Monday, November 8, 2010

The Morning After



The cartoon was penned by Fitzsimmons of the Arizona Daily Star.  He is so funny and writes a political column using satire.  Tucson is fortunate to have such a talented cartoonist.

The hangover following the last election is fading now that the shock has abated.  The best we can hope for is gridlock.  If the radicals have their way they will set this county back 50 years.  Thank God for the power of the veto.

Like a condemned prisoner, I am resigned to my fate.  I am debating whether it's worth taking on another battle for saving the health care reform.  That seems to be top priority for the Republicans now; weaken it, don't fund it, and if they manage to get a Republican president,  repeal it.  I am so tired of the whole stupidity of the voters and the entire duplicity of the Republicans that I think I will just let others fight the good fight.

I need to update my followers on my experience with my Visa account being used fraudulently.  I now have a new credit card number, the credit on my statement of $425  is now a debit.  The last I heard about it was when I got a telephone call telling me they had sent a form to be filled out before they could proceed with the investigation.  The kicker was that I had filled out and mailed the form a week before.  The message was a recorded one with no option to respond.  The following day I called them to confirm that they had received the form.  They had.  I told the person investigating the claim that I thought they needed to reorganize their department because the right hand didn't have a clue as to what the left hand was doing.  I assume I will be notified when the case is closed.  Given the inefficiency in handling the whole thing, I am probably making a false assumption.  

Thanks to everyone who helped me post the cartoon above.  Special thanks to Rummuser for his assistance in doing so with a Mac.  Once you know how to do it,  it's easy.   Now if my old memory will retain the knowledge, I will be able to do so agai

23 comments:

One Woman's Journey - a journal being written from Woodhaven - her cottage in the woods. said...

Your granddaughter is a beauty.
Will only respond to this :)

naomi dagen bloom said...

Lately I find that my energy seems to do best with very local, small scale causes. Like you, knocked myself out on health care, then helping defeat awful initiatives in Oregon. Pedestrian awareness is where I've currently landed.

Joy Des Jardins said...

Happy Birthday to beautiful Sarah, and I'm glad your credit card mess has been cleared up....finally.

That's all I have the energy to respond to Darlene....I pretty much feel just as you do.

Darlene said...

*One Woman's Journey - Sarah thanks you for the compliment.

*Naomi Dagen Bloom - Me too.

*Joy Des Jardins - I'm glad the mess has been straightened up, but I am holding my breath waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Lydia said...

Three things:
#1 Your granddaughter is a beauty, and has a complexion she should care for well because it is ideal.

#2 I love the cartoon and think you are right about being lucky to have such great local talent.

#3 With all the flack that public employees take and take and take it just makes me boil when I read something like your hassles with Visa. Ineptitude and poor service are found in both the public and private sectors. :)

Darlene said...

*Lydia - I thank you and Sarah thanks you for your kind words.

With jobs so scarce you would think the ones who are employed would be more efficient.

Looking to the Stars said...

I'm late but a Happy B-day to your grandaughter.

Loved the cartoons :) I think because its soooo true.

Sorry about your Visa mishap. It gets my goat when this happens to people. I'm getting tired of theives, ripping off people is not a good life. I'd like to boil them in hot oil (lol). Also, having to deal with the credit card people is a hassle. Glad you got thru it :)

p.s. loved your letter to the prez :)

Darlene said...

*Looking to the Stars - Thank you for all your kind comments.

Jack Jodell said...

Darlene, that was a spectacular cartoon and your granddaughter is a very cute young lady, too!

Darlene said...

*JackJodell- Thank you.

joared said...

Lovely granddaughter!

Glad your identity theft issues are closer to being resolved.

Cartoon is truly a classic. I'd laugh if the message wasn't so true.

There are always plenty of issues on which to focus. Seems to be a matter of steadily plugging away at one or another, but never completely giving up on any of them.

Nance said...

Lovely granddaughter. The young are so beautiful and often, especially with our girls, they don't know it.

We had our MC number ripped off online a couple of years ago. Five times in a row. Turns out, there was a roomful of people being paid almost nothing (in Bangladesh, actually)to make small test purchases on randomly generated credit card numbers.

Once they've found one that works (mine, in this case), they will continue to use it until it is canceled. Then, they will use the same number, making changes only in the last number. It continues to work because they credit card companies generally only change the last one or two numbers when they issue you a new card.

After the second successful "hit," the scammers were making charges on my new credit cards before I'd even received them in overnight mail! I had to jump through a ridiculous number of hoops to get the card company to change multiple numbers on the next "new" card. That worked.

I'd love to function without a card, but...today?...just try it.

I'm so impressed you switched to MAC!

Darlene said...

*Joared - So many issues, so little time. :-(

*Nance - You are so right about the young. Oh to have that porcelain skin once more.

My credit card company changed all but the first 4 numbers, fortunately. The next day I called 2 companies that had been automatically charging my card monthly to tell them of the new number (being unable to pay them through the bank) and yesterday I got a letter saying that the Nov. 1 payment was rejected. Obviously, they used the old number. Just another example of an inefficient company with girls sitting in cubicles that don't have a clue about how to do their job.

Kay Dennison said...

Sarah is lovely!!!

I hope and pray that your Visa woes are over. I'm caught in a debacle with the electric company right now so I feel your pain.

I understand your frustration. I'm trying to take a step back from political issues and not get excited about it but it's nearly impossible.

Sigh.

Darlene said...

*Kay Dennison - It's really hard to do, isn't it?

20th Century Woman said...

What a pretty girl!

Yes, the election was a blow. What to do about health care? I guess wait and see what happens next and them assess whether there is anything meaningful one can do to save the plan. Otherwise, just cling to what we have and feel sorry for those younger than us.

There's a great letter to the new governor of Maine in the blog, As I Was Saying.

Darlene said...

*20th Century Woman - I don't know if I can fight that fight anymore. I am beginning to think that this country will have to be bankrupt before any sensible thing will be done.

I will get to As I was Saying as soon as I post this to read the letter.

Hattie said...

Such a pretty young woman. I too have many lovely descendants.
I'm involved in aspects of prison reform at the local level, but this is something that is connected to public policy at every level of government. 2800 Hawaiians are now housed in Arizona private prisons run by Corrections Corporation of America.

Darlene said...

*Hattie - Thank you for the nice compliment. I will tell Sarah.

Private prisons are a disgrace. They have no oversight as I understand it. Our disgraceful governor, Jan Brewer, is tied to that prison and even had her campaign headquarters in the prison answering office. In spite of her embarrassing senior moment in the debate and the anti immigration law that is going nowhere, she got elected. It doesn't speak well for the Arizona voters.

Friko said...

Don't get off your soapbox just yet, Darlene, the more people shout the louder the noise.

You have a very pretty granddaughter. Don't they grow up fast!

Darlene said...

*Friko - Thank you for nice comment about Sarah. I will pass it on and watch her head swell. ;-)

The problem with being on my soap box is that I am preaching to the choir.

Freda said...

I so equate with you over the credit card business. It is worrying to have to talk to different people over the phone about personal details and stuff. And it all seems to depend on someone pressing the right button on a computer keyboard. Hope it is all sorted now.

Darlene said...

*Freda - I thik the problem is over now, althought the merchant has 45 days to refile. I am sure he won't.