Just for Shits and Giggles

As I suspected, no one is reading this drivel, confirmed by my daily stats. Oh well. Perhaps if I tell people about it, someone will actually read it. ho hum.

Anyway.

A. First Soy Milk, Now Bank of America

It's interesting how cashier-type people love to give me advice on my everyday choices. First it was the soy milk, this time it was my banking choice.

I go to the Post Office (note that I have no beef with USPS folk, seeing as I am the daughter of a lifer letter-carrier) to cash a money order and they only have $100 (no small bills totaling $100 apparently). I say, "oh, ok, I'll just deposit it in the bank", so then she tells me I can just give the money order as-is to the bank and they will deposit it. Now the last time I was at a Bank of America ATM, they had this nifty, though scary, new deposit system that doesn't involve envelopes - it just scans your check or cash and tells you how much it is and you confirm the deposit amount(s). There was no money order deposit option, just cash or check. So I tell her this and she mentions going to a teller, and tell her I can't because our account type doesn't have free-human-teller visits, you gotta pay a fee.

That leads to another passerby clerk chiming in: "So the question is, why are you with Bank of America? ... Wamu has no-fee checking... [blah blah blah]"

Um, ok. You are a secret Wamu guerilla marketer? Yes?

I go on to explain that it's what my husband had and we just merged, them, blah blah. And Wamu isn't really fee-free, because I've had them before and they charge you miscellaneous things here and there (like depositing more than "n" rolls of coins!)... blah blah [let's move on, no?]

"Is your husband in the military?" (not completely out of the blue since Camp Pendleton is just down the road, but still)

"No, no, he's not in the military".

"Oh I was going to say: Navy Federal!"

Is this the anti-Bank-of-America headquarters? I steered clear of asking why she was so against B of A; I didn't want to open that can of crazy.

I must have "Need help with trivial decisions" written on my forehead.

Either that or this town is full of people that strongly couple their personal identity with their milk-substitute and/or banking choices.

B. Netbank in the Crapper

Yes, it is. It has nearly been flushed completely down. It's like a turd that floats there, lingering, having not gone down the first time.

And if it were not that I compulsively check our finances, I probably wouldn't have known any different. I was logging into online banking and noticed a link about selling their deposit assets to EverBank... And I'm thinking "Why"? Well, turns out their stock has been booted from the regular exchange for being under a dollar per share for an extended period of time. It's at a whopping 8 cents a share. Thank God for the the FDIC insuring deposit accounts up to 100K or else I'd be seriously worried about my money. I'm already marginally worried as it's a substantial amount of cash (at least to me, a working-class scrub), so I've started to transition to Capital One. Crazy though, that had I not seen that link, I would never have poked around further and found out they are a 1 star out of 5 stars on the "Safe and Sound" scale. (note that when I opened the account back in 2001, they were a 3 or 4 according to BankRate.com so they have really taken a shit everywhere).

C. "Starbucks".equals("DrugDealer")? (ok, maybe an exaggeration)

I used to be someone who never drank coffee. Like never ever. A good part of the reason was that I am lactose-intolerant and I can't drink it black, so just not an option. One day I try a soy-latte with a sugar-free syrup. I have no idea why I walked into Starbucks that day, I have completely forgotten the catalyst but it's been months now that I've been drinking some form of coffee nearly every day. I feel like perhaps I'm addicted (?). To curtail costs, I've even brought in soy milk to the office so I can have office coffee rather than spending 3.50/day.

I mean Starbucks in particular, to me, is a pseudo-drug-dealer, in a way. If I weren't the frugal gal that I am and were more flippant with a few bucks a day, I wouldn't even bother with work coffee. They would have me hook-line-and-sinker, shelling out (... $3.50*22days...=) 77 bucks a month! That, my friend, is significant. So I work to whittle it down to perhaps ($3.50*7 days=) 24.50 :o)

D. Britney Brough-ha-ha

This was really interesting to watch. I was actually looking forward to seeing her give a good "Britney" performance because as much as I outwardly show disdain for her and her music, I secretly kind of like her, in some dorky pre-teen-esque kind of way.

But oh, was it bad. I coudln't figure out if she was nervous, stoned, and just didn't give a F**K. I also think that it's time to stop wearing the next-to-nothing outfits. Not that I have anything to say about her body because, in reality, it's better than mine. BUT! If you choose to wear almost nothing, you are going to be ripped to pieces by the media if you are not in the shape of your life. I think she needs to tweak her idea of what is "sexy" to include more than being practically naked.

E. Biggest Loser! Yipee!

Only a few words here. I love this show. Love it. That is all.

F. Sub-terranian Irrigation Systems

We are becoming regular experts on sprinkler systems. Ok, perhaps not experts, but at least able to fix basic issues without calling a landscape dude who would probably charge us 50-100 bucks. Of course, is we assign a dollar value to hours spent, perhaps it's more than paying someone, but still. Even if you pay someone you have to be at the house while he works and then are you really going to spend those hours "making money"? Or sitting in from of the TV scratching your ass? Yeah.

G. Differin/Retin-A not covered over age 25... Perhaps I can classify my Chin as a dependent born after 1982

When I read this line in my new health insurance policy I was annoyed, if not feeling repressed by the "man". Adult acne in women in the 30s is extremely common. Though I am still, by only months, in my 20s, I have acne. And it's a problem - I am tired of my chin breaking out on a weekly basis. So, if I go to a dermatologist he can't prescribe these skin medications because I'm over 25?! That is bullshit if I have ever heard it. And it's yet another example of hour f**ked up our healthcare system is. Insurance companies find every which way to Sunday not to have to pay for something. It's bogus.

So if they have excuses up the wazoo that allow them to not cover things, I should be able to claim my chin separate from the rest of my body since it appears to be in it's own universe.

I. Be Thankful You Don't Have to Eat Your Pet

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/09/14/pets.zimbabwe.ap/index.html

Comments

  1. I know this was from 2007...but I need to comment about the Brittany Spears fiasco...I read an article that said "if you live by the spandex, you die by the spandex"...she defined her life as such so she will be judged by such...

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