Archive for October, 2006
October 16, 2006 at 8:46 am · Filed under Uncategorized
I’ve said it before … the best thing about traveling like this is the great friendships we develop along the way. Don and Amanda have been superb hosts during our visit, and instant friends since the moment we met them at the rally in Townshend VT. Coming here to spend the weekend has felt like visiting old friends we’ve known for years.
Yesterday Don shuttled me all over the area looking for a few hardware items on our list, like an extra 3/4″ socket for the torque wrench, and a few things he needed to round out his toolkit. Being male, we both hated spending three hours driving around for shopping, but on the other hand, being male, we liked driving around with the top down on Don’s BMW in the crisp fall weather.
I spent the day repaying the favor by helping Don re-adjust and lube his Reese hitch for better handling, and showing him how to winterize Vintage Thunder. Meanwhile, Emma and Donal were rolling down the grassy hill in what appeared to be a race, and getting covered with leaves in the process. Between chasing each other, carting around the extraordinarily patient cats, playing games, and imagining things, they had as full a day as six-year-olds can have.
It was classic Fall from start to finish: Eleanor cooked a pot roast for dinner with vegetables, rice, homemade gravy and Caesar salad, and our other new friends Rick, Sandi, and Sara (also met at the rally last weekend) came over for dinner. I am sorry I didn’t capture any pictures but I was definitely on vacation. Amanda and Rick did snap a few, however, and eventually I’ll get copies of those and post them here.
This afternoon we’ll be continuing our southward trek, to meet Bert & Janie in New Jersey.
October 15, 2006 at 10:10 pm · Filed under The scam
I had to post another blog entry tonight because this is just too good. Our scammer has written back, twice. The first email goes as follows:
From : CARGO SHIPPERS
Sent : Monday, October 16, 2006 12:09 AM
To : ******@hotmail.com
Subject : SHIPPING ARRANGEMENT OF CAR
HELLO ,
WE HAVE AN INSTRUCTION FROM OUR CLIENT (DR.LILIAN WILLIAMS) FOR THE SHIPPING OF THE ITEM ABOVE INDLY GET BACK TO US FOR THE SHIPPING ARRANGEMENT AND SHIPPING FEE.
WE ARE TO GET A PAYMENT AS SHIPPING FEE FROM YOU,KINDLY GET BACK TO US TO CONFIRM THE MONEY SENT.
THANKS.
VELECIA FARMER.
ACCOUNTING PERSONELL.
COSCO CONTAINER LINES
—-
I particularly like the fact that the email timestamp was Monday at midnight and I received it hours earlier in Eastern time. Hmmm … coming from Nigeria perhaps?
At the same time, this email was sent:
From : richard williams
Sent : Monday, October 16, 2006 12:09 AM
To : *******@hotmail.com>
Subject : Re: FW: Fwd: ATTENTION PLS!!!
HELLO,
WHATS GOING ON?
——
Ayres has replied to the cargo shipping clerk: “I will send the money on Monday.” But in fact he won’t get to it until Tuesday, because Ayres is a lazy sort of person. 😉
Besides, we’ll be driving to New Jersey on Monday and I won’t have a chance to get online until evening, when we’ll be visiting with Bert & Janie. Our friend in Nigeria (and his associate in Virginia) will have to wait a bit longer for their payday.
October 15, 2006 at 9:10 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Since we stayed with Mike and Bonnie a few days, we tried to do a few things to repay our hosts. Thursday night I helped Mike get his DVD recorder working, and also taught him how to burn CDs on his elderly PC (but it’s not obsolete, according to Mike, since it still does everything he wants it to do!) Emma pitched in with a little morning raking and then we headed down I-95 through Rhode Island and Connecticut.
One “gotcha” with repeated courtesy parking is finding a dump station. In the northeast this can be tricky, especially this time of year when state parks are closing. Our nearest state park was Massasoit, but it was closed to camping. We couldn’t find another spot so we arrived at Don & Amanda’s with holding tanks half full. Fortunately, we have access to their septic system, which solves the problem.
We are parked right by our former trailer, Vintage Thunder. The trailer still looks fabulous. The paint is really holding up beautifully. Not a nick on it that I could see. The more I see that blue-green color, the more it grows on me, especially in bright sunlight.
Once again we’ve got a nice level spot in the driveway with fall foliage raining down all around us. Easton is a rural town outside of Bridgeport, in southern Connecticut — not much to do, but quiet and pretty. Emma and Donal immediately latched onto each other, and we hung out with Don and Amanda, and everyone was happy. In the evening Eleanor and Emma went for take-out Indian food and we spread it all over their enormous dining room table and had a feast.
Click for larger
October 14, 2006 at 9:17 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Friday was a completely wasted day, in the sense that it was beautiful outside and I spent then entire day locked in front of my computer dealing with a million and one little problems. I ended up at 6 pm with a stiff neck, eyes that would no longer focus, and a poor outlook on life. I’ve got to remember to get up once in a while and take a break …
Courtesy parked in Bridgewater MA
Eleanor and Emma spent the day visiting a friend and the local IKEA store. Among other things, Eleanor scored some stackable ceramic coffee mugs for $0.50 each (clearance price). She is tired of the oh-so-cool stainless or aluminum travel mugs that don’t stack in the kitchen cabinet. They may be great looking, but they take up too much space. We’ll see if the ceramic ones hold up.
Inspired by an essay I read on the Scambuster website, I’ve decided to play our scammer a bit longer. The next message from Ayres will be his claim that $1800 was sent via Western Union. Of course we won’t really send a penny. That should cause our scammer some further consternation and delay as he/she tries to collect the money.
Then Ayres will probably die in one of the horrible manners suggested by our readers on yesterday’s blog entry (see comments), and legal action against Velecia Farmer/Alvaro Mendoza/Dr. Lilian Williams/Larry Inc will be threatened. Ayres may even have an uncle (“Avion”) who is a private detective, to seek out the wrongdoers and hopefully put some fear into them.
Today we are going to pack up and tow about 130 miles down to Connecticut to stay with Don and Amanda, who we just met last weekend. They are the new owners of Vintage Thunder. We’ll spend the weekend with them and Emma will get to play with Donal (Jr.), who is five years old.
Bert Gildart called yesterday. He and Janie have finally emerged from Canada, and will be in Massachusetts this weekend. We are trying to cross paths in the next few days, so we can yak about our travels and they can give us a pile of Canadian generic Zyrtec that they bought for us. We may meet them in New Jersey on Monday, if all goes well.
By the way, Bert has been doing some wonderful writing and photography in Canada, and it’s on his blog. If you haven’t read it, I can really recommend it. He is doing a superb job telling stories of the Maritimes.
Colin Hyde called yesterday too, from a rally in New Hope, PA. He says it’s much warmer down there, which makes me VERY happy. I like fall but a few more days in the 70s would feel good too.
My final office task yesterday was to do some trip planning. We’ve now got an itinerary worked out all the way down to South Carolina. After that we’ve got about a week to just wing it until we arrive in Orlando. It’s a great itinerary. So I guess Friday wasn’t a total waste after all — at least I have nailed down some cool stuff to look forward to.
October 13, 2006 at 11:34 am · Filed under The scam
In the morning yesterday Emma practiced some reading. She’s coming right along, which is exciting. We challenge her with things to read, and she says she can’t do it … and then she’s always amazed that she can.
Most of the day was lost in intense work but I did manage to get out and refill our propane. I also had to pick up a pair of quicklinks for the trailer’s safety chains. Installing the Hensley hitch meant we had to add a link to each chain to accommodate the extra few inches the hitch requires. As it turns out, we should have added two links. I noticed yesterday that one of the welded chain attach points was bent, no doubt due to the chain being too short in a sharp turn. It’s still secure, but I’m going to have that spot bent back and re-welded anyway. In the meantime, an extra link has been added to each chain so it won’t bind again.
Last night Emma was feeling a bit out of sorts when they got back from errands yesterday. It seemed like she might be coming down with something, so she and Eleanor stayed in while Mike, Bonnie, and I went to the local BBQ place, the “Chili Head”.
Today it turns out that our suspicions were correct: Emma seems to have a cold. The cold & flu season has begun. Time to head south a bit more! We’ll be leaving tonight or tomorrow morning.
Our scammer has not given up. I’ve got to give him points for persistence, at least. I sent a message from “Ayres” using a Hotmail account. Ayres wrote that the check was not certified and so he needed to wait seven days before sending the Western Union payment. I figured this would end the deal, but it didn’t. Last night Ayres T Reem received this message:
HELLO,
THANKS FOR YOUR REPLY,PLS I WANT YOU TO MAKE IT FAST BY SENDING THE OVERPAYMENT TO MY SHIPPING COMPANY SO THAT THE CAR CAN BE SHIPPED TO ME.KINDLY GET BACK TO ME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THANKS.
DR.LILIAN WILLIAMS
—–
Our scammer is starting to parrot himself. Geez, what do I have to do to end this, kill poor Ayres? Brett has already suggested he die in an industrial accident. I’d like him to go out in some ironic fashion. I’m open to suggestions.
And here’s a sign of the week for you:
October 12, 2006 at 5:13 pm · Filed under Places to go
The lecture yesterday went well. None of the students fell asleep while I was yammering, anyway.
So I celebrated by riding the MBTA train into Boston’s South Station, and looking up Adam at the Gather office in the financial district. He took me for a great street hike, through all the neighborhoods of downtown Boston. We hiked from the towering glass monoliths of the Financial District to the tony shopping of the Back Bay.
Paul Revere is buried in this Back Bay graveyard.
Then through the brick townhomes of the South End, Boston’s South Side (being converted from industrial to residential slowly), the elegant waterfront hotels, and finally the Italian-dominated North End with its endless wonderful food.
“World Shaving Headquarters” — Gillette’s downtown offices
Boston is a great city for walking. When we lived in the suburbs I loved coming into the city for a day of hiking all around, seeing the architecture and sampling the edible treats at cafes. The walk was a good way for Adam and I to catch up and regain our personal perspectives on everything, so by the time we ended up back at Gather around 4 pm, we were in a fine mood to sit and chat with Susan for another hour.
Eleanor and Emma spent the day visiting people north of Boston, so they had a nice day too. We’re having a great time on the road again, and I only hope we can keep the fun going. This weekend certainly looks good, since we will be meeting some recently-found friends in Connecticut. With a little luck, we might even cross paths with Bert and Janie.
Budget update: We have been cautious about our spending lately because we got whacked with expenses in August and September, including the expensive 30,000 mile service on the Armada and the new tires. I’m trying to get the budget back under control. Fortunately, we’ve had tremendous success at courtesy parking, mostly thanks to having mooched six weeks from friends, family, and neighbors. Our total expenditure for camping since mid-August has been a measly $100 (which was three nights at the rally last weekend).
Our fuel cost has been a fraction of what it was before as well. Lower gas prices have helped — we’re paying $2.15 per gallon now versus a high of $3.96 when were on the west coast in June! But the biggest relief is coming from traveling more slowly. Our total mileage towing in the past week has been less than 400 miles, and we’ll stretch the remaining 1100 miles to Florida over three weeks time.
October 11, 2006 at 9:30 am · Filed under The scam
As I mentioned, we are parked at a friend’s house in southeastern Massachusetts. We’re here to visit friends not just in Bridgewater but also in Boston and Rhode Island, and I’ve got a fair amount of work to do, so we decided to stay through Friday.
The courtesy parking here is great, thanks to our friends Mike and Bonnie. We’ve been friends since 1991 or so, when Mike put me through for an Instrument Rating. He’s now an professor at Bridgewater State College, in the Aviation school, and once a year he invites me to present a guest lecture to his poor students on some topic of business or entrepreneurship. Today I’ll be talking to them about “virtual companies” like the one I run (Airstream Life magazine).
Virtual companies have been a passion of mine since the mid-90s when the Internet really started to take off. A company with no central office, lower overhead, self-contained employees working when and where they are comfortable, and constant collaboration via the Internet can be incredibly efficient in terms of both money and time.
People often ask how I can run my business entirely from an Airstream. My feeling is that if I couldn‘t run it from an Airstream, I would be doing it wrong. A magazine is a “knowledge business”, where the primary product is information. Such businesses do not need retail storefronts, local business ties, or physical plants. The requirements to put a knowledge business on the road are identical to those needed to increase efficiency in today’s virtual business world.
For example, to take Airstream Life magazine on the road, I needed to:
— use the Internet to communicate and collaborate with subcontractors, employees, and freelancers
— slim down physical assets to the bare minimum (mostly files and office hardware)
— learn to select and motivate team members, long-distance
— take advantage of e-business solutions (like eFax, PayPal, e-commerce)
— use the Internet to market my product and support my customers
— personally learn to work more flexibly (at odd hours, through interruptions etc)
— outsource work to the best providers I can find, on a global scale
Those are the same things I needed to do to run the organization efficiently enough to survive through its first year. The efficiencies offered by modern technology — and conversely, by avoiding the obsolete business structures and technology of yesterday — don’t just enable more efficient businesses. They create opportunities for new businesses which otherwise couldn’t exist, such as mine.
So perhaps it would be a good test for small “knowledge businesses” to see if their business can efficiently be run from an Airstream. Some business book writer will probably pick up this concept in the next few years, calling it the “Airstream virtual business test” or some such thing.
Yesterday Eleanor and Emma headed off to Rhode Island to visit with Chef Martin, a former co-worker of Eleanor’s when she was doing an “externship” at The Federal Reserve restaurant in Providence. I wish I could have gone just to watch Chef Martin cook. Like a lot of professional chefs, he has a marvelous ability to whip up something amazingly delicious in about 5 minutes, using any food product that happens to lying around. He did it for me one late late night in Providence, after the kitchen had closed, and I still remember how amazed I was at his skill. Real-life pro chefs are a treat to watch when they are in action.
Today they are off to the ‘burbs north of Boston to visit another old friend. I’ll be doing my lecture here at B’water this morning. I may head into Boston on the train to visit Susan and Adam this afternoon, at their office in the Financial District.
Solar update: We had to plug in, despite brilliant fall sunshine. Our parking spot is shaded by trees all day. I was working in the trailer most of the day and between a night of furnace and a day of laptop we managed to use about 60 amp-hours.
Scam update: I wrote back yesterday to report bad news from my “cousin” Ayres:
Hi Dr Williams
My cousin Ayres received the check yesterday. I just heard from my aunt Abe that he is sick with aluminitus and won’t be able to get to Western Union for a few days. But I’m sure he will deposit it soon.
One question: the price of the car is $500 but you said to only forward $1800. What about the extra $200?
… and received this reply not long after:
HELLO,
THANKS FOR MAKING ME KNOW THAT YOUR COUSIN HAS THE CHECK.I REALLY NEED THE CAR VERY VERY SOON AND I WANT YOU TO ASSIST IN SENDING THE OVERPAYMENT OF $1,800 VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER FOR YOUR COUSIN TO THE INFORMATION BELOW
[same contact as before]
THE $200 IS FOR THE WESTERN UNION CHARGES AND YOU CAN TAKE THE REST FOR ALL THE INCONVIENIENCES I MIGHT HAVE COST FOR YOU.
PLS KINDLY GET BACK TO ME WITH THE MTCN#,FULL NAME AND ADDRESS OF SENDER.
I WILL BE EXPECTING YOUR REPLY, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THANKS.
DR.LILIAN WILLIAMS
——
Today I think I’ll end this charade. The check they sent me is so bad, even to the point of being check #1001 and not certified as promised, that I think this scammer is not worth the effort. I have trouble believing anyone would have fallen for this one. Just look at all the names I’ve gotten from this person:
Email address: richardwilliams911@yahoo.com
Claimed name: Dr. Lilian Williams
UPS package return address: Larry Inc
Name on check: Alvaro Mendoza
Name of funds recipient: Velecia Farmer
Perhaps Ayres will die from his case of “aluminitus” tomorrow. I’ve never heard of it being fatal, though. Or perhaps I’ll just tell the scammer that since the check isn’t certified, I need to wait for it to clear. That oughta do it.
« Previous entries ·
Next entries »
