Personally bringing down the Credit Card Industry....

So about two years ago, I found out that there was another Stephanie Lemke running around the DFW area. That's not cool...I should be the ONLY Stephanie Lemke in DFW. It wouldn't be so bad if her parents decided that Stephanie Lemke is a kick ass name and named her that....but they didn't. They called her something else. She just happen to fall upon MY personal information.

She was AMAZING with numbers. She got my Social Security Number, my birthdate...even my TX driver's license number. Like I said, good with numbers. She was so good with numbers that she managed to rack thousands of dollars of charges under my name and information. Lucky for me, my credit didn't suffer. I didn't just pay off the charges that were coming through and I filed a police report. Take that Biatch! Well, lucky me some officer in Haltom City happened to pull over Stephanie Lemke and found a copy of my driver's license and other information. I promptly pressed charges and haven't had a problem since.....

.....Oh, wait.... yes, I did.

I didn't have a problem with the infamous Stephanie Lemke, but someone who loves Apple decided that they were going to hack into my Apple account and steal my debit card information. Yep, they ordered two 50 gift cards for themselves. Well, little did they know that I watch my account like a hawk. It's not my fault I have to check every day if I have enough money for the vending machine..... Needless to say, I fought the charge, Apple gave me my money back and my little unknown friend never got their gift cards....

Think it's over....not quite....

So when I got my new job at Freeman, I applied for my Corporate Credit Card with American Express. I received my "Welcome to American Express" letter at the office but no card. Well, with a new job, that was the last thing on my mind was to find the credit card. I assure you it was the first thing on my mind this morning when I checked my voicemail at work.

I received a phone call from American Express this morning wondering about some charges on my card. Oh wait, the card that I am still waiting for? You know the one that is directly related to my personal credit? Yeah, that one. Sorry, to break it to you Amex but those charges aren't mine.

Stephanie, are you sure you didn't rack up some $4500 worth of charges in Malaysia? Home theater? No? Uh oh....

So there it is. My card was intercepted somewhere between my desk and American Express. Now someone isn't going to be receiving their new Home Theater from Malaysia. All charges have been marked fraudulent and I am getting a new card tomorrow. God, I am lucky.

So if you are worried about identity theft or stolen credit cards, try to stay at least 50 ft away from me. I think my presence is dangerous to the Credit Card industry. Sorry, America.

Ghoulish Weekend

Well, we just finished the 'scariest' weekend of the year. This year Ben, Mary Beth and I celebrated in the only way it should be done. In full costume in the Gayberhood. Where else can you see the best costumes and get great drink prices? We hopped in and out of the bars with Jon and Erych and some of the their friends and had a great time. As always, Jon and Erych put a lot of effort into their costumes and they were flawless.



Nothing completes a scary weekend without telling a few ghost stories and maybe even looking for a few ghosts of your own. As I have found out, Dallas has a few ghost legends of its own. One being the Lady of the Water at White Rock lake. She is one of those ghost who comes up to young lovers cars, drenched and asks for a ride. When they give her a ride, she disappears and there is nothing but a wet seat. She can also be seen walking around the lake. Sounds like a great idea for a Saturday night, huh?



So sure enough after Jon's birthday celebration dinner, Jon, Erych, Ben and I all hop into Ben's car and make our way out to White Rock lake. We are there with the essentials....digital camera, candles for a possible seance, sage stick and a lighter.... After driving around the lake for 30 min (at times too scared to even roll down the windows), we finally convince ourselves that we are going to step out of the car. Baby steps. Ben insists on leaving the car running with all of the doors open for a quick escape from the White Rock Ghost. Who knows what she is going to do....slime us with water perhaps?

Finally after a couple of minutes we decide to shut off the car, shut the doors and maybe light the candles. Ben and I are still at the edge of our feet ready to flee if we see anything. After a couple of trys with the candles and Jon and Erych pleading for Ben and I to stay in one place and not run to the car any more.....we start our seance......and......nothing. The candles go out a couple of times and we hear some lapping of the water which we decided could have been watery foot steps? Needless to say....we didn't conjure up any ghost nor see anything crazy.

But wait.....

Remember the digital camera? I took random pictures the entire time we were outside and we all looked at them on the way back home. We finally got our ghost (at least that is what we are calling it). So here is what we found:

In a series of pictures, I took two pictures, one directly after the other. The first shows our apparition and next shows it leaving maybe? You decide. I have even provided a close up of our friend:

1st Pic - notice the Orb

From Not So Secret World of Stephanie

2nd pic directly after - Orb leaving? Gone?

From Not So Secret World of Stephanie

Close up of the Orb:

From Not So Secret World of Stephanie

So that was our fun. Once again, I was scared to go to my once haunted apartment. I was even too scared to sleep. All was well though, I slept fine and my overhead light never turned on in the night....