Entry bubble The Hassles of a Stolen Wallet

By: Nicole | April 25, 2008 | Category: Money

Purse Theft

A scary thing happened to me Tuesday night. I was shooting pool with some friends when a stranger tried to snatch my purse. I couldn’t believe it. My purse was a mere five feet away. The guy quietly swiped it, hid it beneath his sweatshirt, and sauntered toward the door. I was lucky. I noticed almost immediately, and the guy was apprehended.

For a few terrible moments, I thought he had gotten away. I began to imagine the hassle of replacing my credit cards, my driver’s license, and my ATM card (not to mention the songs on my iPod). What a mess. So, today, I’ve decided to post a few things you should do, just in case:

  • Keep a list of all of your credit, debit, and ATM cards. This list should include card numbers as well as customer service phone numbers. You might also want to include the fraud hotlines of credit reporting agencies, so you can place a fraud alert on your credit report. You should keep this list somewhere safe and easy to access (but not in your wallet!).
  • Because your Social Security number is a gold mine for identity thieves, never keep your Social Security card in your wallet. If your driver’s license has your Social Security number on it, you should contact your state motor vehicles office and ask for a replacement that doesn’t display your Social Security number.
  • Never keep PIN numbers in your wallet or with your credit or debit cards.

If your wallet has been stolen, the FTC provides a quick list of what to do. And of course, there are lots of other things you can do to avoid identity theft.

Do you have any tips for how to make life difficult for purse snatchers?

| Comments [5] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: card  credit  purse  replace  robbery  security  social  theft 

 

Entry bubble The Airport Security Maze

By: Nancy | February 07, 2008 | Category: Travel

airport security lineI sure hope Sam's walk through the security line on her upcoming trip goes smoother than my last one did. 

The TSA airport security screener looked at me sternly. "Miss, I'm going to need to open up your bag for a closer look."  

"Sure thing."  I'm Nothing-to-Hide-Nancy. The worst she was going to find in my carry-on was a stack of neatly-folded dirty clothes and souvenirs from my trip to Albuquerque. The latex-gloved screener carefully and respectfully shifted the contents of my bag until her expression itself shifted from serious to more of a suppressed grin.

"Ma'am," (I was now Ma'am and not Miss. That should have clued me in that there was a problem.) "do you have any, maybe, toiletry samples in your carry-on?" she probed.

"Noooo, I always put those in my checked bag," I said as she unearthed a pile of little bottles of hotel shampoo, conditioner, lotion and mouthwash. Oh no! I forgot. I didn't need to check a suitcase on this short trip and I'd just tossed all the lovely little bottles right into my carry-on bag. I'd dutifully put all the make-up and other gels and liquids I'd brought from home back in a quart-size zip lock bag for their return trip. But those new little bottles of sweet smelling designer toiletries were all over the place.

The screener held up my quart bag and announced "Decision time." My face burned as I made jokes and rushed to stuff a couple of the shampoos and conditioners into the remaining space in the plastic bag and bid a woeful goodbye to the mouthwashes and a lotion. I was raised by parents who lived through the Depression and World War II and who engraved on my soul the idea that you didn't throw useful stuff away. Ever.

Now, I'm a frequent enough flyer that I know the Transportation Security Administration's "3-1-1" drill: liquids and gels can be in containers of three ounces or less, as many as will fit into a one-quart size zip lock bag, one bag per person. But I got greedy with those little bottles of peppermint goodness from my fancy hotel and I just plain forgot that my bag checking routine had changed.

Whether airplanes are a regular part of your life or you're only on them for an annual vacation, save yourself and everybody in line behind you time and do what I did when I got home from my trip: bookmark USA.gov's Air Travel page. It's got the most up-to-date information on what you can and can't take, wear or do on a commercial airplane.  And you know, those rules are always changing. For instance, as of January 1, fliers are no longer allowed to pack spare lithium batteries in checked luggage. They're ok in your carry-on bag but rattling around in your checked bag, they can be a fire or explosion hazard. I'm an amateur photographer. I was going to pack spare batteries for my trip to LA next week. Now I know how to do it.  

Are you a smoker?  You can carry a working cigarette lighter onto an airplane, but you can't put one in your checked baggage unless it's in a special carrying case. Matches? One pack only, and only in your carry-on.

Those comfy gel shoe inserts? Leave them home. They won't make it through security. Built-in gel heels in your shoes? Those are ok.

There are so many no-nos to keep track of!  But TSA has a brand new way that you and I can help them figure out how to make traveling by air a little easier: a new blog, Evolution of Security. Check it out and chime in. After only a week online, changes are already being made in screening procedures, thanks to reader comments. Congratulations, to the Evolution of Security gang, and welcome to the world of government blogging! 

| Comments [2] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: airport  nancy  security  tsa 

 

Entry bubble Wright Brothers Day and Air Travel Tips for Modern Travelers

By: Jake | December 17, 2007 | Category: Travel

Pardon the interruption from your regularly scheduled holiday season, but today is Wright Brothers Day. You don’t have to deck your house with paper airplane streamers, but it’s worth remembering for a moment or 11 seconds to be exact.

Eleven seconds is how long Orville Wright flew his “glider” at the bottom of sandy Big Kill Devil Hill in North Carolina at 10:35 a.m. 104 years ago today. Before noon that day the Wright Brothers would also make the second, third and fourth successful powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine.

Wright Brothers National Memorial now stands near the spot where Orville went airborne that day. I say near because it’s not in the exact spot where the flights occurred since sand had covered most of the area when witnesses went to retrace it in 1929, but it is the site. To make the site permanent the monument builders grew grass to build a foundation for the memorial.

When I visited the memorial a couple of years ago the hill, wind and smell of the ocean gave me a sense of how secluded and exciting those first flights were.

The Wright Brothers’ flights were a far cry from today’s excitement of airport screenings, delays, lost baggage and other air travel concerns. The links I provided in the last sentence or the Transportation Security Administration’s air travel tips page and Pueblo's fly rights should help make your flight experience more like Orville’s.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

| Comments [1] | envelope Email This Entry | Tags: airplanes  airport  brothers  memorials  security  wright