Odds and Ends

Credit Card Update

Here's a quick update on the credit card I had replaced. When I cancelled there was a message on the web site saying a replacement card was on the way. I asked the person I spoke to if the card had been sent. She said it hadn't.

The next day in the mail the new card shows up. The reason I was getting a new one was because it was a card with the new chip in it.

Here's a little more on the why of getting a card with a chip:

Techies are calling the upcoming shift in how we will use our credit cards at the store something like "dip the chip."

A unique one-time code is generated every time a card with a chip is used, and a one-time code is hard for crooks to duplicate to make fake credit cards, according to card experts.

 But the thing is that the strip is going to remain on the cards because not all merchants can afford the new card readers. So my question is what good is this going to do.

The other thing I noticed is after activating the card over the phone I was not told to sign the card on the back. This happened to me twice because it just so happened I got another card in the mail not too long ago. Here are the card companies taking all these steps to protect people when one of the most important signing the actual card you aren't even told to do.

Christopher Lee

I missed doing a big write up on him when he died back in June. But I'm going to do a little one here.

When I was growing up I remember seeing Lee in the Horror of Dracula as Dracula. If I remember correctly he doesn't say a word of dialog in the entire movie. I think the is rather ironic because of the amazing sound of his voice. One that when you hear it is instantly recognizable.

The end of the movie has one of the neatest ways of Dracula being destroyed. It goes like this:

A chase then begins as Dracula rushes to return to his castle near Klausenberg before sunrise. He attempts to bury Mina alive outside the crypts but is caught by Van Helsing and Arthur. Inside the castle, Van Helsing and Dracula struggle. Van Helsing tears open the curtain to let in the sunlight and, forming a cross of candlesticks, he forces Dracula into it. Dracula crumbles into dust as Van Helsing looks on. Mina recovers, the cross-shaped scar fading from her hand, indicating that she has been saved. As she recovers, Dracula's ashes blow away, leaving only a ring behind.

I thought it was just so very cool.

It was great later in his career that he was in such huge hits as the Lord of the Rings, the second set of Star Wars movies and then the Hobbit. It was just so wonderful to see him on screen again.

But one of the best performances is on Saturday Night Live. Yes, Saturday Night Live. It was in 1978. One of the skits is very funny. It's called Mr. Death. Guess what role Lee plays? The skit is this: Death comes to apologize to a little girl for taking away her dog, and the pair get into a long conversation over why he has to do what he does. The little kid is played by Gilda Radner. The ending is very funny.

Rediscovering Murder She Wrote 

For many years Sunday nights meant watching Murder She Wrote. Recently I discovered that once again on Sunday nights Murder She Wrote is on. It's on Cozi TV and sometime one of the Hallmark channels. In fact sometimes Hallmark runs an all day marathon of espisodes.

I really liked the show and I enjoy watching them again. It was a pretty well written fun show to watch. Just the right type of diversion for a Sunday night. Something to kick back and watch adn just enjoy.

Once it moved off of being on Sunday nights, I watched fewer and fewer of the episodes. So I've seen a couple that are brand new to me. It's getting close to 8 (I think it's great that the show is in its old time slot) and I need to see if the show will be on.

After all if it's Sunday night it must be time for Murder She Wrote.