(ALMOST) DEATH TO THE ROKU REMOTE

Last night Brenda and I decided to watch a movie on the Roku. To do that you must use the Roku remote control to pick the movie, stop and start the movie.  Since I have to keep my leg elevated, we decided to open up the convertible couch.  While my foot has caused me so much trouble, Brenda has really had to pick up a lot of slack. So I thought I would be helpful and open the couch myself.

I began pulling of the cushions when the remote controls that I had sat on the arm of the couch, went flying.  One flew on the floor, another on the couch, and the Roku controller went head first in a frosty glass of iced tea.  The iced tea proceeded to spill all over the little table, my kindle, iPad, and clock radio. It took me a few moments to realize that the controller had gone into the iced tea because Roku controllers are quite tiny and it was completely submerged except for the wrist strap.  If it had been an earlier version of Roku it would have taken me longer to find it since the earlier versions had no wrist strap!

Once I realized what had occurred, I yelled for paper towels and began taking everything out of the tea.  Brenda came running with a little towel and I sent her back for more paper towels. I dried off the remote and then I remembered that commercial where the guy drops his cellphone in the toilet and he puts it in rice.  I quickly got a bunch of rice and put it in a plastic container and submerged the remote again.  I figure if it works for cellphones, why not remote controls?

I then finished cleaning up the mess.  The kindle, iPad and clock came of it unscathed.  Then we sat down and stared at the TV.  What to do?  We have a movie we want to watch but no controller to watch it.  Ah, we have another Roku, let's use that remote.  After 5-10 minutes of trying, that was a bust. Different versions of Roku don't work together.

So, I did what any person with average intelligence would do: I Googled it.  Turns out Roku has an app for that!  There is an app for my cellphone (or iPad) that will turn it into a Roku remote controller. How crazy is that?   All this time I never needed that stupid controller anyway.  Took me 2 minutes to get it downloaded and working.

Now you want to know what movie we watched?  The remake of About Last Night. It was funny.  I still like the original better. In fact if you look carefully, there is a scene where two of the characters are watching the original movie and debating whether it is a chick flick. I think some times Kevin Hart seems like he tries too hard to be funny.

The Roku remote worked just fine this morning when I took it out of the rice.

Until tomorrow...

CREDIT CARD FRAUD

This week I got a call from my credit card company. They wanted to know if I charged $468.00 at Safeway. Uh, no.

The credit card company assured me that they didn't pay the charge because it seemed peculiar. I still had my credit card in my possession so the number had to be taken when I charged something. I asked if there were other charges. There were no other bad charges and the last time I used it was at a restaurant on Monday. Prior to that I had not used my credit card for more than a week. I am sure if it were stolen a week ago, they wouldn't wait to start using it.

I am very careful with my credit cards. I have one credit card that I use for online purchases only. Another for everyday purchases. I don't use my bank card as a debit card. I don't carry more cards than I need. I use cash if I feel at all like there is anything suspicious.

Most likely someone at the restaurant took the credit card number. Too many people touch your credit card at a restaurant. The waiter takes your credit card, the bartender runs the card, and the bus boy picked it up at the end. Then there is the bookkeeper and god knows who else after you leave.  I called the restaurant and let the manager know. At first he seemed like he didn't care. But then he said he would talk to the owner and get back to me. I have heard nothing.

The credit card company was wonderful. 24 hours later I had a new card with a new number. I went online and checked my charges and there were no other bad charges. They were on it!

I have a protection service that I pay for. So I would have seen this charge after it went through. A little too late.

This is a reminder to check your statements carefully. You never know when someone is going to charge $460 worth of groceries to your card. I still can't imagine what they bought for $460!

Until tomorrow...

BACK ON CRUTCHES

Went to the doc today and got the big news about my foot. Seems I have a 1. "horizontally oriented non displaced trabecular stress fracture distal third metatarsal shaft with associated periosteal new bone formation, intense bone edema, and extreme subperiosteal edema." 2. "No evidence of intermetatarsal space mass or bursitis." 3. "Bipartite tibial sesamoid bone with intense stress reaction."

Number 1 means I have a stress fracture that is beginning to heal. Yay! The fracture is in the bone in my foot directly in from my middle toe.  The bone edema is a reaction to the stress fracture. There is swelling in the bone. It should go away once the fracture heals.

Number 2 gives me good news: no bursitis or neuroma.

Number 3 this means my big toe bone is having an intense stress reaction.  Probably from walking funny from the pain.

All this does not explain the swelling, pain, redness and heat coming off my foot.  The doc thinks I have RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome). That means my sympathetic nervous system is having an excessive response to pain.  Burning pain, edema, sensitive to touch, and warm to the touch are some of the symptoms.  To fix it I need to stay off my foot, so I am on crutches. I also need to go physical therapy and do exercises at home. 

She seems to think I will be ready to do the bike ride in August.  Can you believe I hurt my foot 2 months ago?  

Now there is a plan! Yay!!

Until tomorrow...

SLEPT THROUGH MRI

Had my MRI today. It went great. I slept through most of it. The only hitch was that in my sleepiness, I went to the wrong address. Luckily I was early and had enough time to get to the right address in time.

Tomorrow I get the results. Keep your fingers crossed it is something easily solved and not too painful.

Today I picked up the tiles to finish the bathroom. Yay!

Until tomorrow...

MRI TOMORROW FINALLY

After three phone calls, I finally have my MRI scheduled for tomorrow at 7:15 am. Since I am almost unable to walk, it can't come soon enough.

Wish me luck!

Until tomorrow...

SPEAKING UP

Today a friend, named D, told me a story of how a friend of hers said something to her that was shocking and offensive. D was so surprised that she could not respond. Days later D is telling us this story and she said she was going to stop being friends with this person.  

In the past year I have had two 20 year friendships come to an end. Both came to an end with no explanation. No discussion.  

I told D that I felt this person deserved her telling him that he had offended her. I explained it is horrible to have someone end a friendship and not tell you why or give you a chance to apologize for what you did wrong. 

I have a friend, I will call her C, who I one time said something to and she miss heard me. She got angry at me.  I could not figure out why she was calling me back. I finally left a voicemail saying I apologize if I said or did something to upset you but please tell what it is. She called me back and said I thought you said XYZ and it was so not like you. I said oh, my goodness I would have never said that!!  I thought back to the conversation and realized I may have said something similar and we were on cellphones. It would have been easy to think I said XYZ when I said WXY. We both laughed.  It was a miscommunication.  We made a promise that we would not let a miscommunication get in the way of our friendship again.

I was happy I spoke up today.  Happy Memorial Day!!

Until tomorrow...

COOKING ON MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

This weekend I decided to do some cooking so I would not chained to a stove all weekend.

First I made Broccoli Salad.  I left out the bacon and onion because I don't eat them.   The dressing is a combination of sweet and tangy and the broccoli is crunchy.  I was surprised how much I like this.  It was better once it got chilled.

Then I made Couscous Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans.  It is a sweet salad with the lemon and cranberries. This salad was easy to make.  It is a really light salad.

To finish off the meal I grilled some sweet potato slices and portobello mushroom caps.  I put the mushrooms on a bun with a spread that I made with basil(from my garden), mayo, Dijon mustard and lemon juice.  I used rosemary from my garden to cook the sweet potatoes.

Good food for the whole weekend!

Until tomorrow...

ALL AROUND GOOD NEWS: CITATION AND PILLOW

I finally got the throw pillow for the balcony bench. I love sitting on this bench that overlooks our backyard and has a great view for miles. I bought the pillow on sale and to avoid the shipping charges, I had it sent to the store. This week was so crazy I could not get to the store to pick it up. Today I drove over and got it.  I think it looks great. Now I can sit length-wise and lean on the wall with my feet up and not break my back!

I also have some great news! I got a letter today concerning my citation on Easter.  Looking back I realized I don't think I mentioned my parking citation.  On Easter Day Brenda and I went to the beach to watch surfers attempt to surf. We brought a picnic and had a good but chilly time.  When we got back to the car, we had a $38 citation. I was miffed because I paid for a 4 hour parking pass that you put on the dashboard.  Brenda had put it on the passenger side and when she closed the door it slid under the windshield wiper a bit. But if the person had put in some effort they would have seen it was there.

When I got home I wrote this letter explaining that I paid for a ticket, etc. I mailed the ticket and a copy of my parking pass along with my appeal. Today we got the best news: "Your appeal has been granted. Amount owed $0."  Justice  for the little guy!  I did my happy dance.   This paid for my outdoor pillow plus burritos for both of us!!

Until tomorrow...

WINDOWS 7

My desktop computer that I use as a secondary and back-up computer, is running on Windows XP. It runs pretty well since it's little glitch about 1.5 years ago.  If you have been reading the papers or watching the news, XP has ended. There are no more updates, programs won't run on it anymore and Norton virus software will not work on it anymore. This has now become a problem.

Today I went over to the computer store to find out my options. This computer was bought on the cusp of the Windows 7 rollout.  I was supposed to have been sent Windows 7 disks in the mail but when I ipopened the envelop, it was XP disks. They sent me the wrong disks.  Now I have to buy Windows 7 and install it.  This is my worst nightmare. Wiping clean a computer and reinstalling all the programs. Ugh!

When I get Windows, the process will begin.

Until tomorrow...

SHOWER IS FINISHED!

Today the renovation of the shower has finished.  Yay!  The shower looks awesome. 

 Here is what it looked like before:

The concrete floor of the shower was cracked and leaking.

The next thing is to fix the front of the bathtub.  The concrete is flaking off there too.  The tile will be delivered next week and then they can be installed.

I can't wait to take a shower in my new shower!

Until tomorrow...