Random Ramblings

I'm glad to hear you got your toilet working properly again.  That must have been stressful.

Staybrite wrote:

I'm glad to hear you got your toilet working properly again.  That must have been stressful.

Very!  I have a lot of self-doubt and anything like this I have never done ony own causes me great anxiety.  People tell me that I seem so confident, but inside I am a mess of fear and sometimes self-loathing.  Not a good combo.

But, some days when I feel like giving up on everything, even if I have to do things the hard way, the Lord gives me a shove and somehow I manage to complete something I was terrified of.  Yesterday was like that.

alldatndensum wrote:

Staybrite wrote:

I'm glad to hear you got your toilet working properly again.  That must have been stressful.

Very!  I have a lot of self-doubt and anything like this I have never done ony own causes me great anxiety.  People tell me that I seem so confident, but inside I am a mess of fear and sometimes self-loathing.  Not a good combo.

But, some days when I feel like giving up on everything, even if I have to do things the hard way, the Lord gives me a shove and somehow I manage to complete something I was terrified of.  Yesterday was like that.

That is great (about the Lord giving you a shove)! However, I thought for a second there you were describing me.

So this is something odd (and obviously a scam). Several months ago we started getting random packages from Home Depot. But they were not being sent to our current address. They were being sent to our old house in Florida. My wife first alerted me to it when she said “FedEx is sending a package to our old address. What could it be?”.  So I texted the current home owner and told him to keep an eye out for it. When it arrived it was a little hose bib that cost less than a dollar and was from Home Depot. I checked all of our bank accounts and cards and there were no purchases for less than a dollar. I logged into the Home Depot site and we haven’t ordered anything from there since 2020. I immediately changed the password. Our address was still Florida so I left it alone because I didn’t want things showing up to our current home. 

The next month the same thing. Another one showed up and it was a piece of pvc that cost less than a dollar. This time I logged into Home Depot and deleted our address so we didn’t have one on file. Called Home Depot and they said “yeah this is a scam. It was ordered from such and such name” which was a third party website business name. I told him to block any packages from being sent from Tampa, FL to my old address and he did. 

This week another email is sent from FedEx saying our package is out for delivery. Again from Home Depot but this time from Miami. I called Home Depot again and they said this is called a brushing scam (Google Brushing Scam Home Depot - there’s an interesting thread on Redit and other search results explain what it is). Any way Home Depot asked me to get a picture of the FedEx label. So I contacted the man who bought my house again and told him to take a picture of the label. 

I called Home Depot again told them to delete my account from the website and they did. The FedEx label had an order number and they could investigate further. It also had my name and old address and a phone number with a 213 area code. So I did a phone number search and it came up as Los Angeles with about 10 results for the number, all names that looked fake. I didn’t call as I didn’t want to take a chance to alerting the person. Probably not a real number anyway.

Basically it’s probably someone off shore that is a third part seller on Home Depot. What they do is buy an item in your name but they are buying from themselves. Then once it’s delivered they request a refund and get the money back. It makes it look like their sales are up and moves them up the search chain. It also enables them to leave a positive review that’s verified. They leave the review AS YOU and the positive feedback helps them look successful. Most items are under a dollar but on occasion it will be something big. 

It happens on Amazon as well with some people getting large Bluetooth speakers that they didn’t order. When I checked the USPS website it says that any items you get you can return, throw away or keep for free. The FTC has a rule that if you receive a package that you didn’t order you are allowed the keep it. 

This “brushing” scam started a few years ago when thousands of people started getting random seeds from China sent to them. I remember hearing about that a few years ago and them saying if you received seeds from China don’t plant them as it could be an invasive plant and report the seeds to the post office. 

Anyway the thread on redit is a fun read. Basically it’s people saying “Hey I got a free magic marker from Home Depot! I had no idea they even sold them”.

Bottom line: how come I’m not getting cool electronics?!?

Interesting!

MikeInFla wrote:

.... 

It happens on Amazon as well with some people getting large Bluetooth speakers that they didn’t order. When I checked the USPS website it says that any items you get you can return, throw away or keep for free. The FTC has a rule that if you receive a package that you didn’t order you are allowed the keep it. 

This “brushing” scam started a few years ago when thousands of people started getting random seeds from China sent to them. I remember hearing about that a few years ago and them saying if you received seeds from China don’t plant them as it could be an invasive plant and report the seeds to the post office. 

Anyway the thread on redit is a fun read. Basically it’s people saying “Hey I got a free magic marker from Home Depot! I had no idea they even sold them”.

Bottom line: how come I’m not getting cool electronics?!?

I remember hearing about the "seeds from China" issue, but had no idea it was such a wide-spread thing.
I also had no idea that Home Depot did third party sellers from their website (seems like a really unnecessary thing for a hardware store to do).

Just got back from seeing Bugsy Malone at the theatre (it was our sons birthday day out).  Went to Wagamama on the way back and at the end of our table was Howard from the group Take That (one of the best selling Boy Bands from the UK).  Then the whole main cast of Bugsy turned up too!

We felt rather inferior.

Came across a movie that I want to see. It comes out march 10th. Sadly though none of the theaters have it listed yet.

Hardkore wrote:

Came across a movie that I want to see. It comes out march 10th. Sadly though none of the theaters have it listed yet.

Also known as "Jurassic Park 10: Jurassic World" 

Fundy wrote:

Just got back from seeing Bugsy Malone at the theatre (it was our sons birthday day out).  Went to Wagamama on the way back and at the end of our table was Howard from the group Take That (one of the best selling Boy Bands from the UK).  Then the whole main cast of Bugsy turned up too!

We felt rather inferior.

Were the kids impressed to see real celebrities in the wild?
I have to confess I had to look up "Wagamama"  I'm almost certain we don't have those here in the colonies.  Sound like it could be our equivalent to P.F. Changs (good quality western Chinese food).

Baby #3 due mid-July!  I'm hoping for a boy this time; I'm already quite outnumbered as it is haha.

kerrick wrote:

Baby #3 due mid-July!  I'm hoping for a boy this time; I'm already quite outnumbered as it is haha.

Great news!  I really hope you get your boy.  
Not to discourage you but my daughter had to deliver 4 kids before she got her girl.  Her husband even has a son from a previous marriage (so 4 boys and only one baby girl).  Maybe you will get luck and have triplets this time around!

Thanks Gary!  We feel mighty blessed either way, but it'll be nice to be able to say, "come son, let's go chop some wood" while the womenfolk are being emotional hahaha.

Hey! I just found out Mission of One and Joshua's Creed made The Encyclopaedia Metallum. Very cool!  

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Mission_of_One/98420
https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Joshua%27s_Creed/3540437548

kerrick wrote:

Baby #3 due mid-July!  I'm hoping for a boy this time; I'm already quite outnumbered as it is haha.

Congrats!  Exciting news!

Way to go Kerrick, prayin for a boy!

So I read somewhere that Lovewar was considered a "TECHNICAL HARD ROCK BAND". Can someone please explain what "technical" means in association with hard rock? Why differentiate them from other hard rock bands with that unique genre description, what does technical mean?

Cool!  Awesome news, Kerrick!

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

So I read somewhere that Lovewar was considered a "TECHNICAL HARD ROCK BAND". Can someone please explain what "technical" means in association with hard rock? Why differentiate them from other hard rock bands with that unique genre description, what does technical mean?

Not a clue.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

So I read somewhere that Lovewar was considered a "TECHNICAL HARD ROCK BAND". Can someone please explain what "technical" means in association with hard rock? Why differentiate them from other hard rock bands with that unique genre description, what does technical mean?

When I was younger I referred to a band being "technical" if their songs were more than just steady rhythms.  They had technique.  There was a bit of complexity to the music.  I never considered it a style or genre but rather a way things were done.  They were still a rock band.

I never considered it a genre either, that's why I was wondering what they meant by that. I suppose the obvious answer is that they're considered to have technique... but then don't most bands? Weird way to describe a band

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

I never considered it a genre either, that's why I was wondering what they meant by that. I suppose the obvious answer is that they're considered to have technique... but then don't most bands? Weird way to describe a band

Most bands do use some technique, but listen to most of the riffage by someone like KISS or AC/DC.  They do tend to be more simplistic even if they do rock.  Lovewar's rhythm guitar had a lot more complex things going on.  Perhaps that is what they were trying to highlight.

alldatndensum wrote:

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

I never considered it a genre either, that's why I was wondering what they meant by that. I suppose the obvious answer is that they're considered to have technique... but then don't most bands? Weird way to describe a band

Most bands do use some technique, but listen to most of the riffage by someone like KISS or AC/DC.  They do tend to be more simplistic even if they do rock.  Lovewar's rhythm guitar had a lot more complex things going on.  Perhaps that is what they were trying to highlight.

Makes sense. I can definitely hear a more complex sound in their style. I like the examples of more simpler guitar work in KISS and ACDC, I certainly wouldn't call them technical... I get it now... I feel more edumucated 

Complex is the word.  It's a bit more complex than the 3-chord chug but not so proggy that it's annoying.

Xid wrote:

kerrick wrote:

Baby #3 due mid-July!  I'm hoping for a boy this time; I'm already quite outnumbered as it is haha.

Congrats!  Exciting news!

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Way to go Kerrick, prayin for a boy!

Fundy wrote:

Cool!  Awesome news, Kerrick!

Thanks guys!