I really need your help!

I know that you know that I have been helping to pay for the education of a friend's little girl in SE Asia. It is coming time to pay for her tuition and I don't really even have enough right now to just make a partial payment. I have $120 of the $600 that is needed. And that is not including wiring fees. We are just unable to cover any extra this year. I would really hate to tell my friend that we cannot send his girl to school this year.

Please pass this along to anyone you know that might be interested in helping.

Just click on the 'donate' button at the top to donate via paypal.

Did you know...

I don't think many people realise the responsibility they are taking when they sign the back of a check.

When someone writes you a check and you sign the back of it (endorse it) to deposit or cash it, you are basically telling the bank that YOU will make good on this check. If the check is drawn on another institution it is impossible for them to know right away if there are funds in that account. They will not know for a couple of days. This is why you have to have at least that same amount in your account if you are cashing it (say it is a check for $100, you have to have at least $100 in your account). This is for recourse. So if the check gets sent back to your bank then they will take that money out of your account AND you will get charged a fee for the check being sent back.

I certainly never knew what I was agreeing to by endorsing a check. Here's a little hint: if you bank at, say, Chase, and someone writes you a check drawn from a Chase account, you will know immediately whether that check is good or not.

My store

I guess I'll go ahead and share now. I set up a store at Cafepress a week or so ago. I just threw some things up there and I am a bit embarrassed at how simple it looks. I was really eager to get things on there and hoping to make a few extra bucks, but haven't had the time to fix it up. But I thought I might as well post about it here. Who knows if I will ever get the time to make it a bit more professional looking. I should probably upgrade to one of the premium shops. I imagine I could get more hits that way and I could have more than one kind of something (right now I can only have one mug, one calendar, etc.).

Oh, yes. I know that the mug is backwards. For some reason no which way I tell it to view, it shows it that way.

Deal of the day

Our budget is super-duper tight right now. When I go grocery shopping I am not buying anything extra. But I was so proud of myself yesterday when I got 3 17oz boxes of Cheerios for $3.75! Strack's had a 5/$10 sale and I had a voucher for $1.50 off 3 boxes. Then there was another voucher available in-store for $.75 off. I figured if I could get 3 boxes for the price of one it was ok to buy extra this time. :)

4 things

My friend Eden sent me this survey via email. I was supposed to send it out through email, but I decided to post it on my blog instead. :)

4 Jobs I have had in my life:
nanny
case manager for adult homeless individuals
supervisor at Starbucks
bank teller

4 Places I have lived in my life:
Hobart, IN
Chicago, IL
Edinburgh, Scotland
Lowell/Cedar Lake, IN

4 TV shows I watch:
We don't have a TV, but my mom gives us DVDs of shows sometimes. I like Dr. G and other medical type shows. We enjoy survivor shows like Survivorman and Man vs Wild, but we make fun of them because they just like to show off. I would probably watch some Masterpiece Theatre and I like some of those remodling shows. But not enough to get a TV for them. :)

4 Places I have traveled:
Philippines
Ireland
Scotland
The Adirondacks in New York and San Fransisco were a couple of my favourite US trips.

4 People who e-mail me regularly:
I am pretty bad about getting back to people, so I don't get as many emails as I used to. So much of my communication is done through Facebook now.
Eden (we were friends in high school, then we were at Moody together) puts me so shame by emailing me right away, after I take a month to email her.

4 Of my favorite foods:
dill pickles! (I sure did miss them in Scotland!)
Tex Mex
Uh...dessert!
right now one of my favourite snacks is either apple slices with caramel sauce (homemade) or pretzles (homemade) with cheese :) When I'm at work I munch on dried mango slices.

4 Places I would rather be right now:
Scotland
somewhere warm and sunny (yeah, I know...Scotland??)
somewhere with mountains
somewhere near water

4 People I think will respond:
well, I'm not sending this out as an email, but you can let me know if you put it on your blog!

4 Things I am looking forward to this year:
I am going to steal Eden's answer and say SPRING! Oh, will it never come!?!
hopefully finding a place to settle down and start putting down some roots
making new friends
who knows WHAT the year will bring!

The customer is always right

Me: Could I please get some ID for this cash back?
Customer: makes angry face, acts agitates, sends ID
Me: Who is "D"?
Wife: Me
Me: OK, I'm gonna need you're ID to cash this check since it is made out to you.
C: She doesn't have it!
Me: OK, I'll send it back then for "B" to sign since you are using his ID.
C: Why do I have to sign it?!
Me: Because "D" doesn't have her ID and the check is made out to her. You can just sign the back of it as well so you can cash it.
C: Well, just send the whole *** back and we'll go inside!
Wife: NO!
(pause)
Me: What would you like me to do?
Wife: Just cash the check!
Me: I will need to...
Wife: HE DOES NOT NEED TO SIGN IT!!!
(pause)

I turn the speaker off, turn to my co-worker, and say, "They are giving me such a hard time? What is the big deal about signing the check?"
My co-worker says, "Well, since I know them you can just go ahead and do it for them. But you are in the right, what you are doing."

Why is it so hard for some people? Why do they not realise that asking for ID is for their own protection?