spring springs at last

I made it through week two! And week one with the boss in place. There is much confusion at my place of employment over space and seating arrangements as they are rapidly outgrowing what they have, and they apparently bring in batches of college kids to work as summer interns. Never in my wildest dreams would this have ever been a business that would have appealed to me, but I actually find it quite interesting to see how motivating a potential sale can be to the right personality (which would never be me, of course, but I don't mind backing up those to whom it applies - I'm a bottom feeder.)

Of course I continue to face financial woes. First, the agency overpaid me so I got a nice check but that means I will be docked for the same amount next week. Then I got my last school check and it was much less than I had expected. Still a large check, and I guess it eases the pain of transition because I'm not actually giving up as much potential as I had thought.

But then I got a letter from the bank, which resembled the letter that had come the day before, which I had assumed was my statement. So I opened it and it was an overdraft notice! Apparently I have overdraft protection unless I 'opt out' which I never even knew to do, and because I forgot (again) to write in an online credit card payment (this time it was EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS), my account went into the negative. And I thought I still had a few hundred in there so I went about spending as usual.

Well, the way the overdraft protection works is that it pays your transaction, whether it be check, debit or credit card transaction, and then charges you $35 per event and sends a letter which arrives the next day. I do multiple debit transactions on any given day. So a $10 purchase at Target is hit with a $35 charge! Not to mention the $15 I was charged for falling below $100 in the checking account. By the time I realized this I was in the hole for $105. Luckily I had the two large checks to deposit, which I did.

I called the bank in a near-tearful panic when I saw the magnitude of my idiocy, and they were actual quite helpful. They reversed the $105 and also enabled my online banking, which I had been resisting because it wanted me to enter my social security number. So I was able to go through and find the missing item, which was a couple of months old due to my avoidance maneuvers when it comes to matters of the checkbook.

Anyway, I checked in today and I was hit with another $35 charge but I'm just going to figure I deserved that one, and the total cost of this blunder is $50. It could have been a whole lot worse, and now I have online access to my accounts, which is wonderful. And I have a small buffer until my next check comes.

So that is my crisis-du-jour from yesterday. The day before that, it was Brian's progress reports. Megan and the biology tutor have successfully reversed those positions but now the failures are coming in English and history. So I traded some emails with the teachers and hopefully we can bring the grades up a few points to a passing level. I don't know how we are ever going to get on top of all the classes at once. And God help us all, the reading in English is the Odyssey right now.

And when he should be starting on these preparations, Brian is instead out with Kevin on a fishing trip, poorly timed for us, but run by the school. They won't be back till late afternoon, probably exhausted. I'm imagining a nice dinner of grilled chicken in the yard but I don't know if this beautiful weather will cooperate.

And in Megan's world, she still has not heard from the town about the pool club and I am more than annoyed so she got a friend to get her in for a beach guarding tryout. It's a bit of a longshot, as she signed up late and will be up against lots of boys, but at least she is going and if she enjoys it and feels sad if she doesn't get it, maybe she'll get on the ball and sign up earlier next year, when she will actually be able to drive herself to work! More to follow on this, but wish her luck. She's a little nervous, but I think she'd really enjoy it. Several of her teammates guard at this beach, and one of her teachers, the one who recommended her for peer leader in adaptive gym class, also has connections and told her to let him know if she wants to try out.

But in other news, the dogs are getting groomed tomorrow! I'm trying out a new groomer, and I am taking them BOTH. Molly hasn't been groomed since last year when that groomer at the vet cut off all her fur and gave her a seizure and an advanced case of embarrassment. I'm hopeful. This woman has her own new shop and she has good, recent reviews online.