I was hoping the cottage would be clean ...

I was hoping the cottage would be clean, but of course the property manager had been on vacation so she didn't get my condition and cleaning report letter. When I called her she was reading it as we spoke and said it was "overkill" and that the place had been vacant for so long with painters coming in, etc. I told her that this was not just a layer of dust, there was stuff growing in the toilet bowl and the former tenant had left used tin foil in the broiler pan!! Apparently she had not gone to look at the photos of the cleaning that I had put up on oFoto (er, Kodak Gallery) because I don't think she would have accused me of over-reacting if she had seen the condition of the place. Bottom line, she was able to get a cleaner to come out that afternoon. The cleaner did a great job and I was able to really move in and make it my own space.

I was disappointed in Washington Mutual this weekend. I had withdrawn $3000 from my old savings account so that I could deposit it into my new WaMu account. I really had hoped that I could pay off my credit card and start my new life with a clean slate. I was quite surprised that they were going to put a 7-working-day-hold on the Cashier's check!! When asked why, she indicated that the fact that it was a new account and that the originating bank was not in the area combined to cause the hold to be generated. She also told me that when I opened the account I should have been told about these holds. I told her that I didn't recall him telling me about any holds, but that it could have been in the fine print. I indicated that it was a cashier's check from a bank, and asked if they could call the bank. She pointed out that there was no phone number on the check and that the bank was not in the area. I told her she could use my cell phone to call the bank if they were worried about the long-distance phone charge. She referred me to the manager, who was already helping someone else and there were two more people in line. I ended up telling her that if they didn't want my $3000 I would go to my "real" bank with the money. I asked her if this hold would also be on any deposits from out of the area, for example eBay transactions, and she said yes. So much for my glowing review of Washington Mutual of a few weeks back!! I plan on only doing my automatic deposits for paycheck purposes and paying my rent and bills with this account. Any other stuff will have to be done with my out-of-town bank, who had no problem taking my $3000 this morning!!