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grape leaves and routing numbers

September 18th, 2008 at 06:59 am

Saving log - $2 tip box
Spending log - $17 dim sum lunch + $9 groceries.

Just finishing making stuffed grape leaves for the work potluck tomorrow. The guest of honor is vegetarian, so it didn't seem right to make a meat-stuffed grape leaf. Rice stuffed grape leaves are a bit boring, so I went and got small amounts of various rices - red, purple, saffron, fragrant, regular, wild - along with a little bit of quinoa. Flavoring is onion, garlic, parsley, chopped apricots, salt and pepper. If it makes a decent pilaf, it will make a decent stuffed grape leaf. The final thing I do is to cook the filling, then roll the cooked filling into the grape leaves. Its a lot less nerve racking than stuffing with raw filling - you can just heat the grape leaves through and you don't have to worry about the filling getting done.

What is on my mind, still...beating a dead horse here...is WaMu. Will we soon have the Citigroup Tower? We already have a Wells Fargo Building, so maybe just the WF Tower. Of course we could baffle future descendants by keeping the nickname - what is the WaMu of which you speak? But corporate takeovers are a bit like war - if they take prisoners, they shackle them and change their name.

I'm also thinking about routing numbers. If my WaMu accounts are the antechambers to my saving, and WaMu gets taken over, then my accounts will change their routing numbers. Suddenly I have to keep an eye on my little savings empire.

12 Responses to “grape leaves and routing numbers”

  1. merch Says:
    1221739913

    Just keep it in a mattress.

    I keep seeing traders flying past my window.

  2. Broken Arrow Says:
    1221740142

    Grape leaves eh? Interesting dish.

    Yes, I'm keeping a keen eye on WaMu as well.

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    1221752000

    I LOVE grape leaves!! (And I'm vegetarian.) But I've never tried to make my own. I'm terrible at wrapping things--burritos, spring rolls, etc.--so I've always been afraid. Grape leaves seem so fragile.

  4. scfr Says:
    1221752241

    As I recall, in the past when we had an account with a bank that was taken over by another, the routing number did not cause any problems. We were still able to use our old checks, for example.

    But, yes, interesting things can happen when one bank takes over another. We had a AAA Gold Savers Account with MBNA. MBNA was taken over by (who else?) Bank of America. Shortly thereafter, my DH went to a BofA branch to conduct a transaction. Called me from the branch, a bit upset. They asked him what state his account was registered in, and he told them WA. The teller told him that was not what their records showed. I could hear the teller in the background, and she was being quite rude to him (probably thought he as an idiot or criminal). I ended up calling BofA customer service, and after getting a LOT of run-around, was finally told that when BofA took over MBNA they coded the accounts as NH accounts. They could not tell me why. WT...??? I have never even stepped foot in NH, and while I'm sure it's a lovely place, could not even point it out on a map.

    Many months later, we now have a nice relationship with the branch manager at our new local branch of BofA. I told him the story and asked him what that was all about ... He said that when BofA takes over a bank, sometimes they pick a low-population state (where they do not have a lot of accounts already) and code all the new accounts as being from that state. Well ... It would have been nice if they had told US!

    Sorry ... didn't mean to give you something more to worry about ... but, yes, it's a good idea to be prepared for a bit of inconvenience.

  5. kashi Says:
    1221755046

    That sounds delicious!

    My sister made a fantastic red quinoa salad last night with tomatoes and olives...I'm still dreaming about it.

    Also still dreaming about the PNW! Wish we were still there!

  6. PauletteGoddard Says:
    1221758116

    No surprise: no one wants to take over WaMu's School Savings banking at my kid's school. I only hope my first-grader can continue to trust me as his financial executor.

  7. frugaltexan75 Says:
    1221758901

    The grape leaves dish does sound scrumptious! Have you thought about adding some mushrooms to it? (Coming from a vegetarian who LOVES mushrooms in anything they could possibly go in.) Smile

  8. baselle Says:
    1221762324

    frugaltexan - DH hates mushrooms; I love them. Usually when I get home and want a grape leaf...inhaled by DH. Not a bad idea to add mushrooms to it.

    kashi - do share the recipe. I used red quinoa in this - so pretty. I just got a bag full of oven dried tomatoes from sister.

    ceejay - the big grape leaves are pretty sturdy. The horror is that a jar is often a goodly amount of leaves, so it takes time. I worked my way up to grape leaves by doing stuffed cabbage. Same principal.

  9. baselle Says:
    1221762700

    scfr - funny, how it isn't the actual inconvenience that's the problem (the NH bit), but the rudeness (the teller). It would have been nice if you were told, but it would have been double plus nice if the teller were told. Sheesh.

    merch - if I see a banker falling, I promise to take a blurry picture of him.

    paulette - maybe you can get a credit swap for that first grader's account. I think AIG funds those. Smile

  10. PauletteGoddard Says:
    1221763713

    I tried to explain collateralized debt obligations and derivatives to the tot back in 2006, but admittedly I did it as a threat of punishment and he ceased his inappropriate behaviour immediately and said, "I'll be good now."

  11. sillyoleme Says:
    1221782840

    My old checking account & personal loan bank was taken over shortly after we moved. I had no idea until we got letters in the mail with new debit cards and a free book of checks. Luckily, we only have like $5 in there anyway, because they sent us THREE debit cards. One was in my name, one was in BF's name, and then a weird third one had "Smith Jones" (our two last names combined). I guess it was all done by computer so nobody caught it! (And these are small regional banks!)

  12. Broken Arrow Says:
    1221789420

    Paulette, your response made me laugh.

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