What did you do today? 2016 version

[splitwdw]

Bestwifeever, That could have been my sister. She talks nonstop taking no pause so you can comment or ask a question. You have to just break in on her long winded monologues. She talks so much that I sometimes zone out and don't know what she talked about if I'm asked. Can't tell you how many times when I get off the phone and my husband asks what she wanted I tell him "I have no idea." I'm lucky that she repeats herself. She will repeat conversations talking both sides of the conversation. She tells the full name of people (strangers to me) that she's talking about, why would I care. I'm polite and listen.....or pretend to listen.

[ElizabethT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever Came home from an out-of-town weekend trip to a wedding. On the two-hour return flight, a woman sitting in the row behind us talked nonstop at a fast pace to the gentleman beside her for the entire trip. Pretty sure he was a stranger to her based on her conversation that touched on mundane things. I could hear her through the smushy foam earplugs I wear when we sit near the engines, as of course she had to speak up to make herself heard over the engines. Not really a problem, of course, but still interesting--I couldn't talk nonstop for five minutes, especially to a stranger.

On a recent cross country flight the gentleman in the window seat next to me started talking and asking me fairly personal questions the moment he sat down. (DH next to me, so nothing inappropriate, just personal given I'd 'known' him less than 60 seconds). He proceeded to tell me he was traveling with his wife, who was seated directly behind him, but she refused to sit by him any longer due to his nonstop talking. Ding, ding, ding! I quickly thought, "Buddy, your necessity to talk to someone throughout this six hour flight is NOT my problem." I politely smiled, turned away, put on my earbuds and got out a book.

And that solved that.

[CRLLS]

I just finished my ACA signup for 2017. In 4 weeks I get to make a change to it. In addition, decided which Medicare supplement and drugs plans DW will have to change to starting Feb, and me later in 2017. Scheduled the BCBS person to come sign her up later in a couple weeks. That was a big decision process.

I also cleared our first snow of the season off the driveway. We got ~6 inches of heavy wet snow yesterday. Nice to just say, I can leave it until tomorrow. I don't have to go to work (ever!)

[braumeister]

Some iPhones manufactured during a period late last year have faulty batteries. I experienced the problem a couple of times this summer: when the battery level got below about 29% the phone interpreted that as zero percent and abruptly shut down. Most annoying, but as long as I kept the charge up it was fine.

Apple now has a battery replacement program running now (you can see if your serial number is affected here), and mine definitely qualified. I made an appointment to bring it in to the Apple store this morning to get it done.

The tech at the store said they had been having such a run on these lately that they were fresh out of the batteries. But then came the good news. Since they couldn't take care of it right then, he simply swapped my phone out for a brand new one! Happy camper here!

[MichaelB]

Brau, I had that same issue with my previous phone - but Apple didn't agree it was a defect. Good for you that you got them to fix it.

My daughter gave me a bottle of "Goose Island Bourbon County Stout" the other day, and we (DW, brother, his DW, me) drank it on Sunday. It is apparently a very limited edition.

[MBAustin]

After breakfast, put the fixins for a sausage, bean, and kale stew in the crockpot. Waited for garage door repairman to come back to finish the job he started Saturday (long story). Didn't get to leave for downtown to drop some donations off at one of the non-profits I help with until 10:30. Which meant that by the time I got back to Target it was 12:30 and everyone for miles around apparently decided to do their Christmas shopping on their lunch hour today. Went on to Costco which was comparatively sane. Grabbed a quick lunch and had a phone call for another nonprofit gig and then headed over to our church for our new crosswalk ministry - we're right across the street from an elementary school and allow parents to park in our lot to drop off/pick up kids, so on Wednesdays we now have treats for the kids on the way back to the parking lot. Took our little dog and he was quite a hit with the kids (and a few parents). Catching up here and then will head out for prayer group and choir rehearsal. Guess I'll try Target tomorrow or Friday morning just after rush hour.

[CardsFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MichaelB Brau, I had that same issue with my previous phone - but Apple didn't agree it was a defect. Good for you that you got them to fix it. My daughter gave me a bottle of "Goose Island Bourbon County Stout" the other day, and we (DW, brother, his DW, me) drank it on Sunday. It is apparently a very limited edition.

I happened to be in a bar that promoted this on the day after Thanksgiving, on tap. Had an 8oz glass and thought it was really good (and REALLY heavy). I would love to get a few bottles, but have not found anywhere that carries it.

[Taxman59]

Today in the shower, I started to say to myself that this has been a terrible year.
It started with me recovering from carpel tunnel release surgery on both hands, followed by a fight with the insurance company and ending up paying an extra $3500 in costs. Memorial Weekend, DW slipped on a step at our cabin and broke her ankle which left her incapacitated for the bulk of the summer. DW was admitted into the hospital to get her depression meds adjusted just before Labor Day. My knees were acting up and a visit to the Orthopedic doc has me scheduled for total knee replacement next Friday. Just before Thanksgiving, DS#3 called to say he was heading to the hospital because his knee cap dislocated (2nd time on that knee). He is dropping our of school until next fall (and hopefully getting a medical drop for this fall's classes). He has surgery next Tuesday. Our dog had her 16th birthday on Halloween and yesterday we had to put her down.

Then I thought about the year a second time. I am retired and no longer have to put up with the $h1t at the office . DW and I had a great trip through Texas (I want to go back and see more of it in a few years). While taking care of DW this summer, we grew closer than ever. We celebrated our 30th anniversary with our best friends. We spent some real quality time with our pup (16 years old, and she still was out pup!) as her days approached the end. DS#3 and I can spend the next 13 weeks in PT together .

Every year has its ups and downs, and we can choose to focus on the downs and be depressed or we can look for the good and focus on that and enjoy every day.

That is how I ended this morning's shower, focusing on the good in my life. Today is a great day.

[MRG]

Yesterday my McAfee subscription expired. I had been provided a copy from ATT for a few years and after changing ISPs it was gone. Could not get it to download and had to call for help. Plan was download yesterday and install today, yeah the installation was a disaster too.

Finally I googled "mcaffee support" and called the number. Yeah, little loud in the call center but ok. Finally the guy asked to start remote support, OK. He eventually brings up a netstat screen and starts with your network has a Trojan and it's kicking out lots of low level IP errors! WTF? Do you know what is wrong with your network? No, hey let's look at the netstat screen again, it looked normal to me! He pointed to the foreign address field and explains I'm being hacked! WTF, BUDDY those are right. Then he started on sockets in a time wait state! Hey buddy that's normal, what are you one of the folks who call to get access to a system? He promptly hangs up!

Disconnected the machine, reboot and go to McAfee's support page, different phone number. They have several disclaimers they read to you as part of the support sessions. During the chat I confirmed that number is not a McAfee number. Machine is back, full scan running.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley There have been a number of discussions here in the past about the cheapo TurboTax sites, although I couldn't find one with a quick search. The consensus is that buying the cheap versions from a company that has to change domain names every year is risky, inasmuch as you never know what they've done with the software, creating risks like identity theft. Having said that, I used a cheapo version a few years ago, and never had a problem afaik. Just thought you might like to know.

I also bought a cheapo version last year... not intentionally though I was not particularly comfortable when I purchased it and should have known better... same as you no problem afaik but not something that I plan to repeat.

Office Depot currently had Turbo Tax Deluxe on sale for $50.

[pb4uski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Richard4444, you might consider getting one of those cans of compressed air with a narrow nozzle. They are used in electronics repair for things like blowing the dust out of keyboards and stuff. I think that probably would be at least as effective for your specific case. Everyone should have one in their home for quick fixes to simple problems like this.

Or I vacuum the air vents on my laptop occasionally to get the cooties out.

[W2R]

I got a new heater installed in September when my whole AC system was replaced, but due to reasonably warm weather in New Orleans this fall I hadn't used the heater yet. This week seemed like a good time to turn on the heater for the first time this winter. But when I turned it on, it did not warm up the house at all.

It is still on warrantee and I was not inclined to fiddle with it, so I called the HVAC company last night. They came by this morning and said that the installers had neglected to light the heater last September. So, they lit it and my house is getting warmer at last. They didn't charge me anything so it all worked out nicely.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R They came by this morning and said that the installers had neglected to light the heater last September. So, they lit it and my house is getting warmer at last. They didn't charge me anything so it all worked out nicely.

Nicely done. I can't remember ever getting lit without it costing me severely the next morning.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Nicely done. I can't remember ever getting lit without it costing me severely the next morning.

Well, I did have to set my alarm for 7 AM instead of the usual 9 AM, since I didn't know exactly when they would be calling and/or coming by. So I do feel pretty groggy, and in that sense perhaps there is some similarity...

An afternoon nap should take care of that.

[HillCountry]

Today I got up earlier than week days to send kids to swimming meet.

Now I am:
Watching kids swimming
Reading/posting here
Reading college confidential

[aja8888]

DD's gas dryer started squealing last week so I went to her house and took it apart and found the drum "slider" strips and plastic holder were finished. Ordered the new parts on appliancepartspros.com and got them last night. 30 minutes this morning installing (including travel) got her back in business. Total parts and shipping (2 day) was under $40.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Well, I did have to set my alarm for 7 AM instead of the usual 9 AM, ...

BTW, what IS that "alarm" thing? It sounds scary!

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit BTW, what IS that "alarm" thing? It sounds scary!

It is the one remaining nightmare from w*rking days. I had to set mine to 4:45 AM yesterday for a medical test that started at 7:00 AM at a hospital 30 minutes away. This brought on flashbacks, driving down the road before dawn.

[Hermit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 It is the one remaining nightmare from w*rking days. I had to set mine to 4:45 AM yesterday for a medical test that started at 7:00 AM at a hospital 30 minutes away. This brought on flashbacks, driving down the road before dawn.

My condolences.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermit BTW, what IS that "alarm" thing? It sounds scary!

I know, it sounds awful, doesn't it!

When I first retired, I went for about a year without an alarm (for the first time since pre-school age). No spouse, no pets to awaken me so I was strictly depending on my biological clock. I discovered something rather "alarming" about myself. For me, what happens is that I start staying up an hour later each night than the previous night, and then sleeping an hour later in the morning, making for a 25 hour day. I end up sleeping when the rest of the world is awake, and when I am awake everyone I know is asleep, all businesses are closed, and there is nothing on TV. This is no fun. While being awake in the middle of the night is bad enough, what's worse is that the time span when one is awake keeps changing when living 25 hour days.

After trying to correct that for a year, I finally decided that by gosh, I had had enough. I don't use my "BLATT!!!!!" (going to work) alarm clock, but instead I have set up an alarm system that plays soft, soothing bird chirping sounds. Being a light sleeper, that awakens me gently within 5-10 minutes. It's not ideal, but so far that's the best solution that I have found.