I am grumpy. Guess what I did today. I filed out paperwork at the bank because some scumbag somehow got a hold of my bank card number as well as my PIN and stole my money. $880 to be exact. The good news is that the bank got suspicious and cut off access to my bank account and they were not able to access my VISA card and take money from there. I have no idea how it happened as my card was not stolen and I never divulge my PIN number. But there is some serious organized crime in Vancouver and I have heard stories where thieves attach little computer number gatherers onto the modems that send swiped info to the banks for authorization when you make a purchase. They put cameras in the ceiling to get your PIN number. The weird thing is that I don’t use my card a lot. My purchases are always made at very reputable large chain stores. Places where this kind of activity is next to impossible. I am very puzzled. Fortunately everything is covered and my rent will be paid on time. It is all good but I hate the thought of this happening. I hate thieves.
Something else has been bothering me lately and it all just came to an ugly head today. Many of you might know that my city will be hosting the next Winter Olympics in 2010. This might seem very exciting to a lot of you and it is on the surface but every single freaking day there is some news story about some political hijinx or some budget over run or some environmental issue relating to the Olympics. Has been for months. And nothing has started being built yet. They bitch and moan! Or spout some sort of propaganda bottom line about how great this is going to be for our city. Then the Turino games happened and it was Olympic Everything on TV, not just on the news. Everywhere. You know what I mean.
Today the official Olympic flag was raised outside of City Hall by our quadriplegic mayor who is a new international sweetheart after accepting this flag at the closing ceremonies. I have to admit that this is a nice thing. Even a sport curmudgeon like me got all warm and fuzzy. What is icing on the cake? Adding insult to injury? Now the news stations have a little logo that plays in the corner of the TV screen whenever they talk about anything Olympic related (which is practically EVERYTHING) which says:
Countdown to 2010
1444 days to go!
FUUUUCCCKKK! Does this mean they are on the official countdown now and every freaking day I will be forced to watch some stupid day counter when I get my local news? That is 1444 days, people. That is 4 FREAKING YEARS of daily countdown!!!!
I am already totally puking sick and tired of The Olympics Games. I am going to murder somebody if I have to see that bloody countdown thing for the next four years. And I think that I would get off due to justifiable insanity. Nobody should be subjected to that kind of extended thematic examination. If you ask, “How much can they possibly talk about the Olympics?” So far a lot! I will surely be able to tell you EXACTLY how much in vivid detail soon enough. You guys can forget all about anything Olympic for years to come but not me. I will be eating, breathing and shitting Olympics for the next four years. Everyday. Every single day. Think about it….
24 comments:
Thus it goes. My sympathy is with you. When Orlando got the World Cup several years ago, everything became World Cup. And when it was actually going on, there was NO DRIVING ANYWHERE. We just stayed home a lot.
Good luck on the thievery front as well. I hope the bastards slip on some ice or something.
Four years of this relentless countdown?
That's just cruel. I'm sorry.
I had to erase that last one because I misspelled too many words. Typed too fast:
I'm glad the bank caught what was going on and stopped the thief.
Thieves are terrible; glad you got it covered. :o)
Ummm, can we think of one good thing about 4 years worth of Olympics???
Uh...
Uhhh...
Uhhhhhh...
Guess not eh?...
maybe you could start a flamingo collection? lol
sorry sweetie...I'm still laughing at the flamingo story!
The theft thing sucks. Now, the Olympics thing sucks too. There were some peolpe talking about wanting to bring the summer olympics to Chicago sometime. My first thought was "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLL NOOOOOOO!"
That's not the countdown to the Olympics.
That's the countdown to:
a) The last hair falling off of the top of my head.
or
b) My very last all-natural-non-viagra-constructed erection.
(The Closing Ceremonies for either one should be a helluva party)
The thief thing is just plain shitty. Damn! I'm sorry for the hassle, and glad it didn't turn out any worse.
The Olympics? Ha! I can't believe they're doing that!!! That's cruel and unusual -- maybe the furor will die down after the Olympics have been over for awhile. Hope so. If not, you can hang out over here.
Our PIN # got stolen too a little while back. They took $800.00 from the account our mortgage comes out of. Luckily, we got our money back, about 4 weeks later. it's so scary to think that debit cards aren't even safe anymore. it's almost safer to carry cash now,granted with all that change we have to carry, we all will have very heavy pockets :(
I'm excited about the olympics coming to canada-but i feel for those of you that live there. i could only imgine what it's like for your province, and what it'll be like once it gets even closer.
have a good night:)
Our VISA debit card number was stolen a few years ago and used to buy porn on the Internet, with the charges originating in Latvia and Russia. The bank caught on to that really quickly, and I think we only lost about $300 (which was returned to us eventually). The bad part was getting a replacement card with a totally new number, as we do almost all our financial transactions via the Internet.
Your post caught my eye because yesterday we had to activate a new debit card (the old one was expiring), and of course the damn thing has a new number. I've spent the last 12 hours going through Internet sites where I have subscriptions, trying to update my payment info... so far I've been to 19 sites and counting. We work online in e-commerce, so we've got hosting accounts and domain name registrations from one end of the universe to the other, and I hate, hate, hate having to change them all.
As for the Olympics, everytime I think about them being in Vancouver my mind turns to, "Where on earth are they going to put everybody?"
sports=evil
We've already had to replace a credit card (the bank informed us and did it all for us) because we "made a transaction at a suspicious location" and our information may have been compromised. One of our local gas stations closed mysteriously, and reading between the lines in various news stories the place was linked to organized crime.
So, yeah, that really sucks, you losing money from your bank (you will get it back, though). And I hope enough people complain about the countdown that they get wise and take it down. Who needs four years of that?
Plan a fabulous vacation for the time the Olympics will be in town. Then you have a countdown to your fabulous vacation!
GM
Sorry about the criminals. That happened to me a few years ago too. Our card didn't get stolen, just the number. Pretty soon we had about $1200 worth of online gambling transactions on our account. At the time, I actually worked at the bank where we had our account, so I wasn't worried about being held responsible. We got it all taken care of, but that's not even the point. The fact that some loser gambled away $1200 of our hard-earned money is the point, and all he had to do was steal our number off of some receipt or something. Why can't these people use their powers for good?
So very sorry about the theft. They WILL get theirs, just give it time...
OMG, that is awful, a freekin countdown for eons of time. :( I hope everyone COMPLAINS loudly and they take that damn thing off immediately! And hosting the Olympics would truly be a 2-edged sword. Yes, alot of publicity but also hordes of visitors from all over God's creation and you won't be able to MOVE from Point A to Point B. Sweetie, I don't envy you. Come down here and stay with Kerbear and I in the heartland where the wind comes whipping down the plain when the inevitable happens! :)
hugs,
circe
My girlfriend had her bank card number stolen from a pizza place.
The world is crazzzzzzy.
Glad you got it taken care of...too bad you have to listen to all of that Olympic crap.
Oh geez, how horrid! Thank goodness your bank caught it. Get a credit report pulled to keep an eye to make sure other accounts didn't get opened in your name.
we just made it through the SuperBowl, which pretty effectively shut down the downtown area. blech.
Yeah, this would drive me freaking nutso. In, like, a week.
Oh yeah. You're going to have to live with that countdown for the next four years. Every. Damn. Day. I was in SLC in the years leading up to the games there and they put a 6 foot countdown clock on Main Street downtown.
And I was the biggest Olympic curmudgeon because of all the hype (and I LOVE the Olympics). But when they finally came it was pretty dang cool.
oh, crap. countdowns AND crime. Of course those bastards had to target a woman going through some wicked cancer treatment, on a fixed income, with a squeaky clean record (flamigo pinching aside). And I am referring to the countdowners as well as the criminals. I am SO glad you got your moola back.
Happy Birthday, of course. I remember your 19th birthday (so long ago). I recall you DID eat some meat then...
Love,
mrs b
SHERRI-I expect to be a prisoner in my own house too. God!
MOMENTARILY_DISTRACTED-yep! 4 whole years. God! And yes, the bank was great about it all.
NIKKI-damned Olympics. From now on I will blame everything on the Olympics. Great idea! And that link is INSANE!!
TRACI-see? There is nothing good about those Olympics.
DIMA-when they were planning on the bid I thought that too. Dammit!
NIKKI-they are such little squirmers. Flipper is a perfect description. How cute.
CLOSET METRO-I was thinking about it and I will be in my 40's too. Oh man! We are so fucked.
ECLECTIC-thanks for the invite. I am hoping it will die down too.
DAWN-I have been wracking my brains about how they got my PIN number. Every idea makes my tummy clench. Bastards! Glad you got your money back too.
MRTL-I knew you'd understand.
LEIGH-ANN-PORN!?!? How terrible. I am so glad they didn't affect my VISA as I'd have to change that a million times too. I hate doing that. Poor you.
MR. BLOGGERIFIC-I couldn't agree more. I hate sports.
PRECISIONGIRL-I didn't watch any this year. Thanks for the early birthday wishes!
KAREN-no place is really trustworthy, huh? Organised crime is everywhere.
GM-that is a fabulous idea. Thanks.
KELLY-no kidding. You have to be reasonably smart to do this fraud. Why not do something good with those brains. Freaks!
CIRCE-I may just show up on your door. That is if I can actually get out of my apartment with all the tourists. I am right by a big venue.
DIVINECALM-who knew eating out could be so risky. I have been wondering where my info was nicked.
SASSYFEMME-I am totally going to keep my eye on it.
OPERA GALL-ug! Superbowl.
KALKI-freakin' nuts is the right description. I am sooo toast.
ERN-then YOU KNOW! I am a pretty bad curmudgeon about the Olympics in general. I wonder if having them here will change that.
MRS B-I didn't turn veggie until I was 21. Good memory! I don't remember my 19th birthday at all.
Oh the Olympic enthusiasm makes me spit. 1444 days? Are they serious?
That said, I was in Vancouver for Expo '86 and it was awesome. But I am sure leading up to it people were mental.
I worked for a Utah-based company from '98 to '02, and even only being there a few times a month, it was living hell. The main freeway through town was closed for four (yes, FOUR) years, while they "improved" it. We called it the luge, because of the concrete barriers making really narrow lanes where semis liked to run over you for fun. All this set against the backdrop of the hypocrite mormons relaxing the liquor laws in order to maximize profit during the big event (caffeine is evil unless you own Diet Coke stock!). And all the political/scandalous news every single day. And yes, it was to be great for the city! After all is done and said, it was a great two weeks, and cost the city millions and left them with some ski jumps and arenas. I really believe in the spirit of the Olympics, but man it is out of hand.
My condolences to you in advance for the next 1441 days of suffering. I'm just down the road in Seattle, maybe you need to come down for coffee and get away.
best,
bmc
Post a Comment