Resignation

So Scott resigned from his job today. I'm scared as all hell as to what the future holds, but deep in my heart I know his new job opportunity could mean great things for our family. He had been selling steel for an old-fashioned company for over 2 years and finally received a spit of a raise. But with so little time off and such a rigid atmosphere, we both knew that Scott's dreams of being a full-time realtor would never happen. One of our groomsmen, a man Scott and I both trust dearly, offered Scott a job as an Office Manager for his company, Carefree Products. Scott will be responsible for building the business into Massachusetts and Rhode Island, as well as scheduling jobs and vendors, and chasing down leads via the Internet. The base pay will be the same as he was making at his old job, but Scott will have flexible hours so that he can start building his real estate business. In addition, he'll be able to work from home every once in a while, especially during the winters. And there are many other bonuses to this new job as well. The ability to make commissions, which of course is a must, the ability to be home by 4 pm when its needed, and most special - the ability to pick up his kids after school and go to their school concerts or awards ceremonies during the day. The ability to have a stronger presence in his kids lives is definitely worth making this leap. So pray for our family while we make this scary, but hopeful transition.

Banking...does anyone else come across these issues?

So I have to ask? Have any of you, my friends, found the same level of service in your bank? 1 year ago, Scott and I joined our bank accounts. Easier to add myself to his account, Scott and I met at lunch early last spring. We headed over to his bank and Scott signed all the appropriate paperwork to approve me as his "joint account". We kept his checking account but added two savings accounts at the same time. One savings account would be tied to our checking for "overdraft" protection. The other savings would be for our wedding account. This proved to be too much for the bank supervisor. It took me 3 weeks of waiting, and then 2 phone calls to finally get some checks and my ATM card. Then, in our newness of getting used to each other's spending habits, we over drew on our checking account. I transfered money from the savings account to the checking account to be safe, but I was a day late. I wasn't really worried because we had plenty of money in our savings account to cover the overdraft. HA! Fees and Fees later, I realized that our checking wasn't connected to our savings. Another phone call to fix this issue. It wasn't fixed. I had to call a month later with an angry voice to get this issue finally resolved. A few weeks later, I used my ATM card to withdraw money. this time, i wanted to withdraw from my savings account. No such luck. Our ATM cards were never programmed to work on our savings account, only our checking. I ask myself...isn't this a question that the supervisor in the bank should ASK their clients before assuming that they don't want the ATM card attached to their savings account? Oh well. 8 months went by and no more issues until, yet again, I needed to change the account. This time, my name change. I showed up to the bank with my marriage license in hand and asked to change my last name on the account. The lady, a different supervisor, took all my paperwork and made copies. Then she told me that my husband would have to sign off on this change. Because we had a joint account. How dumb is that? NO, Scott doesn't want me to have his name, which is why I spent 3 hours changing it at the DMV! So I run over to Scott's workplace and have him sign 3 copies. I run back to the bank and she says, "great, we're all set". Umm, hold on. So I ask her, "Well, are you going to order me a new ATM card and order us new checks?". She says, "oh yes. not a problem." So I ask her, "do you need any more information from me? I'd like the checks to say, Scott and Jaime Girouard on one line, please". She replies, "Oh, well, typically, they put each of your names on separate lines on the checks. " That's annoying. I know I've seen checks with the names on one line. But of course, I give in, like always, and reply, "Please make sure Scott's name is on the first line then. Do I need to write this down somewhere?" Because I'm standing there, not even invited to sit down, and she's not taking notes, and she looks lost in space. But she assures me she's all set. Maybe she's smart and efficient, and I won't doubt her. Until 3 weeks pass by and I run into some issues with using my ATM card at the stores because my name on my license is different than my old name on the card. So I call the bank. Wondering how long it typically takes to receive new checks and a new ATM card. The woman on the other end tells me 7 to 10 business days. Well, it's been 17 business days. So I ask her to check on my order. What she tells me doesn't surprise me. My ATM card and checks were never ordered. I'm so angry. What is wrong with these people? So she makes sure my new name is in teh system, and surprise! It is. So she ordered checks to be sent overnight. Then she tells me that I can drive to the Cromwell location and get my ATM card immediately because they have a machine there that spits them out. Yeah! So tell me...why wasn't I told this 3 weeks ago, when I was at the Cromwell location ordering my new ATM card and my new checks? I don't understand why a person has to go through so many hoops. I'm not taking out a small business loan for $500k!! My husband, who's wicked smart, and works right around the corner from that bank, goes to check the bank for me, to see if he can get my ATM card and avoid the excess drive. They tell him ONLY that he's not able to do it, I have to come in myself. So I have to make ANOTHER drive to Cromwell. I get to the bank and the teller, who Scott talked to 1 hour earlier, tells me that I'm at the wrong location. Even though if you access my bank online, there is only ONE Cromwell location, I guess there are two. She tells me to take Route 3 to the Main Street Cromwell location, where the ATM Card making machine is available. I am completely confused. Route 3 takes me into Main Street Middletown, not Cromwell. And as far as I'm concerned, there is no other Cromwell location, so I have no idea what to do. Scott gets the phone number for the Main Street Middletown bank and I call them to ask for directions. That's where I find out that there is truly another Cromwell location and she tells me that I need to take Route 372 to 99 to get to the bank. These directions work out fine and once at the bank, the process of getting a new ATM card is ALMOST done. The teller here can't find me in the system using my new name. She searches for me via SS number. I'm now Jaime N GOROUARD. But yet my husband, and joint owner of the account is GIROUARD. The intelligence is outstanding. The teller fixes my name in the system and checks on my order, because I certainly don't want my checks coming in as Jaime GOROUARD. The checks are fine, she assures me. She prints out my new ATM card in minutes and has me test the card in the ATM machine. I wait some more because another teller JUST took the ATM machine offline. After testing the ATM card, I'm good to go and I'm happy to have my name changed with the bank. Today, in the mail, I receive my new checks. 2 boxes! One box, with a starting number of 1100 says Jaime N Girouard. Perfect! Yeah! The next box, again, with a starting number of 1100 (pretty stupid!), says Jaime N Ouellette. Please tell me I'm not alone in the world with these types of issues!

becoming Mrs. Girouard

Holy Cow! A worthwhile endeavor, but who knew how much effort it would take?! My first "duh" was thinking my religious marriage license would be valid for the state. Ha! I had NO idea there was a different license out there, waiting for my $5.00 check, at the town office. I also had NO idea that a marriage license has an EXPIRATION date! Jeez! Once I finally got the license(s) from my mom and dad, who did all the leg work for me, I had the proper paperwork required to go to the Social Security office and to the CT DMV. I chose a day in the middle of the week to get it all done. And, let me tell you ...it took ALL day. A long drive over the bridge to East Hartford (the next town over, but I got lost, of course!), took me to the Social Security Office. A 30 minute wait and 4 minutes at the counter, and I was done. It was free! And it was simple! yeah! Off to the DMV. Department of Motor Vehicles, or Department Most Vile, however you name it...that place is the worst. I thought it was bad in Massachusetts. HA! Doesn't even compare to how bad it is in CT. The thing is, I just have to change my name on my license. That's it. Simple little change. It's even free of charge! So, you walk in this huge building with 45 hallways filled with room numbers. Each room has a description for its purpose, "New licenses", "Drivers exams", "Registration", etc. But none of them say, "Change name" or "License changes here". I'm confused, and certainly don't want to wait in a line of 30 people to find out I'm in the wrong room. There's no one available at the "Help" desk, of course. So I go inside one room, where there's only 3 people in line, and I wait patiently to ask where I should go. 5 minutes later, I was able to ask the young guy behind the counter and was told I had to go to room 164. The guy was young, which means he wasn't burned out like all the other DMV workers, so he took the time to give me some great advice; if i grabbed my car registration, the DMV would change my name on my registration for free as well, all at the same time. Of course! Why didn't I think of that?! Probably smart to change my name on my car registration so that the next time I get caught for speeding, my name on my license will match with the name on my registration! So i run back to my van, grab the registration, and am feeling so good about the productivity of my day. It's 2:15 pm. I walk into room 164 and am shocked by how many people are in line. There's at least 40 of us in this very small room. I'm almost out the door, into the hallway. There are only 2 people working at the counters. But I know I'm in the right place, with the right documentation, so I'm actually patient. The line starts moving at a good clip and now I'm 20th to go! It's 2:45 pm. And then...the blonde lady shows up. I cringe as I remember her fluffy, feathered hair. Instead of getting behind the counter and taking care of those of us in line, she goes through the line, asking each of us what we are here for. And you know how your inner voice talks to you? Well mine kept saying, "don't take me, don't take me!". The line was moving fast. She sent like 5 people to a different room because they were in the wrong place, and I was only a few short minutes away from getting my name changed. But oh no. She asks me why I was there and I tell her, to change my name on my....and then she cuts me off and says, "follow me, we'll get you 5 in and out quickly". Guess where I end up? The same room I started in, but this time, I'm behind 8 people. The blonde lady tells the two workers behind the counter that she has brought us over so they can process us. It's now 3:00 pm. By 3:30, I finally get my turn at the counter. Yeah! The young guy looks over to me and says, "you should be in room 164. we can't process registrations here, only your license." HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Let's skip the part where I cry out of frustration, and move past the point of where I almost march up to the blonde lady, who disappeared behind the counter, trying to look busy. Luckily, the lady behind the desk felt bad for me, so she brought me back to room 164 and told them of my bad fortune, and they let me cut the line. Yeah! I made 30 people waiting in line behind me OH SO HAPPY by doing this. So I get called next in line, and of course, I get to be helped by a lady who is new, and has NO clue! First she tells me that I don't have to change my registration. That I can wait a year and renew it when it expires. I look at her and say, "And if I get caught for speeding and my license and my registration have two different names on them, do you think I'll get arrested?" She responds, "oh, i'm sure it'll be fine". but then, knowing she's wrong, but won't admit it, she takes my marriage license and while photocopying it, she asks her supervisor what she should do. Guess who was right? So, after 10 minutes of THE slowest typing ever, she finally hands me my new registration. I no longer own a Gray minivan. but now i own a Brown station wagon. ???? Tell me how this gets messed up? All she has to do is change OUELLETTE to GIROUARD. I even kept my middle name. Only me! So she shoos me over to the side of the counter to get my new license, while, instead of fixing my registration, takes a new customer. Gotta love it. So, I find out, they'll be taking my photo over. Yeah! I've been crying and i'm angry, so I'm SOOO ready to get my picture taken. I sign my license and stand in front of the camera awkwardly. Smile! The boy taking my picture then says, "oh darn". HAHAHA. More good news. He screwed up and used my old name, Ouellette, for this picture. And he canceled the print job too late, so he's got to wait until it's done printing before he can take my picture again. Well, I take this opportunity to ask him if my registration was all set. He went back to the lady who hadn't gotten to it, but lucky for me, her supervisor took over the job and fixed it. I now have a new registration. I sit and wait. It's now 4:10 pm. I retake the photo and wait for it to finish printing. The boy comes over to me in the waiting area. I thought he had my license. Nope, he came over to tell me that because my hair was up in a ponytail today, that he had to wait for his supervisor to come back and approve the new photo. My previous picture, taken only 8 months ago, was taken with my hair down. I guess this is how the life of a criminal starts. Changing their hair do on their license photos. Of course, while waiting the 20 minutes for my first, incorrect license to print, the boy didn't have the smarts enought to tell me that I should take my hair out of the ponytail to avoid this whole mess. Nor did he feel it necessary to get the approval of his supervisor then. Nah. He wanted to wait until she left the room, so I would have to sit and wait another 15 minutes for her to come back, say Yes, and get my license. AHHHHHH! I left the DMV at 4:35 pm. Oh so happy to be Mrs. Jaime N Girouard.