Back in the 60’s, soldiers were not the only ones sent to Vietnam. Notaries were as well.
One such Notary was talking to another Notary in the plane and asked, “If I like the Beatles, does that make me a Lennonist, a McCartneyist, or an anti-McCarthyist?” The other Notary said, “It makes you a music lover, and probably left-wing. I think we’re fighting on the wrong side.” Speaking of music, on the plane, they had some Cuban-Vietnamese music played with a Viet-Conga drum to keep the rhythm. Then, another Notary commented that Ho-Chi-Minh was not a hoochi mamma, but a ho-chi baba. The discussion moved from dumb jokes to a more serious matter. Names. Some of the humor on the plane came from a book written by the famous Chinese comedian “Foo-Ling” and his wife the nutritionist “Rose Hip.”
So many people in Vietnam have the same names. Half the country is named Nguyen, Tranh, or Duc. How can you tell people apart based purely on the names?
Meanwhile on the front, Vietnamese smugglers were engaged in human trafficking of refugees into Cambodia. Van Winh Vu smuggled regugees in a van (more than just a name) but was caught by an American soldier named Carl Van Schessler. I guess it’s one van for another, or more of a van pool. Then Truc Le Tranh smuggled regfugees in a truck while Tranh had ammunition transported in a compartment of a Train.
Notaries were very fearful of going to their Notary appointments because of all the booby traps. Between road side bombs, pungi sticks hidden under banana leaves and mines. It was like playing dodge ball every step of the way.
THE APPOINTMENT
Harry the Notary was on his way through some rice paddies to Notarize a transaction for a few very large bags of rice which was the local currency. He prayed to God he did not bump into the Viet Cang on his way, or American planes dropping any napalm.
Harry got to his appointment only to find that Tranh Duc Ho was selling twenty 50 pound bags of rice to Tranh Duc Ho. The Notary asked, “Is this some type of a joke?” Tranh #1 said, “No, we just have the same name. That is common around here. See, look at our ID’s. They say the same name. We look similar too.” The Notary said, “Oh, God. Doing Notaries around here is like walking through a mine field.” The Notary decided to thumbprint everyone to keep them honest and make notes about who had a tattoo where or a scar where just to keep the record straight. After the notarization was over, the American military came and confiscated all of the rice since the Vietcong was in the area. Why is life so unfair. Are we the good guys, the bad guys, or what?
Then the Notary went back to the base and talked to another Notary named Sam. Sam had been near where they were dropping Notary Palm. It’s kind of like napalm but has black ink that burns at 2000 degrees. Then, the new weapon for Notaries was filling a pungi stick with Notary ink and shooting ink out of the stick. After this scary conversation they met yet another American who escaped from a POW camp.
A POA FOR A POW
JOHNNY: “I need a POA for a POW.”
HARRY: “I can do that. Do you mean a former POW?”
JOHNNY: “No, it’s for a friend. He wants to have his car managed by his wife back home.”
HARRY: “What happened to your fingers?”
JOHNNY: “They got messed up when I was in The Trang.”
HARRY: “Oh, what did they do to you there?
JOHNNY: “They made me give details of troop locations by sticking bamboo slits under my fingernails.”
HARRY: “Ouch. If you don’t talk do they move you to the basement of the Trang?”
JOHNNY: “The what? No, I didn’t say, “The Trang, I said De Trang. It’s a city in Nam.”
HARRY: “Oh, shows what I know. The Trang sounds like the name of a jungle vietcong prison camp to me, or just a remote jungle.”
JOHNNY: “I don’t know if I can get those guys out while I visit, but at least a notarized POA will do. After it’s notarized, we can see about an escape route. They might have moved location, so we will have to track them and the Notary will have to come along. It’s twenty days on foot. So we will need to bring plenty of food, water, and disinfectant. Are you any good at setting up booby traps?
HARRY: “I know a guy who flies a helecopter shaped like a Notary Seal who taught me a thing or too. I know how to make a mine that looks like a Notary Seal. If you press on the top, then ink flies everywhere. It’s sort of like a science experiment.”
JOHNNY: “Well this trip is not an experiment. One wrong move and you’re dead or lose a leg which in the parts we’re going to is a slow death.”
HARRY: “Well I’m not going to die because I’m special.”
JOHNNY: “For the last two years I’ve been putting pieces of special people in body bags. Everybody’s mother thinks their special.”
HARRY: “You’re the bravest soldier I’ve ever met!”
JOHNNY: “Thanks, I’ll remember that compliment when I’m putting pieces of you in a body bag.”
HARRY: So, how do you think the war is going?”
JOHNNY: “The Vietcong is upset because they have run out of new and creative ways to rip someone’s rib cage out of their body and have failed to find a perfect way to create a booby trap that rips someone in two exact pieces. They tried ripping people’s eyes out of their sockets but were lousy at that. But, they are good at booby traps which is how I lost half of my men. Meanwhile half of our guys capitalize on how weed and heroin are pennies on the dollar over here and in very pure form. That slows their reaction time in battle which is why our kill ratio isn’t what it should be. Meanwhile the Southern Vietnamese army is upset because the price of pedacures has doubled. ”
HARRY: “What are they, a bunch of girls?”
JOHNNY: “Half of them act like girls while in the Vietcong, half of them are girls who could rip your arm out of its socket. One girl called the Apache castrated one of our guys while he was still alive. We hunted her down for three days and assassinated her with a long range rifle. Normally they ambush us, but we turned the tables due to extenuating circumstances.”
HARRY: “What happened to the guy?”
JOHNNY: “He died of blood loss within minutes. Isn’t he lucky?”
HARRY: “Well, let Saigons be Saigons. Okay, let’s visit The Trang and do a POA for a POW.”
JOHNNY: “We leave at 0400 hours. Get some z’s while you can. And we’re going to the jungle near Da Nang, not De Trang.”
HARRY: “Oh, they have a Trang there too?”
JOHNNY: “Never mind.”
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You might also like:
Notarization in the Trang – a Vietnam War Story.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19652
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Bounced Checks, Collection Agencies, FBI reports: Learn which companies are involved!
Bounced Checks, Collection Agencies, FBI reports…
For some of you, this is old information that you have already been following. However, many notaries do not have time to read everything that goes on on the forum, and this news about signing companies will be of interest and a convenience to them! It is hard for me to keep up with what is going on on the forums on a daily basis, but I have noticed that a lot of bad things happened in September 2011. There were a few loan signing companies that had a reasonable reputation that suddenly stopped paying notaries. One or more companies was reported to be out of business. I am going to summarize the more important events of the last month or two here. I will only mention the more noteworthy signing companies here.
All Service Notary & Signings
Sept 16 – A notary gives up on trying to collect their bill and hands it over to a collection agency. Additionally, this notary reports the signing company to a credit bureau! Another notary reports trouble getting paid from this company. A third notary says, that after a long time, they finally received their check — but, that was in early August. The situation looks like it has deteriorated since then.
CRES Closers
One notary says that they are the BEST to work for! Another says they met his fee and that they were great to work for. A third notary claims that they sent payment super fast! Wow, it is nice to hear good things about a signing company these days!
Equifax Settlement Services
One notary got paid, but says the company says that they will take THREE MONTHS to pay for jobs in the future because they have to wait until the loans fund. Another notary discusses the letter they sent to the BBB about this company. A third notary discusses the difference in what this company offers different notaries for the same work. One gets $85, while another is offered $125!
FASS – First American Signature Services
Notaries are complaining, but not about payment issues. One notary was taken off the list because FASS found a less expensive notary. Back in 2010, FASS took over service for a big Title company and dropped the notary who had been servicing the signings for that Title company. Another notary feels that they were treated rudely after some sort of argument about “quality issues”. Although there is a lot of complaining going on here, I don’t see any wrongdoing on the part of FASS. They are just shopping around to find the best notaries for them — and trying to get high quality service as well. America is a free country and nobody is obligated to keep the same notary for life.
Final Link
Three notaries have complained that this company doesn’t do a good job of getting back to people. Not returning calls, etc.
First Preference Signing
Four notaries all claim in unison that this is the best company that they have ever worked for.
Harvard Abstract
Three notaries are claiming that this company is easy to work for and that they pay quickly.
HVR Notaries
Two notaries claim that this is a good company to work for. One says, “They met my fee”, which is a very good sign these days with all the low balling.
Insured Closings
Notaries claim that there have been several reports of BOUNCED CHECKS from this company. Watch out!
National Loan Closers
This company is reported to be asking for $25 to keep notaries on their list. This is causing a lot of disturbance in the notary world. Notaries feel that companies should be paying them, and not vice versa.
Nations Direct
We have gotten many complaints about low-balling and micromanagement. One notary’s signing was interrupted by a phone call, where she was asked if she was using a blue pen. On the other hand, it is prudent for a signing company who uses many newer notaries to call and check up on people. Obviously, many of the notaries they hired screwed up and ruined many loans which is the reason for all of the babysitting. Please try to look at things from the signing company’s perspective. They are trying to get the job done. Also see: Nations Direct has been around for more than a decade!
Nowclosings.com
Many notaries are claiming that this is one of the BEST signing companies they have ever worked for.
N3 Notary
A few notaries are complaining that company has badgered them too much during their signings.
Pacific Document Services
Checks that they sent out have allegedly gotten LOST in the mail. One notary has filed an official complaint with the FBI to try to get this company shut down. Another notary received a check that BOUNCED. This is one of the most serious cases I have seen all year! The opinions expressed here are the opinions of particular notaries and not of 123notary.com.
Safir Signing Agents
Multiple notaries are complaining about no-pay and SLOW-PAY.
Service Link
This company has lowered their fees, and we have had many complaints from notaries about LOW-BALLING from this company.
Superior Closings
The people that run this company have been functioning under four different business names over the course of time. They are reported to be out of business now.
The Notary Biz
Many notaries are discussing whether or not this company is still in business. One notary had a discussion with the owner who claimed that they were no longer in business.
The R&R Group
Several notaries are complaining about non-payment, and one is owed $375 by this company
Trans State Services
Many notaries are really happy with this company. Good working conditions and timely pay!
Vital Signings
This company has a good payment record, but many notaries are complaining that there are too many steps involved in the signing process and a lot of babysitting.
Tweets:
(1) Here is a list of companies that bounced checks, had FBI reports, or were notorious late payers to notaries!