Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Finding the time to post

Boy, I'll tell ya, it's been hard trying to find the time to get this post finished. I started to post this yesterday after our wonderful showshoe trip into the Mt. Baker area, but since we didn't get home until after 4:00 pm, I was famished and then got lost in the news coming out of Egypt. Now it's after 1:00 pm the following day, and I just now got a chance to settle down and write a bit.
Seven of us Senior Trailblazers answered Al's call about possibly going up to the High Country on Tuesday, with the weather forecasted to be clear and cold and, as you can see, we were happily snowshoeing on some rather pre-recreated snow. I think it snowed up there on Friday and the weekend warriors came out in droves. The snow was much more of the Cascade Cement variety than we had last time, but the sunshine was very much appreciated, and we enjoyed every second of the day. We headed up to Huntoon Point for lunch. We found that someone had carved a nice snow seat so we could all sit around and chat. Our old friends the gray jays showed up for lunch, too.
I especially love this picture of Mike feeding a jay some of his dried cranberries. If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the jay looks like he's laughing, or maybe talking to Mike about his choice of bird food. We actually sat around and had lunch for more than a few freezing minutes for a change before we headed back down the trail. I asked Mike to take a picture of me feeding the jays, so he did.
Mr. Gray Jay was less than impressed with my pumpkin seeds. I had counted out my almonds and only had 24 for the whole day, so I wasn't inclined to share them with him, but I was surprised to find that he wasn't really very interested in the pumpkin seeds. You can see he's inspecting my wares and didn't come back for seconds. They are wonderful cheeky birds, though, and I truly enjoyed having them around. By the time we reached the cars, we had covered a little more than four miles and 1,300 feet of elevation. It sure seems like a lot more on snowshoes, I have to say. I was really tired by the time I got home.

Earlier in the week I placed an order for a case of Boulder Hot Sauce, because I was sent a bottle of the pricey but very tasty sauce by a good friend. I gave the owner my credit card number over the phone, and he sent me a nice little receipt for $59.53. This morning I got a call from him, with an apology for an accounting error. Someone entered the receipt as being for $5,953.00 of hot sauce! And guess what, my bank took it without question. It showed up on my bill this morning, and when I talked with the bank clerk, I asked her if maybe it didn't look a little suspicious that I had decided to buy so much of the stuff. Nope. It went through without a raised eyebrow, which makes me a tiny bit nervous. I'm going to keep a much closer eye on my account from now on. I have been issued a refund, but it hasn't shown up yet. I'll breathe a big sigh of relief when it does.

I just love this picture of one of the jays I took yesterday. He is looking quite coy, or maybe just posing for the camera. They do get a lot of visitors up there.
:-)

24 comments:

  1. I've had similar experiences with the band, though not nearly as much. It does take a few days for the refund to show up on your account. They can add the charge lickity split but don't seem to be able to add the refund that quick.

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  2. Gasp! Did your heart speed up a bit?

    The hike looked to be marvelous.

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  3. Great photos! I can't believe the birds just sat in your hand. I thought that only happened to Mary Poppins. I believe you when you say you were tired after that distance on snowshoes.

    I agree with you that it's frightening that your bank didn't find a purchase of that size suspicious. I would imagine, more than the object of purchase, the amount would have been a red flag. Assuming that's an unusual amount for you...In this day and age, it's necessary to pay close attention to such matters. It's simply too easy to get screwed. Thank goodness that gentleman was honest.

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  4. Whoo-eee, that would be a lot of hot sauce! Hope you get that refund soon, so you can put it out of your mind.
    What a beautiful snow shoe hike you had yesterday. You are so right to take every opportunity to enjoy this wonderful weather. Tomorrow it goes back to "normal".

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  5. I love the bright sunlight and blue skies you found on your snowshoe trip. And jays that eat out of your hand--what fun!

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  6. Bank errors, along with gorgeous pictures and what a neat pic of your friend feeding the bird!

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  7. Pumpkin seeds, almonds and hot sauce...just what I like too, DJan. Actually, it was pumpkin/squash soup with hot sauce today and yogurt with almonds, that I had today, still similar. Loved your hand feeding of the jays!

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  8. That is a nice photo of the jay. And aren't you the intrepid adventuress? My husband took me snowshoeing behind our home, the one we sold at the end of 2009. We abutted national forest and were up a mountain so it was always uphill through semi cleared trails. I found it very arduous. Perhaps flat snowshoeing is more fun?

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  9. Ack.. that would be a lot of hot sauce! I hope it resolves quickly.

    Love those jays. I'm amazed at how friendly they are.

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  10. so just how many bottles did you get for $6000...oh my...yeah glad he was honest...what a cool pic of the bird eating out of his hand....that is cool...

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  11. How wonderful that the birds landed right on your hand to feed! Charming, to say the least. Wow, that error was a biggie - hope it's fixed soon.

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  12. I love that you could feed them by hand!! And what a beautiful (but cold ;p) walk. So very stunning.

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  13. That is an excellent picture of the bird in the hand. Cool. Very cool.

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  14. Yikes! That number error would have had me ranting and raving. Good thing the hot sauce company caught their mistake.
    The bird photos are fabulous.

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  15. I like to feed birds but I don't feel so kindly toward jays. Years ago, I chased them away from a nest of tiny wrens which they were eating. I don't like watching birds eat other birds. That includes the hawk that lives in our trees and devours doves. It is the way of nature, but I don't like to see it.

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  16. That bird was so tame and fearless. Amazing shots! Too bad about the credit card error. I hope you see a refund on your statement soon.

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  17. I'm just so impressed in more ways than one. The fact that your get out and hike like that while I'm stallin' puttin' on my Michelin Man garb to go out and do chores. The birds there just look amzain'...I have had our land on my head while feedin' 'em but I can't see 'em.

    Ya gotta watch those banks...just sayin'!!!

    God bless ya sweetie and have a warm fuzzy kinda day!!! :o)

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  18. I always am in awe of your trips out into your beautiful part of the world. I wonder how you have time to post. I wonder how you have the energy. I love the photos.

    Your life would really be spiced up with all that hot sauce! I also wonder how those charges go through so quickly and then take for ever to get cleared up.

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  19. I can't imagine walking through snow on snowshoes. But it sure must be easier than regular shoes. I should have said I did or have walked on them in the Army and also was pulled behind weasels -- I was on skis. That's the way to go.

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  20. The snow looks soooo deep! Lovely pictures and I love the birds.

    I would worry about the bank! Problem is, they will probably charge for an overdrawn before they credit the money back so be prepared for a fight! Oh my, there is so much like that going on these days. They really should have picked that up and phoned you to check, shouldn't they. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

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  21. Wow that hike makes it look like you are on top of the world! What a beautiful day..and I loved the bird photos!

    The owner of the shop should send you a case of that hot sauce on the house for his error..I would also be angry that it wasn't caught at the bank. I would check everyday with the bank until the credit comes through. I am sure it will be ok..eventually.
    I have a special credit card with a 300 dollar credit limit on it that I use just for stuff I order online or over the phone..I had to ask for this card special at the bank. It works great..one time Far Guy charged a bunch of stuff that I did not know about and my order did not go through..so it has been tested and works:)

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  22. i love the photos of the jays, we don't have them over here and I do miss seeing them. The magpies just aren't the same.

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  23. Snowshoeing is a mode of transportation I have yet to try. Looks like it is a better option than cross country skies in terrain like this. Beautiful and exhilarating!

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  24. Brrrrrrrr....looks beautiful, but cold!! I would have been in bed for a WEEK after such a snowshoe adventure!

    Amazing pics with the Jay bird...

    OH LORD!! Over $5,000 on hot sauce and no one questioned it? What did they think...YOU WERE A RESTAURANT?

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