....seriously.
And if you think that is perfectly awful alliteration, you are right. Each on its own, these are terrible enough, but together in the same week? And the week just before the most wonderful holiday of the year? I'd say we've done pretty well not to let all this get us down.
Sickness
About 10 days ago, Shulamith woke in the middle of the night, not because Theodore needed milk, not because Swen needed a drink of water, not because Kennedy....wait, no, Kennedy never wakes in the night. But not for any of those reasons. Instead, Shulamith awoke to a nasty case of stomach flu. We'll leave out the details, but you get the idea. Blah.
From my experience, stomach bugs are usually short lived; 24 hours is not uncommon. But this was in Shulamith's words a "brutal virus." No lie. She was way sick for four days, pretty much too sick to eat, then weak from not eating.. On Day 5, she began to feel better (other than a weird sore throat that cropped up), but it wasn't until Day 6 that she felt normal.
Throughout those five days, she would ask me now and then, "Do you still feel okay?"
"Yes, yes, I'm just fine. I don't get sick. Too many kids coughing and puking all over me all these years. My immune system is rock solid."
Pride goeth before the fall. On her Day 6, I awoke to the same terrible symptoms. "I think I have what you had," I texted her first thing in the morning. She was graciously sympathetic, knowing what was ahead for me. My illness path paralleled hers almost exactly, including the piercing sore throat on Day 5 that disappeared by Day 6. Regardless of how I feel about you, I can say this with complete certainty: May you never, ever, contract this virus.
Today is my Day 6, and yes, I feel just about normal. Just before Christmas and Disneyland. Whew.
Scams
Also this week I was attempting to sell my iPhone 6, after upgrading to an 8 about a month ago. Gerald listed it on KSL, and immediately texts started flooding in. Apparently lots of people are in the market for a phone like this. One guy in particular said he was in Texas on business, but he was interested and would I send him another couple pictures. That I did. He then said he would definitely buy the phone, and I should consider it sold, and he would give me an extra $50 for the hassle of holding it for a few days while he arranged payment.
He told me he would send me a cashier's check in the mail. Once I cashed the check, he would send someone over to pick up payment and get the phone. Gerald was skeptical right from the start, but I'm naturally trusting, so I said okay. And I waited for the check to arrive. Meanwhile, Gerald looked up some info on these types of scams, and several of the criteria mentioned fit my situation: 1) If they want to pay with a cashier's check, it's likely a scam. 2) If they offer to pay you extra for your trouble, it's likely a scam. 3) If they send you a check in an amount lots higher than the price of the item, it's likely a scam.
Yes. Yes. Yes. When the cashier's check arrived, it was in the amount of $1,700! My phone is great and in excellent condition, but I was hoping to get maybe $215 at most. The instant it arrived, the guy started texting me over and over: "Did you get the check? Go right away and deposit at an ATM. Have you deposited it yet? Terrianne, are you there?" When I mentioned that it was for $1,700 and there was no way in h### I'd be depositing it into my personal checking account, he finally backed off.
There is a good ending to this story; Gerald listed my phone again today, and within an hour it was sold to a nice, honest lady and her son, who brought me $215 cash.
Snakes
A while back I wrote about a little supplemental job I have teaching English to Chinese students online through a company called VIPKID. While the early hours are kicking my trash, I keep doing it for two reasons; it's the easiest teaching job on the planet (think no planning and no grading), and the kids are just adorable. Really.
The other day I had the VIPKID app open on my phone to check updates on recently booked or cancelled classes, and Shulamith happened to see one of my upcoming lessons:
"Oh no! That one there called "How Animals Move" has a couple snakes in it. Even worse, soon after that lesson comes a whole unit on reptiles and fish with tons of snakes, over and over."
Well, great. My easy, stress-free supplemental job just became a giant hassle. In case you don't remember, I've written about my intense phobia a few times, here, and here, and here.
How the freak am I going to teach these lessons that contain pictures of those awful creatures right in front of my face on the screen? No, I can't look at them. And yes, I know a picture can't hurt me (some stupid person on my VIPKID Facebook group actually told me this). I am phobic. It's not rational. I can't look at the things. End of story.
Shulamith and another sweet friend and fellow VIPKID teacher (Hi Kara!) both graciously offered to preview all the slides for every one of these lessons and then tape black construction paper over my computer screen, so I can teach without looking. Then I would need Shulamith or Kara to read me the words on each slide, so I could take notes and know what to ask the student to do. If this sounds like a giant hassle, it is! Like ridiculously hard. So far, I haven't had a student reach this "Rated S" level, but my cute little Jessica, my very favorite regular, who books me twice weekly, is just about there. Help!!!
Summary
My awful sickness finally got better. My scam was thwarted and my phone sold legitimately. But this last one. No, I don't know what to do.
Suggestions?
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