"The Wave" ~ Ergonomic Computer Keyboard

Himself started having issues with a wrist the beginning of this winter, serious enough to warrant cortisone shots every 6 weeks (OUCH).  One of the possible causes we investigated was his computer keyboard.  We found out that "The keyboard, in particular, is the main culprit behind Repetitive Strain Injuries and wrist pain."

 Hmmmmm...

 So a bit of researching lead me to an ergonomic keyboard on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002MMY4WY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

  

 Weird looking thing.

  

But I could see where it could have its merits.  After all, one's fingers aren't the same length...

  

I gave it a shot and bought the one linked above.  It was love at first key-stroke!

 I wish I could say it fixed the issue for him but the damage was done.  But it hasn't progressed either.  I believe if he'd had this keyboard from the start he would not have a surgery scheduled in a few weeks.

 

 

At The Speed of Light

 

Sometimes it is great to be blue.  Recently we finally were able to join the 21^st century of internet service.  We now have fiber optic service on brand new lines supplied by our electric company’s spin-off business “Cumberland Connect Fiber”. 

When I moved out to The Sticks in June 2008, I found out that our in-town internet provider ATT didn’t provide internet service to the entire area we lived in.  But they assured me they would be in my location “soon”.  They still aren’t out here.

We had one choice of a provider for cable service… Charter (now Spectrum).  For 13 years, 6 months, 2 weeks and some odd days we have put up with:

 ~spotty phone service (calls not coming through, disconnecting while talking, heavy static, etc),

~on and off internet every day (up to 50 times a day),

~no internet when it rained, or was windy, or snowed,

~snail slow down loads & uploads (lots of timing out),

~TV service that would pixelate or freeze every single time we tried to watch.  About 5 or 6 years ago we gave up; I cancelled our TV service.

We had technicians out constantly.  The drop-line from pole to house was replaced, lines in the house checked & fiddled with, we had more modems than I could count replaced and so on.  My favorite “repair” was done regularly by “Mark” who would say he’d “set it to the middle”.  When I asked “set WHAT to the middle?”, his mumbled reply sounded rather like “the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator”.   

After over 30 service calls, I just quit calling.  Seriously, if it wasn’t fixed after all that… it wasn’t going to get fixed.  I got that truth from a tech on his last week of work who told me the lines which ran through some woods about a mile from our house were probably damaged from years of dropped branches hitting them and they would not be replaced any time soon.

Uh-huh…

I had the BEST time when I called to disconnect our service.  The representative basically begged me to stay.  Offered a really great rate - for one year.  Offered free premium TV channels - for a year (right... with service so bad I wouldn't be able to watch).

After saying 'No, nay, never!' over and over, he asked in a rather crabby tone "What did our competitor say to get you to switch?"

I answered, "We're here!!"

So good riddance Charter/Spectrum.  We don't miss you at all!

Free National Park Passes for Veterans, Active Duty, and Gold Star Families

   In searching options for a National Parks Pass, I discovered that veterans and Gold Star families can get a FREE yearly pass.  And sometime in “later 2022” there will be a free LIFETIME pass offered.

 

Not letting this sweet deal pass us by, we headed over to the office at Cheatham Dam to get ours.  It only took  a few minutes (I had to show Himself’s military ID card) to do. 

This link takes you to the site for the information, including where the nearest location for you to get one

 https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/veterans-and-gold-star-families-free-access.htm

Helping in The Ukraine

 Last month there was a short article in our local online newspaper regarding helping with the attack on the Ukraine.   "The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is hosting a critical supply drive for police and medics in Ukraine.  Below is a list of items they need...  Supplies can be dropped off in the lobby of the Sheriff’s Office." 

That's what we had been waiting for!  Himself went through his medical "hard items" (medical rucksack and waist kit, instruments, N95 masks, etc) since he won't being doing that sort of job anymore.  I got online with Walmart to order bandage pads, wraps, disinfectants, etc.  We had a full trunk when we were done. 

When we pulled up to the Sheriff's office, I then remembered a steep uphill climb to the front door.  With all we had that would be several trips.  ~sigh~  Then I saw a deputy walking towards me.  I stopped him and asked if someone could help me.  He said he would and went inside to get a trundle cart.  We filled that thing!  My last view as we pulled away was that young man going backwards and pulling hard to get the load up the hill. 

A couple weeks later I was excited to see another article, this time about the county's response.  It got even more exciting when I saw that several of our donations were featured in the article's photos!

"CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – For the past few weeks, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office has been part of  a critical collection drive in Middle Tennessee of supplies for the people of war-ravaged Ukraine, and more than $100,000 in supplies have been donated.

“The community’s response has been overwhelming. It’s been amazing, actually. It’s not just here in Montgomery County but it’s all over Middle Tennessee,” said Sandra Brandon, MCSO spokeswoman.  She said many of the supplies were dropped off at the sheriff’s office, with other donations taken to the warehouse, or shipped directly to the freight company.

Donated items included toiletries, baby wipes, cleaning supplies, disinfectants, antiseptics, first aid kits, sleeping bags, blankets, masks and gloves.

Sheriff John Fuson said the county came out in full force to support the initiative.  “As you can see by the boxes here on the floor, several boxes are filled with supplies. We ae just proud to be a small part of that.” Fuson said.

The supplies are scheduled to be shipped out Friday (25 March) to Cleveland, Tennessee, and then sent to Ukraine next week. Queen City Industrial Solutions is handling the transfer of the supplies from Clarksville to Cleveland."

Oh!  A little later we were able to donate to Samaritan's Purse to support a field hospital they set up in a neighboring country.

Himself's backpack and waist pack

Some of our supplies.

More of our supplies in this box.

The disinfectants and cleaners in the cardboard box.

For The Fourth Time

 

We did it again last week.  Drove over to the pharmacy for our fourth Covid shot... AKA second booster shot.  Whatever! 

If a reaction is a good thing, meaning your body is putting up a battle, our immunity 'troops' went after it.  We both had our strongest response yet.  Himself had a fairly sore shoulder, heavy chills, very tired, and some overall body aches.  I had a very sore shoulder (to touch), a mild fever, body aches... and was absolutely wiped out exhausted.  I slept for about 18 hours.

We both were under-the-weather for about 24 hours, then another day of just tired tho we felt fine.

It was worth it.

The Good Stuff

 After my last post of rants (which was actually rather cathartic) I decided to write about the good of these last four months.  Get my focus set to the joyful stuff!

 *We were able to help a friend through a time of need.

*Our new heating system really heats!

*Love my new front load washer.

*We’ve gotten some MAJOR decluttering and cleaning done.  The more we do, the more we find to get rid of.

*And on that note… the garage looks amazing.

*All the very bad storm predictions we’ve had, haven’t happened!

*So happy with our new fiber optics internet!  Things work right now.

*DONE with a lot of “family” drama, in fact and in heart.

*Going from a 24”ish box TV to a 36” flat HD TV is wonderful.  Didn’t know what we were missing.

*Able to be a part of a medical supply collection to go to Ukraine.

*Made snow ice cream in March.

*Love the new microwave (the annoying ‘beeps’ can be muted!!)

*Himself is happy with his new computer set up.

*Three sweet ‘nuggets’ have made us their “auntie & uncle”.

*Broke water line was in the best place it could have been.  And we found a new plumbing service.

*Have our 4th Covid shot/2^nd booster – however you want to look at it.

*Picked up our FREE National Parks Pass (for vets).

Reasons For The Radio Silence...

The first three and a half months of this year have been really, really hard emotionally and financially.  Almost EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.  By mid-February I mentally exhausted and just didn't have the heart to write. 

In January we were dealing with some (extended) family business FUBAR, the HVAC system died of old age and the same day our washer likewise died, Himself's computer started acting up and our 20 ish years as customer managed IT service suddenly became TERRIBLE (found out they were dumping 'home' customers 31 March and didn't give a rip anymore...), my debit card got hacked (card co. noticed immediately so it was not a major thing... except for changing all the CC payments...).

In February I were still fighting with Himself's computer (his MS Office Outlook was dying) and the MS365 we'd switched him to so he could use outlook.com was a complete train wreck (MS customer service is a JOKE and nearly impossible to access), the TV and DVD player died, the microwave died (with major FedEx non delivery issues... took a month to get it with me barking at them the whole time), by the end of the month I was DONE dealing with Himself's ancient computer issues and ordered a whole new system, switched internet providers (YEH!!) and had to set up new email addresses for both of us (with all of the contact changes that incurred), kerosene heater died, more family business FUBAR and he decided to leave it so MORE paperwork to be done.

March:  Now worthless computer service took THREE WEEKS to get MS 21 onto Himself's computer and transfer old computer stuff to new computer, the mail carrier broke our mailbox - didn't care either, and the drop down ladder to our attic broke.

April:  had the weeklong joy of setting Himself's new computer up, and our waterline sprung a leak which we found out with a water bill 7X higher than it should have been (not cheap to fix but thankful it was right at the meter).

Plus struggles getting appts set for Himself (every one of them requires at LEAST 4 phone calls due to worthless appt service agents), bad product deliveries (like finding the 1st DVD player in the ditch... when the delivery notes said "HANDED to customer"), and minor things breaking all over the place.  You know, water drops torture kind of things.

OK, enough whining and ranting.  I've missed writing since it helps me focus on the good. 

So I'm back.

Edit:  A friend sent this... ain't it the truth?!