Musings & Thoughts for Monday, October 19, 2020: Of Clouds – Metaphorical and Otherwise – Over My Head

Good afternoon, Dear Reader. It’s a bit after 3 PM here in New Hometown, Florida, and apparently a cold front must be passing through; outside, the temperature is 73˚F (23˚C) under partly sunny skies. With humidity at 96% and the wind blowing from the east-northeast at 14 MPH (23 KM/H), the feels-like temperature is 73˚F (23˚C). From the dimness of the light coming through my window blinds, it looks as though the sky directly overhead might be cloudier than it is at the weather reporting station generating the data on my computer’s Weather app.

If I am going to go for a walk, I should do it soon; the forecast for the evening calls for rain showers, and if I wait for The Caregiver to go out and run errands after work, I might not get a chance to go for even a brief constitutional. So I’ll try to make this post short and sweet.

Today I had a bit of trouble while making a donation for the campaign of a Democratic challenger to the super-wealthy Republican member of Congress who represents my district here in New Hometown. I was on the ActBlue page, trying to make a modest – $11 – donation to the candidate I already voted by mail for when, all of a sudden, a popup for the “Make a $500 Donation” option appears right under my mouse pointer just as I’m trying to finish the original transaction.

I tried to move my mouse pointer so it would not click on the “Make a $500 Donation” link, but it was too late. Because I was already in the middle of making one legitimate donation – for $11 – the mouse clicks to authorize that one also authorized the unwanted, unnecessary, and unwelcome $500 one.

Man…whoever designed the ActBlue site is a moron. Not only is it created in such a way that it actually tries to get you to make bigger donations or regular donations, but it makes the process of canceling erroneous donations incredibly difficult. It doesn’t have a “Cancel Donation” button that’s easily accessible to a user. Instead, you have to jump through a series of hoops in order to undo a mistake that was partially caused by the functionality of their website’s design.

To make a long story short, it took me a couple of hours before I finally got Act Blue to return my accidental donation of $500.

Thanks for contacting ActBlue! This email is to confirm that we have refunded your contribution (reference #: Redacted) made on 19 Oct 2020:

Committee or organization: Redacted Date Paid: October 19, 2020 Amount: $500.00

You should see this credit post to your account within 1-2 business days. If you have any other questions, please reach out to us at (email).Thank you for your support! The ActBlue Team

It might take a few days for the refund to be credited to my credit card account, but at least I don’t have to go through the process of disputing it with the bank that issues the card. I already have enough complications in my life; I don’t need a $500 credit card bill hanging over me like yet another black cloud.

Speaking of black clouds, I should put on my walking shoes, a hat, and a windbreaker and go for that walk before real rain clouds drift over my neighborhood and catch me unawares while I am out for a stroll.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger says in The Terminator film series, “I’ll be back!”