Saturday, August 22, 2015

Odds and Ends

Bag Check at Metro

I was on the way to work yesterday. At the Rhode Island Metro stop the Metro police were conducting a "random" bag check. I was stopped and was told it would only take 30 seconds. Like all things associated with Metro it took longer than that.

My bag was swabbed and the swab was put into a machine to check to see if it had any gun residue on it (at least I'm assuming that what the bag was checked for). Of course nothing was found and I was on my way.

I'm not sure what or how this keeps anyone safe. Not everyone was stopped. And if you did have something in your bag that was bad you could just turn around before you entered the system. If I was a bad person with something bad in my bag, I could have turned around and walked to the Brookland Metro stop and gotten on Metro from there.

To me this is Kabuki theater at it's best by Metro. Does anyone really think this will stop a terrorist or some other bad guy from doing something on Metro? If they do then they are being foolish.

A better use of the Metro police time would be to actually be riding the system and protecting people. They might have a better chance of helping someone (say the guy who got stabbed to death on July 4 on a train) they doing this stupid bag check.

I am to Be Processed

The latest phone message scam that's hit my answering machine. Some woman, that sounds like an old battle axe, keeps calling and leaving messages. The message is that I am to be processed that day. For what is never made clear. If I want to avoid this from happening I need to call the following number. Again if I don't call I will be processed that evening.

Funny thing is I've been getting these calls for the past three weeks or so. That's the pattern with these types of calls. It was the same way when the "IRS" called me. They'll call for a few weeks then stop. A couple of months will go by and then they'll be right back calling again.

It is a nuisance. It is annoying. But I'm thinking does anyone really call the number. Do people really fall for this? Unfortunately the answer is that people do. There was a story about the IRS scam on one of the local news station. Someone was taken for thousands of dollars. I have to say I feel sorry for that person but I also think where's your common sense on something like this.

I thought just for fun some day I might do just that and see what happens. But then I think I have better things to do with my time.

I have carpet bettles

I discovered these little buggers in my linen closet the other day.

Gross to say the least. I've been washing like a crazy person. And vacuuming too. (I discovered a problem with the vacuum cleaner sigh. It no longer sucks.)

I might try and get some moth balls or something to try and keep them away. In the meantime, as I wash everything, I'm taking the time to throw some all sheets out. I've also discovered that I have a couple of incomplete sets of sheets. A top sheet without the fitted sheet (I still think the person who invented the fitted should be hunted down and hurt). Of the other way round.

The main problem is where to store everything as the sheets and towels and blankets get washed. I don't want to put them back in the linen closet until I figure out if I want to do something more than just vacuum. The upshot is laundry is piling up all over the place. See the pictures below.


Sheets on the stairs

Towels on the coffee table

And that's it for odds and ends today.

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