Deer Watch 2010 Part I

What is it?

Can anyone tell me what this is? I have no idea and I am very curious.

Thursday Thirteen

"But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed."


- Shakespeare, Othello, act iii. Sc. 3.

Today I am writing about identity theft.

1. Identity theft is a crime. It is a federal offense. Identity theft involves the use of someone else's personal data, and can include things like using a credit card number, stealing money from bank accounts, taking mail from the mailbox, or completely taking over someone's identity and pretending to be that person.

2. Your information can be obtained in numerous ways. Criminals can look over your shoulder while you punch in your card numbers on your cell phone. They can eavesdrop on open cell or cordless phone conversations. They can rummage through the trash for all of those "preapproved" credit card offers you receive in the mail. They can find hack accounts on the Internet and obtain your Social Security number, you bank numbers, your passwords - pretty much anything.

3. With a certain amount of identifying information, a criminal can take over your good name, run up charges in your name, obtain medical care in your name, and cause great harm to your reputation. People have had to spend thousands to restore their name.

4. Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act in 1998. Conviction carries a maximum 15 years in prison, a fine, and forfeiture of the ill-gotten gains. Instances of identity theft may also fall under other laws, such as fraud statutes.

5. Protecting your information is incredibly important. To do this, do not give out personal information. The Department of Justice recommends remembering the word SCAM: be STINGY with your information, CHECK your financial information regularly, ASK for a copy of your credit report (the federal government in 2005 made it easy to get a copy for free at http://www.annualcreditreport.com/, but be aware the site does ask for your Social Security number), and MAINTAIN careful records.

6. If you think you've been a victim of identity theft, don't panic. It's a very upsetting thing to be a victim of a crime but it is important to keep your head. Contact your financial institution immediately if you find a problem with a credit card. Contact your local police and any other appropriate agency. Be prepared to spend many hours dealing with the fallout of the crime.

7. Many homeowners' insurance policies now offer identity theft protection and assistance as an addendum to the policy. While the annual fee might seem high, it is a bargain compared to the damage a thief can do to your finances.

8. The credit reporting companies, as well as some banks and other places, offer credit monitoring services. If you are experiencing problems with your identity or have experienced identity theft, these may be a good investment if only for peace of mind.

9. When online, create passwords that do not use identifying numbers or words, such as your Social Security number, your mother's maiden name, your birthday, your pet's name, or consecutive numbers or letters.

10. Do not give out your Social Security number unless absolutely necessary. Do not use this number on checks, driver's licenses, and even job applications if you can help it. Don't say the number aloud in a public place and do not let others say the number aloud.

11. Install a firewall and update your virus protection frequently. Use encryption where possible.

12. When shopping online, only use secure transaction sites.

13.  Information about identity theft can be found at the Department of Justice website, privacyrights.org,  annualcreditreport.com, and many other places. Learn all you can and be safe. It's pretty wicked out there.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here.  I've been playing for a while and this is my 161st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Books: Lucid Intervals

Lucid Intervals
By Stuart Woods
Audio approx. 8 hours
Copyright 2010
Read by Tony Roberts

Stone Barrington is a lawyer and former police officer who often acts as a detective. This is one in the series.

Barrington is a guy's hero and my husband likes these books. I checked this one out of the library to listen to in the car during our ill-fated trip to Myrtle Beach in September. We heard about half of it during that adventure and then finished the remainder of the book in the evenings when there was nothing on TV.

Our hero is hired to find a missing MI6 agent from England. The man has been missing for 12 years, having vanished the day after his superiors learned he was doing some un-agenty type things. Someone wants the man dead now.

His employer is a beautiful woman named Dame Felicity. Of course he beds her and she takes him to social dinners where only the elite can go.

A subplot involves a guy named Herbie, who has won the lottery. He has no brains and later is charged with murder.

My husband gave the book a thumbs up. The hero is not exactly my kind of guy but he is okay. I recommend the series to anyone who likes books with male lead characters, intrigue, high society, guns and airplanes, and a little bit of sexual titillation thrown in for good measure.

Thursday Thirteen #160

Today, I thought I'd offer up a list of some of the books in my "to read" pile. I haven't read them so these aren't recommendations.

1. A Writer's Book of Days, by Judy Reeves. "A Spirited Companion & Lively Muse for the Writing Life."

2. Voices, by Ursula K. Le Guin. "Themes of revenge, family legacies, personal morality, and a humanistic magic redolent more of earthy mysteries than flashy sorcery."

3. The Power of Story, by Jim Loehr. "Rewrite Your Destiny in Business and in Life."

4. How to Write Mysteries, by Shannon OCork. "The howdunits of whodunits are no longer a mystery. Inside you'll learn how to spin intriguing yarns guaranteed to keep your readers in suspense until the very last word."

5. A Break With Charity, by Ann Rinaldi. "A story about the Salem Witch Trials."

6. Breathtaking, by Lorin Roche, Ph.D., "Lessons in Breathing to Enhance Your Health and Joy of Living."

7. The Glimmer Train Guide to Writing Fiction, ed. by Susan Burmeister-Brown & Linda B. Swanson-Davies. "In excerpts from interviews conducted over a sixteen-year period, and preserved by the editors of the highly respected literary quarterly Glimmer Train Stories and its newsletter Writers Ask, contemporary writers who rarely discuss their craft present you with eye-opening techniques, diverse perspectives, and genuine encouragement."

8. Yoga for Dummies, by Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D. and Larry Payne, Ph.D. "A tremendous service for yoga enthusiasts and health professionals."

9. 8 Minute Meditation, by Victor Davich. "Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life."

10. The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver. "An epic journey from the Mexico of artists Diege Rivera and Frida Kahlo to the America of Pearl Harbor, FDR and J. Edgar Hoover."

11. Becoming Queen Victoria, by Kate Williams. "The tragic death of Princess Charlotte and the unexpected rise of Britain's greatest monarch."

12. The Lindar Diamond, by Katie Hickman. "A gripping historical tale of love and avarice in Venice."

13. Snowbound, by Richard S. Wheeler. "A haunting novel about hubris and its consequences."


My "to read" pile is rather large; actually, probably, the largest it has ever been as this is just the tip of it. I definitely don't need another trip to the bookstore anytime soon.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here.  I've been playing for a while and this is my 160th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Autumn Beauties

The Doe Whistle

Does make a snorting, whistling sound when they are frightened or are trying to attract your attention so they can see if they need to run from you.

In this video, you can hear the whistles of does off camera as they try to get me to move. I was afraid to turn around because I knew I would make them all run.

Bucks Clash 2010

This is my first video. The bucks are fighting in my front yard. It was about 7 a.m. on Saturday morning; very dark. I had just woke and hadn't had anything to drink.

At the end I fell off the stool I was sitting on. You don't see that on the video though.

Hope you like it.

Autumn?

Here's the Buzz . . .

Thursday Thirteen

Autumn is one of my two favorite seasons (the other being Spring) and so I thought I'd celebrate by listing 13 reasons for this season.

1. The leaf color. Those wonderful reds, oranges, and gold from Mother Nature leave me breathless as Autumn takes over my beloved Blue Ridge Mountains.

2. Cooler weather. After a summer which had more than 50 ninety-degree days in its number, the break from the heat is exceedingly welcome.

3. School. I don't go to school anymore but I used to be quite the geek. I loved school and I miss taking classes.

4. Halloween. This is my favorite holiday although I don't really celebrate it. I have always enjoyed the scare and the idea of honoring the dead (although I don't think trick or treat quite does that). Boo!

5. Thanksgiving. Yes, Thanksgiving is still in Autumn! It's a great holiday and a wonderful reminder to count your blessings.

6. Winter squash. I love butternut squash, acorn squash... even pumpkins! Yum.

7. Turning on the heat on a chilly morning. It's like magic!

8. Watching the fog rise from Catawba Creek and Stone Coal Gap and up into the sky.

9. Seeing deer romp in the front yard, and watching young bucks with velvet turn into strapping, huge-bodied deer with horns.

10. Autumn festivals that feature apple-butter making, pumpkins, banjo music, and crafts.

11. Apples! I love apples, apple cider, apple butter, apple pie, cooked apples . . . even better than squash! Yum!

12. New television season. I haven't found much on that I care to watch but at least there is something different to see.

13. The end of humidity for a while. Thank goodness!

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here.  I've been playing for a number of years and this is my 159th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Hope You Have the Time of Your Life

Smilin' Monday

I am lovin' this cooler weather, clearer air and smogless vistas! Autumn is my favorite time of the year - at least until the leaves fall.

But we won't think about those bitter days to come. Instead let's rejoice in the bright days we have right now!

Happy Day

Wishing all of my readers and blogging friends a spectacular Sunday. May the road rise to meet you, may the breezes be gentle, may grace be bestowed upon you like a soft kiss from a mother's lips.

Peace to you all.

Animals on Parade

 Turkeys from the front window. Gobble gobble!

 There were 20 of them marching along the fence line.

They pay no heed to the woman behind the glass.

 I slipped out the back door hoping to snap a picture without the glass and window screen in the way.

Hi there, I'm the big daddy deer.

I sneak around the corners!

The Eyeglasses Saga

Seeing is one of those things that I find necessary. I did not obtain glasses until I was about 12 years old, though I needed them much sooner, and as a result I tend to want my eyesight perfect.

In January I went to visit a different opthamologist because the man I had been seeing for 20 years retired.

I was having trouble reading and knew it was time for bifocals.

The doctor suggested progressive lenses, and that is what I went with.

They gave me a great deal of trouble. In the end, I went back to the eye doctor and he changed the prescription in my right eye. The optician changed the prescription in my reading glasses and sunglasses, too.

After that, I adjusted well to the progressive lenses and had no trouble with them.

Fast forward to the first part of August. My nephew gives me a hug and in the process my glasses are scratched. It is, of course, the right lens.

I have a scratch warranty on the eyeglasses, so I call and ask for the replacement.

Once I receive the replacement, I find I have trouble reading. I can see out of my left eye alright but the right one is problematic again. I can't read anything out of that eye with my progressive lenses. However, I can read just fine with my reading glasses.

I spend five weeks adjusting the lenses, going back and forth to the shop. The woman at the shop suggests it might be allergies and dry eye causing the problem, so I start using more artificial tear drops.

There was no improvement, so today I went back to the eye doctor.

He told me my prescription in my right eye has changed and is now better with the prescription I had initially. Not the one I had been seeing out of for months, but the one that he changed in January. Which is a lesser strength than what I had been using.

He seemed as perplexed as I. We went over my medications but he did not think they could be causing the problem. He even suggested it might be the time of day.

None of this makes sense to me since my reading glasses are fine.

But now the eyeglass shop (which, by the way, is owned by the eye doctor) is making me a new lens with the lesser prescription.

I have no idea if this will fix the problem. If it doesn't, the next time it will cost me as I was told this was the last time they would replace the lenses at no charge to me.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things I did not see and do during my few hours at Myrtle Beach beach on my non-vacation last Friday. (Short version: We drove 7 hours down, the hotel was unacceptable, we couldn't find another room, we drove 7 hours back home, all in the same 24-hour period).

1. I did not get into the ocean because we weren't there long enough.

2. Cheesy gifts were left unpurchased from Wings or Eagles gift stores.

3. My Minnetonka moccasins, which I had not purchased online because I wanted to try them on first, went unbought because there wasn't time to get to the store that carries them.

4. Christmas gifts were not bought.

5. No sand castles were made by me during the very short time we were there.

6. My husband did not bring home any very cheap jeans.

7. We did not get to eat at Captain George's Seafood.

8. No strolls around Broadway at the Beach.

9. No visit to Barefoot Landing, either.

10. No dives into the pool to cool off.

11. No sitting around the pool, or out on the beach, soaking up rays.

12. No books were read.

13. No visits to Tangier outlet malls, or any other shopping area, for that matter.

Photos taken on previous trips.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here.  I've been playing for a number of years and this is my 158th time to do a list 13 on a Thursday.

Vacationus Interruptus

The wheels of my Toyota Camry whirled along SC 9, the sound a steady hum that seemed to urge me forward as I drove with my right heel firmly planted on the gas pedal. My sleeping husband breathed rhythmically beside me in the passenger seat.

The inky midnight sky stretched long over the flat Carolina horizon and the full Autumn moon hung high, a lantern offering dim light and little in the way of comfort. The stars looked cold and far away as the lob lolly pines on the wayside flew by me.

We were alone on the road, traveling through dinky unlit small towns that offered no sanctuary at this hour. As the miles slipped by, I found myself wondering how it was that I was returning home early Saturday morning when I'd only left my abode just 14 hours before.

It was to have been a four-day vacation, something to help us over the rough summer. The last several months have been difficult, what with my father-in-law's illness and his somewhat unexpected passing in late July. Now my husband's aunt, his father's sister, also lay ill. It seemed too much for one family to take and a few days away sounded like a good remedy.

But it was not a family crisis that had us heading back to Virginia so soon after our departure. I really wasn't sure how things had gone so awfully wrong.

Our drive down had been nice, almost fun, if a long seven-hour drive can be fun. We listened to a book on tape and enjoyed several hours of story as we rode along. We stopped for lunch in Greensboro and took several breaks to walk around and stretch before venturing back in the car. We have long passed the age where we can ride for hours without stopping, so we make the most of our need to be leisurely in the drive.

Aside from one small argument over directions, the day progressed smoothly. We arrived at Myrtle Beach via 501 around 4:30 p.m. and went directly to our motel.

We were staying at the same place we stayed last year. I confess I had qualms about the hotel, having found it okay but not great. There were a lot of children and some concerns with housekeeping. However, I was determined, for my husband's sake, to have fun and not complain unless things were so dirty as to warrant complaint.

We checked in and were directed to the second tower of the motel, a different part of the place than we stayed last year. When we found our room, no. 839, we entered to discover the bed unmade and towels and things in the floor. We quickly backed out, not at all certain the room wasn't occupied, and made our way to guest services for this tower.

The clerk checked with housekeeping and then decided to move us to another room, no. 750. My husband went up with him to inspect the premises and he returned giving me a thumbs up.

After we obtained new keys, we went up so I could look around the room. I found no sign of bugs (I worry a lot about bed bugs these days), and no visible sign of mold and the air seemed okay when I breathed in (sometimes the mildew smell in older buildings will take my breath immediately and cause an asthma attack), so we brought our suitcases in.

We did not unpack, as by this time it was after 5 p.m. and we were hungry. We set out for a meal and decided to eat at Original Benjamin's Calabash for a seafood buffet, where I enjoyed crab legs, scallops and other delicacies the likes of which I cannot find in Roanoke.

Then we went to Bass Pro Outdoor World so my husband could do a little shopping. He found what he was looking for, so then it was on to Walmart to purchase breakfast and lunch items so that we would not be eating out the entire time we were there.

We returned to our hotel and I went up while my husband parked the car. Upon my entry into the room, I realized the smoke detector was malfunctioning. It needed a battery and continued chirping to let us know this.

I called guest services, who said they would send someone up.

Meanwhile, my husband returned from parking the car, a block away. He was quite unhappy with the smoke detector issue and he also noted that the air conditioner, which we had set to 65, did not seem to be cooling the room. And then we decided to watch TV while we waited on the maintenance man, and found that the sets didn't work.

After an hour passed and no one came to fix the smoke detector, which I confess was annoying and quite the nerve-wracking noise, my husband had had enough. "I'm going down to the desk," he said. "I think we aren't going to stay here."

I called my brother and asked him to look up the phone numbers of other area hotels for me, which he did. As we talked my husband beeped in. "We're leaving," he said. "I'm going to get the car."

I called several hotels but none had rooms available. The only thing I could find was a Hampton at Broadway at the Beach but my husband didn't want to stay there. It was oceanfront or nothing, I guess.

We had a wait while we checked out; the clerk did not want to refund our money and James had to go to the other hotel tower to find a manager. Finally he returned with refund in hand to where I waited with the luggage.

We loaded the car back up. Then we drove down Ocean Boulevard to find "no vacancy" lights in practically every hotel, except perhaps a few dives where we would not have stayed regardless. Finding nothing suitable, we headed north to North Myrtle Beach.

The whole time I was calling hotels we had frequented in the past, to no avail. I couldn't figure out why everything was so full in September, but later learned it was a bike week and a shag dancer week, not to mention a fishing time and apparently folks have gone to the Carolina beaches instead of the Gulf beaches thanks to the oil spill.

North Myrtle Beach also offered us one vacancy at $300 a night, which meant nothing was available as we couldn't afford that. We were so far north now as to make going back to SC 501 a hour's drive, so we headed down SC 9. That's the back way into North Myrtle Beach and not necessarily the best roads but there you go.

I told my husband that if we were going to make this seven-hour drive back, then I needed to share driving duties. I drove us away from the coast, then, so he could sleep and drive us home on the last shift.

And that is how it was that we drove to Myrtle Beach, ate seafood, and came back home, in a 23-hour period, and how I came to find myself driving in blackness on unfamiliar roads at midnight.

We still haven't had a vacation this year. At this rate, I don't know that we will be getting one.

Clean at Last

Earlier this month, I noted that my desk looked like this:

The papers were piled high and stuff was scattered everywhere.

But now it looks like this!

Much nicer, wouldn't you say?

 

And here's a view of my entire work station. Let me point out a few little things.

To the far left at the window, you'll see a pair of binoculars. I use those to watch deer, turkey, squirrels, etc.

In the front in the plastic tub, you'll see a little black metronome. I use this for breathing exercises that are supposed to help control my blood pressure.

The mirror on the far right is a recent addition. A book I read recently recommended a mirror to reflect the door and change the energy in the room if you sit with your back to the door. I'll let you know if it helps.

A Favored Rose