Good deeds and telephone scams

Grandma Coco just returned to the Kingdom to find a message on her telephone answering machine. What? You're surprised she has one? Of course, she does. She's a Modern Woman.

The message wasn't for her. It was for someone else, obviously left in error. In the past, Grandma Coco, being a nice person has returned the call to explain that the terribly important message didn't reach the intended recipient. The last time, it was some poor little girl who was too sick to take her shift at McDonald's and was trying to find a replacement. We felt good we had helped out.

This time......the phone number that was left started out 1-876-(and seven more numbers). Immediately, we thought, "Oh, no problem....it's a toll-free number. We can be helpful and do a good deed at no financial cost to ourselves." Most other people we know would think the same thing.

Some little niggling concern was wiggling around in our brain....1-876.....is that really a toll-free number?? There are so many now and we are so tired of the struggle to keep up. We googled.

1-876 is a Jamaican area code. IF we had been nice guys, we would have been dialing long distance to Jamaica. Folks, we're just not that nice.

We're pretty sure it's a scam. We just can't figure out exactly how that scam would work. If anyone knows, please enlighten us in the comments. Please.

And for everyone who finds this message on their machine.......please, be careful. It's a jungle out there.

Summer games Part 1

Waiting for the phone to ring

Yesterday, Mr. Coco answered the telephone and, after a couple of minutes of silence, we heard him politely say he didn't think he was interested. He hung up. We, who have been waiting impatiently for an unsuspecting telephone solicitor, were horrified when he reported that the fellow had said he was calling from Microsoft. Huh??? Just the call we were waiting for. Too bad. Mr. Coco is now afraid to answer the phone.

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait long. The phone rang this morning and a woman who identified herself as "Jennifer" (yeah, right!) started her spiel about how she wanted to notify us about the corrupted files that were getting onto our computer.

Well, yes sir. Pull up a chair, we thought. We have lift off!!!

First of all, we asked to have the company name confirmed since this woman was not calling from Microsoft and we really did need to have her repeat the name twice. So, OK, the other 2 repetitions were just for the annoyance value, but hey, that's part  of the game, right?

She mentioned the corrupted files. "That sounds serious!" we gasped in our best imitation of a concerned citizen. She concurred.

Then before she could tell us what she recommended, we asked where she was calling from. "The office," was her reply. Ah, a worthy opponent, we thought. Yes, of course, but where is that? What city? Dead air. And then, finally a busy signal.

Shoot. Less than 2 minutes. AND we didn't even get to say "Butterscotch!" :)


Socks!

From our plentiful stash of sock yarn we have chosen this little beauty...

Lang Jawoll Magic superwash. 75% wool/25% nylon. A lovely blend of mossy green, yellowy green and dark (almost black) green.  400 metres. Very soft.
From Wool-tyme in Kingston ON. This skein is destined to become a pair of manly socks.

And finally...

Don't forget to head on over to Underneath the Juniper Tree to have a look at the August issue of the magazine. They have a new format which works much better than the old one. You'll find our poem Beware Sleeping Kittens on page 44.