I get excellent results spraying all flying insects with window cleaner.
Back in the 1960s I discovered on a camping holiday that a cousin's vaginal deodorant disintegrated flies I'm not sure what it did to the cousin, other than put her off the product for life.
YMMV, but I rather think this counts as Too Much Information!
TICTH the person who somehow intercepted a check I had sent to a charitable organization of the Episcopal Church. She (I assume, she used a female name) seems to have bleached or eradicated and then re-written the date, the payee, and the amount on the check and then cashed it, probably at a check cashing store rather than a real bank. The amount was twenty times what I had written the check for (plus 22 cents), so I am extremely lucky there was enough money in my checking account to cover it. I check my bank accounts on line every few days, so I was able to catch this the day after it happened. A very nice young man at my bank was extremely helpful when I went in this afternoon, and he assured me it will be taken care of in 5-10 business days. I think I may make all future charitable donations on-line by credit card -- sorry if that costs the organizations processing fees.
Good grief! Doctoring cheques sounds such a 20th century problem - but how hugely annoying, and how wonderful that you were able to catch it in time! Bravo, bravo!
We had an employee who added £1,000 to his pay cheque, writing an additional "1," in front of the number in the box and writing "one thousand" on the payee line. It was an obvious forgery but was paid out - and settled by the bank, who should never have accepted it. Ever since I've written the numbers in the box butted up against the £ sign, with a long dash to the end of the box for the pence.
A second good grief! Amazing that a seemingly ordinary person would do anything that risky. Even if happy to break the law and rob my employer, I would still be too scared of being found out.
I'm careful with how I write my checks, but I guess if the forger is armed with a bottle of ink eradicator, it makes no difference. She totally removed what I had written for the date, payee, and amount and wrote in her own.
I'm curious to see what happens over the next several days. (Of course nothing will happen today since it's a national holiday.)
I am inclined to consign all cheques to the hot place. I've written three in the last year, all to one company run by a stubborn old Dane who refuses anything else. He runs a state-of-the-art metal fabrication business, and all my communications with them are electronic. But bank transfers? Never!
My rent check. The rental office will accept electronic transfer but they charge a fee for it. Nominal, but nevertheless a fee. I object. It's actually to their advantage to encourage electronic transfer -- they get their money sooner and there's no chance of it "bouncing".
My choral group's dues. They accept credit/debit card but they are charged a fee by the bank. I do them a favor by paying by check.
My annual dental insurance premium. They don't accept credit/debit cards or electronic transfer.
The last one is really the only one where I run a risk, as I have to mail it. The other two are handed directly to the organizations in question.
A friend of a friend lost a HUGE amount to that scam of washing a check and rewriting it. Fortunately her bank refunded it, but from what my friend said it was a huge shock and a nuisance getting it fixed. The post office is changing mailboxes to make it harder to steal mail from them, and recommending that people only use them just before the pickup is expected.
I have to mail checks to my brother to give my aunt for our summer cottage, and it worries me.
I am inclined to consign all cheques to the hot place. I've written three in the last year, all to one company run by a stubborn old Dane who refuses anything else. He runs a state-of-the-art metal fabrication business, and all my communications with them are electronic. But bank transfers? Never!
I opened my current bank account about fifteen years ago. In that time I have written possibly eight cheques. Ne was for deposit on the apartment I bought, another to complete purchase and one more for government stamp duty on the purchase.
Cheques down here are almost, not quite, but almost never used these days. Regarded by most as pre-historic. There may be specific cases where they are required, but as for paying coalman or a tradie etc, not at all.
Anything financial with my part in purchasing here was handled online and the whole deal was done by PEXA, online legal process outlining how deal and searches etc were progressing. And an extremely experienced, very competent solicitor.
Good news update: I just looked up my account on-line. There's been a "check reversal," and the money is back in my account.
Excellent!
I dislike writing checks, but the service which provides my aide, as well as the woman who cleans on the day that said aide doesn't come in, insist on either a check or cash. A check it is...
Today I consign to Hell the morons who are still exploding fireworks shortly before 11 p.m. It's not bad enough that they've been terrifying dogs and infants since 5; now they won't let anyone sleep. It's illegal here, but the police won't do anything unless one can give them an exact address, because the problem is just too widespread. I wonder if Trump would put some of his famous tariffs on fireworks?
A couple of years ago I thought that maybe I should make all charitable donations on-line, with a credit card. One of them was rejected by the credit card company, so I used a different card. Surprise! The first one went through (after telling me it was denied). After much more hassle than you can imagine, I decided to make all future donations by check. Now that's caused problems.
From here on, I'm making donations by cash, delivered by carrier pigeon.
Today I consign to Hell the morons who are still exploding fireworks shortly before 11 p.m. It's not bad enough that they've been terrifying dogs and infants since 5; now they won't let anyone sleep. It's illegal here, but the police won't do anything unless one can give them an exact address, because the problem is just too widespread. I wonder if Trump would put some of his famous tariffs on fireworks?
My neighborhood has sounded like a fucking war movie since before sundown.
Despite a large increase of illegal fireworks being set off in recent years, the city's big idea for dealing with it this year consists of a PR campaign. Sure, scofflaws are going to see that placard on the bus that says fireworks are illegal and think better of it.
Mr S and I spent a filthy and exhausting Wednesday afternoon emptying the attic at The Dowager's home (the Dower House?). We had to leave till later an armchair and a cabinet that would not fit through the opening and must have been placed there before the loft ladder was installed - or maybe the house was constructed around them?
We also removed -
every exercise book and file used by my brother between the ages of 11 and 21
a range of toaster and kettle boxes dating back as far as the Roman invasion of Britain, some containing the previous piece of kit! If there is ever a world shortage of expanded polystyrene, we'll be quids in.
many pieces of carpet too small to be of any use, ever
part rolls of wallpaper
many, many large plastic bags too large to be of any use, ever
and my personal favourite
five (count 'em and weep) broken radiant rings from an electric cooker that I can't even remember us having. Is that pathological hoarding, or does everyone else feel that's quite normal?
Next time - the space above the garage. God help us...
I think they generally are. But there are ways to get them illegally. Don't know the current status, but there used to be yearly news stories about illegal fireworks stands.
The Intrepid Mrs S, you have my sympathy. The Dowager’s loft sounds exactly like my parents’. They never threw anything away. Stuff ranged from ancient kettles to brand new, unopened presents, via worn out sheets and towels.
In a lean-to outside were window frames acquired by my father intended to be used as secondary double glazing.
It took three skips to clear the loft, lean- to and outbuildings. A further skip had to be hired for the house clearance people for furniture they would not be able to sell. Plus endless trips to charity shops, auction house, and the recycling centre. Family members each acquired some items. Books went to a local college.
I vowed not to do the same to my children, yet my place is full to the gunnels, as my husband is nearly as bad as my parents. I am not entirely clutter- free either.
Mrs Sioni and I are hoarders. We blame childhoods moving every few years and having to dispose of most of our belongings. Until a year ago we lived for twenty years in a sizeable house with an extensive loft so we kept nearly everything, then we moved to a smaller house, without a loft, so we have a garage full of "stuff"!
After my parents moved out here to Phoenix, it fell on my brother to tidy up the old homestead back East to prepare it for sale. The miracle was that my father knew intimately every object he had in the hoard. He would micro-manage my brother with phone calls such as: "Now behind the furnace you'll find a box full of light bulbs. In the bottom of that box are seven curtain rods, three long and four short. The short ones belonged to your grandmother. Don't throw those out."
I hope none of you found the fabled box (or kitchen drawer), full of very short pieces of string, and neatly labelled 'Pieces of string too short to be of any use'.
@Amanda B Reckondwyth Your father sounded amazing - such a memory for details! Quite challenging for your brother I imagine. @Bishops Finger Oh that made me laugh, thank you! @Stercus Tauri And that was great too... If I had a box for stuff too boring to be filed it would be gargantuan, so instead I pathetically file my dross.
Caroline444, I'm in the US, specifically New York City.
And by coincidence my daughter just called me, she has been the victim of identity fraud using information probably gleaned from a check that went astray some months ago.
Caroline444, I'm in the US, specifically New York City.
And by coincidence my daughter just called me, she has been the victim of identity fraud using information probably gleaned from a check that went astray some months ago.
I just discovered this morning that my forger has struck again. I'm off to the bank to get it straightened out, close that account, and open a new one. Then I have to notify anyone who makes deposits or withdrawals automatically. (Luckily there aren't that many of them, but my Social Security deposit should be coming in a few days.) I'll have to change my PIN and my password as well.
This is the third time in as many weeks that my Facebook page was hacked. I am running out of passwords. I am thinking of curse words at this point. Two of my friends were hacked as well earlier on the same days. At least the few friends and family I have on Facebook know not to honor new friend requests from me. I am thinking of just closing the whole thing down, but I do enjoy seeing posts and pictures of family friends who now live out of my area. Also during fires it was helpful to inform and check on each other. Anyone know a good password with 14 numbers and 62 letters?
This is the third time in as many weeks that my Facebook page was hacked. I am running out of passwords. I am thinking of curse words at this point. Two of my friends were hacked as well earlier on the same days. At least the few friends and family I have on Facebook know not to honor new friend requests from me. I am thinking of just closing the whole thing down, but I do enjoy seeing posts and pictures of family friends who now live out of my area. Also during fires it was helpful to inform and check on each other. Anyone know a good password with 14 numbers and 62 letters?
The same nice gentleman at the bank helped me again today. A new account has been opened, and the bank will take care of notifying Social Security for me, and when my deposit from them arrives in the next few days it will go into the new account. My one outstanding check will be honored. I just need to notify two contacts about other automatic transactions -- and order new checks. I'm getting some temporary ones from the bank in the meantime.
I will be writing to the bank commending the nice young gentleman.
Anyone know a good password with 14 numbers and 62 letters?
Tools readily available to hackers make it ridiculously easy to crack passwords. The dilemma is to choose a password that is long enough and complex enough to be relatively secure, but at the same time easy for you to remember.
One thing I like to do is to take the first two lines of a favorite poem and use the first letter of each word as my password, mixing upper and lower case and inserting numerals and non-alphanumeric characters as I wish.
Be careful with numerals. Every hacker knows that "2" is a favorite substitution for "to" and so on.
The same nice gentleman at the bank helped me again today. A new account has been opened, and the bank will take care of notifying Social Security for me, and when my deposit from them arrives in the next few days it will go into the new account. My one outstanding check will be honored. I just need to notify two contacts about other automatic transactions -- and order new checks. I'm getting some temporary ones from the bank in the meantime.
I will be writing to the bank commending the nice young gentleman.
I would suggest following up with the young gentleman in a couple of weeks re feedback to him from bosses about the letter.
Some years ago, I wrote a note at local Colesworths commending an employee. I put it in the box on enquiry counter for such things. I was away for a couple of weeks and when I next saw the employee I enquired. Nothing, not a word. He was very happy when I told him what I had said, but annoyed that it had no response.
This particular shop had had a very messy dairy section for a very long time. When he arrived, things changed overnight. Spills wiped up, goods kept in date order, polite answers to enquiries etc.
I rather like mixing multiple languages (as well as the usual numbers etc), esp when one of them contains unlikely vowel/consonant combos. And if you’re safeguarding lower risk items (Like a locker at the gym) you can write your password directly on the lock itself, but in some unlikely combo of language and (Different) alphabet. I like Vietnamese/ Greek for mine, esp. in a woman’s locker room in a city where the likelihood of getting an Asian female seminarian (the usual suspects for reading Greek here) is vanishingly low.
Great suggestion Lamb Chopped. I knew there was a reason I had to take Greek and Hebrew those many years ago. Mix that with a bit of HighSchool French, California Spanish and the pound sign and we are good to go.
Comments
I kill several mosquitoes each day with my trusty Windex -- in my house, not outdoors. (Generic brands don't seem to work.)
YMMV, but I rather think this counts as Too Much Information!
I am also careful with the layout of cheques.
I'm curious to see what happens over the next several days. (Of course nothing will happen today since it's a national holiday.)
But yes - be careful to write cheques properly, with no large gaps to allow Malefactors scope for forgery.
My rent check. The rental office will accept electronic transfer but they charge a fee for it. Nominal, but nevertheless a fee. I object. It's actually to their advantage to encourage electronic transfer -- they get their money sooner and there's no chance of it "bouncing".
My choral group's dues. They accept credit/debit card but they are charged a fee by the bank. I do them a favor by paying by check.
My annual dental insurance premium. They don't accept credit/debit cards or electronic transfer.
The last one is really the only one where I run a risk, as I have to mail it. The other two are handed directly to the organizations in question.
I have to mail checks to my brother to give my aunt for our summer cottage, and it worries me.
I opened my current bank account about fifteen years ago. In that time I have written possibly eight cheques. Ne was for deposit on the apartment I bought, another to complete purchase and one more for government stamp duty on the purchase.
Cheques down here are almost, not quite, but almost never used these days. Regarded by most as pre-historic. There may be specific cases where they are required, but as for paying coalman or a tradie etc, not at all.
Anything financial with my part in purchasing here was handled online and the whole deal was done by PEXA, online legal process outlining how deal and searches etc were progressing. And an extremely experienced, very competent solicitor.
I dislike writing checks, but the service which provides my aide, as well as the woman who cleans on the day that said aide doesn't come in, insist on either a check or cash. A check it is...
From here on, I'm making donations by cash, delivered by carrier pigeon.
My neighborhood has sounded like a fucking war movie since before sundown.
Despite a large increase of illegal fireworks being set off in recent years, the city's big idea for dealing with it this year consists of a PR campaign. Sure, scofflaws are going to see that placard on the bus that says fireworks are illegal and think better of it.
Mr S and I spent a filthy and exhausting Wednesday afternoon emptying the attic at The Dowager's home (the Dower House?). We had to leave till later an armchair and a cabinet that would not fit through the opening and must have been placed there before the loft ladder was installed - or maybe the house was constructed around them?
We also removed -
every exercise book and file used by my brother between the ages of 11 and 21
a range of toaster and kettle boxes dating back as far as the Roman invasion of Britain, some containing the previous piece of kit! If there is ever a world shortage of expanded polystyrene, we'll be quids in.
many pieces of carpet too small to be of any use, ever
part rolls of wallpaper
many, many large plastic bags too large to be of any use, ever
and my personal favourite
five (count 'em and weep) broken radiant rings from an electric cooker that I can't even remember us having. Is that pathological hoarding, or does everyone else feel that's quite normal?
Next time - the space above the garage. God help us...
Mrs. S, who also hates fireworks
This is apparently a possibility!
In a lean-to outside were window frames acquired by my father intended to be used as secondary double glazing.
It took three skips to clear the loft, lean- to and outbuildings. A further skip had to be hired for the house clearance people for furniture they would not be able to sell. Plus endless trips to charity shops, auction house, and the recycling centre. Family members each acquired some items. Books went to a local college.
I vowed not to do the same to my children, yet my place is full to the gunnels, as my husband is nearly as bad as my parents. I am not entirely clutter- free either.
After my parents moved out here to Phoenix, it fell on my brother to tidy up the old homestead back East to prepare it for sale. The miracle was that my father knew intimately every object he had in the hoard. He would micro-manage my brother with phone calls such as: "Now behind the furnace you'll find a box full of light bulbs. In the bottom of that box are seven curtain rods, three long and four short. The short ones belonged to your grandmother. Don't throw those out."
@Bishops Finger Oh that made me laugh, thank you!
@Stercus Tauri And that was great too... If I had a box for stuff too boring to be filed it would be gargantuan, so instead I pathetically file my dross.
And by coincidence my daughter just called me, she has been the victim of identity fraud using information probably gleaned from a check that went astray some months ago.
I just discovered this morning that my forger has struck again. I'm off to the bank to get it straightened out, close that account, and open a new one. Then I have to notify anyone who makes deposits or withdrawals automatically. (Luckily there aren't that many of them, but my Social Security deposit should be coming in a few days.) I'll have to change my PIN and my password as well.
@Pigwidgeon What a nuisance for you!
How about something like:
'supercalifragilisticexpialidociouslyantidisestablishmentarianist' backwards?
You can add numbers to taste.
I will be writing to the bank commending the nice young gentleman.
One thing I like to do is to take the first two lines of a favorite poem and use the first letter of each word as my password, mixing upper and lower case and inserting numerals and non-alphanumeric characters as I wish.
Be careful with numerals. Every hacker knows that "2" is a favorite substitution for "to" and so on.
WindsorSW1A1AA1952
is actually quite hard to crack.
I would suggest following up with the young gentleman in a couple of weeks re feedback to him from bosses about the letter.
Some years ago, I wrote a note at local Colesworths commending an employee. I put it in the box on enquiry counter for such things. I was away for a couple of weeks and when I next saw the employee I enquired. Nothing, not a word. He was very happy when I told him what I had said, but annoyed that it had no response.
This particular shop had had a very messy dairy section for a very long time. When he arrived, things changed overnight. Spills wiped up, goods kept in date order, polite answers to enquiries etc.