HI, From Michigan

Hello, today is our last day in Michigan!
I have to admit, I can not wait to go home.

It seems like we have been very busy, though I am having a hard time really pin pointing anything we have done...

We went to the local botanical gardens, which is run by the University of Michigan, and is small but very beautiful.

Adam and I spent one afternoon walking around in down town Anne Arbor, which we enjoyed in spite of the frigid temperatures.

We went to the mall with Adam's mom to return an item, and spent a little time walking around the mall. Victoria's Secret is having their semi- annual sale, so I indulged in some items for myself, some new underwear and some heavenly lotion and perfume as well as a few make-up items.

For me the highlight has surely been visiting the riverside skating arena, which is the nicest skating rink I have had the opportunity to skate in. The Oaks park rink in Portland is also very nice, but the staff does not let you skate even remotely fast, and that is annoying. Adam's parents were nice enough to babysit that night so we got to skate together which is rare. We had a great time and even ran into a few Detroit roller girls and some of their newbies. I probably should have tried to attend one of their practices since I brought all of my gear but it felt like our stay flew by.

Then of course we have spent a lot of time with Adam's family.

Happy new year, all. I have so much more to say... hopefully I get around to it in the new year!

Is it Karma?

I was fortunate enough last night to get to spend the evening with my husband, which is rare for many derby girls. In fact I never would have become involved with my husband if he had not been affiliated with duke city derby- but that is a wonderful story suitable for an entry of its own.

Adam got online to pay a bill and there was a pending transaction for a Smart Savings Center for $29.95 er… wha??? So we looked it up. We came up with a website that touted remarkable savings when you spend a “low” monthly fee. That made my stomach turn because it sounded remarkably familiar. I worked for the A VERY LARGE Call center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico right before I moved to Portland. When I worked there we were required to offer almost all of our customers a savings program, either the LARGE COMPANIES home or escapes program. I am not sharing the name of the program, not because I want to protect the company, but rather because I signed a lot of paperwork when I started and I am willing to bet that one of the things that I agreed to was not to leak inside information. However, if you would like to see what their customers have to say about it, you can read all about it here. The difference, as far as I know, is that the customers were told about enrolling in the program. We had a very specific script that we had to read VERBATIM in order to receive credit for selling the program, and the large company TOLD US that if we did not follow the script with a proper acceptance from the customer that they would NOT be sent the program. This company was a truly excellent employer, so I hope that this was true. I think the program is terrible, and I wish the large company I worked for would discontinue their involvement with it.

SO how did Adam get signed up for this program??? He ordered a book from hotbooksale.com and was AUTOMATICALLY, and without authorization signed up for this program. We dug as far back as we could in his account history and he was being charged 14.95 monthly for this bogus (yes I totally just said bogus) program that he never signed up for. In addition, there was no notification that the charge had increased to $29.95. But here is the real kicker… ADAM NEVER EVEN GOT THE BOOK THAT HE HAD ORDERED! He was having a really hard time finding the book and was excited to get it at a great deal, but a few days after he ordered the book he received an e-mail that the order had been cancelled and the book was out of print. He eventually ordered the book on e-bay for almost $70.00 meaning between the exaggerated price he spent on e-bay and the disgusting charges that he incurred from this Smart Savings Center SCAM he spent well over $200.oo for a book that originally cost about $17.00. OMFG!

SO we get one evening together this week… and we spent it dealing with a scam.