Growing Experiences -- Ninetieth Post

First off, the new blogger format where you can't tab quickly from the title to the body of the post is really annoying. I don't know if I said it before, but it's worth saying again.

Second off, I just had a growing experience and hated it thoroughly. I actually had it a few months ago, but I've been too busy to post the perfectly viable draft that I wrote right after it happened. The problem with this one was the extended stress levels. I moved to another state with hotel reservations for the parents and brother for three nights; this was after graduate housing fell through (they contacted me today saying they would have a place in September; thanks a heap, Coyote Ugly). I had a few meetings set up to look at apartments, and made a lot more as the days went on and I couldn't find anything. I don't think I encountered too many craigslist scams, but I saw a few kind of awful places, didn't sleep well due to snoring in the hotel room, had a couple places get snatched out from under me, and eventually ditched the whole "my future-roommate can move in later" plan as living on the street became more of a possibility. Finally, I decided to look for rooms to let in established places; i.e., I would become a new roommate in a house full of strangers who already knew each other. As a quick recap, junior year fall was great because no one knew anyone, but junior year spring was awful because everyone but me was already established. Still, it would better than being homeless. 

I hated this growing experience. I had to make phone calls and put my phone number on the internet (via craigslist emails) and meet lots of new people. 

This clip from Despicable Me 2 sums up how I feel about making phone calls.

And, while I hate the way my stomach still hurt from the stress as I wrote this three days after moving in, I feel pretty good about this whole endeavor again. For a few weeks, I was wondering if I was even supposed to end up in grad school, given the way housing was working out (or not working out, as it were). I was so stressed that I was getting tension headaches because my stress apparently settles in my shoulders and neck. Once we started the trip over here, I started not being able to eat a whole lot; you'd be amazed by how unappealing most food is when your stomach is twisted up and you feel like you could dry heave at any point. I mean, water made my stomach hurt. Breathing made my stomach hurt. 

Anyway, I found a place where I could move in immediately with nice people, two dogs, a flight of stairs between me and the kitchen, a washer and dryer, a monthly lease (nice if things don't work out), a nearby bus stop, and the cheapest rent I've ever seen in a four-person home. It's a mere ten dollars more expensive than my last place, with its unfinished basement and six people, and almost a third of the average rent in the area. 

Bam. 

Now I'm free to stress about (in approximately this order): 

1. Orientation

2. Preliminaries (have been too busy moving and stressing to study)

3. Teaching 

4. Teaching

5. Teaching

6. Class

But hey, this is what I signed up for. If I can meet someone and move into their house the same day, well, I can teach three labs of probably-won't-be-science-majors-after-this-semester undergrads. 

Also, I bought a bike for $80 and spent almost twice that much fitting it out with fenders, lights, grips, a kickstand, and a helmet. And I still have enough money to pay rent next month. And I can pay utilities.

Once I figure out how this house works, life will be pretty good. I've already almost forgotten the bone-crushing, vomit-inducing stress that comes when you have to be out of the hotel TOMORROW and school activities start in THREE DAYS. In the meantime, I'm still working out whether or not to use the dishwasher and how long the dryer takes to finish drying my sheets so I can go to bed. It seems a lot better than worrying about where I'll be sleeping tomorrow.

UPDATE: It's been a few months since orientation now, and I can hardly remember it. I've made friends, I've make mistakes, and I've made good choices. As far as I can tell, grad school is like having a teaching job, with all that stress and work, smashed in with having serious classes in school and a part-time job in a research lab. So, like real life but more stressful.
I regret nothing. 

Craigslist Scam Tip Site -- Eightieth Post

Since this blog is getting some nice ratings on Google for searches craigslist scammers Ashleigh Loudon and Scott Doyle, I'd like to alert you all to a website dedicated to craigslist scams. It's called "Let's Get the Craigslist Scammers" and consists of posts regarding the various and sundry scams that people( lots of people all over the world) run across, not just the ones that I personally run across in my particular area in my particular interests (jobs, namely).

I'll still be posting any information I run across that seems scammy, especially screenshots of emails, but this blog is not dedicated to that. It's dedicated to my life, in all its boring glory, or at least the bits that I feel like sharing with the internet.

Happy Interneting!

Craigslist Scam! The Saga Continues with Robert Choice and Scott Doyle -- Seventy Ninth Post

So you thought that the medical-type reception job posting scam was over? You would be wrong, at least if you're me.
That posting is impressively linked to not just one, but three scammers, by my count. Ashleigh Loudon was probably the worst, but Robert Choice and Scott Doyle could probably do some damage. I'm holding out for a Nigerian prince.
I've taken screenshots of the emails for your convenience, but you'll want to click on them to actually read them. They're long enough that they're huge pictures. Also, I got these within a day of each other, although they were days almost two weeks ago. Sorry 'bout that. I got on a workout kick and couldn't be asked to blog.

Robert used too many line breaks, and I couldn't fit the whole email onto my screen. He finished with 'I will await your prompt response" and his name.

Other than line breaks and some minor details, it's the same thing. Eerie.

I should point out that none of the scammers I've run across so far have actually related their replies to the job posting, which is in fact the subject of the email. Robert and Scott actually have the exact same letter, with slight differences. The gist of it is that they want you to deliver stuff to foster homes "in your area" which will be paid for by money order or something as soon as you give him your mailing info and suchlike. Unfortunately, you can't meet Robert or Scott (or, presumably, their "lovely Wife and 2 Beautiful daughters") because Robert and Scott are both out of town for the month. Bummers!
Both use gmail accounts and want you to email them back with contact information, and Robert wants you to email it to "krgiggs@googlemail.com". The job sounds, you know, too good to be true, with $600 from Scott and $700 from Robert weekly, full benefits, etc., all for a part-time job where you work from home. The emails are almost identical (the only notable differences being the salary and where the contact info should go), as mentioned, with some alterations that are pretty obvious, as they didn't change the capitalization. It's interesting to note that they don't want PO boxes, which seems like a good place to send a money order if your house isn't your mailing address. Hmm.
I feel kind of angry that they use "FOSTER HOMES" as a hook for soft-hearted suckers. I'm incredibly grateful for my parents being sane, not on drugs, and alive through my childhood, and I think that losing or being taken away from your parents would be just about the worst thing ever. Being stuck with strangers would make things even worse, especially when you're a kid or teenager. Helping out kids in foster homes is a great thing to do. I rate it just below curing cancer and AIDS, sending vaccines to underdeveloped countries, and stopping child marriages in improving the welfare of the world. Doing away with One Direction is next.
I'm not really sure how this scam would work. How would they use this information against me? I guess that just proves that I don't have a criminal mind. If they were legit, the email wouldn't be a minimally-altered form letter and it would be listed under something more closely resembling "Help out foster kids" instead of "Vet Receptionist and Front Desk".

To report the scam, go to the craigslist main page, click "about craigslist" and then "contact form".  See if you can find the original postings so that you can report the post ID, found at the bottom of the page. I found this out from "Anonymous" who commented on my post about Ashleigh Loudon.
Here's the link in case you get lost: Craigslist contact form 
I've already reported the post as a scam for Ashleigh, so I'm not going to bother posting again. Unless I get really bored tomorrow, and then who knows? Crazy things happen when I get bored.

EDIT: If you're looking for more information on craigslist scams, try Let's Get the Craigslist Scammers.

Craigslist Scam! Watch Out For Ashleigh Loudon -- Seventy Seventh Post

If you've been job-hunting on craigslist lately, you've seen the big scam warning that pops up before you get to the actual postings.
Guess what! I found a scam!
So far, it's come up on two medical-ish office jobs. They look pretty legit, but the email response sets off all the warning bells.
I took a screenshot of mine. My housemate, incidentally, got the exact same email response for a different job.

The first thing that got me was the bit about "a high financial environment". This is supposed to be a VET'S OFFICE. Sure, veterinary services are expensive, but not that expensive.
Second was the email address. What "head of the human resource department" uses her personal email for setting up interviews?
Third was the fact that they want me to fill out an online credit form, which involves a lot of my personal information. This was in the warning that craigslist put up.

So, I did a few google searches.
Ashleigh Loudon is common enough name that nothing came up for her. However, Numark Systems, LLC doesn't appear to be a real company. Numark Systems makes sound equipment. That link -- I clicked it in hopes that it wouldn't eat my computer, which reminds me that I should run a scan just in case -- redirects itself five times and drops you at a "get your credit rating FREE! It just takes a few seconds!" site.

I decided not to follow up on the job offer after discussing it with my dad, just to talk it out. I felt like my problem-solving skills had been proved when my housemate was wondering out loud (she conducts almost all of her thought processes out loud, actually, a concept that I kind of understand, but not really) about craigslist scams, and I excitedly informed her that I, me, her very own housemate, had received a scam email that very morning. [That was one hell of a sentence.] She demanded that I use my scam-spotting expertise and see if her email was a scam.
Lo and behold, she had the exact same email., word for word, from Ashleigh Loudon.
If anyone knows how to report scam job postings to craigslist even if no crime has been perpetrated against you, let me know. I'm too lazy to google it myself.

EDIT: To report the scam, go to the craigslist main page, click "about craigslist" and then "contact form".  See if you can find the original postings so that you can report the post ID, found at the bottom of the page. I found this out from "Anonymous" who posted the first and probably only comment below. Thanks to whoever posted that!
Here's the link in case you get lost: Craigslist contact form 

EDIT AGAIN: If you're looking for more information on craigslist scams, try Let's Get the Craigslist Scammers.