Ding Dong; It's Gone!!!

Yes, that's right. The Car - it's gone. I sold it to a really nice young chap and his Dad for a cool $9000.00. It was bittersweet, but I will spare you the details about that. I do feel a lot better about having sold it. Now I can save money, and put a substantial amount of money towards my debt; so that I can work towards starting a new life; the life of being in the black instead of the red among other things. The young guy that bought the car was really excited about it, so that makes me happy. I think it may have been his first car, and he loved it as much as I did when I bought it. So, I'm on foot, transit, and bike everywhere I go now. I've already gotten a substantial amount of exercise with this "no car" deal, and I intend to make the most of it.


J.K. has bankers dead on

Now, I move onto another topic - so, Friday, I had an appointment with my bank. The bank will remain nameless, as I have nothing good to say about them in this entry, and the truth is, that these bank people have lots of power in the world, and I'd rather stay on their good side. However, having said that, I really believe that all big banks are owned by the devil. People laugh when I say that, but it's true. So, I went to my bank on Friday to re-negotiate my loan, and remove my car from it so that the young fella would have no problems insuring it, and registering it and stuff. I had made the appointment with my regular banking guy - because I know him, and trust him, and he's always been good to me. 20 years! I've been banking with them almost 20 years! So, I walked in and told them I have an appointment with buddy-o at 4:00, and all that. The receptionist told me that I would meet with some other guy - an enormous Eastern European brute type guy who seemed intimidating at best. I kept an open mind, but as soon as I walked into his office, and started explaining what I wanted to do, it became clear that he didn't quite comprehend what it was I wanted to do, and in fact made me feel like I was the stupid one - and didn't understand that I couldn't do what I was asking to do. I'll spare you the details about this, as it involves my personal bank issues. Anyway, I got a little upset at this, as you can imagine, because lots of things ride on whether or not this works out. All I wanted was a smaller monthly payment of my loan so that I could put a substantial and in fact entire amount against my other debt, and also save some for the future. They flat out refused to do this, so I promptly told them that I would move ALL of my business from them to a different bank. Didn't tell them which one, but I decided to move it all to a much smaller bank; one that is not one of the massive world-owning variety. Again, I will not mention which bank I chose to retain anonymity. Today, I walked into the small bank, told them what I wanted to do, told them which services I wanted from them. The banker I dealt with said "no problem" and it was done. Unfortunately, because I sold my car, I have a substantially less amount of security to put against the loan, but Alberto - the guy who helped me said that he didn't understand why there was a problem at the other bank, as I had never ever missed a payment, and had been an excellent customer to them all my life. Plus, the amount is not much, and I make good money, so, Monday or Tuesday, he should be able to set up my loan for me. I'm switching my chequing account, savings account, credit card, and loan over to them. They provided excellent service, and were extremely helpful. I will no longer have the banker's noose around my neck. Yay - yet again - for local services. Smaller really is better in these instances. On the plus side, the other - massive bank was at least able to remove the car from the loan, and provide me a letter for the nice young man who now owns my old car.
Other than the car and banking, I have a few items to mention. The Barbara Kingsolver night thingy was AWESOME! For all of my work friends reading this - Jodi did not have her baby by that night, though she may by now. I heard something about contractions on Friday, plus she was on the list for possible induction this week-end. So, keep your fingers crossed for her. Yeah, anyway - Barbara Kingsolver - just as great a speaker as a writer, and her husband was a really great and highly entertaining speaker as well. I enjoyed a lovely platter of Janice Beaton cheese at the meet and greet; (no not ALL to myself). For those of you who don't know, Janice Beaton is the Bernard Callebaut of cheese in Calgary. It's amazing. I hope to one day (when I have more opportunity to make cheese) make it as good as she does. I don't know if I could have the patience to wait for Cheddar aging 3 years mind you, but I could try - someday. I also met Julie Van Rosendaal at the meet and greet and had a good chat with her. She saw me and was all - I know you - but she had never met me, just saw my picture on here. Then she remembered and was all - "Oh, you're cheese Becky", and I said - "Yes, I'm cheese Becky" Then she told me how she had found my blog with the link to her site on it, etc. I think it was title that caught her attention - the whole "Grrrrrrr, what am I doing wrong?" Really, it is catchy, and I would want to check that out. If you're reading this Julie - hi! She said that now she has a face to the blog she'd check in on me. What else? Oh yeah - the smell of seared flesh (as in cow flesh) is in the air now, and it makes me hunger for good old fashioned BBQ. That is one thing about Alberta - we do have really great cow. It's been a stressful week, but now it is almost over, and I do feel about 70% better about things now that the car is gone, and I can see a plan forming for financial balance (even though I live in Calgary)