"The Root of the Matter." written by Tinypliny on estrip.org

05/29/09 09:05 - ID#48791

The Root of the Matter.

Earlier this evening, I made a pit stop at PriceRite for Ginger - a tiny piece of it that weighed less than a third of a pound. I think the ominous sign was when the cashier checking out my groceries pointed at the twisted little piece of root and asked me what it was.

Personally, I think no one on this planet should go through their life without getting acquainted with ginger. I was debating the pros and cons of telling her what an awesome seasoning the tiny root makes but I stopped mid-thought when I saw my total bill. I was expecting a bill of less than $10 but I got billed twice the amount:

I would have walked out without making a fuss about any of this but I felt really ridiculous paying $6.46 for a piece of ginger as big as my thumb! I asked her to re-check. She weighed it twice but the total didn't change. One of the managers ambled over and agreed that it was an unreasonable amount to pay for ginger. After what looked like some super-involved physics and computing research, they found that the scale added more than 2lb to everything.

At that point, I should have just left that ginger piece on the counter, asked them for a refund and walked out. Quite unfortunately, however, my frugal shopping senses kicked in. I noticed that I had paid $6.47 for 3 medium tomatoes. I asked them if they could reweigh the other produce on my list.

For some mysterious reason the manager told me: "I will do the tomatoes but I am definitely not doing the onions!" My mind started meandering toward possible reasons. Did he have a massive allergy to onions? Did the peeling and almost psoriatic red onion skins gross him out? Was he psychologically traumatized by the flavour of onions? Why single out onions? Was he French? I was almost ready to pay this extra $10 to know the answer to this conundrum.

Moral of the story: Ginger helps you get some refunds but it can't help you solve elemental mysteries.

Permalink: The_Root_of_the_Matter_.html
Words: 351
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: eating in

05/24/09 11:27 - 62ºF - ID#48738

The Confessional Carrot and Apple Cake

The big confession is that this is my first time baking or even cooking with eggs. The results are surprisingly rather pleasant.

I really expected some kind of hard sedimentary rock - considering my former eggless ventures but this one sliced pretty easily and didn't stick to the glass.

Though the recipe called for a truckload of butter (

), quite possibly, this might be the one of the more healthful cakes I have ever eaten.

I tossed in a granny smith, some almonds and peanuts in addition to the carrot so it is slightly on the more-moist side. Oh, and I freaked out last minute about using only oatmeal flour so I tossed in some toasted bulghur wheat - the fibre value might have gone up 50% because of that. Hehe

According to the label on the package, the hens were apparently running around in a carefree manner eating vegetarian organic poultry feed when they produced the light brown eggs that I bought.

The carrot-tag claimed that they were grown in an "certified" organic environment and the almond-pack says they are from a "green practices" farm. The butter is organic too. The Coop made a killing business out of me yesterday. Hahaha

The oats were packaged and sold by a ubiquitous brand that has a cheruby and probably gouty old man as its mascot. The bulghur wheat is from Lebanon.

The peanuts and apple, unfortunately, didn't have any special qualities listed. I am assuming the spices are pretty generic as well.

As usual, I had no sugar at hand so I used only honey. As a result the cake is very mildly sweet. One slice contains less than 1/2 a teaspoon of honey. If you are looking for a sugar-overload, this is not it.

I think I might be bringing it to the BBQ tonight (is it still on?)

Notes:
(e:Terry): Less eggs
(e:leetee): More flour.
(e:Paul): Ripe bananas
(e:libertad): More honey
James (I think or was that Robert?): Dates as a binding agent

I love you all. :)

Permalink: The_Confessional_Carrot_and_Apple_Cake.html
Words: 365
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: eating in

05/23/09 12:15 - 62ºF - ID#48726

The BBQs of this planet can take a hike.

My Lemon and Coconut flavoured Green Lentil Power Dinner.

Permalink: The_BBQs_of_this_planet_can_take_a_hike_.html
Words: 11
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: eating in

05/19/09 08:46 - 59ºF - ID#48700

What am I eating?

I have been keeping watch over what I eat for the past two days using the CRON-o-meter.

It's an experiment to see if I am eating a balanced diet and where my macro and micro nutrients are coming from. The whole exercise is pretty involved. It's like maintaining a food diary but you get immediate nutrient data read-outs.

[box]On May 18 I had
1. Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim) 3 cups
2. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans, bengal gram), mature seeds, cooked, boiled, with salt 80g
3. Nuts, almonds 15
4. Apples, raw, with skin 1 large (3-1/4" dia)
5. Chewing gum, sugarless 1 piece 5.4
6. Water, tap, municipal 1.8 liter
7. Bananas, raw 1 medium (7" to 7-7/8"long)
8. Tea, brewed, prepared with tap water 3 cup (8 fl oz)
9. Oranges, raw, all commercial varieties 1 large (3-1/16" dia)
10. Bread, pita, whole-wheat 28.5 g
11. Peppers, sweet, green, raw 40 g
12. Onions, raw 30 g
13. Hummus,c ommercial 2 tbsp
14. Cereals ready-to-eat, GENERAL MILLS, CHEERIOS 5 g

A total of 963 calories, with 45g proteins, 172g carbohydrates and 16g lipids with around 90% vitamins and minerals.[/box]

[box]On May 19 I had
1. Nuts, almonds 18
2. Apples, raw, with skin 2 large (3-1/4" dia)
3. Apricots, dried, sulfured, uncooked 1 half
4. Dates, deglet noor 3 date, pitted
5. Cookies, oatmeal, prepared from recipe, with raisins 3 cookie (2-5/8" dia)
6. Cream, fluid, half and half 1 container, individual (.5 fl oz)
7. Coffee, brewed from grounds, prepared with tap water 1 cup (8 fl oz)
8. Milk, nonfat, fluid, with added vitamin A (fat free or skim) 2 cup
9. Peanuts, all types, raw 5 g
10. Milk, dry, nonfat, instant, with added vitamin A 4 tsp
11. Chewing gum, sugarless 1 piece
12. Bread, pita, whole-wheat 28.5 g
13. Macaroni, dry, enriched 16 g
14. Mustard Greens and Vegetable Saute 0.75 of full recipe
15. Cereals ready-to-eat, GENERAL MILLS, CHEERIOS 5 g
16. Water, tap, municipal 1.8 liter

A total of 1476 calories, with 65g proteins, 254g carbohydrates and 31g lipids with around 100% vitamins and minerals.[/box]

Strangely, I have begun to feel guilty every time I eat a random almond or down a cookie just because I am recording them all in the software. It will be really interesting to see whether my diet actually changes because I am watching it.

In other news, I am volunteering for a cancer prevention campaign called "Spit for the Cure" on June 13.

My department at Roswell is collaborating with Susan G. Komen's race for the cure on June 13, 2009 at Delaware Park Rose Gardens. We are hoping to recruit as many people from the community as possible to donate their spit (saliva) for cancer prevention research at this race.

If anyone is interested in participating and giving 15 minutes of your time and spit for a noble cause, this is a perfect opportunity! :) Swing by the Roswell Park Cancer Institute's Spit for the Cure tent on June 13 from 7:30 AM to 1:00PM.

pmrk writes at 05:06:21 06/10/09 - Comment #49030: I'll be participating in the event and will try to stop by the tent to give some spit.

libertad writes at 10:02:51 05/23/09 - Comment #48616: I'll see if I can come and spit for you on the 13th. Your dinner looks good but certainly can't replace the BBQ in my opinion. I like to BBQ veggies too especially mushrooms.

tinypliny writes at 02:12:55 05/21/09 - Comment #48541: @(e:libertad): It would be wonderful if you could come around to our collection tent on June 13th!! If not, I can ask my advisor if I can come around to collect your spit. :)

I know. My eating habits border on the "crszy".

@(e:metalpeter): Good point. I wouldn't know how much an ice cream is and it does take a lot of fun out of it. However, the point of the exercise is developing a fair idea about how much nutrient value you get from everything you eat. I do think that keeping a record will alter my eating habits. I am hoping that they change for the better.

If you think about it, this sort of record-keeping does not mesh well with eating with wild abandon. Maybe, in this day and age of an obesity and poor health epidemic, what we all need is a cognizance of what we are actually eating.

metalpeter writes at 06:11:14 05/20/09 - Comment #48533: The thing about doing this is that, I don't think there is any way that it is really correct. The reason I say that, it the recording of what you eat does effect what you eat. Say for example a go grab a big bowl of ice cream, how on earth am i going to know how much ice cream that is. Ice Cream is something you eat for pleasure so measuring it takes a lot of the fun out of it. I know it isn't going to be exact but that fact that you are keeping track of what you eat will effect what you eat, hopefully not to much though.

libertad writes at 06:06:01 05/20/09 - Comment #48532: If you want to come and get some spit from me an analyze it just shoot me an email.

I would die of starvation nearly if I ate what you ate in a day.

tinypliny writes at 09:43:34 05/20/09 - Comment #48526: The 2000-2500 kcal "standard" diet intake is standardized for a ~70kg 25 year old male. Everyone's calorie needs differs by their sex, age and current BMI. You can calculate your energy needs here: :::link:::

My calorie needs fall at around 1700 calories. Even by that standard, 963 is somewhat low. That is exactly why I am keeping this diary. I need to correct my random eating habits. This past Sunday, I think my whole diet consisted of raw vegetables and fruits with no balancing staple carbohydrate sources. :/

zobar writes at 09:01:06 05/20/09 - Comment #48524: I thought the standard recommended intake was ~2000-2500kcal? 963 seems frighteningly low.

- Z

tinypliny writes at 08:06:02 05/20/09 - Comment #48523: I am so glad you asked that question. We will be using the spit to extract your DNA and sequence it. Then we will compare your sequence to the sequences of people who have cancer and see if there are any significant differences in the sequences in addition to the normal variation.
This will tell us if there are any specific gene variants that may be contributing to the cancer state.

If we know the gene variants, we can often deduce the function of these variant genes, the proteins they translate to, the effects they have on other genes and on your metabolism. We can identify pathways and targets that can be modified to nullify or accentuate the effect of the gene. These modifications can be either lifestyle changes or therapeutically targeted changes (eg. targeted drugs).

In short, from the results of our research(if our research is successful), if you have the gene variant that makes you susceptible to get cancer later in your life, we can recommend modifications that bring down your risk of developing cancer or bring down your risk to a less aggressive "treatable" cancer.

@(e:James): I know! Self control is the TOUGHEST part!

heidi writes at 11:45:27 05/19/09 - Comment #48522: How does spitting help cancer prevention research?

james writes at 10:45:12 05/19/09 - Comment #48521: I found that site very useful when I was trying to keep my macronutrients at a specific ratio. But, not matter how much I wanted to succeed it is impossible to resist eating a whole avocado.

Permalink: What_am_I_eating_.html
Words: 451
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: buffalo

05/16/09 08:24 - 69ºF - ID#48679

Bufwiki

Bufwiki is alive!

Someone (David Monroe) who came to Buffalo from Rochester started a Bufwiki. :)

Sign up and start wiki-ing your Buffalo experiences and reviews! I am so glad Bufwiki is finally here.

Permalink: Bufwiki.html
Words: 33
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: the odes

05/13/09 08:23 - 70ºF - ID#48661

Obsessed with pastry making tips

Though I am never ever going to be able to make myself use this much butter or finely milled flour in ANY of my cooking, I can't help but dream about making pastry and pie crusts.

Its a completely insane and impractical obsession.
Aaaargh.

tinypliny writes at 11:41:57 05/16/09 - Comment #48457: The flour idea does sound practical because you would be using a tonload of that for the crust anyway. It would be hypocritical to criticize the flour in the blueberry filling if you are loading the entire thing into a flour-butter pastry shell.

If I were not being a hypocrite I would just criticize the whole pie and think about eating the blueberries fresh. This constant and discrepant anxiety about random little things demonstrates I am hypocritical even when building pastries and pies in thin air. Yikes.

tinypliny writes at 11:35:53 05/16/09 - Comment #48456: Yeah - that's doesn't sound good at all. The poor blueberries will be twice cooked that way and I am sure that will take away a lot of "freshness" and "sharpness" in the blueberry taste. What about using honey instead of sugar? Would that make a difference?

janelle writes at 11:34:27 05/16/09 - Comment #48455: I meant to add that I don't know that I would use cornstarch and I don't know much about arrowroot.

Just use the flour. It's only 1/4 cup. And I've used a 50/50 whole wheat flour, regular flour mixture before to make blueberry pie and it turns out fine. So maybe that would make you feel better.

janelle writes at 11:33:05 05/16/09 - Comment #48454: cornstarch or arrowroot are also thickening agents.

A REALLY unhealthy way of creating a thickening agent is to cook your blueberries down before hand with sugar which will thicken it up.

tinypliny writes at 11:14:31 05/16/09 - Comment #48453: My obsession continues. Some perfect pie crust recipes. :::link:::

I think the key is pea sized frozen butter mixed with dough. I have heard that tip several times now from various sources.

And this is for blueberry pie: :::link:::
Apparently you have to use some kind of thickening agent for the blueberry filling. I am not happy with that idea. Can you think of an alternative to cornmeal or flour as a thickening agent?

tinypliny writes at 10:45:27 05/16/09 - Comment #48452: We totally want photographs! Do you use cornmeal for your blueberry filling? :)

janelle writes at 10:31:41 05/16/09 - Comment #48451: You get your best blueberry pie from me. I make a really good pie from blueberries that I pick in the summer and freeze.

Today, I am going to attempt to make a lemon custard tart. I'm a little nervous because me and handmade dough don't go together. I think I'm going to buy pie crust as a back up and use that for the tart if I fail miserably and making a good dough.

libertad writes at 10:24:28 05/13/09 - Comment #48362: I really enjoyed watching that. A little too much. It must be nice to have marble counter tops. He was really good at showing and explaining how to make a pie crust which I never have from scratch. I don't think I'm ready to start making them.

I agree, I will always use butter over hydrogenation products.

tinypliny writes at 09:55:48 05/13/09 - Comment #48361: Where in downtown (and around) can you get the best blueberry/blackberry pie? :)

Somehow, I am more comfortable with the idea of using butter than vegetable shortening - possibly because I find the hydrogenation element unsettling.

I don't like cherry much either. Have no idea what blackberry pie tastes like...

heidi writes at 09:04:16 05/13/09 - Comment #48360: I've always made pie crust with butter-flavor Crisco and no sugar, but I think I'd like to try it with butter sometime. I used to pick blackberries & blueberries and then make the pie ... mmmmmmm. Blackberry is my fav! Apple is good too. I'm not real fond of cherry.

Permalink: Obsessed_with_pastry_making_tips.html
Words: 52
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: the odes

05/06/09 10:17 - 59ºF - ID#48608

Can't wait for this to come out...

It's bound to be amazing. :)

That's Strange. I think the Jem song is in the same key as "It's a beautiful life" by Ace of Base but at a slower tempo. Did anyone else pick up on that similarity?

Permalink: Can_t_wait_for_this_to_come_out_.html
Words: 54
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: opinion

05/01/09 10:49 - 50ºF - ID#48562

Soldier's Girl

Hatred - the single word that defines people who cannot see point of views other than their own.

I am not sure why we are still in a society that makes sections of people fight for their right to a life of their choice. When exactly did we decide that we needed to be homogeneous in our preferences? Have we learnt nothing - absolutely nothing from the sheer variety of life around us? Don't we know that the key to life on this planet is diversity - not just superficial skin-deep diversity, but diversity right up to the last single nucleotide in our DNA?

Surely, we are not that brainless? Or are we? Maybe I should stop seeing features that really dehydrate my faith.

theli writes at 11:23:13 05/04/09 - Comment #48125: I see this as a result of the acceptability of basing one's morality on disgust.

Really, that's all it is.

metalpeter writes at 03:56:18 05/02/09 - Comment #48092: First of all I think don't ask don't tell, doesn't work because like the video mentioned how can someone who is being harased come forward. But the other problem is that it causes people to lie, they can't talk about when they get home how they want to go for a nice walk on the beach with their lover or what ever it also means they have to change things in the past. What the military should do is teach people how to work with others. Hey Baptists hate morons and morons hate Jews and the Jews and blacks fight over who have been more persecuted and gay women are angry and hate all the men in the army, this isn't true of everyone but it is true of a lot of people. What the army should do is teach people who would want to kill each other if they were outside of the military how to work as a unit and be merchents of death prepairing for war!!!!!!!!!! That way if someone is gay that isn't a hinderance or distraction.

In terms of your question. You have to think of it this way. To lots of people they don't get why anyone would be gay. They think it is a choice. You hear about people with families coming out and saying they are gay. To them it is all about nasty man on man anal sex. I will admit if women is what you like that is pretty gross. If you start from that point you get the thought process. I don't know what they are thinking but it does seem unatural. Then there is the thought was is someone gay into me? I don't think that way. Then there is that entire faith thing, I won't even touch on that. But to sum up. If you think that a certain act is wrong would you want some one doing that to have the same rights as you? If that same thing is something you don't like, would you want to Hear about it? I can't really speak for people who feel that way you really need to get the answers from them.

Permalink: Soldier_s_Girl.html
Words: 132
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: science

04/25/09 11:08 - 62ºF - ID#48507

Food Inc. Paranoia or the truth?

I have been thinking about this topic a lot lately. (e:Jason)'s obesity Vs. smoking posts are not really "out there". These two diseases have more parallel atherosclerotic rotten little end-arteries in common than we can ever imagine.

Since its easier to examine oneself than generalize by poking into what a whole population is doing, I am going to be taking a microscope to my eating habits starting today. The idea is to take concepts from nutritional sciences and turn them on their head. Over my own head.

It's very fashionable to make resolutions to eat right. What is eating right, exactly? With the level of additives and ingredients in all kinds of food nowadays, does "eating right" mean the same thing as it did a few decades or even a few years back? Though the definition of "eating right" might have changed, the effect of "eating right" remains the same. The ultimate goal is to reach the peak of the human lifespan on this planet without diseases cutting short your stay or making it miserable in the last few years.

Can we attain this goal with the food that we consume? Is it the food alone or some kind of an additional psychological attitude that contributes to who ends up on what side of the hospital bed? All of them - fascinating questions with almost no definite answers.

tinypliny writes at 10:41:20 05/01/09 - Comment #48081: I agree, (e:metalpeter). It's not a simply assignable blame game. We hold collective responsibility for individual sick habits.

Smoking became "cool" because a nice chunk of our artsy folk played up that image through mass-media. Obesity became an "epidemic" because our societal values and lifestyle requirements have changed radically over the years.

The question is, in the midst of the immense and almost an overwhelming environmental influence on people's behaviour, can individual free will assert its teeny voice? How can we awaken this voice?

metalpeter writes at 11:10:26 04/26/09 - Comment #47943: I will admit I eat lots of tasty stuff that I know is bad for me. I don't know to much about the stuff they sell in stores. What I will say is this. It seems over time that profit used to be important but that now greed has taken over and that growth % of profit on a yearly basis is what is the most important thing. So if you are KFC the quality of the Chickens don't matter Hey once they are fried up they all taste the same so what if they are deformed and beaten, from their standpoint. In terms of Fast food I think the culture has changed. At one time fast food was like a weekly thing. Maybe you go to the movies and eat out or you go to McDonalds for a Birthday or something. Yes the prices have gone up recently so it isn't as true any more. But fast food was fast and cheap. Hey if "A Mom" is running around taking kids to soccer or some other activity and is running all over the place with different kids she doesn't have the time (or atleast doesn't feel like she does) to try and get everyone all at the table at the same time and make them lunch and then dinner at night also so from one place to another hit up that drive through, or even sit inside and eat and let the kids play in the play land or what ever. I do think fast food has taken off because of society changing and people always being on the move and being more mobile and using cell phones to go meet up with friends and do stuff........

tinypliny writes at 08:51:31 04/26/09 - Comment #47940: It's easy to see all of this as a huge big conspiracy, throw up our hands and declare that we have been victims of the greed of corporations. Though its completely true that corporations are greedy and have done everything in their power to make profits at our expense, I think we can (and should) flex our puny wills and take a stand by working out ways around their monopoly.

tinypliny writes at 08:46:37 04/26/09 - Comment #47939: That was a very interesting and thought provoking interview. I am not sure that I agree with the claim that the fast food industry is taking away our freedom entirely. I think, as individuals, even through the veil of choices that have been taken away, there still are choices we might make consciously. Not eating fast food, for example, is a choice we can make. Its almost similar to making the choice of not smoking.

heidi writes at 12:50:26 04/26/09 - Comment #47937: I think I'd add in ethical and environmentally sustainable as part of the goal.

Schlosser's book is very good :::link:::

Permalink: Food_Inc_Paranoia_or_the_truth_.html
Words: 237
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/09/11 08:10

Category: flat hunt

04/25/09 11:44 - 74ºF - ID#48498

Buffalo Craigslist Credit Report Scam

I advertised on the Buffalo Craigslist Apartments/Housing Wanted section yesterday

I was somewhat doubtful about getting any results but I got a bunch of emails.

The first wave of emails read:

From:
Shareef Ennes <eshareeflecontesmills@gmail.com>
Hi do you still need a house?

Muirin Seaver <seaverm3174@gmail.com>
Hey, do you need housing still?

Loviise Blackwood
<blackwoodloviise0523@gmail.com>
Hi, I just saw your CL ad. Do you still need housing?

Greer Rowley <rowleygreergh40@gmail.com>
Hi, I noticed your ad. Are you still looking for a place?

Milena Dodd <mdoddvotaw@gmail.com>
Hello, are you still looking for housing?

jennamasters.masters674 <jennamasters.masters674@gmail.com>
Hey are you still looking for a place to stay?

galegdwn <galegdwn@gmail.com>
Hi there. I was just reading the Craigslist Ads, are you still looking for somewhere to stay?

That is starting to look like a hundred ways to say the same thing. Heh.

I thought it was worth a shot so I replied. In some cases I sent a blank email back just to check whether they were even reading my replies. In some replies, I wrote, "No, thanks." Regardless of what I wrote/or didn't write, I got these immediate canned replies from all of them in response to my blank/negative/postive email:

Shareef Ennes <eshareeflecontesmills@gmail.com>
Greer Rowley <rowleygreergh40@gmail.com>
Loviise Blackwood <blackwoodloviise0523@gmail.com>
galegdwn <galegdwn@gmail.com>

Hi there, nice to hear from you. Well that's good because I have many places available for you in the area. What's your exact price range? How soon were you looking to move? Before I show you any listings I'd like to get a feel of what you'd qualify for, we can do this by getting your credit score. Our office has a relationship with a credit report company to give our clients free credit reports, if you'd like to get one through our partner go to http:// creditreport365.net/?clientID=232842 or you can get one through your own means, just please get this to me and we can get you into something. I look forward to speaking with you.

and

Muirin Seaver <seaverm3174@gmail.com>
Milena Dodd <mdoddvotaw@gmail.com>
jennamasters.masters674 <jennamasters.masters674@gmail.com>

Hi, thanks for messaging me back. I'm a realtor and have a decent amount of listings in the area in your price range. How soon were you looking to move? Before I show you any listings I'd like to get a feel of what you'd qualify for, we can do this by getting your credit score. Our office has a relationship with a credit report company to give our clients free credit reports, if you'd like to get one through our partner go to http:// creditreport365.net/?clientID=232842 or you can get one through your own means, just please get this to me and we can get you into something. I look forward to talking to you and getting you situated.

The whole lightening speed response thing unnerved me and I sent them an email back saying:

Hi Muirin,

Thanks for your email. My price range is anything less than $570 including all utilities. My current lease ends on Jun 30th. I am required to give my current landlord a 60 day notice before I move. Would you have places ready to move in by last week of June?

I have my current credit report from Equifax. Could you please let me know which office you are affiliated with - before I send you my report. Also, are you in the same office as Shareef Ennes?

Thanks,
TP

I didn't get a reply from any of them.

Later in the day, I got this email:

From:
sun kratzhoefer <sun.kratzhoefer@gmail.com>

Hi

Just saw your advert on craigslist buffalo looking for studio/1 br
late may/early june.

I hope you dotn mind me mailing but I wish someone told me this before, I was looking for an apt for me and my kids in buffalo but kept getting turned down.

My friend told me it was a good idea to get a credit rep'ort done and take that along when you view the appts. This shows them you are serious about renting and puts you aheadof the other people in the list.

Anyway she showed me this site where you can get a fr#ee report done and it worked wonders, me and the kids are happy in our new appt.

If you need to get one done you can get a fr]ee one doen here http:// buffalo.noteunion.com

let me know how you get on.

all the best

Jamie Low

There were three more emails.

One from someone called: Enola Denney <enolax2pr@gmail.com> saying that she had some mystery location flat painted dark blue and if I minded that paint colour. (Also requesting a credit report from: http:// www.credit-report-syndicate.com/gwinodm ) for $3

A mass-email from someone from UB South Campus: Sounded genuine because there was no request for a credit report, just the location, email and telephone number. I am guessing this is a UB student looking to sublet his room in a shared house.

The most genuine email was from a former professor from Canisius who linked to a personal website and replied to each of my requirements. But alas, the flat he is renting out is a block from Niagara St. and quite a hike from Roswell.

A typical credit report has all your:
- Former and current credit card details
- Last four digits of your SSN
- Your date of birth
- Your full address and past addresses
- Your current credit card balance and balance/payment histories.

Are these people sending anonymous unsigned emails cheeky enough to believe that suckers would send them their credit reports and literally invite them to an identity theft party??! What is this - the Buffalo Craigslist Apartment Wanted version of the big Nigerian I -have-embezzeled-funds-give-me-your-bank-account-number email scam?

There is NO such thing as a free credit report from anyone other than the Federal Trade Commission's single authorized website: www.annualcreditreport.com/ stated clearly here:

(which, in turn directs you to three credit bureaus - Equifax, Experian and Trans Union to request your once a year free credit report)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a prominent warning:

The FTC advises consumers who order their free annual credit reports online to be sure to correctly spell annualcreditreport.com, or link to it from the FTC's website to avoid being misdirected to other websites that offer supposedly free reports,but only with the purchase of other products. While consumers may be offered additional products or services while on the authorized website, they are not required to make a purchase to receive their free annual credit reports.

and even a youtube video channel: with pretty interesting educational videos on credit scam and phishing.

I did get my current Mayflower flat from craigslist, and no one asked me my credit scores then. Are all these people identity theives? Why would anyone want a credit score from you EVEN BEFORE they show you a flat? If they are Buffalo residents wouldn't their names turn up on the white pages? They are unlisted, anonymous, un-"google-able" and downright dodgy.

The lesson: Avoid the housing/apartment wanted section on Buffalo Craigslist.