Blame Canada. So, earlier this week I decided to buy the two Jimmy Rankin CDs. I was even so damn virtuous that I tried to buy them directly from his website instead of from some other source so that he would profit more. Next day, the nice lady from Canada tells me my credit card has been declined and suggests maybe I typed in the number or expiration date wrong, so I should try again. Okay, so I try again. Declined again. WTF?

So I just got off the phone with my credit card company. After going through the whole security song and dance to prove I was really me, I asked what the deal was. They profferred that because there's so much fraud from foreign countries via the Internet these days, they declined the charges to protect me, to make sure I still had my card. I noted that I have bought many things from Canada, and this is the first time this has happened. They said they had beefed up security because there's so much fraud going around, and they look for unusual transactions or patterns thereof. But this is hardly an unusual transaction for me, nor are my spending habits any different now than usual. So I asked, are you saying this is going to happen anytime I try to buy something from Canada? They offered no guarantees. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to this. Moreover, if they were worried about fraud, why did they not try to contact me? When Kate's number was actually stolen a couple of years back, they called us to alert us to strange activity. But these guys waited for me to call them. In this day and age, while it may sound preposterous to some, I find myself wondering if Big Business has decided to make it more difficult for us to buy from Canada.

A former friend of mine once traveled to England and had her card declined there because her card company worried that it had been stolen. Naturally, since she was overseas, she could not contact them to tell them that it had not been stolen (this was before the Net gave us another contact option.) She bitterly noted that she didn't know she was supposed to tell her credit card company that she was going to England. So maybe from now on, I should call my card company every time I plan to buy something from Canada. Geesh.
posted by Dub at 10:12 AM

I read the news for you:
State of West Virginia offered for sale on eBay. But what would you do with it after you bought it? Maybe states should offer their electoral votes on eBay next.

Meanwhile, Streakers' car stolen in Washington. That one is just too funny on its own for me to comment. It even made the news worldwide.
posted by Dub at 8:52 AM

Ha ha, Bush in 41.2 Seconds. Thanks as always to MediaWhoresOnline.
posted by Dub at 6:02 AM

I'm not sure why, but this piece from the Onion just had me howling with laughter. I guess it kind of reminds me of the time I stopped at a Taco Bell on I-40 somewhere in North Carolina and paid with a dollar bill that was stamped "Someone you love is gay or lesbian." The cashier noticed it and asked me if I'd seen it. I feigned ignorance, so he told me what it said. I just shrugged and said, "Go figure." I wasn't about to get into it with a cashier in small-town North Carolina when I was a woman traveling alone. But I'm sure it gave him the most exciting story of the day.
posted by Dub at 5:49 AM

Oh hell. I followed MediaWhoresOnline's link to the Second Annual Dubya Quote Quiz. Except I read the directions wrong and tried to pick the real Dubya quote in each question, thinking there were three fake ones and one real one. But it turns out it's the other way around--it's one fake one and three real ones. No wonder I had such a tough time! And it's amazing how much stupid stuff he's said. Go take the quiz and let me know how you did. It's actually not that hard if you do it right, but you will be appalled at some of the real quotes.
posted by Dub at 4:10 AM