The Dirtiest things..

Working at the front desk in a credit union there are several things I see that get touched every day, and I’ve determined that they may possibly be some of the dirtiest things found either in an establishment, or everywhere. And here there are, in dirtiest to cleanest order:

    1)   Money – Almost every employee in this building is touching money at some point during the day. 4 people basically touch it for a living. And probably 90% of the traffic we get is either bringing in money, or wants to take it out. And the money that we have has only come from somewhere else where people had to handle it and count it.

    2)  Door handle – coming in and going out, this isn’t something you can avoid touching (unless someone holds the door open for you or you open it with something other than your hand). If you expect to get in or out of the building, you better be expecting to touch a dirty door handle too.

    3)  Coffee pot/machine – Again, almost every employee touches this at some point during the day, and a lot of the members do, too. And not only do they touch it in the mornings when they are just waking up, it’s all throughout the day, every day.

    4)  Pens – Need to fill out a transaction slip? Chances are you don’t have a pen easily accessible at that moment, so grab one from the jar! Need to sign the document I just placed in front of you? I have a jar of pens just waiting! :)

    5)  The computer, mouse and keyboard – No employee can escape the daily task of starting up your computer and working on it all day. Banking doesn’t work that way. We even have a desktop in the lobby for our members to use, so computer germs are everywhere.

    6)  The phone – No need to go into the details on how many breakouts I’ve had because of the phone rubbing all over the side of my face. Think of how oily and germy this gets. Spit, breath, oil, it all gets on the phone!

    7)  Hands – You never know who has and who has not washed their hands after touching all the things mentioned above. Shaking hands could be the scariest thing of all!

Obviously I’m not trying to make anyone a germ phobic, but sometimes things just aren’t as “clean” as they appear.

Catching up with life

Getting married and becoming an "adult" I thought "this isn't so hard! I'm not nearly as busy as I thought I would be!" But then... came the move! The third move in our marriage. I think this move was even harder than the first one, even though the first move was when we first brought all of our belongings under the same roof. But this move is different. This move was to my Grandparent's house for the summer, where they are letting us use all their things and invade their personal space. So hardly anything of ours is getting unpacked. And that is a lot harder than I thought it would be. When someone asks you to find something in your unorganized mess. Or when your husband gets sick and needs a thermometer, essential oils, and Tylenol. This is also the first time we've moved and both of us started working right away. That makes things very difficult. Since we are so unorganized this summer, and with both of us working, it gives us very little time to get our lives in order. Which causes mass chaos around our home. We also love living so close to our friends and family, but it does make things much busier! Our social calendar is constantly full. Seriously, I got a planner and started writing down everything we did every evening and every day had something written on it for weeks! We have been running ourselves ragged. And just when I think we are starting to get on track, someone gets sick or we start catching up on things we've been putting off so we could be social and spend time with people, and we are just as busy as ever! Stress is something that has been sneaking up on me. I don't feel stressed, until I start to become unstressed and I realize how I was before. Kind of like the saying "You never know a good thing until it's gone" except this was a bad thing! It doesn't help that I also have planned projects for this summer, and they are *trying* to be in full swing. They are a little overwhelming, but they have deadlines, so they cannot be put off!
So here's what I've learned so far this summer:
1) Don't start planning social events with people until you're a little more on track and organized after moving. It has become really hard to turn people down and say 'no' because after being away from everyone for a year, I want to catch up with them and spend as much time with them as possible. But we are going to be here for the whole summer so waiting a week won't hurt!
2) Don't stress about the details! Things are going to happen without your "permission" but if you really let those things get to you, then you'll always be miserable!
3) How to pack! I should be an expert packer by the time we finally settle down somewhere!
4) It is rejuvenating to have so many people to help us and encourage us. We've truly missed our friends and family here!

Typing Errors can Make you Think!

There is a subject that most people don’t understand… lobe. The ear-lobe in particular.

Haha, just kidding. But really.. how many of us really do understand the earlobe? Not me! Why is it so squishy and soft? Why does it bend without hurting and without bones? How is it made to be pierced and not grow back together over time? What other body parts do we have like that? Our lip.. The lip is almost the same. It bends and squishes almost as far as we want. It can make funny faces and brighten people’s day. Isn’t that weird? That we can control our body like that? But then, we have body parts like the finger. The finger is made up of bones and muscles. It can bend and it can wiggle. Some people can twist their fingers into crazy shapes. Isn’t that something? Our arm, a most beloved limb, branches off into other tiny limbs (tiny arms) called fingers. They are built so similar! I don’t know how they’re built underneath, but from what I can see the finger has one joint at the base of the hand (like the shoulder), a joint in the middle (like the elbow), and a joint at the end (like the wrist). I often overlook that last joint, because most of us can’t command that joint the way we can the other joints. But… that last joint is busy going to work every time we grab something. A soda can, a pencil or a book to read. Even typing this now. Watching my fingers I notice that the tips of my fingers are angled so that I can hit the buttons easier. Imagine typing with straight fingers. It would be much more difficult! And another thing… what would it be like without fingernails? I know some people have short short fingernails to where they aren’t too useful, but they still do serve some purpose. They can still be something solid and hard at the end of your fingers to use when trying to open things up. Or peel things off. Try peeling off a sticker with just a little nub at the end of your finger. It’s not really going to work very well. God has made us with everything that we need to survive. To live and thrive and with resources. It’s the little things we have, that make it worth it. It’s the little things that we’d miss the most if we didn’t have them. 

6 Things That Probably Annoy you if you Work at a Credit Union!



If you work at a credit union, chances are you hear some interesting stereo-types. Here are a complied list of some of the most common things I experience working at a credit union

 1.   “I have accounts at the bank because credit unions just aren’t as good”
Where did you get that logic? I have this feeling that for some reason credit unions are viewed as the lesser fortunate of financial institutions. But there isn’t a good reason why. Credit unions have things to offer that big banks could NEVER offer. For instance? Less fees. We don’t charge for the small, everyday tasks of banking like a lot of banks do. Most credit unions won’t charge you to ask a question over the phone. Most credit unions won’t charge you for checking accounts (or require a minimum balance) and so many other things!!
  2.  “Credit unions can’t offer the same services that my bank can”  

     While that may be partially true, for the most part that is false. Credit unions, like banks, need funds so they can expand. If a credit union, or bank, has the money to expand their services and options for their customers/members, they are going to expand! There is a great deal of need to make sure each financial institution is competing with the newest and greatest technology, therefore a lot of credit unions have options just like banks do. Including phone apps, competitive credit card and loan rates, annuities and much more!

3. Crumpled up checks and cash.

     Branch capture (or the machine you run your work or checks through at the end of the day) won’t read those crumply checks! You have to constantly smooth them out on the edge of the counter. Seriously, how hard is it to just put the check or money in your wallet when you get it? ;)

 4.   Those that think that, because you’re a credit union, you must be desperate for business. 

      Trust me, banks and credit unions alike can be operating in the red. But they could both just as easily be operating in the black. Just because the word “credit union” is not as common as the word “bank” doesn’t mean that they are always tiny, inoperable institutions who never have more than a handful of employees because they don’t generate enough business.

      5.  People don’t understand that credit unions can almost always offer better member service than a bank. 

      Credit unions everywhere carry the logo “people helping people”. Almost all credit unions will not treat you like you are just another number, because to them, you aren’t! You are a valued MEMBER not customer! You are a member of the credit union in the way that you own a share when you open a savings account at a credit union.

      6.  “You only have one branch, how could I bank on vacation??” 

      Credit unions have thought of that too! It’s something that is very obvious to a lot of the smaller credit unions. That’s why they’ve created something called the ‘shared branch network’. It’s a very simple process. Say you open an account at a credit union in Illinois but you are traveling in Missouri for the day. But, you forgot to grab some cash before you left. No big deal! Some specific credit unions nationwide have teamed up to combine their networks so you can make deposits and withdrawals at other credit unions. It may even be more convenient than baking at a larger bank. For more information on the coop network you can go to http://www.co-opfs.org/solutions/locations/shared-branching/

 

Credit unions want and deserve your business than big banks in the same way that small businesses need your business more than the local supermarkets. They will treat you like you would treat you!

In the Moment..

In the moment everything seems so pressing. It isn’t until days, weeks, months or even years later that we realize that the things we were so stressed and bothered over truly didn’t matter. One thing I see this the most with is work. Everyone thinks their work is so important. They think they have to be there for their coworkers and work the long hours to be successful, or make the overtime bonuses. But then in the long run they realize something: I worked for two measly, extra hours, and for what? For an extra $50 and to miss my wife’s birthday. Or my child’s ball game. Or my brothers BBQ dinner. Is it really worth it? Does that money actually make you as happy as the memories you could’ve gotten from those activities? How could it? Money can make you happy. It can make you happy in many ways. But five years down the road, you aren’t going to think back and smile thinking about the time you worked extra hours for some paper bills. Money is not what truly makes people happy. Have you ever really had more fun counting your money than being out doing something you love with someone you love? How much more do those little things mean when you can truly enjoy them in the end.