Madeline still isn't too sure that she belongs to our family. Her two older siblings drive her crazy and don't let her sleep due to the constant noise. She has been smiling more at people though and has seemed to accept her fate.

I'm getting a lot more comfortable at work. I'm able to help most of the people by myself which makes me feel a lot better about being there. My partner, Ahmed, started at this position just after I did so we're learning together. He has many years of banking experience but only these few weeks of doing this job. He is from the Sudan and speaks many dialects of Arabic which is a great use to us because about a third of the people we help have that as a native language and only use broken English. He'll be a busy guy because they line up just to speak to him. Then he comes over to me to ask what to do.

We've had many accounts frozen over the past month or so due to the Patriot Act. These people call in and tell us they have gotten letters in the mail and have had their accounts frozen. It is frustrating all around. A guy from Argentina came up to me and asked if his visiting friends could open an account to buy CD's to get their money out of the volatile Argentinian currency. Painfully we had to tell him that we couldn't. Normally we don't open accounts for any foreigner but our branch has an exception but we have to follow the government rules. They must have a tie to Mayo clinic by being a patient or visiting one along with a current visa and passport.