Thursday Already? Thursday Already!!

It's been a long week.  On one hand.  On the other hand, it's been a fast week.

 

Whatever, tomorrow is Friday and that is all that matters at the moment.  :)

 

Along with about a billion other errands after work today, I went back to the nursery and got 4 more honeysuckle plants.  I also got my Mother's Day present from Bill - I told him I thought I wanted something for the yard but that I'd have to let him know when I figured it out.  I figured it out today, I found a clematis that should have a deep reddish pink bloom.  It's going to be planted at the fan shaped trellis that is between two of the honeysuckle trellis we put in last summer.  The honeysuckle I bought a couple of weeks ago is on those three trellises, the new 4 are for the lattice on the back fence.  The nursery I went to is a neat place, they have a huge variety of plants and a huge stock of everything.  They are a local store, not a chain and they are generally very busy.  There is a resident cat and dog, they spend their time inside the indoor store area.  Along with a bunch of parakeets.  They have a pretty unique pest control system in the outside areas:  chickens!  Big, black, furry ones - the kind that look like they have fur on their feet/legs.  They wander all over, I think they probably have a protected area to reside in overnight.

 

Everything will get planted tomorrow when Bill gets home from work.  I was originally thinking about a rosebush on the fan trellis, but I really like clematis and so do hummingbirds and butterflies.  Roses are a possibility in the future, but Otter is very allergic to roses so I decided to plant something else there.

 

I also went by the booth and collected for the sales in April.  When I took that to the bank, they asked me about an account that I closed and were wondering if I knew a check had come through it.  The only account I closed was the one the checks that were stolen were written on.  I was in the drive through, the teller told me to come in and talk to someone inside because she thought it was fraudulent and if she hadn't told me, I probably wouldn't have known that there was an issue until the bank mailed me the notice.  She told me to come inside and start the fraud charge paperwork so we'd be protected, which I appreciate but it turned out not to be necessary.  But if I hadn't had a deposit to make, it would have probably been days still.  It turns out that it wasn't actually a check written on the account, I was afraid that we were about to have Round 3 in ID theft to deal with.  A few days back, Bill bought something online and used PayPal to pay for it.  PayPal has goofed up more than once, usually involving taking the wrong amount or taking it from the wrong account - it's supposed to be charged to our credit card but way back when we first started using PayPal, it was set up to come out of the checking account.  Which is the account we closed when the checks were stolen.  In 2007, I think.  Guess what PayPal decided to do?   For no good reason that we can figure out, PayPal apparently decided to go back to the old checking account instead of the credit card!  We've updated and changed things with PayPal many times, yet they keep screwing up and each time it's worse.  The bank refused the charge, since the account was closed and wanted to charge us $22 but they took the $22 charge off and Bill's going to give PayPal "What For" tomorrow.  At least it's not ID theft, like the bank originally thought.

 

The April sales at the booth were better than I thought, Bill sold one pachinko machine and a couple of things but most of it was my stuff.  We're going to keep the booth for a while longer, it would be nice if we could sell another pachinko machine.

 

Is it Friday yet?  Almost.

Miscellaneous Thursday

With a little This & That Thursday thrown in for good measure.

My day started with discovering that the air conditioner in the office wasn't working.  It was a tad big on the warm side in the office.  It took a couple of hours, but the guy got out there to fix it and it turned out that it had a freon leak.

Then, we discovered that the office mailbox had a problem.  Somebody tried to break into it overnight.  We have this kind of mailbox:

The top flap opens up and there is a flat space where you can put outgoing mail.  We don't use it for outgoing mail, the theft of my mail a few years ago was the 2nd or possibly 3rd time that our mail had been stolen although we didn't realize it at the time.  I take everything to the post office.  The bottom flap is a locking door - as the mail is put in the box, it has to go through a sloping slot so it falls into a secure area that can not be opened up without a key.  Younger boss noticed that it looked funny, so he looked at it closer.  Someone tried to pry the bottom flap open, maybe with a crowbar.  There are 3 or 4 other mailboxes like ours on the street.  Two of them are on property that younger boss owned or still owns, as rental property.  One of the other ones is on the next door neighbor (a residence) but he put his up because of the mail thefts.  All of them had obvious attempts made on them, but none of them were sucessful.  In all probability, none of them had anything in them anyway.  But because they are locking, apparently the low-lifes thought that there must be something valuable inside.  Which they could have figured out, because you can see inside them to where the incoming mail would land.  It just can't be reached without opening the locking flap.

Obviously, they were from the shallowest end of the gene pool!

Here's the This & That Thursday part I mentioned earlier:

We haven't done it yet, but we are going to send a letter of support to Chick-Fil-A.  In all probability, I'll post it here.  But I have to check with Willeboy about that first.  About posting it, not about sending it.

I had a Pasta Accident last night.  We had chili for dinner - it was brutally hot, so we did what TEXANS are known for:  had an extremely spicy hot meal!  It's a local thing, but chili is actually pretty good on top of pasta.  I was going to make extra so that Otter would have some, since she wasn't home when I was cooking.  I had my dutch oven (large saucepan) full of water and starting to boil, so I tossed in a few handfuls of assorted pasta.  Then I decided I needed to add a little more.  I keep things like pasta, rice, flour, sugar, etc. in impossibly large plastic container with a handle and a lid that has a pour spout.  I decided to just pour a little more pasta into the pan.  And that's when the lid came off and almost all the nearly full container emptied out!  Fortunately, most of it actually went into the dutch oven.  Some of it was on the counter, a little bit on the floor (but not for long, there was a beagle in the kitchen almost before it actually hit the floor) and some of it was on the stove.  Bill has a very large stockpot that I use for beans and large amounts of chicken soup, it's stored out in the garage since it's h.u.g.e. and won't fit in the kitchen anywhere.  I ran out there and got it, Bill got the water running in the sink until it got hot and we filled up the large pot about 1/2 way.  Then we put it on the stove and turned the flame up to high.  When it started to think about boiling, we poured everything out of the dutch oven and cooked it in the large pot.  We had a lot of pasta last night, and there are now two big-beyond-huge containers of pasta in the fridge.  Otter might have had some for lunch today, I forgot to ask her.  We had it for dinner, mine was covered in spaghetti sauce and I cut up some pepperoni to put in it.  Bill had cut up lunch meat ham in his with parsely.  Otter had some, but she ate after we did so I'm not sure if hers had anything on it besides olive oil and parsely.  And we still have plenty left!  I'm probably going to freeze some of it.  It will be a little mushy, but it will still be edible.  And eaten!

I went to the grocery store toinght, and among other things I bought 4 good sized bags of dry pasta to refill the container.  It's still not as full as it was last night pre-mess, so I'm thinking that we actually made 5 or 6 bags worth of pasta.  Because we like variety, we usually use several different types at once.

Well, I guess it's a good thing that we like it so much.

Froggy, I started on a clothes hanger cover last night.  I'm going to make about 10 and send them to you, then I'm going to make a bunch for us.  They are easy and quick, and they will use up the stray yarn that I have no other use for.  I have a lot of that.  I'm not sure if I'm going to get back to it tonight or not, my arms are kind of sore.  I literally filled up the trunk of my car with groceries.  Bill carried a lot of them in for me, but I still had my share of heavy bags to deal with.

Tomorrow's Friday!  Yipee!

Tuesday and the latest on the check theft/forgery

I called the collection agency yesterday, they said that I have to wait 10 business days from the day I faxed the paperwork back to them. So that will be about Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Then today, I got ANOTHER letter from them asking for payment but it is on the other check that was forged and it looks like it was forged at the same place. Over a week's difference in the check dates. Awfully convenient that they were able to write two forged checks over a week apart on a closed account, like maybe too convenient. I think we all know what I'm inferring here! Anyway, I called the agency after I got today's letter and they said that it will automatically be included with my original forgery complaint so I don't have to do anything about it yet.

Then I got a bill in the mail today for the last installment on one of the medical bills. My October payment was one of the stolen checks. At the time, I called them and they were supposed to make a note in my file. I also sent them a replacement check right away. When my bank statement came the other day, I could tell that the original check to them was received by them and that they had deposited it. Of course, the bank refused it. When I sent the replacement check to them, I also sent them a letter following up on the conversation and very clear instructions about the first check not being good anymore, in case it turned up. Then today I get the bill from them and there is a $15.00 fee for a returned check. I called them, the girl in the billing office seemed really surprised that I am not willing to pay their NSF fee! She kept telling me that it would go to "collection" and I told her about three times that they could collect away but that I was not going to pay it (and why). I think she finally realized that I was serious because she finally gave me the address to mail a letter to with copies of all my documentation and ask them to take that NSF fee off. Which I will do tomorrow. And then they'd better take that $15.00 off because I still WILL NOT PAY IT. She made a bunch of excuses as to why they deposited the first check. But I think I got my point across. To her, at least. We'll see what happens after I send them my letter. I will pay the actual amount I owe, which will be the final installment on the doctor that saw me while I was in the hospital. I just won't pay them anything else!

So now that I am in full Texan Woman mode, anybody need any battles fought? Because I might just be willing! :) Bill better watch his step with me tonight!!

On Sunday, Otter and I are going to take some of our Fenton glass pieces to what will be the absolutely final probably last one ever & forever signing event. A Fenton family member will sign up to three pieces brought in for each person (however, all pieces bought then can be signed no matter how many), and we are each taking two pieces. Possibly I might take three, one will be one of my older pieces but I'm not sure about that. Signatures on the pieces will increase the value, but ours are not going to be sold. If I think about it, I'll take my camera with me. Not that it means anything to anyone but another Fenton collector!

We still haven't gotten the tulip bulbs planted. It was just too windy on Sunday. Sometimes in the next few days, maybe this next weekend. But soon!

Sunday, Catching Up. Veteran's Day.

I hope everyone remembers that it's Veteran's Day. Let's all thank them when we see one. I do if I can. Dad taught me that. I put my flag out this morning, but the wind keeps wrapping it around the flag pole.

Thursday evening, there was a Veteran's panel at Otter's school. The history teacher set it up, there were 6 veterans there. Two were WWII, one was Vietnam, one was 1970's - 80's, one was first Gulf War, one was First Gulf War and current Gulf War. There were quite a few students there, and they seemed to be really interested in what the veterans were saying. A couple of them went into a lot of detail about basic training. I think it opened up a few kid's eyes, especially when the Vietnam vet was talking about the training involving gas masks. The history teacher has the panels every year around Veteran's Day, and we'll probably go next year as well.

Possibly we might get Otter's tulip bed planted today. She is at her friend's house, she's been there since about 5:30 yesterday and when she gets home she is probably going to want a nap. I'm sure that they didn't get much sleep last night, they usually stay up most of the night giggling. But we need to plant the bulbs, so we might try to do that when she gets home. I say try, because it's so windy that it might be more trouble than it's worth.

So far I have not heard anything else from the collection agency. The grocery store had a problem with my check when I bought groceries on Friday, but it might have been because the amount was over $100.00 or because I was getting cash back. Seems like this particular store has to have approval when it's over $100.00 but I haven't shopped there too often so I don't really remember. They did take the check though. When the register didn't like the check the clerk kept pushing buttons to get it to work and her supervisor had to come fix it. And the supervisor told the clerk (loudly) that next time that happens, NOT TO PUSH ANYTHING ELSE! I got the feeling that the clerk has had problems and not followed procedures a few times in the recent past. Maybe because she spent the entire time she was checking my groceries gossiping with another clerk? The supervisor just approved my check and was unable to say why there was a problem since the clerk pushed all the buttons. We went to Sam's this morning (yeah, I know - they are part of WalMart) and had no problem there when I wrote a check. Even though we didn't forge the checks and they are a different account, I'm afraid that we could have problems in the future if the collection agency still shows us as writing bad checks.

I'm going to call the collection agency tomorrow or Tuesday and see if they have any more information for me. They might be closed tomorrow, some places are closed in observance of Veteran's Day.

We rented the movie "Barnyard" and watched it yesterday. It was cute. It was really for younger kids, but I couldn't find anything else that was even remotely interesting so that's what I rented. It's about a bunch of farm animals and there were a few funny spots. But I think that the writers and/or illustrators need to go back to school. Because the last time I checked, boy cattle were not called cows and boy cattle DON'T HAVE UDDERS!

(Maybe) Quick Update on the recent stuff!

I faxed all the paperwork to the Telecheck collection department today, and mailed them the originals. I made several copies. I don't let anything go without keeping copies of it for our files.

My bank statement came today, it has the last of the old account and the start of the new one. It also has the checks that did not clear - including the one I got the collection letter on (shown as not clearing, showing as stopped and showing the forged amount) - AND ONE OTHER ONE THAT WAS STOLEN BUT DID NOT CLEAR - FOR OVER $1600.00. It's the correct number as one of the stolen checks, the bank did not clear it but it still shows the amount it was forged for on the statement. I'm guessing that it might also be WalMart, but I haven't heard anything from anybody else in terms of collection agencies. There were 5 checks in all, two of them got to their destination but were returned to me since I'd already called the places, the $1800+ that was forged at WalMart, the $1600+ that showed up as stopped and was forged on today's bank statement and that left one. Which apparently DID get to it's destination, and they tried to send it through but the bank denied it as I'd stopped it already. I've already replaced that one with a check from the new account, so there should not be any NSF charges on it being run through (which I wouldn't pay anyway since I called them the day the theft happened!). But now we at least don't think that the checks were copied, since the check numbers match up with the stolen ones. They were "just" forged.

When I sent the paperwork to the collection agency, I attached a list with the check numbers, original payees, dates written and original amounts since the letter did not say which specific check number it was for. If the second one was also written to WalMart, hopefully they will be able to look up the file they now have on me and I won't get another letter! If I do, I'll send them copies of what I sent them today. If there is another letter from another collection agency, they will also get copies.

The staph infection that has been in the news has now hit the Tulsa area. It's in several schools, including our district. Otter brought home a letter from the school district about it, and we also got an automated call from the principal about it. I'm not too worried about it, it can be contagious but it isn't automatically horrible, fatal or even serious! Yes, there are cases that are serious. But the majority of the cases are resolved, although it might take a while since it's resistant to a lot of antibiotics. I was already familiar with it, since Mom had a case of it towards the end of her life and Froggy and I researched it then. Wash your hands with plenty of soap and water, and don't share things with other people like make up, drinking glasses, etc. In short, use common sense. And don't panic when the news media makes it sound like something out of a Stephen King novel!

It did not quite get to freezing last night. But it was still plenty cold! It is supposed to get well below freezing tonight. I hope it does, I've sneezed a lot today and I'm getting kind of tired of it! It's been breezy all day and pretty cool, the wind made it feel colder than it actually was. We do have some Fall color, although I was beginning to think that the trees would skip that stage and just go to bare naked!

Monday and We Have Our First Freeze Warning!

It might get into the 30's tonight. Well, it will get to the thirties. The question is, how low? We could possibly get our first freeze tonight. Tomorrow night it is supposed to be a hard freeze, which means the twenties! I can hardly wait, I've been fighting allergies all day because of the wind and a good freeze will kill off everything. Especially ragweed. Hate the stuff! I tried to have a nosebleed this afternoon, and I've had a lot of sinus congestion today. I sneezed a lot yesterday.

We re-covered a few iris bulbs this morning, which the dogs thoughtfully arranged for us to need to do. I also watered them well and then again this evening. We brought in the last 3 jalepeno plants and the parsely plant. I don't expect the jalepenos to do much, they have already produced but they still have a few blooms on them so we'll see what happens. The parsely will probably continue to grow, it survived a few swallowtail larvae attacks but it's a tough plant. We also leveled the dirt on the tulip bed and put the first (possibly only) treatment on it. I'm not sure if it will get another treatment or not, I'm hoping to plant it this coming Sunday. Otter has a bunch of tulip bulbs.

And Frasier does have another ear infection, I'd suspected it but now I am pretty sure. He was digging at both ears last night, I used the saline rinse on both of them and he tolerated it but he didn't like it. Bill thinks that the dog has figured out that as unpleasant as it must be to get his ears rinsed out, he has apparently made the connection that it makes him feel better. But it was a battle this morning with the medicated drops! I have to hit his ears again with the rinse tonight and the drops again in the morning - possibly the drops again before bedtime - and then I'm going to continue for a few days. Especially if the weather is about to turn. They are inside when we are home and at night, but they are outside during the day. And even though they have a nice warm, carpeted spot in the garage sometimes Frasier will stay outside.

I talked to the Talequah Police Department this afternoon. The detective was very nice, but he suggested I hold off on filing a report with them. He had a few good points. For one thing, WalMart only keeps their surveillance tapes for 7 days and it was over 7 days later before I got the letter from Telecheck. Also, the tapes don't usually show much beyond the top of people's heads. They are not set up for online or phone reports, I would have to do it in person and it would probably cost me $40 or $50 in gasoline alone, and I'd probably have to take off a day from work to go. With just about zero chance of even developing a suspect. So I'm going to hold off and see what else happens. If one of the other two checks out there shows up, then I will consider going to Talequah. I'm faxing all the paperwork back to Telecheck tomorrow, along with the report number from the Tulsa Police Department. And then I hope that I don't have to deal with this anymore, but I won't be surprised if it's not that easy.

It's been a confusing day!

Because of the time change, anyway. The doggies haven't quite figured out yet that just because they think it's time for breakfast, the clock doesn't agree! We'll have to slowly change their breakfast time until they are back to 5:30 like before the time change.

It was nice to get an extra hour of sleep this morning, Otter especially liked it. I think Bill still got up early, he got up before I did and went on a styrofoam packing material hunt. I think he got up about 5:30 old clock, or 6:30 new clock. I managed to make myself stay in bed for about 15 minutes after that, then I gave up and got up because I could not go back to sleep. By this time, the poochies were through with breakfast and wanted my attention anyway.

We visited a different church today, this is the 3rd one I think. We really liked this church and will attend there for a few more Sundays. Then we'll decide if we still want to look around or not, but I'll be surprised if we still look around. It was a very good sermon, very friendly people and the message was wonderful. It's a smaller church than the one we actually belong to, still Southern Baptist and not too far from home. But it's way too early to make a decision about it. However, we all left with the same opinion - that this is one we need to seriously consider.

I pulled all the weeds in Otter's tulip bed. There were plenty! Also it had been taken over by what I think is called monkey grass, which was planted there a couple of years before we bought this house and I've dealt with it each year. It took me a while and I had to go inside and take an advil afterwards, my hands & wrists were sore and my lower back is twinging a little bit. Otter was busy inside, I had her doing housecleaning chores, otherwise she'd have been out there with me. I also turned the dirt over with the shovel. We were going to treat the dirt tonight, but I think that will wait until tomorrow. The treatment involves water, mineral oil and dish soap. Moles & gophers hate it. The ground can be treated more than once, a week or so between treatments and we'll probably do two treatments this year since we've had so many more moles to deal with. The tulip bulbs probably won't be planted for a couple of weeks, I was hoping to get them in pretty quick but I think that the ground is still a little bit warm and I don't want them to start sprouting!

Otter and I went to two thrift stores this afternoon. We had a lot of fun and found a few things. 3 or 4 books and several other things. Nothing spectacular, but we still enjoyed our shopping trip.

I've had a couple of people suggest I call the District Manager of WalMart and I think I'm going to do that. I'm also going to see if there is anything else I need to do, as far as protecting our credit and reporting the theft/forgery/fraud of our checks. I'm faxing the info to the credit agency tomorrow and I hope that I don't have any more problems with them on this. I'm also going to call the Talequah police department again tomorrow, as I've never heard back from them.

I made a pecan pie yesterday, not healthy in the slightest! But very good. I think I'm going to go have some now. I did buy fat-free vanilla ice cream to have with it, which Otter thinks is just the funniest thing she's ever heard. Not that the ice cream is fat-free, it's the idea that it's to be eaten with the pie! I see her point, by the way. :)

Good Boy, Frasier!

When we got home Friday and let the dogs in, Frasier brought something in with him. We think he intended it to be a snack, but it's also possible he brought it in to show us because he dropped it at my feet. It was a dead mole. Needless to say, he got praised to the skies and then stuffed with treats. Since Maggie probably helped, she was just as dirty as he was from digging the mole trail out, she got filled up with treats as well. Then Frasier ran back outside and started looking for another one. No luck, but he's obviously made the connection between dead moles and getting treats!

This is what moles can do to a yard. This is not my yard, by the way! But they can do tremendous damage, as can gophers & voles.

This is what a mole looks like, this is not one from my yard either. They are not very big, they would fit in the palm of your hand.

I talked to the manager at the Talequah WalMart. She was not helpful. I told her I had a question about their policy on taking checks. She explained about the automated system and I asked her if that would tell them right then if a check was good, she said yes. Then I asked her if a check was not approved, what would happen? She said that the customer would be told it wasn't approved and would not get their merchandise. And then I told her why I wanted to know! She started getting very vague and her story started changing - fast. At which time, I went Texan Woman on her and frankly, I enjoyed it. I didn't get anywhere with her, she tried to tell me that it was 1) my bank's fault, then 2) Telecheck's fault, then 3) my fault. That's when the horns got her. Big time. I didn't hang up on her, although I wanted to, but I did tell her that I have always been a loyal and very good customer but that I might not be one anymore. She just kind of stammered, then I said goodbye and hung up.

I got the email from the Tulsa Police Department with the case number. I'm going to fax the info to the Telecheck collection department on Monday and then see what the next stage is. I still have not heard from the Talequah Police Department about the message I left them on Friday, I'll call them again on Monday.

I am not going to completely rule out shopping at WalMart in the future, but it's going to be limited and probably not for a while. There is actually a grocery store chain in the Tulsa/Broken Arrow area that I like more but WalMart is slightly cheaper so I've been buying our groceries there. But I am going to start using the other chain for the majority of my groceries now.

A while back, like several months back, I posted about Chupacabras and the woman who claimed she'd hit one with her car. I said at the time it was most likely a coyote. Froggy emailed me about the dna report on the animal, and it was exactly what I said - a mangy coyote. But Chupas are still a fun story! I think it's just based on mangy coyotes.

This is the supposed chupacabra in South Texas.

This is a coyote. Notice the resemblance? Look at the shape of the head, the ears and the mouth.

This is a coyote footprint. We see them occasionally out in the area behind our house.

I also saw a story last week about someone claiming to have new video footage of a young sasquatch (yeti), however all the experts have identified it as a mangy bear. Except for the "official" sasquatch agency, which automatically said that it's a sasquatch. People, get real! It's a bear! A hairless one, but still a bear! I really think that if these assorted mystical animals were real, they would have been found by now! Geesh.

I AM DONE WITH WAL-MART FOREVER.

And I mean it.

I got a collection letter today. From the agency WalMart uses. I got two the other day, because the bank stopped two of the checks that they were supposed to let through. The bank paid the NSF fees and I took care of it with the agency. Today's letter is for $1,821.14 plus $50.00 NSF fee. FOR A CHECK I DID NOT WRITE. It was at the WalMart in Talequah, which is a small town east of Tulsa.

I talked to the store in question just now. They have the automated system where the checks are run through the bank right then and if there is not enough money, the account is closed, check is stopped, etc., then it is rejected immediately. The assistant manager said that he doesn't know what to tell me, he can't explain why the check was allowed through on a) a stopped check, b) a closed account or c) more money than the account had even before I closed it! He told me to call the accounting department tomorrow, which I will do as soon as they open at 7:00 a.m. And they'd better have a good answer for me. I am going to ask him, on Bill's request, if those things have to be personally approved before they accept them because if that's the case then he's got an employee problem!

I talked to the police department today, I have to go to the bank and pick up a form called an Affidavit of Forgery. Then I have to take it to the police department, and they will start the report process for fraud. The officer I spoke with today also told me that the officer who originally responded to the theft SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A REPORT - which the first officer told me he couldn't do since we didn't even have a suspect or a description. I have his name, and I am going to mention it when I file my report tomorrow. After I get my report filed, then I can fax it and the bank's affadavit to the collection agency.

I don't think that the bank goofed up this time, because the check would have gone through and it didn't.

I also called and had a fraud alert placed on our credit reports. I strongly suggest everyone call Transunion at 1-800-680-7289 and request an alert be put on your credit file where you will be contacted if there is any request for credit in your name or with your SS numbers. It can be done even if you haven't had a theft or fraud.

But I really am done with Walmart now. I'll pay more for groceries, I don't mind. That is not the point of it anymore anyway.

Gone Shopping!

In my closet. Well, actually I just cleaned out stuff from the closet. But it was like shopping! I found several things that I haven't worn in years, it's like having a bunch of brand new outfits. I also cleaned out a few blouses that are way too big now. It was pretty fun.

The bank has been handled. I called the main office on the situation, I didn't even bother with the branch we usually use. They apologized all over the place! And they also paid the NSF fees to the collection agency. I mailed the check for the amount, with letters of explanation, today.

I've been sneezing all day long and I'm tired of it! Feel like my eyeballs are going to bounce right out of my head. We had cooler weather, then it got warm, then it rained again, then it was cooler and now something is blooming. Again. I'm just not sure what. But ragweed is high on my list of suspects! Some trees are turning, but the majority of the trees I see are just dropping leaves without the normal color change that we should have this time of year. Somehow, I just don't think it's going to be a very picturesque Fall!

I hope everyone remembered that the time change is next Sunday a.m.!

Wednesday and I'm Wasting Time

when I should be on eBay, posting things to sell! In a minute.

Interesting article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21455714/ I'm sure we all know which side of the fence I'm on, where this is concerned. (I applaud Duncan and the rest of them that are following his lead). Bill's comment: "Have you refused your koran today?"

It will probably be this time next week before the new checks arrive, so I guess I am going to have to go to the bank for cash before I go to the grocery store. It's getting old! But at least we know what happened, it would be a whole lot more annoying if I hadn't discovered that the checks were stolen.

Flu shots on Friday! I strongly recommend them for everyone.

Well, Frasier is telling me that I need to get busy with eBay. Or at least that is what it sounds like he's saying, he's parked in the floor beside me and he is talkative! I might update this later. If I can think of anything else to say!

LATER EDIT:

Ok, I got my eBay chores done! Otter is cleaning out some of her stuff, she wants to buy a jacket she saw last week so she's trying to earn some money. Most of what I posted on eBay is her stuff. So I hope it sells, and so does she! eBay makes a great way to get her to clean out her stuff. The games were hers already, she bought the stuffed dog at a thrift store last week to resell it. She's learning!

Very Glad it's Friday!

It's been a busy week and I am very tired today. Monday seems to have lasted 5 days!

No sign of the stolen checks at any place other than the church. I have finally been able to order my new checks, they should be here in about a week. Wallyworld refused one of my temp checks today, they do take temp checks but not for new accounts. Or at least that was the excuse they gave me. Excuse me, it's not really a new account! And most temp checks are for new accounts anyway! I went to the ATM in the store and paid $2.00 extra just to be able to get the cash, so I could go pay for the groceries I was buying. If I had enough time to go elsewhere, I would have just walked off and left everything there. But I was really too tired to go anywhere else and I did not want to get worked up over it.

Otter went to work with me today, and then we went to the mall for a little while. She found a pair of pants and a headband. Then she was out of money! Don't you just hate it when that happens?!

I think that we are going to start moving the iris bulbs on Sunday. It's still kind of early, but with the strange weather this year I don't think that the plants are ever going to die down enough until it actually freezes. And I'm not willing to do that kind of yard work after it freezes. Besides, irises are pretty hard to kill so I'm not worried. The tulips won't be planted yet, though. I'd like to be able to plant them in a couple of weeks, but we'll just have to see. They don't have to wait until a freeze, but the ground does need to be a consistent cool temperature.

I took Otter and two of her friends to a local haunted house last night. It's put on by a church. The church was founded by a group of recovering drug addicts and their main focus is to keep kids from getting into the same kind of trouble that they were in. So their haunted house is not like a traditional one. Which we knew beforehand. Their version of scary things is still like a school shooting, teen suicide, car wreck caused by drunk driving, stuff like that. Oh yeah, they also have a part that deals with Hell. And at the end, there is a message about how you can avoid all of that, which is the Answer to all of life's problems - God. It's pretty good and very effective. Otter and her friends were absolutely terrified when they walked out, they were scared & shaking. Otter asked if she could sleep with me last night, so we moved into the living room. She told me that she never, ever wanted to go back there and she never wants to be scared like that again. This afternoon she's changed her tune - she might want to go back next year!

Wet & Windy Wednesday

Lots of water. Lots and lots of wind. Springlike storms this afternoon. We have several small limbs down in the front, but they are hardly big enough to be called limbs. There are just a bunch of them. We had a storm system that was supposed to hit us this morning, but it went on north and we didn't have to deal with it. Then the next storm system was supposed to hit about 3:00 and it was right on time. Very windy! It was not nearly as bad as it could have been, there was a little bit of hail but not much and not big. It was a fast-moving storm. We might get more tonight, but late night if it hits. It might also go north, so we might avoid it. Which would be a good thing.

Otter went to work with me today, we went to the library at lunch and she got her weight in books. As usual! She's certainly her mother's daughter. She made a couple of $$ today.

I had a migraine this morning. First one I've had in several months. But I wasn't surprised, I've had MSG a few times lately and I knew I was pushing it but I was hoping I could get by with it. I try to avoid MSG, but it is in so many foods and I've used a couple of things lately in my cooking that I knew had it. Guessed I just pushed a little too hard. Then Otter might have had one this afternoon, she had a headache but she isn't sure if it was a mild migraine or not.

I called two of the places I'd mailed checks to last Friday, when they were stolen. Since the church check made it, I thought it was worth a shot. The two I called are both medical bills, from my surgery in March. One of the offices is closed this week while their building gets a new roof, which they did tell me last Friday but I forgot. I'll call them next Tuesday when they re-open, but they will probably tell me the same thing as the other doctor's office which was that the check did not show up. So I mailed them a new payment today, along with a note. I think that the church check is probably the only one that is actually going to get where it was meant to, and that's probably only because it was dropped and somebody picked it up and put it in a mailbox. I would like to think that the thief felt bad since it was addressed to a church. But probably not! It's kind of frustrating, having to deal with this.

I have just about finished changing our mailing address to the p. o. box. There are still a couple of places I have to call, and I can't change it with Otter's school until I have something with the new address such as a utility bill, that also shows that the street address has not changed. The library said that my cell phone bill was good enough proof for them, but the school probably wants to make sure that kids really live in the district. Which I can understand, considering that my last 2 years of high school were spent living outside of the district! I had forgotten about that.

Pumpkin Patch Day

We didn't get any rain today at all, just a mild thunderstorm very early this morning. It was cloudy today and cool, slight breeze but not bad. So we were able to go to the pumpkin patch after school. It was very muddy in places, but the girls had a good time. I took my camera and that's when I discovered that the battery was dead. We have rechargeable batteries, and this one has been sitting on the charger but it was not working at all so I think it's gone bye-bye now. So no pictures! The girls are too big for the pony rides, but they did enjoy the petting zoo. I think that they enjoyed feeding the cows & the camel more than feeding the goats. There were sheep, geese, lots and lots of goats, the aforementioned cows and camel, llamas, cavies which look sort of like giant rabbits with short ears, and the most popular - baby pot bellied pigs! They were really cute little porkers. The girls also climbed the pumpkin piles and started to go through the hay maze, but it's dark inside and Otter's friend had a hard time with it so they didn't finish it. Then we hit the snack bar (after scrubbing cow slobber off of our hands - the cows lick your hand after they finish the food in your hand - guess they want to get every bite) and found a couple of pumpkins.

This is not the camel we fed this year, but it's the same type. They have very soft lips and very delicately eat out of your hands. Deep, soft brown eyes.

I've been changing our mailing address today. I've called just about everyone although there are still a few I'll call tomorrow. And I'm sure that I forgot a few when I was making my list.

I had a call from church today. It seems that the check I mailed to them actually was delivered. So it might have been dropped and someone picked it up and put it in a mailbox, or possibly the thief had an attack of concience when he saw that the envelope was addressed to a church. I hope it's the latter.

When we got home from the pumpkin patch, only one dog came in, the little fat one. Maggie was wild, she was just beside herself and whiny. Which generally means that she's telling on big brother Frasier. So we looked outside, and sure enough he was outside the fence. We pulled down all the morning glories and plugged in the electric fence again. Although we're not really sure that is where he got out - there was a spot on the side fence where we still have chicken wire attached and he could possibly have gotten out there. We fixed it but it's just temporary. We didn't run the electric wire on that part because of the neighbor's kids. However, they are now only there on alternate weekends and it's pretty obvious that Mrs. neighbor moved out a few months back so we are going to electrify that side as well. We'll talk to the guy next door before we do it, so he's aware. Then we'll cut back all the honeysuckle and assorted things that are growing on that side. And then Frasier won't have any escape routes. Until he figures out something else, like flying! Which I wouldn't put past him, he's too smart for his own good! Fortunately, this time he didn't get too filthy. He just has a small spot where he looks like he got in a little mud. It's pretty muddy everywhere, he might not have been out very long or he would have found a puddle. Or possibly visited the cow field again. He's been cleaning his feet for a long time, lots of mud I guess. At least he doesn't smell like he did the last time!

Better Day Today

I've quit panicking quite as much over the stolen checks. I normally check my bank account online every couple of days, now I'm going to check it daily. Just because. Someone mentioned to me today about how checks have a lot of security features, including being treated so that if someone tries to do the chemical bleaching blotchy spots will show up. I think that the checks I had were equipped with that, it seems like I read that as one of the features when I ordered them. I also remember seeing a report on the news a couple of months back about people that have been caught stealing checks, one of the things that they would do is take one of the altered checks to some place like Wallyworld where they have the system (I forget the name) where the checks are run through the reader that tells the clerk whether it's a good check or not. Then if it was not a good check, they wouldn't attempt to use it or any others stolen with it if they were the same account. I'm hoping that happens in this case, because the checks are all stopped and the account itself has been closed.

We went thrifting today with our friend Trina. We had a fun time, even though nobody found much. I did find a book, a small gift for Froggy (not telling!) and Otter found a purse and a new blouse. It was a very enjoyable day, and we want to go thrifting with Trina again when we can all get our schedules coordinated. We went to three thrift stores today, but there are still plenty we need to visit again!

We went to a different church this morning. It was ok, but it was a lot smaller than we want. Small churches are fine, but there really don't seem to be any kids Otter's age. Lots younger and a few older, but I didn't see anyone at all that was close to her age. Also, they had a guest minister and we just did not like him. He started out with one thing in his sermon, and then he got off the track. And he stayed derailed. He also talked a lot longer than just about anyone I've ever heard and we got out pretty late. I think that the normal minister preaches a "normal" length sermon, because quite a few people commented to us about how it's not normally quite so long-winded! We might go back and visit again later, when the regular minister is there, but we might not. The people were very friendly and we did like that. It's the same church where we vote. There are a couple of other churches that we will probably visit in the near future.

I'm taking Otter and one of her friends to the pumpkin patch tomorrow after school. I'm picking both of them up at school and heading out there. It is supposed to rain tonight and into tomorrow, but it should be through by early afternoon. I hope so!

I'd Like to Dispense Some Biblical Justice

At work, we have an electronic device on the door of the mailbox which sets off a beeper inside the office when the mailbox door is opened. That way, we know when the mail has been delivered. We also have a locking mailbox, because mail was stolen out of the box a few years ago. The incoming mail is deposited into a locked area where it can't be retrieved without a key. Outgoing mail is not secured, however. I wrote out several checks to pay bills this morning and put them in the mailbox.

Just before 10:00, the beeper went off so I go out to get the mail. Less than a minute after the beeper went off. And I discover that the mailbox door is hanging open, along with several up and down the street, and that the incoming mail container is empty because it hasn't been delivered yet. But what did happen is that someone stole the mail that was in the outgoing container. Which means that my checks were stolen. I normally use a gel pen as they are harder to "erase" to forge the checks. However, this time I'm not sure if I did or not. I think I used a regular pen. Which means that my checks can be erased and forged. I went back inside and told my boss, he got in his car and started driving around to see if he could see anything. He didn't find the theives, but he did see several neighbors and he told them.

I called my bank, they immediately stopped all 5 checks and told me to call the police. Which I did, and they said that normally the post office has to make the report. But when I told them that it was my personal checks, they said that changes the procedure and that they would send someone out. The officer was very nice, but he couldn't really do much in the way of a report since nobody saw it happen and we don't have any type of a description.

I went to the bank at lunch and closed the account. The bank transferred everything into a new account for me. Now I get to shred all 4 boxes of the brand-new checks I just ordered! One of the bills I was paying was my credit card, I called them and they also closed the account and are sending us a new card. I called all the places I wrote the checks to and explained the situation, so they are all taken care of. The stolen checks are cancelled, and the account has as many safeguards as we can think of so nobody can get into any of them. But if the thieves bleach the checks and get the writing off, which is why they steal them in the first place, they will be able to write them to anywhere they choose. And if they are written to somplace that does not have the new electronic check feature, then they will be able to at least get something out of them. Let's hope that they go to Wal-Mart! And not to some mom & pop place that can't afford the loss, when my bank doesn't honor the checks because they are stolen.

I'm just glad we have the beeper at work, if I hadn't found out about it I would not have cancelled the checks and who knows how much we would have been out when the thieves wrote them! Also, they have my credit card number and I'm sure that they would have used it or tried to. I honestly think that as soon as they opened our mailbox and saw the device, they ran off because they were gone too quickly.

It's not been a good day. But it could have been worse.