The picture that accompanied my blog yesterday was one of the General’s car. It is a nice car with four new tires. Though the car is approaching three years old, it still looks brand new or did until yesterday. Mid-morning yesterday, I went to the post office. I was expecting some checks that would need to be deposited in the account of the company for which I work. Since it is a long way to the bank, I wanted to check the mail before I made my way to the branch bank location in Austin.
In my mind, it was convertible weather. At least it should have been. I walked outside to discover it was both windy and cool. Consequently, I asked the General permission to drive her car. As I approached the gate to exit our property, I noticed the neighbor’s cows on the other side of the fence down near the road. There were probably a dozen or more cows. I looked to my left and noticed we had cows on our place as well. The cows on our property don’t belong to us, but they graze on our land.
Just as I clicked the remote button to open the gate, I realized that one of the cows that graze our place was standing about ten feet from the gate that I was opening. The cow had blended in with the herd on the other side of the fence. I hurriedly drove through the opening while pressing the remote to shut the gate behind me. I never took my eyes off of the rearview mirror. I wanted to ensure the gate closed with the cow still on the other side of the gate.
Simultaneously, I heard a scraping sound coming from the right side of the car. I looked to my right and didn’t see anything. I was not against the fence. Once the gate was closed behind me, I stopped the car and got out to see what the scraping sound was all about. In my haste to get out of the gate before the cow exited as well, I veered too close to the gate opener located on a metal post next to our driveway. Obviously, I had scratched the General’s car in the process.
So, how bad was it? Actually, in surveying the damage, I wasn’t really sure. Was it really a scratch or was the noticeable thin line simply residue from the plastic casing that surrounded the gate opener and if so, could I buff it off? It was probably magical thinking on my part, but I convinced myself I could probably use some sponge-like white eraser the General has in the laundry room to erase it?
I drove on to the post office to check the mail. We had mail, but it wasn’t the mail I was looking to find. There were no checks for me to deposit in our agency’s account. That being said, I still needed to go to the bank and make another deposit identical to one that I had made two weeks earlier. The earlier deposit was returned by the receiving bank without being honored. What was all of that about? Seriously, how hard does it have to be?
When I returned home, I didn’t mention to the General that I had scratched her car. I looked for the white eraser, soaked it in water and headed to the garage in hopes the sponge I was holding in my hand would do the trick. The jury is still out, but it almost worked. Almost is the operative word. It wasn’t yet good enough.
I could still see a slight scratch. I determined I’d check with Kevin, my son-in-law. He knows about those kinds of things. Maybe there is a way to buff the almost imperceptible scratch away. If not, I’ll take it to a body shop. The General isn’t going to drive a car with a scratch. It might not bother her, but it would bother me. By the way, when the magic white eraser didn’t perfectly work, I told the General I had scratched her car. Under the category of “miracles of miracles”, I didn’t even get a lecture on the need to pay closer attention. After all, accidents happen. That’s why they are called accidents.
So now, how to figure out why one bank failed to honor a check I had written and deposited in another bank. Seriously, does it have to be this difficult? Like I previously said, I made a large deposit two weeks earlier. The check I had written had been denied by the receiving bank. Long story short, the bank had attempted to contact me to confirm the check by using telephone numbers they had on file. They didn’t have my (202) number and the (512) number they had on file, now belongs to another person.
I guess I should be grateful the bank has a check and balance system (pun intended) before they honor a check representing a significant sum. At least, now they have the correct number. I simply needed to write another check, deposit it in the same account I had deposited the check which was denied and wait for a telephone call to confirm the validity of the check. If you are a little confused by all of this, so am I.
I was a little slow in getting my stuff all together yesterday. The good news is, I had located a bank address of another branch bank that was located closer to my home. I arrived at the bank at 3:45 p.m. yesterday. The doors were locked and the signage indicated the lobby was open until 4:00 and the drive-through until 6:00. Since I couldn’t get inside, the drive through was my only option, but in reality, it wasn’t an option. It, too, was closed. In fact, I’m not sure the branch back is still a branch bank. If so, I’m not impressed.
I quickly (that’s a joke) made my way to the other branch bank. I knew the lobby would be closed, so I went to the drive-through. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw an employee inside. I then noticed the bold red sign that read “Closed”. I pressed the “call button”, the employee I could see responded. She explained that the bank closes at 4:00. I could either drop my deposit off in a secure box on the side of the building or I could come back the following business day. In addition, on Friday’s the drive-through is open until 6:00 p.m.
I must have “STUPID” written on my forehead because I didn’t opt to put the deposit in the secure box on the side of the building. Like I said, it is a large deposit. Consequently, I want the satisfaction of knowing someone at the bank took it from me personally.
I went to bed last night with a sense of calm. My world is good. The frustrations from yesterday were simply that. Most people don’t get through the day without them. Fortunately, mine were not life changing and simply represented an inconvenience of sorts. My heart and thoughts and prayers go out to a number of friends this morning who are in the midst of life-changing issues that have rocked their world.
All My Best!
Don