Travel to Toronto

I travelled to Toronto for a Pastor’s Wives’ retreat last week, & without fail, when I travel, something goes wrong.  Well, this trip was no exception to the rule…

 

The day started with an early flight & lots of rain.  At the Charlottetown airport, when you board your flight, you are outside at the mercy of the elements.  As I was going to the plane, I decided to run, since it was raining so hard, I just wanted to get inside the plane quickly, & I was very glad I did!  Just after I got on, the next few passengers decided to take their time putting their things away, & several people had to wait outside in the downpour.  Once they finally got onto the plane, their jeans were soaked, & their bags were dripping wet.  Of course since it was so humid with all those bodies on the airplane, the air conditioning had to be on pretty high, & it was a cold flight!  I was glad I wasn’t extra wet!

 

Once I got to Montreal, it didn’t take me long to find the gate for my flight to Toronto, & I heard them announce, “The plane we were supposed to take had mechanical failure, & the only other plane available has 40 less seats.  If you checked in last night, or early this morning, you probably don’t have a seat.”

 

So I went up to the desk to see if I had a seat.  The airline employee took my boarding card, crossed off my seat number & said, “No, you don’t have a seat.  Next!” and started helping the next customer in line.  The next customer asked when the next flight was & was told it would be a 3 hour wait.  I heard the other employee ask a man if he wanted to go to the Downtown airport, Toronto City.  I quickly googled it & found it was only a 15 minute cab ride to my hotel.  I then placed myself in front of the ticket agent & told her I wanted to go to the Toronto City airport.  She gave me a dirty look, & booked me on the flight, which was leaving in 1/2 an hour.  I went to my new gate, which was conveniently across from a Starbucks, & called my friend who was supposed to pick me up in Toronto.  She instructed me to get a cab from the airport since there was a lot of construction in the area & she still had to wait for another person at the Toronto airport.

 

I arrived at the City airport, & just missed the ferry to the mainland…

I could see it docked on the other side.  Thankfully it would be a short wait!

 

I found the line for the cabs, & wondered how much it was going to cost to get to the hotel.  I wasn’t super worried because I knew it wasn’t far, but I had never taken a cab, & didn’t have a very good idea of prices.  So, I got in, & figured I could watch the meter, but it didn’t really matter because I had to get to the hotel either way.

 

Once we arrived, the cabbie turned to me & said, “I forgot to turn the meter on, so I can’t charge you anything.”

 

“So I owe you nothing?” I asked incredulously.

 

“I can’t charge you anything,” he emphasized.

 

And since I didn’t have a ballpark idea of cab prices, & I had a $5 in my pocket, I was the recipient of a $5 cab ride!

I Was Hacked!

Last week I suddenly couldn't log onto my email account. I tried the "I forgot my password" route, but since we have moved 9 times in 9 years, when they asked me what my postal code was, I got the answer wrong so many times I got locked out. After 2 days of trying, I decided I'd better email the customer service. At first I couldn't figure out why they weren't replying to my emails.... until I realized that the only email address I had put on the email was the one I was locked out of!

After a week, I finally answered all their verification questions correctly & they got me back in! I looked in my "sent" & "trash" folders to see if he had sent any fraudulent emails, but there were none there, so I couldn't figure out why he would have taken over my account. What was the draw? Why not just set up his own new account? I don't think my screen name is really cool enough that someone else would want it bad enough to steal it.

I went to the page to change my password to discover that the address on file was not mine. No, it wasn't a place I had lived previously (at least I don't remember ever residing in Florida). Some schmuck broke into my email account & had the audacity to fill in his own alternate email address, address, & phone number! And let me tell you, when I discovered he had put his phone number in there, I was sorely tempted to give him a ring & chew him out! As I picked up the phone I thought better of it though b/c I didn't want my phone number to come up on his caller ID & then have him calling ME all the time!

So I got that all sorted out & decided that since I have some emails in my folders pertaining to banks & other on-line things, I should start changing all my passwords just in case he was a total scum. Thankfully he doesn't seem to have gained access to anything other than my eBay account. I couldn't log onto that one either, so I contacted eBay & they said they had already blocked my account b/c I was sending out scam emails from it.

At this point I was steamed! Not that I use my eBay account all that often, but IT'S MINE!!! I understand now a little of the violation that people feel when they have their identity stolen. My experience was nothing near as bad, but I was pretty mad. It's not easy to go back & get everything put back in place & I'm sure there are certain thing I have overlooked that a good & proper thief wouldn't have. If he had gotten my bank info we could be hooped at this point. A week doesn't seem like a long time, but w/ everything being on the internet I think it's alot easier to take people's money now.

Perhaps I should feel a bit sorry for the guy. He probably wouldn't have dreamed of a life of crime before the economic downturn in the States. He probably just was looking for a little cash to pay the rent, or feed his family. Maybe I should have saved his address so I could send him a "Charitable Donation" (or so I could turn him over to the cops).