It's Happening Again

I really hope this doesn't become a regular thing with this account.  Apparently, there were two charges that slipped through on my paypal account even though they have been refunded on the paypal side.  Thankfully, they were less than $45 worth, but I'm having to go down to the bank again and sign yet another form and wait another three days or whatever to get the money returned, and then get a new account number and stuff. On top of that I have to cancel the direct deposit and then give them the new number for my direct deposit, and the HR lady is so flakey that who knows how long that will take to go through.  I have enjoyed my direct deposit for the last nearly two years or so, and I want it to stay that way.  I don't like change of any kind.  Yes, I know the world changes.  Sue me.

I haven't been able to cancel my paypal account because there are still outstanding payments being reversed on that account as well.  I can't even get my checking account off of my paypal account because I can't get my location confirmed because I couldn't pay my phone bill this month, so I have no phone for them to call.  This has been turning into a nightmare.

It's my Friday, and I'm just not in a good mood anymore. I was perfectly fine this morning when I woke up and came in to work.  A great feat considering that I've gotten talked to about my poor attitude on Saturday.  Really?  Whatever.

I think that if I just focus on something good, like the seeds that have started sprouting, then I'll be able to  get through the day unscathed mentally.  Wish me luck.

Sabotage

There are some days when I wish I could have just stayed in bed.  Today would be one of those days.  The issues of the past several days apparently seeped into my work life, and I got in trouble for my attitude while at work.  There are many people who don't like me as it is and some of them tend to over analyze things I say, or the emotion in which it is said.  Yes, I am still working on keeping my personal life separate from my work life, but when I have no other outlet to vent to (other than here, which apparently didn't work this time) I tend to blur the line between the two.  All I can say is that I won't do it again, and try real hard to do so.  It wasn't a very pleasant thing to come to work to this morning, but I have a really cool team lead who is very understanding of the stress that our job brings when we have to work 12 hours alone.  I really think that the stress wouldn't be so great if we didn't have to work in here alone, especially on a weekend when it tends to be the busiest.  Who's idea was that anyway!  Oh yeah, our great and mighty supervisor who I've only met once in person.  I can say this, though.  At least I'm not working BOTH weekend days alone anymore.  That was absolute hell.

I've been at this job for two years in May, and in this position for nearly half of that time.  This job is not challenging anymore, and I think that because it is not, I am getting bored with it, and bored with the constant nitpicking of the supervisors over little things, the constant button-pushing of the advisors who think that I am the same person as I was when I was an advisor and a mentor to some of them.  That person died about a month after I took my current position.  In this position, I am not allowed to have friends on the floor for fear of being accused of favoritism.  Which doesn't happen anyway.  I favor no one.  I do tend to get irritated when the buttons get pushed, though.  I think anyone would. I wish that the advisors would stick more to the rules and quit pushing my buttons.

I also think that on a subconscious level I am probably jeopardizing my job altogether because of the tedium that has been this job for the last several months.  It is clear to me that I could never be a supervisor of anyone. I clearly lack the social graces enough to do so.  I'm a stickler for the rules, I always have been even when I was young.  I prefer to maintain order and I cannot stand chaos.  I like things planned out a certain way and have difficulty when the plan doesn't work the way it should.  I guess one would say I'm rigid, and I think that I am the type that would let power like that go to my head.  I am also painfully shy.  Those traits do not a good supervisor make, so I think I will doom myself to be a lowly worker bee the rest of my life.  I guess the world needs worker bees.  I always thoughts I would make more of myself than that.  Actually, I'm more like a worker ant.  I'm not even good enough for a stinger!

I suppose that the strong thing to do would be to get over the weekend and all of its dealings, as they have ended.  I was really feeling great when I got to work this morning, but after that talking to I got about my attitude on Saturday, I really feel crummy now.  I guess I should get over that, too.  It's over and done with and just try to go on from here.  It seems like no one in this building understands me, and never will.  I try to conform to their ways, but I don't like having to be a strict professional.  I guess people just can't tell when I'm joking.  Perhaps I'll go back to being the stoic that I was several years ago.


Nah.  They'll just have to get used to me!

Read it while it's hot.  I'll probably be deleting it soon for its sheer pity party factor.


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Account Update

I am very please with my credit union.  They have rocked ever since I got this job and that was about two years ago.  True to their word, they have reversed all charges.  They even reversed an extra $30 fee.  I noticed this and of course I called to let them know.  I would have loved the extra money, but I truly believe in karma and keeping that money would have been no good.  I am happy to say that I will be able to repay the friends from whom I borrowed money and I didn't end up using even half of the borrowed funds for gas.  Now I can go get my car registered, my phone and rent paid and grocery shopping done.  Thank you, once again, to all my friends who bailed me out during this time.  You all rock and I hope very soon that I will be able to repay the favor.

Back into the Swing..

Good morning, Faithful Readers!

The last few days have been interesting to say the least.  I had them off work, so at least I had that going for me.

Raven spent the weekend with her half sister, Nightingale.  I think I remember mentioning her before.  They don't get to spend too much time together, mostly because I am so busy with this or that or work or whatever.  I hadn't intended for Raven to spend the whole weekend there, but it was nice to get a break. Especially since this was the worst  cycle for me in my entire history.  Ugh!

Sunday was Ostara, or Spring Equinox and I went to Bella's Grove for their ritual.  It was really brief, but beautiful.  There was a handfasting afterward that I didn't stay for because I knew that I needed to pick up Raven from her sister's house.  She was outside riding on a razor scooter.  She looked really cute on it.  I think I'll get her one in the coming months.

That is, if I ever get my bank account fixed.  The "provincial line of credit" that was supposed to come through on Monday for all those wonky charges never made it and it's even more in the red now because of those stupid automated over draft charges that occur.  The bank did say that they would cover all the charges that will occur, and that's great, but sheesh, it is taking forever it seems.

A few of my friends came through for me, though, in this time of need with cash and even a whole box of food so I wouldn't stave while they are trying to figure this out.  So now I'll have gas money hopefully until this all blows over.  I appreciate my friends very much.

Yesterday we had our private egg hunt in celebration of Ostara.  The night before, Raven and I decorated eggs.  I don't think that we have ever done that together.  She has spent the last two years with Nightingale for Easter.  Their family decorates eggs every year and does the egg hunt and whatnot on the Easter holiday.  Easter this year isn't until April 24th, but as you may have guessed, I don't celebrate Easter.  Raven was very excited about looking for the eggs.  I wanted to have them outside, but it was just too cold and windy.  We made due with our living room.

Yesterday was the worst feeling day I have ever had since I hit puberty all those years ago.  I was in so much pain and pale from too much blood loss all at once, and I didn't want to do anything.  I had promised Raven that we were going to go to the library yesterday, but I wasn't feeling well enough to even make dinner much less go anywhere.  I think that due to my not feeling that well, I ate a whole box of Girl Scout cookies less the ones that Raven ate.  I am feeling much better today.

So, today it is back to work, then tomorrow off. I think I will take Raven to the library tomorrow.  One of her sitters like to take her to the library, so she is already familiar with going.  I haven't even considered going to the library since I was in Reno and using one of their desks to write to my soldiers while I was there.  And before that, I couldn't even tell you the last time I was at a library.  Probably the last time I lived in Reno.  Raven likes to use the computers at the library.  She'll have to show me what she does.

I think that is it for now.  It's so early that I really don't know what else to say...

Currently, I am listening to Cuts U Up by Peter Murphy on my Pandora station.


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Credit Card Update #3 Short

I went to the bank at lunch today and signed the paperwork.  They told me it could take up to ten business days before I see those reversals.  Two weeks, really?  That is going to throw a whole bunch of stuff off for me.  Like getting my car registered, paying my rent, etc.  Not to mention keeping gas in my car for the next several days. Gah!

I know that in the end all will be well.  The bank didn't require a police report, so I am not going to fill one out.  If later they need one, of course I will comply.  What's the point.  The money will be refunded, I'll get back on track and chances are good that the criminals probably wouldn't have been dumb enough to leave footprints behind anyway.

I'll let Karma deal with them.

Debit Card Update

I called my bank as soon as they opened today.  They were very pleasant.  All I have to do is go to the bank and fill out a VISA affidavit or something like that and have it notarized, which thankfully they have a notary right there in the bank.  Hopefully it doesn't cost anything.  I'm totally broke until they fix this.  Then, they will reverse the charges after the charges that are going through "clear" on Monday.  She was really pleasant, and I didn't end up having to get upset over anything. I really like this credit union.

Now, I'm on hold with Paypal, as that was the place where the $1800 in charges were placed.  Seriously?  So, I've been on hold for the last five minutes after talking to someone that thought the charges were made from MY paypal account.  No, they were made from some other paypal account.  "Oh, let me transfer you to a specialist".  Yeah, I've used that one a time or two myself when I was on the phones.

So, the charges are getting ready to be reversed on Monday, hopefully before my direct deposit goes through on Tuesday.

***************


Ok, got through the call with paypal.  They had already flagged the 6, count them SIX charges on MY paypal account as suspicious, and they are now flagged as unauthorized.  I thought that someone had merely added my debit card to their account.  But no, someone hacked MY paypal account.  The charges will take about ten days to be reversed, but the credit union will still be reversing everything on Monday, hopefully, once they rest of the transactions go through.

I will get my new card in about ten days.  I have changed my password on my bank account, just in case.  I will be closing my paypal account.  I never used it anyway.

What a freaking nightmare...... The sad thing is that these transactions were made from paypal, so it is possible that my debit card is still sitting at the bar.  I just find it strangely coincidental that these charges happen to show up the same night that my card disappears.  Oh well, what can you do.  It is the little twists of life that keep things interesting.  I figured I couldn't go a whole year without something bad happening.  LOL.. I am just glad it was only minor.

So, there is it is there.  Does anyone have $20 I could borrow until Tuesday?  :)

Human Decency, or the Lack Thereof

Good morning, Faithful Readers.

I am so livid. Why you ask?  Me? Who feels nothing half the time?

It all started when I decided to go out last night to sing karaoke.  I knew I should have just stayed home.  Oh well, that was my first mistake.  My second mistake was not looking at the card that was given me when I left the second bar I was at.  The first one I was only at for as long as it took for the bartender to tell me that I had to spend a minimum of ten bucks just to use my card.  That was AFTER he already made my Midori Sour.  I took my card and left him with the drink.  I didn't even have that much money on my card.  I don't even drink that much, but I know how important it is to buy stuff at the establishment you are going to.  That's how they stay in business.

So, I went to the second bar.  A really crappy song selection for karaoke if I do say so myself, and their staff isn't that friendly.  I ordered a pineapple juice and when I gave my card to the bartender I told him to just keep it open because the juice was only one dollar and I know that it cost money for them every time they swipe the cards that come through.  I only ended up staying long enough for one juice.

I went to the bar to get my card and the bartender just threw me the card and said not to worry about it.  Sucks for him because I was going to tip him a few buck for the trouble of pouring my juice.  I left in a hurry.

This morning I went to purchase water, as I do most mornings, and upon paying, I noticed that my pin number wasn't working.  Strange.  I tried it three times, then the clerk tried to run it as credit.  It came back declined.  I looked at the card... It wasn't mine.  (Like you knew that wasn't coming.)  Ok, so the crappy bartender at the second bar gave me the wrong card number.  No problem.  I could always call later on in the day to see if the bar still had my card and I could return this card.  You know, like a decent human being would.

I get to work today and check my account.  Apparently, I'm the only decent human being in this town.  The jerk who got MY card ran up $1800 work of paypal charges.  Not even MY Paypal account.  It looks as though they have added my card to their paypal account or something.  So much for human decency.  This really sucks because if I don't get those charges reversed before Tuesday, my check will hit and I will still have a negative balance on my account.  *sigh*

Thankfully, my bank is open on Saturdays, but not until 9am.  It is currently 7:35am here as I write this.  Be sure that I will drop whatever I am doing and call them at 9am sharp to get this straightened out.  I don't care if I have to go to whomever is the top dog in my bank's company.  Those charges WILL get reversed and my card canceled.  It will suck to be me for the next few days without my card to access my account, but as long as everything gets taken care of in a timely manner I will be ok.

I think I have learned two very good lessons with this.  NEVER go out on a Friday night when I know I have to be up the next morning.  And, ALWAYS check the name on the card that is given back to me.  I don't know why I didn't think about that before I left the bar.  Chalk that up to sheer stupidity.  I guess I am too trusting.  I don't think that I'll use my card at any bar ever again.  I'll always take cash with me.  There are just too many shady people out there, and I am WAY too trusting, I guess.

Be sure that I will keep you all up to date on the progress of this little mishap in the life of me.  I am just very glad that I have nothing coming out of my account automatically, like bills or whatnot.  I do have rent, car insurance and my phone to pay with this upcoming check.  Goddess, I hope that I get everything straightened out before Tuesday.

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Dear Spring,

Please hurry up and get here.  You tease me with the birds who chirp, the squirrels who come eat my offering, and the flowers that are springing from the ground.  Spring, you let me down the other day by snowing.  Cold weather does not spring make, and you truly dishearten those of us whose only intentions is to bask in your beauty, and plant seeds in your womb.  I have seedlings that are nearly ready to be planted, but I cannot because you refuse to cooperate.  Please Spring, hurry up and get here.  Patience is not one of my virtues.

Sincerely,

One of Mother Earth's Daughters


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Ok, now that that is out of the way, you may have noticed that I have revamped my blog (again).  Plan on that every month or season or so.  I really dislike looking at one thing for too long. Don't you?  It turned out a little darker than I had hoped, but I can't figure out how to get rid of that translucent gray area over the picture.  I decided that it is better to have it there, than try to find a color text that works well with every picture.  At least most of the colors match.  :)

There is a squirrel who has come by the past few mornings.

Mr. Squirrel, a quiet friendly, not-to-skittish creature has visited us a few times this week.  The last three days, actually.   He is rather friendly, and I would love to come up with another name other than Mr. Squirrel.  Any ideas?   Today I decided that I didn't want to waste my precious salted peanuts, so I left him some raw slivered almonds that I ended up not liking very much.  About twenty minutest later, he showed up to dine on the offerings.  He's such a cutie!  Raven really likes him a lot. Below is a picture of the first day he showed up.  He's totally posing!

The little bugger decided to take some of the peanuts that day and bury them in my garden, which you can see the corner of in the above picture.  I can't wait until it is warm enough to plant whatever seedlings I end up cultivating.  I have broccoli, lettuce, green onions, tomatoes, corn, and watermelon seeds attempting to grow right now.  You can guess whose idea the watermelon was. :)  

I noticed that the bird feeder is also slowing emptying as the birds gradually figure out that there is food in it.  I haven't been able to get any pictures of birds actually using it because they are so skittish that they fly away when they sense any movement whatsoever.  That's ok.  I'm just glad that the Dollar Store hanger I've used to hang it is working out so well.  It hasn't fallen over.  Great item for the price!

It's Friday, but not yet my weekend.  Tomorrow is the dreaded 12 hour work day.  I really dislike working these funky hours, but I have yet to be called on the other job I applied for.  I think that is ok, though because I got to thinking about how difficult it would be to find someone to watch Raven for evening hours instead of just having someone pick her up after school or something and watch her until I Get home.  I only work three days during the week, so it is only those three days.  I will have to think about what I'm going to do.  Thankfully, I have until August 24th to get it figured out.  I think that's the first day of school.  I'll have to double check.  

I won't stress myself over it, though.  I WON'T!  Besides, the only thing that leads to is a massive amount of overeating, and I don't want that to happen.

It IS chocolate time.  The only time during the month when I will allow myself to eat chocolate, or any other candy.  Sugar seems to help me relax a bit.

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Another Update Because I Know You Are All Excited to Hear About It!

Good morning, faithful readers.  I know you are all just dying to know what I did over my weekend.

On Sunday I didn't do much of anything actually.  I went to the grocery store for stuff and things.  Somewhere in there I also finished putting together the care packages for my soldiers.  I actually sent out three large ones and three smaller ones.  It was a lot to carry to the post office on Monday.  I wrote a few letters, and sent a few post cards.  I think I'm caught up on all my post card requests for now.

Sunday was also the evening of Raven's first official sleepover with a friend.  She spends the night at the sitter's house every Friday, but that's the sitter.  This was a friend, close to her age. They get a long really well.  So, while she was there, I took advantage of the time alone and went to sing karaoke!  My all-time passion is to sing karaoke.  I don't get out as often as I used to so when I do I want to make sure not to waste the time.

I went to Terry's bar on State Street.  They have the nicest KJ and one of the best song selections that I have found in Boise.  I will admit to not having been to very many karaoke bars in the Boise area and I have heard of a few with more comprehensive song selections, but for the ones that I have been too, I enjoy Terry's bar a lot.  I love it when I get to go on Sundays even more because it isn't crowded.

Now, those who know me know that I have a rather low vocal range, so I mostly sing songs sung by guys or females that have the same vocal range as myself.  I feel comfortable with that.  Last night, though because it was so dead I decided to try some new* songs that I'd never tried before.  Below is the set of songs that I sang on Sunday:

I Ran by Flock of Seagulls

Desert Rose by Sting

Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers *

Free by VAST*

Drops of Jupiter by Train

and..........

for my last song I decided to try a song sung by a female whose range can be out of my range, but I decided to stretch the limits and see what I could do.  I think I blew everyone away.  I got the most applause of the entire night with this song.  

Uninvited by Alanis Morrisette.* 

Talk about a powerful song, lyrically and musically.  I really got into that song, and by the time I was halfway through I ended up with shivers.  It was an experience to be sure.  I will definitely add this one to my permanent repertoire.  What an awesome night of karaoke!!

Monday morning I went jogwalking.  See my C25K blog for more information on that.

After picking up Raven from her friend's house, I went to the post office as I previously stated, to mail off the care packages.  Note to self: Get to the post office BEFORE noon to avoid being there when only one clerk is on staff.  Otherwise, not only will I be waiting in line forever, the poor slobs behind me will also be waiting for me for twenty minutes to finish once I've gotten to the clerk to mail out the packages.  Altogether I was there about 45 minutes.  Half of that was filling out the customs forms, to which I used all of the ones that were in the display case.  LOL... Yeah, I love being a Soldiers' Angel!

Afterward Raven and I went to Taco Bell.  I managed to keep my intake down to just the nachos bellgrande.  The taco supreme that came with the meal and Raven's cinnamon twists I gave to a homeless guy in the WinCo parking lot.  I figured that was better than throwing a perfectly good taco to waste.  He seemed grateful.  

Somewhere in there we watched a few movies at home.  I think I wrote a few more letters and I got three mini care packages together for whomever the ladies are that I get next month.  I like to be on top of things like that.  

Oh, I wanted to mention also that I got two emails from two soldiers heroes yesterday! I was so happy about that.  One was from a LWT name that I sent out in February.  He just go the letter!  I was kind of weirded out by that because I thought that it would have gotten there a lot sooner.  Perhaps he was just out on a mission or something.  I don't know, but of course I wrote him back.  

I also got an email from the soldier whom I sent the spaghetti feed stuff too.  In that box I sent a package of spaghetti, a can of sauce, parmesan cheese, a box of powdered milk and a few other things that I can't recall at this time.  He said that he really liked getting something other than trail mix.  They were going to have it for dinner last night.  I hope they thoroughly enjoyed it!  I'm also glad the milk didn't bust open causing a panic among the postal workers.  lol!  Oh yeah!  The milk was so they could make it to use with the boxes of macaroni I sent. I also sent them some powdered Butter Buds.  I thought it was quite clever.  I wrote him back as well.  I hope that they choose to keep in touch.  

Dinner was a challenge for Raven.  She's at that stage where she won't eat anything I cook unless it is something SHE wants.  I've gotten to the point where if she doesn't eat what I'm serving, she can go hungry for the night.  I at least want her to try the food I'm preparing.  Last night we had tilapia, baked zucchini bites, and strawberries and grapes in whipped cream.  She REFUSED to try the fish.  I made her take a bite anyway.  She did try the zucchini bites which she didn't like.  No worries.  I never liked zucchini, but I found this preparation method to be rather good.  She did manage to eat the fruit.  Since she at last tasted the fish and didn't like it, I did heat up a leftover piece of chicken which took her forever to eat.  I wish I had a kitchen table we could dine at instead of in front of the tv.  It's frustrating. Perhaps I shall have to save up for one.  I just hope it doesn't end up as a place for holding more junk.

Well, I think I've gnawed at your eyes for long enough.  Thanks for reading.  If something else of importance comes up, I'll be sure to keep you updated.

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Supplemental Blog: Computers Bite!

My computer i still not fixed, and it won't be fixed.  It turned out that my hard drives are toast after all.  Well, not totally.  The girl who was fixing them said that she couldn't find the operating system on either drive, which is a total crock because those are the same drives I've been using for the last five years.  But, whatever.  I'll be getting another computer next month, so as long as I can possibly retreive the info off of the old drives, then all is well. If not, no matter. I have most of my stuff backed up on data disk.  Including my beloved Adobe CS3 Suite.  *phew*

I didn't really like being accused of screwing up my own computer.  The damn thing worked just fine before I left for the funeral in February.  When I got back, the computer wouldn't come on.  The power supply was not working.  Ok, fine, so it got replaced.  I got it back only to find that it was missing a file that is required to boot up.  Ok, no problem.  I asked my friend to see if her boyfriend actually tested the darn thing before he just sent it on its way.  I never got an answer.  Whatever.  I did some research on the issue and I took a look inside the tower.  The drives weren't plugged in.  Ok, again, no problem, or so I thought.  I suppose it is possible that I plugged the drives in backwards, but I doubt that even that would be enough to fry BOTH drives.  Whatever.  My computer doesn't work, so I darn well better be getting my money back, considering that I'll be turning over the power supply that she put in.  No big deal.   What I want is for the data on the hard drives.  And, even if I don't get it, oh well.  I'll survive without it.

But, for any of you looking for my blog button, it is going to have to wait until I get the new computer.  Sorry.

Either way, I'll be glad when this is all over.  And the moral of the story is:

Just leave the stinking computer ON when you go on vacation....


LOL..

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