I made a mistake today. I attempted to deal with Corporate America today without taking my daily dose of Fukitol (tm), Here is the result...

Dear Chase.com Customer Service:

In attempting to see what sort of home loan I could qualify for, I encountered a problem that could frustrate, infuriate, cause current account holders to fall into seething, frothing fits of rage. The first couple of steps are easy and trouble-free. Then comes the question "Are you a current account holder?" and "Do you have a User ID?" I said yes to both, because I am and I do. I entered them both and my password when asked, and I was redirected to a log in page. I logged in.

 Again.

Then I was taken to my main accounts page. No prompt to continue the pre-qualification process, just

 "Here's your accounts,Yo!"

I figured I screwed up somewhere. so I tried again, reading all instructions with great care. I followed the steps. "Your accounts, Good Sir!" Said your responsive and efficient database.

Again, I assumed the problem was on my end. I read carefully, followed directions and once again. "Yeah...your accounts. Why do you keep logging in?"

Okay, I made that last bit up, nor do I believe your servers talk to me, but if prequalifying is this frustrating, I'd rather find a large rock and pound my head against it until I've hollowed out a domicile from it, or more likely, rent forever, than pursue a Home Loan.

Please, tell me all home lenders aren't like this? Or is it like admittance to a Buddhist Monastic Order? Do I need to log in for 3 days and night before I'm allowed to see if I prequalify? This is my first time buying a home and the whole process is foreign to me.

Help me, JPMorganChase, you're my only hope. (Well, not really, but as banks go you seem less evil than most)

Sincerely,
--Mike Jordan

Yes, this is a nearly exact copy of the email I sent to chase.com's customer service team, I made a few formatting changes, and added the pictures, because, well, refer to the frog. The automated system promised a reply in two business days. We'll see. Or Must I really repeatedly log-in for three days and nights? 

A Review: The Book of the Nine Ides, by Benjamin Goshko

Benjamin Goshko’s Book of the Nine Ides presents a lot of interesting ideas. You have a transgender teenaged protagonist apparently suffering from a mental illness, an epic fantasy world full of magic and mystery and a recurring theme of guilt and self-sacrifice.

Basically, Goshko has enough material for three great books. Unfortunately, at least in this readers opinion, Goshko put them all into one very short book or very long short story. It has a lot of potential, I’ll give it that. It’s well edited and well told. Goshko is very adept at putting us inside Ashley’s head, he never gets lazy or strays to stereotype. She develops in a compelling and logically way throughout the read Unfortunately, a lot of the supporting cast don’t get the same treatment. Most of them seem very static as far a character arc should go. This is forgivable, though, because the Book of the Nine Ides is primarily Ashley’s story.
My only major complaints are a few unresolved plot points and one utterly predictable confrontation. We are told about a lot of Ashley’s past, as a reader, I’d rather be shown.

Also, Personally, I thought it was a little short to be priced at $2.99.

In short: A good quick read. 4 out of 5 stars.