This is the 3rd weekend in less than a month that our Internet has been down. I called the cable company last night and the guy was like, "well, our engineers are doing their best to get it back up." I find it kind of odd that it's always on the weekend that they go down. So I tell the guy that I know they can't get it back on any faster, but I don't think I should have to pay my full cable bill when they haven't been providing me with the full service. He gave me a week of credit on my bill. Thank you very much. I might have been unable to post like I wanted, or to look up some information at the Internet Movie Database when John and I sat here trying to figure out where we know an actor in a movie from, but I got a quarter off my cable bill.

I finally joined Facebook. For years, John has given me crap about socieal networking sites and how they invite viruses into your computer. Tonight, #1 daughter told me that I needed to join Facebook so I can see pics of the grandkids as she is always taking pics of them and it's so easy to upload stuff from your phone. OK, I'll bite. I grumble because Facebook doesn't think the legitimate e-mail address I provide it is valid, so John tells me to try logging in using his Facebook account? WHAT??? What happened to how bad social networking sites are? Why is he, the anti-social person in this family, already on Facebook? So he can talk to some of his old Army buddies. No fair! But I'm on Facebook now. I only had to enter in 3 different e-mal addresses to get it to let me in. It wasn't an address I normally provide for things because I don't want the junk mail that seems to follow. We'll see how easy it is to keep this updated. Maybe since Xanga and Facebook are now linked together, I'll be better about posting on Xanga, too.

Watched MJ's memorial. Went through a few tissues crying. Once when Jermaine broke up singing; once when Brooke Shields told her story about how they used to laugh together; lastly when Paris Jackson said how good a daddy he was and she would miss him. I think Paris touched me the most, possibly because I know the pain of losing a parent at a young age. May God bless them and watch over them.

I am feeling strangely melancholy today. I didn't like Michael Jackson at the time of his death. I thought of him as a pedafile and he appeared ghastly after all of his plastic surgery. However, everything that was on TV this morning, all of the music they were playing, for the most part, was from the days when I did indeed love Michael Jackson. It has me, for some strange reason, feeling a sense of loss, almost to the point of crying at a few points. I don't understand this odd feeling. Michael Jackson did contribute a multitude to the world of entertainment. His song, "Man in the Mirror" keeps echoing through my head this morning.

So long, Michael.

On a separate note, I did go through a Life in Pictures thing on Michael Jackson last night. I noticed that his nose got pointy around 1989, and his cleft chin appeared in the late 1990s, and in 1999, his lips were thinner. By 2001, I think it was, his nose and lips were so thin that they appeared ghoulish. It must be so sad to dislike the body God gave you that much that you must constantly try to change your appearance. Too bad, because the Michael Jackson of the early 1980s was a sexy man.

Still around. Not real interested in the Internet much anymore. So busy with work, between it and church I just don't have much time. I have a lifetime membership and I figure I'll eventually get back in the mood at some point, but now it's just not in me.

The American Form of Government is an excellent video on the different types of government, and explains the various forms of government and political systems, and why America is not a democracy, but a republic. Do we really want a democracy? Please take a a few minutes to watch this and decide for yourself. The show is about 10 minutes long, so if you are in a hurry, wait until you have the time. They should show this in every American History and Government class in school.

I found a great little quiz about food mascots. It was fun to take. I got all but one right the first time and I missed that one just because I second-guessed myself. Does that mean I've watched too much television in my lifetime? Or perhaps it's just that I've watched too many commercials.

I cannot believe the audacity of some of the e-mail phishing scammers. Today, in my e-mail box, I received one that appeared to come from the IRS claiming that I had an additional tax refund coming. All I had to do was follow their link to fill out the claim form.

Thankfully, I'm smart enough to recognize a phishing scam when I see it, but there are a lot of people out there who don't know how. First off, there was a comma in the number amount where in the U.S. we would put a period instead. The other was the link pointed to an odd URL.

One of the biggest clues to a phishing scam is to mouse over the link they want you to click on and see where it goes. Don't actually click on it, just hold your mouse over it and look at the bottom of your screen (assuming you are using Windows) to see where it leads. If it's taking you to a place that has a bunch of numbers and not a web site that would truly be used by a big agency like the IRS, then don't follow it. They are just gathering information to steal your identity, or rob your bank account, neither of which you want.

Also look at the actual e-mail address the message is coming from, not just the "display name" that's listed. If it's coming from someplace with an msn, yahoo, gmail or some other free mail client site, it's probably not a legitimate offer. Legitimate businesses generally use their own dot com addresses, not free mail clients.

Bottom line, like with most things these days: if it's too good to be true, it probably is.

If you want to report phishing, or if you've been victimized by any other Internet-related crime, you can report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, which is a partnership between the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the "File a Complaint" button. It will take you through a series of questions. The FBI agent I spoke to on the phone says it is really hard to catch these people because they are so mobile, but every complaint helps to pinpoint these jerks.

I honestly cannot understand how people can be so corrupt. I know it's sin, but it just blows my mind how people can be so bold as Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was arrested today on fraud charges. He was being investigated by the FBI for taking bribes for contracts with the state of Illinois and while in the cross hairs got caught trying to auction off President-Elect Obama's senate seat. Crazy!!!!

Have you ever known anyone who was so manipulative and corrupt? Did it make you mad that (s)he seemed to get away with it?

My husband led me to this driver quiz that tells if you are a bad driver. I got a B, which I was kind of disappointed in. He claims I should have had lower because he's always scared riding with me. He also claims I lied on the quiz, but that's not true.

Created by The Car Connection