Da' Bears, Da' Saints, Ditka

Got my sanity back after the slog through yesterday. Whoo hoo! Felt so bad because in Elder's Quorum I was fighting back the sleep and as a fellow teacher I know how it is when the group seems lost in space, it was good lesson on the dichotomy of service... doh!
Opened up the mailbox and found myself and nice little surprise, a new ATM card! What's nice about this one is that Wells Fargo has an offer that you can design your own bank card (and by design you can upload a photo) and they'll plaster it on for free which is my kind of price so I figured i'd take them up on their offer. Put a nice little picture of me and Brynn from a Timbers game last summer, good for the next three years. I guess this will make up somewhat karmically for all the crap we had to endure this past Friday when we went to deposit some financial aid goodies before our journey to Costco. Brynn had an issue in that when they added her info to the account (she had previously banked with Wells Fargo before we got married) they pulled up her maiden name and slapped it onto the account. What was such a hassle was that we had to bring in our marriage certificate from the county in order to prove the legitimacy of her claim (never mind in order to change her license she had to bring that plus her new social security... etc) to just change her name. That is when a ten minute trip into the bank became a full blown rodeo as the person helping her kept ignoring our pleas to leave and she tried to sell us everything but the kitchen sink, oh wait, she did (bringing the mortgage broker to speak with us about buying a house after we had mentioned that was a long term goal of ours). It was by far the worst experience i've ever had at a bank and reinforces my habit of depositing through the ATM. When I go to bank i'd like to think I am savvy enough to look up the right people for help when I need it but otherwise take my money, use it to lend to others, and ensure that the next time I swipe my card the money is in the account. I wish we could go back to MAPS.

Stretch Armstrong

It seems like forever since i've visited the site but nary a week has passed before I doth putteth letters upon this page. A few winners and losers of the past week.

Dorks in a goofy looking hats scored a big win in WINTER STORM '09! You may laugh but as I stood at the bus stop for over an hour and a half my ears were completely toasty? How about yours? Oh... you were inside... dang you. Unfortunaltely for Brynn, Jack Frost forgot to inform her of his plans and she ended up freezing throughout a hellacious four attempt to leave downtown Portland and get home to the warm, warm, heater that I had turned on for her. I believe she got off at 5:00 and caught the 4:15 Sherwood Express which deposited her safely at the transit center around 10:00 pm. At least she wasn't the lady look forlorn when she learned that her bus was due at 6:00... AM! To paraphrase Brynn when the snow blows into Portland all bets are off as people turn into crazy aborigines, stabbing everyone looking to just get ahead.

Your tax dollars lost a big one this year as Portland proved that it is consistent in one thing... year in year out they are woefully unprepared for the frozen miracle from the sky. Let your votes do the talking.

What is it about money and losers. Unitus Credit Union who I allowed to protected by my banner of "they can do no wrong" screwed us over majorly as they told us we would not qualify for a loan or a credit card (no history) to pay for Brynn's education. If that wasn't bad, they were the same people who gave us the advice to wait until we really needed it to apply for said loan before leaving us scrambling on how to finance the term. Tom, the same guy who signed us up and called month after month reminding us that we could sign up for an unsecured credit card broke the news so this one's for you...
Finally we end on a positive note. Christmas. Always a winner was made even sweeter by spending time with two families this year. I wish there was enough time in the world to visit with each one of you during Christmas and New Years but suffice to say we love you all and may the new year bring many great treasures.