I've had good luck with PNC, although their Virtual Wallet is so annoying and hard to use that I just canceled it and went back to regular online banking. But it was really easy to cancel and they didn't give me a hard time or anything. They also never dinged me for keeping a student account for like four years longer than I was supposed to. And the actual people at the branches have always been super nice.

I use my kettle only occasionally, but since it lives on the stove, I keep a little bit of water in it just in case I turn on the wrong burner.

I have heard from some of my conservative friends that Obama and Michelle are doing far more personal appearances than previous presidents? (thus spending way too much of our money and not doing anything and acting like royalty... grr) I can't get a sense if that is true- I think it may be that there are more appearances, especially in other countries, because they want to increase the visibility and stature of the US.

My local branch was really good to me when I was more broke than I am now. They would call me at home to tell me there was a cheque against the account that was NSF, and did they have permission to transfer money from my saving so it didn't bounce. They have some ridiculous fees, but I have a crazy low interest CC, and I really can't complain that much.

When I lived in Vancouver, the staff at my local branch of the same bank were completely incompetent. There wasn't a transaction I did that I didn't have to make a 2nd trip back to the bank to fix some error they made.

I don't have to worry about that, because I bought a specialty kettle that is fine if boiled dry. Mainly because I use it as a humidifier throughout the winter. In fact, now that I think about it, saying I only put in a mug's worth is totally false, because for most of the winter I have the kettle on the boil constantly over the woodstove, in which case I fill it.

But then it's great because I can just grab a hot cuppa anytime.

The dog associates the kettle with going outside, because in the winter I grab it and we go out together to feed the birds. And in the summer I boil it on the side burner of the grill, so we go out there together. So as soon as I pick it up, he gets excited.

Banks are evil. Mine (which has gone through more name changes and ownership transfers than I can keep track of) on occasion would put a hold on my paycheck. Once because it was on an out of town bank (they'd happily been accepting them for at least a year at that poing) and once for no discernable reason (dude, it's on this bank ... it's on this branch of the bank).

In better news, remember the guy who'd bought his house for cash and the bank (Bank of America, I think) tried to foreclose on it? Took him several months and lots of lawyering to get that cleared up. The court found in his favor and said the bank had to pay his costs; said bank, of course, didn't pay. And didn't pay. Until he got a court order, went down to the local bank office with marshals and truck, and had them start the process of taking their furniture, etc., to cover what they owed.

Amazing how quickly a bank can come up with a check with the right incentive.

I have heard from some of my conservative friends that Obama and Michelle are doing far more personal appearances than previous presidents?

I really doubt it. And frankly I'd rather have POTUS out there making connections than "cutting brush" at a ranch 1 day out of five, or whatever it was with Bush II. He took more vacations than any president ever.

Speaking of conservative friends, someone on my FB list just "liked" Michele Bachman.

This is why we can't have nice things, America.

I hate BoA. I only have accounts there because they devoured all my other banks.

The Obamas do make appearances around DC - they'll go to a local restaurant, make infrequent appearances at a local church. Unlike Bush who seemed to be terrified of the city - he'd make occasional appearances around town, but avoided having to actually be with the locals.

Sophia, I suspect it's more perception than anything else. As in, it bugs them so much every time they see photos of the Obamas being warmly welcomed at home and abroad that each and every instance feels like a personal affront. I felt like GWB spent like half his presidency vacationing at his ranch in Crawford, but I suspect that was perception too, and it just bugged the crap out of me to see him posing in a cowboy hat all the time.

ETA: crosspost with Consuela confirms the annoyance of the Bush-in-Crawford photo meme.