Are you smarter than a 3rd grader?

http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf

Sharing is Caring

This dialogue from the book "My Sister's Keeper" describes my life at a restaurant.

Setting: Husband and Wife are at a restaurant for dinner
Their Exchange:
"What are you getting" (She Asks)
"What do you want me to get?" (He replies)
"The filet. That way I can taste it if I get the sole." (She says)

Love it! It's the best of both worlds.

Theory: Productive Procrastination

Productive procrastination is one of a handful of theories I hold to. Productive procrastination is where you know you need to go to the grocery store and stock up for the week, but instead clean your room, wash laundry, balance your checkbook, catch up on recorded TV shows, etc to avoid what you really need to do. This is my work productive procrastination:
http://www.unkno.com/. A little break from work, a little unnecessary knowledge (but knowledge, nonetheless). What more could you want?

Here's a little teaser: "An average human will eat about 50 pounds of dirt in a lifetime." Delicious.

Scammers

Recently there's been an addition to my daily routine -- CRAIGSLIST. My dad's birthday is coming up and I'd love to take him to the UT vs. Texas Tech game; he enjoys watching UT football and is an alumni who never has attended a game. I've been obsessivly looking for tickets. Background complete ... now, on to the scam...

These are craigslist criteria for watching for scams. Is it a problem when my situation meets 3 out of the 6 criteria? I think yes. (Curtosy of Craigslist)

You can sidestep would-be scammers by following these common-sense rules:
DEAL LOCALLY WITH FOLKS YOU CAN MEET IN PERSON - follow this one simple rule and you will avoid 99% of the scam attempts on craigslist. (Strike one -- my contact lived in Arizona)
NEVER WIRE FUNDS VIA WESTERN UNION, MONEYGRAM or any other wire service - anyone who asks you to do so is a scammer. (Strike two - I was sent an "ebay invoice" that asked me to wire $$ through a Western Union agent in London, UK)
FAKE CASHIER CHECKS & MONEY ORDERS ARE COMMON, and BANKS WILL CASH THEM AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE when the fake is discovered weeks later.
CRAIGSLIST IS NOT INVOLVED IN ANY TRANSACTION, and does not handle payments, guarantee transactions, provide escrow services, or offer "buyer protection" or "seller certification"
NEVER GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION (bank account number, social security number, eBay/PayPal info, etc.)
AVOID DEALS INVOLVING SHIPPING OR ESCROW SERVICES and know that ONLY A SCAMMER WILL "GUARANTEE" YOUR TRANSACTION. (Strike three - my contact said "ebay will send the funds to me only after sending them the confirmation that I received the tickets and they are real)

Needless to say, the fact that my contact also yelled at me through email and called me a "TIME WASTER" didn't help the circumstances.

Good News: I didn't get caught up in the scam and actually reported the incident.

Bad News: I'm still on the hunt for tickets. Wish me luck!

The Beginning

After a couple of half attempts at starting a blog, I've finally done it! My daily routine consists of this -- arriving at the office, getting a cup of hot tea, starting up the media player for the Bobby Bones Show, opening my Outlook and catching up on my BLOGS. After all my reading, I figure that I could possibly have something to contribute -- So, here we go...

Happy Reading :)