Sheryl, I hope it’s not the flu.

Teppy, my cousin had throw pillows made out of Papa’s golf shirts for all the immediate family. I absolutely love mine.

Sorry about the health woes, javachik, but I’m glad you’re still getting to see people.

Go, son of Laura!

My phone is on its last legs, so I tried to order a new one this morning. Now I’m waiting for the bank to open so I can figure out why my card was declined. I checked my account, and the money is there. Didn’t a Buffista run into a thing where the bank declined their card when they tried to buy a computer, to “protect” them? I suspect it’s like that. As problems go, it’s likely solvable, which is my favorite kind of problem.

Javachik, I'm sad that the food poisoning kept you from having some of the experiences you wanted, but I'm glad that you're still getting those personal connections!

At least I have an appointment on the calendar now. I'm counting that as a win.

Totally counts as a win.

Didn’t a Buffista run into a thing where the bank declined their card when they tried to buy a computer, to “protect” them?

I'm not that Buffista, but my card recently was declined when I was buying PlayStation games to "protect" me. I had to call to tell them, no, I was the one stealing my money.

I'm heading back to the Bay Area on Friday, and I'm very much looking forward to being alone in my own home.

Yeah, it was a fraud concern. To be fair, I don’t buy iPhones every day. Or every year. More like every 6-7 years.

Didn’t a Buffista run into a thing where the bank declined their card when they tried to buy a computer, to “protect” them?

This has happened to me so many times. During the 3 months of housing chaos this year, I bought an excruciatingly expensive air cleaner, no prob. But, the next day, I could not complete the purchase of a $30 dress from Target! Somehow, that was a bridge too far. Though, to be fair, I don't do a lot of casual shopping in person, so I appreciate the company looking out for me.

Didn’t a Buffista run into a thing where the bank declined their card when they tried to buy a computer, to “protect” them?

That was me. It was fairly painless to solve, so I really can't complain.

On vacation every few years, I try to buy a lot of groceries in Las Vegas and my card gets declined every time!

Happy belated birthdays, late December babies!

We survived the extreme Christmas cold by handing out with my unbelievably cute 8 month old niece (and my brother and SiL).

I absolutely need to write down by master password in case of emergency, because I have biometrics enabled on ALL of my devices, and counting on my loved ones having access to my right index finger probably is not a fantastic backup plan.

You can always call your credit card if you're going to be traveling, so they expect you to be spending a lot of money somewhere else. Which I absolutely did not do, so my first purchase of my father's gift was declined.

Dana, I’ve always done that when traveling.

I feel like flu brain fog is finally lifting. ltc is finally 24 hr+ fever free and I haven’t had a fever for days. Today is also the day we rescheduled the deep cleaning of the house for. So I have to keep ltc occupied outside of the house for 5 hours. So far we have gone to the diner, dropped off expired prescriptions at the pharmacy, and now ltc is getting her hands and nails painted at the salon. We’re all masked up just in case, but ltc’s pediatrician assured me we’re no longer contagious without the fever.