As is usual around here, Friday feels like a Saturday. I did my grocery shopping and laundry today. We are now headed out to the art museum to see a photo exhibit of Frida Kahlo with an early dinner to follow. But first, to recap the past week:
I ate this school lunch:
I checked in with the fourth grade class to see if they needed more supplies for their mission projects (a few did), and got to see more of their work. The teacher is impressed that they are turning their work in so early. Even the principal mentioned to me that she is seeing parents carry in the missions, proud of what their kids are doing:
A few of the students asked for plants and people. I told them they would have to make those themselves, and to get creative. I even tried to make some examples, including a well:
I did some thriftshopping this morning at the nearby Salvation Army Store. I just go in and wander around to see what I might find. Today was 50% off of children’s clothes so I bought more pants to take to Columbia for the clothes closet. I also found a stuffed lion I can use for storytelling. My grandson will be pleased that I got him some more heavy equipment:
My last stop was Whole Foods who now has an app, similar to Target’s Cart Wheel, that gives you freebies. Today it was peanut butter. Free is always good.
A few weeks ago I received notice from Turbo Tax that another account had been opened in my name and questioned if I had done so. Because I had not, I spent about two hours on the phone with the fraud division of Turbo Tax, getting it all straightened out. They in turn turned it over to the IRS and FBI. That prompted me to get my taxes filed, posthaste. Fortunately, my state and federal refunds plopped into my checking account this week. Though very small amounts, I was glad to get refunds and not have to pay additional money. Sure hope the criminals get caught, too, and don’t take advantage of other pensioners. One would think our tax bills are so small that no one would want to mess with such measly pickings.
Dkzody's Weblog 
Glad you got that fraud thing taken care of. And that lunch looks pretty good, actually. What’s in the bun?
The sandwich is a rib b que. Pressed pork in the shape of a riblet, cooked in barbecue sauce. It’s pretty good for what it is.
I don’t know why you keep having trouble with identity theft. You mentioned having some trouble with Amazon, too.
Well, I am glad you got the tax fraud taken care of.
Fresno is the capital of identity theft on the west coast because we are also the meth capital. Meth addicts don’t sleep for days, weeks, and are manic while awake, able to put together huge banks of identity thefts and sell them so as to buy more meth. I learned all of this by attending a fraud workshop put on by the police and FBI.
A few years ago my identity was stolen and the person ran up huge amounts, using my good credit reference. I was called by Home Depot the weekend it happened, and so, with the help of the credit bureaus, was able to get that straightened out. I immediately signed up for fraud protection. That’s how fraud was caught two more times, once with a Fingerhut account and then again with that Amazon account. At no time did I have to pay out any money nor was my credit rating effected because the criminal activity was caught so quickly. The fraud protection has certainly paid for itself, if with nothing else, peace of mind that my accounts are all being monitored on a daily basis. I have known of others here in Fresno who lost thousands of dollars due to identity theft.
Scary about Turbo tax fraud. The school lunches look healthy.
I was quite pleased with the way Turbo Tax handled it. I understand that the IRS has been hacked and millions of records stolen. So, who knows what or who will be next. These criminals are quite wiley.
Saturday: Yes, dusty work but I bagged three full bags of mystery’s for the Cancer Society and one for eldest daughter. So sorry you got hacked, but it sounds like it was handled very well.
Aside from the identity theft things seem pretty fun around you! Those mission project constructions are charming.
Things are very fun around here. I’m grateful that there are organizations looking out for me. I know of people who have been ruined by scam artists.
The mission project is really wonderful and it looks like it really inspired the kids. You got a lot of fabulous bargains (free is always good) and thank goodness you got that fraud thing taken care of.
My problem now with the mission project–how do I accomplish the same outcome for all three 4th grade classes? It’s too late for this year, but I hope to solve the dilemma by next year. We have seen what can happen when a few people take an interest in these children and their work. They become excited, they do better, and they learn more. The whole community is better for it.
Weird you got your refunds so quickly, since I filed before you. Now I’m getting worried and thinking about signing up for fraud protection. Which protection agency do you suggest?
Since I use Turbo Tax through our credit union’s website, they were the ones who contacted me about the duplicate account being set up in my name.
As for the fraud alert, I used Triple Alert Credit Monitoring for about three years. They were excellent at notifying me when something was amiss. However, they were pricey–$19.95 a month.
We have AAA membership and car insurance. They sent out a notice that they were now offering fraud protection. The basic plan is free and the one that covers all three agencies, plus helps with any fraud issues is $89 a year. I switched over to that. It’s called ProtectMyID. As with Triple Alert, they notify you monthly that they are monitoring your credit, but they do an immediate notification if something troublesome pops up.