You've Been Lawyered!
This afternoon, I received an e-mail from a collections agency, containing a PDF of a delinquent account settlement offer. The offer wasn't for me and wasn't related to one of my accounts. The e-mail and letter were addressed to a woman with the same last name as me and a first name starting with the same letter, but otherwise wasn't anywhere close to my name. I assume this company found my e-mail address by randomly sending e-mails to any vague Gmail account with the last name, which looked like it might be hers. Or, perhaps, her original creditor had her correct e-mail address but left off numbers or other identifying characteristics when transferring this information to the collections agency.
This is not the first time I've received e-mail intended for another C. [Last Name]. In fact, I am now connected on LinkedIn with another person who has the same first initial and last name as me, because I was getting so much of his e-mail, that I finally had to do some Google searching until I found a valid e-mail address for him and implored him to please remember to add the "70" when entering his e-mail address on forms, because I was really tired of getting his magazine subscription info, house listing updates [he is a realtor, which is how I found him], and lunch invites from friends. The whole mix up was pretty funny, and it's kind of an odd way to meet someone with an overlapping industry and possibly distant cousin relationship [he certainly looks like enough of my family members for it to be possible]--even though it was really annoying at first.
I haven't had as much luck with the other C. [Last Name]s who have accidentally (or on purpose?) directed their e-mails to me. There is one woman in particular, who apparently lives in California, who especially irks me in this regard. I suspect she just doesn't actually know her e-mail address. From all of the correspondence I have received for her--from AARP, from Match.com (that was the worst!!!), from friends from her former church, from the volunteer center when she apparently worked on Hillary Clinton's local campaign efforts in 2008, from the... iCan't...--I know she's a woman in her early 60s, so I'm guessing she's just not 100% caught up on her technology? [my parents, for example, can read and post on Facebook, but ask them to change their security settings or even their names, and you get blank stares] I actually now know a lot about this woman, but have yet to find enough to track her down to tell her to Stop. Giving. Out. My. E-mail. Address. I've actually responded very sweetly to the people who actually seem to know her (including the Clinton campaign) and asked them to pass the message along. Some of them have even confirmed that they have. However, she continues to give out my e-mail address, and every three months or so, I get a new e-mail directed intended for Constance from California [stop it girl, stop it!].
But I digress...
This is the first time I've gotten highly sensitive information for another person. This PDF attached to the e-mail had this lady's name, her address, her creditor, and her partial account info [in fact, instead of the last four digits, like creditors are generally supposed to use, they included all but the last four, which meant if I wanted to, I could easily get this woman's entire account number. I don't want to.]. Instead of my usual annoyance at the misdirected e-mail, I just got nervous. So I fired off this response to the collection agency:
This isn't [NAME REDACTED]. I don't even know anyone by that name. Heck, I don't know anyone who lives in [LOCALE REDATED]. I would suggest that you try her at whatever address and phone number you have on file. I will delete the correspondence so as to not be held legally liable for retaining any of her private information, and I'm sure you would not want to be held in violation of any consumer privacy laws.In the future, you may want to password protect such e-mails with identifiable account information with the last four digits of the person's social security number.... << This is just a suggestion and should not constitute or be construed to constitute legal advice.Please remove me from your e-mail list.
A minute or so after sending the e-mail, it dawned on me—Daaaaaaaamn. I am such a lawyer.
Oops.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The collection agency actually responded thanking me. Apparently the agent filled in the wrong e-mail address.
I Can't Resist a 'Mean Girl' Reference
Today's entry is going to be short and sweet.
If you haven't seen Mean Girls, you are seriously missing out. It is a fun cult-classic in the vein of Clueless, Bring It On, Pitch Perfect, and every other movie you pretend you've never seen and don't like [well, not me, because I'm shameless], but from which you secretly can quote no less than 10 lines.
My evening was totally made (and life was GIVEN) when I caught wind of this tweet from the WhiteHouse today:
You're welcome.
Sandra Boynton is My Sherpa, BUT...
Sandra Boynton has been a goddess in the Pop Culture Family home.
Little Diva had The Going To Bed Book memorized before she was two. Super Girl learned some of her animal sounds from Moo Baa La La La. There are few things she likes better than watching all the Hippos Go Beserk! At some point, I had a Boynton Mom's Family Desk Planner. And who doesn't love a BEE-BO (a tiny hippo's way of saying "Belly Button" [Book]) or a good Barnyard Dance? We are truly the house that Boynton built. That being said... I'm afraid I've ruined my child.
The Going to Bed Book is a staple in the Pop Culture household. When Little Diva was approximately the same age Super Girl is now, we had read the book so many times that she had the book memorized, page by page, line by line. I had hoped for the same thing for Super Girl. But I took a wrong turn at some point... I downloaded the interactive app.
Let me say, I stalked this app until it finally came out. Really, all I had hoped for was a version of the book that could read itself, like the version Pop Culture Dad has on his Nook Color; but what we ended up with is so much more. So much better. Every single page is interactive, and every time we open the interactive book, we discover a new feature we hadn't seen before.
The pages are generally the same, minus some subtle differences.
The pages are generally the same, minus some subtle differences.
This is a page from the book
This is the same page in the app.
Notice they are identical except the faucet. On the left page of the app, you can open and close the window, and the animals move on the stairs. They also make sounds. On the right side, the animals soap up. You can also turn the faucet on and off, and when it is on, bubbles fly out of the tub, which you can pop. This is the page we were reading (in the actual book) last night when I discovered I have messed up my kid.
At some point, our board book was (temporarily) lost, which meant all we had was the app. The app then became the norm. And I guess Super Girl is also still too young to comprehend the difference between the two things. Or at least I'm guessing that's the problem... because last night... while reading the book… Super Girl tried to move the animals down the stairs. And close the window. And turn on the faucet. And scrub the elephant. In. The. Book. I laughed at first, because the whole thing was really cute. But the poor girl was confused and frustrated. She threw up her hands and declared (over and over), "It not working!!!".
I guess I really should have thought this through better. Once you go app, you never go back.
Song of the Summer? How About MAN of the Summer?
Apparently, there has been a lot of not-so-academic debate going on about what the true song of the summer of 2013 is. The head-to-head competition is between Daft Punk ("Get Lucky") and Robin Thicke ("Blurred Lines"). Although the side one chooses is generally determined by the genre of music one prefers [sorry, you're not going to find a single R&B fan who picks Daft Punk over Sir Robin; and you're not likely to find an alternative-lover who picks hip-hop heavy "Blurred Lines" over funky "Get Lucky"], in the end, I don't think it even matters. Because you know what these songs have in common? Pharrell Williams. Honestly, regardless of which song ends up being the Song of the Summer of 2013, one thing is clear: Pharrell is the Man of the Summer--correction, THE Man. Period.
Pharrell is always busy, it seems. But if you look at his Wikipedia entry [or, you know, just keep your ears open], you'll notice that he has been especially busy this summer. So busy, in fact, that on my birthday this year, he became the 12th person in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to simultaneously hold the #1 position ("Blurred Lines") and the #2 position ("Get Lucky").
So, really, I don't care which song you think is the Song of the Summer [um... hello, "Blurred Lines"]. Considering the very heavy Pharrell influence, if you like one, you really should like both. I know I love them both. And so do my girls.
And in case you've been living under a rock, here's your quick education...
"Get Lucky":
Stephen Colbert Getting Lucky:
"Blurred Lines" [the more "SFW" version]:
And an even more kid-friendly (my kids' favorite) version of "Blurred Lines":
For more Pharrell education and a gratuitous inclusion of Minions, here are the final credits from Despicable Me [in the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that this song, too, is Robin Thicke...]:
Pharrell is always busy, it seems. But if you look at his Wikipedia entry [or, you know, just keep your ears open], you'll notice that he has been especially busy this summer. So busy, in fact, that on my birthday this year, he became the 12th person in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to simultaneously hold the #1 position ("Blurred Lines") and the #2 position ("Get Lucky").
So, really, I don't care which song you think is the Song of the Summer [um... hello, "Blurred Lines"]. Considering the very heavy Pharrell influence, if you like one, you really should like both. I know I love them both. And so do my girls.
And in case you've been living under a rock, here's your quick education...
"Get Lucky":
Stephen Colbert Getting Lucky:
"Blurred Lines" [the more "SFW" version]:
And an even more kid-friendly (my kids' favorite) version of "Blurred Lines":
For more Pharrell education and a gratuitous inclusion of Minions, here are the final credits from Despicable Me [in the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that this song, too, is Robin Thicke...]:
Roku App Alone Makes the Roku Worth It
It has been increasingly hard to buy good gifts for Pop Culture Dad. We pretty much buy things as we want them, save for really large purchases, and we've been trying to scale back on the over-the-top gifts the last couple of years. He doesn't maintain a wish list and doesn't have very many hobbies, and there's only so much St. Louis Cardinals stuff you can buy before it gets really duplicative. After giving a birthday present this year that did not receive a very enthusiastic response, I had to think really hard to come up with a present that Pop Culture Dad actually wanted, but that wasn't overly practical. Enter the Roku.
The video on my app
Super Girl watching herself on TV watching the elephants... for the 20th time
Pop Culture Dad had mentioned several times that the Roku or something similar might be a good purchase. We have two Blu Ray players with internet connection and one is connected to an internet-ready TV. Add the various tablets and smart phones, and it didn't seem like we really needed another internet-content player for the television. But we have one oft-used television without any internet content, and it looked like the Roku also traveled easily, so I went ahead and bought it. The gift went over like gangbusters. It probably didn't hurt that there is a lot of sports content.
Fast forward to today. Super Girl has been sick within ear infection and 102-degree fever for the last three days. Since today was my ETR day, it was my turn to stay home with her. There are only a few summer programs worth watching, and we've pretty much cleaned out all of the shows on the DVR that aren't for the kids. I was hoping to fold some laundry upstairs while caring for my little patient, but i needed to keep us entertained, so enter the Roku.
I watched a couple of shows and then we dozed off on the couch.... And when I woke up, the itty bitty Roku remote was nowhere to be found. I swear I looked everywhere logical, but it was just gone. On a whim, I went to iTunes to look for a Roku remote app. Sure enough, there was one!
And the app was free!
Not only did it control the Roku like a remote, but it had options to download more channels and—my favorite feature of all—"Play on Roku," which allows me to send the music, videos, and pictures on my iPhone or iPad directly to the television through the Roku.
This is Super Girl's favorite feature too. She had me play the video of her at the circus, watching the elephants and dancing, at least 30 times today.
The video on my appSuper Girl watching herself on TV watching the elephants... for the 20th timeDespite the two Blu Ray players, Pop Culture Dad had been talking about getting a Chrome TV to stream our phone content to the television [he refuses to buy anything with iOS, so an Apple TV is out]. Now that we each have the Roku app (it is on Android also), looks like we won't need that. Huzzah!
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