Wicked Attitude

I swear, people are unbelievable.  Got ready to pay our credit card and before I do that I always check over our statement online.  I saw a charge I didn’t recognize as KHBILL.COM so I called the hubbs and asked if he charged anything I didn’t know about.  He said no.  So I went to the website and the following came up:

Why was I billed?

You purchased a product, membership or subscription from a website that uses Jettis International’s services. You should have received an email receipt at time of purchase. If you do not have your receipt, use the Account Information Retrieval Form to view purchase details.

Why do I have multiple charges?

For your convenience, many subscription-based websites renew your membership until you cancel. For more information, visit the website to which you subscribed. If you’ve subscribed to multiple websites, the charges will be listed separately.

How can I stop the billing?

Fill out the Account Cancellation Form. Once you’ve cancelled, you will not be billed again after the date of your cancellation. To maximize the value of your membership, your access will remain active until the end of the current billing cycle.   Customer Service support is powered by Jettis International, a division of Jettis, Inc. Click here for Customer Support.

Guess what you need in order to verify your supposed subscription?  That’s right, your credit card number!  (That should be the first tip off!)  Oh they tell you you can provide your subscription number (which there is none because you didn’t subscribe to anything), your credit card number and email address and conveniently you only need to provide 2 of the 3 items listed in order to get any info!  How nice of them!  So you mean I can provide you with my email address AND my credit card number so you can charge to your hearts content and spam my email too!?  Lucky me! 

Unfortunately there are plenty of people out there that would give up this information to get the $39.95 or whatever amount they charged to get it removed.  Guess what?  They’ll also charge you repeatedly!  We haven’t gotten to that point but after some online research, many have.  I called the number for giggles and guess what they ask for in order to verify your account?  Credit card number AND expiration date!  Are there really people out there stupid enough to hand that info over to complete strangers in this day and age??  Oh and don’t forget if “you” paid by check there’s a little logo for that too!  I’m sure it asks for your checking account number and routing number but I wasn’t going to click it to find out.

I am blogging about this so that others who may get an email from the many company fronts this place uses can rest assured that this IS a scam, you MUST cancel your credit card and dispute the charges and under no circumstances do you email them!  I would also delete the cookies in your documents and settings folder and restart just to be safe.

Some of the names associated with this scam are : KHBILL.COM,  Jettis International,  Jettis Inc and Kelker Holdings, Ltd. and Nicosia Cyprus were listed at the bottom of the page.  Based on some research apparently EELimit.com is also associated and other various porn sites.

I don’t know how many people watch those home shows on HGTV like My First Home or House Hunters and the like but I can say I watch them alot.  I don’t know what my (or others) obsession is with it but there’s something weirdly entertaining about watching other people shop for their dream home and yelling at the television as though they can hear you. 

In this crappy economy, we’ve heard alot about “predatory lenders” which is essentially when banks give people who can’t afford a mortgage these crazy terms like balloon mortgages or reverse interest mortgages or paying one mortgage at one percentage rate while paying a 2nd mortgage at another interest rate and these people, being desperate, fall for it.  Then they wonder why they’re being foreclosed on??  I’m sorry but I don’t really feel sorry for these people.  Are the lenders fully responsible for this foreclosure crisis?  No, because it’s the person who wants the home so desperately that has the final say.  These people should be going over their monthly finances and have some elbow room to save for emergencies, vacations or whatever and not be married to the house with no way to have a life outside of it.  (Unless they pay with plastic and pretend they aren’t going to have a crapload of debt until the bill collectors start calling.) 

I just watched “My First Home” where this couple had looked at a house after like 40 homes and they had an inspection and there was a laundry list of things wrong with it including the outside wall was going to collapse at some point and would cost $30-40K to repair.  They walked away from it and I thought “finally, people with some sense!”  Well the seller comes back a few weeks later and lowers the payment by $15K by repairing some of the minor things and they’re like “okay, problem solved!”  Not only that, they got one of those 80/20 loans, were $130/mo over their max and now the lady has to get a 2nd job to afford the mortgage.  REALLY??  I do not feel sorry for these people who are so blinded by a pretty house (to them, this place was a purple nightmare) that all common sense walks out the window.  I say we call it as we see it and admit that 80% of the housing market collapse can be blamed on people like this with unrealistic expectations and are desperate to accept any terms the lender gives rather than buckle down and save up for when they can truly afford it.

You know it amazes me about the whole social networking phenomenon is people’s incessant need to have as many “friends” as possible to prove to others that they’re “popular.”  Like I have a family member who has over 1500 friends.   Could she really pick these people out of a lineup?  I mean if they’re supposed to be friends, then she should know each and every one of their faces in detail, right?  What amuses me the most is the whole high school social acceptance thing.  People who have been out of school for a decade or more that add people that they genuinely did not like in high school or didn’t hang out with.  I know several people on both Facebook and Myspace who add anyone and everyone in high school because they asked.  I saw a friend add someone who I distinctly remember she called a “skanky, lying bitch” but now they’re buddies after having not seen nor spoken to each other since high school.  How does this make sense??  I mean these people have access to your pictures, your private thoughts, your likes and dislikes and you’re essentially opening yourself up to be judged by these people all over again.  Would I want a skanky, lying bitch having access to that stuff?  NO!  I can’t count how many times I’ve seen people added as friends and then those people never write a word on the person’s wall/page.  Yeah, because they don’t KNOW you and they don’t care enough about you to do so!  Get the hint.  They added you because they were too nice to say no or ignore you.

Maybe the man and I take the whole thing too seriously but we add people that we actually consider friends…gasp!  The concept!?  I may sound like some uber dweeb that was rejected by all of the social groups and is bitter or something but I’m not.  I was a “neutral.”  I knew people in every social clique- cheerleaders, jocks, nerds, hoods, drama, goth and of course the neutrals I hung out with.  But honestly, I could count on one hand how many people I actually would care to know anything about from high school to catch up with in an email but add them as a friend, no thanks.  I just don’t see the point in reconnecting with people who never sought me out up to that point so that they can add to their friend count.  So my friend count will remain just under 30 and I’m fine with that.  I don’t need to add the cashier from the grocery store, a dude I met at a party, a friend of a friend of a guy I had a crush on in 5th grade or the security guard at the front gate to make myself feel more important.  My circle of true friends has always been intimate and my friend count will reflect that on my social networking pages.  If that makes me unpopular, so be it but I’d rather be real than trying to fool myself into thinking all 1000 people on my page actually gave a squirt of wee about me.  Think about it and if need be, weed your social networking garden.

Gotta say I was a little surprised that the octuplet chose to implant 8 embryos in her uterus.  I have a family member who underwent fertility treatments and they implanted 3 and I told them they were going to have triplets and they laughed at me rattling off the statistics of how unlikely it was that would happen.  Well guess what, they had triplets and in the midst of one of many hard times they were encountering having 3 newborns, the mother screamed “I did NOT sign on for three!”  Well, yes you did.  When you choose to implant a certain number of embryos in your uterus, you need to come to terms with the fact you could end up with that many babies.

Now this octuplet mom’s motives seem very suspect to me.  I don’t like feeling that way about it but she’s a single mother in her mid-30’s who lives with her mom!  Where the hell does she propose stuffing these children in the 3 bedroom house she shares?  The neighbors and apparently the girl’s father aren’t thrilled according to one article I read.  My thought is she figures with shows out there like Jon and Kate Plus 8 (who I actually watch and like) , that freakish Dugger family and there’s some new family with an unGodly amount of kids out there with their own show that she could maybe become a part of that TV genre and make some money.  Again, this is just my opinion and I have no idea if that was her intent or not but given her current circumstances, I don’t really see any other logical explaination for doing that.  This woman is going to rely on the handouts of others and big companies to hear her story and donate products to her and I’ve got news sister, in this economy, good friggin’ luck!  While the medical community can’t really regulate this kind of thing, where is the ethical line where a doctor should be able to at least say “you know what, I refuse to implant that many given your situation and I’m not going to treat you.”  Just what we need, another gaggle of kids who didn’t ask to be born into what are going to have to be a strained and economically impossible situation.  Way to go.

Update:  The octuplet mom has hired an agent and is hoping to get money for interviews or be an on-air “child care expert.”  Read more about this developing story here.  Gee, I hate being right.  Oh yeah and if you want to be a child care expert, common sense would dictate that if you only wanted ONE more child that you would not implant 8 embryos.  Common sense would also dictate if you’re an unemployed student that you wouldn’t breed, which is essentially what this woman has become.  So sorry sistah, you have no credentials to be a child care “expert.”  Next.

I heard something on TV last night and I realized I’ve heard it over and over and it’s kind of annoying.  (Imagine…ME thinking something is annoying!)  When people refer to the SCENT of a candle as the FLAVOR of a candle.  I know that Webster’s first definition of flavor is odor or fragrance but most of us associate the word flavor with the secondary meaning which is the quality of something that affects the sense of taste.  I don’t consider the words scent and flavor interchangeable.  I don’t ask what scent of ice cream you’re eating.  Or worse when people sniff body sprays and ask what flavor it is.  It’s not hurting anyone, it’s not Earth shattering, just an observation of something that makes people sound ignorant.

I made some mini pizzas last night and the first bite scorched the roof of my mouth even after having rested.  Don’t you hate it when that happens and then you’re faced with two choices, playing with the injured, puffy mess with your tongue and wait for it to recede the next day or play with the injured, puffy mess with your tongue until the membrane peels off and then thoroughly grosses you out.  I chose to go with the first option though I’m usually more guilty of the latter.  Don’t know why I felt like sharing that with you but I did and I’m sorry.

We were looking for a family to adopt for Christmas and our local Red Cross said they were “full” and didn’t need any more donors but we could donate to the RC as a whole if we wanted.  Um, no thanks.  The point was to adopt a needy family not throw money into a pot where I have no real confirmation that it’s going where they say it’s going.  (Refer to abuses of money after 9/11 and Katrina)  So I keep looking up other organizations and it’s like pulling teeth to try and find what we’re looking for so we’re still on the search.  Many say the “deadline” is already passed.  Um, there’s still 9 days until Christmas so I don’t see how that’s possible.  “Sorry Mr and Mrs Jones and children…I didn’t meet the deadline so no Christmas for you.”  Why can’t there just be one central website that refers you to places based on your location?  If you should happen to know of such a site, feel free to list it in the comments. 

Well, suppose I’ll sign off for now.    Have a good one!

I call this story The Tale of the Procrastinating Wench.  Yes, I got sucked into the Halloween marathon of Are You Afraid of the Dark? until 3am.  I loved that show when it was on.  Just creepy enough to be interesting but just lame enough to make fun of.  Recognized a young Ryan Gosling in his first acting job.  I was surprised how many of them I remembered and that I didn’t remember how bad the acting was on most of them.  Wow. 

I got most of my Christmas wrapping done last night.  YES!  I only have one friend to shop for and I predict it will be the same standard answer of “oh I don’t need anything.”  Christmas isn’t about needing anything, it’s about asking others to get you the frivolous things you’re too cheap to get yourself.  You know, like a kitchen gadget, a video game, a DVD of your favorite band in concert, Mighty Putty or a gram of coke.  Okay, I draw the line at getting someone else’s coke but you get my drift. 

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I was watching The Biggest Loser and this bitch on there (Vicky) who purposely threw the challenge and the prize was videos from home.  She said seeing her kids on video again after seeing them not too long ago “didn’t mean anything” to her and she didn’t care to do it.  Oh I’m sorry Ms. Thing but 1) you’re not the only one on the team and 2) I’m sure your kids really appreciate knowing seeing them didn’t mean anything to you.  I hope you gain all of your weight back.

The man was looking at the paint ingredients the other day and pointed them out to me.  After reading off a list of unpronouncable ingredients the last one was rather curious.  “Some ingredients unknown.”  Um really??  How do you not know what ingredient you’re putting in a product??  Here’s some unknown goo seeping toward the sewer, this looks like it might go well in the paint.  I mean it’s not even like “we’ve boiled down a boot and used the juice for your painting pleasure.” 

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I’ve been perfectly content with living with our stark white walls for over 12 years.  Never had an itch to change until a few months ago when I saw just how much stuff shows up on the walls when they’re white.  I decided I wanted a light to medium gray green color and went online on Glidden’s site to see the paint colors they had.  I had taken a pic of our living room and was surprised to see colors that looked good on the little swatch actually looked a lot different when “painted” on the virtual walls of our living room.  I picked out 4 or 5 different colors I liked and kept coming back to this one called “Main Street USA.”  It was exactly what I wanted.  So we went into the local Home Depot and picked up three gallons and I saw it looked a little darker than I remembered on the card but didn’t think much of it. 

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I’m becoming increasingly aware of this wormhole or rip in the space/time continuum that is sucking the weekends away at alarming rates recently.  Hell even the week went by rather quickly even if the day itself didn’t appear to.  Did that make sense?  It’s like “ugh, it’s Monday” and then suddenly “oh shit it’s Friday” I have 3 hours of fondue prep ahead of me. 

Yes, we had our fondue night aka-food orgy Saturday.  I must say the crab/shrimp cream cheese stuffing I made for the stuffed mushrooms was awesome.  I guess my friend’s boyfriend was raving about it to her mom and then proceeded to pop the meatballs we fried up at the end of the orgy on the car ride home like ludes.  They seemed impressed with my crepes as well which was a concoction on the fly that had delightful results.  I’m keeping that one in the repertoire.  The wormhole showed up all day as 9 1/2 hours seemed to fly by.  (Well for us at least, the boyfriend may have wanted to leave before then because he had a cold but he was polite and didn’t complain.  We told him to take a nap after dinner and he obliged.  I wouldn’t turn down a nap at virtual stranger’s homes either.  It’d be a good way to see if they talk about me because they think I’m asleep.)

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We recently had an incredibly long travel day with United Airlines.  Well it would’ve been a long travel day with any airline but I’m calling out United due to a bitch you’ll encounter when we’re on the San Francisco part of the story.  I should’ve known it was going to be a particularly stellar day when while on the flight from Hawaii to San Francisco we were seated behind a grotesque couple in their late 50’s who insisted on french kissing the first 20 minutes of the flight.  Yeah, picture that for a second.  Your mom or grandparents depending on your age going at it like a pubescent horndog and hair chewing child bride.  It was as horrific as it sounds.  As if that wasn’t bad enough…

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