I Got Mugged In Istanbul-Part 2
(This post was originally posted on Ms Sparky on May 21, 2008. I moved it to Blue Behind Bars when I separated my personal blog from my political blog.)
Continued from “I Got Mugged In Istanbul-Part 1-See Below
Fortunately, Cal had enough taxi fare to get us back to our hotel where there was an internet cafe. I needed to contact Wells Fargo Bank so I logged into my Wells Fargo account. I checked my accounts and and after several tries was able to contact Wells Fargo via the “International Number” and cancel my cards. It would appear I had acted quickly enough and had averted any potential damage to my accounts. So I thought.
I then contacted the US Consulate. I was so afraid I was going to be stuck in Istanbul for weeks without a passport. But, do to the large number of US Citizens needing replacement passports, the US Consulate in Istanbul is one of the few in the world that can make you a temporary passport “while you wait”.
I didn’t sleep well that night. I just replayed the mugging over and over in my head. What could I have done differently? How could I have prevented this? Why was I targeted? Who knows, but being the victim of anything is just not OK with me.
The next morning we headed out bright and early to the US Consulate across town. There was a shop owner right across the street that took passport photos….how convenient. Read more
If You Have That Kind Of Extra Money….Send It To Me!!!
(This post was originally posted on Ms Sparky on May 17, 2008. I moved it to Blue Behind Bars when I separated my personal blog from my political blog.)
Since Tiffany has been down (prison lingo for incarcerated) now for about 2 1/2 years we thought it was time to get a copy of her credit reports and see what the damage was. I figured she’s not that old….how bad could it be? And because your FICO score is tied to just about everything…employment, insurance, apartment rental, I thought it’s best to get it squared away now.
I have an account at FreeCreditReport.com (love it) so I signed her up as well. Oh My God!!!! Not only was there Identity Theft (on her), bogus accounts (not hers), there was nearly $6000 worth of traffic tickets.
$6000 WORTH OF TRAFFIC TICKETS!!!! What the hell. What a damn waste of money. For someone who has never had a traffic ticket (me) it’s like throwing your money out the window. The thought of turning my “run to the store” into a $250 or more trip, all to gain 5 or 10 minutes is incomprehensible. It’s makes that gallon of milk real expensive.
Granted, $1800 worth of those tickets is due to identity theft and we have hired an attorney to take care of that. But the rest are legit. They are hers.
I just don’t understand wasting that kind of money of traffic fines.
If you have that kind of extra money….send it to me. I can make better use of it than the State.
Do you know what your FICO score is? If you haven’t looked at your credit report lately, you may be amazed at what’s on there.
I will be blogging more about fixing Tiffany’s credit reports. I am getting to be quite the credit report pro. Feel free to ask me questions.
Ms Sparky
Christmas Is About Giving And Caring
It’s so difficult these days to teach children the art of giving and caring for others. Our society is so very “me, me, me”. Even on the children’s channels the ads are “buy me” or “eat me”. Keelen is always asking “Grandma can I have that?” Most of it is just crap. Especially the food. With Christmas on the way, it’s especially difficult. It’s a no holds barred “guilt fest”.
I am trying to teach Keelen that Christmas is really about “giving” not “getting”. Last year Keelen and I bought a toy for “Toys For Tots”. I let him pick it out. At four, I don’t think he really understood the whole concept and he had a hard time letting it go and putting it in the collection box.
This year I have been talking about it for awhile. In an effort to teach him the art of giving and caring, this is our list of things to do:
1. Buy a couple nice toys for “Toy For Tots”. (And put them in the box without crying.)
2. Donate food to our local food bank. I kind of look at this a a food savings account. You never know when we might have to make a withdrawal.
3. Sending Christmas cards and needed items to our soldiers. He just sat down and signed “Love Keelen” on 30 Christmas Cards. Click HERE to see more. (photo above)
4. Donating socks to the “Sock Drive” at the prison. It’s for the homeless not the prisoners. Actually, the prisoners have to buy their own socks.
I’m sure I can come up with something else before the “giving” season is over. Actually, the giving season should never be over.
And it’s not “gimme, gimme, gimme”. It’s “give, give, give”. There’s a big difference.
I think I have my work cut out for me.
Debbie
We’ve Been Adopted-Her Name Is Ember
Just before Halloween I looked out the window and saw Keelen in the back yard carrying something around that looked like it might have been a small raccoon. I kind of panicked and ran outside and saw it was a cat and he was carrying it around like a baby. I just knew it was going to shred him to pieces. But it didn’t. It saw me, took off and hid under my front porch. And Keelen didn’t have a scratch on him.
Keelen kept saying “It’s in danger…it’s in danger!” He meant it was a stray and didn’t have a home. She came right out from under the porch when I called her. It was a little female about 9 months old and she seemed very friendly, very vocal and very hungry. I didn’t have any cat food so I borrowed some from my neighbor and she just scarfed it down. I wouldn’t let her in the house until I had her checked out and treated for fleas. All night she tried to get in the house. She clearly was not a stray. We live way out in the country on a dead end road. Someone had to of just dumped her off. That makes me so angry when people do that.
There was no getting rid of her now. So I took her to the vet. I had her checked for a chip, vaccinated and flea treated. Three weeks later I had her spayed.
She spent the first week under the bed and now she owns the house. Not once has she asked to go outside. She is content to just sit in the windows. She is such a sweetie. I was thinking she lucked out when we took her in. Now I’m thinking we lucked out that she picked us.
We named her Ember because she is black with orange spots like glowing embers. Thanks Laura!
Debbie
Sending Tiffany Cards and Gifts For Christmas
I have had several emails requesting info on how to send Tiffany cards, letters and gifts for Christmas. She loves cards and letters. So here are some guidelines.
First, you CAN NOT send her any gift. No cash, money orders, checks, books…nothing NO ITEMS!! No art projects, no glitter, glue or crayon. Books and magazines can be ordered and shipped from a distributor such as Amazon.com. But that’s it. If you have a question about something email me.
Sending Cards and Letters – You can send her a Christmas Card. Not one that sings or records voices. Not one of those HUGE ones. Just a normal card. You can write her a letter. Normal sized paper. You can send photographs. Nothing nasty.
You can send up to 10 items, ie…card, letter pages and photos per envelope. Keep in mind the mail room is going to open your mail and read it. If they consider it contraband they will send it back.
Even I’ve had mail returned so click HERE for the Prison Mail Rules…you need to read the “291-131-0025 Incoming Mail” section. It’s not that long.
It can take up to two weeks for mail to get to her. Especially during the holidays.
Here is her mailing address. This is a new address for those who have been writing her.
Tiffany Goldsworth
SID# 13695988
24499 SW Grahams Ferry Rd
Wilsonville, OR 97070
Sending Gifts - She can not receive anything except books, magazines and newspapers that are shipped from the publisher or distributor such as AMAZON.com
Sending Money – You can send Tiffany money orders via the Central Trust. Personally I would prefer if you sent money gifts via her mother (me). Tiffany has about $6000 worth of bills and $3500 worth of restitution that we are working on paying off. She is working hard at it too. She sends me $50 per month from her prison pay and that goes towards her bills. The choice is yours though. All cash will go towards Tiffany’s bills.
To donate via PayPal using a credit card – you don’t have to have a Pal Pal account
Donate safely with PAYPAL! Any amount welcome!
To send a cashier’s check or money order to Tiffany’s Trust Account at the prison.
Make Payable to:
DOC Central Trust-T. Goldsworth SID# 13695988
Mail to:
DOC Central Trust
PO Box 14400
Salem, OR 97309
If you want to send a check or money order directly to me for Tiffany, email me via the “Contact Us” tab above.
Just so you know upfront. This is not tax deductible. Tiffany will claim it on her taxes as income.
She will send you a personal thank you letter if you like.
Merry Christmas….
Debbie
What do kids do when…..
Sometimes the depth of my 5 year old grandson Keelen’s thought just blows me away.
We went to the prison today to visit his mom. Who wouldn’t want to drive 100 plus miles round trip on a beautiful sunshiny Sunday in November to sit in a visiting room with a bunch of criminals! Don’t get me wrong, I always (well….almost always) enjoy seeing Tiffany. And I know Keelen loves to see her and she loves to see him. But that drive really gets old. It’s a 5 hour ordeal from the time we leave until we get back. I hope she appreciates this. Paybacks are hell!!!
Anyway, we were in the waiting area waiting for our turn to go through the metal detectors and be escorted into the visiting area, when out of the blue Keelen asked me “Grandma, where do the kids go when both their mom and dad gets arrested and no one wants them?” He totally caught me off guard. I tried to explain about foster parents while at the same time hoping they would hurry up and call our name.
It’s sad that a five year old even has to think about that kind of stuff!!!
The photo above is Tiffany and Keelen at the Prison on a visit.
Debbie
The First “Four-Star” Woman
Being the first woman to become a journeyman electrician in my local union was a big deal for me. It was a long hard road. It wasn’t easy. As a matter of fact, it was harder than it should have been. But, I made it. There was a sense of relief that it was finally over and I was free from the “your just an apprentice” restraints. There was a huge sense of pride that I was now a journeyman. For me the “woman factor” really wasn’t a factor at all. And it never has been. It has been nearly 30 years since I started down that road and it has been an amazing journey.
Today it was announced that the first woman has become a four-star general in the Army.
Army general is nation’s first four-star woman
WASHINGTON (CNN) — An Army lieutenant general has become the first woman in U.S. military history to get four stars.
Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody will command 133,000 personnel worldwide in the Army Material Command.
The military on Friday promoted Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, who has served in several command positions in her 33-year Army career.
She will command Army Materiel Command, responsible for equipping, arming and outfitting soldiers.
“There is no one more surprised than I,” she said of her promotion at a ceremony on Friday.
She had planned on a two-year enlistment upon leaving college at the State University of New York at Cortland, she said, and planned on being a physical education teacher.
Dunwoody hailed those who had helped her throughout her career and pledged to do the same for those she now leads.
“The Army nurtured me and mentored me, and today the Army offers me the chance to return the favor,” she said. She’ll command 133,000 personnel around the globe.
“She is recognized as one of the foremost military logisticians in her generation,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Her promotion highlights the growing role of women in the U.S. military over the years.
Fifty-seven active-duty women and 47 female reservists hold the rank of general or its Navy equivalent, according to the American Forces Press Service.
The Pentagon has said that more than 193,400 women have deployed in support of U.S. operations since September 11, 2001 — the day the United States was attacked by al Qaeda. (End)
Listening to Secretary Gates on CNN he made a statement that she didn’t think she was special…she was just a soldier. I think she is an amazing soldier.
Thanks for serving…Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody
Signed,
Debbie aka…just an electrician
I Must Be Crazy
As if trying to get one blog under control isn’t hard enough, I have decided to make it harder!! For those who know me, you are just grinning and saying “Yep!!”
In my defense…my Ms Sparky blog has gotten almost exclusively political and anti-KBR. That’s not a bad thing. But I think it might confuse my readers when I am just flaming KBR with the mouth of sailor and then do a complete 180 and blog something cute about my grandson Keelen. I don’t blog about a lot of stuff on Ms Sparky because it just doesn’t fit with where the blog has gone.
So…here’s how the split is going go…
Ms Sparky’s Mishaps & Misadvenutes will be my political blog. It will be primarily about working overseas, KBR, DoD, Government and whatever is going on in the news. It will still be a contact point for people to send me info about Iraq and Afghanistan. I will blog about it and/or forward it to Congress, the media or whomever can resolve the issue.
Blue Behind Bars will be my personal blog. It will chronicle the journey of my daughter Tiffany’s (aka Blue) incarceration, the adoption of one grandson, the raising of the other, women in construction, working overseas, my friends, my family, my pets, my life.
Your Emergency Plan will be my emergency preparedness blog. Info for 72-hour kits, grab & go kits, food storage etc.
Ms Sparky will for the most part not be changed. I will be transferring posts to Blue Behind Bars and Your Emergency Plan. Those two blogs are likely to change on a daily basis until I get them how I want them.
You input is welcome.
Debbie
Blue Behind Bars
This blog will be a cooperative effort between myself and my daughter Tiffany aka “Blue” who is currently incarcerated. It will chronicle her journey and mine as we travel this road together…and apart.
This blog is currently under construction and will be done soon. Are they ever really done? I will be moving all my personal posts from Ms Sparky’s Mishaps & Misadventures which will remain as my political blog.
We are looking forward to sharing our journey with you.
Signed,
Blue & Blue’s Mom (aka Debbie)
