6 posts tagged “lamentations and general whining”

I hope not, because then we will be due for one more to croak.

Our first casualty was the air conditioner.  Yesterday I noticed it seemed to be getting hotter instead of cooler, despite having adjusted the thermostat down twice.  Then it finally dawned on me to go downstairs and check to see if the line was frozen.  It was. 

Now it make sense why, just the day before, there was this very strange cold spot on my bedroom floor.  Turns out the a/c line runs right under that spot, and it was freezing up.  I thought we were getting a poltergeist or something paranormal like it.  I don't think a poltergeist would be too bad, considering cost and inconvenience of not having air conditioning during 90+ degree heat.  They can't cost that much to get rid of.  Certainly cheaper than replacing your a/c, right?  And I'd rather be scared shitless than hot and sweaty.  But I digress...

Six weeks ago we had the unit recharged with freon.  The technician informed us that if it started freezing up again before the summer was over, we would need to replace the entire unit.  We were not surprised given the unit is about 18 years old and is the only major appliance in the house that had not yet been upgraded in the last ten years.  However, he also said it could be YEARS before it needed to be recharged or replaced.  Oh, blind optimism, how I embrace thee.

The second casualty was our microhood, a/k/a the over-range microwave oven.  Not sure what that thang's problem is, but it just doesn't want to heat up anything all of the sudden.  Temperamental little bastard.  Thankfully, it's not absolutely essential and doesn't cost thousands to replace.  It can certainly wait.

It would figure in the week after we book our trip to Mexico, all Hades breaks loose.  I was thinking we should cancel, but the Hubster is adamant, and told me last night, with great emphasis:  "We ARE NOT CANCELING OUR TRIP." 

Alrightythen.  Plan B, then?

I'm not sure financially how this is all going to work out, but it will.  It always does.  I've been toying forever with the idea of starting a little home-based photography business, and this may push me to research this idea more diligently.  It's a little ways off, and I have to build my portfolio first, but I think I can make something of it, especially now that I finally have a decent camera. 

So, we'll see.  I now must close because, due to the sweltering heat, my butt has melded itself to the leather desk chair.  Should be fun standing up -- kinda like a brazilian wax with your pants on.

I wake up this morning to this lovely little nugget of happiness in my inbox:

From: Bank of America Security Center [mailto:bancofamericasecuriticenter@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 8:30 PM
Subject: Unauthorized Activity

We recently have determined that different computers have logged onto your Online Banking account, and multiple password failures were present before the logons. We now need you to re-confirm your account information to us.

If this is not completed by March 4, 2006, we will be forced to suspend your account indefinitely, as it may have been used for fraudulent purposes. We thank you for your cooperation in this manner.


  To confirm your Online Banking records click on the following link:
  [LINK DELETED FOR SECURITY PURPOSES]


Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Bank Of America Customer Service

Please do not reply to this e-mail as this is only a notification. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered.

2007 Bank Of America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

Now I realize that there have been many unfortunate souls who have been victimized by such scams.  I get these at least 8 times a year.  I especially love the ones from banks where I DON'T EVEN HAVE A DAMN ACCOUNT!!!  Those are especially precious.

But this one -- this one has to be one of the most ridiculously obvious phishing ones.  This one is such an amateur.  Let's start with the sender's email address @yahoo.com.  Ahem. Yeah, I'm sure BofA can afford to have their own email accounts.  Not to mention it says bancofamericasecuriticenter.  Um, yeah.  Whatever.

Secondly, this little line "If this is not completed by March 4, 2006, we will be forced to suspend your account indefinitely, as it may have been used for fraudulent purposes. We thank you for your cooperation in this manner."  Why thank you for the deadline.  I'm so happy to know that you would give someone a three day opportunity to fuck up my life (if this were real). 

Do I really look like I fell of a turnip truck?  Nevermind, don't answer that.

At least this one wasn't rampant with grammatical and spelling errors.  Those are often the biggest red flags. 

But, this post actually has a point -- folks, be not so stupid.  Banks tend not to email people when there is suspicious activity.  They either (a) call or (b) do nothing.  So, a word to the wise, keep tabs on your own stuff and recognize the smell of bullshit dumped in your inbox.

My good girlie friend Kristine, a.k.a. Krissy, or the Future Mrs. Andrew Young, is one of my classmates at Drexel.  But, she's not just my classmate -- she's one of the sweetest, most endearing, thoughtful friends I've ever known and I'm blessed beyond my boobs to have her in my life.  We were having one of our weekly e-mail bitch sessions the other night.  As per usual, our whining consisted of complaining about the amount of homework and reading we have to do this quarter.  And, GAH, the READING!  My eyes are about to bleed!  I'm going to need Lasik after this quarter. 

When we're not whining about the homework, then we moan about our professors, who range from the Crisco pie crust flaky variety who never reply to emails or grade assignments until, like, right before the quarter ends, so you sit there wondering all the six weeks where the hell you stand.  Or, conversely, they did their graduate work at the Gestapo School of Professional Ball Breaking and wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.  "What, you've been sick and puking your guts up for 24 hours?  Suck it up, that's no excuse to turn your assignment in late!" 

Then we digressed into whining about our personal lives, specifically our women troubles.  I'm due for my favorite aunt to arrive next week.  Oh joy, just in time to pack her bloated, miserable and bitchy ass in my suitcase with me as I embark on a four day Carnival cruise with a group of my mommy pals from my message board.  You know when your PMS is bad when even YOU can't stand to be around yourself. 

Somehow our ovaries had a meeting in the last year and a half and decided that it would be just too damn convenient to have us be miserable and whiny at the same time each month.  Did I mention how much I rely on her to keep me organized and together?  She's like my own personal live Palm Pilot, except she's cuter and sweeter and I can't push her nose and turn on solitaire (and don't think I haven't tried!)

So we're both feeling the joy of PMS this week.  She had me cracking up when she said "I've been eating chocolate this week like it's my damn job," and I, in turn, spit Diet Pepsi all over my keyboard.  I told her that I would be using that somehow on the blog, but I could not do it without giving her proper reference for introducing me to the phrase.  I won't mention the part where I had to spell out what ROFLMAO meant in my reply ;-)

So there, now you can go forth and be the coolest of the cool like Krissy and me, using catchy cliche phrases and emailspeak like it's your damn job.  :0)

Scary moment this morning ... we had a little bit of snow overnight, less than two inches, but it seems under the snow is a lot of ice.  I got Katie on the bus and off to school without incident (other than the usual Monday morning chorus of "I'M TIIIIRRREEEDDD" over and over).  I was having a big craving for Dunkin Donuts coffee so I headed to our local DD, which is literally around the corner from our development.  I'm coming down one of the streets in our development that ends at the bottom of a fairly decent incline.  It was icy and I was going less than 5 miles an hour but I started skidding as I got to the bottom of the incline.  Thankfully, my mad snow driving skillz kicked in and I took my foot of the brake and steered into the skid and was able to straighten myself out before I hit the curb and jacked up my wheels.  No parked cars or people were anywhere around, thank goodness.

It really irks the shit out of me that our development, which is by far the LARGEST in the township, is like the redheaded stepchild of Deptford.  It seems we are always last to get our roads sanded.  Yes, sanded.  We don't get salt or cinders because from what I heard the township says it isn't good for our roads, but I believe they do it because it's cheaper.  They don't plow under 4 inches of snow.  It sucks, but apparently it's par for the course in these parts. 

So now I'll be off to send a nice, snarky e-mail to the township. 

On a lighter note, Jonathan went "wheeeee!" when I started skidding.  I can't say I held the same sentiment. :o{

We have this low-flush toilet in our first floor bathroom. While I'm all for anything that helps preserve the environment, it somewhat defeats the purpose of having a water-saving toilet if you have to flush the sonofabitch three times to make the average human-sized turd go down the drain.

I hate that damn thing. Carry on.

So now I feel like a total loser for whining about Group Counseling.

Turns out the prof is really cool and I think I'm going to like the class. Even if I never lead a group therapy session professionally, I know what I learn in this class, and Group II, will come in handy someday.

I really like the reflection stuff she makes us do at the end of class. Nifty.