No School. YAY! I Actually Got . . .

Schools are closed today. 

Yay. 

Even several years later, I feel a sense of relief upon hearing that information when the weather turns bad.

When I looked outside the sliding-glass door early this morning and saw a  newer and deeper coat of snow, I figured schools might close today.

After all, the six inches of new snow is supposed to receive a dousing later this morning when rain begins. 

That translates into one giant mess, and with roads not yet plowed, I think the powers-that-be made a wise choice. 

I'm also relieved because my son Willie hasn't been feeling well for the past few days. Not fun when you're a teacher AND a coach.

 This day will give him a chance to catch up on some much-needed rest. 

Yesterday, we could feel this storm coming on as the air cooled and winds started gusting. 

The situation in the afternoon created yet a different look at the Cabinet Mountains as the deep blue cast with a hint of silver suggested "cold." 

My sister Laurie tells me, from her weather studies, that once the rain goes on its way we'll have about a week beautiful January weather again.

On different note, once again, for the past couple of days, I've been receiving the following note in my Facebook Messenger:

  Hi....I actually got another friend request from you which I ignored so you may want to check your account. 

 Hold your finger on the message until the forward button appears...then hit forward and all the people you want to forward too....PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT A NEW friendship FROM ME AT THIS TIME.

Well, it's about the third time this scam message has made the rounds on Facebook, and it's all because unaware FB users keep following its directions. 

I first received one on a November morning before having my second sip of coffee.  I almost pushed the button. 

For some reason, though, a gut feeling told me NOT to do that, so I just ignored it, finding out, for sure, later when the same message with the exact wording continued to make the rounds. 

This time some people are getting nasty about the folks who've never seen it before and who do follow directions, perpetuating the scam. 

I have to admit that it's unnerving the first time you receive this note because, of course, we assume our whole Facebook account has been screwed up. 

Most folks usually discover, though----after pushing the button and sending the message on----that it is a scam.  

I'm just mentioning it today in case readers have not received this message yet.  

Don't follow its directions.

These Facebook scams are just as irritating as the endless telephone calls we receive every day, with or without accompanying messages.  

Bill received one the other day about some fraud at Bank of America.  No word on whether he was involved. He was simply instructed to call a number. 

I keep receiving another call, which always gets cut off just after the guy says his name is John and that someone last month at our household said to call back.  

That's all I know about John, and since he got cut off before he had a chance to tell me a number to call or that I'm in dire need of a security system at my house.  

Well, they ain't gonna nab me on security systems or the need for windows cuz we already went through those scam operations with our elderly mother.  

Pretty darned expensive too.   

They used different tactics at the time, and back in those days when this telephone scamming was still in its infant stages, a lot of people fell for it, just like they do the Facebook stuff. 

Nowadays, it's downright relentless on our phones and our social media accounts.  

It seems to me that our government leaders really wanted to do something that would make people happy, they'd find a way to shut these irritating operations down.

 AT THIS VERY MOMENT (7:29 a.m), some woman has just called our landline from Medicare saying THEY were running out of patience because they have tried numerous times to contact us. 

Pretty soon, she said, WE are going to be ineligible for some top-of-the-line leg braces which will alleviate our pain. 

This is your final notice, she added emphatically.

Well, since we are not in pain (at least for today) and have never heard from her the first, second, third, fourth or however many times she is supposed to have called, we probably won't worry about securing a hold on those braces today. 

More than likely before I finish my morning ramble, the phone will ring again.  More than likely, it will be from that number that begins with a "V" and goes on forever. That one calls almost every day.   

More than likely, we won't answer it.   

I liked life a whole lot better when occasionally, up until a couple of years ago, our landline phone would ring really, really early in the morning with an announcement:  

All schools in Lake Pend Oreille School District 84 are closed today. 

Now, that's something I could get excited about, even if I HAD retired from the school district years before. 

Happy Wednesday, and don't push that "Forward" button if you get that message about all those friend requests I supposedly sent out to all my Facebook friends.