Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Annoyances

A couple of weeks ago, I got a letter in the mail from the LAPD. Someone they arrested was in the possession of a lot of my personal info, and they wanted me to call and let them know if I'd noticed any fraudulent activity on my credit.

Back in January, someone had tried to use my credit card to buy tickets to Disneyland. This caused a lot of confusion for me, because we had a trip to Disneyland coming up about a month later, and I wondered if Disney had perhaps charged the remainder of our hotel room. So I spent a bunch of time on the phone with Disney and my credit card confirming that no, that charge was not mine.

So I tried to call the detective and tell her about that... but she wasn't in. I left a message and put the letter on my desk at work, to remind me to call back again.

Then today, I got an email from Amazon confirming that they'd changed my email address as I asked. Except I hadn't asked. I spent about 15 minutes on the phone with a nice lady at Amazon confirming I was me and I had not changed my email address and learning about what I needed to do next.

Then I called the LAPD detective back. She was very nice. The man who was arrested had a lot of people's personal info. There was even a movie star on his list! She didn't say who, but she did say he called her back personally, which I find somewhat soothing. Me and some movie star, both talking to a nice LAPD detective about consumer fraud. She said a lot of the other victims weren't as lucky as me: they had fraudulent charges and fraudulent accounts to clean up. Some had accounts for which mailing addresses had been changed.

My Amazon account is back in my control. I've called and cancelled the three credit cards that were stored in the account, although there is not indication that the person who took control of my Amazon account managed to access anything or even order anything. I am debating whether or not to set up two-factor authentication on my Amazon account. I probably will, once I convince myself it won't screw up our ability to watch shows on our Roku.

Next, I need to place a hold on my credit with the credit bureaus. I checked my credit right after I got the letter from the LAPD, and nothing fraudulent had been opened.

I used to grumble that if crooks took the effort they directed to stealing digital identities and directed it to something legit, they'd probably make decent money. Having tried to make my little publishing company make a profit, I no longer say that. It is hard to make a business succeed! But still, I am annoyed at the crook who had my personal info and wish he'd pick a different way to make a living.

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My other annoyance is that my stomach is still not quite right. I am not sure what would make it come right at this point. I have babied my stomach for more than a week and it hasn't sorted itself out. I haven't even been wanting my usual three squares of dark chocolate at the end of lunch. Something is clearly not quite right!

I am reminded of a friend who told me about one of her friends who had a stomach bug and was basically better, but not quite right... and who came to visit her in Chicago and ate a Chicago dog with the works and then was great.

I don't think I'd like a Chicago dog with the works, but maybe I should try having a couple of beers.

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That's all I have the energy for tonight. A pox on crooks and bad stomachs.


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Friday, May 11, 2018

Weekend Reading: The Upset Stomach Edition

No, the title doesn't refer to the nausea-inducing aspects of following the news these days. It refers to an actual upset stomach!

All my plans for this week got upended Tuesday night, when Petunia threw up. I'll spare you all the details. Tuesday night wasn't great, but it could have been worse. She stayed home with Mr. Snarky on Wednesday, and went to school yesterday. She was all set to go to school again today when... uh oh. Upset stomach, part II.

So she stayed home again today, this time with me (since I work at home most Fridays, this was no big deal).

This obviously meant no rollerblading, but to be honest, I probably wouldn't have gone, anyway, because I've felt... off most of the week. I can't really pin down what is wrong, but I'm clearly not 100% healthy. I felt so off last night that I went to bed before 9!

Anyway, my to do list is in shambles. I'm hoping to rally a bit later and come up with a new plan. We don't make a big deal out of Mother's Day, but I'd rather not spend the entire day working on things, trying to catch up. Some triage is in order.

But first, let's have some links.

I have some self-promo links today.

First, in book news: Here's the Deal, Micah Edwards' humorous retelling of the Book of Exodus, is now out! Come for the Ten Commandments and the parting of the Red Sea, stay for the... tent decorating instructions? (Seriously, there are a lot of tent decorating instructions.) Here's an early review from Fill Your Bookshelves, if you'd like a second opinion.

Also, in honor of Mother's Day, I'm running a short sale on the ebook edition of Both Sides of My Skin, Elizabeth Trach's collection of short stories about motherhood. These stories really rang true to me, more than writing about motherhood usually does. You can get a copy for just $0.99 if you act soon- the sale ends next Friday.

In other news:

If you read only one link this week, make it this story about Ronny Ahmed, who was shot outside a library at FSU, and is trying to rebuild his life.

Alex Pareene's post about the lack of fact-based reporting in the current right-wing media is worth your time.

What it would look like if we really got serious about addressing climate change.

There is a Syrian man who has been stuck in the Kuala Lumpur airport for two months.

The backstory on the car that got eaten by lava.

My recommended listening this week: If you want to get caught up on the Trump-Russia-money story, Josh Marshall's last two podcasts will help. One is on Trump switching from debt to cash and one is titled "Trump Is a Mob-Friendly Businessman Who is Now President of the United States." (Which is a well-supported quote from the guest on the show.)

Susan Hennessey is doing her part to highlight the importance of the story about how the intelligence community does not trust House Intelligence committee chair Devin Nunes to protect its sources:






Funny:




Also funny:


Bunny!


Have a good weekend, everyone!
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Friday, May 04, 2018

Weekend Reading: Another Short Edition

It is a gorgeous day here today, but sadly, I did not get to go rollerblading. I tweaked my back/neck somehow earlier this week. At first it seemed like no big deal, I was just a little stiff. But yesterday I woke up in a lot of pain and the pain got worse when I moved my head. Some ibuprofen and time on the heating pad made me able to function, and I got through the day (including the networking event I was due to attend in the evening). My back was much better today, but not to the point that I think rollerblading would be a good idea. So I went for a walk after lunch instead, which was nice, but not rollerblading nice.

Anyway... let's get to the links. I don't have many this week, but I think the ones I have are good!

My pick for the one story to read if you only read one this week is Jamelle Bouie's piece about the new memorial for lynching victims.

Apparently GOP candidates who have criminal convictions in their past are now blaming Obama for those convictions. I think this is a dangerous trend and hope these candidates lose their primaries. If reports I've heard that Democrats are supporting Blankenship in his primary (because he will presumably be easier to beat in the general) are true, I think that is a bad and short-sighted strategy and hope they think better of it.

Jonathan Chait had a good piece about the problem in the Republican party right now.

ICE has detained US citizens, and from my read of this story, does not have a good procedure for, or even much demonstrated interest in, making sure that doesn't happen.

I included this in my Management Monthly newsletter, but I want to share it here, too: Brigid Schulte interviews Jeffrey Pfeffer, author of Dying for a Paycheck, about the harm our modern work culture does to us. I've put that book on my "to read" list.

Recommended listening: Code Switch had a really interesting episode on Jewish identity.

The discussion around "incels" is mostly just exhausting to me, and I confess I'm ignoring a lot of it. How many times do people have to say that this group of men is not really looking for sex per se, they're looking for the status they think dating (and having sex with) a conventionally attractive woman gives them, and that men who view women as status symbols don't really consider us fully human? How many times do we have to remind men that we are people with our own stories, not just supporting characters in their stories? It is exhausting and since I briefly dated a guy in college who saw me as a status symbol (EWWW) and that contributed to some difficulties I had in my first year of college that almost derailed me... I find it particularly unpleasant to engage in this discussion. Also, I know that I do not have the ability to explore the weirdness of that status symbol dating experience and all the associated stuff... so I just avoid it. I would love to read someone like Rebecca Traister unpack this whole thing, but I know I cannot do that work myself.

Anyhow, all of that is to say that this Helen Rosner thread is as close as I got to engaging with the latest iteration of the discussion:




Here's a nice Twitter story:




Bunny!




Another bunny!


Happy weekend, everyone!
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Sunday, April 29, 2018

In Which I Lose Weight in the Most Boring Way Possible

Towards the end of last year, I realized my weight had crept up another few pounds, and I hated it. My clothes were too tight, and when I went shopping to find new clothes, I didn't like how anything looked.

I had a reasonable excuse: with starting a new job, losing that job, and then finding another new job, December had been stressful. Also, I'd been sick most of November, and so my exercise routine was in shambles.

But so what if I had a good excuse? There would always be an excuse I could find, and if I didn't change something, I knew I'd add a few pounds every year and then before long, I'd be at a weight that was not healthy for me.

So, I decided to do something about it. I signed up for the "kick start" program at the YMCA that is convenient to my new job, and picked a day in January for my first meeting with the trainer.

That was all I'd planned to do. I figured I'd get my exercise routine going again, and that would stop the increase in pounds. I figured it was unlikely I'd actually lose weight, so I'd just try to stop the increase.

Then, on a bit of a whim, I downloaded a calorie counting app and decided to start using it. I can't say why I decided to download it or why I decided I should try calorie counting for awhile. But I did, and I was surprised to find myself actually losing weight. The app lets you track calories consumed and calories burned by exercise. It has a large enough database that it can provide a calorie count for most foods without me having to figure it out. If it is a packaged food, I can just scan the barcode and usually it has the calories. It can also give an estimate of calories burned if I type in "20 minute walk" or something like that.

I set myself a net calorie target that would have me lose weight. I missed the target most days, but usually not by a huge amount. The more important thing was probably that it made me aware of how many calories I was mindlessly snacking through. It made me more conscious of what I was eating, and helped me "reset" away from some of my less healthy eating habits.

A couple of weeks ago, I was down 10 pounds from my peak weight at the end of December. Of course, that peak weight was three pounds higher than what I'd been at for most of the year, but it was still a quite noticeable loss for me. My pants aren't tight anymore! I don't think anyone else noticed, or if they did, they didn't say anything, but I feel better about how I look, and I feel like I'm being healthier, which is what matters most to me.

Sadly, when I stopped using the calorie counting app, I gained a couple of pounds back. But that puts me at the weight I landed at after the 5 pounds I gained when I hit perimenopause, and I maintained that weight without much effort for several years. So maybe that is a good weight for me? Or maybe I just stopped using the app a little too soon, and needed a few more weeks for the new habits to settle in. Or maybe it was that I had a few weeks where my exercise routine got disrupted? Who knows.

Here's the thing: I don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about my weight. One of the reasons I was able to stick to using that app for as long as I did was that it was pretty unobtrusive. I didn't have to calculate a lot of calorie counts and the like. But even so, I don't want to have to use it forever. I'll be pretty sad if I gain back any more of the weight I lost, but I'd be pretty sad if I couldn't have a beer or two now and then, or indulge in a decadent dessert sometimes, without figuring out how many minutes I have to run to compensate. It is hard to find the balance. I miss the days when my body just sort of took care of this for me, and I maintained my weight without thinking about it.  I don't think those days are coming back, though, so I had better find a new approach.

Mr. Snarky's approach to this is just to exercise more. I like that approach in theory, but in practice... my life has too many constraints right now. For instance, I went out for my rollerblade on Friday, but had to cut it short because it was windy and that slowed me down, and I had to make it to school to pick up the kids on time. Similarly, I skipped one of my usual weight machines at the gym on Wednesday because there were two dudes taking turns on it and I finished all my other exercises and they still weren't done... and I couldn't wait, because I had to get home by a certain time. I do get exercise time in, but I almost never have unconstrained exercise time.

The constrained nature of my time bothered me for a long time, but I have decided that I just have to accept this fact about my current phase in life and work around it. It isn't going to change until my kids get older, so there is no point pouting about it. I'm better served by acknowledging it, acknowledging that I do not like it, and then figuring out how to work around the constraints to get as much of what I want as I can.

I'd like to figure out how to get more exercise in, and I have some ideas. Now that it is staying light later, there's time for more after dinner games of birdie with Petunia and walks around the neighborhood with Pumpkin. But I don't think I should count on that. I think that if I want to lose more weight, or just stabilize at the weight I've landed on now, I need to use that calorie counting app for a bit longer. I'm going to start again today.

What do you do to stay healthy as age changes how your body behaves?
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Friday, April 27, 2018

Weekend Reading: Just Links, But They're Good Links

Since I just did an update on my life post, let's just go straight to the links.

If you read only one link this week, make it this powerful piece by Rebecca Solnit: Whose Story (and Country) Is This?

But Dylan Matthews on how just getting Trump out of office won't fix what's wrong with our democracy is really good, too.

This story by a woman whose mother lost her home and was living out of her SUV is heartbreaking.

Matt Yglesias argues for a jobs guarantee... or at least a set of programs aimed at fuller employment.

If you're curious why the governor's offer of a pay raise didn't end the Arizona teachers' strike, this Vox article will give you an idea of what's going on. It is not just that teacher's pay is low (although it is in Arizona). It is that education funding has been cut drastically. I keep seeing people surprised that teachers aren't happy with pay raises. I think that misses what they're really fighting for, which is something that Vox article gets at in the final section.

We're finally getting an earthquake early warning system here!

This year's NPR Tiny Desk winner is very good.

This xkcd is so very funny if you know anyone in the groups he's teasing. Don't miss the mouse-over...

Recommended listening: Krista Tippet's conversation with Helen Fisher is really interesting. It is titled "This is Your Brain on Sex" but it is more about the broader topic of love and partnering. It gave me a lot to think about and also made me want to go read things by Helen Fisher, or maybe listen to her TED talks.

The ultimate Aussie picture:




Bunny snuggles!


Happy weekend, everyone!
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