A Tale of Two ATMs

At a nearby Walmart, two ATMs were sitting near each other by the customer service desk. One ATM is owned by a local bank. The other ATM is owned by Walmart itself. Now I don't have an account with this local bank, so when I insert my ATM card and request a withdrawal, said bank wants to add a $2.50 surcharge. Kinda high, if you ask me, even among banks that do this sort of thing.

So I go to Walmart's ATM. Here's the interesting thing: It sells money orders, in addition to operating purely as a cash machine. So, out of curiousity, I use the machine to buy a money order for $10, whereupon I'm assessed a 46 cent fee for the instrument, and the machine produces it on the spot. Then it asks if I want cash back from the purchase(!). I say yes, specify the amount, and the machine dutifully withdraws the funds from my checking account and dispenses it to me. The wonderful thing is there's no ATM surcharge at all, and I can turn around and redeposit the money order or use it for any other purpose.

So it's $2.50 vs. 46 cents. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Local bank, are you listening??? --SJR

Household Cleaning Tip

A glue board, used to catch mice, was accidentally stuck to the floor. Glue residue remained on the floor for days, and could not be removed, despite scrubbing and the use of many solvants, including traditional floor cleaners. What to do? It turns out the only thing that would dissolve the glue was Ajax brand dish detergent. FYI. --sjr

Decision 2008: Projections

Projections for the election are contained in the attached picture. Tentatively, I project Senator Obama to win next month's election by a fairly healthy margin, barring anything unforeseen. The delegate count: 332 to 206. --Sandy

Family...

...isn't it about...malling?