Steven Howell Wilson's Blog, page 4

The Colonel’s Plan – It’s a SCAM – Part 5 of 6

And, of course, after all of this, you filled out one of those damned sweepstakes forms that arrived by the dozens every day. You faithfully put your new phone number on it, even though we had told you never to do that. In fact, I hadn’t wanted to give you the number, but Mother insisted. She said you had to have it. I assume that was so, if ever you were out running “errands” and needed help, you could call us on your missing cell phone with the dead battery.

“Jeff Williams” was back soon en...

The Colonel’s Plan – It’s a SCAM – Part 4 of 6

I began to work with our local Office on Aging, trying to identify mental health services that might reach out to you. I had been told by a social worker that they had an elder mental health officer who might be able to evaluate you. But I knew age was only part of your mental state. You were also traumatized by the threats and harassment.

You still refused to have the phone number changed, even after all this; but after one of the shouting matches with the Jamacian, you asked Mother to pleas...

The Colonel’s Plan – It’s a SCAM – Part 3 of 6

After the go-round with the phone number, things were quiet again for about six months. You stopped answering calls coming from 876 area codes. Mother and I thought things were done, now that you told them you wanted to be left alone. Without a willing participant, they can’t get money. We thought that, eventually, they would give up.

We thought wrong. One day in May, 2013, you answered one of the half-dozen calls you were getting daily; and it all resumed. Once they’d heard your voice again,...

The Colonel’s Plan – It’s a SCAM – Part 2 of 6

The officer investigating informed me that the Department took calls about cases like yours every day. He wished there was more they could do to help, but there really wasnt. The number traced back to a Jamaican account with no subscriber information. Via newspaper articles, I learned that the scammers lived in cardboard shacks in Jamaica, bought pay-as-you-go phones by the dozens, and murdered each other to get hold of the lists of phone numbers of seniors in the U.S. that they could call to...

The Colonel’s Plan – It’s a SCAM – Part 1 of 6

MAY 9th, 2019

Dear Daddy

I still find them occasionally, as I clean up a corner in the house, or go through a box of papers. Most of them try hard to look like official communications from some government office, or legal documents from an attorney. They often have addresses in New York God only knows how often Ive looked up those addresses on Google Maps, to see what was actually there!and they often have checks inside them, made out for obscenely large amounts.

Its time to talk about them....

The Colonel’s Plan – We Want Stairs

May 2, 2019

Dear Daddy

By the next time I write you, you will have been gone for two years. So much has changed, and so little.

This is a huge task you left mehave I mentioned that? Im really at the point right now of looking at the house and saying, Wow! Ill never finish this! I guess Ive accomplished a lot, but, everywhere I look, theres so much left to do. And, as I once pointed out to you, when you take fifty years to build a house, you reach the point where the work youre re-doing may...

The Colonel’s Plan – Mousehunt

April 24, 2019

Dear Daddy

The garage and shed. The mice were in the garage.

I suppose today will be mostly a day for outside work. Ill be starting late. It was already 10:00 this morning before I was ready to head over to your house. I had read some articles forwarded by Beatrice and read a few pages of the book on Shakespeare that Im finally about to finish. That was when my therapist texted to remind me I had a noon appointment with her, which I had in my head as 2:00. I had been thinking...

On Facebook… Or Off It, Rather

I announced late Tuesday night, possibly early Wednesday morning, that I had deleted Facebooks apps from my phone and tablet and closed the perpetually open browser tab for it on my desktops and laptops.

This was not a rash decision. This had been building for some time, and, as I said in that post (call it a flounce if you will), it was time.

I can say a lot of good things about Facebook. It brings to my attention news items that I might have missed. It lets me know about the joys and...

The Colonel’s Plan – Supply Demands

April 10, 2019

Dear Daddy

Its been another busy weekor how many days?since I wrote last. Taxes still loom over me. I have to delay paying until my next paychecks come tomorrow, and then I have to scrape together enough money to keep my credit card from maxing out completely. I really hate that Ive got a maxed-out card. I dont think Ive ever had one. But I didnt quite expect a $9,000 tax liability. And Lazarus still needs medical care, even though hes healthy for an old man. Two visits this...

Return to the Colonel’s Plan

March 5, 2020

Dear Daddy

When did I last write? I dont know. Months. Not good months. No one is to blame. Life gets too busy to handle. One persons anxieties clash with another persons anxieties. Changing life situations catch us by surprise and make the ground beneath our feet seem unstable. We take it out on each other.

There has been little to no progress on the house since I last wrote. I take that back. Christian has organized the tools. Ethan and Christian have cleaned up the...