A tough decision tonight….

So, there is a debate tonight. And there’s a Monday Night Football game tonight. Actually it isn’t a really tough decision. The Donald vs. Hilary or New Orleans vs. Atlanta. I’ve made my choice. Tonight, I will be watching Matt Ryan vs. Drew Brees. As for the other debate, I think I’ll write in Bob in Appliances this year for President….

Thinking the unthinkable….

I went back to Windows 10 today. I figured why not? While I like Windows 7, Win10 is the most current. Eventually Win7 will go the way of Windows XP, and no longer be supported. Besides in a previous install, I paid for the Wolfram Alpha app, and I’m going to use it. Compatibility be damned. That’s why I have a WinXP vm, which still works.

Not only am I running Win10 again, but there is a very real possibility that I may give up Thunderbird. Windows 10 mail already supports my Google contacts and calendar. Out of the box. With Thunderbird, I have to install 2 extensions, and they have to be updated whenever Thunderbird is updated. And then there’s Cortana. With it, I can text over my phone from my computer. And missed calls and incoming texts are shown via desktop notifications. Sometimes it can be a nuisance, but it’s also a PITA to go get my phone from across my room.

Actually the real reason is I want to try dual-booting with Linux. It may be a little bit more complex than my previous attempts, but it’s something I want to try….

Spending too much of my money….

Let’s see, last week, I was on Spamazon. And I noticed that they had a DVD set of Cosmos (1980) and a Blu-Ray set of Cosmos (2014). And so I ordered both. And then I went to Worst Buy. And I ordered The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder, RIP). And recently I’ve also acquired The Last Starfighter.

I don’t know why I got them. I’m more likely to watch Spaceballs instead….

RIP Arnold Palmer….

You were one of the greats in golf. Tonight, I will raise a glass of half unsweetened iced tea and half lemonade in your memory.

The end of Summer

As I retire for the night, I acknowledge the chill in the air that has fallen of late. It's still warm enough during the day that my window still stays open. But I just took down my window fan. And the AC hasn't been used for the past couple of weeks. Soon, the coat will come out of the closet. But not yet.

All this means is that it's Pumpkin Spice latter season, though not from Starbucks...

A new pair of feet….

The pain in my foot has been getting worse of late. Some of it is attributed to plantar fasciitis. But a lot if it is related to the condition of my shoes. Yes, I’m hard on my feet. Some days start with 4.5-7+miles of walking to the bus stop & work, followed by 8 hours on a bare concrete floor. My strategy for the past year has been to use the really expensive pair of shoes (actually two pairs & rotate them). I got them in September of last year. February of this year, they started to wear out. One pair I hade to replace, and the other pair I bought a set of gel insoles for. And I was able to endure them until recently.

But today, I was at Wally World. I decided to go with a different strategy. I went back to getting Brahma (the Wally World house brand) work boots. Plus I got some gel inserts. My reasoning is if the gell inserts held off replacing my wolverines for 6 months when I had to replace my Columbia’s, then I should be able to get more than 3 months out of my Brahma’s (and save a considerable amount of cash, too)…

Sunday

Football season started Thurday of last week. Cam Newton got his bell rung. Seriously. I saw the game, and there several times when he should’ve been pulled from the game for his own safety. The NFLPA and the NFL are reviewing the incedent. As much as I like to make fun of certain quartberbacks, nobody wants to see people get hurt. Except for Tom Brady getting an Atomic Wedgie….

But today, the Seahawks are playing the Miami Dolphins. At the CLink. Something tells me the Dolphins are in trouble….

15 Years Ago….

15 years ago, I woke up early to get ready for work, flipped on the tv right after the first plane hit. I was watching the news when the second plane hit. The towers collapsed while I was on the bus to work.

Basically, it boils down to freedom. We were attacked for being a free country. For standing for free ideals. But that has made us a target. Because quite frankly, a good chunk of the world hates us, just for being Americans. Because we welcome others. Because we can worship whatever god or gods that we choose. Because you can be a washed-up, has-been quarterback and still make a statement by taking a knee during the national anthem. Because we can say the President has Quaker Oats for brains and get in more trouble for maligning Quaker Oats. Because we can go out, work hard, and achieve our dreams. Because we want the rest of the world to be free (though I’m not going to comment on the invasion of Iraq or the conflict in Afghanistan).

Some would say that Religion was the main motivation for these attacks. It wasn’t. Most of Al-Qaeda’s (a supposedly Muslim terrorist group) victims were Muslims themselves. Just like ISIS of today. I’m not a Muslim, so I can not say whether or not they are really Muslims, but from the Muslim friends that I do know, they don’t act like Muslims. There are some here who catagorize all Muslims as terrorists (but Timothy McVeigh wasn’t).

But I digress. 15 years ago, we were attacked because of our freedom. We’re still here. We’ve been attacked since then, and we’re still here. And we’re going to be attacked again. And we’ll still be here. There are those amongst the lawmakers who kepp trying to erode our freedom in the name of security, but if you turn america into a neo-fascist surveillance state, then the terrorists will have ultimately won. And they’ll still attack us anyway. Those who would give up their liberty for security will recieve neither.

Let us not forget those we lost that day. These 2,990+ martyrs of freedom. They paid the ultimate sacrifice for us to be free (as have many, many other people). Freedom isn’t free. So I will remember those who died that day. By being free.

Live free or die.

The end of a yet another weekend….

Ok, got my laundry done. And I can now do it without worrying about my supply of quarters. I learned that Little Ceasar’s is better than Dominos. Today is the 5th. I paid the rent. I think it’s time to retire for the night and go back to work tomorrow…

And Saturday at work, I found out one of my co-workers knows my dad, and had known him for quite a while. A comment was made about me not seeing him, so I made it a point to invite him to lunch. He declined, but that will be on my agenda. To hang out with Dad. And Saturday, I have to go out to Mrs. Fields and troubleshoot somebody’s house Wi-Fi….

For the first time since I moved out of Puyallup…

One of the things I missed about living in Puyallup was the washer and dryer in the apartment. I could come home and do my laundry basically as I pleased. But there were other issues, and it was time to move on. So I moved to Parkland. My apartment didn’t have a washer and dryer, but apartment complex’s laundry rooms had enough machines for the complex, and they were fast. So, every payday since I’ve set aside enough quarter and got my laundry done in 90 minutes.

Then this June and Mom went to her destiny. I’ve said before that I got her portable air conditioner. But also due to her mobility issues she also had a portable washer and dryer so she wouldn’t have to walk to the laundry rooms. But what happened was that my sister and myself ended up doing her laundry. Eventually my sister just took her clothes to her house and washed them in her washing machine. And when Mom passed on, the washer and dryer ended up in my apartment. And finally this week, my brother bought the $7.00 fitting to adapt the washer hose to the kitchen faucet.

So, today, I’m washing my clothes in the apartment. For the first time since I moved out of Puyallup….

How not to handle a pizza order….

So, I wanted pizza today. Normally I’d go to Little Ceasar’s, and grab a hot and ready pizza and some wings. Never had a problem with them. Well there was that one time when they were out, but I digress. Long story short they’re my usually go-to when I want pizza and wings. Today, I wanted pizza, but I didn’t want Little Ceasar’s. I wanted Dominos. I could’ve gone to the website and placed a delivery order, but I didn’t have a menu handy, so walked to the nearest Domino’s. It was a little over a mile from my apartment, but the distance is nothing considering the walk I had to take to the 512 park & ride yesterday to go to work….

So, I’m there, and I place my order. Over $50. Ok, so I want leftovers. Pizza is best when it’s cold. Paid with my credit card. And then waited. And waited. While I was waiting, I saw a pizza box on its side. I didn’t think anything of it, so I took my pizzas and walked home.

As you can see, my pizza was in the box. And it now had a straight edge from it. And my boneless chicken was supposed to have a hot sauce (which the cashier explained to me was included), and an extra ranch sauce which I was charged for. Guess who recieved neither.

So, Dominos mishandled my pizza, and never gave me the sauces that I ordered. Of cource, I get tee’d off, so I lodge a complaint at the website. And their reply was basically this store is a franchise, so it’s not their circus, not their monkey, and not their problem. Company owned or franchisee, it’s one brand. And it’s a brand I will never go to again.

I could’ve gotten the same order at Little Ceasar’s for half of what I paid at Dominos. And it would’ve been ready right there on the spot. This was a mistake on my part. A mistake I will not make again.

So, if you’re a Dominos and you get a carry out order, don’t set the pizza on its side. Especially where the customer can see it. And make sure the customer get the entire order. Because it is far easier for me to never shop at your business again than it is to come back. Especially when you’re as for out of the way as the Dominos is…

So, it's Friday....

Is Friday tonight. Happy Friday. Happy Labor Day weekend. Or even Happy Birthday....