TO-DAY I HAD TO EAT SOME CROW & EMAIL AN APOLOGY

CAME ACROSS THIS OLD IRON BRIDGE ON MY THURSDAY BIKE RIDE

I have heard the phrase, "eat crow" defined as, 'admit to being wrong therefore suffering possible humiliation' It means that something you said turned out to be wrong.' Well, in an email a few weeks ago I accused someone of being a scammer & to-day I had to eat crow!!
And so begins my apology to a fellow by the name of John McFeely, Communications Coordinator from National Geographic.

BRIDGE WAS BUILT IN 1885

Let me first say that in this fast paced computer networking world we live in it is just about impossible to tell legitimate emails from spam emails. People's email accounts are assaulted daily by waves of scams, schemes, & skullduggery. Countless thousands of people fall victim to unscrupulous emails every single day. They take many shapes & forms but luckily a lot of them are easily recognizable for what the really are. Others are not & the spammers are devising new deceptive ploys all the time. Fortunately we don't receive a lot of junk mail but we're always vigilante just the same. And so it was when a suspicious email rolled in about 6 weeks ago. CURIOUS FENCE IN FRONT OF A CURIOUS HOUSE....BAYFIELD

About 2 months ago just after I had posted my telescope for sale (happy to report I decided not to sell it) I received an email from a fellow representing National Geographic. I was immediately suspicious of this one because afterall, National Geographic is National Geographic & I am only me. Why would someone from there ever send an email to me. Probably someone had seen my 'telescope for sale' ad & worked out some kind of a rip off for me. However, there was something a tad different about this email & I couldn't logically figure out what this alleged spammers angle was. Sat on that email for a couple of weeks before making a decision. First, here is the email I received................

ROADSIDE WILDFLOWER

"Hi Al, Hope all is well. I thought you would be interested in knowing that National Geographic is coming out with a brand new book that shows everyone, from beginner stargazers to professional astronomers, how to enjoy stargazing and learn about the heavens above. The book, National Geographic Backyard Guide to the Night Sky, is co-written by Howard Schneider and Patricia Daniels, covers everything a beginning stargazer will need to know, from understanding the phases of the moon to picking Mars out of a planetary lineup to identifying the kinds of stars twinkling in the constellations. Throughout the book, star charts and tables present key facts in an easy-to-understand format, sidebars and fact boxes present illuminating anecdotes and fun facts to sweep us swiftly into the stardust! I thought that this would be a great book for you and the readers of your blog. Let me know if you'd be interested in receiving a copy of the book and I'd be happy to send you a review copy. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you! John McFeelyCommunications Coordinator, CommunicationsNational Geographic Society." (I didn't include his address, email, or phone number here)

EARLY FORERUNNERS OF MANY AUTUMN COLORS TO COME

After much thought I decided to take a chance on this one....just in case it was on the up & up. But, I was still very skeptical. Sent John an email saying, yes I would be interested in the book. Gave him our mailing address & then waited for all the spam mail to start filling up our mailbox. The spam mail never came. Nor did the book!!!! About a month past & I was convinced I had been had....somehow!! Retrieved his original email & slammed him back a short terse note which simply read..............."WELL, I DON'T KNOW WHO YOUR ARE OR WHAT YOUR TRUE INTENTIONS WERE FOR OBTAINING OUR MAILING ADDRESS BUT WE NEVER DID RECEIVE ANY BOOK SO I'M ASSUMING THIS IS A SCAM!! IS IT ANY WONDER THIS WORLD IS IN THE MESS IT IS IN!!!! BURDOCK!! THESE ARE THE GUYS THAT STICK TO YOUR CLOTHES & ANIMAL'S FUR

To my total surprise I received a reply from this alleged scammer shortly after sending my angry email feelings. It read.... THIS OLD 'SHOE STUMP' WAS AT THE END OF A FARM LANE

"Hi Al, This was not a scam at all. I had the book sent out to from our publishers in Canada. I will check with them again to see why it was not sent out and will have another one sent out to you. Sorry for the delay. John."

Well, now I was really confused because why would a spammer send me an email back. To-day I found out why.

SEEK, & YE SHALL FIND PLEASANT PLACES CLOSE TO HOME

I hadn't noticed the small cardboard package on our front porch yesterday but when I went out first thing this morning I saw it lying under my garden gloves. Right away I thought, "could this be that book from National Geographic??" Noticed it had been delivered by Can-Par and yep it was the book alright:)) Well, talk about mixed feelings. Happy to receive the book for sure but I also quickly remembered my terse email to John from National Geo just a couple weeks ago. Oh boy, I knew right away I had some crow to eat & an apology to send. I am not a rude person by nature so you can imagine the guilt feelings I had about sending that terse email. THANKS FOR THE BOOK GEO:))

The book is sitting here on the computer table in front of me & looks to be a top notch first rate piece of work so I'm looking forward to reading it & I will let you all know what I think when I'm finished. Imagine that though......a big outfit like National Geographic sending an email to this little no-name blogger guy in Canada. Sometimes things just don't make no darn sense in my world no how................:)) ONTARIO WILDFLOWERS

GROANER'S CORNER:(( How do crazy people go through the forest? They take the psycho path.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.