Been the victim of fraud. Unfortunately - yes.
When I was younger and Chip 'n' PIN was becoming popular, many smaller shops had a Paypoint machine that would print the entire card number and CCV on the receipt. I was so paranoid about fraud, especially given that there was sufficient information printed on the receipt that anyone could do an Amazon order with those details. I used to get a black permanent marker and scribble the details out before putting the receipt in the bin.
Imagine my horror when a decade later, I learn that I have been the victim of fraud, and a type of fraud it was entirely impossible for me to prevent. In the UK fraudsters watch for new companies popping up on Companies House and then use the details to go on a shopping spree. The way it works is like this:
They see my name, address and date of birth on the website. They are looking for a name that matches their surname and first initial. So for me that could be Alexander Jones for example. They go to a retail park and pop into Argos. They order several thousand pounds of stuff. When they go to pay, the person at the counter helpfully asks "Do you have an Argos credit card? If you apply for one today, we'll transfer the balance of today's purchases to the card" and armed with my address, date of birth and name, and a card that already has the same surname and first initial as me - they are accepted for an Argos credit card. Post nothing for the goods they just bought and leave the store. They go next door to JJB sports, and then whole process repeats. "Do you have a JJB sports card? If you get one today...."
They visited 6 stores in an hour and repeated this process at all of them. And a week later I start receiving credit cards.....
It's a surprisingly common scam (or it was), brought on entirely by the shops bring pushed to get people to sign up for credit cards.....
I had to be on a register for several years, so if anyone tried to open an account or take out credit in my name, I would get a phone call to check if it was actually me.
Guinea pig maybe (perhaps a larger breed) although you might still be allergic). I find rabbits aren’t really that interested in playing but don’t know about guinea pigs. If fur is totally out, maybe something like an iguana (but the only one i know of is jubjub on the simpsons). I think this would depend where you live as well. Birds like budgies could be good but the only experience I have is of friends pets, and they stank.
FYI all of the animals you listed are effectively exotic pets, and difficult to very difficult to care for. Most vets won't/can't see them, they have highly specialized diets/needs. They have enclosures that require constant cleaning. They are not good first pets. Birds can also live for VERY long times (budgies are on the lower end of the spectrum for birds, but parrots can live more than 50 years)
While I concede your general point on the practicalities of responsible pet ownership and exotic pets, I imagine that what you are saying about vets be fairly region specific. Indoor birds are the 3rd most popular pet in the UK… albeit with only 3% of households as cats and dogs dominate here. There are 2 vets that service birds within 2 miles of me and one is an exotic specialist. Location was not specified so I suggested some of the more common options if the most popular ones are not suitable.
Guinea pigs and rabbits are not really exotic and are standard in the UK. Guinea pigs can be amazingly affectionate if they spend enough time around you and get loads of treats.
When I was in the military I had to fly from Seattle to Wichita Falls, TX for training. With a connecting flight in DFW… I get to the airport Sunday morning and discovered I missed my flight by an hour because of daylight savings time. This was after my ex swore up and down daylight savings was the following week.
So, I call the military travel office and they get me another flight to DFW, but there are no more flights to Wichita Falls. Since I had to be in class the next morning, they told me they’d get a one-way rental. The only catch is they had to call my commander and get authorization. Not my boss, or my bosses boss or anyone even close. The freaking commander.
Luckily for me my older sister lived in Dallas. So, I tell them not to wake up my commander at 7 am on Sunday because my dumbass believed my ex, and that I’d call them right back. I get ahold of my sister, explained the situation and she agreed to drive me 2 1/2 hours to Wichita Falls. I call back the travel office and and they book me a flight that is scheduled to get into DFW at 2pm. Then it gets delayed and delayed and delayed. I land around 10:30pm and my sister drives me to Wichita Falls. We get in around 1am. And she still has to drive back home and go to work the next day. 20+ years later I still feel bad about it, but totally greatful for having an awesome sister.
Cats and dogs are surprisingly some of the least labor intensive pets. Things like rabbits, reptiles, birds, etc are all effectively exotic pets. Not all veterinaries can or will treat them. They have highly specialized diets, and social structures. They tend to have pens or cages that need regular deep cleaning. So on and so forth.
There’s also a personal preference at play. Personally, I’m a cat person. Dogs are adorable, when they are someone else’s.
Obviously, if you’re allergic to dogs/cats, that probably rules them out (I’m allergic to cats and have 2 but my allergy is relatively mild).
Based on the 4 sentences you provided a fish might be your best bet.
The other thing with rabbits (and prey animals in general) is they don’t always form a good bond with a human; it can take a long time if they are fussy. Even if they do take to liking you, prey animals tend to only show subtle signs of illness until they are critically unwell by which point it might be too late. That’s before we get to whether there’s a vet nearby who has a special interest in “exotic pets” and who knows how to help.
Edit to add: the signs of illness are subtle because they actively hide it - key to survival is to avoid looking like easy prey.
Iirc their diets are highly specialized too. It’s not what everyone thinks. You can just give them lettuce and the occasional fruit.
I’d say most animals mask their illness/injuries well, unfortunately. Pet owners really need to know their pet well and see the very subtle changes most of the time.
Oh, rereading, I see you’re talking about netbooks specifically, which, yeah, are kind of not really PCs.
I prefer PCs for most things, no real preference for desktop or laptop as long as I can use a mouse; I usually do desktop because they’re cheaper to build and usually quieter.
Netbooks are fine for classwork, browsing, and webdesign in most cases.
PC is a funny word. You can ask Mac or PC (From the era when PC was short for IBM (compatible) PC (vs Apple’s PC offerings). But apparently laptop vs PC is also a distinction for some people.
Nowadays I think of a PC as a computer that isn’t a dedicated headless server. Or maybe one that isn’t a work station for your professional work?
This is a highly subjective question. For me personally, it has been cats. Some people prefer reptiles. It very much depends upon the individual person.
With that said, I think that a companion pet can often help one make those changes. Since it sounds like money and allergies are a bit of an issue, I would suggest looking at rats. They are incredibly loyal and affectionate, clean, intelligent. They only live about 2-3 years, which sucks, but if you find that pet ownership isn’t for you (and it’s okay if it isn’t), you aren’t beholden to an animal that will live 4-5 times as long.
This is why we always use a credit card to purchase anything, right?
Post office: box was sliced and someone stuck their hand in and removed contents and successfully reclosed. We learned: 1. do not bring attention to your box
We learned: 1. do not bring attention to your box (stickers and cute doodles? = Fun stuff inside) 2. Insure your boxes and contents 3. Never send anything irreplaceable, like family heirlooms 4. Use those boring, same as every other Flat Rate boxes as much as possible.
Technically, Mugg & Bean from South Africa. But that’s the chain they used to be, they changed their menu in major ways at some point between 2019 and 2023, and now it sucks :(
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