Is my tattoo showing?

No really. It is, isn't it?

So you know how everyone says things come in threes? Heh.

1. A couple of weeks ago, a guy contacted me by email to inquire about purchasing my pins wholesale. He said he was in the UK and wanted to sell in his European shops. So I told him my terms and the total, and he said he would send a cashier's check. Okay then. He called the next day, which happened to be Saturday. He did not sound British. His accent was definitely a US accent, but still there are many ex-pats in the UK, so I just thought he was a little odd. Then came the email. He said he had had a client of his who owed him money send a cashier's check from Chicago for $[insert ridiculous amount of money] and I was to cash it and send the remainder to his secretary in Florida to purchase textiles. And I could keep an extra $50 for my troubles. Right. And did I tell you before that I am really a Nigerian princess in disguise? Of course, at that point, I knew it was a scam. But I received the check that very day. Thinking someone might be interested in trying to catch this guy, I played along and asked him what he wanted me to do with the excess money. He gave me instructions to send it via Western Union and then he sent the addresses of two Western Union outlets in my area. He was obviously prepared. So I called the FBI's internet division and told them the story. They didn't care. It was an amount under $50,000. It didn't matter that this guy was probably doing the same thing to dozens of other people. It didn't matter that I had a forged cashier's check in my hands, or that he had given me instructions. They just didn't give a hoot. So I called the bank on the cashier's check. They didn't care either. At this point, I took said check down to my local bank. I showed it to the manager and said it was of dubious origin. She took one look and said she thought it was fake. So she called the other bank. They were rude. They said unless they knew what branch the check was drawn on, they couldn't trace it. And then they said it wasn't their problem. So she called the processor named on the check. They didn't care either.

But really, it did set me straight about one thing. I no longer wonder how people get away with all of the scams that seem to be floating around these days. Truly. No one cares. Except for the victim.

2. Yesterday, a woman called from a "production company" and let me know that her company was putting together a "gift suite" for the MTV Awards. She thought my product would be great. Hunh?! All I had to do was give them at least 70 pins and be there to meet and greet all of the celebrities that are just waiting to put on their new...shawl pins. Hee. Because really, Beyoncé needs one, don'tcha think? ;)

3. Then there is the worst one. We have had the same web host for about 11 years now. We thought we had a great relationship with them and we steered tons of business to them. Well, it now seems that they have been systematically over-charging us. And probably many many others. Here's how they did it. When we signed up, hosting a website cost a lot more than it does now. And came with a lot less storage space. So we signed up for the package that gave us what we needed. Over the years, we have accumulated more websites, for a total of four with them. Also, over the years, unbeknownst to us, they lowered their prices to be more competitive. But they did it in a super sneaky way. Instead of lowering prices on their plans, they apparently increased the amount of storage and traffic that each plan includes. Several times. Without saying a word about it. (I love the Wayback Machine). So instead of letting people pay for what they use and reducing charges, they charged us for services we weren't using and didn't even know we had. Pretty clever, eh? I figure that just over the past three years, they have overcharged us more than $3,000 for something we have never even come close to using. When we were talking to the tech guy about reducing costs, the first thing he said was "why on Earth are you on this plan?!" He changed it all and guess how much our bill went down? $100 per month. Yeah. I am feeling a little sick. :P

On the lighter side, the Faroese Muir is progressing! I can never get over the fact that so much knitting can fit in so small a space:

Amazing, no? :)

Have a great weekend! And watch out for scams, ya hear?!