I have seen it recommended that you not use a card any place where they take the card out of your sight.

Isn't that 95% of sitdown restaurants?

I've seen that advice, too, and had the same reaction w/r/t restaurants. I can't think of any sitdown restaurant I've been to where they brought a card reader to the table.

Apparently there are even machines they have where they swipe the card and record the info. I'm not as well educated on this kind of crime as I could be. But they do tell us down here that restaurants are the #1 place that your card numbers are stolen. I try and go to non-chain restaurants anyway so another reason to give people cash.

I am just beating myself over the head with My Nemesis. I can't go around her, I can't get her to cooperate, and my boss thinks I'm over-reacting or expecting too much. She's the one calling me unprofessional and waving her "forty years experience" flag.

If she'd just say, "I'm too busy to do your work," I'd be much happier, because I could then go get someone else to do it. Instead she lies about what she's been doing on it, until it becomes too obvious, and then she rushes it out without proper review, while simultaneously making me look like I'm unrealistic and demanding.

And nobody who supervises her thinks there's anything wrong with this.

The crazy. It burns.

You know, in my job, I do a risk assessment that involves combining lots of observable legal/permissible behaviors into a matrix that may indicate a high risk entity. So I followed the links, and of course that's what the FBI is advising -- and it's not paying cash at a coffee shop (internet cafe seems to be the closest entity). And I couldn't find the statement that it was cash payments for small purchases. It was insisting on cash, in combination with other behaviors. Maybe the FBI is using its resources to exorcise terrorists from cash-based businesses. But I don't see it from these documents. [link]

Things I Have Learned in My Job: there is a virus whose real scientific name is BK virus. "BK" isn't an abbreviation for some long name (like, you could call norovirus just "Noro," I guess, if you were on a first-name basis with it).

It is not named for Burger King, as I feared, but because it was first isolated from a patient whose initials are BK. That's kind of cool.

But every time I read it, I think "Burger King virus!"

Has anyone tried arnica gel or cream? I tried some capsaicin, and that was more painful than the pain I was using to treat it. WAY too hot.

"Burger King virus!"

I think msbelle's had that.

Did I find article about a family that spent a year trying to patronize only Black owned businesses. Very interesting. So thank you if I found the link here.

"Noro" - name of a yarn company that makes yarns that have lovely colors but whose textures are not quite the best.

Yeah, I couldn't find anything about cash for coffee or similar either.

I do love the warning to look out for missing fingers, though.

ARGH. Am trying to resign, and my boss is (a) on the East Coast and (b) out of the office tomorrow. Want to do it on the phone, but she's not answering and hasn't answered the message where I asked her to call me because I needed to discuss something with her before tomorrow. GRRR.