I can go for long walks but waiting drains me more

I have been sharing with you that I can go for long walks, however, waiting drains the energy out of me more.

Banks. Yup. I'm talking about banks.

Those institutions where you put your money into.

I don't know how it is in your country, but here in the Philippines, doing business with the bank can be a nightmare. Why? Because of the waiting time. A mere update on your account will take hours at most.

Last Saturday, I was out early for a morning walk because finally, the night before that, I was able to secure an appointment at DFA for passport renewal. I finally received an email indicating there a reference number. That number will be valid for 24 hours. It will be a reference number that you will use to pay in authorized payment centers to secure your appointment. That's why I took that opportunity to go out early for a walk and at the same time make payment for my appointment.

I stopped by one of the branches of my bank to withdraw money that I will use for the appointment and allowance as well. The machine I used has no receipt available which was fine. I did my withdrawal and all went well. As an after thought, I decided to make a balance inquiry. I re-inserted my card into the machine but then it said that the card cannot be read. That happens a lot and most of the time, machine ejects the card. That time, it did not. It just keeps flashing the message that the card cannot be read then it showed a message that the card was retained.

It was the first time that happened to me. I waited a few seconds but the card did not eject so I thought my card was captured.

Because the bank will not be open for a couple of hours, I then went ahead and paid for my appointment and then did my morning walk.

I went back to the bank and reported my card being captured. They did check not only the machine I used but all the machines and found nothing. They then advised me to apply for replacement to the branch where I availed that card. They can do it on that branch but I have to present two valid ID's. Unfortunately, my passport expired and I only have one available ID which is not enough. So the solution is to go to back to branch I opened my account for that card.

I did go today to the branch where I opened that account. The process took me half a day. All I did was fill up the Affidavit of Loss form and had it notarized by a lawyer across the street. I had to go back to our apartment for I forgot my ID and then went back to the bank. The clerk who processed that took no less than 10 minutes. So you see, it would have been just an hour or so at most and not take up the entire half day for that to be done.

At the end of the day, I was grateful that it was done and that I will be able to get my new card after two weeks. I don't mind the wait as long as I will get my card by then.

Throughout the process, there was nothing to do but suck it up and patiently wait. There is no use complaining or raising hell because that's the way things are done. One of the reasons why I like to do my transactions online is to avoid the waiting time. A lot of times, a lot of times wasted.

I forgot to bring a reading material with me or something to entertain me. I could have fiddled with my phone while waiting which I did a bit but I took that opportunity to avoid screen time.

Also, I had a quick visit at our parents' home. I ordered from a friend some moist cakes and brought that home. What I like about visiting our home is that I have more to bring when I leave. I had bananas, some rice delicacies which I love and of course the coffee that was sent by my brother last month.

So you see, it was still a good day. The weather was okay. It did drizzle a bit but not for long, my business with the bank was done and I got a lot of stuff from home. God is good!