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Issue #1031
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From Russ

The Ontarion

Hi All,

I made an interesting discovery a few days ago, that I had somehow been ripped off, to the tune of $248.59. And I only managed to make that discovery because something didn’t look quite right on my Canadian Tire bill. The billing amount was correct, it was what was almost not noticeable that wasn’t right, almost not noticeable because it wasn’t there… my CTC Triangle Rewards points / dollars. You know, you purchase something at CTC or one of their enterprises, and use your CTC Options card to pay for it and you get a very few cents per dollar spent back in rewards points. I don’t buy much there or anywhere but over many years those points add up and I had accumulated $248.59. I was saving it up for something cool, no idea what but for something. My points were there on the bill I paid in January. Notification came that this month’s bill was ready to be downloaded and paid and so I went to my online account to download it. I always go over my bills carefully, and somehow managed to notice what wasn’t there, those reward points. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE? I knew I hadn’t used them but hidden way down in the printout was a line showing that the amount had been redeemed. No date, no explanation, no items it had been redeemed against.

Now the frustration starts. How do you even contact WHOEVER to find out where the points went? CTC Triangle Options very frustrating website gives several phone numbers but each and all take you to the exact same automated voice that gives the exact same useless choices. At no point can you find a choice to speak to a real person. I must have spent an hour going through the same endless loops of useless endless loops. Companies sure don’t want customers to actually reach them, or worse, actually speak to them. In mentioning this to Ryan, he suggested to try pressing ZERRO even though that isn’t an offered choice. I did and it worked. An almost surprised person came on the other end and I could finally ask where my money went, and why.

Now it gets a bit more interesting. After taking and verifying my info, she asked if I’d been in Toronto within the last month. NO! I got the feeling she expected that answer but had to ask. She then explained to me that the Options Reward system had been compromised. She was very careful with her wording but went on to say that a very high number of customer rewards points had somehow been accessed and ‘used’ for purchases and that they had had to re-issue a very high number of Rewards cards. The fact that I don’t actually have a Rewards card didn’t seem to matter. She gave me a ‘case number’ and assured me that my points would be fully restored to my account, and that my actual Options credit card had not been compromised. The culprit (possibly an insider in my opinion) was skimming the rewards program which wouldn’t trigger alarms on customer credit cards. I was told they would cancel my Rewards card (which I don’t and never did have) and issue a new one. I’m assuming the culprit has been ‘creating’ fake cards where one doesn’t exist, or duplicates where they do but who knows. Anyway, my points value should be back within a week or so, and like I said, my actual credit card is fine. What I want to pass on here is that if you collect CTC reward points, keep an eye on them. The lowlife thief(s) is not after small amounts but any amount worth going after is at risk until the thief is caught. Check you bills carefully if you use a CTC credit card and check your receipt whenever you make a purchase. CTC Rewards is not going to notify you or anyone else if your points go missing, you have to notify them.

Assuming my rewards points will be returned, I’ll let you now, and assuming that at some point in the future I decide what to use them for, I’ll also let you know.

doug

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From Russ

Black leather (Continued)

"Brubacher falls in love - marries a young widow -she comes as-a package - we are now a family-of-four"

The boys don't take-much-to-me - they love their grandparents who've looked after them since their father was killed in a car accident. Nana and Grandy didn't think I was good enough for their daughter (neither did I). To impress them, I ditched my coveralls for a uniform - a Kitchener Police uniform. The boys, ages 5 and 7 admired my shiny, black leather harness.

"Where's your gun, Daddy Russ?' they'd ask. And I'd explain it was in my locker back at the police station.

One Christmas Season while walking my 'beat' and wondering what to give my boys for Christmas the idea struck me - Why not give them each a "Sam Brown" of their own? There was a shoe-store on King Street, East just east of City Hall where I'd made friends with the owner way back during the War when I was making ammunition canisters for 'machine gun ammunition', and he'd made me a "kidney-belt" (Some of the men working with me at Blouse Shank & Metal Stamping wore kidney belts to "save their backs" from injury lifting heavy rolls of metal for stamping parts for the canisters - so I had to have one!)

"Do you suppose you could make 'kid-size' police-type Sam Browns?" After studying my harness for a long while, he said, "yes - I could make one" Delighted, I asked if he could make two - one for my 7 year-old, and one for my 5 year-old for Christmas.

"For this Christmas? Well - yes, I answered sheepishly. (He just shook his 'wooly' head) But, he must have worked day & night as he was able to complete the impossible by Christmas Day. He would deliver them to our home sometime during that day. Christmas morning came and went - no holsters. No gifts for my boys. Disappointment big time!

Late Christmas Day, after the boys had already gone to bed, and were sound asleep, a knock came to our door. It was my friend. "Sorry I'm late - the final polish was not dry". Thanks, anyway, I said, as he handed the two kid-size Sam Browns to me. They were nothing short of perfect! I was delighted! I could have hugged him (but, men don't hug)

Presenting the belts the day 'after' Christmas was sort of an 'anti-climax' - They each looked at them, then the older boy asked, "Where are the guns?" . (another disappointment!)

The final disappointment came when my Daughter-in-law was horrified to learn I'd given my boys "weaponry". I was deflated - my boys never wore their 'custom-made', black leather Sam Browns much after that.

Daddy Russ.

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THE ONTRION REPORT

Hello everyone!

Well, here we go again! After 77 years of relative peace, we are now faced with yet another World War looming in the offing! Russia is threatening the peace of the entire world with this latest move into Ukraine and there is no backing down by Putin in the near future at least! He’s another mad man just like Hitler was and the world must take his threats seriously for sure! All we can do is watch what becomes of this invasion and hope that it stops at the Ukrainian borders! All this time I thought Putin was a French concoction of fries with gravy and cheese curds on a plate but I guess I was mistaken! This nut case has the whole world on edge and his finger on a very dangerous button! If people thought he was just in China to watch the Olympic games, they are dead wrong! I think he was there secretly drumming up support for his upcoming invasion! He’s got the backing of the largest population on earth that is also communist and eyeballing becoming the rulers of the entire planet! I hate to think this way but it looks like we are looking at another world war if Putin doesn’t stop at overtaking one country that’s the size of the province of Manitoba! Hopefully the sanctions by the free world will be enough to damage the Russian economy and stop Putin’s war machine at a limit where he can’t afford to continue his conquest of the entire continent of Europe! He’s definitely a mad man and must be stopped before he overruns the entire continent!

That’s enough about this jerk for now! I’m sure everything I’ve just written is not news to any of you so sufficed to say, I sincerely hope for a quick outcome to that conflict before the whole world is forced into a war that only one country so far wants to fight! If China gets involved, God help us all!

*

To change the subject, this winter doesn’t seem to want to quit here in Ontario. We’re looking at another good sized storm and snow fall tomorrow (Friday) so I imagine it’ll be a few more weeks before things start to melt into Spring! I think I’ve had enough of Winter for this year! It’s a sure sign of Spring when you take a look at what’s happening in our basement, Carole planted some tulip bulbs in pots on my work bench the other day and they are already starting to sprout! She also has a good number of garlic plants sprouting about 4” in height out in the little green house that Adam built for her in the fall! I’m sure she’ll have a good crop of garlic come the warm weather! It’s amazing how these plants manage to survive the winter and even begin to grow with heavy snow still on the ground. Other years Carole’s garlic bed was out in the open and exposed to the direct snow of winter but the plants still managed to sprout and flourish in the early spring. One would think these plants would freeze and die off before they had a chance to grow to maturity or even survive the winter! So, hopefully Carole’s new mini-green house will prove to be a success this first year in operation!

Carole is a wonderful cook and makes good use of the garlic each year! It looks like we’re in for a bumper crop this year so I’m sure we’ll have many good meals seasoned with home grown garlic! If we had a larger lot to make use of for growing different kinds of veggies, I’m sure Carole would turn it into a mini-farm and our grocery bills would be even less than they are now. With the cost of most grocery items sky-rocketing it would help to be able to grow more of our own veggies than just garlic. Oh well, in the meantime we’ll just have to depend on Carole’s fine shopping skills to keep spending under control!

That’s about it for this week folks! Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now…Greg

PS: Something To Think About>
Pray for Putin’s defeat!

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Have A Good One
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