Archive for October, 2006
October 10, 2006 at 3:25 pm · Filed under The scam
The check has arrived! See below:
I was a little disappointed that this wasn’t an attempt at a bank check. Instead, it looks like they just ran an ordinary business check through a laser printer. I guess I’m not dealing with one of the better scammers.
As you can see, the address on the check is shown as Alvaro Mendoza of 25 N Belcher Rd #F-60, Clearwater FL 33765. As before, the name used is a phony. The real Alvaro Mendoza is a marketing consultant in St Petersburg. A quick Google search reveals that the address is at Coral Cove apartments.
According to my “cousin” in Virginia who received the package with this fake check, the return address on the inside envelope is “Larry Inc, 9734 Dove Hollow Lane, Glen Allen VA 23060”. This is a residential adddress, but again, probably phony. The UPS tracking number shows that the envelope was shipped from Hampton VA.
Meanwhile, I received several anxious messages from the “buyer”, as follows:
October 7
HELLO,
SORRY FOR THE DELAY,I GOT A CONFIRMATION FROM UPS THAT THE CHECK WILKL GET TO YOU PROBABLY ON MONDAY BUT LATEST ON TUESDAY SO PLS GET THE CHECK CASHED AND SEND THE OVERPAYMENT VIA WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER TO
Name:Velecia Farmer
City: Hampton,
State:Va
Zip code:23663
Amount to send $1800 and please get back to me as soon as you receive this message to know when you’re sending the money so that my mover can arrange time to pick the item up from you
thanks very much .
Notice; Once you sent out the money you’re to send me the Mtcn# and the exact amount sent with the sender name and address thanks.
——
Notice that the scammer got the math wrong in his/her excitement. The car was supposed to cost $500 with a $2000 overpayment to be refunded, but now the request is for only $1800. Wow, a $200 windfall for lucky Ayres T Ream!
And then this email came two days later:
HELLLO,
HOWCOME I HAVENT HEARD FROM YOU NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE CHECK,KINDLY CASH THE CHECK AND SEND THE OVERPAYMENT TO [same person as named above].
——
Now the fun begins. The scammer will want us to immediately deposit the check so that he can get his Western Union money transfer before we discover it is a phony. But I suspect Ayres is going to have some minor delays crop up. Poor Ayres … he’s going to have a rough few days. 😉
October 9, 2006 at 11:04 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Sorry we’ve been out of touch for a few days. We’ve been attending a Youth Rally in Townshend, VT, and the campground was in a valley where cell phones don’t work and wi-fi doesn’t seem to exist. So, I took a few days off …
Kids awaiting judging of their pumpkins. Everybody won!
The rally was spectacular. Fabulous fall weather, colorful foliage, and real fun for the kids, who were numerous. We had kid-themed dinners, a hayride and ghost stories, bonfires every night, a pumpkin-carving contest, and just plain great fun with great people. I have to acknowledge the efforts of Doug and Jamie (a blog reader!) and Robin & Richard, who co-hosted the event. Nice job, guys!
Our three pumpkin judges: Pamela, Elaine, and Michelle
We saw a few old friends there, and made a few new ones. Donal and Amanda showed up in Vintage Thunder, the blue/green Argosy trailer that we used to own. I checked the trailer out and she seems to be in fine shape. Her new owners are very happy with their purchase. We’ll be courtesy-parking with them in a few days.
Gail Buck and her pink-themed Airstream
We also met J. Rick Cipot and his future bride, Sandi. Rick will be contributing to a future issue of the magazine. He’s a former photographer for National Geographic and a high-grade Airstream nut, like the rest of us.
J. Rick Cipot gets a kiss from Gail’s dogs
I’ve posted many more pictures on our photo album. By the way, our Google Earth location for this past weekend can be downloaded here.
Tonight we are in Bridgewater, MA, courtesy parked at Mike & Bonnie’s house. They’ve got a nice paved and flat driveway with plenty of room for our little traveling circus. We last stayed here two years ago, in the Argosy. We’ve got plenty to do in the area, so we may be here for three nights or more.
October 6, 2006 at 9:46 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Imagine six adults all piling in the minivan to drive 25 miles to go to a place called Pizza Putt, to play arcade games all evening. Bizarre? Yes, but when you add in just one grandchild, suddenly it all seems perfectly normal.
Last night Emma and her support team of six otherwise sane adults took in the action at that kid-oriented place — and of course, ate pizza. We played indoor mini-golf, whacked spiders, captured little flying bees, pulled the plungers and spun the wheels, all in pursuit of a bunch of orange tickets which Emma later traded in for a small stuffed leopard.
I have to say the pizza wasn’t bad and Steve and I liked the batting cages and Skee-ball. It was a decent way to spend the final evening with our family in Vermont. Today we have to finish packing and our goal is to be on the road by 2 pm.
At this point I doubt we’ll make it, but I would like to get to the rally as soon as we can, since there are many people who I would like to see there. We’ve got a lot of Airstream friends from the various northeast regions of the club, plus the new owners of Vintage Thunder, and a new contributor to the magazine who I haven’t met yet.
By the way, I added some foliage photos to our Flickr album.
October 5, 2006 at 9:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized
While scanning some old documents and photos that we found in storage, I came across this picture:
That’s me, circa 1993, when I was busy leading bicycle tours all over eastern Massachusetts for the Boston Ski and Sports Club. My friend Mary Halvey is posing with me. It’s funny the forgotten times that resurface when you dig through the old boxes.
Brett has returned home, reluctantly. I think he enjoyed his little leaf-peeping trip here. Eleanor and I are in the frantic final days of preparing to head out for another 6-8 months of life in the Airstream. Last night we went to storage and met people who wanted furniture. We sold two pieces, and gave two others away. That was enough for us to easily consolidate the remaining things in ONE unit — so we’ve finally accomplished our goal there. We’ll resume work on culling down our stuff next summer.
There are many things to do before we go, so we’ll both be working on our list all day today and tomorrow. Today we’ll be cleaning the trailer, packing the last few items we are leaving behind, re-organizing, getting a new driver’s license at the DMV, and checking all the trailer systems (since it has been parked for a month). I’ll try to list some of the trailer-specific things as we do them since I know many of you are interested in the checklist.
October 4, 2006 at 9:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized
I wanted Brett to get a chance to really see the Vermont foliage, since we are near peak in the valley now and a small amount past peak in the upper elevations. That’s where we drove, up through the town of Bristol, stopping at a bridge on Rt 116 to take some photos.
This photo was taken here (requires Google Earth to view).
From Bristol we drove up through the tiny town of Lincoln to the Lincoln Gap (elev 2400 ft). The gap is
here, right before the road begins to descend steeply to Route 100. The Lincoln Gap road is most definitely not a road for RVs of any type! The grades often exceed 12% and much of the road is bumpy dirt. It is closed in the winter.
Rt 100, on the other hand, is a good drive for anyone. It is known as probably the best scenic drive in Vermont, running north to south through almost then entire state. We drove about 10 miles of it, and stopped in at our local Mac store in Waitsfield to get some equipment for Brett.
Last night it turned balmy (for Vermont in October, which means upper 60s) and so we had a few people over for another cookout on the beach. We’ve got to grab every opportunity now, since the season is really over. I also had another box and a half of paper to burn. At 10 pm Brett & I were the only ones left, stoking the fire and talking. I doubt we’ll get another chance to do this until next summer.
October 3, 2006 at 8:23 am · Filed under Places to go
Brett and I drove over to Plattsburgh yesterday. Our route took us across Lake Champlain on the ferry, so we broke out the cameras and hunted for good foliage shots along the way. The pickings were slim, due to a persistent overcast (and a cold wind on the lake that kept us in the car most of the time). Still, here’s a picture of the quaint hamlet of Essex NY from the water.
Colin Hyde and Susanne Brown met us in Plattsburgh to discuss the Vintage Lightning project, a 1952 Airstream Cruiser. Colin is the project manager, and Susanne is the interior designer. Colin is also into a lot of other types of vehicles, including this old school bus that he plans to turn into a custom Airstream tow vehicle.
Colin works on a lot more than just Airstream trailers. Lately he’s picked up a few 1940s Vagabonds, and below is a Spartan trailer that a client brought in for a new frame and floor.
The interior of Project Vintage Lightning is being mocked up for the client right now. All of this is subject to change, of course, but the temporary structures inside gave us a good feel for the interior space. It’s excellent — plenty of room for living, lots of storage, and a comfortable bath and bedroom.
It is distinctly October weather now … gray, windy, cool. The last few days haven’t broken 60. I’m starting to feel ready to start heading south. Some areas around here have already had freezes overnight.
October 2, 2006 at 9:28 am · Filed under Uncategorized
We’re in the home stretch now … only a few days before we have to hit the road again, and the list of things to be done is still daunting. I’ve got three things to do at the DMV, which is half a day shot right there. We’ve still got boxes to sort through, things to retrieve from our eBay agents, final cleanup at the storage unit, trailer prep, and much more.
But today Brett and I are going to head up to Plattsburgh NY for a few hours with Colin Hyde. We’ll take some photos of Project Vintage Lightning, the 1952 Cruiser we’re remaking for Matthew McConaughey. With luck the skies will clear enough to see some foliage along the way too, since our drive will take us through the Adirondack Mountains.
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