A Friday Haiku
It’s time to party
But we can’t since hackers stole
All of our info!
Equifax fux us over
By now, you’ve heard that back in July Equifax, one of three national credit bureaus that contain all our information, was hacked.
Approximately 143 million people could be affected. Information such as your name, Social Security number, date of birth, address, and driver’s license number could now be in the hands of unscrupulous cybercrimals.
In addition, 209,000 people could have had their credit card numbers exposed.
This is a data breach disaster of epic proportions. This makes hacks of Target, Wendy’s, Starbucks, TJ Maxx, Sony Playstation Network seem like peanuts.
Hacks like this beg the question, why do these credit bureaus exist? I mean other than to make our lives miserable when we try to buy a car. Why are they allowed to have access to, no, have control of all our information?
Didn’t anyone think it was a bad idea to have one company, or even three companies, in control of every person’s personal identifying information?
And why was this info stored where Internet hackers can access it? Shouldn’t it be on a stand alone system inaccessible to any outside snoopers?
And where is the outrage from Congress? Had this been the IRS that was hacked exposing 143 million Americans, the Republicans would have been all over them like flies on shit.
There would be Congressional hearings and investigations. Shouts of outrage at the IRS’s incompetence safeguarding American’s data. They’d grill the IRS Commissioner for weeks. They’d subpoena agency emails and records. Conservatives would be screaming for heads to roll and that the agency should be done away with once and for all.
Instead … silence. Why? Because Equifax is one of their buddy corporations who help the rich get richer by denying the poor and downtrodden credit.
This is our identities that were stolen and no one seems to give a damn. Everyone treats it like this is the new normal and we shouldn’t be surprised.
Well, I’m not just surprised by their lackadaisical attitude about guarding this information, I’m mad as Hell they had access to it in the first place.
Who wants to bet the Koch brothers info wasn’t affected by the hack? They probably keep the 1-percenters’ info secure on a separate gilded server accessible only to servants wearing tuxedos and white gloves with snooty attitudes.
Once again, a giant corporation fucks us over and no one cares.
Update: It looks like several Equifax executives sold their stock in Equifax before the hacking was made public. Scumbag bastards!
To find out if you were affected by the hack
Go to www.equifaxsecurity2017.com and click on the Potential Impact box at the bottom.
If you were affected, then they’ll give you a date when you can come back to sign up for a free year of credit monitoring.
Good luck.
Amwriting
Yes. I’m still dilgently at work editing the first draft of my urban fantasy fairy tale novel. And yes, I’m still finding it enjoyable.
As I read through it this first time, I’m getting excited because I still think it’s really quite good. Which is a strange reaction for me. Usually, I’m my own worst critic and I’m usually judgemental to the point that I start questioning the story’s worth and my own self-worth as a writer.
That isn’t happening this time. Should I be worried?
Why I still treadmill
For a while there, June and July, I was running outside. I’d get up early, greet the sun, and go for my run.
But now, darkness greets me, so I don’t morning run, I run as soon as I get home from work.
And I run on my treadmill. But why, you ask. Didn’t you tell us a while back that you found running outside more interesting than running on a treadmill? That the treadmill runs seemed to drag on forever?
Yes. Yes, I did. But running on the treadmill is so much more convenient and the weather is always the same. I don’t have to worry about the cold or the heat or rain or eventually, the snow.
Plus, and this will seem a little anal or OCD, I don’t like getting my running shoes dirty.
There. I said it. Running on the treadmill keeps my shoes looking pristine, as if I had just bought them. And I like that.
Running outside, my shoes would pick up mud, dirt, bug guts, and all sorts of icky god knows what kind of gunk. Yuck.
No thanks. I can deal with that on my everyday walkers, but not my running shoes.
Weird, right? But there it is.
Running and rowing
Anyway, I’m back to running a little over a mile a day (I admit I had a few bad weeks there trying to adjust my schedule and remotivate myself), except for the occasional rest day. Instead of increasing my distance, I’m gradually increasing the incline. I’m up to 5%, which doesn’t sound like much, but I can feel it in my hammies and glutes.
Then, after I run the mile, I immediately jump on my Cardiofit and row for several more minutes.
This keeps my heartrate up while working different muscle groups.
We’ll see if it makes a difference.
Weigh-In Friday
I made a decision on my diuretic. Last Friday, I weighed 204 pounds. Up from the previous Friday, but down from that Wednesday.
Well, on Saturday, I weighed myself and I had ballooned up to 208!
C’mon! It had taken me nearly two years to drop 30 pounds. I wasn’t about to put up with my weight going up and down like a yo-yo because of how much water I was retaining depending on how much salt I consumed.
My scale shouldn’t be like a roulette wheel where I wonder what weight it will stop on each time I step on it.
Therefore, I went back on the diuretic.
Today my weight is down to 200.7 pounds. Nearly what it was before I started monkeying around with my hypertension meds.
I’m back on track with my weight loss goal. No more experiments.
A Haiku about TheRump
He thinks he’s our king,
And we’re his loving subjects;
Fuck you, you orange turd.
And In Closing
For those in the path of Irma, stay safe. You’re in our thoughts. As are the people in Texas still trying to recover from Harvey.
For the rest of you, I hope ya’ll have a great weekend, even if some pimply-faced teenager in Russia is maxing out your credit thanks to Equifax.
Here’s a song to leave you with:
Enjoy.
-30-
Upon Reflection 