ATM

OK guys - here's a word of warning. We used our ATM card at a Sonic in Tulsa July 8. The card reader at the drive-up didn't work, so when the guy brought the food out he grabbed Charlie's card and went inside to swipe it. Then he brought the card back out. Charlie wasn't happy about that, but he couldn't follow the guy in - too close to the order console to be able to get out of the car.

Today I got a phone call from my bank. (Not my branch, but the people tracking such things for the bank.) There were charges from Oklahoma City on down to Texas - with a number in Arlington. To the tune of about $300. The card is now canceled and we're starting the dispute process to get our money back. Charlie asked Chris at our branch if this kind of thing happens very often - and he said he sees about one a week, and that's just at our little branch.

"Our" card that the crooks were using was a physical card - no pin number was entered. Chris said they read the magnetic strip and duplicate the card.

Can't say for sure it was at Sonic, but that's the only time the card was out of Charlie's control. Law enforcement doesn't usually do much follow-up on these guys - they have bigger problems to concentrate on. And the banks have insurance through VISA - so they're not out money.

I guess the only way to really be safe is to use cash - but then if you're carrying around cash the bad guys could get you too!

Scammers go to us two times in one year. The other one was using the credit card online, then the number was passed around to other "companies". Our bank fixed that one too. Yeah for Arvest!

Paula Deen Cooks Fried Green Tomatoes - Get Cookin' with Paula Deen

These look yummy! The onion relish is especially interesting.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Here's a video by Screaming Cockatoo. Looks Yummy!

Bowling with the cousins - Spring Break 2010

Freeport - Spring Break 2010

Cousins at Grandma's House - Houston

Gardening - Instructions to plant asparagus

We're planting asparagus for the first time. The crowns finally came through the mail - with no instructions included. So what do you do? Go to the internet. This video looks like it gives good, detailed instructions.

Sonic Boom

Want to see what a sonic boom looks like? If you don't want to watch the whole launch go to 1:50 to see the "pressure waves". Interesting.

Pants on the Ground

This guy was the last audition for American Idol this past week (1/13/10). Even if you're not a fan of AI, you've got to see this.



This is one cool rapper!

There's an interesting article about him at http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/301708/general-larry-platt-a-real-american-idol/

Snow Melt

The 12th day after the original snow storm on Christmas Eve 2009. The temperatures are now single digit, so all that melting will turn to ice. Doesn't sound good for driving in the morning. Oh no, this was a panorama and all you can see is 1/3 of it. Click on picture and go to Flickr to view complete photo