NOT ON OUR BUCKET LIST

Well, having our bank fail certainly wasn't on our "list of things to do before we die". Being 1400 miles away from our safety deposit box , checking and MMA account, and having our daughter call and ask "don't you bank with Barnes Bank" was a little disconcerting. If she hadn't called I have no idea how long it would have taken us to become aware that we only had 30 days to find a new bank and get our act together.

I have touted Barnes Bank for the last 25 years. I changed my business account to the small Davis County bank after a larger nationwide bank had really p---ed me off. They were wonderful and have continued to be so in the many years since. 3 weeks after I had opened this new account (25 years ago) I had my checkbook stolen and didn't discover the theft until a day later--Saturday around 3 P.M. The bank closed at 2 P.M on Saturday. I frantically called anyway and lo and behold- 1 hour after the bank had closed the branch manager himself answered the phone and immediately put a flag on my account and told me they would watch it carefully, put a stop on all the remaining check numbers and said there would be "no charge". They earned my un-dying love from that point on. They were a small local bank until the housing/development bubble began to expand. They expanded quickly and I was pleased when I could cash a check at a branch in my mothers town when I went to visit her. They ended up with 11 branches statewide. Makes me wonder if they would still be in business if they had remained small and select. Is particularly interesting because the book tape we selected for the drive to California was "Snowball"- Warren Buffett's biography. This man's motto was "If it sounds too good to be true, run like hell." Damn the housing developers and Bush.

Advice-- have one of your children's name on your safety deposit box so you can call and have them postpone their Saturday skiing to run up and clean out your box. Thanks kids for helping us. The highpoint of this day might be the handful of Christmas M & M's I just found in the bottom of my purse.