# Happy New Bitchfest! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 1, 2014, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605 "2014-01-01T00:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/261 "2014-01-10T02:55:31Z")
Ok, the part that is really creeping me out two hours later? Their last question to ‘verify’ my identity was a multiple choice question about an address I lived at _24 years ago_. :eek: I most certainly never provided them with that piece of information and it really bothers me that they have on file such an incredible wealth of detail about my life in order to ‘verify’ who I am. It’s totally fucking creepy and invasive and I don’t think I want to do business with a company like that. I’d kind of like to write up the experience and get it published as a warning to others, but I’m not sure where to begin. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/262 "2014-01-10T03:04:38Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Ok, the part that is really creeping me out two hours later? > > Their last question to ‘verify’ my identity was a multiple choice question about an address I lived at _24 years ago_. :eek: I most certainly never provided them with that piece of information and it really bothers me that they have on file such an incredible wealth of detail about my life in order to ‘verify’ who I am. > > It’s totally fucking creepy and invasive and I don’t think I want to do business with a company like that. I’d kind of like to write up the experience and get it published as a warning to others, but I’m not sure where to begin. That _is_ creepy, and for a pre-paid cell? How much money could they possibly have at risk that they need that kind of background info on you?? ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/263 "2014-01-10T03:06:45Z")
They probably got it from your credit report. That’s the kind of questions the reporting agencies ask to “verify your identity” when you order your report online. It _is_ creepy, but anyone with access to your credit report can get those kinds of details. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/264 "2014-01-10T03:19:11Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > They probably got it from your credit report. That’s the kind of questions the reporting agencies ask to “verify your identity” when you order your report online. > > It _is_ creepy, but anyone with access to your credit report can get those kinds of details. I’ve run into that sort of thing before, and it nearly landed me in dutch because those are the sorts of things I just don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/265 "2014-01-10T03:36:36Z")
Yup, I had those kind of questions when renting our latest apartment. The landlord signed up for an online background/credit check for renters via one of the credit agencies, and to register my husband and I each had to go through a set of questions like that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/266 "2014-01-10T03:47:21Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I’ve run into that sort of thing before, and it nearly landed me in dutch because those are the sorts of things I just don’t remember. No kidding. I barely remember what city I was in 24 years ago, much less an actual address. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/267 "2014-01-10T09:26:28Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > A few months ago, I was living in California and looking for a new programming job. An offer came from Massachusetts, but I didn’t take it seriously. But just for grins, I went on OKCupid to see what single women were like in Massachusetts. > > To my shock, I recognized a woman I knew from high school. The one that got away! She’s not conventionally pretty and probably wouldn’t rate more than a 7 out of 10. But I think she’s perfect and I’ve always regretted not asking her out. And you know what? According to her profile, she’s still perfect! > > So I accepted the job, got a lease for a Massachusetts apartment, and made the 46-hour drive. I’ve spent weeks whipping myself into shape and crafting a perfect profile for OK Cupid. I set up an appointment with a professional photographer this weekend. And is there a reason you didn’t contact her straightaway? Other than idiocy, I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/268 "2014-01-10T11:29:05Z")
Oh fuck you, Sprint. Today is the day I pay my phone bill but I can’t because > [@](#): > > We are enhancing this section of our site and it is temporarily unavailable. We’ll have the site back to you as soon as possible. You can also visit a Sprint store to pay your bill, activate a phone or get personalized help. The only Sprint store in town I can make a payment at is way down InsaneTrafficAndStoplight Road which is a twenty-thirty minute drive on a good day. Today is Friday, which is not a good day. Also, the last time I paid a bill at a Sprint store, I had to do so by shoving a blank check in a machine because this was the only store that would not accept cards. I swore never to pay my bill at a store again after that. Yeah, I know, petty problems, but I pay one bill a week and this is phone bill week. It may suddenly turn into car insurance week if the site’s not back up soon. I mean, seriously, this is the payment part of the site. You’d think they’d want to keep that up and running! ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/269 "2014-01-10T13:56:54Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > And is there a reason you didn’t contact her straightaway? Other than idiocy, I mean. Yeah, i planned out a much longer way of saying that same thing. But then figured that **Sefton** realizes that already. Good lesson for the rest of us, though… **Go _Carpe_ that _Diem_, everyone!** ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/270 "2014-01-10T15:26:11Z")
_Carpe tedium_! Seize the boredom! ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/271 "2014-01-10T16:50:27Z")
> [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](#): > > … It’s really, really getting on my tits. Auto-correct fail? Regionalism? Or a beautiful new phrase I should be borrowing? > [@Kimballkid](#): > > You can lead a horse to water, but honey attracts flies. My team lead (I’ve mentioned her in the workplace gripes thread - her grasp of English is … weird) once told me “You catch more flies with honey than with sugar.” Ummmm … what? 😕 > [@Sefton](#): > > … But as of one hour ago, her profile is gone. GONE. This has been a waste of time, money, and effort. I’m a complete jackass. All I can think is, “Order of operations, man.” Contact her first, THEN re-arrange your entire life. > [@Morgyn](#): > > … it nearly landed me in dutch … Auto-correct fail? Regionalism? Or a beautiful new phrase I should be borrowing? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/272 "2014-01-10T16:56:11Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Auto-correct fail? Regionalism? Or a beautiful new phrase I should be borrowing? Being “in dutch” (in trouble) was a fairly common phrase when I was growing up (1950s, Pacific NW). Haven’t heard it much lately, though. And no idea where it comes from. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/273 "2014-01-10T17:07:07Z")
I’m definitely using “getting on my tits”. Yeah “in dutch” is probably a little old-fashioned. However I spent about half my childhood in dutch. (Seems a little less bad than in trouble but on the border.) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/274 "2014-01-10T17:54:08Z")
So, I’m watching this ad for guys who think their testosterone level is too low, maybe their IQ is creeping up, or something, and they got this gel you can smear on under your armpits to give it a boost. Then come all the warnings about about how lots of people should have no contact with the stuff, especially pregnant women, or women, or young children who might exhibit premature puberty… And I’m thinking how many twelve year old boys are just itching to sneak into the bathroom while Dad isn’t looking and smear that shit all over themselves… ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/275 "2014-01-10T19:06:50Z")
Heh, “I Was A Tween-Age Werewolf.” I can see it now. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/276 "2014-01-10T19:16:53Z")
Missing almost 200 dollars cash that was my gas money for all next week ☹ ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/277 "2014-01-10T20:06:26Z")
I learned today, after my Visa was declined, that some shitnoggin recently tried to use my card to buy $200 worth of sneakers or some such bullshit from a foreign website. Apparently the charges didn’t go through, but now I’m wondering which of the restaurants where I eat lunch employs the scumbag[uette] who helped [him|her]self to my card number. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/278 "2014-01-10T20:44:34Z")
My Visa was declined (for $10; three cups of coffee in Seattle), and it scared me, because I’d used it at Target in mid-December. But, noooo, the _drone on the phone_ said “Oh, we blocked your card because it was being used in Seattle.” I asked him if he noticed that I’d called to say I’d be in Seattle, that I’d been using that card in Seattle all week, and they allowed all those larger charges. And that at the beginning of the week it was used to buy plane tickets…\* to Seattle\*, and a hotel room… _in Seattle_. “Ummm, I guess I can unblock that, then?” ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/279 "2014-01-10T22:23:51Z")
> [@janis\_and\_c0](#): > > Missing almost 200 dollars cash that was my gas money for all next week ☹ \*\*Found it!!! \*\* (it was on the toilet) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605/280 "2014-01-10T22:59:37Z")
GreenTree Mortgage, I don’t know how much more clear I can make this. I moved out of the house in April of 2011. I now live over 1100 miles away. The former Mr Kitty moved out in September of 2011. He passed away in July of 2012. Our bankruptcy was finalized in August of 2011, at which time the bank took possession of said house. Since September of 2011, NO ONE HAS LIVED IN THE HOUSE. I did not live in the house. TFMK did not live in the house. WE LOST THE HOUSE IN THE BANKRUPTCY. Please stop calling me asking me what my plans are for the house. I recognize that you took over the mortgage from the previous bank, and they may not have mentioned that you ALSO OWN THE HOUSE, not just hold the paperwork, but this is not my problem. I HAVE NO PLANS FOR THE HOUSE. I HAVE NOT HAD PLANS FOR THE HOUSE SINCE APRIL OF 2011. No, I will not talk to you about my options for avoiding foreclosure. No, I will not sign any paperwork that verifies what the details of the house and land are, because of some mixup at the county courthouse back when we built the house in 2001. No, I am not going to make arrangements to have insurance placed on the property. I will continue to give you the name and telephone number of my bankruptcy lawyer, who will be more than happy to show you any paperwork you need to get this straightened out. I will neither confirm nor deny anything else, except for pointing out the following: the house has sat unoccupied since September of 2011. It is in the middle of 16 very wooded acres, bordering 3300 acres of pulpwood land. I assure you, the local flora and fauna have happily been encroaching on that territory uninhibited in the past two and a half years, so if I were you I’d carry something capable of killing decent-sized rattlesnakes, possums, armadillos, and mountain lions when you go to inspect the property. My heart kind of breaks when I think of what kind of condition the house that I literally built with my own two hands is in since the bank can’t get it through their heads that they own it. But I’m really sick and tired of these phone calls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-bitchfest/677605.md?page=15)