This entry isn’t that interesting…

So, I got a bit of a surprise yesterday. An email from one of my credit cards saying, “Do you recognize this transaction?” And, as a matter of fact, No, I didn’t! It’s a little sad how routine dealing with credit card fraud has become. This is probably the 3rd time I’ve had this particular card stolen in the past ten years. It’s the card I use almost exclusively for online purchases, particularly purchases that I consider to be less secure. It’s the only card I’ve ever had compromised. The one I use almost exclusively for in-person purchases has never had a problem. I don’t even use my debit card anymore, it may as well just be an ATM card. The thought of having someone get that number and direct access to my actual bank account is too scary.

But anyway, whoever had my info tried to spend around $1200 at several different places. I was impressed at the credit card companies algorithms though, because they funded the first charge that was made but they blocked all the rest from actually going through. By the time I saw the email they had already figured out what was going on and had taken the first charge off my account. They got it exactly right and the legit charges I made that day, of which there were two, went through just fine.

They’ve certainly gotten faster at catching this kind of thing and putting a stop to it. I mean, it is in their best interest to do so, but still, I never expect safeguards to work quite that well. I wish we lived in a world where we didn’t have to worry about this kind of thing, but alas, we do, so watch your statements closely, kids. 🙂

What I thought was just an irritated throat and resulting laryngitis turned into a full-blown cold. I was a little extra frustrated because I had just gotten over a cold before we went on vacation. We come back and “Hey, here, have another cold!” I think I pretty much have it kicked now though. I’ve spent the past few days hovering over my personal steamer, practically worshipping whoever invented Afrin, and knocking myself out at bedtime with 1^st generation anti-histamines. This is the first day I’ve actually been able to breathe clearly without the Afrin, I’m happy for that because today is the last day I could use it without risking the dreaded rebound congestion. Been there, done that, never making that mistake again. My voice is mostly back too, which means I’ll be able to sing at the pub on Saturday and I should be well enough to go to the family gathering tomorrow afternoon.

Anyway, rainy day today and the birds coming to my window feeder, mostly Tufted Titmice, are adorably soggy. I’m going to try to take some cute pictures. If I’m successful I’ll come back and share some of them later, or maybe tomorrow morning, depending on how the day goes.