Friday, July 21, 2017
We're rich!
The strangest thing has happened; the Neilsen Company has decided to make us members of their survey team for television. Some months ago we received a letter from them asking us to tell them all about the radio stations we listened to. They included $5 to thank us for our cooperation. We responded with the fact that we didn't listen to radio. They thanked us for the information and gave us another $5. Then we received a letter with $4 dollars in crisp $1 dollar bills and a request for us to join the TV survey. As long as money was coming in, we were more than happy to do it. They thanked us and gave us both $5. Today we received our 'diaries' to fill out daily, detailing what shows we watch. To be clear; we had informed Neilsen that we only watched streaming video and no video 'shows'. That didn't deter them. This letter came with $9 in crisp cash. Why $9??? I have no idea. I will have to go through all of the paperwork that came with the diaries and maybe I can find out the answer to that question and more. In the meantime, we seem to have a second income. It won't make us rich but we will never have to worry about overdue library books again.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
What's on tonight?
As I stated once before, we have cut the cable and disabled the satellite feed. We're streaming only...that and an antenna in the attic for the local channels. I don't remember when we did it but it was close to 6 months ago. And life has been great without the 'box'.
I may have already given you a list of the shows we watch, but as I am almost 77, I must be forgiven for any memory lapses. So, here are a few of the shows that we currently have in our little black book and in no specific order.
#1 'Offspring' on Netflix is the story of a OBS/GYN doctor, Nina, and her amazingly fragmented family; the Proudman's. This is an Australian show and if you can't handle an accent, this is not the show for you. Your loss. In fact, almost all of the shows we watch are foreign.
#2 'The Brokenwood Mysteries' Amazon. is a detective/mystery/comedy show from New Zealand. We are anxiously awaiting season 4. It's quirky and quite often the mystery is solved long before the end of the show.
#3 'Inspector George Gently' Amazon. Is an older (2007) British police mystery show that takes place in the gritty parts of Newcastle. Always enjoyable. Oddly, I am put off by all of the smoking. I can't even smell the smoke and it bothers me!
#4 'Inspector Lewis' Amazon. Is a police/mystery thriller taking place in Oxford. The scenery at the various colleges and Oxford itself are beautiful. The acting is great and the murders are always understated. The show is a spin-off from Inspector Morse, which was also a great show.
#5 'Winter' Amazon. Is a one season detective thriller and I really wanted to see a few more seasons. This one is also from Australia; Sydney to be exact and it's great scenery as well. There are more seasons but Amazon isn't buying them yet.
#6 'Bosch' Amazon. This is Season 3 of a great police/crime/drama. I really hope this goes on to seasons 4, 5, 6 and more. Like too many American shows, the violence is explicit. The acting and the writing help to counter that.
#7 Grace and Frankie. Netflix
#8 Happy Valley. Netflix
#9 Doc Martin Amazon
#10 Happy Valley. Netflix
#11 Father Brown. Netflix
#12 Crossing Lines Netflix
#13 Miss Fisher. Netflix
#14 The Heart Guy Amazon
#15 Delicious Amazon
#16 Pie in the Sky Amazon
#17 Lark Rise to Candleford Amazon
#18 Lillies Netflix
#19 Murdoch Amazon
#20 Agatha Christie Amazon
A lot of those that are on Amazon are actually on Acorn/Amazon. We subscribe to Acorn TV for all of the British/Australian/New Zealand/Canadian show they carry. Worth every penny. Between Amazon, Netflix and now, Acorn, we have more than enough to entertain us of an evening.
I may have already given you a list of the shows we watch, but as I am almost 77, I must be forgiven for any memory lapses. So, here are a few of the shows that we currently have in our little black book and in no specific order.
#1 'Offspring' on Netflix is the story of a OBS/GYN doctor, Nina, and her amazingly fragmented family; the Proudman's. This is an Australian show and if you can't handle an accent, this is not the show for you. Your loss. In fact, almost all of the shows we watch are foreign.
#2 'The Brokenwood Mysteries' Amazon. is a detective/mystery/comedy show from New Zealand. We are anxiously awaiting season 4. It's quirky and quite often the mystery is solved long before the end of the show.
#3 'Inspector George Gently' Amazon. Is an older (2007) British police mystery show that takes place in the gritty parts of Newcastle. Always enjoyable. Oddly, I am put off by all of the smoking. I can't even smell the smoke and it bothers me!
#4 'Inspector Lewis' Amazon. Is a police/mystery thriller taking place in Oxford. The scenery at the various colleges and Oxford itself are beautiful. The acting is great and the murders are always understated. The show is a spin-off from Inspector Morse, which was also a great show.
#5 'Winter' Amazon. Is a one season detective thriller and I really wanted to see a few more seasons. This one is also from Australia; Sydney to be exact and it's great scenery as well. There are more seasons but Amazon isn't buying them yet.
#6 'Bosch' Amazon. This is Season 3 of a great police/crime/drama. I really hope this goes on to seasons 4, 5, 6 and more. Like too many American shows, the violence is explicit. The acting and the writing help to counter that.
#7 Grace and Frankie. Netflix
#8 Happy Valley. Netflix
#9 Doc Martin Amazon
#10 Happy Valley. Netflix
#11 Father Brown. Netflix
#12 Crossing Lines Netflix
#13 Miss Fisher. Netflix
#14 The Heart Guy Amazon
#15 Delicious Amazon
#16 Pie in the Sky Amazon
#17 Lark Rise to Candleford Amazon
#18 Lillies Netflix
#19 Murdoch Amazon
#20 Agatha Christie Amazon
A lot of those that are on Amazon are actually on Acorn/Amazon. We subscribe to Acorn TV for all of the British/Australian/New Zealand/Canadian show they carry. Worth every penny. Between Amazon, Netflix and now, Acorn, we have more than enough to entertain us of an evening.
It's hot outside
And, until last night, it was hot inside. Our AC went out last Friday afternoon (why does this always happen on weekends?) and although I reported it to American Home Shield, our home warranty insurer, I knew we wouldn't see a repairman till Monday. Then we received an email from AHS that told us they were sending a repairman from a company located over a 100 miles away and they had 3 working days to respond to our needs. What? The temps have all been in the 100's and Saturday was 107. We started calling and found that AHS didn't take calls past 7 and never on weekends. I went to their Facebook page and tried venting there. That gained me a promise that someone would call. A promise quickly broken. What to do?
We do have a whole house fan but we don't like to use it as it pulls every allergen and irritant into the house along with the cooler night or morning air. We had to use it. I would watch out indoor temp and outside temp carefully and as soon as they were equal and the outside temp was falling, I would start the fan and keep it running all night. In the morning I would watch the two temps closely and then when the outside temp began to rise from its overnight low, I would close the windows and shut off the fan. Then we would begin calling AHS. Finally, on Tuesday we got lucky. The initial repairman decided that the job was not worth their time and bailed. A phone call to AHS finally found a receptive agent and she arranged for a local contractor to call. He arrived Tuesday PM and after an hour or so in the hot attic, he found the problem; a fried circuit board. He called and tried to get a validation from AHS and find a local source for the board. He finally made all of the connections but he wouldn't be able to get the board and install it until Wednesday. He was back on Wednesday afternoon and after some more time in the hot attic he had the board installed only to find that the original board had failed because the fan motor had failed. More phone calls to AHS for authorization and then a trip to a supplier. He was back about 6:30 and began the repair. It was close to 8 when we felt the first chill breeze from the vents. We couldn't thank him enough. The temps are supposed to be way over 100 again this weekend and we had been dreading it.
What a wonderful sleep I had. Temp inside was 79 and I had a light cover on. What a life!
We do have a whole house fan but we don't like to use it as it pulls every allergen and irritant into the house along with the cooler night or morning air. We had to use it. I would watch out indoor temp and outside temp carefully and as soon as they were equal and the outside temp was falling, I would start the fan and keep it running all night. In the morning I would watch the two temps closely and then when the outside temp began to rise from its overnight low, I would close the windows and shut off the fan. Then we would begin calling AHS. Finally, on Tuesday we got lucky. The initial repairman decided that the job was not worth their time and bailed. A phone call to AHS finally found a receptive agent and she arranged for a local contractor to call. He arrived Tuesday PM and after an hour or so in the hot attic, he found the problem; a fried circuit board. He called and tried to get a validation from AHS and find a local source for the board. He finally made all of the connections but he wouldn't be able to get the board and install it until Wednesday. He was back on Wednesday afternoon and after some more time in the hot attic he had the board installed only to find that the original board had failed because the fan motor had failed. More phone calls to AHS for authorization and then a trip to a supplier. He was back about 6:30 and began the repair. It was close to 8 when we felt the first chill breeze from the vents. We couldn't thank him enough. The temps are supposed to be way over 100 again this weekend and we had been dreading it.
What a wonderful sleep I had. Temp inside was 79 and I had a light cover on. What a life!
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
It's all fake news...
It is another busy week in The District of Trump. Of course most of the furor is caused by the rolling train wreck of the Trump family. I survive by attaching no importance to most of it. I trust the Special Prosecutor to do his job and when he is done I will have something concrete to look at. In the meantime it is all political theater.
The giant iceberg is certainly not fake news and it's more interesting than what comes from the lips of Trump...any Trump. The Larsen Ice Shelf, now a berg, is 1,150 feet thick or so they think. I wonder where it will go? Most bergs move by action of wind and current. I have a feeling that this one will move very slowly and most ships will not be surprised when it appears. They will have seen it coming for days. No Titanic disasters with this one.
Our landscape was 'landscaped' during the past few months and we're really happy with it. It is actually xeriscaped with mostly all California natives and they are fantastically colorful. At the same time this was going on, the weather changed and we began experiencing some brutal heat. A number of plants hadn't been established long enough to survive. I would check the garden one day and then come out the next to see damaged plants where perfect plants were growing 12 hours previously. I raised the watering times by 50% and then watered twice a day to halt the damage. Plants will survive this heat with some care. I know that next year at this time the damage will be forgotten and we will be enjoying the color.
I think we're going to have to become accustomed to this weather or move. The heat is here to stay. I was checking the long range forecast and it's not till November begins that we will see any relief. I saw no rain...but, it's a long range forecast.
The giant iceberg is certainly not fake news and it's more interesting than what comes from the lips of Trump...any Trump. The Larsen Ice Shelf, now a berg, is 1,150 feet thick or so they think. I wonder where it will go? Most bergs move by action of wind and current. I have a feeling that this one will move very slowly and most ships will not be surprised when it appears. They will have seen it coming for days. No Titanic disasters with this one.
Our landscape was 'landscaped' during the past few months and we're really happy with it. It is actually xeriscaped with mostly all California natives and they are fantastically colorful. At the same time this was going on, the weather changed and we began experiencing some brutal heat. A number of plants hadn't been established long enough to survive. I would check the garden one day and then come out the next to see damaged plants where perfect plants were growing 12 hours previously. I raised the watering times by 50% and then watered twice a day to halt the damage. Plants will survive this heat with some care. I know that next year at this time the damage will be forgotten and we will be enjoying the color.
I think we're going to have to become accustomed to this weather or move. The heat is here to stay. I was checking the long range forecast and it's not till November begins that we will see any relief. I saw no rain...but, it's a long range forecast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)