Getting little things out of the way

 

OK, this is not a good shot of it.  But this piece of equipment cost me the better part of 2 hours (maybe more) in trying to get my internet running with a faster interface unit.  If I had known what I was about to get into, I might have said: "To Hell With It!" and waited until I got back from my trip.

But first....

I spent much of the day as Mario, simply because the co-op's board meeting was to be held thins evening, and I was in charge of the Zoom link.  It didn't make much sense for me to go out as Marian, especially when I wasn't going to have enough time to enjoy myself before the meeting.

Around 4 pm, I started to work on switching over from the old cable interface box to a new one, and this is where the trouble began.  Given that the new unit was not registered to my account, I would have to call the cable company for technical support.  Unfortunately their IVR ("Intelligent" Voice Response) got me hung up in the wrong part of a diagnostic loop and wanted to have a service technician come to my house to fix the problem.  Given that I knew that the problem could be fixed remotely, I stumbled into the opportunity to reach out to a human for help - and was on the phone for over an hour.  But this wasn't the end to my troubles.  Although I got my main computer up and running with a wireless connection (I prefer wired connections to some hardware) I couldn't get anything else running with a wired connection, as the old router no longer worked.  This meant that I was stuck having to use a new wireless network name, and this triggered more work for me.

The next task I started was to get my Roku devices up and running.  This was a minor headache, as all I had to do was find the network and enter the password. Next, I had to configure both my Chromebook and my laptop to use the new network.  And this was a little bit more of a pain than I expected. But then, the fun began.  I wanted to set up the wireless connection to my all-in-one printer/scanner/copier. Given that the machine is a little bit old, I had to use an awkward setup routine to enter in both the network name and its password.  This also meant that I had to get up on a stool to use the controls on the machine to enter this data.  Aargh!  One slip, and I'd have broken my neck.

For the most part, connecting to the new network is done.  Yes, I have to update settings on both my iPad and my cellphones to use the new network.  But this is a lower priority than just getting the important stuff up and running.

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I did a little packing today for my upcoming vacation.  There's still a lot that has to be done.  But I'll do the bulk of this tomorrow, as this will be the last, best chance to get this done before I go down to RQS's place....

A last minute dinner with a friend

 

I found the above Garfield comic on the internet today, and felt it captured the spirit of today's dinner with a friend.  But first....

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Last night, I found that the scanner on my "all-in-one" scanner/printer stopped working when I tried to scan documents needed to be given a $100 cruise credit by the cruise line's shareholder relations department. Today, I started tearing apart boxes of stuff I stashed behind my loveseat to find the single purpose scanner I used to use.  After making a total mess in my living room, I found the scanner and tried to install it on my computer.  Unfortunately, there were no Windows 10 drivers for the scanner, and I ended up tossing the scanner in the trash.  

Once I was done with scanning futility, I decided to get showered and dressed to have dinner with my friend from the meetup group, MAR.  This woman is young enough to be my daughter, and works in a services field.  (I don't want to say too much more about what she does for a living here.)  We discussed many a thing, including my upcoming cruises.  And she surprised me by asking if she could come along with me on one of my less expensive trips.  (This woman has never traveled.)  There is no way I'd do this while seeing RQS, and I wouldn't ruin my relationship with RQS to do so.  (I wonder if my cruising with FCP negatively affected my relationship with XGFJ.  If so, I don't want to make that mistake again.)  I told MAR that if we were to do so, she'd find out much more about me than I think she'd like. (I've never mentioned that I am transgender to her, and I think that she believes that I am a cisgender female. Why ruin that image?)

So why did I mention Garfield and lasagna?  Like the cartoon cat, I love lasagna, and polished off a large portion at dinner.  Yum!  We may have lost a good pizza shop in town, where one could get a quick slice.  But we have a good Italian joint in its place, where I have never had a bad sit down dinner.

Game night

 

I didn't feel like looking for a picture of people playing games today.  Instead, I picked a vacation photo to appear with this entry...

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It's been a while since I've gone to game night with the folk in Yonkers.  So I was glad to have the excuse to leave the house in Marian Mode and get together with people again.

Before I left, I found that a recent Microsoft Windows update trashed the scanner functions on my all-in-one printer.  This was very annoying, as I needed to scan 3 documents needed to be filed by Friday to allow me to claim a $100 cruise credit for being an owner of 100 shares in the cruise line holding company.  Luckily, Google, in my phone's Android OS, provided the ability to scan pages into a file.  So, by the use of my cell phone and of Google Drive, I was able to get these documents scanned and sent out before the 15 day advance window came to a close.

Driving to Yonkers was not a pleasure due to the rain.  As I have gotten older, I have found that I enjoy driving less than I once did - my eyes are not what they used to be, and I no longer have the reflexes I had when I was a young adult.  Once there, I had a good time, and left when everyone else was leaving for a change.