So Predictable?

I haven't had any cash in my pocket for days. This is very unusual for me - usually I'm flush with pocket change. This morning, enough was enough. I had to pick up some dry cleaning anyway, and seeing how our dry cleaner is right by a bank machine, I figured that a combi dry cleaning pick-up/cash withdrawal would be a good and quick errand.

My normal cash withdrawal out of our friendly neighborhood cash machine is CHF 1300. Why 1300? The first reason is that Switzerland - being the land of "clean and safe" - allows me to walk around with much more cash in my pocket than I ever would in Chicago; minimal fear of being robbed at gunpoint here. And second: I can quickly scan my bank statement, see the 1300 (an odd number) franc withdrawals, and quickly spot anything out of the ordinary. So far, nothing out of the ordinary...ever...in nearly eight years.

The normal routine is: insert card, enter PIN, choose CHF withdrawal without receipt, enter amount, take card, take cash. The procedure is normally not repeated again until I have less than 200 CHF in my pocket. But as I said, I had let my cash-in-pocket dwindle to the point where I was using the change in my little change bowl on the dresser.

So this morning, I picked up Mrs. TBF's pants at the dry cleaner and walked across the street to the bank machine. I put in my card, I entered my PIN, and...

...I was given the "express" option of making a CHF 1300 WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT RECEIPT. My bank machine knows me so well! I didn't have to enter the amount or anything; just hit OK, take my card, and take my cash.

Life just keeps on getting better! Pretty soon we won't even have to think at all!