News From Guam

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 09:04 PM

And the ports that look the finest, turn out somehow worst of all,
For I lost my chum in Rio, in a Dago dancing hall,
And I lost my bloomin' heart once to a wench in Callio,
And I lost my youth in 'Frisco, so many years ago.

From Port of Dreams by C. Fox Smith

Cheerily,
Charley Noble, still in Baltimore

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 08:24 PM

Actually I was worried about finding an emotional high point for the book. After all anyone can write about paradise but you need something to hook the reader and make them worry too. The reason good news doesn't dominate the TV news reports is that good news isn't news. So now I need to craft the story to lead the reader into a sense of crime on the island getting closer and threatening me. The crescendo of the story and the next to the last chapter will have to be the ID theft and fire. The last chapter will be our recovery and whatever happens next.

I received two credit reports. No new accounts that I can see. I think we have this nipped now though I thought that before and more bad news rolled in. One of the items on the last credit card bill was a purchased credit report though I don'tknow who the report was for, me or the thief or one of his friends. I am worried about that.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 08:17 PM

Brett,
Maybe this is the angle for your book. Anyone can write about life in Paradise. You have the inside story on when Paradise turns into Hell. Theft Identity is hot right now. Get busy writing. Or maybe you can devote one chapter to it. Any news on the Credit Report front?
Mary

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 07:36 PM

Yesterday the newspaper ran a story about my problems. It took up most of page 2 complete with graphs showing the effect of ID theft on the economy and on people. It didn't say anything about the police not working on it. Actually it implied the police were actually doing something. I guess the newspaper isn't going to shake anything loose.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 23 Sep 04 - 09:29 AM

Maybe this cloud has a silver lining??

Surely now your local police or whoever will start looking at camera records in stores? Get those Wisconsin folks harassing the Guam folks.

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Sep 04 - 07:20 PM

Well, another shoe dropped yesterday. It must be one of Charlie's squids. I got a bill from a credit card I used to use back in Maine. I haven't used it here in Guam at all and had it carefully squirreled away. Now it is maxed out with purchases all over Guam. Sigh.

This has reawakened Wakana's fears and insecurities. It just makes me tired. Last night I had to call yet another fraud department and I will soon have to fill out yet another set of papers. This fraud department is in Wisconsin so I have to stay up till 11:00 PM to talk to them. No bed until midnight. Double sigh.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 21 Sep 04 - 06:56 PM

I finally have some positive news. As of yesterday we have air conditioning in our house. The guitars positively sighed with relief. I know I did.

Wakana and I are both healing and the work of bringing the books into the house continues. Yesterday I found some old treasures that I'd forgotten I had. Plus I found a box of things belonging to my younger daughter including a wrinkled dress and a bunch of Christmas ornaments. AND her diary! Muahaha! She better hurry home! (Of course, I would never read your diary, dear!)

It poured rain night before yesterday and I worried about the pile of stuff out under the eaves. However, there wasn't much damage. I did finally take a close look at my guitar cases, the two I could reach. They had been in the fire room. They are toast, warped and the skin is bubbled. The combination of heat and moisture has rusted all the metal fittings. I guess I'm in for replacement of those babies before I can travel with the guitars.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 07:35 PM

Brett-

Check my website for "Port o' Dreams" if you dare:Click here!

There's a few other newly arranged songs on my website that you might also find interesting if you've got something that plays MP3 files.

We had a nice session at the Press Room yesterday if you'd like to check that thread. Tom looks and sounds real good.

Hang in there!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Sep 04 - 07:12 PM

This KMart is advertised as the biggest in the world. Hwever, I think they exagerate. It isn't all that big.

I have been taking a lot of leave lately, stretching the definition of sick leave so I can use it up before my retirement. However, the last three work days were truly sick leave. I'd been feeling bad in the evenings and Wakana finaly persuaded me to go to the doctor's office. They only confirmed my own self diagnosis, pneumonia, again! It was a very mild touch, we caught it before it got too bad. So I was out of the office for three days and Wakana wouldn't let me do any work.

I have ten days until I retire and I have to admit I am not enjoying the anticipation. It's pretty scary.

Not much progress on the robbery, ID Theft, arson front except that the fire department ruled the fire "accidental". I don't know how that will play out in the long run. I have an idea that I may be facing a civil suit from the owner with him expecting me to pay for repairs. I'm afraid he can squeeze this stone all he wants but he ain't gonna get any blood.

On the good news front we now have a sofa. It's amazing how civilized it feels to sit on a sofa and watch TV or read a book. We managed to find one long enough for me to lay on for naps. I like that. Wakana paid for it but came up $5.00 short so I made up the difference. Now I claim it belongs to US and she challenges me to pick out the .005% that is mine. She says she'll sell it to me if she decides to go back to Japan (a recurring joke between us, we both claim we are "going back Japan!") and I tell her not to bother, I'll help her get it to the airport... We have a lot of fun with that.

As for further good news we are to get air conditioning tomorrow! Now that will be the heighth of luxury, movement without breaking a sweat! Sleeping without a fan blowing on you. Doors and windows closed against the cry of the roosters and the continual barking of the dogs. Dry walls, towels, and surfaces. Sigh, what a great daydream. I will dare tune up the guitars and when I play them I won't stick to them.

Wakana saw me playing around with my pennywhistle and got interested. She dug out another of my D whistles and I showed her the fingering. She has been playing around with it trying tunes she knows. I also found my pennywhistle instruction book and pointed it out to her. When she first picked up the whistle she looked for the thumbhole such as you would find on the recorder or maybe on some flutes. I need to ask her about that. Maybe she can play a Japanese flute and I just don't know it.

Back to work.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 04 - 11:15 PM

Okay, Brett, thansk for the phone info. I've a few days off from watching my grandson, etc., so will try to call in the next couple of days.

Re' the newspapers. Since it is a territory(?) of the US, maybe some major/mainstream USA papers would be interested...maybe that kind of "press" would shame them into doing something about catching the idiot. Are there others who have suffered the same? Would they be willing to talk about it, too?

Good luck with the books and bookcases...seems to funny to think of a KMart over there.:-) A move sounds like a good idea, too.

luvyakat

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Sep 04 - 10:45 PM

Brett-

For your amusement try accessing the MP3 files of the new C. Fox Smith poems I've set to music on my personal website. I particularly recommend "Port o' Dreams." Then Masefield's "Hell's Pavement" not so bad either.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 Sep 04 - 09:28 PM

I am currently waiting for a credit report. Apparently it is a free process when you are the victim of ID Theft.

Thanks, Tom, for the idea on how to contact the papers. I've been thinking along those lines but didn't know how to do it. I cannot imagine calling the newspaper offices and explaining my story to the first fifteen people I have to talk to. Unfortunately the local paper may not be a good choice. There is quite a "good ol' boy" network here. Everything is tied up in families, government, corporations, and the newspaper. It all depends on how the newspaper family is getting along with the government family.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: curmudgeon
Date: 13 Sep 04 - 08:47 PM

Brett -- So sorry about your losses. But, listen to Sinsull re: newspapers.

I don't know about Guam, but every paper I've written for would have been delighted to run your story. Simply compose a "press release" and send it to all the papers; then get ready to answer questions -- Tom

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Sep 04 - 07:50 PM

Brett,
Have you requested recent credit reports? Just in case your thief has gotten a bit creative with your ID. Isn't the credit card company interested in nabbing the guy? How about the bank that has to make good on the bad checks? How about a local newspaper?

Leave when you can. You will both feel better on friendlier turf. i didn't have that much grief in NYC!

SINS

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 13 Sep 04 - 07:42 PM

I have finally found my way to a computer and I can post again. The time in between has been filled with hard work and hot days and nights. I called the landlord this weekend and told him we surrendered. We would pay for replacing the air conditioner if he would let us use the rent for that. He agreed. By this weekend we may have A/C! Plus Wakana bought a sofa which will be delivered on Thursday. No more hard kitchen chairs and lying on the tile floors to watch TV.

This weekend was our first weekend where we did not have to work in the old house. I managed to stay relatively soot free this weekend. Friday night we went to KMart where we found cheap bookcases (laminate on pressboard) and we bought the lot, two double wide Cherry bookcases, one single wide Oak bookcase, and one white singlewide bookcase. We used the money Wakana's mother gave us. The logic is that we have boxes of books sitting under cover outdoors soaking up the humidity and attracting wasps looking to build nests. We have to get them out of those sooty boxes, clean them, and then... why not into bookcases where they can be accessed? I hope we have enough bookcases.

I constructed a time line of the various criminal activites that hit me lately. It was very interesting. The first activity on my credit cards happened when I was in Palau! As I see it the thief was in my house at least twice if not three times. The last time he set the fire. By my estimate he has made off with almost $10,000 in goods and cash from various merchants, my credit card companies, and me.

If a man ran down through the streets of Tumon with a gun robbing pedestrians and shops ,etting $10,000 the police would be all over him and the newspapers would be shouting the story to the rooftops. But the cops aren't interested in my little problem. The special agent who is supposedly working on the case just tells me to submit my additional evidence to the original interviewing officer. He will not stir from his desk to do any legwork. I think a TV show about the Guam police would include lots of arguing over donuts and plenty of coffee and little else. I am getting frustrated and disgusted with the whole process.

It isn't as though I have nothing to go on. I have dates and times that the criminal used an ATM. There are cameras on those machines. All the cop has to do is go to the bank and get the tapes. I also have dates and times for use of the card at KMart. KMart has the best security system on the island. It would be so easy to find the guy. I also have bank transfers and checks written to a specific person. How tough is it to find that guy and question him? Grrrr!

As a result of this whole problem Wakana and I are talking of moving to another place, a safer place. I think she would be happier in Japan but I am not sure I would be. We have considered the Pacific Northwest of the USA and the smaller islands in the Hawaiian chain. It will not happen soon but it will happen I think. More to come on that.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 07:59 PM

By the way, for those of you who have my address and phone number you should know my address has changed but the phone number is the same. Kat, the phones are working again if you still want to call. Remember to speak slowly and clearly if Wakana answers.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 08 Sep 04 - 07:47 PM

That website was up and running before I left Maine, Mary, but I am surprised Charley hasn't excised me from the picture yet. Brian used to be in that picture and Charley took him out. He'd have been a favorite son in the old Soviet Union for his ability to make people disappear from photos.

There is some good news on the ID theft front. The credit onion (deliberately misspelled) has redeposited some of the money that was stolen. I now have a positive bank balance! Of course it's nowhere near what was there before. Take my advice, protect yourself even if the money is in a "safe" place, like a bank.

And now that the move is over I need to clean up the pick up and put it up for sale. I guess this weekend it goes on our "lemon lot". This is a place on the base where people can sell their cars. I will not be able to afford the payments once I retire and it has to go.

The Mitsuko River continues to flow strongly. Gordon and I talked about following it back to its source somewhere in the jungle behind the house. I guess I better sharpen my machete. Yesterday the mayor's office sent some loads of coral our to rebuild the side of the road where the water has washed it out. They built a speed bump dam to reroute the water to the other side of the road and then filled in the washed out area. Unfortunately they used cold patch asphalt for the dam. Cold patch compresses when you drive over it so now the water is flowing through the tire marks and is running in sheets down the middle of the road. And it is starting to wash out pot holes in the road itself. They really need to come in and place some concrete culverts to take the flow where it wants to go. You cannot stop Mother Nature. You can only make it easier for her to follow her chosen path.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 07:23 PM

Seen this yet Brett?
http://www.rollandgoseasongs.com/

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: bbc
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 06:28 PM

Nice & modest, too. Brett, you *are* a prize! I wish I had someone who could do stuff around the house.

love,

Barbara

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,winterbright
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 05:05 PM

Check out British Columbia! It looks beautiful!

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 10:51 AM

Brett, Sydney has a small Japanese community & one of my colleagues & good mates has a Japanese wife, so I've asked him for their opinions & experiences.

We certainly do have an element of racial prejudice in Oz, but not in the circles I move in, so I look forward to his reply.

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 10:19 AM

Gosh Brett. Come visit me and you can show off your skills around a garbage disposal, rotted wooden windows, leaking roofs...the list is endless. I'd be impressed too.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 08:26 AM

Well, she does have a prize in you, Brett!

For many good reasons.


A

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 01:53 AM

By the by, Susan, I never forget that my Mud-buddies are out there, ready with support and help as fits their abilities. And I appreciate all that comes my way. I certainly don't expect anyone to jump on a plane and come running with tools in hand. The kind words and prayers are enough to keep me grabbing at the next soot covered box and hefting it down the stairs and on to the truck.

Speaking of "tools in hand" Wakana and her mother have been astonished at what I appear to be capable of turning my hand to. I mounted the medicine cabinet and towel rods in the bathroom, repiped the kitchen sink drain and replaced the innards of the toilet, reglued one of the kitchen chairs, knew how to scrape and paint, replaced the locks in the exterior doors, and intend to replace light fixtures and electrical sockets myself. To me this is just what I, and many of the people I know, do. In Japan they make a point of calling in the experts for these jobs. Wakana seems to think she has a prize in me because of this. I tried to explain that this ability is common and that I screw things up quite often but that seems to have made no impression.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 12:10 AM

I'd like to try for the National next Easter. I will have to make that decision as it gets closer.

Jenny, you are right about Mudcats and folkies in general. However, when in Sydney last year I did run into a few people (non-folkie/Mudcats) who had nothing nice to say about aboriginals in general. I didn't hear anything about other races but my experience is that bigotry doesn't necessarily limit itself to one group. I am concerned that Wakana may have a point.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: JennyO
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 11:10 PM

Hi Brett. What a lot of nasty messy stuff you both have been through! I don't envy you all that moving and cleaning at all. Yes, I think it is wise to stay where you are for a while and try to settle down.

I noticed you said that Wakana was concerned about racial prejudice in Australia and New Zealand. Now I can't speak for New Zealand, or even every part of Australia, but for what it's worth, I don't think it would be a problem around our neck of the woods. Well you've met some of us here. Apart from friendly mudcatters and folkies, Sydney in particular is very multicultural with a very high proportion of many different races. We'd love to have you both here if you ever decide to come. Come for a visit some time anyway, when you can afford to. There's still the National next Easter, if you can manage it. Love to both of you.

Jenny

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 11:03 PM

Yes, I have a feeling you do need to stay put. Your latest update sounds like renewed energy and you generating positive forces around yourself. But if you decide to bail, hole up, hide out-- reconnoiter-- we're right where you left us.

~S~

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 10:23 PM

Thanks, I think I need to stay put for a little while longer. We haven't had a real chance to enjoy Guam yet and I want to try my hand at being an unpublished author (no expectation of success but I can dream). Wakana and I will keep talking about it until we nail down a plan. Her student visa is up at the end of the year and then she will have to go back to Japan to get a visitor's visa. After that, who knows? Maybe we will use our 'round-the-world trip to research new homes. One possibility is England. I have toyed with the idea of living on a narrowboat in the canal system there. If I use the rest of this year to reduce my possessions to the absolute minimum and put the rest into storage I might be able to try that.

And I could always go home to the farm and take care of my parents. That would relieve my sisters of some of their responsibility. However, I really don't want to go live in northern Maine and I am sure Wakana doesn't like that idea either.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: wysiwyg
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 10:00 PM

Brett,

You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, semi-private quarters and shared bath.

~S~

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 09:27 PM

Leave there, Brett and start new somewhere else where you have friends to help you. Given the length and breadth of Mudcatville, that is almost anywhere in the world.
SINS

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 08:38 PM

The visit with Wakana's mother was a big success. They worked on setting up the kitchen while I made another round of visits to banks, merchants, and the police department. Then they worked on cleaning and repacking books as I hauled truckloads in from the old house. The landlord had a pile of concrete pavers stored in the way so I laid themout to form a patio where we could work comfortably. It was funny to see those two small women reaching out to help move the pavers. These are four feet long by two feet wide by four inches thick with re-bar inside. I can just barely carry one and preferred to just lever them into place.

But we got a lot of work done and in the evenings had long conversations with Wakana translating. I think it was good for Wakana's English skills and told her mother so. Wakana wasn't pleased about that but had to agree.

When Mitsuko-san left I named the brook in her honor, the Mitsuko River. She was pleased with that.

Yesterday Wakana, Gordon, and I finished moving our stuff out of the old house. We gave up on cleaning it as we moved it. That was just too slow. Instead we have stacked it outside in a corner of the house that includes an outdoor closet. There a blue tarp and a large overhang protects it from the weather but I have to get the books and stuff into the house ASAP. Our next priority is to build bookcases and unpack the boxes. It makes as much sense as cleaning and repacking the boxes and might not take as long.

Moving sooty boxes and stuff out of a sooty house is dirty work. In the evenings the shower water flowed dark around my feet. My clothes were dark with soot that managed to get through my shirt and on to my skin. The sweat and soot seems to have turned me grey in places. It may take a few showers to get back to my usual color.

Today we need to go back to the old house to shovel the leftover debris out of the office and pick up a few odd bits of trash. Then we will be done.

Here's a memory out of the blue. When we moved into the new house I ordered the new cable TV service. As a surprise for her I included the Japanese public TV station, NHK. The first night we watched a program on a kite flying competition that took place last May. Two teams were trying to fly giant kites and these things were huge. They measured 6 meters by 22 meters. One of the kites couldn't get into the air but the other team managed to fly theirs. What a sight. Try to imagine a billboard flying in the blue sky. The lines came down from the kite's edges to meet at a junction into a rope that ran to the crowd of people on the ground. It was obviously a tug of war between that kite and the ground crew. Great stuff.

Wakana is very nervous about our security since the fire. She wants to leave Guam. We've been discussing possible future homelands. So far I like going to the Pacific Northwest USA (or Pacific Southwest Canada), or Australia/New Zealand. Wakana is worried about racial prejudice in Australia/New Zealand but is interested in the USA/Canada. She thinks of Japan as an option too though I doubt I could be comfortable in a place where I am so much larger than the furniture and bathrooms. We are open to suggestions. I think we will stay in Guam for a while longer but be leaving before the middle of next year.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,Canberra Chris (guesting)
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 07:41 AM

Brett,
Just caught up with your thread. I'm travelling in UK, mainly family business, but catching up with the odd session (great hospitality in Chester), and inducting my 10 yr old nephew who is starting to play. I came over mainly for a family wedding (sang 'Fields of Gold' at it in late summer country England), and to pitch in helping to move my mother which is a major family exercise.
Sorry to hear about your troubles - the kind we don't need, just hassle upon hassle for nothing. But as all your friends say, hang in there, and don't let it get between you and what you love. Just work through it, and keep singing. And just tell Wakana's mother you were built for resonance!
Names for brooks? After a brief drive round the Lake District, I wouldn't know where to start!
Chris

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 10:21 AM

One of my favorite rivers names has to be the Nonesuch River, just south of Portland passing under the Maine Turnpike. As our car approached the "bridge" we'd eagerly stare over the side, only to see nothing but a dry creek bed.

Of course, you could always call your stream "Further A-Dew."

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 10:13 AM

Giac sent me pictures of her Springbrook Park - one shows the spring bubbling up in the brook, the other the brook.

But I don't suppose you can have a Springbrook in Guam, too, where would the world be if people started naming things after places in the Old Country?

don't let the turkeys get you down

sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,winterbright
Date: 03 Sep 04 - 02:26 PM

"Brook Shields"? Oh, no, wait - that's been taken. "Brook-no-nonsense"? "Re-moat Control"? Or maybe just "Enough-is-enough".

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 Sep 04 - 10:59 AM

For the brook:
Roll'N Gone ?

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Sep 04 - 10:05 AM

Brett-

Sounds like one hell of a tough month to come, with all that you've described, plus the end of the budget year, and winding up your job. That's a whole lot of stress. Plan for some quality quiet time afterwards if your new plastic arrives intact.

As for naming the brook, how about "Merry Meanders"?

Off to the 10th Windjammers Weekend in Camden this Saturday. I plan to hang out with Kendall at Gilbert's Pub for the Thirsty Whalers Reunion from 1 to 5 pm.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Amos
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 11:45 PM

Wakana-Wawa?

I feel for ya, man. Keep breathing, 'kay? Get through it soon!


A

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 11:41 PM

{{{{{{{{{{Brett & Wakana}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

I'll call soon. We love you,

kat

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 11:31 PM

Thanks all. Sorry about the lack of posts but this is the first time I've parked myself at a computer in a long time. I need to compile what has happened and create a mega-post so you can find out what I've been going through. It is a testament to frustration, anger, and stupidity.

I don't have any news of progress on the case. Two days ago I bought an abstract of the police file and all it talked about was the theft of the physical items from the house. And it didn't mention Wakana at all though the computer that was stolen was hers.

I have been trying to pay off the legitimate checks I wrote but now the credit union won't let me have any more money until the negative balance in my account is made right. That will be next payday, 9/10. The companies I have talked to do not care about the ID theft. All they care about is getting paid the money owed PLUS the returned check fee. In one instance I was paying the debt before the check came back and they STILL assessed the returned check fee.

In the meantime I just learned that my Government card has been compromised as well. The thief apparently took that as well. I cannot talk to those people until the world turns far enough that they have a work day on their side of the world. I guess I'll be up late tonight.

But there is humor and laughter to be found as well. Wakana's mother came to help us out. We met her at the airport. Just before she arrived Wakana confessed that she had not had the opportunity (nerve?) to describe me to her parents in more than general terms. Wakana's mother arrived, a tiny, elderly, Japanese woman and they greeted each other warmly. Then Wakana introduced me and the older woman's eyes travelled up, up, and up, with increasing astonishment at my size and appearance. Her mother is only a little shorter than Wakana and Wakana is only 5'1". I am 6'2" tall and at last count weigh in at 365 pounds. I think Wakana's mother is concerned about her daughter.

Time to go back into the fray. Thanks for all the good wishes. We are doing as well as can be expected. It's tough but we will survive it.

By the way, thanks to the extremely wet weather this year we have a brook running through our yard. The landlord says there is a spring up in the jungle that flows when the aquifer fills up. It is quite pleasant to listen to. It took some doing with a shovel to get it to follow a particular course but now it flows down past the house, across the driveway and into the neighbor's yard. It's been very well behaved and has stayed out of the house though the neighbor has complained about it coming into his house. I'm thinking of naming it. Any suggestions?

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: GUEST,winterbright
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 05:54 PM

White light & hugs. And remember, it's always darkest when the lights are out.

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Aug 04 - 11:35 AM

don't let the bastards get you down.

Do the police have any ideas or leads? Is this a fairly 'common' kind of crime?

And is the island covered with cameras so there is hope of getting pics of the person/s passing them?

love from sandra

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 10:49 PM

Deep breaths, Brett. The single most important thing right now is for you and Wakana to stay healthy and focussed on each other. Don't let the anger, frustration and depression come between you. What you have lost is only things. They can and will be replaced. Don't make it worse by giving these low lifes the single most precious thing you two own, the one thing they couldn't take without your permission - your devotion to each other.

Stay strong,
SINS

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: JudyB
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 09:32 PM

Brett -
Oops - forgot to log Charlie out and me in - Oh, well, Charlie loves you too - he's just not quite as vocal about it.
JudyB

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 09:28 PM

Hey Brett -
Work with the credit union - they shouldn't be paying on the checks if the signature isn't yours. (If the signature is yours, get Wakana to tie you to a tree on the nights of the full moon. But I digress.)

Retrieve "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow" from your wayback files - it got me through some rocky times because after singing it enough times in a row it was just so dumb I had to laugh (not the song, exactly - just something about singing "I Am a Maid of Constant Sorrow" enough times in a row struck my ludicrous bone).

Guam isn't that big - they should catch the buzzard (or some other word that I don't think would make it past the censors).

Does Guam have a gym with those giant punching bags that boxers use? If it were me, I'd want to punch someone, and that seems like a good alternative. Visualize the son of a seahorse (or whatever) and WHAM!

When you're at a place that you can do it, remember all the folks that love you - and realize that they may have your bank account (at least for a while) but they can never get their hands on your true wealth.

And do keep posting as this continues to unfold. We care, and we're rooting for you!

I actually know you (unlike Corridus), making the story all the more real as it unfolds. And I've had enough strange things happen in my life (for better or for worse) to have a real appreciation for the journey.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Hug Wakana.

Tomorrow is another day.

Love you,
JudyB

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 09:16 PM

Keep this in mind--you live on an island. It's harder to hide what you're doing when you live in a confined space like that. And WHEN (not "if") they catch the thief, they'll add on a hefty charge of arson to the crime list.

Someone should be able to track these purchases made with the checks and get this guy pretty soon. Keep your chin up. You're not liable for more than about $50 of the charges on your card (if even that much) and the checking account should be restored.

SRS

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 09:12 PM

Ugh!

I would think that Guam is a small enough place that if someone were using your checks to purchase something they would run the risk of being recognized by a store clerk or being caught on a security camera. Hopefully the thief or thieves will outsmart themselves. They probably live in your old neighborhood to start with.

Well, it's at least a good thing to get depressed about, not to mention pissed off! There's got to be some clues that could be followed up.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 08:49 PM

Just remember your net worth is a LOT more than numbers.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 08:48 PM

I'm so sorry-- stay close to Wakana and decide together what to do next.

Bad check kiters usually get spotted in due course. When s/he starts bouncing them, that may be their undoing. You can always hope for restitution.

~Susan

Subject: RE: News From Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Aug 04 - 07:47 PM

Thanks for that, Winterbright. Sometimes you have to look beyond your own pool to find the good luck.

I hate to write this post. I have listed so many bad things is such a short time that it seems like overload to add any more. There has to come a point where people just stop believing that all of this could happen to one person. Believe me, I am telling everything, exactly as it has occurred.

On Tuesday I stopped at the credit union to get a printout of my account. I knew that I had blown through the money I had transferred into checking to cover the move and the preparations in the new house. It didn't seem right because I had been keeping careful track of what I was spending.

Well, it seems our resourceful thief had taken more than just Wakana's computer, camera, social security card and passport. He also took my box of checks. Starting on the day of the fire he started wiping out my accounts. I now have a net worth in the negative numbers.

This last straw seems to have broken the camel's back. I am sunk in depression and gloom. I live on the verge of tears and flinch from everything, expecting it to be another attack.

Oh, and I don't think I mentioned that Wakana's car broke down the other day and may cost upwards of $1,000 to fix.