The Stinging Bite of Discrimination...

Today I felt the nasty sting of discrimination. I felt like a 3rd class citizen, and was basically told that my government has branded me a terrorist because I am a full-time RV’er.

Jim and I decided that since we are all over the country with his job that we should open another bank account at a bank with a large national footprint to make it easier for us to do our banking. So after his day was done at work, we headed out to a bank that has branches all over our country. I won’t name names here.

We were told that our address is not residential. (We use Postnet for all of our mail and have a regular street address) Because we did not have a residential address, we were denied a bank account because of the Patriot Act. Now, I could give them my son's or daughter's address for a physical address, and that would work. But, to both Jim and I, that is wrong! It also makes us feel as if we have to have someone vouch for us, when that is totally unnecessary.

Jim and I were both born in this country. We are both fiercely loyal to our country, and Jim is a Veteran of the Vietnam Era. Jim’s job (starting Monday) is inspecting the natural gas pipelines to make sure they are safe and properly built. That is to protect you- the American citizen. Because of this job we travel nationwide and live full-time in a 40 foot motor coach. Until today he inspected residential natural gas lines, distribution lines, and meters to make sure the residents and users of that natural gas were not exposed to leaks, and that those residents are safe in their homes when it comes to the subject of their natural gas service.

Because he does this, and because we live on the road, we do not have what is classified as a physical address. Without this physical address, we cannot open another bank account. I resent this greatly. It makes me angry that my government to whom I pay taxes has allowed this to happen. There must be some sort of amendment that can be added to the Patriot Act to help people like us. There are over 2,000,000 (not a typo - that IS TWO million) full-time RV’ers out there on our nation’s roads. Have we no rights? It’s not like I was asking the bank to give us a loan. I was asking them to take my money!

I would like everyone that reads this blog to write to your Senators and your Congressman, maybe even your local TV station. Jim is out there doing a job to keep YOU safe, and we are denied a simple thing like a bank account!

It’s very easy to drop your government officials a note. You can do it online. And if you don’t know who your Senators are, or who your Congressman is, then you can find that out too with just a few keystrokes. It will only take a few minutes of your time, and maybe it will get some action. Go here to find your Congressperson and write to him/her. You only need to choose your state and enter your zip to find your Congressperson. Go here to find your Senators and write to them. You need only enter your state and the information for your Senators will be given to you along with a contact link.

Here’s the note I just sent to both of my Senators, and to my Congressman. Please feel free to copy and paste making a few adjustments for yourself, particularly if you are not a full-time RV’er:

Dear Sir,
We have been discriminated against because we are full-time RV'ers. The reason for this is the Patriot Act.
Today we went to a bank to open a new checking account at a nationwide banking institution. Because we have only a mailing address and no residential address, we could not open an account. It was explained to us that this is because of the Patriot Act, and to keep terrorists and other undesirables out.

Jim is employed traveling this country inspecting natural gas pipelines to assist in keeping the citizens of this country safe.

We travel in a 40 foot motor coach. We both have good reputations that we work hard to maintain. Neither of us even have a passport. We have no desire to go outside the USA. We were born here, raised here, went to school here, worked here, raised our children here, went to war for this country in the Vietnam era, and now we are told that we cannot have a bank account here?

There are more than two MILLION full-time RV'ers on the roads in this country. A good portion of us are on the road working at jobs that require heavy travel, and so we live in motor coaches, fifth wheels, travel trailers and the like. As a result, it appears that full-time RV'ers have been branded as "domestic terrorists." It is very unfair to us that we should be discriminated against in this manner. Can there be some sort of amendment to the Patriot Act to counteract this situation? Can you possibly introduce such legislation?

After you finish writing your Elected Government Officials, please go shopping!

Baby, it's cold outside...

Sunday morning we woke up to snow. Monday morning we woke up to snow. Monday afternoon it snowed some more and this time heavily! It seems like just as it melts away, it replenishes itself. Our furnaces are running full tilt to keep us warm. The dog shivers all over when we take her outside, even with a coat on. Jim and I shiver too. We just aren’t used to weather like this. After 30 years in Florida and the past almost seven years of following the sun, my old body really feels the cold. I feel really badly for Jim. He’s out there working in this frigid weather.
It is beautiful, though. I could just sit and watch out the window all day while it snows. I do long for a fireplace. That would make it just perfect.

We are expecting more snow today or this evening, but just flurries. For now, it's sunny, sunny, sunny and frigid cold outside. We woke up today to a reported 13 degrees. BRRRRRrrrrrr….. It’s no wonder the furnace ran all night. We haven’t had an opportunity to go up to Estes yet. I can’t wait. They got 13 inches of snow just yesterday, and they are only about 30 minutes up through the canyon from here. They are 3500 feet higher though.

We had to order a new awning at Camping World. The patio awning is beginning to rip away a little and leaks like a sieve. We have our fingers crossed that they can get it this week and installed on Saturday. If not, we’re going to have to figure out how to get the installation done because of a six-day work week for Jim. We may have to spend a night in their parking lot, let Jim go to work from there, then come home and pick it up. I suppose I could drive it down there, but I’d really rather not because he’d be worried all day long about things.

Big news! Jim is leaving Southern Cross Corp. His last day will be this Friday. He starts a new job next Monday. The pay increase is enough to make us financially comfortable, not having to worry if he has a rain day and the loss of that income because he can’t work when it’s raining. I know that his burden will be lightened. That really ought to lower his blood pressure a little. I’ve been a little worried about him. He gets fired up about something and you can just look at his face and watch his blood pressure rise! He never yells, or even raises his voice about anything. He’s a very passive guy. It’s just one of the many reasons I love him so very much. I still say I married Peter Pan and Chatty Cathy all rolled into one person. And, Health Insurance! Finally – we can get regular checkups once that kicks in.

We don’t have anything to report on the issue with Ohio right now. A termination of payment order came in the mail last week. I suspect that’s because they have to balance their books against the books in Florida. Once that’s done, this should all be over with finally. I sure hope that the attorney can make them pay his fees. It would be nice to not have to pay out a lot of money for something you shouldn’t have had to deal with anyway. Of course we haven’t gotten to that part of this issue just yet.

Not much else to write right now. I promise to try to post again within a week or so instead of a month.