I Am So Done With Banks!

I have been chased from one bank to another for years, only to have the new bank eventually gobbled up by successive banks until it belongs to some shitty giant banking corporation. But since 1984, I have also belonged to a credit union, that has only once merged with another credit union to offer expanded services and membership. It was seamless and everything has basically stayed the same. I have always just used it to squirrel away money, until now. It was known as CWA Long Island Federal Credit Union, and it was only open to CWA (Communications Workers of America) union members and their families. Yes, it's true, I was once a member of that union and was out on strike for 9 days in spring 1986. I have used the credit union to buy two houses, at least a half dozen cars, and fund large home improvement projects. Their rates were reasonable and pay back was painless. They are now known as Island Federal Credit Union based on Long Island in Hauppauge, NY. I have dealt with some of the same credit union personnel for years and their customer service is outstanding.

My current bank is Peoples United Bank (the name always had a commie ring to it) and it has been gobbled up by M&T Bank that I had never previously heard of. Normally when a bank takes over another, routing and account numbers stay the same, the computer systems are programmed to combine everything in an event called Conversion Weekend. Not this time. They are changing EVERYTHING forcing customers to do the same. Guess what? If I need to change routing numbers and account numbers for every financial transaction and payroll direct deposit, then it will be to somewhere else. My wife filed her direct deposit paperwork too late for today's payday but it should be in force next week. She also needs to move the bulk of her savings account funds to her new savings account before they shut down the entire banking system over labor Day weekend to do the conversion.

"Glypto, why are you such a crabby old bastard about this? you may ask, "just suck it up!" Well, let me tell you the entire tale. Then maybe you will understand this crabby old bastard.

My Mom went back to work when I hit middle school and she got a job at First Federal Savings and Loan in East Hartford. Over her long and distinguished career, she went from a simple secretary (Administrative Assistant for you young `uns) to an officer of the bank to an Executive Vice President when she retired. Because she worked there, we all got banking services for free, low interest rates, and pretty much guaranteed approval for loans. I was a customer starting at age 11 in 1973 when I needed to open a savings account for my paper route. That came to an end for me in 2001, when the bank was sold to the Savings Bank of Manchester. Oh, we stuck it out for a while with SBM, but as I asked a teller near the end, "Did they force you people to take stupid pills to work here?" They could fuck up the simplest transaction. That was it, we left for another small local community bank called Tolland Bank in early 2002. Things were great for a short couple of years. Then, out of the blue came the creation of New Alliance Bank, which cobbled together SBM, Tolland Bank, and New Haven Savings Bank. All of those were once small community banks, but now we're back to dealing with some of the same knuckleheads. Before the merger was complete, we were out.

Next up for us was to go to Rockville Bank. It was another local small community bank dating back to 1858 that was lorded over by its president and CEO William McGurk. Bill was a great guy that did a lot for our community and that bank was his baby. However, Bill was nearing retirement and wanting the bank to continue independently as it always had, he hand-picked his successor. He retired in 2011 leaving the bank in the hands of one William H.W. Crawford IV. In 2014 Rockville Bank and United Bank merged putting Crawford a the helm and dropping the Rockville part of the name. At first, United Bank was good for us because nothing changed except there were now a shit ton more branches available to us in CT and western MA. Doing most of our banking online worked really well, and the few trips necessary to a branch were fine. In 2019, United Bank merged with Peoples United calling the new mash up Peoples United Bank. Things seem to change and not for the better. One of the things that REALLY irked me was the on-line bill payer service. If I paid a bill electronically, they would take the money from my account, sit on it for a few days to earn interest, then pay the bill. Now, I understand the bank needs to make money, but prior to Peoples United the delay was only like two days and absolutely predictable. In my opinion, they made their bill payer service totally unusable. I had bills getting paid late incurring late charges, so I deleted all the payees I had set up and began paying all my bills directly on the company websites, which continues to this day. When I got the paperwork about M&T, I was not at all happy with the crap I was reading, particularly the limits on transactions and such.

Now you may be wondering about the availability of branches since the credit union is physically located on Long Island. Credit unions are a cooperative, meaning there is a local credit union that has a branch a couple of towns away that I can do in person transactions if I need to. There are also branches and fee free ATM's all over the state, so if the need arises, I am covered. Since they do allow check deposit by online banking, the need for a physical branch is pretty limited.

Recent Photos

First up, a Chinook CH-47 that was directly overhead flying due east while I was outside the firehouse on Tuesday morning August 2nd. I heard the low thumpity-thump before he came over the trees to the west. I barely had time to get my cell phone up to get the photo before he went over the firehouse, although I could have run down the ramp to keep him in view.

Next up, my brand new 5.11 ATAC 3.0 boots for work. 5.11 went and changed model numbers since I last ordered, meaning I had to send back the ATAC 2.0 boots I got by mistake. The ATAC 2.0 no longer have the composite toe or sole penetration protection, they are more like station boots not emergency response boots. The ATAC 3.0 boots are a new and improved version and really comfy. Composite toe, sole protection, waterproof, side zipper for quick on/off, and the uppers are resistant to bloodborne pathogens. Of course, that is why they were like $40 cheaper which should have tipped me off to look closer. 5.11 paid for the return shipping, so props to them. I used to wear Haix Hero boots, but they are stupid expensive and need to be resoled every couple of years. I have one pair that I haven't worn since being resoled and I keep them clean and put away for wearing a duty uniform at a ceremony. The last pair of 5.11's lasted me three years of hard duty, and will still have some life left after I put in a new pair of Dr. Scholl's insole for work boots.

Third, a shot of the business end of the magazine for my 45 Shield and the Hornady Critical Defense 185gr .45 ACP rounds I carry. In a full size gun like my Glock 21 Gen 3, I have the heavier 230gr SIG V-Crown, but in a more compact gun I like the lighter bullet for more velocity and better expansion. The Shield mag is what is referred to as "stack and a half" which gives the 45 Shield a slim profile, the capacity of a full-size 1911,  without the bulk of a double-stack.

Finally, a photo of nothing but gratuitous "cuteness." A peacock chick with its Mommy at the petting zoo area on the grounds of the 6th generation Rich Family farm and their We-Li-Kit ice cream stand in Abington. Their farm made hard ice cream is the best in the area IMHO. It took several attempts to get a picture because of the fence and the chick hiding on the other side of the mother. Daddy (he was just out of frame on the left) was magnificent even though he wasn't displaying his plumage.

Unpleasant Task This Afternoon

I love my mini poodle boy, I truly do, but sometimes its hard because he has a killer instinct and has killed his share of squirrels, chipmunks, mice, snakes, and assorted amphibians. Basically if it moves and he sees it and it can't run or fly away, it dies. This afternoon he killed the second chicken in less than a month by reaching through the fence and grabbing them by the head or neck. He killed the first one outright, ripping her throat out. She staggered away from the fence, collapsed and died in seconds. Today he caught the unlucky girl by the comb on the top of her head, and tore off her face and upper beak. She was conscious and walking around, but there was no way she was going to survive such an injury, which meant I was going to have to do the humane thing.

I put the dog in the house, and went in the chicken yard to get her. She was not blinded and tried to stay away, but I cornered her between the fence and a tree. She settled in my arm and did not struggle at all. I went to the barn and got a small axe, and walked over to the log standing on its end I use for splitting firewood. I laid her on her side (she was still calm) and held her body securely. I told her it's OK, I was sorry, and it will be over soon. The deed was done quickly and I held onto her body until it went still. I put her remains in one of the empty feed bags I keep on hand for just such an event, rolled it up and placed it in the trash.

Since the dog killed the first chicken back in July I have been working on reinforcing the fence separating the dogs and the chickens. But with the blistering heat outside and the many hours a week I work, progress has been slow. I thought I was good with the progress I had made so far because except for the gate, the other section of fence has a large stump and rocks in front of it making hard for the dog to get to the fence, and therefore the chickens. Nope. I have a section of reinforcement cut and ready for the gate, and have placed some temporary barriers in front of the section requiring work.

I bought these 12 Rhode Island Red pullets back at the end of April and have 8 left. I am told 1 year old laying hens become available over at UConn in Storrs at the beginning of the fall semester when they restart their flock from chicks for the next school year. I'll grab a half dozen.

Time To Bring This Back

 *100 Heads Life Insurance

 

From the blog Sipsey Street Irregulars (no longer updated but still on-line to enjoy) written by the dearly departed "Dutchman" aka Mike Vanderboegh. This is a long post but worth the read, so RTWT. It was from the post Sandy Hook days when Kommiecticut state government went full Commie on gun control, and we residents were having no part of it. To this day, the Armed Civil Disobedience of non-compliance remains alive and well, with only a few prosecutions of idiots being stupid. Even the picking of "low hanging fruit" never materialized. As The Dutchman used to say, "The proto-tyrants who issued their diktats don’t know whether to defecate or go blind." They are not used to being stood up to and are still frightened into inaction because the consequences would be dire.

So what used to be just a Kommiecticut and NY state problem is now turning into a federal problem for everyone with a rogue ATF and Commie Administration. A nation of tens of millions of armed, committed, and defiant Patriots will keep the federales at bay the same way we have at the state level in Kommiecticut. These are the principles of the Armed Civil Disobedience:

DEFY - DENY - DECEIVE - EVADE - RESIST - SMUGGLE - DEFEND

Defend was the newest addition. Be committed to the fact that if the tyrants ever get froggy enough to try forced confiscation, you will meet force with force. I always thought that when the body count on both sides get intolerable, maybe this type of shit would stop.

 

*100 Heads Life Insurance - for every Patriot life snuffed out by an ATF confiscation goon, IRS agent, or any other armed alphabet agency bureaucrat, 100 fed-dot-gov heads will be taken in return. Two points of The III% Catechism were stated as "no first use of force" and "no targeting of innocents." I contend that the 100 count should be modified to include the family members of such goons, since they will have NO PROBLEM killing YOUR wives, children, other residing family members, and family dogs in the process of "just following orders" to violate your Constitutional Rights. There should NEVER be another Waco or Ruby Ridge allowed to happen unanswered. Timothy Mcveigh and Terry Nichols understood this, however I contend that their body count was too low.

I Crossed The Rubicon

This past Thursday night we met friends vacationing from London, England in Providence, RI for dinner. Providence is just another Demon-Crap controlled shithole big city urban jungle. Therefore, I made the conscious decision to carry a firearm, disregarding the fact that there is no reciprocity between Rhode Island and Kommiecticut. That decision for me was a big one, and was the first time I had purposely done it. I also carried my SureFire E2D Defender flashlight because I wasn't sure how well lit the streets would be, and my Benchmade Mel Pardue tactical folder as a backup. The firearm was my Ruger LCP .380 loaded with Hornady Critical Defense in a DeSantis pocket holster. I wanted to make sure it was an effective firearm that I could afford to lose.

The restaurant we went to was called Il Massimo Ristorante located at 134 Atwells Ave at the foot of Federal Hill. Not exactly the type of neighborhood I live in... more shall we say, culturally diverse, where the residents will be more than happy to introduce you to their culture if you know what I mean. Parking was a few blocks down Atwells Ave at The Hilton and as long as you don't park there overnight, its free. But that means walking back and forth alone on the mean streets. I dropped off my wife and father-in-law at the restaurant and went to park by myself. There were no incidents of cultural introduction walking to and from the restaurant, so absolutely no crimes were committed, were there?

Dinner was fantastic and it was so great to see them. The last time we saw them was exactly four years ago at their destination wedding in Barcelona, Spain. Their little boy is now 6 1/2 and quite the little chatterbox and fun to be around. Last time he was a shy 2 year old toddler. I had the seared scallops on a bed of saffron risotto and just one beer (Heineken) before the meal. It takes an hour to drive one-way to Providence, and I wanted to be sharp and situationally aware in case I needed to defend myself on the street.

I have always said, and practiced... do something against the diktats of the tyrants once, and doing it again and again becomes easy.