SCAM

Tonight I need to share a scam with you.  Please share with everyone you know.  I have contacted the BBB, as well as posted a review on the company's website.  I’ve also posted this on Facebook.

BEWARE!!!!  THIS IS A SCAM!!!!

This is the only pic I have right now that I got off the company website.

This company offers a free jar of their cream for the shipping cost of $4.95.  DO NOT order this youth cream because this is a scam.  This company is just a bunch of crooks.  They charged my credit card $119.95 plus the $4.95 shipping for the supposedly free jar of cream (except shipping).  It’s on my credit card statement under goldenskin. 

I called my credit card company immediately and they investigated, but came back in favor of this company, so I filed an appeal.  I told them there was no disclosure that I would be charged anything other than $4.95 for this small sample jar.  BEWARE!  DON’T DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY! 

I’m going to have to pay the $119.95 to these scam artists, but I have blocked them from any further access to my account.  If you are smart you won’t get involved in the first place.  This cream didn’t do anything special either.  It’s not worth it.  I can’t believe they are still in business and will post this all over the net so other people aren’t scammed like I was.

On top of this I made a few phone calls to get things straightened out.  At no time was I told I would be charged other then $4.95 for this cream.  I’m very disgusted at this point and will warn anybody I can to stay away from this company.

This company deserves NO STARS but needs to be locked up.

If you’d like to read all the negative reviews for yourself, 

click here.  Please share with family and friends, or reblog if you want to.

You’re never too old to try something new

Me in a kayak for the first time

I had my first kayak experience about ten days ago.  My good friend and sister from another mother, (because we were born two hours apart on the same day and in the same year), had been after me coaxing me to try it.  I finally decided “why not?”  I felt nervous, but pretty safe as my girlfriend is a retired RN.  She also helps with “search and rescue" efforts in the area.

So I finally arrived at her house an hour late on kayak day because my biggest fault is always being late.  I swear I’d be late to my own funeral, except I won’t be in charge of getting me there then.

We met up with another experienced kayaker and “search and rescue” worker.  Once everything was unloaded and we were in our life vests, the three of us set out to enjoy Sand Hollow in our separate kayaks.  At first I was very nervous, as I can’t swim, but gradually relaxed as I learned how to use the oars to get me right and left and how to go forward and turn around. 

Me at Sand Hollow.  Rocks are all over like the ones behind me.  It's really beautiful.

Sand Hollow is actually pretty shallow.  It was clear enough to see trees and bushes growing in the bottom and there are rock formations all over so I had to paddle around them.  I didn’t run into them too many times.  It was a learning experience for sure.

I did learn a thing or two about oars too.  They come in different weights, shapes and sizes.  The one I started with was too heavy for me, so I traded for a lighter one and did much better.  I actually was having fun doing this and it was so relaxing once I got over my fright and realized I wasn’t going to turn the kayak over. 

However, I had no idea how to get out of the thing once we got back to the dock, so I fell into the water and hit my rear-end on the rocks.  I still have a sore bottom, but it’s getting better.  And since I was wet from that, my two companions took me by the hands and pulled me out to knee deep water and had me sit down so I could get it through my head that I would float if I ever did overturn the kayak, or fall overboard.  This was the worst part of the whole trip having to sit down and lift up my legs and then my arms, so I didn’t have a firm hold on anything.  They were there to rescue me though, otherwise I don’t know if I could ever do this by myself.

We ended up staying out there two hours.  My arms were very sore for a couple of days, but that quickly went away and I feel like I’m ready for my next trip.  It wasn’t so scary that I won’t do this again and actually probably more than one more time.

Enjoy nature while you can

And I really do enjoy all the birds we have here.  I’m so happy the squirrel still comes daily to stock up on winter provisions and he/she hasn’t fallen prey to predators in the desert.  The same goes for the desert toad.  I only see them in the hot summer months and only late at night.  I was so happy to see this frog again on my patio last night.  As I mentioned before, most of the lizards have become lunch, or dinner, for the roadrunners.  I have to face the fact that this is life in nature.  The bigger critters feed on the smaller ones.

Desert toad

When the birds gather around the water bowl, I can almost imagine they’re there visiting friends and sharing the latest gossip.  LOL.  I guess I have an overactive imagination, but I believe that animals carry on much as we human people do in our daily lives, just without all the trappings of clothes and shoes and toiletries we use to make ourselves presentable.

Birds at the water cooler

On another note, I’m looking for a second part-time job because hours at my current part-time job have been cut until people start returning to the desert for the winter.  About half the people in the area leave for cooler climates when we have triple digits here.  I’m hoping to find something for evenings that isn’t too far of a drive to make it worth my while to go there and that I’m not too old to get hired.  Time will tell.  I’ll be looking into this all next week, so more on this later.  If I get lucky, I do intend to work both jobs for the foreseeable future.  I need to pay some bills off.  After that maybe I won’t be so stressed and I can relax more.  Right now I feel as if I have an ulcer half the time.  I think its only nerves.

My ankles have gotten so much better after the cortisone shots.  I can actually walk normal again and I’m so happy about this.  I go for a follow up this week.  More on this later too.

On another note, I have two ill friends right now that will be undergoing surgery this next week.  I would appreciate it if you could send some healing thoughts their way.

Critters in the desert

Somehow all these little creatures thrive here.  I’ not sure how they do it with the extreme heat and the cold in the winters.  We’ve had lots of visitors.  I even saw a baby squirrel yesterday, but by the time I got the camera it was gone.  So I put peanuts out in hopes it would come back.  I had to go to work so I don’t know if it did or not.  I hope so.

We even have a huge grasshopper now that I’m sure is feeding on my few living plants.  Where are the roadrunners when you need them?  LOL

Enjoy the pictures.

Birds at the water bowl

Desert toad

Lizards

Quail family

Roadrunner

Squirrel

A helpful hint

At my new place of employment there’s an older lady who transferred from another store.  I can always tell when “Mary” has worked because there will be price stickers stuck on everything.  I’ve tried to help her out by giving her some hints on how to avoid this, but she isn’t interested in any constructive criticism, no matter how much it’s sugar-coated.  And she seems not to care if there are stickers all over our department.  She’s oblivious to any kind of mess.

All this stuff looks crappy around our workplace and so I set out trying to scrape it all off.  These things must have super glue because it takes me several hours between customers to get them all up.  I know the next time “Mary” works it’ll be the same situation.  I keep hoping she’ll get better.  The price tags come out of the printer sticky side up, so I’m not exactly sure how she manages to get them sticky side down and stuck onto everything.  It takes good old elbow grease and a wet rag to get them off after scraping with my fingernail.

Hand sanitizer - not a real clear shot

A young man working for us told me to try hand sanitizer on them, so I did.  Guess what?  It works!  Who knew?  So I have a tiny bottle in my pocket.  If I squirt that on it and smooth it around, it’ll come off after sitting a few minutes.  I thought this may come in handy to know when we bring things home with those stickers that leave behind tons of sticky glue to remove.  Try this some time.  I think you’ll be surprised.

Who knew such beauty grows in the desert

The desert is a very harsh place, as I’ve said before.  It’s so hot and dusty in the summers that it’s a wonder anything survives.  I always feel bad for the critters who call this home.  Somehow they endure, although I’m sure some of them parish in the heat, or the extreme cold when food is hard to find.

There are very few plants that stay alive here.  We all think of cactus and sagebrush when we think of the desert landscape.  Today I wanted to share the Texas sage plant with you.  

These pics are from the Texas Smart Scape website.  I couldn't find the ones I took and downloaded.  They are vibrant purple.  These pictures don't do this plant justice.

These bushes thrive here and get loaded with flowers like this about four times a year.  This plant is so stunning it takes my breath away.  They can be spotted all over when in bloom like this.  The blooms last quite a while too.

Do you believe in ghosts?

To set the mood - photo from unsplash

This might be a controversial subject because I think people either do or don’t and there is no middle ground.  My husband is one of the don’ts, but I definitely do.  I know at least some of my family members’ do, as well, having seen ghosts themselves.

The reason I’m even bringing this up is because I think my sister-in-law visited me about three weeks ago.  She was such a wonderful person and has been gone a number of years now.  She came to see me the day she died.  I was sitting in the closet putting on my makeup when she appeared in the doorway, a ghostly shape dressed in white.  I think she came to say goodbye.

This is my sister-in-law not long before she passed away.  RIP

Since then I’ve seen shadows out of the corner of my eye but I’m not really sure if the light is playing tricks with me, or she’s just checking on me.  Anyway I was in the shower about three or four weeks ago and a small jar of eye cream went flying off the shelf in my closet.  My closet doesn’t have a door so I can see in there while in the shower.  That bottle was at least six inches from the edge.  I just couldn’t figure out how it tumbled to the floor all on its own.  Then I thought it might be her checking on me again.

I know some of you are probably wondering why I put my makeup on in the closet.  I have no other place and the lights are good in there.  I keep my makeup and magnifying mirror on a shelf in the closet, so it’s convenient to sit on a stool and do my face every day.  Weird I know, but I have to work with what I have.

Have a great day everyone.  It’s to the shower and off to work for me.  I hate the night shift, but we all have to share.