“A Picasso next to the bathroom. That’s worthy of a picture!”

— My wife at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Why are three guys roaming around downtown Philadelphia with a bass and snare drums like their own marking band?

Who knows. Cities are wild.

14 years. 💍

Breakfast by the lake. Finding space to breathe this week.

I’ve had the urge recently to do a major cleanse, dump, or revamp of what I own, what I read, and how I interact with my devices. As I sit here folding clothes on my bed, I’m contemplating whether to empty my drawers and start fresh with the clothing I’ve worn in the last 10 days or two weeks. It’s a mix of work pants, shorts, pajamas, and various shirts. Some items need to be thrown away or don’t fit anymore. It’s time for a big purge to make room for things I actually want to wear.

Similar thoughts extend to my digital life. Today, I reorganized my apps to make them more accessible, realizing it was inefficient to dig through folders. I wish my phone could automatically sort apps based on usage, making it easier to find what I need. It’s frustrating that I have to work to access my own usage data, which I’m sure is being used elsewhere for profit.

These changes reflect a broader shift in how I perceive my identity, both personally and professionally. I’m questioning why I hold onto old habits and belongings that no longer serve me, hindering my growth. This introspection extends to newsletters, tasks, and commitments that accumulate, creating a sense of backlog and unease.

Now, I’m at a crossroads, deciding whether to make incremental or radical changes to align my life with my evolving identity and priorities. I seek catharsis and clarity amidst the chaos of accumulated possessions and commitments that no longer resonate with who I am or who I aim to become.

Amsterdam is on the horizon for July.

Beat Saber is so much fun!

All the smashing of fruit ninja with the immersion of the Quest 2 headset.

Absolutely loving it. It’s cardio. It’s fun. It’s great for working off frustrations with your virtual light sabers / drum sticks.

For the past few years I’ve recorded a podcast with two co-hosts about Destiny 2. Two Titans and a Hunter just surpassed 400,000 downloads. It doesn’t feel real and it’s been so much fun covering this game through its ups and downs and looking back at just how many friendships I have from it.

Cryptoops!

For a fun jolt to your Friday morning, I recommend dipping the honeycomb into the honey bear and adding some honey to your coffee. And when you lick your finger because a little bit spilled down the side of your coffee cup, but realize it was hot honey. 🥵 🍯

It’s been a week since I wrote When your address is being used as an Airbnb by someone who is not you. Let’s see how that “special team” is doing.

I emailed Airbnb again since it’s been about a week and I’ve heard nothing from them.

Hello,

I am looking for follow-up on my case: {number redacted for post} My home is being used fraudulently in your system and it’s been a week since the “special team” was supposed to be in touch and I’ve heard nothing from you all. I’ve not been contacted by anyone from your company and do not believe any action has been taken.

Thank you, Carl

To which I got the reply:

Hi Carl, You may search your house address on Airbnb and once you have the link you may send it to use, so we could assist you regarding your concern about your address being used for fraudulently activity.

Now, to anyone who has used Airbnb. You can search a city or location, but you cannot search an address and have it returned to you.

But I do, and I search my home address and copy the URL with the listings and include that in my reply with:

This is not a helpful search. I do not know which of these listings is using my address and directing people to my home, which is not an Airbnb!

Thank you, Carl

So then I get the “we’re not going to help you and it’s up to you to help us help you reply”.

Hi Carl

I understand that you are reaching out with regard to unauthorized use of your address for a listing.

For us to be able to locate the said listing, we will need the link of the listing or any reservation code . Without it, we won’t be able to locate the said listing.

We want to make sure that the said reservation is really coming from Airbnb and not from a different platform.

If ever it happens that this will continue and someone will still show up at your address, I highly suggest asking them with the link of the listing or any reservation, so we can help you locate it and file a report.

Please know that Airbnb will do our best to help you, but we will need this information for us to be able to locate the said listing.

When you have time, it’s worth having a read through the following Help Center articles:

www.airbnb.com/help/sear…

Now, instead of directing me to a helpful article, I got a search results page of their help center.

Not one of their 63 results is relevant to my issue. How in the world do you run a company, where the entire purpose is to send people to houses with the intention of renting them, without a way for a homeowner to report that someone is using their address fraudulently?

I’ve read through your help center. I’ve called your help line. I was told you all were able to identify my address in your system and this would be forwarded to a “special team” to handle this and they would be in touch. My address is {redacted} which I have been told is in your system as an Airbnb rental. What do I need to do to get you to remove my address from your system?

I’ve already had two groups show up at my house from Airbnb. The first was a man who deaf and he typed out questions on his phone (is this {home address}? is this an airbnb?) He showed me an Airbnb listing with photos of some other address that is not mine.

The second group were three men who were in no state to share much of anything, let alone their confirmation.

The next time someone appears at my door and is pissed off about spending $1700 to rent a house and being directly incorrect to mine, I’ll be sure to ask them for their confirmation number.

From what I see, Airbnb will offer me absolutely no assistance with my address being used in your system and people coming to my house, scaring my family, because you all can’t be bothered to follow through on a safety request I have made to have my address removed from your system and now I feel I have been lied to over the phone about my address being located and the matter being forwarded to a team to handle this.

Surely, this is not the first time your company has encountered such an issue. Very poor support all around.

Who can I speak to about having my home address removed from your system? Or do I need to wait for another group of people to show up at my doorstep and attempt to enter my home?

So now I get to wait and see if another group of parties or very confused people show up at my house and attempt to enter it, looking very confused at all the stuff. Because it’s not your Airbnb. And Airbnb doesn’t seem interested correcting this issue.

Has anyone within sight of this post been successful with getting support from Airbnb for someone using your address on their listing?

I’ve been in two separate schools recently. An elementary school and a community college. Active shooter signs everywhere in both places. Cut to seeing college students building barricades against US Police. Building barricades against those same armed assailants coming to cause them harm.

I saw three gold finches this morning in my yard. They were females or young ones since their fold wasn’t as bright as the males. I enjoyed seeing them flutter from branch to branch for snacks.

It inspired me to refill my bird feeders and hope they return. :)

Twice recently I’ve had people show up at my front door, with my address in hand, expecting to rent my home as an Airbnb. First, on April 10th and again on April 21st. The second time I was able to get a little more information from the person, but not much. The photos were not of my home, but were of the style house in the surrounding neighborhood.

One time I could understand being a mistake or a typo. Twice is an ongoing problem for me and my family and someone potentially using my address fraudulently.

The Airbnb support experience is… subpar at the very best.

At least the agent I spoke to on the phone (very kind and helpful) did locate a listing using my address, which hopefully means it will be taken down (or, as I suspect, changed so the fraud can continue).

But can we talk for a moment about the “support” email I received which included: A link to www.airbnb.com/uic/page/… which contains a form I cannot complete unless “I am a resident of the European Economic Area (EEA).” Which I am not, so if I don’t check that box, I can’t send the form. My next option was a help article. Let’s see if the eagle-eyed emong you can spot what was wrong with this link?

To know more about Reporting illegal content, please refer to these articles: admin.airbnb.com/help/arti…

I clicked the link and logged in with a gmail account, thinking while this may just be a hostile way to provide support, I’m already accepting this might be airbnb’s way of doing business.

But no, it was just an incorrect link. When I logged in. I was greeted with “Access blocked: airbnb.biz can only be used within its organization”. Guess who does not work for airbnb.biz? This guy.

The link is correct when the admin. is removed from it: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3506 However, it links you right back to the form where I need to declare my residency in Europe to continue. So we’re back to square one.

At this point what do I have to lose by calling? So I called them.

and for other inquiry Feel free to connect with us anytime via chat / phone at +1-415-800-5959 and @www.airbnb.com/help/contact-us

Surprisingly, my call was answered quickly and I spoke to a very helpful representative who verified my account (which I didn’t even remember having) and was able to verify she saw a listing with the address I provided. And my request is being forwarded to their special team.

So… now we wait to see if anything comes of this or if I need to greet a third group of confused people at my doorstep trying to enter my home.

That’s the second time someone has come to my door looking for an Airbnb and was given my addresss.

Someone is out there defrauding people or and using my address to do it. Not in love with this situation. Nor Airbnb.

Found a KitchenAid (by Hobart) mixer thrifting tonight. Internet sleuthing seems to point to it being from the 1970s. Hobart sold the KitchenAid brand to Whirlpool in 1986. So it’s at least that old. It works great and fits the same bowl and attachments from our ailing 2010-era Artisan KitchenAid.

Took a walk tonight. Got tacos for dinner.

Terrible news. Fallout show is incredible. I’m now going to spend the next 6 months playing all of the games.

There’s moments where my wife and I reached out and pointed practically yelling I REMEMBER THAT! And the sounds. The feel. chefs kiss

I want to live in this world.

When I got to work today, at the edge of the parking lot was a single Canadian Goose. Just standing there, looking at me. And I said, Hello Goose. While I would much prefer to spend my day with you than go inside, I must. And in that moment I realized how much I embodied this comic.

Everclear is playing a local city show in May. I saw them checks watch in 2001 with Matchbox Twenty and Lifehouse.

Fun fact. I was at that show with my wife. Only we didn’t know each other at the time.

Power flickered earlier with the rainstorm. Laying in bed afterr work, I looked up and exclaimed “how is it 7:00 already??” It was only 5:15. The power messed with the time. So I set the clock back.

Now it’s 8 o’clock and I want to set it back again. Time is an illusion.

📺 Secret Invasion (2023)

After watching The Marvels today, I went back and finished it. Provided some context as I go into every Marvel film knowing only what the movies/TV shows tell me.

📺 The Night Agent (2023)

Finished this series today. Enjoyed it well enough. Nothing surprising but enjoyable nonetheless.

Learned what Diabolo is tonight. Had no idea what that game was called.

I’ve now seen both Microsoft and Apple get sued for monopolistic practices. I don’t think Apple is going to loan Microsoft money to stay afloat though.

Do I win a tech merit badge?

And more importantly, who’s next? 👀