Again?!

It's happened again. Our credit card has been compromised. It seems like we have to get a new one every six months or so. And what a pain entering our new number into all the places it has been saved. Which, by the way, is probably not how the number was stolen. Most likely, it is a clerk we handed it to who had a reader in their pocket or some other discreet place. But who knows? Theives are often some of the smartest people around and work hard on outsmarting the system. We're waiting for the new one to be mailed. At least, that's going to cut down on our spending for the week or so that it takes for it to arrive. :)

But before our credit card number was stolen, we bought new furniture with it. We got two sofas and a loveseat. This is the most furniture we have ever bought at one time, and we approached the shopping in a whole different way. Instead of agonizing over whether we were choosing the right one, we chose what seemed reasonable. We went to the clearance room of a couple of decent furniture stores and chose what was in stock and marked down. No gnashing teeth over picking the "right" fabric. Good enough was good enough.

The new sofa

However, this was a very difficult exercise for us, especially me. But I kept thinking about what a friend told me years ago. She doesn't worry too much about whether she is getting the very best quality or style when she buys a sofa or other furniture because, in 10 years or so, she will be tired of it and want something new. And if she had spent a lot of money on it, she wouldn't feel like she was able to do that. But even with that philosophy, I know us. We will probably have these new sofas for decades to come. At least, that's our history.

The main sofa we sat on was 30+ years old. The fabric was worn through, and the springs were popping up. They had been for years. We got a cover for it and put a piece of plywood under the cushions to help. Then, it just felt like we were sitting on a board. Ward finally said enough is enough. We had been waiting until we didn't have cats anymore, but we are fortunate to have some very long-lived ones. However, Annie is old enough that she is not able to do most of the furniture-destroying things cats do, so we decided to take the plunge.

And the sofa shuffle went something like this. The very old sofa in the family room is gone. The sofa that was in the living room was moved to the family room. It's in good shape except for the sides that the cats shred. A good cover has taken care of that. The sofa and loveseat that were in the basement were Theo's are now in his new place. Those have been replaced with a new sofa and loveseat. Which, BTW, are the same as the living room sofa. We have the option of switching things around if we want. 

New furniture that's not beat up or uncomfortable is a wonderful luxury to have, and we are enjoying the newness of it all.

There. I'm sure that's more than you wanted to know about our furniture when I could have just said, "We got a new sofa." And "Our credit card was compromised."

But unfortunately for you, you had to read to the end to get the shortened version. :)

Until next time...

Home Again

One of our rest stops. 

We drove home yesterday from our vacation. The original plan was to do another sightseeing stop on the way home, but the weather convinced us otherwise. The first four hours of the trip were in cold rain and fog before letting up to light rain. And after about an hour into the trip, our minds had switched out of vacation mode into home mode - meaning we had stopped thinking about hikes and ice cream shops and started thinking about what we left undone at work and the chores waiting for us. Also, we missed our purring, demanding cats. So other than bathroom breaks, we powered through the trip without stops until we were home. 

We've emptied our suitcases, done the laundry, and gone through the mail. And now we have to deal with the annoyances of everyday life. For example, within the last week, Wally, Theo, and Ward and I have all had our credit cards compromised. We wonder what's going on. Is credit card theft so prevalent that this is just a coincidence? Or are we all in some database that was compromised? Whatever the case, it's a big hassle. 

And on that cheery note, 

Until next time...

It's Hard to Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

Last week our credit card got compromised. Someone spent $1000 on "Professional Services" and it wasn't us. So I made the call to the credit card company and after a few questions, the card was cancelled. We'll get a new one in 3-5 business days. In the meantime, I don't know how to proceed.

I didn't realize how much we used our credit card. We use it whenever possible to rack up points for airline tickets and we have been able to fund several trips this way. We pay it off each month, so it is not a problem financially and it is a great convenience. To streamline things, we don't have another general card, so, I am finding it hard to function. I tried to return something and they waned to put it back on the card. Nope. Store credit instead--a big deal taking way too long. Order more cat food. Nope. Buy somethings for basement work. Difficult. A trip to the ATM for a large amount of cash--more than I'm comfortable carrying around. Groceries. Watch what we buy so we buy only what we have cash for. And this list goes on.

If we don't get the new card promptly, I wonder if we will have to break out the checkbook. It seems like years since I've seen someone pay at a register with a check. I wonder if the cashiers will know what to do with it. Or if the younger ones will even know what it is. Yesterday our young cashier couldn't understand that our credit card didn't come from the same bank as our savings and checking accounts. I'm not sure she understood the difference between a debit card and a credit card.

So until the new card comes, we'll be cutting back on our purchases. While we're not big spenders, that's probably not a bad thing. Then the fun begins. Changing all of our accounts to the new number. I hope whoever stole our numbers enjoyed their "Professional Services".