Unhijackable

[Lainie]

Since you own the home, your name and address are public record, and probably searchable online.

[UrbanLegends101]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I just got a text message from some random person saying they want to discuss buying my house, which is not for sale. The somewhat scary thing is that the person addressed me by my correct first name and mentioned my address. I supposed they could have gotten that information from public records.

I have a rental property in Virginia and I get several offers from people wanting to buy the property. I know they are pulling the owner information from the county tax records, for they are mailing these offers to me where I live in Florida, information on the tax records for the county to send my tax billings.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

If I were to get a text message or email about buying my house, I would respond that the asking price is $3 million. Because that's enough money (even after taxes) to retire early, buy something somewhere else, pay for professional movers & packers, and fix up the new place. I'd give them 24 hours to respond, and then block the number/ address.

Mind you, anyone who paid me that much would not easily get their money back (which is, in reality, the reason for that price).

Seaboe

[iskinner]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

I just got a text message from some random person saying they want to discuss buying my house, which is not for sale. The somewhat scary thing is that the person addressed me by my correct first name and mentioned my address.

Land Ownership data is public and here in Sacramento online. Sacramento County Assessor Parcel Viewer.

You could have been contacted by anything from an aggressive land speculator to just a hopeful home buyer who just really liked your property and was checking to see if there is any possibility you might be interested in selling. Feel free to ignore in the likely situation that you are not interested.

[thorny locust]

The one that really annoys me is realtors who come up to a farmers' market stand acting like a customer, and then turn out not to want to buy anything, but only to want to get the farm listed.

-- no, I don't mind when people look and don't buy anything; that's normal. But I'm here at the market because I want to keep farming, not because I want to go out of business!

[mbravo]

Originally Posted by thorny locust

The one that really annoys me is realtors who come up to a farmers' market stand acting like a customer, and then turn out not to want to buy anything, but only to want to get the farm listed.

-- no, I don't mind when people look and don't buy anything; that's normal. But I'm here at the market because I want to keep farming, not because I want to go out of business!

They must have assumed you were trying to sell off your estate.

[thorny locust]

Admittedly, mbravo, if one holds a garage sale there will often be people making jokes about buying the garage.

They're joking, however. Plus which, the signs most likely said 'garage sale', not 'Amish Paste Tomatoes, 4.00/quart'!

[Gutter Monkey]

I found myself dashing off to a nearby suburb at 11:30pm because someone on one of my local FB groups accidentally let a possum into her house and needed someone to extricate it. It was hiding in her bathroom and she'd left the window open for it but she's on the second floor and there was a sheer drop to the concrete below so the possum didn't have anywhere to go.
Luckily it was just a little ringtail possum and I'd brought a thick shirt and leather gloves so once I grabbed it there wasn't anything it could do to me, so I just walked it outside and released it into the nearest tree. If it'd been a big angry brushtail possum that would've been a different matter, those guys are mean jerks and they can cut you up pretty bad if they get their claws into you.

My technique for moving a brushtail possum is "Grab it by the tail and run like hell to the nearest tree, swinging the possum around so it can't get hold of you" which isn't exactly 100% guaranteed to work every time ....

[dfresh]

GM, did you wear your Danger Bloke(?) jumpsuit while doing this heroic rescue?

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Today is the first work day of the Great Shutdown (tm)(c)(r). Traffic was a little worse than normal this morning, but not as bad as it could be. The most exasperating thing was the people who could go the speed limit but chose not to--and chose not to in a lane other than the one farthest to the right. That's a common complaint, however.

Many people other than me clogged the Viaduct on Friday evening to take a nostalgic last drive on the structure. I was happy to be home and out of the traffic.

Also, someone with the DOT had the sense to declare the HOV lanes open to all between the closing of the viaduct and the opening of the tunnel. Nonetheless, I expect the next three weeks to be hellish on the way home (going home is always worse that coming in).

Seaboe

[Lainie]

I'm hoping to be able to watch the demolition (live or on tape).

Happy to see that my old joke about the Viaduct ("You don't need to tear it down, God will.") didn't come true

[Gutter Monkey]

Originally Posted by dfresh

GM, did you wear your Danger Bloke(?) jumpsuit while doing this heroic rescue?

I should have, it's made out of nice thick material.

I was way more concerned about getting the possum out safely and with minimum stress than I was about helping the human.

[UEL]

Well, this Saturday, it will be my 31st anniversary since joining the army.

I will be in Austria with my daughters celebrating another event (a UN reunion).

It is really hard to believe that it has been that long. At times I still feel like the 17 year old kid walking into the recruiter.

I only have a few years left and I am looking forward to retirement. Feeling like a 17 year old kid. haha

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

UEL, are you going to be one of those people who retire and get a job?

I have a friend who is also in the Canadian Military (he's a medic, I think), and he doesn't want to retire, but he has to. I don't know the details.

Seaboe

[RichardM]

Congratulations UEL. My entire "military career" lasted 6 hours, just long enough to flunk the basic physical due to a bum knee, not shadowy x-rays of possible bone spurs. My knee had/has a 6" surgical scar on it. I happen to be in discussion with an orthopedist to determine if now, after 50 years, the knee should be replaced. And if you have 30 minutes, I'll tell you the whole sad story about my right leg now.

[UEL]

Posting from my hotel room with my daughters in Vienna. Reunion is 2/3 done.

I may very well get a job when I leave, mostly to stop me from going down the long slippery slope to boredom.

Although, I do have plenty of activities to keep me engaged in society, it would be far too easy to become a recluse.

So, I'll get a job.

[Gutter Monkey]

I'm taking part in the Moomba Birdman Rally again, raising funds for the Make-A-Wish foundation!

https://birdmanrally.gofundraise.com...ge/DangerBloke

This year I'll be jumping off a four metre platform dressed in a suit of armour and riding a full-sized replica of a horse.


I'm tempted to do another promo stunt and post it to youtube in the lead up to the big event but I still have a scar from this previous stunt ....

[ASL]

That ring of Fire gets me every time.

[dfresh]

Me too. I have watched it with my kids several times, and we always crack up. My kids were impressed that I actually almost sort of in a way know a famous person. Please do video the knight leap, GM. It would be too great to miss, and I can't afford a trip to Australia this year (or maybe ever.)

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

My BFF called me at 11:30pm. My bed time is between 9 and 9:30, which she knows, so I knew this had to be an emergency. It was. One of her cats may be dying. She was rushing off to the vet school, where they know the cat, which happens to be 70+ miles from where she lives.

I mention this not because of the dying cat (who was doing much better at 3:30am, thank you), but because I couldn't figure out what I was hearing when the phone first started to ring. That's never happened to me before. I mean sure, I've heard non-existent noises before (I actually heard quite a few, last night, knocks on the door and such), but I've never before been woken by the phone and been unable to identify what I was hearing.

I should know later today if the cat survived.

Seaboe