Oh! What a Weekend! November 20-21, 2021

 

I feel like the gods have been conspiring against me, or I was cursed by the recent lunar eclipse!!!!   I am still having trouble with Suddenlink, and I have not had cable service on my primary TV since November 13.  I can live with that. After all the techs were done, I could not access wifi on it either! I am at the point that I have to call New York and can do so on Eastern time.  I would assume they open at 8 or the latest, 9 EST.  I have called several times, and the upshot is, they wanted to send a tech out, for the 5th time in a week and a half.  I said enough is enough.  It is a systems problem, and if they cannot fix it, I can live with something else. 

Saturday, my car flunked its state inspection, due to a headlight!  I went three places to try to get it replaced, but all 3 said they could not because they have to remove the front assembly to get to the light bulb.  I could not dispute that, because I could not understand the owner’s manual instructions, and could not see how I would get at the bulb, without doing so, either.  Through the magic modern technology, I was able to schedule an appointment on Friday, the 26^th (first date available) at Scoggin Dickey.  This might be the most expensive headlight replacement in the world!  

Sunday morning, when I woke up, I did not have a working furnace.  Fortunately, after a while, I was able to figure out that the programable thermostat needed new batteries.  I try to keep stocked up with everything I can image, but had to scrounge in my junk drawer but found 2 double A's.  Situation resolved.  And new supply purchased same day!

Sunday afternoon, when I started laundry, after the first load was done, it was apparent that the washing machine was not agitating or spinning.  I tried separating the amount of laundry and spun it again, no such luck.  I now have a mega load of super soaked laundry that I am nursing through my 16-year-old dryer!  I could shlep the rest of my laundry to a commercial self-service laundry but who wants to do that?   I have enough clothes to get through a 3-day work week. Again, through the miracle of modern technology I was able to schedule a repair appointment for Friday, the 26th, begging for the last appointment of the day, due to my car appointment earlier.   (They could come out Wednesday but really, I can wait.)

My ESPN+ account did not work Saturday for the men’s basketball game.  I was really frustrated, and when I went into ESPN costumer service chat, the help I received was immediate and successful.  The suggestion:  use Google Chrome for the browser.  That has been successful since!

Grayscale on Electronics

I was watching the Today Show Monday and they were talking about not being addicted or as addicted to your smart phone.  One of the suggestions they used was to change the screen to grayscale.  And it is true:  the screen is much less interesting and does not stimulate the pleasure centers as much.

I began thinking about it.  I have begun watching the original Perry Mason shows on TV.  These are the old ones in black and white.  And, I find that even if I do not watch the show closely, by the time the show is done, I am lulled and ready for bed.  It makes sense.  First of all, it is the lateness of the night (10:30 PM.)  But it is other things:  the repetitive music, the absence of loud noise, usually, and the boring black and white scenes.  Even when the plot has twists and turns, I still am usually ready to go to bed after the show.  

Maybe grayscale does have sedative or at least, non-stimulating properties. 

Electronic Hauntings

It started at work on Tuesday afternoon, July 25, 2017.  Sometimes, the notes I was entering into the computer would save, sometimes, they would not.  The electronic health record is supposed to save our notes if they cannot be transmitted to the server.  Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not.  When it was time to go home, some were saved, and some were not, and some were waiting to be saved to the server.

When I arrived at work on Wednesday, there were 3 notes that were still waiting to be saved to the server.  I put in a work ticket, and went to my group.  IT support called me while I was at group, and said to call back.  I did. There was nothing they could do to save those notes, and they deleted one that was nothing but blank space in the computer.  So, I had to redo those notes. I was distressed enough about having this problem that when I arrived on my pod to do the group, one of the security officers asked me what was wrong.  I just told him I was in a bad mood and did not want it to interfere with interactions with others.  He said he could tell by looking at me.

But, while I was at group, the electronic gremlins haunted me.  I have an old cassette and CD player at work, and I use an old cassette for Relaxation Breathing and Progressive Muscle Relaxation instruction, which was what was on the agenda today.  Well, the tape started off sounding really slow, so I rewound it, and it got better but close to the end of the lesson, started slowing down again.

Then, I tried to play some CDs.  The group picked one I had not played before, and it would spin, but not play, and it would not let me program the player.  So, I tried a CD that I had just played the day before in group, and it would not work.  We still had about 30 minutes left, so I was doing to call some coworkers to see if someone could rescue me with a CD player.  As I picked up my equipment to leave the room, I realized the plug into the CD player was not well seated (although I had checked that when I first started having trouble with the cassette.)  So, I put it in correctly, low and behold, chased away the electronic gremlins!

I have to tell you the day got better after that.  

Cable TV

My cable TV provider, Suddenlink http://home.suddenlink.net/ has recently announced they have done some updates, which might mean that we need new boxes to get the HD broadcasts.  The flat screen TV I have is updated, and the box is adequate for this new signal or system, but the TV that dates back to the 1980s is not set up for this new signal or system.  So, I had to get a new box, which will be free for 2 years, and then cost $3.25 per month after that. 

So I went today to exchange my box, and set up the new box. It took a little bit to get it set up, but the solution was simple. My TV was set for channel 3, the box was set for channel 4, so when I set it for channel 3, everything worked.

I have two TVs, at opposite ends of the house, but I often like both of them on so I can traverse back and forth through the house, and keep posted with what is on TV.  When I got the flat screen TV, if I used the HD channels, the TV was not in sync with the other, older TV. Now that I have this new system, the other, older TV is hooked into the HD system, and I have to have the newer, flat screen on HD to coordinate with the older TV. This is okay.

I am just glad that I was able to get the new system set up. 

Printer, Scanner, Copier

So my inexpensive printer could not be resurrected today.  I decided that I was going to look for another Hewlett Packard printer that takes the same cartridge, because I had spares.  And printer cartridges are expensive.  So, I went to Wal-Mart http://www.walmart.com/ first, and decided to look elsewhere, specifically Office Depot.  Well between Wal Mart and Office Depot  http://www.officedepot.com/there was Target http://www.target.com/ !  I stopped in, and sure enough, they had a couple of printers that take the same cartridge as I had. Both took the same cartridge. One was the last model they had on the shelf, and marked half off.  So I bought a really inexpensive printer at a really low price, less expensive that it costs to buy a set of black and colored cartridges for the printer!  And, for now, it works.

This is especially important, because what I did not write yesterday, was that this is the week leading up to the NASW conference.  For that conference, I am charged with making pre-registration lists, sign in sheets, and printing off the completed attendance verification forms that we are asking our registrants to complete before the conference.  So, I need to be able to print, and I can!

Operator Error, Once Again

So, one of my TVs had stopped working: it turned itself on and off at will.  It was time to upgrade.  I did some searching for a new TV stand.  When I realized how low weight the smart TVs are, I did not want to put such a TV on the TV stand I had, because the cats could easily bowl it over.

I did order and get a TV stand that I thought might be adequate. It is a stand that has a mount for the TV, vs. a "table top stand." I picked that up Sunday. So, I assembled the stand.  The next day, I purchased the TV.  The clerk was sure I could set up the connections as needed.  I had some trouble mounting the TV to the stand, but two trips to Home Depot on Monday night made the mounting adequate.  (I actually went back a third time on Tuesday to get what I really needed.) 

I connected the TV Monday night, and was able to get just one channel. No matter what I did.  I sent a request to Samsung http://www.samsung.com/us/ (the brand of the TV I purchased) for help, but they are not available 24/7.  Incidentally, I did not receive a response the next business day, as I expected. I purchased a Samsung based on the advice of a trusted Wal-Mart employee who knows her electronics. 

I called Suddenlink http://home.suddenlink.net/ , and the technician I connected with went out of his way to try to help me to figure out why I was not getting channels from the cable connection. I was double sure that I had made the correct connections, and he and I reviewed that several times.  Our interaction took almost 2 hours. Can you imagine. It is not even a part of his job! He was wonderful.

So, I thought I would wait to hear from Samsung, but that did not happen, so I decided I would upgrade my set top box to access High Definition TV, from Suddenlink. (I had this plan in the back of my mind, anyway.) I did the latter, and when I turned in my old box, the technician thought I could not access anything because I was using the TV remote vs. the set top box remote.  Dah, that made so much sense.  So, I traded boxes at Suddenlink, and went home, and after remounting the TV, I connected everything, and using the Suddenlink remote, I had access to the cable channels I should have had access to.  Yeah!  I felt so dumb.  But the good news is that although I was not originally motivated to get a new cable box that would give me High Definition access, with the connection problems I had, and accessing the new box, I did get HD!  I am paying for it, so you know what, I should get it.  Yeah!

Well, Thngs are a Little Better

Since Monday night, I have not had service in my home, and today I did a survey and the problem was between Boston and Hartford, 56th and 67th St.  I contacted Sprint 3 times Monday through Wednesday, and they kept telling me the cell tower strength was the strongest in this neighborhood, and I should upgrade my phone. I finally, Wednesday night, after insisting on talking to a supervisor and telling him I would get a different service today, got to talk to someone who agreed they would send out engineers who would specifically check my neighborhood.

About 4:45, the service was fixed.  I talked again to Sprint tonight, and they acknowledged that there was indeed a cell tower out in the area that they were unaware of, and they gave me credit for the 5 days I did not have service.

I have been thinking about upgrading my phone, but I am now thinking I need to explore other services before I upgrade to a smart phone.

After not using the Vue yesterday, it started today.  I was amazed.  The battery did not hold a charge Wednesday, and we shall see what happens tomorrow and Sunday.  I rode around today to charge up the battery a little, and scope out my problem.

It was like since Monday I was in the technology warp where nothing worked, then all of a sudden, today, things worked.  Too weird!

Cellphones on a Plane?

I have a cell phone, and I use it in public.  I used to have a hands free device, but it stopped working and I never replaced it. Sometimes, I use the speaker phone when I am on the phone. Mostly, I talk into the phone.

I do not like listening to other people's conversations in public, and try hard not to subject the people around me to a serious conversation.  I might call someone and ask about a purchase, for example, or call someone to give them an update on my status, such as "running late for our meeting."  But I really try to keep my phone conversations private.

I do not fly much, but recently took a trip by plane.  Getting on or off the plane, people were bonded to their cell phones. I heard lots of person information that I really did not want to hear.  I understand calling about status updates:  the plane is getting off late, the plane just landed late, etc.  I get that, it makes sense.

But I do not want to hear your business problems and orders. I do not want to hear your personal problems. I do not want to hear your romantic trysts, your lover's arguments, or your parent-child interchange.  

I for one, hope that airlines do not allow cell phone usage while we are flying.  Or, better yet, do not allow cell phone conversations.  If you want to text or send email, and I do not have to hear it or read it, go for it.  But no conversations.

The Electronic Medical Record

Does your medical provider(s) use an electronic medical record?  My primary care physician has, since 2005, when I first started using this provider.   When I visit, which is very rare, they print a copy of our interaction.  
I have kept those printouts, but they are not organized. I think I need to get a three ring binder, and keep those documents in the binder.

I think this is very wise.  If you have a copy of every interaction you have with every provider you use, keep it filed and organized, you can take it with you when you visit other providers.  And, what happens if your provider's electronic files are compromised, or the system goes down and cannot be revived? Don't tell me this cannot happen. I know from personal experience that it can.

Electronic data capture is wonderful, but it is not fool-proof.  Protect yourself.

A Winter Storm Watch

It is 51° degrees out at 3:30 PM today, January 8, 2011.  But we are under a winter storm watch. A watch means conditions are favorable for this even to happen.  The prediction is that the snow will start really early Monday morning. The weather people post the watch early to allow preparation for this weather, which is not common to us.  The first winter storm watch we had for the season did actually materialize into a snow storm, starting early in the morning.  The snow removal services were prepared, and the streets were passable when it came time to go to work.  The early preparation makes a big difference.  The only concern is that some services, and activities cancel based on the watch, and sometimes, the storm just does not materialize, or is not as serious as it could be.  It is a risk and a gamble, but so is weather prediction.  Even though there is good science and really sophisticated electronics assisting with forecasting, it is just a prediction, not a guarantee.

How Not to Offer Public Service

The middle channels of my cable service went out just a few minutes ago.  I know it is not the entire cable connection, because I get the lower channels and the channels 51 and above. But the channels from 21 to 50 are unavailable. It is not my TV because both TVs are behaving the same.

It is not my cable connection, because I get some stations, and my Internet, which is from the same company, is fully functional.

So, I have tried to call the company:  Suddenlink.  Either I get a busy signal, or a recording that my call can not be connected.  Well, I can imagine that they have been inundated with calls. But what is wrong with putting on their information channel (one that is still available) a blurb about what the disconnect is all about.  Or putting on their website something of the same.

One TV came back on.  The other TV has a box that has to "load channels" so I am trying that now, in hopes that when it loads, it will load all the channels and be totally functional... That did the trick. 

I am glad I understand enough about working with electronics that I can do some of these small things.