five thousand shades of blue

---

boy, what luck

Spam received, snipped for brevity.

Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 21:10:21 -0800
From: "phillip *******" [p******@****.com]
To: [the email address for our SCA branch]

ATTN:CEO/MANAGER
From:Dr.Phillip *******
Nepa Office
Lagos,Nigeria

Sir, Hah! -- sg

I am Dr Phillip *******, the financial controller, National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) Lagos. Annex office, Lagos- Nigeria. I am writing you after careful consideration and the urgency for foreign assistance to remit the sum of Twenty One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars ($21.5m).One of the cardinal objectives of the present Civilian Government led by President Obasanjo is total rehabilitation of the Energy sector of Nigeria Economy to stimulate the much needed economic growth. In the past couple of years, the government have voted through the Act of Parliament billions of dollars in that regards.

[snip]

I have taken you in total confidence and I am soliciting your assistance to provide an account where the sum of Twenty One Million,Five Hundred Thousand dollars ($21.5m) will be transferred via telegraphic means through Central Bank of Nigeria Correspondence Bank in Europe The Director of Foreign Remittance Central Bank of Nigeria is part of this deal and I hope you will not fail us as this is an opportunity to secure the future of our families. You are to receive 30% of the money for your assistance while myself and the Director of Foreign Remittance Central Bank of Nigeria will have 60% and of course 10% is for expenses we might incured during the cause of transfer. Please you are required to furnish me your Bank details, your private telephone/fax numbers immediately. You are advised to reach me on my email

Yours faithfully,

Dr.Phillip *******

OK, patience, patience, here's where it gets good...
------------------------------------------------------------
Nigerian Scam !! READ if you've received a request!!
http://www.secretservice.gov/alert419.shtml

Man, the rotten luck to get an auto generated signature that blows your scam!

For more hilarity... (Read all the way to the end.)

weekend + one

Saturday: Well, we (Andra, Marian and myself) had planned Friday evening that we would go to our local SCA event for only a few hours, and were hoping they'd reduce the fee for us, since the full event was $18 (event + feast + staying overnight + breakfast). Since Marian is allergic to seafood and corn and other things, she never eats a feast she doesn't prepare, and I just do NOT camp in October! Thankfully they were just letting people who only wanted to stay for a bit just come in and not have to pay at all. I got called into scribal duty, which I was prepared for but annoyed me nonetheless. I mean, what if I had decided not to go to the event at all? Who would have prepared the awards? I hate when assumptions are made about this sort of thing.

On the off chance they weren't willing to let us in for a reduced rate, we had devised a plan B: Keep heading west until we hit Florence (on the coast) and hit some of the thrift stores there. We decided to go to Florence anyway, since we only stayed on-site for about 2 hours. It was kind of a bust. I did however find a pair of size 16 Eddie Bauer jeans, which I'd been looking for for a while, since the ones I had already fit perfectly.

We drove back (about a hour's drive), after grabbing a late lunch/early dinner at an A&W (not the best I'd had, yech) in time to attend our employee's pumpkin carving party. We got there at about 8:30 or so (it started at 8pm) and there was already a line for a spot at the carving tables. We had each brought fairly small pumpkins so once we got a spot it didn't take long. I did a kitty face (eyes, nose, whiskers, ears, and on the back, a tail). An did a pentagram with the words "Blessed Samhain", not carved out entirely but the rind peeled away. Marian did a goddessy figure.

There were prizes for the pumpkin carving, which I didn't know about in advance. My pumpkin ended up winning best small pumpkin and An's won best overall. As cool as hers is, there were others that were pretty cool too -- I'm guessing the witchy-types in attendance voted for that one. :D

Sunday was a way more peaceful day. We did a store run for some groceries and our usual Sunday dinner at Marian's house. Friends who were in town from Portland were also there and it was a big fat fun dinner. We had a bit of excitement when Erika's kitten Ursula disappeared. We thought maybe she'd gotten out through the cat door for the first time in her young life, but turns out she had just hid herself well under the futon in the sewing room. Little beast had us very worried.

About five minutes after we got home, our roommate J. got home too. She'd brought her bird, a conure Quaker parrot named Mr. Puffy, home. He'd been with her ex-bf down in Medford for the past year or so. She had already told us a lot about him, and so finally we got to meet him. He must have had a really stressful day, because when I set him upon my shoulder, he started attacking my neck. J said he's never done that before. Poor birdie -- I won't hold it against him. A 3-4+ hour drive is trying even for humanoids.

Monday was okay too. Busy with work. I got an email from a friend about a local organization looking for someone to update the look of their website, so I wrote an email and sent the requisite three URLs they were asking for. Cross your fingers and wish me luck, because it does pay.

By the way, it's official: we're flying to the Bay Area in a couple of weekends, instead of driving. The tickets were priced pretty reasonably, and when weighed against the cost of time in driving and taking the truck in for maintenance for such a long drive, it is just worth it. I haven't flown since 1998 and it's making me edgy.

Not looking forward to Friday. I have my meeting with the trustee at 3:50pm. I've been to one of these before in support of a (then) friend, but I'm very nervous.

Courtesy of sylvia: Daniel Lee's manimals. No, not the crappy but kind of cool 80's tv show: a digital artist who used Photoshop to paint in animal features (not blend together with animal photos to make a composite) (!) on a Quadra 950 (!!). Colour me impressed.

Glad to see the end of the week. (If I owe you email... I'm sorry. So much busy.)

You know, it really does sound like he's singing "pulling mussels for michelle".

By the way, I got a "thanks but no thanks" letter back from the U of O for the job I applied for. No big surprise.

One nice piece of news: apparently one of the supervisors where Andra works is moving up to QA, and she was astounded to learn that her co-workers are all recommending her to fill the position he's vacating. She'd make more money, and wouldn't have to take phone calls any more, so she's going to go for it. Keep yer fingers crossed.

Janis' comment about Ben Franklin made me think of something. When asked about my favourite radio station, I often say that I like it because they play everything from Frank Sinatra to Led Zeppelin. I have to wonder if someone from there heard me, because the other day, they played a Sinatra song followed immediately by "Stairway to Heaven". See, I wasn't kidding.

And something Mr. Wheaton (SIR!) said about fortune cookie fortunes made me think about dinner on Friday at House of Chen and the fact that I got four really cool fortunes in one cookie. I've had maybe one with two before, but never four.

Anyway.

You kind of have to be a Christine Lavin fan to appreciate this: Doris and Edwin: The Movie as drawn by Andrew. It's HILARIOUS. (If you want to see more fan art by kids, go here.)

Let us all pray that my new debit/check card arrives within the next day or so, or I cannot order my supercheap Southwest Airline tickets. My current card still works when I use it in stores, but for some odd reason the new one has to arrive and then be validated in an ATM before I can use even the current one to buy online. Argh. I don't want to lose the good price...

Speaking of flying, Eugene airport officials are stymied as to why no one wants to fly out of Eugene as opposed to Portland, which is 2.5 hours north. I priced tickets out of Eugene and out of Portland to San Jose... and it was $100 more to leave from Eugene (not to mention it was not even a direct flight but went first to... you guessed it, Portland). Sorry, but the van shuttle service from Eugene to Portland isn't even $100. I can fill my truck's gas tank for less than half of that and get back and forth to PDX without having to fill it again. Um, people, I think I have your answer for you.

So it will take us longer to drive to PDX than it will for us to fly from PDX to San Jose, but we'll save $200 when it's all said and done. I wish it were cheaper out of Eugene... because that drive is a pain in the ass, and Eugene's airport is a hop, skip and a jump away from my house. Maybe even only a hop and skip.

Thinking I might have a sinus infection. Ugh.

Today's the first day of my sun sign! Woo.

Relaxing sort of weekend. Did laundry, shopping for the café. Spent a good deal of time with Rowan (tortoise-shell/calico cat, pictured at left) on my lap. She knows an lap opp when she sees one and by god she took it.

So much to do in the next week, but at least I have something of a get-away to look forward to in a few weeks.

feardotcomdotcom

An absolutely hilarious and scathing review of an absolutely pathetic horror film...

(Not that I've seen it. But come on.)

at last

It is Friday at last, and while I have many things to attend to this weekend, they can be done from the comfort of my sofa.

Alas I did not get to Portland last night for the booksigning/talk. Maybe next year.

lived to tell

Well, I survived the experience of calling the Good Mortgage Company. They're absolute peaches.

As I mentioned in the comments from yesterday, the other mortgage company, it seems, truly is Evil. Seems they are well-known for their predatory practices and are referred to as the King of Foreclosures. Check out this post and the followups. Most of what these people are talking about, they've done to us as well. I'm going to speak to people about this, believe me.

Doesn't look like I'm going to be able to make it to Portland tonight. Not only do I not have anyone to go with, but my car is being uncooperative. Sigh.

It's hard...

... to discover you've gotten a $98,000 windfall in the mail, then have to wake up.

I know that I need to contact my mortgage companies, but the visceral reaction of even thinking about doing it makes me physically ill. I hate what this is doing to me. I've never liked making phone calls to start with, and if someone were to ask me to make a list of hardest things to do, I'd probably list this at the top.

I hate myself even more for putting it off.

I guess I'm most afraid of hearing, Sorry, it's too late.

this is not a pleasant entry

Tried to be responsible for so long, and tried to do the responsible thing for even longer. Every possible solution failed; after all, corporate America is only after one thing, and it isn't helping people who are going through hard times. So now comes the truly difficult part, the part that involves swallowing one's pride and laying one's soul bare to the world, plunging into the world of legalities we'd all rather not contemplate. In a way it's almost like admitting defeat, but it's not like I didn't try everything I could first.

Yes. The nasty "B" word. :P

Part of having to file stems from failure to secure a refinance, due in part to delays (beyond my control) that pushed the total payoff costs to more than lenders were willing to loan. I don't understand the hesitation in refusing to work with someone to lower their payment so that they CAN stay on top of their payments. I'm frustrated and sad that mortgage companies would rather push a person towards losing their home than do anything to help them get back on track, by refusing partial payments and making the minimum payment that they'll accept much too high for someone who's struggling to get a single payment together. I know the FHA allowed homeowners that had loans with them to refinance and roll back payments into the total, with a lower percentage rate and lower payments -- thereby avoiding foreclosure. Why can't the average mortgage company do this?

Oh, right. It's not profitable.

I'm really very tired of being an adult now. It's too bad crawling into a ball and hiding from the world is not a viable option.

I'm doing a Bay Area trip next month -- probably driving 'cause it's cheaper, possibly flying if I can lay hands on cheap tickets for two -- and right now, it is the only thing keeping me remotely sane. That and the possibility of seeing Nick Bantock at Powell's on Thursday. The only problem is that it's in Portland, 2.5 hours away, on a Thursday night, meaning a very tired early morning Friday. But it'd probably be worth it. So, I don't know.

I opened this window to update but I realized that I have nothing new to say that isn't a retread of everything else I've said lately. I'm tired, mostly.

Thanks to Nein for the one perk of my day via email. It is appreciated.

Grey Tuesday. Feels like it might rain. Wish it would.

Did yoga class #3 last night. Felt a lot better about doing it. Surprised a few people in class (and myself) when they told me I had pretty good form. Must be muscle memory revived from my dance lesson days. Today I have a backache, but I don't think it is bad strain sort of backache. I went into yoga with a backache, besides. Lower back.

Have heard nothing back about the UO job. It probably hasn't been long enough.

(Not a single comment on the art thing (previous entry)? I'm a little surprised. I thought it was hilariously egg-on-their-face great.)

As you can tell, my heart's not really in it today, or really at all lately. I'm not feeling Ernie-funny or Martha-poetic or Jenn-storyteller-ish. Sometimes I'm not sure why I persist in this.

...but is it art?

It was a tradition during my tenure in high school for a member of the senior class to sneak a photo of themselves into the freshman class lineup, usually looking pretty dorky or greasy or otherwise, well, "froshy". My freshman year was no different: one of the senior boys snuck himself in with the name of "Hugh E. Rection". Haw, haw, haw.

It seems that someone has pulled a similar sort of prank on the folks in charge of running the Mayor's Art Show, the opening of which happens during the Eugene Celebration. One of the accepted works, "What Was Wall 34" by Lydia Bentfeather-Brown, is neither a modern Mondrian-esque abstraction nor is Ms. Bentfeather-Brown a Ms.

Rumour has it, according to "Deep Dish Dinah" of The Comic News, that it's really just a chunk of industrial paint room wall submitted by one Kyle Mulligan. It was a section of wall that canvasses were leaned up against as they were painted, inevitably leading horizontal and vertical lines along the edges. And it would seem that the title was more apt than anyone knew.

It could, however, be argued that his choice of that particular part of the wall consititutes art in and of itself. Seeing only a black and white photo of the work, it's hard to tell really if it's any better than paintings I've seen hanging in the Albright-Knox. Having had art history as a minor, I can appreciate the more abstract forms of art. Picasso had an amazing command of the human figure; he chose to express his art abstractly instead.

Anyway. As Dinah said, you have to feel a little bit sorry for the 490 people who were told their art wasn't as good as a discarded paint shop wall.

The rain is coming down fairly unrelentlessly, and the sky is the kind of grey that makes me want to turn over, pull the covers up to my chin and go back to sleep. I went to bed with a sinus headache that wouldn't go away despite my best efforts. I awoke this morning with a cat sleeping on my stomach. That definately didn't help matters any. At least this morning the headache seems to be at bay... for now.

After missing a week, I went to yoga again this past Monday. My shoulders are finally totally better today. Seems it is hard work holding this whole body up. If I keep at it, it'll get easier... at least I keep telling myself that.

Had a couple of those "blank stare moments". One was yesterday, when a guy asked me if I knew of a place within walking distance to get a haircut. Bear in mind: my hair's now long enough for me to sit on it every time I sit down.

Today's comes courtesy of a guy who asked for green tea that I could brew for him. I was about to explain that we were all out of the plain green tea bags when he looked up and said, "Oh you only have tea bags? Never mind," and walked out. I suppose he could have been looking for loose tea, but the way he asked and then left was just very weird.

Submitted an application to the U of O -- Office Specialist 2. Nope, not web design or any kind of design at all. At this point, I've reverted to the "spaghetti test" method of job searching: throw as many resumes at as many jobs I know I can do, and hope at least one of them will stick. Keep those fingers crossed.

Quote of the Season:

Though I feel sad for Demeter when she has to return Persephone to Hades, I am grateful each year for pomegranates in the Underworld. -- Wil Wheaton

I've had a few questions about the "dark time of the year" reference above. It has nothing to do with my current state of mind. If you understand the reference to Persephone above, then you will know exactly what I mean.

It seems to have gone directly from summer to winter, as it has gotten suddenly quite bonechilling at night. I'm heaping on the blankets and turning on the heater only in the bedroom. I'm stubbornly refusing to fire up the furnace yet.

Take pleasure in small things: the café got optical mice for the PCs (mine included). They're wonderful. Thinking about going back for two more for the iMacs (since they're Mac compatible).

Posting from a Red Hat box. Kewl. My site doesn't even look too sucky, which I'm happy about.

Long and tiring week, and it's only Tuesday. Fast forward me, please? Pretty please with sugar on top?

is this just not enough…?

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