It’s a miracle, Bobby
The other night (Wednesday, January 20, 2010) our credit-card account reconciled to the penny on the “first strike.”
“It’s a miracle, Bobby!”
“First strike” goes back to the hoary days when I was Chief Clerk (“Chief Jerk”) at a bank branch near Rochester.
That was late ‘60s, and at that time each branch operated as its own bank.
Since it was double-entry bookkeeping, each day’s charges had to equal each day’s credits. It was how we kept things hunky-dory.
Every teller had to balance every day; their massive cash disbursements equaling their massive pile of checks.
Each teller also had credits. Checking-account deposits and bill-pays; e.g. Rochester Gas & Electric and Rochester Telephone, etc.
A customer might come in and use their paycheck to pay bills, and deposit to their checking-account.
In the end they might get a few bucks cash.
It was called “a split.”
The teller had to keep track of all this with the clunky mechanical adding machines we had.
An electric motor turned everything, but you could lever it by hand if the power went.
At day’s end, the tellers added up everything: checks, deposits, bill-pays, their cash remaining.
If they were off a few pennies, we just shoved it.
10¢ cost more to look for than it was worth.
For a few bucks we rooted around.
$100 and all hell broke loose.
The Chief Clerk also ran a master tally of all credits and debits for the branch.
This was all tellers, plus our note (loan) department; stuff from a massive spreadsheet.
There was also other branch business going on.
Massive cash infusions from the main bank, or massive cash transfers thereto.
Plus accounts for returned checks and other nastiness.
I entered everything into a “branch block,” a large sheet with two sides.
Credits on one side, and debits on the other.
Debits had to equal credits.
If they equaled on the first try, it was a “first strike.”
If they differed a few pennies, we just shoved the difference into our Canadian Exchange account (“1782”) so the block balanced.
Off a couple bucks, we had to root around — something was wrong.
If it balanced it meant we could go home — out by 4 p.m.
It was fun, and partially explains my penchant for reconciling our credit-card account.
I’m probably one of the few that do.
I’m also one of the few that enters all my charges into a Quicken record, and then keeps the charge slips.
I know, because I throw out untaken charge slips from the gas station.
It’s in my nature, plus I also know how easy it is for the bank to muck up.
Although since 1969, I don’t think they ever have mucked up our credit-card.
Years ago the bank lost my Transit paycheck, and I had to move heaven and earth to get them to stop bouncing checks.
They wanted to dork around, but I had a receipt.
I only got them to honor it by making a scene.
I also had Transit stop-payment on the missing check, and issue another.
It saved the bank maybe $200, but they still were out $60. —Which they ate.
And now Danny Wegman is tearing down that branch so he can build a new grocery at East and Winton.
Our credit-card statement arrived a few days ago, but I dreaded reconciling it.
That’s because last month was a monster. Charges unentered, or entered incorrectly.
Fives look like sixes, and sometimes I just enter wrong.
Every incorrect entry is a look-up; which is frustrating.
It used to be I went online, and cleared credit-card charges every week.
That also could flag suspicious charges; e.g. charges not made by us.
But I gave up doing that for two reasons.
—A) It was always the bank calling us about suspicious charges. It’s happened twice.
—B) I always ended up having to reconcile anyway. Online was always off.
(I online follow our checking-account, but that always balances.)
So I had no inclination to reconcile our credit-card account, yet charges were piling up.
They got so thick a single paperclip wasn’t enough.
I coulda reconciled it the night before, but was too tired.
I had to reconcile that thing; charge-slips were piling up.
So Wednesday night I set about doing it, and VIOLA; it balanced on the first strike.
“It’s a miracle, Bobby,” I said.
• “It’s a miracle, Bobby!” is something my mother used to say.
• I’m almost 66; “late ‘60s” is just after I graduated college.
• “Rochester Gas & Electric and Rochester Telephone” were the two utilities in Rochester at that time. Rochester Telephone no longer exists.
• “Quicken” is a computer software application, to do financial stuff. I use it to keep track of bank accounts.
• “Transit” equals Regional Transit Service, the transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY, where I drove transit-bus for 16&1/2 years (1977-1993).
• “Danny Wegman” is the head-honcho of Wegmans, a large supermarket-chain based in Rochester, NY we often buy groceries at. Danny is the son of Robert Wegman, deceased, the chain’s founder.
• “East and Winton” are East Ave. and Winton Road, a main intersection on the southeast side of Rochester. Wegmans has a supermarket nearby, but it’s small. They bought the whole block to build a new supermarket.
“It’s a miracle, Bobby!”
“First strike” goes back to the hoary days when I was Chief Clerk (“Chief Jerk”) at a bank branch near Rochester.
That was late ‘60s, and at that time each branch operated as its own bank.
Since it was double-entry bookkeeping, each day’s charges had to equal each day’s credits. It was how we kept things hunky-dory.
Every teller had to balance every day; their massive cash disbursements equaling their massive pile of checks.
Each teller also had credits. Checking-account deposits and bill-pays; e.g. Rochester Gas & Electric and Rochester Telephone, etc.
A customer might come in and use their paycheck to pay bills, and deposit to their checking-account.
In the end they might get a few bucks cash.
It was called “a split.”
The teller had to keep track of all this with the clunky mechanical adding machines we had.
An electric motor turned everything, but you could lever it by hand if the power went.
At day’s end, the tellers added up everything: checks, deposits, bill-pays, their cash remaining.
If they were off a few pennies, we just shoved it.
10¢ cost more to look for than it was worth.
For a few bucks we rooted around.
$100 and all hell broke loose.
The Chief Clerk also ran a master tally of all credits and debits for the branch.
This was all tellers, plus our note (loan) department; stuff from a massive spreadsheet.
There was also other branch business going on.
Massive cash infusions from the main bank, or massive cash transfers thereto.
Plus accounts for returned checks and other nastiness.
I entered everything into a “branch block,” a large sheet with two sides.
Credits on one side, and debits on the other.
Debits had to equal credits.
If they equaled on the first try, it was a “first strike.”
If they differed a few pennies, we just shoved the difference into our Canadian Exchange account (“1782”) so the block balanced.
Off a couple bucks, we had to root around — something was wrong.
If it balanced it meant we could go home — out by 4 p.m.
It was fun, and partially explains my penchant for reconciling our credit-card account.
I’m probably one of the few that do.
I’m also one of the few that enters all my charges into a Quicken record, and then keeps the charge slips.
I know, because I throw out untaken charge slips from the gas station.
It’s in my nature, plus I also know how easy it is for the bank to muck up.
Although since 1969, I don’t think they ever have mucked up our credit-card.
Years ago the bank lost my Transit paycheck, and I had to move heaven and earth to get them to stop bouncing checks.
They wanted to dork around, but I had a receipt.
I only got them to honor it by making a scene.
I also had Transit stop-payment on the missing check, and issue another.
It saved the bank maybe $200, but they still were out $60. —Which they ate.
And now Danny Wegman is tearing down that branch so he can build a new grocery at East and Winton.
Our credit-card statement arrived a few days ago, but I dreaded reconciling it.
That’s because last month was a monster. Charges unentered, or entered incorrectly.
Fives look like sixes, and sometimes I just enter wrong.
Every incorrect entry is a look-up; which is frustrating.
It used to be I went online, and cleared credit-card charges every week.
That also could flag suspicious charges; e.g. charges not made by us.
But I gave up doing that for two reasons.
—A) It was always the bank calling us about suspicious charges. It’s happened twice.
—B) I always ended up having to reconcile anyway. Online was always off.
(I online follow our checking-account, but that always balances.)
So I had no inclination to reconcile our credit-card account, yet charges were piling up.
They got so thick a single paperclip wasn’t enough.
I coulda reconciled it the night before, but was too tired.
I had to reconcile that thing; charge-slips were piling up.
So Wednesday night I set about doing it, and VIOLA; it balanced on the first strike.
“It’s a miracle, Bobby,” I said.
• “It’s a miracle, Bobby!” is something my mother used to say.
• I’m almost 66; “late ‘60s” is just after I graduated college.
• “Rochester Gas & Electric and Rochester Telephone” were the two utilities in Rochester at that time. Rochester Telephone no longer exists.
• “Quicken” is a computer software application, to do financial stuff. I use it to keep track of bank accounts.
• “Transit” equals Regional Transit Service, the transit-bus operator in Rochester, NY, where I drove transit-bus for 16&1/2 years (1977-1993).
• “Danny Wegman” is the head-honcho of Wegmans, a large supermarket-chain based in Rochester, NY we often buy groceries at. Danny is the son of Robert Wegman, deceased, the chain’s founder.
• “East and Winton” are East Ave. and Winton Road, a main intersection on the southeast side of Rochester. Wegmans has a supermarket nearby, but it’s small. They bought the whole block to build a new supermarket.
posted by BobbaLew at 2:45 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home