Monday Meanderings - 12.26.2016

We are basking in the glow of Christmas here in ATX. Perhaps sweating in the glow would be more accurate; nothing like 80 degree temperatures and warm southerly winds on Christmas day. Ho, ho, hot!

Merry Christmas to me. Got a robocall Christmas Eve morning that "my credit card may have been compromised - please call at once." In this day and time, calls like that are naturally suspect as scams themselves, and since the small bank that issued this card was closed, I first Googled the 800 number the "Fraud Center" wanted me to call. I found comments that said both "absolutely a scam" and "this is legitimate." What to do? The message had enough legitimate information about me and the card that I decided to call back (after blocking my Caller ID).

Bottom line is the person I spoke to asked about several charges that I did not make, identified some I did and without asking me for my SSN or the security code on the back of the card or any other sensitive information suggested that I block the card and take it up with the bank on Monday. Did that, and then called the number on the back of the card for "lost or stolen" and they told me that the card had just been blocked, so it was a legitimate notification. The good news is that Visa declined all the bogus attempted charges, so we don't have to go through all the reimbursement red tape.

We get daily email updates from our neighbors through the "Nextdoor" app, and there have been numerous recent posts about coyote sightings. We live a few blocks from Walnut Creek Greenbelt, and we have heard coyotes howling over at the Pioneer Farm for all the years we have lived here. But a recent middle-of-the-day sighting of an adult coyote "Just strolling down the street" was a bit closer. How close, you ask?

At our Christmas Eve candlelight service, the minister had gathered all the children on stage to sing, and then to hear him read a children's story of the first Noel. He was encouraging participation from the kids, and when he got to the part about the angels appearing to the frightened shepherds, he asked the kiddos to show him their "afraid" face - whereupon one little urchin clapped his hands to his face and shouted, "OH MY GOD! IT'S AN ANGEL!" Well, he asked.

Happy New Year from our house to yours.