SCAM ALERT!!

Here is a very informative blog post I just read on Brooke Burke's website .. it is written by Brooke Burke herself and I thought I should share it! Please be careful when answering your door! And please be careful when being charitable!

=============================

SCAM ALERT!
Posted 1/12/2010 9:52 AM PST
“May none of us open our hands in need this year, but offer it only in friendship.”

Crazy story to share. I want to give everyone a heads up. Can’t believe it happened at my house!

David and I went to a friend’s house for dinner the other night and she was a bit spooked when we rang the gate bell. She began to tell us the story of a young man that paid her a visit that afternoon…

“A 20 something yr old boy rang our bell, the gate was open so he came to the door.” He said, “My grandmother lives just down the street and I have just come from your neighbor’s home, Mrs. Levy. He said I should stop by. My sports league has just won our tournament and we are trying to raise money to pay for our trip and championship uniforms. We are asking and hoping for any contributions you may be willing to give.”

My friend called for her husband, and was happy to write a check (she is very charitable), but her husband wanted more info.

He did not recognize the boy’s grandmother’s name. He asked him what the name of his money raising org was. He stepped away for a moment with the info to check online to verify it. He found nothing. Then he began to drill the boy for anything credible before he contributed…

“Quality Subscriptions Inc is the name of our group, Sir” said the polite young man.

“Just give me a moment,” my friend said to the boy.

He Googled that name and what he found was FRAUD SCAM!!! www.complaintsboard.com

“You better leave our neighborhood immediately before we call the police!” said my friend’s husband.

The boy left immediately and they followed him in their car to be sure he kept going and stopped at no other homes.

Wednesday, my doorbell rang…. I answered by phone from my bedroom.

“Hi, my name is Bill, my grandmother lives in the yellow house on the corner, I have just come from your neighbor’s house next door (she happily wrote him a check btw) and she suggested that I stop by. My baseball team just placed first in our league….could you come down so I can speak to you on person please, so I can explain?”

OMG, I thought! I quickly called David so he could handle it, we already knew the drill, but it was still so creepy. He had the fake southern accent that I remember my girlfriend imitated.

David answered the door. He strongly demanded, “What is your name?!?, Your last name?!? Which house does your grandmother live in?!? What is her name?!?”

The boy stuttered and had no accurate info.

David told him to leave our neighborhood, never come back and that he was calling the cops.

The boy ran off without a word! I spoke to my neighbors and they quickly began cancelling the checks they had written. The stories and pitch that this organization is using is compelling, convincing and backed with neighborhood details.

We were on our way out and saw the boy after he left our neighborhood. He was taking pictures on his phone of people’s car license plates. Who knows what he was up to and capable of. DO NOT answer your door for anyone! Even the boy in uniform with a great story…

People are desperate and will do anything to make money these days. It’s scary, but you have to be more aware than ever. Be careful of the sales scams. Ask a lot of questions and then go online in one minute and verify an organization. If the person is legit, they won’t mind waiting for 2 minutes while you check.

I am telling this story to open everyone’s eyes. If my girlfriend, who lives across town btw hadn’t shared with me, I would not have been prepared when the scam came to my house. This group is crossing the nation and we should all be aware.

Christmas 2009

This year went by so fast; Christmas has already come and gone. This year, we celebrated Christmas at my sister Alma’s house. It was a ton of people! We took lots of pictures, of course! And we had lots of presents, of course! I was in two gift exchanges, one with my extended maternal family and one with my immediate family. From my extended family I got a blouse and a coat… which I am exchanging, LOL. From my immediate family I got a coat, which I’m also exchanging, but only because it’s too big on me! My parents also gave me a coat… so pretty, dark gray!

Here are some photos from Christmas 2009…

Blast From The Past!

I just had to post this…

Here is a picture of me and a great friend of mine (Silvia Lopez), with a classmate. This is when we were in 6th grade, so when we were about 11-12 years old. This is too funny! Look at my crazy hair! The bangs! OMG!! Look at those dark bushy eyebrows!! Hahaha. This is so hilarious!!

Tristan, Me, Silvia



Thank you, Silvia, for the photo!!

Nasty Flu Season!

As we all know, this year’s flu season hit hard! It was very devastating, to say the least. Many people became sick, hospitalized and even killed by the flu. I hope you all took and are still taking preventive measures against the flu. But even then, the flu may still hit hard. I am one that likes to be clean, wash and sanitize my hands, cover my mouth when I cough and sneeze. I never cough or sneeze in the direction of anyone else, because frankly, I hate when others do it! But even then, I was directly hit very hard with the flu this year. I have in the past gotten a slight fever, body aches and chills, but never anything like this year. It was late September, a Sunday evening. I remember telling my husband and my mother that I felt like I was coming down with something, like I was getting sick. And sure enough, the next morning I couldn’t get out of bed for work. I felt so weak and the body aches were starting to take over. As Monday progressed, I felt worse and worse. I was so tired, so weak, and had lost all sense of appetite. The fever would come and go, causing me to break out in chills and hot flashes. One minute I was hot and sweating, wanting to take off everything, the next minute I was freezing, shivering, looking for something to cover myself with, and so it went on. Then the worse started to happen. It was late Monday evening and I started to vomit. Anything and everything was making me puke till it hurt. I had nothing in my system and yet, I was still puking. It was the worst feeling ever! And it only got worse. I couldn’t sleep that night, from the fever sweats and chills, mixed with the vomiting and the body aches. It was the worst flu I had ever gotten! Tuesday was horrible, lying on the couch all day, vomiting anytime I tried to reposition myself. Any type of movement made me sick. Fever, body aches, vomit, weight loss… and sadness all overpowered me. I was a mess! Wednesday was worse, again. Thursday morning I somehow got the strength to take a hot shower. It felt so good! I thought, maybe this is what I needed. Suddenly I had to get out of the shower, quick. I had not eaten anything since Sunday evening, so I was as weak as you can get! I felt like I was going to pass out in the shower and no one would hear me because of the noise of the running water. I was so scared. I wrapped my towel around me, got out into the living room and just sat on the couch. I was trembling, shaking of weakness. I was so scared. My mother walked into the living room and told me I looked so bad, it was time to go to the hospital. I put on some pajamas and my brother and my mother drove me to urgent care. My fever was very high, I was very dehydrated, I was very tired with little to no sleep in the last 4 days and I had nothing to eat in those 4 days either. They weighed me, I had lost 8 pounds. Right away, they took me into another room where they hooked me up to an IV machine to replenish the vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and hydration I had lost. I was there, hooked up to the machine with a fast drip for over an hour. They gave me pain medicine because my stomach was hurting so bad from all the vomiting. I also got medicine to coat my stomach from any acidity that was causing the vomiting. All was intravenous. I was given a few prescription medicines that would help calm the fever, the vomiting, the pain and help me get some sleep. I was ordered off of work until the following week. I was finally able to walk on my own, and did not vomit once after that! I was well on my way to getting better! FINALLY!! I was able to get some sleep as well!! I was starting to feel better, though still a little weak. But a few days later, I felt healthier than I had ever felt! Every ounce of sickness was gone, out of my system. It was like a system flush. I felt so good, so healthy. But I do not wish what I went through to anyone. I don’t care if people say that it’s a fast way to lose weight, it was horrible! I pray that I never become that sick again! It was the worst time of my life! I’m so glad it’s over… and I’m feeling much better now. Be careful out there, and don’t get too close to anyone who is sick! :)