What are the bets the check is “accidentally” for too much and she wants me to send her back the “overpayment” after I cash it. This is so lame, I’ll play along to see if she is dumb enough to send the check (for evidence) and her real address. Like any babe who looks like this has to advance money for a room. I reported her to ScamVictims and posted this picture. What I don’t understand is how these people avoid being arrested, I mean, are not bad checks illegal?Theresa called from Camp Wilmie to say her tenant here may need a place. The old condo is being taken over by the bank for sale, although I personally think Theresa should have applied for a bailout. The tenant is apparently from Texas and behaves okay, but you know what they say about the other man’s okay. However, renting repossessed condos and vacant bedrooms is a very risky lifestyle in Florida, so I’ll accept a tenant wise enough to obey all the rules in order to get a nice place like this.
Alfredo called, and he is ill. I biked over and put a “closed” sign in the window for him. It also means I had no work today. I’m still not ready to mind the shop, since most of the repairs are custom work. I told you, I can only do heels and soles. This gave me time to heavily advertise the room for rent, which resulted in the scam attempt just mentioned.
Speaking of scams, I’ve brought up before the ease with which anyone can purchase a used ATM and hook up to the system. It is a thriving business for ex-cons and there is nothing to prevent them from doing so. The days of the phony cover plate are gone. This is where they placed a replica of the ATM over the front which recorded your pin number and gobbled your card. Now, the cons buy the whole machine and set it up legitimately somewhere, silently gathering all your information. They wait months to strike, so as to lose the trail. It is best to use ATMs inside banks and lobbies.
Wallace sprang for the Grand Slam (breakfast) at Denny’s and was headed back north by 9:45 AM, with Millie riding shotgun. The progressively better situation here means he’ll be back as soon as possible. Trust me, Florida is great in the winter, millions of people think so. I believe in a short few months from now, this place will be the envy of many. Wallace has been reading Ellery Queen, maybe we have another convert.
I see the government is now arresting teens for “sexting”, sending nude pictures between cell phones. Americans have to be the only place in the world where teenagers thinking about sex have become outlaws. Such statutes are obviously created by frustrated lawyers and supported by the most wishful of bad parents. All prohibition creates a new brand of criminal who view flaunting such useless law as a duty and a lark.
In true bureaucratic fashion, both the transmitter and receiver of the pictures are automatically guilty. So if you find a cell phone, send everybody you hate the wrong photo before you toss it. Oh, and don’t worry about fingerprints, because you already know about getting your toeprints grafted, and anybody can buy a set of self-adhesive silicon “Elvis” tips on eBay.
Today’s trivia. I run a calculation to find the best [non-stock] investment in bad times. These are conventional investments where your money is reasonably secure and you can get at the principle with a few days notice. For the first time in my life, I could not find a single candidate. Rates of return are so low that nothing out there seems worth any risk at all. For the record, I have developed a formula that tells me how much I would have to invest to get a return of $500 per month, an entirely reasonable goal which, say, pays the rent in Costa Rica. But right now, the best available investment that meets my criteria would require $116,000. People that have that kind of cash seem to already be in Costa Rica.
ADDENDUM
Famous Family Quote #3. “We took the money you had hidden in your room because you weren’t using it.”
Yeah, what right do I have to that money just because I worked for it? Of course, at such a young age, I hadn’t yet heard about the tax department. They take all your unused money. Isn’t that fine, I wasn’t “using it”. But what I never figured out was how my parents found the cash taped up underneath my sock drawer within five minutes after I left the house.
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