Wanderlust

Posted By Ann Melrose on April 11, 2010

Over the past ten years, I have evolved from a woman with bad knees and a bad back to a virtual cripple. I’m not that person anymore. Most people see a plastic surgeon to take a few years off their appearance. For me, it was multiple trips to an orthopedic surgeon. I have degenerative disk disease, severe arthritis and degenerative joint disease. All inherited from parents and grandparents, and unfortunately, passed down to my children.

In my thirties, I was proud of the fact that I had very few surgical scars.  That was then and this is now when you can play a game of connect the little white lines on my body. The surgeries started 15 years ago with an ankle reconstruction (from a sprained ankle), shoulder surgery (rotater cuff), then a lumbar fusion at the base of the spine, followed by the knees and finally another back surgery. The first lumbar surgery was over 5 years ago to solve the degenerative disk problem. I was NOT told that the surgery would put strain on the surrounding vertebrae and I would probably have to have more surgery. The doctor did NOT suggest physical therapy to strengthen the muscles and delay the degeneration. All he required is that I wear the brace until the incisions healed and released me. The pain was eased slightly and came back. After I was sufficiently healed, work was done on both knees (with a different surgeon) with new knee joints. I did get physical therapy with those surgeries. The theory was that if the knees were healed properly, then some of the back and hip pain would be eased. It seemed to help the hip but not the back. So, I found a new orthopedic surgeon. (more…)

Category: Medical Muckups | No Comments »
Tags: back surgery, pain, pain meds, surgeon

Posted By Ann Melrose on January 19, 2010

Michelle Obama’s outpouring for the benefit of the Red Cross is well and good if a person has $10 to spare and a cellphone that does text messages. However, not everyone has either the ten-spot or a cell with sufficient texting. Yes, the ten dollars will go a long ways toward purchasing food and water for the Haitians, but in all of the drives for donations, I have yet to see one for medical equipment. Because of the type of injuries, a lot of these people have become amputees, losing a hand, arm, leg and more. I, for one (because of my medical history) have a surplus of canes and a walker; I know of other people who have more. Many of our neighbors have cared for an ailing parent who has passed on leaving behind a multitude of equipment including canes, walkers, wheelchairs, oxygen supplies and more. How do we get these to Haiti? Where can we drop them off? Who is going to handle shipment to the island and to those who would dispense them?

I remember Port-au-Prince before the earthquake. It was 40 years ago and I understand there weren’t too many changes over the last 40 years until the earthquake. At that time, my husband was stationed at Guantanamo Bay and we went on a one-day shopping trip to Haiti. It was a lesson in reality. We were living from payday to payday and did not have a lot of money to spare. However, by comparison we were wealthy. In Port-au-Prince itself, there were signs of modern development, but the people who came to the market to sell their “goods” were absolutely dirt poor. It seemed so unfair then — the few who were wealthy thrived, while those who were poor had no chance of improving themseves. Forty years later, not much has changed.

(more…)

Category: Background | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By Ann Melrose on October 9, 2009

Lately, one of the highlights of my day is picking up the mail. It’s not that I am expecting anything special. My kids don’t write. No one in my family or circle of friends write or send anything in the mail. It’s faster to use the phone, email, or UPS. However, sometimes it is fun to look through the junk or just simply dust out the cobwebs collecting in my mailbox. It all sounds pretty boring, until I found the envelope buried among the advertising and junk mail.

It’s  just a plain envelope…no markings. Not even a return address. All it has on it is a label with my name and address, a Canadian stamp and a postmark. Wait a minute! I don’t know anyone in Canada. Scam clue #1!

I carefully opened the envelope and a check fell out, fluttering gently to the ground. A check made out to me in the amount of $4,950, from the AIG Annuity Insurance Company. Their address is printed as Amarillo, Texas. The check  is on the BNY Mellon Trust of Delaware. Now, I’m getting very suspicious. Anything regarding AIG sets off warning bells. Scam clue #2!

Since I am now very suspicious, I opened the letter that originally held this check. At the top is the AIG logo, with an address in Seattle, Washington. According to the letter, my name was connected with a specific serial number and was drawn out of a computer database in the “annual Consumer’s Promotional Draw”, organized for Canadian and American consumers of retailers including Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Macuy’s, etc.  I have been awarded with a prize of $250,000. The check I am holding in the amount of $4950 has been provided to aide me in the mandatory payment of non-Canadian residential tax, insurance and delivery charges. The actual prize will be delivered as a certified check.

Ooookay. Now, I have shopped at Wal-Mart, Target and Sears. However, I do not recall filling out any forms with my name and address. And I also have never heard of anything called an annual Consumer’s Promotional Draw. At the bottom of the letter, it specifies for me to contact a claim agent with phone number and lists a tax agent with an address in New York. Now we have 5 seperate locations (including the origination in Canada)  associated with this one plain envelope. SCAM clue #3!

As for SCAM clue #4, this letter was not on letterhead. It appears to simply be a copy generated on a copy machine, complete with toner smudges.

Since I was away from my computer, I called my daughter to do a search to see if there were any instances similar to mine. I had her enter the words: AIG, annual consumer draw. She immediately got a number of hits with people relating very similar instances. In fact, one report listed the wording on their letter that was amost identical to mine. Apparently what these people want is for you to deposit the check into your bank account. Then you are immediately to call them and arrange to pay the taxes via a wire or some other instant method of payment. Since the check is bogus, your bank is now minus $4950 and they now have your banking information, person information, and you have been set up for identity theft.

AIG has stated that they have absolutely no relationship with these people and if you receive a letter/check such as I did, turn it over to law enforcement agencies. I checked with the postmaster and was told that the best method for me is to send it to the State Attorney General’s office. For more info on this major scam:

www.ripoffreport.com/…/AIG…/aig-annuity-insurance-company-42e3a.htm

www.bustathief.com/consumers-promotional-draw-scam
www.complaintsboard.com/…/td-financial-trust-c189702.html
www.wpcu.coop/default.aspx?ContentItem=3726.

Most people dream of finding a fortune in their mail. Unfortunately there are wolves out there… in this case, Canadian wolves who prey on innocent folks who just don’t have a clue. Now, I have given you for solid SCAM clues.  Please be wary of any promises of wealth. Never, ever give out any personal information, banking information. Always be suspicious of anyone wanting  you to deposit a check in your account and give them the funds back. In this case why go to the trouble to send a person money to pay taxes from your own bank account, unless there was something in it for them?

And always, do what I did — run a search on it. In most cases, it has happened to someone else and it is better to take the time to check it out. If it looks like a SCAM, smells like a SCAM, you can bet that it is a SCAM!

Category: Wired Up | No Comments »
Tags: check, mail, scam