Darn it, Aliexpress, TAKE MY MONEY!!!!!

 Aliexpress.us is basically the international website of China's Alibaba group, sort of their international Amazon that long predates sites like Wish, Shein, and Temu. It has a ton of bargains, long recognized by bargain hunters willing to put up with longer shipping times. If you look at watch enthusiast sites, you'll find frequent mentions of Aliexpress as where you find Chinese "homage" watches (read: clones of well known watches) for nearly the same quality but at bargain prices, under $100 USD, or even under $50. But that's not what I was looking for. 

Just the other day, I saw that "Fashion Over 40" guy was advertising a special collar stay that's reusable, that goes around the whole collar instead just under the tip of the shirt collars. I swear I've seen this before elsewhere, and Google search finally located them on Aliexpress... for $2.00 (or less) instead of 2 for $25 in the US. 

So I tried to order one. Then Aliexpress started doing the Temu dance... Throwing various special deals at me, free shipping if you take X items, etc. etc. Got me distracted with a variety of items, from a tiny display screen for PC internal status to $1 infinity cube fidget toy to name-brand (Lenovo, Xiaomi, etc.) ANC BT earbuds for a few bucks, and much more. There are even a deal where $1.00 gets you a watch plus a couple "leather" bracelets (it won't be a good one, that's for sure). Fountain pens for a few bucks, comes with 10 to 50 extra ink carts... Add to cart they were. 

Then I placed an order, and in order NOT to enter my own card info into their site, I went through Paypal. Unfortunately, I forgot I hadn't made the payment on my CC, so the Paypal was rejected. I had to swap payment method in Paypal (to draw from my bank account) to make it go through. And that order went through... Except for the collar stay, why I got on there to start with, ARGH! 

So I went back to make a new order. 

And Aliexpress refused to take my money. Keeps saying "Account protection, contact customer service". Tried logging out and back in, won't let me check out. Talking to customer service did not help. Tried waiting 48 hours, didn't help. Tried waiting a week, didn't help. Tried making a new account, did not help. As soon as they detected the same address, same error! Chatted with customer service multiple times, didn't help. They assured me the issue is being escalated, then nothing. 

I must be mad, because I refused to give up on buying that collar stay. This time, I'm going to enlist two new tools: my mail.com account, and privacy.com virtual card. 

Weapon 1: Mail.com

Mail.com is where you can get a new email address. If you pay a reasonable price per year, you get a email linked to a domain name that doesn't say gmail, yahoo, or outlook. As for what you do get, why don't you go there and take a look? What's even better deal, mail.com premium allows the creation of up to 10 "alias" email addresses, all of them using the various premium Mail.com domains, and wipe them out when you no longer need them. This will allow me to register a truly new account on Aliexpress. 

Weapon 1.5: Google Voice

If they want a new phone, I have my Google Voice phone number for them. 

Weapon 2: Privacy.com

If you haven't heard of privacy.com, you should check it ASAP. It makes shopping online MUCH safer. This is how it works: by connecting to your bank account, it will provide "virtual credit cards" for you. The free-tier account gives you up to 10 card numbers, all of them with their individual numbers and expiration dates. Generate one for each online merchant if you wish. Pay a monthly fee to generate even MORE card numbers. Cut each off at any time, or set a spending limit to each number, by day, by week, by month, by transaction... Set a ridiculously low amount like $35. You can't lose more than that. Get notified each and every time a charge goes through. Or use the card a SINGLE time, and have it automatically expire after 72 hours so it can't be used again. It's all up to you. And there's even a Chrome extension to help you shop online.

Yep, this card cannot be linked back to me personally, as long as I don't put in my own address into Aliexpress. Fortunately, my neighbor already takes my packages when I am not there. So I'll just put in his address. 

And this time, the order *did* go through. Half dozen items. 

I am trying to SPEND money on your website, Aliexpress. I should not have to outsmart your pathetic "security" measures to do so. 

Turns out, it's NOT self-inflicted AFTER ALL...

Seems my PCP had gone pretty senile... Considering he's well over 80, it's understandable. 

Basically, he missed my jaundiced condition until I pointed it out to him. THEN he sent me to a gastroenterologist. Jaundice basically means I had turned a shade of yellow. And that, is an indication of loss of liver function. My previous self diagnosis of air fryer contamination, lactose intolerance, and my attempt to self-medicate with pre- and probiotics were just... irrelevant. 

What I do have is bile duct obstruction... basically, liver and gall secrets stuff through a tube into the intestines. If that duct is obstructed, I get bad digestion, and possibly worse. 

What's worse, I've done both a CT and MRI, and they can't figure out what's obstructing the duct, so the next step is an ECRP: a stomach scope, basically. Looks like I'll be unconscious for this one. And it's scheduled for less than 7 days. 

This problem had basically caused me to stop producing, and basically put me into a bit of depression. But hopefully, this news will get me moving again. 

So, stay tuned. 

P.S. Here's a bit of funny incident. My gastro doesn't do ECRP, so he had to refer me to someone else, and the first guy I was referred to (yes, he's on the list, literally FIRST doctor listed when you look for gastro)... is in the wrong medical group and does NOT take my insurance! Took another 48 hours for my gastro to sort it out. Nice of him. :)