I've had my credit card replaced a few times because they said someone tried to make a fraudulent charge on it.
Only once did they not catch one, and I called them about it. They immediately reversed the charges. But did not replace my card that time which had me worried for a while.
Debi used to work for a credit card transaction company. It is not uncommon for a digit to be misread, or a clerk type in a bad digit that just happens to be for a valid card. They usually catch these before they appear on a customers statement because of a location difference. If you just made a charge in your home town, it is unlikely you made an in-person charge over a thousand miles away, and then another one in your home town an hour later, hi hi.
On-line orders require the code from the back of the card.
One of my earliest credit cards was MasterCharge, which later became MasterCard.
I liked how they worked much better than after they became MasterCard.
The due date was 24 days from the date of the statement, which was really 21 days by the time you got it. Plus, even if you didn't make your payment by the due date, you still had 30 days after the statement date before they added the high late fee. The first late fee was only 2% of your monthly payment amount, the higher late fee after 30 days was a fixed dollar amount 22 bucks back then I think, plus the 2% of your payment amount. This little extension was great because I had trouble making ends meet back then. Even so, I eventually paid it down and off, and after that could normally keep it paid up every month.
However, after it became MasterCard, the due date was only 15 days after the statement date, and the late fee was like 27 dollars, no grace period of any kind. Where I worked at the time, we were paid monthly with a bread n butter check mid-month of a fixed amount that would be deducted from our final pay at the end of the month. I always had to make sure and set aside the funds for the credit card that always came a few days before I would be paid next.
Silent letters
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Re: Silent letters
At one point in my life I deliberately never paid off the credit card. The thinking was that the money was better used from my pocket than to give it to some credit card people. Paying the minimum worked fine for many years. They even upped our limit when we got too close to going over. A few times we never asked. They just did it. They knew they had us hooked, so they gave us all the line they had. Then one fine day, I think it was after some sort of financial crisis, they (MasterCard) restructured the charges. Interest came to a max of 29%, I believe it was. It would take a few years to pay off the card that way if I stopped using it altogether. So, wife and I decided to pay off the card and never carry a balance. That is pretty much what we have been doing for quite a few years now. It became a self-imposed rule of the house to not carry a loan balance after we retired. The house was paid off and so was every thing else. So, if we can't pay for it during the current billing cycle, we don't buy it.
I don't know how it happened but MasterCard at some point changed to Visa. The card we have now is issued by Chase but that original MasterCard was from someplace else. I think they went belly up and Chase bought them out ... or something. It all makes no never mind, the same rule would apply to anybody's card. We are putting about half our income on the credit card and Visa is very happy with that arrangement. LOL MasterCard, by the way, is the biggest employer in O'Fallon. They have a huge building on the south side of town and many local folks work there. I don't think my card goes through there, but it might.
I don't know how it happened but MasterCard at some point changed to Visa. The card we have now is issued by Chase but that original MasterCard was from someplace else. I think they went belly up and Chase bought them out ... or something. It all makes no never mind, the same rule would apply to anybody's card. We are putting about half our income on the credit card and Visa is very happy with that arrangement. LOL MasterCard, by the way, is the biggest employer in O'Fallon. They have a huge building on the south side of town and many local folks work there. I don't think my card goes through there, but it might.
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I keep my credit cards paid in full each month as well.
Can't say the same for any of my wives though, hi hi.
Speaking of which, I have a judgement against me by a credit card company for my late wife's two credit cards.
Knowing how ill she was, we carried the insurance policy that if she dies, they are automatically paid for.
I think I told you this before so will simply truncate.
She bought Christmas Gifts to be delivered at Christmas.
She died in November. The credit cards were not charged until the items got delivered.
A loophole in the insurance said if the credit cards were used after she died, I owed the balance.
They should have paid them off at her death but didn't, only made the minimum monthly payment, but they did so interest free too I found out in court.
Since they can't touch my social security check, and that's my only source of income, I'm basically judgement proof.
So they only made a token claim against me on the second card by adding it to the first somehow.
They did try attaching my business account at the time two banks merged, but the bank caught it immediately, even before I knew they did it and put the money back in my account. Then later when I got the check from those who took it, I had to take it to the bank, cash it, and hand the money over to the bank, hi hi.
They've also tried to attach Debi's bank account and had to pay that back with a bank imposed penalty, hi hi.
From the cash back program on my current credit cards, I've actually earned over a 1500 bucks since I got those cards.
Can't say the same for any of my wives though, hi hi.
Speaking of which, I have a judgement against me by a credit card company for my late wife's two credit cards.
Knowing how ill she was, we carried the insurance policy that if she dies, they are automatically paid for.
I think I told you this before so will simply truncate.
She bought Christmas Gifts to be delivered at Christmas.
She died in November. The credit cards were not charged until the items got delivered.
A loophole in the insurance said if the credit cards were used after she died, I owed the balance.
They should have paid them off at her death but didn't, only made the minimum monthly payment, but they did so interest free too I found out in court.
Since they can't touch my social security check, and that's my only source of income, I'm basically judgement proof.
So they only made a token claim against me on the second card by adding it to the first somehow.
They did try attaching my business account at the time two banks merged, but the bank caught it immediately, even before I knew they did it and put the money back in my account. Then later when I got the check from those who took it, I had to take it to the bank, cash it, and hand the money over to the bank, hi hi.
They've also tried to attach Debi's bank account and had to pay that back with a bank imposed penalty, hi hi.
From the cash back program on my current credit cards, I've actually earned over a 1500 bucks since I got those cards.
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I can see the logic to you paying for any charges after your wife's death. The legality or ethics of it is something else. My guess is the CC company actually hires somebody outside the company to collect on what they think are bad debts. If that company collects they get a percentage of the recovered funds. Otherwise they get nothing but a bunch of lawyer fees for their efforts. By this point in time I'd guess it would not be worth pursuing what they think you owe them. They spent a lot of time and money and their cut of the recovered funds would not cover their legal expenses. That's just a guess, of course, but probably close to what is/was happening.
I like the cash back concept in theory, but in the final analysis it's all a gimmick to get you to spend more. You know, spend a lot to get a lot back. In my case I get points which translates to cash. I can spend those points to pay off the balance on my card, or use them to buy stuff from Amazon. That latter option irks me a bit in that Amazon can now look over my cash back status and get an idea of how much I'm putting on credit. I guess enough people were pissed about it so that now it's an opt-in feature. They don't do it automatically as was the case originally.
My cash back deal is at the rate of 1% of normal purchases, and 2% of restaurant charges. This same credit card company sends me junk mail encouraging me to apply for a credit card that pays 1.5% cash back. Why would they do that? I don't know but I can guess. My old card has some provisions that they can't back out of unless I close the account and open a new one. I've not yet figured out what all comes with that new higher rate, but I do know they aren't giving me something for nothing. I just don't know what it is they are giving me other than a line of bull.
I like the cash back concept in theory, but in the final analysis it's all a gimmick to get you to spend more. You know, spend a lot to get a lot back. In my case I get points which translates to cash. I can spend those points to pay off the balance on my card, or use them to buy stuff from Amazon. That latter option irks me a bit in that Amazon can now look over my cash back status and get an idea of how much I'm putting on credit. I guess enough people were pissed about it so that now it's an opt-in feature. They don't do it automatically as was the case originally.
My cash back deal is at the rate of 1% of normal purchases, and 2% of restaurant charges. This same credit card company sends me junk mail encouraging me to apply for a credit card that pays 1.5% cash back. Why would they do that? I don't know but I can guess. My old card has some provisions that they can't back out of unless I close the account and open a new one. I've not yet figured out what all comes with that new higher rate, but I do know they aren't giving me something for nothing. I just don't know what it is they are giving me other than a line of bull.
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When I got my card it was no annual fee, no interest, and 1%, 2%, or 3% cash back.
And if I opened a Savings Account at their bank with a 300 dollar deposit (which I did), they direct deposit my monthly earnings into it, and I get another 1% bonus on the total amount deposited.
The no annual fee has remained in affect, but after 5 years they added 12.9% interest if I don't pay the previous months charges in full. I always pay it off so have never been charged interest.
I don't particularly like the bank it is with, but was never made an equivalent offer elsewhere. And heck, after so many years with no problems of any kind, why change?
The frau has a couple of special cards that have no interest if you pay off in 6 months or a year.
Like a major appliance purchase card, gives us a year with no interest. However, the gimmick here is, if you don't pay off the purchase in a year, all the interest that would have been charged gets added on. So we have to watch this card very close and make sure it is paid up in full well ahead of the end of the year.
The other card is for Vet bills, no interest if all charges are paid before six months. That don't mean pay it off, just make sure none of the charges get to the six month point. The statement for this card shows the age of each charge and how many months left before it will be charged interest on that specific charge amount.
And if I opened a Savings Account at their bank with a 300 dollar deposit (which I did), they direct deposit my monthly earnings into it, and I get another 1% bonus on the total amount deposited.
The no annual fee has remained in affect, but after 5 years they added 12.9% interest if I don't pay the previous months charges in full. I always pay it off so have never been charged interest.
I don't particularly like the bank it is with, but was never made an equivalent offer elsewhere. And heck, after so many years with no problems of any kind, why change?
The frau has a couple of special cards that have no interest if you pay off in 6 months or a year.
Like a major appliance purchase card, gives us a year with no interest. However, the gimmick here is, if you don't pay off the purchase in a year, all the interest that would have been charged gets added on. So we have to watch this card very close and make sure it is paid up in full well ahead of the end of the year.
The other card is for Vet bills, no interest if all charges are paid before six months. That don't mean pay it off, just make sure none of the charges get to the six month point. The statement for this card shows the age of each charge and how many months left before it will be charged interest on that specific charge amount.
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That 6 month or earlier pay-off clause can be tricky. You are fortunate to have a card that shows the age of the charge so that you can track it unambiguously. I've seen cards that offer that feature, but, any payments made are applied to the most recent purchases. That means the oldest item will never be paid off unless you clear the entire balance. I'm not sure how it's done these days, but it was perfectly legal, and buried in the fine print, many years ago.
I've also seen many cards advertised as not having any annual fees. It's been several decades since I had a card that did have an annual fee. The competition from those folks offering free cards wiped out those who were charging an annual feel.
I think I'm going to look into paying with my clever phone. In that case I'd never have to touch the terminal at the grocery. Only problem is not every store has that near field capability.
I've also seen many cards advertised as not having any annual fees. It's been several decades since I had a card that did have an annual fee. The competition from those folks offering free cards wiped out those who were charging an annual feel.
I think I'm going to look into paying with my clever phone. In that case I'd never have to touch the terminal at the grocery. Only problem is not every store has that near field capability.
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My newest credit card, I don't have to plug into the slot, if the store has the silver dot on their terminal. But I still have to hold it over the silver dot for a second or two.
The terminals where you have to stick your card into the slot seems to take much longer than the ones where you simply swipe the card. But the places with the silver dot are almost instant and the OK light comes on. Or a green ring around the silver dot.
About 25 years ago some of our local gas stations had what they called Fast Pass. I never trusted it, so wouldn't use it.
But then I learned I could just keep the card on my dashboard up against the glass and it could read it through the glass.
Most folks put it on the roof of their car where it could be easily stolen. Although I don't know anyone who put it there.
We have a chain of local gas stations down here where you can use your Schmartz-Fone to trigger the pump. Even set the amount you want to buy if you only wanted to get 10 bucks worth. I see some gals at the gas station who must be using their app, because they stop for a minute before getting out of the car, then just grab the pump handle and stick it in the tank, when they are done, they hang up the handle put the gas cap back on and be on their way. So something had to turn the pump on, hi hi.
Speaking of new things. Debi has a cousin who lives over in North Carolina, and a bank there is trying something new, a two-part credit card. It has a little tag you put on your keychain, about as wide as a pencil and half as thin, about 1-1/2 inches long if that. Your credit card won't work in the new blue machines if your card is not within 3 or 4 feet from your keychain tag. I figure it must be something like an RFI chip in the tag. Don't see how this would prevent theft, especially for ladies who keep their keys in their purse with their wallet, hi hi.
I looked on-line to see what she was talking about and never found anything about it.
The terminals where you have to stick your card into the slot seems to take much longer than the ones where you simply swipe the card. But the places with the silver dot are almost instant and the OK light comes on. Or a green ring around the silver dot.
About 25 years ago some of our local gas stations had what they called Fast Pass. I never trusted it, so wouldn't use it.
But then I learned I could just keep the card on my dashboard up against the glass and it could read it through the glass.
Most folks put it on the roof of their car where it could be easily stolen. Although I don't know anyone who put it there.
We have a chain of local gas stations down here where you can use your Schmartz-Fone to trigger the pump. Even set the amount you want to buy if you only wanted to get 10 bucks worth. I see some gals at the gas station who must be using their app, because they stop for a minute before getting out of the car, then just grab the pump handle and stick it in the tank, when they are done, they hang up the handle put the gas cap back on and be on their way. So something had to turn the pump on, hi hi.
Speaking of new things. Debi has a cousin who lives over in North Carolina, and a bank there is trying something new, a two-part credit card. It has a little tag you put on your keychain, about as wide as a pencil and half as thin, about 1-1/2 inches long if that. Your credit card won't work in the new blue machines if your card is not within 3 or 4 feet from your keychain tag. I figure it must be something like an RFI chip in the tag. Don't see how this would prevent theft, especially for ladies who keep their keys in their purse with their wallet, hi hi.
I looked on-line to see what she was talking about and never found anything about it.
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That last card you talk about sounds a lot like two factor authentication used by most financial websites these days. It's not enough to only have the credit card, that magic stick is also needed to verify the transaction. If that's the ONLY way the card works, it could be a royal PIA if you lost or misplaced the stick. it would seem to not work for online purchases, although they are a little more secure given your location is part of the transaction. I think the only thing that two factor card would prevent is use of stolen cards. It might be a big problem for the company offering that feature.
The Mobile gas stations used to have that "fast pass" card, but I never got one of those. There was a Pegasus drawing on the gas pump and you simply had to get the card close to it in order to get the gas flowing. I like the idea of a gas app on my clever phone. LOL It would be glorious if all I had to do was lift the nozzle and start pumping. A lot of credit cards are hacked by inserting them into compromised card readers. The phone app would eliminate that kind of theft.
At the moment I'm hesitant to use the phone for live transactions. Google knows way too much about me already. They nag me from time to time about how convenient Google Pay is, and I may eventually go that route. But for now it's going to take some convincing that it's a good ideal.
The Mobile gas stations used to have that "fast pass" card, but I never got one of those. There was a Pegasus drawing on the gas pump and you simply had to get the card close to it in order to get the gas flowing. I like the idea of a gas app on my clever phone. LOL It would be glorious if all I had to do was lift the nozzle and start pumping. A lot of credit cards are hacked by inserting them into compromised card readers. The phone app would eliminate that kind of theft.
At the moment I'm hesitant to use the phone for live transactions. Google knows way too much about me already. They nag me from time to time about how convenient Google Pay is, and I may eventually go that route. But for now it's going to take some convincing that it's a good ideal.
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Almost all the stores down south here have their own personal discount cards, initially used in lieu of coupons. But now they are simply to track your purchases. On the bright side, you earn a 10 cent discount on gas there, hi hi.
Since the Lockdowns, some of the stores won't sell some items to you without their little card, and won't take a credit card unless you have their card in some of the stores, which this latter part I think might be illegal.
I don't remember Mobil having Fast Pass, but I do remember Standard Oil and Amoco both having them.
When Debi was down in Florida, a local gas chain, apparently big down there, named Motiva, had this cylinder you plugged into your cigarette lighter after you pulled up to a pump. If you didn't have one, you had to go up to the window to pay first, either with cash or a credit card. They offered to sell her one for 25 bucks, telling her she would get a dollar discount each time she bought over 10 gallons of fuel until she got her 25 bucks back.
There was no credit card acceptors or receipt printers on the gas pumps either.
Said she stood there for the longest time looking at the pump and people would pull in get gas and leave.
A lady told her, maam you have to go to the window and get a thingy, hi hi.
Since the Lockdowns, some of the stores won't sell some items to you without their little card, and won't take a credit card unless you have their card in some of the stores, which this latter part I think might be illegal.
I don't remember Mobil having Fast Pass, but I do remember Standard Oil and Amoco both having them.
When Debi was down in Florida, a local gas chain, apparently big down there, named Motiva, had this cylinder you plugged into your cigarette lighter after you pulled up to a pump. If you didn't have one, you had to go up to the window to pay first, either with cash or a credit card. They offered to sell her one for 25 bucks, telling her she would get a dollar discount each time she bought over 10 gallons of fuel until she got her 25 bucks back.
There was no credit card acceptors or receipt printers on the gas pumps either.
Said she stood there for the longest time looking at the pump and people would pull in get gas and leave.
A lady told her, maam you have to go to the window and get a thingy, hi hi.
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A lot of the big shops here and in Illinois have their own purchase cards. At one time we had about twenty of them in our collection. What we didn't know is that the credit bureau people keep track of each one of those cards. We found out when we tried to finance, or re-finance, one of the houses we owned. An real live credit report came into our possession and we were blown away at all the stuff they had on us. Worse than Google, but not up to par with Facebook. LOL Eventually we did away with all those cards because as you point out they are for tracking purchases and not much more. I take pleasure in telling Walgreens to this day that I don't need their "Rewards" card. Charge me a fair price instead of giving me cash back on an inflated purchase. Credit cards were being accepted everywhere, eventually, so that is the preferred method of payment for me. I like the idea of a single vehicle for financial transactions. I think the payment by smartphones will take over credit cards some day, but we are not at that point yet. I can also see a dongle in an empty slot of my computer for security purposes. But, a dongle to buy gas at the local station? NNNaahhhhhh.
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I remember back when every store had their own charge card.
Needed a tote bag to carry them all in, hi hi.
Credit reporting agencies look at your high limit and add them all up for the bank to see you couldn't afford a loan with that much available credit. When I went to refinance our house, they took over and closed 8 of the cards it said we had. Let us keep one and one only, except for the gas cards they let us keep. Fortunately, most of them had no balance to pay off, but we had to close them all out, and the bank took care of that for us. We did get the loan though, as long as it was direct withdrawal, hi hi.
I don't mind all the grocery tracking cards, if something has a coupon, we get it even if we don't have the coupon, plus for each 100 bucks you spend, you get another penny off the gas at their pumps. We never use it until it gets up to a dime off, or they give us the other dollar discount for a fill-up.
One gas station we don't use at all, has some gimmick that seems to attract a lot of customers.
For one their gas does NOT have Ethanol in it so is already higher priced.
But they have membership clubs where you get like a dime off per gallon, and another 3 cents off if you have their quick shop card too. Since we don't put many miles on our cars being retired, the membership would cost us more than we would save on gas, hi hi.
Needed a tote bag to carry them all in, hi hi.
Credit reporting agencies look at your high limit and add them all up for the bank to see you couldn't afford a loan with that much available credit. When I went to refinance our house, they took over and closed 8 of the cards it said we had. Let us keep one and one only, except for the gas cards they let us keep. Fortunately, most of them had no balance to pay off, but we had to close them all out, and the bank took care of that for us. We did get the loan though, as long as it was direct withdrawal, hi hi.
I don't mind all the grocery tracking cards, if something has a coupon, we get it even if we don't have the coupon, plus for each 100 bucks you spend, you get another penny off the gas at their pumps. We never use it until it gets up to a dime off, or they give us the other dollar discount for a fill-up.
One gas station we don't use at all, has some gimmick that seems to attract a lot of customers.
For one their gas does NOT have Ethanol in it so is already higher priced.
But they have membership clubs where you get like a dime off per gallon, and another 3 cents off if you have their quick shop card too. Since we don't put many miles on our cars being retired, the membership would cost us more than we would save on gas, hi hi.
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I realize that I must be a terrible shopper and the stores I patronize must love to see me. Several people I know make collecting discount coupons a paying hobby, but I ignore them all with one exception. I need to use an antacid called Nexium which like several other products out in the wild practice price control You can't find a retailer that sells the stuff for anything but the suggested retail price. Coupons for this stuff can be found, but they are always the same discount; $3 on a given size box if I recall correctly. Never saw a coupon for more of a discount. So, I ignore it and pay retail when I buy my antacids. My wife, however, scours the ad papers and finds stores (Target) that are selling the Nexium for that same $3 off as a sales item. So, she takes the coupons and gets several boxes for the sale price plus the discount from the coupon. But that's not all. She deliberately does this at Target because she has one of their in-house cards that automatically takes 5% off all purchases made with the card, She ends up getting the goods for around an $8 discount from that fixed price that Pfizer controls.
When it comes to food I buy quality whenever possible. Screw the price. If I'm looking at a shelf full of six different brands of dill pickles and one of the brands is on sale, I'll typically grab the sales item. There isn't much variance in dill pickles, although I can tell that the in-store brand is not using the same brine as the national brands. At the Schnucks checkout they invariable ask if I have any coupons or if I'm a member of their rewards program. No is my answer in both cases. If all they did was track my purchases and generate on the spot coupons based on my shopping habits, then I might go along with it. But they do what Facebook does and sell the data to other companies. Thus they are profiting from my shopping behavior. I suppose you can make the argument that they are paying me for that information by applying a discount. I say forget the data collection and just apply the lower prices to everything so that all shoppers can benefit from them.
When it comes to food I buy quality whenever possible. Screw the price. If I'm looking at a shelf full of six different brands of dill pickles and one of the brands is on sale, I'll typically grab the sales item. There isn't much variance in dill pickles, although I can tell that the in-store brand is not using the same brine as the national brands. At the Schnucks checkout they invariable ask if I have any coupons or if I'm a member of their rewards program. No is my answer in both cases. If all they did was track my purchases and generate on the spot coupons based on my shopping habits, then I might go along with it. But they do what Facebook does and sell the data to other companies. Thus they are profiting from my shopping behavior. I suppose you can make the argument that they are paying me for that information by applying a discount. I say forget the data collection and just apply the lower prices to everything so that all shoppers can benefit from them.
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I have something similar to GERDS only without the acid backup, I forget what the doc called it, but I'm not supposed to take any antacids because they mess with my other pills.
About a month ago I got a burning mouth and lump in my throat. Felt like my esophagus was full, made it hard to eat and swallow. It has been slowly going away, but still nothing tastes right and my mouth still burns a little.
Doc has no idea what caused it since my diet had not changed one iota, and I'm not on any new or different pills.
Said it would go away in a month or two, or three or four, hi hi.
I've never got ads or e-mails because I use the store discount cards.
So if they are selling the info, I sure the heck don't know to whom.
My current telephone number is not on the application I filled out to get the card.
Now Debi, with her Schmartz-Fone did subscribe to electronic coupons and makes good use of them.
Many years ago, I had an aunt they called the coupon queen. No one ever understood how on earth she did it either.
Most of the time you get coupons for the more expensive items, which still cost more than other brands even with the coupon. Some stores had double coupon days, so those were the days she shopped, hi hi.
I think she probably spent more on postage to get some of those coupons than what she saved too.
But today, with the Internet, I apply for some coupons for a few things.
Get some really good deals too! Made an eyebrow or two raise when a cashier decided to check to see if my coupon was valid since it was for like 50% off or $5.00 off a $3.00 item, then they didn't know what to do, hi hi.
About a month ago I got a burning mouth and lump in my throat. Felt like my esophagus was full, made it hard to eat and swallow. It has been slowly going away, but still nothing tastes right and my mouth still burns a little.
Doc has no idea what caused it since my diet had not changed one iota, and I'm not on any new or different pills.
Said it would go away in a month or two, or three or four, hi hi.
I've never got ads or e-mails because I use the store discount cards.
So if they are selling the info, I sure the heck don't know to whom.
My current telephone number is not on the application I filled out to get the card.
Now Debi, with her Schmartz-Fone did subscribe to electronic coupons and makes good use of them.
Many years ago, I had an aunt they called the coupon queen. No one ever understood how on earth she did it either.
Most of the time you get coupons for the more expensive items, which still cost more than other brands even with the coupon. Some stores had double coupon days, so those were the days she shopped, hi hi.
I think she probably spent more on postage to get some of those coupons than what she saved too.
But today, with the Internet, I apply for some coupons for a few things.
Get some really good deals too! Made an eyebrow or two raise when a cashier decided to check to see if my coupon was valid since it was for like 50% off or $5.00 off a $3.00 item, then they didn't know what to do, hi hi.
Re: Silent letters
Your esophagus symptoms sound quite a bit like what I was going through. It got to the point where I could not eat solid food. The swallowing would get better but inevitably came back to a burning lump in my throat. So, I went to the doctor and he wasn't sure what it was. However, he must have had an idea and ordered up some tests. I had to swallow some liquid barium (I think it was) while they recorded it going down my gullet. In the final analysis it was determined I had a Hiatal hernia and acid reflux. Stomach acid was backing up into the esophagus and eating away at the lining. This was not good. Fortunately, the treatment was simple. Nexium isn't like the traditional calcium based tablets. I'm not certain how it works but apparently it slows down the production of stomach acid in some way. The prescription strength was about three times the dose of the OTC strength capsules and I discovered the OTC pills worked just as well. So, based on the theory of avoiding over medication, I stuck with the OTC version. Insurance won't cover those, but I'm taking in less chemicals. And, haven't had any symptoms for decades now. I can tell when I miss taking a pill, and after a few days I'm back to being uncomfortable eating. So I guess the problem is chronic, and I'll be taking pills forever.
I bought some stocking from Walgreens online. The description was vague but the price was right, so I ordered a few pair. They were way too large when I finally got them, and I wanted to exchange them for the right size. It turned out that I was able to return the stockings to any brick and mortar Walgreens store. The one nearest my house did not sell the stockings, but they did honor the return policy. I thought that was amazing and they earned a few points for that service. However, after I gave the till tart all the paperwork with QR codes et. al., she was flummoxed. She had to call the manager over because those goldang "Rewards" points were involved. She didn't know how to flush them out of the system with my QR coded paperwork. I told her I didn't care about the points because I never intend to use them anyway, but she apparently could not close the transaction unless the points were accounted for. Well, the manager figured it out and everybody was happy afterwards. It's just one more reason I don't like those fake discounts stores offer.
I bought some stocking from Walgreens online. The description was vague but the price was right, so I ordered a few pair. They were way too large when I finally got them, and I wanted to exchange them for the right size. It turned out that I was able to return the stockings to any brick and mortar Walgreens store. The one nearest my house did not sell the stockings, but they did honor the return policy. I thought that was amazing and they earned a few points for that service. However, after I gave the till tart all the paperwork with QR codes et. al., she was flummoxed. She had to call the manager over because those goldang "Rewards" points were involved. She didn't know how to flush them out of the system with my QR coded paperwork. I told her I didn't care about the points because I never intend to use them anyway, but she apparently could not close the transaction unless the points were accounted for. Well, the manager figured it out and everybody was happy afterwards. It's just one more reason I don't like those fake discounts stores offer.
Re: Silent letters
I can't remember the name of what the doctor called my most recent problem.
He thinks it was caused by the Prednisone he had me on for a short time, or possibly an inhaler he had me use.
Although it looks and acts like GERDS only without the acid backup.
I have burning mouth syndrome that was really bad, plus a lump in my throat, and my esophagus felt full like it wasn't going down to my stomach.
It was actually really bad for a while, which is why I went to the doc.
All he said was wait a month and if it still persists to make another appointment for an exploratory.
Well, it has been easing up a little, but still burns a tad, and nothing tastes right.
I never did have any acid backup at least the kind that burns the back of the throat anyhow.
At least I can now eat without it feeling like I have clog, hi hi.
Even so, he said it could take many months to a year to go away.
I do hope it goes away faster than that though, hi hi.
I always buy socks two size levels below what the label says. If the package says 9 to 10 or even 8 to 10, I will buy the size marked 6 to 8 or 6 to 9 instead. Then they fit right and don't fall down.
I wear boots, so need the tall socks which are hard to find in small sizes.
Sometimes what are marked boot socks are only calf-high, so when I get stuck with those, I have some nice cheap socks SI cut the bottoms off of so use them like a sleeve over the other socks, which does help hold them up better too. They were originally a size 6 to 8 so do hold really well as sleeves over the other socks up to just below my knee.
Due to diabetes, I cannot wear men's boot sock garters, although I have with some socks that were too large, but then I used the wide flat garters not the round ones. Even made some of my own from elastic strap. Much cheaper that way, hi hi.
He thinks it was caused by the Prednisone he had me on for a short time, or possibly an inhaler he had me use.
Although it looks and acts like GERDS only without the acid backup.
I have burning mouth syndrome that was really bad, plus a lump in my throat, and my esophagus felt full like it wasn't going down to my stomach.
It was actually really bad for a while, which is why I went to the doc.
All he said was wait a month and if it still persists to make another appointment for an exploratory.
Well, it has been easing up a little, but still burns a tad, and nothing tastes right.
I never did have any acid backup at least the kind that burns the back of the throat anyhow.
At least I can now eat without it feeling like I have clog, hi hi.
Even so, he said it could take many months to a year to go away.
I do hope it goes away faster than that though, hi hi.
I always buy socks two size levels below what the label says. If the package says 9 to 10 or even 8 to 10, I will buy the size marked 6 to 8 or 6 to 9 instead. Then they fit right and don't fall down.
I wear boots, so need the tall socks which are hard to find in small sizes.
Sometimes what are marked boot socks are only calf-high, so when I get stuck with those, I have some nice cheap socks SI cut the bottoms off of so use them like a sleeve over the other socks, which does help hold them up better too. They were originally a size 6 to 8 so do hold really well as sleeves over the other socks up to just below my knee.
Due to diabetes, I cannot wear men's boot sock garters, although I have with some socks that were too large, but then I used the wide flat garters not the round ones. Even made some of my own from elastic strap. Much cheaper that way, hi hi.
Re: Silent letters
Since we are on the topic of old people's diseases ... 
The stockings I bought from Walgreens are not the normal kind. I have a condition called venous insufficiency. That means bad circulations in the legs. About a dozen years ago those incompetent veins caused blood clots to form and nearly killed me. I'm sure I talked about it elsewhere in these forums. The treatment for that kind of thing is to take anti-coagulants. They stated me on what I learned was literally rat poison, Warfarin. In small doses it's effective in cases like mine, but as it turns out it's not the most reliable treatment. It required blood tests once a month or more often at times. After living in Missouri a year or two the shins of my legs would develop random ulcerations. Nobody seemed to know what was causing it, and particularly not the dermatologist I was seeing. However, she did refer me to a wound care clinic. It took them about 30 seconds to figure it out. Because of the venous insufficiency the blood was not coming close enough to the surface of the skin. Thus it dried out and created ulcers. They showed me how to apply patches and how to care for it all, but the take away was that I should be wearing anti-embolism stockings. I hesitated at first but then the Warfarin failed. I had to switch to a new and very expensive drug that seems to work a little better. These stockings and the new pills in combination seem to be helping. Ultimately there is a fix that involves long needles and probing around the blood vessels in my legs. A cardo-vascular surgeon would be needed to do that. So, I'm debating if I want to fix it or just live with it. It's a bit inconvenient, but manageable. The particular brand and type of stocking I buy is wildly priced. Some places like WalMart used to sell them for $14 a pair, and CVS pharmacy sold the identical ones for $40 a pair. I don't look too bad in Spandex and shorts, but it's hard to get anything other than white. If I wore kilts instead, it might look better. LOL
The stockings I bought from Walgreens are not the normal kind. I have a condition called venous insufficiency. That means bad circulations in the legs. About a dozen years ago those incompetent veins caused blood clots to form and nearly killed me. I'm sure I talked about it elsewhere in these forums. The treatment for that kind of thing is to take anti-coagulants. They stated me on what I learned was literally rat poison, Warfarin. In small doses it's effective in cases like mine, but as it turns out it's not the most reliable treatment. It required blood tests once a month or more often at times. After living in Missouri a year or two the shins of my legs would develop random ulcerations. Nobody seemed to know what was causing it, and particularly not the dermatologist I was seeing. However, she did refer me to a wound care clinic. It took them about 30 seconds to figure it out. Because of the venous insufficiency the blood was not coming close enough to the surface of the skin. Thus it dried out and created ulcers. They showed me how to apply patches and how to care for it all, but the take away was that I should be wearing anti-embolism stockings. I hesitated at first but then the Warfarin failed. I had to switch to a new and very expensive drug that seems to work a little better. These stockings and the new pills in combination seem to be helping. Ultimately there is a fix that involves long needles and probing around the blood vessels in my legs. A cardo-vascular surgeon would be needed to do that. So, I'm debating if I want to fix it or just live with it. It's a bit inconvenient, but manageable. The particular brand and type of stocking I buy is wildly priced. Some places like WalMart used to sell them for $14 a pair, and CVS pharmacy sold the identical ones for $40 a pair. I don't look too bad in Spandex and shorts, but it's hard to get anything other than white. If I wore kilts instead, it might look better. LOL
Re: Silent letters
I had a cousin who had to have several veins stripped from his legs. I think they were varicose veins or something like that.
I don't have too many issues with legs other than poor circulation from a bad heart. But I do get these dried out spots on my skin in various places. They are OK for a while, then they begin itching big time. These are different than the black patches I get on my back and a few other places. The doc can freeze those when they cause me too much trouble. But the white ones, after going to the doc with them a few times and he sent me to a dermatologist that only sanded them down and gave me some creme. I just do it myself now with a diamond dust nail file I bent into an arch, hi hi.
The creme was expensive so I just use Nivea and it works just fine.
More than my skin, I worry about my eyes. I have RCE in my right eye, which is basically a pot-hole that is getting larger, and is very painful each time it sheds the film-like scab. I also have Blepharitis in both eyes, and it has become steadily worse the past few years. I wear glasses and my eyelashes flick that stuff onto the lenses, and it turns into like crystals on my eyelashes too, which means they sometimes get in my eye and can then make small cuts in my eye, also very painful.
Getting OLDE is the Pitts Yogi, but I guess it is better than pushing up daisies, hi hi.
I don't have too many issues with legs other than poor circulation from a bad heart. But I do get these dried out spots on my skin in various places. They are OK for a while, then they begin itching big time. These are different than the black patches I get on my back and a few other places. The doc can freeze those when they cause me too much trouble. But the white ones, after going to the doc with them a few times and he sent me to a dermatologist that only sanded them down and gave me some creme. I just do it myself now with a diamond dust nail file I bent into an arch, hi hi.
The creme was expensive so I just use Nivea and it works just fine.
More than my skin, I worry about my eyes. I have RCE in my right eye, which is basically a pot-hole that is getting larger, and is very painful each time it sheds the film-like scab. I also have Blepharitis in both eyes, and it has become steadily worse the past few years. I wear glasses and my eyelashes flick that stuff onto the lenses, and it turns into like crystals on my eyelashes too, which means they sometimes get in my eye and can then make small cuts in my eye, also very painful.
Getting OLDE is the Pitts Yogi, but I guess it is better than pushing up daisies, hi hi.
Re: Silent letters
I know of those white calloused itchy spots of skin. That's part of the incompetent vein problem I have. It would seem to me that veins should be a separate system from the skin and I don't see how the problem arises. I guess the capillaries are closer to the surface than the deep veins, and that affects the condition of the skin. The best advice is to keep the problem skin occluded. That's easy enough to do in an open area, but my problems are mostly on my shins which are covered by Spandex stockings. It would be messy at best.
You have RCE -- Remote Code Execution -- in your eye? That's astounding.
My cousin has that pothole problem in her eye too. I didn't know what it was called but I recognize the description. She is in her 80's. I'm doing all I can to avoid getting old, Gary. I think I'm holding my own mentally. It's the body that isn't cooperating very well.
You have RCE -- Remote Code Execution -- in your eye? That's astounding.
My cousin has that pothole problem in her eye too. I didn't know what it was called but I recognize the description. She is in her 80's. I'm doing all I can to avoid getting old, Gary. I think I'm holding my own mentally. It's the body that isn't cooperating very well.
Re: Silent letters
Yeppers, doc says it is not enough veins near the surface to keep the skin alive. So it keep pushing up from the next layer down.
Yeppers RCE, Rectal Cranial Eversion, hi hi.
I do my cardiac exercises three days a week, but this is only to keep my poor heart muscle as strong as possible.
Even so, sometimes my fingers and toes turn white and have no feeling, so I have to rub them to get the circulation going again. I do walk every day, three times a day, for 10 minutes each time. Some days a whole lot more, but not normally.
Just going down the hill to the mailbox and back used to be impossible for me without sitting down and resting half the way back. Now I can make it down and back easily, however, my O2 drops too low so I have to hit the O2 tank and sit for a minute or two until my O2 is back up again. Then I'm OK.
I do have a portable sack to carry the small O2 tanks with me when I go like to the store.
They actually gave it to me for my short walk up to the office each morning, noon, and after dinner.
But I just keep a tank and regulator up here and use it if needed.
Yeppers RCE, Rectal Cranial Eversion, hi hi.
I do my cardiac exercises three days a week, but this is only to keep my poor heart muscle as strong as possible.
Even so, sometimes my fingers and toes turn white and have no feeling, so I have to rub them to get the circulation going again. I do walk every day, three times a day, for 10 minutes each time. Some days a whole lot more, but not normally.
Just going down the hill to the mailbox and back used to be impossible for me without sitting down and resting half the way back. Now I can make it down and back easily, however, my O2 drops too low so I have to hit the O2 tank and sit for a minute or two until my O2 is back up again. Then I'm OK.
I do have a portable sack to carry the small O2 tanks with me when I go like to the store.
They actually gave it to me for my short walk up to the office each morning, noon, and after dinner.
But I just keep a tank and regulator up here and use it if needed.
Re: Silent letters
Mom had something like a fanny pack that she could strap around her waist to provide oxygen on the go. That small tank could also be carried like a purse, but the waist band allowed her to do things hands free from the tank.
I'm glad to learn that you can do some kind of cardio exercise. Your heart may not have the capacity as the original equipment, but apparently it is a pretty tough muscle for what there is of it. Mom had what they called a silent heart attack because she never knew she had one until she was hospitalized for something else. They determined that about 30% of her heart was damaged, but she didn't think there was any difference. It all goes to show how much extra capacity we have built into our bodies. I guess that happened because there isn't a way to regenerate defective organs ... yet.
My annual wellness check with my doctor is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. The appoint was scheduled last August before the notorious pandemic was even considered possible. I'll be visiting him in his office, which kind of surprises me. Two of my wife' doctors offered her virtual office visits. My doctor is pretty well informed about computers but maybe he figures this old guy isn't. I'll have a word with him about it. LOL
I'm glad to learn that you can do some kind of cardio exercise. Your heart may not have the capacity as the original equipment, but apparently it is a pretty tough muscle for what there is of it. Mom had what they called a silent heart attack because she never knew she had one until she was hospitalized for something else. They determined that about 30% of her heart was damaged, but she didn't think there was any difference. It all goes to show how much extra capacity we have built into our bodies. I guess that happened because there isn't a way to regenerate defective organs ... yet.
My annual wellness check with my doctor is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. The appoint was scheduled last August before the notorious pandemic was even considered possible. I'll be visiting him in his office, which kind of surprises me. Two of my wife' doctors offered her virtual office visits. My doctor is pretty well informed about computers but maybe he figures this old guy isn't. I'll have a word with him about it. LOL