A bad start to the week

It's Monday morning and I have two cheques to bank. One is quite substantial.

The last cheque stayed in my paying-in-book for nearly a month. At £60 it was hardly worth putting a stamp on. And to take it to the bank I have to consider the cost of the round trip to Bromyard plus the necessity of timing my trip to fit with the opening hours (Monday or Thursday 10.00 - 14.00).

Back to this morning... after driving twice round the town finding no parking space I headed for the car park (1st hour is free). I walked back to the bank to find a parking space available on the High St right outside the door. Things did not improve - inside the queue was right up to the door.

Most people in the queue were of a certain age - The man at the head of the line was discussing his ISA with the lady at the till. This was going to take some time.

I decided to complete the paying-in envelope and post it in the appropriate box. I'm not confident about this arrangement as I discovered last time the box is opened and sent to the main bank in Worcester for processing tomorrow not today. And all pens seem now to have been removed from desk/counters - but one was available next to one of the closed till windows so I completed my task.

Posting the cheque envelope was difficult. It didn't drop in with a confirming clunk. It just sat there in the slot. I could see it but it did not feel secure. I could neither push it in properly nor pull it out.

I gave up and resolved never to try and pay a cheque in, except by post ever again.

And another thing... my wife told me that although the 1st hour for parking is free you still have to take a ticket. She received a dressing down from a man in a uniform on this matter so she knew. If he had met me this morning I might have got home grumpy.