Cancel TV to Pay Pee-Wee

I just bought 4 tickets to see Pee-Wee Herman LIVE on Broadway. The cheap seats totaled $300, but (so what!) who cares, it's PEE-WEE. Harnessing the powers of The Secret, I switched my desktop picture to this yesterday afternoon: Spooky, right? The coincidence, not the photo - the photo's awesome.

Related: I canceled cable today so I could "save money".

Baby, I Stole Your Money ... Don't You Worry

I'm going to Costa Rica in three days (!!!), and was getting ready to call my bank to let them know there will be some international transactions on my card. I mean, there is a bar called "The Hook Up" near our hotel, how could I not?

When I went to pick up my phone, I already had a voicemail from my bank saying they're investigating a fraud charge.

I didn't panic because one of my traveling companions had a similar call from her bank yesterday. She bought us tickets to a rainforest tour in Costa Rica, and the charges sent a red flag back to her bank. I figured the hotel or rental car - both on my card - were charged.

When I got home from work, I called my bank and they told me that a hospital on the South Shore of Massachusetts was trying to transfer $3,100 out of my checking account. Thankfully, my bank denied the out-of-sorts transaction.

My customer service rep and I went through what I needed to do, how this could happen, who did this, what's wrong with humanity (shit got philosophical), the state of the economy and even his personal history with this sort of crime. Despite the circumstances, we had a very pleasant conversation for about 20 minutes, so I'm going to go ahead and throw that "dating" tag up on this post.

Everything is going to be OK, but, humanity? Why do you have to keep on testing us?

Just Bought Something New

FYI- I just bought expensive running shoes at City Sports because the clerk was incredibly good looking and touched my arch (God, I wish that was a euphemism).

A Day in the Life of my Finances

Me: Hi, I haven't received my 1099 tax form from the bank yet. I thought those were being mailed out a few weeks ago and I'd like to start my taxes.
Customer Service Representative from my bank: Sure, let me just check your account.
Me: ...
CS Rep: Hmm.
Me: ...
CS Rep: That's strange.
Me: You're making me a little nervous.
CS Rep: Well, it seems there wasn't much activity in your account in 2008. We typically don't send 1099 forms out if there isn't much activity and/or there is less than $10 in savings.
Me (being judged by customer service representative): Oh, I see.
CS Rep (smugly): Is there anything else I can help you with?
Me: You know, I did just put a few thousand in there.
CS Rep: Mmm ...
Me: Bitch.
CS Rep: What was that?
Me: Nothing, have a great day!