Friday, February 24, 2012

Lunchtime!

35 comments:

  1. Okay, first of all, I just want to say: Howard Dean.

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  2. Eldest*Kid is in Las Vegas at a TaeKwon Do event. So we were asked to pick up VT*Grand from preschool tomorrow, since Mom has to work. This was worked out weeks ago. So, today we learn we're expecting 6-10" of snow, and the worst of it could be falling (with 25mph winds) around pickup time. And since Mah*Sweetie's old truck has only rear-wheel drive, we decided that the better part of valour is for him to take the Mini to work, but leave early enough to fetch VT*Grand on the way home. He even stopped at the store tonight (while I was at work) and bought all the stuff to make PINK cupcakes with her.
    About an hour ago I sent a wee message to our daughter-in-law assuring her that we're picking up VT*Grand tomorrow, despite the storm. She just wrote back to tell us that VT*Grand isn't going to preschool tomorrow, and she isn't working tomorrow, AND our other daughter-in-law (who is her sister) is in town with our other two Grands!!! They've been here since yesterday. Who knew?! I guess we're out of the vital loop. Anyway, if the weather allows, they're all coming over here tomorrow evening! WOW!!!

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  3. Heh! He prolly just wants to hear the *Prince Grampy* song. . . .

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  4. LOL! Yeah!

    But...ALL THREE...so nearby! And we'll be having a big storm!! After waiting and waiting for a nice big snowstorm, I find myself hoping it's not too much! Ha!

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  5. HOLD ON!

    Check out what PayPal has planned as a Policy Update beginning April 1st.

    2.3 Identity Authentication. You authorize PayPal, directly or through third parties, to make any inquiries we consider necessary to validate your identity. This may include asking you for further information, requiring you to provide your date of birth, a taxpayer identification number and other information that will allow us to reasonably identify you, requiring you to take steps to confirm ownership of your email address or financial instruments, ordering a credit report, or verifying your Information against third party databases or through other sources. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents at any time. If you use certain PayPal Services federal law requires that PayPal verify some of your Information. PayPal reserves the right to close, suspend, or limit access to your Account and/or the PayPal Services in the event we are unable to obtain or verify this Information.

    I sure hope this is an April Fool's joke, but I doubt it. I think they just lost my participation.

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  6. I just deleted my credit card information from PayPal, then asked to be deleted from their system. I am really tired of entities thinking they ought to have free reign with my personal information. There is no way I'm giving them my taxpayer ID or banking information or cell phone number. I haven't even downloaded an app to my iPhone yet because everything has gotten so invasive.

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  7. I’m certainly not showing them my driver’s license...which would entail putting it into cyberspace! Imagine if they got hacked and someone had all our driver’s licenses?

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  8. Ron Paul soldiers on:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/23/ron-paul-amasses-delegates-republican-election

    I seem to recall Obama doing some of the same...

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  9. I think they're trying to protect all of us against the frauds that hit them daily. Also, since they're associated with eBay, it keeps the frauds from operating there. I don't much like them, but without them, I'd have to quit eBay, and I'm not ready to do that yet. They are not asking now, but reserving the right to ask later. *When* they ask is when I have problems. . . .

    Actually a whole lot more concerned about Google's impending privacy changes for March 1. And *somehow* Google's explanation that it's not a *person* reading your gmail just isn't that comforting to me. . . . Looking for a new search engine myself. Scroogle maybe. . . .

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  10. Wowiezowie! Biggol thunderstorm roiling around out there. Blundertigers prowling, BIG lightening real close, and very very still. . . . More typical of August than February. . . . Sure a good thang there's no global climate change, eh?

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  11. So, I asked my geeky son, who makes websites for a living, about PayPal’s change in policy. He hadn’t heard of the change, so I sent him the same paragraph that I posted here. His professional take on it is this:

    They're not going to make you do that to log into the site or something; it's just in the event that you are locked out of your account and have no other way in, they can ask you to prove that you own the account. I'd rather they do that than ask a couple of easy to guess security questions and then give away all of your info. It's similar for things like domain ownership. If you want to transfer a domain and you need to prove you are the owner, sometimes you have to fax them a copy of your license.

    So maybe it’s just me and everyone else will be okay with it. I still don’t like that it is so loosely worded, and I don’t like the potential for hacking. So I think I’m going to go old school and just send checks as needed. I do still use credit cards online where that's possible (at trusted sites) and I know those could be hacked. But not one of them has ever asked to see my driver's license, etc.. In my view, if my bank says I'm good for it, that ought to be enough for anyone.

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  12. What a great article, Alan! Thanks for posting it. I had to smile at the brilliance of the plan; can so easily imagine the fervour in the Paul camp. Even better that it will muddy the Republican field.

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  13. Sounds most impressive!

    It has started to snow here.

    The Grands are coming tonight!! Sure hope the weather doesn't put the kabosh on that.

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  14. Still snowing here.
    Half a dusting so far.

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  15. Also, don't forget that *dealers* on eBay have money deposited into their PayPal account when someone buys anything from them. No way to get around it. When I first started buying on eBay in 2003, there were still dealers that would take personal checks. Haven't seen one in a year or so that would.

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  16. Well, calm and bright after our big storm rushed through. Truth is, I just took da boy upstairs, and slept through it, lol! Am now having my favorite landscape of weather: steel blue skies to the north, streaks of bright white clouds in front, and gold and light in the center. Wonderful treat for the eye.

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  17. Ya know what they say, listener. Be careful what you wish for...

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  18. Ya know what they say, listener. Be careful what you wish for...

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  19. Holy Shit! If this is for real, there goes my PayPal account and with it my days on ebay and GEMM. Please let this not be true!

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  20. That is to say, no way, Jose! I give PayPal quite enough info already.

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  21. Hmmm... should have read on.

    That makes sense, listener. And your geeky offspring is right. Sometimes these things are necessary, or deemed to be. Why, when you set up an Amazon Associate account, they need your Social Security No. and if you opt for direct deposit, they need your bank account number. I donno. Sis is totally paranoid but despite my outburst above, I'm usually pretty cool with it. Se Security is necessary. I must say though that the security questions aren't all that easy to guess. once or twice through the years I've gotten locked out of one online account or other and have had now idear what my answers were, so have learned to keep it simple.

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  22. There was a piece on the local news the other night discussing how parts of W. MA have been re-designated from plant zone 5 to zone 6. Like you say, good thing there's no climate change.

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  23. Sounds gorgeous!

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  24. Bill Thomasson2/24/2012 07:38:00 PM

    So you get there and --- "Baby, it's COLD outside!" You know how the song goes.

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  25. Bill Thomasson2/24/2012 10:26:00 PM

    puddle ~~ Not just e-bay dealers. If you make an on-line contribution to the Disability Pride Parade, it goes into our PayPal account. And at one time somebody spoofed our account and cleaned it out. (We got the money back from PayPal.) So this is probably the sort of thing they are trying to prevent.

    Makes a lot more sense once you thing about receiving money through PayPal rather than using it as a payment mechanism. And in principle, anyone with a PayPal account can get money there.

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  26. Bill Thomasson2/24/2012 10:32:00 PM

    I don't think Obama used exactly that sort of delegate strategy. He did put real effort into caucus states that Clinton largely ignored after Iowa. Texas is particularly interesting. We heard that the Clinton campaign didn't realize until two weeks before the vote that a third of the Texas delegates were selected by caucus. They simply tuned out the caucus. Clinton narrowly won the primary but Obama won the caucuses big and once the process was finished actually had a majority of the Texas delegates.

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  27. Bill Thomasson2/24/2012 10:35:00 PM

    As so often happens, last night's snow split the Chicago area. NW suburbs got 8" or more. South suburbs got a trace. Oak Park got 1.5". some of which melted today.

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  28. Bill Thomasson2/24/2012 10:38:00 PM

    puddle ~~ I use GoodSearch. For every search I do -- and I do a lot -- it gives a penny to my chosen charity (APPD). It uses the Yahoo search engine, which is probably tood enough.

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  29. DC used to be like that: it often seemed like the weather in the MD suburbs and the VA suburbs came from different planets. . . .

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  30. Well, since I refuse to use Amazon and never use eBay, I think I'm just going to ditch the PayPal thing anyway. The only thing I use it for is for making two or three donations a year, and those are all related to people I know personally, whom I can simply mail a check to.

    You would not believe how spare my iPhone and Facebook accounts are. I give no information that isn't necessary. Facebook still thinks I live in West Springfield, MA! LOL! I haven't even told my iPhone what my zip code is.

    I'm not paranoid, I just don't see any reason to put my personal information out into the ether. Why make it easy for hackers?

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  31. Yeah, we've gone from Zone 4 to Zone 4B (meaning almost Zone 5).
    Some year I'll be able to plant a Dogwood tree.

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  32. Ah, good point! I hadn't thought of that comingling of religion and science.

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  33. ROFLMEO! Found this on a great weather blog.


    Issued by The National Weather Service
    Baltimore/Washington, MD
    3:53 am EST, Fri., Feb. 24, 2012

    ... WET PAVEMENT AND DISTRACTING YELLOW SUNSET ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT...

    THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON HAS ISSUED A WET PAVEMENT AND DISTRACTING YELLOW SUNSET ADVISORY... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT EST TONIGHT.

    * TIMING... WET ROADS WILL PANIC MOTORISTS INTO FLEEING THE CITY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON, WITH RESIDUAL PANIC-STRICKEN TRAFFIC JAMS EXTENDING INTO THE EVENING HOURS. THE BEAUTIFUL DISTRACTING YELLOW SUNSET WILL BECOME APPARENT TO BICYCLE COMMUTERS AROUND 5PM IN WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE ADVISORY AREA AND WILL MOVE EASTWARD TOWARD THE BAY AREA BY 6PM.

    * WINDS... CALM. BECOMING WEST AND STRENGTHING LONG AFTER THE EVENING COMMUTE HAS ENDED.

    PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

    A WET PAVEMENT ADVISORY MEANS THAT ROAD SURFACES MAY BE COMPLETELY COATED WITH WATER AND RESIDUAL OILS FROM CARS AND TRUCKS. ALL DC AREA DRIVERS SHOULD THEREFORE PANIC, LEAVE WORK EARLY, AND MAKE A FUTILE EFFORT TO GET HOME BEFORE EVERYONE ELSE AND THEREBY CREATE GRIDLOCK THROUGHOUT THE DC ADVISORY AREA. THE DISTRACTING BEAUTIFUL YELLOW SUNSET ADVISORY MEANS THAT BICYCLE COMMUTERS SHOULD USE EXTRA CAUTION AND AVOID RIDING OFF THE TRAIL OR INTO OTHER TRAIL USERS OR WILDLIFE WHILE ADMIRING THE SUNSET'S BEAUTIFUL YELLOWNESS.

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  34. Bill Thomasson2/25/2012 12:08:00 AM

    And, of course, this sunset advisory lasts until midnight. :-)

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