We’ve had an unsettling thing happen this past week. We received a call during the week that some rather unusual charges were being put on one of our credit cards. We found that one of the two cards we had been issued was missing. We thought that we may have inadvertently lost it the prior weekend at a store. Obvously, we closed that account and are having a new card issued to us. The thief got away with almost two hundred dollars.

Today we were looking at our checking account and found added unauthorized charges. We discovered that one of our debit cards was missing. We know that we had the card Thursday afternoon, so suspect that both cards were stolen by someone rifling through a desk while we were at work. We also have some checks missing…checks at the bottom of the stack so we wouldn’t miss them right away.

We put a stop payment on the checks, closed the debit card, and Monday will go in to the bank and have a new checking account issued to us. That sounds good and it is, but just imagine what we now will have to do with that new number.

We’ll have to order checks. We’ll have to get new debit cards. We’ll have to change the payment method on all of our automatic and on-line payments. It’s a mess.

We put a fraud alert on both of our credit accounts and are thinking about having new credit cards issued to us from other issuers in the off chance that the thief copied down numbers, but didn’t take the card. We also filed a police report. I don’t quite know where to go from here.

This isn’t identity theft per se. However, the consequences are much the same. We suspect an employee at the place where we work (not a specific employee…we don’t know that much). I feel sorry for them on the one hand, and on the other, I hope they get caught so they can get help, perhaps.

I’ll be working tonight on some of our other accounts. I’ll let you know if we have further problems. Life is complicated, sometimes.

Normal Weekends

I thought I’d say a few words before beginning the day. Yes, I know it’s 10am, but it’s on a Saturday and it’s been a hard week.

I look forward to the weekends for the change of pace and letdown that they provide. For example, today I got up at 9am, which I admit is late for me. Usually, I arouse around between 7:30 and 8am. Today, though, it just seemed like a good day to be lazy. I got dressed, went out and retrieved the paper, then read it while eating whole-grain cereal (Grape-Nuts).

I’m getting ready to load up the mower and take it to our other house and mow the yard that has been sadly neglected for the last month. I imagine the grass and weeds will be rather overgrown, and will probably take down the weed whacker as well.

This afternoon I’ll help with some housework and prepare my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow. The topic for the quarter is the names for Jesus. Each week we discuss a different name for Jesus, such as Son of Man, Good Shepherd, etc. Tomorrow we will discuss Jesus saying of Himself that He is The Way.

The yard here at home needs some work and I’ll probably do some of that this evening. Then tomorrow is church, which is always the highlight of the week (yes, that is really true). Tomorrow evening our small group will meet, which also is a great time.

Most of my weekends go something like the above. They can be punctuated with some shopping, visits by relatives or others, trips somewhere for the day or part of a day, or perhaps being called in to work for something. I never know.

So, time to get some coffee around, load up the mower, and head out. I should be back in about four hours or so. Hi-ho, Silver!!

The List

This has been, I think, an unusual spring and summer for the Wichita area. We’ve had plenty of rain and rather cool weather up until now. Our rainfall for the first six months of this year is about what we would receive in a normal year, so we are plenty damp. And, as usually happens with wet weather, the temperature has stayed cooler than normal.

So, what is it about the weather that seems to be a good conversation starter or a convenient way to segue from one topic to another? You’ll notice that I began this blog with the weather. I did so because I couldn’t think of anything else about which to blog and decided, as I often do, to just start writing and see what comes out. What has come is a question out of a long line of questions about why we do what we do.

Weather is something we feel we have a right to cuss and discuss, yet is something about which we can do nothing. It transcends even the federal government in being unreachable and unyielding. It will be what it will be, and nothing on earth can change it.

I suppose our propensity to discuss the weather as a conversation piece may have something to do with that notion. It’s a safe topic, yet one that everyone knows (or thinks they know) something about.

There are other topics like that in our conversation. The traffic on city streets, nameless bureaucrats that make decisions on our behalf, large corporations that seem to have a life of their own, taxes, and death. You can name your own and probably greatly expand the list.

For those who were at the reunion a few days ago, I suppose the quote that would most aptly describe what to put in a list such as the above would be the one heard from one of the grandkids (about 4 years old) during the birthday party for another. She was desperately trying to make sure the party went according to how she wanted it to go, and wasn’t having a lot of luck due to the presence of so many adults. She was heard in frustration to say, “I can’t control this!”

Yep. That list will be MUCH longer than I thought it might, now that I think about that short sentence and apply it to the things to go on the list.

Back

Well, we’re back. We got back home about 5pm and got the rental van back on time. We’re tired and don’t wish to do it again any time soon, but are thrilled we had the chance to go and take our son and his family with us.

I’ll not write much today, except to say that we’re all fine and had a great time in Michigan, seeing all the relatives. There is a lot to write about, probably more than I’ll have the time or inclination to do over the next several days.

Work is tomorrow. From the tone of a couple of emails I’ve received while on vacation, I think there may be a little different work “climate” now than when I left. It should be interesting, and for me is a little disconcerting…nothing bad, but I like my ruts.

Thanks to all who had a part in making the reunion a success, especially the Michiganders who hosted us and fed us and entertained us. You’re terrific!!

We're Off

Well, this should prove to be quite the adventure. We're in Emporia as I write this and it's 6am. We're at our son's home and we're all up and getting ready to take off for our family reunion in Michigan.
The grandkids are up and around and we're getting last-minute things in the van we've rented. Coffee is done and we're looking forward to the next several days together. It's been awhile since we've traveled with babies, and the laws have changed since then regarding car seats, etc. So it will be a sort of a re-learning experience for us grandparents.
We'll be back here a week from today dropping off the kids, then back to Wichita. In the intervening time, we will have renewed ties with many in the family, had a lot of fun, reminisced, taken pictures, and whatever else families do when together (like eat??).