CyberCJH's Blog

So, our Government recently passed legislation around bank fees, specifically insufficient funds fees for ATM and Debit card transactions.

From cnn.com:

The Federal Reserve on Thursday released a new rule to prohibit banks from automatically enrolling customers in overdraft protection programs, which charge fees when consumers spend more than they have.

Starting on July 1, 2010, all banks will have to ask their customers to opt in to overdraft protection plans for ATM and most debit card transactions.

Some banks charge as much as $39 when customers overdraw their bank account by even a few dollars.

I can’t help but wonder … Why was this legislation even necessary?

The only time you’re charged an insufficient funds fee is when you spend more money than you had in your account. It seems like the Government had to step in to stop banks from charging these fees because we the people are incapable of simple, second grade arithmetic.

If you had $100 in your checking account, you can’t go and spend $101.  That would put your balance below $0. One would think that the banks would simply deny the debit at the point of sale, but usually they let the debit that will cause an overdraft go through and then charge the customer a large fee.

But really, it doesn’t matter what the fee is. If people would just keep better records and pay attention to their life and know how much money they really have, this would be a non-issue.

I won’t lie … I’m 30 and I think I’ve overdrawn my checking account 3 times so far in my life. Twice was when I first got a checking account, 14 years ago, and was young and irresponsible and didn’t understand the importance of keeping good records. The most recent time was earlier this year and it was a total record keeping mistake on my part.

I mean, am I wrong on this? Why is this even an issue? It’s up to you to know your balance and know what checks and debits you have outstanding. After all, it is your money.

written by cybercjh

Michael Jackson is dead. I can’t remember so much fuss over someone’s death since Princess Diana passed in 1997. When Farrah Fawcett died, my first question was, “Who’s that?” I don’t watch much TV, I will admit. But, that’s probably painfully obvious anyway by my not knowing who she was. Don’t get me wrong – I’m very saddened by the loss of human life. But, I could have tripped over these people and not known who they were.

I was listening to NPR this morning and they interviewed this woman who was crying histerically screaming, “Michael Jackson change music and he changed the world. The wwoorrlldd!! Wwwwwooooorrrrrlllllddddd!!!!! Wwwwaaahhhhh…” And, I thought to myself, “You do realize you sound like an idiot, don’t you?”

People. Sheez.

written by cybercjh

I had a very strange series of dreams last night probably as a result of the half-a-grapefruit and string cheese I ate right before bed.

The strangest dream I had was … I was a passenger driving down Gatlin Boulevard towards Tradition. I don’t remember who the driver was. Where you’d normally make a left into Home Depot, that was the entrance to a huge mall on a road called Hawthorne Street. After passing under I-95 into Tradition, there was a toll booth and two incredibly high bridges, one for each direction of traffic. I have no idea where they went. We went through the SunPass lane and I saw on the little display we were charged 40¢. I woke up half way up the bridge on the right.

So, what does this all mean? According to dreammoods.com …

• To dream that you are a passenger, suggests that you are not in control of your life and are letting others decide for you.
• The mall is a symbol of materialism and the need to keep up with the trends, fads and/or the latest technology.
• To dream that you are on a toll road, signifies the price you have to pay in order to get ahead.
• To dream that you are crossing a bridge, signifies an important decision or a critical junction in your life. This decision will prove to be a positive change filled with prosperity and wealth in the horizon. Bridges represent a transitional period in your life where you will be moving on to a new stage. Alternatively, the bridge may indicate that you are trying to bridge or connect two things together.

written by cybercjh

So, we get an e-mail at work today alerting us to the fact that they put up these signs in the parking lot next to our building.

First of all, there are more people than parking spots at this building. Couple that with the fact that they are taking eons to implement the car-pooling scheme and the bus service in this town doesn’t support the working hours we’re expected to keep, you can imagine that the parking lot fills up pretty quickly.

So, now we’re not allowed to park in front of the always being closed down by the Board of Health Chinese Buffet and the you’re not allowed to shop here because we’re wholesale only Beauty Supply.

Can we park in front of the closed sub shop or the closed dollar store?! Sheez!

written by cybercjh

I recently financed a car.

I get paper statements in the mail from the finance company and I use their website to make payments.

But no where, either on the paper statement or online, does it tell me the most basic piece information about my loan — how much of my last payment went to principal and how much went to interest.

I called and was told the only way I can get this information is to order a payment history.

Strange. Somewhere, at sometime, someone along the line didn’t really think this one through.

written by cybercjh