My strenuous day today:
I got up a trifle later than intended, but was at the computer shortly before 8. By 12:30 I had written 3400 words and gone through email to get the remaining inked pages for Chance. I showered and dinked around online for a bit, then went down into Cobh with Ted so I could go to the bank.
I must digress for a moment on the topic of Irish banking. Or at least, banking with AIB.
We opened our account in Athy. In order to move our account to Cobh, we have to *close* the account in Athy, open a new one here, wait several days for it to be opened because they have to *mail the paperwork to Dublin* and *have it returned*, get new debit cards, and change routing numbers for my paychecks to be deposited. It is not a matter of simply changing the address. You actually have to go through all of this. You can open an account here, not put money in it–because peculiarly, Irish banks do not expect you to put money in the account when you open it–and close the other account after you’ve gotten the cards and everything, but *buh*. Furthermore, the Cobh branch *can’t deposit money in our account*. They have to *mail checks to Athy*. What do they do, actually keep the money in the banks? Hasn’t anyone told them it’s all ones and zeroes in the big nebulous money cloud in the sky? It’s like living in the 1950s. It’s *bizarre*. (I am also told that Irish who go to America and can’t use their ATM cards, which are called laser cards here and which are different from American money cards, feel quite strongly that American banking is terribly backward. I have no words. :))
Where was I? Oh yes. I was going to the bank. So it turns out that not only can you not deposit a check to your account if your account is in Athy and you are in Cobh, but you also can’t wire transfer money from your account in Athy if you’re at the AIB in Cobh. They have to send the paperwork to Athy. I’m afraid I crossed my eyes in utter exasperation at the poor woman behind the counter, although my exasperation was not at her, but rather at the system. Ugly American, I.
Anyway, having more or less managed to transfer money, or at least having managed to set the slow-grinding wheels in motion, I walked home, NOBLY PASSING BY THE FRENCH MARKET WHICH is ONLY in town for TWO DAYS and which had CREPES and BISCUITS (cookies) and pastries and sausages and jams and honeys and savories and and and. WAH.
I got home, walked the dog (good human!) and made a reasonably good dinner, except I waited to long to do that and may have accidentally snacked on a bunch of raisinets before getting to the dinner part. I hung about online some more, then spent a very nice couple of hours working on a drawing and watching (or mostly listening to) David Bowie videos.
I did this last thing because a while ago somebody, maybe
Right. And now I’ve come to tell you all about my strenuous day, and now I’m going to bed. It’s so hard to be me. :)
miles to Isengard: 220.5
ytd wordcount: 280,000
I suspect it is the banking with AIB. I have been with BOI since 1981 and always found them willing to carry out what they called inter-branch banking, even before the electronic age had really caught on.
I was in Donegal with a friend from Belfast who banks with AIB. She wanted to withdraw some money on her debit card (i.e. the one she can use in nearly any shop or restaurant in Ireland, North or South, to pay for things or get cash back). The AIB bank teller told her she couldn’t help her because her account was in the North. She did, however, offer the useful advice that if my friend crossed the road to the Bank of Ireland she could use the card to withdraw money from their ATM. Now wasn’t that helpful. I love it when an organisation sacrifices competition to help a customer. “Miracle on what street?”
*evilly wafts smells of crepes and biscuits and sausages toward Mizkit like the evyl kitten he is*
Something else to know about David Bowie: he sang the original version of the song that we know as Kidman and McGregor belting out “We could be looooooveeeeers!” Speaking of which, get your Irish butt over here on a book signing tour.
Hey, so do I get a free pass to emigrate to the EU for being, uh, um, 1/64 Irish?
You have no idea how badly my brain broke when he started singing “Heroes,” yeah. I was like, “This sounds…fami…YAGH! NOOOO! MAKE IT STOOOP!”
I’m thinkin’ that when we transfer our account down to here, that maybe we ought to do it to a whole ‘nother bank, wot eh?
He also sang “The Laughing Gnome” but I’m betting you don’t have that on his greates hits album.
Sadly, no. You have to be demonstratively 1/4th Irish. Sniffle!
Chuckles! And AIB were the first bank in Ireland to introduce the conept of multi-branch banking. Sounds like they have rolled back much of that since the 1980s. When I was in college in Dublin and my account was in Clonakilty it all seemed to work much smoother than what you have had to put up with. Of course in those days it took a fortnight for ALL cheques to clear, unless they were issued by the government.
We are now with Bank of Ireland who are just as crap in their own sweet way. When we moved our account last it was from one Cork branch to another. The old branch cheerfully told me that I could not close my account standing in their branch but had to set up the new ne and then transfer the money across. Fair enough. Grrr. We did that and then waited and waited and waited for the money to appear. After 10 days our new branch manager rang the old one and was told that the old branch manager guy had disregarded our written instructions to transfer the monet as we obviously had made a mistake and didn’t mean it. If we had gone there in person of course it would have been different. After my subsequent explosion the new branch manager decided not to bill me for the phone-call or the consult time. Sensible bloke!
What’s that ticking noise?
It’s Fred. He’s a ‘metro-gnome’!
Oh that was a classic!
Yup! and tell them that that is waht you are doing and why!
*GROAN*
Possibly not finest song-writing moment.
Seriously, I adore David Bowie, ever since I discovered him in my teens (and yeah! he may have been miserable and pissed in the 1980s but he looked delicious!). I still have to upgrade most of my collection from free home-tape to CD though. His stuff never gets properly cheap damnit!
Well, I picked up this 2-DVD video set because it was €12.99, and I figured, well, hell, for thirteen euro I could afford to find out if I liked Bowie. :) My next trick shall be to see if I can rip the music from the DVDs. I’ll make you a couple CDs if I can. :)
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who appreciates culture.
Oh I have the greatest hits DVD and CD – bless Mr Wol and his present buying skills! But thanks you anyway for thinking of me. It is my albums that, with only a very few exceptions, are stuck on tape and vinyl!!! DD adores most of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust so it is just as well I like it. We have to listen to it in the car a lot!