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.
Thursday, July 6, 2017
Thursday, June 29, 2017
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.
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.
Thursday, June 22, 2017
SAGA OF THE NEW MAIL BOX
Getting things done moves slowly in our house. To give you an idea of how slowly - we have been in the house over 25 years and still have not had a house warming party. Most things do not take that long, but we tend to be over cautions and take our time. We shopped for 3 years before buying a new snowblower - our old one not having been used in decades and was no longer working.
Now some background. For over two decades we had a great Post Office where we live. The mail was delivered with no problem. When we went away for summer vacation and had our mail held, when we picked it up there was no problem and mail delivery was immediately restarted. About 3 years ago we started having problems with our mail delivery - in the past 2 years, when I started keeping track, three items for my accounting business from IRS - with all my personal and business identification information in all three - went astray and never made it here. Two credit card statements - from two different banks - ditto. A few bank statements from assorted banks - ditto. Several pieces of mail - mostly ads, but still they could have been important mail, has shown up having been opened by someone else and then taped closed again - obviously delivered to someone else and opened in error by them, taped closed and dropped back in the mail. We have gotten a number of items addressed to other people and delivered to us. Now, I don’t mean the neighbor next door or down the street - these are addressed to people on streets we have never heard of and we have lived in the immediate area for almost 40 years and husband grew up for another 15 or more years, so these are not streets in the nearby area either. We have been working on switching our mailing address to our Post Office box, which is at a different Post Office than the one our house mail goes through. When we mail items out they go through the Post Office with our box. (Due to the design of the different Post Offices’ coverage areas by community our Post Office is further away from us than two other Post Offices as we live at the far northern end of the coverage area, so we have always used one or the other of these two nearer Post Offices to send out mail.)
When we used to travel by car and stay at hotels we would take several weekend trips during the year and a longer summer vacation (up to 3 weeks when husband was working). We would not have our mail held for the weekend trips - we would leave after Friday’s mail was delivered and take it in before we left and then just Saturday’s and possibly Monday’s mail would be delivered depending on whether we came home Sunday or Monday night. We would have the mail held by the Post Office for summer vacation and then go in, pick up the mail, and restart delivery. (We would not notify the other Post Office to hold the Box mail either, except for the summer as they automatically set aside in the back any excess mail over the size of our box.)
We now tend to travel in the middle of the week instead of the weekends for our short trips - and there are fewer of them. It is easier to get a space at a RV park midweek - a reservation at an RV park generally cannot be canceled close to the date so we tend not to make reservations for short trips until we know for sure that we are going. Also the place we normally go for short trips is a heavy tourist area with a lot of weekend visitors which crowd many of the places we go and annoy husband, so we go midweek instead. Now when we go away the mail three to four days of mail ends up sitting in the box in front of our house. (We tend to leave earlier in the day on the trip as some local main roads are under construction and we have to get to a certain point after the worst of rush hour and before construction starts for the day, so the first day of the trip’s mail is now in the box where before we took it in before we left.) So we now feel more uncomfortable leaving the mail in the box in front of the house while we are away. We don’t want to have the mail held as this has become a problem with our Post Office. The solution? We decided last year that we need to have a locking mailbox for the front of the house.
We have a post mail box, meaning we have the type of box that sits on top of a post, similar to those in more rural areas where the boxes sit along the side of the road so that the postal delivery person (who used to be the “mailman”) can put the mail into the box without leaving his vehicle. However, we have our post and mailbox adjacent to our front door not at the street - just a bit more secure than having the mailbox at the street.
On and off since the beginning of 2016's travel season we have been looking at replacement mail boxes. We picked out one that we liked - it is shaped like a regular post mail box (round top), but locks closed. Somehow that idea got set aside for the winter and nothing was done - not unusual as I mentioned at the start of the post - for us.
About a month or so we again went out looking at mail boxes. This time we decided that box was too small and we were looking at larger rectangular boxes. We have a choice of buying a mail box at Home Depot or Lowes. I guess Ace has them too, but they are more expensive. We made our choice.
Last week husband brings up the subject again - we go to Home Depot and Lowes and compare what they have and the prices. Looking at the box we were planning to get, we started thinking - “Hmmm, does that make it look like there something really exciting in the mail box as it is so large and locked. Will it make it more attractive to someone to break into it?” We decide to get the first mail box which looks more like a regular mail box and might not be more attractive.
Sunday we buy the mail box. Now remember, we are not morning people and our normal Sunday is a trip to Costco, BJs, and a different Walmart than usual in the next county, with lunch at the Costco. So by the time we buy the mail box and head home it around 4 pm. (Can you see where this is going?)
We take the mail box into the garage (and climb over the snow blower which we still have not bought a shed for it to live in and over the leaf blower we used 2 years ago, etc. plus all the power tools set up in this with all in disarray as husband always says “I really have to clean up in here” but we never do). We open the box and check the mail box and it looks fine. It come with 2 matching sets of 2 keys (four keys which each fit both the front and back locks on the box). The keys are there and of course get taken out of the envelope they came in. Logic would say to put one set of keys in one of our pockets and leave the other set of keys in the envelope, but both sets are taken out of the envelope.
First thing to do is remove the old mailbox from the post. We do this very easily - four small screws, two in each of the left and right sides of the mailbox. The old mailbox is set aside in the backyard - just in case this all does not work out.
We had to buy a piece for the mail box which allows it to be on the post, on a different type of post or on a wooden arm (in choice of 2 different directions). So the second thing to do is attach this piece to our post. We open the piece and take out the instructions and find the hardware needed to put it on the type of post we have. This involves putting four LONG screws into the wood of the post - two in the front and two in the back. Now understand, husband has a major assortment of power and hand tools. Problem - the hole in the piece is slightly larger than our post - it will not affect the piece sitting around the post, but the piece has to be level with the top of the post, but slides down it. We both have the same idea - he screws a scrap piece of wood diagonally over the hole and now it sits on the top of the post. We place the piece in position on top of the post. He takes out a battery operated screwdriver and starts screwing one of the back screws through the piece and into the post. It stops about half way in and will not go further. Husband goes and gets a plug in drill and tries - same problem. “I guess I should have drilled a pilot hole.” He unscrews the screw and gets a thin drill bit. The drill bit goes partway in and breaks. So now there is a drill bit in the wood where the screw needs to go. We decide to ignore this screw for now.
He goes to the front and, with a larger drill bit, drills a pilot hole and with the combination of battery operated screwdriver, plug in drill, and hand screwdriver - he finally gets the screw in. Yay! This is repeated on the other front and the other rear screw - these having their own problem as he stand on the flattened (for this purpose) branches of a shrub.. Along the way he looks at his watch and says “so much for dinner” - it will be too late to go out for dinner, as we do on Sunday evenings, when we are done. We can’t stop as it will be too dark to finish later and we won’t have a box for Monday’s mail delivery.
We test the piece and it rocks as it is missing the first screw which we were unable to put in. What to do? I came up with the idea of using the four small screws that we took out of the old mail box and post. The side of the piece to hold the mail box has holes in the side for a different assembly - but that assembly is for the piece to be raised up so the sides overlap the holes. We manage to get these screws into the side holes and the piece no longer rocks.
Third step - putting the mailbox in place. We need a key for this as the bolt heads go inside the mail box. I go back to the garage - I can only find one set of keys. Rather than waste time I figure husband has the other set and this set is plenty to work with. Putting the mailbox in place actually goes rather well. (It does bother me that a security mail box has nuts on the bottom of it connecting it to the connecting piece, which itself is screwed on by accessible screws - so either set of screws can be removed - but that is how it is.) We try the doors and they work - there is room to open the back of the box from the house door (we were worried it was too close to the house).
I then mention the missing keys. He does not have them. We go back into the garage and find them. We go into the house. I immediately take one of the keys and put it onto my key ring - just in case. We have dinner and the evening passes.
Husband suggests that we put up a “decorative” hook in the front hall for a mailbox key to be hung from - “we will look for one”. Oh yes, more time wasted shopping and juggling the key in the interim and how long will that take? Then I remember something which I did not donate when I thought to do so. A nice, small brass plate with a double hook at the bottom. I think we got it as a gift from his sister - that is in the back of my head. It was a bit “Victorian” for our “Georgian” style decor so we did not buy it. But there it is - in the bottom drawer of my desk - wow I even found it exactly where I thought it would be. He likes it and rushes to put it up.
Now we have to put a key on a piece of yarn to hang it up - here’s the single key on a ring - where is the other ring with two keys? (How can I be able to find something I haven’t seen in years on the first try, but a set of keys for something we bought the same day keeps disappearing?) We find them and I put in them with the instructions, etc. to put away. He puts the key on a piece of yarn and hangs it up.
The mail box works! We have taken in mail from it for three days now. It is not a problem to open with the key. Now we can go on a trip and not worry about the mail sitting at home snug in its locking box.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Find something you keep putting off doing - one thing. And do it! Every step forward is something done.
Epilogue -
We had to take the old mail box into the garage due to a MAJOR rain and wind storm Monday. I plan to clean it up a bit and take it to Goodwill on my next trip to same with items to donate. This will keep it out of the garbage and help someone who can use the mail box as its only problem is that we wanted a locking one - the box itself has much life left in it.
Now some background. For over two decades we had a great Post Office where we live. The mail was delivered with no problem. When we went away for summer vacation and had our mail held, when we picked it up there was no problem and mail delivery was immediately restarted. About 3 years ago we started having problems with our mail delivery - in the past 2 years, when I started keeping track, three items for my accounting business from IRS - with all my personal and business identification information in all three - went astray and never made it here. Two credit card statements - from two different banks - ditto. A few bank statements from assorted banks - ditto. Several pieces of mail - mostly ads, but still they could have been important mail, has shown up having been opened by someone else and then taped closed again - obviously delivered to someone else and opened in error by them, taped closed and dropped back in the mail. We have gotten a number of items addressed to other people and delivered to us. Now, I don’t mean the neighbor next door or down the street - these are addressed to people on streets we have never heard of and we have lived in the immediate area for almost 40 years and husband grew up for another 15 or more years, so these are not streets in the nearby area either. We have been working on switching our mailing address to our Post Office box, which is at a different Post Office than the one our house mail goes through. When we mail items out they go through the Post Office with our box. (Due to the design of the different Post Offices’ coverage areas by community our Post Office is further away from us than two other Post Offices as we live at the far northern end of the coverage area, so we have always used one or the other of these two nearer Post Offices to send out mail.)
When we used to travel by car and stay at hotels we would take several weekend trips during the year and a longer summer vacation (up to 3 weeks when husband was working). We would not have our mail held for the weekend trips - we would leave after Friday’s mail was delivered and take it in before we left and then just Saturday’s and possibly Monday’s mail would be delivered depending on whether we came home Sunday or Monday night. We would have the mail held by the Post Office for summer vacation and then go in, pick up the mail, and restart delivery. (We would not notify the other Post Office to hold the Box mail either, except for the summer as they automatically set aside in the back any excess mail over the size of our box.)
We now tend to travel in the middle of the week instead of the weekends for our short trips - and there are fewer of them. It is easier to get a space at a RV park midweek - a reservation at an RV park generally cannot be canceled close to the date so we tend not to make reservations for short trips until we know for sure that we are going. Also the place we normally go for short trips is a heavy tourist area with a lot of weekend visitors which crowd many of the places we go and annoy husband, so we go midweek instead. Now when we go away the mail three to four days of mail ends up sitting in the box in front of our house. (We tend to leave earlier in the day on the trip as some local main roads are under construction and we have to get to a certain point after the worst of rush hour and before construction starts for the day, so the first day of the trip’s mail is now in the box where before we took it in before we left.) So we now feel more uncomfortable leaving the mail in the box in front of the house while we are away. We don’t want to have the mail held as this has become a problem with our Post Office. The solution? We decided last year that we need to have a locking mailbox for the front of the house.
We have a post mail box, meaning we have the type of box that sits on top of a post, similar to those in more rural areas where the boxes sit along the side of the road so that the postal delivery person (who used to be the “mailman”) can put the mail into the box without leaving his vehicle. However, we have our post and mailbox adjacent to our front door not at the street - just a bit more secure than having the mailbox at the street.
On and off since the beginning of 2016's travel season we have been looking at replacement mail boxes. We picked out one that we liked - it is shaped like a regular post mail box (round top), but locks closed. Somehow that idea got set aside for the winter and nothing was done - not unusual as I mentioned at the start of the post - for us.
About a month or so we again went out looking at mail boxes. This time we decided that box was too small and we were looking at larger rectangular boxes. We have a choice of buying a mail box at Home Depot or Lowes. I guess Ace has them too, but they are more expensive. We made our choice.
Last week husband brings up the subject again - we go to Home Depot and Lowes and compare what they have and the prices. Looking at the box we were planning to get, we started thinking - “Hmmm, does that make it look like there something really exciting in the mail box as it is so large and locked. Will it make it more attractive to someone to break into it?” We decide to get the first mail box which looks more like a regular mail box and might not be more attractive.
Sunday we buy the mail box. Now remember, we are not morning people and our normal Sunday is a trip to Costco, BJs, and a different Walmart than usual in the next county, with lunch at the Costco. So by the time we buy the mail box and head home it around 4 pm. (Can you see where this is going?)
We take the mail box into the garage (and climb over the snow blower which we still have not bought a shed for it to live in and over the leaf blower we used 2 years ago, etc. plus all the power tools set up in this with all in disarray as husband always says “I really have to clean up in here” but we never do). We open the box and check the mail box and it looks fine. It come with 2 matching sets of 2 keys (four keys which each fit both the front and back locks on the box). The keys are there and of course get taken out of the envelope they came in. Logic would say to put one set of keys in one of our pockets and leave the other set of keys in the envelope, but both sets are taken out of the envelope.
First thing to do is remove the old mailbox from the post. We do this very easily - four small screws, two in each of the left and right sides of the mailbox. The old mailbox is set aside in the backyard - just in case this all does not work out.
We had to buy a piece for the mail box which allows it to be on the post, on a different type of post or on a wooden arm (in choice of 2 different directions). So the second thing to do is attach this piece to our post. We open the piece and take out the instructions and find the hardware needed to put it on the type of post we have. This involves putting four LONG screws into the wood of the post - two in the front and two in the back. Now understand, husband has a major assortment of power and hand tools. Problem - the hole in the piece is slightly larger than our post - it will not affect the piece sitting around the post, but the piece has to be level with the top of the post, but slides down it. We both have the same idea - he screws a scrap piece of wood diagonally over the hole and now it sits on the top of the post. We place the piece in position on top of the post. He takes out a battery operated screwdriver and starts screwing one of the back screws through the piece and into the post. It stops about half way in and will not go further. Husband goes and gets a plug in drill and tries - same problem. “I guess I should have drilled a pilot hole.” He unscrews the screw and gets a thin drill bit. The drill bit goes partway in and breaks. So now there is a drill bit in the wood where the screw needs to go. We decide to ignore this screw for now.
He goes to the front and, with a larger drill bit, drills a pilot hole and with the combination of battery operated screwdriver, plug in drill, and hand screwdriver - he finally gets the screw in. Yay! This is repeated on the other front and the other rear screw - these having their own problem as he stand on the flattened (for this purpose) branches of a shrub.. Along the way he looks at his watch and says “so much for dinner” - it will be too late to go out for dinner, as we do on Sunday evenings, when we are done. We can’t stop as it will be too dark to finish later and we won’t have a box for Monday’s mail delivery.
We test the piece and it rocks as it is missing the first screw which we were unable to put in. What to do? I came up with the idea of using the four small screws that we took out of the old mail box and post. The side of the piece to hold the mail box has holes in the side for a different assembly - but that assembly is for the piece to be raised up so the sides overlap the holes. We manage to get these screws into the side holes and the piece no longer rocks.
Third step - putting the mailbox in place. We need a key for this as the bolt heads go inside the mail box. I go back to the garage - I can only find one set of keys. Rather than waste time I figure husband has the other set and this set is plenty to work with. Putting the mailbox in place actually goes rather well. (It does bother me that a security mail box has nuts on the bottom of it connecting it to the connecting piece, which itself is screwed on by accessible screws - so either set of screws can be removed - but that is how it is.) We try the doors and they work - there is room to open the back of the box from the house door (we were worried it was too close to the house).
I then mention the missing keys. He does not have them. We go back into the garage and find them. We go into the house. I immediately take one of the keys and put it onto my key ring - just in case. We have dinner and the evening passes.
Husband suggests that we put up a “decorative” hook in the front hall for a mailbox key to be hung from - “we will look for one”. Oh yes, more time wasted shopping and juggling the key in the interim and how long will that take? Then I remember something which I did not donate when I thought to do so. A nice, small brass plate with a double hook at the bottom. I think we got it as a gift from his sister - that is in the back of my head. It was a bit “Victorian” for our “Georgian” style decor so we did not buy it. But there it is - in the bottom drawer of my desk - wow I even found it exactly where I thought it would be. He likes it and rushes to put it up.
Now we have to put a key on a piece of yarn to hang it up - here’s the single key on a ring - where is the other ring with two keys? (How can I be able to find something I haven’t seen in years on the first try, but a set of keys for something we bought the same day keeps disappearing?) We find them and I put in them with the instructions, etc. to put away. He puts the key on a piece of yarn and hangs it up.
The mail box works! We have taken in mail from it for three days now. It is not a problem to open with the key. Now we can go on a trip and not worry about the mail sitting at home snug in its locking box.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Find something you keep putting off doing - one thing. And do it! Every step forward is something done.
Epilogue -
We had to take the old mail box into the garage due to a MAJOR rain and wind storm Monday. I plan to clean it up a bit and take it to Goodwill on my next trip to same with items to donate. This will keep it out of the garbage and help someone who can use the mail box as its only problem is that we wanted a locking one - the box itself has much life left in it.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
GETTING SOME FILE CLEARING DONE
I keep the financial records for the two organizations I am treasurer of. You know - bank statements, paid bills, end of the year reports, paperwork and returns filed with Internal Revenue and our state, whatever is required by the organization’s parent organization, etc. I have one file drawer set aside for both of the organizations. I have a metal piece which is suppose to go at the back of the files in a drawer to hold them to the front that I put between the two sets of files to keep them separated.
Do to the fact that I have personal files, business files (for our 3 small businesses) and both of these organizations files in my file cabinets I use color file labels. I use red and blue labels for my embroidery chapter’s files (and also in another drawer for our personal files) and yellow and green labels for our reenactment unit (and also, in yet another drawer, our craft business files). I use the blue or green for permanent files and the red or yellow for annual files.
Huh? Well, there are files which I will clear out each year - last year’s bank statements for example - these files get a red or yellow file label - depending on whose file it is. Other files - such as government filings, copies of the meeting handouts or the treasurer’s reports - my embroidery chapter is required to keep those forever - do not get cleared out annually and basically just accumulate info in them these get blue or green labels and I know when I go through and clear out the folders for the prior year not to bother with these files.
While I am fairly good at clearing out our personal and business files every year, the organization files tend to just sit there and fill up. They are not a high priority to go through and are in the bottom drawer of their file cabinet, so I need to sit on the floor to deal with them, etc. Well, the drawer had become too full to use. We had gotten rid of a lot of our reenacting files to the new “commander” when he took over from husband, but there was/is still a lot of stuff in the file drawer.
Last week I had a bit of time somehow and decided to go through the embroidery chapter files. I found out that I had last cleared out the 2012 files. I need to keep by the chapter’s national organization 7 years of financial records - except for those I need to keep forever. (I will find out from them if I can scan these items into the computer and keep them that way when I get a chance.) I have 2 large manila envelope boxes (I love these boxes they hold so much) in my closet with the prior years files for the chapter that I kept. These go back to the prior treasurer.
I went through the boxes. While for our personal files I keep 9 years prior to the current year (making 10 years all together), I am only required to keep 7 years, so I pulled the records before 2007 - I kept 2007 and later. I went through the paperwork from each year that I was getting rid of. I shredded the bank statements and other related bank items. If I saw something I thought I should keep, I did - less than 10 papers. I then shredded everything else. I relabeled the folders and sorted 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 files of the files which should be cleared each year. I stored these in the emptied box and then put the boxes back in the top of the office closet.
Okay, it was not that simple. Particularly the putting away part - the boxes would not fit back into the space they came out of in the closet. The two boxes stand on one side, one in front of the other to the right side of the door. I tried putting in the front box and then the rear box - rear box did not fit. I took them out and tried putting in the rear box - front box would not fit. I tried shifting items around - maybe they loosened up or shifted - a plastic box fell on my head. I put that aside and tried again - the lid from another box fell on my head (more about this lid later). I finally managed to get both boxes back in - the end of a brief case had to be moved - and then get the box and the unrelated lid back in where they belong.
I was too exhausted at this time plus free time had run out to deal with the reenacting unit papers. The reenacting unit has much more paper and files in the drawer than the embroidery chapter did. The embroidery chapter files had been behind the reenacting unit files - but I had so much room in the drawer and so few of them were now from the embroidery chapter, that I now reversed it so that the reenacting unit files were to the back - or I would never see the embroidery chapter files again. Amazing what just moving out the 4 years paperwork made in the room in the drawer.
The reenactment unit actually has it’s own file drawers at our headquarters. In the upstairs hall (under the edge of the teddy bear Christmas village - yes it is still out) there are an assortment of old papers for the reenactment unit which I pulled out several years ago to take to the headquarters and store there. I need to go through them again and see what still needs or should be kept and then go through the files in the “current” drawer and deal with them. I needed to give my poor paper shredder a rest and then I will do so.
The box lid - I have had for years (decades?) a box for computer CDs, DVDs, and floppy disks. , actually I have a number of boxes - this one is being mentioned specifically here. This box holds the various system disks for the various computers we have as well as for other equipment - printers, scanners, wifi, etc. It is a long box and the lid used to be attached on one end and lift - even a lock (who knows where the key is so it is not locked) to lock it closed for security. A few years ago this box fell on the floor. The lid broke off the box and further broke so there was just a large piece of it over the disks - hence why the lid fell off onto my head. On and off I have looked for a replacement box. This accident spurred me to look further. I found a nice box that has handles which snap closed on the end (to keep the lid in place) and bought it - less than $5. I was not sure if all the disks would fit in - they did with spare room and the box was tall enough that I could transfer them with the dividers I had been using. Much safer storage for the disks and my head. Know what I did with the old box? I threw it out - no holding on to it to see what else it can be used for. I actually needed the box of disks today. We had a problem with our wifi modem and husband was hoping the installation disk would resolve the problem. I took the box down and handed him the disk. It did not help, but there it was - found in an instant.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Sometimes less than an hour’s work can make a huge difference in space for storage. What seemed like a huge job went quickly. Just watch out for (and replace) broken box lids falling on your head . :-)
Do to the fact that I have personal files, business files (for our 3 small businesses) and both of these organizations files in my file cabinets I use color file labels. I use red and blue labels for my embroidery chapter’s files (and also in another drawer for our personal files) and yellow and green labels for our reenactment unit (and also, in yet another drawer, our craft business files). I use the blue or green for permanent files and the red or yellow for annual files.
Huh? Well, there are files which I will clear out each year - last year’s bank statements for example - these files get a red or yellow file label - depending on whose file it is. Other files - such as government filings, copies of the meeting handouts or the treasurer’s reports - my embroidery chapter is required to keep those forever - do not get cleared out annually and basically just accumulate info in them these get blue or green labels and I know when I go through and clear out the folders for the prior year not to bother with these files.
While I am fairly good at clearing out our personal and business files every year, the organization files tend to just sit there and fill up. They are not a high priority to go through and are in the bottom drawer of their file cabinet, so I need to sit on the floor to deal with them, etc. Well, the drawer had become too full to use. We had gotten rid of a lot of our reenacting files to the new “commander” when he took over from husband, but there was/is still a lot of stuff in the file drawer.
Last week I had a bit of time somehow and decided to go through the embroidery chapter files. I found out that I had last cleared out the 2012 files. I need to keep by the chapter’s national organization 7 years of financial records - except for those I need to keep forever. (I will find out from them if I can scan these items into the computer and keep them that way when I get a chance.) I have 2 large manila envelope boxes (I love these boxes they hold so much) in my closet with the prior years files for the chapter that I kept. These go back to the prior treasurer.
I went through the boxes. While for our personal files I keep 9 years prior to the current year (making 10 years all together), I am only required to keep 7 years, so I pulled the records before 2007 - I kept 2007 and later. I went through the paperwork from each year that I was getting rid of. I shredded the bank statements and other related bank items. If I saw something I thought I should keep, I did - less than 10 papers. I then shredded everything else. I relabeled the folders and sorted 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 files of the files which should be cleared each year. I stored these in the emptied box and then put the boxes back in the top of the office closet.
Okay, it was not that simple. Particularly the putting away part - the boxes would not fit back into the space they came out of in the closet. The two boxes stand on one side, one in front of the other to the right side of the door. I tried putting in the front box and then the rear box - rear box did not fit. I took them out and tried putting in the rear box - front box would not fit. I tried shifting items around - maybe they loosened up or shifted - a plastic box fell on my head. I put that aside and tried again - the lid from another box fell on my head (more about this lid later). I finally managed to get both boxes back in - the end of a brief case had to be moved - and then get the box and the unrelated lid back in where they belong.
I was too exhausted at this time plus free time had run out to deal with the reenacting unit papers. The reenacting unit has much more paper and files in the drawer than the embroidery chapter did. The embroidery chapter files had been behind the reenacting unit files - but I had so much room in the drawer and so few of them were now from the embroidery chapter, that I now reversed it so that the reenacting unit files were to the back - or I would never see the embroidery chapter files again. Amazing what just moving out the 4 years paperwork made in the room in the drawer.
The reenactment unit actually has it’s own file drawers at our headquarters. In the upstairs hall (under the edge of the teddy bear Christmas village - yes it is still out) there are an assortment of old papers for the reenactment unit which I pulled out several years ago to take to the headquarters and store there. I need to go through them again and see what still needs or should be kept and then go through the files in the “current” drawer and deal with them. I needed to give my poor paper shredder a rest and then I will do so.
The box lid - I have had for years (decades?) a box for computer CDs, DVDs, and floppy disks. , actually I have a number of boxes - this one is being mentioned specifically here. This box holds the various system disks for the various computers we have as well as for other equipment - printers, scanners, wifi, etc. It is a long box and the lid used to be attached on one end and lift - even a lock (who knows where the key is so it is not locked) to lock it closed for security. A few years ago this box fell on the floor. The lid broke off the box and further broke so there was just a large piece of it over the disks - hence why the lid fell off onto my head. On and off I have looked for a replacement box. This accident spurred me to look further. I found a nice box that has handles which snap closed on the end (to keep the lid in place) and bought it - less than $5. I was not sure if all the disks would fit in - they did with spare room and the box was tall enough that I could transfer them with the dividers I had been using. Much safer storage for the disks and my head. Know what I did with the old box? I threw it out - no holding on to it to see what else it can be used for. I actually needed the box of disks today. We had a problem with our wifi modem and husband was hoping the installation disk would resolve the problem. I took the box down and handed him the disk. It did not help, but there it was - found in an instant.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -
Sometimes less than an hour’s work can make a huge difference in space for storage. What seemed like a huge job went quickly. Just watch out for (and replace) broken box lids falling on your head . :-)
Thursday, June 8, 2017
A STEP FORWARD
It is amazing how fast a week goes past. This applies both to posting on this blog as well as to getting things done.
Last night I finally got around to moving our DVD storage box (a piece of furniture on wheels) from the dining room back to our living room. Why does it get moved? Well, in December it has to be moved as the Christmas tree goes in the living room where the box normally is kept. Normally in our dining room our table is pushed to the far wall. (This was the normal thing to do in the 1700s. Furniture was kept along the walls. One would move out what one needed and then put it back after it was done being used. This was called putting the room to rest.) It matches the period of the room. Our table is 40"x40" when closed down. So when it is moved against the wall there is space in the room to walk around and space for any other uses we may find for the room. It also cuts down on how much stuff gets tossed on the table as it is further away from traffic in the room so one has to actually walk over to it to put anything on it. When the DVD storage box is in the dining room for Christmas the dining room table is moved to the center of the room - great for Christmas decorating.
The DVD storage box has extra DVDs on top of it. Last year I got rid of unused drinking glasses (almost never used in the almost 38 years we have been married) by donating them, and move some of our “good” glasses from the secretary in the living room into the now free space in the kitchen as that freed up space for DVD storage and had stored away all of the DVDs that were on top of the box - except for one set. Oddly there seems to now be more DVDs on top of the box than I found room to store last year. I will have to figure out what else to get rid of from the secretary - or where else glassware in it can be stored - to make more room for husband’s DVDs. Lots of bar ware which has never been used - I hope to talk him into getting rid of it. For those who might not know as it is no longer a common furniture piece - a secretary is a cabinet with glass doors (generally with green fabric curtains on the inside of the doors) in front of shelves for the top section and large drawers in the bottom section. Between the two sections is a door that opens downward and makes a desk area - hence the name. We used it as a bar with storage for same, plus other ‘good” glassware on the top shelves and for storage of items such as tablecloths and napkins in the drawers.
So, yes, I am still putting away things which were moved for Christmas. The dining room table is back against the wall. However, I had left a board in it just in case husband wanted to use it to take photos of table runners he has woven, but it is rare that he does so. I will pull out the board and store it in the front hall closet - the four boards are stored in a crateish piece that they came in, which is located behind the coats in this closet. I also have to put back a roll up foam pad and a green felt cover for the dining room table which came out of the same closet during the holidays and never went back.
Lest you think I now have a lovely neat dining room now - I still have the large plastic boxes to store the teddy bear Christmas village in, as well as “gift” boxes which have Christmas decorations in them - the boxes go under the tree after the decorations are taken out and it makes it look like there are gifts under the tree. These “gift” boxes store in the trunk that the teddy village is on and cannot be put away until the village is packed. I took assorted reenacting items which we are not using at the current time and had been stored in one of the box benches we bring to events and had not been bringing, but had to come out of same when we started taking the box bench to events again, into a single fabric bag and put that on the box bench until we can figure out what to do with it. There are also some items from our RV which have to go down to their new home in the basement.
Tell me, honestly, are all of your Christmas items stored away yet?
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Anything done is a step forward. Every step forward takes you on your journey to a neater, more organized house. If a step backwards happens - work at getting back to where you were and then taking a step forward. Walking is one step after another, so is organizing.
Last night I finally got around to moving our DVD storage box (a piece of furniture on wheels) from the dining room back to our living room. Why does it get moved? Well, in December it has to be moved as the Christmas tree goes in the living room where the box normally is kept. Normally in our dining room our table is pushed to the far wall. (This was the normal thing to do in the 1700s. Furniture was kept along the walls. One would move out what one needed and then put it back after it was done being used. This was called putting the room to rest.) It matches the period of the room. Our table is 40"x40" when closed down. So when it is moved against the wall there is space in the room to walk around and space for any other uses we may find for the room. It also cuts down on how much stuff gets tossed on the table as it is further away from traffic in the room so one has to actually walk over to it to put anything on it. When the DVD storage box is in the dining room for Christmas the dining room table is moved to the center of the room - great for Christmas decorating.
The DVD storage box has extra DVDs on top of it. Last year I got rid of unused drinking glasses (almost never used in the almost 38 years we have been married) by donating them, and move some of our “good” glasses from the secretary in the living room into the now free space in the kitchen as that freed up space for DVD storage and had stored away all of the DVDs that were on top of the box - except for one set. Oddly there seems to now be more DVDs on top of the box than I found room to store last year. I will have to figure out what else to get rid of from the secretary - or where else glassware in it can be stored - to make more room for husband’s DVDs. Lots of bar ware which has never been used - I hope to talk him into getting rid of it. For those who might not know as it is no longer a common furniture piece - a secretary is a cabinet with glass doors (generally with green fabric curtains on the inside of the doors) in front of shelves for the top section and large drawers in the bottom section. Between the two sections is a door that opens downward and makes a desk area - hence the name. We used it as a bar with storage for same, plus other ‘good” glassware on the top shelves and for storage of items such as tablecloths and napkins in the drawers.
So, yes, I am still putting away things which were moved for Christmas. The dining room table is back against the wall. However, I had left a board in it just in case husband wanted to use it to take photos of table runners he has woven, but it is rare that he does so. I will pull out the board and store it in the front hall closet - the four boards are stored in a crateish piece that they came in, which is located behind the coats in this closet. I also have to put back a roll up foam pad and a green felt cover for the dining room table which came out of the same closet during the holidays and never went back.
Lest you think I now have a lovely neat dining room now - I still have the large plastic boxes to store the teddy bear Christmas village in, as well as “gift” boxes which have Christmas decorations in them - the boxes go under the tree after the decorations are taken out and it makes it look like there are gifts under the tree. These “gift” boxes store in the trunk that the teddy village is on and cannot be put away until the village is packed. I took assorted reenacting items which we are not using at the current time and had been stored in one of the box benches we bring to events and had not been bringing, but had to come out of same when we started taking the box bench to events again, into a single fabric bag and put that on the box bench until we can figure out what to do with it. There are also some items from our RV which have to go down to their new home in the basement.
Tell me, honestly, are all of your Christmas items stored away yet?
THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Anything done is a step forward. Every step forward takes you on your journey to a neater, more organized house. If a step backwards happens - work at getting back to where you were and then taking a step forward. Walking is one step after another, so is organizing.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
TO TRAVEL OR NOT TO TRAVEL - THAT IS THE QUESTION?
I have mentioned that we have a very small RV. We had planned to go away last week from Tuesday through Friday for Memorial Day. Hotels are had enough to get a holiday reservation; RV parks basically one has to book a year in advance - some more than that. Since people tend to return to the same parks year to year, one has to find a space that the people who have been going there no longer want. So going away Memorial Day weekend is next to impossible with the RV. But if one goes during the week before or after and is not there over the weekend, it is much easier. There is also the problem that unlike many hotel reservations which may be canceled until the last minute - or almost the last minute - and one gets a refund, RV parks have much stricter cancellation rules. We try not to make reservations until we know we are going.
Last week we went from day to day planning to go - but it was always going to rain while we planned to be away. Understand, we are not “made of sugar”, we do not melt in rain, but when is paying for a trip and the events which one is planning to go to are all outside - such as farmer’s markets, where large numbers of the outside vendors don’t come if it rains or leave very early - it is a waste of money to go. (This is the same problem we had earlier in the year when trying to drive down to Pennsylvania for a day and the same farmer’s markets.)
So we did not go. We figured we go this week. But again, rain, rain, rain. We finally pushed it back to going away tomorrow and coming back Friday (the next day). Now it is to rain on, yes, Friday. The market will be light on vendors.
In addition to husband wanting to go away and the fact that we are paying a large loan monthly on this RV which we are having a problem using, the darn thing has barely been driven since last October. Oh sure, it has gone up the block to the service station and once for gas, but mostly it has sat on its wheels with its car battery not getting charged - RV batteries are plugged in twice monthly to keep them charged - not a good thing for an engine. So it really needs a trip also.
So, we decided to drive it up to Connecticut for a day - go to a large store there we like to stop at and then on to a casino for dinner (no really, we go, we eat dinner, walk around and come home - no gambling). We know that the store and the casino have parking for the RV - we have picked this casino over another as the other has the RV parking far away and we would need to depend on a shuttle back and forth.
We then had to find a routing to the store. It is apparently too new, despite being over 5 years old, for many GPS programs. We found this out on our last trip when the GPS we used got us lost in a less than desirable looking area as it did not know where the store is. In addition in Connecticut, as in New York, it can not go on “parkways” and the GPS devices route using a parkway there. We finally got the routing straightened out. Yippee!
Immediately after getting the routing straightened out, the weather comes on during the news - not only will it rain there, but there will tornadoes. Tornadoes? This is not a tornado area! So we still do not know if we are going or not - tomorrow.
Now, how does this relate to organizing? Ever try to organize to go on a trip? Not so easy, huh? Now imagine if the trip was on - off - on - off - date changed - off - on - off - date changed again - location changed...
I did the clothing laundry yesterday so we could pack today. Well, at least it is done. We will throw a change of clothes in the RV just in case.
Today I went out and finally did some prep work on the RV. I cleaned the toilet - when we dewinterized it, the toilet was full of mold - and we cannot use any normal cleaner in it as it cannot have bleach or Lysol used on it. I had to use vinegar to sanitize it and dish soap to clean it.
I also brought out a bag of assorted items to be returned to the RV - small items. Also the bedding and towels - we brought them in when it went for the state inspection. I took inventory of supplies - plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues. Also hand soap, dish soap, and mouthwash. I added a small spray bottle o vinegar in case we have a mold problem again. I noted what we need to replace - at this point if we go we will have to bring items we are using at home - like toothpaste - until we buy replacements for what we took out last fall.
Normally I would make up the bed before a trip. I was going to even though we don’t plan on sleeping, but I had other things to do and the bed is too time consuming to deal with. Everything is there if I need to make it up. http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2016/06/making-up-bed-in-very-small-space-our-rv.html
I just packed some snacks - much less than usual - crackers for the front of the car in case either or both of us has low blood glucose. A small plastic box with 2 packages of cereal and some diet brownies. I also pulled out our Saturday pills and put them into a small travel box. Why Saturday? If we come home as we plan to, we want our Friday pills in their proper places and would have a day to put back Saturday whether we stay away an extra day or come home.
It is not at all easy to stay organized when one is not sure if one will be going away or for how long, especially when one has to deal with home - the house one lives in - and travel home - the RV one will be traveling in. Plus I had to get out the monthly newsletter for my embroidery chapter - I had planned to bring the info if we were away this week and send it out from wherever we were. It did go out on time.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - Don’t over think things. (We do.) Things will always go wrong. Sometimes one can plan and plan to no avail.
Sometimes one even has to stay with the broken cell phone that doesn’t get Internet on the cell service as all of the Androids are physically too big for my pockets and my hands.
Last week we went from day to day planning to go - but it was always going to rain while we planned to be away. Understand, we are not “made of sugar”, we do not melt in rain, but when is paying for a trip and the events which one is planning to go to are all outside - such as farmer’s markets, where large numbers of the outside vendors don’t come if it rains or leave very early - it is a waste of money to go. (This is the same problem we had earlier in the year when trying to drive down to Pennsylvania for a day and the same farmer’s markets.)
So we did not go. We figured we go this week. But again, rain, rain, rain. We finally pushed it back to going away tomorrow and coming back Friday (the next day). Now it is to rain on, yes, Friday. The market will be light on vendors.
In addition to husband wanting to go away and the fact that we are paying a large loan monthly on this RV which we are having a problem using, the darn thing has barely been driven since last October. Oh sure, it has gone up the block to the service station and once for gas, but mostly it has sat on its wheels with its car battery not getting charged - RV batteries are plugged in twice monthly to keep them charged - not a good thing for an engine. So it really needs a trip also.
So, we decided to drive it up to Connecticut for a day - go to a large store there we like to stop at and then on to a casino for dinner (no really, we go, we eat dinner, walk around and come home - no gambling). We know that the store and the casino have parking for the RV - we have picked this casino over another as the other has the RV parking far away and we would need to depend on a shuttle back and forth.
We then had to find a routing to the store. It is apparently too new, despite being over 5 years old, for many GPS programs. We found this out on our last trip when the GPS we used got us lost in a less than desirable looking area as it did not know where the store is. In addition in Connecticut, as in New York, it can not go on “parkways” and the GPS devices route using a parkway there. We finally got the routing straightened out. Yippee!
Immediately after getting the routing straightened out, the weather comes on during the news - not only will it rain there, but there will tornadoes. Tornadoes? This is not a tornado area! So we still do not know if we are going or not - tomorrow.
Now, how does this relate to organizing? Ever try to organize to go on a trip? Not so easy, huh? Now imagine if the trip was on - off - on - off - date changed - off - on - off - date changed again - location changed...
I did the clothing laundry yesterday so we could pack today. Well, at least it is done. We will throw a change of clothes in the RV just in case.
Today I went out and finally did some prep work on the RV. I cleaned the toilet - when we dewinterized it, the toilet was full of mold - and we cannot use any normal cleaner in it as it cannot have bleach or Lysol used on it. I had to use vinegar to sanitize it and dish soap to clean it.
I also brought out a bag of assorted items to be returned to the RV - small items. Also the bedding and towels - we brought them in when it went for the state inspection. I took inventory of supplies - plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, and tissues. Also hand soap, dish soap, and mouthwash. I added a small spray bottle o vinegar in case we have a mold problem again. I noted what we need to replace - at this point if we go we will have to bring items we are using at home - like toothpaste - until we buy replacements for what we took out last fall.
Normally I would make up the bed before a trip. I was going to even though we don’t plan on sleeping, but I had other things to do and the bed is too time consuming to deal with. Everything is there if I need to make it up. http://wheredidileavethat.blogspot.com/2016/06/making-up-bed-in-very-small-space-our-rv.html
I just packed some snacks - much less than usual - crackers for the front of the car in case either or both of us has low blood glucose. A small plastic box with 2 packages of cereal and some diet brownies. I also pulled out our Saturday pills and put them into a small travel box. Why Saturday? If we come home as we plan to, we want our Friday pills in their proper places and would have a day to put back Saturday whether we stay away an extra day or come home.
It is not at all easy to stay organized when one is not sure if one will be going away or for how long, especially when one has to deal with home - the house one lives in - and travel home - the RV one will be traveling in. Plus I had to get out the monthly newsletter for my embroidery chapter - I had planned to bring the info if we were away this week and send it out from wherever we were. It did go out on time.
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK - Don’t over think things. (We do.) Things will always go wrong. Sometimes one can plan and plan to no avail.
Sometimes one even has to stay with the broken cell phone that doesn’t get Internet on the cell service as all of the Androids are physically too big for my pockets and my hands.
Thursday, May 25, 2017
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.
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.
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