What's messing with your Groove?

[Ominous Gamer]

Dear Valued Best Buy Customer,

On March 31, we were informed by Epsilon, a company we use to send emails to our customers, that files containing the email addresses of some Best Buy customers were accessed without authorization.

We have been assured by Epsilon that the only information that may have been obtained was your email address and that the accessed files did not include any other information. A rigorous assessment by Epsilon determined that no other information is at risk. We are actively investigating to confirm this.

For your security, however, we wanted to call this matter to your attention. We ask that you remain alert to any unusual or suspicious emails. As our experts at Geek Squad would tell you, be very cautious when opening links or attachments from unknown senders.

In keeping with best industry security practices, Best Buy will never ask you to provide or confirm any information, including credit card numbers, unless you are on our secure e-commerce site, www.bestbuy.com. If you receive an email asking for personal information, delete it. It did not come from Best Buy.

Our service provider has reported this incident to the appropriate authorities.

We regret this has taken place and for any inconvenience this may have caused you. We take your privacy very seriously, and we will continue to work diligently to protect your personal information. For more information on keeping your data safe, please visit:
http://www.geeksquad.com/do-it-yours...data-safe.aspx.

Sincerely,

Barry Judge
Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
Best Buy

fucking lame

[Wraith]

I got the roughly same e-mail from Tivo, except they didn't name who their e-mail provider was. I'm guessing that it's also Epsilon.

[littlelolligagged]

I got the roughly same e-mail from Tivo, except they didn't name who their e-mail provider was. I'm guessing that it's also Epsilon.

Target, too.

[Ominous Gamer]

I got the roughly same e-mail from Tivo, except they didn't name who their e-mail provider was. I'm guessing that it's also Epsilon.

Dear Capital One Customer,

As we have communicated over the course of the last week, Epsilon—a marketing vendor that sends e-mails on our behalf—notified us about unauthorized outside access to files that included Capital One® customer e-mail addresses.

The information obtained was limited to the e-mail address of some customers. No account information or other information was compromised. We’ll continue to provide updates when we have important new information to share. And, we’ll let you know what impact, if any, these developments will have on you.

Protecting our customers’ information is always a top priority for Capital One. We’re working with Epsilon and law enforcement, and we’re thoroughly investigating this incident to help prevent future ones like it. Epsilon is also conducting its own comprehensive investigation in cooperation with the appropriate authorities.

It’s always a good idea to ignore any e-mail that requests your confidential account or login information. And don’t forget, if you get an e-mail you think is suspicious, don’t click any of the links. Just send it to us at abuse@capitalone.com. Then delete it.

We apologize for any inconvenience this unfortunate incident has caused and appreciate your patience. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.capitalone.com.

Sincerely,
Capital One

Best Buy, the people who want my money, a full week faster than Capital One, the people who control my money.

[Lor]

I'm thinking about finding another job and leaving where i'm at.

- I can pretty much look after 3/4 of a job in it's entirety, from cost estimating, production control, capacity planning on MIS software and purchasing. It's now come to a point where I'm certainly over trained and very much under paid.

- I've asked for countless meetings with my manager as I'm certainly not happy being where I am.

- I've also asked for more work several times as my brain is no longer functioning with the silly tasks I'm given. Never ever asked for a pay rise - firm believer that hard work provides great rewards so I'd rather work my ass off and be rewarded with more pay. However those morals are being tested to the max! There is a fine line of taking advantage ..... i believe they are starting to cross it.

- The manager has said to colleagues that he needs to talk with me about my position within the group but needless to say I'm having to write this so he's yet to see me.

I know I should be lucky to have a job, I know many people are unemployed. I'm not totally ungrateful but just feel i'm under valued and have every right to be pissed off. Many people in the office have the years of experience in the trade, but they certainly don't get involved as much as me! I've traveled around for this place, correcting things or getting things because of peoples mistakes. Never say no to helping out, I've even spent some weeks in production as they were short of people and even had my own job to sort in the process - never asked but offered!

[Catgrrl]

It never hurts to look and see what's out there Lor-you may find something else where you will be valued and have more challenges (in a good way). I don't know if that is something you can use as leverage in your current job or if they'll just tell you to hit the road, but having a look wouldn't be a bad thing.

[Lor]

It never hurts to look and see what's out there Lor-you may find something else where you will be valued and have more challenges (in a good way). I don't know if that is something you can use as leverage in your current job or if they'll just tell you to hit the road, but having a look wouldn't be a bad thing.

They might tell me to hit the road, might not, I couldn't tell you to be honest but I could use it as leverage if push came to shove.

I found out yesterday that they created 2 extra jobs from no where, to add to the further 4 they made - all manufacturing based. People thought I was going for one of the 4 initial jobs that came up but it would be a massive step back which I'm not prepared to take.

I'm going to wait till I'm in my house before I start looking (don't want the stress of both). They've got until July/August to address this entire situation, if they don't, then I am going.

[Catgrrl]

Ya, I just saw that Target sent me one.

[termite]

[possible rant]
Major changes have been happening in my workplace lately, we are going through a period of uncertainty and our staff numbers have been reduced as a result - which is stressful and that stress can be hard to leave at the door when you head home at night. I know from past experience that going home with a head full of worry can make life difficult for your family - so I'm trying very hard to NOT do this.

Our company is a small to medium size manufacturer, importer and distributor that has been around since before WW2. We have a strong product base with a good history and we have always taken good care of our workers while still remaining profitable through all sorts of economic crises in the past.

We have however, lost 40% of our production workers* (including a couple of very good leaders), 1 mid level manager and a couple of sales staff in the past 12 months largely due to economic forces beyond our control (There is a mining boom here that is seeing unskilled workers earning $100k PA which is on a par with most Managers and Professionals in the city) and weather conditions in our country also have a direct effect on our sales and therefore our production. (we have endured an extended period of drought for the last 3 years and if we don't see "normal" winter rains this year it will be even more difficult next summer).

Most of these staff losses have actually been a kind of "natural attrition" where people have moved on (chasing their dream$) and we have made a decision to promote staff from within rather than replace the outgoing staff from elsewhere (they are hard to find and overpriced). Overall this policy has actually worked really well up to a point - the point being that we are all now doing a little (lot) more than we used to and this is naturally draining.

The upside of this extra workload is that we are all much better at doing our jobs and we all now know how to do several other roles within the company (because we used to do it and/or we still assist when needed) and we are all closer to each other because we are a smaller tighter group and we know that nobody is getting an easy ride.

Just so all this makes some sense, about 50% of our business turnover relies on "normal" seasonal conditions throughout Australia - In case you didn't know, most of the East coast of Australia has endured a summer of heavy rains, floods and cyclones while here on the West coast we are about to enter winter having not had "normal" winter rain for 3 years. All forecasts indicate this coming season will be our 4th winter of below average rain in succession and the 8th out of the last 10 below average. (Winter months are officially June, July, August but up until a decade ago rains "always" arrived around Easter and were reliable up until October).

So due to these factors and several other factors we are doing it tough but we also know there are others doing it even tougher (of course many of them are our customers) and we are confident we will come through this difficult period in good shape.

Like all difficult times in life, just "knowing" you will be ok in the end doesn't always make you feel better.

Of course I could take the easy way out and go chasing rainbow$ like so many others are doing but for a bunch of reasons I want to see this through and be around to reap the rewards. Besides, I know what the pitfalls are in the mining industry and know very well it is not where I want to be or what I want to do.

*We have outsourced some production so this figure is not necessarily as severe as it seems but it is significant none the less.

[Flixy]

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Screw you, and do what I tell you

[GGT]

Where is Nessus?

Can anyone else share their experience with that Crash sound during sleep? There's a name for it, but I can't remember what it is. I just know it's been happening to me off and on for the last month or so, and it's really really irritating. (You hear this super loud crash sound in your head, it seems real but it's imaginary. Waking up, however, is very real, disorienting and disconcerting. That's when you know it wasn't an external sound, but something "heard" in your head.)

Coupled with this damn restless leg syndrome, and biting my tongue because my jaw clamps down as my arms and legs contract......

something is very wrong here. I've also been "hearing" a crunchy tinkling "sound" at the base of my neck, but only while laying very still, right before I fall asleep. No sensation at all, just a "sound". Like a spent incandescent lightbulb when it's shaken. Maybe it's my meds and it's hallucinations, or strange seizures?

Dammit, I really don't wanna have to do the doctor/Rx/doctor/Rx thing again. Even the symptoms sound crazy. Hoping someone here knows what I mean and I won't feel like a total loon.

[oldmunchkin]

I know I suddenly jerk awake, frantically looking around for what's wrong, then coming to the realization that nothing is wrong, I was just hearing things/dreaming weird noises/whatthehellever! You are not alone. GGT! Like I said, not sure if I hear a crash or just something little that wakes me up. Of course, going back to sleep is totally out of the question!

The good news is: I actually got a decent night's sleep last night!
The bad news is: I slept in one spot, without moving, for about 6 hours. I am now so stiff and sore I can't hardly move!

[GGT]

Thanks munch, but I don't mean just dreaming or hearing random sounds or noises that wake me up. This is a super loud sound that comes from inside the head. A crash, boom, lightning kind of sound. I immediately know I didn't hear it with my ears, and it's not part of a dream......

[GGT]

Yay, I found it! It's called Exploding Head Syndrome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome

Clicking on the Tinnitus link reinforces that I need to see the doctor to rule out ototoxicity from my meds or age related hearing loss, and get a hearing test. My sisters suggested that at Thanksgiving, but I blew them off. My kids have complained that I don't tolerate loud noises (their music) and every night I wake up scratching an inner ear "itch" and feeling fluid. With any luck, this is simply early allergies kicking in. I'd really hate to slowly go deaf.....

[Hazir]

It's the sixth of april and I am in Istanbul, with the heat on

It's bloody cold outside, and all the time I am getting reports about how warm and sunny Amsterdam is at the same moment.

[Flixy]

It's the sixth of april and I am in Istanbul, with the heat on

It's bloody cold outside, and all the time I am getting reports about how warm and sunny Amsterdam is at the same moment.

Yes, the weather was awesome today

[Nessus]

I have on and off exploding head syndrome; it was scary the first time, but you get used to it. It's no more irritating than the "falling sensation whoomp!"-thing as you're falling asleep and all your muscles relax, you return to a more awake state either way.

[oldmunchkin]

I have the horrible feeling I just saw a very dear friend for the last time! He sent me a text asking me to come help him for a few minutes, so I went to his apartment. He has throat cancer and was having a hard time breathing. (I really think the cancer has spread to his lungs. ) He wanted me to call an ambulance for him. I waited with him until they got there. I think this is the end! I am not ready to say good-bye yet. I can't bring myself to go to the hospital, mainly because they wouldn't let me in anyway! I so hope I am wrong, but it's not looking good!

[Illusions]

More fun with Citibank student loans. They've changed how you pay via their website. Before if you decided to pay more, it was all lumped together under one payment, and Citibank worked their magic as to how the extra would be distributed to the loans you were paying off. For instance, if you had Loan #100 which was made up of Loans #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5, and instead of paying the minimum of $100 towards Loan #100, you paid $150, Citibank would work out how the extra $50 was split up amongst the 5 loans based on things like percent interest and how much you owed on the individual loans. Now you have to figure it out yourself, the extra payments are listed separately in your payment history, instead of together as they were before, and since they are separate there, I am now waiting to see if they are submitted as separate payments to my bank. This seems more set up to deter me from paying extra, and thus paying down my principal balance on the loans, via making it inconvenient and convoluted to do so. I have one payment that has 8 loans attached to it. I am not looking forward to that one. The one I just sent through today was a meager 2, so we'll see how my bank processes Citibank's payments.

I also now have to check with my bank to see how many e-checks they allow in a month/year. As before it was one per loan payment, now...potentially much more. We shall see.

Douches. I wonder how fast they'd sue me if I reverse engineered their old payment distribution algorithm and posted it as a tool people could use online (so that it would calculate how much they used to pay before the new system). Going to figure it out for myself at least...

fight the power!

[Illusions]

I am now waiting to see if they are submitted as separate payments to my bank.

My bank is processing the Citibank student loan payments today, and yes, it appears that they are submitted as separate payments, where before they were lumped together as one. I will now have to check with my bank to see if their "unlimited check writing" is extended to e-checks (since my per year e-check writing is about to go from 36 to 156). I'm uncertain how the free markets would fix something like this.

[oldmunchkin]

RIP, my dear friend Bret! I am so lucky to have known you. I am humbled by the way you fought the good fight, right up to the end! I am sorry I couldn't do more for you, but I know you knew I was by your side when you needed me to be. Tell God a joke, because I know the devil doesn't want you...he is too afraid you would take over! We will drink a beer for you and celebrate your life in the manner we know you would want us to! "Take it easy my friend...take it easy!"

[GGT]

Illusions, that's fucked up. Why can't they consolidate all the loans into one payment? Is Citi charging you transaction fees, too?


Sorry about your friend, munch. At least he didn't linger or suffer on a ventilator....

[Illusions]

Illusions, that's fucked up. Why can't they consolidate all the loans into one payment?

If you mean the usual student loan consolidation I'm not sure if they're doing it, and I'm fairly certain that if they did all of them, I'd be screwed as the interest rate for four of them is 2.47%, I don't really think I could get it lower for those. What I was saying though is that any extra payment towards principal they used to process as one payment, then figure out distribution themselves. Now I have to do that part.

Is Citi charging you transaction fees, too?

I don't bank with Citi. My bank is a different bank, hence why I have to ask about monthly/yearly e-check limits, as I don't want to get hit with transaction fees if the number of e-checks I'm using ends up increasing by a multiple of ten.

[littlelolligagged]

I'd check the federal consolidation loan website, illusions. I'm pretty sure you can see what your rate would be before you actually commit.

[Ominous Gamer]

The county is going to be closing our Science Library @ MOSI which majorly sucks since it was a really nice library.

A few cool things did come out of the decision however:
The "realia" collection is coming to me to use at JFG. I likely won't keep it since I'm not involved with children's programming as much, but its nice to know that someone realized it at least needed to begin its new journey with someone who knew their shit. The realia collection is a few hundred pieces of hands on material thats science related. I even asked you guys one year to help me pick out some stuff for the new order.
One of the listed reasons for it closing was a 25% drop in traffic after I was forced to move into the downtown library. I'm going to boost my own ego and claim that it was my programming that brought people into that branch

[Timbuk2]

Finished work for a four day weekend.

Uneventful tube and train journey home.

Spring has finally arrived with a vengeance, sudden +20 degree temps, flowers everywhere, sparkling orb of sunny delight in the sky.

Walk from train station along street to my apartment, spring in my step.

Man with sun-glasses perched atop bald head, wearing shorts and T-shirt, comes out of doorway ahead of me, turns back toward door and says; "Look after mum for me won't you". He clambers into car.

Daddy!

Walking on I pass open doorway and look in. There's a young girl in school uniform, about 9 years old, with a heart-breakingly sad and disconsolate face, tears about to erupt from her reddening eyes.

Divorced Daddy!

I catch her eye unintentionally as I pass, she looks down suddenly, not wanting strange man to see her discomfort.

[GGT]

That is sad, Tim. Brought back some bad memories. Nothing more eviscerating than seeing a child's heart break while trying to appear brave, holding tears in big doe eyes.

[GGT]

Well, I finally figured out why my son kept coming home from his dad's visitations hungry. Sometimes ravenous. Apparently, he's been feeding our son the South Beach diet because that's what he and his fiancee are doing....for their own weight loss! It's like a Mediterranean diet that focuses on the "glycemic index", which sounds great until applied to a 15 year old growing athlete, who needs more than 1,500 calories, and isn't trying to lose weight but consume energy and muscle building calories!

What kind of a father does that to his own son? What kind of step mother does that to a growing boy she claims to care about? An ounce of broiled fish and a fist-full of green leaves isn't going to satiate or nourish an active growing teenaged boy.

[Catgrrl]

I'd seriously look into changing visitation. Between assaulting your older son, and leaving your younger son for periods of time when he was supposed to have visitation, it really seems like your ex is not the sort of father he needs to be, and probably shouldn't be around your son anymore.

But, if your son does want to be with his father I guess it's best to deal with the problem. Can you talk to your ex at all about the conditions he puts his child in during visits?

Sounds like an awful situation to be stuck in. And I know divorce/custody decrees probably don't make things any better.

[GGT]

None of this is "court ordered". We divorced thinking we could work things out as rational people. We have a legal contract but only mildly. (Something I'd advise against, BTW, for anyone currently in divorce proceedings where minor children are concerned).

He wants and needs time with his dad. He's not fond of the soon-to-be-step-mother. Once dependents turn 14 years old, they have self-determination legal power in deciding their main home, visitation, summer vacation, and whatnot. He can refuse visitation if/when he wants, but I can't deny him the choice.

I can fill in the blanks, that's why I didn't uproot and move to another state (even though I could have). He comes home hungry and I feed him roast and potatoes, or eggs with cheese and bagels, or ice cream with peanuts, or whatever. I was just venting about my ass hole ex husband, mostly.