Hey, hey while other ZNG folks are gallivanting together in real time I’m finally doing something Ambassordial.

Been sending “hello’s” to newbies (that’s what we call new folk in the military).  Anyway... as usual there are so many cool pics, ideas, folks, etc out there.

Like this Icon being sported here by Shereen – is this on a T-shirt ...  I want one if it is.  No matter what it rocks - IMO!

I couldn’t help it.  I swear I had the song “I Saw Mama Kissing Santa Claus” in my head from 330 AM through the rest of my shift last night.  EEEERRRRGGGGHHH.  Great song for the holidaze.... It wouldn’t stop.  I had people trying to block it with Jingles from TV and Britney... nothing worked.

So I came home and intentionally chose to listen to an artist I respect and whom always ‘causes me to shed a tear.  My idealism wants so badly to see the dream she’s put herself out there for become reality for all of us.

Started with Swim and an old favorite 32 flavors. 

Then on to the last song I sat down and learned to cover & play myself about 5 years ago... Your Next Bold Move.  

Wishing the Arrival Gate was out there on youtube.  Course you can’t meet loved one’s there anymore – security and all.  Self Evident and Not Angry Anymore will have to fill for it.

Found a new interview I hadn’t seen before – recent too.  And it all ends with Little Plastic Castles.

As a person who loves poetic words set to music I love Ani.  As an idealist who wants the world to be better I love Ani.  As a human and an individual working my way through life I love Ani.   Hmmm...  did I mention I love Ani.  There’s a small chance I might get to see her here in MPLS before I deploy.  Working on it.

Pick and choose as you wish and enjoy:

BLUF:  Bottom Line Up Front

My friends... not trying to bore you, scare you, or looking for comments.  Just trying to get the info out.  Feel like I’m climbing a very steep slope.

Again... it seems with all the hyped up warnings that the system is actually built to perpetuate this type of fraud.

WHO LOSES?  The thief gets the product they order be it gas, clothes, computer parts, etc.  The credit bureaus get my payment for a statement over the next several years, the big companies write it off as fraud....  Hey it’s just what I always wished for a Win – Win – Win....  Excellent.

Well folks the saga continues yet I’m feeling my sense of equilibrium has returned – this too will pass.  Nothing I’ve heard or been told leads me to believe that the system isn’t allowing and perpetuating identity theft.  NO ONE loses except for the little guy so there’s absolutely no reason to stop it.  The Credit Bureaus make money on purchased reports and everyone else writes off the losses.
I received a letter from Equifax stating they received notice from Trans Union (two of the three big credit reporting bureaus – the third being Experian) and have added the AD (active duty – as in I’ve been called up to deploy) alert to my file for the next 12 months.

This would be the AD report no one I’ve ever known whose deployed has ever heard of other than “vaguely” – this per my contact with many deployed troops and the people who deploy them.

A quote from Equifax’s short note to me, “In addition, your name has been removed from promotional offers for credit for two years.”

At the bottom is a box with BIG BOLD LETTERS...  “The FBI has named identity theft as the fastest growing crime in America.”

AT this point I’m tired of being told “as a service to me” my name is being removed from mailing lists I never asked to be on in the first place. 

I’d also point out that if removing me from the mailing list is one of the first actions taken “as a service to me” then maybe the credit bureaus think that’s a possibly window for fraud????

DUH...  Maybe shut that window down BEFORE I or others are a victim???

So... I called my new Case Manger Molly... she was out and I got voicemail with an option to talk to someone else so I sat on hold and talked to Dotty.

Dotty was flummoxed by my request for a number to Opt Out off preapproved mailings before being a victim of fraud.  She hemmed and hawed about a number for cell/ home phone numbers YET not for mailings.  Dotty also told me about the possibility of “freezing” all accounts.  Meaning what? 

Every time I talk to a new person during this saga I find out a new option.

Where’s the list to make this stop?  Dotty referred me to the Identity Theft Hotline...  “no go”, I said it’s an automated system which provides great info yet hangs up on you when it’s done.

In fairness --- Dotty really was as helpful as she could be and very nice.  She’s another cog in the big wheel.  Just like me.

You can call each of you creditors and state you don’t want free checks in the mail but there’s no number to opt out of preapproved credit;  unless of course you’ve already been a target then it’ll be done as a service to you.  Geesh thanks!

My friends... not trying to bore you, scare you, or looking for comments.  Just trying to get the info out.  Feel like I’m climbing a very steep slope.

Again... it seems with all the hyped up warnings that the system is actually built to perpetuate this type of fraud.

So very long ago yet it seems just yesterday I was just finding out about the possibilities of networking sites.  Full of questions like:  How come some people highlight random words in there blog posts.  What do you mean a link?  Hee hee.

I still have posts hanging out at Vox, Multiply, Google... sometimes a memory flash prompts me to repost them here.

Like this cartoon.

In extreme situation the concept can seem too simple yet in the end isn’t it true that how we feel about a situation, any situation, is dependent on which way we’re looking? Where we’re putting our focus?  How we’re approaching it?

Geesh... (new word for Amber :)  - )  I’ve uploaded 1600 photos to Flickr... what the hell were they?   Thinking most of them are flowers --- smile.

Here’s the new ones and a story:

Last weekend Julia and I are heading North for my family reunion.  She’s met most of these folks briefly before yet the tension is real and appropriate.  Meeting the FAMILY.

I’m babbling about whether I should surprise twelve folks with the knowledge that their name and address has been used fraudulently.  Julia is playing an EXPERT devils advocate.  She’s really, really, really, really, really good at that.  Let’s you know you are heard and then WHAM – have you thought about this???  (Side note – if you don’t want another legimate perspective then don't bring up the conversation.)

Aside from her bountiful beauty and humor that’s another thing I love about her.!

We saw a sign on the way that cracks us up and vow to take a pic on the way back.

We didn’t know then that after the fun and festivities.  ALL Aunts and Uncles stating they’d like to retire yet can’t afford healthcare – does that mean something’s wrong with the system or just with my family???

Drinking, skiing, tubing, eating, laughing around the fire...

After all this we were driving Grandma home.

My Grandma absolutely rocks BTW.  Funny, been there done that attitude, says she’s ready to “be done” yet will keep on keeping on while she’s still here.  She knows what’s up and can crack a joke in a conversation.

So when we said we needed to stop and take a pic of a sign she said great there’s a Dairy Queen across the street I’ll pay for the treat.  I haven’t had cup of Corn Syrup in a while so I was all for it.

Anyway here’s the great bit of advertising & the establishment that cracked us up.  If you’re wearing a mullet we’ll cut it off for free.  If you want your head shaved/or another haircut it’ll be five bucks or more.  Fuzzy pics... I've lost my touch in transfering from a phone.

First sing the kids to sleep and then get the laundry done quick.

One of my mentors and teachers (Ron Moor) would often quote his grandmother as saying, “there’s nothing new under the sun except what’s been forgotten.”

I was thinking of this the other day when I heard of John Wilkes.  I’ve so often heard, and said myself, that politics has become such a dirty, dirty business.  All the negative ads and mudslinging.

Well look at the history it grew from – though they didn’t get to edit and reedit ads it was all on the spot and then spread by hearsay.

John Wilkes from wikipedia:  He was well known for his verbal wit and his snappy responses to insults. For instance, when told by a constituent that he would rather vote for the devil, Wilkes responded: "Naturally". He then added: "And if your friend decides against standing, can I count on your vote?"

On another occasion, in an exchange with John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich, who declared "Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox." Wilkes replied "That, sir, depends on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."

I think that’s a funny comeback... your mistress or your principles.  For the Sandwich dude it’s a slam wrapped in a slam, topped with a slam then served with a heaping side order of slam.

Hmmmm...   next topic.

Hmmm... anyone hear another Twin Cities bridge is dropping chunks of concrete onto passing cars.  Thankfully no one hurt this time.  I wonder if that inspection last AUG was scheduled or because of this... collapse.
 

After an inspection in August, officials knew the bridge deck was breaking down, but nothing suggested that pieces would break off within the year, said Dan Dorgan, state bridge engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Hmmm... I also read that statement and say, “OK Dan Dorgan.  I believe you didn’t know chunks of concrete would fall on passing cars just one year later.  Ummmm... there was a ‘breaking down’ occurring right?  What exactly was being done about that?  Was this bridge moved up on the fix it list?  Is it moved up on the fix it list now?

There’s stressed bridges everywhere.  It’s time to be a little scared.  Scared enough to start calling your elected officials and asking where the Tax money is actually going.  And I’d say this bridge thing is just the tip of the iceberg...

Funny / Sad spin on an old saying ---

We’ll close that bridge when we come to it.  

Seems to me that’s how business has been going lately.

Wanna know if the bridges you use every day are deficient or obsolete.

States cutting corners...

If even ONE engineer who used to work inspecting bridges in MN has been contracted out to build bridges in Iraq I’ll be even more pissed.  Don’t know how to track that info down though.  I was on the Maryland span over 35E with Julia yesterday after dropping Grandma off from the family reunion.