The Thinker

Username:	Password:
Forgot your password?	Remember Me

interesting....
So after reading http://dglenn.dreamwidth.org/1588929.html I looked up "privilege bingo card" on google, and found http://arionhunter.insanejournal.com/6918.html. As a brief primer, everything on the privilege bingo card is an argument from a person of privilege (for the specific link I posted, a cisgender person) that doesn't hold water as valid reasoning.

What gets me is O1: "Transwomen and/or transmen just reinforce the gender binary."

OK, so if that's not a valid argument here, why is it a valid argument when talking about bisexuality? In my bi activism days I got that hurled at me so many times I lost count, most forcefully at the first Transcending Boundaries conference, which really made me feel attacked in what was supposed to be a safe place. And I've still seen it around all the time.

Maybe it's time to make a bingo privilege card for bisexuals?

Thank you! The Requested Change of Address has been successfully processed on 07/02/2009 at 12:58:12.

The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles no longer mails change of address labels.

You may use any plain label with your address handwritten on it as long as it fits in the designated area on the back of your license or ID. You may also use a pre-printed address label such as those you use for your return address on your bills, etc.,. You may also attach a label to your vehicle registration(s).

Please don't forget to contact your insurance agent with your new address!

Um.....

How much is a cop really going to like a handwritten label on my driver's license and registration? Or at the liquor store? Or when the TSA checks my driver's license before a flight?

I mean, it goes on the back, not the front, but......I'm not happy about that.

The problem with the government is that I can't take my business elsewhere...
So the payment has been changed from "unpostable" to "posted".

When I called the IRS to explain that the SSA had the correct information, I got a rep who was insistent that I had to wait 2-3 weeks for the change to go through from the SSA, to which I explained that the changed was done 1.5 years ago.

She then said that they get their info from the SSA and there was nothing she could do. I said that my problem was that the IRS tells me to go to the SSA and the SSA tells me to go to the IRS.

She hung up on me.

I called back, and got a much nicer person who told me that in their system the name was correct, though she did see a "previous" name. So I asked why the payment was unpostable, and she said "looks like a name verification issue" but as far as she could tell, the name they have matches the one on the tax return (first, middle, last as Sheeri, Kritzer, Cabral).

She mentioned that if the names hadn't matched the tax return itself would have had more problems. She suggested perhaps my bank was wrong. So I checked, and nope, it's fine....

So my guess is that either my account was misinterpreted by 3 different reps, but the 4th rep didn't misinterpret it, or that a correction was made by someone who didn't own up to making the correction.

Amazingly, someone in the SSA looked up my record.

and indeed, it is first name: Sheeri
middle name: Kritzer
last name: Cabral

Which means that the IRS's record is wrong, but the SSA record is right.

Which means I'm calling the IRS again to tell them how very very wrong they are.

IRS update
Apparently, my official name according to Social Security is:

first name: Sheeri
last name: Kritzer Cabral

So.....my W-2 form goes through just fine, the amount of my wages goes through just fine, my tax form goes through just fine, but my *payment* gets put in limbo?

And of course the only way to get this fixed is to re-apply for a change of name with the Social Security Administration....which of course has no guarantee that it's going to be correct this time. The SSA officer's suggestion was to "explain to them the situation and tell them I want it correct this time".

I didn't realize I had to specify that I wanted my records *correct*.

Update on the IRS thing
Apparently they received my payment, but due to some kind of error (perhaps with my name change) it wasn't applied to my tax bill....but it was applied to my "account".

So the issue itself is resolved, and now I'm on hold while my poor Ms. Cunnhingham is trying to answer my very nice question of "how could this happen?" Because really, if my "account" has a payment on it, and there's an error *applying* that payment, shouldn't I get that money back instead of the IRS just keeping it forever and ever?

WTF?
Tony and I got a letter from the IRS today stating that we have an "amount due" on our income tax.

The exact amount, in fact, that we paid.

Using automatic debit.

With the information that we put ON THE TAX RETURN ITSELF.

How in hell can they show us our tax record, including a line item including "Total Tax on Return", without actually looking further down the page to see our debit information?

I just checked and they took out the money on 4/3.

I am so giving the IRS an earful tomorrow.

Choosing to be happy
Part of my life ethos is choosing to be happy. One of my coping mechanisms is denial, though I try not to let that get too out of hand; another is just understanding that some wounds can never be healed, but the pain will be made distant given time.

And sometimes, I lose all my zen and the bitterness gets me. That happened last night.

I definitely choose to be happy most of the time, but it's a lot of work, and sometimes I don't have the energy. Here's hoping that I can quickly recover.

Recruiter FAIL
So, I get this e-mail:

Sheeri,

I am working with [company] on their search for an SQL DBA. Attached is the position description. Please let me know if you would have interest in discussing this opportunity with [company]. If you want to send me a resume I will forward it directly to the lead recruiter for this opening.

Thank you,

Joan

Joan Leonard
Principal
joan@technames.com
Technames, Inc.
1451 Danville Blvd. Suite 201
Alamo, CA 94507-1941
925-831-2900
www.technames.com

-----------------------------------------------

And I open the attachment, and at the bottom of the job description document it says:

ONLY CANDIDATES THAT APPLY DIRECTLY THROUGH [website] WILL BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS POSITION.

ABSOLUTELY NO AGENCIES OR THIRD PARTY SOLICITATION!

-----------------------------------------------

Job recruiter FAIL.

I WANT MY TWO (thousand) DOLLARS!
Most debt management programs that credit cards have will put the credit card on hold (so you can't spend more) and stop the interest and late fees charged, as long as you make payments. American Express has a "debt management program", but it's pretty sucky. They put your card on hold....and that's it.

After the first few months, when I saw I was still being charged interest, I called and was told that after a year of payments, the interest would stop. (OK, fine, you want to make sure I'm committed before you give me leeway, I understand that).

After a year, the interest was still being charged, so I called again, and I was told that I'd get the amount in interest and late fees back after the debt was paid off. OK, that's annoying, but I was almost half done paying off the debt. I also did a little searching online, and found that it was indeed true, other folks in the debt management program were getting checks for $1-2k or more after they finished the debt management program that they never remembered enrolling in, so I hung in there.

At the end of April, anticipating the final book payment, I used a big chunk of cash to pay off the rest of my American Express debt. I called to get the amount for payoff, and I was told I would get a check sent to me for about $1200-1300 for the interest I was charged.

Guess what? It's now mid-June, and I haven't seen a check. So I call AMEX Customer Service, and they give me the number for the debt management program. I call that number, and they transfer me to Customer Service, because that's who I need to request the check from.

argh.

Then, the customer service representative tells me that a customer has to request a check (grrr) and that the amount of the credit to my account is about $200.

Argh.

She can't see anything except the amount, so I call the debt management program back, and the guy on the other end of the line tries to tell me to talk to the third-party service I was using (InCharge.org, which has been great). No, I say, this was interest that American Express charged me. He tells me the same thing again, and I explain that this was interest charged on the AMERICAN EXPRESS statements that were sent DIRECTLY to me.

So he says there's no such thing as a debt management program.

WTF? What was the number I just called then?

He consults with someone who has been there longer than him, and indeed, until the end of 2008, they did indeed have a debt management program. He also says that he can't see any interest charges on my statements, but he can only go back a year.

Apparently, I have to call Customer Service for that. I'm on with them now, on hold while they look up how much interest I have been charged since 8/31/2006.

At #d4d Boston, waiting for the keynote to start. We have decided that the hash tag for http://ping.fm/NxSFG is #d4d

"Missing Baby Found in Sandwich"
yum!

The only thing better than the title of the article is the URL:

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/060209_Police_looking_for_man_baby

Really, the police are looking for a "man baby"?

Sci-fi Short Story?
I thought it was called something like "The Crash", and it was basically about a futuristic driving test. The student ends up in a big car crash, killing or severely hurting a small child (a girl of about 5?). The test ends, and the student finds out it was all virtual reality, and is asked if he wants his license, and he says no, still traumatized by the incident.

He gets to walk down one corridor, and the story ends with him looking at the other corridor, which has 2 ruts for the folks they have to drag away -- the presumption is that anyone that wants their license after that is unfit for society.

I thought it was relatively famous, but nobody I know has heard of the story...

Another reason to buy Renter's insurance
Other than a teeny tiny amount of $$ for lots of coverage and the general "you know, you really should get it..."

Here are some specifics:

For $190 per year, we get $20k in personal property insurance, and for an additional $17 per year we have Tony's 2 electric pianos (valued at $3500 total) covered as well.

The other limits are $2,000 for the dwelling (not really my problem, that's the landlord's), $1,000 for "Private Structures", $100,000 for personal liability for each occurrence, $1,000 for medical payments to other people, and $5,000 loss of use.

There's a $500 deductible for "hurricane windstorm" and for "other than hurricane windstorm".

We have no flood coverage (not a problem).

The important things:
up to $5,000 for computers, peripheral devices, media, purchased software
up to $1,000 for business things kept on the premises

The surprising things:
Data loss: "up to $1500 for personal data and records when loss or damage is caused by SECTION I - BROAD NAMED PERILS or by computer virus. This includes the cost of blank books, cards or other blank material plus the cost of labor you incur to research, transcribe, copy, replace or restore the information from the lost or damaged material." the "broad named perils" include fire, lightning, windstorm, hail, explosion, riot or civil commotion, aircraft "including self-propelled missiles and spacecraft", smoke, *theft*, "sudden and accidental damage from electrical currents artificially generated", "discharge or overflow of water or steam".

Up to $1,000 for CD's. Yeah, audio stuff. "Compact Discs. $1000 for loss by theft of tapes, wires or discs while in or upon a motorized land vehicle. This limit includes loss by misplacing or losing..."

free credit report monitoring as part of the premium, and, should we need it, help if we are ever victims of identity theft, and up to $1,000 for loss caused by credit card fraud, EFT fraud, forgery and counterfeit money.

If the fridge dies: "Up to $1,000 for the contents of a freezer or refrigerated food storage unit on the residence premises for loss due to a mechanical failure or power interruption."

MySQL Administrator's Bible' Hits the Bookstands: Pythian Launches MySQL Accelerator Adoption Package http://ping.fm/ZfPAe

meetup.com changes sponsorship rules; many user groups lost sponsors. Donate (tax-deductible) to sponsor them: http://ping.fm/QAZAZ

Anne Heaton, Club Passim, Tue 6/16
Who wants to join Tony and me at the Anne Heaton show on Tuesday, 6/16 at 8 pm (It's Tony and my 2nd anniversary)? We'll get a table and have dinner, and maybe we'll have to reserve more than one table. ;) Tickets are $15 each.

Comment here if you want me to put you on our reservation. Club passim calendar.

Since Anne spotted me at Sweet in Harvard Square the other day and said "hi", I feel like I should at least come to one of her shows (she's also got one Wed 6/3 and Thu 6/4).

The MySQL Administrator Bible, which I wrote, is now shipping from Amazon.com. Order your copy today at http://ping.fm/HwPWe

First of May.....
Things that start today:

Tony and I are renting 2 apartments! Today starts our one-month moving overlap.

My book is set to be published in 10 days! May 11th is the day, reserve your copy at http://tinyurl.com/mysqlbible

....and you know what else!