Tag Archives: changes

January 12, 2021 · 4:43 pm

Best Laid Plans…

123RF.com

I was going to get a big list done today, but my plans went awry.

I was getting ready to go out to the garage to put in my 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer. My husband wanted us to go to Walmart and get some glue, so I switched gears, grabbed our Walmart list and we headed for town. We DID manage to leave our trash at the bottom of the driveway and get our mail on the way. We got what we needed at Walmart, even though my husband was in the mood to wander around. Since we get very little entertainment these days, I tried to be patient.

By the time we got home, it was time to fix lunch, so I did that. Then I started getting ready to go to Rags & Roses to change out my products and rearrange the booth. My husband got a reminder on his computer that he was supposed to check the oil in the generator, so he went out to do that. Just as I was getting ready to go out the door, he came in, saying that we needed to get another battery for the generator. He insisted we go back to Walmart.

We took the old battery in and left it in a receptacle at the customer service desk where indicated, found a replacement battery and brought it home. We had a bit of trouble getting the new one in, but finally managed to get it hooked up and tested. Then we ran a quick test on the generator and it was good.

My husband went to put a tool back in the well house and decided he wanted to start the propane-powered gas heater in the well house to keep our pipes from freezing. (We have a small electric heater that turns itself on when it gets too cold in there, and it was on. ) He had a bit of trouble getting the pilot light lit and the heater on, but we finally prevailed.

On the way back to the house, we saw that the new pvc pipe we use on our irrigation system on one of the planters was broken in two. We thought about tackling replacing that, but we were just too tired at that point to care much.

Both of us fell asleep in our chairs.

Now it’s too late to go to the booth in town, too late to do my elliptical trainer in the garage, and too late to do my yoga practice.

SO –

I will write this day off as far as trying to get my list done and hope for more success tomorrow.

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January 7, 2021 · 1:18 pm

Decision

Oberto

For my husband and I today is DAY ONE.

This morning we started an honest effort to get ‘back on the horse’ of our healthy diet – and for ME – daily exercise – in a real effort to continue our efforts to get the lard off, get and stay healthier. Our ‘diet’ has no time limit. We are trying to make a lifestyle change. This is not to say we won’t celebrate occasionally, or indulge in a favorite goodie when we reach our goals. This IS to say we will eat mindfully, trying to eat fresh, clean, REAL food.

I made tuna fish salad for our lunch. We had sugar free jello, and I had some black olives.

I read today that drinking broth is a good way to solve any hunger problems. I have some here at home, but will try to find a bone or chicken broth with the lowest sodium I can find. I will plan to make a cup for a mid afternoon snack.

Clipart Library

I have earned one gold star so far today for doing 35 minutes on my elliptical trainer. It’s in our garage, so I got a little cold, but I consider this a character-building – as well as physical – exercise. :0) I will try for a second gold star this afternoon, when I plan to do about half an hour of yoga stretches. I will also make note of my steps, although this is more of a monitoring effort right now, just to make me pay a bit more attention to it and motivate me to move a bit more.

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December 8, 2020 · 11:45 am

Fiber Optics are Coming!

PPC Broadband

If we live long enough, we are getting fiber optic services here! Work has been done in fits and starts over the past year. My husband and I have followed the progress with great interest because – though our service now is the best we have had – it’s pretty laughable.

A young man came a few days ago and wanted to look at what had been done lately. He looked at our telephone pole, and one down the hill from us, planning to add some hardware. Our stuff had apparently been done differently, so he was a bit worried and said he would be back with his boss at a later time.

The man came back this morning. The ‘boss’ was his dad. We all took a look together and decided there was no problem. The younger man is supposed to be back this afternoon to do the work.

These men were super nice. The boss/father was very complimentary about the view in our back yard, saying he wanted to have something similar when he retired. We laughed together when I told him we pretended we owned all of it – saying it we could SEE and ENJOY it, it was OURS…. :0)

He actually took a couple of photos of the view on his tablet.

It was a pleasure to meet such nice people. It lifted my spirits today.

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August 22, 2020 · 9:55 am

Sticking My Neck Out

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I have a happy feeling this morning of my parents reaching down and encouraging me in my efforts to join Amazon Handmade in selling the products I make. They seem to like it when I leave my comfort zone, trying something new, learning a ton in the process, adrenaline flowing. They are doing a combination of enveloping me in a huge hug and shooing me out to get with it.

sayingimages.com

I submitted an application yesterday to be able to list my earrings in the jewelry section. They sent an email saying they had received my application, and that I would hear something within 15 working days.

I have decided to call and see if I can reach a human who can answer questions about

  • whether I need to submit a separate application for each category I would like to be able to list products in, or if the one I have sent is an ‘umbrella’ application.
  • whether the Handmade group is handled the way their used book section works,
  • how I submit products, etc.

I’m nervous and excited. I dreamed about it last night, showing my subconscious KNOWS I’m trying to enter uncharted territory.

I hope to be able to tell you I have been accepted…

123RF.com

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August 21, 2020 · 5:50 pm

New Horizons?

2STARart

 

 

Amazon Handmade

Today I applied to Amazon Handmade to see if they will accept me to list my stuff there. I still have a lot of questions, but I’ve made the first step. They said it will take up to 15 business days for me to hear from them on acceptance or rejection. So that means it could be the first week in September before I know.

I applied in the Jewelry category. They asked for my ‘process,’ plus 3 representative pics of my stuff.

Right now I have no clue on whether I can have one store and sell one type of thing on it, or have a store for each type of products I make. Either way, I’m excited to be trying something different.

If you would like to check them out, here is their website – Amazon Handmade

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August 20, 2020 · 11:00 am

Pet Peeve

123RF.com

I wonder if I.T. website people get paid on the basis of how seamlessly the website works or for how many changes they make?

A new pet peeve is changes that only seem to make what I have done for a long time harder. I love it when problems or glitches are fixed. I also like it when there is someone available on a chat program to help me if I can’t figure it out by myself.

I have sold used books on Amazon for years. I would look up the book, hit the ‘used’ button, then the ‘sell yours’ button and list my details. Easy peasy.

For over three weeks now , I haven’t had a clue what was going on. The ‘sell yours’ button disappeared!

I finally reached a chat person. She checked and checked and then said someone with more knowledge would get back to me within 48 hours.

I received an email telling me about a trade-in program…

Two days ago, instead of automatically hitting the ‘used’ button on the main page for the book, I was determined I would find SOMETHING that would get me on the road to being able to list our books again. I finally saw a link to the far right of the page saying, “Condition.” I clicked on it, and another button showed up saying, “Sell product.” 

THEN I was able to list the book for sale under ‘used.’ 

HOORAY!

I quickly listed the pile of books I had been saving.

We sold one overnight.

The next day we sold three more.

The person who made this change probably thought it was a good thing. When the chat people who work there aren’t able to figure it out, and neither are the ‘more knowledgeable’ people to whom I was sent – it makes me feel a bit better that I had so much trouble figuring it out, but this has really become a pet peeve!

 

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July 26, 2020 · 10:29 am

Plea

PictureQuotes.com

If I can get right to sleep, I’m fine.

If not, it’s a loop of recurring thoughts –

  • the wording on composing a difficult letter
  • ideas about things I want to try to do in my art room
  • things to remember to put on the grocery list
  • trying to remember if I ______?
  • worrying about various things

Once the loop starts, I have learned to go downstairs, get some water, and sit down in my chair and read until I’m sleepy again. The second time I try to go to sleep, I have no trouble.

I keep a pad of paper and pen on my bedside table to make notes on trying to get things on lists, or make notes of what I need to do the next morning. The other things REQUIRE I get up and check to reassure myself, or read to stop my poor brain’s cycling.

I have asked Santa for a “brain reboot” button, but so far no dice.

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July 17, 2020 · 9:37 am

Running

KT Lyons Design via Stephanie Youmans Wilson

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June 15, 2020 · 9:48 am

Gotta Hand It

Your Tango

One of my many pet peeves is people putting things on high shelves. “High” in my case encompasses anything I can’t reach without getting a step stool or ladder – a LOT of things. I am 5’4″ and shrinking.

I have finally ALMOST gotten my husband to stop doing this, although his first inclination is to put everything WAAAAY up – ‘out of the way.’ I have modified his behavior by SWEETLY ignoring the step stools and ladders, going to get him, making HIM get up and come get whatever it is that he stored up there. I thank him profusely for the help, and then do it again without guilt when I can’t reach the next thing.  FINALLY, he sees the pattern and the NEXT time stores it down lower… :0)

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March 20, 2020 · 11:01 am

Thoughts on a Friday 3-20-2020

Wild and Wonderful

Well, yesterday I called and told my friend Kay that my husband and I had decided that we would stop going to Lunch Bunch on Fridays until the coronavirus pandemic calmed down. We are in the high risk group for the virus, so we’re trying to limit contact as much as possible. This was a really hard decision because Linda, Kay, and I (plus various others) have met for lunch every Friday for almost 19 years now.

This morning I discovered that the governor of Arkansas has ordered all restaurants, bars, and gyms in Arkansas closed until further notice. (Restaurants can offer take out.)  Schools will remain closed through April 17th. I also learned that we have to make an appointment if we want to enter the lobby of our bank, though the drive-thrus and ATMs will be functional. City Hall and the Police Department buildings are closed to the public, too.

I have to tell you that – as worried as I am about the virus – I’m MORE worried about the economic effects of all this, and the changes that are being made in the power of the government as we try to get through this. I hope that we are able to get a handle on testing, possible medicines and equipment that help people suffering with the illness, and protect those trying to help the ill as soon as possible.

This being said, here are things that are NOT being cancelled –

Lisa Parkhurst Blaisdell via Ginger Charles

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March 3, 2020 · 11:24 am

Funny

Clive Staples Lewis from RaiseYourMind.com

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February 27, 2020 · 11:33 am

Sassy?

Slightly sassy, much shorter, more comfortable haircut thanks to Michael Remillard. The earrings are some I painted for myself.

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June 30, 2019 · 10:39 am

Adjusting our Body Clocks

pngkey.com

I told you recently that my husband and I signed up to be host parents for a 16-year-old boy from Italy this school year.

Alessandro will arrive August 6th. School starts August 13th.

We have been setting our alarm clock for 8am – feeling virtuous that we then get up to let our doggies out for their morning run. If we didn’t do this, we tend to stay up ’til all hours, sleep fitfully many nights, would sleep in to try to catch up, making our poor doggies wait.

Since our day will start at 6am for the school year, we are proactively trying to reset our body clocks so we won’t be complete zombies, unable to function.

Today we started getting up at 7am. The sun was up, so it was easier than I thought it would be. I didn’t say anything to my husband about what I was doing last night – resetting the alarm – and he either didn’t notice, or didn’t say anything. It’ll be interesting to see when he realizes. :0)

Starting the last day of July, I’ll set the alarm for 6am. I don’t even know if the sun will be up then. That will be harder if it is also still asleep. Hopefully, by the 6th, we’ll be more used to getting up. By the 13th, the first day of school, I hope the 3 of us will be handling it well.

So far, we got up and got the grocery shopping out of the way early. I have an hour more to try to get my to-do list done – unless I end up asleep in my chair…

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June 9, 2019 · 1:22 pm

Changes

 

I’ve told you before that when my husband wanted us to be a host family this year, I agreed. We have been notified that we are accepted to receive Alessandro, a 16-year-old boy from Italy for the coming school year. All we know at this point is that he is quite the soccer player, has pets at home, and sounds really nice.  He will be here August 6th and will stay with us 10 months.

Since we’re a bit long-in-the-tooth and set in our ways, we’re looking for things we need to change in order to be the best host parents possible.

Of COURSE we plan to encourage him to be active in as many things involving school as possible. Classes, sports, clubs, new friends, outings, etc. We will encourage him to bring friends home or spend time at their houses. We’ll look for fun things to do and places to go. WE will also try to be as active in his life as we can – a real change for us. :0)

  • Since we’re retired, we’ve gotten into the habit of setting our alarm for 8 a.m. each morning, mainly doing THAT because we have pets depending on us to let them out, feed them, etc. It’s also nice to be up in case the mailman drives up our driveway because something is too large for our box, or we get a delivery from Fedex or UPS. But we realize that this won’t cut it for our new roles as host parents.

We have decided that we’ll be decadent and slothful until July 1st, at which point we’ll start setting the alarm for 7 a.m. August 1st we’ll start setting it for 6 a.m.  Alessandro will be here on August 6th and school starts on August 13th, so we should be ready – with our Circadian Rhythms in sync, hopefully.

  • We’ve been eating ‘weirdly’ compared to what a 16-year-old boy from Italy may expect. We’ll check with him, of course, to find out what he normally eats, favorite foods, and do some adapting. In the meantime, we’re going to change to the Keto-After-50 eating plan – a modified version of the regular Keto plan, designed to be easier on old folks. We’ve basically been eating a lot like this already, but have been having only salad in the evening, or splurging and having chicken and soup over rice – a big no-no on ANY smart eating plan….

We’ve also been eating only poultry and fish, and we’ll expand that to include beef and pork again, but use Keto recipes. I can also cook pasta for Alessandro (and probably my husband, who refuses to eat alternatives) but “I” will try zucchini noodles or cauli-rice with my portion. (The only concern I’ve found is that I need to do a bit extra on supplements to help me handle the higher fats without a gallbladder.)

I’m sure we’ll add a whole bunch of other changes to our list as we get closer to the time Alessandro arrives, but I think we have a good attitude and are starting to adapt. (I’m checking to make sure soccer and basketballs are aired up, badminton set is intact, board games are available, checking our sports channels on TV….. )

I’m happy to hear my husband thinking about what we need to do. He seems energized by the changes we’re making, thinking about things we can do to make our ‘temporary son’ (or grandson) feel welcome and happy.

 

 

 

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December 4, 2018 · 11:26 am

Change

Mary Engelbreit via sayingimages.com

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November 17, 2018 · 11:33 am

“Chock-Full-to-the-Brim” Day

Milton Hyundai

Yesterday we had a chock-full-to-the-brim day.

We started with Lunch Bunch – the usual wonderful time we catch up with our good, long-time friends, Linda and Kay. Yesterday, a lady we treasure was also there, Alice. We stuffed our faces and babbled as fast as we could in the time allowed. (My husband is an honorary member of Lunch Bunch. He sits at one end of the table surveying what might look like to uninformed strangers as his harem. He doesn’t say much, but when he does, he breaks us all up. :0)  )

We did errands, came home, regrouped and then went out again for a doctor’s appointment for my husband and more errands. Afterwards we got a 10 foot long X 12 inches wide board to make a ‘shoe shelf’ in my closet.

We got home again, regrouped, and then spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening in the shop.

Our weather was finally warmer, so we used the opportunity to change the tires on our truck. When we first bought the Honda in 2006, we found and purchased 4 extra wheels and then bought snow tires. We had them mounted by the local tire place and stored them in the shop. Twice a year we change the tires from the regular ones to snow tires, then back again, once winter is over. Usually we plan to do this some time in mid to late November or early December. This year we had a cold snap and then rain, and more cold with the threat of ice and snow super-early. We didn’t get stuck up here on our ridge line, thankfully, but we decided that the next day that was warm enough we would get the tires changed.

We’re getting a bit long-in-the-tooth for this, but we have a well-equipped shop with an air compressor, good fancy tire pressure gauge that allows us to fill from the compressor while the gauge is on the hose, stools so we can sit, etc. We have this project down to an efficient “dance” having done it for several years now. My husband does the actual tire changing. I am the go-fer, rolling tires from the back of the shop up to where we’re working, taking the ones we’re taking off back to the storage area, getting parts and watching to be ready with the next step. Yesterday I was also handling the jack. We got this done in record time. No blood was spilled. No harsh words. The tires are now filled up and ready to take us through the winter!

 

When we finished with the tires, we started on the shoe shelf project. We went inside and measured again, making a few decisions. My husband cut the board into three parts – the shelf, and three supports. I then painted the boards so they could dry overnight.  This pic shows several levels. Mine will be ONE board mounted on the wall across one wall of my closet, allowing me to put shoes ON and UNDER the board.

We’re going to try to get the shoe shelf installed today. If we do, I’ll share pictures. This will allow me to empty the cubbies that are now holding the shoes, giving me a lot more flexibility on what I’m storing where. :0)

By the time I fixed us dinner, it was 8:30 in the evening. Since I was up in the middle of the night before from 1am till 3am unable to sleep and reading, you could say, by the time we went to bed around midnight, I was ready.

 

amazinganimalstories.com

I didn’t do my yoga yesterday, but I think I MOVED enough to make up for it…

 

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September 18, 2018 · 1:08 pm

Checked Off!

Google Sites

It seems as if we’ve been working on a bunch of things FOREVER with endless details and lots of frustration, but things are finally coming together and we’re able to get things checked off.

  • The biggest frustrating thing was that both of our computers died at once. This has never happened before, and we’ll be making some changes so that if it happens again we’ll be better able to handle it. My husband finally got my computer up and running and most everything back on it and accessible. I’ve been working on my laptop and we didn’t have access to any of our regular places because we lost access to our passwords. We’ve now made a CD we can slip into a computer and access everything. We’re now sharing this computer, with a keyboard that toggles back and forth between QWERTY (regular keyboard) and DVORAK (my husband’s special keyboard.) He is able to access his email now, plus play on the computer, so we’re workable until he gets his motherboard returned – either the one we sent back fixed, or a new one. Hopefully, the put back together on his will go smoothly. It will be a LONG time before I take any of this for granted again.
  • Since our son lives and works across the globe from us, we’re trying to do everything humanly possible to make things easier for him when the time comes he has to handle our remaining affairs when the second one dies. Some people really don’t want to think about this, but we want to have the decisions made and the arrangements handled, then put them away and not think of them again for hopefully many years from now. We had this all done – or most of it – and then a law in Arkansas changed and messed our plans up. We had to start again. After a huge amount of work, details, legal documents, payments and cards to carry in our wallets, all arrangements are done and paid for.
  • I’ve told you before that my husband was diagnosed with Type II diabetes a couple of years ago. The result was a very expensive life insurance policy that requires no medical exam. This policy premium was due to skyrocket as a ‘Happy Birthday’ present in November. Today we were notified that he has been accepted for a 10 year level term life insurance policy that DID require a medical exam. Since he’s done so well changing his diet, losing weight, etc., he qualified for the policy this time! We handled the remaining details this morning and were able to call and cancel the policy that was due to balloon later this year. Now THAT’S a much better birthday present!

There are other things we’ve been doing, but these are the biggest and most important right now. Now we can relax and feel much less stressed!  Sometimes being stubborn, tenacious and persistent pays off!!!!

quotesgram.com

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September 13, 2018 · 4:21 pm

Now We’re Talkin’

Alamy

Pound 24 came off today!  And 23+ inches gone. I feel as if I am definitely off to a good start now.

I had that happy news and then got to go for a heavenly massage, so I’m feeling that today is a stellar day.

We have eaten more ‘flex’ meals than usual because our Nutrisystem supplies were almost gone. (We got our orders today), so I’ve been worried that the scale and the tape measure would both start backtracking. We held our own and made progress. Hooray!!!

Another happy note – we may be seeing a sliver of light regarding the computer issues that have really been character-building exercises recently. My husband’s motherboard has been sent back for repair or replacement. I ordered another motherboard – a different model – and that should be on its way to us now. Today I FINALLY reached someone on chat at NewEgg who found our order for my previous refurbed motherboard and said she would contact the seller to give us an RMA # within two business days, and – if they didn’t get back to us – that NewEgg would handle the return and refund for us. I had almost given up ever reaching their customer service department.When I tried to use the chat, I was told I was number 75 or so in the queue. When I tried to call, the wait time was 36 minutes or so. I couldn’t just send it back because we had no order # or any paperwork to go with it. This lady – Olivia at NewEgg helped us out tremendously.

Even though we’re still in the trenches as far as working regular computers go, things appear to be improving.

I hope YOUR day is good, too!

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September 11, 2018 · 12:11 pm

Dinosaur

Rosie made a Thing – via The Hippies were Right via Stephanie Youmans Wilson

Just in case you were wondering – my favorite dinosaur is a Stegosaurus, though I’ve never met one personally. :0)

Shutterstock.com

Since I’m older than dirt, I FEEL like a dinosaur for many reasons –

The one that hits me in the face the most often is that good manners, common courtesy, good communication, and doing what you say you’ll do when you said you would do it have gone the way of the dinosaurs. It saddens me that I’m AMAZED when someone treats me the way I try to treat everyone.

One example of what I consider ‘old world style’ customer service is when we got covers for our gutters recently. I got three prospects for people who would install the covers. One never bothered to call back. Two called and came. One of the companies was really nice, but we couldn’t afford their services. The other was trying to make a ‘one time rush deal,’ so I blew him off. I decided to try to get an estimate for just cleaning out our gutters. I lucked into Edwards Gutter Cleaning in Fort Smith, AR. 

He came out and looked at things. He asked if I would like him to install covers after he got the gutters cleaned out. We talked and I discovered that he did almost anything outside. I asked him if he could saw off the large branch that had broken off a tree at the bottom of our driveway. He gave me an estimate for all of this, coming in at 1/3 the price of the highest estimate. We agreed on a time and the amount of money. He actually gave me a time he would come. When he was delayed, he called me and asked if it were all right if he came an hour later. He discovered while cleaning out the gutters that we already HAD some covers on some of the gutters and that they were still good. We needed covers for the rest and so he revised the cost downward! He worked his head off with his partner, did everything he said he would do, cleaned up, etc.

I thanked him profusely for treating me so well, and that I hoped he would get rich because of working hard, treating his customers like real, valued people, and doing what he said he would do and more. I gave him a really good review on Home Advisor. He actually called me last week to be sure I was still happy with his work, asking if I needed anything now.

In this day and age, this kind of service doesn’t happen. We lucked into his wonderful guy and will definitely call him first when we have something we need done outside.

I still feel like a dinosaur, holding on to what I consider ‘basic courtesy,’ when I’m shown over and over that I’m’ behind the times and things don’t work that way anymore.’

 

 

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August 28, 2018 · 4:26 pm

Hello!

everyday feminism

Things are very awkward – using laptop, external drive saved from my regular computer, and all the patience I can muster – but I seem to be functional on posting on the blog again. :0)

We shipped my defective motherboard to the manufacturer this morning. It’s still under warranty, so they’ll either repair mine or send us a new one. Help is on the way!

I figured out this morning how to transfer my camera pictures to the laptop, edit them, and get them into my blog picture folder, so I’ll post a couple later today.

Since everything is different on the laptop, the mouse is built in and has an idiot trying to use it :0), things are a bit challenging, but doable, with a lot of concentration.

I’m glad to be back, however hobbled my gait. I hope you’re doing well, too.

More later.

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August 6, 2018 · 10:57 am

Today’s World – Take 7

Today’s World via Bill Lites

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July 29, 2018 · 10:46 am

Today’s World – Take 4

Today’s World via Bill Lites

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July 27, 2018 · 9:48 am

Today’s World – Take 2

Today’s World via Bill Lites

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July 8, 2018 · 11:57 am

Another of Life’s Character-Building Exercises

eighthrising.com

My husband is the technical person, handling computers, all things electrical, a LOT of things online, fixing things, etc. He was the one who figured out how we could cancel our satellite TV and save a lot of money. But, as he ages, his temper gets shorter and shorter – and – I admit I’m describing myself, as well.

Yesterday we had a power blip. Though the electricity was off for such a short time a lot of our things didn’t notice, it took us the rest of the day to deal with things that WERE affected.

We like DirecTVNow. All of a sudden, it wanted us to sign in with our user name and password. This is a really aggravating, laborious process of searching for one letter at a time, making our user name seem endless, and our password almost impossible due to the fact ours is quite complicated for safety concerns. I told my husband I would do the input if he would get me the password.

To make a long story shorter, we couldn’t get DirecTVNow to accept our password. My husband went into the office, then came back saying, “I deleted our Roku account because it wouldn’t take our password.” It turned out that he had confused the Roku and DirecTVNow accounts and had been giving me the Roku password. Now the account was deleted, so that meant ALL of our TV related accounts were toast.  His reaction to the problem and his temper in deleting the CORE of our TV watching ability was done in a fit of pique. He then decided to divorce himself from the problem – saying, “I don’t know,” to all my questions and not showing any interest in helping –  which had me tearing my hair out, and – at one point – going out in the back yard to yell a bit. (I wonder what the neighbors down in the valley think of the crazy woman who shrieks once or twice each year.)

I finally created a Roku account in MY name, and then got on my husband’s computer and added each of the programs and channels we had before, laboriously going from the living room to the office and back again, jumping through the various hoops each required.

We are both still alive and the TV stuff has been restored.

If you heard my head exploding or my shrieking last night, don’t be alarmed. Things are back to what passes as ‘normal’ around here.

It truly amazes me that the person I love most in the world is also the one who drives me completely nuts!

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May 8, 2018 · 1:08 pm

Ain’t It the Truth!

Aging Is Not a Disease via Cindy Basnett Thurman

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April 18, 2018 · 10:46 am

Bookmarks Progress!

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This old lady ain’t dead yet! I’m learning a LOT about how to create and manage bookmarks on the new PC using Microsoft 10 and Chrome.

I now have ONE list of bookmarks, all on Chrome. (I deleted Firefox as a browser)

I now can –

  • create a bookmark and put it in a folder
  • create a new folder
  • rename a bookmark
  • delete a bookmark

I’m in the process of looking at each one, deciding if I still want it, figuring out what folder to put it in if I want it (or create a new one). I’m actually making progress now and feeling much less frustrated.

Thanks to those of you who offered encouragement, commiseration, or wished good luck. It has really helped!

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April 17, 2018 · 3:00 pm

Bookmarks

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Can you hear me gnashing my teeth and muttering bad words?

I’m TRYING to move my computer FireFox bookmarks from the MAC to my new PC. I’m also trying to export my FireFox bookmarks on my new PC to Chrome, because my husband hates FireFox for some unknown reason. Since I need for him to help me on the computer, I’ll set things up the way he thinks is best and THEN I might bite him in the leg. I mainly want to be able to find things and use them, so I don’t really care how things are organized. I’m so awkward on the new computer anyway, it won’t make any appreciable difference in my learning curve.

I have NO patience with hardware or software. I only know enough to USE things once they’re working properly. Right now I have to tell you I’m thinking about throwing ALL of it out the window…

My project for the day is to try to use the newly imported bookmarks list to

  • figure out if I can access the websites using the URLs provided in the list
  • decide if I want to delete some of the bookmarks imported because I’m no longer using them
  • move bookmarks to a reasonable folder (I’m used to having a bunch of things open at the same time, moving from one to the next with abandon and back again.)  I have been told this is bad policy and that no one should use the bookmarks toolbar, for example, so I’ll need to figure out a way to access things quickly under the new system
  • Each of the programs I was familiar with on the MAC is either a version specific to Microsoft, or we have an equivalent program on the new machine, so how I do things has changed. I work until I tear my hair out and then do something else for awhile.

In order to stop myself from automatically clicking on the FireFox icon, I have deleted it, leaving only the Chrome icon to get to the Internet

I’m going to tackle my bookmarks now, taking a deep breath and determinedly diving in.

Wish me luck?

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April 8, 2018 · 12:48 pm

Exploding Head Syndrome

Rebel Circus

My husband was upset that I was using an iMAC and he was using a PC with Microsoft Windows 10. He’s a computer guru, used to being able to solve things when I screw them up. Our son is also a guru, but he lives and works halfway across the world and is not always available to help. My husband has been badgering me for a long time and I finally gave in.

He built the computer from scratch. What SHOULD have been a simple plug-it-all-in turned into a major nightmare because of compatibility problems. We returned parts, ordered more, replaced others, and were tearing our hair out. (Actually, I wasn’t tearing MY hair out because I didn’t really want to change to the PC and Microsoft :0) ) The problem turned out to be the video card. Once he got a compatible one in, the computer booted the way it was supposed to and the progress in earnest began.

After using a PC for years, my son got me to switch to the iMAC. Since we did this while he was home, I made as many notes as possible and learned as much as I could before he left. It was really difficult for this old lady to change, since everything I ‘knew’ how to do was wrong, but I finally managed to do most of the things I wanted to do on the iMAC.

Yesterday was the start of MY exploding head.  I’m back to where even the MOUSE is difficult. I’m used to using one that is flat. Now I’m back to using a regular mouse. All my instincts are wrong again. My head is exploding!  I start typing and get a bunch of gobbledy-gook. I have a nice ergonomic keyboard to use, but my fingers are used to the other board.

The only REAL  problems were not being able to move my bookmarks the way we thought we could, and my pictures file showing ‘icons’ instead of pictures. I had laboriously made a list of my bookmarks  (I have a lot). It’s a good thing I did because now I’m putting on bookmarks one by one as I need them. This is the first post I’ve done since switching to the new PC, new keyboard, new mouse, new look to everything. ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!

My husband finally got Password Safe working. This is crucial because you can’t get into any of the programs or websites you use all the time without it. Lots of bad words were said by everyone, including Amber, who desperately wanted to play tug of war; but finally he prevailed. I asked him to help me move the new stuff into place, moving the iMAC, keyboard and mouse to the side in case I need something. I figure I’ll learn faster if I’m FORCED to try to do things on the new equipment. I’ll also figure out things we forgot, etc.

Right now, I’m not an unhappy camper, but definitely a TIRED one.

 

Dusky’s Wonders

Wish me luck?

 

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September 2, 2017 · 9:40 am

Three C’s

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Change is difficult. It’s SO much easier to simply ‘keep on keepin’ on.’

Change means leaving your comfort zone, getting up off your duff, doing things might be scary, challenging, even unpleasant sometimes. But if you stop making the choice to take the chance to make a change, you stop living. You gradually quietly implode, your world becoming smaller and smaller until it’s gone.

Sometimes I think my husband is on a mission to make us UNcomfortable – with WAAAAY too many changes at one time.

One example of this is our CHOICE to cancel our subscription to DISH TV. Living in the sticks outside a small town in Arkansas, we’re very lucky to have two satellite TV choices: Dish and DirecTV. Now we’ve tried both. Both offered a lot of stations in the package we chose, but we couldn’t JUST get the channels we wanted, and we had to pay extra for the channels that weren’t included, plus the rental of the DVR, plus a charge for HD, plus……over $98/month.

So now we’re free of that, and that’s a good thing. BUT now we have to learn how to use Roku, Hulu, AmazonPrimeTV, and about 4 other choices right off the bat that all sound the same to me. Nothing is relaxing, mindless anymore. That’s a good thing for us, too, but it isn’t enjoyable at the moment. We had to order another Roku remote, because I can’t take the idea of my husband being in charge of what we’re watching, how loud the sound is, etc.  Now, instead of leaving a news channel on, buffering it for about an hour so we can skip through commercials, plus being able to hit “DVR” and see a list of stuff taped, ready to be watched, we have to figure out how to get the Roku service on (particularly if we watched a DVD the night before), then go to the service that provides the channel or program we want to see, then figure out (again) how to get the sound on.

We’re having to adjust to the fact that you can’t pause a show. You can mute the sound, but you can’t pause. So, if you get a phone call, need to get up to do something, get a call of nature, etc., you either miss whatever happened while you were gone or watch it again.  We have to mute for commercials, although we’re paying a bit extra for services that offer no commercials.

Instead of $98/month, we’re paying $36. We have almost all of the channels and programs we wanted. I’m finding that watching 24 hour news programs was stressful. Since they all hashed the same news with their unique spin or opinions, we aren’t missing much. Between my online news and the ones we watch now, we know pretty much what’s going on.

We’re still researching to find out what’s being offered or updated. We’re still working together to figure out how to make things work. We’re having to strain our brains, rather than mindlessly staring at the tube.

We’re reading and talking and playing with our animals more.

So we made the CHOICE to take a CHANCE so our lives have CHANGED –  for the better.

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April 7, 2017 · 2:26 pm

Gremlins at the Lewises

Gremlin Pictures

These critters get the best of us from time to time around here. They’ll lull us into a sense of confidence and taking things for granted and then attack with a vengeance, knocking the wind out of us.

This week they attacked our phones and our Internet.

PHONES – Suddenly, we couldn’t call out. We had a flashing light on our home cell phone base, but couldn’t get the messages. We tried everything we knew how to do to no avail. I called AT&T today and a wonderful lady named Bernetta helped me. After I unplugged our cell phone base and took out the batteries, she did something on her end that caused the thing to reset. She called our home line while I was still on my cell to test it. She got our “Press 1 if you’re human and not selling anything,” message and we got the call. She was laughing her head off at the message and wanted to know where we got it. When I told her my husband used a program he wrote to generate the message, she said she could sell a million of them, still laughing. She said, “You’ve made my day with that.” She made OUR day by being so nice and helping us make our phones work again. When we got off the phone, we retrieved our messages and then turned OFF that message source, since we have another one attached to our system that helps us block unwanted calls. HOORAY! One gremlin down!

INTERNET – We have a gremlin in our Internet service, too.

I can’t get to my website host panel. This is a problem because (1) I send out newsletters via the panel and can’t get to it. I also can report problems, etc. I can’t sign in. Their main website comes up, but I can’t do anything with it. They’ve been working we me, getting me to run terminal sessions and do strange stuff and send them the results. When I did, they said,”Unfortunately, you will need to contact your Internet services provider,as your traffic does not appear to leave their network.” This is all Greek to me, so I wrote our son, the computer guru my HUSBAND goes to when HE (the computer analyst) needs help. Our son said from what he saw in the dats, it looked like my webhost people were right and the problem was with the Internet provider. My husband wrote a careful email to the tech person we’ve been working with. We’re awaiting his reply, and the gremlin laughs at us.

ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS – We have learned over the years that mice consider wiring delicious. We had never heard of this, but we’re gradually learning to do as much wirelessly as possible. It’s too hard to get into the walls, get under the house, etc., to try to repair the wires they’ve eaten or run new wires. Our new project is to try to starve them out eventually – if we live long enough.

SO – right now we’re running down one thing after another which aren’t working suddenly, and the causes are mysterious. I don’t speak “electricity,” “phones,” or ‘Internet,” so all things are controlled by magic – with the approval of the gremlins. My husband, however, speaks all these languages and doesn’t enjoy the mystery.

Is there a spray that controls gremlins?

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February 5, 2017 · 1:19 pm

A Beautiful Sunday

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We’re having a really pretty day here today – sunny and 60s – a great day for anything one would care to do.

We just got back from grocery shopping. I plan to cook several things this afternoon in preparation for our week of low carb, no sugar eating, plus prep for our absolute SuperBowl splurge tonight of real spaghetti and Texas toast. :0)

I’m still feeling jubilant I finished our tax prep yesterday. It’s like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I plan to spend part of the afternoon working on my website, Creative Artworks. (I’m changing some categories, updating some descriptions, adding and deleting products, and doing some rearranging so that visitors can find things more easily. I would love to have a search feature, but my son is in charge of major changes like that, and he’s across the world from us right now.

We’re hoping the SuperBowl game tonight is really close. I love nail-biting games, where you don’t know who will be the winner until the last play. I also tend to root for the underdog, so I’m going in rooting for the Falcons. That will change if the Patriots get behind. The best thing, in my mind, is when two closely matched, really good teams, have to really work. Fingers crossed!

I hope that you’re able to spend today doing something enjoyable.

 

 

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