jagoffs

Is your credit card in your possession?

October 7, 2009 by kathi

That question is pretty much never followed up with good news. This time was no exception, or should I say the good news was that a charge of almost $1,000 to my credit card made by some jagoff that is in no way authorized to use it was declined by the card issuer due to its suspicious nature.

Thank you, Citibank Fraud Protection people. They were right on top of this, and when I remarked that the time frame for receiving my replacement card seemed a bit long, they immediately offered second day air delivery at no charge. Yay for a good customer service moment.

I’m very much aware of the rules for safe credit card use. Statements are fully destroyed upon reconciliation. New solicitations (I really don’t want any more credit cards) are fully destroyed upon receipt. I do make a fair number of online purchases, but only from known sites that appear to be secure.

I’m posting this mostly to vent about thieving jagoffs and to remind everyone that even if you are knowledgeable about credit card and information safety, and do everything possible to keep your information safe, it’s still possible that someone, somewhere, will get to it despite your best efforts.

I’ve had something like this happen before. I doubt I’m being targeted since the last time was several years ago. The circumstances were very similar. A large-ish charge was made to a store in a foreign country, probably over the phone since my credit card was still physically in my possession. The charge did go through that time, but was promptly reversed upon my phone call to customer service.

Since then, fraud protection has been stepped up quite a bit, at least by the credit card companies I use. I’ve had a couple of legitimate purchases questioned because they were larger purchases made out of state, while on vacation. Considering what just happened, I’m good with a little bit of suspicion now and then.

Note to self: Remember to make posts public or get that automatic posting thing working! It’s not a big deal this month, but next month is the “real” NaBloPoMo and it would not do to miss any postings, especially if there’s actually a post written, but not made visible!

(NaBloPoMo | October ’09: 7 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 229 of 274)

A case of mistaken identity

July 22, 2009 by kathi

My last name… my husband’s last name… is quite common. It has been in the top 10 most common names in the United States through the last 3 census periods. So perhaps the surprising thing isn’t that I’m having a problem with a case of mistaken identity, but that it’s taken this long for one to affect me.

I am well aware that there are many people who share my name, and unfortunately, it seems that quite a few of them are deadbeat jagoffs. When we applied for a business line of credit a few years ago, each of my partners and I received a document listing bad debts incurred by people with the same or similar names. One of my partners has a fairly uncommon surname and his document had one, count ’em, one listing of someone who was not him. Another partner’s document had a few more listings, but still quite short. Our prez has a surname that is usually in the top 100 most common names, and he had four or five pages to check. I had a dozen pages, listing many deadbeat jagoffs who shared my name, but were not me. A dozen pages, with over 100 listings. We all signed off on our sheets to certify that we were not the deadbeats on their lists, and I really haven’t thought about it often until now.

Apparently, the most stupid, careless, non-detail-oriented skip tracer in Chicago decided that my information was the closest match for someone sharing my name who is fifteen years younger, of a different race, and who was being evicted for non-payment from a property in a neighborhood I have never lived in. The property owner and their lawyer did not seem to find this a bad match, and are attempting to collect that jagoff deadbeat’s debt from me and/or my company.

The attempt will fail, as it is not exactly difficult to prove that I am not the scumbag they are looking for. But it is still a pain in the ass for me, my company and our lawyer as we have to waste the time to address it and make sure that their stupidity doesn’t affect me or the company in any way.

This is not a case of identity theft (obviously that was the first thing I checked out), just a case of mistaken identity. For that, I am glad. But I still don’t understand how my information would have been considered even a remotely possible match to this person’s. Even just the information that would be considered public record would show me living in the same place (nowhere near the address in question) for 19 years and married to the same person (who does not share the same name with the scumbag’s husband) for 16 years. I’ve tried to be responsible in all of my financial dealings over the years, as has my husband, and my credit report reflects that. I am still seriously pissed off that anyone could even consider that I am that deadbeat piece of crap.

Yes, I am being judgmental, because it’s my name and reputation that are being trampled on.

UPDATE: Following a discussion between our company’s lawyer and the property owner’s lawyer, everything has supposedly been straightened out. The court order documenting this will be forwarded to us on August 12. Hopefully end of story!

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 22 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 179 of 274)

My non-bird neighbors suck

July 18, 2009 by kathi

I hate my neighbors for a variety of reasons. But the latest one completely proves that they are huge jagoffs and that they suck like a Hoover.

You read about the cardinals that live in their rosebush. So, a little bit of information about that rosebush. I moved here almost 20 years ago. The original owner of the house was still alive then, and the rosebush had obviously been there for quite a long while, maybe even being original to the property. There is also another bush of some sort that has intertwined with the rosebush. It doesn’t seem parasitical as it’s been there a while and the rosebush is still going strong.

In the past few years, very little maintenance has been done to the rosebush. Every summer, the branches on our side of the fence grow to the point where my husband ends up cutting them back so they don’t whack us in the face when we walk by. I should say so they don’t whack me in the face. He usually watches where he is going. I am often doing mini-obedience drills with one of the dogs, and get whacked in the face when I’m paying attention to the dog instead of the bush. You would think by now I’d know where the bush is and call a right or left turn just before it.

Enough about my lack of dog training skills, and getting back to the point, which is that the bush doesn’t get trimmed very often. Not on our side, and certainly not on the jagoff owner’s side either.

So why then, at this time of all times when the cardinals are nesting, do those stupid jagoffs decide to cut away the non-parasitic whatever-the-hell plant, and trim the rosebush, too? The only saving grace is that they didn’t knock the nest down. The cardinals haven’t abandoned the nest yet, but it’s much less sheltered, at least as viewed from our side of the fence (which means that it may be even more open on the other side), and the branches that gave cover and shade are gone.

The nest is just high enough that we can’t see if there are eggs or babies or if they are safe. We just assume there are eggs, at least, because the female is there daily. All we can see for sure is that the nest is not as protected as it was before those jagoffs trimmed the bush.

Add them to the list of jagoffs that need punched in the face. Hard. And think good thoughts for the cardinals.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 18 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 175 of 274)

Jagoff spammers: die, die, DIE

July 17, 2009 by kathi

Not that jagoff spammers would have any clue about etiquette, but honestly, why would this subject line make me do anything other than delete the email immediately:

Hell, if an email with that rude-ass subject line came from someone in my address book, I’d still delete it unread for being jagoff-ish.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 17 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 174 of 274)

Free Flash and graphics that I do like

July 11, 2009 by kathi

I know I have ranted in the past about free Flash website introductions and the so-called webmasters who think these non-unique creations are making their websites better. That does not mean I am against all free stuff, though.

If you can customize it enough to make it your own without violating someone else’s intellectual property rights, I’m fine with it. If you are trying to get started learning by analyzing someone else’s work, I’m fine with it if they are.

FlashDen, along with the other Envato Marketplace sites, is now offering a free file of the month. July’s file is a nice photo gallery with quite a few customization options. I am a fan of FlashDen in general. As someone who is very weak in Flash but who needs to use it for projects now and then, I really appreciate having a good source of affordable and customizable Flash files like FlashDen. Not every file is a master work, but the buyer ratings and comments help in selecting something that is worth the price.

I also try to remember to log in to iStockPhoto weekly to grab the Free Image of the Week. It’s not always something I can use right away, or maybe ever, but I’ve definitely grabbed a few images that fit into themes that will come up in time. Again, I am a fan of the site for its reasonably priced royalty-free stock photography. I am not a great photographer, so when I can’t provide my own photo illustration for a project, it’s good to have an affordable source with quality images to choose from.

Some free stuff is definitely worth a lot more than the asking price!

Quick Rottweiler update: Freya is now in the stopped-up phase of her current IBS digestive upset episode. I always worry about a blockage at this point, even if she seems like she is feeling better. She is usually back to normal about 24 hours after the stopped-up phase so hopefully I can stop worrying tomorrow evening. Axel has some tummy troubles of his own today, but probably related to either grazing (most all of our dogs have been like black and tan cows and I wish I knew what kind of grass might taste bad to Rottweilers) or heat. Since we have had almost no actual warmth this summer, the heat seems to be affecting both dogs a little quicker than usual.

Quick jagoff update: Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, but a few jagoffs still have firecrackers left over from last weekend. Guess where I would like to shove those firecrackers (hint: like Butt Rocket, only with higher-powered explosives).

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 11 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 168 of 274)