TV Weirdness

We've had some weird things going on with our satellite TV service. Suspicious things, really. Not, like, the TV turning on by itself in the middle of the night, but these things are just... suspicious.

On Saturday our satellite lost its signal. It said "Complete Signal Loss", gave the list of idiotic things to check, and then said to give them a call if your problem does not go away. The dumb part is that it wasn't storming, it wasn't windy, and nothing was going on when this happened. Jarrod was watching the TV as it happened; he said it started to get fuzzy, and then it just went out.

After seeing this "Complete Signal Loss" screen for more than an hour, I knew exactly what this meant: we would have to call a service tech to come out here to fix it, which we would also have to pay for, which is stupid.

I knew this because exactly one year ago to the day, we had this exact same problem. At the time, there was a storm, and our TV went out during the storm, which is par for the course; I don't care how many times they tell you, when they're installing your setup, 'No, you have a perfect signal, no obstructions, it should hardly ever go out', they are lying, it always goes out during rain. I remembered it went out on Saturday, we called the company on Sunday, and they sent a guy out on Monday, Labor Day last year, to fix it.

Jarrod called the company today and was aggravated and stern with the service reps on the phone. He didn't yell at them, but he was firm and stayed the course with his point that: No, I'm not paying for a service call for you guys to come fix your equipment that we pay to lease when we did absolutely nothing to it. All of the error codes coming back were saying it was something with cables, and they kept asking if we had moved the equipment or whatnot. Again, Jarrod was sitting in the living room while he watched the signal go out, so no, we did not move anything around.

The first person he talked with wouldn't budge on the price. They kept insisting he either pay for the service call, which is $95, or buy the protection plan for a year, which at $8 a month works out to be $96, how convenient. Once he mentioned he'd have to talk it over with me and that we were thinking of switching anyways, they told him to hold on and they put him through to another person. No surprise there, as soon as you say you'll switch they usually try to work with you, but he wasn't lying. He talked at length with a guy from Charter yesterday about what their TV packages offered and would cost. Long story short, they finally agreed to send someone out tomorrow at no charge! Thank goodness.

Jarrod barbecued steak tonight, which on a normal day would be cool, but tonight it was really cool because he has not grilled anything in for-ev-er. He's been so busy with the basement that he has not had time for it; I seriously think this is the first time he's grilled all summer. After we were done eating dinner, he sat down in the recliner and joked "Let's see what's on the tube tonight."

He turned the TV on and funny story: we had channels again. We were both so aghast. I think I stood there with my mouth hanging open for ten seconds. Lo and behold, our satellite magically works again. No joke.

This entire thing is just so odd. And it's hard not to think up theories and suspicions about it.

• How weird is it that exactly one year ago TO THE DAY this happened, it happens again?
• And for no reason?
• And then after complaining and complaining on the phone, getting them to agree to eat the dumb cost of the service call, hours later, it just magically works again? 
• Really?
• It's almost like, if you put up with it for long enough, it'll fix itself. They just want you to have to pay for a service call. 

Clearly they didn't need to send someone out, because I have a hard time understanding how this went on for two full days with it never fixing itself. But once we called, and complained, and threatened to leave, and they would have to send someone out, for no charge, it fixes itself? Yeah, they had to have done something on their end, otherwise I'd really like them to explain this one to me.

I cancelled our service call. I thought about leaving it where it was and then letting the guy get here and then say "Oh, well, it works again." but I nixed that idea. I didn't want to waste his time. Who knows if we'll still have Dish by this time next year, or if we'll have "cut the cord" by then, but if we still do, I'll know to be prepared for my TV to go out Labor Day weekend.

Number Nine

It's nine months today!! Once again, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to make it without a hospital tune up, but then againi said something similar last month. And here I am!

Ice Buckets

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of or seen the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos. My Facebook feed is slammed with videos right now of people of all ages doing this. The TV news has been showing videos as well, ones that celebrities and presidents do. And maybe like you, I complained about it.

Last night I was telling my husband "You know, I'm really tired of seeing these things." And tonight, I'm not even exaggerating, every. single. post. in my Facebook feed that was from a person and not a news source was an Ice Bucket Challenge.  I've seen them pop up from time to time for months, but suddenly this thing is literally EVERYWHERE! And I might be wrong, but I don't think in the very beginning that they were tied to a specific charity, because I definitely saw someone take an ice "bath" for CF.

I had a small bone to pick with the whole thing in part because it completely plays off of the vanity of Facebook. Like, do we really have to dump buckets of ice water on our heads to donate to charity? Why can't we just donate to charity? In private? Without telling people?

On another note, while we're talking charities and causes, there are millions of people in the world who are without clean water, and here we all are dumping it on our heads wasting it. Depending how you feel about that, you could easily be upset over that aspect.

Then last night, our local Orange Leaf store issued the challenge to my workplace. This morning we had a quick meeting about when and where we should do this, how we could try and get other employees to join in. And then I found myself researching what ALS is and watching a very emotional video of a 26-year-old man who was diagnosed with ALS. And he was talking about it and how much it scares him because it runs in his family, and then you see him taking care of his mother who is in, what I would guess to be, the late stages of the disease. It was heartbreaking.

I get it now. If I (via my workplace) had not been issued this challenge, I would never have done my research to find out what ALS is. And I never would have donated either. Yeah, I've heard of "Lou Gehrig's Disease" but I didn't actually know what it was. These videos are talking points, they're "fun", and the exact thing that I did is the entire point: to get people talking and educating themselves about it, and in turn hopefully donating towards it.

The skeptic in me still wonders if everyone who does this is really making a donation, or if they are just making the silly video and moving on. Or maybe they intend to, but the next day they forget about it and never do? But clearly it's effective, as donations keep climbing to numbers the ALSA has never seen before.

And you know, if the CF Foundation ever comes out with a campaign that goes viral and raises a ton of money, I will rejoice at that. CF affects nearly 30,000 people in the USA, and it is estimated there are 30,000 people in the USA with ALS. So we're kind of on the same level as far as how common the diseases are and, I would imagine, how much funding and attention they receive. But for now, I'm happy for the ALS community that their cause is getting the attention they hoped for. I donate to yours, you donate to mine, eh? :)

An Open Letter

Dear Evergreen,
the arborvitae bush in front of my house,

I hope you are feeling okay. You can blame my naiveté about bushes and plants in general for the fact that I didn't realize why you were turning brown, slowly dying.

Like a misdiagnosed illness, I thought you were simply dehydrated. But after a close encounter this morning and some quick googling, I found that was not the case. No, instead you have been infested with bag worms all summer, and I am truly sorry I didn't realize it until just now.

Please know that the 45 minutes I spent out there, sweat pouring down my face, picking off every single bag worm-pod I could find, were done with love. By the time I was done, my hands that were in the rubber gloves were so damp I had prune fingers. But while picking off your potential killers, I also discovered that the damage is much greater than I had realized.

I promise to keep a better eye on your for the rest of the season, and will come back for another round of de-worming if needed. I hope this will help and I hope that you can hold on just a little longer until the first hard frost when, hopefully, these buggers will meet their end (at least for this year.) Please don't die.

Yours truly,
Me

Friday Fast 5

1. Let me get this out there first, because I promise the rest of this post will be positive. About Ferguson... I posted some thoughts on Facebook after Wednesday night's craziness, and I realize now that I fell into the trap of judging quickly and that I was wrong about some of my points. And I admit that. But after the information that was released today about the robbery, I am done. I'm quitting Twitter for a while because people are getting stupid and it is ticking me off. No one is even listening to the facts any more, they are all just taking bits and pieces of the story and making their own assumptions from there. So I'm done. 
2. I was feeling kind of down tonight. And tired. And bored. And I really didn't feel like going to church for the holy day, but at the same time I knew that's what I needed to do. It helped, like deep down I knew it would.
3. Also, during the sign of peace, the man behind us shook my dad's hand and then my hand and instead of saying "Peace be with you" he said "God bless you." Not like a sneeze, but he really said it like he meant it. I've never seen this man in church before, I don't know if he was a visitor, but it was nice. It made me feel better, it really did. So if you ever feel so bold to try it, say that instead when you're shaking hands during the sign of peace. It might mean a lot to someone.
4. I dropped off three prayer shawls the other day at church! That brings my grand total to eight shawls made, plus I have four more in the works right now. I'm a busy-crocheting-bee ;)
5. I'm so excited that my favorite local Mexican restaurant El Ranchito is now smoke-free! This place was completely ideal to go smoke-free because the division between smoking and non- was really just an invisible line. I went there the other night with my mother-in-law and Jarrod's sister and it was as delicious as I remember! I was not let down. 

Death of a Genie

No one could have guessed that the next tragic celebrity death we'd be dealing with would be that of Robin Williams. My social media feeds have been so full of things about Robin Williams, be it simple signs of memorial with people standing on desks, quotes from favorite movies, or articles about him, that I'm almost getting tired of it. Maybe you are too, and even if you aren't I'm going to try to keep this as concise as I can.

I think there are two reasons the world is so shocked about his death. One, being that he provided so much happiness and laughter for others, and two being the reason of his passing. It is unnerving and hard to fathom that someone seemingly so passionate and joyful, who could bring so much laughter to the world, was in fact so isolated and joyless.

Many took to Twitter to post their thoughts, and many of them simply said there were no words to describe how they felt. But one very popular tweet has me unsettled and I think I finally figured out why.

The Academy tweeted out this last night:

As you can see, it's been retweeted and favorited many times. Some have called it the 'perfect' way to pay tribute, or memorialize, or whatever it is you're trying to achieve. 

At first glance, it seemed kind of nice. After about 3 seconds it seemed kind of... off. 

In case you're a little fuzzy on the ending of Aladdin, in the Disney Aladdin movie, Aladdin uses his final wish to set the genie free. It's a semi-emotional scene with the genie being taken aback that he would do such a selfless thing, and Aladdin declares again that is his intent with "Genie, you're free." Some magic happens, the genie rises up, his cuffs of enslavement to the lamp are broken away, and he is free.

It's a joyous occasion.

Suicide... is not a joyous occasion. 

The image could also imply that suicide is a solution to freeing yourself of your demons or your pain. I don't think that's the message you'd want to send to someone dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts. 

There is a much better, more proper way, to handle this, and that would have been with another quote that follows immediately after the scene where Aladdin frees the genie:

Yes we will, Aladdin, yes we will.

Thoughts on that Walmart Savings Catcher App

You may have seen a few TV ads from Walmart touting their latest app improvements, which includes this new little thing called "Savings Catcher." The premise is if you buy something at Walmart, then you can scan your receipt with this app on your phone (which means, you take a photo of the barcode), and Walmart will automatically price compare the items in your receipt with other local stores. If they find a store with the item for cheaper, they will refund you the difference in an e-gift card. Sounds great, right? 

Maybe, if you're okay with Walmart knowing a lot about you. Let's see what's going on here...

First of all, I'd like to start with the caveat that I have not downloaded this app. I don't know if it works well, if it is designed well, or if it's easy to use. I'm speaking solely about the idea for this app as a person who has a well-rounded understanding of tech and analytics.

Let's take a big step back and acknowledge that there are many, many companies that know a lot of data about you already online. Facebook is probably the biggest information grabber, simply due to people's compulsion to share things about themselves. So what I'm about to lay out shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, but I wonder how many people are aware of the amount of data mining that retail companies do to get to know you; it's a very big business. If you don't care and want to save a couple bucks here and there, download the app, if you're curious, then let's continue.

First of all, in order for this entire app to work, people will have to create an account for it. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but this app is going to generate a lot of new accounts for Walmart from people who wouldn't ever actually shop online at walmart.com. So you would most likely have to fill out your usual information like your name, address, phone number, email, and create a password. Bare minimum, that's what they would require from you. So let's pretend, here. Walmart now knows: I'm Susie and I live in Orlando Florida. 

To qualify for the price savings, you have to scan your receipt, which means you are linking yourself to your receipt. Now, I need to mention that stores will typically track a lot of this information on their own simply through credit card use. When you use a credit card in most stores, they will assign a generic ID number to you to track your purchases. However, with this app you are without-a-doubt giving away your information. This also means that you will have to give the app permission to access your camera and most likely your photos. Walmart now knows: I'm Susie, I live in Orlando, and I just bought 5 items which were milk, diapers, shampoo, carrots, and lettuce. 

One week later I go back to Walmart, and let's pretend I buy 5 more things (for the sake of keeping this simple, I realize most people buy LOTS of stuff at Walmart.) I scan my receipt again, Walmart now knows: This time I bought milk, diapers, a frozen veggie pizza, coffee, and butter.

Furthermore, Walmart now also knows: I'm most likely a new mom, since I've bought diapers two weeks in a row, and I bought coffee, I am maybe a vegetarian, since I haven't bought any meat and bought a veggie pizza and vegetables the week before.

To look for the price saving ads, you will have to enter your zip code or it will pull it from the store listed on your receipt so it can search for them. Walmart now knows: I'm Susie, I live in Orlando, I bought 10 things in two weeks, and I also shop in Orlando. 

Now let's pretend that it finds one item cheaper at Target, and it then refunds me 56 cents. It sends me an email. Walmart will then also know: if I opened the email, if I was on my phone, my IP address, and from there, they will be able to gather a whole lot more information about me and my internet habits. When I go to spend the money (which no doubt will be in the form of some barcode in the app or in the email they sent me) they will also be able to pinpoint the exact location of my cell phone.

If willfully giving all of this information about yourself to Walmart is okay with you, by all means sign up for it. But I wish more people realized that all they're doing is signing for up a marketing data collection system, with the "reward" of offering you a few cents here and there in price checks. 

Lowe's does something similar with their "My Lowes" program, except their slightly more blunt about what they're doing. They tell you upfront that they will keep track of your purchases, and the "reward" of it is making returns easy, and sending you reminders to buy replaceable household items like air filters. Lowes can, and does, also track your purchase through your phone number. So every time they ask you for your phone number at the end of your transaction, that's what it's for. Rewards programs work in this same way.

It should be noted that this Walmart app will only compare with other store circulars, not the entire store. The other thing of note about the app, versus other price comparing apps, is that it keeps you going to Walmart. Other apps will price check all stores when you scan a barcode at the store, allowing you to then choose where to make your purchase. This scans your receipt after you've already made it, then offers money to spend right back at Walmart.

Sugars

The Good News Train just keep rolling, my friends. Choo Choo!

I redid my glucose test yesterday (the one where you fast, they take your blood, you drink the super sugar water, then they take your blood again later.) Last year, my new doctor had me do one with the suspicions that I might have CF-related diabetes.

That time, my fasting number was normal, but my post number was high, yet not high enough to declare I had diabetes. I was in this odd gray area called "pre-diabetes."

I got my results today, and my fasting number is still normal, but my post number was only 103! Normal is between 65-130, pre-diabetes is 130-200, and 200 or over is diabetic. So I'm not even pre-diabetic anymore! Not even borderline close!

I thinks this shows two things:

1. The exercise is helping! Seriously, if you find yourself diabetic or almost there too, exercise. It really really helps. 
2. That my doctor's theory that I have diabetes when I am sick is also most likely true. Last year when we did this test, I was sick and on meds much more often. This time, I have only had that one little blip. The test shows an average of your blood sugars over the past three months (it has something to do with how quickly your body turns around and generates new red blood cells, I think) and since my sugars haven't been crazy due to illness, this was a more accurate test.

It's such a blessing that I don't have to worry about this yet. I was prepared for this test to go the other way, to show that I had diabetes now. And I was mentally ready and at peace about it, now that all the changes in my life have slowed down a lot. 

So yeah, awesome news! I think we are going to celebrate with some sugar... in the form of Dairy Queen Blizzards!

5 Kilometers!

I DID IT!

"I did it!"

I couldn't stop repeating "I did it!" this morning and jumping back and forth, to which Jarrod said "You have too much energy." haha. 

But I did it! I completed my first 5k this morning like I hoped to! And I even finished in under an hour, which I did not expect. That's amazing and makes me very happy. Jarrod stayed with me the whole way, and my finish time was 55 minutes 54 seconds, his was 1 second after that. 

It was a cool morning with a LOT of fog and I think that made for a great turnout; many, many people showed up. They have been doing this pre-fair event for 18 years now, but I believe this is the first year with a 5k. I'm sure they'll keep it, because I would guess that more people did the 5k than the other option, which was a 5-mile course. They said it was the first year they've ever seen people show up in long sleeves, it was that chilly for August. (However, I don't know how you could do this in long sleeves... once you're moving you're much warmer and sweating.)

According to the race results, I was 144th out of 158, which is partially a lie. There were many more people doing the 5k than that; there must have been many of them that did not have bibs to track their time. Also, my pace was 18 minutes per mile, which means that on average we were walking over 3 mph, which I'm impressed with. We jogged for a couple chunks of the course on some of the flat parts, and I was surprised at how much those small jogging sessions didn't wear me down. I mean, I know a lot of my limits breathing-wise, so I could gauge when to slow back down to make sure I wasn't dragging or exhausted the rest of the time.

Photo from emissourian.com of us
approaching the finish line.

But it was great! Although, I can't say it was exactly easy. I was breathing heavily for probably 1/2 to 2/3 of it, and the final half mile or so was difficult. As we neared the finish line, which was an uphill incline, we heard the announcer say that it was still 55 minutes, and then we were like 'Hey, it's not even an hour yet! Okay, let's finish!' So we picked up the pace a little bit. When we finished, most people were still there, grabbing food or drinks and watching the rest of the runners/walkers come in. And even though most of these people didn't know me, and didn't know what a big deal this is for me, and didn't know that I was doing this with one-third of my lungs working, some of them were cheering us on or just taking a moment to look our way and smile or give a thumbs up, small gestures to say "Way to go, good job!" 

Because no matter who you are, I feel everyone who runs and participates in these understands that everyone has to start somewhere, and it doesn't matter whether you're first or last, what matters is you tried and Good-job-to-you because you finished too! 

Friday Fast Five

Five quick things again:

1. I'm doing a 5k tomorrow morning! I know, I'm excited too :). On a whim this week, I decided maybe I could do a 5k taking place in town tomorrow as a kickoff to our local fair. And Jarrod said he'd walk with me too! So we are both going to enter the 5k. I've never walked 3.1 miles before, and I haven't exactly been training for this, but I'm feeling confident and good about it. 
2. I walked 2 miles Wednesday night with mom, dad, and Josers (Jarrod was busy laying tile) and I did pretty darn good. I did it in 45 minutes too! I'll let you know how the 5k goes! Cheer me on in spirit tomorrow morning around 7-8 am ;)
3. We got 45 extra days on our permit for the basement, but it's not like Jarrod all of a sudden gets a breather, he just officially now has more time. Jarrod is so done with the basement; I don't think it's possible to put into words how tired he is of working on it. And I realize that I can't quite understand it either, because I haven't been the one working away night after night for almost an entire year. He is so stressed out and trying to remember everything and get everything right so it will pass inspection and we can be done with that part. He told me it would be like me needing to crochet every night to churn out shawls at a set rate; once you have to do it all the time, and it's not a leisurely choice, it isn't very enjoyable and deadlines start to weigh on you. 
4. On that note, I am so excited for when the basement will be done too! Mostly because we will finally get to spend time together again. I can't really help with most of what he's been doing, so I'm upstairs while he's downstairs. Heck, we still haven't had any time to go out and celebrate our anniversary and that was two months ago.
5. If summer weather was like this every year, I would have no problem with that. But, I don't think we'll have this mild of a summer again for a while. At the rate we're going, fall will be here before you know it! I also realized that we haven't had many storms this year, so knock on wood that it continues like that.