A few words... · 4:38am Nov 30th, 2014
Been a member of the Steam community for almost ten years now. For the first time since I joined on December 26th, 2004, I've actually had someone ATTEMPT to phish or scam me. I say they attempted because they were so goddamn hamhanded in it that they didn't even get past Step 1 in the idiot's guide to hijacking an account/scamming on Steam: Me accepting the friend request.
See, when someone with no avatar, a name such as [Unassigned], and only a single game in their library—one that they've somehow managed to log over 300 hours in but only a small number of achievements to show for it—sends me a request despite the explicit warning that I do not accept friend requests from accounts I don't recognize [which effectively means unless it has something to do with a game raffle won on SteamGifts.com, I don't accept anything], there's absolutely no way in hell I'm accepting that request.
I didn't even have to look up whether or not it was a trap, that's how obvious it was. If I'd accepted, I would have been looking at either a phishing link, a link to a malware embedded in an image designed to grab my SteamGuard cookies, or they would try to scam... well, I don't think there's anything actually worthwhile in my Steam Inventory to scam me out of. Just jacking my account is about the only thing they could have accomplished, and they failed.
So remember kiddies: if you're hoping to pull a fast-one on somebody, don't make yourself obvious by holding a gigantic warning sign above your head before you've even gotten in the door.
Now, onto other topics. I managed to get a fair bit of work done on Chapter 7 today. It's nothing substantial, but a good portion of the first scene that introduces not one but two characters. This is after a number of things happening lately that hasn't really allowed me a lot of focus on my writing.
I may or may not have ranted about this before, but my family owns a lot of animals. Before Monday, that number was 11—five dogs, and six cats. We used to have just three dogs and four cats, but our retriever didn't get much activity because our two smaller dogs didn't really play, so mother and father decided to get him a playmate by 'rescuing' a dog—a bit of a mutt-y dog that looks like she has a bit of shepherd breed in her [australian?]—from a home that could not care for her. This was well before last autumn's move.
After the winter holidays, mother brought home a cat to nurse back to health in hopes of rehoming once she was well: a Himalayan/Siamese cross. Only problem? She is a bit of a bitch. Doesn't get along with most of the other cats or dogs, and the retriever wants to kill her. We have not been having a lot of luck with getting his cat a home that can actually care for her and meet her 'special' anti-social needs.
Then, in spring, when my father started volunteering with a Department of Natural Resources project, he discovered a kitten [probably born last fall] in the woods. She was a little sick, and missing one of her adult fangs, but incredibly spirited and not at all afraid of people. She'd climbed a tree and jumped onto his shoulders before he knew what was what, and then followed him all the way back to the car. Miss A. took very well to her new home, and has chosen her person: me. Even as I write this, she's napping on my bed, taking pride in the fact that she's the only cat allowed in this room.
Come June, parents noted a family on Kijiji was trying to get rid of their dog—a golden lab/greyhound/who knows what else cross—because they "couldn't take him with them." Now, keep in mind that my parents see pets as part of the family, rather than just a belonging or something to be gotten rid of because it's inconvenient, so when these people couldn't or wouldn't find a home that could accommodate their dog where they were moving, they snatched him up, too. Another playmate for the retriever, since we had large enough land.
Dog number six came Monday. He's a Cocker Spaniel, he's dumber than a sack of doorknobs, and he's a pain in my ass. See, this dog is five years old, has already been in three previous houses who 'couldn't care for him', and is not house trained. He seems to be picking up on the fact that he only needs to get one of us to take him out, but he's not 100% on that fact, and has cocked his leg on a chair in the dining room more than once already. Not only that, but he has yet to link the warning beeps of his collar for the in-ground dog fence with the immanent shock when he keeps going forward. Put bluntly? I can't let the little bastard out of my sight. Just this evening, I let the pack outside, him included, and popped into the living room to put my tablet on the charger. A span of 20 seconds passed between me letting them out, and me getting outside myself. In that period of time, he'd already wandered out past the boundary, and it wasn't until I offered feeding that he came back... at least, until he hit the wire. Then he just stood there, letting himself get shocked.
That's only part of the reason I REALLY dislike this dog. He follows you EVERYWHERE in the house, even when you don't want to be followed [because he's just short enough to be a real tripping hazard], and he doesn't comprehend "Fuck off," "Go away," or "Stop following me," at all, unlike the rest of the pack. It drives me up the wall when I'm milling about in the kitchen and I nearly trip over him when I have a number of plates in my hand.
Oh, and he's a thief. Kleenex, paper towel, and toilet paper he thinks belong to him. If he can smell food on something, even if it is just a plastic bag, he'll steal it when he thinks nobody's looking. He actually stole a sandwich off the counter when my mother had turned her back on it to put the mustard back in the fridge. Another reason you can't turn your back on this dog.
Finally, the primary reason I can't bring myself to like this dog is this: on his second day in the house, when he'd already 'become part of the pack', he decided he was going to chase after Miss A. Now, A. was never scared of any of the other dogs, but she greatly dislikes this spaniel. She was terrified of him. In spite of this, he wouldn't leave her alone. That evening, he decided he was going to chase after her. Now, I'm not sure if you're familiar with dog behavior, but when members of a pack see one of its fellows chase after something, they give chase too. The two that gave chase? The two biggest in the pack: the lab/greyhound and the retriever. They cornered her against the oven, scruffing her until I broke it up. The other two backed off quick enough when I intervened, but I literally had to force the retriever down and when he started snapping at me, I had to punch him in the back of the head for him to realize just who he was trying to bite. Now, poor Miss A. is terrified of ALL the dogs, and is almost as skittish as one of our Siamese girls. THIS, I can never forgive. The only place she feels safe at all is here in my room, and she can't live in here full time.
So yeah... 'A few words'.
TL;DR - I hate dogs, I'm starting to get back on track with writing, and don't be a complete idiot if you're going to try to scam somebody.
So much reading.... Glad you're writing though!
Aw be glad it's just sandwiches!
Our cocker ( he's our little dumbass) takes socks and slippers - regardless of who's watching - and buries them in the backyard. I found my old converse this summer under the pool deck D:
Sounds like a lovable oaf, and the jealousy must run in the breed - he'll growl if the cat gets so much as a pat on the head. :D Don't hate on the bastard too much, he'll just continue to be that - an old bastard. Show him he's part of the crew. Our dog took to eating cat food/cat treats just to try to gain our favor over the cat's
If you can't change the dog, at least change the way you look at him, eh?
My fatass does! I got the cat-door on my bedroom door so he can escape the dog whenever he wants a good ear-scratching, or just to sleep in the piles of laundry on the floor :3 Sounds like trouble, but lovable in the right light.
As someone whose Gramps had a Red Heeler (red-coat Australian Cattle Dog) just a fair warning: They are VERY energetic, friendly, and good workers on a farm. I kinda miss her (Gramps' Red Heeler) now, though when I was younger I wasn't exactly fond of how active she was.
And glad to hear that Chapter 7 is well on its way as well. As for the Steam scam attempt - don't forget to report the scammer to Valve in addition to blocking them and not accepting their friend request.
Yea golden retrievers are dumb dogs but i for one love dogs they help with my ptsd after iraq and fear of things that can hurt me
you can see why im a cat person
Haha yeah a similar thing happened to me a few weeks ago on steam, a "person" with no avatar and a friend list consisting entirely of people whose username started with an S tried to add me, I noped all the way to the ignore button :P
And I am A cat person for exactly those reasons. I'd take my cat who keeps me up at night by eating my fingers over a pesky dog any day
I actually have a friend who fell for a steam scam to tae his account. Worst part though? It was one of those "message from valve support: we need your login info" traps. You have no idea how long I kept bringing that up after the fact.
I agree on the Cats > Dogs. For me it comes down to a few things:
1: If a cat spends time around you, it actually means something, since most are kinda loners.
2: In general, dogs are really dumb. I'm not saying they can't be trained. I'm saying when they are in a situation they aren't trained for, most dogs will make choices that are fairly stupid and usually cause problems.
3: Dogs have way too many instinctual, usually breed specific, behavioral quirks. If you don't know them, you're screwed.
3a: Many dog breeds have issues with other (especially smaller) pets, which can cause some real problems.