lisaviolet's diary

Thursday, April 13, 2006

catstuff
03:09 PM - 04/13/2006

The topic: Stuff Handsome eats
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Brussels sprouts

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Be sure to check out the the Friday Ark #82 for more pet related blog entries. A good way to end the week. And to start the week, check out this weeks Carnival of the Cats, being hosted by Begin Each Day (and job well done!).

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otherstuff
02:55 PM - 04/13/2006
We found a quarter and four pennies on our walk this morning

The topic: Spring fever
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I think I’ve got it. It’s really hard for me to concentrate on any one thing. I keep getting sidetracked. This is not a good thing, because I’ve got lots of things I want to do.

Monday, we had new gardeners, to work around the pool. Once again, the grass had overtaken the area. I took some before pictures (Brian always asks why I take pictures when it looks so bad; I always reply that I like to see the difference in the before and after). The gardeners were here for about five hours and it just amazed me what they did:

Brian is so happy with the way it turned out that he’s all gung ho to work out there. As a matter of fact, he’s going to stay home this weekend, put in sprinklers and add some more flat areas with the stones set along the bank by the fence. I think he said two more. Then he wants me to plant flowers in that one area along the fence and he’ll put sod down on the flat areas.

It will look nice when it’s done.

The gardeners will be coming once a month, on a set day for a set price, to maintain the area. Wow. That would be awesome, I think.

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otherstuff
10:05 AM - 04/13/2006

The topic: Credit cards
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You know I’ve been hit by fraud twice this year. Citibank is right on top of theirs, but I wasn’t having the same luck with my Chase Disney card.

I initially reported potential fraud on February 3rd. Even though I called before the charge was authorized (the company who was providing the service called our house, I told her repeatedly I would not authorize it, I didn’t make the purchase, I wouldn’t pay for it), it somehow still made it through. We immediately cancelled my card and two weeks later, I called again wanting to know when the paperwork for the fraudulent charge would get here. “It takes about two weeks.” Two weeks later, I called again. It finally got here in the middle of March. I filled it in promptly, both Brian and I signed it and I sent it back.

Still, the $530.03 charge remains on the card as a balance due. I’m not going to pay it. Then there’s the interest. It’s been on the card since February, after all. I called again on it last night. I talked to the accounts department, who put me through to the fraud department. And she passed me on to the fraud department, saying something about a credit on the account. (WTF, I thought I was already at the fraud department….) I relay the story to the guy on the phone. He needed my old account number, I don’t have it. But he was able to go backwards from my current account number.

Wow, look at that, a credit balance. For $530.03. Lovely. They were able to transfer the balance due amounts, but not the amount credited from the company who originally made the charge. He said he’d transfer it. I asked about finance charges. He credited those, too. I asked how long the credit had been there. “Oh, a couple of weeks.”

Lovely, just lovely.

At least it’s one other thing off of my mind.

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disneystuff
09:54 AM - 04/13/2006

The topic: Overstock.com
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Last year, when I started working on the Disney October DVD, I did a search for new to me Disney music. Found some really nice stuff. Yeah, I know copyright and all of that, but I give these DVDs to folks who were at the meet and don’t charge anything for them. I’m sharing the memories.

So, this year, I do the same thing. Look for music I don’t have. Found some Japanese imports (apparently, they like their Disney). I ordered one from Amazon, I got one on eBay and thought I’d ordered one from Overstock.com, for ten dollars less than Amazon had it.

Yesterday, the final CD got here. The one from Overtstock. It is not the one I ordered. I ordered a CD of Disney song covers. This one is the Tokyo Disney Sea opening day CD. Color me disappointed.

The invoice/packing slip included states this is what I ordered. Oh, yeah? I surf on over to the Overstock website, log in to my account. This invoice does not match my order. I went to their live chat. At one point, I was told, that’s what you ordered. Uh huh, it is NOT what I ordered and what kind of BS was that, that they tried to tell me something like that?

What the hell is this, the old bait and switch? I don’t want this CD. I want the one I ordered. Then it comes out. They’re out of stock on the CD I ordered. Lovely. You’re out of stock so you just automatically replace it with something that has the same word somewhere in the title?

Anyway, they’re going to refund my money, send me a shipping label to return this one and while I was waiting for the info, I went over to Amazon and bought the CD there. Let’s hope it doesn’t magically disappear again.

And Overstock.com? I won’t shop there again.

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