Here is a meme I got from AC... The ones in bold I have done. Click here to continue...

Well beyond all the scam stuff I am still here. My truck broke. Ignition coil, timing belt, fuel pump and yes that would be all at the same time. I should have known that it would - it's summer. One exit further from where the tranny and clutch went last summer, which was one exit past where my van broke the summer before. I'm staying off the 95 during the summer. Somethings have been replaced and until other things are replaced I have a new place for the spiders to spin their webs. Then Rob's transmission went on Saturday and his phone got cut off. I also found out that if your drunk, homeless ex-husband breaks into your house, slams your head against the wall a few times that the police have no say in the matter if you're still married. So just to recap... My truck is broke, Rob's truck is broke (and phone shut off), cops no longer arrest people for domestic violence even if they live in the park across the street from your house. But they will go have a talk with him.

Rob did finally get to meet my ex's girlfriend, on accident. The only way I can think of describing his reaction is the look on a person's face after they have unknowingly taken a swig from a carton of rotten milk. You can't hide that reaction even if you are trying to be polite. All you can do is walk away. Like he did, and mutter "Oh my god, that thing is fuckin ugly." He finally looked up at me, with a half way grin, and said "Goddamn that scared me." It not so much that she's hideous, but she's a horrible wench.

Anyway at least I got Directv installed a couple weeks ago, with TiVo. Keeps me entertained. Plus I get to walk everywhere, which makes my ass smaller and that's a good thing lol.

ok, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I'm taking it that due to the number of hits I've received from search engines (people searching for the 800 number) that the program the nice Indian fellow was talking about is a scam. No matter what Mr. Shotter says. Yes I did finally receive a response from him. Spewing more crap about how legimate the business is. He blames India based outsource companies for the misrepresentation of their wonderful grant program. I say bullshit. The email is entirely too long to post, I have not replied to it either. Honestly I'm a bit tired of the whole thing. If anyone would like to read it email me or leave a comment with your email addy.

I've been thinking about revamping the design of this site. I'm pretty tired of it like it is. As you can probably tell html is not my strong point. I know enough to get by. I've looked at a few sites that provide blog skins but I didn't see what I was looking for. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

An interesting turn...

An email in response to scam post on August 4th...

From: Sam Shotter
Subject: Those phonecalls

Hi! Natalie,
I came across your blog "I'd like to fly...". I read the part on "Government Grant" and you advising the agent to quit. The company is indeed based in Utah (St. George). However, it helps people get grant by supplying them with information and support that is self sufficient to get the grant. All citizens of the US are eligible to recieve government grants. The company follows a clear policy of refunding the $249 fee, in case the customer does not get a grant. It is sad that a good service was brought to you in an extremely distasteful way by the teleseller. I hope I have put a few of your doubts at rest. Coming back to account info, we so very readily give out cheques to strangers, if it was possible to 'scam' using the info on your cheque leaf, most of us would be bankrupt!
Do mail me, if you have any queries.

Regards,
Sam

My reply...

Hmmm that’s funny. Do you work for them? The guy identified himself as an employee of the federal government. Wouldn’t that alone be a crime? The government doesn’t solicit its grants over the phone. There was no talk of supplying information so that I may apply for a grant. He never spoke of a fee for this grant. Anyway I do have a few queries for you. Maybe you can answer them since he couldn’t? Why does no one answer that phone number? Why are so many scams associated with that phone number when they offer the same thing that he was? Why do FEMA, The Consumer Protection Division of West Virginia, WIXT of Syracuse, NY, SEMA of Missouri and the Better Business Bureau all have warnings associated with this number? Why is it associated with a credit card protection service as well? Why is the name of the company registered with the BBB in Utah different from the name of the company he gave me? Why does this company operate under 17 different names in Florida alone? If what you said is true about not being able to debit an account using the routing number and account number from my check then why can my utility companies do it, over the phone, with the same information he was asking for? I’m including a couple of links that you may find interesting.

http://www.bbbwestflorida.org/commonreport.html?bid=90004144

http://www.google.com/search?q=800-551-7099&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&filter=0

Still haven't received a response. Sam ya out there??? Well let's see if I get any of my questions answered...