the mellow tigger's musings

I may be limited in mobility at the moment, but I'm still making a few financial preparations for a potential move.

Today, I withdrew everything from my lockbox at my local bank and closed down that safe deposit box account. I couldn't locate the 2nd key, so I had to pay a $25 fee. That's okay. I also deposited a bank bag of small coins (no quarters, because I need those for the laundromat) for $78, so that's some heavy stuff I don't need to haul later.  For the record, I was the only one masked.

Today, I finally picked a successor to keep a Meetup group going. The "Star Citizens of Minnesota" cost me almost $700 to maintain for the last 3 years.  No more.  I've been a member of it since 2014 September (for the game which I also crowdfunded back in 2012 November), but I've been the Organizer since 2019 March. Meetup is a great site, but it costs WAY too much for what little they provide from their web server.  I'd hate to see this group disappear, though.  Whenever Star Citizen finally opens up, that 2014 creation date for this social group will be a small badge of honor to distinguish the "old timers".

Today, I checked online for a credit card that isn't owned by an evil giant bank.  They're hard to find, but apparently a few exist.  Conveniently, Sunrise Banks is here in the Twin Cities region, although they're not in northwest Minnesota, where I might move.  If I do move, then I need the small increase to my credit rating that simply having a credit card would provide.  Trying to get a temporary apartment would require a high rating, I'm sure.  Might as well prepare now.

Do you know better options for a credit card?  Please let me know, if you do.  I need to apply next week, so I actually have a history on it before trying to rent somewhere new.

Last week, I woke up to air temperature -6C/21F.  We have just 1 more below-freezing night forecast in Minneapolis, then we finally launch into spring.  As our collective floundering at our chilly start might suggest, April is our most-variable month here.

Two weeks ago, California's electric grid ran on 97% renewable energy.

Three weeks ago, wind power surpassed coal and nuclear electricity generation in the USA for the first time.

A climate activist has finally taken the most-followed scientist spot on the Twitter platform.

Minnesota is talking about introducing "free college", with caveats.

A woman on twitter asked if there was an age when she should "grow up and act [her] age".  Shirley Curry (aka the 85-year-old "Skyrim grandmother" whom I've mentioned before) replied, "No way!!! LOL".

I learned today that "The Red Cross" (as an organization) actually has 3 different international symbols.  It uses the red cross and the red crescent, both of which have subtle-to-overt religious significance, but it also has the red crystal.

I was following a news link from a Steam game that I've played, "This War of Mine".  It's a game developed in Poland and inspired by the war in Bosnia, trying to highlight the horrors of civilian life in wartime.  Their news post on Steam used the hashtag #FuckTheWar.  Pursuing that charity topic is how I eventually learned of this other symbol.

I now favor use of the red crystal exclusively.  I don't know about other countries, but here in the USA the red cross (as a symbol) is plastered over nearly any first aid resource.  It is useful that way.  Use of the red crystal would instead be unique to the organization which is recognized globally with protective status during warfare.