I got an alert on my cell phone on Friday afternoon that some jackwagon had poached my debit card number and emptied my bank account. Not that there was much to take, but really. That was for my mortgage payment. And you spent it at Shoebacca in Irvine, TX? And on stationary? And lord knows what, probably cammo gear, at a sporting goods store?


I was asked to respond to the text alert and confirm the purchases, which I did not do, given the question involved. Why give away more information? So I called the local branch of the bank, Chase, and Jeff gave me a number to call to report the fraud. In the meantime I logged into my account online and saw where my card was being used.

In speaking with the person at the Chase Fraud Prevention Center, I confirmed all of me details and was told my card had been cancelled prior to the last purchase, the text alert was from them and that I would be sent a purchase dispute form. Thank you, Chase, for handling this so well. I was not put on hold. I did not speak to Peggy in Siberia or Tony in Bangalore. I spoke with Joe, likely in Omaha, and the whole process took less than 10 minutes.

I don’t feel violated or used or any of the feelings that would likely come with true identity theft, but I am pi$$ed. There are times I use amazon.com, Road Runner Sports or other on-line shops that carry items I cannot get locally. The only thing I’ve done recently is give in to my daughter and download freakin’ Zhu Zhu Pets from Bigfishgames.com. I’m not saying that is how this happened, as it is really my fault and not anyone else’s, but I have a pretty good idea that’s how I opened myself up to this hooey.

On another note, I’m feeling a lot like Mayhem from the Allstate ads, lying on the garage roof putting on weight through the winter. Pretty soon, with one more flake, I’m going to collapse. That can go a couple of ways: I’m tired OR I’ve slowly put on weight through the winter. I’m like an animal in that regard, bulking up for the cold season. The problem is that it’s coming on spring…

Speaking of spring, have you ever noticed boys seem to come crawling out of the woodwork when spring is in the air? Last week alone I got texts from 3 old flames. They must be on the same schedule as the furry creatures of the forest and think it’s mating season. In fact a few years ago, when I had a job in town, I was walking down the street in heels in April and an alarming number of men and boys waved, whistled, honked. Now I know this has nothing to do with me… it was the click, click, click of the heels identifying me as female. I find it humorous.

I have gone for a couple of outdoor runs recently, taking the mutts with me and blaring my new ipod. The difference between the treadmill and the great outdoors is stunning. I do like the consistency of the treadmill for exactly that: I know what to expect. Running outside on the neighbor’s wooded trails, though, provides a different view and set of obstacles every time. When my ipod is not blaring, the sounds are soothing. The sights, the smells, the variance in terrain are all pleasing to me. I like the hills. I like being able to change my route depending on what I feel like doing and how much of a challenge I want.

I was talking to my brother Josh the other day down at the Outfitter. I need new shoes and he was helping me figure out my pronation. After deciding I’m totally knock-kneed and flat footed, Josh was also talking to me about form and cadence. Now some of this I already knew and I think some really applies to running in the bare-foot 5 finger “shoes”, but did you know your cadence is supposed to be 180? Try it. If you take long strides you’ll probably find your cadence is about 90. I read up on shin splints after feeling like my shins were being driven into splinters by wedges and found that shorter strides decrease the likelihood and severity of shin splints. SO I checked out my cadence on the treadmill at a number of speeds. I’m right at 180. Wow. I knew I ran funny, but I was really surprised! I’m still not fast, but at least now I know I might be efficient.