Well, I thought I had this month's finances all figured out. I get paid tomorrow and I was down to 36 cents in my account according to my count. I put my card in at a Shell Oil station and pumped $11.98 of gas as my last purchase with $12.34 left in the account. Well my bank tells me this morning that I got $14.56 of gas. It's just not fair. Bank one will now charge me a $30.00 insufficient funds fee for being overdrawn and a $10.00 service fee. I know I should keep a cushion or open a savings account to draw from when I get this low, but shit! Why do the numbers keeping lying to me when I'm down and out? Yes, this has happened to me before. Last month, in fact. Shell Oil sucks! Bank One sucks! I suck! This whole money thing sucks! Another fucking pleasant end to a working man's month. On the bright side, I'm going to eat well tomorrow and forget this whole thing by the time the next end of the month rolls around.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
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11 Comments:
Ben, what's with the chocolate, man? I thought New Orleans was white.
New Orleans is like a cup o' chocolate pudding with whipped cream on top. Katrina cut a big freakin' hole in the bottom of that cup and now there is only about half the pudding and the whipped cream is a bit hardened.
(Stupid, I know, but I had to try a Willy Naginism for myself)
By the way, Bank One now charges $32 for the insufficient funds fee. Bastards. I'm opening a savings account this month so they will stop raping me when funds get low. Does anyone keep their own written finance records anymore? Just looking at my bank balance online isn't doin' it for me. Too many delays. It would have to be updated immediately to be used the way I try to use it.
Ah yesh yesh shalll......
Ah yesh yesh shallllll.....
A Louisiana grand jury will investigate several controversies involving police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including the theft of cars from a Cadillac dealership and the shooting deaths of two men suspected of firing on contractors.
The grand jury will be the first impaneled here since Hurricane Katrina hit on Aug. 29. District Attorney Eddie Jordan, whose offices were flooded in the storm, announced the investigations Wednesday from his temporary headquarters in a former nightclub.
More than 200 vehicles _ including 88 new Cadillacs and Chevrolets _ were taken from a dealership amid the chaos after the hurricane hit. New Orleans police have acknowledged that some of the cars were taken by officers to replace flooded police cars.
In October, two civilians were arrested in the case and on Friday a federal grand jury indicted a former officer on charges of stealing a pickup truck from the dealership.
The police shooting case has been surrounded by confusion. On Sept. 4, police said five people were shot to death by officers after opening fire on a group of contractors on a bridge in New Orleans. But the number was later revised down to two, and questions have been raised about whether those killed were involved in any wrongdoing.
The grand jury also will look at evidence in a case involving a police chief and police officer from the small town of Mermentau who were accused of looting after Katrina. And it will examine allegations of possible malfeasance involving a Port of New Orleans official who dismissed about 60 port security officers who could have helped protect a mall and taken part in rescue efforts.
Jordan said the grand jury will probably also look into the deaths of patients at hospitals during Katrina and investigate whether the levees and floodwalls that broke were improperly built.
I hate to tell yo this but:
The gas pumps are not beholding to the actual gas station themselves unless wholly owned by the primary business (i.e. Shell, BP ,etc..) they are in fact ran by a third party vendor (outsourced) and can place a service charge upon your account for the usage of the pumps .. it works just like the portable ATM's you see in certain stores, the difference is that the ones at the pumps are not under any federal regulation to have to "post" the surcharge amount on the pump itself before you swipe your card (one could only hope you live in a state that has state regulations that require the posting)
The way to "fix" this, is to never pay at the pump with a card.. always go into the store and pay at the store level (where the charge is with the merchant account the store has, meaning you will pay exactly what you see on the screen)
One time (as an example)I needed to pay for my gas and as I do not pay at the pump, the pump itself would not turn on even after I pushed the correct button indicating I was going to pay inside, naturally the "idea" is to get me to be so frustrated that I just "swipe" the card and move on, well I have no problem walking no more then 75 feet to the store and upon entering, I told the CSR that I had no idea exactly how much I was going to need as I was using a rental and the tank size I was not familiar with, The CSR "started" to say something about all I have to do is use my card at the pump for which I immediately curtailed the discussion and told the CSR that "I understand that the pumps are not controlled by the store, that they are outsourced to a third party vendor and I do not want to pay a surcharge for the courtesy of using the pump, the CSr smiled with an understanding that I was not going to fall for it and simply turned on the pump so that I could top off the tank and pay inside..
Make no mistake, the people know what they are doing, its simply more cost effective to pay for it inside rather then at the pump when you take into account most of us have to work for a living and cannot afford the surcharge as the finances are already below par for what we are really worth here in the USA..
Hope this helps you..
James A..
"Infinity Is Just A Name, Its Application is Forever"
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