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WYSIWYG Reality
 
A periodic collection of comments, news and insights that are distinctly my own for the enjoyment of whoever cares to read them.

Feel free to comment or ask questions.
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Recognizing Scammers Online
Posted:Jul 29, 2019 7:28 am
Last Updated:Jul 29, 2019 12:31 pm
2463 Views

Sometimes I find it amusing reading the responses of people to the images of people who are online, whether globally, locally or those in my hotlist. What I find amusing about the comments is that some person will state that the person is "Beautiful" or that they are "Gorgeous" or "Sexy", or some other similar compliment, and then another person will post something to the affect that one has to be an idiot and/or desperate to believe that image/profile is real or that the image/profile is for a scammer in some African country.

I realize that some of what one sees on this site takes a bit of faith since it is based on just either images or tag lines in the profile, especially for standard members such as myself who often can't even see the full profile. The thought that does enter my head is, how do these people know with such certainty that some selfie image posted with a profile is NOT legitimate and/or some kind of African-based scammer? Are they a more current version of the Amazing Kreskin or clairvoyant? I am sure some of them could be right, but I certainly would appreciate some kind of proof. Otherwise, it just seems like a "gut feeling".

Granted, if the person seems pretty (at least to my liking) and it looks like a selfie image, there is a chance that I could think it is real, but also a chance that I wonder if it is not. If the image is that of someone that meets the definition of "drop-dead gorgeous" and looks professionally done, it would seem to me to be a scammer of some sort, as I highly doubt someone that looks that stunning would actually be on a site such as this. There is a point where one can go past the point of believability.

But then, it would be impossible for me to scan and know about every image on the Internet, so maybe this scamming business is more prevalent on this site than I originally thought, and I thought that a fair number of the profiles were already scammers. Could make for trying to find someone for a nice liaison a bit more difficult...
0 Comments
Just what I needed...
Posted:Dec 7, 2018 7:01 am
Last Updated:Dec 9, 2018 5:57 am
2338 Views

It has been a while since I last blogged anything, but I do have a few things that have been running through my mind. Then, yesterday, all of those potential blogs went "out the window" for the time being as I became involved in a 4 car accident. My car was the last to the party, but that still sucks. Apparently, the person right in front of me ran right into the car in front of him (which pushed her car into the car in front of her). I don't think he even applied the brakes. I slammed on my brakes, but it does take some distance to bring the car to a stop when traveling at about 50 mph, so even though I did brake and also tried to avoid his vehicle by turning, the passenger front wheel did hit the corner of his rear bumper, just jacking the tire good. So, the car wasn't going to move.

It has been a bit difficult in handling this, mainly because I have been unemployed for what seems like forever. I was actually on my way to a company open house/job fair, I am considerably in debt because of the unemployment, now using my retirement just to pay bills that accumulated because I was living off my credit cards (so there goes the retirement) and now I have to add this nonsense to all that. Just what I needed. I know, life is not fair, but I sometimes wonder why it isn't ever unfair to my advantage. It would be nice if something went my way just once...
0 Comments
Almost reaching the beltway in scary fashion...
Posted:Jul 29, 2017 6:55 pm
Last Updated:Jul 29, 2017 6:56 pm
4456 Views

The road construction here in Northern Virginia (NoVa) can be both interesting and frustrating at times. Thursday was no special exception. I had gone to the Great Wall Supermarket on Gallows Road to pick up a few items, but when I tried to get back on the beltway to head North to reach I-66 W, I couldn't make the turn because of road work (I think the lane markings were being redone after recent paving). So, myself and several drivers go two traffic lights, make a U-turn and take the exit for Arlington Blvd and then the entrance to the beltway (heading North). All of us were approaching highway speed coming up the ramp when we all had to slam on the brakes because the DoT had closed the entrance ramp to the beltway to work on one of the overhead signs. It would have been nice to know that BEFORE trying to use that entrance onto the beltway, but no warning or notification was provided. As for me, my tires probably left about 10 to 15 feet of skid marks on the pavement (there goes about a year in the life of my tires) and I turned the wheel to the right and hoped that i could avoid hitting either the car on my left or the car in front of me, all the while trying to brace myself for an impact and also hoping that no one hit my car. How I managed to NOT hit anyone, I have no clue, but I thank the Good Lord that no one was hurt and we all made it out safely. Thankfully, I was able to make it out and home safely after only having to get back onto Gallows Road, make yet another U-turn, enter the beltway heading South and traveling another 3 miles until I could exit and then re-enter the beltway and head North. Not the sort of "fun" I want to experience again, but I certainly hope that if the DoT does road work like that again that they can at least warn us next time. It would be greatly appreciated.
0 Comments
The rudeness of some people
Posted:Jun 27, 2017 4:53 am
Last Updated:Jun 27, 2017 12:54 pm
4943 Views

I have been dealing with email comments from a person for the last three days that I cannot understand how it got to the level of vitriol that it did. It turns out that my #1 fan got engaged, a fact I found out when she sent a message telling me to not contact her or comment on her photos because she was now engaged.

Ok, fine. So now I must make sure not to do that. Then I received a message from her fiancé telling me the same thing. Ok, why this guy felt the need to initiate contact, I have no clue, but point well taken. So I avoid making any contact or comment. Hell, I don't even see any of her picture postings, which is fine. The next thing I know, Meelp sends me a notice that she (my #1 fan) viewed my profile. Ok, odd behavior I thought, especially since she said not to comment or write. Fine, I'll let it slide since it was only a profile view.

Next thing I know, I am getting messages from her fiancé again telling me not to contact or comment on her. I reiterate that I have not commented or contacted her, but he keeps writing back and insisting that I have. I again reiterate that I have not commented or contacted her, and this morning I received a tirade of three messages, using lots of profanity (mainly using the "F" word or it's companion "MF") and threatening to "break my jaw". He even had the audacity to "question" my "Dr" declaration in my name (to which I am offended, since I went through all the work required to get my PhD). Then he proceeds to point out all the comments I have previously made about her.

Of course there are some comments... She was/is my #1 fan, so these comments have been made over the course of a year or more, long before she met or became engaged to this guy. Are you seriously going to get on my case about comments I left a year ago? Regardless of that, at least from that time about 3 weeks ago when she originally told me not to comment or contact her, I have not. Her fiancé, in his first message even threatened to have my account deleted, like he has that authority, especially since I have done nothing wrong, Besides, as an American, no one, and I mean no one, is going to curtail my right to free speech and try to prevent me from using it. Since she has been my #1 fan for quite some time, I do respect her wishes and won't contact her or comment on her photos.

So, after reading the tirades from this guy, I do notice that I cannot reply to his comments, so he probably blocked me before I had the chance to block him. Really "grown up" of you. Give abuse but won't even allow me to respond. Fine. I suppose I cannot expect everyone on this site to act his age (and his profile lists him as 60 years old).

The thing that makes absolutely no sense is that neither of them want people contacting her or commenting on her photos. My question to either of them would start with:

"You do realize that you are on, essentially, an adult swing site? If you don't want her to receive comments or contact, then DISABLE or DEACTIVATE her account. Otherwise, you are going to be contacting a whole bunch of people and telling them not to contact her or comment on her photos because she is engaged."

The one thing he has said that I do agree with is that she is a nice person. In all my interactions with her over the last year or more, I can certainly say that is probably the case. So that part seems to be true. Her fiancé? Not so much. I was going to congratulate her on becoming engaged, but after dealing with her fiancé through the message center part of Meelp over the last few days, I am beginning to think she deserves my sympathy more than my congratulations...
1 comment
Happy Holidays to All...
Posted:Dec 22, 2016 7:07 am
Last Updated:Dec 22, 2016 7:16 am
4585 Views

...regardless what holiday you may celebrate. I just want to wish everyone an enjoyable holiday season.

As for me, I am trying to remain hopeful for 2017, especially in terms of potential employment. I have received more interest lately, with some of the most promising positions being Adjunct Professor openings, so I am a bit more optimistic that things will work out just fine.

Then the opposite is the annoyance with this site of not letting standard members like myself do anything. That wasn't the case when the site first started, but somehow it changed during my membership. Turns out I have received a couple of messages in my inbox, but I cannot reply to them without upgrading, which I cannot do at present. Checked to see if I could, just maybe, become their "number one fan" and respond that way, but I don't have anywhere near the number of points required, nor can I purchase enough (at least not right now).

Oh, well... My apologies to her (the person who wrote me), but the site won't let me respond... Sorry.

At any rate, despite my annoyances with the site and what it will/will not let me do, I want to wish everyone a great holiday and a better 2017.
0 Comments
When it rains, it pours...
Posted:Sep 25, 2016 4:58 am
Last Updated:Mar 29, 2024 3:59 am
6196 Views

Anyone who has read my posts in the pasts should remember that I am currently "in-transition" between employment opportunities, which means that I have no income coming in at the moment. Things have been looking "up" regarding that, so I am hoping that situation changes soon. I am kind of an optimist in that way (certainly explains why I have played the lottery in the past... something I cannot do now, obviously). Unfortunately, I had to deal with a dead car this week... dead in that it had no power. This needed to be done because the car's inspection and registration are coming due soon. The car cannot get registered if it does not pass inspection, and the car cannot pass inspection if I cannot even get it there. So, Triple A managed to get the car started and after 20-25 minutes of letting the car run so that the alternator could at least partially charge the battery enough to ensure the car wouldn't just cease functioning at the next traffic light, I managed to get the car to a place to replace the battery (which was still under warranty) and get an oil change. The car was given a quick inspection and that was when they found a leaking gasket and struts that needed replacing. The car will pass inspection with the leaking gasket, but not the faulty struts, and that work will run somewhere in the neighborhood of $660. Ouch. Not sure how I am going to cover that bill, but the work needs to be done if the car is going to pass inspection and get registered. It is times like this I wish I had won the lottery at some point, even at a small amount, in order to cover expenditures like this while "in-transition". Maybe in some alternative universe, but obviously not in this one...
0 Comments
When 12 months are not exactly 12 months...
Posted:Aug 2, 2016 6:28 am
Last Updated:Aug 2, 2016 6:30 am
6849 Views

I received the renewal notice for the lease on my apartment recently. The first thing I read is something along the lines of "Your lease with us will expire on XX/26/2016." I thought that was odd since, last I knew, I had a 12 month lease that began on the first of the month, so I thought that my lease ended on the last day of the month (i.e. usually the 30th or 31st).

It turns out that my complex lied to me... Their system uses 30 days for a month and not the month as displayed on a calendar, so now my lease runs for 360 days and NOT 12 months as I was told, and they never specifically spell out the fact that "We use a 30 day month for our calculations." The calendar we use has been around for several hundred years and has months in it with names like June or September, but somehow that is not good enough.

Of course, what really pissed me off was when the Property Manager throws it back into my face with the statement "Well, you signed a lease..." Yeah, I did, based on paperwork you sent to me that clearly indicated a renewal for 12 months, NOT 12 thirty day periods/cycles. Do not blame me for your corporation screwing their customers...

Granted, this is only 5 days, but since I am currently in-transition between employment opportunities, it just adds stress since I now have an even shorter window in which to notify the leasing office whether I am staying or moving out (since I need to provide them 2 month notice... Sorry... 60 days notice, apparently). Of course, since I am in-transition, the bigger problem is, if I stay, how do I cover those expenses, and if I move, how do I pay for the move, where am I moving to, and how do I pay for the new place with no income? So, a lot of stress on my part.

While this place has some positive aspects, it has really gone downhill since I originally moved here. Time to search for another place I guess if I am only going to get shafted by the company that runs the property... Although how I am going to find new living accommodations without employment (since they usually ask about an employer on the application), I have no idea...
0 Comments
Interview!!!
Posted:Jul 21, 2016 5:54 am
Last Updated:Mar 29, 2024 3:59 am
7524 Views

To say I was thrilled that I had an interview yesterday would be an understatement... all my efforts to obtain employment can sometimes get frustrating when it seems to lead nowhere. So I was glad to actually get an interview, and I certainly hope it leads somewhere (especially to permanent employment).

The DC Meto made it interesting to get there, as yesterday was the start of single tracking between the East Falls Church and Ballston stations, which delays trains to that part of the Orange/Silver lines.

Thus, I decided to leave at 12 pm for a 2 pm interview (which was down near the Capital Building... so I had to change to the Red line ultimately). That should have been plenty of time, but then the train I was on was held up for about 50 minutes or so because of a "down" train. To make matters worse, not only was the train non-functional, but it also happened to cease functioning in the single tracking area, so there were no alternative tracks to use to get around it. What are the odds that the day I have to go into DC for an interview that the metro train I am on is going to get delayed almost an hour due to another train breaking down in the area of track that is currently being serviced?

Consequently, I was a half hour late for my interview, but apparently that was a common theme yesterday as other people the company was interviewing yesterday were also late for their interview. I am glad I made it to the interview and I thought the interview went well. The position has a biometrics component to it, which is something from my prior experience that I would like to build on. so I am keeping my fingers crossed.
0 Comments
Random behavior from Comcast
Posted:Jul 12, 2016 4:41 am
Last Updated:Jul 18, 2016 7:27 am
8015 Views

I noticed something recently, meaning within the last week, about my cable channels. Apparently some can "vanish" and I never get informed about it. Granted, in this case, it was a channel called Viceland (which was H2, or History Channel 2, previously). This channel was on 876 (HD) here in Northern VA. As I am going through the channels after a day of job searching and applying, I noticed that the programming channels went from 875 to 877. What on Earth happened to 876? Better yet, why was I not informed of it's removal? Granted, I never watched much on the channel (maybe a handful of programs at best), but I was just a tad bit disturbed that the channel was removed and no notification was provided or sent... at least I did not see one.

I guess I should not be surprised though. Comcast is notorious for bad customer service, and not informing their customers of something like removing a channel from their cable lineup would certainly fit that bill...

...now, about a week later or so, it turns out that Comcast moved the channel... or gave it back... I have not determined which yet. It is now on channel 948. So, technically, the channel did not "vanish" as I had first thought. There is not a lot up in those channels other than local government programming. So, it turns out that everything is there that should be there, so it is just a matter of Comcast not informing any of their subscribers of the change. Way to go Comcast!
0 Comments
The fun of traveling by car...
Posted:Jul 6, 2016 12:08 pm
Last Updated:Mar 29, 2024 3:59 am
8331 Views

I certainly hope that all my fellow Americans enjoyed the Independence Day holiday. As for me, Pennsylvania tried it's best to make my holiday commute interesting. Instead of flying, which I could not afford, I drove to visit relatives in New York State, meaning that I had to drive through the center of Pennsylvania. My lasting impression of the state of the highways in Pennsylvania is that the state has no clue what it is doing, as all roads seem to be constantly under some form of construction/destruction. There is a 10 mile stretch on I-81 that I swear has been under constant construction for at least the last 30 years. I do not think it will ever get finished. I knew we (myself and the others on the highway) were in trouble when an electronic sign off to the side of the road indicated "Exit 107... 15 miles, 81 minutes". Consequently, a trip that should have taken roughly 6 1/2 hours took about 8 1/2. Thankfully, the traffic conditions on the return trip was nowhere near as bad.
0 Comments
The continued degradation of I-66
Posted:Jun 18, 2016 4:45 am
Last Updated:Jun 19, 2016 4:23 am
8001 Views

I always find it amusing when I hear news concerning I-66. The latest was the announcement that contracts were awarded for the toll collection part that, apparently, is going to become part of I-66 inside the beltway. At least I believe that was the anouncement... I am trying to refind the article to be sure, but that is what I remember reading online yesterday (local newspaper's online web site).

With that said, I am not a civil engineer, so I am not sure how to properly solve the traffic issues on I-66 inside the beltway, but the main problem is that it is only two lanes in each direction when 4 lanes are probably needed. Obviously, when I-66 was built, the engineers never anticipated the level of traffic it now receives. So, expanding from 2 to 4 lanes in each direction is likely impossible because of space limitations (i.e. Where are these new lanes going to actually get built?), but I always find it a bit disconcerting that, at least in theory, our tax dollars paid to build the interstate, our tax dollars are suppose to maintain the interstate, but now drivers are going to have to pay tolls to use that section of the interstate? That does not seem right.

To me, the fix seems to fit the following scenario: Instead of trying to actually solve the problem, it seems they are trying to modify/change people's driving behavior and/or generate revenue for someone. The problem will still exist, but now someone will get some cash from it. I guess it would not quite be America if cash did not change hands somewhere.
0 Comments
An anniversary I did not want to experience.
Posted:Jun 6, 2016 6:03 am
Last Updated:Jun 19, 2016 4:22 am
7926 Views

Woke up this morning to realize that today is an anniversary date for when I went "in transition" from my last employment. In other words, when I was laid off from my last company. I will not mention exactly how long it has been... I will save that for when I actually obtain my next employment, hoping for a more positive sounding post. Unfortunately, that anniversary was not something I wanted to experience... I was really hoping to have found employment and working by now, especially since I have used pretty much all the money I had in the checking account, several savings accounts and I am now working on the retirement, just in order to live. Of course, living in the DC Metro does not help since the cost of living here is expensive. The abuse of funds and not working can be really deflating, but I try to stay optimistic. So, today, I continue with more online applications and start attending job fairs and networking events over the rest of the week and hope that at least one of them can lead somewhere. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
1 comment
Sakura Matsuri
Posted:Apr 17, 2016 5:42 am
Last Updated:Apr 17, 2016 5:46 am
7805 Views

Volunteered for the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festval in WDC yesterday. A lot of fun, and I supported the same group I did last year. I love the festival, but I am kind of a Japanophile (if that is the actual word), especially when it comes to Japanese food, culture, and women (although I do not quite understand the cosplay aspect... I guess one does not have to follow everything that is part of a given culture, at least initially). This year the festival was not along Pennsylvania Avenue as it was in previous years (due to a conflict with another event, I believe), but was held in a series of parking lots down near the Nationals' ballpark. The weather was great and the festival ran rather smoothly. I was able to check out the different vendors and get a bite to eat for lunch, so I at least enjoyed some of the festival before my volunteer stint began. Overall, it was a great place to hold the festival, although slightly smaller than originally anticipated (due to construction), but it went off without a hitch or any major problems/issues. I am sure they (the organization that produces the street festival) will consider the location again in the future, although whether they use it or not will depend on if the Nats are in town, as the lots where the event was held are normally used for parking for the Nats games.
0 Comments

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Post Poster Post Date
The rudeness of some people (2)positively4you
Jun 27, 2017 11:51 am
An anniversary I did not want to experience. (2)Dur_a_cell2
Jun 6, 2016 6:42 am
Upgrade to read a message? (5)Great_eight
Feb 6, 2016 8:34 am
Where did all the points go? (3)tackman57
Aug 25, 2015 3:57 pm
Phone scammers (2)Needaltlsomthn2
Jul 2, 2015 3:20 pm