I'm a bad bad orchid mommy....

[s.kallima]

Courage Camille ! (to deal with the bank issue...)
I would have sent you one Haraella if it was not for the distance... (and mostly the customs hassle !)
You'll find some new beautiful plants that will make you forget this mistake

[camille1585]

Thanks all of you, you make me feel better! I really needed to vent all this frustration, so I told some friends about my orchid woes, but they really don't understand. At least you guys completely understand how terrible it is to lose orchids one after the other and not be able to do anything about it. Murphy and his damn law really like me it seems, but I wish he'd go bother someone else!

Terri, I really hope that you get the micro fungus under control, it's a really terrible thing to have.

Very sorry for your losses Camille. Hope you will save the ones that are still hanging on.

[Val]

If you are "very bad mommy", then most of us are just serial killers But you are a very good mommy - in a rotten world.
I will keep my fingers crossed for your orchids.

[Paul Mc]

WOW, my deepest condolescenses on the loss of your chid-ren! I'd be heartbroken too.

Keep positive with your credit woes though - I just recently experienced two rounds with that where my accounts were drained. It's very hard to deal with, takes time to recover and of course you always fear that it will happen yet again.

Just be sure to change all your passwords, transfer all accounts and cards to new accounts/cards, etc... Leave nothing unturned. If they have your information and stop for a while, it's not because they forgot about you - it's because their waiting to strike again.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

WOW, my deepest condolescenses on the loss of your chid-ren! I'd be heartbroken too.

Keep positive with your credit woes though - I just recently experienced two rounds with that where my accounts were drained. It's very hard to deal with, takes time to recover and of course you always fear that it will happen yet again.

Just be sure to change all your passwords, transfer all accounts and cards to new accounts/cards, etc... Leave nothing unturned. If they have your information and stop for a while, it's not because they forgot about you - it's because their waiting to strike again.

'Luckily' for me I am safe from attack by the same people. What happened is that someone somehow saw my PINcode while buying a train ticket off a machine, and while I was busy hauling my suitcase up the steps to the track someone stole my wallet right out of my purse, and proceeded to withdraw everything on my account within 20min (I had gotten my salary 2 days before...). The police has had at least 6 identical complaints, yet the bank argues that the victims were careless with their codes. I have to wait until January for the official decision of the bank, but they've made it pretty clear that I'm getting none of it (3000€) back. The laws in this country protect the banks from fraud, and it's up to the victims to prove their innocence. Even the police admits to being powerless in this. The fact that I am a foreigner and a small client at the bank doesn't help. Needless to say, once this is over, the Rabobank has lost my business, I don't like being treated like a criminal (basically accused of setting this thing up to scam the bank).

Anyway, I blocked all my cards, and now have new ones with new codes, so I am safe. But I have become extremely paranoid and distrustful. Since I have no clue how they managed to do it despite me being quite watchful in general, buying train tickets now leaves me on the brink of a panic attack. I'm not kidding, it's that bad.

[Wrebbitrocks]

youre no bad parent. actually i was going to make a very bad joke about some recent news about some lady but idk how thatd go by everyone. anyways, im sorry to hear about fraud. actually im scared itl happen to me too since im so ditzy. but if it makes you feel better, ive been a bad parent too. been so busy working and being in debt and getting things sone i havent watered in over a week. and i know i have to but i dont. im so scared for my ang. sesquipedale spike to blast

[Paul Mc]

Camille, I am glad to hear that it sounds a bit easier to control than my situation has been this year. However, you are correct in feeling the way you do (i.e. fear and distrust) - it's a very common side-effect when you go through something like this. I still have a huge distrust of places that want my private information such as Facebook - which BTW, my account there was hacked the morning of and by late afternoon the transactions had begun. I'm not sure what they got off of Facebook that they needed, but I'm sure it was of the stops they made in collecting information on me, lol...

Well, if you go to thereapy shopping, please post pictures of the therapy for everyone!!!

[silken]

There was a lot on the news about a year ago here how Facebook is very bad for identity theft and they do nothing to protect it's users. After that and getting a computer virus somehow from a friend who sent me a poke thru Facebook (luckily our anti-virus caught it) I just quit using it and cancelled. Not worth the risk for me.

[jrodpad]

Hi Camille,

So sorry to hear about the debit card theft and the situation that you are in with the banks and the police. You would think/hope that the laws were set up to protect the people who are the victims of crime, not the banks. That's really disappointing. Also, loosing so many orchids, one after the other is a terrible feeling. It makes you feel so helpless. Please take solace in the fact that, even though you have lost a number of orchids from your own collection, your advice and encouragement through the OB have kept other peoples' orchids alive and flourishing all over the world. I have learned so much from your posts - I can safely say that you've single-handedly prevented massive orchid abuse at my house. I hope that you feel better and that things turn around for you quickly, both with the banks and the orchids.

Best,

-J