EJ - IM with skye_ds on 4/14/04
2107icq w/a
Apr. 14, 2004
evile: happy hump day. I am ready to go back to bed, myself...
SkyeDS: /me nods and yawns
evile: Oh well.
evile: Interesting post from PtA this a.m.
SkyeDS: haven't read yet
SkyeDS: will wait till Hugh leaves. He's going to Houston for half a
day and the rest of the week
evile: basically he ponied up some 'proof' of his identity theft
adventures
SkyeDS: which is good because I need to take a day out of the office
evile: aha. Good plan.
SkyeDS: to go collect what belongings I'm allowed by LandLord Lien
from my tenant who is now two months behind and dodging me
deliberately
evile: oh, yucko.
SkyeDS: very
SkyeDS: was up till 1 am researching my options last night
evile: wow. :(
SkyeDS: have to have a court order if she refuses to evict on her
own, you know.
SkyeDS: time and money consuming.
SkyeDS: then I have to find a new renter
evile: also a hassle.
SkyeDS: in the meanwhile I get "slow pays" on my Oakwood AND my
mortgage
SkyeDS: which will not reflect well when I go to ask for a small
business loan *sigh*.
evile: man...what a mess.
evile: You have a language barrier problem with your tenants, too, am
I remembering right?
SkyeDS: nodnod
SkyeDS: so was Pat's proof satisfactory to your eyes?
evile: no
SkyeDS: I know I can be overly stringent about proof, but I tend to
think evidentiary rules and court of law.
evile: He had scanned copies of a letter from the bank re: the
identity theft. The letter didn't have any branch info, address,
phone #, or contact info for the bank rep. signing the letter. It was
basically a letterhead & some words.Also, no reference to the
specific bank account # that was hacked/stolen from. Which...I've
NEVER gotten a letter from a bank that did not reference my account #
SkyeDS: did it look like he redacted all that?
SkyeDS: I mean I certainly would redact the acct number, but not the
rest of it
evile: He had a copy of the bank's policy re: reimbursing theft. That
looked legit. He also had scanned color copies of several checks
that were apparently written to the identity theif, or BY the
identity thief.
evile: He redacted last names & account #s on the scanned checks, but
I did not see any similar blurred places on the Bank's "letter"
SkyeDS: no point in redacting anything that would identify the Bank.
evile: No, I mean nothing on the banks' letter to show that perhaps a
subject line Re: ACCT # ___ was blurred out. And no police report.
SkyeDS: Tiffany said she had police reports.
evile: None were scanned or referenced in PtA's evidence.
SkyeDS: hm
SkyeDS: slow, going to nuke lunch
evile: OK
SkyeDS: just what I want to do at luch
SkyeDS: subject mmyself to pta shit
evile: well, nobody says you *have* to...
SkyeDS: lol I will, killer curiosity you know
evile: yup.
SkyeDS: letter from the bank has misspellings
evile: yeah, I noticed that, too.
evile: Sharjinka ran it past a lawyer friend & he pointed that out, as
well as many other problems. He had more savvy on the checks, too. I
don't know anything about check fraud so I didn't say anything about
them.
evile: so, what do you think?
SkyeDS: I don't get the point about the checks
SkyeDS: those were made out to him
evile: His last name is "Smith" Not "Spigarelli" or whatever the name
is.
SkyeDS: not from his account made out to someone else
SkyeDS: his family name is Saltarelli
SkyeDS: mother's name, or something like that
evile: Interesting. In that case, I fail to see the point about the
checks, either.
evile: Other than to maybe point out that truth is usually
unvarnished with little to no details, and only liars usually feel
the need to fill in with excessive un-asked-for details
SkyeDS: devil is usually in the details
SkyeDS: from a legal point of view anyway
evile: A person telling the truth tends to say "I went to the store
and got some milk". A liar will say "I went to the store via i-35 to
the ben white exit, I got 2% milk and paid with a $20 dollar bill."
and such like things.
evile: Or at least bad liars do. Which is why I always got caught &
punished as a child and why I dont' lie now :P
SkyeDS: it remains to be seenn what he does when Sharjinka shows up
with Elf.
SkyeDS: and whether Elf gets the promised money
SkyeDS: and why isn't Elf getting all of it instead of just some of it
evile: yup.
evile: I don't really know what PtA thought he was going to
accomplish with the 'fraud' website.
SkyeDS: those who already worship him will appreciate it but they
didn't need it
SkyeDS: those who doubt him, it accomplishes nothing
SkyeDS: if I wanted to see letters
SkyeDS: I would want to see the correspondence to PAT from the bank
SkyeDS: not a to whom it may concern letter from the bank ABOUT Pat.
SkyeDS: but I HATE to whom it may concern letters
SkyeDS: very unprofessional
SkyeDS: we beg clients not to write them
evile: yup.
SkyeDS: I know Hugh has sent out many letters and worse yet documents
to court with mistakes in them
SkyeDS: because he is a solo practitioner up util January with no
secretary
SkyeDS: but a bank?
SkyeDS: I have never heard of a bank with one employee who ca'nt
afford good clerical staff
evile: I don't know if spellcheck would have caught the errors in
Pat's letter or not. I find a lot of errors that are spelled OK but
incorrect re usage, even in employer correspondence to TWC.
SkyeDS: a spellcheck usually includes a grammatic check
SkyeDS: which would catch the apostrophe problem
evile: Ok.
SkyeDS: at least in all the wp's I know
SkyeDS: besides I don't use just spellcheck
SkyeDS: too many things it doesn't catch
evile: Exactly.
SkyeDS: no halfway decent secretary doesn't read a letter herself
evile: yup.
SkyeDS: and where is the police report.
evile: ding ding ding.
SkyeDS: I know you can't sca nit where it can be read
SkyeDS: but you can scan it well enough to tell that it is what it is
(or not)
evile: or bank transactions for the time period in question, maybe,
to show all these fraudulent withdrawals & such? I know my bank sends
me a transaction report every month...
SkyeDS: yep
evile: And they custom-printed me one when we were looking to close
on the house...for _exactly_ the tim-frame I needed. So...if PtA
doesn't have them or can't get them, I'd be a little curious.
SkyeDS: yep
evile: You know...I read appeals here at work where people get fired
for stealing a couple hundred bucks, or $30 worth of merchandise, and
I just can't figure out why you'd put so much at stake for so little
return.
evile: But people do it all the time.
SkyeDS: we're talking 10K
SkyeDS: that's not small money
evile: HFS is one of the nicest, most generous groups I've met. When
Sharjinka came up short on her money for the dig in Greece, she asked,
and she GOT. When Thax and Liz were both out of work, they got
housing and transportation from fellow HFS members. If PtA, as one of
the 'heroes o f the realm' , was having $ troubles, he could have
ASKED for help
SkyeDS: had I known Thax & Liz needed help I would let them live with
me
evile: PtA _claims_ to have lost 10K+. HFS' share of that was 2-3
grand.
evile: He apparently deposited that amount in HFS cash into
his 'business' bank account.
SkyeDS: still a good chunk
evile: But probably not more than the Combined Realms would have
freely given if they had been asked in honesty and genuine need.
SkyeDS: hell he could have made that up just with the PtA sycophants
SkyeDS: there seem to be many of them
evile: even just $5 or $10 from every member of the realm...it would
add up.
evile: Oh well, pride goeth before a fall and all that.
evile: I'm a very proud person, I'd be homeless or starve before I'd
beg. But I'd never steal, either.
evile: I can't quite get my head around someone who is too proud to
beg but not proud enough to refrain from stealing.
SkyeDS: yep
evile: I can -almost- see using $ that was not mine to use if I was
in a real bind and then paying back out of my pocket once I had money
again. If I got caught in the middle of that, I'd be super embarassed
& humiliated, but I'd fess up and pay back ASAP.
evile: I'm a sole proprietorship, so there's no illegality or
impropriety in transferring $ from my Magpies bank account to my
personal one, or withdrawing $ from Magpies for whatever I want to
use it for. BUT... if I did it, I'd reimburse Magpies ASAP.
SkyeDS: yep
SkyeDS: there will be all kinds of intermingling funds between Bella
Peregrina Ranch, Amicus Fidelis and whatever Sineater finds to do
SkyeDS: because they all goin into my account
evile: Well, next weekend should be interesting. More so because I'm
seeing it as a spectator sport rather than having any personal stake
in things. (other than not wanting to see Sharjinka get hurt)
SkyeDS: well except his
SkyeDS: I don't think Patrick can hurt her
evile: As long as you keep track of your income for your taxes, I
don't think it matters.
SkyeDS: I mean, other than his very existence
evile: It will be up to Sharjinka to remember NOT to let him hurt her
feelings. Because, yeah, that's the only way she can really be
damaged in this situation.
SkyeDS: would go with her but I can't so <shrug>
SkyeDS: I hope that they will show her the police report and whatever
else they didn't post, and just give Elf the stuff and be done with it
SkyeDS: but I suspect they'll get in her face
SkyeDS: she'll step back into theirs
SkyeDS: and so on from there.
SkyeDS: because that's always how this starts anyway
evile: And PtA dragged in a lot of sort of irrelvant (at least to me)
stuff about literally misusing ones belt.
SkyeDS: Patrick gets in someone's face
SkyeDS: they defend themselves and then start on him for somethingn
unrelated
SkyeDS: he says, that's uncalled for and the war is on
evile: or vice versa. In this case, he brought in the (i think)
uncalled for stuff, somebody else will calll HIM on it, and off we'll
go into Left Field.
SkyeDS: he always bringns it on himself
evile: yup.
SkyeDS: and in the original war with Sharjinka, what was hard was that
she did things wrong too
evile: Sure.
SkyeDS: but the thing with Mike illustrates
SkyeDS: and with Katy
SkyeDS: he starts shit with people who never fight back
SkyeDS: ad he manages to provoke even them
SkyeDS: after they have bit their tongues bloody trying to be quiet
evile: yup.
evile: Hopefully there will be someone there who can keep things from
dribbling off into irrelevancies. Maybe someone should make Sharjinka
some index cards
SkyeDS: wouldn't work
evile: I know.
SkyeDS: they're both impetuous and headstrong
SkyeDS: they're both going to do what they're going to do
evile: I've gotten better at not getting into kitchen sink arguments
with people, but there are still some buttons that get pushed and,
woops, there goes any reasonable argument, it's time to play Toreador
and face the Bull that lies beneath...
SkyeDS: I ca'nt point finger
SkyeDS: four point back
evile: And Sharjinka is a _lot_ touchier than I am. So...we'll see.
SkyeDS: I love her dearly
SkyeDS: but she is a hothead
SkyeDS: I laugh internally when I get called a hothead
SkyeDS: got LOTS of friends more hotheaded than me
evile: I just don't want her to get so sidetracked that she 'wins'
on some far-afield 'point' and doesnt' accomplish her main goal.
SkyeDS: nods
evile: PtA is good at that tactic, whether deliberate, or just dumb
luck.
SkyeDS: he thinks he's general maximus
SkyeDS: it's obvious that he and Gabe have a lot goign for them
SkyeDS: Tiffany (and I guess Metal too) too
evile: "I didn't steal anything, here's my proof, and THE SKY IS
GREEN and anybody who can't see it is STUPID!"
(long side argument about stpid people and green skies in which he is
finally 'made' to see that the sky is in fact BLUE)
"Okay, Im leaving now" [everyone having forgotten the lost/stolen
money]
SkyeDS: so why they have to be such asses all the time so that people
can't enjoy the good things about them is beyond me
evile: I think some people, after too long in one org., just forget
it was supposed to be 'fun' and turn it into a misery for all
concerned because they themselves are not having fun anymore.
SkyeDS: shrug
SkyeDS: I have a good time
SkyeDS: when I cease having a good time I go somewhere else
evile: They have invested too much of their ego/ energy in this one
group & have too much at stake to just walk away.
SkyeDS: I've left HFS altogether
SkyeDS: I've been to Drandmir
SkyeDS: I've been to BD
SkyeDS: I might go back to Drandmir soon
SkyeDS: I joined SCA
SkyeDS: I'm a flutterby, but I'm a happy flutterby
SkyeDS: I got too much to do and too little time to do it, to have
all my eggs in one basket to get broken
evile: I think that's a good key. Have a lot of interests & groups so
that you don't get too much wound up in one place & don't get tired
of seeing the same faces & they don't get tired of you.
SkyeDS: put all your eggs in one basket and they get broken all at
once - smart.
evile: yup.
evile: Plus I find that I feel more creative energy when I'm doing a
lot of different stuff & spending time with a lot of different people.
SkyeDS: wonder if I advertise with polys, rennies and voyagers if I
can find a good tenant without having to advertise in paper
evile: I love J-Law to death, but when we were at DePauw and we were
each other's only outlet, we ended up having the same conversations
about the same ol' things in like an endless loop.
evile: It might be a good first place to inquire. And then if you
dont' find someone you're comfortable with, go on to the ad.
evile: Then again family/friends & business don't mix. Think what
you'd feel like if you had to evict Thax & Liz or Kelli...
SkyeDS: I don't really have tight friends in any of those groups
SkyeDS: well in the rennies I do
evile: I have friends I love dearly (and family, too, for that
matter)...but I wouldn't trust them with a dollar, let alone a
regular financial obligation.
evile: And I'd feel very wierd/bad having to be a hardcase about it.
evile: Otoh, it might be easier to trust someone who is a 'friend of
a friend' than some stranger who called from a newspaper ad.
SkyeDS: I want someone I know but not my best friend
evile: And at the same time, someone you would not miss too much if
you had to be a hard-ass/evict/etc.
SkyeDS: zactly
SkyeDS: and no more Ms nice guy
evile: yup.
evile: How much notice are you required to give your current tenants?
SkyeDS: three days
SkyeDS: I found all sorts of holes in the lease I wrote :(
evile: wow.
SkyeDS: ashamed
SkyeDS: taking them out of the next one
evile: It happens. Live & learn.
evile: exactly.
evile: It sucks to make mistakes, but i fyou learn from them & do
better next time, it's not so bad.
SkyeDS: actually it was a stadnard lease
SkyeDS: so they are holes that are in all leases unless you know that
you can circumvent part s of the law
SkyeDS: and which parts you can and which you can't
SkyeDS: as I found out in research last night
evile: yup.
SkyeDS: there are lots of things that can't be waived but that can be
modified
SkyeDS: and if you want a landlord lien you have to put it in there
yourself
SkyeDS: andn the three day vacate notice can be modified to as little
as 24 hours.
evile: wow.
SkyeDS: I'm going to put up an immediate bond for possession which
will shorten this to six days rather than 23, unless she fights it
SkyeDS: and somehow I doubt she will
SkyeDS: she won't file divorce on her husband because she can't pay
for it
evile: yuck.
SkyeDS: law has changed quite a bit since I did evictions in my sleep
more than a decade ago.
evile: I'm sure.
evile: shamefully enough, I was temping here 10+ yrs ago, and things
have changed plenty. So, yeah.
SkyeDS: that's a great track record though
evile: not really. worked here summers when I was 16, 17, and 22.
Came back 'permanent' about 6.
evile: I always cashed out my retirement $, so it didn't change my
retirement day much.
SkyeDS: looks good on paper
evile: It makes my 'service anniversary' happen in June or July,when
I distinctly remember starting in this dept in Feb. So that's kinda
wierd.
evile: To me it looks like a turkey too stupid to come in from the
rain & drowning, but...I have a resolution to quit my bitching so I
will :P
SkyeDS: lol
evile: ick. I forgot to take my temperature yesterday & this a.m. and
I am feeling yuck. No telling if it's allergies or post-surgical fun
without checking for a fever. dang it. I feel fine, so I forget I'm
techically still 'recovering'
SkyeDS: I do that all the time
SkyeDS: going along great
SkyeDS: I have to be hit by a ton of bricks before I realize, I don't
feel great anymore
evile: I'll have to put a sticky note on my house keys or something
so I will do it as soon as I get home.
evile: Dr. D is not very nurturing, he'd probably just tell me to
keep an eye on it & he'll see me the 30th for my followup, regardless.
SkyeDS: I like my ProMed doc, great manner, and has horses.
evile: That's cool.
evile: Finding a doctor I like, who is competent, who is conveniently
located & has good hours, that's like...finding the Easter Bunny to
me. I would hope s/he exists, but I dont' really think so.
SkyeDS: ProMed has awesome hours (till 10 pm and on weekends)
evile: Once I have my follow up & an 'all clear', and all the bills &
insurance statements quit flying, I will feel a lot freer to explore
other job options & all that good stuff. So...one more stepping stone
to (relative) Freedom
evile: I need Sweetie's job situation to settle down, too, actually.
SkyeDS: we will be set, if Sineater gets a job
SkyeDS: won't even need a small business loan the
evile: that would be cool
evile: I was always scared to try and get a loan for Magpies. I don't
want any more debt, even if it's supposedly 'good' debt. I have a
little Yoda in my mind telling me I failed because I didn't believe
in it enough. If I had, I would not have been afraid to get a SBA
loan (round and round, makes me crazy & sad. Oh well.)
SkyeDS: you aren't dead yet
SkyeDS: andn there are two kinds of loans you can get that are backed
by SBA
evile: I just haven't quit breathing. The rest is dead enough.
SkyeDS: 35K microloan and then bigger loan
SkyeDS: microloan = 6 years, like 4%
SkyeDS: bigger loan, 7 years+, 4+%
evile: the interest rate's about to go up, if anything W blathered
about last night can be believed.
SkyeDS: Hugh is part of SCORE (SBA mentors)
SkyeDS: we could go to a Sat SCORE mtg together sometime if you like
evile: sure. Keep me posted
SkyeDS: there's a preferred lender that has been advertising heavily
on radio too
evile: That's one of those things..get it now, because it's not going
to be around long.
108Re: icq w/a
Apr. 14, 2004
evile: Might be interesting to learn then do . Maybe avoid the do-
mistake-learn thing I've been doing.
SkyeDS: nods
evile: Did you read about the Poly Lake Whitney campout this Oct?
SkyeDS: I saw that
SkyeDS: whitney has a nice horse facility
evile: It looks more fun-oriented than 'poly big fun' here.
evile: But it's not til October. So I don't have to make any
decisions just yet.
evile: I think that's the same weekend as opening weekend of TRF
SkyeDS: I w ish he would not get online and just sit there away
SkyeDS: I can't msg him or call him
SkyeDS: and I need a document for the eviction dammit
evile: does your ICQ at home beep when you get a message? Even if
afk, he might hear it.
SkyeDS: he isn't on icq, he's on AIM
SkyeDS: andn it will only ring if he sets it to
evile: oh. bummer.
evile: If I didn't now have the insect issue, I'd bring up a bunch of
pillows & hide them under my desk--sneak down & get a nap on days
like today.
SkyeDS: wish I could go play outside
SkyeDS: been so pretty all week
evile: I know.
evile: Hopefully it'll hold out and be a nice weekend too. I have a
half day of OT Saturday, but I'm free for the rest of it. Oh. And
feeding L&B's cats Saturday evening. But free other than that :P
evile: Oh well, almost time to make my rounds.
evile: Good luck with your butt-kickin' & such!
evile: *hugs*