Today is International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Normally I’d call for a splicing of the main brace, but I gave up drinking almost 10 years ago, and I’m not really in the mood to go there again. But still, fire off a few broadsides, go out and plunder, and (optionally) make somebody walk the plank…
And it is also the day after my Grandmother’s birthday. So let me get a bottle of rum, and yo-ho-ho I’ll pour one out for her….
So I just got a friend request on Facebook. It came from one of my friends who apparently had a second account. Or so I thought. So, I accepted it (based on the it appeared to be a carbon-based life form, and not a scammer). And within 5 minutes of accepting, I get a DM from them. Just the generic hey. Which for some reason raised a flag in my head. So I responded the same way I do with scammers and ‘compromised’ accounts: I blocked him. It’s not personal, it’s just me protecting my online presence. Especially since I had to change the password to one of my Yahoo accounts again after setting up Outlook last night.
Actually it’s been out for a while, but a recent update to it means that you can use your IMAP mail service as well. I set it up tonight. And then I set up Outlook 365, and there is apparently a way to sync my google calendar with it. I think that Microsoft is trying too hard with this. The Mail and Calendar apps that are already with Windows 10 and Windows 11 already work perfectly fine. But Microsoft says they’re going away. Presumably to shove more ads down your throat (which I don’t see as I use a HOSTS file to kill most of the ads), since the new Outlook (aka LookOut!) is just a webmail shortcut.
But this was just an exercise is setting them up. There is a reason why I prefer to use Mozilla Thunderbird…..
I think I’m going to regret this when the weekend comes, but I just took down my AC. Especially Saturday. One app is forecasting 84, another one is forecasting 78. But I’ll risk it. I just paid the electric bill (see the previous post), and I think my window fan can keep my room cool. For now. I hope.
Turned 50 a couple of weeks ago. No candles were on my cake due to a burn ban being enacted that same day by the Fire Marshal, and I wanted to set the example….
So yesterday, my brother wrote me a check. Our financial arrangements are that I pay all the bills and he pays me a lump sum to cover his share of the rent and the bills (since the cable and phone bills are in my name. The electric bill is a joint account). Last night, I went to endorse and deposit said check (mobile phone photo deposit is a good thing). And as I was endorsing said check, I wrote the wrong account number. Having had experience with checks bouncing due to scratching out, I decided not to take the risk and I tore the check and asked my brother for a different check, which he wrote. Endorsed it, and pulled my phone to deposit it. First error message was that it was unable to read the account number. Then it couldn’t read the amount. So, finally I had to ask my brother for a third check. Endorsed it, and this time I was able to deposit it.
I think the problem here is what Mother once described: my brother and I both have Dad’s handwriting… There was another incident that happened 28 years ago when we got our first apartment in Puyallup. We each filled out our application and turned them in. And then a couple of days later we both had to go down there again and physically show our social security cards, and they couldn’t verify the numbers (apparently one number came back as ‘deceased’). We did get the apartment, though….
And after all this, I was able to pay the rent. Then I paid the phone bill. And I know climate change is real. Because usually August was once one the lowest electric bills in the year, as the windows were usually open, and we just ran with fans. Now, because we have AC (two portable machines), August now features the highest electric bill….
Paying bills on my day off. Adulting is hard….
