Friday, October 02, 2009

Firstly A rant .... and then Fairy Hammocks

Can I have a rant first and then maybe I shall be able to enjoy writing the rest of this post?

Two words ….Bank Charges.

In this time when most are feeling the pain of loosing jobs or, in my case, previously spending too much on plastic and using the over draft to its limit …I find that the banks are squeezing every last penny they can, out of us. I know it was my fault that I spent too much …I didn’t have to, but it was the bank that upped and upped my limits and “I’m just a girl who can’t say no” lol. I wouldn’t have asked for more but when its just handed to you on a plate …for being a good customer and paying on time, well ………!?

What happened was, I wrote a cheque and I was £3 short when it was cashed at the other end …I transferred some money the following morning and hoped I might get away with it but at least my direct debits would be covered …due out that day. I checked the account a few days later and everything seemed fine …only that one blip. How stupid am I ???? I received a letter saying that …in total …I am being charged £140 for the privilege of going over by £3. I phoned and had it all explained … even though it showed that the transfer had paid the direct debits. …because the money had not been there the night before and I was over drawn at that moment …it was counted as though there was no money!!!!!!! After a long conversation about keeping a better track on things by checking daily on the net, he said …as a one off … and as I had never asked before …he could cancel the charges for the two I was angriest about (not his actual words lol) …just this once mind … so £70 is not going to be charged and the cost of not keeping track is ONLY £70 …. Yeah. I am so angry with myself as I struggle so hard to save £1 here and 50p there …well ….. enough of all that self-pity.


This morning …quite late …I found that the bush out side the kitchen window was covered in tiny gossamer hammocks. These delicate structures had captured the raindrops as they fell from the clouds over head. I wanted to believe that it was the work of fairies and that they had run for cover before they were able to dismantle their beds or their beautifully beaded curtains. Alas … reality and common sense convinced me that all this beauty had been created by two kinds of industrious spiders. I grabbed the camera ...left a pan of meat ball sauce simmering and ignored the drizzle .... I had to capture the scene.




I love this ...the way the droplets sit like glass beads

Hope you too can see the magic I saw.


I finally finished the first of the LO's and have almost finished the next ...but I have had some disasters on the way .... like getting ink on the photo and miss spelling things. Thankgoodness the photo was a copy ...I shall replace it later with a new one. I have also been writting up the story behind them so hopefully I will get DD to photograph them, asap, and I will get them on here.


Sorry about the moans ...will try to be cheerful next time.

Take Care xx

15 comments:

Jocelyn said...

Banks so whatever they can to make our lives miserable!!! So sorry you have had all of this aggravation! Times are tough for all of use and then things like this happen and it just makes you sick!!!

Love the photos....What beauty you did capture!!!! The raindrops do look like glass beads suspended in air!!!

Sounds like a trying time with the LO also...thank goodness for copies of pics!!!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!!! :)

Julia Dunnit said...

Oh my friend, do not apologise for the moan. Good grief, that is hideously unfair: I know they have to claw the mney THEY lost back from US the innocent customer, but your situation is ridiculous..I wish I cold do something to help..I'm also convinced that they deliberately choose soft targets.

All that ranting onyour behalf and I love the fairy hammocks...beautiful photos and they're all magivla and glazed too. WOnderful.

Ann said...

I find it a cheek that banks can charge an overdraft fee for three months in a row (a whole quarter of the year) when I go overdrawn by a tenner for just one day! It's legalised robbery.
Anyway, beautiful pictures. Even if I'm not overly fond of spiders, you've captured their lovely, sparkly handiwork ;)

Alix said...

wow i love the photos..that last one esp! gorgeous :)

Carmen said...

Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous I thoroughly recommend you apy a visit to www.moneysavingexpert.com and type bank charges into the search box when you get there. Martin the money man has drafted out a letter for people to print off to try and reclaim their charges. Do't let the B*£@%*£%@s take it without a fight. Thats the reason I left Natwest. I lost my job and as a result of charges on top of charges I lost my first and only house I could ever call 'mine'. No compassion or leniency - I swear they are robots! Grrr.

I love your photos - I often admire those webs in the bushes that surround our carpark. I never thought of them as fairy hammocks before - how gorgeous, I will from now on. Perfect photos!

voodoo vixen said...

Oh poop... they pretend they are doing you a favour by halving the amount when in fact they wouldn't have a leg to stand on if you challenged it so would get the entire amount back!! aylight robbery which is even worse when you think that its our money that kept them all from going to the wall!!

Love your fairy hammocks, they are stunning.

Claire said...

Sorry to hear about the bank charges hun.
The hammocks were definitely made by fairies BTW.
xx

Unknown said...

I was going to put a link here ... but I see Carmen has already done it ... those charges are unreasonable under the Banking Code (I used to work for a BS) ... you have every right to complain hun X

P.S ... I can see the magic :0)

Stacy Hurt said...

I came over here because I wanted to tell you how your comment on 'Ginger cats' touched me so much! It was lovely what you said about the wordless looks exchanged between parties when it's time to make hard decisions. Thank you for writing it so beautifully.

I love the rant on bank charges too; I am constantly in this situation as a single mom with a teenage daughter. I struggle daily to make ends meet and it was nice to read that we share our irritations with those across the pond too. :)

I love the spider web photos. Truly beautiful little works of art! Do you suppose the spiders get all mad when there's all that water on the webs and think to themselves (in their spidery thoughts) "How the heck is anything going to get stuck in that wet mess out there?" Then I wondered if the creator sees all our tiny lives the same way? Our lives all twisted & weird & beautifully unique while we pine & moan? Funny that.

Cheers!

Ginny said...

banks are a***holes, thats why we don't work for them anymore, I's appeal it too, that's an absurd amount of money...

those photos are GORGEOUS my fave is the last one...

and in regards to the comments, no thanks are necessary it is with all sincerity that I say you blow my mind with those LOs because it is TRULY a treasure that you are making for your family

bless you my friend... with love from across the pond xoxo

Morning's Minion said...

Here in the US the latest indignity is upping the interest rates on credit card balances. Ours are used mainly for the construction business or when we travel. Most of the time I pay way more than the "minimum payment due." In July when we traveld out of state, I realized half an hour into the trip that I hadn't sent a payment that might fall due before our return. We were delayed by a break down so the payment was in fact overdue by a few days when we returned. I immediately made an electronic payment,but was dunned a late charge. I had to call and point out that we were PAID AHEAD before the charge was refunded.
I thought the upped interest was a result of that, then found that many friends and family have recently had the same notice--the rates have simply gone up.
On a brighter note, The dew-spangled spider webs are a delight. So many natural things to enjoy when we have eyes to see them.

Glen said...

Ooo Angie...these are beautiful and you captured the droplets perfectly. I LOVE the black 'lace' border. It stands proud on your layout.
About bank charges. We were 'victims' of them too back in the days when dh had his own business and clients delayed payments - some up to 3 months! We are the ones that suffer - still having to pay wages to employees and lack ourselves. However, when a consumer guy (can't think of his name) gave advice to people, we actually got our bank charges back and I was able to buy my now digital camera. That was 3 years ago and I believe they have become wise and changed some of the rules. No harm in asking. Go see your bank manager and explain there. They are more likely to do something for you than someone on the end of the phone.
Hugs for you. Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments you leave on my blogs. You are so kind.

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