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.
grape leaves and routing numbers
September 18th, 2008 at 05:59 am
September 18th, 2008 at 12:11 pm 1221739913
I keep seeing traders flying past my window.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:15 pm 1221740142
Yes, I'm keeping a keen eye on WaMu as well.
September 18th, 2008 at 03:33 pm 1221752000
September 18th, 2008 at 03:37 pm 1221752241
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.
September 18th, 2008 at 04:24 pm 1221755046
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!
September 18th, 2008 at 05:15 pm 1221758116
September 18th, 2008 at 05:28 pm 1221758901
September 18th, 2008 at 06:25 pm 1221762324
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.
September 18th, 2008 at 06:31 pm 1221762700
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.
September 18th, 2008 at 06:48 pm 1221763713
September 19th, 2008 at 12:07 am 1221782840
September 19th, 2008 at 01:57 am 1221789420