Snow!

Lovely flakes were swirling in the air as I stepped out of the front door, but my camera failed to capture them. 

You can tell by the trees that it's definitely winter, though. 

The bank was only half a block away, but I needed to use my umbrella. 
The snowflakes were big ... and wet!

I was on my way to the bank because I wanted to deposit the money I'd received on a debit card from the U.S. government. They could have sent me a check, as they did last time, or made a deposit directly into my checking account, even better, but they chose to make this as difficult as possible. 

It appeared the idea was to steal back as much money as they could.
If I kept the debit card to use in shops until the money was gone, a $5 fee would be charged for each transaction. 
Each time I used an ATM to inquire what the card balance was, a 25 cent fee would be charged. 
Each time I used an out-of-network ATM to withdraw cash from the card, a $2 fee would be charged; if it was an international withdrawal, a $3 fee would be charged.

Thank you, ex-President Trump. You were pathetic to the end.

First I had to make a phone call in order to activate the debit card.
No, first I had to sleuth the internet to make sure this wasn't a scam.
It certainly looked like a scam.
The paperwork that accompanied the debit card was unbelievably complicated, full of cautions and warnings and descriptions of fees that might be assessed if I did the wrong thing.

I activated the card.
Then I walked to the bank.
The street was mostly empty. The bank was mostly empty. 
There were several tellers eager to help me.
It took two transactions to move the money from the debit card to cash and then from cash into my checking account. The receipts were emailed to me.

I went home and printed the receipts. 
Since the debit card was now empty, I'd planned to cut it up and throw it away, but the teller suggested I keep it. So I had to label it and find a safe place to store it. 

None of this would have been necessary if they'd just sent me a check. 
I wouldn't have had to don two masks to execute this transaction.
I could have made my deposit by uploading a photo of the check.
That would have produced a permanent record.
I could have shredded the check when the deposit appeared in my account.

And I could have enjoyed a little walk in the snow.