Yesterday, while the GF cooked dinner, I fulfilled my responsibility and paid the bills. There were only 3- water, electric, rent. The first two were in the double digits. The rent, however, is just about two grand.
I fill out the checks, seal the envelopes, smack on the stamps and set them by the door like I always do. The rent check doesn’t go in an envelope, though, as the office is just downstairs in the lobby.
I sit down to dinner (good stuff, hon’) and drink my beer (Mmmm, nectar of life). We clean up and I decide to head to the drug store. Hey, I know! I’ll drop by the mailbox with these bills along the way. Look at me, the responsible adult!
Fastforward to today. “Hmm…I don’t recall taking the rent check to the office.” Call up the GF. She didn’t take it. She looks around, can’t find it.
Awesome. One of two things happened. 1: I dropped it in the mail and it’s free-floating around the post office right now, or 2: it’s in with a utility check and I’ll have a -$1900 balance with one of them. While that wouldn’t technically lose me any money, the rent would still be due so I’d be broke. So I come home and turn the place upside down, looking for the lost check. It’s nowhere to be found.
Frustrated and pissed off, I decide only alcohol will fix this. So I grab a beer and sit down to read some Dope.
Sure. If I wanted to pay that fee. And if I knew which check (out of the 3) it was. But I’d probably just end up paying $40 to stop the $30 electric check and still have a problem.
Not this time, anyway. We won’t ask about all the other times…
My son nearly didn’t get his “care package” at summer camp. I boxed it all up and used the self-service kiosk at the post office, since it was after hours. Tossed the box in the bin, and as I walked out the door tried to stuff the receipt into my purse. “Hey, what’s this other paper? Oh crap, this is the postage sticker!”. :smack: :smack:
So, not knowing what else to do, I pulled down the bin door, tossed the postage sticker in (hoping a postal worker would notice the juxtaposition of postage-less package, and postage sticker for the same ZIP code, and put one and one together.
I phoned the post office first thing the next morning, explained the situation, the guy put me on hold for a minute or so, and came back on and said “OK, found them both, you’re OK”. I did not add “yeah, except for being a dumbass!”. I thanked him profusely. (btw, as much as people love to diss the postal service, really I’ve found that generally they do a pretty darned good job).
Not to mention, the power company might have a little trouble cashing a check made out to someone else entirely (or not… those things might get scanned too rapidly for anyone to notice).
After a few beers, I decided my computer chair needed adjusting/fixing. I end up losing the bolt that holds the back on god-knows-where in my mess of an office. Now I have a backless chair with a dangerous pair of metal bars sticking out the back, and a cat-shredded replacement chair. Once I find it, I will hopefully attempt a sober fixing.
I used to date someone who, at one point, was afraid that she was sleep-walking. The thought of that really terrified her. I asked her what evidence she had of it. She mentioned things like finding her keys in the fridge and a jar of mustard in the medicine cabinet. It took a while, but I finally convinced her that most people don’t need to sleep walk to do dumb stuff like that.
I used to live in an apartment complex with a mailbox right next to the office. I wrote out my bills and rental check, went to the mailbox and dropped the rental check in. I remember staring at the stamped bills in my hand with an “oh fuck” look on my face. I dropped the bills in the mailbox, went into the office and explained what had happened. The woman in the office acted like it was far from the first time that it had happened. When the postal truck stopped by, she went out and got the rental check.
For future reference, the utility company could not have deposited the check made out for your rent. If a bank deposits a check which is not made out to the person who deposits it (and the Federal Reserve actually processes it), they are liable for the balance. And for the person who brought it to the bank, its attempted fraudulent conversion.
Just as long as you didn’t make the check out to “bearer” or “cash.” Never do that.
:smack:I discovered yesterday that two weeks ago I paid my hot water tank rental $700.00 I paid my gas company 70.00. :smack:
I now have about a three year credit with the water tank people and a disconection notice with gas. Ooops. My bank is doing a charge back for the money which I should get in 7-10 business days, we are loving balogna rice and beans for the next two weeks, but I still have heat, hot water and life is good except for my headache. (From :smack: :smack: :smack: muliple times.)
I’d KILL to be able to talk with the owners of my complex and persuade them to accept EFT. For them, it’s personal or cashiers checks, no exceptions (well, money orders are okay, if you can find someone who will write one for over a grand. And the apartment owners won’t accept two money orders at a time).
