Tarot Wraps Up and An Unexpected Family Contact

OK, I've got about 10 minutes to pull this together and post it before leaving for the pool today. I finished up the final session in my "Guide to Tarot" meditation quest today. That was a very long quest, one card of the deck every day.  l learned a lot, and I might do this one again in a month or two as a refresher. But for now, it's on to a new guided meditation tomorrow and for the next few days while I internalize what I learned and continue my journey. 

The course started by going through each of 
the four suits in order, then moved to the 
Major Arcana. So it covered all 78 cards over 
the time, one day at a time. I loved it. 

It's my final swimming day of the week today. It's been a different composition of people, especially on our Wednesdays which are always our busiest day of the three days I am in the water. For years we've had the "Three Amigos" on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I heard that one of them had moved to Boston within the past month, so it was down to two. But those two had been showing up as usual. Until this week, when neither of them were there at all. Curious. 

Most of the funds in my Health Savings Account 
are invested. To get the funds moved over to 
active money that I can access, I had to initiate the 
sale of the dollar amount I needed. The funds will 
appear in my accessible funds within three days 
or so. 

I arranged for funds to be shifted to accessible in my Health Savings Account, and yesterday I contacted the orthodontic office to get a corroborating letter from the Orthodontist stating that straightening my teeth was medically advisable. I have the email in my in-box now and will download it and print it our tonight. I'll set up a folder for DeVoe Orthodontics and be ready to go. Funny thing, though. It turns out that the person in the financial office of my orthodontist, is my former niece-in-law, Holly. We had a bit of a laugh about intersecting with each other when I spoke to her about the letter needed, and I'll see her on November 2nd when I sign contracts, etc. Maybe I'll catch a glimpse of her next week when I'm there for molds and measurements too. It's a remarkably small world. 

I haven't thought about my ex-niece-in-law for 
years. It was quite a surprise to find out she was 
in charge of the finance department at my 
orthodontist's office. It'll be nice to see her again, 
but I'm not sure I'll tell the rest of the family 
about this. It wasn't the greatest of times for 
my nephew and his new wife is a jewel. 

So, since I'm running a bit late, I'm closing this down for the day. Have a truly excellent Thursday, brighten someone's day today, and again, as always, Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

So - Braces For An Adult? - Sure, But It's Expensive and Won't Be a Quick Fix

Yesterday's tight schedule ended up working quite well, getting me to the office shortly after 9:00 am - plenty of time to uncover the cases and get the computers up before opening at 10:00 am. I spent a full hour with the Orthodontist and assorted staff, almost half-an-hour with his exam after a thorough round of photographs, 3-D x-rays, and a medical history. His exam was extremely detailed. 

My bottom teeth are very crowded and yes, I 
do find it difficult to floss them now and again 
(although I NEVER miss a day). When this 
process is complete, that crowding will 
be lessened - not eliminated, but better. 

The crowding of my teeth in my upper jaw is minimal, but the crowding of my teeth in my lower jaw is severe, which was exactly as I had thought. The entire procedure will take 18-24 months - a long time, and it's not going to be a 100% straightness for the lower jaw. To do that would require removing one or two teeth, and they're actually in good shape, so we're not doing that. We'll move them slowly and inexorably to a new position through bands, pressure and time. 

I'll probably end up with something quite similar 
to this - clear on my top front teeth, metal on the 
rest of them. This photo doesn't show the banding 
necessary for my crowns. I think that'll be the 
hardest thing for me. 

I liked him quite a bit, and have set up two more appointments with him. The next one, on October 19th, will be for mouth molds, etc so that the retainers for night wear can be made, and any appliances can be customized. The second, on November 2nd will be to apply the actual braces. That one will be a longer one - it's going to take time. The standard brackets aren't a problem for my teeth, but they won't stick to crowns, and I have several of those on my rear bottom teeth. The crowns will have brackets installed over them instead - like a necklace holding the bracket into position. I suspect that's going to be thoroughly uncomfortable and a bit scary. 

I suspect the band around each of my 
crowns will be similar to this. I'm most 
afraid of these digging into my gums. 
I'm sure I'll have additional questions next 
time I'm there, but this is something I 
really want to do for my general health, 
so I'll buck up and deal with it as necessary. 
I think I'll also call my dentist for their 
opinion on the bands and my crowns. 

There will be some rubber band use to help the teeth move appropriately, so I'll have to get good with replacing those bands often because they are removed when I eat, and replaced with new ones afterwards. I'll have to look into foods that I can eat instead of my grains - I love my grains but they probably will be ill-advised while wearing the braces. 

It's going to be expensive. I left a call for my 
broker asking him to call me on Wednesday 
or Friday to see about getting the funds 
I need pulled out of my account. *sigh*

So, I'm talking to my broker later this week about financing this. DH refuses to help out at all, so it's all up to me and it's EXPENSIVE. Almost $8000! There are three different payment options available, and I'll discuss them with my broker to see what he advises, but no matter which way I choose, I'll need almost $2500 down before work can start. Ouch! Still, it's something I've wanted for more than half of my life, and it's a health issue. I think it's extremely important. So, I'm going ahead with it. I'll have to remind myself of the positives when my teeth are hurting later this year - LOL.  Meanwhile, I'm off to the pool. Have an excellent Tuesday and Slava Ukraini. 

BTW - on that note, I noticed Putin gave Russian citizenship to Edward Snowden yesterday. I had to laugh. Does that mean that Snowden will now be conscripted and sent to the Eastern Front of Ukraine? 

Funding and Devil's Night

You may recall that we put in for a City Grant earlier this year, not getting chosen in their random lottery. We did get the PPP Loan as well as a County Grant and a State Grant, though, so I was pretty happy, and the funds were crucial to allowing us to stay in business despite a serious drop in customer count after COVID. 

If you feel like having some fun today, go to 
Google and click on the header to play this year's 
Google Ghost Game. Save the cat from the 
ghosts by drawing the symbols onto your 
screen. It's fun and why not have some fun 
during Halloween season in a pandemic? 

Out of the blue, I got an email from the City on Monday, requesting us to resubmit some general information because they had received more funding and were re-opening their grant funding to those who didn't get funding in the first round. DH and I discussed whether or not to try again, finally deciding that we would go ahead and submit a second time, which I did. 

We probably won't have the check until late next 
week, but the City finally came through for us and 
we won funding in their second lottery. Cha-Ching! 

I got an email from them yesterday that we had been approved, so after they finalize the contract, they will mail a check to us and we will finally have grants from all of the different entities we had attempted. I'm rather chuffed about the whole thing - every entity was a lot of work and lots of different supplementary paperwork, but all told, after we get this current final grant, we will have received $37,600 from the assorted entities. That has allowed us to keep our doors open, even though our walk-through customers are down almost 50%. I'm very thankful. 

On that note, I'm going to make today's post fast and head out to the shop. I'm busy working on my Holiday Cards and need all of the pre-opening time I can get to continue the process. They're not extremely complicated this year, but they still take some serious (and fun) time. 

Devil's Night used to be very bad, especially in Detroit, 
Michigan. It's toned down a bit now, but it's still a time 
to be careful, especially during these COVID times 
with the election so close and tempers so high. 
Stay home and stay safe, please. 

Tonight is often called "Devil's Night" and has been prone to pranks and sometimes more sinister activities. Please stay home and stay safe, be well, and wear your mask. I'll be back to celebrate Halloween with all of you tomorrow. 

Another Day, Another Grant - I'm Very Lucky!

Another day, another set of legal documents and hopes for a brighter future. In other words, more money to keep the store alive through this year, and I'm very grateful we got lucky a second time. Earlier this year (not all that long ago, actually), we got lucky and were one of the businesses randomly selected to receive $10,000 County Grants to help small businesses through the COVID time ahead. We gratefully accepted that and thought that was the end of it. 

We're doing the Happy Dance once again. We were randomly
selected to receive a State Grant and we desperately need
those funds to keep our doors open for our customers. 

But at the same time as the county grant application was available, there was also a State Grant made available for application, and they were requesting almost identical paperwork. So, when I filled out the one, I went ahead and also filled out the other. It was a bit confusing, because two grants so similar in construct were out in cyberspace at the same time. 

Best thing about doing the happy dance? We're not
only happy, we're getting a good workout at the same
time - LOL. 

Two weeks ago I received a follow-up from the State Grant, requesting two small items of documentation, and within a week, I received news that we had been approved. I actually sat on it for almost a week, double-checking to make sure it was a separate grant, not the County Grant we had already accepted and used. But no, it was separate. DH read it through last night and approved it, so I sent the final signed documents out to the State this morning and hopefully, by the end of next week, the grant money will be in our account. 

Color Coding expenses can be an easy way to isolate them,
but I suspect DH will just do everything in pencil with
separate spreadsheets for each loan/grant. I don't care how
he gets it done, as long as we have documentation on
hand if we need to submit anything. 

DH says we'll need to make a spreadsheet of what expenses are being paid with which loan or grant. We do have to be able to document where the funds were used and that they were used for the proper items, and with three different funding sources, we have to keep things straight. DH is old-school, too. It might be easier to do such a thing in Xcel with color coding, but I'm pretty sure he'll be doing it with pencil on ledger paper. 

I do remind myself now and again that I am NOT a
special snowflake. I'm just one of millions of people
on this earth with talents of my own, but I'm in the
pack, not leading it. That's OK. 

So, it's a bit of a relief for me today - a bit more money to help us push through this year and into next. Originally we had been thinking about retiring this year. COVID made that impossible for us to do properly, so we've had to push things out another year or so. It doesn't make me happy, but it's not a tragedy. We're all affected by the Pandemic, in so many ways. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm really NOT a Special Snowflake. On that note, have a wonderful Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Please - be safe, stay well and wear your mask! 

Dancing - Exercise and Joy

With perfect timing, my new leotard, tights and dance shoes arrived via Amazon yesterday at the shop. I've already pulled them into the laundry and they're drying on hangers right now. I found my weight-lifting gloves, so my hands won't slip off the barre like last week, and my new portable DVD player is charged up and working. I think I'm ready to tackle my Fluidity workout once again. It's my hope that I do a bit better with the exercises today than I did last week, having had some experience with the program and the equipment. If I do, then I can start working it into my morning routine 3-4 times a week which will make me very happy. 

My old leotard was toast, so I ordered a new
short-sleeved leotard and tights similar to
this, but in a deep wine color. I also bought a
set of full soled dance shoes. That should let
me move freely during exercise, but not slip
on the mat. My weight lifting gloves of
old will keep my sweaty hands from slipping
on the barre. 

My trip to see my podiatrist yesterday was very successful. I'm cleared to go for any activity, only ordered to pull back if I feel any pain. That includes pointing and flexing my foot in dance moves, so I'm very pleased. Again ... we'll see how I do in today's barre workout - LOL. 

I'm absolutely relieved that the County Small Business Relief
Fund application was accepted and that we'll get funding
through it. I'll breathe a bit easier when the funds are in
my bank account. 

On another front, also good news. My store has been awarded one of the County Small Business Relief Fund grants. It's for $10,000. I'll read through the documents carefully today and scan, e-sign, and submit the final bits they are asking for tonight, and then we'll be set. I'll breathe a bit of a sigh of relief once the funds are in my account. It's been really hard, opening again. I'm relieved that we're open and we are bringing in some customers, but our sales volumes are down more than 50% pre-COVID dollars and we can't survive on that for long. This grant will give us a bit more time and that's a true blessing. 

On that note, I'm hungry. I'm going to go upstairs, make my morning oatmeal and tea, and start my day. Since DH harvested another pint of fresh raspberries yesterday, I might treat myself to some of the berries on my oatmeal. Heaven ... whoot!!!! Have a truly wonderful day, enjoy one thing to the maximum today, and be kind. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Stay at Home - Day 16 - Swimming With Sharks

I had been wondering where my mail was. I was at my post office several times a week to pick up my mail for the shop, but every time they said my bin was empty. On Saturday, I finally got to speak to the Manager of that Substation who tried to phone my carrier. She wasn't answering, but she was due back in the building by 1:00 pm, so he said he would check with her then. 

The Postal Service and transportation system workers are
considered essential and they're doing a wonderful job
during the pandemic. Jean and I got our wires crossed,
but we're straightened out now and there won't be any
more missed mail. 

It turned out that Jean and I had our wires crossed and when I had turned in my instruction card, and assumed Midway would have my mail, she thought back to earlier discussions we had about mail and had forwarded my mail to the Roseville location. Yes, it's more convenient, but No, I hadn't even thought about that as a possibility. So, they open at 8:30 am today, and I'll be picking up two weeks of mail from Roseville, then going to Midway to check the mail there, and from now on all mail will be at Midway. Tomorrow I'll write and mail all checks, and I'm hoping this mix-up won't cause me to be late paying any bills from my various vendors. I'm sure they would cut me some slack, but still ... 

The St Paul Bridge Fund will accept applications until a certain date, then
put all vetted applications into a lottery and draw from that to assign
funds. They are requesting corporations to step up with more funds
to help more people. We'll see - this funding source is NOT guaranteed. 

We got our application in for the St Paul Bridge Fund on Saturday morning. As of close of business on Friday (Day 1), there had been 3000 families and 1200 businesses whose applications had already been submitted. It's a guarantee they'll run out of money. Since this one is a lottery, not a first-come, first-serve, it's a total crap-shoot if we'll get the boost or not, but my landlord came through with a copy of our lease so we now have all of the supplementary documentation available that they will request within a few days. I'll jump through whatever hoops I need to in order to keep my business afloat and my employee paid. I have resources of my own through April, but then I'm out of money and without the two grants I'm applying for, I'm out of business. 

I'm not comfortable swimming with sharks, but often if you don't
call attention to yourself, you can float over the surface and
escape unscathed. We'll see - I'm not that good at camouflage. 

But, I'm basically an optimist at heart, so I'm going to practice what I preach and continue looking at the positive instead of the negative. Deaths are stabilizing, new cases of COVID-19 are decreasing, and even though we're still in the middle of the maelstrom, we're still hanging on to our broken timbers and staying afloat in the sea of sharks. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves, stay safe, stay home, stay well. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Budgets - I Hates Them!

I hate working on budgets - numbers are not really my friend. But due to a minor financial crisis in my personal funds earlier this week, I need to figure out what I am really spending my money on and how much I really need each month. I did a rough look yesterday and will do more in-depth analysis today while continuing to assemble my income tax preparation numbers. It looks like it'll be a numbers day. Ick!!!

I'm trying to stretch a fixed amount of money just a little
farther. It isn't working very well *sigh*. 

I'm not talking about household income stuff here. Even though I build in monies for groceries, it's only the small weekly shopping that comes out of my personal budget. But there are inescapable expenses such as my monthly car payment that just have to be made. I'm not sure how well I can economize, but I'm going to have to try.

Sometimes the numbers just don't make a lot
of sense. I hate trying to stay on a budget, but
I guess it's time to grow up. SO not fun! 

People in the know suggest keeping track of all expenditures for a week to get a better idea of where your money is going and where you can truly cut down. I can do that, even though I have a pretty good idea of where I spend my money. I rarely carry or use cash, I live by plastic - my debit/credit card, so I can just track my monthly expenses that way.

I pushed money into my checking from my savings yesterday and
scheduled a payment to wipe out my credit card balance, bringing
it back to zero. That won't last long, but gives me the ability
to control and watch what I put on there. 

Since I need to print my bank statements out for my tax appointment in two weeks, perhaps I'll just see if I can flesh out my budget after I have the paperwork in front of me. I suspect I won't be housecleaning today, but maybe I can get my financial house in order.

This numbers picture was just too pretty not to share with my
readers today. It's always best to end with something pretty
 to help color your day. Happy Wednesday! 

Jumping to another subject - are you writing for B2MeM? I'm very tempted. The first thing that appealed to me was the 2013 challenge that I skipped because of other commitments. Maybe I'll throw a chapter or two of my Bilbo's Bingo Card(s) in the mix and one or two market stall prompts. It's nice to have choices this year in case my muses get stubborn once again. Have a great Wednesday - I'm off to the pool and breakfast.

Can I Just Skip Today?

Is there some deity somewhere that I can bribe so that I can wake up in a few more minutes and have Tuesday already behind me and Wednesday ahead? No? How cruel.

I like both my dental technician and my dentist, but this time
I may have to go back for some work and I won't be happy about
that at all. No choice, though. I'm trying to keep my own teeth
for as long as possible. 

Normally I wouldn't care - Tuesday is a nice day, rather innocuous, certainly not invasive or abrasive. But today starts out with a time crunch and a dental checkup, then probably disintegrates into a rollicking combination of boredom, moving into edge of the seat excitement when paying bills with minimal money, and finally becoming a nice day when kicking back with NCIS and the finals of the Westminster Dog Show. Starting the day out with a dental checkup, especially when I have one tooth that has been bothering me ... well, I can just say that I'm looking forward to this on the same level as being "escorted" into an ancient torture chamber in past centuries. *sigh*

We're not this bad - we're not negative at all. But I
had to chuckle at this when looking for a good
image for this section. How could anyone ever get
a negative balance of this much? Wow! 

Tuesday is also my bill-paying day. I decided I'd better quickly check my balance since I haven't received the household check from DH yet. Total OUCH! I'm going to have to be very careful to pick and choose what bills I pay today, and I'll have to leave him a note to give me the check tonight. I'm still not exactly sure about how to pay the health insurance, although I could borrow from my personal savings account. February/March are always the hardest months for us - we haven't gotten our income taxes filed yet - so no refunds - and the previous year's refunds are running out.

I'm not even sure who Z LaLa is, but I do know
her fashion sense is on strike. This could be
early Lady Gaga, except the Lady would have
rocked it more and chosen better. The gown
is tolerable (barely), but adding the boots and
hair/wig/head penile covering? No! Just ... NO!
Score: Shelob 10, Z LaLa 0. 

Well, the day isn't going to pass any faster than the prescribed pace, no matter what. That sucks, but that's the time/space continuum. I might want things to be different, but it's not going to happen. So here's hoping your Tuesday is sterling to make up for my patch of goo. (BTW - spent a few minutes clicking through the Red Carpet photos of the Grammy's. Really? Some mega-horrific fashion out there last night. So glad I skipped the award show to watch the dogs.)

Heat, Banks and Dinos

Today is my "day of" and I already know I'll be running all day. I want to see about wallpaper - whether the local place has samples of what I've found on-line, and if I can just spend some time looking through wallpaper books to see what might be good. I'll also need to arrange for a measuring, or be instructed on the best way to measure, since I have some very odd walls and angles. (That's my living room that has the odd walls and angles, not me *LOL*).

Even this squirrel is trying to keep cool. Fortunately, today will be a
bit cooler and we'll drop quite a bit by Thursday. 

It was unseasonably hot yesterday, 95F (35C) by the time I left work. That will be dropping back down by the end of today, but it meant hunting up my fan before I could get to sleep. Fortunately, once the fan was on, I was out like a light.

There's nothing like raising a personal pack of
Velocoraptors. 

"Jurassic World" opens this weekend. I want to go see it, but probably won't make it until after the carpeting is installed next week. Then I'll have a semblance of a life once again. But right now, I'm focused. I WILL see it, though. It's Jurassic, and I love dinos. I plan to see it with DH first, then a second time with Chickie. I saw the original Jurassic with her many years ago when she first worked for me at my Mall of America store. We refuse to miss this opportunity to see another Jurassic together.

All of the fees assessed by banks are money out of my pocket. There
are some months where I'm scraping the bottom anyway, so that's
a no-go for me. 

My bank has decided to raise their monthly service fees to a level I consider unacceptable. So, I'm now researching other options - other local banks and credit unions that won't assess ridiculous fees for what are very easy accounts to maintain. I've got to carve out some time to get this nailed and new accounts started quickly so that I can close my other accounts at the end of the month. I also have to remember what accounts I'll have to switch over in things like my PayPal account. *sigh* This could be such a mess!

I don't qualify for free with my bank any more because our
mortgage has been almost paid off. So now they want to assess me
$13/month for each of the accounts I hold with them. NOPE! Not
going to play their little games. Time to switch to a different bank. 

Well, here's hoping you have a great Wednesday. I'm already looking forward to my talk with Aearwen. We had to miss last week because I was at my conference, so we have two weeks to catch up on.

Draperies are EXPENSIVE!

Oy! DH and I went to JC Penney's to look at possible draperies for our picture window. The decorator had come through at prices of $1500-$4000 for one window and that was out of the question. So we have now started looking for alternatives.

We have a strict budget that we need to stick to, but that money is
flying away quickly with the carpeting and laminate. 

We can order custom draperies through Penney's in lots of different fabrics, with the fabric cost being the basis. We need a unique length, not a standard one, and we have a pinch-pleated style with a left draw center pull (the terms I am learning - LOL). We actually did find five fabrics that we liked and they will arrange for samples of each to be mailed to us so that we can see them in the room. After looking at them, if we don't like them, they have an in-home option where a consultant will come and meet with us in our home to show us more colors and possibilities. So there are choices. But we do have a strict budget that we're trying to stick to and the carpeting and laminate are eating up most of that amount.

There are so many kinds of drapery fabric, and most of them are not
ready-made for pinch-pleat mounting. The ones we really liked were made for
pocket or sweep rods which are not what we have. But we ended up finding
some fabrics that we liked and if necessary, we can wait until they go
on sale. Our drapes are crappy, but they will hold up until we order new ones. 

I should be getting my new carpet samples this week and I hope DH likes one of the three. Once he's made up his mind on the carpet, I can go ahead and get things scheduled. We finally have made up our minds on laminate, so one step down...many still to go.

Dilly Bars are vanilla ice cream that has been chocolate dipped, all
on a stick for easy eating. At 210 calories, it's not horrible, and it's
quite tasty. 

Yesterday was a picture-perfect day. After returning from drapery shopping, we loaded Minion up with wood to take to compost and after returning, DH settled down to watch the next game of hockey. I couldn't stand still, so I decided on a walk. It's a little over 1-1/2 miles to get to my closest Dairy Queen, so I took a brisk walk down there, treated myself to a Dilly Bar which I ate at Lake Josephine (right across the street from the DQ) and then briskly walked home again. It took a little more than an hour total, and I felt much better at the end for having gotten at least some exercise.

Here I am sitting at Lake Josephine, eating my Dilly Bar. There wasn't
a cloud in the sky, it was just a soft breeze, the temps were cool
enough to wear a light jacket or hoodie. It was just about the perfect day. 

So here it is, Monday again and another week starts. DH is happy because our hockey team won yesterday and is progressing in the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup. I hope each of you has a wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow.

Wednesday Crazy and Diets are Expensive

As many of you know, Wednesdays are my studio days - my days off - my 'time for myself' days. That basically means three to four loads of laundry, errands in the morning, grocery shopping, food prep, and for fun - my hour-long weekly conversation with Aearwen.

I love my weekly talks with Aearwen.

Yesterday was no exception, but the schedule was all akimbo because my city, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to update all of the water meters in the homes to radio-signal types for easier reading and less personnel hours. This required an appointment with a technician carrying a new meter and a very large pipe wrench accessing pipes in a hard-to-access part of my basement while he changed things over. Of course, this appointment was in the early afternoon so I had laundry started at 3:30 am to be sure I didn't get caught in the middle without water while said technician was changing things over.

My tech wasn't this good looking. Mine was rather
young and uninteresting, although friendly. Oh - there
was no hard hat either *sigh*

But - success. The meter has now been changed and the city will have even more control over my life and available funds *sigh*. Of course I was working on a repair at the time he was working and it ended up breaking on the final knot. Nothing like being on my knees with a powerful flashlight trying to find very small beads on my basement floor *le sigh again*.

One of the things I do is grocery shopping on Wednesdays. This is when I get the things that I want to eat. I indulged in a container of mango salsa which led me to chicken breasts on which to put the salsa. Yesterday evening's dinner turned into something wonderful with a beautifully seasoned chicken breast covered with mango salsa, brown and wild rice mixed and a large salad. NOM!

I love produce - fresh veggies and fruit - NOM

Of course, I picked up a lot of grapes, two pounds of strawberries, two pounds of kiwi fruit, a bag of organic navel oranges, lettuce, a bit of cheese...can you say expensive? By the time I swiped my debit card I had racked up more than $70 in groceries and almost all of it was produce. Eating healthy is expensive!

Customer Appreciation - NOT! A Banking Rant

So, yesterday's blog centered on customer service and the practice of getting a bonus for shopping with selected vendors. So many of you remembered your parents and others collecting the stamps (of various types) and turning them in for merchandise. But that's not the world we seem to live in today and I'm rather disgusted by the trend we have lately.

When I opened my first bank account as a child, we had passbooks that were kept by hand and got gifts from the bank for opening up an account or putting a certain amount of a deposit into it. We were rewarded for saving our money and for choosing X bank over Y. It's not that way any more, though, and this is one thing that hasn't changed for the better.

Yes, our accounts are better maintained because they are all computerized. Of course that can lead, and has led, to accounts being hacked and errors in deposits/withdrawals that can sometimes take months to fix. We can check our balances on-line 24/7, access funds at Automated Teller Machines (did you remember that was the definition of ATM?) throughout the world, and set up automated bill pay if you have trust that you will have the money to actually pay them when the computer will try.

But instead of offering incentives or even still giving free checking accounts, they are charging. The minute your money goes into a bank it is worth less than it was when you held it in your hand. It's rather like a car that loses half its value the minute it is driven off the dealer's lot. There is something wrong when I have to pay a bank to take care of my money.

I fully admit that interest rates are pathetic and that interest was one of the major ways that banks earned money. Additionally, the banks made really poor decisions regarding mortgages and business loans, not requiring the financial foundation for those loans that they had required when I bought my home in the late 1980's. Their lax controls and poor decision-making along with a static financial market led to their inability to make money at the rate they wanted. So to fight losing funds, they started charging for some services, finally extending those charges throughout the system including monthly charges on checking accounts. I admit it, but does that make it right? No!

My local credit union is building a larger building near my home. I'm seriously considering pulling my personal checking account away from my bank and its ridiculous fees and moving my money to them instead. The credit union doesn't charge a monthly fee for checking accounts. Maybe that will be my toaster for opening up a new account...no fees chipping away at my very hard-earned funds. What do you think about your bank? Are you happy with their service and fees? Let me know.

Customer Appreciation

Whatever has happened to customer appreciation? As someone who works in retail and owns a shop, I have to say that I appreciate every customer whether they spend less than $10 or more than $100. I make sure to thank each person and try to give top service to each one. Sometimes that's easier said than done, but I make the effort and so does my staff. But I was thinking back into the past this morning about things that used to exist that seem to have gone the way of the Dodo bird.

My mother collected Green Stamps. I remember her bringing out grocery bags full and we would sit down with bowls of water and cloths, wetting and pasting the stamps into full books. She would then go to the Green Stamps store and exchange the filled books for some household item. I think that she got a few table lamps, maybe some serving pieces (trays, gravy boats) and an alarm clock or two this way. But I was young and don't remember clearly what she got. I remember getting the stamps though. We got them at the grocer, the gas station, the drugstore, basically at most places that we shopped. It was one more way for Mom to save pennies.

We didn't have a lot of excess money when I was growing up. Mom collected

green stamps and also some of the others in this picture. But green

stamps were the real winner in her eyes.

Speaking of gas stations, at that time they were all full service. You would drive in and they would fill your tank, wash your windows and check your tires. You didn't have to ask them to, you didn't have to get out of your car, and you didn't have to drive your car to a different place in the lot to check your tire pressure. Service with a smile. The gas crisis of the 1970's coupled with economic downturns and increased pricing wars dictated the end of full service and the advent of self-service. Even Mom got to the point where she could pump her own gas, but she never liked the fact that she had to do it.

The neighborhood butcher and neighborhood pharmacy have given way to big box grocery stores and corporate pharmacies. Department stores have morphed into "store within a store" concepts. The "new" retail is a return to the old, smaller and more specialized store. But the location is now within the larger store. Once again we are re-inventing the wheel. Now if the big stores would re-learn the concept of true customer service, if they actually seemed to appreciate each customer walking through their doors, then maybe it would be fun to actually shop again instead of shopping at my computer screen and keyboard. Just saying.....