Credit Card Companies and Going Paperless - Just Say No

Last summer I had a problem with my "travel rewards" credit card. I use it for all charges and have upgraded to some pretty spectacular places! But when my main credit card had been compromised, I started using my "gas rewards"credit card for a very short time. The charges I made didn't account for much. In fact, they were barely enough to file in a small claims court. Time passed and I never received a bill. I can remember thinking, I know I'll get the bill next month for sure, and after a couple of months went by, I couldn't really remember if paid it or not. Since I wasn't getting a bill, and I always pay my bills on time, I figured I had paid it.

Unfortunately, I had not! But they were super busy stabbing me in the back in the meantime. Without any written notice, they began contacting the credit reporting agencies about my delinquent account. Over approximately four months time they caused my FICO score to decrease by close to 150 points. The good news is that my score was so good, it's actually still very high, again, because I pay my bills on time. 

It turned out that becuse I wasn't using their card, I was placed on an e-billing cycle on their end. One that doesn't send the bill to my bank, like the better creditors, but to an email address that had been hacked back when I was working as a second grade teacher. Sometime around 2005 or so, the email address they had was spamming all my contacts asking them for money because I had been traveling and was mugged. I tried to close that account, but only succeeded in clearing out the contact list, so no one would get spammed any longer. In theory, they would have received one of those messages, and contacted me, but no such luck. 

I finally received a paper bill at home! I opened that paper bill right when I got it, and paid it over the phone. When I informed them about my stolen credit information, they promptly refunded me around $150 of fees! They did this because I never pay my bills late. However, the damage to my FICO score remains as reported, and they refuse to do anything about that, due to company policy. 

It was super easy for the credit card company to effect my FICO score, which still causes me to lose sleep over this stupid mistake because: A) someone hacked my email and was trying to scam my family and friends, B) someone got my credit card number and charged two cell phones to the tune of $900 - which I caught and C) I never got the electronic bill sent to the bank. Sheesh. I'm doing the best I can to keep up with scammers and thieves. But it leaves me wondering: While I am getting nailed for allegedly late paying a tiny sum of money, did the person(s) who stole the phones get away with that? 

dancing with the stars

Nyle and Peta are told they're safe at the beginning of tonight's show.  In addition to their regular routine, there are three team dances that were each choreographed by a different judge. At the end of the show, one of my favorite dancers gets sent home. Everyone dancing in the competition now is bringing their A game. Surprisingly, Wanya is again in the bottom two, so he really needs votes tonight - if you're into voting early. It's not that he's a lame dancer. He just might not be as popular as the remaining competitors. If you're anything like me, you are already voting for your favorite, and since voting for Jodie is a waste, my votes will be going to Wanya - and maybe Ginger.

DWTS Double Elimination Night

Last week on Dancing With The Stars was "switch-up night," and no one was sent home. That means two celebrity competitors are going to have their mirror ball hopes shattered tonight. There are a couple of team dance routines that will be performed tonight as well. It's called the Battle of the Sexes. The men dance to James Brown and the women dance to Beyonce. If you're anything like me, and you are voting, you like to know who will be going home before you vote. Right? 

If you don't want to know. Stop reading now.

The two couples that go home are...

Von/Whitney and Kim/Sasha

 

Peace From the Ocean

It is sunny and there is a slight breeze tosselling my hair. My dogs are running around gleefully while the roar of waves crash onto the reef below. Their whitecaps threaten to douse me, but I sit just far enough away to avoid even a splash. I am trying to deal with so many sad issues, sorting through the worst of them, as I watch the surfers try to tame the ocean waves. They are rarely successful today. It seems like rectifying the issues with which I am dealing are also like the this tide. Yet I remain calm watching, in contrast to how I feel inside. I can't get enough watching of those waves. When it's time to leave, I turn around once more to see a beauty gently rise, roll for a distance, start to tumble, and then crash on the land, as if to say good-bye. I vow to come back again soon. 

Few of my burdens have gone dormant for some time. As much as I would like to believe they will go away, or even evolve enough to become manageable, they seem to remain stagnant. One of them has come back from the past to reek havoc on my lovely home - like a cancer in remission. Two of them remain constant, like the North Star. One of them is new to me, and I have to watch and see what will happen. Still I hope for the best. Like the grief I felt over the loss of my sweet, Hardy, I am reminded that letting go and observing how they change over time is still the best course for me. I am reminded that I like to sit, and wait, and watch for an opening. So I wait for my sorrows to dissolve into something I am better capable of handling, and soon I will come out again to watch the stars dance in the night sky.