I have a few recent projects that have been posted on DIY Life. I really like the CD sleeve. It made me want to make sleeves and jackets for CDs that are like the ones that records came in. Maybe that will be an upcoming project.

I spent some time collecting stuff from the internet for my bacon appreciation website.  I also changed some of the site colors and images so that it is a bit more bacony.  Just a bit.  A bacon bit.

I’ve never really been afraid of using my credit cards online but i have heard too many stories of people being taken advantage of. One friend bought some parts for a Volkswagon online and next thing their bank account was empty. I did have a mysterious $10 charge from some fly-by-night online credit card processing company that popped up. I reported it to the credit card company and they issued me a new card immediately. I have started taking it seriously enough that while we were on our trip overseas if i had to log into any site with a password i used a few different techniques to foil key loggers. I went through the processes that were running and shut down any questionable ones. Some of the computers in the seedier internet cafes were running hacked versions of Windows 95. I gave Cena’s mom a Vista computer for Christmas this year because she was running an antique and starting to do financial transactions on it.

So i have gone from fairly careless a few years ago to quite protective. What are reasonable precautions to take? The new option to freeze your credit reports would keep identity thieves from opening a new account in your name. Unfortunately it costs $10 to activate and $10 to temporarily suspend or turn off the freeze. Running good antivirus, firewall, and spyware prevention measures are important. Not using shared computers for important information and being aware of your internet connection would be wise. (Setting up a bogus free wifi spot near a hotel without wireless or by a coffee shop that charges for connection would be money if i was a bit shadier.) Owning and using a shredder for sensitive documents is a good idea although i understand that fewer than 5% of identity theft cases are from people going through garbage. Most cases are from shady employees and virtual theft using computers. Paid services can go a long way at securing your identity. Unfortunately they cost $10 a month. Defining the right price point to protect your money and identity is difficult. I’m sure that if you were hit hard then $120 a year is completely reasonable. Victims of identity theft get to freeze and thaw their credit reports free of charge.

What will i do? Keep up with my software on the computers i use. Next time i travel without my own laptop or where i’ll be using shared computers i’ll set up a thumb drive for travel that will allow me to do most tasks with less of a concern over privacy. As i said before, i’ll probably get a shredder once we’re furnishing the home office. We like to recycle but i don’t like to leave copies of bills in the mixed paper bins at the post office — too many people rummage through there looking for catalogs (i presume). Some day i’ll probably invest in a more proactive defense like the credit freeze.

Someone ordered an item from me via Amazon two weeks ago. It hasn’t arrived yet and they have been quite testy lately. Because Cena opens Lux at 11 and we have one car right now she is able to ship things out the same day most people order (we’re 4 hours behind the east coast). So this person ordered on the 16th and we shipped it that morning. They didn’t pay for expedited shipping (which is just a few dollars more) so it went out on the barge. Fortunately, we pay for delivery confirmation out of our pocket whenever an item is more that $10. We started doing this because we kept having people tell us they didn’t receive an item – ever since implementing that not a single item has been lost! Anyway, we have proof that we mailed it out the day the person ordered it. All of the messages i have received from this person have been in all capital letters. They have been pretty nasty in their tone and use of words. My last note to them asked that they not use all caps because it is considered rude (among many other points). Here is their entire reply.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION I ALWAYS TYPE IN CAPS. SO IF YOU THINKS ITS RUDE I’M SORRY BUT THATS THE WAY I RIGHT.

Someone please take away this person’s internet.  Just two sentences. I wasn’t an English major but the second sentence has at least four errors in it.  That’s the way they WRONG.

Perhaps it is time to make use of the internet a privilege.   We have email spammers barraging our inbox.  There are phishers duping unwary users into giving away passwords.  And some pedophiles patrol social sites.  We prohibit young children from driving.  Then to drive you need to pass a test of comprehension and skill.  Perhaps we need an internet on training wheels (like AOL used to be) that everyone had access to and then a basic skills test that permitted you to have access to the rest of the zeros and ones.  But i know that won’t ever happen.  We’ll just have to put up with all caps, excessive punctuation (have you seen people that write,,,,,,,  and then use commas,,,,,,     like that?), people falling for the bank password emails, and the like.

What is up with the occasional spam email that slips through my filters that looks like a travel agent trying to contact me about a room reservation…

Dr William.

Greetings,

I inquiry for reservations for 3 couples coming for their honey moon at your property,I would like you to get back to me with the following.

1. The availability of the dates
2. The Daily cost for the required dates
3. The total cost for the length of their stay.
4. Do you accept credit card payment.

The arrival date for the couples will be 5th June and they will
depart on 20th June 2008 ,Their stay will last for 15 days.

Do get back to me with the requirements as stated above.

Kindest Regards,
Dr William Nelson

Tel: +447045766679
Mobile: +447045766674

I just can’t figure this. Am i supposed to give them a quote to live in my house? Spam is supposed to sell me something or try to dupe me into giving them some information which they can exploit.

Wow.  I know it is just a tally of the top earner for the day — but look at this graphic…

Yes, that Ryan is me.  One of the greatest things about Wordpress is the way that i can schedule posts to take place in the future or the past.  So last night i rattled off a few posts but one stipulation with this outfit is that you can’t have sponsored posts back to back.  You also can not have picture posts or very short blog posts before or after.  So this has actually helped me improve my post frequency and what i have to say.  I just hope that the posts i am paid for still have enough of my own thoughts in them to not turn off my few dedicated readers.  I don’t take the opportunities that are too restrictive.  I also refuse to write for less than $10.  My work on DIY Life will average more than that.  I need to get a better feel for the types of things that they would like to see on the site so i can be a little more prolific on there.

I know a few people that have gone to a specific school to learn to operate heavy equipment.  Recently Rachel Cheney returned from a school and i remember Ryan Welde telling me a few stories about his experience.  There really is something incredible about moving a lot of earth.  I first learned to use a tiny excavator – this one.  It is worth mentioning that it was turned off before that Viking took it over.  After a while i then learned to use a rubber tire backhoe.  Both pieces of equipment i operated to help with trail building efforts on the Hungry Point Trail.  It would have been back breaking work to load wheelbarrows by hand.

Two years ago i ran my first bulldozer to work on improvements at the baseball fields.   Many of the improvements that i have seen take place at the pool, parks, and trails is only possible with heavy equipment.  In some ways it is nice to think of an almost care-free work environment with a heated cab just moving dirt around like kids and Tonka trucks.  But i have seen the other side – messing with a track in the pouring rain or bogging down equipment in mud.  I honestly respect the guys that run heavy equipment because so many of my work projects wouldn’t get done without them.

I wish we had a backhoe at home.  With the snow piling up there is some money to be made helping keep driveways cleared.  How do i know?  I finally got the bill from last winter!

I  have been trying to send in a laptop (that i bought at Costco a number of years ago) to the Costco and Greensight electronics recycling program that i mentioned previously.  (If you want to send something in and are not a Costco member let me know – we can work something out!)  I received my quote and the confirmation email but was never emailed the UPS shipping label to mail the item in.  If you need to contact the Costco electronics recycling help line just call 866-314-2059.  That telephone number goes straight to the folks that should be able to help.  They had some glitch in my shipping label email that they said they would fix and send to me again.  That could be just short of $200 for a laptop that i would feel terrible trying to sell to anyone on eBay.  While Kevin was here we swapped out the hard drives with his laptop because the one on mine was larger.  The drive size was not a criteria used in judging the value of the return.  Hopefully i receive the shipping label email and can send the old laptop in and see what they will give me for this hot notebook.

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I hope the RIAA does not go after me for buying records at thrift stores for under a dollar and then throwing them on the ION USB turntable that i received as a great gift last year. If i had my old record collection it wouldn’t be much more extensive. I do remember having some early breakdance compilations, a Debbie Gibson album and Bon Jovi’s Slippery when Wet. I currently have it hooked up to the stereo now so we can play some of our collection when we have people over. For Christmas dinner i scoured through the albums and plucked the holiday records. It was a nice change from the standard seasonal stuff that you hear in most stores or on the radio that time of the year. There are a number of different models that have come out in recent years . As i mentioned before, the lower end of the spectrum doesn’t record well based on the factory settings but i have not made new ones lately so i have not tried Steve’s suggestion of putting more weight on the needle yet. It has been nice to have some polkas and older tracks for use when playing music at things other than the bar and the rowdier wedding receptions.