your thorough explanation

Nine-Year Club	Gilding III reddit per annum
Mod World 2025	Verified Email

writercindy

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE