Yesterday I found out that my identity was actually worth something. Worth stealing anyway. The bank phoned and asked me to call the fraud department. They read off a list of charges from my debit card that had been declined, including my latest car insurance premium. (Nice to know after the fact that I was breaking the law.)
Initially the thief made a charge for $1 at Home Depot, then tried to pay five months of their cable bill and two months of a T-Mobile cellular bill, among other random charges. Thankfully the bank took action and halted my debit card. They asked if I had the card in my possession and if I had made any of the charges. Luckily I am not responsible for any of them (I will have to dispute the $1.00 from Home Depot though!). I was told to cut it up on the spot. The inconvenience is that I will not have a card for the next week and that I will need to update all my bill payments to a new number.
How did this happen? The purchases were local, so it there is very little chance that my identity was stolen online. Most likely a waiter or someone had kept a copy of my receipt and used it to make a new card. I'm sure that Comcast has some sort of customer privacy policy, so that won't lead anywhere. But the police might be able to get that information.
Regardless of the outcome of my personal investigation... thanks, Chase. And hurry up with my new card.
Scott
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Friday's Shrimp Boil
In an effort to avoid annoying Lincoln Park crowds infesting our regular watering hole on Friday, we decided to have a small house party. A nice simple intimate gathering with the intention of saving a few dollars on overpriced drinks while getting obscenely drunk at the same time. The theme - Hurricane Relief.
Paying homage to the city of New Orleans surviving the latest natural threat, we mixed up pitchers of Hurricanes, fried up crab cakes, and had an enormous Shrimp Boil. There was so much food we had to invite more people to assist us in consuming everything.
There were complaints about my Hurricanes being too strong or something like that, but these were "Class 5 Hurricanes", not Tropical Storms! That was my take on the Cajun term Lagniappe, meaning "a little something extra". (In this case dark rum being the little something!)
Now I don't know exactly how it happened, but we ended up at that local watering hole anyway. Thankfully, (but completely out of character for me) I ended the night before the trip to the neighborhood 4 A.M. bars. (Where I've heard some friends were held up at gunpoint at the gas station across the street...)
But I'm sure that's another story altogether...
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Chicago City Chase
Tonight is the the night Sarah and I pick up our team packets at advance registration for the Chicago City Chase. Instead of doing actual work this morning I have spent some quality time preparing for the race. After updating my iPhone, I have downloaded every CTA map I could find, and set checkpoints into the Google Maps app to use with the GPS. Gotta love it when technology is on your side for once!
What are our chances of winning this event? I'd say pretty low. Anyone that knows my motto "I don't even like to drive 10K, let alone run that far" will understand. (That's not true... I DO like to drive on a track, just not in traffic.)
That being said, I think our team has heart (...and a combined height of over 150 inches). I agreed to compete with the understanding that this would be a fun event and I would look back with either fond memories or regret depending on my decision.
So this Saturday, hungover and out of shape, I will attempt to conquer this challenge with my head held high and my knees throbbing. . . Luckily they were smart enough to make the finish a bar.
To the victor goes the spoils!
(Be sure to follow us on Twitter to get real time updates throughout the race.)
What are our chances of winning this event? I'd say pretty low. Anyone that knows my motto "I don't even like to drive 10K, let alone run that far" will understand. (That's not true... I DO like to drive on a track, just not in traffic.)
That being said, I think our team has heart (...and a combined height of over 150 inches). I agreed to compete with the understanding that this would be a fun event and I would look back with either fond memories or regret depending on my decision.
So this Saturday, hungover and out of shape, I will attempt to conquer this challenge with my head held high and my knees throbbing. . . Luckily they were smart enough to make the finish a bar.
To the victor goes the spoils!
(Be sure to follow us on Twitter to get real time updates throughout the race.)
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
My new iPhone is trying to get me fired...
So I spent a few hours on Friday at the Apple Store in Oak Brook picking up a new iPhone 3G. The weekend was full of surprises with this new technological marvel.
The first surprise was that once I had used the iPhone's camera feature it would only load Aperture when connected to my Powerbook. I was a little disturbed because this made iTunes not read the phone at all thinking it was a camera. Looking through the Aperture settings I simply turned off the preference to launch when a camera is connected. This will mean when I do connect my E-510 Olympus I will need to launch it manually. Oh well.
The flip side is that it no longer can be read by iTunes, which required a fresh download and re-installation to get it to work. Finally my iPhone is back.
Fast forward to Monday morning in bed. Alarm on my phone is set to go off at 7:20. I check it and see I still a little time to sleep in. After the alarm goes off I get up to shower only to find out that it is actually 9:02.
I knew this phone would get me into trouble sooner or later. I was expecting later.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
pink: a (love) courier service
I just heard about this service on Johnny B's show this morning. And it's right in my neighborhood.
Pink On Tour is a courier service SLASH art installation. Pink began in Austin, TX when a team of volunteer artists and cyclists converted a storefront into a "Love Factory". People visit the factory, write love notes, and pink-clad love couriers deliver them by bicycle all over the city.
The Chicago love factory is located at 2215 West North Ave. in the St. Paul Cultural Center through August 15th
Check it out at Pink On Tour
Pink On Tour is a courier service SLASH art installation. Pink began in Austin, TX when a team of volunteer artists and cyclists converted a storefront into a "Love Factory". People visit the factory, write love notes, and pink-clad love couriers deliver them by bicycle all over the city.
The Chicago love factory is located at 2215 West North Ave. in the St. Paul Cultural Center through August 15th
Check it out at Pink On Tour
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Heritage Festival
Met Erin and the kids out in Downers Grove for the Heritage Festival. We had a great time visiting and eating junk food. A little sprinkling ended our day a little early. Spent some time at the house and went around the lake for awhile. Then it was back downtown for more work until the long weekend break.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Moving Day
As I came into the office this morning I was almost blinded by the bright red walls at the bank of the Ogilvy elevators. Upon entering I find myself with a new desk and no more window view with everything boxed up neatly just waiting to be unpacked.
Not a great way to start your Monday after a long weekend on the road.
Wait, I should probably start at the beginning. This is starting to unwind like a Tarentino film.
With Dave's upcoming move to Denver the boys decide to head to Michigan for a weekend of relaxation and a little mayhem . We left mid-day Friday. I took the Blue Line to meet Dave near O'Hare on his way out of his last day of work. We took his new Subaru Impreza Outback Sport on this road trip. I feel inclined to mention that I hadn't noticed how aggressive this little wagon was until I stepped off the train and saw it among a fleet of buses. Nice going Dave! Now let's break this thing in.
So with traffic we rolled into town a little later than planned and finally met the gang out at dinner. Then outside to a little piano bar along the waterfront. After requesting about 14 songs in a row we decided to head back to the house and enjoy a little late night bonfire. Most everyone went to bed. Dave passed out. As usual I was the last man standing so I cleaned up the yard allowing Dave to stumble around and try to find a place to sleep... inside, of course.
The next morning we headed down into Benton Harbor for lunch (big mistake). While heading back into town, we stopped at the orchard along the way for some fresh apple juice and apple donuts. Delicious.
Saturday dinner was fantastic. After an afternoon at the Sand Bar we headed to the Blue Moon in Douglas. I managed to invite an entire bachelorette party out for drinks later. (The rest you'll have to hear in person...) Spent Sunday again in town and drove back late. Traffic was a nightmare. Also we offered to take Steve up to the north shore so our other friends could get home early to get some work done. Little did we know they would be stranded on the side of the highway with a flat tire.
What a way to end your vacation...
I hate Mondays.
Not a great way to start your Monday after a long weekend on the road.
Wait, I should probably start at the beginning. This is starting to unwind like a Tarentino film.
With Dave's upcoming move to Denver the boys decide to head to Michigan for a weekend of relaxation and a little mayhem . We left mid-day Friday. I took the Blue Line to meet Dave near O'Hare on his way out of his last day of work. We took his new Subaru Impreza Outback Sport on this road trip. I feel inclined to mention that I hadn't noticed how aggressive this little wagon was until I stepped off the train and saw it among a fleet of buses. Nice going Dave! Now let's break this thing in.
So with traffic we rolled into town a little later than planned and finally met the gang out at dinner. Then outside to a little piano bar along the waterfront. After requesting about 14 songs in a row we decided to head back to the house and enjoy a little late night bonfire. Most everyone went to bed. Dave passed out. As usual I was the last man standing so I cleaned up the yard allowing Dave to stumble around and try to find a place to sleep... inside, of course.
The next morning we headed down into Benton Harbor for lunch (big mistake). While heading back into town, we stopped at the orchard along the way for some fresh apple juice and apple donuts. Delicious.
Saturday dinner was fantastic. After an afternoon at the Sand Bar we headed to the Blue Moon in Douglas. I managed to invite an entire bachelorette party out for drinks later. (The rest you'll have to hear in person...) Spent Sunday again in town and drove back late. Traffic was a nightmare. Also we offered to take Steve up to the north shore so our other friends could get home early to get some work done. Little did we know they would be stranded on the side of the highway with a flat tire.
What a way to end your vacation...
I hate Mondays.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Wasted Photo Opportunities
Invite from Dave for this weekend's scavenger hunt:
Hello all,
I've told some of you about this and others may not have heard, so here's the official invite. Years ago I wanted to put this together and now it's finally happening. A photo scavenger hunt. You show up with your team and I give you a list of things to take pictures of. You go run around and take pictures. The team that scores the most points wins. Did I mention the list focuses on bars and alcohol?
This is how it is going to go down: Next Saturday, June 7th, everyone will meet at Easy Bar before 6pm with their team and camera. You will need to find two other people to make a team of 3. There will be a $20/team entry fee to go towards prizes (approx $6.66/person - hail Satan). I'll present the rules and at 6pm you will get the list. You and your team will go around the neighborhood (Bucktown/Wicker Park) and see how many of the things you can get (no driving!). You need to be back at Easy Bar by 10pm. We will have a laptop that we will copy all the pictures to from your camera. In the next few days, we will judge the pictures and tally points. At a later date we will have some kind of party/gathering and crown the winning team and present prizes. We will also be showing the winning pictures (and any other pics that deserve to be shown) in some kind of projector presentation.
You're gonna get drunk. The idea is to have fun. Extra points will be given for creativity and humor. Take this into consideration when picking your team. Probably a bad idea to pick people that don't drink or someone that's afraid of bears... oh wait, I've said too much!
Please RSVP ASAP. We're trying to get about ten teams, so if a bunch of people can't do it I'd like to invite other people with as much warning as possible. If you don't want to participate you can always drink with us at Easy while everyone else snaps away. "Us" being me and Scott Anderson, who helped me organize this and is also a judge.
Please join us for an evening of "Wasted Photo Opportunities". Let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
Thanks,
Dave
Hello all,
I've told some of you about this and others may not have heard, so here's the official invite. Years ago I wanted to put this together and now it's finally happening. A photo scavenger hunt. You show up with your team and I give you a list of things to take pictures of. You go run around and take pictures. The team that scores the most points wins. Did I mention the list focuses on bars and alcohol?
This is how it is going to go down: Next Saturday, June 7th, everyone will meet at Easy Bar before 6pm with their team and camera. You will need to find two other people to make a team of 3. There will be a $20/team entry fee to go towards prizes (approx $6.66/person - hail Satan). I'll present the rules and at 6pm you will get the list. You and your team will go around the neighborhood (Bucktown/Wicker Park) and see how many of the things you can get (no driving!). You need to be back at Easy Bar by 10pm. We will have a laptop that we will copy all the pictures to from your camera. In the next few days, we will judge the pictures and tally points. At a later date we will have some kind of party/gathering and crown the winning team and present prizes. We will also be showing the winning pictures (and any other pics that deserve to be shown) in some kind of projector presentation.
You're gonna get drunk. The idea is to have fun. Extra points will be given for creativity and humor. Take this into consideration when picking your team. Probably a bad idea to pick people that don't drink or someone that's afraid of bears... oh wait, I've said too much!
Please RSVP ASAP. We're trying to get about ten teams, so if a bunch of people can't do it I'd like to invite other people with as much warning as possible. If you don't want to participate you can always drink with us at Easy while everyone else snaps away. "Us" being me and Scott Anderson, who helped me organize this and is also a judge.
Please join us for an evening of "Wasted Photo Opportunities". Let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions.
Thanks,
Dave
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Long weekend ahead
Sadly as beautiful as it will be this weekend, it's great for sitting in front of the television watching some racing.
Most importantly is the 2008 Monoco Grand Prix F1 race live from Monte Carlo at 6:30 AM CST. If you're not familiar with Formula 1, the Monoco GP is the Super Bowl of F1 races. It is one of the favorite tracks for both drivers and spectators alike.
Currently Kimi Raikonen leads the championship by 7 points with teammate Felipe Massa and young superstar Lewis Hamilton tied for second. Qualifying is generally more important than the race itself as F1 rewards superior engineering and car setup as much as driving talent. Practice was actually this morning because they don't allow the cars to run on Fridays.
Predictions? Ferrari and McLaren will qualify in the first two rows and there will be no lead changes for the entire race. I just hope Kimi and Massa will continue to challenge each other without taking one another out of any races. The real fight this weekend will be for 4th place between either BMW or Renault. And don't count Nico Rosberg out, he is frighteningly fast in his Williams this year.
Then Sunday afternoon is the 92nd Indianapolis 500. Honestly I haven't cared much for this race in the past few years with the exception of rooting for any of the Andretti/Green drivers. (Congats again, Dario!) Even with the recent merger of Champ Car and IRL this years race doesn't look to be too promising. The first couple rows are dominated by the top IRL teams as expected: Ganassi, Penske, and Andretti.
Graham Rahal is my rookie to watch this year. I've been a longtime fan of his father and can only imagine the pride he felt when his son won his first race earlier this year.
As always I will be rooting for Danica and supporting my client, Motorola. Regardless of what people say about her being a great female driver, I choose to take gender out of the equation. She is a fantastic driver regardless of her sex. In addition she's a fast leaner and acts more mature and professional than most drivers of her experience. OK, wait... maybe not when she's on the track. But certainly out of the car she is an educated brand ambassador for both her sponsors and the IRL. That being said I think she has a long way to go to be considered one of the greatest drivers in this sport.
Indy predictions? It's a long race. And because the IRL teams are so far ahead of the curve in car setup and experience, I really can't expect a Champ Car driver to come out on top. My pick... Penske.
Most importantly is the 2008 Monoco Grand Prix F1 race live from Monte Carlo at 6:30 AM CST. If you're not familiar with Formula 1, the Monoco GP is the Super Bowl of F1 races. It is one of the favorite tracks for both drivers and spectators alike.
Currently Kimi Raikonen leads the championship by 7 points with teammate Felipe Massa and young superstar Lewis Hamilton tied for second. Qualifying is generally more important than the race itself as F1 rewards superior engineering and car setup as much as driving talent. Practice was actually this morning because they don't allow the cars to run on Fridays.
Predictions? Ferrari and McLaren will qualify in the first two rows and there will be no lead changes for the entire race. I just hope Kimi and Massa will continue to challenge each other without taking one another out of any races. The real fight this weekend will be for 4th place between either BMW or Renault. And don't count Nico Rosberg out, he is frighteningly fast in his Williams this year.
Then Sunday afternoon is the 92nd Indianapolis 500. Honestly I haven't cared much for this race in the past few years with the exception of rooting for any of the Andretti/Green drivers. (Congats again, Dario!) Even with the recent merger of Champ Car and IRL this years race doesn't look to be too promising. The first couple rows are dominated by the top IRL teams as expected: Ganassi, Penske, and Andretti.
Graham Rahal is my rookie to watch this year. I've been a longtime fan of his father and can only imagine the pride he felt when his son won his first race earlier this year.
As always I will be rooting for Danica and supporting my client, Motorola. Regardless of what people say about her being a great female driver, I choose to take gender out of the equation. She is a fantastic driver regardless of her sex. In addition she's a fast leaner and acts more mature and professional than most drivers of her experience. OK, wait... maybe not when she's on the track. But certainly out of the car she is an educated brand ambassador for both her sponsors and the IRL. That being said I think she has a long way to go to be considered one of the greatest drivers in this sport.
Indy predictions? It's a long race. And because the IRL teams are so far ahead of the curve in car setup and experience, I really can't expect a Champ Car driver to come out on top. My pick... Penske.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Say cheese!
Just a simple shot of my new camera. It's an Olympus E-510 10 MP digital SLR. Hopefully the next post will be a couple shots taken with my new camera...sa
Friday, May 16, 2008
Decisions, decisions
Everyday people are tasked with making decisions. What do I wear today? Should I drive to work or take the train? Some of these decisions are premeditated and never really get any options. For example, someone may not be comfortable riding public transportation and choose to drive to work everyday paying for gas and parking.
Which has led to my decision to start this blog. I have never done this before and I'm not all that sure that I have a lot to say. As my sister has pointed out it is a nice way to keep in touch with family and friends on a very basic level. I'm a big fan of the internet. I have had my own website for about 10 years. (Although since I put a hold on racing, it hasn't seen much activity.)
I have also made the decision to take more photos, which I plan to display in this blog every once in awhile. I always been a fan of photography and recently stepped into the digital age with the purchase of a digital SLR camera. I only wish I had made this purchase sooner with all the traveling I have been doing for work. Plus it will make it a lot more fun to chase the nieces and nephews around the playground.
And by the way, unless I absolutely need my car for work, I take the El everyday, Blue Line! That $3.50 round trip fare sure beats $16 parking and gas everyday...
sa
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