Miss Rachel

I remember last year we had some of the worst weather for summer. I remember lying on the couch under a blanket in July – !!! I’m not super crazy about hot humid weather, but I do like for the weather to be seasonal. Like when it gets warm in the winter, I find it disturbing because it’s not supposed to be warm, even if the warm weather is “nice.” Warm weather is nice in spring and fall, not winter. This is New England and we’re supposed to have four seasons. So anyway, now it’s summer and the weather is acting like summer. The cicadas start singing early in the morning, and you just know you’re in for another hot summer day.

On Friday, I had a real scare when I looked at my bank account online. I was just checking to see if a payment I’d made had gone through, and I saw an overdraft charge and a couple days previous a charge for $499.99 that I had not made. What???!!! I googled the name of the company and found a website with very little info. No “about” page, no “contact us” link. There was also an “888″ number (on my bank statement, not the website) that I called once I got to work and the number just rang and rang so I hung up. I tried it again a few minutes later and finally after about a gazilion rings I got someone’s voice mail. I gave my name and told them that there was an unauthorized charge and corresponding overdraft fee on my bank account and that it was “unacceptable” and that they needed to call me back. They never did.

At first, I was afraid that I had made a mistake and inadvertently signed up for something without reading the fine print, but I’m pretty convinced that this was not my mistake. I just googled the company again, and nothing comes up. Fortunately, I called my bank and they refunded the charge and the overdraft fee and are starting a fraud investigation. The charge was made at 6 PM on July 7th and I happen to remember that at that time I was getting a pedicure. I sincerely hope it wasn’t anyone at the spa who fraudulently used my card, but it does make me wonder. At least my toes look nice.

And now it’s time for our random meal of the day picture. I had some sliced mushrooms, shredded carrots and an onion hanging around, and I decided they would work well stir-fried with greens and served over soba noodles. I just needed something green. There is a lot of local produce becoming available right now, and I found some nice small cabbages that fit the bill. Unfortunately, once they’re cooked, they don’t really look that green, but the meal still tasted good. Sweetie and I seasoned our plates with nutritional yeast, sesame oil, sesame seeds and tamari.