Eileen's musings will be moving, as long as I can figure out how to post on my new site. I was on the phone with Go Daddy for almost 2 hours yesterday and one of the topics ended up being my blog. When this site began so many years ago, Go Daddy did not have the tools I needed.
Now they have more than I need plus I had a credit. My new blog will have the same name and hopefully more posts. According to my new buddy, Matt, I will seamlessly migrate all new thoughts to my go daddy wordpress, hmmm, promises, promises. We will soon find out.
The next post will be about two wedding on Saturday, August 19th, the first featuring a bride who sang her "I do" and the 2nd a special wine box ceremony.
Hope you follow me!
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Even a justice of the peace is scammed
I received an email in July, exactly one month before the proposed wedding date.
Hi,
Hi,
I want to make an inquiry of your availability to officiate our wedding ceremony which is coming up on August 26th, 2017 in Danbury, CT. My name is Dale Frankie, a researcher with a research company in NYC. I engage my long time girlfriend Kelly Mike at a family event in December. Kelly is awesome lady with a beautiful heart. I met her during a family reunion party in 2012. Our parents are from Toronto, Canada but they live in USA for more than 40 years. We like you to be part of our story by conducting a simple personalized wedding ceremony for us in the presence of our expected family members and guests. We've read reviews and testimonials about your performances exceeding couple's expectation. what are the information you require from us and how much do you charge for the service. I await your urgent response so we can move forward.
Thanks
I let him know I was available and the price of the service, asking for the location, time and if they will be exchanging rings, and promptly received a reply.
HI,
Thanks for the information you provided. I'm also happy about your availability. For the price of $--- I'm much okay with it and the price is within the budget range. My God-father who will be taken care of the bill, he volunteer to pay for some of the vendors handling different aspect of the wedding. He his such a wonderful and awesome man. His method of payment is through certified check for good record,if you are okay with the payment method, send me all your details, full name to write on the check and your full address. Also send me your mobile number so we can
exchange text messages. Me and my fiancee will be available a week before the wedding where we will hand over the marriage License to you and have lunch together at a nearby cafe if you don't mind. We can then talk more and answer any question from you. Please note that we want you to be part of our great love story and we believe that you will make our day a memorable one.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation
Regards
The bells and whistles stating "warning, warning Will Robinson" immediately went off. I did not receive a direct answer to the needed information and did not even have the bride's last name to prepare a program or draft.
I sent him a contract that morning.
My next response was again a thank you with none of the information included.
HI,
Thanks for the information you provided. I'm also happy about your availability. For the price of $--- , i'm much okay with it and the price is within the budget range. My God-father who will be taken care of the bill, he volunteer to pay for some of the vendors handling different aspect of the wedding. He his such a wonderful and awesome man. His method of payment is through certified check for good record,if you are okay with the payment method, send me all your details, full name to write on the check and your full address. Also send me your mobile number so we can
exchange text messages. Me and my fiancee will be available a week before the wedding where we will hand over the marriage License to you and have lunch together at a nearby cafe if you don't mind. We can then talk more and answer any question from you. Please note that we want you to be part of our great love story and we believe that you will make our day a memorable one.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation
Regards
As you can see, the words do not vary, I then received a text asking for my address for the check....
and foolish me sends it.
I received a check on Saturday, August 12 by priority mail. It is for $1,850.00, needless to say, this is a bit over my price of service even with the additional $25 he added to the last email. The money was written as a cashiers check with no contract included. The address on the envelope was the Institute of Technology and of course I looked up the bank, a legitimate institution.
I received a text at 10 pm on Saturday night, I was actually on my way to bed.
from area code 602: Eileen it me Dale. How are you doing today. I send you mail but I've not got your reply. My Godfather send me a mail that the check for your fee delivered at your mail box. Please confirm and get back to me asap. Dale Franke.
I actually texted back and went to bed letting him know there was no check and that I need a time and location. I also noted the difference in spelling of his last name. I heard a response and ignored it until morning
His three next texts asked me to check the mailbox the, gave me the tracking number and actually gave me an address in Danbury.
On Sunday, I looked up the address. The house is owned by a well known couple in Danbury, and although the house is still in both names, I believe the husband passed away last fall. I drove by the house on Monday and there is someone living there with an older car in the driveway, but I did not stop to introduce myself.
On Monday, I also called the bank. The young lady looked up the number on the cashier's check and let me know that it is no good, just as I suspected. She said to rip it up and asked for the remittee name, which I promptly supplied, and it was not Dale.
Dale called last night to ask if I received the check. I let him know that I called the bank and that the check was no good. I repeated the news twice, he stated he will call his "godfather" and hung up.
Is this the end of my latest saga? Time will tell...
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
feet, again...
I have arthritis throughout my body and a lot of it in my feet. My left foot has fused so there is very little movement in the big toe. It has the chronic pain but not too the point where it affects my walking. My right foot constantly hurts with a bone on bone friction and the movement causes more pain. My wearing flip flops is not helping, but shoes hurt more.
Today my right foot is swollen to the point that I cannot even wear shoes or flip flops.The constant rubbing has caused a large callous that I try to remove daily.
I saw a doctor at the end of last year. She took more x-rays and we discussed more surgery. For now she cut the callous. I went back in February and she again scraped but this time it was called in-house surgery and the cost was too much to do on a regular basis.
I'm back to using the scraper every morning and lots of creams.
Advil helps and is becoming a mostly daily med. "whine, whine, whine" I still go to the gym, strength training helps, stretching helps more, and although Zumba is tough on the foot, Zumba is for fun.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
my diamond rings
Traditionally, the marking of the
passage to status of husband and wife is marked by the exchange of rings. These
rings are a symbol of the unbroken circle of love. Love freely given has no
beginning and no end, no giver and no receiver, for each is the giver and each
is the receiver.
May these rings always remind you
of the vows you are taking today.
These are the words I say to most of the couples I marry. I picked out my own engagement ring with my husband, then fiance'. We went to Charlops Jewelers on downtown Main Street and bought a matching set, t.he wedding band had diamond chips, his wedding band had diamond chips, and my engagement ring had chips plus a quarter caret diamond. I was wildly excited and we got engaged for Easter, the same time as his sister, Kathy, and her fiance', before we both graduated from high school two months later. Kathy and Gary got married that December, Butch and I got married three years later.
The ring never came off, and once we were married the ring still never came off. Then one day, maybe 20 years later, the diamond fell out and was no where to be found. I went two years without wearing an engagement ring until one Christmas Butch surprised me by taking the ring and having the diamond replaced. Still small, still beautiful and still mine. Then in 1999, it happened again, and I stayed without a ring until the Christmas of 2003.
November 2003, Butch said, "I want to replace your diamond ring for Christmas. Go out and buy the one you want." What a romantic! Not even, let's go look, what would you like, when should we go out together. Just, buy a ring.
2003 was the year of the forever diamond, a three stone ring representing past, present and future. I took one look as I was browsing rings and said this is it. I did not buy the ring on my own, I asked Butch to go Christmas shopping at the mall and told him we had to stop at Zales. We browsed a few other jewelry stores first, and Zales was having the best sale. We purchased the ring with it's LIFETIME diamond commitment! This meant that I had to have the diamonds checked and cleaned every six months. I added the task to my calendar and diligently went to Zales ever June and December, bringing the paperwork showing purchase and past inspections.
I got the paperwork out to stop at the mall in June 2016, just stuffing it into my purse until I had a chance to stop by the mall. I went to the gym the last week of May, and felt this odd irritation / scratchiness on my finger. I glanced down and the small diamond was missing from the ring.
The next day I found the time to run to Zales, knowing the paperwork is already with me. I explained the situation and the sales clerk looked at my records, pulling it up on the computer as well as comparing the hard copy. He took my ring and said that many people do not come in for the inspections and the guarantee becomes null and void. Zales replaced the diamond at no cost to me. I had no ring for another 6 weeks but happily returned it to my finger the day before my birthday in July.
I was told that I can change the schedule coming in for inspection to both July and January and decided that I would rather stay on the existing schedule.
December is a nightmare for a non-shopper, as I am. I know that the mall is a shopping trip from hell with all the people, but Christmas 2016 I was again going to get my diamond checked, the first time since it's new replacement diamond was inserted.
I stopped at Zales first, expecting no issues. The young man took the ring and the paperwork and came back to me with a strange look on his face. He said, "The large diamond in the center has a chip." He pulled out the eyepiece and had me look, there in front of me was a dark spot on MY diamond!
I asked if it could have boon there and the young man again reviewed the paperwork. He said he was the one who gave it back to me in July and there was no way the diamond was flawed then. We again filled out the paperwork and he kept my ring. He explained to me that if I were buying this diamond now, it would cost more that twice what I paid for the ring in 2003.
I waited another six weeks, getting my ring back on my finger just in time for Valentine's Day, another holiday the my husband and I do not celebrate, but that is another story...
So far a happy ending to my happily ever after.
These are the words I say to most of the couples I marry. I picked out my own engagement ring with my husband, then fiance'. We went to Charlops Jewelers on downtown Main Street and bought a matching set, t.he wedding band had diamond chips, his wedding band had diamond chips, and my engagement ring had chips plus a quarter caret diamond. I was wildly excited and we got engaged for Easter, the same time as his sister, Kathy, and her fiance', before we both graduated from high school two months later. Kathy and Gary got married that December, Butch and I got married three years later.
The ring never came off, and once we were married the ring still never came off. Then one day, maybe 20 years later, the diamond fell out and was no where to be found. I went two years without wearing an engagement ring until one Christmas Butch surprised me by taking the ring and having the diamond replaced. Still small, still beautiful and still mine. Then in 1999, it happened again, and I stayed without a ring until the Christmas of 2003.
November 2003, Butch said, "I want to replace your diamond ring for Christmas. Go out and buy the one you want." What a romantic! Not even, let's go look, what would you like, when should we go out together. Just, buy a ring.
2003 was the year of the forever diamond, a three stone ring representing past, present and future. I took one look as I was browsing rings and said this is it. I did not buy the ring on my own, I asked Butch to go Christmas shopping at the mall and told him we had to stop at Zales. We browsed a few other jewelry stores first, and Zales was having the best sale. We purchased the ring with it's LIFETIME diamond commitment! This meant that I had to have the diamonds checked and cleaned every six months. I added the task to my calendar and diligently went to Zales ever June and December, bringing the paperwork showing purchase and past inspections.
I got the paperwork out to stop at the mall in June 2016, just stuffing it into my purse until I had a chance to stop by the mall. I went to the gym the last week of May, and felt this odd irritation / scratchiness on my finger. I glanced down and the small diamond was missing from the ring.
The next day I found the time to run to Zales, knowing the paperwork is already with me. I explained the situation and the sales clerk looked at my records, pulling it up on the computer as well as comparing the hard copy. He took my ring and said that many people do not come in for the inspections and the guarantee becomes null and void. Zales replaced the diamond at no cost to me. I had no ring for another 6 weeks but happily returned it to my finger the day before my birthday in July.
I was told that I can change the schedule coming in for inspection to both July and January and decided that I would rather stay on the existing schedule.
December is a nightmare for a non-shopper, as I am. I know that the mall is a shopping trip from hell with all the people, but Christmas 2016 I was again going to get my diamond checked, the first time since it's new replacement diamond was inserted.
I stopped at Zales first, expecting no issues. The young man took the ring and the paperwork and came back to me with a strange look on his face. He said, "The large diamond in the center has a chip." He pulled out the eyepiece and had me look, there in front of me was a dark spot on MY diamond!
I asked if it could have boon there and the young man again reviewed the paperwork. He said he was the one who gave it back to me in July and there was no way the diamond was flawed then. We again filled out the paperwork and he kept my ring. He explained to me that if I were buying this diamond now, it would cost more that twice what I paid for the ring in 2003.
I waited another six weeks, getting my ring back on my finger just in time for Valentine's Day, another holiday the my husband and I do not celebrate, but that is another story...
So far a happy ending to my happily ever after.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
The perils of being trusting
I got an email asking if I was available next Wednesday at 11 a.m. I emailed back saying, yes I am available, this is what I charge and I also need both names, if you are exchanging rings and where do you want me to be.
I added that I am available by phone the next day after 1 p.m. I received a call from Georgie at 1:03 p.m. the next day. She said they were interested and that they already have the license. They want to get married at 11 a.m. and I told her that I would be able to adjust my schedule to make it happen.
I let her know that I can be available and we discussed the details. I then told her about the different unity ceremonies available and added that since we were going to be in her home, the venue of their choice, I can provide two separate samples as part of the draft and she and David can choose the one they want in the final program. We hung up with date, time and location firm.
When a ceremony is booked far in advance, I ask for a deposit of $25. When the ceremony is within one or two weeks, sometimes up to a month, I trust the couple to their word. I worked up a draft for Georgie, spending the extra time to pull together both a sand and candle ceremony. I sent it off as an email, both as an attachment and in the email text.
On Monday I sent the reminder email, confirming the details and asking which ceremony to include for Wednesday. Within minutes I received the email response, "I just spoke to my fiance, he have inform me that he would like to go with his choice, one of our close friend who is available to marry us. I want to thank you for following up."
My first concern was that they are using my draft, as if I can stop them. I quickly responded stating that they should not have received the draft if they were not committing to me, and that my words cannot be used. She answered back that she is deleting my email.
We are living is such a different world these days, and my cynicism continues to grow. I want to believe in people, I try to believe in people, and to trust them, but more and more, I do not.
I do have a Christmas eve wedding scheduled. The happiness of the Christmas season has yet to take hold of my heart. I've put up the tree, sent out my cards, have been shopping and over spending, I present smiles to the world and hope to be treated fairly and I truly am happy that most people are true to their words.
I've got four wedding scheduled for the new year already, all have made a deposit, and I have added a paypal deposit button to my newly designed website. Let's see what the new year brings....
www.eileencoladarci.com
I added that I am available by phone the next day after 1 p.m. I received a call from Georgie at 1:03 p.m. the next day. She said they were interested and that they already have the license. They want to get married at 11 a.m. and I told her that I would be able to adjust my schedule to make it happen.
I let her know that I can be available and we discussed the details. I then told her about the different unity ceremonies available and added that since we were going to be in her home, the venue of their choice, I can provide two separate samples as part of the draft and she and David can choose the one they want in the final program. We hung up with date, time and location firm.
When a ceremony is booked far in advance, I ask for a deposit of $25. When the ceremony is within one or two weeks, sometimes up to a month, I trust the couple to their word. I worked up a draft for Georgie, spending the extra time to pull together both a sand and candle ceremony. I sent it off as an email, both as an attachment and in the email text.
On Monday I sent the reminder email, confirming the details and asking which ceremony to include for Wednesday. Within minutes I received the email response, "I just spoke to my fiance, he have inform me that he would like to go with his choice, one of our close friend who is available to marry us. I want to thank you for following up."
My first concern was that they are using my draft, as if I can stop them. I quickly responded stating that they should not have received the draft if they were not committing to me, and that my words cannot be used. She answered back that she is deleting my email.
We are living is such a different world these days, and my cynicism continues to grow. I want to believe in people, I try to believe in people, and to trust them, but more and more, I do not.
I do have a Christmas eve wedding scheduled. The happiness of the Christmas season has yet to take hold of my heart. I've put up the tree, sent out my cards, have been shopping and over spending, I present smiles to the world and hope to be treated fairly and I truly am happy that most people are true to their words.
I've got four wedding scheduled for the new year already, all have made a deposit, and I have added a paypal deposit button to my newly designed website. Let's see what the new year brings....
www.eileencoladarci.com
Thursday, December 8, 2016
An evening wedding in the park
John called me on a Monday asking for a wedding on Thursday. I provided the details: get the license from Danbury City Hall for a wedding at Tarrywile Park, explained the cost and procedure to have a quick wedding.
Denise called the next day to confirm an evening wedding on Thursday and we agreed to meet at the gazebo at 6:30 pm.
Thursday was another beautiful summer day and I met the couple as promised to marry them for the first time. Denise was a chemist originally from Chicago, John worked in New York City. They told me they were moving to Florida in two weeks so they both can go back to school. Love wins <3
Denise called the next day to confirm an evening wedding on Thursday and we agreed to meet at the gazebo at 6:30 pm.
Thursday was another beautiful summer day and I met the couple as promised to marry them for the first time. Denise was a chemist originally from Chicago, John worked in New York City. They told me they were moving to Florida in two weeks so they both can go back to school. Love wins <3
Saturday, September 3, 2016
The wedding procedure at it's best and worst
When someone calls to ask me to perform a ceremony, my first question is always, "Do you have your license?" The answer varies from couple to couple and I always explain that the license is good for 65 days and must be from the Town in which the ceremony will be held.
I recently got a call asking for a ceremony the next day. They had heard about me from a friend and wanted to have the ceremony in my home. I DID NOT ask the question. I wrongfully thought since they talked to someone, they knew the law and when I asked if they had their license, they said yes.
We set up a time for the wedding for 4 p.m. the next day. I told them to bring the license with them as well as payment. They arrived with their five year old daughter, Annie, in tow and we settled in to hold the ceremony. Annie, dressed in all pink for the special day, was given some books I keep on hand for such occasions. I asked for the license and upon review saw Ridgefield listed at the top of the page. Hoping I was wrong, I spoke to the couple and asked when and where they got their license.
I then explained that we will have to hold the ceremony in Ridgefield. I also said that I allow three to four hours for each couple and if they want to go somewhere in Ridgefield, I would be willing to follow them. We packed up the youngster and we all traipsed to the two cars for our unexpected journey. I followed the young couple to their home in Ridgefield.
By the time we reached their home, Annie had enough. She started whining and then flew into a full tantrum. I decided that we would hold the ceremony anyway. We gave Annie a doll to play with, she quieted a bit, at least enough that we were able to hear each other, and I quickly had the couple repeat their vows and pronounced them husband and wife.
Hoping that I could get to Town Hall before they closed, I rushed to the center of town. I missed the closing time by 15 minutes and texted the groom that I will go to Ridgefield again tomorrow to drop off the license. I got a quick text acknowledging my text and happy to report another happily ever after <3
I recently got a call asking for a ceremony the next day. They had heard about me from a friend and wanted to have the ceremony in my home. I DID NOT ask the question. I wrongfully thought since they talked to someone, they knew the law and when I asked if they had their license, they said yes.
We set up a time for the wedding for 4 p.m. the next day. I told them to bring the license with them as well as payment. They arrived with their five year old daughter, Annie, in tow and we settled in to hold the ceremony. Annie, dressed in all pink for the special day, was given some books I keep on hand for such occasions. I asked for the license and upon review saw Ridgefield listed at the top of the page. Hoping I was wrong, I spoke to the couple and asked when and where they got their license.
I then explained that we will have to hold the ceremony in Ridgefield. I also said that I allow three to four hours for each couple and if they want to go somewhere in Ridgefield, I would be willing to follow them. We packed up the youngster and we all traipsed to the two cars for our unexpected journey. I followed the young couple to their home in Ridgefield.
By the time we reached their home, Annie had enough. She started whining and then flew into a full tantrum. I decided that we would hold the ceremony anyway. We gave Annie a doll to play with, she quieted a bit, at least enough that we were able to hear each other, and I quickly had the couple repeat their vows and pronounced them husband and wife.
Hoping that I could get to Town Hall before they closed, I rushed to the center of town. I missed the closing time by 15 minutes and texted the groom that I will go to Ridgefield again tomorrow to drop off the license. I got a quick text acknowledging my text and happy to report another happily ever after <3
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