The U.S. goverment knows that I am John Michael Povey (not Mary Gilliigan).

When I re-entered the U.S.A last June  (in Boston),  (after my fabulous holiday in England and Norway),  the very pleasant immigration officer noted that my passport would expire in January 2015. 
He advised me to renew the Passport ASAP since (according to him) the National Passport Center had a six month backlog.

I (snail-mailed) the passport renewal docs, together with my check/cheque for $110 on September 1st.  My new passport arrived today (September 25th).

That's good work on the part of a Governmental Agency. Despite what Republican/Tea Party/ Libertarian  idiots assert - government works!

My new U.S. Passport asserts that I am indeed John Michael Povey. Three cheers for the bureaucracy!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the private sector,  (i.e. Fidelity Investments) continues to assert that I am "Mary Gilligan" (see yesterday's blog).

In truth the local Fidelity rep. wants me to present my Social Security Card at the Fidelity SRQ office to prove that I am John Michael Povey (not Mary Gilligan). 

Dammit all, why should I have to do this?  Why should I have to do all the work to cover a Fidelity error?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the meantime (and this is a bit scary and a bit good) - the Church Pension Fund has an efficient "trawling" of the social media.

Indeed so efficient that the good folks at the CPF were able to read the concerns that I expressed  yesterday on Facebook. (They must scan the "net" for any and all references to CPF)  

So it was that a staff member at the CPF phoned me today. She assured me that the CPF records note that I am John Michael Povey (not Mary Gilligan), and she promised to follow through with Fidelity to set the record straight.

Good work on the part of CPF .Without doubt.

But  I am more than a wee bit leery about our surrender of privacy when we enter cyberspace

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not remember the words “ar
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were able to get together a few
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur
Read more