I was doing my budget last night and discovered a cash withdrawl of over $200 made after I moved to North Carolina. I’m waiting on a call back from my bank.

Nervewracking. Glad I check my statements.

Update: Okay, well the bank situation turned out to be okay. The $250 transaction was where I had made a payment to my Visa card from my checking account. The bank hadn’t placed a notice in the transaction field so it just appeared as a cash withdrawl.

I called the NC vet back last night to find out how severe Ambush’ murmur is. On a scale of 1-6, with six being the worst, she rates Ambush’s a five. Que scepticism. If it was a quiet murmur, I could understand maybe my vet in TN missing the murmur. But how do you miss something that is supposedly as loud as his would have to be to qualify as a 5/6?

I have never really questioned my vet’s advice in any situation. Asked lots of questions and tried to follow suggestions as best as I could. Maybe it was just going in to the vet’s office here and being asked for my social security number because this particular office has had so many people go off and not pay for their animal’s medical bills. It’s very possible that rankled me just enough to sour any experience there.

I feel like the vet in NC has treated me like a mechanic trying to suggest additional repairs for my car that are not needed. I realize that this is unfounded, but damn. It’s not like Ambush wasn’t at the vet’s office every 2-3 months for glucose level tests.

Next time I go to Tennessee, I’m bringing my poor kitty with me. He’s going to visit my regular vet and we’ll see what happens.

Seems like everyone on this side of the pond are watching the presendential debates. Last night, Hilleary Clinton and Barack Obama squared off in their first two-person debate. (Senator John Edwards bowed out of the race earlier this week without endorsing either remaining Democratic candidates.)

I’m leery about the entire process presidential nomination and electrorial process. Honestly, I think most of it is a sham to placate the masses. Maybe our votes count for the lower offices, but the president is elected by the electoral college. Even though those delegates are nominated based upon popular vote, the delegates are free to vote how they choose after the first nominating process. How do you think we ended up with Bush for a second term in 2004? He is the only president in history who ended up in office without winning the popular vote.

The presidential race is basically the only thing on TV right now due to the effects of the writers’ strike, unless you want to watch enthralling “reality” TV shows. (I’m not going to rant about how the networks could get around their so-called shortage of fresh options by funding or purchasing excellent overseas and Canadian shows. Blood Ties season 2 anyone?) The TV set is on while we’re eating dinner, so you can’t help but hear about the latest developments in the presidential race. After dinner, Stephanie and I have taken to watching her DVDs of the series called The Tudors about Henry VIII (and ironically his son Henry Fitzroy, who, in Blood Ties, is the vampire).

During last night’s debate, Senator Clinton made one comment that made me grin:

Asked whether it was good for the country to have another Clinton in the White House, further extending Bush and Clinton family control over government, Clinton drew applause in the Kodak Theatre — home of the Academy Awards — when she replied, “It did take a Clinton to clean after the first Bush and I think it might take another one to clean up after the second Bush.”‘

The above quote is from an article on Yahoo News.