Thursday, July 31, 2008

Jim Landed A Big One!

There's something of a kerfuffle over on Stonekettle Sation today. I just read what's there so far, and in lieu of writing a post today, I'm going to make a request. If you visit here, and you're not a reader of Jim's blog, please go read this post. And if you've got a blog, please link his post.

The short story is that a Navy Corpsman was killed in action and a bank in California is being an asshole about releasing the Government money that is intended to pay for his funeral and any other immediate needs the family may have. The bank is hiding behind Federal Regulations that allow the bank to hold a check for 10 business days prior to releasing the funds.

Now, I'm not a banker, but I'm fairly certain that the regulation does not require the bank to put that hold on a deposit, merely allows it to do so. I base this on the fact that my bank clears most of the amount of every check I deposit, nanoseconds after I've deposited the check and it rarely takes more than three days for the rest of the deposit to register, regardless of where the check comes from.

At any rate, some asshole from the bank started making anonymous comments without understanding that Jim could easily trace the IP address back to the bank's server. (Hey, Jim, get a mapquest map based on the Longitude/Latitude info and post which branch the asshole works at.)

Anyway, in his comments, Jim adds that he's never done anything to go out of his way to attract more readers. So, I'd like to try to do it for him. I'm asking you, not only to read the link and the anonymous comments from the idiot, I'm asking you to link the article on your blog too.

Like I said, the number of people who read me and don't already read Jim's blog probably aren't a lot of people. But, if you few link it and ask others to link it, I think a lot of people who wouldn't have otherwise seen this...will.

And, also, Jim's a damn good blogger. You should be reading him anyway.

18 comments:

Jim Wright said...

Thanks, Nathan, you're a prince.

(The prince of friggin' darkness, but a prince, nonetheless.:)


The IP and server map directly to the Niguel Laguna Branch of Downey Savings and Loan - we're guessing that this troll is not the IT manager.

So far it's provided hours of entertainment.

Shawn Powers said...

Nathan, your link is the br0k3. FYI.

Nathan said...

Thanks Shawn,

Fixed.

Nothing like asking people to link to a broked link. Face, meet palm!

Some dude stuck in the Midwest said...

Working in IT for the past 14 years or so, I have never seen an IT guy giving a flying fuck to what people think about the company they work for.

We are a uninvolved-into-company-leave-us-alone-and-let-us-do-our-job sort of people.

Nathan said...

Kisintin,

I doubt the offender is an IT guy. As you said, he wouldn't give a shit about the company and wouldn't be going to the effort to defend them. Also, an IT guy would be supremely aware that he was leaving a trail right back to himself.

Jim presumes (based on fair guesses), that the offender is in some level of management. And totally clueless on a number of topics.

kimby said...

I was late to the party, but i finally posted a link on my site for Jim.

Anonymous said...

As an IT gal - I wouldn't post from a company computer, nor email or IM personal messages from a company address (or computer) - just WAY too many issues with privacy and liability. I also wouldn't assume anonymity at work related to bulletin board posting that purports to be anonymous - like employee hotlines and the like. Just saying. ;)

Steve Buchheit said...

Ooh, you could put that title on your card:

Location Manager Extraordinary
Prince of Friggin' Darkness

Yeah, now that would get their attention.

Random Michelle K said...

Steve, stop giving him ideas!

Jim Wright said...

Well, since we're talking about it -

Downey Savings and Loan (DSL) apparently has an efficient IT dept. They've conveniently labeled each of their computers, and in this case the computer is located in the Mortgage dept. Additionally, they are proud of their facilities and have posted pictures on each of their branch websites. DSL in Laguna Niguel (betwen LA and San Diego) is pretty small, from the picture. Probably would have one, maybe two, folks in the Mortgage office. A bit of searching yielded a Marshall from DSL, who makes some pretty enthusiastic comments about the available foreclosures he has (this, of course, while berating me for "Thinking banks like it when people lose their homes.") I don't think Marshall is too high up in the food chain, his computer is an XP, running 640x800 resolution. So either his eyesight sucks, or he gets the cheap shitty monitor.

Now I can't actually tie "Marshall" to the Anonymous Troll commenting from DSL. "Marshall" posted from a cox net account about an hour after closing time at the NG branch of DSL (their hours are on their website). But in this case I feel pretty confident in 2+2 equaling 4. The timing is right, the comments are similar - same use of verbiage ("Morons"), same faulty logic, same syntax. It's a guess, but I'd give it 90% confidence, I've gone into combat with worse. This morning the same cox net account logged onto SS about 7 AM, then the DSL account logged on an hour later (an hour before opening time at DSL according to their website, just about when employees start arriving). The two have never been on at the same time.

Now, if I could just find a couple of pictures from the employee picnic....

Additionally, DSL is in major shit. They've got a number of class action complaints, numerous customer complaints, mortgage collapse hit them hard, and their stock is tumbling. I was able to download their annual financial reports for the last five years, not good, no really. Then the whole Retmier issue hit the paper.

So, I can sort of see Marshall feeling a bit put upon here - that doesn't mean I'm not going to play with him for a bit. Act like an asshole, reap the whirlwind. Just saying.

Jim Wright said...

Oh, did I mention that I used to be a very good intelligence officer?

Nathan said...

I kind of doubt I was going to take that piece of advice.

Nathan said...

OK, My last comment was aimed at Steve and Michelle.

Jim,

Excellent sleuthing. It really is amazing how stupid people can act when they (stupidly) believe they're anonymous.

I think that's part of why I decided from the very first time I commented anywhere that I wasn't going to even try for anonymity. When you know that everyone knows who you are, it makes you think twice before posting stuff...instead of just being found out when you shoot yourself in the foot.

Way to go Marshall. Good luck with the job search. And if it makes you feel any better, it doesn't sound like your company's going to be employing anyone all that much longer.

Nathan said...

Actually Jim,

I'm kind of surprised that since he's checking up on things repeatedly, he never clicked my link in your comments. I haven't had a single hit from California since yesterday morning. (I just looked).

Anonymous said...

Nathan - I don't think he's continuing to hang out because of subject matter interest - and any curiousity about his fellow participants. I think he's coming back to Jim's thread because he's freaking *afraid*. Because, you see, if Jim pulls the trigger (go, Jim, go), Marshall's gonna have some splainin' to do, that might well end up in the eject button being hit. With force. That industry's in such trouble layoffs and firings are hitting left and right anyway -- before you even consider this particular bank's more acute case of pain in the pocketbook.

So Marshall's only interest here is probably self-preservation - and fear of the oncoming train.

And Jim, I don't doubt that you were a very good intelligence officer. And you could probably hang up your shingle as a very good high-end PI if you chose to and make good money doing so, but you'd be bored with your work and annoyed with your customers.

Jim Wright said...

True, Janiece, true.

I prefer the woodwork. I'm my own boss and do what I want when I want.

Nathan said...

Jeri,

I think Jim meant you. Go easy on him...he's stalking the wide-eyed bank sloth.

I only thought he would have started running around links to see if he's in even more trouble than he already thinks he is.

Jim Wright said...

Oh, yeah. Oops.

Well, that just draws a mustache and a pair of glasses my comment about being a good intel officer now doesn't it.