What are you doing today?

[Back in the fold]

Sorry, didn't mean to freak you out...

To be honest I don't use checks at all except for rent. For local shopping I just use my debit card as it is easier than checks to keep up to date with my account as the card will show up right away via on-line banking even if just pending. All my bills, not many, I just do on-line. Also I just don't trust checks. For instance my rent check never goes to a bank. It is scanned and processed electronically. You have probably experienced this in a store where they run the check through a scanner then return it to you. Still there are some, such as my rent, where the check is not returned. Since they are not going to keep the check it ends up in the trash. My apartments DO shred the checks but not all outfits do so the full check ends up in the trash where it can easily be retrieved by a crook, and there are people that do hunt trash for just this purpose. So now that person has your check with the account number and routing number.

Are debit cards any more secure? In one aspect they are as there is no 'paper trail' as there is with a check. Still a photo could still be taken of the card and a person could watch when you enter your PIN. That is one reason why I almost never use my PIN but, instead, select to use the credit option on the terminal, yes, at least in most cases, a debit card will process using the terminal's credit option. Someone could still photo my card but would not have the PIN. Actually I always cover the card number as much as possible when using.

So now we must come to using a card on-line which you do or you would not be a supporting member. A much safer way to do on-line is to open a PayPal account and link your card. Now, when buying on-line, just use your PayPal account and your bank info is not involved. Shoot, you can even get a card through PayPal to use locally so even in a store your bank info is never involved. I DO have such a card but, to be honest, I've never used.

So what am I actually doing today? LOL! Got to make this post fit the topic. View attachment 337867 Actually I typed all the above so it is something I did today. Other than that I am currently washing dishes which means that I pressed a button on my dishwasher. That alone almost exhausted me! Other than that I placed a new order with Omaha Steaks for groceries and found another discount. Along with other discount options I've discovered I now get an additional $10.00 USD off with every order due to a military discount. If this keeps going like it has Omaha Steaks is going to end up paying me. View attachment 337867

It’s spooky and it also gets my goat that thievery has become so rampant . When a guy can’t write a check or use a debit card without extra precautions then something is direly wrong in society . I almost feel like the old cash on the barrel head way of paying would be better but then you can lose cash , which I never have ever , or people think you’re a drug dealer because only dopers carry cash . SWMBO has the PayPal thing because she does a lot of online buying and I use her account sometimes . I never understood why it was an extra level of security but your explanation wised me up so thank you for that . All I can say is that we need to keep our heads while everybody around us is losing theirs .

 

[Back in the fold]

Maybe that was my wife, well, at least she has a hat with SWMBO on it?

SWMBO . She Who Must Be Obeyed for those that don’t know what that is .

 

[MuddyWaters]

It’s spooky and it also gets my goat that thievery has become so rampant . When a guy can’t write a check or use a debit card without extra precautions then something is direly wrong in society . I almost feel like the old cash on the barrel head way of paying would be better but then you can lose cash , which I never have ever , or people think you’re a drug dealer because only dopers carry cash . SWMBO has the PayPal thing because she does a lot of online buying and I use her account sometimes . I never understood why it was an extra level of security but your explanation wised me up so thank you for that . All I can say is that we need to keep our heads while everybody around us is losing theirs .

You can be 3000 miles away and steal from someone now- so, instead of the sketchy folks around town, it's the sketchy folks around the world that have to be protected against.

Someone got my wife's debit card info and quickly spent $400- the bank rejected one of the purchases and locked the account, but one of them got through. Reminds me not to be so frustrated when I go to buy something and the bank blocks it thinking it's fraud. It doesn't happen often, but I'll deal with it in order to keep the real ones from going through.

 

[Essjay]

I would never phone anyone who sent an email asking you to ring a number. I would go to the nearest branch of the bank and speak to a real person who actually works for them. Or look up their phone number and use that not the one in the email. You never know who is on the end of a phone line. Just before covid lockdowns I had a phone call from "my bank" who addressed me by name and knew my account number. They said someone was trying to withdraw a large amount of money and would I authorise it. I phoned the bank's fraud line (on my mobile phone, the call was on the landline) and no it was a scammer. They advised me to go into a branch to arrange a new internet banking pass code and change my ID information so now my mother's maiden name and my place of birth are not the correct ones with this bank. And they issued a new debit card with a different number. Nothing disappeared from the account.

 

[jaylach]

Since I found the military discount on Omaha Steaks I've started looking at other on-line stores...

This has nothing to do do with groceries but, since I found a military discount at Omaha Steaks, I decided to look at other on-line places I shop. So far I've checked Amazon and New Egg. While Amazon does not offer New Egg does ranging from 5-10% depending on the product. Next time I order from New Egg, which happens pretty frequently, I'll have to sign up for the discount. Of course stores that give military discounts don't just take your word for it and you have to verify your status.

There is a site called ID.me that handles this. Normally I would not put my Social Security number anywhere on-line but this is a reputable outfit that is linked with the Veteran's Admin, Social Security along with other federal and state benefit systems and a Social Security number is absolutely needed for military status verification.

The way it works is that you click the link for a military discount on the seller site and it opens a log-in for ID.me. Log in and the ID.me knows that it supposed to verify from the seller site. From my past I know how this parsing of info is done but no need for details, it just works.

 

[Lanpenn]

Since I found the military discount on Omaha Steaks I've started looking at other on-line stores...

This has nothing to do do with groceries but, since I found a military discount at Omaha Steaks, I decided to look at other on-line places I shop. So far I've checked Amazon and New Egg. While Amazon does not offer New Egg does ranging from 5-10% depending on the product. Next time I order from New Egg, which happens pretty frequently, I'll have to sign up for the discount. Of course stores that give military discounts don't just take your word for it and you have to verify your status.

There is a site called ID.me that handles this. Normally I would not put my Social Security number anywhere on-line but this is a reputable outfit that is linked with the Veteran's Admin, Social Security along with other federal and state benefit systems and a Social Security number is absolutely needed for military status verification.

The way it works is that you click the link for a military discount on the seller site and it opens a log-in for ID.me. Log in and the ID.me knows that it supposed to verify from the seller site. From my past I know how this parsing of info is done but no need for details, it just works.

Are you a military veteran? I found out that the military integrated US society far more than, for example, here in Brazil. It seems interesting that there are discounts and other benefits to military people (even regarding family-based immigrant visas). I forgot to mention, the United States and Brazil completed the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The USA were one of the first countries to recognize Brazil's independence (the first country ever was probably Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata).

 

[jaylach]

Are you a military veteran? I found out that the military integrated US society far more than, for example, here in Brazil. It seems interesting that there are discounts and other benefits to military people (even regarding family-based immigrant visas). I forgot to mention, the United States and Brazil completed the 200th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The USA were one of the first countries to recognize Brazil's independence (the first country ever was probably Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata).

Yes, I am medically retired from the U.S. Navy and have been since 1973. Ya, I'm an old fart. Medically retired due to an injury causing the loss of sight in my right eye.

 

[jaylach]

Sort of trying to figure what goes on with my beasties... For about the last two weeks my cockatiel has not left his cage. Also I have not once seen my rope fish in the same time. Today my bird has been out of his cage and my rope fish has appeared bopping around the tank again.

In other threads I've mentioned the affect of the moon cycles and weather so mayhaps that is it. It just seems odd that a bird and fish show the same activity on a regular basis...

 

[gwand]

Sort of trying to figure what goes on with my beasties... For about the last two weeks my cockatiel has not left his cage. Also I have not once seen my rope fish in the same time. Today my bird has been out of his cage and my rope fish has appeared bopping around the tank again.

In other threads I've mentioned the affect of the moon cycles and weather so mayhaps that is it. It just seems odd that a bird and fish show the same activity on a regular basis...

Did you leave your apartment in the last two weeks?

 

[jaylach]

Did you leave your apartment in the last two weeks?

Oh... I see how it is... I leave and they get together and decide to come out to play.

Actually it is rather interesting as this is not an isolated thing. Both the bird and rope fish go through these cycles on a regular basis.

Edited to remove a lot that didn't fit here...

 

[Lanpenn]

I am thinking about creating a thread (on this forum) as a kind of journal for my brine shrimp culture project. Today I practiced listening by... listening to an Astronomy lecture from a practice test for TOEFL (good material from TST, indeed Josh MacPherson talks perfectly as the people from actual TOEFL when narrating the questions), stopping after a few seconds and transcribing everything I understood. I have an impression that my listening improved in some way since December. I found it particularly fun to talk with an AI by microphone about the Plano Real. One of the first times I used ChatGPT (seriously).

It seems I provoked some kind of bloom in my artemia (well, I learned how to pronounce the word in English correctly) culture and the water still didn't turn translucid, even with my sponge filter turned on (usually the water turns translucid until the next day or even after a few hours). However, the creatures seem okay, with someone at the metanauplius or pre-adult stage. Since I found some (academic) work from people that feed artemia with pig manure, why not try to feed BSFL frass, a thing I get every day for almost free? This may caused some bacteria to bloom (as well as the probably expired dried yeast solution from the refrigerator).

 

[gwand]

I flew out to Los Angeles today to spend some time with my son. I flew into LAX and realized I was very near to Inglewood where The Fish Store is located. I was going to mail order tiger endlers and gold Melaka rice fish from them in the near future. If only my new 20 gallon tank was fully cycled I would buy the fish directly and fly home with them. Darn.

 

[GaryE]

I'm reading @Lanpenn with sympathy. TOEFL tests are hard, speaking as an English teacher who prepared many many students to jump through that flaming hoop.
Out in the fishroom, I had a couple of houseplants that looked like goners, but that have rallied in the past 2 weeks. The photoperiod is lengthening. The daytime temperature of the room has gone up one degree celsius, from sun through the three windows. Even with artificial light on the tanks, the fish have been dull for a few weeks now. Last year, my first full year with the fishroom, I had an explosion of breeding in April. When it reaches 10c at night, I open the windows and put fans in them (reinforced to keep wildlife from seeking a fish dinner). That's when things really pick up.

March here is an endless month - hinting at Spring but capable of being winter. The ground is almost thawed, so today, I measure out a fenced in section so the dog can run. When Spring comes, we get a parade of tourists driving quickly along the road in front of the house. The other night, Mabel the dog and I accidentally frightened off a herd of deer standing in the middle of the road in the dark. Seconds later, a car doing twice the speed limit roared right through where they'd been. All it hit was two very big speed bumps just up the road.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Got some backing on a new bow project. This is a hickory short bow with recurved tips. Since the wood is going to be pretty highly strained, I'm backing it with dogbane fiber to give it a little more power and hopefully keep it from exploding on me. Covered the tips with elk antler--I think you can just see it in this picture. Now a two or three week wait for everything to dry out so I can start bending it!

 

[Lanpenn]

I'm reading @Lanpenn with sympathy. TOEFL tests are hard, speaking as an English teacher who prepared many many students to jump through that flaming hoop.

I don't know if TOEFL is hard, but evidently, there are challenges. Even in Portuguese (my native language) it would be difficult if something like "TOPFL" existed. For the Portuguese language, there is the Celpe-Bras (probably existed since 1994). In this case, it is administrated by the Ministry of Education and there is only one test per year (and there are two steps on different hours). Do you still offer TOEFL classes?

I will find out if my project can participate in a great agricultural fair that will occur here in the region (after all, aquaculture may be under legal aspects involving the agricultural sector).