What the hell?

This place serves the B E S T quesedillas. Remember that the next time you're in my neck of the woods. It's around the corner from Fannies, where Michelle works.

So....
Fall behind one day, and the mole hill becomes a mountain.

I'm going to cheat and heavily borrow (read: copy/paste) from an email I sent. For E's viewing enjoyment I've included evidence of the reptile encountered.swear I'm not making it up.

On Tuesday I went hiking yesterday with my brother.

Lessons learned:
- next time research and plan (and more importantly not believe my brother when he says 'it's no big deal')
- know when to say no
- put suntan on 100 % of your body

I got my butt kicked on a mountain. On Wednesday my legs ached, it hurt to sit, and I had a sunburn on my scalp. Something I didn't think was possible. I should have worn a hat, or bandana. I didn't know hiking trails are classified on a scale of 1 to 5. Although our little jaunt was "only" 1.6 miles OW, it was rated a 4. It was steep. At one point, we took a picture of me leaning forward at a 45 degree angle. I look like I'm skiing.

(No, he didn't tilt the camera.)
(And yes, that is the same shirt in almost all of my Finland pictures. It's comfy. Thank you H&M.)

But none of this is what is made me crabby Wednesday. The credit crap is. I had a woman from Experian talking to me as though I was a child. And telling me that it's my fault I have bad credit. Mind you, the only spots on my credit are these two fraudulent accounts. Hallooo.

Example:

"Ma'am, have you ever had an account with AT&T Broadband?"

"No. Just a cell phone three years ago in New York."

"Ma'am. I know you said you've never lived in Oakland California. Just because AT&T's Broadband office is in Oakland, doesn't automatically mean the account was opened in Oakland. Have you ever had an At&T Broadband account?"

(Didn't I just say no?)

Like I would try denying it if it was true???

When asked when the fraud started, I could only refer to the same information she was looking at on my credit report. Having no idea when the account was opened with AT&T annoyed her. I don't know because AT&T puts me directly into the automated system - which - then refers me to their web site. All I have to go on is my credit report. Once an account goes into collection, the original company won't access your information. They refer you to the collection agency. Fine. Except, that the collection agency only has an automated system UNLESS you're going to make payments. Which I'm not going to do. It wasn't me! Do I look like Daddy Warbucks?

So. I went in circles with this woman. It's not like I was standing on a street corner giving out flyers with my personal information. Nor did the thief send me a personalized thank you note when she opened the accounts. Ya, ya, in the future I'll be checking my credit report.

Grumble.


The view from the top of this mountain was pretty amazing. You could see the mountains in Mexico (!), the ocean, downtown, and a whole lotta other mountains. AND on the way down we almost stepped on a rattlesnake. Another thing I wasn't prepared for. We were literally running down the mountain because it was so steep. So when charlie yelled," Snake! Stop!" it took a few feet. I almost had a heart attack. Luckily the snake was in no mood to chat. Can you imagine? Another incentive to fork out dough for health insurance. (Thanks for the info Trisha! They're on my list to call.)

Oh! Forgot. It hurt my ego (and hammered in the point that i'm out of shape) when gasping for breath, I encountered people RUNNING by. Me stumbling like a drunk. Them running. I am going hiking more often.

Here's Charlie and I celebrating:

Myself ala Karate Kid , sort of.
Charlie finally sitting down . He said once he sat, that was it.

I, on the other hand, sat pretty much every 50 feet. It was that steep. I tried to take picture of the view looking back, but it really doesn't do the climb justice.

Instead you can see the only picture of Charlie and I on the wheezing climb up:
No Sweat

Bleh. Walking back down was a treat. It's not often I encounter wildlife so close up.

We grabbed delicious grub at the Sarita Taco shop. And I slept like a log. But my butt hurt the next day.

posted by irene @ 10/11/2002 02:18:00 AM