09:49 – It was 48.1F (9C) when I took Colin out around 0730 this morning, damp and with heavy fog. The forecast for the rest of this week is pretty crappy, with heavy rains/thunderstorms today and rain/snow the rest of the week, with temperatures falling below freezing starting Thursday and into the weekend.
We got some of our plants started yesterday in small pots: five pots each of amaranth, St. John’s Wort, basil, dill, sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley, and jalapeno peppers; six pots each of broccoli and California Wonder sweet peppers; and eight pots each of Salad Bowl lettuce, ruby red onions, and Black Seeded Simpson lettuce. The two lettuces and jalapeno peppers are Burpee hybrid seeds. The others are all heirloom/open-pollinated. A lot of the other stuff like tomatoes, green beans, squash, turnips, parsnips, garlic, potatoes, etc. will be direct-seeded in the garden over the coming weeks.
We’re going to make up another batch of barbecue sauce today and have pork barbecue sandwiches for dinner. I’d ordered a bunch of stuff from Walmart to make it up, including three 114-ounce jugs of ketchup, two 105-ounce jugs of mustard, and four bottles of Worcestershire sauce. The first time UPS damaged the order, and Walmart re-shipped it. That was to arrive March 27th, but on March 24th I found out that UPS had also destroyed the second shipment. I figured Walmart would re-ship automatically, but as of this morning they hadn’t. So I contact their support via Chat and asked them to do so. I just go the confirming email that they’re reshipping it, so I’m hoping the third time will be a charm.
After initially having reservations, Barbara has decided that she really likes the Keystone Pork. We’ve used it so far for barbecue and in the slow cooker to make pork gloppita. We’ll be using it regularly for normal meals, so I’d better order another couple of cases.
Keystone claims a 5-year shelf life officially, but I’ve spoken to them about shelf life. One woman there told me that while they call it shelf life, in fact it’s a best-by date, and even that is really pessimistic. She said she’d eaten several of their meats that had been packed ten or more years previously and she couldn’t tell any difference between them and stuff they’d just packaged. Like most canned goods, these canned meats have actual shelf lives of decades. Other times, I talked to two different people there, who said pretty much the same thing.
Unfortunately, Walmart will let me order only the pork and beef chunks. I’d like to order more of their chicken and ground beef, but even when Walmart has those allegedly in stock they won’t let me add them to my cart. I just get a message that tells me they’re unavailable and that they can’t ship or deliver them to my nearest store with that combination of options. Oh, well. We like both the beef chunks and the pork, so that’s what I’ll order.
Speaking of which, just for a giggle I decided to check Target on-line yesterday. They do carry Augason products, although not Keystone meats. The problem is the same as it was the last time I checked, a year or two ago. Their prices are much, much higher than Walmart for the same items. They’re usually even higher than Amazon, which is saying something.
* * * * *
Re Target. Just like everything else, you have to shop around. When I was looking a few years ago for my niece they had the best prices I could find for Lodge cast iron. And as Rbt noted about dried eggs recently, Walmart bebops the prices all over the place.
WRT Walmart Checkout Lines:
1. I rarely go to one.
2. When I do, the items to buy would not be too much to hand carry, no cart.
3. In line, when they opened the register next to me,
3a. The typical WM employee was to stupid to look towards my line and say: “next person…..”
3b. Typical WM scumusters in my line behind me broke for the new register.
4. I through my items on the floor, one was a superball which was thrown down as if I was a baseball pitcher.
5. I walked out….
Hey, I got cut in front of like that at Rite Aid….the 24 x 12oz can carton went head high then down as it slipped out of my hands….
Their prices have to be half anyone elses before I’d willingly walk into a walmart. The smell alone is enough to keep me out. They all have a particular and peculiar smell. Yech.
The safety risk is too high too. walmart’s parking lot is one of the most unsafe places in any area despite all the ‘christmas tree’ of cams pointed at the lot.
When I worked nights in vegas, or when I was traveling and working odd hours, walmart was often the only store open, so I have been in quite a few. I’ve even been in some in canadia. (BTW the one in St John’s Newfoundland was one of the scariest and dirtiest I’ve ever been in.) I even regularly shopped the walmart Neighborhood Grocery when I first moved to this house (not a walmart, just a grocery store.) Dirty and gross, and rarely that much cheaper.
n
Taking a break from pulling cables. Finally caught a cool day, and no higher priority tasks, so I can pull in the last (maybe) two cams and an extra network drop and video drop for my bedroom. Attic is getting hotter by the minute, even starting at 57F this AM.
I need to terminate the rack ends, and I would like to get a couple of antenna runs in too. We’ll see.
Back at it.
n
Speaking of which, just for a giggle I decided to check Target on-line yesterday. They do carry Augason products, although not Keystone meats. The problem is the same as it was the last time I checked, a year or two ago. Their prices are much, much higher than Walmart for the same items. They’re usually even higher than Amazon, which is saying something.
Our local SuperTarget just announced a bold (their word) plan to rearrange the store with curving aisles. My first thought was lipstick on a pig.
Sometimes you just have to tow the line.
We thought the same about Walmart until we moved up here. We wouldn’t be caught dead in one down in Winston, but we decided to see what the one in Galax, VA was like. Worlds different. No underclass people I could see. All middle-class, and almost all white. Including the staff, who were actually friendly and helpful. Geography matters.
nick, maybe it’s time for this (One Toke Over The Line):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNKL9onYB_8
😉
The WalMart nearest us isn’t bad. Racial mix, class mix; representative of the area. No real problems in terms of thuggish behavior*, scumbags trashing the store, or anything like that. Lines are seldom a problem; usually enough registers open so the lines are no more than two people queued up. I’m not partial to shopping there, but they have a few things no one else has, and more importantly they’re open 24/7 so late at night they’ll have things** that we really need right now and can’t get elsewhere.
* Last Halloween a couple of dumbass teenagers hassled my daughter while I was putting the cart back in the corral after we bought candy. That was the only problem I’d heard of at that store and I don’t hold it against WalMart. Dumbass, drunken teens are everywhere, like other unwanted bacteria.
** Like a fish tank at 2100 on a Sunday evening. Not sure how the old one cracked on the bottom, but crack it did. At 2100 on a Sunday evening. The fish were very appreciative of WalMart’s 24/7 schedule.
I assume you have plenty of antibiotics for your beloved fish. Sadly, aquabiotics.net has been driven out of business.
The guy checking me out of Walmart last night looked straight from The Walking Dead. He got mad at the four Hispanic ladies in front of me because they were buying beer and none of them had id. So he had to get his supervisor and the oldest lady (my age almost !) ended up paying cash.
I asked if Chuck was still working in the ammo area since I had not seen him in a while. He said yes, Chuck was now 90 and going strong. For Chuck.
I was asked for ID when buying wine at a Giant store in Falls Church, Virginia.
I was 45 at the time. (Yes, I do look young.)
I always get asked at Rite Aid, so I hold my DL up along side my face, put my finger just under my portrait and say: “That’s me on the left.”
OK, but if ever asked by a cop for ID/DL, DO NOT DO AS I did in the store!
Maybe next time I’ll get out a paper and pen, sign my name and ask the mgr if he/she/tranny wants to compare signatures to my ID.
CowboySlim, DOB: xx/xx/1938
I was asked for ID when buying wine
Most places have made it a policy that ID is requested for anyone buying beer or cigarettes regardless. This is to avoid problems with police stings and letting someone under age buying such items. Everyone is checked.
CowboySlim, DOB: xx/xx/1938
Bragging or just trying to make the rest of us look like young pups?
RayT: who is 13 years younger than the cowboy.
Cowboy Slim is older than my mother, though younger than her eldest brother. (OTOH, that uncle died a couple years back. Advantage: Cowboy Slim.)
Our local SuperTarget just announced a bold (their word) plan to rearrange the store with curving aisles. My first thought was lipstick on a pig.
The Target stores here in Austin are generally okay but eerily empty most of the time.
I learned today that HMart is the entity gutting and rebuilding two shuttered big box stores (Sports Authority, Bed Bath and Beyond) not far from our house. That will be an interesting complement to the nearby stores, including the HEB, since the nearest HMart locations are in Dallas and Houston.
Now I’m wondering if the new HMart was part of the reason the nearby mall reversed course on converting their movie theater to an H&M.
Bricks and mortar aren’t going away, but local retail will look a lot different in a few years.
The Target stores here in Austin are generally okay but eerily empty most of the time.
Wow, you nailed it.
Bricks and mortar aren’t going away, but retail will look a lot different in a few years.
Retail grocery, no. Retail everything else, yes.
I don’t really blame retailers for demanding proof of ID, even in cases where the purchaser is clearly past the age to have the item (and I am very much in that category). Make a rule, make everyone equally subject to that rule. What gets me is that *Mart wants to verify my age for some things which are potentially dangerous, like aerosol lye oven cleaner, but not others, like mineral spirits. AFAIK neither are ‘regulated’.
They id on the inhale to get high stuff.
n
since inhaleble don’t seem to be a ward..
Wife had to scan her DL at Target the other night when she bought a bottle of wine on impulse. She’s 65. I guess scanning everyone helps get the store off hook.
I mentioned the 19 yo kid who just take his big bros DL because the look pretty much alike. I’m sure it happens.
“aerosol lye oven cleaner”
That’s what I recommended Jasmine carry when she went away to college. Much more effective than pepper spray. Much more permanent, too.
“Much more effective than pepper spray. Much more permanent, too.”
Much more jail time too. Lots of discussion in the self defense and lawful use of force forums about this. IIRC consensus from the legal side was pre-meditated and battery or mayhem.
Alive and facing a trial beats dead, but FFS there are plenty of legal alternatives in most places in the US.
n
Shouldn’t be a problem. Jasmine is tiny, and entitled to defend herself with anything up to and including lethal force. Do you really pay attention to random blathering on those type of forums? Premeditation applies to criminals, not to victims.
A sunny day and almost 50; spent some time looking over the outside of the house and the rest of the yard and perimeters; OFD has some work to do when things dry out a bit. New bicycle came today also, and OFD has some more work to do assembling it.
Wife stepped on a nail last night and put a little hole in the bottom of her foot, so she’s been soaking it in soapy wotta first and then Betadine; three bandaids on it presently. You’d think that would finally learn her not to walk around barefoot all the time, but I’m guessing that won’t do it, either.
And the VA finally approved adding her to my disability status and a piddly increase in my piddly monthly payment. But she can’t get covered with healthcare/insurance unless I’m classified at 100% and totally disabled, which ain’t gonna happen. At best I might be able to jack it up to 80% from the current 60%. I’ll double-check on that, but it looks like we’re back to square one with her medical insurance, and the gov recently said that HealthConnect is being dumped by the end of this year. No idea what we’ll end up with, but I suspect a fat premium to be paid every month so that crimigrants and underclass scum and rapefugees can be covered, too. Various commie politicians and gummint officials are going out of their way around the country to make it even easier for them and harder for us.
Keep pushing, you muthafuckas, and reap the whirlwind.
Hey lefty rat-fuckers, look at this:
https://decisiondeskhq.com/app/uploads/2017/03/2016-US-President-by-Precinct.png
And note the narrow red strip in fah north Vermont.
Then wasp spray is a better choice as it isn’t a wide foamy stream but will shoot up to 10-20 ft.
n
BTW, in a lot of jurisdictions, the defender IS the criminal, just ask the DA.
Like I said, lots of discussion, permanent blindness can result which you might face at a jury trial where you KNEW it would maim someone if you used it, and pepper spray is designed for the use, contains taggants, is a smaller can, has a safety so it doesn’t spray in the purse, and has been extensively tested and proved effective.
Why fukc around?
Because pepper spray doesn’t always work. It just pisses off a determined attacker. If you’re a cop with a partner backing you up, it generally works. If you’re a woman alone, it may get you badly beaten or killed. I’ve been pepper sprayed in training. It burns like hell. It also pisses you off. I “killed” the woman who sprayed me before she could even start to run. Sprayed her in the face with her own can of spray, too. She was a vendor rep, and I’m pretty sure the demo didn’t go as she expected.
What he said.
Ditto. I think all of us in that group “fought through” the variety of pepper sprays, including the “bear strength” kind “guaranteed” to stop anyone. All of us were men, all experienced in pushing ourselves through pain or exhaustion or being punched in a tournament, most of us ex-military and somewhat used to operating in tear gas, some of us had had to get ourselves to safety after broken limbs or life-threatening injuries. I always assumed that was a large part of why none of us were stopped by it. The typical college student armchair radical who’s never had to deal with any serious pain would be dropped by a faceful of pepper spray.
That same training had us all hit with tasers, including the separated-prong kind “guaranteed” to drop “anyone”. I think all of us ignored (by which I mean “got pissed off by”) the “civilian”-use press-and-zap kind. About half ignored (by which I mean “got infuriated by”) the separated-prong kind. The guy operating the gear had a bunch of excuses why they didn’t stop us: that guy had a t-shirt under his shirt, that other guy had a lot of muscle, the prongs didn’t land properly. Blah blah blah. Oh, and none of us were drunk, none in a fighting rage to begin with, none being egged on by our “friends”. My conclusion: tasers are probably useful against ordinary schlubs who are deterred by a little pain. They a good way to get you dead if you use them on the wrong person.
(Don’t get me wrong. They hurt, and they left puncture marks and burns. You know how I said “infuriated by”? Yah.)
The typical college student armchair radical who’s never had to deal with any serious pain would be dropped by a faceful of pepper spray.
The typical college student armchair liberal who’s never had to deal with any serious pain would be dropped by a faceful of Fabreeze.
Fixed it for you.
Aaaaaghhh! I smell artificial lemon freshener! My life is flashing before my eyes! Tell my life-partner-but-not-in-a-sexual-way that I love zir!
My son was hit with the military version of pepper spray in USMC boot camp. Much higher strength than civilian. They all marched into a room wearing gas masks and then the room was gassed. They were all ok. Then the DI told them to take off their gas masks. Everyone but him was immediately on the floor throwing their guts up. Hew still has the tearing eyes and snot running but no other effects. The DI told him that 1 out of 100 people act that way to pepper spray.
The advantage of EasyOff or another lye-based oven cleaner is that it permanently blinds an attacker within a couple of seconds, and disables him within milliseconds.
My life is flashing before my eyes!
Let me make your life worse, a living hell for the night.
You can thank me tomorrow.
And since it’s a foamy wide gentle cone of spray, you get it in your face too if there’s the slightest breeze. Or YOU get blinded when he takes it from you ‘cuz you’re too tentative…
BULLETS don’t stop everyone, should we not carry guns?
Improvised weapons are fine if it’s all you’ve got, but again, this is planned. If you’re not worried about legal repercussions get some of the good stuff from out of state.
Which is ‘she’ more likely to have with her, and close to hand, a can of oven spray, or a small pepper spray that fits in a purse?
The intent is to GET AWAY. Anything that contributes to that helps. Standing there, spraying and then expecting the attack to stop isn’t the right mindset or trained response. Spray and run toward help. You don’t have to drop the guy like a log, you just have to knock him back a bit to open up your lead. And why worry about ‘just pissing him off’? He’s ALREADY trying to kill you, otherwise, lethal force is NOT JUSTIFIED.
This is one of those areas with a lot of hidden/ unexamined assumptions. It needs a clear look, and a well considered decision. And if you haven’t considered the aftermath, your planning is incomplete.
nick
Which is ‘she’ more likely to have with her, and close to hand, a can of oven spray, or a small pepper spray that fits in a purse?
+1 for that. I’m sure most people would need a “THIS SIDE TOWARD ENEMY” label on the can. Hey, a new market for Mini-EasyOff! Or, an EasyOff gun!
Well, my first recommendation would be a 1911 in .45 ACP.
Retail grocery, no. Retail everything else, yes.
You’re spoiled by HEB.
My Target experience has been that every single time I shop there for a specific item they don’t have it. It’s become a running joke in my house. I see something on the TV ads or in the papers and stop by wanting to pick it up, they NEVER have it in stock.
Retail grocery, no. Retail everything else, yes.
You’re spoiled by HEB.
Man, is that ever true. In my opinion, SuperWalmart, Randalls (Safeway), Aldi, Albertsons, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Fiesta do not compare to HEB. The funny thing is that SuperWalmart is the closest.
I really doubt that retail grocery is going to change much. First, you have small grocery, the old stop-n-rob. The major items that they sell are cold beer and ciggies. And gasoline / diesel. And cold drinks and packaged food. Don’t even talk about their “grill”. All impulse purchases.
Then you have medium sized grocery. Dead. Killed by SuperWalmarts and Walgreens / CVS.
Then you have large sized grocery. This is where the competition is now. People walk in and spend anywhere from $50 to $200. Or even $500. They are purchasing an incredible amount of stuff. Food, flowers, household items, drugs (OTC and prescription). I do not see this moving to Amazon, people are just too picky. Or they can only pay cash. Or a strange mixture of food stamps, almost maxed out credit cards, and cash.
@Greg, and Kroger, Randalls, Central Market, 99 Ranch, HMart, and all the cheapo ones that cater to the hispanics and the poor…
We’ve got LOTS of choices. ‘Course that means that I have to shop at more than one, as some have stuff the others don’t. H-mart has some things 99 Ranch doesn’t have, but is dirtier and more crowded. Haven’t been in a Randalls in years, but their weekly circular has nice stuff (at 30% premium over the other chains.) Our local “big” HEB has a lot of Central Market stuff so I don’t have to go there any more. Our local Kroger has been colonized by a lot of dangerous looking and dirty riff raff in the parking lot. Rarely stop in anymore, even though it used to be my primary store.
Mostly I shop Costco, and our ‘big’ HEB, supplemented by 99 Ranch, and the ‘small’ HEB, with occasional trips to HMart when I need something weird.
Great to have choices.
nick
Oh, I forgot about Fiesta. When we lived in the Heights I shopped there all the time. Dirtier and more tired, but if you want bags of spice from Africa with hand printed labels, Fiesta is your store. (Fiesta prides themselves on their “International” items. They also sell clothes and shoes in some bigger stores.)
n
BTW, my former USMC son just told me that people get acclimated to pepper spray over time. He said the military NBC guys get so used to it that they don’t even react to it without a mask.
OFD was Mace-ed and tear-gassed by Boston PD guys way back in the day and it sucked royally, but OFD kept on rockin’ anyway. What sucked FAR worse than that was being clubbed to the ground and then kicked by steel-toed boots, yeah, the old Boston Tac Squad. I was black-and-blue for weeks, and had zero intention of ever becoming a cop.
Funny how life turns out.
Never had to use a chemical product on perpetrators later, though; I was a big fan, and still am, of the Monadnock PR-24 Prosecutor baton, and I had three brutal days of training with it at Camp Curtis Guild, Wakefield, MA, and then certified with it. Over thirty years ago but I still remember that chit. One of my fellow cops liked The Claw, a stainless steel claw-like device that took the old come-along grip and kicked it up a few notches. If he laid that thing on you, you were gonna go wherever he wanted.
So I guess I’m from the old days; clubs, claws, CS tear gas, and revolvers.
Read some of the ER Doctor blogs. People get acclimated to getting shot and stabbed too. Some of the more cynical docs call them cockroaches, and believe the more useless they are the harder they are to kill, while good people die from stuff the villains shrug off.
n
H-mart has some things 99 Ranch doesn’t have, but is dirtier and more crowded.
Never been to 99 Ranch.
When I (briefly) worked in Downtown Seattle, I spent the first month in the in-laws No-Tell-Mo-Tel not far from the HMart in Federal Way. That store left a *lot* to be desired, but the Beaverton (Portland) location was newer and fairly nice.
I like the White Rabbit Chinese milk candy that was pulled from the US market for a few years due to melamine contamination. The candy is back on the shelves, even at HEB, but, sadly, without the poison, it just isn’t the same.
I usually spend about $200 to $250 at the ‘big’ HEB. I go about every 3 weeks, sometimes every 2. I usually save about 10% buying on sale items or items with in store coupons. On a really good week, I’ll save 15%.
n
I learned about 99 Ranch in southern Cali. The store here is a pale shadow of the one in San Diego, but it’s still awesome.
n
Read some of the ER Doctor blogs. People get acclimated to getting shot and stabbed too. Some of the more cynical docs call them cockroaches, and believe the more useless they are the harder they are to kill, while good people die from stuff the villains shrug off.
Go see the new John Wick movie !
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/john_wick_chapter_2/
I usually spend about $200 to $250 at the ‘big’ HEB. I go about every 3 weeks, sometimes every 2. I usually save about 10% buying on sale items or items with in store coupons. On a really good week, I’ll save 15%.
I go to HEB twice a week and spend $75 each time. But I buy extra like roses for the wife twice a month. And sushi once or twice a week. And all kinds of stuff like two of the 24 bottle Ozarka cases each time I go.
I got my federal tax refund today. One week to the day after I efiled our federal tax return. Pretty cool.
@Mr. Lynn; well, after all, it was your money, while the gummint sat on it or gave it to far less worthy entities. Not exactly a gift from the sky.
http://buchanan.org/blog/kim-jong-un-problem-126750
Give away Murkan jobs overseas and also pay for their defense, with Murkan tax dollars.
And it doesn’t matter which National Administrator is camped out in the WH or which half of the Party rules Congress.
Thanks a lot, Donald. What’s next, a nuke war with the Norks or Russia or China? Not what we had in mind, dude.
More chit has been uncovered:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-03/confirmed-susan-rice-unmasked-trump-team
Shocking.
[snip] That’s what I recommended Jasmine carry when she went away to college [snip]
Setting aside the legal arguments, is there such a thing as a ‘purse sized’ or ‘self defense sized’ can of oven cleaner?
As to the legal arguments, any manufacturer which made a ‘purse sized’ can of oven cleaner would probably be setting itself up to get sued by every blinded dirtbag in the country. Were I a juror in a case of State of Wherever v. Jasmine, she’s innocent until they prove her guilty, and I don’t think I could be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Jasmine’s use of lye in defense of her life, liberty, property, and or body was a crime of any sort.
Rice: ” I know nuuuuthing!”
I hope Ocommie is shitting a brick while writting his next million $$ Libturdian paid for book. Cocksucker.
“I hope Ocommie is shitting a
brickcinder block while writing his next million $$ Libturdian paid for book. Cocksucker.”FIFY
More chit will spill every day on any administration from now on, via dogged pursuit of it by determined and genuine reporters on the net. This is pretty good intel, not least because it names the asswipe trollop at the NYT who sat on it for 48 hours so as to keep the Obola reputation nice and shiny. Whereas it’s actually yet another shit-stain on Murkan history.
Will the Dumbocrats filibuster this week?
Will the Redumblicans go nuclear?
Does Moxie come in 5 gallon jugs?
I can’t wait!
Good nite.
I am just happy I got my money back. I figure that I am a good candidate for one of those IRS deep anal probes someday. And, all of the identity theft going on nowadays.
The problem with the norks is they are getting close to being able to nuke Hawaii. Or, the continental usa. We cannot tolerate his continued death cult. Trump probably knows exactly how close he is.
On the other hand, Buchanan is correct. It is past time to move our troops out of South Korea, Japan, and Germany. But the dude is a psycho and will see that as cart blanche to invade the south.
“Does Moxie come in 5 gallon jugs?”
I doubt it. And I’m also very annoyed; Moxie seems to have disappeared just about entirely from our local stores up here, except for the twelve-packs of cans. So I’ve been swilling Dr Pepper instead.
I don’t watch the mainstream tee-vee so will get the Congress news via net and nasty wingnut sites.
nocte et bonum odorem somnia
I got my federal tax refund today. One week to the day after I efiled our federal tax return. Pretty cool.
As I stated you would probably have your money in a week or less with electronic deposit. I got my money in 5 days. E-File and electronic deposit is the only way to file taxes.
I figure that I am a good candidate for one of those IRS deep anal probes someday
Doubtful. I have been through three audits over time, one of them was the deep probe. I had a couple of numbers wrong, or rather in the wrong place. The income was declared, and taxed, just not where the IRS thought it should be. Agent said I owed money because I had not reported it in the proper place. I disagreed and told him so. Wrote a letter to the IRS explaining what happened, copies of the forms with the numbers in the incorrect spot, and an amended return. Tax liability was exactly the same and the IRS agreed. The biggest problem with the IRS is that the tax code is so complicated even their agents cannot fully understand.
And, all of the identity theft going on nowadays
I monitor my accounts daily, check my credit report every 4 months, have a freeze on all three major credit agencies. That caused a problem when I got a loan for the truck. Getting the account unfrozen for a couple of days so the loan could go through was a problem, mostly in getting in contact with a human. So do that with some caution. There have been a couple of attempts over the years to compromise my accounts but due diligence has avoided any issues.
Agent said I owed money because I had not reported it in the proper place.
I imagine he was promoted to TSA and given a badge, a raise and, in the future, a gun.
Not all that far from Mr Lynn, but looks like they were looking to kill or grab a person, not stuff:
“The men, who are seen in surveillance footage but remain unidentified, appeared to have been looking for someone when they invaded the home in Pearland, near Houston.
The home’s owner, Viet Vo, told Click2Houston: ‘I mean they’re going around with the guns drawn, just looking for somebody to shoot, that’s what it looks like to me.'”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4377906/Texas-family-home-broken-gunmen.html
Hate to be all rayciss and chit but that surname implies a typical activity of Asian gangbangers, and that’s kidnapping, usually as a result of some kinda deal gone bad, and they’ll come through your door in broad daylight, but it’s almost always within the Asian “community.” I’m getting to hate that word, incidentally.
And don’t get me started today on the IRS.
Or credit cards. (a canceled charge at Crucial.com has still not gotten my money restored to my credit card account, and I’m told that it’s the credit card company’s responsibility but they only have snail mail and voice mail for their “customer service.”)
For those that don’t know, HMart and 99 Ranch are Asian grocery stores. Very good prices on things they sell and they have a lot of veggies that regular chains don’t. Huge selection of frozen dumplings and other dim sum items.
Aldi is not as good as HEB for major shopping, but is much cheaper for some stuff – I get milk, eggs, some cheeses and lunch meats, and bread there. They have a low-carb bread that is actually good and about $1.50 per loaf cheaper than at HEB.
The biggest problem with the IRS is that the tax code is so complicated even their agents cannot fully understand.
Man, is that ever true. The federal tax on individuals should be 10% of every dollar minus business expenses. If 10% is good enough for God, it should be good enough for the feddies.
And, all of the identity theft going on nowadays
I monitor my accounts daily, check my credit report every 4 months, have a freeze on all three major credit agencies. That caused a problem when I got a loan for the truck. Getting the account unfrozen for a couple of days so the loan could go through was a problem, mostly in getting in contact with a human. So do that with some caution. There have been a couple of attempts over the years to compromise my accounts but due diligence has avoided any issues.
Sounds like a lot of time. Do you monitor both checking accounts and credit card accounts daily ?
Do you pay to get the credit reports every four months ?
How do you implement the freeze on all of the major credit card agencies ?
My wife and I had a freeze for a while. We got it when someone tried to buy a big order of furniture on our AMEX number and a store loan. AMEX spotted the charge as unusual because of the type of store (a strip mall discount furniture place catering to Spanish speakers) and the delivery address – a dumpy apartment in a low-income neighborhood. They called us, we said it wasn’t us, and it was cancelled. Local PD wasn’t interested, said credit card fraud was a Fed problem. Feds said since it wasn’t over 10k, weren’t interested. AMEX recommended putting a freeze on our credit reports and gave us numbers to call for all 3. Said we should tell them we were fraud victims and it would stay on the account for a few years.
Do you monitor both checking accounts and credit card accounts daily ?
Yes, I do. I look at my checking account nightly. The credit card company sends me a text message and email every time there is a charge.
Sounds like a lot of time
Not really, maybe 5 minutes a night. I have been burned twice and thus take a proactive approach. Reversed a recurring transaction for a service I no longer used but the company apparently thought they could still keep billing me. Contrary to popular belief, when you close a card any recurring charges will still get processed and sent on to you or your new card.
Do you pay to get the credit reports every four months ?
No. I use AnnualCreditReport.com to get a report from one of the three agencies every four months. You are allowed one free report per year from each company, thus I have put them on a round robin approach and use a different reporting agency every four months.
How do you implement the freeze on all of the major credit card agencies ?
It has been awhile but I believe that I called each agency and requested a freeze on my credit report. The report can still be viewed by me, used by companies that are just looking for groups of people, and used by companies that currently report credit for me (insurance generally does a yearly pull as do my credit card companies). But to open a new account is not possible as the information gets blocked.
My score is well above 800 so getting credit is not a problem. I have taken great effort to get it that way and intend to maintain the score at that level. I have taken what I think are prudent precautions.
LifeLock is basically a scam and can do little to stop identity theft. They can help you get it resolved but so will your homeowners insurance. No need to pay another company $20.00 a month for that service. I have heard from people that stopped LifeLock and guess what, recurring charge, keeps getting charged. No need in giving another company my information.
a canceled charge at Crucial.com has still not gotten my money restored to my credit card account
May take up to a week. Charges are done very quickly. Credits from returns not so fast. Companies playing the float game.
And don’t get me started today on the IRS.
Yeh, sorry about that. You of all people have more experience and more of a gripe than anyone. My dealings have been mostly minor.
Mother-in-law had me do her taxes this year. It was rather disturbing her fear of the IRS and how she would not claim a deduction because of fear of the IRS taking all her money. Took a lot of explaining to her that if the deduction is allowed the IRS is not going come after her. Her return was relatively simple but she was still afraid. I guess the IRS likes people to have that opinion, fear. Loathing is just a bonus.
I know when I told the agent that said I owed the money that he was wrong and I was disputing his findings he got rather huffy and made some veiled threats about possibly auditing the last seven years. Rather than listen to him or say anything beyond I was disputing his findings, I just got up and walked out. He did tell me to come back which I ignored. I don’t know if he wanted to tell me he would reconsider and I really did not care.
I n a separate letter when I filed the amended return I also provided the agents employee number and name and told the IRS what the agent had told me. Which probably was never read and got trashed.
Do you monitor both checking accounts and credit card accounts daily ?
I have alerts on all my credit cards and all my accounts at my credit union. I get a text for every transaction and the credit card transactions can be replied to to immediately halt the transaction. Not all credit cards, banks, or credit unions offer alert services; I do not do business with those institutions.
WRT credit scores:
I get free credit scores, all three services, with all my credit cards and my credit union. If you use good financial services, you get good service.
WRT LifeLock:
Agree that it is a scam and they only want to sell you their most expensive product. Their basic service is really only credit monitoring. I had LifeLock’s full enchilada a few years ago, got a special price with a “coupon” code. Someone tried to use my American Express number in a Sears in Portland OR. American Express caught it even before I got the text alert. They even managed to catch the perp. LifeLock notified me of “suspicious activity” 2-weeks after the incident.
There is no substitute for constant full circle vigilance. Yes a PITA. But do you want to live?
WRT credit on returns:
I must be in some special class at Amazon. Whenever I return anything I get an immediate refund as soon as UPS takes possession of the return package. The other day my wife took an Amazon Return to the UPS Dropoff Store and I had a notice from Amazon and the credit card that I used that the refund had been made.
In my case with my credit card company not crediting my account, it was NOT a return of merch. I ordered RAM from Crucial and Crucial canceled the order, claiming some mysterious address issue associated with my card, which is bullshit. Meanwhile the money sits there in limbo and I can’t use it for however long the cc company plays with whatever float. And guaranteed they won’t bother to notify me when the $ is back on my card; I’ll have to keep checking for myself. And as I mentioned before, their only customer service contact choices are voicemail menus which are worthless, and snail mail. No email, no chat window, no human bean to talk with. So I’m just gonna pay that card down and let IT sit in limbo forever.
And guaranteed they won’t bother to notify me when the $ is back on my card; I’ll have to keep checking for myself.
Dave, is that dollar showing as a pending charge or was it actually added to the amount you owe?
I have had a case where one of those $1 “test/token” charges did not go away for awhile. I asked AMEX about it and they said that if that company does not present an actual charge it will sit there until after some amount of time, in this case it was 6-weeks.
Looking back through my records, the “pending/token” charge I mentioned above was from Crucial. About the same situation as your’s? I ordered a memory stick that was supposed to be compatible per their app, but further checking with the computer manufacturer showed that the “speed” of that memory was actually not compatible so I cancelled that order and place one for the correct memory.
“Dave, is that dollar showing as a pending charge or was it actually added to the amount you owe?”
It doesn’t show up at all in the posted activity list, period. (at the credit card web site for my account). And in my case, it was Crucial themselves who canceled the order. And I just sent them an email via their web site. Last time I did the chat thing and was told some malarkey that the charge sits in limbo for a few business days, no reason given.
In other words, what it looks like to me at this point is that Crucial took my order and my money, and then canceled the order, but my money is still out there somewhere. They told me it’s up to the credit card company to reverse the charge but it’s not even listed in the posted activity.
$400+ is now MIA.
I really love this shit.
Re Amazon refunds: They’ve really stepped up their game internationally. While I usually order from the German site, there are a few things I order from the US site. It used to be they would ship, the package would hit Swiss customs, be delivered some time later with an additional customs bill. At least they shipped by post, rather than delivery service (DHL, etc.), since the delivery services always added on their own extra charges just for fun.
Anyhow, Amazon now charges me the customs in advance, and pays it along with the shipping. Which means no more delays and no more hunting for exact change to give the postman when things arrive. They tend to overestimate the charges, so a couple of days after a package arrives, I always get a small credit refunded.
Ebay global shipping does the same thing. Many of my customers don’t like it, because they are paying full rate on the import duty. They do pay a discounted rate on shipping so I’d like to believe there is some balance.
I like it as I no longer have to do customs forms or stand in line at the post office. I sell a lot more internationally than I used to.
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