Cop Car's Beat

Phishy, phishy

    Men'sTall Traditional Fit Comfort-First Shirt with Coolmax

On August 2, I ordered Hunky Husband a shirt from Lands' End online. Immediately, I received an email acknowledging the order and telling me that they would let me know when it shipped out.

On August 7, I received the "shipped out" email. Five days seemed like a longer "time to ship" than normal; but, perhaps they are especially busy.

On August 9, the shirt arrived in the USPS mail.

This morning, I picked up two emails from Lands' End that had been sent yesterday. I picked them up in reverse order. The first one was time stamped at 7:28PM, August 12. It said:

[CC], your return has been picked up by USPS.

Order number 8492900 was picked up for return Monday, August 12, 2019.

[Link for tracking return]

What???? I didn't send the shirt back. I took it to the tailor, yesterday morning, but did not send it back to Lands' End!

The second email that I picked up this morning was time stamped at 11:07AM, August 12, and said:

We are contacting you today about your recent Order #8492900.

We do apologize, but we may have had a packing error.  Please check your order when it arrives and make sure the items are correct.  If not please email us or call us at 1-800-332-4700. 

Thank you for assisting with this matter and again our apologies for the inconvenience.

What???? The order that I received contained the correct shirt which was the only thing I had ordered. See where I'm going here? I checked that the 1-800 telephone number was not the same number as is given on the Lands' End website. Since it did not match, I picked up their "talk back" email address and forwarded the two weird emails to Lands' End with a note that I suspected an attempt at phishing. Well, it made sense, right?

I got an immediate reply:

Thank you for contacting Lands' End regarding your order. 

Your order was sent to the wrong person.    We realized our error and sent replacements to you.  The email you received about your order being returned was in regards to the first order that was sent out to the wrong person, they sent it back to us but you got the email because your email address is on the order.  Please disregard the email.   We are sorry for any confusion.   

If we may be of further assistance, please let us know.  

That's a relief. My final email to Lands' End:

Thanks, Kevin, for explaining the whole thing. I am relieved that the two emails about which I was concerned were, in fact, legitimate communications from Lands’ End. They surely looked real enough; but, without knowing the whole story, I was not convinced (especially since the phone number did not jibe with the one on your website).

It’s a shame that any of us have to give a second thought to security; but, we do.

 

 

Happy 2019

It is easy for Hunky Husband and me to celebrate each new year: We were married (the first time) on January 1, 1958. Happy Anniversary, Hunky Husband! (We celebrate both anniversaries.)

In the first photo, 1/1/1958, we are setting out in HH's father's Packard Clipper, to take ourselves (and our wedding presents) back to school from my parents' home, where we were married. I am in the midst of my Junior year, and HH is in his Senior year. A day later, HH will return the car to his dad in St Louis, hitch-hiking back to school. (His parents have brought HH's grandmother's car and will return to St Louis in it.) For the trivia buffs among you, the house behind us is the one in which Lee Hart (wife of Gary - the politician, not the wrestler) grew up. Lee (known as Oletha in those days) was one or two years ahead of me in school.

           

The second photograph shows us following our second wedding, 4/23/1988. We have been apart for a bit over 11 years at this point, and it will be a couple of more years before we actually live together again. We were married in my home in Albuquerque NM.

         

One of my favorite photos is of Hunky Husband, following our first wedding. The bedroom is the one that I occupied for several of the years before I left home for school.

          

Here are a couple of photos, one from 1958, the other from 1988, showing all of the attendees at our two weddings.

In the above photo, left-to-right, are: Standing - HH's (now late) father and mother, CC's (now late) father and Younger Brother, (now late) Expert Seamstress (Elder Brother's wife), and Elder Brother; seated on the arms of the chair - HH's (now late) younger sister and CC's (now late) mother; seated in the chair is the elder of HH's sisters; and kneeling behind the gift-laden piano bench - CC and HH.

In the above photo, left-to-right, are: Wichi Dude, Dudette, Wonderful GrandDaughter, CC's (now late) father and mother, HH, CC, (now late) Expert Seamstress and Elder Brother, Bogie, and HH's (now late) father. Wonderful GrandDaughter's sons are now two and three years older than she was in this photo.

In the first photo, 1/1/1958, we are setting out in HH's father's Packard Clipper, to take ourselves (and our wedding presents) back to school from my parents' home, where we were married. I am in the midst of my Junior year, and HH is in his Senior year. A day later, HH will return the car to his dad in St Louis, hitch-hiking back to school. (His parents have brought HH's grandmother's car and will return to St Louis in it.) For the trivia buffs among you, the house behind us is the one in which Lee Hart (wife of Gary - the politician, not the wrestler) grew up. Lee (known as Oletha in those days) was one or two years ahead of me in school.

           

The second photograph shows us following our second wedding, 4/23/1988. We have been apart for a bit over 11 years at this point, and it will be a couple of more years before we actually live together again. We were married in my home in Albuquerque NM.

         

One of my favorite photos is of Hunky Husband, following our first wedding. The bedroom is the one that I occupied for several of the years before I left home for school.

          

Here are a couple of photos, one from 1958, the other from 1988, showing all of the attendees at our two weddings.

In the above photo, left-to-right, are: Standing - HH's (now late) father and mother, CC's (now late) father and Younger Brother, (now late) Expert Seamstress (Elder Brother's wife), and Elder Brother; seated on the arms of the chair - HH's (now late) younger sister and CC's (now late) mother; seated in the chair is the elder of HH's sisters; and kneeling behind the gift-laden piano bench - CC and HH.

In the above photo, left-to-right, are: Wichi Dude, Dudette, Wonderful GrandDaughter, CC's (now late) father and mother, HH, CC, (now late) Expert Seamstress and Elder Brother, Bogie, and HH's (now late) father. Wonderful GrandDaughter's sons are now two and three years older than she was in this photo.

Way to start the week, Hunky Husband!

HH just came up from his lair to show me a couple of things he had found while continuing his review of old paperwork in his quest to rid himself of excess stuff (so the kids won't have to worry about it when we go.)

1) A glowing evaluation for his work for the American Red Cross many years ago - how his statistical analysis and unique systems of control led to superior performance of tasks assigned him and how he took responsibility for tasking that he passed on to his workers.

2) Five crisp, new $20 bills in a bank's bill sleeve - obviously part of the advance money that had been given him during his preparation to go out on assignment with the Red Cross. 

Oh! Did I mention? HH retired from volunteering with the Red Cross at the end of November. At the annual volunteer recognition dinner, he was awarded not only his 20-year service pin, but also the Clara Barton Honor Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership – a very big deal! In the 13 years of my own volunteering, I remember only one or two instances of our chapter's having conferred the award. The certificate of award is with my favored framer being matted and framed (under museum glass) for display.

Clara Barton Award

The Clara Barton Honor Award is the highest award the American Red Cross bestows on volunteers. It recognizes meritorious service in volunteer leadership positions held over a period of years. Recipients of the award are inducted into the Clara Barton Honor Society.

Computer ventures

For the past few years, I've spent a small (teeny tiny) fortune with Amazon buying mp3 files of music - mostly for Hunky Husband, but also for myself. Our cars have built-in mp3 players to which I feed flash drives full of judicious choices from all of that music from Amazon. I kept gnashing my teeth because I couldn't rip music from our CDs for this purpose. Now, I'm kicking myself. Why did I assume that, because I couldn't get it to work, it couldn't be done? I assumed that the anti-piracy systems on our old CDs were keeping it from happening. Boy, am I stooooopid!

The local Senior Center hosts various groups of people who wish to play cards, sing, exercise, etc, Monday through Friday 0800-1700. There is a group of women who meet a couple of times each week (Monday PM and Wednesday AM) with each person bringing some sort of needle work (knitting, crocheting, tatting, quilting, embroidery...) to work at as we chat. Monday, a woman unknown to us dropped in on the group. It turns out that she contracts with the Red Cross to teach swimming at the Derby Recreation Center. Somehow, in chatting with her, I lamented about spending so much money on mp3 files of music that I already owned on CDs. She says, "Oh! That's simple if you have a Windows OS." We went into the computer room (10-15 computers are set up in it) and she showed me how! Yay!

Rushing home (it's only a 20-minute walk), I gave it a try. You are kidding me! The commands she was using did not appear when I used Windows Media Player. Grrrrrrrr! However, now that capability had been demonstrated, I went online to see what others were experiencing. Surely enough, there were several different approaches listed that had solved the issue for various people.

After trying a few of the approaches, to no good end, I was becoming discouraged. Plugging on, I tried the last approach - modifying the Registry. Good grief, Lucy, it works! I just had to add one file that contained one character! After getting my desktop set up, I set up my laptop - while I could remember how to do it. That was yesterday.

Today, I've spent 2 or 3 hours ripping music from CDs. HH is excited that I'll be able to rip music off of his CDs for the flash drive for his car. During those past few years, I've assiduously sought an mp3 version of Margaret Whiting's "All I Want Is All There Is and Then Some" - to no avail. A few minutes ago, I made another search. Wonders never cease - I found it! It is the words that I find so fascinating. It expresses my theory of life, so well.

Margaret-whiting-all-i-want-is-all-there-is-and-then-some

I had previously bought a version of the song by Eartha Kitt. (I think that falls under the category of, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with.") As much as I like Ms Kitt's voice, I don't like the wording as well and, in this case, think Ms Whiting's voice matches the song, better. You may judge for yourself.

Eartha Kitt-All I Want Is All There Is and Then Some

 

Proof

To prove that he really was at a meeting in Omaha NE for the three days he was away from home, last week, Hunky Husband sent me a link to the photos that were taken by the meeting sponsor. Below is the photo that the photographer, Jose, took of HH. He looks good enough to keep, doesn’t he? [And he's my hot date for many of the physics seminars!]

I stayed at home to deep clean HH's bedroom and walk-in closet - including trading his bed mattress and springs for the ones in the guest room (sorry, Bogie). That took the first two days.

The third day, I did some cleaning (windows, dusting, etc) in the public part of the house and ran errands. The most important errand was to purchase a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream to replace HH's pint that I had eaten the night before. Well...I had worked hard for two days and deserved it! (HH said it was OK. Whew!)

Lack of decency

The following posting was stolen from NOT ALWAYS RIGHT because I, a mere 79.69-year-old, have no shame or decency. 

His Handicap Is A Lack Of Decency

December 29, 2017

(We share a parking lot with a restaurant with a lot of regulars. One has decided to be the self-appointed handicap spot judge. He will sit at the outside tables yelling whenever he thinks someone is parking in them inappropriately. We have received a ton of complaints about him, but mall security hasn’t caught him in the act yet, so he is still allowed on the premises. I’m grabbing lunch from the restaurant and see him outside, so I text security to come and keep an eye on him. Not long afterwards a car pulls into a handicap spot displaying proper tags. A young woman gets out of the driver’s seat.)

Regular: “Hey! What the f*** is your handicap? That you need a latte? B****! I’m talking to you! You can walk just fine! You’re taking that spot from someone who needs it! Let me guess: you got that tag on your knees in front of the doctor! Hey! Don’t ignore me!”

(The woman has completely ignored the rant, heading to the back of the car and pulling something out of the trunk. I’ve gotten video of the regular and texted it to security, who says he is on his way ASAP. By this point I’ve realized what the woman is getting out of the trunk: a walker. Next, she opens the back passenger door and helps out a small, extremely elderly woman. The regular hasn’t stopped his insults. The second the elderly woman gets her hands on the walker, she starts towards the regular. She stops in front of him, pulls off her hat, and starts to hit him over the head with it, furious.)

Elderly Woman: “You don’t call my granddaughter a b****! What is wrong with you?! Who raised you?!”

(The regular reels back, shocked, and security walks up to see the vengeful grandmother’s anger.)

Regular: “Make her stop!”

Security: “Ma’am, please stop. Sir, you’re officially banned from mall property for harassing other customers.”

Regular: “Harassing?! They’re the ones cheating the system. She—” *gesturing at the granddaughter* “—doesn’t need a handicap spot.”

Security: “No, but she—” *gesturing to the grandmother, who has sat down, exhausted from her exertion* “—probably does. Anyway, it’s none of your business. Ma’am, are you all right?”

Grandmother: “I’m 92 years old, and it’s been too long since I put an a**hole in his place. I’m fine!”

April's the month!

Within my own family, April has always been a month that is fraught with birthdays. Daughter Bogie, my late Uncle Edwin, Wonderful GrandDaughter, my late Grandmother Hall, and I all celebrate(d) birthdays in April. Then, in 1988, Hunky Husband and I cemented our second marriage in April. That last item has caused a forever problem: HH and I, let alone anyone else, can never figure out whether we should be celebrating our anniversaries in April or in January, in which month our first marriage took place in 1958. Heck! HH and I are doing well to remember to celebrate either one; but, we sometimes celebrate both. Why not?

This morning, I ran across one of the anniversary cards for this year, that I found rather clever; although, it does allude to HH's and my being somewhat strange. Who us? Well...maybe he is strange, but certainly not moi!

Awwww...from my Valentine

Hunky Husband gave me a trinket from the Hallmark folks. A bottom-lit glass figurine (of a mouse) with changing hues. Unfortunately 1) My YouTube account is fighting me so I had to settle for posting stills and 2) the yellow light doesn't really show up. Anyway: I like it!

   

Good news

Sometimes it's difficult to remember that the vast majority of the people out there are good and helpful. Sometimes we need reminding. Bogie reminds us, this evening, with a story of mutual cooperation getting the job(s) done.

Yay, Bogie!

Super Moon in Derby, Kansas, USA

Thanks to Stu (of Eunoia) for posting a photo of the Super Moon from his perspective in Europe (he was at a railway station near his home in Germany.) He reminded me that Hunky Husband and I had photographed the moon from Kansas, about 5 miles from our home. From the house, we have a beautiful view of the moon on clear days/nights; but, we have trees in neighbors' yards that prevent our getting a clear view for at least 1.5 hours after the orb clears the horizon. HH invited me to go out to a OTC parking lot to view the rising. As it happened, there were trees, there, that prevented our viewing the unobstructed moon for the first 15 minutes. There was too little light for my camera to let me take a photo of the lace-effect that the trees lent the rising moon (I hadn't thought to set the camera to exposure priority before leaving the house and didn't wish to ruin our night vision by turning on a light in the car.)

We moved on up the road about a mile, pulled onto the shoulder of the road, and snapped a few photos. The first exposure is shown, below. The moon, by that time, had cleared the horizon by about 4 degrees.

My little point-and-shoot camera is a Nikon 1J1 with the 30-110 mm lens attached and zoomed out to about 80, I think. I didn't think to check the zoom at the time I took the photos. (What do you expect from one who takes photos through the windshield?) I did zero finagling of the image. It is just as I downloaded it from the camera.