HOLY FAUCING SHITE

The wall of the surveillance State are closing in.

Was thinking the topic of my new credit card was a big story.  It has been eclipsed.  With relate both.

My credit card expired recently.  I was getting a bit worried as I had not received my new one even after the calendar entered the month it expired.  Mid month, it finally arrived.  It has been a pain to update all my monthly payments.  Am going in to the service shop for phones and packet wifis to get those updated today, if I can.  If not, things are going to get iffy very soon.

A little while ago there were a couple of items I needed for my devices.  I purchased one with my new card with my signature without incident.  The other item was on a different floor and when I went to pay for it, I was told I must use my PIN number.  I have never used the PIN for my credit card.  I want the added protection of actually having to sign my name for purchases.  Tough shite, what I want means nothing.  My new card has a symbol on it and cards with it must use the PIN code.  I have had this card for close to 20 years with it it being renewed multiple times.  I have no idea what its PIN code is.  So I explained that I had just bought something else with it on a different floor and I was able to do so with my signature.  The cashier hit a button and I was able to make the purchase.

This left me wondering if the second cashier was not up to speed on how to ring out credit card payments with signature authority.

The first item I bought worked great and a second one was needed for personal use.  Went to the same register as before but could not use my card without the PIN code.  Now I know it is not a tech issue with new registers or clearing system, it is one of policy.  So I went to a competitor and found that my point card there had enough on it that I paid very little for it.

Since the panic, perhaps before but I don’t think so, cashiers have not handled credit cards.  The card reader is turned towards the customer who inserts the card, types in their PIN and that is it.  There is no verification that the person using the card is the person it was issued to.  With me, after I insert the card, I hit the send button and an electronic pad and pencil are passed over and I sign it.  Well, that was until recently.

Shortly afterwards, my wife sent me to the pet store.  They had a sale on the expensive foods for our cats depending on their needs.  Not wanting to pay for it all in ¥500 coins, the credit card was once again employed.  When I asked to sign I was told that there was no need.  My new card has a wifiish like mark on it signifying that it is able to communicate with their cash register simply by touching it to the receiver in the same manner as the Suica train passes work.  I do not like this at all.  There is now even less verification of who is using your card.  How long until criminals skim all your card data as you walk through a crowded area, or on a crowded train?  I was never given the option to use this new “convenience” or to decline it.  If I want to have a credit card, I just must put up with this lunacy.

But all than pales in comparison to what we learned yesterday.  Readers know of my dire financial situation, my wife does not.  I am hoping to right my capsizing financial ship before she learns of its condition, a hope that is fading fast.  We need to replace our car that we brought new 13 or 14 years ago.  Mechanically it is sound but one electronic system after another is failing or become glitchy.  Too expensive to keep fixing.

Three weekends ago she bought a used minivan from the manufacturer.  2 years old with full new car warranty and loaded with ¥900,000 of extras for the price of new smaller cars we were looking at.  We are now doing al the paper work to get it.  Note to those not in Japan, when buying a car from a dealer, the dealer handles the license plates and insurance and we have to fill out paperwork testifying we have a place to actually park the vehicle and a city official comes to your residence and measures the drive way to verify that the vehicle you are attempting to buy will actually fit.  There is a lot more that we must do than just exchanging cash for the title.

Last night we were looking at the insurance.  The insurance company will send a device to be installed by the dealer that will record how we drive and our insurance payments each month will be based on a driving scoring system that scores speed and brake use among other factors.

My wife is currently looking into if we can opt out of this, at additional cost no doubt, or go with another insurance company that does not, YET, have this.  But just as signatureless and PIN code less credit cards will become universal, or something similar but worse, all privately owned vehicles will have devices that allow governments and corporation to track your car’s movements and what goes on in your car in real time and that day is sooner that we know.