Happiness Is . . .

Happiness is . . . being anal.

Well, I'm not REALLY anal, as anyone who REALLY knows me can attest. I'm too scattered for that.

But about one thing I *am* anal, and it finally paid off, in a way.

I have done my banking online for years, ever since such a novelty was possible. I follow each of my accounts (checking, savings, credit cards) religiously. Usually I check balances and postings at least every other day, if not daily. Some of my friends, for whatever reason, still maintain their accounts the old-fashioned way, waiting for monthly statements, writing paper checks, and either mailing payments or--horror of horrors!--delivering them in person. Some of them even prefer to deal in that ancient commodity, cash.

Not for me.

Everything I can pay online, I do. Paper checks are few and far between. Bank statements are filed unopened, "just in case" because by the time it reaches me, I'm already far beyond what it shows me. I don't carry cash because . . . well, I spend it as soon as I get it.


Not only do I monitor my accounts online in order to make sure my account is never, ever overdrawn, but I also do it so that I can be sure none of my accounts is compromised.

My American Express account even emails me whenever a change occurs in my account, and when I receive that notice, I take a look at the account. Last Friday it paid off. There, in black and white and blue was a transaction I didn't recognize.

11-30-09   LDS Mingle Provo   $14.99

Not a huge amount, to be sure, but it wasn't mine. I hadn't gone ANYWHERE on Monday, November 30. Hadn't made a single online purhase, either. Yet there it was . . . $14.99 posted to Amex that someone expected me to pay.

I immediately sent an inquiry/dispute to Amex.

In researching LDS Mingle Provo, I discovered it was a dating service. For Mormons. Based in Provo, Utah. First off, I'm not a Mormon. Although I have lots of friends in Utah, thanks to my previous participation in the Adopt-a-Native Elder program, I would never have signed up for a dating service. And probably not one aimed at Mormons. Not my charge. Definitely not my charge.

Amex was right on it, credited my account within a half hour for the $14.99.

I'm convinced that somehow or another I hit a button I shouldn't have, which resulted in the incorrect charge. At least no other errant postings have appeared on any of my accounts since then, and I've checked each of them daily.

 Happiness is

. . . online banking
. . . immediate access to information
. . . immediate reversal of erroneous charges
. . . being anal.