April Foul…

This morning, the Universe played a joke on us, and it wasn’t funny.
Every four weeks, we get B’s pension paid into a bank account; this morning was pension payout day. So we drove three miles to the nearest cash machine, at Dalry. Get to the cash machine, check the balance – according to the machine, there is almost nothing in the account. Luckily, we have some spare cash; we buy enough deisel to drive back home, where we get on the phone.
The pensions department swear up and down that the money has been paid in; the bank assure us that the money is in our account, but cannot offer an explanation for the machine showing the wrong balance.
Reassured by the bank, we put more fuel in tha car and drive thirty miles to Ayr, where we intend to buy things like paint and shoes, as well as food. Go to a cash machine – no money. Go to another cash machine, and another. After visiting four machines, we are stumped.
This is not good. Not good at all. We have just about enough cash to get us back home, but then what?? I concentrate on keeping my blood pressure down, while we trek up the high street until we spot a branch of our bank.
Inside, an explanation at last. The bank’s central mainframe is down, so it isn’t communicating with ATMs. But the money really is in our account, so how much do we want?

Sighs of relief all round, before we start trekking around the shops.
But – oi Universe! NOT FUNNY! NOT FUNNY AT ALL!!