Another bank story

After I moved to ND, I lost my ATM card. It's never been used for anything, so I think it's under my car seat or something. I didn't want to replace it because it would take a week to be mailed to Plymouth and it would take another week to get forwarded to GF. I was using the Google Pay and that was working pretty well. If I needed cash, I could get it at the grocery store.

Then I finally got a local bank account. I don't know if I want to switch everything over from BofA, because it's a lot and I might not stay here. But it doesn't matter because I can just transfer money between the acounts.

Literally, the next day, BofA cancelled my card because I was charged over and over from a website where I bought some (it turned out, shitty) bluetooth ear buds (they worked exactly once and now won't take a charge). So now I have to wait 2 weeks for the new card. But it's fine, right, because I can use the card from my new account and I can just transfer money from one account to the other. Um, no. Without the ATM card, I cannot set up the new account for transfers. WTF? What does the ATM card have to do with it? Money is just electronic blips that travel through the ether. The card has no part in it. ARGH! 

Long bank story

I decided to get a local bank account because Bank of America, despite the name, does not have any branches in the state of North Dakota. I can conduct most of my banking electronically, obviously, but when I need some cash there's only a couple of options (like cash a check at Hugo's, limited to $25). It's not practical - I need to be able to go to an ATM and it just seems like a good idea to have a local bank. 

In the meantime, I needed to do some community service type work at my job because it's part of how you're evaluated - service work. So I volunteered to be the treasurer (a job nobody wants) for the staff association at the library and for the regional chapter of the ACRL. Each account was held at a different bank. 

I went to the University Federal Credit Union to switch over the account for the Staff Association and I went to US Bank to switch over the account for the ACRL chapter. Both were kind of negative experiences* for different reasons. But it helped me because I was decided not to use either one of those banks. 

Instead, I picked a regional bank that a couple of people have recommended to me called Gate City Bank, which is headquartered in Fargo; Fargo is the Gate City. And it turns out, that is due to it being the "gateway to the West." Which obviously, I find hilarious because I grew up in the West and I certainly never thought of Fargo as the gateway to where I lived, but that's another blog post all together.

*my subsequent interaction at US Bank was excellent, so it's nice to know my initial impression is not a true reflection of their customer service orientation.

ND medical care

I've now seen 3 doctors in Grand Forks and I hated the first two (endocrinologist and GP). But then I saw Dr Lessard and she restored my faith in ND medical care. I LOVE her! She was pleasant and kind, most importantly, she actually listened to me. The endo blew off my cholesterol score of 209, but she discussed it with me, and she filled my Ambien prescription after expressing appropriate reservations. I'm really so glad I met her because she is a terrific doctor and a genuinely nice person. We bonded over our concerns about anti-science. She also went to college in Arizona, so brownie points for that.

Another weird, interesting medical thing: I called for an eye exam and I'll have to wait 2 MONTHS* for an appt, but I had my choice of appt slots for my mammogram just a few days out. In Syracuse, it was the exact opposite.

*I called a different eye glasses service and I was able to get an appt within a week - I suppose the other service is more popular and that's why it has such a long wait, but I'm willing to take a chance at this point.

Multitasking overload

Today I had a zoom meeting that ran long, so it overlapped with my shift on the virutal chat. I managed to juggle them for awhile and then my daughter called me in a panic - her roommate wants to go to urgent care, what should she do? I talked her off the cliff, finished helping people on the chat, and made some substantial contributions to the meeting. I'm impressed with myself but also, no thank you! I'm exhausted now and I never want to do that again!

This is exhausting

This is (another) guy who keeps showing up in my "who's viewed you" list. I have messaged him several times, but he's never responded. I just don't understand people. What are people doing on Match.com if not looking for a match?

More marketing research

I've been chatting with this guy for days and now he slips in this question! Either he works for the company or he's getting paid to collect this info. If I actually answer this question, I assume he will disappear, just like the last guy who seemed so nice until he asked for this info...

Mind blowing

 

I'm not completely surprised that they got a husky puppy, though I feel sorry for that dog. But the mind blowing part is the name. Of all the names in the whole wide world! He was lurking on my LinkedIn account all through the fall, so he friggin knows where I live.

I'm not gonna lie, there's another level of irritation about this: it's annoying to see him constructing a life that mirrors the one he walked away from. I mean, we had 2 dogs, and he never spent any time with them or cared very much about them.

 

Douchebag

 

And this motherfucker. What in the name of all that is holy is this piece of garbage doing checking out my profile after he ghosted me like a fucking teenager? Does he want to see if I'm still on the app? Is he looking at my new photo? Ew. Whatever. I wish there was some way to send him a vomit emoji. I hope he gets gonorrhea. There, I said it.

It never ends

I decided to get HBOMax, so I could watch some of the great stuff on there, including the new season of Succession. But I can't put the app on the smart TV because it's an old piece of shit. However, I took the Firestick from the Plymouth house in October on a lark - it was attached to the other smart TV, but that TV didn't need it. Coolio. I attached the Firestick to the TV I have so I could watch HBO. Works like a charm.

EXCEPT, when I paused my movie and went to put in the laundry, I came back to this on the screen. (I added the stickers to this screenshot so I didn't have to see their dumb fucking faces, which, unfortunately, I cannot do on the TV). *

Honestly, I don't quite understand how this works. Clearly, this Firestick is some sort of clone of the one Larry the Fucking Loser is using - I can see their watchlist in the Amazon Prime app on my TV (which, apparently, I can also watch). However, the Netflix app is mine (I think). I don't really get it. I hate being connected to him, but I want to watch my shows. I'm trying to figure out if I can log out of the Firestick and log back in with my son's Prime account.

The especially galling thing about this particular photo is the date: that's TWO WEEKS after he left. I didn't even know about her at that point. I had JUST called the lawyer and heard his response: "I guess that's where this is headed." It's just a fucking infuriating reminder of what a complete vile shithead he was about the whole thing. I hope he gets cancer and dies a horrible, painful death. Sorry Universe, I do.

*I changed the screensaver from photos to the stock TV options. If they noticed, they didn't change it back, or maybe that change only applied to my TV? Like I said, I don't really understand how this works. 

P.S. His Amazon Prime includes Showtime. Nice for me. I'm now even more convinced that he has no idea what all he is subscribed to.

Happiness at what cost?

 

Larry the Loser and his perpetually drunk girlfriend spent New Year's in Florida (same place they went last year of course). It's this comment from Michael that annoys me so much. Because Loser's Watertown friends don't know me and they don't know my kids, but Michael does. And he knows the situation too: he knows Loserman walked away from his family. Michael is very family-oriented and yet he just ignores the fact that Loser's "happiness" came at the expense of all the people he made promises to. And it reminds me that the only thing Loserman cares about is HIS happiness. That's the bottom line - that the other people in his life are completely expendable. We all want to be happy and trying to be happy is not a bad thing. But discarding everyone you have an obligation to so that you can be "happy" is just repulsive. And Michael celebrating that is just as repulsive.

ALL men prefer women in their 20s

I just read an article saying surveys consistently show women on dating sites look for men roughly their own age and men on dating sites look for women in their 20s, regardless of their own age. #nosurprise

The black numbers along the vertical axis of this chart are the age of women and the red numbers are the age that women report they find most appealing at each age (the diagonal line shows their own age on the horizonal axis):

The black numbers in this chart are the age of men and the red numbers are the age that men report they find most appealing at each age (the diagonal line shows their own age on the horizonal axis):

The article, which uses OKCupid for the dataset, notes that the desireable age range that men and women enter in the app tends to span their own age, but men's includes younger and younger women as they age - notice the grey area for each age category and how it thickens as the age on the vertical axis gets older: