t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


being fleeced by citizens bank must've gotten into my subconscious because i had trouble falling asleep last night. when i woke up this morning, i got dressed and rode my bike down to harvard square to the nearest citizens bank branch. i would've been happy to stay, if they could only get rid of the maintenance fee. but it was something they neither couldn't or wouldn't do. the people who worked there were nice. the bank representative i spoke with said i could upgrade to the no fee checking account, but i needed to have a $25k minimum, something i couldn't do. she also recommended that i could do some sort of autopay where every month i could make an auto deposit; i thought of the same solution, but in the end it was too much hassle. i fled to citizens from bank of america because of the fees, and now i was fleeing citizens as well.

at they had to do was cut me a catch. for whatever reason - even though there were 4 employees - there only seemed to be a single computer that was capable of creating a check. unfortunately the teller on that computer was helping a chatty old lady, and i waited patiently for her to finish up before they finally gave me my check.

next i walked down to the nearby td bank branch and told them i wanted to open an account. technically they're seeing customers by appointment only it seems, but the representative told me to scan the QR code from a poster and enter my info. as soon as i did, nicholas was able to see me right away. while sitting down at the desk, i suddenly remembered i used to have a td bank account - created back in november 2015 - which i cancelled in january of 2020, just a year ago. nicholas was able to find my info in their database, which saved me some time. he asked if i was a harvard professor. i was flattered he thought i looked the part, but i told him i was definitely not a professor.

i signed up for the td beyond checking account, which had no fees as long as i kept $2500 in my account. everything's done electronically these days, so nicholas sent me a text with a link that i clicked on to see several different edocuments i had to sign online. once that was done, he gave me a few complimentary checks and a debit card. this was a much nicer card than the one i got before, this one was actually plastic with a microchip with embossed numbers and letters. i was able to use my username from before, but nicholas created a temporary password since i forgot my old one. he took my check from citizens bank (a pretty sizable amount) and deposited it into my new account. with that i was finally done. td bank is also famous for their swags, but they didn't have anything at the moment, the only other thing i left with was a pen.

i cut across harvard yard to get to my bike (tagging a few pokestops along the way). by the time i got home it was already 12:40pm. i logged into my td bank account to change my temporary password and to sign up for estatements so i wouldn't get billed $1 for paper statements. my citizens bank check was still pending (not surprising, given the amount i was depositing).

for lunch i made another korean street toast. i used less cabbage and carrots this time, the sandwich still came out a mess, soggy on the bottom, washed my hands a few times just to eat it.

in the afternoon i went out to the liquor store and bought two mega millions tickets (one for me, one for my sister). i saw people moving into renee's first floor apartment, my new neighbors, a couple it seems, a man and a woman. i'll have to introduce myself at some point.

in the evening i made kenji lopez-alt's crispy roast potatoes. the recipe called for 4 pounds of potatoes, i used up the entire 5 pounds of russet. i tossed the cooked potatoes in 5 tbsp of garlic-infused bacon fat then baked them in the oven for an hour, turning them a couple of times so they could brown evenly. the final result was okay, but i wasn't going to finish 5 lbs. of starch in a single night. having the oven on did warm up the house a bit, and the garlic-infused bacon grease left a savory smell in the house (if you like that sort of smell).