what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[W2R]

Jealous here. We paid an $89 installation fee to Chicago's no. 1 appliance store for exactly what your delivery guys did and the cable company wouldn't let them connect the cable box (to what turned out to be the broken TV, to be replaced next week). We will be getting a speaker sound bar thingie from Amazon!

I couldn't recommend Amazon more highly! The TV was provided by Amazon directly, not another supplier through Amazon. The delivery company was Pilot, which has mixed reviews, but in my case they came through with flying colors.

The cable company didn't say anything about it. I went over there on Wednesday and told them I needed a new box and my first DVR, so they gave me a box+DVR combo. Last night I attached that device to my old TV (instead of the old box without DVR) and had it activated.

Then I hooked up the old box for use on the new TV as much as I could before the TV arrived. When the Pilot guys arrived they finished hooking it up for me.

(Edited to add: It helps that I have nearly white hair. If I just smile and act sweet and dumb, what I call my "little old lady act", sometimes I can get extra help from delivery people like this. In this case, the guy wanted to talk about his divorce so we exchanged divorce stories, and I guess he felt sorry for the poor little old divorced lady living alone. )

I have heard that those speaker sound bars are fabulous! Frank has a speaker system for his TV. As for me, I am not discriminating enough about how a TV sounds to upgrade the sound but if I ever did, I'd get one of those sound bars.

 

[Bestwifeever]

...

I have heard that those speaker sound bars are fabulous! Frank has a speaker system for his TV. As for me, I am not discriminating enough about how a TV sounds to upgrade the sound but if I ever did, I'd get one of those sound bars.

I can barely tell the difference between mono and stereo so the TV's speaker would be fine with me! Maybe better sound is a guy thing.

 

[HFWR]

I can barely tell the difference between mono and stereo so the TV's speaker would be fine with me! Maybe better sound is a guy thing.

For regular broadcast TV, it's probably not worth it. But for HD/DVD, the 5.1 surround is well worth it. Then again, I'm a guy...

 

[M Paquette]

Hey, thanks, folks!

W2R, thanks for the delivery review. When I needed to get a TV a few years ago, I ordered from Costco's web site, to avoid having to try and find a vehicle that could hold that big box. I was happy when they offered to put the box inside the house. The Amazon delivery service sounds better than what anything the big box stores do. In fact, it sounds like what some of the last small business TV/electronics shops did. (The local small business appliance shop still does this. Their price is a little higher than the big box stores, until you figure in delivery, setup, and removing the old hardware. Then they're often a better deal)

I'm being lazy today. It's cool, so I'm stretched out on the sofa under heater cats set to Med High + Buzz + Shed.

 

[W2R]

M Paquette, I have to explain. I think that Pilot (who delivered my TV) is one of the main delivery firms that Amazon uses for big items like this. Reviews of Pilot's performance on Amazon reveal that they do not consistently give such good service. Probably I lucked out, due to good organization of Pilot locally, and/or due to my little old lady impersonation. But still, I think Amazon is worth a shot.

They sent me an e-mail beforehand specifically saying that their free White Glove Service did NOT include attaching the stand, putting the TV on the entertainment center or wall, attaching a cable box, or anything of that nature. So, what to do? Bring out the L.O.L. impersonation, that's what.

In person most people think I am a "sweet" little old lady for some reason. Little do they know! Probably this idea arises because I try to be kind and I look extremely harmless. But anyway, their (mis)perception sometimes gets me goodies that I wouldn't otherwise get. I know this always works with local stores, but had no idea that it would work with a big organization like Amazon+Pilot.

I have Amazon Prime, so paid nothing for delivery or set-up. The prices of TVs on Amazon go up and down quite a bit over several months. This TV was $400 higher for over a month before I saw the price drop for just a few hours because they had only 3 left. Afterwards it went back up almost immediately, and it is now $600 more than I paid for it.

The TV works beautifully! I love it and I feel suitably pampered.

 

[Gumby]

Received my most recent ebay purchase in the mail -- a vintage Zippo lighter. Nothing special about it. Just a 33 year old plain brushed chrome lighter, but ohh . . . the memories it brought back. Me as a young naval officer, with a Zippo permanently in my pocket, smoking Camel no-filters up on the sail of my submarine as we transited on the surface. I quit smoking in 1984, and who knows where my original Zippo went. I find it oddly comforting -- the click and clunk when it opens and closes, the odd smell of naptha, the warm smoothness when I close it and put it back in my pocket. The old trick of snapping it to make it open and closing by holding just the cap came back immediately. A lot of nostalgic enjoyment for 10 bucks.

 

[JakeBrake]

Received my most recent ebay purchase in the mail -- a vintage Zippo lighter. Nothing special about it. Just a 33 year old plain brushed chrome lighter, but ohh . . . the memories it brought back. Me as a young naval officer, with a Zippo permanently in my pocket, smoking Camel no-filters up on the sail of my submarine as we transited on the surface. I quit smoking in 1984, and who knows where my original Zippo went. I find it oddly comforting -- the click and clunk when it opens and closes, the odd smell of naptha, the warm smoothness when I close it and put it back in my pocket. The old trick of snapping it to make it open and closing by holding just the cap came back immediately. A lot of nostalgic enjoyment for 10 bucks.

+1

You don't have to smoke to love and collect Zippo's.

And weren't those C-Ration Camels the best?

 

[ls99]

+1

You don't have to smoke to love and collect Zippo's.

And weren't those C-Ration Camels the best?

I could sell any brand of cigs for 25 cents each a week before payday in 68 and 69. And offer to light them with my Zippo. Customer service ya know.

I did not smoke while in the Army, butts were were more valuable as merchandise one week before payday.

 

[Gumby]

+1

You don't have to smoke to love and collect Zippo's.

And weren't those C-Ration Camels the best?

We didn't get C-rations on the submarine, since we had mess facilities. So we had to buy our own cigs. However, I did spend some time with the Marines in Quantico and recall the little boxes of either 3 or 4 cigarettes (can't remember which) that came with the C-rations there.

Speaking of cigarettes as currency - when you go out on patrol in a submarine, you have to carry everything you need with you, since you don't stop in port anywhere. There is also no "ship's store" like they have on surface ships. So if you're a smoker, you need to plan ahead and bring enough of your own to last until you get back. Once, my boat was extended on station by a little over three weeks because our planned relief had mechanical problems. We ran out of most food onboard, but, even worse, most people ran out of cigarettes. You could charge a buck a cigarette in the days they were 40 cents a pack at the exchange. People were picking through the butt cans for the stubs; it really was quite pathetic.

 

[Walt34]

Ordered a couple of photo books of pictures of FIL's house from blurb.com that DW wanted. They take longer than most to ship but we've been pleased with the quality in the past when it does arrive. And anticipation is part of the enjoyment.

I do like being able to do the layout in Lightroom offline and then just upload the result. They offer their own software to do that which has more features but for the occasional simple stuff that we do the Lightroom plug-in is more than sufficient.

Did an AM grocery run and since it's forecast to be rainy the rest of the day I'm in and staying here. Later on I'll take the camera and some lights downstairs and see how creative I can be with tools and other junk to make a work of photographic art.

 

[Nodak]

+1

You don't have to smoke to love and collect Zippo's.

And weren't those C-Ration Camels the best?

When I started working at Cavalier Air Force Station in 1976 C-Rations were what we had for emergency food. I got stuck there for 3 days in a blizzard and was a little nervous about eating scalloped potatoes and ham that had been packed in 1945 (2 years before I was born). The cigarettes were so dried out I could only get about 3 puffs and they were gone.

 

[braumeister]

People were picking through the butt cans for the stubs; it really was quite pathetic.

I remember that quite well from Cam Ranh Bay AB in 72 when the BX ran out of cigs for several weeks. And toward the end we had nothing but C-rations to eat for about a month, so those tiny packs of 4 cigs were probably worth more than their weight in gold!

 

[JakeBrake]

In addition to the individual C-Ration boxes, there were also the 5-in-1 C-Rations. The 5-in-1 boxes contained rations for 5 men. The 5-in-1 boxes included large cans of food and full-size packs of Camels (also Lucky Strikes) and full-size candy bars. The 5-in-1 boxes were used when the battalion cooks set up a field mess. The chief cook's most important job was to see that the cigarettes and candy bars were distributed equitably.

 

[ls99]

.........

Speaking of cigarettes as currency - when you go out on patrol in a submarine, you have to carry everything you need with you, since you don't stop in port anywhere. There is also no "ship's store" like they have on surface ships. So if you're a smoker, you need to plan ahead and bring enough of your own to last until you get back. Once, my boat was extended on station by a little over three weeks because our planned relief had mechanical problems. We ran out of most food onboard, but, even worse, most people ran out of cigarettes. You could charge a buck a cigarette in the days they were 40 cents a pack at the exchange. People were picking through the butt cans for the stubs; it really was quite pathetic.

Early seventies, Dutch Harbor airport, Alaska. Sign next to men's room urinals:

Please do not throw cigarette butts into urinal, it soggies them and makes it hard to re light.



In other news, put summer tires on my car. Winter is done for.

 

[bbbamI]

Been busy with household chores as I have been out of town for a few days. Took a four day whirlwind tour of family time.

Time spent included holding my great nephew for the first time, wearing a puppy around my neck, eating homemade pizza and spending quality time with my daddy. Found out my second cousin (pregnant with twins) will be having two boys. Was notified a great aunt of mine passed away.

The beat goes on...

It's good to be home.

 

[Gumby]

Mailed my tax returns. The guy ahead of me at post office was doing the same. We might be the last two people in town to actually file by mail.

While there, I picked up my yellow coticule stone that had arrived from Belgium and took it home to hone one of my straight razors. We'll see in the morning how well I did on the honing job.

Helped the young wife make mozzarella cheese.

 

[jclarksnakes]

C-rats was good eating. I especially liked the John Wayne bars. MREs were not quite as good. We ate a lot of MREs in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. We had a French Division camped out near us in the desert and their boxed combat meals were much better than our MREs.

 

[Walt34]

In other news, put summer tires on my car. Winter is done for.

There is hope, then?

We are not so lucky yet:

 

[freebird5825]

Mr B had an appt at the VA (routine physical) so I have the kingdom (queendom?) to myself. I did my stepper exercise routine while watching a Breaking Vegas episode about a body worn computer prediction device for roulette, i.e. a cheating scheme. I did 425 steps with no effort, quadruple the amount when I started exercising 8 days ago. This feels great!

I have a neat volunteer j*b to do today. A local restaurant reopened under new ownership a few months ago. The new owners cannot figure out how to make the punch time clock w*rk under DST. They are recording employee hours by hand.
The good news is they have the device manual. The bad news is the device is made in China, and the manual is not written very well.

I was asked by friends of the new owners to help out. Owners offered to pay me money for my time, but I said no, just throw a free beer my way once in a while. They have enough cash flow issues right now while they build up their clientele base.
I've never "met" an electronic device I can't figure out. It's like solving a puzzle. I just LOVE doing that kind of thing.
I'll do a full unplug power reset and have one of the owners run the buttons while I read the key sequences to her. That way she will be trained to operate it independently, including recognizing any mistakes we make. I'll put together a "cheat sheet" so she can run the device on her own, minus the manual.

 

[cantlogin]

This morning I prepared and served a meal of carrots, peanuts, and lettuce to my favorite Marmota monax, Notch.
She also seemed to enjoy the back-rub that I provided before she returned to her burrow.

 

[grasshopper]

Show off some of my stuff. I have collected camel stuff since the 70's, quit in 1982. I will put this stuff on ebay once they are illegal. I remember my first pack of camels, put a quarter in the cigarette machine, out popped my pack with 2 pennies taped to the pack. Can you imagine that at all these days. I got a lot of old packs before the surgeons warning.

 

[Gumby]

Nice. Almost makes me want to take up smoking again.

 

[Bestwifeever]

After 38 years without a cigarette, I still miss smoking.

Today we continued moving into the millennium by getting our first DVR and ditching the economy cable package for "up to 25 and even 30 whatsits." Tomorrow our second new TV, to replace to majorly cracked one that was delivered last week, is supposed to be delivered, and then we will have made the hi-def jump too. Our heads are just spinning, I tell you.

 

[Gumby]

I was also reminded of this, very excellent, Tom Robbins book

 

[bbbamI]

Finally crawled out of bed after 15 hours sleep. My allergies are beating the stuffing out of me.

Not long after I got up the phone rang. There was no number shown..it just showed 'unknown caller'. I figured it was the same computer spammers that called not long ago. I decided to play with them for a while. They said my computer had a virus...I made sniffling noises and said that scared me.

After I acted pitiful and asked 'Alex' many questions over and over again, he seemed to get a little frustrated. He kept telling me to go to my computer. After I tired of my play, I told him in a pitiful voice...'but I don't have a computer, I'll go over to my neighbor's house and get his. Hold on and I'll be right back'.

'Alex' hung up. At least I had him on the phone long enough so maybe he'll scam one less person today. Bastadges.

Even tho I feel poopy, it made me smile.