Are you concerned about ID Theft?

You should be!

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. Just turn on the news or pick up a paper. Nearly every day there are frightening stories about what's happening all around us. This is not a scare-tactic devised by unscrupulous marketers or a vast right-wing conspiracy. This is a real problem!

Consider this:

• Last Friday, Bank of America announced that it had lost computer tapes containing information on 1.2 million Federal employees, including U.S. Senators, potentially exposing them to theft of hacking.
• Nearly 145,000 Americans may have recently been compromised by a security breach at ChoicePoint, a leading consumer data provider.
• In the past 12 months, 9.3 million American adults have been victims of identity fraud, with a total US cost of approximately $52.6 Billion (yes, that's billion with a "b"!). The average cost per fraud victim is $5,686.
• Contrary to popular opinion, more than 2/3 of identity theft cases occur off-line (68.2%)
• Family members and relatives along with friends and neighbors make up half of all known identity thieves.

(Source: 2005 Identity Fraud Survey Report, published by the Better Business Bureau and Javelin Strategy & Research)

Think you're not at risk?

• Do you hand your credit card to servers at restaurants?
• Do you sign your credit cards?
• Do you supply personal information over the internet?
• Do you keep your SS# in your wallet or purse?
• Do you leave mail at your home or business for the postal carrier to collect?

According to the FTC, dentity theft victimes spend countless hours and an average of $1,500 in the quest to clear their names. A professional thief can assume your identity in just a few hours, but it can take years to restore your credit rating. Don't wait until it happens - protect yourself and your family before it's too late.

If you're interested in learning more about Identity Theft Shield coverage, please contact me at p_turner@prepaidlegal.com

Knitter's Elbow?

Please tell me it isn't so... I've been struggling with a weird pain in my right forearm for about 6 weeks now. I do a lot of computer work, and as weird as it sounds, I'm finally convinced that it's some sort of repetitive stress issue. At my DH's suggestion, I did some research online and it sounds like "tennis elbow", or in my case "non-tennis elbow".

I've been looking for any info on a link with knitting. My guess is that knitting probably makes it worse, or at the very least, doesn't help. I'm willing to do a lot of things to help ease the pain, but stopping knitting is not one of them. How sick is that?

If anyone has any suggestions on what might help (other than no knitting), please post a comment. Thanks!

It's been a while...

It's been a long time since I've checked in. It's been a very weird couple of weeks, but I'm feeling a bit better and am anxious to get plugged in again. It's amazing how therapeautic blogging has become.

Although I've been slack, I have managed to get some knitting done lately. First, I'm finished the front of my Nubby Slubby Cardigan. I bought this yarn at the Charlottesville Wool & Fiber festival in the fall and fell in love with it. My knitting buddy Nim bought the same yarn in a different colorway and we've finally started knitting our cardigans. It's sort of a knit-a-long, but instead of using the net, we're using our local Starbucks. There's nothing like knitting with a dear friend over a great cup of chai tea latte!

The sweater is done on #13's, with a bulky-weight yarn, so it knits up incredibly fast. I'll probably be finished before the weekend is over.






Next there's Blaze. I'm sure the knit-a-long is long past gone, but I'm still plugging away. This is my first attempt at knitting in the round. It seemed that things were going very slowly until I realized that the process is sort of like knitting both sleeves at the same time. It may take longer to get it done, but when it's done, that's it... there's no other half or sleeve to knit. Yeah!




And last but certainly not least, there's my Transitions Scarf. This one is a shop pattern from my LYS, Lettuce Knit, made with Transitions by Noro. This yummy yarn is a mix of wool, silk, cashmere, alpaca, angora, camel and kid mohair. It not only changes colors, but it changes textures as well. Very cool! My DH surprised me with this one for Valentine's Day after I told him a few weeks ago about this great scarf I'd seen at the LYS.