April chit-chat

[agate]

This isn't an April Fool's Day joke. It really is April 1.

Already.

What's going on with you? Have you seen any robins? I've seen a couple of them.

And then there's news of this California super-bloom. It doesn't happen on a regular basis but this happens to be a good year for it. The wildflowers, especially poppies, are really keen on blooming.

[flatcap]

I live in a fourth-floor apartment above the portico that covers the main front door of our building. A robin or robins regularly park themselves on the apex of the roof over the portico. I'd like to think it's the same robin showing up every year, but it probably isn't. It's still fun to see the robins. He or they are perching already.

I went to dinner tonight at the place right down the street and had a taco salad. It was OK, I guess, but I didn't like the avocado ranch dressing. It was pretty bland and all too thick. I had put the dressing all over the salad before I started eating it and was unable to finish it as a result. Big mistake and lesson learned: Always try the dressing first so you can ask for something else of you don't like it.

So, that was my Easter. I watched a couple of movies today, did some reading, and that was about it. No problem, really; I'm not much for religious holidays.

I mentioned a while back that one of the servers at the same restaurant I spoke of above invited me to go out for breakfast sometime. Much to my surprise, we actually went a couple of weeks ago. It was a lot of fun. We chat from time to time when I am at the restaurant, but there usually isn't time to say much. For a change, we had an actual conversation about things like her family. We are now planning to go again next week. I look forward to it. She really is a very nice person.

That California super bloom looks pretty cool, especially with the peaks and mountains in the background. I used to always want to see such things in real life, but I am now happy just to see them in pictures and films. Thanks for posting the pic!

[flatcap]

I am pleased to report that New Shoes #3 arrived, and there will be no need for New Shoes #4 at present. These are going to work out fine, at least for now. They're a low-top sneaker, which is what I should have bought in the first place. My only complaint is that they are leather. I would have preferred heavy cotton canvas.

Leather might be better, though. It might prove too sweaty, and it is perhaps rather too fancy, but I expect New Shoes #3 will last quite a while. I hope so. If you count the cost of New Shoes #1 and New Shoes #2, then add the price of New Shoes #3, I have quite a lot invested in this project.

Virginia and agate are right. It's not easy to shop for clothes online. Unless you have purchased the same item before, you really don't know what to expect until you receive it. Even then, the products can change over time. I have had that happen more than once. You think you know exactly what you are going to get, and you get something else.

The convenience of online shopping is arguable. It might be easier to click through a purchase once you have found the item you want, but it isn't a panacea. I think buying clothes online is a particularly risky proposition.

Shoes might be the toughest. You can't feel them until you walk in them. You used to be able to do that at the shoe store. Now, it's tough to even find a shoe store, and it's even harder to find one with much of a selection.

I have the same problem with glasses, and as far as looks go, I think being able to try them on is vital. You have to live with them sitting on your face. They are practically part of your identity, which is more than just a fashion statement in my view. Some optical vendors have on their websites tools for you to upload a selfie, upon which you can overlay a picture of the frame, but looks can be deceiving. A picture is just a 2-dimensional projection or our 3-dimensional world; a lot of information is lost in translation.

That reminds me of baseball. I'm not much of a sports fan, but I do see it from time to time on the TV when I am out to eat. It cracks me up how people will argue balls and strikes based on the silly little strike-zone box they overlay on the image of the batter. You just can't tell from that whether the pitch was really a ball or a strike. You can't accurately perceive depth from a 2D projection. It is as simple as that.

Enough of that.

No big plans today. Shower (finally, LOL). Late lunch maybe. Apple pie! I have a serious craving for apple pie, know just where to go, and know exactly what I will get: the best apple pie in town. Good old vanilla ice cream and a tall glass of milk to go with it — now you're taking.

I hope everyone has a nice day! It's sunny here, and Spring has sprung, so I plan to!

[agate]

flatcap, I've ordered all clothes online for about 15 years. Before that it was strictly mail order for over 20 years. When I changed to diabetic shoes, shoes became the exception. I go to a shoe place for them. Last time the shoe place even came to me (!). I was given a catalog to choose from, and someone brought the shoes I selected.

I've heard good things about Zappo's as a place to order shoes though I've never used them. I understand it's quite easy to return shoes to them, and that would probably happen rather often for most people.

I try to be very careful about sizes before I order any clothes, and color is often a tad different from the picture, but at today's prices, I'm happy to get any clothes at all. I try to wait for sales and get better-quality clothes that way. Some of the pricier brands do last a lot longer. It seems to be true sometimes that you get what you pay for (sigh).


I'm feeling so sad about losing Sunshine.

In fact, I'm thinking about putting some effort into trying to revive this board by another means. Google search isn't working. There was a day recently when Braintalk came up first in a Google search but it's not there now.

I'm wondering if sending PMs to former members who might or might not be interested in an updated URL would be a good idea? Thoughts?

I'm not sure they would even get PMs that come from this board with its new server but it might be worth a try.

[Virginia]

Flatcap, you are so right about shopping on line for shoes, but even more right about glasses. I can't even tell in person if a pair of glasses look good on me or not. For one thing I have to take my glasses off to try the new ones on and then I can't see.

Glad you are having a good day.

This has been one of my worse days in a long time. Part of it may have been learning about Sunshine. I did not sleep even 5 minutes last night. The other part was that my feet were like a block of ice all night. I had an extra blanket over them but they just would not get warm. I cannot sleep with cold feet. I used to sit on the side of the tub and run hot water over them, but now I can't do that because I can't get my feet over the side of the tub. It was in the 80s here yesterday, so I can't blame the weather.

Then nothing went right today. I had an email from a financial institution wanting me to confirm that I was taking money out of an account. I wasn't and didn't want to. More importantly was I kept saying even if they stole my identity how did they get my password. It is a good one and it is not stored on my computer. No one has been in my computer in a long time, not even my brother. If I try to get anything out of that account they question me relentlessly.

The first person I talked to said the check had already been cut. She did not say what address it was going to. I was yelling at her and was sorry later. She finally said she would "break their rule" and issue a stop payment on the check.

I was dissatisfied and called another number. After going through hanging on for a long time, someone came on and this person said she would turn it over to a department to investigate. I couldn't get in to the account to find out what is in there or if anything has been taken out. They immediately blocked me.

I am still having bad vertigo. The room goes around and so does the furniture. This has been going on since last week. I have to hold on wherever I go in the house. Obviously I can't go out of the house.

Okay I am thru ranting.

[agate]

Virginia, how terrible that you're having vertigo while having to deal with a financial problem. A person finds it hard to do much of anything with vertigo.

I don't know how a bank could have made such a mistake but I hope that they will fix the problem ASAP. That is very disturbing, finding out that money is being taken out of an account when you didn't want it to.

Norton is helping itself to about $60 from my credit card for renewal of one of their services that wasn't scheduled for automatic renewal until May. Even that kind of thing worries me, and that in a way is a legitimate charge. It sounds as if your account was debited without your approval.

Maybe we should all just start keeping our money and valuables under our mattresses the way my sister was still doing in the 1960s because she had vivid memories of the Depression. (She was robbed of all of her savings though.) Nowadays it just might be the only way...

(Just kidding there.)

The news about Sunshine hit me hard too. I had an appointment at the ENT doctor and audiologist today but just barely made it to the scheduled ride this morning because of some issues I was having--to the point where I couldn't eat much breakfast. I think I was just agitated and upset about things in general and that includes Sunshine's passing.

[flatcap]

Agate, you seem to have better luck shopping for clothes remotely than I do. My luck has been none too good. I don't have much in the way of a clothes budget, and the repeated failures I have experienced these last few years has been painful and frustrating.

Virginia, if I may offer a suggestion regarding your inability to see eyeglass frames you are trying on, it would be that you take your phone with you to your optician and have them take photos of you wearing each frame. I would further suggest you have them take three photos of you wearing the frame: one from the front; one from the side; and a front-quartering view. You could then look at the pics with your glasses on so you have at least some idea of how the frame looks on you. (I imagine it won't, but I hope this helps.)

As for the bad days you have had this week, Virginia, I am sorry to hear about that. I hope things are looking up now. I would strongly recommend you see someone about your vertigo. That can be downright dangerous.

I am very concerned about your password problem, Virginia, but don't know how to help you. The only things that come to mind are you have a key logger on your computer (i.e., a virus), or you are running a browser extension that all too closely tracks your online activity. If you have any browser extensions, I would suggest turning them all off or uninstalling them. If you have a virus, I don't know what to do about that. One would think it would be caught by your anti-virus software, even if it is just the program built into Windows*. Meantime, if it were me, I would change every password I was using. In particular, I would change the password on the account that has apparently been compromised in your case. I would also be wary of third-party gaming software. If you play third-party games on your computer, you might want to stop. You might also want to completely uninstall any such programs you might be using. I view games as a weak link when it comes to computer security. The same applies to gaming websites. They can infect your machine. This includes sites that offer "safe" games, such as card games. I would stop visiting them. (It's not much, but again, I hope this helps.)

I also hope you can get your issues worked out with the financial institution, Virginia. It does not sound to me like they are very helpful or accommodating. I suppose you have your reasons for sticking with them, but if it were me and there was any way out, I would take my business elsewhere. Meantime, I hope they finally succeed at stopping payment on the check that was written without your knowledge or authorization.



*The anti-virus program that comes with Windows is entirely sufficient. If you are buying third-party anti-virus software, you are wasting your money in my opinion. I run only the Windows program (Windows Defender) and have never had a problem, but I am also very careful about what I do online. That includes email. I almost never read messages from senders I do not recognize, and I absolutely never open any kind of attachments from unknown senders. (Anyone using Windows Defender should run both a full scan and an offline scan from time to time. It might pick up something.)

[agate]

I don't know if it's been luck with the online clothes shopping. For so many years I used strictly mail-order catalogs for all shopping (except groceries and pharmacy items) that I learned over time what worked and what didn't. There were trustworthy mail-order places and then there were those whose merchandise turned out to be much sleazier than the catalog led one to believe. When online shopping came into my life, I stayed with the same mail-order places, and all of them have had online versions of themselves for quite a while now. Their online catalogs are just like the old paper ones but you get a clearer picture because you can magnify the photos and often see all sides of a garment--as well as ask questions of the chat systems.

I don't know much about shopping for men's clothes but I would think that any place with a long-time reputation for quality would be pretty good. Of course those tend to be the costliest places of the lot. BUT, if they're anything like women's clothes places, they have sales and offers that can be quite generous. And they are usually very good about accepting returned items for an exchange or refund.

[Virginia]

Agate, sorry you had a bad day yesterday. I hope you are feeling better today. I expect Sunshine's death didn't help any. Vertigo is still with me. If I am not better by the time Eric gets back from The Masters Golf Tournament I will seek medical help. He will not be back until a week from Monday.

Flatcap, thanks for all your help. I am going to have Eric come over and check my computer when he gets back just to make sure everything is still alright. He is not going to have a lot of time because shortly after returning from the Masters he and all the family will be spending a number of days in Pinehurst, N.C. for the wedding of the same son who is getting married. Most all of these two trips will be compliments of his son who won the golf tournament in Hawaii.

I do want to explain that I did get a really nice lady on the phone at the financial institution today. She explained about the password and everything that happened. The person or persons doing this has enough information about me to pose as though they are me. She said in January (using all the information they have) they changed my physical address and my phone number. They waited two months and came back and changed the password and had them write a check to the new address. She said people who do this are relentless because this is how they live. It is a job to them. I am sure they would have come back for more later. They made a mistake this time. They didn't change my email address and that is how I got the email yesterday that was so upsetting. They were confirming that they had sent the requested money. It went to a Bronx, N.Y. address. They have put a block on my account. I can't get to it and no one else can. They gave me a phone number I could call if I needed to. They did put a stop payment on this and it is back in my account. Thank goodness I checked my email yesterday.

I also called my agent today who is very nice. He checked on it after I did and assured me it is in my account. Most of the time it takes him several days to get back with me. Today he happened to be sitting at his desk and saw it was me. He told me if I ever had a problem again to call him. He said now that we know it is important he will always try to get away from what he is doing and take my call.

This was not the bank that was involved last time. I can't let them block that account, but I try to check it often. Money goes into the bank every month and of course that is what I live on during the month. The one involved in this is a very large, old and thought of as a reliable financial institution. I have had accounts with them since the 90s.

I was the victim of identity theft over a year ago. It is very different from someone just hacking your credit card, which is upsetting enough, but with the information they know about me they can open up charge accounts in my name, or credit cards, or do what they did at my bank last year or what they tried this time. In other words they can act as though they are me.

I will never know who got this kind of information or where they got it. I received a letter some years ago after being in UNC Hospital stating that their system had been broken into and that my information was part of what could have been stolen. They warned me in that letter that sometime perpetrators waited 10 years and sometime 20 before using it. Then more recently Sun Life Insurance Company of Canada wrote me a letter saying their system was hacked and they believed my information may have been stolen. There is a rather large insurance policy on my life with them. It was taken out by my 2nd husband. I signed for it thinking it was a quarter of that amount. I do not own the policy and do not have the right to cancel it. He is dead and his two children own it.

I am going to try to call one more place tomorrow. I will explain my situation and see if they still think the two step verification is alright. The lady today said I should have blocks everywhere I can.

Glad the shoes are.working out....Hope they continue to. I have to wear them a few times before I know.

[agate]

Virginia, about the vertigo: I've had that sometimes, and sometimes taking meclizine (sold OTC as Dramamine) helps but in recent years I just keep a supply of it on hand but probably wouldn't want to use it unless the vertigo was really bad as I think it made me drowsy last time I took it. I don't know if you've ever tried it?

I'm glad you were able to straighten out the financial problem, or at least you're on your way to getting it settled. It sounds like a huge nuisance!

Yesterday's rides to/from the ENT doctor/audiologist were strange because both times the drivers mentioned that they couldn't leave their vehicles for even a split second because a van had been stolen while a driver was accompanying a passenger to an appointment destination after parking the van. I found out by making a couple of calls today that the policy on rides is changing, and drivers can no longer come to get a passenger in a building. They will call the passenger on their cellphone and tell them where they should be to board the van--typically, outside the main entrance of whatever building the person is at. For those who don't have a cellphone or can't use one, this is going to be next to impossible. I'm told that I could expect that call to come to the number of the location where I am--the front desk of a clinic, for instance--but some places shut down during the lunch hour, which is often the very time when I would be waiting for a return ride.

I told the person on the phone that my free cellphone service is scheduled to end on April 30 and that I might not have a cellphone after that. The world is now going on the assumption that everyone has a cellphone. Not everybody does.

This information about my problems with rides isn't likely to interest anyone, and so I'll ask a question on another topic.

In an earlier post I mentioned being unable to eat breakfast. Actually it was a return of a problem I had a couple of times many years ago, even before I knew I had MS. I would be eating a meal, but then in the middle of it, I would just not want any more. It's as if something just shuts down. It's not nausea. It's just not wanting any more to eat. It's very strange.

I hardly ever discard any food. I eat it all. But yesterday morning I put most of breakfast in the trash or back in the fridge.

Does anyone else ever have this--a sudden shutdown of the ability to eat?

[flatcap]

Virginia, I am so sorry that you are being victimized by an identity thief. It does sound like you have the necessary support to manage it as best one can. I hope things go well, but it is one complicated situation. I worry about being victimized myself.

My information has been leaked several times. In the most recent case, I was offered free credit monitoring, but I never signed up. I already have free credit monitoring from a previous leak by a different company. My credit monitor is Experian. When the free service ends, I will probably stick with them and pay for it. Meantime, I hope yet another leak does not occur.

I think the frequency of these leaks will only increase as time goes by. I would not be surprised if Social Security itself were someday hacked. I am not a professional when it comes to computer security, so I don't know a lot about these things and don't know either what can be done about them.

I am glad your financial institution is supporting you. If needed in the future, I hope your bank will support you as well. The same goes for any credit card company you might have an account with. There is only so much one can do alone.

I wholeheartedly agree about needing to wear new shoes around to determine whether they will work for you. It makes them unreturnable in most if not all cases, but what option is there? None in my view. If I lived in such as a big city having shoe stores, that might not be the case. As it is, I am stuck with taking my chances and ordering shoes online.

I have had more luck with clothing, but I have had some difficulty finding the right item sometimes. Fit has on a few occasions been the problem, but other issues such as the pattern (the cut) have also come up. You can't return an item just because, upon receipt, you decide you don't like it after all. At least you can't if you are a man. I might be wrong, but I think women are afforded more latitude along those lines.

Back in the brick-and-mortar store days, I had a girlfriend who more than once bought some clothing item, laundered it, wore it out to dinner or whatever, then was still allowed to return it. I don't think I could ever get away with that. I don't think any man could in most cases.

A while ago, I sought a refund on a sweatshirt that proved to have dead elastic around the waistband after I washed it (I talked about this here), and I got a refund from the seller, but I think that was only because I purchased it through Amazon. Maybe if I bought all my clothes through Amazon, I could better count on getting refunds when things don't work out.

Agate mentioned Zappo's for shoes, and like her, I understand they are good about returns. Or at least that's what they say on their website. It would be interesting to see how they really respond when it comes to returns, particularly if you have worn the shoes outside to find out whether they will work for you instead of just walking back and forth and turning around in a little circle on the carpet in your living room. If you live in a large house that might work, but not in my small apartment. I think, too, that if you put any visible wear whatsoever on the shoes no matter how slight, you would not be able to return them. I think that would include any creases that might form after taking a short 'walk' while wearing the shoes in your house.

Then there is the matter of brand. Zappo's used to carry the brand I wear, but no more. If I could get them somewhere else other than the maker's website at a discount, I would. If I could find another maker of closely similar shoes costing less, I would (I have looked — a lot). As it is, I find myself "brand-loyal." LOL


Agate, you are right about not everyone having a cell phone. I have a $20 flip phone, but no smartphone. It might as well be a landline. It's only advantages are it being mobile and giving me the ability to text.

I hope you can work something out when your free cell service ends. If it can't be extended, you might want to take a look at Tracfone. I have been using their service since 2016 and have been quite happy with it. For about $125 plus tax a year, I get virtually unlimited airtime and text, but not much data, I have to admit. I don't care, though. I never surf the web on the phone, and even if I did, the browser is a joke. Actually, I don't use my phone much for either voice or text. It sometimes sits there silent for weeks.

If you decide to go with Tracfone, be sure to create an account on their website when you get started with them. I bought my phone at a store and didn't. Sometime later, I found I couldn't.

Another option might be Mint Mobile. Like Tracfone, theirs is a budget service. On the lowest tier, it costs about $180/year. That's for unlimited airtime and text. You don't get a lot of data, but for most people, it's enough. If not, you can buy more at pretty good prices.

If I ever get a full-blown smartphone, I might go with Mint myself. They have a much better selection of phones than Tracfone. I might then have two phone numbers because I have no account at Tracfone. I'm not sure I would be able to keep my current number if I change over to Mint. If not, I would keep both phones — the one I have now and the smartphone — for some time. That would allow me to make sure that everyone who needs it has my new number. I'm afraid I might forget one or more who do, so I would make sure over the time I had both phones that I hadn't. Keeping the old phone and number for a while might be necessary to achieve a smooth transition.

As for cost, I don't think anyone is getting away with paying less than around $50/month or more for cell service from one of the large carriers. That is the main reason I went with Tracfone.

Regarding keeping your number, I think that might be easier with Mint. I don't know, but I might try it if I ever go with them. Their website suggests they can help. I don't know, though. It might be impossible for me without an account at Tracfone. I think Mint needs some kind of PIN.

Meals. Like you, I also suddenly lose all interest in finishing a meal sometimes. Actually, it happens a lot. I just can't do it. I don't know how to explain it. It doesn't matter what the food is. I don't know why this happens, but it has caused me to lose a lot of weight. That might just be aging, though. I don't know.

Regarding the changes in your paratransit system, I don't know what to say about that except it sucks. I hope that, one way or another, you come out of it still having cell service. I don't see how anyone could get along without it these days. As you said, everyone expects you to have it. They even expect you to be able to browse the web on the phone. Heck, they assume you can download and use their app. That is why I want to get a smartphone — sort of. Smartphones can be expensive.

Regarding clothing sales, I take advantage of them whenever I find them. I got 20% off my new shoes because they had a code you could use at checkout. That was only good for March. In other cases, I have waited until the goods went on sale.

The rest of my clothing needs are pretty basic. I wear Levi jeans that I buy in a store so I can make sure they fit and the leg seams are straight. I wear heavy cotton, long-tail, long-sleeve t-shirts without any logo or print and get them from the maker's website whenever I need them. When I need underwear, I get it from Jockey on their website. The hard one is socks. I am looking for socks right now and having trouble finding what I need. The closest I have found so far are at Walmart, so I might have to just get those.

Regarding new quality clothing, I always buy the best I can afford. So far, however, returns remain an issue. You can't return an item if you have taken it out of its original package, which means you can't try it on. About all you can do with it upon receipt is give it a once-over. Even then, it is usually impossible to return sale items.

[flatcap]

Second post today.

User "Beachgirl" from Australia logged in last night. Just checked, and she is still online today. She is not a bot. She has 130 posts, and she has been here since 2009.

I don't know if she has MS. I was going to PM her and send her over here, but I didn't want to freak her out. Agate, maybe you could contact her?

[agate]

flatcap, Lands' End and L. L. Bean will accept returned clothes if you've taken them out of the wrapping and tried them on. They appreciate having them returned in the original packaging but you can always wrap them up again in their packaging as best you can. I don't think they insist on it. They have men's clothes but I'm not sure they're what you're looking for.

When I had a husband, and when my dad was alive, they got their suits by going to a men's-wear place and being fitted for them. First they went and got measured, etc., and then they came back when the suit was ready, tried it on, and sometimes had to have adjustments made even then. It was quite a process. If that is still the way men's clothes are bought, i can understand why mail-order or online shopping wouldn't work well but I have the impression that suits like that aren't so commonly worn any more--even though everyone you see on TV when the news deals with people in government shows a lot of men wearing suits and ties.

It's like a uniform, maybe? A way of establishing respectability? I don't know how men stand wearing those suits, frankly. Or the ties. They look hot and confining. But then I've never understood women enjoying wearing high heels. Or hats with veils. Thank heavens those went out of style ages ago but when I was a child you still saw women in them. Women needing to cover up their faces, as in parts of the Middle East?

As for the phone, I've always used TracFone. In fact, I first heard about TracFone from someone on this board. (The people on this board really are genuinely useful to one another!) She mentioned using it and how comparatively straightforward it was, as phone services go.

But under the ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) I've been entitled to free phone service, and my account at Tracfone hasn't been very accessible. It's there but it doesn't show the status of the amounts being paid or when the bills are coming due. I have to keep a careful eye on when that freebie service is ending but the latest word is that it will stop at the end of this month. I bought the smartphone I have through them, I'm pretty sure, and it was about $95. Not cheap but cheaper than many I looked at.

The ACP might be continued because there has been quite a campaign in favor of it. So far, though, it's scheduled to end. This is it:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

About your girlfriend with the habit of returning clothes after one wearing, I've heard of this happening often, and it may be one reason why clothes prices are so high. I've known of people who buy a product, change their minds and create a small defect in it, then return it to the store claiming that it had the defect when they got it.

[flatcap]

I will keep Lands' End and L. L. Bean in mind. I have lost so much weight, I will have to get a new jacket at some point. Except for one I recently bought used on Etsy, all my coats fit like tents. But that nice used Levi's jean jacket only goes only so far. It's only good for when it's in the 60s. I will need something for colder weather if I ever make the transition to new coats.

As for suits and ties, I am right there with you. I got stuck wearing that kind of outfit for work some years ago, and when it was over, I threw the darn thing in the trash. I will never wear a suit again if I can help it. I see them in old films and photos and think I would like to wear one like that every now and then, but it's just a dream. Not very practical, but it would go better with my cap. LOL

One can still get fitted suits, but you are right: They are much less common now than they were in the past. They remain, however, the way to go if you really want the suit to fit right. That can be taken too far, though. I see on TV sometimes these jerks strutting around in suits that were fitted too tightly, wearing tennis shoes if you can believe it, and looking like the fools they are. It's just silly when grown adults dress like they were kids. It seems more common with the sports folks, but that's no surprise.


ETA: I just found and bookmarked L. L. Bean and Lands' End. It looks like they both have some good coats at reasonable prices. Thanks for the tip.

[agate]

Second post today.

User "Beachgirl" from Australia logged in last night. Just checked, and she is still online today. She is not a bot. She has 130 posts, and she has been here since 2009.

I don't know if she has MS. I was going to PM her and send her over here, but I didn't want to freak her out. Agate, maybe you could contact her?

I think contacting her is a good idea even if she's one of those people who registered but mainly just comes here to read. I think there are quite a few who still do that. The user name doesn't ring a bell for me but I might easily have forgotten a user name like that as there have been several user names ending in -girl, -gal, -grrl, etc.

Thank you, flatcap, for letting me know about the Mint cellphone service option! I hadn't ever heard of it and will be looking into it now.