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Anybody here?

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 7:30 AM

BaltACD
A unusual happening.  My daughter's daughters have their birthdays one week apart, one is Aug. 5, the other is Aug. 12.  I sent each a card on the Thursday before their birthday on Monday.

Talking to my daughter last night - the card for the Aug. 5 birthday has not arrived, the card for the Aug. 12 birthday has arrived but hasn't been opened.  Today Aug. 23 I get an envelope from USPS that contains the check that was placed in the Aug. 12 card???????  The check looks like it has gotten 'scrunched' around in a sorting machine - not cut or torn but bent up a bit.  No idea where the Aug. 5 card and check are.

I sent another card Sept. 1 as the replacement for the Aug. 5 card.  It never arrived.  Finally hand delivered another when we got together to celebrate my September birthday.  What is USPS coming to.  The September condo fee payment for my Florida condo never made it to the addressee. 

When it comes to paying bills, NOBODY has access to WITHDRAW money from my account(s).  After sending out my payments, I review the activity on my account(s) to insure that the checks are being paid.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 10:53 PM

Thanks for the very informative post! I was wondering why there were so few members showing up on the forum. My thinking was that members were giving up with the 40 seconds needed for the forum to login - looks like ones posting were fortunate enough not to have logged out.

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Posted by BaltACD on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 10:50 PM

Never signed out.  Kept trying to get it to work about 3 or 4 times a day as long as it was down.  Featured it was gone for good but kept trying.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by pennytrains on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 9:47 PM

From Wayne "Firelock" Antoniazzi:

I'm not dead! 

I made the mistake of logging off the "Trains" website (actually I was doing a "cookie purge" which automatically logged me out) while the Forums were totally loused up.  NOW I can't log back on!  I heard from customer service if you were logged off before the latest "kick-start" of the Forum there's no way to log back in until the whole site's rebuilt.  And who knows when THAT'S going to be. 
"Overmod" who's a "Trains" Forum regular has the same problem and he's having a meltdown  over it.  He's told me so, all I can provide is a shoulder to cry on. 
Anyway that's the reason I haven't been posting.  What are you gonna do?
Anyway, the bright spot this week is the BIG York train show.  I'll be heading up on Thursday. Not really looking for anything but who knows what's gonna find me?  
Best wishes, 
Wayne A.

Big Smile  Same me, different spelling!  Big Smile

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Friday, August 30, 2024 10:01 AM

One of the takes from his intro column in Trains was that he learned a few lessons about magazine publishing from the Flying acquisition. I considered that to be a good sign in that he is willing to learn.

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Posted by Flintlock76 on Friday, August 30, 2024 8:42 AM

I'm just looking in again now as the site seems to be kinda-sorta stable now that Firecrown's taking over.  

I don't know about the other mags but there's a fine introductory column from Craig Fuller, the top man at Firecrown, in this quarter's issue of "Classic Trains."  Well worth reading, he believes in the viability of print and seems to understand the business. 

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, August 23, 2024 3:09 PM

A unusual happening.  My daughter's daughters have their birthdays one week apart, one is Aug. 5, the other is Aug. 12.  I sent each a card on the Thursday before their birthday on Monday.

Talking to my daughter last night - the card for the Aug. 5 birthday has not arrived, the card for the Aug. 12 birthday has arrived but hasn't been opened.  Today Aug. 23 I get an envelope from USPS that contains the check that was placed in the Aug. 12 card???????  The check looks like it has gotten 'scrunched' around in a sorting machine - not cut or torn but bent up a bit.  No idea where the Aug. 5 card and check are.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, August 23, 2024 3:02 PM

Backshop
If you hover your cursor over the sender's email address, it will tell you who really sent the email.

When the Iconography of the e-mail appears to be correct - hovering the sendee is not, for me, the first reaction.  When the ask for money was presented then hovering the sendee's address came into play.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Backshop on Friday, August 23, 2024 12:50 PM

If you hover your cursor over the sender's email address, it will tell you who really sent the email.

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, August 23, 2024 9:03 AM

Backshop
I pay most of my bills with a credit card and then just do a manual transfer to pay them off when they are due. That way, I'm earning miles/points on my mandatory purchases.

Some vendors do not support billing a credit card - they want bank access or nothing.  I have several vendors that bill one of my credit cards; that still gives me a measure of safety as there are rules that apply to credit cards about 'fraudlent charges' that don't apply to direct payments from bank accounts.

Several weeks ago I was looking for a shipment that was coming via USPS and I had been tracking it through the USPS tracking system.  During this period of time I got an e-mail from what was supposedly USPS identifying some sort of problem - as I activated the link within the e-mail it then asked for money - SCAM SCAM SCAM.  If I had not been actively tracking a shipment I would not have given the e-mail a second thought and deleted it immediately.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Backshop on Friday, August 23, 2024 7:11 AM

I pay most of my bills with a credit card and then just do a manual transfer to pay them off when they are due. That way, I'm earning miles/points on my mandatory purchases.

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, August 22, 2024 12:22 PM

CSSHEGEWISCH
I feel the same way.  My pay goes into the account by direct deposit but all bills are paid by check and I always get a paper receipt when I use the ATM.

The other thing - in paying by check I KNOW what is in my account and WHEN it is in there.  I use my bank's electronic banking tools to monitor my account and check upon when the checks I have issued have cleared.

If vendors had access to withdraw from my account - the amount in the account would be constangly changing and not under my DIRECT control in the short term - as any efforts to modify the vendors access to the account will likely be a long drawn out affair.

One other complaint I will register - when getting a new supply of checks, the number of checks that can be ordered at one time with my check supplier is now 80 instead of the 200 that was the standard order size in the past.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Thursday, August 22, 2024 12:02 PM

I feel the same way.  My pay goes into the account by direct deposit but all bills are paid by check and I always get a paper receipt when I use the ATM.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, August 22, 2024 11:05 AM

NKP guy
 
BaltACD
NOBODY gets electronic authority to remove money from any of my bank accounts. 

That's the right philosophy and one I strive to use. But lately AT&T tells me it'll cost me $10 a month to get a paper bill. I gave in on that; I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the caboose. 

BTW Balt, I was impressed to read what you wrote a few days ago about those very old rails in Kent. I remember seeing them and thinking they looked small, like Shaker Rapid rails (80 lb). I think the late 19th century dates on them probably means they were from B&O's predecessor line (P&W, c.1882) and then re-used as yard tracks when the rails were upgraded.

I have not seen such a charge on my AT&T billing.  That being said I don't trust AT&T with the data about my banking accounts.  How many times have their data bases been hacked and the data been put out on the 'dark web' for criminals and hackers to loot everything that is thereby laid in front of them.

I don't know that mine is the safest route to take, however, it is the only one that springs to my feeble mind.

 

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by NKP guy on Thursday, August 22, 2024 8:41 AM

BaltACD
NOBODY gets electronic authority to remove money from any of my bank accounts.

That's the right philosophy and one I strive to use. But lately AT&T tells me it'll cost me $10 a month to get a paper bill. I gave in on that; I hope it doesn't come back to bite me in the caboose. 

BTW Balt, I was impressed to read what you wrote a few days ago about those very old rails in Kent. I remember seeing them and thinking they looked small, like Shaker Rapid rails (80 lb). I think the late 19th century dates on them probably means they were from B&O's predecessor line (P&W, c.1882) and then re-used as yard tracks when the rails were upgraded.

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 10:42 PM

Backshop
That's what EFT is for.

NOBODY gets electronic authority to remove money from any of my bank accounts.

I accept money electronically, my Railroad Retirement and my Company Pension deposit on the first of every month.

Considering all the electronic identity theft taking place I view EFT access to MY accounts puts those accounts in danger.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Backshop on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 5:49 PM

That's what EFT is for.

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Posted by BaltACD on Wednesday, August 21, 2024 1:44 PM

I have been wondering - here, there, everywhere.

Paid my property tax with a check mailed July 17.  Mailed from the same county that the county seat is - Check wasn't cashed until August 15.  Post Office to Post Office it had 15 miles to travel.  Leads to the question - is it the Post Office fault or is it the County property accounting system.

Comcast is another one that has issues - I pay them on the first of the month on both my accounts with them - the Maryland account is generally credited by the 10th of the month.  The Florida account - the July check 'never arrived'; and I paid the double bill in August and it took until the 16th for that check to get processed by the bank.

Is the Post Office falling apart; or are Accounting Departments in both Government and Private Business suck?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by pennytrains on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 7:39 PM

I had a CT scan today so that may provide photographic evidence wether I'm all here or not Laugh

Big Smile  Same me, different spelling!  Big Smile

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Posted by wjstix on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 9:55 AM

I'm here Penny - but some might argue I'm not all here....

Stix
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Posted by pennytrains on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 7:52 AM

Yep!  They went right around me!

Big Smile  Same me, different spelling!  Big Smile

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, August 19, 2024 11:03 PM

Feature everyone is gun shy and reasonably so.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Erik_Mag on Monday, August 19, 2024 9:15 PM

I think the forum members are still unsure if this site is still functioning - usually takes a while for the site to come up, but it responds quickly once it does come up.

I trust you survived the tornadoes from a ouple of weeks ago?

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Anybody here?
Posted by pennytrains on Monday, August 19, 2024 7:48 PM

https://youtu.be/zVj-VNiHdcw?si=XSyc0fGCLG8n8oDp

Nothing happening in the restoration universe?

Big Smile  Same me, different spelling!  Big Smile

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