Raoul’s 2 Cents
Still Alive and Kicking
I was talking to Lois, a friend who wrote the book “Tom the Mouse” which I illustrated. She told me her plight about losing her identity. I joked that she should write about it. She did. And here it is below. Hope you like it.
* * * *
This is Your Life – or Death – or Whatever
by Lois McKinney (a subscriber of Raoul’s TGIF Joe)
Let me start by saying that reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. In April, 2018, I received a letter from my medical insurance that announced my demise. I took a picture of the letter and texted it to my two daughters with the note “Is there something you girls have been meaning to tell me?” Their responses weren’t as flippant as my remark. One said, “Uh oh. This is not good.” The other daughter responded “We need to fix this ASAP,” and she put her money where her mouth was, spending many hours with me as I made numerous phone calls and accompanying me on my trips to the Social Security office. A SS rep said that this situation usually happens as a result of one of their employees making an error when typing a Social Security number. One would think that a governmental agency this size would have fail-safe measures to avoid what happened to me. It was amazing how fast the wheels were put into motion to ruin my life. My medical insurance was cancelled, my bank account was seized, and it took many trips to the Social Security Office before the deceased status was removed from my records. Through it all, I tried to maintain my sense of humor. At one point I asked my daughter to accompany me to the Social Security office so that I could offer to breathe on a mirror. As she and I sat in the SS office waiting, I turned to her and said, “Consider this a rehearsal.”
For the past ten months, there have been no more reports of my death, so I became complacent. BIG MISTAKE. This morning I received a call from American Express informing me that there is a hold on my account because a credit bureau stated that there is a deceased person connected with the account. Here we go again . . .
* * * * *
Well, I certainly hope Lois can get this straightened out. She’s much too frail. I’m glad she can still find humor in all this. She’s an example for us all struggling with the complexities of the 21st century.
BTW, If you are in the Los Angeles area and you want your caricature done, I will be doing volunteer work for the kids at the Hope Central Project, City of Watts, Friday, 6:30 to 9pm and on Saturday at Grocery Outlet, La Habra @ 1pm to 5pm. Please pray for safety and that my back doesn’t hurt like the last time.
TGIF people!
Joke of the Week
Thanks to Peter Paul of South Pasadena, CA for sending this joke.
Video of the Week
Have You Seen My Wife?
Sent by Mike of New York
Don’s Puns
From Don’s collection of puns
Parting Shot
Thanks to Naomi of West Hollywood, CA who shared this.
This notice can now be found in all French churches:
En entrant dans cette église,
il est possible que vous entendiez l’appel de Dieu.
Par contre, il n’est pas susceptible de vous contacter par téléphone.
Merci d’avoir éteint votre téléphone.
Si vous souhaitez parler à Dieu, entrez,
choisissez un endroit tranquille et parle lui.
Si vous souhaitez le voir, envoyez-lui un SMS en
conduisant.
Translation:
Sent also by Ernie of Fresno, CA
People from all over the world send him jokes and Raoul sends those jokes back with his original sketches. 
TL
August 16, 2019 at 10:23 am
This message is for Lois who you wrote about in your article.
Lois,
Assuming you are not deceased (some scammers are good), at the very least, do the following:
Get a written statement from the organization that made the error acknowledging their error.
Run one of your credit reports to see if there is any fraudulent activity. If so, dispute and resolve it.
Finally, unless you’re planning to make major purchases, etc., freeze your credit.
As for the Pasadena Police Dept., I am one of a five volunteer team investigating financial crimes.
We also educate people about these crimes as that is better than investigating a crime.
As for having a sense of humor about such matters, several months ago, I received an e-mail from Consumer Reports regarding my Lifetime Subscription.
Bad news: it had an expiration date.
Good news: I’ll be 107.
Take care,
TL
Lois
August 16, 2019 at 10:24 am
I appreciate your offering to help me, but this was definitely not identity theft. My SS number wasn’t used by anyone else. It was just erroneously marked deceased, probably an error on the part of the SS department. I realize that identify theft is a common occurrence these days, but this is not one of those cases. In the last incident, I just had to alert the three main credit bureaus of my live status and got it straightened out. I’m hoping that’s the the last incident.
Makes me feel good to know that police departments are keeping an eye on identify theft. You were very kind to offer to help me.
Lois
Heather
August 16, 2019 at 10:25 am
I have had my identity stolen four times. If I didn’t go to court every time the case came up it would have been dismissed. I went every time and this bad person spent several years in jail. Lifelock is a cheap effective way to protect yourself.
Anne
August 16, 2019 at 10:35 am
I loved the Top 20 acoustic guitar intros. Thanks for sharing.
Anne
Raoul
August 16, 2019 at 10:36 am
I didn’t know you were into music, Anne.
Good to know.
Anne
August 16, 2019 at 10:36 am
Yes, I trained in classical piano, and then flute in a school orchestra and then playing by ear in a worship band. My husband likes 70s music so I like many kinds of music. I went to see the Pavarotti movie last week. Next month we will see the Aussie Pink Floyd band in an historic theatre here in Salem.
I don’t play instruments at the moment and I miss it. Maybe one day in the future.
Rick
August 16, 2019 at 10:40 am
Hey Bro,
I hope you and your back survived your busy weekend. You are a brave man to go into certain areas after dark.
Take care and thanks as always for the TGIF!
Tom
August 16, 2019 at 10:40 am
I will pray for your safety doing Drawings in Watts and you can pray for me getting a surgery and hoping they have it together today.
Thanks for the good you do in our community and the community of Watts”,
Take care and keep the Faith Tom