That is an example of a computer doing good.

Carol’s sister-in-law recently decided to get out of the business. Carol and her sister decided to buy her share of the machine. Carol’s share of the buyout was $5,000. Plus, Carol and her sister decided to move the machine from southeast Missouri to a house Carol bought in Pacific. The cost of moving the machine would be about $1,400. Carol agreed to cover that herself.

Carol did not have that kind of money lying around in her account, so she had $5,000 transferred from an annuity into her checking account at her bank, USAA. She then wrote the two checks and put them in the mail. She also had a note from her bank that she had a bill from Ameren Missouri for $99.15. So she paid that online. That was on Wednesday, Aug. 20.

The next morning, she went to the computer and checked her bank statement. There was not enough money to cover the checks she had mailed. In fact, she was almost broke. That’s because when she had paid her $99.15 Ameren Missouri online, she apparently had neglected to put in a decimal. The bank’s computer had sent Ameren a check for $9,915.

Initially, Carol was in panic mode, but then she figured this could be worked out. People would take over and see the mistake. Certainly, nobody would think she owed $9,915 for August.