The deck was built when the house was built: 1975. It is a miracle it lasted this long. Beth and I painted it with deck preservative several times. One rotten board got replaced. The deck survives, but the floor of the deck (the decking) needs to be replaced. I am going to do this the legal way. I am going for a building permit.

One starts at the tax office. I have to prove that my taxes are up to date. Peggy gives me paper with a stamp on it. I am up to date. The next stop is Planning and Zoning. Linda is at the desk. She pulls my original plan. The deck on her plan is nothing like the real one. We make updates. She bills me and gives me the plot plan with her stamp on it. I pay the bill and get a receipt. I am cleared by Planning and Zoning.

The next step is Building Inspection. I don't need to replace the entire deck, just the decking. I will use Trex because it is a long lasting, no maintenance product. It is made from recycled material. I like Trex. I draw my plan. Not complete. Have to go home and work on it some more. It is decided to take the back stairs off and reuse the stringers for the front steps, as Trex needs four stringers. I will expand the deck 5 feet by 5 feet....the space where the old back stairs were.

When visiting the Building Inspection Department, be prepared to wait. I sit on chairs in the hall. My companions are contractors and the trades. They need electrical permits, plumbing permits.....all sorts of permits. I am the amateur in the group. There is a lot of grumbling going on about wasted time sitting waiting. It takes several visits, a lot of help from the building inspector, but I finally get my permit. It gets displayed on the window right in front of the deck. This lets my neighbors know that my construction is legal.

Next step is to order the special order materials. Then the fit hits the fan.

I receive the following letter from my credit card company: "Your AB CArd account is funded by an independent trust which owns the balances you owe on your account and provides funding for new transactions. We expect the trust to stop funding activity on our accounts. The trust also restricts our flexibility to fund activity on your account. unfortunately, as a result, effective May 30th all AB credit card accounts, including your account, will be closed.

I have only one credit card. That one. The one that was closed. I have never heard of a credit card going out of business. Perhaps this is related to all the bank closings. Anyways, I now have no credit card.

I am a fan of Clark Howard, a consumer advocate. He was discussing on the radio, about identity theft. If your state permits it, Mr. Howard said, you should put a freeze on your accounts with the three credit reporting bureaus. In this way, no one can take out a mortgage or a credit card in your name. It sounded like a good idea, so I did it. My credit report was frozen. After all, I had no need for a mortgage or another credit card.....I thought. I have closed all department store credit cards and use only my one card. In this way, I have good control over my charges.

There is a way to temporarily lift the freeze. It takes writing to each bureau, paying a fee, and stipulating the time for the lifted freeze. I chose 30 days. This is done, but I won't have a new credit card in time for the planned deck construction.

Don and family are arriving in three weeks. They are taking vacation time to build the deck. I am facing a deadline. It will take at least two weeks for the special order materials to be delivered. There is only one solution I can think of: go to the bank and transfer a whopping amount of cash from savings to checking.

The materials are ordered. They will arrive 2 days before my family arrives. I paid by check.