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Rachel called this morning. Well, it was a recorded message, not actually Rachel on the phone. I think I remember that she said Credit Card Services or maybe it was some other name such as Card Member Services. It was urgent about my credit card account. She could lower my credit card interest. I should press "9" now. This is my final chance.

This was (of course) yet another in a long string of "final calls".

Two interesting things. First was what the Caller ID showed! It actually said PHONE SCAM. It would be interesting to know how that happened. Maybe there are so many complaints about that phone number that the technology is now able to show Phone Scam on my Caller ID. Cool.

Other thing is I Googled "Credit Card Services" and found this article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about Rachel and Credit Card Services. The article is from 2009 but information is interesting. One note, if you do read the comments after the article in the Star Tribune, be wary. Anyone can post something and send you to their website which could be a bad idea. So read the article, take the comments with a grain of salt and don't answer if "Rachel" calls.

Autism

Just yesterday I wrote about getting a phone call from Autism Disorder Foundation. The call came from Ohio and the phone number was 855-743-3251. Just put stamps on envelopes and send to neighbors was all I had to do.

Well look what I found. Sounds like the same foundation to me.

Autism foundation's IRS filings raise eyebrows by Jane Friedman in StarTribune.

You really should read that if you ever send money to charities. And I would caution you about sending money just because someone calls you on the phone and asks. You don't actually know that what they are saying is completely accurate. And just because they might say it's for children or vets or dogs, maybe it isn't actually. Just saying to use caution when giving away your money.

But I also found something else interesting in that same newspaper. Here's the link. (This story is by Chao Xiong.)

Support your local firefighter (well maybe not Your firefighter, but Someone's firefighter). It's a calendar and it has photos. That's all I'm going to say. But you really really should look at the photos. (! ! ! ! ! ) And to think of all the times I bought calendars with photos of California. They are also nice photos, but maybe this is the calendar for next year. Oh yeah, one more thing. This calendar benefits Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The 2011 calendar raised $2,000 for the Autism Society of Minnesota, so perhaps that would be another option for people wishing to donate to Autism causes.

I am sure Stephen would approve of the calendar. (I also wish Stephen would have his own calendar. Think of the possibilities.)

Good and Pawlenty

As you all know, Stephen is out to sea. So, I'll fill in with tidbits of this and that while he is out of the studio.

This was funny. On the day that Tim Pawlenty, former Governor of Minnesota, finally came out of the "running for president" closet, one of the home town papers, the Star Tribune had this cartoon by Steve Sack.

The thing is, that's one of my favorite candy choices. Good and Plenty candies are pink and white candy-coated licorice. Sweet on the outside, chewy on the inside.

Anyway, the No-Doz reference is hinting at (quite pointedly) that you need something to keep you from falling asleep when listening to Tim Pawlenty.

Some of you may remember that Michele Bachmann, Congresswoman from Minnesota, is also thinking about running for president, but she's waiting until all the "signs" are right before she decides.

So, for Minnesotans, this could be awkward. Perhaps it will end up being just like the Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat.