What I’m Reading
Jul
18
Stressed
Filed Under Uncategorized
I didn’t have much going on today, or so I thought, so I figured I would attempt my next great kitchen feat: making my own ravioli. I know, I know, I can hear you now! “But NPW, why would you make your own pasta on a very hot day when you could have been perfectly content lying on the couch watching Price is Right and eating ice cream sandwiches?”
Because, my friends. I am certifiably insane.
So off we went to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients for said ravioli. I’ll save the full disclosure on my ravioli methods and recipes for next week’s Whip It Up post, but let’s just say it was an ambitious project and one that I had no business starting on a Friday afternoon. Then halfway through the pasta-making I had a mini-breakdown after a series of events occurred, leaving Chris with the task of rolling out my dubious and flaky-looking pasta dough and transforming it into beautiful ravioli.
First, we discovered that a potted tree in our living room had spawned a colony of fruit flies that were merrily buzzing around our faces all day and night. Then we found out that our dog-sitting charge, Brutus, sometimes has an unfortunate accident involving… errm… self-release upon waking up from a dog nap. So after cleaning up his happy mess and walking him, I came back to the house only to find that all the money I had transferred to my savings account last week caused me to accrue nine overdraft charges. NINE. At thirty-five dollars a pop. That is THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN DOLLARS. All because I was trying to save money! After a disheartening conversation with a representative of that bitch-ass Bank of America (EFF YOU, BANK OF AMERICA, I HOPE YOU HAVE AN EPIC FAIL AS SOON AS I TAKE MY ACCOUNT ELSEWHERE) wherein they informed me that it didn’t matter that I have never, ever had an overdraft with them since I opened the account in 1996, they wouldn’t refund any of the charges and furthermore, they also didn’t care if I closed my account and moved to another bank.
That is an awesome business practice right there. Thanks, asswads.
So I had a little lie down on my bed and cried off some of the hormones and rage while Chris finished up with the raviolis. By then I was totally uninterested in cooking but I boiled them up anyway and drizzled the sauce and then totally devoured every bite because holy frijole, they were amazing. Boxed pasta is officially ruined for me forever. HOMEMADE PASTA 4-LIFE!
And then I went to look at the pictures I took of the ravioli process and behold: CARD WRITE ERROR. What the hell? Did I have some bad karma saved up for today or what? I still got a few pictures out of the deal, including the finished result, so all was not lost. But STILL.
And that was my Friday. I think I prefer the stress of work to the stress of being home every day.
Please remind me that I said that come September.
Comments
22 Responses to “Stressed”
Leave a Reply
Oh no! I’m so sorry about that! Bank of America can suck it! When Torsten and I combined finances we got the hell away from his BOA account, stat, and this reminds me of why. Don’t these people realize that the poor young people of today are the future investors and billionaires of America, and that they had better not piss us all off now? COME ON.
Oh no! That is quite the cluster of ick!
And as an aside — it’s a good thing dogs are cute, because they can sure be disgusting, huh? Been there on that one.
I can’t believe the bank wouldn’t refund the charges. That really sucks. And it makes no sense that they’d let a customer go over bogus charges like that. Especially since you just wrote about it — I’ll never switch to them now.
Can’t wait to read the ravioli post!
Oh, dear. That does not sound like a Friday as God intended them. I’m glad to hear that the ravioli turned out well, though!
But I love that you said “holy frijole.” I love it LIKE WHOA.
i’ve felt the whammy of multiple overdrafts more times than I care to admit (we’re talking hundreds of dollars). after i closed a bank account last year, a small transaction still managed to sneak through (which it should not have, being that it was CLOSED and all). naturally an overdraft followed, then some fees and more fees and the whole thing ended up being $150. anyway, very long story short after several useless conversations with customer service reps – they took it back after I demanded to speak to a higher authority the scary thing — what if i closed the account because of ID theft? but it’s worth the extra fight — overdrafts exist to suck more money out of people – why else would they clear the higher denomination checks first? and bullshit, I know for a fact that B of A cares if you close an account, and I know they’ll waive at least some of that for you, especially if you’ve been “good.”
or you could just close the account, leave the negative balance, and wait until the bank calls to give you a deal for repayment
apparently i forgot to add some periods. sorry.
What ever happened to customer service? First of all it takes them a week or more to tell you of an overdraft and by that time 10 more have occurred. Banks suck, I closed an account with Citizen’s Bank because they did the same thing to me. I changed to a small local bank that just opened in the area. I have not had 1 OD, ATM FEE or service charge in 2 years. Hooray for the small bank….Change banks before they bleed you. But call Customer service again and talk to a manager to see if you can get some of that back. Or let me call for you……..
I had that exact same convo with BoA a few years ago. Sadly, I am still banking with them. It’s amazing how my laziness overtakes my principle sometimes.
I just had a dustup with BofA a couple of days ago when I went in to close my safe deposit box. They were happy to close the box now, but wanted me to pay rent on it for 2009. When it became clear I wasn’t going for that, they agreed to waive the fee. Which I didn’t owe in the first place. Thanks BofA; you guys are real sports!
I haven’t even finished reading this post, but my first foray into pasta making ended with my husband doing the same thing for me.
1) Bank of America SUCKS. I dropped them too!
2) Ahh….homemade pasta! I haven’t had much of that since my Nonnie passed away but it is far far far better than anything store bought!
3) You have motivated me to pull out my own kitchen aid mixer lately—so far I’ve made chocolate peanut butter bars, and chocolate mocha cookies. Not for me to consume by myself, for the record!
4) Sorry about your crappy day! Hope your weekend was far happier!
I just hate mega banks. They’re so mean and heartless. C’mon, Bank of America! These things happen and they should not cost $300+.
so sorry to hear about your bad friday. that bank sucks. i can’t believe they weren’t even willing to compromise.
but you really don’t prefer the stress of work. there’s still like six weeks left to try out new recipes and lounge on the beach. cheers.
Ugh. Crappy day. So sorry. And NINE overdraft charges?? WTF, Bank of America? Wouldn’t ONE suffice? Does anyone actually bounce a payment on purpose? How about a little warning before just tacking charge after charge on someone who clearly didn’t realize her mistake? That sucks.
NINE overdraft charges? Aren’t they supposed to notify you if you have more than one? Or is that a different bank? Maybe you should switch to that different bank.
Don’t you hate it when businesses are complete dickholes and you can’t do anything about it? Makes you want to go all Erin Brockovich on them, doesn’t it? I had a bad experience with Cingular once and I cackled maniacally when they got bought out later. Karma, I say!
I hate that banks never work with you on the whole overdraft thing. I got into a SHOUTING match with Washington Mutual one time. It is SO frustrating!
Wow!!! All of that in one day… I would have resorted to the ice cream sandwiches. Good job to you! Making your own raviolis is like climbing and conquering Mt Everest, so I’m very proud and humbled!
Drop the bank like a bad habit, they suck, all banks suck anyways. Try for a credit union, they actually treat you like a human being.
Wells Fargo is the same way- a few years back I was in a similar situation and the were total a**holes to me. We want to switch to a local credit union, but with all of the failing banks right now I’m kind of scared to. Lord knows I don’t want to lose the meager savings I’ve managed to accrue.
I say mail them a bag of dog poop. That’ll show ‘em.
Did you cry on the phone with Bank of America? I find that and grovelling have helped me in the past with removing overdraft charges…
That is so crappy about BoA. I used them in college, and they used to rape you with fees if you made too many withdrawals or went inside the bank too often. It was a free student account because students have no money, but they still riped you off with ridiculous fees. I switched to Wachovia because it’s a lot more customer service oriented. For savings, I recommend using ING – they are awesome! If I were you, I’d totally keep harassing them until they waived some of those fees. Good luck!
I hate when big corporations are bitches like that. Ever heard of customer service?? Switch to a local credit union and support someone who deserves your business.
I’m so sorry that the bank was so AWFUL to deal with! That is a terrible amount of fees! I hope you try again and get some better results.
Um, yes. Ice cream is good. Ravioli involves work. But is yummy as well so I guess I can understand the decision.
Not a single fee? Not even one? That’s not very nice. Especially if your account looks that good. Although I did spend 4 years in a call center getting yelled at by people who overdrew their accounts, I would have helped you out. Those meanies.
Are you sure that your calender wasn’t mistaken and that was actually Monday?