A Sad Day in Brockville

Today (Saturday) was a sad day in Brockville. It was sad because our BFs Gwen and Glenn were returning to Toronto and so we had to say goodbye, though we Bears prefer “Aufwiedersehen” which is German for, till we meet again. Our BBF and Pat were going into Brockville to shop after breakfast so they started the sad farewell and tears welled up when Alan gave each of them a hug. Our BBF is of an age where one never knows if ever one will meet again, which is why farewells are tearful. 

Pat and Alan went first to an ATM in the supermarket  to get cash. Alan was sure he knew the PIN of his knew VISA Debit card, after all he had used it twice correctly in Germany before leaving. However, his Canadian adventure worked to make him forget! As the ATM took him all the way to showing the exchange rate for the transaction he and Pat believed the PIN was correct and the problem lay elsewhere. The humans went to the lovely Market in town and Alan tried the Scotiabank while Pat did some shopping. This time the Scotiabank swallowed the card!! Scheibenkleister!!! Though our BBF used a much stronger Anglo-Saxon word. 

He went to find Pat and his nerves took over and he had to find a loo quickly. Bless her she quickly took him by car to a Public Toilet nearby. He now had time to think and assess the situation and needed to return to the house and his iPad to obtain Emergency telephone numbers for the Bank back in Germany. For many years before and during the Circumnavigation our BBF had three different Credit Cards and a Gold American Express Card. Now he had only one Credit Card and the Debit card he had just lost. Part of this whole Banking problem has been caused by the cessation of the Maestro Debit Card Service which  had been part of the Giro Card system in Europe. 

Back at the house he now saw where his error lay. He had put in 5464 and should have put in 5646!!! He rang the Bank in Germany and eventually told some woman of his plight, she now unknown to us also blocked his VISA Credit card as well. She told him he would have to ring again on Monday as there was no one there to deal with the matter!! Agh!!

After lunch Pat took him to her bank which was open to obtain her IBAN details so he could use his Bank App to transfer the money he owed for the adventure we had all just had.  Canada and the USA don’t use the IBAN system like Europe they are still on the SWIFT system. More Agh! After some additional shopping in the Supermarket close by they returned to the house. Alan now used the Web to find out how to transfer money to Canada. He discovered that via PayPal and the XOOM system he could easily transfer money, which he then did. He was now a much happier Teddy and relaxed a bit.

We Bears spent the rest of the day and evening doing our best to recount all of our adventures in the Algonquin provincial park. 

There was a Spare Rib festival going on in Brockville and Pat and Dan went there to get some Ribs and Beans for the humans evening meal.

Alan said the Ribs were good but not up to the standard of Dan’s smoked Ribs on the day we arrived. The humans enjoyed their meal then retired to the TV room for the evening. We Bears continued our writing and so missed out on the ice cream Pat served later. Our BBF also packed his bags for on Sunday we were leaving.

Alan checked the status of his USA ESTA Visa and saw it was approved and so asked Dan to print it out, for no one wanted any more problems at the Border.

So ended a disastrous but good last day in Brockville.