DO YOU KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU DO?

Do you record what you do?

A number of organizing books I have read over the years suggest that one write down everything that one does. The idea is that you will see two things – how much you are getting accomplished and also how long various tasks take you to do.

Even before I started trying to get organized I kept an annual appointment book with short notations of work items completed (and appointments of course). As a matter of fact, the appointment book would be my annual Christmas gift from my husband (bought by me, of course) and in many years it would be only gift. (Suggestion if you use a paper appointment book, which is good for many things – if you have a black covered appointment book it can easily disappear from view in a stack of something or a mess. I used to have gray appointment books – still professional and more visible (my gloves are also gray for the same reason).

Sometime in the late 1990s I got a computer appointment book – I used it to keep track of what I did for work plus more and more personal items also. Unfortunately it did not work with Windows XP and when I got a computer that worked with same, I could no longer use it. Before I stopped using the old computer I printed out as pdf files all of the entries from that program so I still have the records from it available to me. The problem I had with the computer appointment book was that I could only use it on the computer – it could not be carried with me, so while using that program I also kept a paper appointment book to carry with me.

I had to find something else to use. I got a wonderful program called Lotus Organizer it was even better than what I had before. It had an appointment book, todo list (completed tasks remain on the date they are finished – most such software moves them to a list when completed – this way I can page through the book and see what was done), address/telephone book, and also allowed me to have memos. Even better, it sync with (among other devices) Palm Pilot. Husband had a Palm Pilot and gave it to me as he did not use it. Now what was in the program on my computer was also in my hand.

I started making more and more notes in the todo section as completed todos. Short notes on conversations with clients (or others) – where we went for meals – where we went on trips – what stores we went to with reason if there was one – and so on. I worked out a sort of shorthand to use to save time and computer/Palm memory. Husband was delighted as there is rarely anything I like.

We were offered new cell phones to renew and the hottest thing out was a smart phone – the Palm Centro and it was tiny – just over 4 by 2 inches. No wifi – it did not exist (or at least did not commonly exist) then, Internet was by cell phone service only, real buttons, no guessing where the buttons were and mistyping everything (as smart phones no longer have now) This was a major wow to me.

I refuse to give up the Lotus Organizer and so husband finds ways to allow me to keep using it. He has made virtual Windows XP machines in my Windows 7 desktop and my Windows 10 desktop (this one) so I can keep the Organizer on the computers. (I told you, he loves solving my problems as there is so little I want.) When I had to switch to Blackberry, he found that old Blackberry software would work with Organizer, mostly. The biggest problem – which I to solve myself – was when the Blackberry no longer worked as a telephone or Internet. I had to get - boo hoo, I was so upset – an Android phone. I basically “keep 2 sets of books” now. Certain things are on both the Android and the Centro, others are on one or the other. I use the Centro in the house and take it on trips, and make notes in the Android when I am out and copy them to the Organizer. Not ecstatic, but it works for me.

So what do I do with what I record in the Organizer?

I have more contact info in the Organizer/Palm than I do in the Android - I won't need my Congressman's info while out, so it is not in the Android.

I have my calendar in both setups.

I have some memos in the Palm/Organizer setup only such as list of where and when we have gone through automatic payment tolls so I can check against the bill. (Which is why I bring it on trips.)

Others are in both the memos in the Palm/Organizer setup and the Android. Included here are lists of embroidery/needlework books I have so I don't buy duplicates, specifications of items we have that we might find items to go with (sewing machine feet, post size for lathe and items needed to make reenacting clothing. Since we tend to go to the same places on trips, I also started a list of fast food and casual food restaurants along the roads we commonly travel on. We know what food they have and that we can find what we can eat, as well as that we can afford them. Passwords in a code that I understand. In the Android only I have my shopping list – for groceries as well as items we are looking for from other sources.

I also keep tasks (todos) both to be done and finished. This way if I do something I have a record of having done it. (No, I don't record when I go to the toilet or when I sleep.) I do keep track of phone calls/emails/in very rare cases texts made/sent or received, letters written, where we went – including for errands, chores around the house, and so on. If I need to contact a business that has not replied to me or done what it said it would do – I have a record of when I contacted them, who I spoke to and what was discussed – also of letters written. I have a record of when items were mailed out and to who (we go the Post office to check for mail in our box there and also send out any mail we have to go out).

I use codes when I do this.

T: is a telephone call, it will have who it was made to or received from quick what was talked about, the time it was made/received, and if it was an incoming call it will say “in” if I spoke to a computer “CP”, and if it was a return call to someone who called me “RC”. Details as needed - can be long or short – just “RC “or “chat” is just conversation.

E: is email – I use “AE” instead of “RC” for this and time is not recorded.

X: is something I just added and it means text – used for those texts which are other than from husband as our texts between us are basically “dinner is ready”, “where are you in the store”, “starting home from work” and similar. Other text messages – such as from my sister about my mom I want a record of what was said.

I also use letter for what the call, email, etc. is for – personal ones have no code, “A” is something done for accounting, “C” is for crafts business related, “U” is for our reenactment unit and so on for about 6 or 7 different things.

To make sense of this - T:A:Jones: appointment >3:30pm - means that I telephoned at 3:30 my accounting client, Mrs. Jones and made an appointment to go into her business to do her books. (The appointment is separately recorded in the calendar at the day and time I need to be there.)

Now you might say what the heck is the reason for all this? I can search for when I did something to check on when it was or what was discussed. I used the Organizer for this yesterday. I was about to pay a credit card bill and I thought that I had called the company and had the “rewards amount” applied to the bill so I could pay less by that amount, but I had no notes of the call on the bill. I searched in the Organizer and was reminded that I went to make the call the phone was not working. I immediately called up and had the credit put to the payment of the account. If I had just gone by memory I would have underpaid the (full) balance due and would have been hit by finance charges.

Another use is sometimes I get a credit card statement and there is a charge on it which I have no slip for. (Yes, happens to me too.) I can go back and see if I was at that store or restaurant that day. If I was, I have to presume the amount was okay, if not then I will contact the credit card company for proof of the purchase. (If I have no slip for, say, FG Asian buffet, and we ate dinner there – well, we owe the money.

Husband and I are getting older. We can end up in a “disagreement” about what and when something was done “No, we went to your mother's house on the 4^th so we did not do X that day and still have to do so.” Look it up and we either did go there on the 4^th or we did what needed to be done.

I also put into the tasks as repeating tasks, items I need to do daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, etc. and add reminders of them. This blog is two tasks a week – one is to write it on Tuesday nights and the other is to post it on Wednesday nights. Okay, I don't think I have ever actually written it on Tuesday – like Charlie Brown, I work best under pressure. I do have reminders the same way to write the newsletter for my embroidery chapter monthly, do the laundry, take out the garbage, take out the recycling, rotating over the month – clean the house, and so on, as well having the record of having done so.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

It helps to stay organized by keeping track in your cell phone of what you need to do and your appointments. You can have all the contacts you need in it also. And after you have done things you can keep a record of what you have done even if it was not listed in it to do.

ACHOO!

Achoo!  Last week I was feeling fine.  Then it happened.  You know, you wake up with a scratchy throat and wonder - is it a cold or did I just sleep on my back with my mouth open and annoy my throat.  Then the coughing starts - and you still hope it is a just a scratchy throat from sleeping on your back, but you are pretty sure it is not.  Once the sneezing starts and your nose is clogged...  My husband lives in fear of me having a cold.  He is a bit of a hypochondriac so he won’t let me do anything if I might “spread the germs” to him.  But he doesn’t want to do what he is not letting me do either.  Everything takes longer to do as a result and wastes time. Don’t worry - you can’t catch the cold.

He doesn’t want to cook (although he used to love to cook and is the better cook).  He doesn’t want to do the dishes. but he doesn’t want me to do either as I will get him sick.  The first night he made dinner - ham steak that we shared and a packaged macaroni with mushrooms - add to boiling water and let cook - and canned soup.  I did the dishes afterwards with disposable plastic gloves on.  One night he was on the computer with a client and I asked if I should make dinner or wait for him and he told me he was busy - so I made dinner and he ate it, but not happily.  Then the weekend came and cooking was resolved as we eat out Friday through Sunday nights.  This week he cooked dinner on Monday.  Last night as we were trying to figure out what to have for dinner a rain storm hit.  I mean A RAIN STORM HIT.  He received a warning on his cell phone - I did not, although my, no cell service for over a year as it was not working for Internet or phone service and I had to switch,  Blackberry received a notice.  (I keep it charged for it games and camera.)  We had major lightning and thunder for about 2 hours - remember I have fired a reproduction 18th century cannon - the thunder was like cannon fire.  We lost our electricity - one of husband’s other great fears.  We stood/sat with the front door open watching “the show” .  We live on a main road.  A UPS truck went past to the right, then to the left, then two of them passed our house, then another one and so on.  Assorted emergency vehicles passed the house in both directions with lights flashing - police, ambulances, fire trucks, a couple of electric utility trucks...  Cars kept driving in the mess, some would pull over a few minutes and then go on.  I am a pretty fearless driver (scared husband the few times he had to drive with me as the driver) and I would have pulled over.  Sooo, what will we eat?  I was thinking - we have rolls, peanut butter - crunchy and smooth, jelly - strawberry and Ikea ligonberry, American cheese, mozzarella cheese - no problem.  I suggested this to him.  NO!  We cannot open the fridge or his insulin would go bad.  (Well, technically if it got too warm it would still be good for 42 days, but I was not going to argue.)   Luckily the rain let up around 10:30 pm.  We got in the car and drove to a nearby supermarket and bought more rolls and cold cuts for dinner.  On the corner passed a 7-11 shut down do to lack of electricity, employees seemed to be sitting in cars in the parking lot.  We got home and were getting ready to eat and - the lights came back on.  Apparently we were in the largest outage area so we were put back quickly.  I honestly do not remember a thunderstorm with so much or such loud thunder with rain that heavy for so long.

Tonight we took in Chinese food - simple right?  Not really.  The place we took out from for decades (while I was waiting for the gas company to come and turn on the gas in our first apartment I went and took out from this place for lunch - I did not even have tableware, dishes, glasses, etc in the apartment - I did have a borrowed bridge table and 2 borrowed bridge chairs) has changed.  The original owners ran it for a long time - we knew their children, I remember hearing a car stop short in front of our apartment and the father coming running to the corner because his younger daughter had been riding her bicycle and just missed being hit by the car.  When he died his older daughter would come home from college on weekends to help her mom.  Then the son took over for awhile - even though he really wanted to be fishing - and the place often had fresh fish due to same.  Eventually the place was sold - to the son’s sister in law and her husband.  They were also nice and the food was the same and we kept going there.  Earlier this year we went there and the husband was not there and an older woman (I presume one of their moms) was cooking.  The food was not good.  We tried another place and were not happy with them.  We went back to them figuring maybe it was the change in cook.  But the last time we took out the soup was too salty to eat and all the dishes were wrong.  We don’t know what happened.  This is the place we called on our way back from our 5 hour trip in July, 2017 to get dinner made before they closed - http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2017/07/treading-water-5-hour-trip-to-nowhere.html So, we never know where to take out from and as a result we don’t.  We receive an assortment of fliers from take out places and I keep them.  One recently caught husband’s eye and he had been planning to try it - so tonight we did.  Very nice people and food.  Three street parking spaces in front of the 4 stores was the only parking.  Then, since I was sick, husband did not hand me the food to hold on the trip home, he put it in a plastic laundry basket we keep in the back in the car, he did not put anything against the bag to hold it.  Yes, the bag went on an angle and was soaked when he took it out of the car.  After dinner we had to wash the vinyl cover I keep in the car, the basket, and back of the car.  We will go back again - and I will hold the bag.


In the middle of all this I had to go to Manhattan to a client for work - I should have gone last month, but she had a cold (could I have caught this cold over the telephone :-) ).  So I went yesterday.  I packed a zip lock bag with sucking candy, lots of tissues, and an old prescription bottle with one dose of the cough medicine I am taking.  In another zip lock bag I had a small bottle I filled with water.  Did I mention the temperature yesterday was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit?  Luckily I did not need any of the items. 

As a result of this normal housework and keeping things in order are only done if absolutely needed.  Instead of changing the bedding, I changed only my pillowcases.  I suggested he change his, but he said it was okay to just leave them until next week.  I had to talk him through changing the hand towels. We were in the downstairs bathroom - “Where are they?” “In the cabinet under the sink  - see those 2 whiteish towels?  Take them and the green dish towel below them.”  (I put out a green dish towel each week in that bathroom to use for quick clean ups of water around the sink - it matches the bathroom.)  Upstairs?  “Which towels?”  “The yellow ones.” (I figured yellow was bright and he would easily see them.) “You mean these yellow ones?”  They are the only yellow ones we have. 

Last week I had washed and dried the clothes the night before I got the cold.  A load of jeans were in the dryer drying overnight.  So we had clothes for the week.  I did not wash the towels or the bed linens.  Good thing I have 2 weeks of towels plus one extra set for up and down.  I was trying to figure out how to mention to him about the laundry when he brought it up.  I put the clothes in to wash.  He will put them in the dryer - with me talking him through it - and then bring them upstairs afterwards.  He brought up last week jeans load when I put in the load to wash.  He says he will fold the laundry.  I normally pull out his shirts as I put the clean, dry laundry in the basket to take upstairs so that they do not need to be ironed, as I put them over the top of the other clothes and if he does that, and sorts mine from his, I can deal with my clothes and he can deal with his or leave them in the basket and pull them out as he needs them. 

Hopefully either this cold will be definitely over with or he will give up by Monday so life can return to normal.

On the other hand, I had some extra time in the office as we came home quicker in the afternoons.  I managed to shred all of my 2008 records - other than few I kept such as the checks written that year for our income taxes - 3 tall kitchen bags plus, worth of shredding.  I then packed my 2017 records into the same box, relabeled it, and put it back in the closet - ah, room to fit papers in file folders again. 

I also had time to transfer my 2017 computer files to my archive file and make 2 DVD copies of the revised archive files.  I still have to change my back up files so that the old files are gone from them, but that will happen as I make backup files.

I went through an assortment of old computer instruction manuals sitting on a shelf in the office - why?  I needed space for 2 magazine holders.  I pulled a number of the manuals - mostly from programs or hardware that I had - and I will put them out over a couple of weeks with the recycling.  I still have a stack for husband to go through - understand this are DOS or pre Windows XP software and hardware that I cannot figure out what or where it is.  The magazine holders fit nicely in the shelf now with room for the manuals for computer things we are actively using.

The office floor is a mess due to my cheapness in not wanting to waste extra garbage bags when doing shredding and pouring from one to another - as well as throwing handfuls of shreds from one bag to another.  I had planned to vacuum up the shreds - but then caught this cold - maybe tomorrow I will get to vacuuming.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
One gets ill.  It happens.  I am glad that it only a cold so all it has been is inconvenient.  In the larger world it is nothing, just an inconvenience. I am happy that is not serious and by next week either I will be better or he will give up trying to do things for me so he does not catch the cold.  (I have never pointed out to him that I touch the light switches and so does he.) 

Try to do as much as one can without overtaxing one’s self - this will vary based on what is wrong with one.

I leave you with a final achoo!  If I rambled too much - will, hey!  I have a cold! :-)
   

I HATE THE AFTERMATH OF TRIPS

Just in case anyone was wondering - after a week my head barely hurts if I touch where I hit it last week.  ( I mean if I touch my head where it was hurt, not the board I hit it on.)     My dad, a man of great wisdom, would say - “If your head hurts when you touch it, then don’t touch it.

The worst part of a trip, to me, is when I come home I have to do everything I didn’t do while away (and, of course, things I didn’t do before we went away).  Husband never understands this idea.

We are pretty good at emptying out the RV when we return home - I have a system.  There are two plans for emptying it, the regular plan and the “its raining and we can’t bring it all in plan”. In the normal plan, I start packing stuff and husband becomes a beast of burden running it all into the house.  I am basically working in sections in a circle around where I am standing in the RV. First is the refrigerator, followed by food in plastic boxes in the cabinet. Husband will unpack the refrigerator items into the one in the house.  I shut off the refrigerator in the RV and put a thick towel under the freezer section just in case any ice buildup melts and drips.  (It does not have a separate freezer section, but a “cold” box as refrigerators did in “the olden days” - like the 1950s.  Ice cream purchased in the evening will be soft ice cream when eaten at 2 am - cold soup beyond that. I take the batteries of the refrigerator thermometer and its remote read device.

The towels are added to the laundry bag of clothes and when the bag goes into the house it is tossed down the stairs to the basement.  I pack the clean clothes (we always over pack - doesn’t everyone) and bring an extra day or two of clothes in case something happens to something we are wearing while away and we need to change clothes unexpectedly, they go into the other laundry bag and go by the stairs in the house so they go up the same night.   Jackets, sweatshirts and such are taken in loose.  Shoes are put into supermarket/Walmart shopping bags to be taken in. 

Husband will take various laptops and other devices into the house in a couple of trips. Similarly he will take in my embroidery holder. The “last minute bag” is pulled out from under the bed and the items removed from it go back into it. This trip we also pulled toothpaste and such as we don’t want to leave them in all winter - we did that the first year and they did not survive well.
                                   
Any items we purchased while away and stored inside the main part of the TV are brought into the house and left on the table to be sorted and stored. (Hey, I just noticed that sorted and stored are anagrams - the same letters rearranged - is why they go together so well?)

On the “third seat” (seat behind the front passenger seat) we have a pocket with a folder in it which holds papers we pick up during the trip - tourist handouts, maps, local tourist magazines, and such, as well as magazines we brought from home to read - they go in similar bag to the shoes. 

Assorted spare eyeglasses (reading, sun, etc.) that are needed and/or kept elsewhere are removed from the glove compartment as are the snacks I keep in the front door map pocket in case of a glucose low for either of us while in transit. In there is also the coupon holder from our car (if I need, for example, tissues while away, why shouldn’t I have the coupon with me to use) and the travel related coupons we brought with us. My old Palm and Blackberry cell phones which come along for the trip for other features of the phones have to be removed also.  The EZ Pass (to pay tolls electronically) is removed from the windshield and stored away. 

The various curtains in the RV are closed. The lights are shut off and the RV battery is shut off.

Between trips with items I had for him, husband has removing items we purchased and stored in he back of the RV (technically under the head of the bed) and adding them to what is on the kitchen table in the house.

I stop and get the mail from our mailbox on the way in.  If it is a short trip and we did not stop the newspaper (yes, I still get and read a newspaper) I will bring them in also.

If it is raining - the food and stuff in the last minute bag go in and not much else unless it is needed.

Now I enter the house kitchen .  I have to sort what has come in - food which does not need to be in the refrigerator goes on the counter.  Food that goes in the refrigerator should already have been put there by Robert.  Clean clothes, laptops & similar, mail, shoes, and such are put on the stairs or adjacent to them to be taken upstairs.  Jackets and such are put in the front closet - or at least over the post at the foot of the stairs in the front hall.  And the pile of stuff on the table.

The stuff on the table has to be sorted - stuff to go upstairs, stuff to stay in the kitchen/dinning room, stuff for the basement, stuff for our studio - or the garage workshop.  I sort them into shopping bags and try to at least get them into the room they belong in - or hang them on the door knob to outside if the item goes outside. 

But of course this is just the first step.  The next day I will have to go through the mail- shred the junk mail, pull out and check bills, collect bank statements (if any) to reconcile, magazines to where they will be read, and so on.  We will also go to the Post Office and pick up the mail which has accumulated in our box there, which also has to be sorted.

Food in boxes will have to be stored - I tend to do it slowly and use what is in the boxes.  They are basically snacks so I use the cereal which was not used on the trip instead of storing it away, use the tea bag from the ones I brought with us, etc. 

Since this was our last trip of the year that we will make with running water in the RV, I said to husband that I presume we will winterize the RV this week - he said we could wait.  For those who might not understand this, in areas like this where it can get close to freezing and below it, the water pipes and valves might freeze and break.  So we have to run a non-toxic anti freeze, made for this purpose for RVs and boats, through the water system.  This keeps it all from freezing, but also means that we cannot use the system as that would be adding water which could freeze back in the system.  Well, the not so cold weather we were having and were to have is to change by this weekend.  So the winterizing must be done this week. 

In addition, we needed a small closet type shed to keep our snowblower in by our side door.  (It is currently in the garage workshop and not only does it take up room, but if it snow we have to shovel our way to the garage and clear a path in front of the garage door so a shed near the door would be very good to have.)  Last year we waited too long to buy one - they have to be assembled above a certain temperature so that plastic gives and bends and does not break in the assembling.  Husband kept forgetting to order one from a well known home store and finally decided this was it.  We wanted to order one to pick up at the store.  The program would not let us as it said the store already had “one”.  So we went to the store.  It took about an hour and a half for them to find the shed, get someone to take it down from the top shelf (maybe 20 feet or more up), us to take it to the register and pay for it (well, husband did while I got the van), have no one come to help us load it, realize the box inside the sealed plastic was soaked, find the assistant manager again, get the other one (yes, per the computer they had one, but actually they had two), and get someone to help us load it.  It then sat in our van on the driveway until we could assemble it. 

Monday was too cold, Tuesday it rained.  (And of course we went and voted Tuesday.)So today we assembled it - mostly.  We had to get the huge box out of our van - we managed to push it so it was in the rear of the van (behind the back seat) and on a work stand and unloaded.  Today was already getting colder so we took all the pieces into the garage and turned on the hanging space heaters to keep the plastic pieces warm and pliable.  We moved our car to the curved part of our driveway, then backed the RV to the spot the car normally is so we would have room to work.  Somehow we were able to assemble most of the shed.  Husband then got ill from bending over, as he does, and had to go in and go to sleep for awhile.  I finished getting the roof ready to go on - screwing parts onto the inside of the room, putting things into the body of the shed to hold the roof in place, putting the handles on the doors.  (The doors were about the worse part of the assembly except...) When it was all done, I went and woke husband who after about a half hour more, was able to come out and we put the roof on - yay!  The last thing which had to be done and is a problem is two metal bars have to be slid into the roof and across into the sides to hold the front end of the roof on - we got one in, then gave up and will try again tomorrow as it was getting colder and dark. 

Remember he said that we don’t have to winterize this week when I said I assumed we were going to?  Tomorrow we will be winterizing the RV.

Luckily when he said that we would be doing these “little chores” today and tomorrow, I managed to write checks for all bills due out on Friday and figure out how much we have to transfer into checking to cover them - it is all finished and sitting in my “out” box for Friday.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - When going on a trip - even a short, relatively local one as we take - try to be as caught up as possible before the trip.  Try to plan when you will catch up on bills, other paperwork, unpacking, laundry (I am doing a week and a half’s laundry tonight and tomorrow night), and such, when you return.     
           
For those who are Veterans or who are still on active service, Friday is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S. and is a holiday for many of those who live in the World War II allies countries (Armistice Day, Remembrance Day...) as Saturday is November 11, I thank you all for your service to your country  - whether the U.S. or other.  For those of you still on active service, I wish you a safe tour and return home. 

MOVING INTO THE NEW PHONE CONTINUED - AND A TRIP IN THE RV

I have made some progress on getting info into my new mobile phone.  Husband found a memo program that allowed me to cut and paste on my computer from my old memo program - a good thing as I needed to transfer some shopping info before we went away.  I managed to get all the contact info we might need during the trip into the phone.  I made sure to copy the info about our reservations into the new phone so we would have it with us.

Of course while doing all this I was also getting our tiny RV ready for the trip.  I had to make up the bed - I have mentioned before that this is an extended process involving making up half the bed as a single bed, then making up the other half by making it up on the back cushion laid flat, then sliding wooden boards between the two bench seats that form the bed, then placing the seat on this second side into place, and then - while lying on the side of the bed already made up - finish making up the second side of the bed.  It takes at least 45 minutes and a hot day is not a good time to make it up.  But I did.  Then the night before I have to bring out everything else we need and store it - clothing, snacks, computers, etc. Think about this - you have to move everything you need for 5 days into a house and then everything has to be stored in such a way that it will not move, shift, break or bang around and make noise.

We have been having a bit of a comedy of errors on this trip - lately this always seems to be the case.  On our drive here we got stuck on a limited access road near us which has no alternative for 45 extra minutes on a half hour segment of the trip.  We thought it was due to ongoing (for years) construction - no, it was a car stuck in the right lane - how the heck can a car still be stuck in the right lane at least 45 minutes (and probably a lot longer than that for traffic to have backed up the way it did) with no help or decision to move the car?

There are two main ways once we are out of our home state to get to where we are going.  All ways involve the tolls on two bridges in our area (which run combined almost $20 dollars even with an EZ Pass discount).  One way then involves tolls on turnpikes in two states, plus a bridge toll between the two turnpikes.  (This latter a new toll they dreamed up to start charging in 2016.)  I suggested to husband that if we went on the trip by the second way which involves one toll for $1 (to cross the same river as the one the bridge with the new toll crosses in another location between the same two states) we would save over half the remaining tolls - each turnpike one way, plus the new bridge toll - which is collected for round trip in one direction - for us that is the “going” direction, so we would save somewhere around $18 in tolls, less the $1 toll on the alternate route comes to a nice chunk of money saved.  So we went using the alternative way.  Husband hates the road this uses - while it is a limited access highway there a lot of huge interstate trucks using it (saving their tolls on the turnpikes) and it involves a lot of hills, but 17 bucks is 17 bucks.

When we got to the $1 toll it had suddenly become $6.50 for “two axle RVs”.  We have driven this way before to other places in this state and always paid $1 - so all the extra time and effort on the trip was greatly decreased - we will not try to cut the tolls this way again - it is not worth the extra travel time and effort for $10.

We did not really figure out where to eat lunch and thought of making a stop along the way if we had time and eating at that stop.  With the time we had lost we decided not to continue to the stop and headed south towards our destination.  Husband had a GPS running and also a mobile phone GPS running (sometimes I swear the 2 GPS programs are arguing), the latter is used as it is an RV program and knows which roads have to be avoided.  Suddenly the mobile phone started whispering.  We thought we would pass someplace for lunch (aka fast food place) earlier than we did and by the time we pulled it off it was on the late side for lunch and husband was upset at the trip so far, the cell phone problem and low blood sugar (he is Diabetic).  The kid (and he was a kid) at the McDonalds did nothing to help with his being upset.  Husband orders “a hamburger plain, two cheeseburgers and a senior soda”.  Seems simple, right?  “What size soda do you want - they are all $1 - a large?”  “A senior soda” “No, they are all the same price.”  So husband tells him a small soda - “Large?”.  “NO, SMALL!” (Husband was upset that the soda was going to actually cost us more do this nonsense.)  We ended up with a “regular”.  We pick up our order, get soda and go to the table.  Husband is playing with his mobile phone trying to figure out what is going on - the phone can make and receive calls with correct volume - but there are no sounds - no ringers, no alarms,etc.  I open my burger - it is the burger as it normally comes not “plain”.  I went up to the counter, got the manager’s attention and got a new burger - he was so involved with his phone he never noticed I was gone and why.  Lunch eaten we leave to last part of our trip to here.  Husband is VERY upset about his phone.

The RV park was sold as part of package of properties about 2 years ago and has changed in terms of policies and the physical access to property for the worse.  Under the old management the place would be full for July 4th week/weekend.  They had 3 spaces available at the last minute.  We asked to book for the same Monday through Friday stay next year.  No problem in the past - now the (new) staff is confused by this - it used to be “Sure”and some taps on the keyboard and we had the reservation in hand - this year “can you come back later for the reservation confirmation”.  We checked the space (we request the same one) and all was well.  July 4th stay there are lots of kids running around unsupervised, but we managed not to run over any of them - including the little girl from the space next to ours who seems to be around 3 or 4 and was riding a tricycle in the middle of the road in the RV park.  After checking our spot we marked where we had found a level area (hoping none of the kids would take the markers - they have disappeared in the past - only at this park and only during July 4th stay). This lets us come back to just about the same spot each time we take the RV out.  (Really, being level is important or doors fly open when you start to open then and stuff falls out - remember what I said about packing the RV to keep it all in place?)  We also put out a sign that says we are coming back and a decorative flag to sort of “mark our territory” - although last year someone stole our flag and the cast iron holder it hangs from at  - yes, this park during the July 4th stay. Most people set up their RV or trailer in their space and it stays there all the time.  If they leave they use the car they towed the trailer with or towed behind their RV.  We have a small RV and a relatively easy set of connections to the electricity and TV service - we carry water in our tanks and only use the water at the site if we are out on a long trip and only hook up to dump at the end of our stay - unless we are out for more than 5 days and then we will hook up, dump, and then disconnect until we are going to leave.  People with most units hook up to water and the dump pipe, as well as the electric and TV service all when they arrive and leave it in place until they leave.  So leaving the space for most people means they are leaving at the end of the trip, so we try to leave indications that we are coming back.

Husband played with his cell phone - he has an earpiece for it and put that in to see if worked as he would use same when we are apart from each other (the only time he actually needs to know if he is getting a text or call - from me during the trip) and that worked.  When he took the device out of the phone at night it seemed fixed.

First night here we had problems with the TV and the wifi. The TV had very poor reception on channel 2 and neither of us could sign into the wifi - we have been here many times and have the page to sign in bookmarked - husband finally figured out what to do and then we did same on my computer - it rejected the info which had always worked and we had to put in a totally different set of info - at first we could not even get the sign in page to come up.

Yesterday, July 4th,  we went to a large farmer’s market - it is actually a general merchandise market including an flea market across the street.  We like it.  Husband bought us sandwiches for lunch and we turned on the a/c (and the generator to let us do so) in the RV and we ate in it, in” air cooled comfort” (a 1940s/1950s claim of air conditioned movie theaters).  I found a vendor selling some ceramic bear figurines which I collect Yes, I know I should be getting rid of stuff, not acquiring more, but I love this line of little bears and they are discontinued.  I have photos of the ones I have in my cell phone - well, my last cell phone, which I brought with me on the trip and to the market just in case I saw some for sale (although I expected it to be at a more permanent vendor who sells them) so I could double check that I did not buy any I already have.  (Husband will transfer the photos for me to the new phone when we get home.) Oh, did I mention they were only 25 cents each?  How could I pass them by - only bought ones I liked, did not have, and were not missing paint.  A number of vendors were not at the market due to the holiday and it closed early.  Of course during the day his cell phone stopped having sound for ringing and alarms again.  He looked up the problem after seeing how expensive the replacement for his phone would be - and apparently it comes from dirt in the ear phone jack and the phone thinks the ear phone is plugged in -?  We were planning on buying a case for my new phone at one or the other of farmer’s markets here where there are many vendors for same, but apparently my phone is too rare for them to carry anything for it. I have it in a piece of felt in the case for my old cell phone to protect it until we can order something online for it.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Sometimes there is nothing which can be done to resolve a problem as we want it to be resolved.  Sometimes problems just arise out of nowhere and have to be dealt with as best as one can.  It sounds trit, but sometimes one just has to go with the flow.

I hope those of you in the US have had a good July 4th holiday and to those of you in Canada, I wish a belated Happy 150th of your founding.

               

HORRORS OF MOVING TO A NEW CELL PHONE

I have mentioned before that I have an older cell phone as I love the Organizer software I use on my computer.  I love it so much that my husband had to set up a virtual Windows XP “side” to my desktop computer as I could not use the software with Windows 7. 

Well, what I have been afraid of has happened.  As (I am pretty sure I mentioned before) my cell phone - a classic Blackberry stopped accessing the Internet or email (email is something which I almost never access on my cell phone anyway) through the cell phone signal and started working only through wifi a little more than a month ago.  I could make telephone calls and send texts without a problem.   I have previously described my attempts to resolve the problem.  Nothing worked.  Husband was upset at the idea of my continuing to pay the full price for my cell phone service when I was getting only part of the service - but also knew what a major upset the change would be.  We let the phone renew for another month to give us time to think.  I had three choices - keep using (and paying for) my old phone service with my phone it was - my choice, update to “the modern world” and get a (low price) android phone, or go the other way and get a flip phone that would make calls and texts and just about nothing else - either of the latter two options was cheaper per month than continuing the service I had.   

Husband has tried to be very gentle about this and help me as he knows how much change in general and this particular change especially, upsets me.  My life was in that phone - it kept me - yes - ORGANIZED.  My phone numbers were in it.  My calendar was in it.  My memos were in it.  It synced with the software I love on my computer.  (The phone did not sync with the software for todos/tasks something very important to me and I am still carrying my older phone - a Palm Centro (the first “smart” phone) around the house to deal with the todos as most of them are in the house and I learned to make a secondary calendar notation for todos to be done outside the house to get by.

I was happily getting by until this past Monday.  We had needed to renew prescriptions.  I telephoned the doctor from home and he was to call the pharmacy.  When we went to pick up the prescriptions two of them were missing and I tried to call the doctor from my cell phone - it did not work.  I then tried to text my husband to tell them about the problem and it would not text.  Oh boy!!  I found my husband who was looking at cell phones for me - his major hobby in Walmart these days - and after using his cell phone to call the doctor’s office and correct the matter - told him that I guessed that this was it.

I have one “real” (meaning a not just my craziness about things problem) problem with cell phones.  I don’t carry a purse.  I don’t wear a belt.  The phone has to fit in the front pocket of my jeans.  We have been looking at android phones to try to find one that would fit.  He had me try his phone in my pocket for size - much too large as were almost all of the phones we found.  He found two that were small enough - and only one was reviewed to be good.  So that was the only choice.  We bought the phone Monday when the Blackberry did not work - although it started working again later.

I have another problem which he insists is me - I haven’t been able to get anyone else’s android/Idevice to work.  At the dentist office he used Square for our charge card and handed me his tablet to sign - I didn’t show up on it - husband had to sign it.  So I have to learn deal with this. Husband has given me a stylus which will work with the phone and he found out that the “space pen” I carry will also work as stylus with it.  (The space pen fits in my pocket.)

So for three days now we have been working with the new phone.  It is on a different service provider and it was a bit confusing setting it up (my phones are both prepaids), but we got it done.  Somehow it changed immediately; husband had been worried about me not having a phone for a few days - how could he text me when we are in stores and I walk away?

I have been learning to use the phone - I have a problem, believe it or not - hitting the correct letter when typing (and even once the wrong digit when using the numbers, in a situation where I could not go back and correct it).  I tend to hit the letter to the right of the one I am trying to hit.  I sent a text to him - only took a half hour to write it as I kept hitting the wrong letters.  Yes, I am that lazy - I text him to come down to dinner instead of walking up and telling him.  I am sure I will improve.

My embroidery chapter board had our annual board meeting last week and there have been followup emails - I answered one of them and said that I have gotten the emails, but I am switching phone which means that I will be totally disorganized until I figure it all out, and to please bear with me - they are nice, they will.

First major problem - I have over 400 contact entries in my old cell phones/Organizer and the only way to move them to the new phone is by copy and paste of each item in each entry.  I looked through the sync software I use for the Palm Centro as it is a sync program we bought and it syncs a variety of programs and devices - it has a choice labeled “Google”.  We tried setting that up as husband figured I might not only be able to transfer the contacts and my calendar with it, but then I could sync them as I wanted to.  No, was set up for too old a version of Google.

He did managed to find out how to export my calendar from Organizer to Google, so after a few false tries, that worked and it is one set up done on the new phone.

I then started copying and pasting contact info.  There are two schools of thought as to the order to do this - first one is to start with the first contact in my Organizer (also Blackberry/Palm as they match) and go through one after another - this idea is very organized, hard to miss a listing.  The second thought, is copy the contacts most needed - so I can use the phone right away - and then copy the others, a bit each day, which is the more practical of the two. 

Since Monday I have had one contact in the new phone - my husband’s cell phone.  Today I sat and pasted and copied the listings for our immediate family, two other board members of my embroidery chapter, the head of our reenacting unit, our doctors, and our medical insurance companies.  I have out an email to each of my sisters double checking that I have the correct info for them, their husbands, and their children, so I put in basic info for them that I know is correct and will add the rest when they let me know of any updates.  I have a lot of contacts as I have all of the members of our reenactment unit and my embroidery chapter in the phone.  I also have at least one emergency contact for those in our reenactment unit (there is a campfire and there are guns, so we like to know who to contact - just in case) and one advantage to the new phone is that I can put the emergency contacts as part of the main contact for the members and label who they are for (mom, wife, cousin, friend...). That might speed it up a small bit.  In the mean while when we go out I bring my Palm just in case we need another contact - it is smaller than the Blackberry.

My plan going forward is that I will have a “memo” in the new phone - if I make an appointment while out or add a contact, I will add it to this memo and then add it to my Organizer program at home by hand.  The same with todos - up until now I have been putting them in the Blackberry as an appointment until I am home and can fix it.

The memos I have are the biggest problem.  Some of them are static - info we need for some purchases - how much fabric, what model saw, etc.  Others change sometimes - a list of our EZ pass tolls so I can check it against the statement - this one is not a problem as I will have my Palm with me when go out of state any way - but I will also use a separate memo in the new phone to keep track of same.  Biggest problem is the constantly changing memos - my shopping list for example - I need to keep both lists - the computer and the phone list the same and that will take some work - then again, right now I am using a list written on paper until all this gets set up and working and anything has to be better than that - I forgot to buy eggs today.

How have YOU dealt with switching cell phones?

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - What has to be done, has to be done.  One can say no as much as one wants to, but when push comes to shove, one has to do what one has to do.  When the cell phone did not work Monday (which was apparently a problem with too few “bars” as it worked again later) I took it as a sign that someone (not my husband) or something really wants me to switch and I should just “rip off the bandage” and switch.

ELECTRONICS GOING CRAZY

I know I complain a lot and we have a lot of odd things happen to us. This week has been a pip.

I have a traditional Blackberry phone (not Android).  It is 3G.  I use it for texts, telephone calls, and checking things on the Internet.  Yes, it is not the newest or coolest thing, but husband was able to make it sync with my computer Organizer software so I like it and have been happy with it.  Last Thursday (a week ago) I went to look up something online and got a message that it could not connect and that if this continued I should contact my service provider.  Okay, I never saw this before - but, again, it is not the latest fastest thing.  I was in our house and turned on the wifi in the phone and accessed the Internet that way.  No problem.  Must be a glitch.

This problem continued over the weekend.  Now, I don’t watch movies on the phone or use large amounts of data.  I mostly use it for things such as “what else was the actress in the movie we just saw in?”  Or “what does “X” mean” when we see or hear something we don’t know about. 

So yesterday (Tuesday) I contacted my service provider online and had an hour and a half chat with an employee.  We reset things that I did not even know my phone had.  We reactivated the phone.  We reset the phone.  No change.  Finally she told me that we had to reload the “service books”.  I had no idea what the heck these were, but if we needed to reload, let’s do it.  She comes back.  They do not have the service books for my phone.  I have to contact Blackberry.  She assures me that Blackberry will have the service books.  I thank her for her time and help.

I then go to Blackberry’s website (or I am guessing, one of them).  I find tech support.  I put in the required info from my phone - it is rejected as invalid.  I try again - same result.  I then try entering a hex version of the number which is on the phone - same result.  I find a contact form for tech support and wrote and explained the problem.

Meanwhile on Monday husband had his email program updated - he did not update it - it did it itself.  He then had major problems with his email program and accessing his calendar on the Internet which was coming in through his mail program.  I don’t know all the details  - there was something about the program was not recognizing his correct passwords and that he could not find some of them in his records of all his passwords - as I was barely listening to him as I was playing with my phone, hoping that it would magically start working again. 

He needed to get rid of the update program and go back to an older version, but he was sure he would not be able to find one.  I pointed out that I had an older version on my computer and we had reinstalled it last fall when we installed a new hard drive on mine.  He installed it in his computer.  Now the program and computer are downloading thousands of old emails into his computer.  He has trouble with settings for the accounts - I use my computer to find how my email accounts are set. 

He started looking for a new calendar program.  There is one commercially available (at a reasonable price) that will not only solve his problems, but claims to also work with my old Organizer - if so, I can move on to a newer cell phone (which I don’t want to do, but it would make him happy, and there is this problem with mine right now).  He downloaded a trial version of the calendar program.  He has been having trouble with same and is not sure it does what is needed for either of us.  Their tech support has been very accommodating in helping him to try to resolve the problems.

Today I had an email from Blackberry (at least it was quick and polite).  The site I contacted was not correct and I needed to telephone “this number”.  I send back a thank you. 

I telephone Blackberry.  I get through to tech support and it wants the same number - I know it will not work, but enter it anyway.  It is rejected.  I get a choice to try it again or speak to someone.  I pick the latter.  I explain my problem and situation.  She needs the same number - I give it to her - it doesn’t work.  She asks for another type of number and that works.  She then asks me  - twice - each of the points which I told her when our conversation started.  She suggests I contact - yes - my service provider.  I repeat (for the 4th time) that the provider referred me to them.  She goes away and comes back. 

I am not entitled to support.  She does not say why, although I do have the phone for a number of years and I assume it because it is off warranty for a long time.  I have, therefore, three choices.  First, I can pay them “35 United States dollars”.  Second, I can go to “this website” (a support website).  Third (ready for this), I can contact my service provider.  I elect the second choice.

I also make an unrelated telephone call to the NYC Police Department for a question that has come up with a client’s business and I have to leave a voice mail.

We go out to lunch and to run errands for a couple of hours. 

I start checking email and seeing if have to pay bills, etc.  Ok, I was avoiding trying to fix my phone.  Husband comes up and starts his computer.  He asks for the website.  It is a list of problems and solutions (lot of help - right).  We actually find the problem listed.  We just cannot really figure out how to do what it says to do.  Husband is worried that if we do it wrong I will lose the telephone and text functions and the phone will no longer be able to go on the Internet using wifi.  We both poke around at stuff to try to figure out what to do. 

One thing that husband is concerned about is that the company whose system my phone uses (my service provider does not have a system - depending on the phone one has, one uses one or another of the major cell phone systems) has announced that they are going to discontinue 3G service and husband is concerned that they have done so here.  No one seems to have heard of this.  I am presuming that since the phone says “3G” it is receiving same.

Just for fun along with all of this, my eye started hurting the night before last and still hurt when I woke.  We figured out it must be a sty, so I am putting hot compresses on my eye several times a day - at least that seems to be working.

Then last night when I was washing up after dinner, my attention wandered and I cut a finger on a the lid of a soup can.  Not a large cut, but it would not stop bleeding for awhile as I did the dishes.  (It hurts, but is fine now.) 

So this has not been a productive week.  Our unit did have a reenactment event last weekend, at least that went well.  The weather was pleasant.  We did not have huge crowds, but steady ones and people who were interested and stayed around awhile.  I got a bit embroidery done and was able to talk to people (mostly women) about same.   So at least we had a chance to actually relax a bit.


THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

No matter how upsetting things are (and I know in the greater scheme of the world these electronic problems and injuries are so minor) one has to try to go with the flow.  One can only do what one can do.  Magic rarely happens. 

   
In the United States this coming Monday is Memorial Day.  For those of you who are elsewhere - this is a holiday to remember those who have died in military service to our country.  It started after our Civil War (1860s) as Decoration Day, when ladies would go to the graves of those who died in the War and decorate them with flowers.  If you are here - I wish you a pleasant Memorial Day. 

For anyone who might have had family or friends injured or worse in the incident in Manchester, UK, my greatest sympathies.

WHAT A WEEK - AGAIN!

This was another whirlwind week of not much done. 

First - more Christmas followup.  I have packed most of my bear figurines from the living room and will soon put out my February bear figurines from the same set.  Large Santas and elves stored away on top of the main tree’s box and the basement was put back into order so that all could be used again down there.

Last Saturday night after we came home from the movies husband went upstairs to go online.  I was in the kitchen downstairs on this laptop doing the same.  Husband came running down the stairs a short while later.  He asked me if I was cooking anything as he smelled something burning.  I was not and went upstairs with him.  At the top of the landing I smelled an electrical burning smell. 

When we went into the office I knew it was coming from my side (the nearer to the door side) of the office.  I unplugged everything plugged in on my side.  We waited and the smell cleared up.  I then started plugging things back in, one at a time.  When I plugged in the printer the smell came back.  Unplugged it - smell went away.  We took out the paper tray and the toner cartridge and looked - nothing stuck inside.  We left it unplugged to explore what could be the problem.  After looking online and contacting the manufacturer we determined that the printer was no longer safe to use.  If plugged in the burning smell returns - blowing out of the side vents.  We were lucky that we were home when it started and we got the printer unplugged before it or anything else caught fire.

Now, we do/did have another printer set up in the room - it just costs more per copy - so that is not a problem.  It is all in one so we also lost the scanner, copier and fax.  Well, I also have a copier - it predates the computers but still is used and works well.  That left the scanner and the fax lacking.  We each have a scanner from before this one.  Husband went to set his up  - it does not seem to work with Windows 7 (or 10).  He managed to get it up and working with an older computer he still has set up which has Windows XP.  I have not tried to set up my older scanner yet - it will probably have the same problem and need to be set up to use with my laptop if we don’t replace the all in one now.  The fax function - well, we only fax a few times a year - mostly for medical matters so I am not as worried about same.

Husband immediately went out to buy a new unit - we saw what he thought we should get - a duplexing color laser all in one unit, which also duplex scans.  Pricey, but it is for my work.  Then he read the reviews and it did not rate well - actually none of the units seem to rate well.  He was in a hurry - I told him we should wait and take our time.  While in an office store over the weekend we saw a similar model - except it has no color.  Husband’s printer prints color, but he has not been happy with the color printing, so he was happy at the thought of a different color printer.  But, if we get the same unit without the color it is half the price - so that it was what we plan to go with. He took the old unit downstairs yesterday - we get a credit if we trade it in towards the new one.  Important - we made sure that there is nothing in any memory that might provide personal information to anyone - I checked with the manufacturer on what needed to be cleared and how to so so.  Tomorrow we plan to go and buy the replacement unit (on sale only until this Saturday and it will double in price if not bought by then).   I am sure setup and getting to know the new unit will take awhile. 

I also had my embroidery group meeting this week - I am on the board so I have to prepare a report for the meeting and it was my turn to bring snack - so yesterday in the (relatively light) snow we went out and spent an hour buying a small cake and a box of small doughnuts for me to bring. 

After the meeting I returned our soda bottles accumulated since the last meeting for their deposits and switched my offsite flash drive at the bank vault.  I tried to visit a couple of stores we don’t go to.  The craft store is now primarily a clothing factory.  The “new” supermarket has already gone out of business.  I did buy some canned tomatoes on sale.

Right now I should be doing the laundry and running my suitcase heater (stuff I brought to the meeting today and mail that has come in from people) but I had two new things tonight to deal with and if I did what I am suppose to do also - my head would explode - and I had to get my post written for tonight.

I use my old cell phone, a Palm, around the house as a PDA as my newer phone, a Blackberry, does not work for the “to dos” with the software I like.  I sync one and then the other with the same program in my computer.  The Palm would not sync.  I tried various things - including using a spare sync cord I have and trying to sync it with this laptop - but the computer does not “see” the Palm.  Too much going on right now.  I will work around this and not sync it until I figure out what is going on.  I may need to use husband’s old Palm which matches mine if mine is broken.  For now - I will not go crazy and get upset - I will use the appointments section of my Blackberry to deal with new items to do and to record what I have done when I am not at my computer until I figure it out. 

I paid some bills due out tomorrow and did some follow up to today’s meeting and made dinner.  During dinner husband says to me “You know that day trip to Pennsylvania I wanted to take a couple of weeks ago - maybe we can go Friday.”  My brain starts whirling - nothing major to do, I will just ignore the Palm problem a little longer. We can buy the printer tomorrow - even if we don’t get it set up, we will have bought it while it was on sale.  Uh, oh, there were other bills due out Friday and over the weekend and I need to transfer money to our business account - went upstairs after dinner and paid the bills and wrote a check to the business account - have to deposit it and another check tomorrow.  Soda on sale - we have to buy by Saturday when the sale ends - either tomorrow or Saturday it is.  So, I got downstairs much later than normal to write to all of you after a week of basically “treading water” to keep from falling behind and basically said to myself - “the laundry and the heating of the stuff can wait”.

I did clean the upstairs bathroom rather extensively last week.  I even got down on my hands and knees and cleaned around the edges where the floor meets the walls.  We have rather small bathrooms.  I have to lie across the (closed) toilet bowl to clean behind it - on an angle to one side and then again on the opposite angle to the other side.  To clean between the sink and the tub  I have to climb into the tub and lean out - but only slightly or I would hit my head on the sink.  Hah!  That’s when I bruised my knee - it was during cleaning the bathroom - I knew I would remember where the bruise came from!

TODAY’S THOUGHT ON ORGANIZING -

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.  What I mean by this is that if something exists to use to do something or there is a good way to do something - don’t try to come up with something else.

I used to sort my laundry on an old bed sheet on the floor of the basement.  After we had mice husband said that it was too disgusting a place to sort the laundry.  I kept trying to figure out what to use instead.  I brought a tray table over near the washer and was balancing laundry on it for awhile as I tried to figure out what to do. 

Then one day it hit me - something exists to sort laundry into - it is called “a laundry sorter”.  You know, those frames with 3 bags hanging from them that one sorts laundry into.  How could I not have thought of same.  I never used one as I do not sort laundry in the typical way.  I normally sort the laundry by throwing the clothes (except jeans and other heavier items) into the washer, then a pile of towels, a pile of bed linens, then jeans and the heavier items into another pile.  Sometimes for various reasons there is more laundry and more piles. 

So now the clothes go into the washer as before.  The towels go into the front section of the sorter.  The bed linens in the next section.  The final section gets jeans, sweatshirts, etc.  The items in the last section are not necessarily washed every week. I hold them for a fuller load - I will do a load of jeans or I will do a load of heavier clothing such as sweatshirts as needed. 

So the idea is that if there is a way to do something, use it - don’t try to come up with a new way to do it. 

REMINDERS

I have been having another computer (sort of) problem and it gave me the idea for this column - reminders.

Among the problems I have is that I lose track of time and/or forget I have to do something.  I have found that reminders work great to deal with this.  It can also remind one to do something that one does not really want to do and tries to ignore.

I use my cell phone and my computer for reminders.  My husband had the wonderfulness known as a Palm Pilot.  Perhaps you remember them.  He could enter information into a calendar, a to do list, an address book, or a memo list in his Pilot and sync it with the calendar from Palm (or some other ones also if he preferred) and the same information was on the Pilot and on his computer.  I had liked the idea of a calendar on my computer, but since I don’t keep it on all the time it was inconvenient to use as I had to turn the computer on, so I did not keep my calendar on my computer.  He lent me his Pilot to see if it made if it made using a computer calendar convenient for me.  I used to be on the road locally and I was using a calendar book, which I could carry in my brief case, to keep track of my appointments.  I also recorded what I did in it - for work especially.  The Pilot was to replace it.  If I liked it we would buy me one also.

Well, I did like it.  Instead of buying one, however, he told me to keep his.  At work his secretary kept track of his appointments and at home I did, so he had found he had not needed it while I was using it.   We found a nice program to use with it (instead of the one which came with it) and I was happy.  It would go to work with me in my brief case.  If I was going someplace that I might need to make an appointment or otherwise see if I would be free on a certain date, I would bring it with me in my tee shirt pocket.  Then horrors, of horrors, Windows updated to Windows XP.  The calendar program I was using only worked through Windows Millennium.  I switched computers with husband when I needed a new one as his ran on same and that gave me some more years, but then I had to give in and upgrade to XP.  Luckily I had received for one of my laptops a program I had never used - Lotus Organizer.  I tried that and it was even better than what I had before and worked with the Pilot.  Problem solved.
                   
When we had to update our cell phones we got Palm Centros.  They also synced with the Organizer program, were smaller than the Pilot, and since I did not have to carry a separate cell phone - it fit in my pocket!  This worked terrifically for me until husband decided to get one of the “new” Android phones and I had to get a new cell phone when we split our plans.  He did some research and found out that the Blackberry Centro - new at that time - could be made to work with the Organizer with old Blackberry software.  I was back in business.  Next problem was the upgrade to Windows 7 - but husband managed to get the Organizer work with it also.  The Blackberry won’t work with the Organizer to do list, but since most of my to dos are in the house, I use the Centro for same, using it as a PDA and for its games.  I keep both the phones synced to the Organizer program and if I have to dos outside the house I put them in the calendar section so they sync to the Blackberry calendar.

So, what does this boring recitals of cell phones, Windows versions, and computer calendars have to do with real organizing?   I use the setup to remind me of what I have to do from day to day. How?
First, there is the obvious. I put any appointments I make into the calendar section.  Doctor appointment?  It’s in there and I can set a reminder to remind me in advance - weeks, days, hours, minutes before - of the appointment.  A regular monthly club meeting - I put them all in at once using the repeat feature.  Holidays?  I have the ones which occur on the same date every year (Christmas, New Year’s Day, etc.) set up to repeat annually, automatically.  Holidays which are on a certain day (3rd Monday of February for example) I also set up to repeat annually, also automatically.  The reason I love the Organizer (unfortunately no longer available as it is a “dead” program - but there are alternatives) is the variety of ways it allows the appointments (and to dos) to be entered and repeated.  (I could even repeat something every 13 days, for example, or every 3rd Tuesday, or every 5 months, or every 3rd year.)  Holidays that vary around (such as Easter) I will go in and set by hand for 5 years and then do so again towards the end of the 5 years.  Birthdays, anniversaries can be set in to repeat year to year.  Children’s dance classes, little league, religious classes, etc. can be in the calendar to remind you.

If we are going on a trip I enter the hotels, or more recently the campgrounds, into the calendar section.  For example I enter “John Hancock hotel, 4 nights, reservation number 345678A, $95 a night” on each night that we will be staying at the hotel.  Now, this tells me where we and when we will be sleeping, but can be confusing as we don’t always sleep where we are going and it is off from the days as it shows the nights at the hotel.  So I also enter, separately what we plan to do, in a general sense.  For the above it was a complete trip, for example, the first day would say “drive to Boston” - this would match the first night at the hotel as we would be staying there after driving to Boston.  The next 3 days would say “Boston” as that is where we plan to go, Boston and the surrounding area - these days match the remaining 3 nights of our stay.  Now the last day - which does not list a hotel for the night - we are still in Boston, but will be driving home and there is no hotel for the night and I will enter “drive home from Boston”.  So now I have a record of where we are staying and when - and all the reservation details, as well as what we plan to do each day.  If I want to keep a record of what we did each day, I make a to do (or memo, this is called different things by different programs) and list what I want a record of having done.


Second, I use the to dos (memos) to keep track of what has to be done.  Huh?  Well, every day at 6:45 pm a reminder rings in my PDA to remind me to stop doing what I am doing (I am generally on the computer or otherwise working in our office), backup the computer data, sync the phones and the computer, as it will soon be time to make dinner. I have a weekly reminder to write my entry for this blog on Tuesday nights and another - also weekly - to remind me to post it on Wednesday night.  And, yes, just like the clock we all set in the morning, it is not uncommon for me to reset the alarm on the to do to finish what I am doing at the computer or to write the blog on Wednesday if I can’t do it on Tuesday. 

A reminder can be set for any reason - husband does not like cold ketchup; on Thursday afternoons I have a reminder to take out chopped turkey to defrost and the ketchup to warm up.  I have reminders to do the laundry on Wednesday and Thursday nights, I have reminders to check my email once a day (I do not check it again unless I did not receive  an email I expected to receive or I sent one out and expect a reply.  My email does not come in automatically when it arrives.  This lets me not get stuck constantly dealing with email.)  I have reminders to change the towels in the house (twice a week in the bathrooms, three times a week in the kitchen) and to change the bedding once a week. Being a crazy accountant, I have things I do at the end of the month to sort of close out one month and start another - reminder for each. 

I also have standard times to set reminders on an ongoing basis.  I put in a reminder to make telephone calls at 1:30 pm. I put in a reminder for things to do in the late evening after dinner at 11 pm (we stay up late) and so on. 

I enjoy doing embroidery, but never seemed to get a chance to stitch on whatever (and there are always several) piece I am working on.  I have a Thursday night “to do” which sets aside the time for me to stitch then. 

Now, things which I will do while at the computer and while looking at the Organizer calendar, I do not necessarily set up with an alarm to remind me.  When I go to our office (also known as the second bedroom, lest you envision a huge business office) I turn on my computer, sync the 2 phones with Organizer (one at a time, first the Curve and then the Centro) and open Organizer.   I will first make any adjustments needed due to the syncing - I check off finished to dos for example.  I then look at the page, the same as one would look at any paper appointment book, and I see what I have to do and any appointments.  (Important appointments, such as doctors, will have an alarm a few days before, reset as we go closer to the appointment.)  I then know what needs to be done - starting with checking my email.  When I am finished at the end of the session, I back up my data, then the calendar data, and then sync again - again first the Curve and then the Centro.  As soon as I leave my computer and make any changes they no longer agree among the three - Curve, Centro, and computer, which is why I sync them when I start so they will all have any changes made and then again when I leave - so they will all be the same going forward until a change is made.

Third, I also use the address books in the three and sync them together so they all have the same information in them.  (My current problem is that the Centro has stopped syncing the address book.  Based on syncing it with my laptop - something normally only done when on a trip - I find that it is a software problem in my desktop computer and I will need to delete and reinstall the syncing software.)  Names, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.  There is also a section to list other information - great for remembering the doctor’s nurse’s name when one goes in or the name of a business associates wife - and if it is in your cell phone - you know you will always have it with you.  A campground we go to frequently has notes on which spaces we like and which we do not.

Lastly, all 3 have a memo section.  What is this?  Just for notes you need to make and have.  A shopping list.  The sizes that one needs for Christmas shopping.  Which sewing machine one has.  Which books on certain subject one has (stops one from buying a duplicate). Notes made while someplace on how to do something. I have a memo with a listing by state and main road of where there are places we have found to eat while in transit - due to the RV needing a bit more space in a parking lot I also note if there is a problem (“small parking lot”). I list the exit from the road.  Much cheaper (if one is not on a toll road) than eating at truck stops along the way.  So basically, a memo section can hold anything - no alarms though.            

Okay you are thinking, but unlike this crazy person who uses old stuff, I have an android or an Iphone and the software she mentioned no longer exists - what do I do?  Well, first every cell phone has an address book of some type, so that is easy to use.  I asked my husband and he told me that there is a calender in android phones and in Iphones (and I think I had one in my old flip phone) so that is available for you to use.  If there is no software for a calender or to dos or memos - there are apps.  I understand that Google has a calender and one can set it up to sync with an android or Iphone and then the info will be on your computer and on your phone.  Even better than just a sound alarm - you can have Siri or Cortana remind you of your appointments and things to do.  Even setting an alarm clock can help remind you to do something.       

Now, I know I get carried away with my reminders - but your cell phone can be a very useful tool to help you stay on track with what you have to or want to get done.  Want to sort stuff in the back room where it all just seems to have piled up?  Set a reminder to go in there and work for 10 minutes a day - or once a week - or in between - or less often. If you have to return books to the library and you know you will forget in the morning - stick them in a bag and hang it on the door you will leave by - or the closet door (clothing or coat) - or on the kitchen table.  All sorts of reminders work and really help. 

How do you remind yourself what to do and when to do it