Howdy Everyone!

I have been a busy bee doing a bunch of teaser hooks for Twitter and Facebook, writing about beer, one of my favorite subjects, flooring materials, not one of my favorite subjects, mouth nightguards -- all kinds of fun things.

I'm looking forward to an evening of take out and Doc Martin. I fell in love with this series last weekend and am planning a cozy evening for munching food and watching the absurd antics of the Doc and his many bizarre friends.

I am still writing online content but I wish I could get more private clients. I hope to increase my private work and decrease my Helium or Textbroker work in the future.

Besides work, let's see, I've been writing poems with the words that Ghost Radar spits out...fun! and generally enjoying my self.

Where did this month go? It seems to have flown by -- that's what happens when you're so busy working.

The Amex card is working great by the way ;-)

The Amex card has arrived!

Oh happy happy joy joy, it looks like husband's AMEX card has arrived and all is well. I still don't understand why on earth we have to be out of sync on our expiration dates, but I'm glad that he'll have his card back and life will go back to credit card normal again.

My BIN articles are still drawing in viewers thank you. Deadly Fashion Craze Sweeps Europe And Asia -- Now Spotted In The U.S. has almost 7000 hits...coolio!

Sleep With Your Shoes On -- Or Risk Waking Up Without Toes is closing in on 2400 views. Somehow both articles are about feet which is a feat in itself.

Hot step it over to these articles and give me a thumbs up if you want.

Happy Valentine's Day to all the lovers and enjoy this day of love.

Sleep With Your Shoes On -- Or Risk Waking Up Without Toes

Do you like that title better?

This is an interesting article if I do say so myself.

Some pictures are graphic so don't read it while eating your lunch. The bottom line of this article is simply man's best friend will do anything to try to keep you safe.

Rana at American Express deserves to be rewarded for her excellent customer service. I spoke with her this morning and she promises a new card delivered over night. Since I've spent about a week trying to get this to happen, I'm so very happy I won't have to wait much longer.

And, the very best part, she's authentic, sincere, delightful to talk to and embodies the kind of service I've always had in the past with AMEX. Now I"m happy and hope Rana has a great day! Thank you Rana!!!!

My second Amex replacement card is also lost in the mail. How on earth can this be? I'm beginning to wonder about American Express. This is not the company I used to love and trust. I was told the second card was going to be sent by UPS, yet they say there is no tracking number. Nothing makes sense to me. Sad about this as I've been such a supporter and love my clear blue cash card...but the fact they can't seem to get one to me is bothersome and troublesome. If anyone ends up with my charge card, please send it to me..it's out there somewhere or else I'm being duped and no card was ever sent. I have to say, I've never had a problem with UPS in all the years I've been an adult and using their service. Of course, I never had a problem with Amex either until now.

Kenneth Chenault, if you happen by my blog, could you please send my husband a card pretty please with a cherry on top? I think it will take the CEO of American Express to make this happen. [grumble grumble grumble}

The Creeping 'Surgeons' Who Strike at Night Who are they? Beware they are usually considered your best friends. {{{{{{creepy music playing in the backgound}}}}}}}

TGIF - hope everyone has a nice evening - I'm having my favorite pizza at my favorite pizza joint in town. That thought will get me through cleaning the kitchen and writing the other stuff I have to write.

Still waiting to hear from AMEX -- if I didn't have such a great history with them I would certainly have closed out my account and gone somewhere else.

I wonder what the story is? Promises of calls that never come and now waiting patiently since Sunday to get an answer on what I should do. Bah. Another disappointment I guess.

I certainly hope Amazon.com doesn't take a nose dive in its customer service as I've had a great relationship with them. Vermont Country Store has one blemish only, a rep called and said they were waiting for a return from me from last year -- it was resolved and of course I'd returned the item...other than that one minor incident I still have great faith in them.

American Girl Doll is a great store but expensive. How nice if they'd give parents a break on shipping as they charge mucho - but the product is superb and quality has remained high which makes it easier to swallow.

Lands End and LL Bean remain go to stores for me -- I can expect great products and service from both these stores.

Thanks to the stores and services that deliver top notch products combined with friendly knowledgeable and kind reps. Makes life just a little bit better and is what you should get if you're spending money, right?

Latest creepy article:

The Creeping 'Surgeons' Who Strike at Night Hang on to your toes!!!!!!

So, the big question is can American Express solve this incredibly difficult problem of send me two AMEX cards, one for me and one for spouse, that expire on the same day -- so that I never have a new card "lost in the mail" because spouse wasn't aware his card was expiring.

I wish I were a liar. It would have been so easy to just say: We lost both cards, please issue new cards. Next time I'm going to try to be better at lying so I don't have to waste any more time on this non issue. bleck

Deadly Fashion Craze Sweeps Europe And Asia --

Look out...don't tempt fate.

It’s very possible that you, or a family member, have shoes in your closet--right now--that have the potential to kill, maim or disfigure. These shoes are so deadly, some countries are lobbying for laws to add warning labels on the footwear. They want to force manufacturers to run public safety announcements (PSAs) on TV and radio cautioning consumers of the dangers inherent in these far out, freaky, foot-fashion fads.

Anyone who reads my blog knows how much I love AMEX but this past weekend the love affair almost came to a screeching halt. Husband's AMEX card had to be replaced due to the fact he'd used it so much it cracked in half. That's a lot of usage!

He got a new replacement card but that one had a different expiration date than mine...I didn't know. So Sunday morning he tried to use it and was told his card had expired.

After some credit card forensics we recalled the fact he had to get a new card and said aha -- that's why. Still he was now out of an Amex card and that is not good in our house.

Sunday I called customer service and well, let's just say things didn't go well when I asked to have the two cards synched to identical expiration dates. I was told this is impossible.

If this is impossible, then I don't want to be part of the Amex family anymore. This is a simple thing. Some way it can be done I'm sure. I spoke to the reps superior who was a tad more helpful...as in cancelling the card that they said they sent but I never got to the best of my knowledge.

I was told by the superior I'd get a call on Monday from a higher upper. Great. Remember when a customer service rep says "I can't issue a refund" or other such statement your reply should be: Then connect me to someone who has that authority.

Long boring story unless you're the one who has no working card, a missing card in the mail, not-too-nice Sunday CS reps (maybe they were missing the pre-game hoopla) and really love Amex because of their customer service. Any charge card will do when it comes to paying for items or services, but Amex has always gone beyond being any old card in my mind.

So, luckily I saw I could tweet Amex reps @askamex - voila instant help from Rachel with a sweet voice, offering to help instantly and without the Sunday reps lack of warmth and concern.

She's looking into my request to have two working Amex charge cards that will expire on the same day so I can be aware when to look for the new cards in the mail and ensure no one has to be in the grocery store at 6AM on a Sunday with a huge cart of food being told his card no longer works.

Thank you Rachel and to the Sunday CS reps who were NOT so helpful, I am now letting people know: Do not seek help from AMEX on a Sunday! Tweet Rachel instead.