What makes me crazy and annoyed..

[B.D.F.]

Thanks!

Yeah, I am not the best when it comes to preventative maintenance on things that are basically 'in case' items. I do not even use any type of stabilizer in the fuel nor do I drain the fuel out of anything; that generator was last fueled maybe 8 years ago and had at least 3/4 of a tank of that old fuel in it when I started it this time (and yep, it started and ran on that fuel just fine, lean condition aside). But I think tomorrow I will take the carb. off and apart and at least clean it and blow it out with compressed air to see if that fixes it. The machine was made in 1995 and only some parts are still available; whole carb.s are available but they are $160 and I really do not think I will put that much, and probably more, into a machine that old that I know has high hours on it already. I bought it used from a friend but he lives a ways out in the sticks and so loses power far more often than I do and for far longer periods of time, so I know the machine has a lot of use. If I put a new carb. on it and then the brushes fry, I am going to be cranky. Probably better to spring for a new, middle- of- the- road quality generator than to throw a lot of money into that one.

Brian

Glad you got powered back up Brian!

You had better start giving that genset a lil TLC from now on. I run mine for an hour or so once a month with a mild load, just to keep it ready...

[Conrad]

Surely* this is not a public comment on erectile dysfunction.




* Shirley?

And don't call me Shirley!

Didn't we reference that in another thread recently?

I believe that someone may have called him Lucy.   

[MrPepsi]

Fu&#ing hackers.
This time I had to cancel one credit card, and my checking account.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[Conrad]

Fu&#ing hackers.
This time I had to cancel one credit card, and my checking account.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

What happened B?

[MrPepsi]

Lets just say I was stupid.
For about 15 years I had a Windows Server hosted on a public IP, which held my website, and for many years an Exchange server. I also used it to RDP into so I could access my home files, print things for the wife, etc. Well I also used the standard RDP port instead of using a different port. I figured who cares about my few files. Well what I didn't expect is someone to figure out how to RDP into it. I woke Monday to find alerts for new logins to Google, charges to Amazon, PayPal, etc. So because of Amazon, they choose to cancel my credit card, and because of PayPal then closed my checking account. So now as I'm about to leave for an oversees vacation, I am dealing with new credit cards, which I have not yet received, and new checking account.

so much fun.

It was a well updated 2008 R2 server which is kept up to date.
Now it is gone forever. No more public IP PCs.

[B.D.F.]

I have not been hacked but I have had a great deal of identity theft. Whole buncha' times on CC's, to the point where two card issuers have flagged my accounts as high risk, and password protected them. One day I actually got a call from a card issuer asking me if I was me because the woman I was speaking with also had 'me' on the other line. We have also had our federal tax returns filed by others.... twice. The first one of those was an interesting experience, starting off with us getting a refund that was much, MUCH larger than what we should have received. That was the first part of the fraud, the second part was supposed to be the IRS electronically sending the money to "our" account that the person(s) doing the defrauding had set up to receive those monies.... but the IRS sent us a check instead. That one also had a lot of steps required to prove fraud as well as cleaning it up, starting with filing a police report and filing a criminal complaint with the fed. gov't, DOJ if I remember right. Not all that painful but it did take a long time, around 9 months as I remember. The second income tax fraudulent filing went much faster which I guess is good news.

I have not had a credit card expire in years now; they have always been subject to fraudulent use, cancelled and replaced with new ones (via next- day delivery too) long before they even approach the expiration date.

And for whatever crazy reason, or perhaps completely by coincidence, a lot of the time the large, fraudulent sale that triggers the call from the card issuer and the ensuing little circus that follows it has been at an Apple store. The usual method seems to be two small purchases (to prove the card numbers are legitimate and active) and then one large one (that is often the Apple purchase). What trips the CC issuer to the fact that it is fraud is that the purchases are almost always a great distance apart physically, as in different states.

And before someone asks, nope, I have never, ever had any of my cards leave my possession, have never had any of the numbers 'get loose' (directly from me, obviously the numbers are being booted from merchants or perhaps through data leaks) and am not doing anything at all that I can think of to cause or contribute to this continuing theft.

Ah, good times.

Brian

Fu&#ing hackers.
This time I had to cancel one credit card, and my checking account.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[MrPepsi]

Yes I too have had to file police reports for fraud, two times.
Both for Cable accounts setup down in LA.

As well as a few credit cards I've had to close.

[B.D.F.]

The funny thing about me having to file a local police report is that no one, including the local police, cared about it nor did they do anything about it. And everyone knew in advance that it was going to go that way- I had to have an official, local police report simply to file a complaint with the DOJ, which in turn was a requirement of the IRS to begin their (and the only one) investigation into my fraud case. Strange world sometimes but I could not just deal with the IRS, I needed the other two agencies, in that order, to actually open a case with the IRS.

Brian

Yes I too have had to file police reports for fraud, two times.
Both for Cable accounts setup down in LA.

As well as a few credit cards I've had to close.

[MrPepsi]

Yeah, real funny.

[B.D.F.]

Well, I meant it was funny in the odd sort of way. Not humorous. It was just odd that the steps that were required were not effective in any way, merely pre- requisites for the next step until the final step, which was with the IRS (Internal Revenue System for any non- Americans, they control our income tax system here) who actually did something about the situation. And both my local police as well as the DOJ people I spoke with knew exactly how it worked and that they were not going to do anything at all beyond generating the report needed by the next agency.

I probably should have used the words 'odd' and 'interesting' instead of funny. Just a quirk of the way the system works, not really bad and it did not take much time with either of the first two agencies so little cost was generated for the taxpayers.

Brian

Yeah, real funny.

[MrPepsi]

Not really directed at you, just more of a I know what you mean sort of way.

[VirginiaJim]

TV shows that are composed of multiple re-run parts, but displayed as first run.   This really makes me annoyed and crazy.  American Pickers is a big offender of this.  I'm always saying to the wife, if she's awake, 'Hey, didn't we see that before?'.   She has a better memory than I do, of course.  I go to look at the Directv first aired and it shows basically it's new.  NO IT ISN'T.  Do you (American Pickers or Directv) guys think I'm stupid or something?  I know it's a f'n re-run re-packaged!  And yes, I've started drinking early today.  I delete the program post haste.   Take that!  I say.  You bunch of a'holes.    And yes, I could stop watching this crap but I'm a professional tv watcher.  It's what I do.

[maxtog]

Yes, that annoys me too.

[B.D.F.]

That ought to teach 'em Jim!

:-)

A friend of mine had a squabble with Sears way back when, and cut up his 'revolving charge card' until they learned their lesson. Not sure if they learned or not but shortly they will not be about to be taught anything.

Brian

TV shows that are composed of multiple re-run parts, but displayed as first run.   This really makes me annoyed and crazy.  American Pickers is a big offender of this.  I'm always saying to the wife, if she's awake, 'Hey, didn't we see that before?'.   She has a better memory than I do, of course.  I go to look at the Directv first aired and it shows basically it's new.  NO IT ISN'T.  Do you (American Pickers or Directv) guys think I'm stupid or something?  I know it's a f'n re-run re-packaged!  And yes, I've started drinking early today.  I delete the program post haste.   Take that!  I say.  You bunch of a'holes.    And yes, I could stop watching this crap but I'm a professional tv watcher.  It's what I do.

[VirginiaJim]

We have a Sears anchor store at our mall and it's the most deserted place there.  I know we don't go into it anymore and I wouldn't buy appliances from them either.  They sell what everyone else does.   Once they changed their selling model they've been going downhill fast.  What they need to do is close all of their stores and re-open with something fresh, new and upbeat.

[Classvino]

Too late up here.

Sears Canada has gone into liquidation and soon will be no more.

Fortuneately (for me, I guess) the company I work for, which was a subsidiary, was purchased during the  (failed) restructuring process.

Jamie

[B.D.F.]

Well, they (Sears and Kmart) are going to close but they will not re- open. WalMart has driven the stake into Sears' heart and it is all over but the screaming. Sears (and Kmart) will just disappear because they are NOT too big to fail. GM and Chrysler were too big to fail but Sears is not. There might have been a time when they were but it has been many years since then, if that time ever existed.

It is the way of the world; out with the old, and in with the new. The kerosene delivery man went away when electric lights became common, reliable and affordable. The blacksmith went away when cars became common, reliable (kinda') and affordable. Now the old way of doing retail business, with large mark-ups and 'nice' stores and presentations (remember when stores had carpets, a ceiling and were attractive and finished looking?) are up against warehouses that serve as retail outlets, mark-ups in the sub- 2% range and cut- throat business models to shave the last 1/100th of a penny off of merchandise. Sears is not failing because they are doing anything wrong, Sears is failing because the world has moved on and we no longer want Sears, meaning we will no longer pay for those carpets, dropped ceilings, finished walls, sales personnel, etc., etc. ad nauseum. We (America, as a society) have spoken and it was not in favor of Sears, it is in favor of WalMart / Amazon (the next round of competition to see which one will become 'top dog' in the coming years).

“They Don’t Think It Be Like It Is, But It Do"
-Oscar Gamble

He could have well been speaking about the progress of civilization. He was not, but he could have been....

Brian

We have a Sears anchor store at our mall and it's the most deserted place there.  I know we don't go into it anymore and I wouldn't buy appliances from them either.  They sell what everyone else does.   Once they changed their selling model they've been going downhill fast.  What they need to do is close all of their stores and re-open with something fresh, new and upbeat.

[Rhino]

I grew up in Sears and Roebuck's. Not the actual store but in their cloths, shoes, appliances and other home furnishings. When it was time to shop, my mom and dad would get out the "Sears and Roebuck" catalog (back then it was not just "Sears"), all 2 or 3 inches thick of it and buy what the family needed.

So what I find strange is that Sears was doing business the way Amazon does now 60 years ago. Used a catalog and the phone instead of the internet but same concept. Then they went to the big expensive store in the mall. I lived in Sears stuff but never actually saw a Sears store until I was in my 20's.

[jettawreck]

I grew up in Sears and Roebuck's. Not the actual store but in their cloths, shoes, appliances and other home furnishings. When it was time to shop, my mom and dad would get out the "Sears and Roebuck" catalog (back then it was not just "Sears"), all 2 or 3 inches thick of it and buy what the family needed.

So what I find strange is that Sears was doing business the way Amazon does now 60 years ago. Used a catalog and the phone instead of the internet but same concept. Then they went to the big expensive store in the mall. I lived in Sears stuff but never actually saw a Sears store until I was in my 20's.

Yes, exactly. Seems after they left the catalog priority to become "America's Retailer" things soon started to go downhill. About the time shopping malls became the rage?
In the rural area we lived most of the family non-grocery shopping was thru the S&R catalog. Clothes, Craftsman tools, tires, appliances (Kenmore, of course), paint, home furnishings, etc. After I graduated high school the first thing I applied for was a Sears credit card. It was easy to get and built a perfect credit rating. Made getting vehicle and a home loan a lot easier.
Remember "Sears Best" products that earned their gold star in an oval? They had good quality products and the ordering by phone and pickup at the local retail outlet hole-in-the-wall "store" was almost a treat for a trip to town.
So now that they are about done, we are back to ordering things sight unseen and getting them delivered.

[B.D.F.]

I grew up in suburbia and there was a Sears store around 'always' about 15 miles away, and when I was 12 they built a mall, with Sears as the 'anchor' store, in the city I lived in. So we too had a lot of Sears stuff around, some clothes but not all that much but lots of appliances, yard tools and so forth.

And I did not think of it that way but you are right; Sears, Roebuck and Co. absolutely was the nation's retailer through catalog sales for many years before moving so heavily into retail. And eventually actually stopping catalog sales entirely. But the Internet came along and spurred on more changes and it seems that Sears just could not adjust far enough, fast enough.

Brian

I grew up in Sears and Roebuck's. Not the actual store but in their cloths, shoes, appliances and other home furnishings. When it was time to shop, my mom and dad would get out the "Sears and Roebuck" catalog (back then it was not just "Sears"), all 2 or 3 inches thick of it and buy what the family needed.

So what I find strange is that Sears was doing business the way Amazon does now 60 years ago. Used a catalog and the phone instead of the internet but same concept. Then they went to the big expensive store in the mall. I lived in Sears stuff but never actually saw a Sears store until I was in my 20's.