Organ Pipe Cactus NM, Arizona - February 24, 2007

Nathan's Index:

Number of teaspoons full of cinnamon I swallowed on a bet: 1 (Try this. Seriously. It's neat).

Amount the bet was for: $5

Original size of bet: $50

Number of cookies baked on the same pan on which garlic chili fries were cooked earlier that day: 12

Number of times I want to do this again: 0

Pesos paid to a pair of buffaloes to have our pictures taken with them, allegedly for a Native American charity: 8

Minutes later that we saw them changing out of their native American outfits and into turbans: 2

Dollars I saved on the price of admission for the Desert Museum in Tucson by talking about the SCA to the environmental anthropology class being taught by a graduate student doing her work at Organ Pipe: 4.5

Bullets fired by myself on Superbowl Sunday, as part of the pregame festivities: 24

Minimum number of bullet-holes in Charles' house: 1

In Ami's car: 1 (both from previous occasions not involving myself, don't worry).

Feet from which my camera dropped, fortunately without major damage: 2

Feet between where the camera landed and a 100-foot drop: 1

Dollars stolen from me by Chase 'The Right Relationship is Everything' Bank: $979.84

Uh, I guess that last one could do with a bit of explanation. So, here's what happened: After biking to Lukeville (and promptly snapping the pedal off my bike outside the grocery store there), I tried to purchase some groceries, and was told that 'this service is not allowed for your card.' Well, okay, that's weird, I thought, so when I got home, I tried to check my account online, and was told that 'this account number does not match our records.' That's VERY weird, I thought, and dialed up customer service.

Beepboopboop. "Chase banks. Please enter your card number." Beepboopboop. "This card has been reported as lost or stolen. To speak with customer service, press 1." Beep. "Yes, sir, according to our records, this account has been cancelled." "By whom?" "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "Please hold." "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to call back during our normal working hours on Monday."

Beepboopboop. "Yes, sir, according to our records, this account has been cancelled." "By whom?" "According to our records, this account was cancelled by your employer." "I see. Thank you."

Beepboopboop. "Hello, you have reached Theresa, SCA coordinator for the Southwest region, I'm currently on vacation and will return next Monday. If this is an emergency, you can reach our program coordinator at extension 110, the northwest region coordinator at 119, the Beepboopboop. "Okay, don't worry, we'll get that straightened out right away. You should get a new card within the next couple of days."

"To activate card, press 1." Beep. "Your current account balance is... zero... dollars and... zero... cents."

I checked the Chase website again, and discovered that the phone's assessment of the situation wasn't entirely correct. I didn't have zero dollars and zero cents in my account. I had negative $25. Apparently, they'd billed me for the cost of the new card.

Beep. Boop. Boop. "Yes, don't worry, we'll get right on that. Sorry for the trouble." "Oh, no trouble," .

I hope everything's going well for the rest of you. I posted more pictures of Organ Pipe (Now with captions!) online.

Later!