* Someone hacked into one of my Yahoo e-mail accounts and sent a bunch of spam e-mails to my contacts… some of whom I’ve not been in contact with for years and years. Beyond the fact that I’m a little confused at how they managed to hack in, since I don’t ever use unsecured connections, always log out, change my password often, and run anti-virus software, I find myself just a teensy bit amused, because the spam they sent out was about quitting smoking. Considering ALL the types of spam out there, I have to say that’s not the worst option to have been sent on my behalf. I only hope the people who received it weren’t dumb enough to click on the link.
* Tony has been having severe back pain since last Monday. He took himself to our General Practitioner on Friday night, who prescribed some pain medication and sent him home. But the persistent pain continued and worsened over the long holiday weekend — of course. Isn’t that always the way of it? On Tuesday, he again presented to our GP who referred him to a specialist… who couldn’t see him until June 10th. He called back for another referral, and went in Tuesday afternoon at 4pm. At 4:45pm he called me to say he was being admitted to the hospital for surgery and would be staying overnight for recovery and observation. Because I really want to gross you out (because I was kind of grossed out and I have a pretty high tolerance for grossness), I’ll tell you that he had an abscess at the base of his tail bone that the specialist cut into and drained out 1/2 cup of pus. He was released Wednesday afternoon, and is home recovering in much less pain.
* A couple weeks ago, I e-mailed the city in which I work about a traffic signal. They had reprogrammed it, not sure why, but it was allowing only 4 cars per green through which, during rush hour, or any hour, really, since the light exits traffic for the airport, caused a mile long back-up on the freeway. In California, people react to this by slowing and cutting in the exit lane at the last second, which causes slowing (and near-miss rear-end accidents) in the lane they’re changing from… and at the light, people squeak through on a red light. This morning I received TWO emails from the city, attaching the trail of emails since I emailed them, showing that they’ve been internally pushing this through to the appropriate jurisdiction and following up with them. I am so impressed.
* Last night for my evening swim, I went to the “upper pool” in our community. I may have to do that again, as that pool is surrounded by star jasmine shrubs. We’ve established in previous posts that the jasmine plants are blooming profusely this year, and I’m thrilled to report that the gardeners haven’t yet trimmed those shrubs back. The scent, combined with my favorite activity, was simply heavenly. The only problem I had with that was that it evoked a desire in me to go to some remote tropical place, like Kauai (for example), and swim there.
* Pool safety is one of my biggest concerns and also a pet peeve. So many parents bring their kids over, let them “swim” around in the pool, while they bury their nose in a book, get on their cell phone or take a nap, and call that supervision. It’s not. Or those parents who think it’s OK to send their younglings over to the pool all by themselves. It’s not. A couple years ago, my former boss related a story after his weekend, how he attended a pool party with 15 adults supervising their collective cache of children and yet his young daughter, who knew how to swim, almost drowned in the midst of all that supervision. He noticed, fortunately, and dove in, fully clothed to save his little girl. How can that possibly happen, you ask? See here: Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning. Also, you guys, if your kids are in those wading pools or above ground pools, it’s just as important that kids be supervised. Link
* Looking forward to the weekend already. A three day weekend followed by a four day work week really rocks!
Jammie J's Quest 
I also want to go to Hawaii… 😀
Yikes! Poor Tony! Glad he’s feeling better!
Yay! Your tax dollars at work. Glad they’re following up on it. 🙂
Duuuude. That drowning article is scary. I think you sent that to me before. It’s scary as shit. GAH!
But you just got back from vacation! hehe
Tony was SO miserable, and he’s been traumatized over and over again this past week. 😦
The city’s taxes (for the e-mails) AND my tax dollars (for CalTrans). hehe
I may have posted it before, but I don’t think I sent it before… I don’t usually like to scare parents from letting their kids swim. 😯
Yep watched daugter and friend start to drown during swimming lesson. Teacher was talking to mums and they got in. It was SILENT. Took seconds for my brain to think drowning… They were fine we all learnt something.
It is silent and VERY scary how quickly it can happen. Swimming is fun, but also serious.
Poor Dear Tony….! I’m glad he is recovering and Thank God for the second referrel…!
Many years ago—like around 1955, one of my dear friends brought my Godchild to the Pool and wasn’t watching too carefully–BUT, luckily I was—-and I jumped in and saved him from drowning…! I found it rather incomprehensible that she wasn’t really watching, but I’m glad I was….!
How lovely that those gardeners have NOT cut back the Jasmine….Very Heady Stuff—Swimming and being surrounded by such a lovely scent….! Who could ask for more!
I’m so glad he got a 2nd referral, and that the doctor recognized the seriousness of it. That was a blessing.
Oh my goodness — what a story. I’m so glad you were there to save your Godchild. I’m sure your dear friend was, too, as well as your Godchild. It’s crazy how quickly it can happen, isn’t it?
I’m so thrilled with the gardeners this year. They’ve really let the plants shine this year. It’s wonderful.
How strong is your password on that email account? One of my security buddies said if your password is at least 15 characters long and has at least 1 special character in it (like a hyphen) it would take a supercomputer like 10,000,000 years to crack it. Now, mind you, my normal password isn’t THAT long but it’s close. Longer with combinations of numbers and letters is better (now ending my PSA).
Glad Tony’s feeling better. That is kinda gross, though. And good for you for poking at the city. Some people make stupid decisions.
It’s pretty strong. I’m really confused how they got in, but am glad the damage (at least as far as I can tell) was just a stupid email to a bunch of people who have changed their emails since I used that account as a primary account. Gmail has been my new email lover for many years now.
Tony’s doing better every day, and my commute is back to “normal” instead of a last minute torture when I get off the freeway. I’ll take it.
Poor Tony! I’m glad he’s better. He’s in good comany–my cat, Beau, also had an abscess over the long weekend. 🙂 (Only it was on his leg … cat fight.)
I’ll be taking Anne to the pool this summer, and I’m honestly a little terrified that she’ll drown when I’m looking away for two minutes. Thanks so much for this link.
Ahh, poor kitty. We have no idea how Tony’s abscess happened. Neither does the doctor, since it started internally somehow. Very strange thing, that.
Most kids are fine in the pool, especially if they have the proper floaties and the parents are diligent to ensure that the floaties stay ON. I think Anne will be just fine.
Poor Tony! Good for him for not waiting. That pain must have been something else!
I also sent a note to our city regarding a newly programmed traffic light. Within 48 hours, it was returned to it’s previous status and I got a call to verify that all was well. I was impressed! It’s nice to see City Hall taking care of it’s people every once in a while.
We introduced Joseph to the pool a few weekends ago. He was dressed in a toddler life preserver/bathing suit combination and had 1 parent holding him every second and the other parent watching the activities. It was so scary to me to even think about loosening my grip! He wasn’t a fan of the pool so we’ll try again in a few months. Water safety isn’t something one can ever relax about. Ever. Scary stuff, that. Glad the Jasmine is so delicious for you!! I agree, it’s been a exceptionally fragrant year and I’m loving every intoxicating moment of it!!
Yup, Tony is a trooper. Poor guy.
Glad you’re diligent with your little one in the pool. More parents need to be… but not just at that age, all the way up to the age 15, at least.
Poor Tony! I am glad he is feeling better, but jeez, it would be nice if they figured it out a little sooner.
Believe me it doesn’t take much to drown. I was at the pool with my 3 and 7 year old. The three year old was right next to me and then the 7 year old said something and I was listening to him. Then my brain clicked and said, why is the little one so quiet? I turned to him and he was drowning. I grabbed him and he was upset, but fine. I had probably looked away for 30 seconds, or maybe a minute and I was in the pool with him! My brother in law is a doc and he said it only takes one to two minutes to drown.
I just realized that it is the beginning of June. This is very good right?
Apparently an abscess in that area is very difficult to diagnose and commonly misdiagnosed as other things. Even our regular GP, who he was finally able to see on Tuesday said he didn’t know what it was, and that’s the whole reason he sent him to the specialist. Thank God for a doctor who is honest about his limitations!
That’s a very scary story… glad you saw so quickly what was going on!
Poor Tony! But I’m really glad that the problem was taken care of quickly. June 10. HAHAHAHAHAHAH! That’s like a miracle appointment if you’re in Quebec, so close! Normally emergencies like that take 6-8 months to get an appointment and then you have to wait even longer for surgery. Only for the really urgent things do I wish I could pay for medical stuff. Of course I’d have to win the lottery in order to do that.
I am just boggled that next Monday is June 6 – I mean, how is it June already? This last year has been so fast and miserable. OH! I need to email you. I have GOOD NEWS!!
I guess we’re fortunate that we were able to push it. Otherwise, he would have had to go to the Emergency Room. That’s how serious it was, it was blocking his bodily functions. So very serious indeed.
So glad you shared your good news. So happy for you. 🙂
Good job on the city sweetie, I am glad they are changing the lights. And thank you everyone, I am feeling better and can’t wait to get back to normal living.
Love you sweetie pie, XXOXOXOXOOX
I’m tickled about the city, and they emailed the other lady who had written them, too, and actually followed up with her via phone several times (I didn’t give them my phone number).
Another week and you can get back to “normal” life. 🙂 xoxo
I send my regards to you and Tony. Saw that Tony is feeling better. Best wishes.
Yes, he’s doing better — thank you for your kind wishes! 🙂
I learned when I worked for that OTHER company that AOL and Yahoo are the two easiest email accounts to hack, no matter how secure your pw is. It isn’t actually on your end, but on the server end.
Glad Tony is feeling better, that is just scary!
Can I go to Hawaii too?
Please. lol
Ah, well, I feel less mystified by that then. That’s just crazy!
Oh, yes, let’s you and me run away to Hawaii. See how long it takes for anyone to notice. hehe
*muwah*