A Golden Opportunity

Since I have started working for my BGA, I have done some co-authoring of papers that were presented at a conference of developers.  I'm fairly young in my career and already I have some credit of being published as a co-author, who would have thought that would happen?

Well now I have the opportunity to add another feather to my cap.  When there was a call for papers for the next conference, I submitted an abstract of a paper I wanted to present at the conference.  It has been accepted for publication and presentation at the next conference, which will be held in Riga, Latvia.  If all goes to plan and my travel is approved, I get to leave the US for the first time and travel to Europe

I am pretty excited at the thought, to say the least.  I have always wanted to travel to Europe and see the sights, and now it could happen.  I am crossing my fingers that I get to actually go and present.  So if I go, I plan on making a vacation out of it as well.  Thing is, I need to figure out where the hell I am going to go.  I plan on taking an extra week so that should give me time to do at least some visiting, right?

I think part of this weekend will be researching countries to visit and how to get there because I want to do this on a decent budget as well.  If any of you out there have any suggestions or advice, I welcome it.

I hope I hope I hope I get to go.

Mardi Gras

Saturday night was my church's Mardi Gras party.  It's one of our big fundraising events and it is a lot of fun since there's dinner, drinks, music, and a silent auction as well.  People donate items or services to the auction and you never know just what you may find from year to year.  Two years ago I took home a basket of kitchen type items, including candles placemats, which I still use today.  Last year it was a fondue set, which I have been bad about using, but that may change shortly in the future.

This year, especially after getting TB excited about going to Mardi Gras with me, we both worked on building baskets of items for the silent auction.  We decided to create baskets of items where people could give themselves an at-home spa day, the thought being that since the economy is down and folks don't want to spend the dough on going to the spa, they still want to be able to pamper themselves.  So running with that idea, we started looking at items and throwing ideas back and forth, and ultimately we came up with two baskets, one for a couple, and the other for a "single" person.  I put single in quotes because it was designed for one person, not for someone who is single.

Ultimately the baskets we came up with turned out very nicely.  For the couple, there were two towels, a manicure kit, a facial mask, cucumber mint candles in holders, port wine, two wine glasses, Godiva chocolates, and massage oil.  The single basket got one towel, one wine glass, the manicure kit, a sea salt and eucalyptus body scrub, a sugar cookie candle with a marble holder, a slightly smaller box of Godiva chocolates, body lotion, and a bottle of port wine as well.  One could definitely spoil themselves for the day with this stuff.

In the afternoon, TB and I went down to the church to help decorate and set up for the party, and we brought along a friend of his, BB to help as well since he had the weekend off.  Setup was fairly easy since there were other folks there as well, plus a few of them had wanted to meet TB anyway.  I helped get some decorations up, got the stereo hooked up for music, and then helped finish blowing up balloons for the tables before all was said and done.  TB and I then headed home to change into our costumes for the festivities in the evenings.

In true Mardi Gras fashion, we both had masks for the event.  TB had a green man mask that he wore along with a shirt that matched in a similar pattern.  I wore the dragon shirt my parents gave me along with a tiger mask.  They definitely were noticed at the party :-)  We all mingled for a while before having dinner.  Dinner consisted of a buffet of bruschetta, jambalaya, fried fish, stuffed mushrooms, and salad, along with soda and wine for drinks.  For dessert there was bread pudding with rum sauce.

After dinner we mingled out in the hall and bid on items for the silent auction.  I shamelessly promoted our baskets in between looking over and making a few bids on some things I wanted.  As tables started closing out, that's when things got exciting for a few items that people were hovering over.  A bidding war started for the cider, a week vacation at a house in Maine, some jewelry, and the couples spa basket.  It was fun to watch and see just what people went crazy over.  When the night was over, I walked away with a beaded nametag necklace, a bin of Super Nintendo games, and a basket which had the theme of the stained glass at the National Cathedral.  TB walked away with a homemade prayer shawl for his aunt.

Besides the auction, there was the mingling as well, especially to see some of the folks I had not seen in a while.  Everyone seemed to like TB, which was a plus as well considering that some he had met before from attending service, but others were meeting him for the first time.  He and BB hit if off well with one of our members to where there's talk of getting together for a wine party or even a game night with a few of the other church folk as well.  I'd say they like him ;-)

Finally the festivities were done, we all stayed to help clean up before going home.  Now to just plot for next year's silent auction, we have ideas already *evil laughter*

Icing on the Cake

I got a letter today from the bank where I had the compromised credit card. Apparently Visa notified them that some of their customers' card numbers (including me) may have been stolen when a third party vendor was hacked into, so they are sending me a new card.

Unless they are sending this as a form letter because I called in and said the card was used for a fraudulent transaction, then this definitely explains how the hell I ended up in this situation. $10 says it was the Heartland data breach. Now to just wait for my dispute forms.

Fraud

I have a routine of checking my bank accounts every day, and my credit card account about once a week because I like to keep tabs on what is going on.  It was a good thing I did yesterday after the discovery I made.

I pulled up my credit card account and there was a charge on there from SegPayEU along with a fee for an international transaction, which was something I didn't recognize.  I googled the company and discovered they were a credit processor for Europe, similar to Paypal.  They had a customer service number and also a live chat function, so I got on the live chat with them.  I asked the agent about the charge, they asked for my name and E-mail address.  He comes back and asks if this mailing address is correct, and lists my current address.  I say it is so he then informs me that I signed up for an account with some website, this is the charge, and it's set to be autobilled every month.  The URL is unfamiliar to me so I tell him it's a fraudulent charge and I want it to be removed immediately.  He says they will refund the charge within a week and put my information into their "negative" database so no more charges go through them.

I googled the website he named.  It was porn, some fuckhead got a hold of my credit card and address and used it to buy porn.  Motherfucker.

I called my bank and immediately told them it was a fraudulent charge and my account had been compromised.  They closed my card, put a block on the number, and are sending me a new one along with dispute forms.  Since I didn't know what else this crook could be doing with my information, or how much more they have on me, I put a fraud alert on my credit reports as well.  From the one that I was allowed to see online, nothing compromised there, but I'm not taking any further chances.

I also have to say this, if I am putting a fraud alert on my credit report, I not want to be prompted multiple times by the bureau's online or phone systems to purchase a credit score for "only $7.95"  I am not calling because I got denied credit, employment, or a mortgage, I am calling because some stupid cumdumpster compromised my information, that was the option I selected.  I could give less of a shit about knowing my score at this time.  Just send me my report.

Whoever stole my CC, hope you enjoyed the porn for the whole day you got to view it, and I hope when you try to use my card again that the merchant calls the cops on your ass.

Justification in Firing

I fired Bank of America as my bank a few months ago.

These were my reasons:

• During the first days of the financial crisis, Bank of America had bought Countrywide, which made lots of bad loans, plus they ended up buying Merrill Lynch since they were in trouble as well. I was afraid these now bad decisions were going to come back to haunt them and screw up my finances if they were taken over.


• Because of their merger with Countrywide, Bank of America decided that they needed to integrate all of their computer systems together so everyone was under one umbrella. Apparently their Military Bank was not under that umbrella, so I was going to have to have my accounts moved over. That meant I was going to be forced to get new account numbers, checks, and debit cards from them.


• Their savings account rate, which was already crappy, got even crappier.


• They are beholden to their stockholders, so they care more about turning a profit than about providing good service to the ones who are funding their operations, the customers.

So I looked at my options and ultimately went with USAA. I decided that the risk of not having any branches area was not a big enough issue to make the switch. Besides, if BofA was going to try to force me to change all of my accounts, why not use the opportunity to switch to another bank? I switched over, then closed my accounts with BofA a month later when they started charging me a fee to have my checking account since there was no direct deposit with them anymore.

Recent events have brought further justification for firing Bank of America as my bank. I had cashed a few savings bonds with BofA a few months ago when I had a car repair emergency; since the interest is reported to the IRS, I needed a form 1099 from them so I could put it down on my taxes.  Just like a W-2, a 1099 has to be mailed out by the 31st of January. Well today is February 17, and I still have no form. I had checked the BofA website and they said if I had not seen my form by the 15th to call BofA for it.

I called them this morning, explained I was no longer a customer but I had cashed savings bonds while I was a customer and had not seen my 1099 form. She told me I had to call the savings bond department and gave me a number to call.  I called it...it was the phone number to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where you could get information on current bond interest rates, the mailing address, and the web address of the savings bond department. That was not what I needed! Now it was time to kick it up to another level.

I invoked BofA's presence on Twitter, telling the help guy that I still had no 1099, was given a bad number, and I was pissed. Within minutes, I was given a phone number to call, the number that the banking associates use when they're calling about your account. After calling and them asking me a few questions, supposedly they're going to send out a duplicate, and I should get it in five days. We shall see if it happens.

Before I got the number, I called the IRS to see if there was a way I can get my 1099 from them. Apparently if I have no 1099 and if I have made a reasonable effort to try and get it from the "payer" I can make a formal complaint to the IRS. If I don't see my 1099 by next Wednesday (that gives a time frame of six mailing days) I am giving them a call. I want to get my taxes done, and this is what is holding me up. I got all of my other forms about 3 weeks ago, and if I didn't have to wait for this one, I could have been done already!

So between having to call BofA in the first place, then being given bad information because the rep only heard the word "savings bonds" and followed a quick script to get me off of the phone, and still having to wait additional time because they don't send these forms electronically, it was the right decision to fire them as my bank.

One of the Best Ever

This Valentines Day had to be one of the best I ever had.

The plan was to meet up with TB and head into DC to see some of the museums. He wanted to see the remodeled American History museum so that was on the agenda. I saw at the American Indian museum that there was a special exhibit on chocolate for that weekend, so I added that to the agenda this well. I had mentioned a noodle place in Chinatown that I liked, and TB loves Chinese food, so it was the perfect idea for either lunch or dinner.

We left Greenbelt around 10 AM and metroed down to the National Mall where we hit the Smithsonian American History Museum first. TB wanted to see the exhibit of the first ladies, so we lined up and walked through the exhibit. A bonus was that we struck up a conversation with the docent at the head of the line and she gave us and the people nearby a guided tour of the items in there. The current room where the first ladies exhibit resides is actually temporary until they finish the permanent room where they will reside.

After the first ladies, we went downstairs to first look at Julia Child's kitchen, which is always a personal favorite of mine. Next it was off to the science exhibit before then going through the exhibit on America at War. By the time we saw those exhibits, it was getting close to 1 PM and the museum was getting crowded with folks there. We wanted to see Lincoln's hat, but the line just to get in the room with the presidential items was quickly filling up and heading down the hall. We decided to head out to our next destination.

After grabbing some spring rolls from one of the food trailers, we walked over to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian to see the chocolate exhibit I was interested in.  The woman at the information desk told us that it was on the first floor, and that at 3 PM there would "Peruvian Scissor Dancers" in the center of the first floor, and to get there early for a seat, unless you wanted to watch while standing from the side or one of the upper floors.  We wandered the chocolate tables and got to see and touch cocoa pods, cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cocoa liquor, and some of the finished chocolate products.

We had some time to kill so we wandered through the exhibits upstairs and looked at the various items.  Like other Smithsonian museums, one needs all day to be able to see everything.  We are in agreement that we will have to come back again to try to see everything.  When it got to be around 2:30 we headed back to the first floor and grabbed a few seats in the front row of chairs.  Within the next 15 minutes the place filled up, including people sitting on the floor in front of us.  Right at 3 PM the dancers came out.  To sort of explain why they are the Peruvian "Scissor Dancers" imagine a pair of scissors with the middle bolt taken out so they don't stay together, and so you are able to let each half strike against one another to make the noise.  So they're holding the scissor in one hand as they dance.  It started out with them dancing together with some difficult footwork before moving on to where each one took turns doing individual dances.  Each person would dance for about 30-40 seconds but the dance they would do involved acrobatic tricks.  It was fun to watch; I captured most of their dances on my cell phone and I'm hoping I can put them together in a decent video to post here later.

After the dancers were done, we hopped on Metro and went over to Gallery Place/Chinatown.  We wandered around the neighborhood to see what was around.  Verizon Center was rather busy, and I wondered why.  When we finally walked by there I figured out it was Disney On Ice was there that evening.  An interesting fact, you can record Disney on Ice for your personal use, according to the signs that were on the doors.  An event like Disney on Ice is the last thing I would expect to allow recording, considering you can't record or even take photographs of most concerts.  Prior to walking by the Verizon Center, we walked around, saw the inside of a Catholic church, stopped by the Law Enforcement Memorial, and walked through most of the neighborhood before heading off for dinner.

Dinner was over at Chinatown Express, if you have ever been there it's known for that you can watch the chef in the window making either noodles or dumplings, depending on the time of day.  We both enjoyed some dumplings along with noodles in soup with beef for dinner.  It was good as usual.  TB not only likes Chinese food, but he is all about hitting local restaurants, including ones that may look like a dive.  It blew his mind to see how much dinner was that night, because it was less than expected.  After dinner we stopped by Red Velvet Cupcakery to pick up some dessert, but they weren't going to have another batch of red velvet cupcakes for half an hour, so we said we'd come back.  After going down E street a bit and walking towards Fords Theatre, we thought that paying $3.25 per cupcake was a bit much when we could just make our own.

We metroed back to Greenbelt and made a stop at the Co-op for red velvet cake mix and cream cheese frosting before heading to my place.  We whipped up the cake and watched La Cage Aux Folles before falling asleep.

A day spent with someone interesting, doing fun things, and not having to spend a kings ransom to do it?  Best. Day. Ever.  Hope I get to do plenty more of these.

Free Education

I got a nice bonus today as I rode the bus home from my Metro stop, an education on "Northern White People vs Southern White People, Obama Edition"

This is what I learned:

• Southern White People hate black people.
• Southern White People are the reason we had eight years of Bush and Cheney.
• Northern White People like Obama.
• Obama is not a racist because he grew up around white people.
• Northern White People are the reason Obama is now president.
• Southern White People hate that there is a black man in the White House.
• People are going to blame Obama for all the problems that Bush and Cheney caused.
• Obama will be a great president because there are references to the number 44 in the Bible.

Today's lesson has been brought to the riders of the R12 bus route (and now you!) free of charge thanks to your local "Crazy people who ride the bus and are on a mission to educate."

Sirius 109, XM 98, 6-10 PM Eastern Time

Four years and three months ago, I finally jumped on the satellite radio bandwagon because I needed to listen to more than a few country stations and a top 40 station out in rural New Mexico. I went with Sirius Satellite Radio because the music lineup looked better and Howard Stern was coming, but I also got it because they had a channel dedicated to GLBT listeners, which piqued my curiosity.

I got my radio, hooked it up, activated it, and after checking out the music, I tuned in to what was then channel 149, OutQ. The first show I would hear? Derek and Romaine, a show about pop culture and whatever was on their minds. It quickly became something to listen to while I was working nights at the lab because I could always use a few laughs between tutoring folks that stopped by. Within a few weeks I was calling in, and considering that at the time I was one of the few New Mexico listeners, they knew when it was me calling in.

I actually got to meet Derek and Romaine a few months later when they attended Phoenix Pride, and they were the nicest folks to talk to. Romaine had done a pictorial in "On Our Backs" magazine so I got her to autograph it (I still have that issue!) and Derek autographed a pride guide. Two months later, I would get to see them again at DC Pride since it was right after I moved there for work.

The show has changed a bit since I first started listening, but they have kept all of the format that makes them popular. My favorite parts (besides that it's uncensored) are listening to Coffee Klatsch since it is anything goes, "What's Your Gay Problem?" (came about after a prank phone call) which is their advice segment, and "Desperately Fucking Angry" which is where listeners get to call in and rant about whatever pisses them off. I've probably called into "Desperately Fucking Angry" the most, especially during some of the worst times of my life. Actually, I have to give it some credit for prompting me to get out of a bad situation after calling in with a rant and Derek proceeded to call me out on some of my own behavior. Sometimes you just need to be yelled at, and neither Derek nor Romaine are afraid to do it if they have to.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I enjoy the show and listen every day that I am at home. If you already subscribe to Sirius or XM, tune into Sirius channel 109 or XM channel 98 from 6-10 PM Eastern time. If you are not a subscriber, consider getting the 3 day trial of Sirius Internet Radio to check them out since OutQ is one of the channels you can listen to besides all of the music. You can also find information about Derek, Romaine, and the Derek and Romaine show, including their new blog, which is written by Derek and Romaine, along with a few of their listeners.

A number of shows have come and gone on OutQ, but there is a reason that Derek and Romaine stays around, it's just that much fun to listen to.

Lobby Day

Yesterday I traveled to Annapolis to participate in Equality Maryland's lobby day.  This is my fourth year of talking to my state reps about why all same-sex couples should have the same rights and privileges that heterosexual couples have.  I'll be frank,  I was resistant to the idea of going again because it felt like it was going to be the same old song and dance that I have been hearing at both the rally and from my elected reps.  However, my attitude would change as the night went on.

The one thing that did get me to go this year was the fact that the speaker at the rally was going to be openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson.  I had always wanted the chance to meet him.  Also since my church was organizing to attend lobby day, I felt I should go.  Thing is, I am glad to see when my church does go because members from all walks of life go; all of them being supportive of the idea of equal rights for all.  I am always impressed to see the folks who do go.  As a bonus, my priest also came along and it turns out that she now lives in my legislative district.

We met at church and carpooled down to Annapolis.  I was one of the drivers as well.  We took the shuttle down to the State House and met at the Lawyers Mall where the rally was to begin.  Bishop Robinson eventually arrived and he actually came over to us because he knows Connie!  We got to meet him, shake his hand, and a few pictures of us with the Bishop were taken as well.  I'll post them when I get a copy.

The rally started and we heard from the various speakers, including the Bishop.  He had an excellent speech about how far we have come, but there is still work to be done.   Along with that he says that we should take the Bible back because our stories are in there.  We have had similar experiences that the people have faced in the old and new testament, and for far too long, there have been people who have used it to spread a narrow minded view of how people should be.  It was a most excellent speech.

After the rally we went and met with our state reps, and it was a very good meeting.  My reps, instead of being more non-committal about the bills to provide equal rights and protections for same-sex couples, transgendered people, and same-sex parents, they actually said that if the bills make it out of committee and to the floor, they will get behind them.  Thank god, we finally have more of an answer out of them!  Now to start working on the committee members so they will consider the bill and bring them to the floor.

After the meeting we went to dinner.  My $10 a month that I spend for Verizon Navigator came in handy because I was able to search for the restaurant we wanted and get walking directions right over there.  My group definitely loved me for that.  We went to the Rams Head Tavern and enjoyed a nice warm dinner by the fire, which was needed after our bit of time standing out in the cold.

So overall, it actually ended up being a good lobby day.  This time around though I am going to work to continue the dialogue that has been started with my reps and try to start dialogue with other state reps now.  It can't hurt to try.

25 Things About Me (since people keep tagging me on Facebook)

So you want to know 25 random things about me?  Here goes:

1. I am technically a native of the DC/MD area since I was born at Walter Reed.
2. I have never traveled out of the country, but would like to in the near future.
3. I have kept my weight between 180-190 lbs for the last ten years.
4. I hate driving in DC, I try to plan my activities around access to Metro stops.
5. I rarely pay full price for clothing, I have no shame in shopping the clearance racks for what I want.
6. I still drive the same car I've been driving since high school, because I take very good care of it.
7. I have two piercings.
8. I have traveled to every region of the US except the deep south.
9. I have ridden 97 different roller coasters.
10. My favorite food is pizza.
11. I never really followed any one football team until I became a Ravens fan in 2006.
12. When I was younger our family had a pot bellied pig for a pet.
13. I was a competitive swimmer when I was younger.
14. I was in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) in high school and qualified and competed at their national competition in 2000.
15. I don't keep in touch with anyone from high school, only from college.
16. I hated the taste of coffee until about 2 years ago.
17. It is my dream to have season tickets for the Baltimore Ravens.
18. I eventually want to have kids, I've been told I'd make a good father.
19. I think this is the first time I've really done a meme on this blog since starting it in 2007.
20. I didn't consider myself very attractive until about a year ago.
21. I am a sucker for facial hair.
22. I love tigers, I think they're beautiful animals.
23. I prefer dogs over cats.  If I had my choice on the dog to own I would want either a Welsh Corgi or a German Shepherd
24. I prefer a home-cooked meal to going out to eat.
25. I never expected to like computer programming when I started my degree in college.