![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogFinancial News
I started today with a trip to Consumer's Credit Union (Waukegan branch) to open a new checking account. I've been seeing their billboards on the road between Chicago and Kenosha for a few months, and been thinking about looking for a bank with better interest rates for longer than that, so I decided to finally take action.
There are three tiers of interest rates. 3.09% is achieved (maybe I should say 'unlocked' like all these kids with their achievements these days *smirks*) by having direct deposit activity, enrolling in online document deliver, and having x number of transactions. 4.09% is earned by having at least 12 transactions on a credit card from the union. 5.09% requires at least $1000 dollars in transactions, which I'm not likely to do in the space of a month. But 4.09% is still about double what I was getting in interest before.
Anyway, I opened the account and wrote a $1000 check for the initial deposit. There's a five dollar membership fee for the credit union and a minimum $5 balance in savings required, which will both come out of that. However, to encourage people to use their check depositing by smart phone option via their phone app, they give you $20 to make your first such deposit. So, they cut me a cashier's check for $20 which I photographed and deposited to my account right after they opened it. That's nifty. I had to apply for the credit card separately and they said they'd call me a bit later with the decision.
I hadn't realized I'd need a credit card. But I haven't had once since cancelling a Citibank one I had a while ago with a $5 monthly fee, and I've thought for a while that I'd like one to help raise my credit score. (In fact, I have a pending application right now for another card with no fee; I might accidentally end up with two.) So I was pleased when I got the voicemail telling me I was approved. As with my last one, I'll use it for gas, groceries, and dining out and pay it off in full every month.
Phone Problems
While I was in the bank, I tried to send a text on my old phone and couldn't do so. I had signal, but was getting an error. I tried to make a call and it said my SIM was not provisioned. Ah ha! They've finished porting my number! I sent the text on my new phone, which was almost out of power, and headed out to the car to plug it in. I spent about ten or fifteen minutes trying to get it plugged in in a way that it would continue to charge, but with no luck. It kept buzzing and beeping as it gained, lost, gained, and lost power over and over. I was aggravated; was the charging port on my new phone already damaged? I'd figure it out later; I had to get to my eye exam appointment.
Eye Exam
I arrived at America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses with ten minutes to spare and filled out the pre-exam paperwork. Things went smoothly. Interestingly, my eyes have improved significantly since my last exam. This is not uncommon for people in their mid-thirties, said the doctor. It's why things seem a bit fuzzy when reading sometimes, and why I get sleepy trying to look at text. My glasses are too strong. That's helpful to know!
I was there for their offer of two pairs of $69.95 glasses plus a free exam for $69.95 deal. I picked out a couple of frames and waited for someone to finish the process. Sadly, $69.95 was not what I ended up paying. My prescription is still strong enough that the low refraction index plastic will be too thick, and we had to go with the medium plastic. Doing that with both sets of lenses made the cost right around $200. Ouch! When I can get glasses at zenni.com for something like $20, that's painful. Yet I really did need an exam.
Thinking about it later, I first wondered if I could cancel one of the pairs and just buy the other. The free eye exam, however, requires the purchase of two pairs. After that, I realized that I really should have just gone and gotten an exam somewhere and not bought glasses at all. I wouldn't have minded the $70 price tag, but $200 is a lot. Not too much to afford, but a lot.
Picking Up Lisa
Once that was done, I went back to my car and tried to decide how to kill two and a half hours before picking![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lisagems up. I meandered toward her place of employment stopping to buy a couple books at an estate sale and to look for a garage sale that I never did locate. Eventually I parked in a mall parking lot and tried to mess with my phone again. No luck. Argh! Then, on the thought that it might be the lighter socket to USB adapter that was not working rather than the USB cable or the charging port, I got my laptop out of the trunk to try charging from. Somehow, my laptop was completely out of power. "Are you kidding me?" I inquired of it futilely.
I looked in my glove box and realized that I had another lighter socket to USB adapter! It kept sliding out of the lighter socket so I wan't using it, but I connected it in and gave it a try. That was it; my phone was no charging. What a relief! I was worried I'd have to send the damn thing back. So I sent a couple of texts to Lisa letting her know what was up, and then played my dating sim for half an hour or so.
I parked outside Lisa's office, texted her, and waited. She came out after wrapping up a call and, when I asked, told me she hadn't gotten my texts. Hmm. I tried calling her, but with no success. She called me with the same results. Oddly, I could get voicemail, but not place or receive calls or texts. I was stuck in some kind of number-transferring limbo.
The two of us stopped for an errand for her, then got Jet's pizza on the way toward her place. I've been wanting to try Jet's here in Chicago ever since I noticed they'd invaded from Michigan some months back. I'm so glad they're here! It was the delicious, square pizza I remember with the crispy, crusty corners and sweet, tasty sauce! I've often missed Detroit-style pizza, and I'm really glad I can get it here now.
Getting to the Apartment
I'm often a little bit grumpy by the time I've driven through horrible Chicago Friday rush hour traffic. I hate driving in the city; it just sucks. Being starving and stuck in traffic is kind of crappy. I'd already eaten a slice in the parking lot of Jet's before setting off, but while stuck in traffic on Lincoln, I gave in and had another. Then another. I was quite restrained, for me; there was actually a notable gap between consumption of slices. I'd eaten three by the time we finally parked. And what a glorious find; there was an open spot just half a block from her apartment! I'm used to going two or three blocks away. I'd planned to unload in front of her place and go look, but this was too good to pass. That plus eating the fourth slice of pizza as we sat briefly in the car definitely improved my mood. So did realizing that, finally, the number transfer seemed to have settled out and people were getting my texts!
And now we're settled in to Lisa's place, from which we are about to sally forth to the walkably-nearby grocery store for a little ice cream. The evening is definitely getting better.
I started today with a trip to Consumer's Credit Union (Waukegan branch) to open a new checking account. I've been seeing their billboards on the road between Chicago and Kenosha for a few months, and been thinking about looking for a bank with better interest rates for longer than that, so I decided to finally take action.
There are three tiers of interest rates. 3.09% is achieved (maybe I should say 'unlocked' like all these kids with their achievements these days *smirks*) by having direct deposit activity, enrolling in online document deliver, and having x number of transactions. 4.09% is earned by having at least 12 transactions on a credit card from the union. 5.09% requires at least $1000 dollars in transactions, which I'm not likely to do in the space of a month. But 4.09% is still about double what I was getting in interest before.
Anyway, I opened the account and wrote a $1000 check for the initial deposit. There's a five dollar membership fee for the credit union and a minimum $5 balance in savings required, which will both come out of that. However, to encourage people to use their check depositing by smart phone option via their phone app, they give you $20 to make your first such deposit. So, they cut me a cashier's check for $20 which I photographed and deposited to my account right after they opened it. That's nifty. I had to apply for the credit card separately and they said they'd call me a bit later with the decision.
I hadn't realized I'd need a credit card. But I haven't had once since cancelling a Citibank one I had a while ago with a $5 monthly fee, and I've thought for a while that I'd like one to help raise my credit score. (In fact, I have a pending application right now for another card with no fee; I might accidentally end up with two.) So I was pleased when I got the voicemail telling me I was approved. As with my last one, I'll use it for gas, groceries, and dining out and pay it off in full every month.
Phone Problems
While I was in the bank, I tried to send a text on my old phone and couldn't do so. I had signal, but was getting an error. I tried to make a call and it said my SIM was not provisioned. Ah ha! They've finished porting my number! I sent the text on my new phone, which was almost out of power, and headed out to the car to plug it in. I spent about ten or fifteen minutes trying to get it plugged in in a way that it would continue to charge, but with no luck. It kept buzzing and beeping as it gained, lost, gained, and lost power over and over. I was aggravated; was the charging port on my new phone already damaged? I'd figure it out later; I had to get to my eye exam appointment.
Eye Exam
I arrived at America's Best Contacts and Eyeglasses with ten minutes to spare and filled out the pre-exam paperwork. Things went smoothly. Interestingly, my eyes have improved significantly since my last exam. This is not uncommon for people in their mid-thirties, said the doctor. It's why things seem a bit fuzzy when reading sometimes, and why I get sleepy trying to look at text. My glasses are too strong. That's helpful to know!
I was there for their offer of two pairs of $69.95 glasses plus a free exam for $69.95 deal. I picked out a couple of frames and waited for someone to finish the process. Sadly, $69.95 was not what I ended up paying. My prescription is still strong enough that the low refraction index plastic will be too thick, and we had to go with the medium plastic. Doing that with both sets of lenses made the cost right around $200. Ouch! When I can get glasses at zenni.com for something like $20, that's painful. Yet I really did need an exam.
Thinking about it later, I first wondered if I could cancel one of the pairs and just buy the other. The free eye exam, however, requires the purchase of two pairs. After that, I realized that I really should have just gone and gotten an exam somewhere and not bought glasses at all. I wouldn't have minded the $70 price tag, but $200 is a lot. Not too much to afford, but a lot.
Picking Up Lisa
Once that was done, I went back to my car and tried to decide how to kill two and a half hours before picking
lisagems up. I meandered toward her place of employment stopping to buy a couple books at an estate sale and to look for a garage sale that I never did locate. Eventually I parked in a mall parking lot and tried to mess with my phone again. No luck. Argh! Then, on the thought that it might be the lighter socket to USB adapter that was not working rather than the USB cable or the charging port, I got my laptop out of the trunk to try charging from. Somehow, my laptop was completely out of power. "Are you kidding me?" I inquired of it futilely.I looked in my glove box and realized that I had another lighter socket to USB adapter! It kept sliding out of the lighter socket so I wan't using it, but I connected it in and gave it a try. That was it; my phone was no charging. What a relief! I was worried I'd have to send the damn thing back. So I sent a couple of texts to Lisa letting her know what was up, and then played my dating sim for half an hour or so.
I parked outside Lisa's office, texted her, and waited. She came out after wrapping up a call and, when I asked, told me she hadn't gotten my texts. Hmm. I tried calling her, but with no success. She called me with the same results. Oddly, I could get voicemail, but not place or receive calls or texts. I was stuck in some kind of number-transferring limbo.
The two of us stopped for an errand for her, then got Jet's pizza on the way toward her place. I've been wanting to try Jet's here in Chicago ever since I noticed they'd invaded from Michigan some months back. I'm so glad they're here! It was the delicious, square pizza I remember with the crispy, crusty corners and sweet, tasty sauce! I've often missed Detroit-style pizza, and I'm really glad I can get it here now.
Getting to the Apartment
I'm often a little bit grumpy by the time I've driven through horrible Chicago Friday rush hour traffic. I hate driving in the city; it just sucks. Being starving and stuck in traffic is kind of crappy. I'd already eaten a slice in the parking lot of Jet's before setting off, but while stuck in traffic on Lincoln, I gave in and had another. Then another. I was quite restrained, for me; there was actually a notable gap between consumption of slices. I'd eaten three by the time we finally parked. And what a glorious find; there was an open spot just half a block from her apartment! I'm used to going two or three blocks away. I'd planned to unload in front of her place and go look, but this was too good to pass. That plus eating the fourth slice of pizza as we sat briefly in the car definitely improved my mood. So did realizing that, finally, the number transfer seemed to have settled out and people were getting my texts!
And now we're settled in to Lisa's place, from which we are about to sally forth to the walkably-nearby grocery store for a little ice cream. The evening is definitely getting better.
