Hi Michael,

 ML> >  ML> Maybe practicing for the big one down
 ML> >  ML> the road?
 ML> > Which, hopefully, won't happen in our lifetime.

 ML> Eh, I'm kind of looking forward.

I'm not looking for things like that.

 ML> > We've not yet had that happen. Did have a credit card compomised
 ML> twice, > both times in LV, NV so we stopped using that one there.
 ML> Since our
 ML> > daughter moved away from the area, we've only passed thru once in
 ML> the > last 5 years.

 ML> I have my BoA card cancelled every second
 ML> year or so, but when it has actually been
 ML> compromised, BoA hasn't done anything.

Cap1 has been really good working with us. If we forget to notify them
that we're going to be travelling, say, out west, they will call and ask
if a charge is legit. Normally they don't see a charge from, say, Kohl's
in the Phoenix area from us. Also, one of the things that tipped us to
the fact the card was compromised, was a hefty charge to a sporting
goods store, another to a fabric store's on line branch. We've never
gone to the former and the latter I only buy from their brick and mortar
stores.

 ML> It was only when nothing happened, but
 ML> the algorithms flagged a perfectly normal
 ML> transaction, that they have caused me
 ML> heaps of trouble.

If it happens often enough, I'd consider dropping the card, or at least,
regulate it to a less often used status.

 ML> >  ML> whole, and Lilli concurs, saying, just think
 ML> >  ML> of all the jobs I'm making for people.
 ML> > Just keeps the holiday hires on for a few more days, then lets them
 ML> go > before the new year is more than a couple of weeks old.

 ML> Her retort would be that that's millions
 ML> of person-hours that wouldn't have been
 ML> available to an otherwise hungry populace.

Probably a lot of the seasonal hires, especially this past season, have
been ones that have been laid off from other jobs.

 ML> >  ML> point things are going to become costly enough
 ML> >  ML> to torpedo some of the big companies, but
 ML> >  ML> maybe others will rise to take their place.
 ML> > Yes, you don't hear too much about Sears and JC Penney any more,
 ML> > Montgomery Wards is gone completly. You need to go to a number of
 ML> stores > now (either in person or on line) to get all that you used to
 ML> get from, > say, a Sears catalog.

 ML> I believe that's what Amazon sells itself as
 ML> the remedy for.

Do they sell build your own house kits? Sears used to.

 ML> >  ML> > Basically so, the electric ones are just a fancier box. (G)
 ML> >  ML> And designed for specific and unlikely events.
 ML> > The Sterling Piston cooler was originally designed for medical
 ML> > use--carrying organs for transplant and such like. The actual space
 ML> for > food is quite limited but we do like that it holds its cool,
 ML> even when > temps are high.

 ML> Sounds a bit like overkill to me.

It's a help for those perishables we don't want to perish when the
outside temps get high enough that the other coolers don't work that
well. Some of them cool only to 40 degrees less than the ambient air
temp.

 ML> >  ML> My procedure is to make meals out of what's
 ML> >  ML> available without opening the fridge at all.
 ML> > Raiding the pantry? At least ours is fairly well stocked. As for
 ML> > cooking, we've got a number of grills and the camper stove so we're
 ML> set > there. Push comes to shove, we can run a generator to run the
 ML> camper
 ML> > microwave.

 ML> You seem by design or accident to have
 ML> positioned yourselves in an almost survivalist
 ML> situation. There are moments when it seems

Somewhat by accident. Pantry stocking is done on a regular basis (don't
have any MREs in there). The various grills fit in with Steve's interest
in smoking, cooking, etc. Camper is set up so that we can boondock (live
without connection to power, water, etc) if needs be or if we want to
camp in an area that doesn't have hook ups. If a hurricane were poised
to strike the area, we could hitch up and head out to somewhere safer,
and not have to find housing, meals, etc.

 ML> that's a wise course of action, given the
 ML> unpredictably messy way things are going.

True. Now that Steve's parents are in the assisted living place, we can
hitch up and go visit them for a week without having to find a motel,
pay for restaurants, etc. We're also good to just hitch up and get away
from home for a few days, should we choose. Trips like the latter help
us "shake down" changes Steve has made to the camper, new equipment,
etc.

 ML> >  ML> Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
 ML> > I'm drooling........................(G)

 ML> Eh.

 ML> Mousse souffle au chocolat
 ML> categories: French, dessert
 ML> servings: 4

Just give me the chocolate..................

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... OH NO!  Not ANOTHER learning experience!

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