Messages about Money

Guess what! I have just received a message on NZ Dating from an 18-year-old woman from the West Coast. Of course, if the way she writes is any indication, that's the West Coast of Senegal.

Geez, I'm always getting these messages from young foreign women who are madly in love with me and only want me to send them a few thousand dollars so that they buy a plane ticket to come rushing to me. Maybe I should just charter a plane and bring ‘em all over at once.

But, it’s so sad to think that these women are only after my money, and not my brilliant brain and gorgeous body. ~sigh~

I tell you, what with that and because of problems with my landlord, life has been rather a drag lately.

But the landlord problem got sorted out on Tuesday and yesterday life swung upwards again as I received two letters.

One came from Creative New Zealand.

When a Kiwi author writes books and they go into New Zealand’s public libraries, people read the books without paying for them. Because of this, authors lose out on a cut from what would otherwise have been the sale of their book. So there is a government grant given to authors by Creative New Zealand to make up for that cost. This ensures that authors will allow their books to be bought by libraries.

Up until now, the payment for authors of children's books has been 30% of the adult book rate. Now, according to Creative New Zealand, they are going to stop discriminating and will pay children's authors like me the whole 100%. That means I get a 75% pay rise.

Hey, I like this game!

And, as much as my horoscope failed to mention it, yesterday was a money-making day for me. Because the second letter I received yesterday was from the Bank of New Zealand. The letter said:

"Dear Mr Kirk,

You may be aware from recent publicity that Bank of New Zealand has breached the Fair Trading Act 1986 by not adequately disclosing to customers fees charged when using credit or debit cards for international transactions. We have reached a settlement with the Commerce Commission and as part of that settlement we will compensate all affected current and former customers. This compensation reflects a loss of opportunity to compare our rates with those of other card issuers, choose a card with a lower rate, or choose an alternative payment method.

The settlement with the Commerce Commission stipulates that no matter how small, compensation is to be offered to all affected customers. As you made foreign currency transactions between January 2002 and December 2004 using a Bank of New Zealand card, you will receive payment on 31 October 2006. The payment amount will be a pro-rata portion of the currency conversion fees paid during this period. The amount will also earn interest at a rate of 7% per annum between 31 July 2006 and the date of payment. The compensation, including interest, is detailed below:"

My eyes eagerly scanned down. And there it was!

I was due for a refund of 78 cents!

I tell you, I was in the money yesterday! Now I can put a deposit down on a Wendy house. Well, I could never afford a full sized one.

Hey, you keep smiling. (That way, they know you have teeth.)

--
Allan