Shelves and Cellphones - A Double ARGH!

DH and I spent most of yesterday at the shop working on photos for Travis. At one time we had three full shelving units completely emptied for less-than-great photos (you can't really do a lot with photos in a four-foot wide aisle with 96" tall shelving"). We tried to assemble a new shelf downstairs to use for the photographs, but they're a total PITA to get together and it just wasn't working well. So we abandoned that idea and just emptied the shelves for poor photos. 

We have two different types of steel shelving - industrial 
and commercial. They're configured a bit differently, and 
each company who makes them makes them slightly 
differently. Some are as old as 50+ years - original to 
Jim's Dad's business way back when. It's a LOT of 
shelving. 

What a job, and what a mess! I'm quite certain things are out of their usual order now, and it will take some reshuffling of merchandise until I can find beads easily once again. We understand why Travis has us do the photography, but it would have been SO much easier to take a single good pic and say "Shelving like this in either 6, 7 or 8 shelves, 6-8 feet tall." But no, we're supposed to photograph EVERYTHING, and the deadline to submit all of these to Travis is Friday. We have a LOT of photos on DH's phone, and he still needs to send all of them to me so that I can send them to Travis. I'll be running that through with him today. 

I'm hoping that the photos are the last major hurdle that we'll need to go through. No guarantees, of course. But it's a dream - LOL. 

I forgot to recharge my cell phone overnight. It's next 
to me, plugged in now, and it's now up to 19% from 
a total 0%. *sigh* That was how exhausted I was last 
night. I was absolutely BEAT. 

And, just to make things even better ... I forgot to recharge my phone last night, so it died while I was on my final meditation (good thing that was a short one). I have it recharging now, and will plug it in to continue charging as soon as I get to the shop. It's very rare for me to forget to charge overnight, I must have been totally exhausted. So, have a great Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Today is New Phone Day! Yippee!

Today is New Phone Day and I can hardly wait. As I mentioned in a comment to a friend on yesterday's post, I might not have the protective case for a day or two, but at least I'll have a working phone again, and that'll make me very happy. So, I'll head out to the Verizon store for my 3:00 pm appointment, and hopefully they'll have the color I'm wanting. I can live with one of the other colors, but they're really not me. LOL

I'm planning to get a Google Pixel, of course. That's my 
preferred brand. The Pixel 10 Pro will be a lovely phone 
that should last me for at least two years, which is 
really all I expect from a cell phone. But a cell phone 
is a tool that I'm using every day, all day. It's a super 
important tool in my arsenal. 

Today will be spent in the kitchen, as well as on three loads of laundry and, if at all possible, a little bit on online shopping to get the case I want for my new Pixel phone ordered. What's really amusing is that Chickie and Chickie Mama are also getting new phones tonight. They use Samsung phones, and had been having some problems with their current receivers, so headed over to the store (I think they get them at Best Buy, but I'm not 100% sure about that), and ended up with a really good deal for two new phones for them. The phones are getting set up today, and they'll pick them up tonight. We'll all be totally rocking the communication for a while - LOL. 

Chickie and I are both getting top-rated phones, she'll 
get her Samsung brand, I'll stick with my Google phones. 
When I looked up top rated models, both of our choices 
came up in the top two. Whoot! LOL

DH left the shop early last night to attend our grand-nephew's ice hockey game. I trust he had a great time, he still wasn't home by the time I went to sleep. I left a few lights on for him so he wouldn't have problems finding his bedroom, but I was totally crashed by the time he arrived. Our grand-nephew is professional caliber in a tough profession, and he has a VERY bright future in his chosen field of professional ice hockey. Right now, though, he's still a High School student, and has to share his goalie duties with a Senior, who gets more ice time than he does. It's annoying, because Flynn is more talented than the Senior, but the Senior's parents have money and have been very generous towards those little "extras" that the school needs. 

As usual, I'll be hitting the pavement running 
(or the pool, swimming - LOL). I enjoy being 
busy and active, however, and I'm REALLY looking 
forward to my new phone. 

So, I'm going to wrap this up and get over to the pool. I have a serious need to swim, and I've got to get some cooking done before I head out to the phone store for my 3:00 pm appointment. Marlyn - it's possible I might be slightly late for our afternoon conversation, so I'll call you, OK? LOL Enjoy your Wednesday, Slava Ukraini. 

It's December - An Update and a Lot of Things to Do

I can easily tell that it's Winter up here in the Frozen Northlands. Aside from the fact that we seem to be back to a normal Winter with a snowfall every few days, my electronics are getting a workout - LOL. When I entered the computer room this morning, my mini-snow blower battery was charged at one plug of my multi-plug, and my heated vest battery was also charged from a different plug. I have holiday gifts that need to be wrapped and shipped or placed in the living room on the floor to my left, and my  holiday cards waiting for addressing and postage on my right. Too much to do! Thankfully, it's only December 2nd, but still, I'm running a bit late for cards this year. Bad Me! 

Holiday cards in the mail ... mine aren't there quite yet, 
but they'll be joining the party quite soon, I promise. 

I'm not hand-making holiday cards this year - I'm sure you can understand why, but I apologize in advance. I did try to find something really pretty to send to all of you, and I think I found the perfect card for this year. I'll try to get them into the mail early next week, and I'll let you know for sure so that you can keep an eye out. It's just been one of those years - starting with my cancer diagnosis and going to hell in a handbasket ever since. LOL I purchased three boxes of 18 for a total of 54, and I usually send out 50, so I'll be fine on the numbers at least. 

My mini snowblower isn't this exact model, mine 
was shipped (poorly) from China, this one is at 
the local Home Depot store. But, I call it a success. 
It will be a great help to me at the shop, and it's 
small enough that I don't have to keep it there, I can 
actually keep in with my snow shovel, in my car, 
and just bring the batteries inside to recharge overnight. 

I used my mini snowblower at the shop yesterday and it worked like a charm. Since it easily fits in the back of Minnion, I'll just keep it in there and bring the batteries inside for recharging. My oldest niece, Catie, also came by the shop shortly after we opened yesterday for a meeting with DH. That turned into a great chat between them, they were closeted together catching up with this and that for more than an hour. It was great to see her again. She's having hip replacement surgery at the end of the month, so she'll be laid up and house-bound for a while. But winter is her least active part of the year, so it was a good choice for her schedule. 

I've also set up an appointment at my local Verizon store to buy a Pixel 10 Pro on Wednesday. They're offering a very good deal, and my current Pixel is stalling out, requiring reboots, several times a day. I've been wanting one of the newer Pixel 10's for a while now - took a hands-on look at the State Fair, but really didn't like our salesperson, and I wasn't quite in the mood to purchase quite yet. But now, with my phone glitches, it's time to upgrade. It's a lot easier than it used to be - I've had a cell phone for decades now and they're always getting better and better. 

I'm interested in getting a Google Pixel 10 Pro, 
as seen in the photo. My old phone is starting to 
die, and I can't be without a phone. I've got a 
3:00 pm appointment at Verizon tomorrow 
to take a closer look (again - I've looked at this 
one before). The price is right. It'll end up 
costing me less than $10/month for 2-1/2 
years. I can do that. 

So, on that note, I'm leaving for the pool. No snow overnight, so at least I don't need to shovel the driveway before heading to the gym. And it's a Tuesday, so no trash to the curb until tomorrow. Things are falling into place ... slowly - LOL. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Phones and Communication - How It Has Changed (and Continues To Change)

DH and I had a rather nice true Anniversary day (Mondays, being a work day with other errands does not make for a romantic day). We dropped his truck off for a six-month checkup in the early morning, then drove to work. After work we picked up the truck, decided that I would pick up Chipotle for dinner, and then, shortly afterward, the drama began. 

We usually get Chipotle burrito bowls. I've been getting 
him beef and myself chicken forever, but suddenly he's 
now decided that he's supposed to get chicken too. *sigh* 
I wish he had informed me. I'll have to remember to ask him 
what meat he wants before I get it again. 

I was in line at Chipotle, picking out exactly what I wanted for my two portions, when my cell phone rang. Now, it's noisy at the restaurant, and even though I have the phone's volume at max, I'm barely hearing him. After some obviously incorrect answers to questions and a complete inability of me to hear him at all. I told him I'd phone him back after I was out of the restaurant. For some odd reason he was at the shop, and I was thinking maybe the alarm went off or something. 

It's rather remarkable how dependent we've all become 
on our cell phones. I've had a cell for MA NY years. 
I was traveling and also attending various bead 
shows, and I had to be accessible to my staff at the 
various stores I had. A cell phone was a necessity then, 
and it's still necessary now. I love my Google phone. 
Chickie and DH have Samsung phones and they're 
pretty happy with them, too. 

I got out into the parking lot, called him back, only to find out that apparently he was missing his cell phone and had driven back to the shop to see if maybe he had forgotten it there. No luck. So, I called his cell phone and it was ringing - from somewhere in my car. After a serious search (black phone, black upholstery and framework of my car), I finally found it almost buried in the flooring between his seat and the door frame. I called him back at the shop and told him. He was EXTREMELY relieved. Telling him I'd meet him at home, I headed back with the food while he went North towards home from the shop. 

It would have actually been fairly easy to find if it had 
dropped onto the car floor, or onto the left passenger side. 
But no, it was on the right passenger side, and wedged into 
a small space between the door and the seat. He's lucky 
it wasn't damaged in any way, and also wasn't lying 
on the tarmac at the car dealership. 

Apparently, since I don't have two holders in my car (I really don't need two holders, and my cup holders were filled with my travel mug and his travel mug), he had placed the phone between his legs. That only worked until he came into the Toyota dealership with me, to pay for the truck and retrieve my key (I used my key since getting his off his group of keys would have been a total PITA). He must have let the phone slide when he was getting out of the car. He was damned lucky it wasn't lying on the tarmac at the dealership. 

DH used to have a "portable" phone similar to this one 
for his car. He'd be on buying trips for the store, but he also 
needed to be available for consultation if we got an 
emergency issue cropping up with his own business. This 
truly was a brick - we could have seriously damaged 
someone's home if we had tossed it at a window. LOL

It's funny how attached we've gotten to our cell phones. And I'm including you, dear reader, in that large "we". I've had a portable phone for as long as they were available because I love technology. DH even had one of the very old traveling sat phones because he needed to be on call for an AOG (aircraft on ground) situation that might need one of his parts to get back into the air. So we've embraced portable phones for a long time. But we use them more to play games on, than to actually communicate. Still, I'd hate to go back to the old situation before cell phones, when we were all tied to physical, wired telephones. 

Getting everyone scheduled between my new VOIP carrier 
and my security alarm people will be like managing a 
dog and pony show. *sigh* With Chickie being on vacation 
next week, I'm not scheduling anyone until after she's 
back at the shop so that I have someone who can be on the 
sales floor while I'm busy overseeing the switch-over. 

And speaking of phones, my new VOIP phones were delivered to the shop yesterday. Now to get everyone scheduled so that we can get these installed. I think I'll have to wait for the actual switch over until Chickie is back from her vacation. I'll need someone dependable on the sales floor, and I also suspect it will take a bit to coordinate the install people from both the phone company and my security alarm company. I'll start working on that scheduling today. *sigh* Oh joy! LOLOL. Have an excellent Tuesday. I'm off to swim. I survived this week's vote and am still writing, just got my new topic last night. "Synesthesia". Time to do a little research and see what I can come up with. Slava Ukraini. 

Tulips, Phones, Pineapple and Prayers - I'm All Over the Place Today

So here we are at the end of another week, and the end of March. When I next post, it will be April and Spring will (should) finally be here. We still have the last of the snow on the ground, but that's quite normal. The fact that we have snow at all on the ground, after this "Winter that the Snow Gods Forgot" is quite amazing. The ground and trees and other plants desperately needed the moisture, though, so I'm happy we at least had a bit of Winter come around to play in our area. This year may have been Nature's apology for last year's record-setting snowfalls, but our lack of moisture might be very harmful to our trees, etc this year. 

DH is all worried about the tulips we have that 
are already sprouting leaves above ground. But 
everything I'm reading says no worries unless there 
are already blossoms, which we don't have. So, I'm 
sure his flowers will be just fine, despite our late 
snowfall. 

I wanted to give all of you an update on the "horrible phone screen takeover" from earlier in the month. If you recall, somehow I ended up saying "Yes" to a "do you want to switch to "Easy Home Screen" around the middle of the month. Big ARGH! I absolutely HATED it. My apps were suddenly in alphabetic order, instead of clustered into the groups that I access the most. I actually had to write a list of the apps I use first thing every morning so that I could go down the list in order and not miss anything. It totally sucked. 

Easy Homescreen was anything BUT easy for 
me. Suddenly my apps were alphabetic and scattered 
all over the screen. I have my apps grouped so that 
I'm finding them in order of use. Alphabetic was 
NO help at all. And I couldn't find the app to uninstall 
it. The fact that I stumbled over it randomly and was 
able to remove it and return to my old set-up was 
a total blessing! 

According to the app, I just had to find it to be able to eliminate it, but that wasn't easy either. Some time last week, when I was fiddling with my screen, the app's home page came up on my screen with an option to "Return Settings to Prior View" and I grabbed it - said YES (rather emphatically), crossed my fingers and hit the confirmation. Voila! My screen returned to the settings I had been using. My apps are grouped together once again. My phone is once again mine - not the property of an Evil Empire. I couldn't be much happier. Easy Home Screen might be perfect for some of you, but for me it was the ultimate failure. I hope I don't fall down that rabbit hole again. 

You want your pineapple to look as golden as possible, and 
the one I bought yesterday was absolutely the poster child 
for the perfect pineapple. I'm really looking forward to eating 
that one - it dehydrated beautifully. 

Yesterday pineapples were 2 for $7 at the store, and there was one beautifully ripe one calling my name. The store, even though I only bought one, has to give me the discounted price - a lawsuit from a few years ago required stores to honor sale prices, even if the purchase isn't the full quantity. So, I went home with groceries and another beautiful pineapple which I immediately cut up and put into the dehydrator. I set it for 15 hours, shifted the trays every hour until I went to sleep, and rescued my dried pineapple this morning. washed the shelves of the dehydrator and put everything away properly. I've got a yummy munchie to add to my container of mango and pineapple from Wednesday. Nom, nom! 

I'm thinking lots of positive thoughts for my oldest 
nephew, but more positive thoughts from you, my 
readers, would be appreciated. He's got a long hard 
road ahead of him, if he's going to beat this cancer. 

So that's about all I know right now. My oldest nephew, the one with abdominal cancer, just finished his fifth course of chemotherapy since January. Now they'll reassess whether they can do anything surgically or not. I'm hoping for the best, of course, as is the rest of the family. Any positive thoughts you can spare in his direction would be appreciated, of course. It never hurts to get some good things moving through the ethos. On that note, I'm out of here. Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate that holiday, have an excellent day and weekend and I'll be back on Monday morning to welcome April alongside all of you. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Trying to Catch Up and a Small ARGH!

I apologize for last week - I know I've gotten comments and emails from several of you, my friends and readers. Last week was a bit of a cluster-f**k, and time disappeared. I can't necessarily promise that this week will be any better, but I'll try - LOL. Just know that I DO read your comments and very much appreciate each and every one. Now I have to catch up with all of your lives - something I love and something I haven't had the time to do. Bad me! 

There just aren't enough hours in the day, and last 
week was killer. I'm WAY behind on the lives of you, 
my readers and my friends. I apologize, and I'll try 
my best to catch up with you this week. 

Yesterday was a rather easy day - BBQ ribs for dinner again, so once again I was curling ribs into the crock pot, tossing on the BBQ sauce, and letting them cook for six hours. It's hard to beat a recipe that works - LOL. I spent much of the day at the computers - my laptop set up on a TV table behind me, my desktop also up. I was trying to finalize my "Clearance Inventory Check-in Sheets" that has been my project for the past two-three weeks. It's finalized now, and it works well. But getting the final printouts was a bit of a nightmare. 

Over the past two-three weeks I've been developing 
a check-sheet inventory system for our clearance boxes 
and bins. We have various of these on the countertops, 
but had no real handle on the inventory for them - what 
was sold wasn't the problem, but what was "taken" was. 
So, I've developed these sheets. I've been testing them 
over the past two weeks and they work well. I fine tuned 
them yesterday, finally got them printed out on my GOOD 
printer (which was VERY difficult), and have them ready 
to go. One task done, millions of more still pending. LOL

I'd format the final versions on the laptop, save them, bring them up on the desktop, and send them to the printer. The good printer - the one I have at home and call my "workhorse" is an Epson WorkForce and it's fabulous. It's an older printer, however, and it refuses to talk to my laptop. So, I can do all of the formatting and changes on my laptop, but then I have to save the documents in the appropriate folder, then bring them out onto my desktop and send them to the printer that way. It's one of many work-arounds I've had to figure out in my long life of dealing with different versions of computers for the same tasks. 

I tried to fine a photo of the screen layout that I 
now have, but couldn't locate one. There are aspects 
of it that I really like, but a lot that I don't. I suppose 
I can allow my brain a bit more exercise and get used 
to it, though. 

I also am growling at my phone. I got pinged on Friday by my operating system asking if I wanted to switch to the "Easy Home Screen" version of my Android software, and I - at the end of a rather frustrating day attempting to control my drone - said "yes". In some aspects, it's rather nice. Things are less cluttered and it's faster. In other aspects it's a total PITA. That PITA part really comes to play when I'm running through my apps as I do every morning. When I awaken, I settle in for my morning meditation which comprises 10-20 minutes of meditation with "Insight Timer". I then follow that up with several solitaire games that get my brain in gear for the day - Pyramid, Solitaire Scapes, Block Soduku, Majong, Jigsaw Puzzle Epic, and finally I go into Happy Color which I'll go back and forth from throughout the day. 

So this is NOT my phone or my screen, but I do 
play Solitaire Scapes as my second mind 
game every morning. I have a routine I do to 
get awake and alert for the day ahead, as well as 
relax into the day with my meditation - which is 
ALWAYS the first thing. It helps keep my 
life in balance - silly little things here and 
there, but they're all important to my mental and 
physical stability. 

Notice all of the various names of the apps? I used to have them arranged in a row. It was easy - I knew them by sight, not name, and I just moved down the row every morning. With the new home screen, the apps are all alphabetical in the "App Drawer" and I suddenly had to remember what each program was named. Of course, they're not clustered together any more either. I'm finding it annoying to have to search out each one every morning, and I actually have to check a sheet to remember what they are called. GRRRRRR. I know it's a Google thing and won't affect most of you, but I'm NOT very happy with the new set-up, even though it IS cleaner and seems to be responding faster to commands. 

Happy Monday to all. I'll get a handle on my phone 
within the week, and really, if that's all that's annoying 
me right now, it's all good. Enjoy your day! 

So, it's Monday morning, and time to dive into work. I hope all of you have a wonderful Monday and I have every intention of being back here again tomorrow before I head off to the swimming pool. Enjoy the day, Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Sometimes I'm Brain Dead - Time to Charge the Cell Phone

I was obviously brain dead (and probably very tired) last night when I went to bed. I forgot to plug in my phone for recharging, so when I awakened I had 12% charge. That's not going to cut it, so I'm charging now, and I'll meditate later in the day. It's inconvenient, and I love to meditate first thing in the morning, but I can't always have things the way I "want" them, sometimes I just have to go with the flow (and my own stupidity). 

I really hate it when I forget to plug my phone in 
overnight. I had 12% power when I awoke this 
morning - not enough for meditation and my other 
online tasks that I do first thing. So I'll push that 
all off until later today. It'll be a bit unexpected to 
meditate in mid-day, but it's not a bad thing - just 
messes with my schedule a bit. 

Isn't that the case every now and again? The best schedules, the best plans, and everything just hits the fan and needs a total re-do? Today is a bit of a re-do anyway - Aearwen has a conflict so we'll be missing our weekly chat later today, and I'm trying to think of some things to cook today - I'm usually pretty together on what to cook for my upcoming meals for a few days, but not today. I might take advantage of the fact that I'll meditate later in the day for a change, and look up some vegetable soup recipes. I really feel like a good soup. Yum! 

I'm in the mood for a nice vegetable soup for dinner, but I 
don't have a favorite recipe to use. So I downloaded and 
printed several that seemed good, I'm going to look them over, 
probably combine them, and end up with a nice variety of 
veggies from the store. I don't do some of the standards - no 
potatoes, corn or peas for me. But I do have a great love 
for veggies, so I'm sure I'll find ones that will cook up 
wonderfully. 

To my dear friend in New Jersey, thank you! I received your check (and Pippin's Milk-Bone contribution) in yesterday's mail. Thank you SO much for helping me bring some joy into the heart of my trivet elder. I know she's so very grateful, and I can hardly wait until she feels good enough to come by and pick it up. I'm blessed with amazing friends, and have been doubly blessed to be able to share my friends' generosity with an elder. (I'll ignore the fact that I think myself as well as many of my on-line friends probably fit into that "elder" category - LOL.) 

I really hate it when I forget to charge my cell phone. It 
totally throws me off my schedule. I'll have the time 
today to deal with it, but I prefer to meditate and do a 
certain morning routine to get my day started, and without 
my phone, that's pushed off until later. I'm already at almost 
50% though, so it's powering up again quickly. 

I think I'm going to end this here, though. I have plenty of time to chat, but I want to see if I can find a good recipe for a hearty vegetable soup. I'm in a soup mood, but I want my protein to be on the side this time, instead of in the soup, and I don't feel like making my tomato and roasted pepper soup again since I had it within the past couple of weeks. So ... time to hunt up a new recipe - what fun! Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow - hopefully with a charged phone and a more regular schedule. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

Cookies and Laundry and Phone Ghosts - My St Patrick's Day

I hope all of you had a lovely St Patrick's Day. I spent the day cleaning and dealing with cell phone issues. After I was finished with my baking for the day (I just made a quick batch of "Breakfast Cookies" to stick in the refrigerator and freezer - they turned out quite tasty), I had almost the full afternoon ahead of me. So I decided, on the spur, to tackle the bedroom draperies. 

My breakfast cookies didn't look this 
good, but they're quite tasty. I'll eat my 
way through this batch, then try it again, 
maybe with some of the garnishes they 
have in the photo. If you're interested in 
the recipe, you can find it here: 
https://thebigmansworld.com/breakfast-cookie-recipe/

Now, we moved into the house in 1984 and bought these drapes when we moved in. There are two windows - the western double window, and the southern single one. I've shaken the draperies out over the years, even vacuumed them, but I wanted to actually get them clean. I pulled the drapes down from the single window. They were quite clearly marked "Dry Clean Only" but I didn't really give a damn about the signage, I wanted them clean. So I took them down to the washer and dryer, put them into a gentle cold water wash, and hoped for the best. 

Isn't this just the cutest sign? I adore penguins - LOL. But 
normally, I'm not a fan of cold water washing. I choose 
the temperature by what clothes I need clean and how 
sanitized I want to get them. 

After the wash and an hour on a cool dry, I removed them and they were almost perfect. One small area had a pulled thread, and of course the pleats were no longer crisp. I could have taken them over to the iron and put the pleats back in, but I really didn't give a damn about the pleats. Softer curves are just fine, so I put the drapery hardware back into them and rehung them. They look just fine, and I'm much happier with clean drapes on one window. The longer window will be more of a chore to do, but I'll try to tackle that within a few weeks. No real rush, but I'd like to get it done. 

Since DH had vetoed the corned beef choice, I decided 
to have sushi for my meal and let him do his fish tacos. 
I do love sushi, and got a nice assortment of salmon, 
tuna and mackerel at a really good price. Score! 

Although I told DH I would make corned beef for him if he wanted, he said no, since it was a Friday during Lent. As it turned out, the Archbishop of Minneapolis actually issued a dispensation for Catholics who would normally have been eating fish on St Patrick's Day, to have corned beef and cabbage if they so desired. So, he could have had his corned beef, but he was fine with his fish tacos instead. 

Suddenly, after about 5:00 pm, the texts that DH and 
Chickie were sending were not being received by 
my phone. (I assume other texts also were not being 
received, but since I only had those two texting me, 
I can only state the fact of the two of them MIA). 

However ... I had texted him asking if he wanted me to pre-heat the oven for him, and I had never gotten a response. So, when he came home asking why I hadn't responded to his text, I showed him my phone, which showed NO TEXT from him. Even though he had sent several to me. I then texted Chickie asking her to text me anything to see if it would come through on my phone, and hers also was lost in cyberspace. This was NOT good. 

I tried everything. I went onto websites and cleared 
caches. I turned the phone on and off, I practically 
jumped through hoops backwards, but the texts 
simply weren't showing up. 

I went through everything in the book, checked all of the various on-line sources, etc., and nothing was working. When I awakened this morning, I noticed that ALL of DH's texts from 5:00 pm onward had appeared on my phone at 12:34 am. Chickie's text also had appeared at that time. Weird, right! Phone ghosts. I really don't need this happening, so this had better only be a one-off and not occur again. 

I guess I have phone ghosts. That's not pleasing me 
very much, but I'll just keep an eye on it. I really 
don't want to have to do a factory reset. I'd have 
to make sure so many things were protected so they 
could be reinstalled after bringing the phone back 
from the dead. 

I'm out of here. I need to find a specialized fluorescent bulb for my kitchen ceiling fixture at the hardware store on my way in to the shop today. Hopefully they'll have it, even though it is a fluorescent bulb. It's a double-ring style, and I really don't want to have to rewire my kitchen ceiling fixture for a different style of bulb. Wish me luck - LOL. Have an excellent weekend and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back on Monday morning. 

Doing the Happy Dance After a Day of Fits and Starts - I Hate Breaking In New Phones

 First off, two items of business. 

The most important, of course, is hockey. The Colorado Avalanche pulled it off and won Lord Stanley's Cup in the 6th game of the series. I'm deliriously happy about that - truly delighted. As I told an on-line fellow hockey fan - if the Minnesota Wild couldn't win the Cup, then the second team of my heart, the Colorado Avalanche should pull it of. And the DID! Bravo and cheers and happy dances. 

The Avalanche were playing excellent hockey this 
year and I am thrilled and delighted that they 
managed to win Lord Stanley's Cup. If the Cup 
couldn't go to Minnesota, Colorado is the next 
best thing for me. 

Second item of business is voting on LJ Idol which, this time, is restricted to contestants only. Bummer! Although I don't push friends and family to vote for me, I always appreciate it when some of you are kind enough to do so. Save those votes for the next challenge, however. I'm still very much in the pack and I'll be around for a while longer. In the meantime, I'll read through all of the entries and put in my own votes. We'll see how I do in a very limited field of votes this time. 

I'm a bit bummed that it's voting for contestants only this 
time, but then again I don't have a huge cadre of people 
I can call upon for votes in any case. I'll be sure to let you 
know when the voting is open once again - probably for 
the next story. I'm curious how I'll do in the votes this time - 
I'm a new kid on the block and don't have a lot of 
alliances. I just love to write to prompts, so I'm delighted 
to be a part of this group. 

I spent most of the day yesterday dealing with DH's new cellphone. It had arrived from Amazon on Friday, so I went to Verizon yesterday when they opened and got a SIM card for it. While I was there, I also picked up a $199 tablet that DH had his eyes on. I'll order screen protection for the tablet today. The rest of the day was spent by transferring the data from the old phone to the new one. 

DH now has a functional, fully operational 
Samsung S22 Galaxy phone. The way he holds 
on to things, he'll probably still have the darned 
thing when he dies - LOL. But I never want to 
try to transfer data from a phone as old as his 
old Motorola again, so I'll have to be firm and 
put my foot down. It'll have to be replaced 
sooner than the length of time it was this time. 

Normally this should have been a piece of cake. Samsung has a lovely transfer program for their phones called Samsung Smart Switch and it works well ... except when the two can't be connected via the included cable which was for USB-C to USB-C. His old Motorola phone was SO ancient, it was still using a Micro USB-X connector, and I didn't have a cable with one end Micro and the other end C. 

I have a lot of different cables, but none that are 
Micro USB to USB-C. The included cable with 
my phone and DH's phone for data transfer was 
USB-C to USB-C which is an easy transfer to do. 
I didn't have an adapter to make a Micro USB 
into a USB-C, so I had to work with a WiFi 
connection instead. It worked, but not as well 
as I had hoped it would. Still, his programs did 
shift over, even if details might not have made 
the jump. 

That meant I needed to work with an on-line WiFi program instead. I tried Mobiel Trans first, but they actually wanted me to purchase the program and no ... not going to do that unless I'm out of options. Then I tried Share It and that finally worked, but in the middle of everything I had to rediscover sign-in codes and passwords that hadn't been used forever, get the new phone onto my WiFi network, and power it up because it was only half-power and I was using a lot just for the set-up. I finally succeeded in getting his phone to the point where I could pass it over to him. He now has to deal with the fact that a lot of his data still needs to be restored - the programs pulled over fine, but not all of the data. For instance, his note-taking calendar that he uses extensively pulled over, but all of his appointments, etc didn't. He'll be re-entering appointments, contacts, and other miscellaneous items for most of today and part of the week. 

The new tablet is quite nice. He wants 
to use his old case, but I don't think it 
will fit (and the case looks like crap). 
Still, I can check that out on Wednesday. 
I won't let him have the tablet until I 
have screen protection on it anyway. 

I'll work on the new tablet in the meantime. After I get screen protection on it, I'll make sure it has everything we need on it and then pass it on to DH later this week. I have plenty of other things to do that will keep me busy. I'm almost finished with the photo grids for the round Swarovski crystals, then I can start the actual photo work and see where that goes. 

So, have a wonderful Monday. I hope I'm busy at the store, but at least DH will be kept busy working on his new phone. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow. AND, if you're a member of the LJ Idol writing group, please consider voting for my creation story. I'd appreciate your vote. Slava Ukraini

Writing, Phones, Buttons and Bees - My Thoughts Roam Freely Today

I finally figured out what I wanted to write for the current prompt. Once I broadened my viewpoint, it all fell together. I have it publicly posted on Dreamwidth here: https://erulissedances.dreamwidth.org/875135.html and if you feel like reading it, please feel free. I'm grateful that I made deadline, which is today. 

I tried out several different tacks on the current prompt, 
but decided to trash them all and go in a different 
direction. I'm glad I did - what I came up with was far 
better than my original compositions. 

DH received his new phone at the shop yesterday and I'll take it over to Verizon tomorrow and get a SIM card installed. Then I can play with getting his data transferred and the new phone operational on Sunday and hopefully, by Sunday night his new phone will be up and running. I'll probably run either Mobiel trans or Samsung Smart Switch to get the data moved from his old Motorola phone into the new Samsung S22. I always am a little nervous when it comes to data transfer and getting used to a new phone, I know it takes a bit of doing to get used to new procedures. But with practice comes comfort, so he'll have to live through the "argh" for a while to get to the "damn, this is nice" part. 

DH can be such a caveman sometimes. He'll just 
have to get over it. There's no choice - he needed 
a new phone and now he'll have to get used to a 
new piece of equipment - never an easy thing 
for him. 

I got a lot of stuff done yesterday, including a quick trip to the tailor to pick up my altered garments. Now I have two tops and two skirts ready for Renaissance Faire and I'm delighted. I couldn't find the Chinese knots I wanted for the shirt sleeves, so I'm thinking I might be able to find some pearls I could use as buttons instead. I'll start hunting the internet and see what I can see. 

Since I was unable to find Chinese knots similar to what I 
had in mind (and I can't tie them well, nor have the time 
to do that), I'm now looking for some pearl buttons similar 
to these. It's an easy matter to crochet button loops where 
needed, and this may be something I can easily do on 
my own. I only wish I could find these in natural pearls 
instead of plastic pearls. 

It was a fight to get my two miles on the treadmill in today. It's hot and sticky and I'm still dripping with sweat after more than an hour away from my workout, my shower and my first cup of tea. It's going to be one of those humid, sticky, hot days today, so I'm suddenly grateful I'll be at the shop. I have air conditioning at the shop, so I'll be comfortable there while here, I would be a hot mess. I got the 6mm Swarovski round sheets made yesterday evening, and I'll start working on the 8 and 10 mm ones at the shop today. 

Last night, as I was putting the laptop away, DH was 
grumbling about the "fly" in the computer room. 
Then he took a closer look. It was actually a bee! 
Now, I'm allergic to bees, so I left the room 
immediately and he went on a hunt. A successful 
hunt in the end, for us. But not successful for 
the bee. (Sorry, my friend in Australia who loves 
bees.) 

So that's all the news I've got. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, and spare good thoughts for my friend Aearwen whose birthday is on Sunday. I'm popping a card in the mail for her today (yes ... I'm late, but better late than never). It's time to take my sweaty self away from the keyboard and start my day. Enjoy your weekend and I'll be back on Monday. 

A Phone Saga - It's Going To Be An Internet Hunt

I dragged a very crabby DH to the Verizon store at 11:00 am Sunday to look at phones. After spending a half-hour looking through a variety of brands and models, he ended up with the very model I thought he would want - the Samsung Galaxy S22. It's an older phone, but it's narrow and only 6.1 inches tall, as close as we could get to his old Motorola. Looking through Amazon this morning, I'll have to order the phone directly from Samsung, but I can get an Otterbox and some screen protective glass from Amazon. I should be ready to switch him over within 1-2 weeks. Of course, I know nothing about Samsung phones, but Chickie has used Samsung phones for more than a decade. She'll be his lifeline for this one. 

After looking at a lot of phones, he decided on the 
one model I thought he would - the smallest of 
the bunch, but still a good one. The Samsung 
Galaxy S22 isn't the newest phone out there, but 
that's not a problem. It's a good, reliable phone from 
a good manufacturer, and it's a size that he 
thinks will be good for him (he wanted something 
small). Now to get it ordered. 

He also wants a new tablet. We looked at several at Verizon, but couldn't quite decide. We have a old tablet on our phone plan, but it probably won't move over when they upgrade to 5G later this year either, so I'll have to spend a little time researching things on this end. I wouldn't mind a tablet for myself either, and if we get a fourth phone line on our plan, we could switch to a different Unlimited Plan and suddenly DH would be able to get all of the TV streaming choices he's been wanting to get. That does nothing for me - I'm not much of a TV fan, but he'd enjoy it. As long as he's paying me for the bill (and he'd have to increase the amount he pays for it), then he can do what he wants. 

He also wants a tablet to replace his old one. No problem, 
I just need to find the best deal for him. He doesn't 
use it often, but there are some good reasons why he 
would want one that could be more like a laptop 
and less like a phone. More research. LOL

So I'll be playing with amounts, offers, options and techniques today while continuing to try and get the final pages of my Swarovski cubes up on Etsy, and helping whatever customers decide to come out on a frightfully hot holiday Monday. On one hand I'm hoping we won't be busy, on the other hand it would be good to have a good volume of people and some good sales by the end of the day. I'm divided - LOL. 

At this point I don't even remember which sizes 
I have made live, and which ones I'm still working 
on. I'll have to double-check that - LOL. I think 
I have the 6mm and 8mm sizes live now, but I don't 
think I had time to upload the 4mm size. It's probably
minimal work remaining on that final size, so I'll
probably have it up today. 

Thanks to those of you who voted for my CRAIC story on LJ Idol. I'm not at the top, but I'm far from the bottom and I received a lot of very positive comments on the work. I'm very happy with the results from the week. I'm sending congratulations out to bleodswean for reaching "Luna Level" - 159 weeks of posting in LJ Idol. That's an accomplishment well worth celebrating. Bleodswean was directly responsible for my joining LJ Idol, so all blame and approval lie with her. Congratulations! 

Thank you for your votes for my latest story in 
LJ Idol. I'm still in the mix, and that's what's 
important to me. Now to see what the next 
prompt will be ... LOL. As always, I love and 
appreciate ALL of my readers and those who 
comment and vote are very appreciated. 

I'm cutting this short today to research the phone a bit more and maybe get the orders started. I'll be much more comfortable when DH is actually set up with a new, functional phone. He'll still be annoying about it - growling at it all the time - but I won't have to worry about him being without one when our area gets our 5G upgrade. Have a fabulous Monday, if you get the day off for Juneteenth, enjoy your holiday. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini!