What's ( or who is ) In your Wallet?

My youngest daughter purchased a new car a few days ago.

Her previous vehicle still had a balance due on the loan with Capital One. You know them they are the bank that ask's; What's in your wallet?" The question is a good one because if you listen to their commercials, you think they are promoting their credit card and their better way of doing business. The reality is that they really want to know what's in your wallet, because they are scheming how to take it!

Back to the story... The dealer is paying off the note. Consequently, the monthly electronic funds transfer payment that is due to come out of her bank account on May 28 needed to be cancelled. Since the account is in my name, I called Capital One and spoke with one of their Vikings. They told me that they needed 6 days notice to cancel an EFT and that I should contact my bank to stop the payment. ( Six days? You could sail from Norway, raid and pillage a small city in America and return to Norway in that amount of time. ) So Stef dutifully went to National City Bank this morning and asked them to stop the transfer. She was informed by the bank Ogre, that she would be charged $29.00 to file a stop payment request, and that there was no gurantee that it would actually stop it. Further, Miss Congeniality explained that Capital One would likely hit her account for an additional $30 for failing to honor the EFT. So now her $150 payment is up to $209.00. On a vehicle that is actually paid off. The best part of the NCB incident however is that when Stef decided NOT to pursue the stop payment, the NCB Ogre, actually admonished her for making additional work for her, as she had already initiated the stop payment and would now have to "come in on Tuesday, and file a cancellation of the stop payment in order to prevent the $29.00 charge". Excuse me honey... but that's why they call it work.

Being the supportive Dad that I am, I deposited $150 into Stef's account at NCB so that when the Vikings raid her account on Tuesday she will at least avoid the "insufficient fund" charges of $39.00 plus $8.00 a day, that NCB would have charged her due to Capital One requesting the EFT, and the NCB Ogre, not getting the work done, because she was too busy discussing American Idol with the troll at the door.

Anyhow... Are you sick of being treated like crap by Banks? I know I am. I have a solution. We just have to beat them at their own game. If you want to hear about my plan, get in touch with me through this blog. Together we CAN make a difference and take our lives back from Capital One, National City Bank, Bank of America, and all the rest who are victimizing us with fees and rates that make the Vikings look like Care Bears.

I want to be perfectly clear

Today is Peace Officer Memorial Day.

The U.S. Flag in front of my house is flying at half-staff in honor of fallen police officers. NOT Jerry Falwell.

Thinking things through

I was in our local hardware store yesterday. As I walked in, I noticed one of those signs on the door, a handgun in a red circle with line through it, along with the warning that guns were prohibited.

The store owners son was there, so I thought I would engage him in a little mind exercise by asking him about the sign. I asked; "Let's say I'm in the back of your store, and I hear some commotion coming from the cash register area. I discover that someone has a gun to your cashier's head. The perpetrator is agitated, and making no sense, is obviously a threat to the cashier's life and the other customers in the store. No one can get to a phone to call the police. I have a perfect vantage point. I am concealed and covered. A perfect position to do something...however, because I obeyed your request and did not "carry" into your store, there is nothing I can do. Have you ever thought about that type of scenario?" The store owner's son, looked confused then said; " I just put up the sign, 'cause I was told to."

I'm not a gun-toting advocate of arming the entire society. I do have a brain however and I like to use it occasionally to think about life's possibilities in a rational way. It was obvious that this store owner, like so many other store owners, arena managers, park supervisors, college administrators, and etc. had not thought things through.

The law abiding individual who takes the time to take the necessary course work, apply for, and take the necessary tests, be finger printed, have their background checked, and pay for a license to carry is not a threat to the public. They have been well educated in the potential emotional issues that would inevitably follow a shooting. They know the legal and financial risks that would come from lawsuits and legal defense. They are the individuals who will respect the wishes of the merchants who post the "no carry" signs.

Will the criminal respect those signs or use them merely as a guide for locations that have less risk of intervention?