TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND OTHER BITS OF NEWS

Living in south Florida is truly living in Paradise. But like the Garden of Eden it comes with it's "Serpents". There are the actual serpents, lizards and alligators and then there are the metaphorical serpents. One group being hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions. We moved here 6 years ago and experienced our first category 3 hurricane 4 days after we moved in. The following year we were hit with 2 category 2&3 hurricanes. We quickly found out that our house is quite solid and not built in a flood zone. (But we have flood insurance just in case.) It's been quiet for the last 3 years but now we are told that a tropical depression is headed our way with the good possibility it will be up graded to a "NAMED" tropical storm. OOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo

That is supposed to strike fear into the hearts of all once a storm gets a name. Names like "Patsy, Lulu, and Frank". (Some how those names just don't do it for me like "Thor or Dante" might but that is not my call.) So now we have a storm that may possibly get a name and ALL the TV stations are in a tizzy. Tonight there are poor weathermen standing on street corners all up and down the East coast of Florida, getting soaked to the skin, reporting on the storm conditions. WET is the word and that is about it. (What some people will do for a salary.) There is nothing going on out there that we haven't seen before and won't see again but it is BIG NEWS. Which brings us to the MOST dangerous thing about storms in Florida . . . The senior citizens are now in a frenzy. The media has whipped them all up to a state of total panic so they are all rushing out in their cars to the grocery store to stock up on water, milk and bread. (Probably cat food also.) The roads have now become something like the Indy 500 on the last 5 laps. People who should not be driving on a good day in broad daylight are racing down the roads to get the last bag of Publix breakfast bread so they won't starve to death in the next 24 hours. I would sit in the middle of the golf course waving a nine iron above my head in a lightening storm before I will go out in my car when there is any news of a tropical storm or hurricane within 100 miles of Florida. Licking a light socket is probably safer!

I plan on spending the day tomorrow catching up on all sorts of stuff that I have been putting off for weeks. Pictures need to go into frames and albums and bills need to be paid. I do love a good rainy day.

I will be sending a card to poor 5 year old Abby over in England. Her mom Skyped us today to tell us that Abby has Shingles! Yes, kids can get shingles! It is not common but it is possible. Abby has had the chicken pox vaccine but that does not protect her from this form of the virus. So far she has the rash up one side of her body but she is not in any pain. We hope that will be the case for the next week or so till the virus leaves her body. Roman has been tested for immunities and he has a very strong immunity to the chicken pox virus so he should be fine.

Baby Smith has a sniffle but he was feeling much better today and so were his mom and dad. He went for his 2 month check yesterday and is in the 70th percentile for his weight and length. I think his mom and dad must be doing something right!

And my little Kaelin is doing great after her scare on Saturday night. Kaelin is her mom's daughter and is filled with allergies. She has been tested for several, one being peanuts, and has shown a severe allergy them. So far she hasn't had any contact with peanuts, until Saturday night. She was at Granny's house when she ate something that had been processed in peanut oil.

(Granny Linda and Papa Fred are her dad's parents who live about 2 miles from Kaelin.) Granny and Papa Fred were babysitting and as soon as Kaelin started to break out in hives and start to swell they called Keri and Steve. Kaelin ended up in the ER where she spent the next 4 hours making sure the allergic reaction was stopped and she was recovering. She handled it like a trouper but Granny and Papa were a mess! God Bless them for reacting as quickly as they did.

All is well now but Kaelin will be going for more intense allergy testing.

It has been an interesting couple of days so I think tomorrow's storm is just what the doctor ordered for me. A rainy day, a good book and probably a nap ! And definitely not a ride to the grocery store.

TIME PASSING

I am guilty of not enjoying the moment I am in. This occurred to me yesterday when I was with my little grandson. Holding him in my arms I was envisioning him 3 months from now when his personality would start showing, 6 months from now when he was learning to sit up on his own, a year from now when he would be walking and starting to talk. I was enjoying him in my arms but I wasn't content with the moment without looking forward to things to come. I did the same thing with my own children, always looking toward something in the future. I do it with my other grand children, picturing them growing older and becoming some thing other than who they are now.

How foolish I am! I am making a vow to appreciate everything for what it is right here and right now.

Little grandson Smith will grow up way too fast and I will have missed so much. Here he is at 2 months old and I don't even know where those months have gone. It was just yesterday that his mom and dad told us he would be joining the family in 8 months. Now he is here and all I can see is what he WILL be rather than enjoying what he IS.

I guess the link to the blog about little Ewan brought a lot of this to my mind. (www.team-ewan.com) Here is a baby who is just days old and his parents don't know if he will survive the many complications that he was born with. They are forced to live in the NOW because there may not be a tomorrow for their child. How very stupid of me to not realize that we all should approach life as if there is no tomorrow. Forget about the "I can't wait for . . ." moments and live in the here and now. Enjoy the moments you spend with your child, even if it is at 3 AM when you would rather be sleeping. As my mother used to tell me, "We can sleep when we are dead".

Smith is 9 weeks old, he doesn't sit, stand, talk, or walk. He just eats and sleeps and that is just WONDERFUL ! He can barely hold up his head and that is fine. He sort of smiles when he has gas and that is great. He kicks his little legs and waves his little arms and that is awesome to behold. Before any of us know it the little man will be in college and we will wonder why we rushed through his childhood. The best advice I can give my son and his wife is to stop rushing forward and enjoy the now. It's too late for me and my kids but I hope this new generation of moms and dads stop and enjoy today with all that it brings because we really don't know if we will ever get to tomorrow.

I'M NOT HERE

My body is back in Florida but my spirit is still in NY with my buddies. I just can't seem to pull myself up and get back to "Normal". I am dragging my butt through the days trying to think and do but I just don't want to let go of the buzz. It was so very wonderful to not have to think. That's what being with friends does. It soothes the body and the soul. Well, I guess the tequila and the rum had a lot to do with soothing but the company sure did help a lot.

But now I am home and have to get back to thinking, planning, scheduling, cooking, cleaning and what ever else there is to be done. I have had my play time and now I have to return to the REAL world. UGH ! The real world didn't get started on Tuesday till around noon. I had a lot of sleep to catch up on thanks to early bird Sharon and earlier bird Jeanne. But when I was with the girls I didn't want to waste a moment so getting up early was fine. On Tuesday I tried to get going right away but that just wasn't happening. Wednesday didn't give me a choice because both Ger and I had dermatologists appointments at 10AM. Ger, who is a sun god and sits in the sun 24/7, if he can, never putting on sun block, has no skin problems at all. He has all sorts of ugly spots on him but none of them are of concern. I, on the other hand, who wears a big hat and smears on lotion has had numerous "things" burned off my face over the years and now something suspicious scraped off my head! It's just not fair. But no fear, I am on top of it and go to the doctor every 6 months to make sure nothing gets out of control. The doctor's appointment did get me up and moving yesterday but some how I still got nothing done. The day ended and I was still looking at a pile of pictures that need filing, phone calls to be made and clothes to be ironed. Today wasn't any better except that I did get to Curves and the grocery store. All the calories I burned off at Curves got put back on with tonight's roast beef dinner that I must say was delicious.

I just can't get ahead so I might as well just relax and let tomorrow bring what it will. But I will try to write more often as I get more and more used to being home.

At the moment Ger is in bed "huffing" because I am sitting here at the computer rather than keeping him company. This I did NOT miss when I was away!

RETURNING TO REALITY - - KICKING AND SCREAMING ALL THE WAY

It's nearly 1 AM and I am writing this now because once I return home I will probably not have a moment alone for at least 3 weeks. Husband has been on his own for 10 days and I will pay the price. He is his mother's son and has learned well the art of guilt from the Queen of Guilt. Rita should have been Jewish but was a Brooklyn Irish Catholic, which is the next best thing in the art of guilt. Husband will have subtle ways of letting me know that he did not appreciate being "abandoned" for the week. The mail will all be stacked on the table waiting my return. The dishes and laundry will likewise be waiting as will the messages on the answering machine. I don't even want to think about what the kitchen and the bathroom will look like.

I will return home tomorrow to endless stories from the news broadcasts of the past 10 days and updates of the various storms brewing in the Atlantic. I will get blow by blow accounts of what husband has done for 10 days, what he has eaten and who he has talked to. There will be a 30 second period of him asking how my visit was only to be cut short by another tale of something that happened while I was away. Things as important as the shrubs getting trimmed, the exterminator spraying the house or a neighbor stopping by to chat. All these things are of great importance for husband to share because I WAS GONE and left him alone to deal with life.

I have had a fantastic time with my friends. It has been cathartic in so many ways and my heart, soul and mind are refreshed. I have been validated in my thinking and actions. I am relaxed and open, all guards dropped and all anxieties removed. The only thing better than a friend is TWO friends. We have talked and talked and talked and could go on like this for months more but reality calls in the form of one simple phone call to husband this evening. "HI Ger, it's me." To which husband responded "Oh, I thought you forgot to call". I was calling because I wanted to talk to husband, NOT because I was supposed to call. I was immediately transported back to where I was 10 days ago when I left FL. My hands and teeth are clenched, I'm starting to get a headache and my stomach hurts.

WELCOME HOME !

RUNNING A-MUCK IN MONTAUK

Several years ago my NY friends and I spent our first "Girl's Gathering" at Montauk, NY. After one day we knew we had hit upon something! We ran a-muck, blowing our diets, talking about anything and EVERYTHING and laughing till our sides hurt. Since then we try to get together when ever we can for as long as we can. We have run a-muck in NY, Florida, Atlanta and Maryland and we are proud to say we will continue to run a-muck for as long as we are breathing.

This years get together included the almost visit to a goat farm but unfortunately the goats are on holiday on Tuesdays. We will put that on the list of things to do another time. (Why would we visit a goat farm? Because it is there. And who doesn't love a cute little goat? Sharon actually hates goats almost as much as she hates chickens but that is a blog for another time.) So with the goat farm closed on Tuesday our back up plan was a visit to a potato chip factory. (Jeanne was our tour guide. She had gone on the computer and found the most obscure things on Long Island and put them into our itinerary.) The potato chip factory did take some searching but we eventually found it tucked away amid the wineries and potato fields.

(FYI for any of you not familiar with this beautiful and diverse island that extends east of NYC . . . the east end of LI is split like the tail of a fish, divided into the North and South Forks. The North Fork is, or has been, mostly potato farms. The South Fork is and always will be where the rich and famous reside in the summer. Both forks of the island have become home to numerous wineries. It seems that the sandy soil that sustained the potatoes all these years is perfect for growing grapes.)

But I digress . . . we finally found the North Fork Potato Chip Company housed in a large warehouse building and taking up a space the size of my living room. There was one machine pealing and cutting the tatters, a cooker and a bagger. Not much of an operation but it has been there 7 years and we were surprised to find the chips on sale in several places. We bought a case of chips to sample over the next 3 days. (Yep, I said A CASE!) 15 bags of 5 different flavored chips. With our car now totally filled to the roof we set off once again for Montauk. We did need a stop at the grocery store for milk, bread, cold cuts and ice cream and then we were ready to let the rumpus begin.

We arrived at our ocean front hotel around 3:30 PM on Tuesday and did not move the car again until we left this morning at 11. We had such a great time doing what we do best . . . NOTHING.

Our husbands have thought we have done nothing for years but this is REALLY doing nothing. It is a fine art that we 3 have perfected. It involves eating what ever you want when ever you want. No such thing as "A MEAL". Breakfast one morning was ice cream and dinner was a margarita and a bag of chips. (And we still came home with chips to spare.) We sat on the beach, sat on the porch, watched HBO movies and the Weather Channel. We talked and talked and talked and we relaxed in the safe and healing surroundings of friends.

As we drove further and further East we could feel the tensions draining from our souls and bodies. A hour in the car with these 2 amazing women does more good for me than all the pills, therapists and massages could do in a life time. I pray that God will grant us many, many more years of running a-muck together but I think I will have to invest in some depends because now when I laugh that hard I need some extra protection.

COUPON ELF

For as much as I pick on Husband I have to tell you the other side of this very good man. Take into consideration that 90 % of what I tell you is just me being a bitch so fair is fair that I tell you about what a great guy he is when he is not pissing me off. (Also consider that I am leaving in 2 hours for 10 days with my friends up in NY so I am feeling very kindly toward poor Ger.)

Ger has become "King of Coupons" in our house. Our son Kyle is "Emperor of Coupons", Keri is "Princess of Coupons" and forget about Cousin Ann who is the world champion of all coupons and bargains. So you see Ger has a lot of competition in this field but he has developed his own special style of coupon cutting and use.

In the car we have 'THE ENVELOPE" which contains all the coupons that have been collected. They remain in the envelope in the car so that when we are out and about and feel the need for food we rummage in the bag and come up with someplace where we will get a great BOGO deal. Most of the coupons come from the paper, mailings and other local sources . . . EXCEPT for the mother load of all coupon deals . . . SILVER SLUGGER BASEBALL GAMES ! I've told you about our weekly minor league baseball games but I don't think I ever mentioned the perks. Each week there are coupons for Chick Fil A on the back of the game tickets. No biggie. But in addition to that, on the back of each FREE Game Day Magazine, there are coupons for Moes South West Grill. Normally we would go into the game and take ONE (1) magazine between us. These magazines are available all over the stadium and are left out for the taking. Once we (Husband) realized what a gold mine this was we have been collecting magazines by the dozens. There is only so much Moes we can eat so the extra coupons are put to good use.

Today was a Moes day. Off we went and upon our arrival 3 coupons are taken from the envelope. One for us and two for the COUPON ELF to dispose of as he see fit. There is an art to this madness and I can only tell you it is a joy to watch. I even have to admit I am being sucked in and allowed to be a Coupon Elf in training. As we enter the establishment Ger carefully cases out the joint. Who else is coming in? Who is already on line? Do they look approachable? Do they look deserving? A decision is made and Ger quietly walks up to the lucky couple and as he holds out the coupon to them he asks if they would like a coupon for their meals. It is great fun to watch the expressions of puzzlement, doubt, and "HUH" cross the faces of our targets. They usually shrug and say "Sure", figuring what the hell, what have we got to lose. Even if this guy is a nut case I'll just take the coupon to appease him and maybe then he'll go away. With that we continue on with our order and sit down to eat. Then within a few minutes one of the couple is at our table thanking us profusely for the great coupon. They have gotten to the cash register and found that this is the real deal and they have saved the price of a lunch.

Today's couple thanked us 4 times and Ger just gets the biggest kick out of this. It's only a coupon for for a couple of bucks but Ger feels like "The Millionaire" giving away his coupons. He gets such enjoyment from sharing the wealth that we are going to be lost when December 31 rolls around and all the coupons expire. Meanwhile, Moes will be celebrating that the Coupon Elf is now out of business.

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Not much going on here these days so I haven't been inspired to write. Rather than have you think I had left town or my brain had gone to mush I thought I'd just bring you up to date on the nothings that are going on in our lives.

For starters, I leave on Saturday afternoon for a week on Long Island with 2 of my best friends. September is usually the time when husband and I head for Maine to visit our long time great friends Glo and John but this year we won't make it up there. Hopefully we can talk them into coming to Florida over the winter. After all the goings on this spring and early summer I needed to touch base with the LI Princesses for a good laugh and an attitude adjustment. These women validate me and bring me back to a good place mentally. Recently there was a forward going around the Internet about a study done at Stanford University about the importance of women connecting with their gal pals. It stated all the things that my friends and I have known for years. Women think differently than men and sharing with other women is important to good mental AND physical health. So far be it for me to jeopardize my health my not taking time to spend with "The Girls".

But before I get on that plane we have a busy week ahead of us. Yesterday was exhausting ! Took a long walk in the morning with husband and went to the movies and dinner in the afternoon. (Yeah, this retired life is tough.) We went to see the new George Clooney movie, "The American". Don't bother. The movie was dull and boring but thankfully George is easy on the eyes so I didn't doze off.

Today was a bit more exciting and different for us old folk. Ger and I went to the minor league stadium just down the road and saw 2 of the Jonas Brothers play soft ball with the Road Dogs team. They played to a half filled stadium and in spite of the fact it was a school day every teeny bopper in Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter was at the game. Ger and I took seats in the last row way at the top, in the shade, and did some great people watching. It was a fun game, filled with lots of action and even though the Road Dogs lost by 3 the Jonas Brothers played quite well. The game was promoting DO NOT TEXT WHEN DRIVING ! Isn't it sad that we have to actually start a "movement" to tell people this. It's like telling a blind person not to drive. DUH! Where is your common sense people. But it is a new world where people can't figure complex things like "Look at the Road" when you drive. God help us !

Tomorrow is very exciting, the air conditioner guy is coming for our quarterly service. Living in South Florida you don't mess with the AC.

Thursday is the BEST day of this week because Smith is coming to visit. For some reason Broward County schools are closed on Thursday so Kent and Kristen are driving up with the little mister (as Kristen calls him) for a day at grandma's. The pool is still a comfortable 90 degrees so I am sure there will be some pool time set aside for all.

Friday I better do some packing and then I am outa here !

OOOOOOO . . .. Kaelin is calling on Skype so I've got to go. See Ya !

Anniversary

This morning I had planned on continuing yesterdays blog about music but that will wait till tomorrow.

I have spent the evening puttering . . . a term often used by my good friend Glo up in Maine. Glo is THE QUEEN of puttering. She has shared her art with me and tonight I made her proud. Puttering is basically spending time doing nothing constructive. Tonight my puttering brought me to going through my old blogs. I didn't realize that I have been doing this almost a year! That pretty much blew my mind. How is it possible that I could find this much crap in my brain to share with you and still have a brain full of more crap?

Today's waste of time started out with a very focused goal. Clean up the garage. Ever since the grand kids left the garage has been the resting place of EVERYTHING. When the cleaning lady came this week and we had to clean up so she could clean, all the clutter was dumped into the garage. You know what I am talking about. Everybody has a clutter spot. It may be a room, a closet, or only a drawer but we all have one. Some people have an entire house reserved for clutter, Husband has the trunk of his car which often spills over into the car. It isn't as bad now that he is retired but it still has a tendency to gather garbage. There was a time when his trunk would have forty two refillable soda cups from 7/11 and the gas station. He never remembered to bring the cup into the store so he would have to buy a new one. Why he had to save all forty two of them is beyond me but that is a question for another day.

I started in the garage around noon and made some progress but then had to stop for mass at 4:30. Then there was dinner and a video call from Keri and Kaelin. Everything stops when they call ! Kaelin was telling us about her Rainbow Picnic today at a beach in VA. (She has a book called "Rainbow Picnic" where Minnie and Mickey bring foods of all colors on their picnic.) She had to take a bath and wash her hair tonight because of all the sand in her hair. She looked wonderful and it was so good to see her. Skype is just amazing !

By the time I got back to the garage it was almost 8PM and I immediately got side tracked with my blogs. I'm not sure how that happened but here it is 10 PM and the garage is still a mess.

Tomorrow is another day. Maybe it will rain so I will be motivated to do some more garage cleaning. Or Not . . .

Music Lost

I went to public school in NYC, PS 34 on Springfield Blvd. in Queens Village. Thinking back it was probably a very small school but as a kid it seemed MASSIVE ! A big stone building taking up an entire city block. I remember the floors were made of wood slats that would creek and groan as you walked down the hall or across your classroom. It was 3 stories high and on that top floor was the auditorium. Seats like in a movie theatre, raised stage with big, heavy velvet curtains, and ceiling high windows all across the back wall. And right at the base of the steps up to the stage sat a piano. In those days we weren't taught sex education or career planning or any of the other required courses of study in our schools today. It was basic reading, writing (as in learning how to form letters in script) and arithmetic. We went to gym, had art in the class room and music was in the auditorium with all the other kids from your grade level. We sat in the big seats near the piano and we sang songs. Songs like "Our National Anthem", "Battle Hymn of the Republic", "America The Beautiful", "God Bless America" and all the other patriotic songs that were part of our country's heritage. I still get a chill when I hear any of these songs and I still remember the words to most. I could sing the theme songs for the Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force and loved the natural high we all got from shouting out the words. It was a time when our country was recovering from the losses of WWII and everyone who was an American was proud of it. We sang our country into the next generation.

Our children don't know any of these songs. It isn't politically correct to sing about GOD AND COUNTRY. And just look around you at what our country is turning into.

I think it is time to resurrect the patriotic music of the 40's and 50's. It is time for the radio stations across the country to dust off some of the songs that stirred up a country at war and a country that knew what it meant to be an AMERICAN. Husband tells me that there are country music songs that sing of America but to me there is nothing like the tried and true classics. (And I wouldn't be caught dead listening to country music.)

Just think if you turned on your radio, computer, TV and heard the strains of "GOD BLESS AMERICA . . . LAND THAT I LOVE . . . STAND BESIDE HER, AND GUIDE HER . . ." Wouldn't this give you some goose bumps and a stirring in your bones to want America to be a better place than it is right now?

Music now is all about anger, hate, and self interest. I think it is time to start singing "I'm Proud to be an American" and "America The Beautiful". Start humming those tunes and see if you don't start feeling more patriotic and fired up about living in the greatest nation on Earth.

DEAR MRS. ROKER

This is an open letter to Al Roker's wife. (in case you have been living in a cave or another country, Al Roker is a prominent weather man here in the US.)

Dear Mrs. Roker,

How do you do it? How do you live in the same house with a man who is obsessed with the weather?

Many years ago, when my husband had a job with a large township in New York, I told him if he ever decided to run for a public office I would not support him. Day in and day out I would hear about the politics of the town and who was stabbing who in the back. I heard about the "little people" in town politics and about the "big wigs". I knew all the names and was bored to tears over the petty politics and ridiculous tales of maneuvering within the town hierarchy.

Then husband retired and we moved to Florida where we keep up on local and national politics but not on a personal, first name basis. I thought I had it made. Dodged that bullet so to speak. Little did I realize that living in Florida brings with it CONSTANT WEATHER WATCHING . . . ESPECIALLY DURING HURRICANE SEASON.

The TV is on at 9 AM to catch the morning weather report and remains on ALL DAY ! At noon there is a jump to local news to catch the weather. For most of the time Fox News is on but when there is a hurricane brewing it is a constant jump from Fox to the weather channel until 5 PM when the local news comes on. From 5 until 7 the local news' are on, flipping back and forth to catch the weather on each one. Thank God Fox has their news an hour early at 10PM so husband can catch the weather there at 10 and AGAIN at 11 on another station.

And HOLY Guacamole we have hit the mother load this September. (Last year was a very dull year and husband was bored to tears.) There are 3 named storms in the Atlantic and another brewing. Husband is tracking these storms minute by minute. ( I am not kidding!) When I get up in the morning I get an update. When we have breakfast, lunch and/or dinner I get a storm update and when we go out the topic of discussion is . . . you guessed it . . . HURRICANES !

I think, Mrs. Roker, you probably have it easier because at least Al is OUT at the station tracking the weather and storms. I am living here with STORM WATCHER who lives and breathes for the latest update on the 'STORM CONE". The storm that is out there now is headed up the East Coast and will have no effect on us here in Florida, but that doesn't matter. We have friends and family that must be called because a storm is on its way! (Like they don't have TV?)

For the past week I have been hearing about Hurricane Earl. To hear husband talk I am thinking the East End of Long Island is about to get washed into the ocean. I was talking with one of my friends who lives out on LI and who I will be visiting in a week. I asked her if she was prepared for the storm and asked it if would affect our plans for a few days at Montauk, on the tip of Long Island. She told me the storm was just going to be a little rain and wind, nothing to speak of.

The old saying "Ignorance is Bliss" is fine with me and I am choosing NOT to listen any more to the panic in husbands voice when he is talking about these storms. I really would like to know if there are any tips you could give me for distracting husband from the storm watch. But they must not involve me in any way, Please. The reason I haven't smashed the TV before now is that it does keep husband from bothering me. I guess I have to decide what is worse . . .

getting blow by blow (pun intended) reports of storms or having to entertain husband all day.

Maybe if I just got some ear plugs I could deal with the storms.

CONVERSATIONS

I just returned from a doctor's office, (actually it was the imaging center for a mammography), and am amazed that we don't have more instances of identity theft. The office is so cautious about information "slipping" into the wrong hands that the patients have to fill out numerous forms stating that the information you have written down can be released to other doctors etc.. This is all well and good, (except I have to make another appointment to have the doctor check out the writer's cramp in my hand from filling out all the freaking forms) and I feel totally secure that some lab tech in not going to steal my identity.

Meanwhile, sitting two chairs away from me in the waiting room is a woman using the phone. At first I thought she was on her cell phone but then came to realize she was using a phone that was on a table in the waiting room. In a million years I would never think to use that phone but this woman made at least 3 calls on it.

Call #1 was to a client who was supposed to see a condo on the 6th floor of a building but the 12th floor condo really was a better deal. That conversation lasted about 3 minutes and I got quite a bit of detail on the 2 condos that are up for sale. (Apparently our talker is a real estate agent.)

Call #2 was to her doctor's office asking for another script for a MRI for her knee. Along with her broken ribs she is also having knee problems and would like them checked out while she was at the imaging center. This conversation also lasted quite a few minutes and I found out all sorts of information about our real estate agent's ribs, knee and lack of sleep. This was the first day she has been standing upright, in case you wanted to know.

Call #3 was the best ! This call was made to her bank ! First let me mention that this woman was NOT quiet! She was not facing into the wall whispering, she was sitting in a large open room speaking quite loudly. About half way through conversation #3 she did lower her voice but it was still quite audible to everyone. Maybe by that point she realized the foolishness of her actions. Any way, this call gave me all the information I could possible ever want or need to steal this person's identity and a good portion of her money. While sitting there this woman gave her credit card number, pin number, address, phone & cell phone numbers along with the spelling of her name. She did stop at giving her social security number when she realized everyone in the waiting room was looking at her and listening to her call. Just when it was really getting interesting, the part where she was explaining how she took the $2000 from her money market that had A LOT of money in it, she was called into the exam room. The lab tech came to the door and called real estate agents name. Agent continued to talk to her bank for a few seconds before acknowledging her existence. The lab person said she was ready for Agent but Agent continued on with her phone call. Agent actually made the lab tech wait about 3 minutes for her to finish up her call. But before she finished she gave the bank and all of the waiting room her email address and her fax number.

I am sure if Agent's identity were stolen she wouldn't have a clue as to how it could possibly have happened. It must have been the day she filled out all those forms at the imaging center. Some one must have let the information on those forms get into the wrong hands!