Looks Good On Me

Now that I've paid for my Disney vacation AND my air fare, I can look at those few things I want to get to make the vacation more exciting. The last time I went to Disney, your park admittance was on a card, similar to the one I'll use to get into "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party".

But, in the intervening years, technology has improved, as we know, in leaps and bounds and now, Disney uses Magic Bands. Your admission, your room key, and your dining credits are all stored on a chip inside the band. You wear this everywhere; it's waterproof; and just swipe your arm when you need to do something. When I finally pick my FastPass rides for parks, those selections will be loaded onto my band. It's quite astounding technology.

By staying in the resort, you get a free band. It's a plain gray color but it has your name on it. You can get other colors, but I looked at the plain colored ones and decided that wasn't what I wanted. Back at the beginning of the year, there was a band with the seagulls from "Finding Nemo". It said, "MineMineMine!" on it. You have to buy the special bands from the Disney Store and there are periodic sales. I decided I would wait and see. If there wasn't a sale on bands by August 1st, I'd buy one to make sure I had it in time. Amazingly, at the end of May, there was a sale on bands. But, the "Mine" band was nowhere to be found. My friend, Liz, said these specialty bands come and go. You know it's to drive purchase. If there is the chance what you want could be discontinued, you're more likely to buy it now. I had to "settle" for a Tigger band. The only thing you have with the free versus the paid for bands is that, once you get your band from the store, you have to link it to your account. It's a reasonably simple matter to log into your account and type in a bunch of numbers and letters to get it linked.

The band came and the packaging felt a little strange. When I opened it up, this was the container for the band.

It was all bent. This was kind of odd. I turned it around to open the package.

I could not imagine the post office, even running it through some heavy duty machines, could mangle the package like this. Clearly, this package had been opened. Well, as long I can link it to my account, I'm okay with it.

So, I put it on. This is so cool! All my information will be contained on this wristband. I flipped the band over, located the 6 point type code and entered it into my account. Nothing. I got an error message saying the band had been assigned to another account. Wait? How could that happen? Maybe I "fat fingered" the code because it's so small. I tried twice more. Each time, I was told the band was assigned to another account.

I called Disney tech support. They verified that it was linked to another account. They referred me to the Disney Store to get the band replaced. When I called them and explained the problem, the gal on the phone was speechless.

"I...I don't know what to say, ma'am. This has never happened to me before. Magic bands are not returnable for this precise reason. They can't be reused once they are linked to an account. I will ship a new one to you right away. I am so sorry this happened."

If you look at the bottom of the package, it says, "No returns, exchanges or refunds." She said my call would spur an assessment of how this could have happened. I remember reading, somewhere, when I bought the Tigger band, that Magic Bands were not returnable. Who knows how this happened, but I'm the one it happened to.

It took another week, but my real Tigger Magic Band arrived. Once I had it, I tried to enter the code, but, trust me, the code is in such small type, I had all sorts of difficulty. I kept getting a message that the code didn't exist. Another call was placed to Disney. Fortunately, we determined the "8" was a "B" and the tech support gal was able to attach the band to my account. I know I tried typing the "8" as a "B" because I wasn't sure which it was, but the web site claimed not to recognize the code.

Lookie!!

I'm excited. Disney said I can do with the other one whatever I want to do. I'm not sure what that is. I kept it. The bands are cool. They are a malleable, lightweight rubber compound. Once you snap the top over the bottom, you aren't going to lose it, even if your wrist gets sweaty or you go into the pool. I'll enjoy wearing this for a week.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

SQUEEE!!!

Sometimes the stars align perfectly.

Back in August, I had a meltdown when, as I was headed to Rock Island, the Jeep malfunctioned. I know I need a newer car. I have a new car fund, but I also use it for those inevitable repairs to refresh the duct tape and baling twine which holds the Jeep together. Given what the beast was doing, or not doing (staying running) as the case may be, I had real feelings that Jeep repairs would take all of that meager account. I completely fell apart thinking about this, forgetting my cardinal rule to find gratitude in every day and slivers of happiness in every situation.

After the situation was diagnosed to not be as horrific as I had convinced myself it would be, I remembered that, in years past, even the $225 it took to fix the Jeep would have left me destitute. I had that. AND I would still have a bit left in the new car fund. There are things which need to be done but I am nowhere nearly as bad as I was 3 years ago.

So, it was back to saving for things for my vacation in November. I've been on the road again and those trips and the long days associated with them, have helped pad my BlizzCon and car fund. I've been able to cross off things that need to be purchased. BlizzCon ticket. Check. Air fare. Check. Ground transportation to hotel. Check. Material for shirts. Check. I still need to pay for Disneyland tickets and my part of the hotel room. I know how much I need to reserve for those items. That will leave money for food and souvenirs. It's 6 weeks away. I'm starting to get a bit nervous. I've never done anything like this before so there are nerves. I even ordered compression socks for the plane ride which will make me feel more comfortable and I won't show up in LA or back in Chicago with swollen ankles and feet.

The other thing I wanted to get, but it was not a need, was an ipad. In my head, if I had an ipad, I could upload photos from my camera to the ipad and then they could go into all the things I maintain; my Facebook page, my guild's web site and this blog. After a lot of discussion, a friend suggested an eyefi card for my camera. This is an SD card with wifi built in. You use wifi technology to upload your photos to cloud-based storage and then have access to them with other devices. It all sounds so high-tech and, if there's one thing I'm not, it's high-tech. The other option was an adapter for the ipad. With any wifi network, I can upload photos from anywhere to my storage. In buying an eyefi card, the price came with a year of free storage. That's the route I've taken.

But what about the ipad? It's not a priority. I could do without it. Yet, road trips for work provided money not expected. I could afford an ipad. Savings for me. Savings for the car and save for BlizzCon. Viola. A box came to work today.

I did a lot of research. I wound up buying a refurbished older model from a company called iTParts. Their prices were very reasonable and there was no shipping. Other places I looked wanted to charge me shipping and their return policies on refurbished equipment were the same as this company. For what I want to do, low price was the determining factor.

I had it shipped to the office because the last thing I want is a Priority Mail box containing an ipad stuck between my front and screen doors. It's a pretty nondescript box but look at the goodness contained therein. The sale came with a charger and ear buds.

The charger I expected. I don't know that I'll use the ipad to listen to music. I have so much music on CDs that hasn't been uploaded to my Mac and then I'd have to port it to the ipad. Not an impossibility for sure, but a huge time sink. Right now, I don't think I have that kind of time without sacrificing other things which are important to me. I could, if I desire, get Pandora or Spotify music streaming services on the ipad, since this is akin to an oversized cell phone. I just don't listen to music like that. They tend not to have what I like.

It needs a charge before it can be used, so I plugged it in.

Up pops the familiar Apple logo. And then came the greetings.

Bonjour to you.

What's happened here is that I have really entered the information age, in a huge way, no less. The SD card isn't here yet for me to try that out and get it synced with my computer and my ipad and get them synced with this cloud service. I'm always afraid I will explode something when I start messing around with electronic devices. My way more tech savvy friends have said I'll do fine and the world won't explode because I hit the red button instead of the blue button. (Extra points if you know THAT reference.)

So, here we are. I need to get a case. I'll get this one because there isn't a good World of Warcraft case available right now. In my mind's eye, I see a large selection of cases in various fabrics in a pile in my house. There are ipad case patterns and lord knows I have the fabric.

I'm really excited to be able to sit in the recliner in the living room, feet up, and updating my blog while I have a lap cat. That is the best part of this.

Beverage:  Water

Deb

Dragging Myself into the 21st Century

As my daughter will attest to, I can be slow to adopt new technology. It's not that I fear it. It's more a case of information overload and what I need to unlearn in order to learn new. Plus, I have an innate fear of pushing the wrong button and, well, ...

So, I have danced around the issue of my TV not working for at least 6 months. If you would notice the intense red in the image to the right and then add some neon pink to that, it's what "white" people's skin had started looking like. Any darker skin tone went seriously close to black paint. And this was assuming the TV would come on at all. Right before I left for my May Virginia trip, I decided the TV had died and my idea of giving a new one to myself as a Christmas present became a bit unlikely.

See, we're in the fall season right now; the time of hot cider, warm butternut squash soup and Iowa Hawkeyes football on ABC. /sigh. When you can't get your TV to even turn on reliably, the idea that you're going to watch said Hawkeyes from the comfort of your recliner with a cat firmly ensconced in your lap becomes less likely. I need a new TV.

It took some saving and cutting back on other things, to have enough to buy a TV. But my technophobia was getting the best of me. I looked at deals online and they might as well be speaking Klingon for all that I understood. One of my guild mates, who lives southeast of me, offered to take me around and look at all my options, explaining what I needed to get set up and making suggestions on what would be a good TV. Plus, he'd set everything up so there would be no nuclear explosion because I connected the wrong wire.

Ta da.

Thirty-two inches of awesomeness.

Why didn't I go larger, you're wondering? Well, this is the original set up.

That's 25 inches of tube. To the right is my Play Station 2 which needed to be connected to the new TV. On the top shelf is my DvD player. I use it to play movies and CDs when I'm crafting in the living room. A new TV had to fit in this spot. Larger just wouldn't work.

You need to understand that I'm not a "typical" television consumer. I don't have cable or satellite. If I could pick and choose exactly which stations from cable I could have, I would sign up in a minute. But if I want the Big 10 network, which would give me all the Hawkeye football and basketball games, I have to have things I will never watch. Why should I pay for 85 channels when I only want 6? I am also blessed in the Chicagoland area that we have a plethora of free channels. If I want to watch MeTV, I have 3 channels from which to choose. PBS has 4 separate channels including a Spanish language one that tends to show travelogs when I'm channel surfing. Then it doesn't really matter what language comes through the speakers. The scenery is what matters.

After much discussion, I also got a Blu-Ray player. That is the new technology, although it will, ultimately, go away as content goes to online streaming. There wasn't an easy or cheap way to connect both the DvD player and the PS2 to the new TV. The player will play all my movies, and my non-Blu-Ray movies will look as good as Blu-Ray movies and I can still play my CDs from my nearly 200 CD jazz collection. (Some day, that all needs to be uploaded to the new computer, but I really dislike the new iTunes.)

Here's the new set up with Mission: Impossible on the TV.

What a difference. I had to get a new antenna but no more is the antenna duct taped to the east window in the hopes of picking up a signal. Clear and sharp, it was awesome. My friend also gave me my first Blu-Ray movie.

"Listen. Do you smell something?"

I was thrilled. The only down side was that the local primary stations weren't coming in. I couldn't, initially, get CBS, ABC, NBC or PBS. I got the FOX station, but football is carried on ABC. I needed to figure this out.

So, I resorted to (gasp) reading the instructions and discovered how to make the TV search for missing channels. Last night, for the first time in over 6 months, I watched the NBC Nightly News.

Wow. Skin colors that are actually the right color. There can still be an occasional degradation in signal which can be maddening when you're focused on a segment you feel is important, but it's less than it was when I had to run the signal through a converter box. I need to tuck the DDR pad behind the stand. The local news is, primarily, what I am usually watching on television. I missed that as my computer news feeds don't seem to reliably pull in local events.

It's quite the change. I am thrilled with this and so glad Jim could come along and help me. I took the empty box to Pam's on Sunday. My recycling can is full, at the moment, so the box would just sit around for another week until my can was emptied. Her recycling can was empty. I would have been really, really nervous about transporting the TV from Best Buy to my house in my Jeep.

It would have fit, but I would have worried. Jim drives a big Jeep so we could lie it down flat and anchor it so it would not slide.

I am now, dear reader, in the 21st Century. I watched part of "Ghostbusters" on Saturday. I want to try some of my other DvDs just to see how they look, and start up Final Fantasy X to see how it looks. I'm starting the next phase of crafting so "background" music will become, once again, a reality. The TV is going to Wheaton's electronics recycling event on Saturday. I've started accumulating the printers, cables and other electronic pieces that go. Pam and her hubby are coming to get the TV on Friday as it's a behemoth to move and they will bring the van for it. My other options were to find an neighbor to move it into the Jeep and pray that it fit in the front seat or roll it to the curb. The garbage company will take electronics but you have to sticker them.

Jim and I celebrated the purchase.

You can't go wrong with Portillo's. The whole day set me back less than $500, which is, to my mind, a real bargain. There is room behind the TV for a cat to sleep, but they have never been interested in resting on top of the TV so I don't know if someone will, eventually, figure out there's space back there. I guess we'll see.

So, bring on college football. I'm ready.

Beverage:  Scottish Breakfast Tea

Deb

Into the 21st Century

I admit it. Technological updates can have me baffled. "But it worked so well. Why do we have to change?" is something I know I've said to myself on occasion. Such is the case with lighting.

Did you know that 40 and 60 watt incandescent lightbulbs will no longer be made come January 1st? In fact, there haven't been any made since September and stores will be selling their remaining inventories without restocking them. 100 and 75-watt bulbs were phased out last year.

I knew this was coming but the last time I looked, compact fluorescent bulbs were $12.00 each. When you are on a tight budget, you'll go get a package of 4 60-watt bulbs for $3.50 before you'll pay that for one bulb. Never mind that the fluorescent will last 9 years, that's a lot of upfront money.

And then the light in the bathroom went out.

Knowing that the incandescent bulbs were to be phased out, I went to Ace Hardware to see about finally, finally taking the plunge into CFLs (compact fluorescent light). I set aside $20 for light bulbs, relying on a very long ago memory of buying one bulb for the light in the hallway. This light gets used, a lot, and we were replacing it sometimes twice a year. A standard lightbulb just wasn't doing the job so we invested in a compact fluorescent back when the idea was first proposed, that they could save a homeowner money because they lasted for years. Honestly, I don't remember when this bulb was replaced, it's been that long. The design of CFLs has improved substantially over this. They are much more compact. This bulb has been going strong for a very, very long time. The $12-15 we spent on it has been recouped a couple times over.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a 5 pack of CFLs was $1.99, on sale to promote changing to these from incandescent. I read everything on the package. This will replace the 60-watt bulbs which were in the bathroom fixture. The quality of light won't change, just the amount of electricity used. I was concerned about heat generated since the bathroom lights are horizontal and not vertical as in the hall light. The salesman said they generate the same amount of heat as an incandescent bulb. Yes, the older ones were warmer, but technology has improved and these are much cooler. Plus, these are guaranteed for 9 years, 9 years, with average use. I would say my usage is average. That means I don't have to replace these light bulbs in the bathroom until 2022. Given the difficulty of removing the fixture to access the bulbs, I'll take that.

So, I have entered the 21st century. I looked about the basement when I was down there today to do laundry. Every socket has an incandescent in it. As they burn out, you can bet I will be replacing them with CFLs. Let there be light!

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Smart Does Not Define the User

It was time for a phone upgrade. I got a smart phone just like everyone else in the office. Jon had to do some set up with it because it wouldn't turn on. 

 

I didn't realize how difficult it would be to learn a new phone. So far, I have learned how to make calls, add contacts and send text messages. The buttons to type things seem to be a bit small for my fat fingers but it took me awhile to learn to text with my other phone. 

I'm "cheating" and using the manual to learn the features. At some point, I'll install apps, but that's a couple weeks down the road. I got my Google email on the phone but I also need to add my company email. I play with the phone until I get frustrated and then go do something else. I'm not sure whether to feel excited that I'm running with the tech savvy people or scared because I haven't the foggiest idea what I'm doing. 

The best news is that the phone still fits in the cell phone pocket in my purse. That's very important. 

Beverage:  Africa Rooibos tea

Deb

What a Blessing

In the struggle to open jars, I've not spent a lot of time looking for items which could assist in that endeavor. I think about it but usually when I'm supremely frustrated with whatever it is I can't get open. Wash cloths and dish towels just don't seem to provide the right grip. So, I bring the item into the office and endure the mild ribbing that comes from a guy who pops open jars all the time.

My friend, Meredith, decided this just would not do. She took it upon herself to wander about and search the aisles of a variety of stores looking for something that would help me get lids off. She wound up at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I wouldn't have thought of this place as it's a bit of a drive to get to the nearest one and it's located not in a spot I frequent.

Sometimes I feel like a Luddite. Modern technology can be overwhelming. "The good old days" can seem a simpler time when our senses weren't assaulted with information, most of which we don't need. But, thanks to the very technology that is everywhere, she sent me a photo from her iPhone of the jar openers Bed, Bath and Beyond had available. There were some bandy things that didn't look real promising for me. Then she sent a photo of these. When I think of grips, this is what I think of.

There are three sizes in the package. This looks promising, but will it work.

Here is the juice. These bottle have stymied me. This is the third one I haven't been able to open. I thought the first two were a fluke but no, something about the seal V8 puts on these bottles makes it impossible for me to open right now. This will be an adequate test of the ability of these pieces of rubber to assist in opening jars and bottles. I used the cone-shaped one for this.

Viola. Opened with very little effort, too, I might add.

Meredith, you have no idea, well, scratch that, you probably do have an idea how happy this has made me. Eventually, I would have stumbled upon these on my own but not before feeling my independence slowly eroding at the edges. I am hugely, hugely grateful for smart friends who know where to look and what to look for. I poured myself a big tall glass of juice last night and savored every sip.

Next up is a jar of applesauce.

Beverage:  Earl Gray tea

Deb

ARG!

I have this idea for a blog post. Although I will just type, I think the post looks better if I include an appropriate or semi-appropriate or maybe not appropriate at all photo.

I always carry my palm-sized Nikon Cool Pix camera with me. You never know when you'll see something which is inspiring, silly, phenomenal, beautiful or simply unique and worthy of a blog post. That happened this afternoon. I dig my camera out of my bag and go to take a photo and the camera says the card needs to be formatted. Well, I know that formatting the card is going to erase the two photos I have on it. But they are the kind of photos I can stage again so, okay, I'll format it.

The camera can't. So I plug the download card into my office computer and the computer says the card has to be formatted. Okay, just do it. Stop with the prompts. Um..."Windows cannot format this card."

I suspect this means the card I got with the camera many years ago is now toast. Yes, yes. I know Target sells these cards and I can get one with oodles (technical term there) of memory for peanuts. But I don't have peanuts, pennies maybe, but certainly not enough of those to pay cash for a new flash card. I have one more card. When it goes, I am out. I hope I can wring enough pocket change from the expense check coming next week that I can get a new flash card.

I guess this is the impetus for digging in the years of photos I have and firing up my scanner. I'm sure I can find some photos which, with a little editing, can work for blog posts. Hmmmm, where's that one of my family roasting hot dogs over a burn barrel?

Beverage: Water

Deb

This vexes me - #5.

See this? Resealable my...... I can use that word. Ladies don't use words like that. I was almost out of rice so I bought a medium-sized bag last Friday. I keep my rice on the counter in a glass container which can be made airtight. That way, it's easy to access. I find rice easy to cook and I can add so many things to it that it's a great side dish.

First problem. "Pull to Open" doesn't. I don't know how they sealed it, but even with perforations, I couldn't get the top to pull open. So, I took the scissors and cut by the perforations, exposing the part you're supposed to be able to reseal. HA!

Second problem. Opening up the bag along the "Pull to Open" exposes a seal that won't open. Seriously. Even Zip Locs seals open easier than whatever they put in the top of this bag. I remember the commercials for the initial announcement of the "zip loc" technology. People filled those bags with all sorts of stuff from liquid to dry, closed them and turned them upside down. "See? It doesn't leak." While you can still get cheap sandwich bags that have the "tuck in, fold over" technology, imagine if that's all that was available. That's what it used to be like. We take for granted that we can squeeze shut the tops of our plastic bags.

Third problem. I try and try to pull the two halves apart and one small spot gives. It's NOT where the squeeze shut apparatus is located. I've just made a hole in the bag itself. This has now defeated the purpose of a resealable top.

Fine. I get the scissors and cut open the top, pour as much as I need into the container and then, gasp, use an old-fashioned rubber band to secure the top of the bag. I have now implemented my own resealable top.

Not everything needs this kind of technology. I would submit that rice does not. In looking at the bags at the store, the size bigger and smaller than this did not have this resealing feature. If you're going smaller, it must be guessed that you will either secure it yourself or use it right away. If you're going large, you probably have a container into which it goes AND you'll be securing the bag yourself when you're done. It's just this size, roughly 8-10 pounds.

The bag is up on the shelf next to the couscous which is, ironically, in a zip loc bag.

Beverage: Water

Deb

Oh dear. This is not good.

I came into the office today with my camera in tow. I received something in the mail I'm going to blog about later and needed to take a photo of it. Jon put the card from my camera in his reader and nothing showed up. So, I put the card back in the camera and now the camera tells me there is no card.

I have photos on this card. I took a bunch of photos last night but didn't upload them as I was going to bring the camera into the office today. So now what? I guess I assume all those photos are lost and the card is no good?

Fortunately, I have other cards. They are smaller than this one. I'll just have to upload more frequently.

Beverage: Huckleberry tea

Deb

Lust

I don't get gadget lust. I generally don't want the newest and fastest and first one on the block thing because I'd rather wait until the bugs are out. And I'm getting, more and more, to be of the "if it ain't broke, don't 'fix' it" opinion.

But...

LUST...

for the new Apple gadget whose name I really, really, really don't like.

Never mind that it's probably a glorified iPhone. I don't have one of those. I find it a mite confusing. If someone wanted to give me an iPhone and pay for it and then show me how to use it, I'd take it, but I won't get one on my own. I have an iPod that I have used exactly 7 times. It's buried on the table in the office.

I think I would use this. It's supposed to be really light-weight and, having had to lug laptops around for work, light-weight is attractive. The bigger screen with similar controls to an iPhone is attractive to me. Would I watch video on it? I might although I don't watch movies on my mac. That's why I have a DVD player.

So, I'm wishing I had a lot of disposable income right now because I certainly would be one of the people at the store the first day you could get these. They just need to change the name. It conjures up all sorts of images I don't want.

Beverage: Assam tea

Deb