7.27.2000

Blather. With a capital B.

I've never been disenchanted with Canada Trust. Not in the six years I've been with them. I'd hated CIBC, I'd hated Bank of Montreal, I'd hated Royal. And then, on Tim's suggestion, I hooked up with Canada Trust and it was like my banking could breathe again. I have been consistantly astounded at the courtesy, politeness and I'llgowayoutofmywaytopleaseyou-ness of the CSR's on EasyLine. I find EasyWeb insanely useful. And without ever realizing it, without even questioning it, I trusted a corporation wholeheartedly. And once more...

That corporation was a bank.

And so, when I went to my first Cirrus Plus Citibank ABM in Brazil (after caling EasyLine and Mastercard to ensure everything would work fine down here and being assured it would) and it didn't recognize my card, I didn't panic. When I called and they suggested I go to the Cirrus Plus Brazilian bank, Itàu, and that didn't work, I didn't fret too much.

Krista, the fabulous woman on EasyLine, was mortified at my predicament and had me issued a new card, keeping the old one open (which is generally against the rules). She arranged to have my Branch courrier the new card to me in Brazil. I stayed entirely cool... cause I held the trust in Canada Trust. I took down the number of the branch, just in case anything went wrong.

I'm in customer service - in the fix it business, and I've always sworn that one bad repair situation can ruin a decade of good CS to a customer. Today I am proof. I called to change the address they would be sending it to me (as I no longer have any faith that I'll stay in one place for more than a week at a time). And the *manager* of Customer Service - a manager of absolutely astounding CSR reps - talked to me. Told me yeah, they would courier it to me, at a service charge of a hundred bucks. I didn't blink an eye. I'm completely willing to pay to ensure that everything's copasetic with the way I get my money down here.

Then this charming woman told me that I was probably wasting my money as the card would probably be demagnetized by the time it came. She said I should just cash advance on my MasterCard. I explained once, twice, three times, that I didn't have a PIN number for the card, I didn't speak Portuguese and I worked 12 hours a day - which include all of the hours the bank is open. She told me the bank couldn't help me. She was rude, she was in no way compassionate. She told me it would take two weeks for my demagnatized $100.00 service charge card to arrive.

I was non-plussed, but I figured one bad apple, and all that...

So I took an hour off this afternoon and I went to a bank that solicits MasterCards - I had been assured by the be-atch that any bank that offers credit with MasterCard is required to allow cash advances. She neglected to stipulate that providing cash advances by ABM's count. After 45 minutes of straining, exhausting broken talking Portuguese charades, I found out that I can not get a cash advance from a live teller down here.

So pretty much - I'm screwed.

Sorry nothing's very Brazillian about this post, but it's certainly an Expatriate thing. I haven't felt this far away and impotent since I left home.

 

Oh... don't worry.
I'll sleep and feel better in the morning.

posted by The Mo of Space and Death 17:42 (her time) @

Oi Todos...

Went to Campinas yesterday. I found out I'm moving there as of Monday. It's a smaller city (1.5 million) about an hour and a half north-west of here ( I think). It's where the Call Centre I'm working on is located. No idea how long I'll be there. Couple weeks at least. Not sure how I feel about that, it's a much safer city and I met a couple of women down there that are around the same age as me. One is the Director of Answer Operations (C), one is what would be Brazil's answer to a Senior Associate, and on the Process Management Team. (So, Day... I'm still hanging out with you, in spirit! :)

So with that in mind, it's more probable that I'll cultivate friendships there than here and by proxy, go out more often, but on the other hand, there's a whole list of places and things I wanted to go and see in São Paulo and now it's quite possible I won't be back here for any real length of time. Only yesterday I managed to find myself on the maze of a map that is this concrete jungle. Blather. I dunno. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Partly I'm just tired of packing and unpacking.

So while I've been typing, there's this odd interventionist theatre thing going on behind me in the office. They've launched a recycling program here, and hired a woman to do a performance. Of course I can't understand a word of it. They tell me she's in the dress, demeanor and dialect of one of the other states in Brazil.... Minas Gerais, and she's doing a comedy routine. It's kind of funny what's allowed to interupt business in this part of the world.

Anyways, até logo todos... and do something home-like for me.

posted by The Mo of Space and Death 11:49 (her time) @

Well so much for the market, and so much for my day off this week. It looks like I'm moving to Campinas on Sunday instead. :P

Bosta.
posted by The Mo of Space and Death 16:51 (her time) @

Well the weekend was quiet.

Rainy death, which pretty much decided my course of action for the day. I stayed at home and read Jeanette Winterson's The World and Other Places (Thank you Steve!) and watched endless movies on TeleCine. American Pie, Ever After and much to my brain melting... Atomic Dog.

I really hope that Brazillians don't think it's representative of Canadian Culture. Blarg. It's like a B horror flick meets an afterschool special.

Well, I finally got my computer for work, but still don't expect me to be around all the time. A: It's a desktop not a laptop and B: The internet connection's slow as death. It looks like the bandwidth in Brazil isn't faboo all around. Now I gotta figure out how to get a laptop. I can't buy one here, cause I couldn't take it home, and I can't buy one there, well... cause I'm not there, and I don't think I can ship it in. Blather.

Looks like we're going out to the city's best churrasco on Saturday evening. Pricey, but the Frango's apparently to die for. (That's chicken for those of you in the proverbial portuguese dark ;)

Anyways, just about home time... Tchau!
posted by The Mo of Space and Death 18:24 (her time) @

Mo is in:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Weather in:

São Paulo
Campinas
Rio de Janiero
Macaé
Manaus
Guarujá

Mail me, Dammit!
Expatria Archives

What I'm reading:
Nothing. Too busy.

Never finished:

Recently finished:

Desperately seeking:

Listening to:
Gary Brown: Dain St Live

See:

Campinas
São Paulo