Today’s Business: 2010-06-11
Friday, June 11th, 2010Today’s Activities
- Shower. DONE.
- Cat duty. DONE.
- Balance all checking accounts.
Log
07:00 AM: I’m up briefly. Looks like another sunny day is in store.
08:30 AM: [Emmy] called. She’s very much enjoying her trip back east. They’re heading up to her Mom’s cabin in upstate NY this evening. Not goo cell phone service there. So we might not get to chat again until Sunday, when they return to Lancaster. So, thoughtful [Emmy] rang me to say good bye and to wish me a nice weekend. But now, I’m going back to bed. I suppose all that weed whacking yesterday really played me out.
10:25 AM: I’m up for good now.
11:00 AM: Started a pork roast with vegetables. Pork and veggies is fast becoming my favorite weekly meals. It’s got a great flavor, and I need not feel guilty about indulging a little, as this meat is relatively low in fat as compared to beef. Pork is about as satisfying and I can feel satiated on fewer pork calories than beef calories. But, I’ll still enjoy my t-bone steaks periodically. Pork is good; but not that good.
02:30 PM: Watched today’s episode of The Young and the Restless, and last night’s episode of NBC’s Nightly News on the DVR.
04:15 PM: Talked with [Emmy] just now. She’s getting ready for the trip to NY in a couple hours. She’s excited to see the water falls at the cabin and to enjoy some extended quality time with her mother; something she’s not had much of over the past several years. She’s excited.
06:30 PM: Napped, and watched the 2010-06-09 episode of Dr. Phil; the You Can Negotiate Anything episode. I’m saving these shows for [Emmy] to see when next she comes here later this month, for our summer camp extravaganza.
06:35 PM: Oh, and the pork roast turned out excellent; just had some. Yum.
06:37 PM: Just went to use my Royal paper shredder. But it failed to respond when I slid some sheets to be shredded into its mouth. It reverses okay but will not start when in the forward (shred) position. Inspection revealed that the pilot lamp is lit at only half brightness and flickering besides. So, either this LED is going bad, or (as is more likely the case) the switching power supply that supplies electricity to the control system is malfunctioning. Hmmm; another thing to check out. I’ve had this thing now thought for at least six years. So perhaps I’ll price some new ones. This one may not be worth fixing.
06:45 PM: Mom says that she’s still having problems with her phone — garbled signals. So she called the cable company again, and I wound up talking with them. Now, we do have an old cordless phone that, when it’s too close to my WiFi access point, gets choppy; the two devices both operate in the 2.4 Ghz. band. I know about that issue and this won’t be solved until we get rid of that phone. But I don’t think this is what she’s complaining about. She hears the garbling even when she’s using a cord phone. Well, we plugged a phone directly into our modem and the technican said it sounded good, and he sounded good to me. So at least from the cable company’s switch to the service entrance here at the house, all is well. So he asked us to try calling a few of the numbers where we heard the muffled vocals earlier, with the direct connection to the modem. I did that and all calls sounded fine. But this doesn’t tell the whole story however, because the issue is intermittent. Sometimes, the calls sound muffled. But at most other times, they sound great. I really don’t think they’re going to find anything here that’s causing all of what Mom’s hearing.
07:05 PM: Mom’s friend brought my ladder back this evening. I’ve since carried it to a more secure location and next time I’m in Altoona, I’ll get chains, locks, nuts, washers, and eye bolts to secure it to the wall. I can’t have people taking it away without asking first.
07:50 PM: Watched tonight’s episode of NBC’s Nightly News on the DVR.
10:00 PM: Watched yesterday’s and today’s episodes of Dr. Phil.
10:05 PM: Facebooked here and there throughout the day. Didn’t write much there but expanded my network of friends to 301 people.
10:55 PM: Recorded audio journal episode: AJE-2010-06-11-22-16.
12:00 AM: Bed time. See you tomorrow.
Received Mail and Shipments
- The Writer magazine: the 2010-06 issue.
- Analog Science Fiction: the 2010-06 issue.
- Red Lobster gift card; Mom must have purchased it.
- Electricity bill for $145.14.
- Offer from stamps.com of some free postage if I sign up for their services. Not at the time, thanks; but perhaps later.
- Mouser Electronics store product card.
- Radio shack catalog.
- New cell phone offer from Verizon. Not at this time, thanks; but definitely later.
- Mom’s dental bill.
- Life insurance offer from AARP. No thanks.