KeyBank

We recently decided to open a second checking account at a bank that is located closer to us. The only banks in Champlain that are also in Plattsburgh were KeyBank and Community Bank. Both of them had lovely bankers hours (without Saturday hours), so I decided we would go with KeyBank because we could sign up online.

To be honest, I was really skeptical about going with them. I’ve heard some bad things, but I really hate Community Banks predecessors, so I bit the bullet. I have to admit that it was really easy to open an account through them. They did send out a letter that was a bit misleading, but when I called Customer Service about it, they quickly resolved the issue.

On top of that, a real person from our local office call me to make sure that my transition was going well. Are you kidding me? A real live person! AWESOME! Last winter, when I called HSBC’s local number, someone in India answered and he ended up having to call our local branch to find out our holiday hours. I was less than thrilled.

So far, I am completely thrilled with them. We are really good with our checking account, so I am not worried about the fees. Besides, if we screw up our account, we deserve to pay the fees. Luckily, I only had one payment almost go through our old account (I forgot to switch it to our new one). Luckily, I caught it in time and I made sure there was enough cash to cover it.


Also, I paid for the dinner for our 10 year reunion with my debit card.  The guy at the Naked Turtle informed me that they authorized my card 3 times.  You know what that means, right?  My available balance was over $900 in the negative.  While KeyBank doesn't have 24 hour customer service, they were able to reverse 2 of the charges this morning.  Thank goodness!
Other than that, life is peachy in our banking world (except that I would like more money in the account).

Running Shoes

Let me start this off with a disclaimer. I am not a runner. I would say I am a jogger (a walker when my asthma gets too crazy). Regardless, I want to share some running shoe love.
Way back in 2001, I worked at an athletic shoe store. I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but it was really neat learning all of the technical data about various types of shoes.
I quickly grew to love Saucony and Asics for running. Back then, I did still occasionally go to the gym. There is just something about how they feel that makes them leaps and bounds better than Nike, Reebok, Adidas, etc.
Now don’t get me wrong, I would wear just about anything for looks, but when you need to really get moving, I have to be picky.
So, today, I send a little love to my favorite running shoes. Thanks for nine years of pure bliss!

LeBron/Favre

I had a big huge tirade about LeBron, but I just don’t think he is worth my time.
Is anyone else as sick of endlessly hearing about LeBron and Favre? I mean is there really nothing else going on in sports? I would rather watch shuffleboard on ESPN than hear one more word about either of them.
Enough is enough!

AT&T Rant

I should have known what I was getting myself into with AT&T, but they were worse than even I could have expected. I knew that we weren’t going to have reception at our house, so when AT&T announced their Microcell, I was THRILLED! We caved and spent the $150 to buy it and it worked perfectly.
Then, I moved the desk four feet. Yes, you read it correctly. Four feet! Now, it does not work. After hours on the phone with idiot after idiot, they determined my Microcell was broken. So, I had to get a new one shipped to me. Well, it quickly arrived and I took it out of the box. Guess what? STILL DOESN’T WORK!

Hours later and AT&T tells me that they can’t fix it and I have to call the maker of my router, my ISP, and, if that fails, another division of AT&T. The guy also told me that there is usually a charge of $50 to call these people, but that there wouldn’t be any problem in reimbursing the cost.
I called back AT&T and they told me that they wouldn’t waive the fee. Are you kidding me? Luckily, I yelled (literally) loud enough that they reimbursed the fee. Come to find out, after spending $50, this other division has no idea either.
Now I am stuck with a $150 paperweight. Anyone want to buy it??

Ebates

You all know that I am a very frugal person. Okay, I admit it, I am cheap. So with that being said, I was super happy when I was reading a fellow bloggers post about Ebates.
Ebates is this site that gives you cash back for online shopping. Just for signing up, you get $5 (once you make a purchase). I already used mine for an order from Target, my Disney Movie Club order, and a couple of items from eBay. All you do is go to their site and click on the store you want to shop at. The store and Ebates correspond and a few days later, you have cash in your account!
Also, a quick tip: Search for any store you are going to shop at online. There are a ton of options!
The only catch is that they only issue checks once per quarter, which doesn’t really bother me as it is kind of like found money.
For those of you who are members of Disney Movie Club, if you make a purchase using Ebates link, you get $11 back! Also, the Disney Store has 5% cash back right now.
I already have over $17 in my account and that is just from this Monday.
It really is free and there are a ton of stores to choose from. So before you shop online, go to: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=Jqx1e0M7T3K7ru4BA1GkXg%3D%3D

Great Escape

Keith and I decided to surprise Kasey with a trip to Great Escape on 8/14. We also invited Shannon and Cyle to come along. We had tickets from Spring Spin to come back for $13, so we couldn’t beat the price.


So, we loaded up the trunk with a cooler and some food and off we went! Kasey kept trying to guess the whole way down, but he never guessed correctly. It was a little cramped in the car, but we made due.

When we pulled in the parking lot, we told Kasey that we were there. He started to look around to figure it out and, as soon as he saw the Screaming Demon, he gasped and yelled, “THE GREAT ESCAPE.” It was really cute.

Being that food is way too expensive; we had a picnic in the parking lot. Kasey actually thought it was really cool. Once we got in, we realized that it was hot and crowed. I dashed to a locker to put our swim stuff in and the rest of the crew waited for me.

After a quick trip on the carousel, Kasey and I headed to the Condor. I didn’t know if he was going to like it, but I figured we’d try it anyway since Shannon, Cyle and Keith were going on the Screaming Demon. Much to my surprise, he LOVED it. He actually had Cyle bring him again as soon as we got off.
We went on a bunch of other rides and then we headed to the water park. That was pretty much a bust. Everything had a line a mile long and Kasey couldn’t go on the bigger rides. The wave pool and the bucket brigade were both closed for over a half an hour, so we didn’t do that. The lazy river had a super long line for tubes, so I opted to walk the river. Kasey loved getting wet, so that was really all that mattered.
After realizing there wasn’t much for Kasey, we let him go in the Noah’s Spray Yard. He had fun going down the big slides and finally, I bribed him with a ride on the Ferris wheel to get him out.
We went on one last ride and then we headed back to the parking lot for another picnic in the parking lot.
All in all, Kasey left with a basketball that his Uncle Cyle won, a Puss in Boots Shannon and I won and a Pikachu Keith won. I would say it was a great day!