<p>Good morning. Coffee and Tea are out–help yourselves. No delicious goodies as I’m trying to lose some weight!!!</p>
<p>EAO–Hope you get your troubles figured out. Scary stuff. When DH and I bought our first house we ran into a credit glitch. Seems the credit company had combined DH’s info with another person with the same name. They took DH’s ssn, both credit histories and I believe some identifying info from the other guy. We got it straightened out, but watched our credit for some time to make sure it didn’t repeat. </p>
<p>I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend if you celebrated. DS couldn’t come home since they don’t get any days off around Passover/Easter but we did get to skype with him. He’s doing well. Evidently had a bike crash with his roommates and went to the health center just to make sure all was OK–he hit his head. He’s fine. Sometimes it’s good to find out these things after everything is OK.</p>
<p>EAO, FlMathMom’s advice is terrific and the big steps should probably be taken immediately. </p>
<p>ShawD went with us to NJ for seders with my family. She’s a great kid. Helps the younger ones. Is quite happy with where she is academically and philosophical about what she’ll need to do socially. She has a paper due this week and it is clear that she really does not like to write papers, even though she went to a private HS that really makes sure the kids can write. The switch to nursing has been a good thing for a variety of reasons. But, she will need to communicate. Someone mentioned creatine and she explained why creatine is different from steroids, what the key chemical reaction was, and how it works to help the person who takes it build muscle by working out longer than he/she would have been able to do otherwise (as opposed to steroids that build the muscle cells themselves, I guess). Very clear. I think she would be good at a job where she is explaining medical stuff to people.</p>
<p>AGHHHH, Scaring me. Husband is calling IRS etc, this morning and thanks for all the good information FLmathmom although I must say I would rather it all just went away!!! Have had my credit card number stolen twice while visiting my kids in Boston, both times for Parents Weekend. I was able to both times narrow it down to 2 or 3 restaurants (both times different) but each time within hours people were buying online all this stuff. Luckily my credit card company wipes it off. I think the waiter got it because they take your card when its time to pay the bill! I try now not to let that happen.</p>
<p>On a funny note, living overseas they would often cut off my card because of unusual activity, generally when we were traveling in a new country. I ended up having to call them before I went on vacation and tell them hey going to be in country X so there will be charges! Happened every time in Turkey even if I called before hand!
So many times I wanted to say, “Oh no that wasn’t me, take it all off the card! LOL”</p>
<p>EAO- I hope you guys get things figured out soon, it sounds very stressful!! Although I had a silly moment when I read your post and tried to figure out why an identity thief would file (and presumably pay) taxes for you?? That’s my kind of identity thief!! Just a little bit of humor for you to take your mind off the stress, I know it’s very serious, and I hope you and DH can get it resolved. It’s very upsetting to have this happen, very violating. FLmathmom had some great ideas, good for everyone to know.</p>
<p>Hang in there!</p>
<p>Had a great Easter visit with S1 and my parents. S2 was sad to be left out of the feasting, but was somewhat consoled by the Easter goodies I sent last week. My parents have decided to go on an around the world trip via private jet in belated celebration of their 50th anniversary. 18 days, 9 countries, I am drooling at the itinerary! Though the price is decidedly not cheap, the level of service they provide is comforting for me because my dad’s advancing age has turned him into the world’s worst traveler. He stresses out about everything. This outfit takes care of everything, you leave your suitcases outside your hotel door the night before you fly to the next destination, they shuttle you right to the jet, you don’t stand in line at customs, you really don’t have to think of a thing, it’s all done for you. I don’t think my dad could travel any other way, and at 85 I’m glad he’ll have one more opportunity to live it up :)</p>
<p>D11 only has four days left of classes and then on to finals! She will come home for a few weeks and then leave to go to Spain for a study abroad program. I can’t believe she is almost finished her freshman year - she had a rocky start but since she changed her major, made more friends, and became more acclimated to urban life, she is happy and settled in! I now start the process all over again with D13…yikes!</p>
<p>Yalemom - that is my kind of trip. Would you mind sharing the name of the agency/company arranging it?</p>
<p>For the last 10 weeks, I have been preparing tax returns 2x a week at an over-55 community. Most people are over 70. We hear of several identity thefts each week. It is very sad that people resort to making money this way.</p>
<p>It’s called TCS and Starquest Expeditions, they’re out of Seattle. The cost is staggering, but so are the amenities. They’re truly trips of a lifetime. However, for most of us on CC, it’s hard to imagine paying over year’s private school tuition per person for 18 days!! My brother joked that they’re doing their best to spend our inheritance I say more power to them, they worked hard for it.</p>
<p>EAO - hope things get sorted, too. We also had to call all 3 credit agencies after DH’s card was swiped. </p>
<p>My mom bought me a present the other day. A lovely hand painted metal case to hold my credit cards. Seems the thieves are now able to scan your card numbers through your bag and wallet. It doesn’t work if it’s in a metal case. Plus, it’s good when carrying a wristlet/evening bag that is too small to put a wallet in. </p>
<p>Exciting morning. We bought boychild a car. Subaru Legacy Outback. Used 2004, but low mileage. He doesn’t have a clue and I’m sure he will be pleasantly surprised and very appreciative.</p>
<p>My SON gets solicitations for the kinds of trips Yalemom is describing - private jet, fantastic itineraries, exorbitant prices. Love that Yalemom’s folks are doing this b/c sounds awesome but have to laugh every time DS gets the mailing - don’t know who they think he is but do love drooling over the pictures. </p>
<p>Talked to kiddo last night. Sounds tired and a bit stresses. Just a couple more weeks of class and then exams. Course choices due next week and he’s negotiating re math placement. Advocating for himself not his strength, but it needs to be and this is great opportunity to work on it. If he doesn’t, he’ll be wasting more time in classes he finds boring.</p>
<p>Take some time this week and clean out your handbag and wallet. Only carry the essentials. Do not carry your social security card, voter registration, more than two credit cards. Make a list of all your credit cards - name, number, expiration date, code, customer service phone number. DO NOT keep a copy on your computer, just hand write it and check it annually. If you prefer, just photocopy both sides of each card and keep in a safe place.</p>
<p>good advice FLMM – I haven’t updated our list in quite some time. Another thing my DH and I do is to carry different cards. That way if one of us gets our wallet stolen, we’ll have other cards still available to use while dealing with cancelling the stolen ones.</p>
<p>We just arrived home after being out of town–flew to visit so we could see K1s team compete. A busy weekend. and pricey for 3 days…plus 2 days of travel. Ate too much yet it was a holiday. I am tired! Doing laundry (@yalemom) ;)</p>
<p>K1 says they have it under control for the move out—likely will handle all of the sorting/packing and storage without anything from us. For this mom it seems daunting as we are 2 plane rides away. However they are able to store some things in a storage room in the basement of the dorm and I think they move the futon to he suite for next year. That helps.
K1 is pretty capable and I am pretty impressed at how confident and under control everything seems to be…</p>
<p>A far cry from the ordeal I had each move–I had to pack it all into my car and drive it all home
(14 + hrs)</p>
<p>K1 + roommate’s suite was in good shape --perhaps picked up, idk…except for dust bunnies under the desks, it was all pretty in order. I am not going to guess what was in the fridge…! hahaha</p>
<p>Glad to hear averyone has has a nice week.
EAO hope all goes well. Been there. We had a credit card stolen while leaving the country for 3 mos to a former iron curtain nation…came back to crazy AmEx bills…much of it was calls to india and pakistan…And inroute back into the US, we had carryon luggage stolen with passports, housekeys etc etc in it. Stolen passports become a MAJOR issue. Secret Service/Treasury helped…</p>
<p>Husband called IRS, not much help, she did say that one of us, wouldn’t say who was declared as a dependent on someone else’s taxes. So it could just be a typo on someone else’s part. So no unfortunately they didn’t pay our taxes! However we have to submit a paper copy and will be 6-10 weeks to resolve the issue. We are contacting and doing all the stuff Flmathmom recommended. I had forgotten but about 6 months ago we got a letter that several million records including ours were stolen from a van (military Health stuff) but it had Social security numbers in the records. The chances that the thief’s knew what they had was slim but we were offered free tracking services for a year ( I stupidly did not do anything about it) I have pulled out the paperwork and am working on it now! IF it wasn’t a typo, it could have been this, the theft happened in Texas and perhaps people were selling social security numbers to those who didn’t have them. </p>
<p>Oh well, can only move forward!<br>
Yalemom, sounds like a great trip for your parents! Hope they have the trip of a lifetime.<br>
Fogfog, glad you had a successful weekend. I will be driving up to pick up D and carting a lot of her stuff back here. Can’t believe this year is almost up!</p>
<p>EAO - good luck getting that sorted out. What a pain!</p>
<p>We drove down to meet with D this weekend. Although the drive was a pain, weekend was fabulous. We had a relaxing day on Saturday, got dinner and a show in the evening. Spent a bit more time talking and relaxing on Sunday and then drove back home. Lovely weekend. She was a bit homesick when we left, but not too bad - only one month left till the semester is over! Can’t believe the first year is almost done!</p>
<p>Headed out of the country on a business trip for the next couple of weeks - will be hard to keep in regular contact with D. We did find out that if we used the vonage mobile app in wifi areas, we could text each other for free! We are going to try that although the time zones is going to make it a challenge.</p>
<p>Here’s hoping this crisis does not affect your husband’s performance at the Boston Marathon, EAO. Maybe he can do some visualization of that identity thief just up ahead of him in the race and shave a few minutes off his time :)!!</p>
<p>FlMathMom, would you be willing to store things on a password-protected file on a computer (whose disk is encrypted)?</p>
<p>I have two credit cards (Amex and Visa or MC) for my main business, two for a second business and two for personal. Plus, one for my wife’s business. I always wonder whether I should shed a few, but then I’d be in situations without the one I need. I only used to have two or three and this created lots of accounting work that I could do just by charging each purchase to the right card. We do have photocopies of front/back of each.</p>
<p>Boychild called (I had left a message so.) He is done for the semester. Had his first and only final and was walking over to submit the take home final’s 11 page essay and the final paper for another class. His other final paper was due last week. So. i’m off tomorrow morning for what will be my last pick-up of him ever. He’ll be driving back on the 21st in his own car but unfortunately for me, pre the decision to buy him a car this week, I had told my parents we could drive up so they could see Bates, as who knows what will be when graduation rolls around in 3 years, so we’ll be making the trip too on the 21st.</p>
<p>Everyone should make sure that each spouse is the PRIMARY cardmember on at least one credit card. This is not the same as having a SUPPLEMENTAL credit card on your spouse’s account. Reason - if your spouse passes away, the account will be closed and you may have trouble getting a credit card on your reduced level of income. Also make sure you have enough credit cards and high enough credit lines before you retire or change jobs.</p>
Just a little bit of humor for you to take your mind off the stress, I know it’s very serious, and I hope you and DH can get it resolved. It’s very upsetting to have this happen, very violating. FLmathmom had some great ideas, good for everyone to know.</p>
He’ll be driving back on the 21st in his own car but unfortunately for me, pre the decision to buy him a car this week, I had told my parents we could drive up so they could see Bates, as who knows what will be when graduation rolls around in 3 years, so we’ll be making the trip too on the 21st.</p>