This is my mother Arlene when she was about 18. It is one of my favorite photos. She has been gone more than 20 years but I still miss her and realize every year what a very wonderful mother she was and especially how artistically talented she was.
Happy Mothers Day mom. I so wish you were here so I could tell you that and give you a big hug and kiss.
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Four and half years ago when I moved to Greenville and joined OLLI, the first class I took was water aerobics taught by Dana Rae. Eventually she stopped teaching but I saw her several times a week all these years while she did her water routine with me in the therapy pool at Furman.
Dana Rae was a book editor and was also updating a book she wrote years ago about being a caregiver for a cancer survivor. She helped her first husband through that. She wanted to do this new edition as a print on demand book as well as an e book and she has been a HUGE help to me in learning about how to do my book revision. We talked a lot, not only about the new book but about many other things. Her ailing mother, her dogs, her garden, her clients books, etc.
Since the end of February she has been battling a bad cough and hasn’t been at the pool lately. I have been in email contact with her a couple times and left her a couple voice mail messages. She lives close by and I have an Easter lily I wanted to bring her this week. I had not heard from her.
Her husband called an hour or so ago and told me she died this morning from advanced lung cancer. I’m having a very hard time getting my brain and heart around this. Her family isn’t having any newspaper announcement or service here in Greenville so there is no way like that to say goodbye. I feel bad.
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Sending all my friends and family Easter and Passover wishes. This is a very special time of year of many of you. We are going to the Bob Jones University annual Living Gallery production, this is the fourth time for me and the third for Bob. It sounds like a little different production this year with a new director. It’s hard to explain this incredible presentation. Any one part of it would be very good but when you combine the story, the life size art and the music it is really something to see. It is always a sold out show.
The last two years it has been a modern day play but this year it is called “The Shadow of the Cross” and is about the three very dark days from when Christ died to when he was resurrected. Sounds like an interesting story.
Here is the description from Bob Jones University.
Have you ever seen a work of art that looked so real that the characters almost seem to breathe? In Living Gallery this is no longer just your imagination—the people in the larger-than-life paintings, sculptures and stained glass are real.
The unique Living Gallery program combines original drama, special choral and orchestral arrangements, and breathtaking live portrayals of classic works of art to celebrate the story of Christ’s Resurrection.
We are invited out on Easter for dinner so looking forward to that also. Enjoy the season.
Pretty Place, yes that is what it is called. Well named don’t you think? This is about 45 minutes from our house. The photo doesn’t do it justice. It is really a very spiritual place.
Second photo is the view from Pretty Place
Third photo is spring in the mountains
Fourth photo is Falls Park in downtown Greenville SC
We have new homes going up on either side of us. One just finishing getting siding and the other one with just the foundation bricks in. We asked the construction guys why they are working on Saturday. They said they are behind because of the weather and they have 50 houses to build! That’s very good news for many, many people! And we will eventually have new neighbors. Both houses are speck houses so need to find buyers.
I don’t think I have a drop of Irish blood but that doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate the day. Hope you have a good day and maybe even some green beer. With all the Scotch/Irish residents here in the Upstate, St. Pat’s Day is a big deal.
Bob wouldn’t let me dress up Smoky and Sabrina so I found some pictures that look like them but with some St. Patrick’s Day decorations.
This really looks like Sabrina down to the little white speck on her face.
The would be what Smoky looks like. He doesn’t look to happy, does he?
Happy St. Pat’s day!
Is it spring? The calendar says spring isn’t until March 20.
Daffodils blooming – check
White flowers on trees blooming – check
Pink flowers on trees blooming-check
Red buds on trees – check
Buds on my roses – check
Forsythia blooming – check
Furnace off – check
Had coffee on the deck outside this morning – check
Windows open – check
High of 76 today – check
May have to put on shorts – check
Ladies and gentleman, I do think spring has arrived!
Posted in General
Tagged daffodils, Greenville SC, nature, spring, Travelers Rest SC
I had a very busy day yesterday, Friday. The day started with a two hour class on the history of the Emancipation Proclamation. What a story. I really learned a lot. Lincoln was quite a brilliant politician! For a quick history lesson read this article. I would almost guarantee you will have several surprises. I did. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation
It was signed Jan. 1, 1863.
After that I got a quick lunch and headed to our wonderful Children’s Museum to coordinate a tour of about 20 people from OLLI. I have been there twice before but it was the first time for all the others and they were quite impressed. If you visit Greenville and have kids under 16 they will love it.
Back home for just a little while and then off to the ribbon cutting of Travelers Rest’s newest business – Copperhead Mountain Distillery. They make four different “moonshine” beverages in their copper stills. Two corn liquor and two sugar based like rum but it tastes nothing like rum you are used to. All are 100 proof. Quite a kick to it. We will have some at our house for you to try when you come visit. Very nice family that run it and it is their dream come true. A very nice turn out by family, the Travelers Rest Chamber of Commerce and others for the ribbon cutting. A fun little treat on a Friday afternoon. Cute store with branded clothing, flasks and of course a tasting room. It’s kind of funny, they are next to the new honey store and a gun shop. They joke it is “Bees, bullets and booze”. Only in the south!
Several of you have asked me if the black cat I mentioned back in January got a home. http://lifeparttwo.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/beautiful-black-cat-needs-a-home/
Bob saw Bill a few days ago and the kitty did get a forever home.
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Please pass this along to your friends and family. I have several times gotten legitimate calls from our credit card company and would never have guessed this could be a scam. This did not happen to me but it sure could.
Visa / MasterCard FRAUD
Verified with Snopes: http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp
Just a heads up for everyone regarding the latest in Visa fraud. Royal Bank received this communication about the newest scam. This is happening in the Midwest right now and moving.
This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want..
Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it.
This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard telephone Credit Card Scam works, you’ll be better prepared to protect yourself. One of our employees was called on Wednesday from ‘VISA’, and I was called on Thursday from ‘MasterCard’.
The scam works like this:
Person calling says – ‘This is (name), and I’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460, Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona ?’ When you say ‘No’, the caller continues with, ‘Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?’ You say ‘yes’.
The caller continues – ‘I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. ‘Do you need me to read it again?’
Here’s the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works – The caller then says, ‘I need to verify you are in possession of your card’. He’ll ask you to ‘turn your card over and look for some numbers’. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the last 3 are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card.The caller will ask you to read the last 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he’ll say, ‘That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?’
After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, ‘Don’t hesitate to call back if you do’, and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. We were glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card. We made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number.. What the Scammer wants is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don’t give it to them. Instead, tell them you’ll call VISA or Master Card directly for verification of their conversation.
The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the Scammer your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you’re receiving a credit; however, by the time you get your statement you’ll see charges for purchases you didn’t make, and by then it’s almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.
What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a ‘Jason Richardson of MasterCard’ with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA Scam. This time I didn’t let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening. I dealt with a similar situation this morning, with the caller telling me that $3,097 had been charged to my account for plane tickets to Spain , and so on through the above routine.
It appears that this Is a very active scam, and evidently quite successful..
I checked on snopes.com and this has really happened. These crooks are getting pretty smart. Most of the incidents were in Vancouver, Canada but I’m sure they could soon be in our backyard.
Here’s one I hadn’t heard before ……. I think this could take many forms.
Wednesday a week ago, I had a phone call from someone who said that he was from some outfit called: “Express Couriers” asking if I was going to be home because there was a package for me, and the caller said that the delivery would arrive at my home in roughly an hour. And sure enough, about an hour later, a uniformed delivery man turned up with a beautiful basket of flowers and wine. I was very surprised since it did not involve any special occasion or holiday, and I certainly didn’t expect anything like it. Intrigued about who would send me such a gift, I inquired as to who the sender is. The deliveryman’s reply was, he was only delivering the gift package, but allegedly a card was being sent separately; (the card has never arrived!) There was also a consignment note with the gift.
He then went on to explain that because the gift contained alcohol, there was a $3.50 “delivery charge” as proof that he had actually delivered the package to an adult, and not just left it on the doorstep where it could be stolen or taken by anyone.
This sounded logical and I offered to pay him cash. He then said that the company required the payment to be by credit or debit card only so that everything is properly accounted for.
My husband, who by this time was standing beside me, pulled his wallet out of his pocket with the credit/debit card, and ‘John’, the “delivery man”, asked my husband to swipe the card on the small mobile card machine which had a small screen and keypad where Fran k was also asked to enter the card’s PIN and security number. A receipt was printed out and given to us.
To our horrible surprise, between Thursday and the following Monday, $4,000 had been charged/withdrawn from our credit/debit account at various ATM machines.
It appeared that somehow the “mobile credit card machine” which the deliveryman carried now had all the info necessary to create a “dummy” card with all our card details after my husband swiped our card and entered the requested PIN and security number.
Upon finding out about the illegal transactions on our card, we immediately notified the bank which issued us the card, and our credit/debit account was closed.
We also personally went to the Police, where it was confirmed that it is definitely a scam because several households had been similarly hit.
WARNING: Be wary of accepting any “surprise gift or package”, which you neither expected nor personally ordered, especially if it involves any kind of payment as a condition of receiving the gift or package. Also, never accept anything if you do not personally know or there is no proper identification of who the sender is.
Above all, the only time you should give out any personal credit/debit card information is when you yourself initiated the purchase or transaction!
Pass this on, it may just prevent someone else from being swindled
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