GlamGirl's Blog

I came here to vent today! I'm so frustrated with US BANK that I could... well, I don't know what!!!

Yes, I'm naming names, because in my experience, they are one of the worst offenders. Their policies and procedures are set up in such a way as to ensure they can glean as much money from me as possible!

I'm sure there's a story out there somewhere about how banks make a killing off overdraft fees and such, just like credit card companies and video rental stores make lots off of late fees.

Now, of course, I am not blameless in this affair. If I ever had enough money in there so as not to be living from check to check, this wouldn't happen. Also, if I did a better job of balancing my checkbook. But regardless, once this stuff does happen, there are two ways they could handle it -- the customer-friendly way, or the let's-make-as-much-money-off-this-poor-sucker-as-we-can
way!!!

My latest situation (to go ahead and air my dirty laundry in public) goes like this... Saturday afternoon (7/7), I attempted to make a transfer to my checking account via the US Bank ATM. After two attempts, the machine just wouldn't let me, so I decided to do it at home later. I knew my account was getting close to zero, so I wanted to make sure everything was covered. Interestingly, the machine gave me $20 even though supposedly at this point, I was already in the negative.

I got home a bit later and got online. According to my statement, I had three PENDING negative transactions, but no overdraft fees yet. I quickly made the transfer and thought I was safe!

They STILL charged me the overdraft fees!!!

On top of that, those fees put me BACK in the negative, so the next three withdrawals were ALSO negative -- tack on ANOTHER THREE OVERDRAFT FEES!!!!!!  :-(

That's a whopping $210 on top of the now unnecessary transfer of funds!!!

AND, the account record shows all of these transactions took place on 7/9 NOT 7/7, so I'm talking to the customer service person, and she thinks I'm lying about those charges being pending three days later!!! Of course, she says it doesn't matter, because they would have charged me anyway. Pending is apparently the same as not pending???

I've placed a call to a branch manager (it only took me 4 attempts to reach a live person -- almost. I ended up in his voice mail which hasn't been updated since 7/2!!!). I'm sure he'll feed me the same company line I got when I called customer service.

At this point, I intend to close this account and NEVER EVER EVER go back to US Bank again (this is my third time opening an account there).

Anyone else have a similar beef here or elsewhere? Let's blog about it!

And now for something completely different...

I usually blog on political or news items, so this post is a bit unusual for me. I took my fiance and his son to the Mitchell Park Domes on Easter Sunday. This was a tradition for my family when I was growing up, and I wanted to share it with them, as they're from Illinois and had no idea how wonderful the Domes are.

I have to say I was very impressed! It was even more beautiful than I had remembered.

The Domes are an absolute treasure, and the price wasn't bad either. It would be great if they had a yearly membership like the zoo or museum. I highly recommend you get over there while the Show Dome is still displaying spring flowers. It was spectacular!!!

I'm posting photos on my blogs, so be sure to check them out!

You know, reading another post on the handcuffs in school decision made me realize how isolated most of our community is from what is going on around here.

People think we're going to far by handcuffing violent thugs in school. They think Mayfair is unfairly keeping kids out of their malls. Some seem to think that all these kids need is a hug.

So, I have an idea. Since we can't get all these niaive people to stop in and see what's going on, why doesn't Fox 6 conduct an undercover investigation into the violence at MPS? Or even a bigger expose on the violence in our African-American community. I'm not talking about the drugs, gangs, and murders. I'm talking about the everyday violence no one in the white community knows about.

Take a hidden camera and watch security officers try to arrest someone who stole a DVD at Walmart. Be there with a hidden camera at school when some kid flips his cookie and safety officers try to calm him down. Show the people how hard it is to restrain a violent, out-of-control teenager.

People need to understand what those in authority around here are trying to deal with before they go off judging whether or not handcuffs in school are appropriate. I'm sure the schools would rather not use them either, but everyone needs to understand the magnitude of the problem before deciding we've gone too far.

Poor MPS. They can't win for losing.

I was reading this article on JSonline: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=592748
 about the approval of flexcuff use in schools. I was so disappointed by the outcry from the opposition. I'm so glad I didn't vote for Jeff Spence this time around!

These people don't want handcuffs used in school because kids would feel like they're going to jail. First of all, what kid DOESN'T feel like they're going to jail when they go to school?!! I know I did! Besides, doesn't it already feel like jail to walk through those metal detectors every morning???

And second, these cuffs are only going to be used on those who get WAY out of hand. It's not like they're planning to cuff every kid as they come in the door!

Third, I'd like to know what the naysayers propose to do about the violence taking place in our schools. They offer no solutions.

I'm tired of hearing that kids are beating up teachers, principals, and classmates and that nothing can be done about it. THAT IS WHY THEY ARE OUT OF CONTROL!!! They know the schools are powerless to enforce the rules. It's total anarchy!

My fiance's dad used to say, "If you're gonna act like a man, I'm gonna treat you like a man." If these kids want to act like criminals, then they should expect to be treated like criminals. The kids who don't, should be thankful that the schools are stepping up to protect them, and that they are trying to create an environment where they can learn.

I would add that if you have to be handcuffed because of your behavior in school, you should NEVER get to return. Education is a PRIVILEGE people, not a right. The schools should not have to take every piece of trash off the streets. If they don't want an education, dump 'em or at the very least, put them in a school where they can't impede the learning of those who truly want to go somewhere in life.

Ok... go ahead... let the liberal thrashing begin...

I read with interest an article in today's Journal-Sentinel.

 

Apparently, foreclosure rates in Wisconsin are now higher than the national average. This is unusual because we are known to be more responsible with our bills than most other states.

 

Several reasons were given in the article for why this might be occuring. One that received particular interest in the article was low underwriting standards during the housing boom that allowed borrowers to exceed the amount they could reasonably repay.

 

While I don't disagree with that, I think the author and the experts are overlooking another key reason for the high foreclosure rates: taxes.

 

The tax rate in Wisconsin is one of the highest in the nation. We pay more for gas than many states (partly because of tax and other regulations). We pay more income tax. We pay more property tax. All this outflow of money takes a toll on everyone. My neighbors who couldn't pay their taxes last year are now in foreclosure because the city went to the lender for the money, and the lender then turned around and jacked up their payment so high they could no longer make their payment.

 

We need tax relief in this state so that people can afford to live and work here. Madison and the local government are choking off the middle class. Pretty soon all that will be left will be the poor and the rich, with most of the middle class sliding into the poor demographic.

 

Yet, in the midst of this news, my favorite governor Diamond Jim is hiking taxes again to the tune of $600+ a year per taxpayer!  This after he promised not raise taxes of course. Don't look for things to get any better anytime soon.

I got the most amazing link to a CNN video yesterday.

 

This girl started drawing these incredibly detailed portraits and paintings at the age of 4. She's now 9 or 10 I think, and her art is just unbelievable.

 

What I really love about her though is that even though she was being raised as an atheist, she started having these visions of God, Jesus, and Heaven! She couldn't stop talking about them and painting them.

 

Check out the video and post a comment below...

http://tinyurl.com/yxewot 

So I've listened with interest to these stories about the Troha family and their alleged illegal contributions to the Doyle campaign and others.

I'm feeling a little nostalgic really. Takes me back to the Clinton era when we kept hearing how this or that person that was associated with Bill and Hill was being charged with some awful crime. Yet, somehow the Teflon couple managed to avoid most of the consequences.

Now here we have Governor Doyle once again associated with someone who is being charged with illegal activities. First it was the travel scam, and now campaign finance allegations. And this certainly isn't the first time suspicions have been raised about casino deals, either.

But the thing that's really getting me is this... last fall, all of Doyle's ads focused on the so-called "dirty money" that Green was using to fund his campaign. Not only did Doyle manage to strip Green of funding, but he damaged his reputation in the process. And there's a lot of shadiness around Doyle's involvement in that incident too.

Doyle says that he'll give back the money if it's found to be illegal. I have three things to say to that:

1. Sure he will.
2. Too little, too late.
3. Don't blame me. I voted for Green!

Now I think it's funny that in spite of all his efforts, Doyle barely managed to win. But at this point, I'm so angry at the people of this State for voting this man into office again. I really hope that all his dirty deeds bring him down... right after he turns up the heat on this complete tax Hell that we live in.

We get the government we deserve!

Two bus incidents in a week. Probably not unusual, but the media has picked up these stories and brought the problem to our attention, so let's talk about it.

 

I got to thinking about it, and it seems to me that the transit system has been taken for granted by some. It's as though it has become a right. The kids at Mayfair that chased down the bus certainly seemed to think it was their right to behave however they wanted to and still get transportation.

 

I've got news for them... the transit system is expensive, and it is paid for by the hard-working citizens of this community. I for one wouldn't shed a tear if they decided to shut it down. Now, I'll get a bunch of bleeding hearts that will tell me it is the responsibility of the government to provide transportation for those less fortunate. To that I say, show me where it says that in any constitution. There is nothing in the Bill of Rights that says we have a right to affordable transportation.

 

I'm not seriously proposing that we eliminate the transit system. I'm using hyperbole to make the point that the transit system has the right to refuse to allow people on their busses that refuse to behave. There should be rules, and the rules should be enforced. Let the drivers start carrying guns (like pilots) to protect themselves, teach them martial arts, and give them full authority to manage their assigned bus. I heard the other day that a pilot's jurisdiction is his/her plane while it's in the air. Maybe the driver's jurisdiction is the bus.

 

I know this is all ridiculous. I'm just trying to get some conversation going. I'm sure someone out there has a great idea about how to make the bus system safer and more usable for everyone--not just thugs.

Scott Walker reminded me this morning that it's Ronald Reagan's birthday today. I would like to recommend that we honor Mr. Reagan with a national holiday.

 

Ronald Reagan was a servant politician. He cared deeply about this country and its people. He was the ultimate patriot and a great statesman.

 

In his farewell address, Reagan reflected on the view from the presidential living quarters and how that view connected with the freedom America stands for. Here's an excerpt from that speech in honor of his special day. Thank you Mr. Reagan!

 

You know, down the hall and up the stairs from this office is the part of the White House where the presidents and his family live. There are a few favorite windows I have up there that I like to stand and look out of early in the morning. The view is over the grounds here to the Washington Monument, and then the Mall and the Jefferson Memorial. But on mornings when the humidity is low, you can see past the Jefferson to the river, the Potomac, and the Virginia shore. Someone said that's the view Lincoln had when he saw the smoke rising from the Battle of Bull Run. I see more prosaic things: the grass on the banks, the morning traffic as people mark their way to work, now and then a sailboat on the river.

I've been thinking a bit at that window. I've been reflecting on what the past eight years have meant and mean. And the image that comes to mind like a refrain is a nautical one - a small story about a big ship, and a refugee and a sailor. It was back in the early eighties, at the height of the boat people. And the sailor was hard at work on the carrier Midway, which was patrolling the South China Sea. The sailor, like most American servicemen, was young, smart, and fiercely observant. The crew spied on the horizon a leaky little boat. And crammed inside were refugees from Indochina hoping to get to America. The Midway sent a small launch to bring them to the ship and safety. As the refugees made their way through the choppy seas, one spied the sailor on deck and stood up and called out to him. He yelled, "Hello, American sailor. Hello, freedom man."

A small moment with a big meaning, a moment the sailor, who wrote it in a letter, couldn't get out of his mind. And when I saw it, neither could I. Because that's what it was to be an American in the 1980s. We stood, again, for freedom. I know we always have, but in the past few years the world again, and in a way, we ourselves - rediscovered it.

 

Did anyone have the chance to see the Chevy commercial done by a UWM student?

I thought it was a great ad. But what really impressed me was that this girl was just a freshman and that she went to the competition apparently alone. The other university teams had 2-3 kids on them.

What an impressive young woman and an example to other kids of what can happen when you really put your mind to something!

Does anybody else think the new commercials for Milwaukee Public Schools ("MPS Minute") are just a little off-putting?

I mean the one about security (which ironically I noticed appeared just in time for the Bradley Basketbrawl) made the schools look like a scene from "The Principal" with Jim Belushi.

There is nothing appealing to me about sending my daughter to a school where metal detectors and hallway security guards are featured as benefits.

Other commercials show kids and teachers dancing their way through the school day. Very few if any of the kids featured are white. If this were reversed, there would be a public outcry. (And rightly so--racism is wrong, whether it's white on black or black on white. Letting the pendulum swing the other way does not benefit anyone.)

Anyway, I find it unlikely that someone who is considering open enrollment (as I am) is going to say, "Hey, look at that commercial! What was I thinking?! Forget open enrollment, my kid's going to MPS!!!"

You have to ask yourself, "Why didn't they feature education statistics in their commercials? Why aren't they focusing on what kids are learning, how many are graduating, how great the teachers are?" The answer is because that wouldn't sell MPS to you either.

Maybe Morgan Freeman should come and clean up our schools and ensure that a higher percentage of our kids graduate. Then, maybe we could use this expensive school system of ours. Until then, I'm with Belling--let's scrap it and start over.