OMG...OMG....OMG...

(Sept. 4, 2007)

My bank has bitten the big one. Washington Mutual is dead as a Dodo.

I read something out of Seattle, where riots are currently going on and WaMu branches are being trashed, so Richie and I hauled buns to the nearest WaMu branch. It's Tuesday, right? They should be open, right????

GAH!!! NO FREAKING WAY!!! Branch is shut tight. The ATM is dark. There is a sign on the door saying "Closed Labor Day Sept. 3" but this is the freaking FOURTH. We go to the next closest one, same diff. We finally get on the horn to my CPA uncle. "Yes, Washington Mutual is insolvent. You are going to have to file a claim for your money through the FDIC. In the meantime don't worry. You have enough to worry about with your husband being sick."

We get back to the encampment, and there are more people walking around with dazed expressions on their faces. Sure enough, those people are WaMu customers. We take a quick count of those who are present. About 50% of us are affected by this. OMG. Talk about a single point of failure.

I will be monitoring the tattered remnants of the media to see whether there is "official information" about this. Aside from the cash in our wallets, we are penniless until the FDIC reimburses us.

And we were just told today that they found an apartment for us to move into in Duarte, and that the "Cher fund" would cover move-in costs and so forth. But if our bank is dead, we can't pay the diminished rent on the apt in Panorama City. And that means they will probably hold our stuff until they get paid. OMG. OMG.

Then again, chances are we aren't the only remaining tenants with our money in WaMu.

Still...Eep.