i got phished!

$%^@

I would use real and colourful language but I do believe there are more descriptive words to describe this situation....ok not really... I just want to swear to the the high heavens about this. So here is the deal...my bank has been calling me non-stop and since I can see it is a 1-866 number I have been 'avoiding' the calls. Yes they could be calling for something important and this has crossed my mind which would explain my lack of brain cells about two hours ago. In my junk mail was a message from my bank asking me to log in and update my security information....

In my brain at that moment...

"Ooooooh so THAT is why they are calling. Ugh what a pain, is this why they have been calling me three times a day for two weeks. Oops guess I should do this then maybe those blood sucking telephone operators can give it a rest for a bit...what a crappy job, really I should think of what they do whenever I am feeling bad about my lack of career and direction. Suckas!"

Two minutes later filling out my bank info on a form that I clicked to from the 'bank message'

"Wait a minute...didn't I already give this info.....$%#& %$#% %^#$ this is not my stupid bank....would their email address end in @sympatico.ca. UUUUHHHHH I am an idiot.....Oh my GOD someone may have my information RIGHT NOW. Frick I am such a tool. Ok ok ok call the bank..."


So I did and told them that about the email and to watch for unusual activity. Then I changed my password and called t to tell him about the situation. As always he told me not to worry I did the right thing. The right thing would have been not clicking that link!

2 minutes later her gets an email entitled "cannot breathe" from his lovely if a bit crazy wife,

"oh my god t i am scared that they have my info...i think i am having a minor panic attack...."

(I should just reiterate how lucky I am to have someone that loves me even though I can get myself worked up in less that 3 minutes and then proceed to stress myself to the point of no return)

He very nicely suggested that perhaps I should just cancel my cards for peace of mind...I think it was his peace of mind but it was good call and that is just what I did.

So I owe an apology to the people at VISA and my bank. Thanks for cancelling my cards and not thinking that I was a total nard for clicking a link into a totally FAKE email.
And yes...I will call you back about adjusting my savings account.

the count down is on

so here is the scoop we are planning to drive from canada to the tip of south america stopping where we choose along the way. i know...yes we may be crazy. travelling to central and south america was my idea but the driving part was all t's, so there..he can't try to push this insanity onto me. the plan is to leave mid-january which is good timing because it should be about -40 here (for real).
since arriving home about 4 years ago i have been itching to leave again. don't get me wrong i love my hometown but i just feel there is so much out there to see and learn about that i would be cheating myself if i did not step into the unknown again. and one of my biggest fears is waking up at the ripe old age of 80 and realizing that i should have gone for it instead of spending my life being too chicken to risk it. that being said sometimes i wonder if it is a good plan career-wise to leave at the young age of 26. it does mean a whole swack of resume issues...but i am going to have faith that i will either be able to find work down there or that my next interview will be with an avid traveller who will hire me and pay me $80k a year because i am so well-travelled. ha ha ha i make myself laugh i really do.
so there it is...the countdown is on 4 months to go.

dinner, deafness and crest strips

Last night was a bit nutty. I had spanish which was ok except that I had not done any homework (bad I know) and I was a bit tired after staring at a computer screen all day. Then I made friends with the rescued cat my neighbours have (he has been living in their closet for about 4 months so the fact that he let me pet him is a good thing). Later on t took me for dinner at cilantro, one of my favourite restaurants, where we ate and drank in celebration of our 2nd anniversary. Let me tell you about my most favourite appetizer in the world. It is a portabello mushroom stuffed (and maybe baked?) with goat cheese. Honestly it makes me giddy. I always want to just order 2 for dinner but I suspect that may be viewed as little bit odd and perhaps over indulgent. We had the same waiter that we had the last time we were there and he speaks in tone that I swear is unrecognizable to my ears. him: “would you like something to hgsmnbakf this evening” me (looking at t anxiously hoping that he can understand what the guy is saying): “ummmm (think think think) yes I would like a white wine (YES!)” every time he came over I got nervous about having to ask him to repeat himself and t thought I was nuts at first and then after listening to the waiter for awhile agreed that he had one weird tone to his voice. The evening ended with us saying hi to our downstairs neighbours when we got home and laughing our heads off as ed proceeded to swear in turkish to our amusement while wearing crest strips.
I love those guys.

just throw it out the window

t and i are coming up on our 2 year anniversary and i have been thinking a lot about marriage and partnerships. i am so lucky. he really is a constant source of support for me and i know that i am very lucky that someone can deal with all my moods. not only is he sweet and kind, he makes me laugh harder than anyone i know and we share an unusual affliction that causes us to do rather odd things. for example one day, after i had moved in with him in japan after knowing him for a total of 1 week, (which is really crazy in itself when i think about it) we were lounging about his one-room apartment and i had this urge to throw my toast out the window and, boy, did i whip that bread out the window. then without any hesitation t sent a banana soaring out the window right after my toast! then he muttered in his kiwi accent "yep, they needed to be thrown" and i totally agreed. it makes me laugh even now. who else can you throw stuff out the window with and then whole heartedly agree that it HAD to go. among other amazing traits he might be the only person in the world i can travel with, we have managed to make it through India and all the umm...interesting illnesses that can come with it...like t's possible case of malaria and a 5 day period of us tag teaming the bathroom due to Delhi belly (it is funny now, although at the time i thought we would die of dysentery in the Himalayas).
and i am looking forward to our future travels and adventures. and i guess that is what is pretty cool after 5 years, i really look forward to spending time with him even though i see him everyday. so to my hubby...you really are the best.

dont drool and drive

had to see the dentist early this morning for 2 fillings. i have never had one and i was pretty scared about having a needle shoved into my face. but to be honest that needle part was not too bad. as long as i dont see the needle i am ok. reminds me of when i had a tear duct infection and my eye doc (not my uncle but one who works with him) told me was going to flush out the eye. i was like yeah no problem bring on the wash...then he pulls out a 4 inch long needle that he wanted to poke into my tear duct to flush it out....yeah that did not happen. i kept trying to let him do it and then the glinting needle would freak me out and i would move away. so he gave up and then told me to come back and we would try again, well that was about 6 years ago and i never went back. and my tear duct is just fine, thank you very much.
anyhow the dentist today was ok...except at one point he told me i was a "grinder" which he emphasized by adding a scottish accent to it (some more like GGgrrrrrrrrrrindeRRR). i am not sure what that was about as he is not scottish...but i did appreciate that it made me smile on the inside since he was drilling into my tooth, my mouth was being held open and my whole face was pretty much frozen so smiling on the outside was not an option.
oh yeah and i paid the equivalent of my half of rent for an hour of his time. dentist fees are crazy..if i did not think that looking in someone's mouth was disgusting it might have been a good career option well maybe not but i would have amazing shoes.
the drive back was insane. everywhere i turned roads were closed down. this city is a nightmare to drive in right now. i was about to have serious road rage. honestly between the rain, 14th street north being closed, 10th ave north having slowed down due to flashing lights, and people driving like jerks it was enough to make me think about pulling over and reading my book for an hour....except that i have to work. so i managed to pull it together and drive back. but i am pondering writing to the paper about the roads in this city, i know everyone feels the same but there must be a better way to deal with it.
ps prime minister harper calgary is not dealing well with the infrastructure issues...i thought you knew that aren't you from here?