COMCAST APPOINTMENT #4

At 9:30 am my doorbell rang and I was still in my pajamas.  Comcast was supposed to call before coming but they were at my door.  The cable guy came in and switched the cable box in a few minutes.  Everything with that TV worked great.

Ten minutes after he left I checked the TV downstairs and all the channels that are pay channels didn't work.  No MTV, no HBO, no LOGO.  UGH!  I called Comcast and told them what happened.  Turned out the cable guy took out the cable box that didn't work from upstairs but he turned off the cable box from downstairs that did work.  They tried to fix it over the phone but they could not.  They had to schedule a tech to come out.  One and half hours later I get my fourth phone call from Comcast from the tech that came that morning apologizing from turning off the wrong cable box. He already turned it back on.  Everything was working.  Yeah!  Hopefully this is the end of my Comcast visits for a while.

Now do you see why I hesitate calling Comcast?  It is never easy with them.  It is always 3-4 visits. A week or two of Comcast.  At least this time it was escalated to a supervisor quickly.  I have clear and watchable cable again one year later.  Yay!

Then I finished my tax preparation for my tax meeting tomorrow.  What a day.

Until tomorrow...

COMCAST APPOINTMENT #3

I had taken photos of the continuing flickering of the cable picture to show the cable guy.  This morning I called the cable guy's supervisor.  I explained the situation and he said he would be at my home in a few hours.

When they arrived, they tested this and that.  It turned out that the cable boxes are old and some part of them was "full" and not able to work correctly anymore.  Really??  That was why I was having more and more issues.  They checked all the wires and even brought in the cherrypicker to check the outside wires.  New boxes were installed and checked.  All the TVs were checked and they all worked. I was happy.  After two hours they left.

I worked on my taxes for a few hours and then made dinner and sat down to watch some TV.  The remote control launched the channel guide but the arrows would not work.  I could not go up and down or left and right.  I could not get the guide to turn off.  I tried another remote control (I have a few with all the cable boxes I have had) and still no luck.

I finally went within inches of the cable box and I could change the channel.  Something was wrong with the new cable box.  UGH! I called the cable supervisor (he worked late on Saturdays) and he said he could not come by tonight but he would arrange someone to come by Sunday morning.

I checked the box downstairs and it worked great so I watched TV downstairs.

Until tomorrow...

MACARONI AND CHEESE

What is your most requested comfort food?  Mine is probably ice cream. Then pizza. But back in my college days I used to love to come home from a night out and make Kraft macaroni and cheese at 2 am.  Since I am lactose intolerant my days of eating mac and cheese are long over. Then I became vegan and there was no way I was going to eat Mac and cheese.

Until today! A new product came out. Daiya Vegan Mac and cheese. I bought it a few weeks ago but I have been too suspicious to try it. I tried vegan items before and have been very disappointed.

Not this time. The Daiya macaroni and cheese is delicious!  I haven't had Mac and cheese in 30 years and it tastes SO good. I want to eat the whole box like in my college days.  It is so creamy and cheesy. It has that yellow-orange look. I ate it with vegan hot dogs.  Now I am going to have one of my homemade vegan "Reese's" peanut butter cups. What a great dinner.

I have a new favorite comfort food. Yum!!

Until tomorrow...

WHERE WAS THE SOCIAL WORKER?

I went to the Family Fair for my foster/adoption today.  I was supposed to meet a social worker to talk about a child.  After driving 2.5 hours to the site, the social worker was not in attendance.  I was a bit disappointed.  Okay, I cried.  I was tired from the drive and frustrated that I went that far and she wasn't there.  I pulled it together and met some other people so the whole day was not a loss.

Until tomorrow...

DAY WITHOUT A WOMAN

Today was International Women's Day.  It was also Day Without a Woman.  I participated.  I closed my consulting company for the day.  I went down to a protest/strike gathering.  It was energizing. 

It was also Lucky's birthday!  She is probably 8 or 9 years old.  She still acts like a puppy.  To celebrate we all went to the doctor's office.  Lucky needed her nails cut and her anal glands cleaned out.  She was in a much better mood after that.  I guess that would put me in a bad mood too.

Happy had her nails cut and her shots. 

Then the Comcast guy came. Visit #2.  He installed the part.  It didn't change the flickering picture.  We moved cable boxes around.  It didn't change the flickering picture.  I keep telling them it is the outside. They won't believe me. 

In the evening I had my neighborhood watch.  It was a smashing success.  We had a guest speaker and for about 2 hours there was a scare that he was not going to show up.  I had made this arrangement 1.5 months ago and I was a little angry that he was blowing us off.  But he showed up and was a great speaker. The group wants another meeting in a few months.

The day was so great.  I have other positive news but I want to keep that to myself right now.  More on it tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

SOCIAL WORKER, CATWOMAN AND ALEXA

I found out my social worker for my foster/adoption is retiring in a month.  This has it's pros and cons.  She has been working part time and this means she is hard to get a hold of some times.  It also means that I have to break in a  new social worker and hopefully we click.  I am sure we will be fine.  It is a chance to meet a new person.

A friend gave me this for my birthday, isn't it cool?

CATWOMAN!!  I am putting it on the same shelf as my Hermione wand and Hedwig the owl.  Just a little geek out.

As you probably have figured out I have been checking things to do off my list.  Today I finally called Amazon about my Amazon Echo remote.  When I changed passwords and wifi in my home, my Amazon Echo didn't work.   I finally got that to work and then the remote didn't work.  I tried for days to "pair" them to no avail.  Giving up each time.  The reason I need the remote is with my 1920 walls, Alexa can't hear me increase or decrease the volume when the phone rings so I have to get up to turn her on or off.  Thus defeating the purpose of having Alexa.  The remote is great.  I keep it with me when I am working and I can talk into it and turn Alexa on and off, mute her or even ask her questions. When Alexa stopped working I stopped using the Echo very much.  Today I called Amazon to see if I was doing something wrong.  The remote was broken.  It just died.  Sob.  Amazon is so great even though it is not under warranty, they credited me a new remote.  It arrives on Thursday!  I feel I will be more productive with my Alexa working again.

Until tomorrow...

GARBAGE DISPOSAL

Yesterday I made this awesome and delicious soup.  It is White Bean and Barley Soup with Tomatoes and Greens.   It is hearty and tasty.  Perfect for these rainy days.

Oh, and it hailed last night.  I got up to take one of the dogs out at 1:30am and the deck was covered with hail.  It is SO cold here.  I heard the hills have been snow covered for the last two nights.  That is very rare.

Today the plumber came to fix the garbage disposal.  Turns out it was dying.  I also found out that it was a makeshift install and a part was missing.  I had the plumber install a new one.  It is SO quiet now.  And not smelly!  He also checked my sewer line and it was good.

Until tomorrow...

HAIL?!

Today Happy (my dog) went out int he backyard to pee and out of nowhere it started to hail.  She stood in the backyard for a minute like she was shocked.  You see Happy is a tropical dog from the island Palau.  She has not ever seen hail or snow.  She ran under a tree and very quickly urinated.  She then ran into the house like something was chasing her.  When she got inside she shook to get all that hail off her and looked at me very confused.  Then she barked and ran up the stairs to her bed.

It was so funny to see her reaction.  I wish I could take her to a snowy area to see her reaction to snow.

Until tomorrow...

LOGAN

Today was my birthday movie with friends.  I have been waiting to see Logan and it didn't disappoint.  But first, the previews were so crazy.  There is a new Aliens coming and it is SO scary looking.  I had to watch the preview through my fingers.  And a new Fast and Furious.  I can't wait.

Logan was excellent.  It did not disappoint.  I don't want to spoil it for you.  It was action, action, action!  It is rated R and is not for the faint of heart.

Until tomorrow...

TABLE 19

My day started with a visit from Comcast.  For those of you who read all the time, you might remember I had a problem with Comcast almost exactly a year ago.  I had them come to fix the cable issue at least three times and still it was not fixed.

Then I went on vacation, got sick with meningitis, the flu, and got back to work.  Then I started the adoption process.  I never could come up with the time to get the cable fixed.  I know it is going to be a long process.  Last year it was three appointments and they could not fix it.  Who knows how many appointments it will take to fix this time.

The problem has gotten worse and now I can't watch a show most times without having the picture  flicker.  It is annoying.  The guy came and didn't have the part he needed.  He is coming back Wednesday.  Appointment 1 done.

Then the gardener came and cleared out the backyard.  It looks great.

Then the handyman came and did a few things.

I went to see Table19 at the movies.  I thought it was a comedy but it is more of a romcom.  It was funny but a little sappy for me.  I liked it.

Until tomorrow..