Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Wrapping up CLA + Theft

At a Chinese restaurant in San Jose: (left to right) Zu Vincent (THE HAPPY PLACE), me, Stacy Nyikos (DRAGON WISHES), PJ Hoover (THE EMERALD TABLET) Hoover. We missed you at dinner, Courtney Scheinmel (MY SO-CALLED FAMILY).

CLA (the California Library Association) went super well! No one fell over. No one broke out in hives. All the electronic junk worked--powerpoints, book trailers. In four words: we were a hit!

One faux pas: not one of us remembered to take a group picture. :(

PJ Hoover blogged about our CLA weekend. She has a particularly upscale bathroom shot.



Guess what else happened this weekend? DH and I became the victims of credit card theft! Yikes!

I talked to the credit card company Sunday evening around 11. They believe a counterfeit credit card was used to purchase:

         $ 432 worth of merchandise at Walmart in Oakland
         $   13.78 at a game store in Oakland
         $ 400 worth of gas at a station in Bakersfield (although a hold was put on the card after $100)

That is not a very imaginative thief. No trips to Hawaii or Paris. No diamond rings. No books.

Child #3's theory: The thief is a truck driver, getting ready for a long haul. So, he bought a bunch of gas, new clothes and snacks at Walmart and a video game.

It's all very creepy. On the upside, we're not responsible for the fraud purchases.


EXACTLY THREE WEEKS UNTIL THE RELEASE OF I SO DON'T DO MYSTERIES!

24 comments:

  1. Other than the card theft, sounds like the trip was a resounding success. Can't wait to get my hands on your book. My niece is getting one for Christmas, too.

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  2. Yep - we had that happen, too, when we lived in the Bay Area. LOL. Not very imaginative thieves then either. Sounds like you had a great trip, other than that. Child #3 is very clever - I'm always amazed at the quotes.

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  3. So great seeing you, and thanks for linking! It was such a blast!

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  4. Sounds like the trip was great - how fun to get together with other great authors!

    Too bad about the credit card theft - at least you caught it early.

    And three weeks to release date! WooHoo!

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  5. Terrible about the credit card fraud. That happened to me while on vacation in Colorado. We'd gone to a gas station and paid by credit card. Well, after that, all sorts of charges were made on the card - $400 at overstock.com was one - and the credit card company put a block on the card. Imagine my surprise when I tried to pay the hotel bill!! Thankfully, the Credit card companies know what to look for and we're not responsible for the charges. Whew. Relief.

    Can't wait for the release of your book, btw! Daughter is eager to read it. :-)

    ~Debbie

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  6. That credit card theft story scares the hell out of me.

    only a short time left now until book! Yeah!

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  7. I went to use my credit card last week to find it had a "stop" on it. The police had found my details on a computer of credit card fraudsters. To our knowledge it hadn't been used yet but how sneaky are they that the had hundreds of details and they'd maybe use them all once to avoid being detected. Please check your statements carefully!!!

    3 weeks to go - so exciting!

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  8. I love child #3 theory - HA!

    Congrats on the upcoming book release - that is so exciting and I can not wait to get my copy!!!!

    Have a good day, Barrie - Kellan

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  9. Yikes! Credit card fraud is so scary to me. Probably because I'm not sure I'd even be observant enough to notice it was happening.

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  10. Child #3 may be on to a plot idea...

    Love the photos. The three weeks is going to come very soon!

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  11. Credit card theft is scarey. I had someone misuse my debit card, and the Bank of Montreal covered everything within a day of them noticing it. Now I shop with cash only.

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  12. I had that happen to me twice! Someone got my debit card info. They've always been great about putting the $$ back.

    Sounds, also, like you had a great weekend!!

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  13. Wow.. Sorry about the credit card. Freaky.

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  14. Wow, very scary. I'm so sorry that happened to you!

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  15. Three weeks - wow!

    Sorry about the theft. I had that happen once - the cc people called me right away because bought $500 worth of smokes and that wasn't quite my normal pattern!

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  16. The countdown is ON!

    For the record - if I ever turn to a life of crime I am not going to shop at Walmart

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  17. I'm puzzling over the $400 of gas. The one and only time we had this happen, the perp also bought several tankfuls of gas -- in Long Island, of all places! Perhaps there is a mystery story in this for you, Barrie!

    Exciting news about the impending delivery of your fifth baby.

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  18. I guess the credit card thief must have needed the basics the economy must be hard on them too.

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  19. Three weeks?! Squeee! :D

    The perpetrator of my credit card theft event went to Italy. Sigh. I want to go to Italy.

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  20. Only you can make credit card theft sound like a plot.
    So glad all the techie stuff worked and that you 2k8 people got to bond! I'm sure the fortune cookies all said great things for your futures.

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  21. Bet you are getting excited about the book.
    Re credit cards or phishing.
    When we lived in Morocco and I was subbing at the American School, got home really ired one day and found and e-mail from "Bank of America".
    Give account number
    give pin number
    give ss number
    Having done this .......it suddenly dawned on me..........
    had to cancel EVERYTHING
    Hope you managed to sort things out?

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  22. I'm glad you all had fun and that sucks about the credit card theft. Scary stuff!
    Teri

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Comments are always welcome!