I am not affected by the government shutdown though I work for the government.
The farce is hard to explain. The uncertainty exists, but my circumstances aren't easy to explain beyond my organization has a budget that's separately funded.
I feel bad for the furloughed, but they'll get back pay.
The whole shutdown is meaningless in the grand scheme considering the back pay.
Woke up dizzy and stiff. Figured not worth trying to get ready for work so I called off. Woke up 6 or hours later and showered. Felt dizzy still but noticed everything was out of focus like a migraine so I took migraine medicine and did little. Meh. Didn't exactly feel much better but all the stiffness I felt earlier subsided after walking a few miles.
Windows 10 is going out of service in October, so my mom asked me to go computer shopping with her.
She got her last computer while my dad was still alive in December 2014! I guess Windows 7 allowed her to upgrade to 10. Impressive for a machine to be active that long. I think XP lasted a long time too because my previous desktop was XP was purchased in '06 and we got our last desktop in '17. I could be wrong about how long it lasted. I vaguely recall having a WiFi adapter for that machine but I gave it to my parents before they got the now replaced laptop. I think that machine died and we just used a laptop. I could be wrong.
Computers have come so far in the years that it's funny to think what once was fast is so slow now in comparison.
I could go on about the computer shopping but why? Who really shops for something that has been mostly replaced by the SMARTPHONE?
Meh. Bought same Lenovo laptop computer I got for my kid earlier in the week. It had same specs as the machine my other kid had from last July when her keyboard ceased working so I knew it was a good deal for the price.
Best Buy. Micro Center. Only places we buy computers really, aside from that Sam's Club buy.
Cost of everything is variable. I got my machine for $299 on Tuesday while we spent $329 today. Mom was stressed about TARIFFS!
Lenovo is what I have for myself. They have decent warranties that can be upgraded until the 1st year's expires so the Geek Squad isn't something I needed purchase.
Must suck being old and thinking weird stuff that isn't relevant anymore.
Mom doesn't understand how my family all has computers... how do we afford to replace them and such.
We don't exactly.
Sure the kids each have a personal laptop, but it was necessary to have a computer during COVID during the virtual learning days of 2020.
We bought a camera for the desktop in our son's room and got a couple laptops for the girls. Neither laptop was a cheap Chromebook but they were affordable especially since we had COVID checks flowing in.
When our son started college, we got a Samsung or HP laptop for him. I think he split the cost.
He was still using the desktop which made my doing taxes and other stuff not simple on a phone mean I needed a laptop of my own. I got a small Lenovo from Micro Center for myself during a Labor Day sale in '23.
Our younger daughter had a cheaper $199 laptop that we had to pay to get a fan fixed in '23 then it had the keyboard die a year after she dumped water on it. It was replaced with clearance Lenovo machine that was nicer than mine and only $268.
We tried to upgrade the older daughter's laptop in '23 to Windows 11 when we did her sister's (and fan fix) but it wasn't viable.
I've been eyeing Best Buy deals of the day regularly looking for a replacement machine, so $299 wasn't an impulse buy.
It's not like the old days when a computer was always $999 or more, while we're not replacing machines every year, but only when they cease to function.
We don't replace phones often either. I've had the same phone since before Covid! Motorola is a good brand for our family it seems.
We use Mint Mobile so having an affordable unlocked phone is important more than bells and whistles.
We recently switched our ISP from Spectrum to Altafiber. We used to spend $39.99 when Time Warner was the provider but Spectrum jacked up the price to $88 a month.
Altafiber came into the neighborhood and offered twice the speed for a fixed $70 rate for THREE years. We had the installation done and then cancelled.
It took an hour plus the next day to be free of Spectrum. I called and talked 35 minutes with them STALLING and trying to keep me by saying they can be competitive but I kept telling Guillermo in Texas we already signed a three year contract. Then when I dropped off the equipment, I had to wait in line and the woman knew Altafiber without me saying where I was taking my business.
If you want to lower your price with Spectrum find a reasonable/plausible means to leave and try to bluff cancelling Spectrum. They will probably cave to whatever the "competition" is giving as teaser rates because they are hemorrhaging customers. Do not bluff with bogus rivals, numbers or deals. Spectrum asks 30 minutes of survey questions about your decision to cancel and know why exactly and to whom they are hemorrhaging customers.
It costs them WAY more to lose a customer than to give a loyal customer a deep discount, hence I suggest bluffing a better rate if you are content with the service beyond the price creeping up every month or so.
Yesterday (Thursday), someone was taken away from work by EMS. It has been warm enough in my facility to have heat breaks declared, so I think it was heat related.
My wife told me I should seriously consider taking Friday off. She said I have been exhausted. I felt like garbage as the day went by and determined she was right.
Woke up today with stiff upper body and stiff hips. I called off and went back to sleep for another 5 hours.
I didn't do much of anything. Just rested.
Everything entropic is inevitable. Iraq was a mistake. Iran is probably a mistake. Are they the same? Everything is dumb.
I remember '03 buildup and overflow into Iraq. I was meh because Hillary Clinton was for it. She was a senator "from New York," as well as the former first lady of the previous administration, thus privy to things beyond normal people.
I didn't realize HOW EVIL SHE REALLY is.
Weekends are times for relaxation and catching up on oddball stuff not finished during the week.
I work in a warehouse doing warehouse things so I really don't feel like mowing my lawn on days I work.
I enjoy mowing the lawn. My green grass gives me a sense of accomplishment... but lately, people have been letting their dogs take dumps in my front lawn throughout the week.
A couple weeks ago, we bought signs stating: "please pick up after your pets" Two other neighbors have signs stating to stay off the grass or stop having your dogs poop on our lawn, so we bought a spray can to add vinegar an pepper to further dissuade.
A dog left a pile next to our sign.
Frustrating.
I went to add more spray to yard since it had rained... the sprayer didn't work. It wouldn't keep pressure... probably due to vinegar messing with seals.
Frustrated, I decided it was cool enough to mow. Mower starting making low on fuel sound so I filled it for it to not start from pulling the cord.
The recoil ignition starter was BRAND NEW this season. The cord had broke when I tried mowing back in spring, but I hadn't put it on correctly to work so I bought one off Amazon. ALL of the parts said they worked on my Toro but none were made by Briggs-Stratton or Toro and had comments that said they worked a few times or the holes needed redrilled to align.
The part I had did the latter, and worked for a month. I got frustrated and went back to my spray can problem. I duct and Teflon taped some things and the pressure came back and IT WORKED.
Seeing MacGyvered the sprayer, I went back to the mower. The new starter wasn't catching when pulled, while the old one wasn't recoiling when pulled. I MacGyvered the old cord and the thing started. I moved 3/4ths of my lawn without stopping since the cord was extended. Weird metal sound came from the mower so I didn't think I could get it started again if I hand wound the cord again.
Mower is 20 years old. I was hoping to buy a new one at the end of the season when the sales start... I'll check with a Toro dealer to see if I can get a real replacement part.
It's been HOT and humid, so it's been chill indoors and grill food on grill to keep house cooler.
I have 3 propane tanks. One is hooked to the grill and is low. One is hooked to the fire pit and is probably above half full. The third is empty. I grilled Friday and Saturday expecting the need to swap out the tank and get 2 refilled but it never occurred.
I refilled the empty and got Little Caesar's pizza, since today was the last day for Pretzel crust.
I usually take one of the older cars for propane since the tank rolls around in the Atlas. Journey got maybe a mile from the house when the ENGINE light came on.
It ran normal thus seemed fine, so I ran my errand and went to Auto Zone later to get the code checked.
Evap leak code, so it could be a number of things that could be causing it. The rando guys at Auto Zone lamented as much. I think our Sebring had that code for the last few years we had it, so I'm assuming it's weather related, so what more can I do? My son drives the car just to work and back a few miles a day... and we have AAA.
Frustrating.
I have to do a couple things this week it seems.
