Logical Monday

1/17/2017

I know the calendar says it's Tuesday, but somehow in my mind, it's Monday.  Jeff had yesterday off, so he had an extra day to rest.  Notice I say rest, because somewhere around 7:00 in the morning, the puppies internal alarm goes off.  Once they are awake, all bets are off as to how long you can actually keep sleeping.  I appreciate that for the past three days, Jeff has taken the on the early morning business of feeding the dogs.

The weather is dreary today.  It looks like a winter day and I suppose that's natural considering that it is in fact winter.  And, so far we haven't had much of a winter, if you consider that we've only had a dusting of snow so far.  I am well aware that our weather can and often does turn on a dime.

Tonight is my book club and I feel very unprepared to discuss the book.  The book was good, but after reading the questions for tonight's discussion, I am feeling inadequate to say the least.  I'm going for the company of the women as well as a glass of wine.  

Jeff processed a lot of paper yesterday in his office.  My task?  Find an appropriate home for said paper.  After years of holding onto paid utility bills, etc., we have come to the conclusion that doing so isn't really necessary.  I mean do you think you'll have a need to look at your electric bill from three years ago?  The answer is no.  I still have folders for cars we once owned and why I keep them is anybody's guess.  It's not like the cars are going to be returned to us.  

It does take time to purge file folders.  My folder for the car insurance folder is bursting at the seams.  I should toss out the old policy when a new one arrives.  And yet I don't.  Could be that I'm just lazy, or I don't really see the benefit of being that efficient.

Because of the time we live in, anything and everything with our name on it, has to be shredded.  So when I do get around to cleaning out file folders, then I will have a super large shred pile.  When Jeff and I got married, which was eons ago, I promised to take care of the paper.  But, in 1974, the paper that we generated was small potatoes to what is generated now.  And back then, when your mail came and/or you paid a bill, you simply tossed it into the garbage.  Identity theft wasn't a thing back in the 70's.  

In the beginning of identity theft, the criminals not only took your identity, but your life as well.  Criminals started using telephones to glean personal, financial information from a victim.  With the promise of a cash prize, a trip or anything else that sounded too good to be true, was just that.  The criminals managed to get people to tell them all about themselves, giving out valuable information such as social security numbers and bank account information.

Then picking through a person's trash was another way for criminals to find bank and credit card statements.  During the 80's, most people didn't give a thought to what they were throwing away.  And, then the paper shredder came into play.

Finally, we have computer fraud.  Apparently, 62% of identity frauds occur through email.  I have learned over the years, that when I get an email from someone I don't know, to be wary.  Those kind of emails I forward to Jeff to handle.  Most of the time they are nothing more than a scam.  If you open up the emails, you stand a good chance of a virus gloaming onto your computer.  This is not good.

Make it a habit going forward to pay careful attention to the mail you casually toss into the trash.  You know what they say "one man's trash is another man's treasure"!

P