Some of what's been happening lately

[annathepiper]

-0: I just banged my knee. Hard. Well, okay, technically, it's the part of my leg just under my knee, but damned if I know what to call it. Anyway, whatever it is, I knocked it against the corner of the coffee table, right on the bone, hard enough to break the skin. I had to get a band-aid, and solarbird and spazzkat suggested that I also get a cold pack to minimize the bruising that's sure to result from that sort of a knock. In conclusion, OW *!$@!*&$%!!.



+1: Dara and Paul and I went down to Lake Forest Park Town Centre earlier today, where I mailed off the first three chapters of Faerie Blood to Luna. As per my last post. Meep!

I'm hopeful about this. Luna's entire line of material seems to be a good match for Faerie Blood: fantasy with a heavy emphasis on the heroine's point of view, emotionally complex, with romance on the side. I'm just a tad bit worried about sending them an urban fantasy set in Seattle, given that they're about to publish an urban fantasy set in Seattle, but hey. If they tell me no, at least this should buy me a bit more time to get the third draft done. And hopefully to call it a wrap on this book.



+2: Also at Lake Forest Park Town Centre, we went to the bank and Dara and I had a little chat with them about rearranging our checking accounts for the sake of minimizing the amount we have to pay in service charges a month. Actually, we'd intended to shut down one account entirely, but we remembered--hey, we've still got pending charges against the one, we'd better leave it open till they clear. So we changed that one into a "people have cooties, so do all your transactions via ATM or online" account, and upgraded the other to the "maintain a minimum balance and you don't have any charges at all" account. This should get us off the hook for service charges to the tune of at least $30 a month on the average, and we need the buckage, so that's all good.

And at least we got the account for which I've actually recently bought checks--the ones that got misprinted, in fact, and which I had to have resent--to be the one that got upgraded. And that one will be the one we keep if we decide to shut down the other. This way at least I don't have to waste two whole boxes of checks.

Also, we reset the PIN number on the other account. In theory we're going to shut this one down anyway and shouldn't need to do any further transactions with it, but we'd both forgotten the PIN number, and I wanted to have a known number on the thing just in case we need it for some wacky reason.

To give you an idea of exactly how closely we're scrutinizing our money these days, I've bitten the bullet and signed up for direct deposit for my paycheck just to get the $2 credit for using direct deposit, too. I've had no real particular reason to avoid doing it before now, except a small bit of irrational reassurance to have the actual physical check in my hands. I have just a tiny bit of fear that this'll be another thing the bank can screw up. Hopefully I shall be mistaken.



-3: One of the reasons we have to be worrying about this buckage is that, as Dara has posted, our health insurance rates are about to double. Sigh. Let's hope neither of us has any more major medical adventures for a while.

Between my rate of pay not matching my last contract and our rental income taking a hit from having sold 5026 to finance moving to MurkNorth--but still paying two houses' worth of bills--and also having to pay for getting the space we were occupying at MurkSouth into shape for rental, things are definitely tight right now. Tight enough that we also might not be able to afford to go to Scotland for Worldcon this year, which is the part I really hate. But unless I get my contract renewed in April (a non-zero possibility, but not a given, either), it probably isn't going to happen. Bah.



+4: Dara and I went to MurkSouth last night for the Sari Party hosted by mamishka, and that was fun. It involved the eating of tasty Indian food (mmm, butter chicken, which we hadn't had in some time), the drinking of homemade mango lassi, the trying on of a lot of lovely saris, and the watching of Lagaan. Or at least half of Lagaan. Dara and I had to leave early because of one of the tires on the car going flat.

But I liked Lagaan, and suggested to Meems that we give it a proper watching once we finish off Firefly on our TV-watching get-togethers.

Comments

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

Banks suck... IF I didn't need to rely on them to pay some of my bills, I wouldn't bother with them... What really pisses me off is when I deposit a large check, I can't write any checks on it for a week, because the bank holds the check, and will bounce anything that is written on it before they decide to clear it... I think it's just some crooked scheme to soak more money out of me :(

[howlinhobbit.livejournal.com]

What really pisses me off is when I deposit a large check, I can't write any checks on it for a week, because the bank holds the check

That's especially suckworthy when you consider that banks have recently gone to a system of electronically shipping checks for collection so that it only takes one night for them to clear (or not). It went into effect last October 28th.

They launched a major PR campaign about it letting you know you can't write a check Thursday night at your grocer hoping that your Friday paycheck will cover it. They'll bounce it.

There's also their charming habit of clearing the biggest check in a batch first so that, if you are going to bounce any they'll be able to hit you for all the small ones (at $30+ each) instead of clearing them and only hitting you once for the big one.

Of course, I keep about $1.14 or something like that in my account and do everything either by cash or via my PayPal debit card (when I have sold any CDs or ukulele chord booklets via online and actually have money in the account).

Sorry Anna... should have saved this large of a rant for my own blog instead of your comment section but damn do banks ever chap my behind!

HH

[annathepiper]

Hey, rant away. I do not disagree that banks do in fact tend to suck.

And I've never been thrilled about that whole "clear the biggest item first" thing, either. Though that isn't new.

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

I haven't had a real bank account since about my first year of college- credit unions all the way! They're so much friendlier.

[cafiorello.livejournal.com]

Seconded!

You're probably eligible for one through a job or alumni association or professional organization or something....

Cathy

[annathepiper]

I've heard that, yeah. Not too briefed on any credit unions for which I'd be eligible, though I'm given to understand that the Boeing Employee Credit Union has started allowing people who don't actually work for Boeing to have accounts with them.

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

At 4 of the last 5 credit unions I've been a member of (we move too much) you only had to be a resident of (or working in) their area- county or city, depending on the credit union. The 5th was through a university where my SO was a grad student.

So you never know! Don't accept the whole "fee if going below minimum balance" as standard, because it's really not- even some credit unions have it, but you should be able to find one that doesn't. (My first CU in Oregon switched to that, and I promptly closed my account and found a different CU to join.)

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

P.S. - I love my current CU- there's a university in it's name but they're open to anyone in the areas where they have branches, and there's one just a 10 minute walk from my house. Very handy. Part of what I love though, is that they make funds available immediately when you're depositing checks, up to a certain amount (several hundred dollars, iirc- I've never cashed a check for more than $150 there, so haven't found that limit myself, heh).

[annathepiper]

Sounds like a great place to do your banking-type stuff. :)

I have heard from solarbird that there are a couple of local credit unions we could investigate--one being, as I'd previously been aware, the Boeing credit union which has opened its business to local non-Boeing-employees as well. And there's a credit union over by Microsoft that caters to workers in the computer/tech industry.

As to whether we'll actually shift over to a credit union... we'll see what happens. I expect our finances to be in flux for a while this year, so a point may come up that we'll have to look into it.

[annathepiper]

Well, even at my bank--Bank of America--fee if below minimum balance isn't standard; it's just the type of account solarbird and I have open with them. The reason we picked that one is because at the time we opened it, it best met our needs--and the fee thing is offset by the other perks that come with that account type. Like, no other fees AT ALL. No monthly service charge. No check enclosure charge. Nada. Plus we get interest on both the checking account and the savings account.

Which is still a good account type for us, financially. If we get rid of our other account at some point--the one we've just turned into the "people have cooties, so no charges at all if you do all your transactions without dealing with a teller" type of account--we may take this remaining account and turn it into something else, but for now it makes sense for us.

We'll see what happens. I'm actually rather happy with the service at our new bank branch, so not feeling terribly motivated to move yet. :)

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

Wow- it's been so long since I had a "bank" account that I've forgotten about all the other fee type things. My credit union charges me nothing for my basic savings and checking- the only money I have to pay is for the actual physical checks to stick in my checkbook.

[annathepiper]

Yeah, Bank of America has a whole slew of fees. But different fees on different accounts. The trick is finding the account with the fewest fees.

[annathepiper]

Have you considered changing banks? Surely you're not stuck with just the one, even in Lake Erie?

(I don't disagree that banks suck, but surely if yours sucks that hard you have the option of voting with your feet.)

[shikyrie.livejournal.com]

they're all like that around here... PNC still owes me in excess of $600 from 8 yrs ago when I moved from Dallastown, back up to Edinboro... I wrote checks on my account, and they kept bouncing them, because they claimed that I moved into a different district, and therefore the deposits weren't credited when I wrote checks or some other stupid BS... When they finally decided to credit the checks (which were CDs drawn on their own %@$#$@ bank) there was $600 in bounced check fees, and other similar expenses accrued, and they refused to credit me with the money claiming it wasn't their fault... haven't trusted banks much since then... Then recently, I tried to cash a check that Kat made out to me from her checking acount (local bank) at the credit union I have a savings account with... they informed me that it was a 5 day hold, even for a local bank... pissed me off to the point where I took out all but $5 from that acct.

[annathepiper]

Suck.

[wildshadowstar.livejournal.com]

Dude, bad bank karma must have hit both of us up, because I'm in sort of a pickle myself. Just wrote a cold check last week to get $117 worth of books. Fortunately, my bank has a $500 Ovewrite protection, which covered the check, but charged me $25 for it. Plus, I'm straped for money because I just got $300 worth of books for school, have to pay $189 for a speeding ticket, and $315 for student health insurance since I'm no longer covered under Aunt Eileen's plan. I say we go raid the bank gods and demand better service.

As far as direct deposit, when I was using it when I first worked at the nursing home in Lebanon, I really liked it, but then I wasn't dealing with large checks in the first place. I haven't set it up now, since I really don't think I'll be at this nursing home long enough for it to really do much good, otherwise I'd use it so I wouldn't have to drive in every two weeks to visit the bank.

[annathepiper]

Well, it's not bad bank karma I've been having, specifically, but more like just the need to pay a lot closer attention to finances as of late. The bank hasn't been the problem--it's been the sucky rate of pay I've been making, our health insurance doubling, and other such financial issues.

The branch of our bank that's nearest to our new house has actually impressed me more than the one in the U-district--they're a lot nicer there and much more willing to be chatty with you. Perhaps because they don't do business in a neighborhood full of aggressive, ill-behaved college kids.

But ick for your bank woes, anyway! *hugs!*

[writersweekend.livejournal.com]

I can't speak for Luna...but don't worry about it being set in Seattle. H/S has published hundreds, if not thousands of stories set in Seattle...haven't they? Well, I think they have, anyhow. Besides, with production taking up to 18 months, who will remember where another story was set...

::meanders off::

[annathepiper]

H/S? But your point is taken. ;) Bunches of books have been set in Seattle. I'm just paranoid! :)

[writersweekend.livejournal.com]

H/S = Harlequin/Silhouette, the parent company of Luna Books.

I'm glad you're sending it to them...fingers are crossed, etc.

[annathepiper]

Ah, right, duh! I've heard that abbreviation before, I think. I'd spaced. :)

And thanks! I figured it'd be a decent fit.

[chamois-shimi.livejournal.com]

When I was working for the National Park Service, they required direct deposit, no ifs ands or buts- not a terrible deal, since I was used to working for a university that had its own credit union and it all went very smoothly. Well, the routing number got messed up in the paperwork (*I* entered on the form correctly... don't ask me!) and so my first paycheck went... who knows where. Orbiting Pluto or something. It took a little bit of checking up on the part of the credit union and the Park Service, but it only took them a day or so to confirm that yes, indeed, my paycheck was orbiting Pluto and wasn't in my account, and so they deposited a nice fresh one all correctly. So, yeah, glitches can happen, just stay on top of things for the first paycheck and once they've done it right once, it should all be good from there. Hopefully. :)

[annathepiper]

Cool, thanks for sharing your experience with this stuff. And glad to hear they actually fixed the problem for you with little fuss. :)

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

comment the first: on the knee - OWIES!!!!! been there, done that, more times than there are hair son my head!

comment the second: direct deposit - hubby HAS to have direct deposit for work (provincial gov't employee) and even when there was the big banking glitch in canada last year (royal bank had a snafu) everything worked to the good. of the snafu'd folks, we were fortunate, cuz if it had been a paper check he'd tried to cash, we'd have had more trouble, b/c the sub-account his monies come from would have bounced from everyone cashing checks and that account being non-compis mentis, and then it could have reverb'd all the way thru the system for us. but since it was dd, it eventually went thru (18 hours late, but we budget for 96 hours after paydump to distribute along to folks) and it was all nice & neat... i know folks for whom things weren't so neat (their pay coming from a customer w/ RBC & going into their bank account w/ RBC) and they had a plentitude of charges from the snafu, and in almost every case, they got the charges reversed, and letters were written to make sure the credit wasn't affected, etc., etc., etc...
so, in summary, there are RARE snafu's, but DANG it's a lot easier to NOT spend the money when it's dd, and you don't have the issue of worrying about stolen checks, etc...
hence, the prov gov't & feds in canada now pretty much require DD for gov't deposits (taxes being one of the few things they don't, but they are getting that way for that too), and in most cases, esp pensions & welfare, folks are finding that it's a damn sight better to be on dd, b/c there's less issue w/ checks being stolen at the mailbox, and whatnot, and this safeguards the system for everyone involved, except the crooks :)
i've also been on dd, back in grad school, and at a couple jobs since & whatnot, and have to say that in the time i've had that (count about 13 yrs of various b/w me & hubby - chrono not cumulative) the RBC snafu last year was the ONLY one! that covers univ of guelph, a temp agency, abu, and comdev for me, and the prov gov't for him... cumulatively about 16yrs worth... and 1 glitch!

comment the third: on health insurance rates - typical :PPPPPPPPPP~~~~~~~~ ranted over in solarbird's lj already (partially in reply to her, and in reply to another commenter as well)

comment the 4th: book thingies - the publishers OBVIOUSLY are devoid of clue-age b/c you book would sell more than they realize! so THERE! so good luck on the new place of editor/publishing :)

[annathepiper]

Happily, the knee is fine today; using the cold pack seems to have warded off any bruising. We'll see if this keeps up.

Glad to hear direct deposit has been working so well for you. :) Yeah, direct deposit seems to be becoming the thing, more and more. Volt, the contracting agency I work for, is trying to heavily encourage all its employees to use direct deposit now.

We're NOT thrilled about the health insurance rates, no.

*grins about the book thing* Enh well, I won't call the publishers clueless; they're doing their jobs, same as me. But thanks for the vote of confidence!

Bankage..

[(Anonymous)]

I currently get a paper check...one of about three where I work. Now, anyone hired has to have direct deposit, but they've not required it for all. I have no problem with it,but there is something to be said about holding a paycheck. I had direct deposit at my last job for three years,and not a single problem.
I'm supposed to get a knee x-ray next week. A concrete wall fell on me while going under my house(at least it waited until I got almost all the way in the basement, or I would've had a major headache)56 years of standing,and it has to collapse when I'm under it..at least it was only three concrete blocks high..Scott

Re: Bankage..

[annathepiper]

There is a certain kind of satisfaction to having the physical check, yeah. Not to mention that walking to the bank to deposit it is an excuse to actually get out and, well, WALK.

But there's also something to be said for the two-dollar direct deposit credit that Bank of America gives you for using direct deposit, too. So.

Ouch about the x-ray, though.