Checks in the mail

I don't write checks very often anymore, and I don't usually carry much cash on me. I pay for most things with my check card (debit card), usually by running it through VISA as a credit transaction. I can pay most of my bills online now. So I don't write checks very often.

I still have the occasional bill or payment that requires a check, so I finally got low enough on my starter checks that I decided to order a new batch of checks. I went to Checks Unlimited and found the type I had used on a previous account and liked so much (Autumn Leaf). I submitted my order, and a couple of weeks later got the checks in the mail.

What was different this time, though, is that they send you a relatively flat package instead of boxes of checks. They say this is so they won't be obvious to thieves as check boxes. Here's the interesting part, though. They include flat, unfolded check boxes, so you can fold the boxes into shape and store your checks in them.

Frankly, the package they sent the checks in is pretty sturdy, and I wouldn't mind just storing them in that. But I couldn't resist putting the boxes together, so I sorted out the checks and stuck them in the boxes numerically. A relatively simple activity, but still one of those slightly time-consuming activities when you have nothing better to do.

It's not quite as elaborate as these Phillip-Morris mailings I occasionally get. Somehow I ended up on their mailing list, and they started sending me stuff. Colorful, extravagant, fold-outs, boxes, flaps, and other interesting things. Once I got a free cd, but it was nothing I was terribly interested in. But for the most part, their mailings don't provide any activity as useful as the check boxes. Ah, well, back to a real hobby, like blogging.