Time for a New Cell Phone

It is time to shop for a new cell phone for Kris.  Her phone is over two years old and the battery just doesn't hold a charge like it used to, plus the technology of it is just rather antiquated.  So I have been shopping the available upgrades from AT&T.  I think I am going to break down and finally get her an iPhone.  It's not so much that I don't want to get one, it is the added expense of having to have a data plan. 

But, as I was shopping around looking at new phones, Sarah had to chime in about how she wants a new phone (she is actually able to get an upgrade as well, plus, I can get a month "free" if I sign a 12 month contract with her phone.  That lead to her saying that she wants an Android powered smartphone.  This I have a problem with.  I don't have a smartphone, and I am just getting Kris one, and she really doesn't need it.  There is no reason for a 13 year old to have a smartphone in my opinion.  There is nothing that she would possibly need it for.  It isn't like she has a busy schedule to keep track of, and she certainly doesn't need to browse online with it.  If she needs anything online, she can wait until she gets home and she can use her laptop.  I don't know what I am going to do with hers yet, but I am dead set against getting her a smart phone.  I mean, someone please tell me what a 13 year old needs to have a smartphone for.  If someone can make a good argument for it, I may consider it, but I haven't heard one yet.

Good News and Bad News

Today we got some good news and some bad news.  Or should I say Sarah got some good news and some bad news.  Today was supposed to be the day that Sarah got her braces off.  She went to the orthodontist and he told her that there was still a gap that needed to be closed on her upper teeth, so the bands on top are staying on for another 3-4 weeks.  But she did get the bottom braces off and is going in on Wednesday to get her lower retainer.

I even took a picture of her this morning before school with the intent of posting a before and after picture of her teeth with and without braces.  Something for her to remember...  the last picture of her with wires on her teeth, but I guess we'll be waiting for at least another three weeks, so check back mid-May and hopefully we'll have better news.

Giving Up

I spent the majority of the afternoon Sunday trying to get the wireless adapter hooked up to the TV but didn't have any luck.  I followed the instructions and just couldn't get it working.  I checked out a support website and posted my problem in the help forums and some guy gave me a suggestion, which I did.  The router connected fine, and I hooked it up to the TV, but as soon as it hooked up to the router, all the computers lost their internet connection again.  I was up and down the stairs to the basement where the router is located, restarting it, and then back upstairs restarting computers and by about 5:00 I had had enough and called it a day.

I don't know what I am going to do next.  I might try looking for a Samsung wireless adapter and see if I can just use that to connect the TV.  I only bought the NetGear adapter because Best Buy didn't stock the Samsung one, but that might be my only choice at this point.

Printer Problems

For some time now we have been having problems with our printer.  It is a wireless one so that Sarah or Kris, or I can print whatever we need regardless of which computer is being used.  Well we had been having lots of problems because it kept losing the wireless signal from the router, and every time it lost the signal, I was forced to reboot the router, which would take a few minutes each time. 

After we got the new router and the technician told us that there was a problem with some wet wires coming into the house that would need to be replaced, things have been working fine.  Fine except for the printer, because we still couldn’t print wirelessly.  With all the problems I was having with the adapter for the not so smart TV, I figured that I should now be able to get it set up to print again from any computer in the house.

After finding my online help manual and the installation CD for the printer, I finally figured out the problem.  When we were having problems, I had stopped using the wireless feature and plugged it into the computer in the basement with a USB cable so it could only be used in conjuction with the kids’ computer.  After re-running the set-up CD and unplugging the USB cable, we were ready to go in about 15 minutes.  I felt really stupid because this is something I could have done as soon as we got the new router.  I guess it had been so long since I had gone to the USB cable I had completely forgotten that I did it.

Grandparents Day

Last Friday Alison had “Grandparents Day” at her school.  I don’t think they actually call it Grandparent’s Day, it’s something like Senior Friend Day implying that any older person can come, not just grandparents since some kids no longer have grandparents.  This year, Alison asked Kris’s Aunt Vicki to come since Kris’s dad can’t come. 

I must say that I was a little disappointed when I heard how the day went when I got home from work.  Vicki only got to spend something like a half an hour with Alison out of almost a three hour event.  I don’t know what I was expecting to hear.  Last year Alison didn’t go because the event was on the same day as Kris’s mom’s funeral.  I just assumed they would run it the same way as they did when the girls were going to Riverside. 

From what Kris and Ali told me, Vicki got there and was shuttled right to the gym where they had breakfast set up.

Making A List

Summer time is just around the corner and that means one thing, a list of things to do around the house while the weather is nice.  We (and by we I mean me) have put things off for a while on things that need to be done.  For example, our bedroom hasn’t been painted in 10 years (actually I think it might be more like 12 years).  Kris had picked out a new paint color and I have had it on the list of things to do but just never got around to doing it.  I figure it is something that should take a day, two at the most, as long as I have all the supplies I need. 

But that is just one thing.  Kris and I are going to be putting together a list in the next couple of weeks of things that I need to get done around the house.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get most of them completed by the end of the summer.

Down The Drain

For the last couple of months we have had a slow drain in the bathroom downstairs.  It is something that happens from time to time and I usually just put some drain opener down the pipes and it will clear up.  The last couple of times it didn’t really help much though.  The last time, I took a snake and ran it down the drain first, but I didn’t get anything out, so next was the Liquid Plumber.  It was supposed to sit for 15 minutes and then get rinsed down with hot water.  I let it sit for almost 30 minutes and then rinsed it, but it didn’t clear out.  In fact, it backed up into the sink.

I tried snaking things again but didn’t have any luck.  I let it sit overnight, and by the time I got up, the sink had drained, but it is still draining slower than I think it should.  I think the problem is that the pipes need to be replaced.  I don’t think it would be all that difficult to do since the main, black drain pipe, is right below so there wouldn’t be that much of a replacement length needed.  What would be needed however is ripping a hole in the wall to do it.  That is what I really don’t want to do.  If I do it, it will start an entire remodel of the downstairs power room, which will be much more of an issue than I am currently prepared to undertake.  Plus, there are other, more pressing issues that need to get done.  So for now we’ll deal with it, but don’t be surprised to see something about me taking a sledgehammer to the wall if I just can’t take it anymore.

Field Trip

Part of the 4h grade curriculum in the Falls is a field trip to Madison.  Alison's field trip is tomorrow.  They are starting out by going to the Madison Zoo, then they are going to museum and finally a tour of the Capitol.  Oh, and after the Capitol they are going to hit some ice cream shop on the UW campus that is supposedly pretty famous in Madison.  I am sure anyone who went to UW would know the name of it.  I just hope the crazy protestors who don't have jobs and are in the Capitol rotunda every day don't disrupt their visit. I also hope that the teachers don't take the opportunity to brainwash "educate" the kids on what is happening. I am pretty sure that they won't.  Our teachers in the Falls are pretty professional, at least the ones I have had the opportunity to get to know.  Anyway, I will try to get Alison to give a report of her tip tomorrow when she gets home.

Back To Work

I had my follow up today with the surgeon and he gave me a thumbs up.  Everything is healing nicely and I can go back to work tomorrow.  I still have a little swelling, but nothing to be concerned about.  So that's a good thing.  I still have lifting restrictions, but I shouldn't need it.  Or maybe I should try milking things a little bit to make it go easy at work?  But I am going to be putting in a lot a extra hours to make up for what I lost over the last few days, so it's going to be busy for the next couple of weeks.

Not So Smart TV

Another project I have been working on while recouping from my surgery is figuring out the new television.  It is a Samsung and a Smart TV, like they show in the commercials.  Alison wants to be able to talk to the TV and wave her hand to make it do things. 

So I took out the manual to read up on it and if I install a wireless LAN adapter, I should be able to do a bunch of things with it via the internet.  Unfortunately, Samsung doesn't include the adapter with the TV, it has to be purchased separately.  So I headed back to Best Buy and of course, they don't carry the Samsung adapter.  What is even worse, is that they are not interchangeable between TVs.  But what they did have was an adapter that I could hook into the TV with an ethernet cable that will pick up the signal from my wireless router.

I spent about four hours messing with it on Wednesday, and couldn't get it to pick up the signal.  Then I finally realized that I didn't have the WPS enabled on the router.  Once I did enable it, it worked for about 5 minutes, and while I was resetting everything, it lost the signal again.  And once the signal was lost, all the computers and ipods, etc. that used the router lost their signals too.  After an hour, I figured it out and was able to reconnect everything, everything except the TV that is.  But I figured I would lweave it alone and work on it again in Thursday.

On Thursday, I plugged the adapter back in, but didn't enable it, or so I thought.  I was busy doing some other things around the house and when I was able to sit down and look at it, I noticed that once again, all the computers in the house had lost their internet connection.  I finally just completely unplugged it figuring this was going to be something I would need quite some time to figure out.  I then spent the next hour or so resetting the router and reconnecting all the computers AGAIN. 

So right now, our Smart TV is not very smart.  I know that based on all the instructions I have it should be working, or I should be able to get it working.  I am just going to need some time to work this out.  I should be able to figure things out.

Things To Do

Since I have been sitting around with nothing to do while recovering, I have been trying to get caught up on some TV shows I have wanted to check out for quite some time.  I have finished the first season of Boss, starring Kelsey Grammer.  Awesome show!  Season two starts up in October but I don't know where the writers are going to go with the second season since the one guy I thought was central to the story was killed in the finale.

Next I am on to The AMC series, the Walking Dead.  I am almost finished with the first season.  Another show I can't believe it has taken me so long to get on.  Zombies rock, and the amount of blood & gore they show is sweet!  Then again, I am a horror movie junkie.

Once I am caught up with The Walking Dead, I am planning on getting caught up with Boardwalk Empire.

Insurance Companies Suck

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a big scratch in the paint on the hatchback of Kris's car.  At least I thought it was a scratch.  And next to the taillight, there was a spot where the paint had cracked and I could see the metal underneath rusting.  This is the same spot that has been repaired at least twice before.  When I took it in, I thought all they would do was sand it down and repaint it.  The guy who did the estimate, however, said, nope, something had hit the car and it was not a scratch but a crack in the paint.  They would have to strip it down, repair the filler from the last time, and replace the nameplates...  a total of $690 worth of repair work.  So what I thought would be about a $200-$300 repair turned into almost $700.

Because of this, I called the insurance company.  The last time this happened the adjuster looked at it and said yeah, something hit the car, but it wouldn't be classified as a collision, but rather be covered under our comprehensive coverage.I just assumed that this time around we would have the same thing happen.  Kris explained the situation to the insurance company, and they said they would work it out with the body shop.

I called to get her car in while I am at home recovering and we only need one car.  I made sure to ask about the classification of the damage since it would have a pretty big bearing on how much I would be paying out of pocket to get it fixed.  He assured me they would handle it; they would be calling the insurance company and sending photos of the area that was damaged.

They called Thursday and left a message to tell me it was ready to pick up.  Since they didn't say anything about the price, I decided to call the shop just to make sure I knew how much I was responsible for and they dropped the collision number on me, not the comprehensive.  Even though the other times it had been damaged the insurance company had classified it as comprehensive.  The only difference was that we switched insurance companies in October due to what I perceived as poor service from the other one in the claim I had with the Lancer last year.  We also didn't get a chance to talk to the insurance adjuster this time.  I am sure if we would have had a chance to talk to him (or her) we would have been able to make our case to classify it as a comprehensive claim.  I guess that is how insurance companies keep their costs down.

So we ended up paying the whole thing out of pocket since the difference between out deductible for collision and the repair cost was less than $200.  So I can officially say that all insurance companies suck!

Recovery Progress

Things are coming along slowly after surgery.  The first couple of days were a little painful, and I did my best not to use any vicodin, especially since it made me feel so sleepy.  After the first couple of days I was going a little stir crazy, not doing anything, other than a little bit of walking around to go see Kris's dad.  I don't think that I could ever be rich because sitting around all day doing nothing and having other people do stuff for you would drive me crazy.  I did it for two days and I couldn't stand it.

As of today (Thursday) things are going pretty good.  There is still some tenderness to the touch and the muscle feels tight where things were stitched up, so I'll have to just be careful not to try and do too much too quickly.  I think that I will be able to feel if I am overdoing it.  I am ready to head back to work, but I have to wait until I see the doctor next week.  I shouldn't have said anything about it, and I could be going back to work tomorrow.

Happy Easter

Easter 2012 was the end of an era.  Alison has become too smart for her own good, and at age 9 she has figured out the Easter Bunny.  This year there was no following her around the house with the video camera while she searched for her Easter basket.  And of course, Sarah slept late and didn't want to get out of bed.  Once she did get up, Alison hounded her to find her basket.  Both girls got their allotment of candy as they always do (especially the Reeses Pieces wrapped in the shape of a carrot) and also a stack of new flip flops and some toe rings.

We didn't go to mass since I am working on recovering from my surgery and Kris and the girls are trying to take care of me.  So today is going to just be a lazy day around the house, hopefully watching the Brewers get another Easter Sunday win.

Recovery

I made it through the procedure, and now I just have to try and sit and recover.  The only problem is that I am not one to sit around and do nothing.  It drives me insane not being able to do anything.  I am doing my best to just sit and rest, but Kris and the girls are already yelling at me because I am walking around.  I'm not lifting anything, or doing anything strenuous, but I'm also not just sitting in the recliner.

The doctor estimated a 10-14 day recovery period, while I was thinking about a week.  Though if you figure in the weekend, it's about 10 days before heading back to work.  But I need to get an ok from the doctor before going back.  Since we are on Easter break, and the doctor has kids who are all high school and junior high aged, he is off for the week doing family stuff, so I don't think I'll get in for my release for work until at least Monday, the 16th.  so I guess that just means I get an extra day off.

So if you nee me, I'll be here, doing nothing, and going crazy.

Under the Knife

I am going under the knife in the morning.  Well, not really under the knife, but having some minor surgery.  I have to get a hernia fixed and it is being performed laparoscopically.  So hopefully I won't be out of action for too long.  Alison is apparently worried, so she is probably going to come along with Kris to the surgery center.  Maybe I'll give an update after it's complete if I can be coherent and conscious after it is over.  Oh, and it is also Brewers opening day.  The game starts at 3:10 and that is around the time i should be heading home.  So with any luck I can watch the Brewers kick around the Cardinals too.

More Not So Good News

Well when it rains it pours I guess.  IN addition to having to have surgery to fix a hernia, I have a tooth that is bothering me.  This is the same tooth that my dentist put a porcelain crown on in December.  It had been bothering me since about the end of February, and in the last week, it finally got bad enough where I had to call the dentist.  I went in and lucky me...  he says I am going to need a root canal.  Unfortunately, I will be having surgery in a day, so a root canal will have to wait.  Looks like I will be recovering from surgery and having to deal with a tooth that feels like someone is jabbing I stick into my sinus cavity.  The next couple of weeks will not be pleasant, I can tell already.

Easter Eggs

Since I am going to be laid up over Easter weekend, I told Alison I would color Easter eggs with her Sunday when I got all my work done around the house.  It turns out that was about 4:00.  The coloring kit Kris bought had 12 color tablets, but we had a little issue with containers for the dye.  So we ended up using Solo cups that we could just toss out when we were done.  However, we had one small problem.  Well, actually three problems.

First, was that it was very difficult to get the little egg wire down into the cups.  Second, was that the cups were not narrow enough to cover the whole egg.  So the eggs needed to get rotated in order to get a good, even color.  And thirst, the cups were a little too tall.  More on that momentarily.

I discovered that in trying to rotate the eggs in the dye, the wire would scrape and rub the shell, scraping the color off.  So now instead of a nice, deep, even color there were scrape marks of a lighter color.  It made the eggs look very bad.  But I thought I would just make the best of it. 

Right after Alison and I started I called Sarah, who was next door, and asked her if she wanted to help as well.  She came home and started grabbing eggs and dropping them in cups.  I told her to just wait and I would help her, but she didn't want help.  This leads to problem three.  She was having problems keeping the eggs on the egg wire from the coloring kit.  So when she was trying to put one egg in a cup, the egg fell off hitting the inside of the cup, knocking it over and spilling dye all over the tablecloth, which is what I was trying to explain to Sarah before she dumped it.  Sarah complained that I was taking all the fun out of coloring eggs, so after cleaning up I told her that I was now done and she and Alison could do it, but should any more dye get dumped, I would be kicking someone's backside. 

Approximately five minutes later, another cup of dye was dumped, this time all over Alison's clothes, and the floor.  That was the end of the eggs.  I finished up the couple that were left and Sarah received a bit of a tongue lashing.  I think this may be the last year for coloring Easter eggs.

Primary Season

Primary season has been here for the last couple of weeks, though it has been ramping up over the last couple of days.  Since about Thursday last week, we have been getting the campaign robo-calls, at least two a day, though I think the most we got in a single 24 hour period has been five.  I can't wait for this primary to be over because these calls are so annoying.  I know they do it to reach those uninformed people out there, but I have decided who I will vote for and I am not going to change my mind, so stop calling me already.  I wish there was a choice of "Press 3 to let us know you have decided who you will vote for and we will stop calling".

After Tuesday things should settle down until, what?  Maybe August?  Whenever the conventions start.  Then it will be on all over again.

Dress Shopping

Saturday was a busy day.  I started out at work early, then when I got home I had to go get Kris's car from the dealer where they were changing the oil and replacing a leaky coolant hose.  When we got back from there we decided to go shopping with Sarah.  She needed to get a nice dress for her graduation ceremony, or as they call it, the end of the "completion ceremony".

We decided to go to Mayfair and her friend came along with us.  After about an hour (I could have sworn it was about 6 hours) Kris and Sarah picked out a few to try on.  There were a couple that Kris liked but we finally settled on one.  Then we went through the mall to Boston Store.  Sarah had seen a dress there when she was with a friend the week before and wanted to show it to us.  I think we made the right choice at Macys.  The dress at Boston Store wasn't bad, but it quite right for a graduation. 

After that, we were going to head home, but Sarah and her friend wanted to stop at a store that someone at her school told her about.  I want to say it was a teacher, but who knows.  After a bit of driving around, we found it.  It turns out that the place was a discount store sort of like a TJ Maxx.  Sarah and her friend started looking around.  The music in the store was really LOUD and I was looking forward to getting out of there.

Someone needs to remind me what clothes shopping with women is like the next time the opportunity arises, because I may just have to take a pass on it.