U O Me

This is probably a given, for everyone I'm sure but especially for me, but I HATE being screwed out of money. I really do. Especially when it's more than a $5 and I am truly owed. But it also sucks to be screwed out of money that was basically found. Allow me to explain...

So over the weekend Joe and I had to go meet our landlord to hand in our rent checks. I was searching for our checkbooks in my dresser drawer when my hand pulled out a sealed envelope. I checked the sender and realized it was from my old doctor's office. I then noticed the tell-tale signs: the just barely visible watermarks, the "Pay to the Order of" stamped inside. This held a check! Woohoo, I thought for a second. But then I immediately did the math in my head and realized I hadn't dealt with this office in a few years, which meant the check was almost definitely expired.

Grumbling, but hanging onto some hope that for some reason it had an especially long and flexible expiration date, I opened the envelope and pulled out the document. It was indeed a check, citing it was a refund due to an overpayment, for $46! Sonofa...

I then quickly scanned the check and lo and behold.....expired 2008 (wa wa wa waaaaa). God damnit.

What the hell is that?? Getting some cash that I wasn't even counting on dangled in my face just to be yanked away. I was perturbed, to say the least.

Then later on, with my paltry dollars left, we walked to Trader Joe's to stock up on just some dinner essentials. Let me put a quick caveat here and just mention I have a slight obsession with Trader Joes, but that might have to wait for another post.

We pick up some basics including a box of clementines. Clementines, by the way, should just have little timers attached to them because those things are like little grenades waiting to go off and go bad. I swear it's like an episode of 24 just to finish the majority of them before they get moldy. I have only ever once seen the bottom of those damn wooden crates when the clementines were all eaten- it was a good day, a rare day...

Anyway after waiting in line for a good eternity the guy begins ringing me up. He mumbles something about overcharging people but I was too buys praying that I had enough money to hear. It wasn't until we got home and I had the chance to scan my receipt that I wondered if there was a mistake. It said that there were two grocery items I bought- something for $5.99 and something else for $6.99, but because Trader Joe's doesn't always label the receipt with what you specifically bought I'd have no way to prove the mistake. It just said, Grocery. Bollocks...

But the universe has a way of evening itself out. Maybe I'll find a dollar on the street or be the millionth customer in a store....Oh well, a cheap girl can always hope and dream...for a price.