They can be so persnicketty about the dollar amount, too... as in "No, we don't have a way for you to pay things off today unless you want to charge it on a credit card. If you are going to mail in a check, be sure to pay us an extra $5 a day for five days in order to cover potential interest on your account balance between now and when the payment comes in." It's almost like loansharking -- no matter what you do, you still owe them, except that nobody is going to kneecap you if you're a bit late...
Our bank balance isn't surreal anymore, but we actually own a bunch of things outright now, have a cozy nestegg, and have a greatly simplified life. Not sure what is going on tonight, but we bought both kriek and merlot. Yup. Definitely nice.