Accident waiting to happen

Today was the day I learned. I’m one of those accident-prone people that things always happen to. Whether it’s standing in the ocean one minute and knocked down (and under) by a rogue wave and bleeding the next. Or standing still, straddling my bike at a stoplight to only be falling over and knocking down the hubby the next (for no apparent reason). That’s me. Or I might the only one in all of Boulder to get the scam call about those government stimulus checks. Or to be the only one of everyone I know who uses Craig’s List to be scammed. Yep. You got it.

I put a chair and a table I really want to sell on Craig’s List. Everyone I talked to has had the best of luck – selling and buying things left and right in no time flat. So I posted something back in May. I got one inquiry and then NOTHING. So my posting got taken down after the 30 days allowed. So I posted again, slashing the prices. One woman came by and we never heard from her again. Another was going to and the hubby didn’t answer the phone when she was coming and she bought something else. And then. We were minutes away from leaving for vaca to SC and I get another e-mail inquiry asking if I’ll take less. (No.) I noticed that the English seemed a bit broken, but nothing too interesting. The person used their AOL account and never signed their name. Said they wanted the chair. I explained that we would be traveling so I wouldn’t be able to work with them on a pick up time until after our return. I stupidly went ahead and gave our address. A few days into our trip, I get another e-mail with a UPS tracking number for a check that had been sent and information on where to wire money for ‘the movers.’ Huh. I wrote back — yet again — to explain that we would not be available to accept the package. And — again — that we wouldn’t be able to do anything until our return. I was starting to feel weird about it at this point. Feeling vulnerable for giving my address and being away and having this person ignore my e-mails and limitations. The package arrived and we found it in our mail pile a week later. A day after our return, I then get a rather threatening e-mail that says,

“Hey,
whats going on with my money? Why haven't i heard from you? I presume you have gotten the check cashed by now. Please i need an urgent update regarding this transaction as i told you i have some other properties to be moved and wouldn't want any form of delay whatsoever.

Await Your Urgent Response”

Hmm. So at this point I was just mad and sick of this guy. And too tired from traveling and so forth to deal with any BS. And I responded as such. Telling him that if he READ HIS E-MAIL he should have read that I was OUT OF TOWN and that I had told him this REPEATEDLY. I also said that I didn’t appreciate his tone and that I would not be proceeding with the transaction. In other words: DO NOT F WITH ME. He responded with a very contrite apology and “please continue as planned.” So today I wrote once more with a list of questions including the “Why on earth would you expect me to wire money to a moving company” when he could obviously do that himself. I haven’t heard another thing from him. And with all of this under my belt, I still had the matter of the unopened package to contend with. When Rock Star came, I consulted with her. In true Rock Star form she asked, “Did you check the Craig’s List site for info on what to do if you suspect fraud?” Duh. (She’s so good.) So I did. And there it was in plain, big ole red letters right there on the front page of my listing:

Avoid scams and fraud by dealing locally! Beware any deal involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer, cashier check, money order, shipping, escrow, or any promise of transaction protection/certification/guarantee.

Okay. So. I need to read things more carefully. I then contacted the Boulder police who informed me that I had done everything correctly to this point. That they receive at least two of these complaints a day and that I was obviously a very intelligent person. Obviously. (If only I had a dime for every time I heard that. ☺) And that I shouldn’t respond to him again. (I haven’t) And now the chair is in the capable hands of Feather Thy Nest, a consignment store in downtown Boulder. Okay then.

And, to top it off, I thought my mom had cancer. All week we’ve been thinking that these medical tests and bruising and fatigue and such could only mean one thing. And here I am back home after JUST BEING THERE. And since they were sending her to an oncologist, I was justifiably freaked. She’s my mom and in case you didn’t know — we grew up together and I’ve raised her single-handedly since she was 16 -years-old. So she wasn’t going to go and die on me without a fight. As luck would have it, she isn’t. She’s totally fine. So thanks to E and the egg man for talking me down. I thought I was going to lose something irreplaceable and I was scared shit-less. Now if we can just get her moving forward and on with her life — all will be right in the world. Tragedy narrowly averted and all that jazz…

Today Bean decided that time out was only a game. So she’d come over to me, pinch me on the arm and wait for my response: “NO pinching. Do you need a time out?” To which she would respond, “Yep.” And then would walk over to the time out chair and sit down. This went on for a while until she put herself in a time out and started crying. Can you say: NAP TIME?

And Miss 6 (now 7) has been at camp all week. Sports Camp via the Boulder Parks and Recreation. They’ve rock climbed, canoed, played bocce ball, frisbee golf and much, much more. At dinner she said, “Do you want to hear what I learned today?” I said yes, thinking it would be some game or sports thing. And she says, “Me Chinese. Me not dumb. Me put cork in camel’s bum. Camel go fffoooffff. I go zoom. That’s how I got home so soon.” If that doesn’t beat all. You pay good money for a camp that gets them outside and exercising and they come home with that. Huh.

Besides that, I’ve been back at work. Starting up with a new client, meetings left and right, etc., etc. It’s all fun right now so I can’t complain. One funny thing to note is that I got an e-mail from my HUGE high school freshman year crush. He sent me pics of his fam and so forth. Very surreal. It’s odd how Facebook and LinkedIn can reunite you with some of these people you haven’t thought of in years.

I’ve rambled on enough. And I’m not even making sense any more. The hubby’s out with the boys and I’m home drinking and blogging. Not a good mix. Don’t drink and blog.

Mom, I love you more than words. Be happy. Go forth and conquer. The world is yours. Carpe Diem.

TODAY’S THEME SONG: Don’t Drink the Water. Dave M. Theres no place here, what were you expecting? No room for both, just room for me.