Yosemite backpacking trip

So Kekoa and I went on a backpacking trip in Yosemite last week, we started near Bridalveil campgrounds (not falls), and ended up in the valley.. This was the first time we planned a trip ourselves and went without anyone else who knew (better) what they were doing. So the planning was slightly stressful, but, we are back, and didn't run into any bears or hurt ourselves. Some pictures Kekoa took on my flickr.

It was refreshing to be far away from civilization for 4 days, the first 1.5-2 days we saw no one, which was surprisingly nice.

Update on mail fraud

Back story here, if you didn't hear what happened. I finally checked my mail in SF and figured out how they activated the card. The other piece of mail missing from my mail box is a pay check stub from work. I look at my other pay check stubs, it actually contains the last 4 digits of my social security.... *sigh*

Mail Fraud?

My old debit/ATM card expired, and I only found out when I went to the bank and said.. "uhh I can't get money out of the ATM, I think my card expired...". The lovely folks said "oh, your card expired, we mailed you a replacement card a long time ago, I guess you didn't receive it? Let me mail you a new one!" That was last week.

Yesterday I receive a call from the WaMu fraud department saying there are charges made on my debit card that were suspicious... I start freaking out, as I haven't received the card!! I call the number, they list about $1000 of charges made on my card, and of course I now can login online to see that someone has been using my debit card. Wonderful, right? So how did they activate it?

My theories about this: I did a quick search online, according to the internet, to activate it over the phone, you only need a security code (from the back of the card) and the card number, they verify you via caller ID and your bank account. When I called from my cell phone to say "shut this card down", the automated system even had the wrong phone number then, so I guess that system doesn't work...

The fraud claims department at WaMu claims that they mail you 2 pieces of mail, one piece of mail with the PIN to activate the card and another piece of mail with the card itself. So I'm guessing someone has been intercepting my mail. Last night I started thinking - I've also not received the old card (originally mailed debit/atm card), and also an AMEX that was supposedly mailed a while ago... Which makes me think it's my mail man. Said mail man also knows that I check my mail only once/twice a week. I guess I should probably also call the US Postal Service and point some fingers, huh? :/

So what happens now? There's been about $1000 charged on my card, the fraud claims department says I can file a claim with them to get the money back once the charges go thru (right now they are still pending). I think from now on, I'm only going to go with a bank that allows me to ONLY get an ATM card, and not a debit/ATM card. Since they can't even get their activation shit together. :(

The need to pee

Every time before I go on a bike ride, I have this ridiculous desire to pee say.. 2-3 times in the 5-10 minutes it takes for me to get ready. And I usually do go to the bathroom around 2-3 times before I actually leave the apartment. I think just the fact that I know it will be a pain in the arse to go in the next few hours, makes me just super nervous and want to pee again and again. Yet every time I do this, I feel a little ridiculous...

ridiculous prices of the 2007 Bordeaux futures

The 2007 Bordeaux futures are so ridiculous expensive, the wine seller I've been getting price quotes from are including a disclaimer in their price lists:

"Obviously we wish these wines were less expensive, and the strong Euro cannot be blamed on the Châteaux's pricing policy, but we feel obliged to point out there are other wines that offer considerably better value for money. We cannot condone the price for the 2007, but we feel we have to make an offer of some of the world's great wines."

Pretty sad, they are pretty much unaffordable at this point. The prices are just insane. Especially since the 2007 vintage is nothing to write home about.

Review: Bay Area Women's Cycling Clinic

I signed up for this Bay Area Women's Cycling clinic last weekend (schedule here), and I'll say it was a bit of fun, and a good workout.

It definitely made me try a lot of things outside my comfort zone, like being comfortable in a pack, taking corners tighter, trying to ride no hands, and just building confidence.

The first day was more useful in terms of building skills, I felt more confident about certain aspects of being on a bike after the first day (the first day was a bit of bike handling, cornering, pack riding, being around people, pacelines). The first day I think ~50 people showed up (this included some people in racing teams...)

The second day felt more "hard core" for me, around ~30 people signed up, and most of them were the folks in team kits or were signed up to do the death ride this year. We did hill climbing drills (standing on hills, sag climbing, finding your rhythm, ...), and we climbed this hill off of page mill like 7-8 times. After that we went up on page mill (~8 mins of it) for a "real climb"... Then after the climbing we did a mock race. The interesting about this is I realized that I really don't have the desire to beat out other people to get to the front. I just, enjoy riding for the sake of being outside and such.

The best part of the second day was the session talking about exercises that stretch and strength - I learned a bit about which of my muscles were weak, tight, and also some ways to maybe improve on it. I'm looking forward to mixing up my workout routine.

That said, I thought the clinic was extremely useful and also really well organized. Everyone was extremely helpful and cheerful. Nicole has way more energy than anyone I've met. I was impressed by how the organizers managed to block traffic and let the whole group through. There was also lots of swag - I got pink water bottles! Lastly, it was just fun being around a group of upbeat women for the weekend.

Cubee crafts

I think these cubee crafts toys are pretty awesome. Especially when I'm feeling crafty and lazy. You can print out these "patterns" for toys and print them out and make 'em.

I should make myself a domo-kun and a kirby...