SnOMG! 2010; BOA update

Well, the storm didn't disappoint, after all the other badly forecast storms that resulted in nothing. We got about a foot of snow, but what is more impressive is the wind. The drifts are building, and moving any snow is futile as it gets moved right back by the breath of nature.

Around 3am the dogs were barking without stopping, and I felt like my bedroom was exceptionally cold. I got up, checked the baseboards and they were hot. So I walked into the hall where it was freezing.... because our back door had blown wide open. I'm not sure how long it was open, probably not too long because the dogs responded so quickly and were upset by it. I dressed and went downstairs and closed it up. Surprisingly it hit the Christmas tree but no ornaments hit the floor.

I then went back to bed, and was awake for the rest of the morning because I kept waiting for it to happen again (or something else to happen). It was a long four hours.

Doug had me drive him to the train today for two reasons. First, so he didn't have to leave his car in the parking garage and then have it caked in blown snow that he'd have to clear off after his ride back north. Second, because we were to meet with the lawyer about our Bank of America situation, and I was going to pick him up at the train close to the lawyer's office and then he wouldn't have to go retrieve the car after the meeting.

I pre-heated the car and we pulled right out of the driveway. Go Subaru, Go. I'll leave the actual snow removal for Doug because I have no idea how to use the snowthrower.

On the way over to the train station, we discussed our afternoon plans. I said that there was probably a good chance the lawyers would reschedule on us due to the weather. Our governor has declared a state of emergency and told all non-essential/non-emergency humans to not go into work. The fact that Doug's office didn't call or email and tell him not to come in surprised me.

"If they didn't cancel my work day, the lawyers are not going to cancel our meeting."

My phone rang at 8am and it was the paralegal letting me know their office was closed and we rescheduled for tomorrow, same time.

That's okay by me. I don't want to drive around the universe today. Tis a day not fit for man or beast.

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My entry on our fun Bank of America experience has garnered over 5000 views.

It was shared at Universal Hub, Consumerist, the forums at Somethingawful.com (great website, haven't gone there in a long time but I had a lot of fun revisiting it), and several other websites ... several people tweeted my blog post too. I've had visitors from Moscow, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Spain, England, all over Canada and the United States. It has surprised me how many people have visited.

Almost every comment has been supportive or in agreement with us.

Which is a relief. I was completely worried about putting it out there and then getting scads of emails/comments from people that were disparaging and insulting. I thought for certain people would call me stupid, call me names, and say that this situation is all my fault.

One or two people had snide comments but for the most part people get it. And that relieved me greatly.

Someone asked if I'd written letters to BOA because a paper trail is more powerful than my recollection , and yes -- I have. Emails and letters, not just phone calls. AND the day after I wrote that entry someone from BOA called me to start the "we're foreclosing on you" lecture, and I stopped him, told him to read the account, and he came back and said "On January 21, 2009 it says RIGHT HERE that you are in the Making Home Affordable Program and that your new terms are XYZ."

Yeah, I know.

"Whatever you do," he said to me "Don't reapply when you get the packet of info that the last person said he is sending you. You're in the program. You aren't canceled, and I'm sending this to my supervisor to have it addressed and fixed."

I want to believe you. I honestly do, but I do not.

I told him that I wanted a printout of all the notes on my account and he said that he couldn't do that. I want that. I want their "internal" documentation, and if I have to I'll have my lawyer get it by legal means. I want to see exactly the line that the guy read to me, the fact that my notes say that I'm in the plan.

The highlight of that discussion was I told him how sad and ashamed I was for losing my mind and going Mussolini from the Balcony on the kid on the phone who had called me and triggered this entire situation. "That's not me. I don't lose my mind like that, and I feel bad because he's just doing his job and he's a person who didn't deserve that kind of verbal abuse from me."

I told the kid that if he can tell who that guy was, to send him some sort of inter-office email that said "remember that lady from Massachusetts who flipped the mother eff out at you? I got to talk to her and she said she's sorry..."

"I'll do you one better," the guy said. "He's my next door neighbor. He lives next door to me in our apartment complex. I'll tell him in person."

This cracked me up totally. "Please take that kid out for a beer, and apologize for me. I'm so sorry."

That made me feel a little bit better inside... because those of you who know me well know that I honestly feel badly about that whole scene.

So in the meantime, tomorrow we have our meeting and I hope the lawyer can help us. Keep your fingers crossed.

On that note, the woodstove is cranking, the news reports are starting to bore me, so I think I'll actually take a nap. Getting woken up in the small wee hours by the wind is catching up to me.