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Category Archives: storytime

Tempermental ATMs

Recently, I stopped by my local bank to make a deposit.  I went on a Sunday afternoon, which meant the branch was actually closed, but they are so kind and generous that they allow access to the ATMs twenty-four hours a day.  Thus, I was at one of the ATMs trying to make a deposit.

These ATMs were of the “new and improved” sort, in that they no longer require envelopes to make deposits because the ATM will count your cash or checks right as you make your deposit.  This was my first experience using the ATM to make a cash deposit.  I rarely have so much cash on me that I would need to deposit it into the bank.  In fact, I rarely have any cash on me at all.  It makes one’s wallet large and fat and bulky.  That’s annoying.

Anyway, I was making my deposit and the check portion of the deposit was summarily rejected.  I have never had a check deposit rejected before.  The ATM just told me that it was unable to take check deposits at this time.  Um…why not?  I put the check away and I was going to try it in the neighboring ATM.  I didn’t get a chance to though, because a whole family of people came in to use that ATM.  Using the ATM apparently is a family affair for some.

Then I tried depositing all the cash. It was a bunch of loose and annoying low denomination bills. That was partly why I was depositing the cash. Who wants a wad of ones clogging up your wallet?  Well, after I stuck the wad of cash in the collection window (after dutifully unwadding it first), the ATM started making clicking noises happily to itself counting up said unwad, but then it suddenly started dinging at me in a most alarming manner.

Ok, so it wasn’t alarming at all.  It was vaguely annoying and somewhat confusing at first because the ATM failed to give me the corresponding error message that went all that dinging.  Finally it told me that it didn’t like some of the bills.  I don’t know why.  All the bills were carefully unwadded and even all facing in the same direction.  I figured it might have been a few of the more raggedly bills I put in, or maybe one of the higher denomination bills looked suspicious to the ATM.  But when it finally spit out the offending currency, it was a fairly crisp one dollar bill.  And only one.  And it never told me why it was unacceptable.

This was one of the less successful deposits I’ve ever attempted.

Meet Mr. Tentacles

This is Mr. Tentacles. He’s a sundew. Specifically, he’s a Cape sundew (Drosera capensis). I got him along with a Venus fly trap who is still unnamed (suggestions, anyone?) a few months back.

Not long after I got Mr. Tentacles, I brought him to the office with me.  I thought he’d make a nice office plant and I figured he could help keep the fruit fly population down once he warmed up to the idea of being in my office.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.  He never really liked the idea of sitting in my office even if I’d let him outside to get some air and sunbathe sometimes.  He stubbornly refused to put out new leaves and the few new leaves that were growing withered and died.  I think he was on strike.  Possibly, he was depressed.  That made me really sad.

So, I decided maybe he wanted the company of his friend, the Venus fly trap (who I had never intended to bring to the office), so I brought Mr. Tentacles back home.  And since then, he’s been thriving.  The photo above is from only a few days after I brought him back home.  I placed him next to the Venus fly trap on a windowsill that gets a good amount of indirect sunlight (and even some direct sun) and gave him his own water bowl so he can have water whenever he wants.  He’s putting out new leaves!

About a month later, he has lots of new leaves and they’re all drenched in dew.  The leaves look like this, like they’re supposed to (minus the fly, Mr. Tentacles hasn’t caught a fly yet):

And, just last week, Mr. Tentacles caught the little spider that has been spinning webs around the Venus fly trap and himself!  I was very proud of Mr. Tentacles.  Stupid spider.  I looked yesterday and the leaf that caught the spider has unfolded and it looks like the spider has been digested.  Hahahahah!  Take that!

So, moral of the story: cape sundews get very lonely and need company in order to be healthy.  Or…they need a good amount of indirect sunlight and lots of water.  Take your pick.