Your personal data is like Pandora’s box. I had hoped that our case was just a matter of someone getting a couple of card numbers through nefarious channels, but I fear that our personal data is now being passed around the criminal underworld like currency.
The other night we got a phone call from these jerks fishing for our data.
I fear this is just the opening salvo in a long frustrating war for our credit, and unfortunately the bad guys have the high ground.
Thieves suck ass.
Last week, someone on teh intarwebz found both the wife’s and my debit/credit card numbers and started racking up charges. Fortunately, I had been looking at our checking account daily to see whether Bender Ball would credit our account for their own little scam. We called our bank immediately and out of over $700 in total charges, only one for a little over $200 actually posted, which should be reversed some time this week. While I’d like to blame Bender Ball, the fact that the thief found both our debit/credit card numbers (which are different) at the same time leads me to believe that the thief found them elsewhere, possibly at Amazon.com where we both have made purchases in the past.
This could have been far worse.
I may be in the minority with this lesson, but for anyone else still that minority, here’s some advice: don’t ever, EVER use a debit/credit card that’s linked to your checking account on the internet. While it may have the same fraud protection as a credit card, any fraudulent charges are still going to post to your checking account until you are aware of what’s happening, and by then your account may be cleaned out. And it’s not a question of whether it will happen to you, it’s a matter of when.
The wife and I have discussed what to do, and while it scares the crap out of us, we’re going to use a credit card for all transactions from now on, including gas and groceries, and pay off the balance each month. I’m really apprehensive about this, since it opens the door to racking up more charges than we can pay off, but I think it’s the “best worst” solution.
And if you’re not paranoid enough, here are some articles about credit card skimming:
I queued up at the start line, somewhere near the front and middle. I knew Arlyn would be there, and sure enough I saw his shiny red Trek at the very front with members of the Descenders. I made a mental note to try and catch them and match their pace.
Catching them turned out to be a little bit difficult, and I’m learning how quickly the starting group of riders pulls away from the rest. Once I had bridged up to them, we were well on our way up the first hill (the first little bump in the elevation profile). I kept pace, sometimes riding next to Arlyn, not sure if I should introduce myself but figured it would be way too awkward; it could wait until the event was done. I rode up to the front of the group and enjoyed being in “first place” for a little while, just like I did at the beginning of the Bulldog bike race.
The first elevation bump gives way to a fairly long descent, which was fun, but I’m still not comfortable in a group of riders. I have a hard time staying on others’ wheels; it just feels dangerous, and I hate having to constantly be on the brakes. I’m pretty sure I annoy others behind me because I let gaps form in front of me and I’m not as smooth as I should be on the brakes. There was an interesting moment when an SUV made a U-turn in front of us, spitting dirt at the front of the pack. Sure enough, a little later, the SUV stopped to make a left turn and we almost turned into pancakes as the smell of burning brake pads filled the air.
The meat of the ride is the 20-odd mile climb up Dehesa Road and Japatul Valley Road. The pack thinned out, with a group of riders immediately breaking off the front. I stayed with Arlyn’s group of Descenders, knowing that they were well experienced and that trying to keep up with the lead group would probably kill me later on. I don’t completely remember how things panned out, but I think I picked up my pace at one point and dropped Arlyn’s group. I was climbing solo for awhile, passing a couple of guys, then got passed by a guy with what appeared to be Shimano’s new electronic derailleur. I glued myself to his wheel and sneakily passed him after drafting on one of the short downhills that break up the climb. Electronic derailleur guy helped me push the pace so that I eventually caught up with a group that included a pair of Descenders. I didn’t see electronic derailleur guy again, which surprised me, since he had sustained a strong tempo up the hill.
I seem to recall that the two Descenders had two other guys with them, whom we dropped. I pushed the pace a little going up the hill, which thinned the group to just me and the Descenders. I think I heard one of the Descenders say something like “I think we dropped the little guy… or should I say Shadow Tour* guy dropped him.” I made a dumb joke about catching a bus after passing a bus sign, then made a mental note about not making stupid jokes.
I kept waiting for “the wall” to come, which I remember from last year. It’s a portion of the climb that seems to go straight up for a hundred yards or so, but I think we made it over without realizing it was there. Have I told you how much I love my new bike?
I rode with the two Descenders for a bit, and we picked up two more guys, forming a somewhat disorganized group of five that finished the climb through Japatul. I found the Descenders to be tough nuts to crack. I’m not much of an attacker, but I can increase my tempo and sustain it pretty well. They always stuck to my wheel when I took the lead and I knew there was no dropping them. Soon we were on our way to Pine Valley.
I got dropped during the long downhill to Pine Valley. One of the 2 guys that we had picked up turned out to be an insanely fast downhiller, and two of our group were keen to stay on his wheel as I dropped back with the fifth guy in the group. I think the fifth guy was one of the Descenders but I don’t quite remember. As the road turned flat in Pine Valley, the fifth guy powered ahead, leaving me behind to struggle against a headwind to bridge back up to them. I finally made it, and there was a SAG stop where the Descenders wanted to get water. I would have stopped with them, but there was no Porta-Potty and I had to pee, so I decided to ride to the next SAG stop for water and facilities.
The ride through Pine Valley is a nice little break from all the hills, but it’s really just a fancy u-turn to head back up the hill that we had just descended. The two Descenders caught us right before the uphill, and I learned later that they had decided against getting water after watching us pull away. I hung at the back of our group for a little, then felt my legs coming back and decided to pick up the tempo, so I put on a bit of gas and took the lead. As always, the Descenders were keen to my move and didn’t let go of my wheel, though I did lead our pack up the hill. I’d like to think I handed out some suffering but I have a feeling these guys have persevered through far worse.
We arrived at the SAG stop and I refilled my water, ate some food, and availed myself of the facilities. By this time the group was long gone, so I set out on my own to cover the last 10 or 15 miles back to the start/finish line.
At the end I saw that Arlyn had finished before me and I saw him talking to the SDBC guy that I had met at this year’s winter Stagecoach. I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself to Arlyn but talked to SDBC guy for a little bit (I still didn’t get his name).
I finally found a chance to introduce myself to Arlyn, who had by that time changed clothes so without his bike and kit I wasn’t completely sure it was him. Luckily my facial recognition software did not let me down and we chatted for a moment with one of his Descenders buddies. I’m such a nerd, but I was able to extricate myself before I made too much of an ass of myself.
Overall, a great ride. The weather was cool (to the point that my feet were cold in Pine Valley) and the wind was nominal. The ride is really well organized, with plentiful SAG stops and the course is very well-marked. I think this is one of my favorite events because the hills are such a challenge, but it won’t kill you the way a full century does. And you get a free** beer, massage, and meal at the end. And you get a nice little medal too, handed out by a pretty high school girl***. Did I mention the national anthem sung in 2-part harmony by 2 other pretty high school girls***?
Oh, and did I mention how much I love my new bike? Because I do. Check out the stats (and compare to last year’s):
| 2009 ALPINE CHALLENGE | |
| Miles: | 71.08 |
| Riding Time: | 3 hours, 56 minutes, 28 seconds |
| Average Speed: | 18.1 mph |
| Max Speed: | 45 mph |
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* I wore my Shadow Tour 2008 Stagecoach jersey today
** free with paid entry fee
*** I admit it, I’m a dirty old man
I don’t recall any flat areas of the Alpine Challenge last year, so I thought I’d find some free mapping sites* to confirm my lack of recollection. Indeed, the flats are few:
I created that here, where you can examine the whole route if you’re into that sort of thing. Something seems a bit off though, as it reports a total elevation gain of 8900+ feet and a maximum grade of 30% (!!) whereas the ride’s organizers claim less than 7000 feet of climbing. I remember a wall somewhere in there but I can’t imagine it being anywhere near 30%.
At any rate, while the numbers are arguable, the elevation profile speaks for itself.
I mapped the same thing here. It has a snazzier-looking route but the elevation profile is a bit lacking.
At least the weather is cooling down. The wind remains a wild card.
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* feel free to suggest your favorite mapping tool in the comments!
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything about my son. It’s difficult to think of exactly what to write about him, but I feel a sense of duty to air it out, to give a general update to family and friends and to publicize what it’s like to raise an autistic child.
He is almost 7 years old. Throughout this journey I have clung to the hope that someday he would emerge from his shell, that there is some key to unlock him from the prison cell of autism. But that hope continues to fade, especially when I see other children his age and younger. I can’t express how odd it is to see a 3 year old having a conversation with his parents. Yes, it is challenging because at that point everything is a negotiation, but at least the dialog is there. We never had that, and we still don’t. And it seems somehow inappropriate to even bring it up with friends who have children because I don’t wish to burden them with guilt for having normally-developing children.
His speech is improving, but by no means is he capable of engaging in conversation. For the most part, speech is limited to yes/no answers and basic greetings, and even those responses generally require some coaching.
His biggest joy is the computer and we’ve learned some lessons about what is appropriate. We’ve found that we can’t allow him to play arcade-style video games because his level of frustration with them will without exception result in violent tantrums. His need to finish things exists in direct opposition to arcade games that become increasingly difficult with each level and only supply a limited number of lives.
There are 3 internet sites that we have deemed appropriate for him: Starfall, Playhouse Disney, and PBS Kids. We’ve tried some educational software and he’s really taken with Reader Rabbit.
The general advice with autistic kids and computers is that autistic kids should not be allowed to play computers, or for only very limited amounts of time. Playing on computers does not promote social skills, which I fully agree with; however, for our son, the computer is the only thing that makes him want to vocalize. In a sense, the computer is for him a gateway to socialization.
As a baby, he did not coo the way that babies normally do. The vocalizations that I remember were mainly screaming when he wanted something or had melted down into a tantrum. While not socially appropriate, he has developed a strong vocabulary of computer noises, and over the past year this has blossomed into words through educational software.
So the computer has been a mixed blessing. While it can be extremely difficult to disengage him from the computer, it has helped him with math, vocabulary, and just recently, spelling.
He has become quite a counter of numbers and we have a bedtime routine in which he counts to 100 in lots of different ways while prancing in circles on his bed. He’ll count to 100 by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, and 25s. He sometimes gives a coy smile and says “Count to 50… by 50. 50!” Last night he started to count backwards from 100 by 5s but lost interest at around 45. He sometimes counts on his fingers, and I was recently impressed when he did so when counting by 2s and 5s. It shows me that he really understands that numbers relate to real quantities, rather than just memorizing the sequence.
He has become proficient in adding numbers and can write answers to simple math addition on a sheet of paper. In fact, his school teacher was recently impressed with his ability to do math, as it is a skill that seemed to crop up overnight. I think he had been steadily picking up arithmetic through Reader Rabbit which has several programs for counting money and solving math problems.
Reader Rabbit also has some spelling programs, and I am impressed that he can now sound out words and fill in a missing letter by the sound. At school, his teacher said he read a sentence from a book, which is pretty fantastic.
There are three areas where I wish we could improve: potty training, disengaging from the computer, and his bedtime/night routine. Yes, at almost 7 years old, he is still not fully potty trained. I think this has mostly to do with the fact that he doesn’t want to stop what he is doing to take a potty break. The result is that he will stand in front of the computer with wet, poopy pants. The worst is when he’s decided he doesn’t want to wear his pants anymore, takes them off without our knowledge, and stands around in his poop, sometimes scratching at himself and getting it everywhere. If we can catch him in the act, we can sometimes get him to go to the bathroom, but even then it’s a real battle to disengage him from the computer. While getting him to use the toilet is one issue, aim is another. Our bathrooms have a fairly nasty reek to them, of urine that has pooled under the toilet seat and around all of the nooks and crannies at the base of the toilet. I have recently become more militant about wiping everything down each day, but all it takes is a day.
Disengaging from the computer is an issue where we’ve just lacked some basic discipline. To be frank, the computer allows us to get a break, so it is easy for us to allow him to play while we do what we need to do to maintain sanity. But the price we pay is, as mentioned above, measured in dirty underwear.
The bedtime routine is another issue where we need to start enforcing some discipline. We have allowed him to rule the house at night: he won’t go to sleep unless someone is in bed with him, and he needs someone to be in the room all night or we’ll end up with an hour long screaming tantrum in the wee hours of the morning. We’ve allowed this to happen because it’s the only way we can get a halfway decent night of sleep, which we need in order to deal with him throughout the day. But after 7 years, this is getting old.
This Saturday I will ride the Alpine Challenge. I rode this last year and I’m looking forward to riding my road bike instead of the mountain bike.
Yesterday was a tough day in the saddle. I had set out to do a good 30-40 mile jaunt but I was seriously bonking after only 20 miles. I pushed myself through 27 and got home, but I was beaten. This was the first really hot day of the year and there was a nasty headwind that seemed to dog me every time I started going up hill. The wind was hot and dry, and it seemed like it sucked the life out of my legs.
While the Alpine Challenge is not a full century at 72 miles, it packs almost 7,000 feet of climbing. Last year was pretty hot, and the wind can be a major factor out there in the inland hills. I’m really hoping for good weather on Saturday because if it’s anything like yesterday, I’m in for some major suffering.
Please accept my apologies for this blog devolving into a series of youtube videos.
But I just have to post this. I found it courtesy of the Bike Snob (here’s the post), and I’m only 9 months late to the party with this one. This music video is a response to the Spanish cyclists who were caught and booted from the 2008 Tour de France. Riccardo Rico, while Italian, rode for a Spanish team so I guess we can lump him in there as well.
ANYWAY, the song is really catchy, and for whatever reason I actually like it a lot. It’s been bopping along in my head the last few days during my bike commutes, which is far better than some of the other tripe that gets stuck in my head’s rotation.
If you’re interested in a rough translation to English, go here*.
ANYWAY (really this time) here’s the vid:
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* lyrics pasted here in case the link dies (credit goes to musingsOfABitterGirl):
Hi, dom Pedro
Si ?
What is your secret for being so fast ?
You would really like to know, wouldn’t you ?
It is an “especial” potion.
Let me tell you about it ….1,2,3
EPO te quiero (EPO I love you)
Thanks to you , I’ll be “numero uno” (number 1)
EPO te quiero
Thanks to you, I’ll have the most beautiful of the jerseys.On the roads of France,
I take advantage of the beautiful day.
I musn’t make too much effort
If I want to win the Tour.
I ride along on my bicycle
Without effort or complexity.
Far ahead of the peloton,
I’m humming this song.EPO te quiero
Thanks to you , I’ll be “numero uno”
EPO te quiero
Thanks to you, I’m going faster than ? (a tornado or Don Lado).When I have a little pump strike (I feel drained)
On my bike
I stop beside a field
Of poppies
So I extract from my flask
EPO
An good old medicineAnd when comes the end of the stage,
I’m hailed as a hero.
Bravo, Bravo
The champagne, I don’t give a damn about it.
I prefer my EPO.EPO te quiero
Thanks to you , I’ll be “numero uno”
EPO te quiero
Thanks to you, I’ll have the most beautiful of the jerseys.Your attention ! Everyone into the saddles!
Each morning, with EPO, get a leg up.
A product of ours the whole world envies.
For you and your bicycle, EPO is what you need.
Thanks to you my EPO.EPO te quiero
Thanks to you , I’ll be “numero uno”
EPO te quiero
Thanks to you, I’ll have the most beautiful of the jerseys.I’ll be cuter than Laurent Fignon,
Stronger than Poulidor
And far crazier than Virenque,
And more handsome than Bernard Hinault.
Thanks to you, my EPO.My PP, my PO, my PP, my EPO,
My PP, my PO, my PP, my EPO,
EPOooooooooooo
Well I’m preaching to the choir here but I guess the more bad publicity for these jerks, the better.
We fell for the marketing and bought a Bender Ball a few months ago. When we ordered, I am positive that the order page said nothing about enrolling in a monthly DVD program. It’s more prominent now, but had we seen it, we never would have bought it. And unfortunately, we made the mistake of charging to a card that’s linked to our checking account.
A month after receiving the product, we received a package containing more DVDs. I was confused and checked our account, and sure enough they had dinged us for $30.86. We immediately called their “customer service” line, cancelled our “subscription” (which we did not knowingly enroll in) and returned the DVDs.
This month, they dinged us again for $19.99. I called them up and they said they haven’t received the return, that it takes 6-8 weeks to process returns, and that the $19.99 was a balance from the $30.86 from last month. If they ever get around to crediting our account, they won’t credit shipping and handling. So far, we’re out over $70 for a $10 product.
Lessons learned:
