Computer Madness And Success

 I was using an old laptop last year.  There were problems.  Several keys came loose, the battery died.  I read that both together would probably cost more than a new cheap one.  And about all I was doing with it was using it in front of the TV to visit other cat blogs.

So I bought a new cheap (simple) one.  And I couldn't get it to connect to my Wi-Fi.  OK, it decades past, I was a techie.  But tech slipped past me.  I have trouble with my smartphone (I can't figure out how to navigate to where I want).  So I couldn't get the new laptop to connect to my Wi-Fi account.

One suggestion I read was to bring the laptop closer to the router.  Yesterday, I did that.  It didn't help a bit!  But at least I had both my desktop and the laptop in the same room and could look up stuff on the desktop about the laptop.  

What I found by desktop computer internet queries suggested I was failing getting the laptop connected because I didn't have a WPA2  password.  I had no idea what that was.

Searches described WPA2 but didn't help much.  I'm sure what that is, is obvious to many of you, but it sure wasn't to me.  

Most sites said that if you lost your Wi-Fi password (and I didn't even know I needed or had one), you had to either connect your laptop to the router with a Ethernet cable or completely re-establish your router.  My laptop does have any such port and I definitely didn't want to mess with my router settings!

So. on my desktop, I kept querying about WPA2 in various ways.  For a couple hours (I am persistent) I tried various fixes.  None worked or suggested the "reset router" option.

And then I found a reference on a Mac discussion forum that said that the router comes with a model number and password usually located on the bottom.  OK, I'm not all that agile these days, and the cables are pretty tight.  So it was difficult get at the bottom of the router and I needed a flashlight to read it.  

But there was a model number of the router and there was an original password.  I thought I had changed that for general security.  But when I typed in the original router password to the laptop Wi-Fi query, it WORKED!  Wi-Fi was working.  I don't care why it worked.

I danced around the room, I went out and gave The Mews treats (real ones, not just kibble).  I danced around the living room!

And then I went back to the computer room.  There were browsers to download.  There were some bookmarks to add.  I use Duck Duck Go on most (they don't track queries of send ads).  I got Feedly on the Chrome browser (it seems to work best for me there).

Some things were complicated.  My laptop doesn't even have a port for a flashdrive, so I couldn't even copy bookmarks from the desktop to the laptop.  It just has a power port and 2 very small ports.  I think they are Micro HDMI type D or Mini Display Port.  I can't tell by just looking at the images of them.

I have to laugh.  I have a bucketful of various cables and adaptors, but never the right ones.

But the laptop reaches the internet now, and that's all I care about.  I'll explain why that's all I care about on the laptop next post...

Thankful Thursday

 I am thankful for many things.  Some are important in general, some are more individual and personal...

1.  Generally safe and clean food and water.  It takes work for the Government to assure that.

2.  Cats.  Mine are individually good to me, and getting along better with each other.  And that they use litterboxes.

3.  Inexpensive but decent wine.  A dinner without wine would be lacking something and I refuse to buy wine that costs as much as my dinner.

4.  My Federal retirement annuity.  It is inflation-adjusted and will last until I die.

5.  Computers and the internet.  They aren't exactly the same.  I love the internet for the communication, but I do things on my computer that don't require the internet.  I use Word and Excel a lot.

6.  My local butcher/deli/liquor store.  And the great sales they offer weekly.

7.  High-def consolidated cable TV.  I know a lot of people use streaming services, but I can get 90% of what I want in just one place.

8.  Civilization II.  It's an old game, but it is always a bit challenging.  No two games are the same.  And there is no time-clock.  I can play at my own pace.  Then leave and return to the same game later to continue it.

9.  My house.  I've lived here 38 years.  I can walk around it in the dark by now.  It has an easy circular traffic pattern for the kitchen/living/TV room and then a hallway that leads to 3 "bedrooms".  Of those, one is a bedroom, another the computer/library room, and the 3rd is The Mews Room.  And I own it outright!  And happy for a full basement and built-in garage.

10.  My car.  A nice, practical compact SUV Subaru Forrester.  Also owned outright.  

11.  Credit cards.  A wonder of the computer age.  I withdrew $200 from my bank ATM a year ago, and most of it is still in my wallet.  I only have 3 and they are automatically paid off in full each month.  And I get cash back and discounts from each.  Well, one is from Amazon and is dedicated to purchases there.  A second is dedicated to routine monthly bills.  The third is for all other purchases.  

12.  Sports.  I don't watch them generally, but I am a home-boy.  I watch the local professional baseball and football teams (casually), and University of Maryland football and mens/womans basketball (more intently).  

13.  Modern medicine.  And by "modern" I mean "in my lifetime".  I could have died from a severe hernia as a baby.  I could have died from a nearly-ruptured appendix at 18.  And I love vaccines.  The standard childhood shots helped.  And I'm happy to have gotten the shingles, RSV, and pneumococcal shots.  I get the flu and covid shots every year.  

14.  Books.  When I was pre-kindergarten, Mom home-schooled me about letters and words.  First, I started school with an advantage.  Second, it taught me to love to read.  I read every in the house (dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.  By the time I was 12, I had exhausted the library's supply of "young adult" books.  Then I switched to adult science and sci-fi.  Books taught me as much as school-days did.

15.  Telescopes.  I am not and never was a religious child or adult.  Science explained things better.  And astronomy was my favorite way of learning.  Telescopes of various kinds have gotten so much better since I was young.  When the Hubble was repaired and started showing fabulous pictures, I nearly cried from joy at seeing them.

16.  Magazines and Newspapers.  Yes I still subscribe to some.  Scientific American, Cook's Illustrated, Wood, Archeology, Consumer Reports.  I get detailed information from each one.  And The Washington Post newspaper.  Regarding The Washington Post newspaper, it feels entirely normal to me that it is my International, National and Local newspaper.  

17.  Career.  Out of college, I ended up in minimum wage department store jobs.  I knew I was better than that, but I couldn't figure out where to try.  I didn't like sales jobs, I'm not good at getting money from others (an ethical problem), and I wasn't mechanically skilled.

A friend suggested I take the Federal Goverment exam.  It was called the Professional Administrative Exam (PACE).  I aced it in all 6 categories at 2 grade levels (99th percentile in all).  I was offerred a job temporary job in "general office" work at the General Services Administration (GSA).  They had WWII veterans retiring and needed replacements.  GSA provided equipment/furniture/supplies/office space/telephone services for the rest of Government.  And this office provided internal agency support for all those things.  Talk about "general", LOL!

After 4 weeks, Management asked if I would take a permanent position.  DAMN HELL YES!  It was the perfect place for me.  I thrived and advanced.  I always got the most difficult jobs and I loved that.  I retired happy, satisfied and missed.

18.  I'm sure I will think of other things to be thankful for in a few hours, but I think it is time to end this post.  You all have other places to visit and I am late to make lunch.

New Neighbors

 I've been trying to learn about my new neighbors.  Oh, I don't mean improper curiosity, just wondering about them and if we have anything in common.  I don't really even know who moved in.  Moving Day had lots of children, young adults, and older adults.  About 4 cars and a U-Haul worth.  

Observations:

1.  I think it is the older adults.  Because there is a black sedan in the driveway and I think I saw the older guy get out of it on Moving Day.

2.  I haven't seen anyone outside in the yard.

3.  Someone is living there.  There are lights on inside.  And the car comes and goes.  

4.  They come from a different County (not "Country" County, and they had Maryland car plates).  Because they put 5 bags of trash out the 1st day expecting them to just be picked up.  Some Maryland Counties has govt pick up.  In this County, you have to hire a trash service.  

I almost used that as an opportunity to introduce myself and mention that.  But before I did, I noticed they had all the bags in a recycle bin (that the County does provide as a service).  Assuming the bags were actual trash, that was also incorrect.  

But before I got the nerve to mention that, a recycle bin showed up on their driveway.  I bet my Good Neighbors across the street helped them understand County services.  They are both extroverts in the most helpful ways.  😀

5.  I suppose I will have to wait until nice weather in Spring to see one of them outside while I have an excuse to go outside too (mail, Amazon delivery).

6.  At least they don't seem to have a yappy dog or a motorcycle.  So far, they are very quiet and stay inside.  

I Have New Neighbors

 One house across the street had the detached shed catch fire about a year+ ago.  It also damaged one side of the house, but I didn't see the fire-fighters pouring a whole lot of water in there.

Yet, it stayed ignored for months.  I was curious about that.  As a rental, you would think it would have been restored quickly.  But nothing happened for a year.  Well, maybe there were some legal issues.

But finally, last Fall, some contractors showed up.  New siding, new roof.  And then nothing.  Whoever actually owned the place was in no rush.

Then a month ago, a "For Sale" sign was installed.  I did notice people visiting.  Yesterday,  few cars of variously-aged people and a U-Haul showed up.  Someone was moving in.

I think it is an elderly couple, but there were young adults around helping to carry things inside.  Can't tell who is really moving in.  Maybe parents helping or maybe young adults helping.  But there are lamps lit inside the house.  So I will see who is out in the yard soon enough.  

Shopping

It was both good and bad today.  First was the grocery store.  Last Fall I got either the flu or covid shop.  Couldn't remember which and couldn't find the record of it.  And lately, there has been a line at the Pharmacy counter so it seems too long to wait just to ask if they knew which one I had already gotten.

Today there was no line, so I stopped to ask.  I had gotten the flu shot.  So I asked to get the covid shot.  The timing was perfect.  They were about to close for lunch, but agreed to give me the shot.  What usually takes 20-25 minutes suddenly became 10!

I didn't even have to fill out the whole permission form.  They just said "sign here", LOL!  And I received the shot.  I appreciate the modern thin needles.  I can still usually tell I am getting the shot.  It hardly bothers me.  This time, I couldn't even feel it at all.  I saw it go in (yes, I watch) so I know they did it.  But talk about easy.

And not only is the shot free (my Dr would charge a $20 co-pay), Safeway gives you a 10% discount coupon on the whole cart.  Not only that, they gave me 3 coupons!  I make a profit getting a health-promoting shot.  

The bad was that their website is changed (or temporarily messed-up).  Safeway offers website digital coupons (called "Safeway For U).  You have to click on each specific item you want though.  I couldn't just click on all of them, but I think they learn to offer what I click on most frequently, and my needs are specific.  So I pick and choose.

But sometimes, it doesn't work quite right.  I find some stuff I've clicked on not registering at checkout.  And I think that happened today.  Usually I check the receipt before I leave the store.  Sometimes I have to go to the Customer Service Desk (and they are pretty good about making adjustments).

But when you have that 10% discount coupon from the covid shot, they don't just reduce the final bill by 10%.  They assign a few pennies discount to each item you purchased.  So between my store loyalty card discounts, the shot discount, and the Safeway For U digital discounts, the receipt was 3' long.  I just didn't want to stand there 15 minutes and review every item.

So I went on to the other food store I shop at.  That one is sort of like a large 7-11 for real food.  Deli counter, personalized meat counter, beer/wine/liquor, specialized herbs/spices, some basics, and some fruits and veggies.  I love the place!  Never seen anyplace quite like.  They have weekly sales of good quality meat.  And they happily accept my special orders of cases of the wine I most like.  And "by the case" is discounted.  They even call me when my order has arrived.  The store manage knows me by name!

The store is busy, but the checkout lines are short because they have enough of them open.  It is a pleasure to shop there.  And they bring my wine out to the car and load it!

So of course there had to be another "bad" experience to make up for the good ones.  On the way home, I stopped at my "not-my-usual" 7-11 to buy some cigarettes.  It was horrible!  Yeah, yeah, I know I shouldn't smoke.  But I do and this one was on my way home.

I buy cigarettes by the carton.  It's just easier that way and the price is the same.  But it saves me going to buy a couple packs every week.

So I asked for a carton of Marlboro Red 100's.  The clerk grabbed 1 pack.  No, I said a "carton" and made the shape of one.  It's like the a 2" slice of a shoebox the long way.  "Ah" he said and proceeded to take a pizza out of the oven and slice it up.  Took him 10 minutes.

Then went off to a secure backroom to get a carton.  Came out and "no carton", like he expected me to leave.  I said 10 loose are fine.  So he pulled 10 loose packs off the rack.  And he started ringing them up (after I entered my smartphone number for a slight discount).  He rang up 2.  Then 2, then 6.

I asked why.  Please understand that I try very hard to understand people for whom English is a 2nd language.  I'm not good at it and I partly blame myself for that.  I just don't have an attuned ear...  But I could not understand a word he was saying, what he was doing, or what I was actually being charged.  

I turned to the next customer in line to ask if he understood what the clerk was saying.  He must have been a smoker too.  Because while he didn't understand what the clerk was saying, he understood what the clerk was doing.

There was some promotion deal where buying 2 packs gets a small discount (up to 4 packs).  So he was ringing up 2, charging my card, rang up another 2 and charging me separately for that, then ringing up the 6 not eligible and charging me for those.

A quick look at the receipts at the counter suggested it was about the usual price, so I just gave up and left.  But I should have been more observant.  When I got home, I realized I had been cheated.  Marlboro sells their cigarettes in various colors indicating quality.  I like the best of their line which is "Marlboro Red".  Other colors indicate a decline in quality (but also in price).

Sort of in declining order (by memory) are Gold, Blue, Black, Special Blend, and Silver.  And one I had never heard of.  Red Label.  The pack is red, but slightly different in design.  Mid-quality and $2 cheaper per pack.

I got charged full Marlboro Red 100s price for the lesser quality Red Label 100s.  

I don't expect that most of you smoke.  And some people who do don't really care about the differences.  But I do and I can tell.

I am never going to go back to that 7-11!

The Mews Room

 I mentioned the other day on the Mark's Mews blog about the shower curtain storage hider.  I thought I would show the details.  I usually take pictures of projects.  But apparently, I didn't on this one.  So I'll try to explain what I did in case anyone wants to do something similar in an "extra room" (I live alone but in a 3 bedroom house).

Some pre-explanation...

The Mews Room used to be a guest bedroom.  I set it up with 2 single beds for my parents bi-annual visit.  I was a convenient place to stay on their trip from New England to Florida and back each year.  Had I lived far off their path, they probably wouldn't have visited.  We are a "practical" family.  LOL!

And when Dad became demented he stayed here for 2 years.  I removed one of the beds so he would have more space.  He had to go to assisted care in 2012, so I returned it to The Mews Room.

But I had also had the house insulation improved (for free by a special initiative by my electrical co-op).  I had to take everything stored in the attic out (including the plywood flooring strip down the middle) for the 2' in additional insulation.  But it meant I had boxes of stuff I had to put "somewhere".  They went into The Mews Room.  But it was pretty ugly.

So I thought about dedicating 2' of one side of the room to just "storage" and thought about how to hide it.  So I happened to notice my bathtub shower curtains.  The inner one is functional (keeps shower water in the tub).  But the outer one was just decorative.  So I looked up shower curtains.

I found some that were actually 8' tall and 6' wide!  

Bad picture, but it shows the pipe.  The shower curtains actually look like this...

But I had to figure out how to hang 2 of them across a 10' room.  Bathroom shower curtain rods are not that wide.  But metal pipes are.  The problem was the room was actually 10' 3".  So I thought about how to support a pipe 3" too short.

Aha!  metal angle brackets.

Two 3" angle brackets would fit inside the 3/4" pipe.  I measured the curtains (including the height of curtain rings). Added an inch for floor clearance and pipe thickness.  Attached one bracket at that height and screwed it into the wall using plastic anchors designed for drywall.  Slid one end of the pipe onto that.  Then I taped a level to the pipe and moved it up and down a bit of painters tape on the opposite side until I knew where the bottom of the other bracket should be.  Drilled holes for anchors of that 2nd bracket.

Put the 2nd bracket into the pipe (couldn't do it after installing the bracket).  And screwed in the 2nd bracket (already inserted into the pipe) using a board at an angle to keep it in place.  Checked the pipe for "level".  It was perfect!  

Clipped on shower curtain rings and hung the 2 shower curtains.  With 2 shower curtains, I can spread them either way from the center to get at the storage stuff.

I want to say that this sounds more complicated than it is.  It is really just...

1.  Attach a small pipe from wall-to-wall.

2.  Put on shower curtain rings.

3.  Hang shower curtains

4.  Hide stuff behind the shower curtains.

Too Much "Breaking News"

I'm getting tired of "Breaking News".   The news discussion shows (MSNBC, CNN, Fox) just lock onto it like a dog with a new bone.  

Political Confirmation Hearings.  Wildfires in California.  Plane/helicopter collision in Washington DC.  A Med-Evac plane crashes in Philadelphia.  Don't get me wrong, these are important and/or tragic events, but the reporting goes on 24/7!  With the same video footage, same commentary, same on every hour's shows all day over and over and over again.  😖

There are other things happening in the US and The World!  I want to know about those things too.

So sometimes I just turn on the local classical music station.  They don't do news!  And the local actual news station carves out time for local news.  👍

Busy Day

Yesterday, I got fancy for lunch.  Diced beef with sautéed onions  and melted Provolone cheese on a good quality sub roll.  With both dill and bread&butter pickles and a bowl of diced heirloom tomato on the side.  And a salad.  And read the newspaper while eating it.

Started laundry and then went out on errands.  First I thought of the best path and order.  Some things I needed were perishable, so they had to be the last stop. 

So, glasses first.  A lens popped out (2nd time in a month).  The place resets them for free, but there is something about this frame that seems unfriendly.  From there, that gave me the most direct path to PetSmart.  I needed Marley's kidney-care diet food.  Bought a 24 case each of the 4 flavors he dislikes least.  Poor guy, but it keeps him healthier.  And once a day (of 6 meals) I give him regular food.  He deserves it.

From there, it was across the street to the Safeway.  I have a lot of home-made main meals in the freezer, but I was out of fresh fruit and low on fresh veggies.  It's weird, but the intersection allows me to go from PetSmart to Safeway, but not the other way around.  

From Safeway (with nothing perishable) to Walmart.  There are some things Walmart sells at 3/4 the price of Safeway, and I have that pretty much memorized.   Milk, cat litter, kleenex, pens, canned stuff, etc.

Left the house at 3:30 and got home at 5:30.  This town is a permanent traffic congestion.  A commuter hub in 3 directions.  A bedroom town for commuters going to and back from Washington DC.  But I've learned when the stores are least busy, so that sort of balances out all the slow traffic.  I would move, but it seems such a hassle.  I'm on a quiet dead-end street and there is no home-owners association (by "grand-fathered" regulation).  And I have too much clutter.

Took a half hour to put all the purchased stuff away.  Started another load of laundry.  Fed The Mews again.  Turned on the TV to listen (too busy to watch) to the Univ of Maryland women's and men's basketball games (they followed each other).

Cleaned the litter boxes of course.  Another 20 minutes...

Started making dinner.  I'm not very fast at that.  A lot of food prep time involved in my meals and I sure like a good dinner.  When my elderly Dad stayed with me in his declining years he said after a couple weeks, "You make Sunday Dinner every night".  Yes I do.  I like to cook.

All that time adds up.  I ate dinner at 9 pm, LOL!  

Inauguration Day Yesterday

 

                               MOURNING IN AMERICA

Obviously, I was not thrilled with Trump's election.  But worse, it filled the TV from 8 am to 8 pm because it was disorganized.  I understand the reason, it was brutally cold with single digit wind chill.  

And I did appreciate Trump saying the reason for bringing the ceremony inside was to protect attendees, service staff, and service animals.  Not that I believe him (it was more likely for his own comfort) but it was a decent reason to express it that way.

I watched science DVDs most of the day.  The most irritating thing was that I was looking forward to watching the Univ of MD Women's basketball game at 5:30.  #8 Maryland vs #7 Texas.  It promised to be a great game!

It wasn't.  MD was missing 2 top starters, so it became a wipeout.  89-51.  I'm actually glad I couldn't watch or listen to it on radio.  

First, I couldn't watch the game because it was scheduled to be shown on Fox TV (which wasn't going to cut away from the delayed inauguration even if WW3 broke out.  I'm feeling a bit conspiracy-minded right now.  I'm sure that if Harris had won the election, Fox would have shown very little of the inauguration and all of the basketball game!

But was also radio.  For reasons that make no sense to me, Md basketball games are broadcast on a local AM station.  Terrible reception on most radios.  

But I tried my stereo system since it was time to make dinner.  Static!  I have a hang-up antenna, but I pulled the stereo away from the wall to look at it.  It was for FM.  So I looked around in a box in the bottom of the stereo rack and found an "AM loop antenna" with 2 bare wires to insert in clips.  Tiny wires, tiny clips, "oh joy".

So I set up a flashlight to shine on the clips.  Naturally, the only place I could rest the flashlight was where my hand managing the clips was in a shadow.  ARRRGH!  I had to contort myself rather badly to get at the clips in light.  But I did succeed.  I heard the AM station tolerably.  

And they were broadcasting a different local basketball game!  One in which the local team had lost 4 games in a row (and the other wasn't much better).  That was better than a game between a #7 and #8 team going at each other?  

So I went to the computer and clicked my Univ of Md bookmark.  Md was getting crushed!  So I went back to DVDs and made dinner.  An all too unhappy day.  Something around the worst in 10 years...

Well, at least I do have working AM radio antenna.  Small victories do mean something.  👍

Another Civilization 2 Game

 There are 3 ways to win at Civ 2.  One is to land a spaceship on Alpha Centuri.  Another way is to destroy all the other Civs.   I'm a peaceful type.  I like to land a spaceship.  The 3rd way is to just be the highest-ranked Civ at the end of the game.

So I tried the military victory path just out of curiosity.  I suck at that.  I'm a natural builder and defender.  The computer is designed to built military units and attack.  In fact, it cheats.

There is a cheat function (aside from the computer) where you can see details of what the opposing Civs are doing.  I've done that a couple times just to understand what the computer is doing.  The computer Civs build military at 75-80% of the normal cost.  And if the game gets tight towards the end, it cheats more (like 50%).  

So I was trying to play for a military victory just to see what happened.  Part of the game is research to discover new advances.  The computer "discovered" units it did not have the research for!

The game ends in 2020.  I ended up the top Civ at that point, but it really felt unsatisfactory.  My next one will be totally military.  Just build the strongest types and send them all around with some spies to steal stuff and bribe enemy units.  But I'll go back to building cities after that.  It feels better to build.

NFL Football and College Basketball

My local football team, The Washington Commanders, beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to advance in the playoffs.  If I understood a local sports announcer correctly, the Commanders have won their last 5 games on the last play of the game (offensively or defensively)!  Talk about heart-stopping endings...

They need a week of rest and so do I.  I feel exhausted after every game.  

And the Univ of MD prides itself on basketball.  The Men are doing well.  The #8 Women are doing better.  Sadly, they lost to the #4 USC team, but it could have gone either way right to the end when USC hit some baskets and MD had some bounce-outs.  But they won the next BIG 10 conference game, so that helped.  They are 14-1 which is very good.

More heart-stopping endings.