Super Sonic Dots

Just blowing in here to get you updated and then back out to prep for my trip. Less than two weeks, peeps! Two weeks from right this minute I'll be in Mississippi doing...I dunno. Something that involves spending money, I'm sure.

• Speaking of money, I went to the bank today to get money exchanged since I hate fooling around with it at the airport. I had called our personal banker last week to ask him what he thought would be the easiest thing for me to do and he said "Well if you come up to my branch we won't have enough on hand for you but if you go down to the branch on the market square they will.". So last Thursday I went by there and when I asked for [insert amount here that probably wouldn't be prudent to reveal on the Internet] American dollars the woman in the little glassed off booth acted as if I'd asked her for the crown jewels. "We don't have that much on hand! I'll have to order it!", she told me. I said that was fine and asked her when I should return. She asked me when I wanted to return and I said "Well...I dunno. Tomorrow?". She curtly replied that tomorrow was too soon and I said "Well when will you have it?" She asked me "Well when do you want it?". I told her that I'd want it when she'd have it. Finally I said "Look, I don't leave for three weeks. When can you get me the money.". Frau Sourpuss replied that it would be there Tuesday or Wednesday and I said I'd be back on Wednesday. And of course on Wednesday it wasn't there. Frau Sourpuss gave me her phone number so I could call and check if the money was delivered and when I called today she informed me that it was. Forty-five minutes later I arrived, she acted as if she'd never seen me before, never mind that I'd been there the day before and had just spoken with her on the phone. *sigh* Okay, no problem - let me just ask you once again for my freaking American dollars. She got the money - it was set aside for me with a note attached with my account number - and for some reason she didn't want to see any identification from me. In all our encounters she never looked at my ID. So much for security.
  
  When I ordered the money she asked me what sort of bills I wanted. I asked for $500 in hundreds because that's money I'm giving to my sister for my mother's bills. I asked for $200 in fifties and for the rest to be in twenties and tens. And still Frau Sourpuss gave me $200 in fives. Fives! Didn't you order money in the denominations for which I asked? Did I ask for fives?
  
  I reckon I'm all set if I happen to go to the Bada Bing! while on this trip.
  
  
• B and I went to the dentist yesterday - him to get his fillings and for me to get a cleaning and check-up. Weirdly enough my insurance chip card didn't work - it kept coming up with B's information and none of my own. The dental assistant kept the cards though, called the insurance company this morning to explain the problem and arranged for them to send me a new chip card. Talk about service. B and I now are deeply in love with our dentist office. Kiss us, dental practice - our teeth are clean!
  
  
• You can tell me - I promise not to get angry. Y'all are throwing your cardboard boxes in my apartment while I'm sleeping, right? You can confess it now. I truly hope that's the reason because else I can't figure out how I can spend hours hacking up cardboard boxes to be thrown in the recycler and I never get to the end.
  
  Of course me having stuff delivered all the time could be the problem as well.
  
  
• There may be something wrong with me. I'm spending more thought on what knitting stuff I'll be taking with me than what clothes.
  
  
• We got the bill from our rental company where we settle up for the year. I pay rent based on the apartment itself and with it is the cost for the heat I use, hot and cold water consumption, trash pick-up, cost for the building superintendent, street cleaning, building cleaning, etc. If what I paid in rent in the past year is more than my costs, I get money back. If what I paid in rent doesn't cover the costs I have to settle up and my rent goes up to reflect what my higher costs are.
  
  Holy smokes, I have to cough up 580€ to settle up and my rent is going up by 40€ per month. That is an unreal amount considering in my old apartment, owned by the same company, my costs never rose that much in one year. I know utilities and trash pick up and so on are more expensive this year but my bill shows me using cold water at the rate a six member family would. I believe someone screwed up when the water meters were changed this year and we need to get to the bottom of this. Nice project for B and his mom to work on while I'm gone. And if this bill is right, I won't be taking a vacation again any time soon. Like for the next twenty-five years.

Come back tomorrow - we'll be shuffling. Wear your dancing shoes.