card: updated

Very inconveniently, PNC Bank, my bank in the States, informed me that they had sent me a new debit/check card, one with a microchip in it. The new card represents a radical update to my current, chipless card: it's supposedly more secure, among other things. This puts my bank at about the same level that French debit and credit cards have been at since the early 90s: French cards of all sorts have had microchips in them forever. A chip apparently adds an order of magnitude more cyber-sophistication to a card's magnetic-strip innards.

The abrupt arrival of this card is an inconvenience because my now-former card was due to be replaced by the end of November 2017. I now have to go through the painful ritual of updating every site that was linked to my previous card by typing in a new expiration date (11/2020) and a new CVV2 number (that three-digit code under the card's magnetic strip).

Because PNC had sent my updated, chippy card to my brother's address, David had to mail the card to me. I picked it up last night from the security guard who mans the lobby desk. Well, more precisely, I signed the ledger to verify I'd received the package, then walked around behind the guard's desk to pluck my FedEx envelope from the pile of mail because the guard wasn't there. His security cameras were there, however, so I made sure to move slowly, deliberately, and obviously so as not to appear furtive and suspicious-looking. (Not that a big, lumbering guy like me can ever truly appear as furtive as a ninja.)

It was after 1AM when I went down to the lobby to get the card. Tired, I took the envelope back to my apartment, texted David (with photos) to say I'd gotten the card, then called overseas to activate the new card. With that done, I began going through websites (like Amazon) to update my card info. And there we have it.

I hate doing things like this, but I suppose it's a part of adult living.