*enters tomb-like dust-covered control room, blows cobwebs off panels etc*
ok on sat even i put my card into a cashpoint to get money out
i. as the card went in the screen changed from usual user-friendly promo nonsense (it wz the HALIFAX so it featured HOWARD grrr) to stuff i’d never seen before, some kind of virus screening banner
ii. then it just went black (but still lit up) — after a bit i pressed cancel
iii. the WHOLE UNIT switched off w/o giving me back my card
iv. on the screen was PRIMARY CODE!! i wz starin right into the heart of the entire world bankin system except w/o a keyboard (i may have pressed cancel a few more times)
v. i watched the cashpoint programme boot up from nothing ON-SCREEN, inc.microsoft logo, and the various loading idents of anti virus and security systems, grey bars, system loading, system not loaded, system copied — does this happen often? i don’t believe so
vi. then it just showed “this cashpoint is currently not in service” for a few mins
vii. then it was back online BUT IT STILL HAD MY CARD INSIDE!!
viii. i stood by it forlornly for a bit, telling people what had happened — then i came home and cancelled the card (mon update: no account “activity” to report yet)
revelaed durin discussion of above in another place: howard’s home life!!
