Check your wallets.

The oddest thing happened Friday.  A call from the bank to verify a transaction.

A contribution of 1 dollar to the Islamic Friendship Society.  On my debit card.

Not my contribution.

The bank spotted it as an atypical transaction and froze the card, so no harm done.  But freaky.  Apparently when someone gains access to a card number they often do a trial transaction to see if anyone is paying attention.  No idea how the number was obtained - with the international yarn commerce and ebay and etsy and Amazon and paypal and all, I use on line shopping a LOT and it must have been something in there.  But no idea what or where. 

I have this idea that maybe once a year I should call my bank and credit card companies and get them to issue new numbers on my accounts.   And maybe for online things I ought to designate ONE card NOT linked to my checking account that I keep a very close track of, and maybe chill with the online shopping in general.  It certainly wouldn't hurt me to save rather than spend for a while.  The stash is splendid and would carry me through a period of non-acquisition.

And then on Saturday I forgot I was debit-cardless and spend my last cash-in-hand on Harry Potter and some wiper fluid for the car and was left to face the weekend with only ONE DIET COKE.  Fortunately, on Sunday I found 10 bucks in the bottom of my purse, otherwise the biologic longing for aspartame might have finished me off. 
Can anyone recommend any way to wean oneself off the artificial sweetener without the crushing headache and the jitters?  Because more and more, I think the diet coke is probably worse than the smokes.  This stuff is not right.  And really, I quit smoking, I can do hard things, but I can't seem to quit diet soda.  I used to think it was the caffeine - except the last time I tried to stop I discovered that Fresca satisfied the craving.  Not caffeine, aspartame.
Anyone done this? Can you tell me how long it takes for the peculiar longing and the spiky headache to subside?

So it was a quiet weekend.  While tidying, I found some more yarn lying about the place - it's everywhere.  Read Harry Potter, watched Firefly on DVD (how did I miss this the first time around?  Fantastic.), knit quite a bit.  Did the dishes.  Dazzling, huh?
It has been a number of quiet weekends in a row for me and I am starting to realize I am a bit depressed, not just in a bad mood.
I think I have to admit I want certain things in my life to change and it will take not introspection, not therapy, not self assessment, but actual slog with work and home  over many months to make it happen.  Actual slog that will seriously cut into my recreational activities.   I hate that.
I am so spoiled I make myself a little nauseated, really.   You mean, I have to stop playing and WORK for the future I want? 

Comments

[elizabeth]

You know, I'm starting to wonder if we're the same person. Swap Diet Coke for a deadly dependence on espresso and we could be twins.

I have no advice for quitting aspartame, I assume you just drink a little less every day, but no one said that was easy.

And on the identity theft: I saw a dateline report last night on ID theft and they were talking about the exact same thing that happened to you. Apparently people siphon your information out and sell it in chat rooms for $5. It's a little hilarious, but pretty scary. So thank your lucky stars that your bank caught it.

[Kathy]

I have no advice on quitting diet soda -- I have a Fresca on my desk right now and thing that it just may be one of the most delicious man-made creations.

As you the getting the life you want, but needing to put in the work, boy can I relate. That Bill Parcells/Nike commercial "no shortcuts" in the road to success, or something like that, comes to mind. Annoying, but sadly true.

[Wanda]

Someone got ahold of my credit card number and it was used several times at 3 different gas stations, but I still had the card in my hands. Fortunately my bank caught it and stopped all further transactions. I placed a claim with my bank and they refunded my charges within 3 business days after I also filled out a police report, so it was all taken care of fairly quickly and I, of course ,also changed my debit card too.
Glad to hear your bank took care of it quickly and efficiently.

[ivete]

I'm glad to hear your bank was paying attention and caught it!

As for quitting Diet Coke, I definitely think caffeine has something to do with it. Have you ever tried quitting caffeine? I've tried a few times, and it usually took a week to stop feeling twitchy. I'm now limiting myself to just one cup of caffeine a day, in the morning, and the rest of the day I drink decaf. It has dramatically changed my irritability/jumpiness (even though I'm sure many would say I'm still very irritable, but at least I no longer feel like murdering someone!). I try not to drink more than one or two decaf diet cokes a day . . .

I think that this, like many things we'd "love" to do, we can't really succeed until we REALLY want it. It's like how I always say I'm going to start going to the gym . .. and then another month passes and I haven't gone once. I say I'm going to quit soda . . . but the truth is I don't really want to!

Good luck!

[Holly]

Try ice tea with lemon no sweetner. You will still have the caffine but not the aspartame and the headachs will be less painful. Then after a month off artificial sweetner you could try replacing the caffine with decaf slowly, like 1/3-2/3 combo for a few days then fo to 1/2-1/2, 2/3-1/3 then no caffine. I tried to eliminate caffine but the headaches were migrain sized and I just couldn't do it. Good luck!

[Gwen]

Ugh to it all, except the quiet weekend - mine are too busy. I can be depressed while I'm busy, but it takes a while to notice.

[Jocelyn]

I had to delurk on the diet Coke withdrawal. In college, I drank at least 3 cans a day, sometimes 6 (how did I afford that?). I finally decided to give it up and went cold turkey -- it was the only way I could do it. I'm with you; it's the aspartame that's really bad. I've given up my coffee habit before, and the headaches were bad, but quitting aspartame was a lot worse (maybe dividing it up like some people suggest would help -- kick the aspartame and then the caffeine?). At this point, though, I can't have even one diet Coke without feeling really sick; so if you're like I was, prepare to not be able to drink it again, once you've give it up! (maybe a good thing?) Good luck :)

[Lynae]

I switched to coffee first, then weaned down using an increasing bit of decaf in my regular coffee each week. I now just have one small cup of coffee each day and no other caffeine.

As for the debit card stuff. I NEVER use my debit card for online shopping, rather I have a Credit card that I only use for internet shopping and it only has a $500 limit. No one can do much damage with that if stolen.

[Catherine]

A couple of things to remember re: stolen credit card numbers.

1) It is virtually impossible to guess a working credit card number and get all the necessary information off of it. As far as I know, people don't even try, technical or social engineering is a much more efficient way of procuring useful numbers.

2) It is easier to get a card number from a person than a machine. Waiters, gass station attendents, mail-order clerks. All of these people have access to your number in "plain text" meaning that they can copy it down and use it whenever they want.

3) In light of 2) you should NOT worry about making transactions online as long as.
a) You trust the person you are giving your number to not to turn around and sell it.
b) You make sure that the site is using encryption to protect your number in transit. There are many ways to tell whether this is the case. Look for the lock next to the address bar in IE or for the address bar to turn yellow in firefox. Read the information on certificates before you accept them. You should trust not only the company listed as issuing the certificate, but also the company listed in the "root certificate" box. The root certificate people are the ones who verify that a company is who they say they are before they are allowed to issue certificates of their own.

I know that some of that is a little technical, but everyone should look into it for their own safety when buying online.

Catherine

[margene]

I agree it was caffeine that caused your ills...that and not enough protein. The same Islamic group got my CC a couple of months back...no harm no foul.

[Gina]

My only suggestion is to trying quitting/cutting down over a weekend and be prepared for nothing but the pain reliever of your choice and sleep. Seriously, it's your best bet.

[Jen B]

My boyfriend is a serious Diet Pepsi addict. He drinks at least a litre a day. I was always a sugary-soda drinker, and weaned off by mixing juice (blueberry, pomegranate etc) with soda water. Satisfies the bubble-craving and gets more H2O into your system to flush out the baddies. Aspartame is scary stuff.

[Bethe]

I drank GALLONS of water while kicking the Diet Coke addiction. Now I wonder how I ever drank so much diet soda and hardly any water.

[Jenni]

Ah, I am addicted to the bubbles of soda (and more recently, to the caffeine. Note recent addition to family = need for morning kick start). I managed to kick the soda habit for all 9 months of my pregnancy but fell down hard a few months back.

We had a credit card call our house after it was swiped over 20 times at the local gas station. They tracked transactions for a while to make sure nothing went foul. Nice to see, eh?

But I'm really commenting to say that a weekend of Potter and Firefly sounds a lot like heaven to me. Harry's a lot like River in many ways...

[Kathy]

Someone put over $1000 on my husband's card, which he only used once a year when he went hunting. The credit card company said there are people out there who have devised generators to come up with credit card numbers and they will "ping" the number to find out the expiration date.

I still think someone at the gas station used his number. He never used it online.

[Jean]

I'm a complete diet coke adict, too. I try to limit myself to only two a day, because it'll get really out of hand otherwise. But I have given it up before for six to nine month stretches. For me, the headache is definitely from caffeine withdrawal. It usually takes about a week to go away. I just take advil and try to power through. I did also have withdawal from the aspartame taste and the feel of the can in my hand. I think that was mostly pshychological for me. I got past that by substituting caffeine-free diet root beer and slowly weaning myself off that. (Caffeine free diet coke feels like an insult and is therefore not an acceptable substitution.) But I have always returned to my dark master, diet coke. I guess I eventually buckle and tell myself there are a lot of worse things to be addidcted to than yarn and diet coke. So good luck if you do try to get off it!

Oh, and, super creepy about your debit card. Good on the bank for catching it. I think you idea about a specific card for online purchases is fantastic, btw.

[anj]

my work acct credit card was used in such a way recently. I'm glad your company saw it.. but we have 45 days of use and now we are paying the price (no work credit card is SO BAD for research)

I wish you luck with the diet soda stuff. I know how hard it is to quit the stuff. I have often born the brunt of family/friends while they went through kicking it. Fight the good fight my friend.

[JoVE]

Norma tried quiting the diet coke. Not sure if she was successful but she gave it a good shot. Check her archives, because I'm sure she blogged about it lots.

[Anne]

I like flavored seltzer water. It's bubblier than other kinds of soda, but it hits the spot.

Very scary on the debit card--but it's good your bank was paying attention!

[Leah]

Crushing headache and jitters are from caffeine withdrawal, not aspartame. Switch to unsweet Ice Tea, then gradually water that down until you're at a good level - or mix regular with decaff ice tea.

Or if you stay with soda, alternate leaded and unleaded - caff and decaf diet sodas.

I've mostly gotten off the carbonation, but I needs me my caffeine, so since so many people drink coffee (ugh - cooked mud), I don't feel guilty about the iced tea.

I'm trying to cut back on the yarn buying myself. It's not easy.