Yeah...

I've been off for a few days, Mrs Hades is still in school but The Boy has been gone all week. So I've managed to finish off a few projects and get some things done around the house.

Back to work tonight. All good things must end.

Yeah

It's been a while.

It's not that there isn't anything going on. It's that there hasn't been anything going on that I've considered worth talking about. But it has been a half a year since I've graced these pages, and I have something on my mind for a future post, so I figured I'd play some catch up.

First off, M's new ride has a few blemishes on it courtesy of yours truly. First I ran it off the side of the road and scraped up the new wheels on the left. It was then we discovered that the warranty we had paid extra for to cover the wheels...didn't in fact cover cosmetic damage, only structural. Big surprise, the dealer lied, and the only thing that we can do about it is fume. Bastards.

Second, and worse, last week M and I were on vacation, and Friday I scarred up the corner of her new ride. We were in a rest area with diagonal parking spots directly across from each other and the guy in the one behind me started backing out at the same time as I did, we were both in each other's blind spots and we met in the middle. No injuries, just dents and scrapes which can be repaired. The backup camera (required by Federal law in all new vehicles starting in 2015 or so) was completely useless and so was the collision avoidance beepers; it went off a split second before the impact. I was able to push the bumper cover back into place but the scrapes remain, fortunately they are on the plastic bumper cover so no worries about corrosion. She's never going to let me drive her car again...

I also told you about my A1C levels being elevated. So a little more about that. Normal is actually under 5.7, the docs (as they are wont to do) have decided that they aren't making enough dough off of us (that's unfair I know, but I have a deep suspicion of the medical "experts" sometimes) so they have invented a thing called "pre diabetes" which means an A1C of 5.8 through 6.9. Funny thing is, the year before my A1C was at 6.4 and the doc said absolutely nothing about it.

Quick note, I've seen a different doc every year at the place where I used to go...which is nothing new for me, the Navy is good at rotating docs around, too. But I digress.

Anyway this one lost her ever-lovin' mind at me. She wanted me to go on three different kinds of medication (heart, even though I have no heart problems; blood pressure, which was a bit high but in spec; and cholesterol, which is also in normal range) and start going to the gym for an hour a day every day and see the dietician.

I told her that I'm not really fond of the idea of taking medicine every day for the rest of my life and expressed the opinion that maybe we should see what the diet does before doing anything drastic. I also told her that unless dieticians had learned something different in the past 15 years I wasn't going to bother because I've heard it already. I left out the part where I walk 3 times a week and that's all she's going to get.

Her response? Doctors ORDERS.

My response? I stopped taking doctors ADVICE as orders the minute my doctors were no longer commissioned officers.

Long story short, I have a new doctor and the diet is going well, my A1C in December, 3 months after I started the diet, was at 6.3 so I'm no longer going to die of diabetes tomorrow. I'm a bit curious to see what my A1C is going to be after I've been on the new diet for a year, I'm hoping for something under 5.7 - not that I'm going to revert, it looks like the low carb thing is going to be a lifetime commitment, but given the results so far I think I'm OK with that.

As a happy side effect, I've lost a bit over 50 pounds and my blood pressure has dropped back down into the normal ranges as well. I've even been able to put my old Navy uniform on, it's not a comfortable fit yet but it does fit. Another reason to keep the low carb lifestyle going...but I did gain back about 7 pounds on our recent vacation so I need to get serious about it again. Too much eating out during vacation, you really do need to cook to do the low carb thing because you really don't know what's in the food that you get at restaurants, most everything nowadays has some kind of breading or something on it anymore it seems. I'd like to lose another 50-60 pounds just to see if I can, but I'll be happy with another 25-30. The weight loss has slowed lately but I think that's more as a result of me getting comfortable and cheating on my diet a bit. Like I said, I need to get serious about it again.

I got the new barrel for the Glock 19 installed and got a range day to get it sighted in, and the results are greatly improved. I can actually consistently hit the broad side of a barn with it now. I want to get a barrel for the Glock 36 next and see if it cures the persistent FTE problems. I have a suspicion that it will, but I'll have to make a purchase and schedule another play date to see for sure.

M and I took a trip last week for the Easter/Spring Break holidays, we went from here to see her folks for a day in PA, to Iowa to see my folks, then down to Branson MO for a couple of days, and finally to Gatlinburg TN for a few days before making our way back. We had a lot of fun, we spent way too much money, and we were glad to get back home.

And now I have a large pile of laundry to do.

It's Not That

I don't have anything going on.

It's just that I don't have anything interesting going on.

As soon as that changes...I'll let you know.

OK, fine...

I have been taken to task for my lack of blogging.

Not really, but it was pointed out to me that I haven't done it for a while.

So, here's what I've been up to:

 This dollhouse has been a work in progress for several years, Laura bought it ten or eleven years ago. I finally got it done and took it to Florida for the eldest grand-daughter. She's going to have to finish the shingles on the roof, but all the structure is complete at least.

 Along with the bathroom we are also pulling up all the carpet in the house. We got the front room more or less complete (SWMBO still hasn't decided what final floor covering she wants) and moved the bookshelves in what will become the library when I get around to relocating a few walls.

 My Little Pony got a styling bar for my birthday, I've wanted to put one on it for a while and now I have.

 Eldest Boy finally moved out and I got my train room back!

 I had some passenger equipment custom painted. Above is a 4-6-4 Hudson streamline locomotive in Erie paint. To the best of my knowledge the Erie never had Hudsons, much less streamlined ones, but it sure does look good. It leads a set of streamline cars that I also had painted in the Erie scheme...just before finding a full set of factory painted cars at the local hobby shop.

Below is a set of heavyweight passenger cars in Norfolk and Western paint. Of course, as soon as I had them painted a set of factory painted ones showed up at a train show...

 I also had a semi-streamlined Pacific painted for the N&W. Again, as far as I know the N&W did not have semi-streamlined Pacifics. It was a fine running locomotive when I disassembled it for paint. Unfortunately it isn't any more. It will look good on the display line I guess.  Maybe one day I'll figure out how to get it to run properly again, but until then I have a pair of J class locos to pull the varnish.

Last but not least, yesterday was the third anniversary of my first date with M. It was snowing, so the restaurant was empty and we had the full attention of the wait staff...which wasn't so good when I was trying to monopolize her attention...but the date went well.

And that's about it.

Oh, My Neglected Blog

Welcome back to what is becoming my seldom visited corner of the internet. It's been almost a month since I last posted. In that time we have inaugurated a new President, endured a flood of protesters as a result, and watched a stunning Super Bowl comeback.

Closer to home Eldest Son has finally moved out again, this time for the last time. That leaves only Youngest Son at home. We are finally moving forward with getting him tested and maybe we can get him some help on the learning front. I think he has come to grips with the fact that Occupy Dads House is not going to be a lifetime option, so he's showing proper enthusiasm for the project.

Today is a special anniversary for me personally as well. For the seventh of February 2015 I posted about my new Z scale model trains showing up at the Refuge. I took a few pictures of them, went out for the night with a Meetup group to hear a local band, returned home and went to bed.

It was a largely unremarkable evening overall, but a pretty girl smiled at me and laughed when I  attempted to be funny, and at the end of the evening she said she liked my car. We drove away, in separate cars but going the same direction. I found out she lived in the next town over from me, only 7 miles away or so. I hoped she would show up at the next event so that I could see her smile again.

This was, of course, the day I discovered that the lovely Mrs Hades and I occupied the same planet, and although I was blissfully unaware at the time my world would never again be the same.

Also two years ago I had not yet posted the February RotM, and then as now GFA had not showed up to give me a hard time about it. So once more, before that happens, I bring to you the next Last Refuge of a Scoundrel Redhead of the Month:

Redhead Girl by Ajsena

Enjoy!

Fraud

Old NFO had a bit of an issue with a credit card lately.

It must be the season. Just before departing on Christmas vacation...and I mean the DAY before...I got a call from Navy Federal Credit Union asking me if I was in Utah...because my bank card was. Fortunately for me they are always right on top of things so it didn't cost me anything but frustration. (Today it cost me an extra $25 because my insurance payment didn't go through, but that was my own fault for not changing the account numbers.)

As near as I can figure I ran into a card skimmer. I went to the gas station to fill up and used the card reader at the pump. It asked me for my PIN and then asked me to re-enter it. Note to the unwary, NEVER DO THIS! If it asks you for your PIN twice, cancel the transaction and go elsewhere.

Using the information off of my card they were able to duplicate it, but without the PIN they are limited to credit transactions. The bank caught it and declined the transaction, but this meant the card got canceled and they would have to issue a new one.

Did I mention I was getting ready to leave town for two weeks to go on vacation?

While I was on the phone with them I logged into the bank website to find the entirety of my savings account had been transferred to checking, something that I did not do. I asked the nice lady on the phone about it and she tracked it down to an online transaction originating from a computer in...Northern Virginia. So, they immediately put a hold on my online transactions as well.

Did I mention I was getting ready to leave town for two weeks to go on vacation?

So while I was ranting and raving about not being able to access my accounts they helpfully informed me that my wife's card would still work, as well as her online access. Mrs Hades of course found this very humorous and called it "wife insurance" (as if she needs it).

My only recourse was to go to a Navy Federal Credit Union branch office and they would be able to close my existing accounts, open new ones, transfer the funds and issue me a new card on the spot. The only problem is, the nearest NFCU branch to the Refuge is an hour and a half in the opposite direction from where we were going.

But wait, her brother lives in NoVa, and there are lots of branches there!

So, a little change in plans, a detour through NoVa (which actually didn't add any travel time to the trip; we just went north and then west instead of west and then north), a quick stop by the bank and lunch with Brother In Law and all was as it should be.

I then spent a few hours on the laptop changing all my direct deposits (you can do this with DFAS but it takes some hoop-jumping; I had to call my place of employment to do the same) and online accounts (Amazon, Paypal, etc) to the new numbers. Unfortunately I forgot USAA and ended up paying a bounced check charge from them, but that is all squared away now, too.

I am also now in the habit of checking my bank accounts, if not daily then every other day, to catch anything that may be wrong. Probably something I should have been doing all along, but had not been. It's a good thing for me that Navy Fed has such a sharp anti-fraud division.

The upside to all this technology is it makes things convenient. The down side to all this technology is...it makes things convenient. We have always had scammers of one sort or another, the digital world just gives them another outlet to perpetuate their fraud. This one is just immediate and more convenient since they never have to leave their mother's basements in order to scam you out of all your hard earned life savings, as well as your good name.

So far I've been lucky, but I will pay double rates for the guy who invents software that makes the computers of hackers and online scammers to self destruct any time they try to ply their trade...and triple rates if said destruction immolates the scammers as well.

Yes, that's right. I said it. Scammers and hackers must die in a fire. Horribly. On Christmas. In front of their relatives.

But since it looks like we will always have them with us, it is up to us to safeguard ourselves.

Tis The Season

The Subaru is fixed and once again on the road. It has been running now for a couple of weeks, but time will tell how well the fix took this time.

Eldest Son will no longer be driving it, though, he finally scraped enough money together to get his car back on the road. One less yard ornament in front of the house.

Speaking of yard ornaments, the tree is up and decorated but I have not put anything up outside. I might not since we are once again going to be traveling for Christmas.

And speaking of Christmas, the lovely Ms Heyworth would like to wish you a Merry one.

I Didn't

get to the range yesterday like I wanted to.

I didn't go to the dentist like I was supposed to do either.

Both have been rescheduled.

Shame on Me

I need to get to the range more often, and now that I'm a member I really have no excuse not to.

Lately between hurricanes and doctors appointments I really haven't had the time, but that is not truly a good excuse. I really hate to go during the week because Mrs Hades can't come with me, and on the weekends we often do other things, but that's not really a good excuse, either. I'm certain that if I scheduled range time during one of our weekends she'd be glad to go, and if I went by myself on the weekdays she wouldn't mind.

Last weekend I worked and last week I had my Happy Birthday borescope inspection so those two days were pretty much shot in the...OK, bad joke. On the bright side, however, we did get down to Eagle 1 when the doc was finished with me, where the nice lady behind the counter showed a Glock 43 to Mrs Hades. Unfortunately they didn't have one to rent so we couldn't try it out, but the Mrs liked the feel of it in her hand well enough to suspect there may be one in her future.

This weekend is a postponed anniversary trip and next week I have a dentists appointment in the afternoon, which should not keep me away from the range in the morning at least. I'm going to try to get there then. It's a weekday so Mrs Hades won't be along for the trip, but I really do need to go.

And since hunting season is upon us now, I'll bring the rifles out to play a bit.

This post brought to you by the reminder that my range fees are due for the year, which also reminds me that it's been a while since I've been out there.

Life Goes On

Hurricane Matthew came to visit. He left us without power for not quite 24 hours which wasn't enough to melt the ice cubes in my freezer so all is well. Better for me than for some, but I was certainly thinking about a generator after hearing my neighbors. All I really need is something to run the water pump for the well, but being able to run the refrigerator/freezer would be good, too.

I have a camp stove and plenty of gas for it and I have a fireplace in case of cold weather and extended outages, but water is something I have to have brought in. Fortunately M insists on bottled water so we always have plenty on hand, and we were able to use the copious amounts of rainwater collected in buckets for flushing water.

The bottom line though is we got lucky. The temperatures have been moderate lately so it was neither too hot or too cold, even after the storm had passed, so neither heat nor AC was a critical necessity. That is definitely not always the case. We were OK for drinking water but if the power had been out much longer flushing water would have certainly been an issue.

I'm wondering how difficult it would be to have an old fashioned hand pump put in. One of the houses I rented once upon a time had a small one mounted on the kitchen counter beside the sink, which I thought was a great idea. I'm thinking something like that would have to be designed with the house, but one out in the yard may not be overly difficult.

I'm also going to need to get some more lamp oil and maybe one or two more hurricane lamps. The one we had never really got used but it would have been nice to have a few backups just in case the power stayed out longer than it did.

In other news, my work schedule changed on the first of the month. Once upon a time I worked what they call a red/blue or a 2-2-3 schedule. The way it works is thusly: working 12 hour days (or in my case, nights) in one weeks time, starting from Sunday, you will work Sunday, off Mon/Tues, work Wed/Thur and be off for Fri/Sat. The next week you will be off the days you worked on the previous week and work the days you were off. The nice thing about this schedule is you get a 3 day weekend every other weekend, but the down side is you have to keep your days plotted on a calendar for planning purposes.

For the past 8-9 years, however, I've been working a front/back schedule. The way that one works is I was on every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and ever other Wednesday, so one week I would work 3 in a row and the next week I would work 4 in a row (I was on the front end; a different crew worked the back end consisting of Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the alternate Wednesdays). The nice thing about this schedule is that you always know what days you have off and you only have to keep track of one day for planning purposes, the down side is every weekend you will be working one of the two days (the weekend being Saturday and Sunday)

The back end crew (led by their senior tech) decided it sucked working all of the prime tail-chasing days of Friday and Saturday, so they took a vote to change it (isn't that cute, they took a vote!). Of course what they WANTED to do was change our alternating days from Wednesday to Saturday, so instead of working half of every weekend (remember the weekend is Saturday and Sunday, not Friday/Saturday) I would get to work all of every other weekend and half of the rest, while they would get every other weekend off altogether.

When I pointed out that M works M-F and so I would be giving up half the days in the month I had off with her in exchange for nothing I was told that was the point; I had had it too good for too long so it was my turn to suffer. I suggested that if they wanted fair, which is what they were claiming they wanted, a red/blue schedule would be the most fair way for everyone. You would have thought I invited them to a group self-immolation.

I'm sorry...no. I have enough seniority and have invested enough sweat equity that I don't have to take that particular orifice violation. So, back to red/blue we went, which caused the instigator of the whole schedule change fiasco to put in his resignation.

I see I forgot to mention that the instigator took the boss and the bosses boss to HR over it. At any other company the HR director would have declined to get involved, but at ours they sailed right in, prepared to do battle on the instigators part, until it was pointed out to them (by the legal department) that the rest of the group was working red/blue so the instigators claim of discrimination was ridiculous from the beginning (no he wasn't a minority, just an asshole).

At any rate, taking your boss (and your bosses boss) to HR does not usually lead to a long career with the company in question, so when the resignation was tendered it was immediately and gladly accepted.

So, with the weekend of the 7th, 8th and 9th suddenly free M and I decided to take a little trip to Myrtle Beach for our anniversary...which brings us back to the first part of this post.

Obviously we didn't go. The trip has been re-scheduled for the weekend of the 21st-23rd and hopefully the weather that we have had for the past week will continue through those dates.

Last year our honeymoon was partially spoiled by the remnants of Hurricane Joaquin meandering through the Appalachians when we were trying to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, this year it was Matthew devastating the coast on the weekend we were supposed to be going to the beach.

I certainly hope this doesn't turn into a habit.

But this weekend I'll be working the entire weekend for the first time in a very long time, and then Monday...ah, Monday...

Did I mention I turned 50? Yay me.

And furthermore...

So it looks like my schedule will be changing soon, which doesn't bode well for my involvement in the train club but should be good in other ways. I'll be working every other weekend, but now instead of working every Sunday I'll be getting all three days off every other weekend. Unfortunately the weekend that I will be working includes my anniversary weekend, but fortunately for me Mrs Hades is as understanding as she is lovely so we will be celebrating the weekend after.

Our plans are to drive the coast road, NC12, and see what there is to see all along the outer banks. Hopefully there won't be another hurricane (Note: Hurricane Matthew did, indeed, come to visit, damn his eye) to deal with as there was last year, but if there is one I hope that it will go to the mountains that weekend like it did last year instead of going to the coast.

The Mustang is having a brake squeak problem again, in the right rear. I found a sticking caliper pin, which I lubricated and unstuck, but the squeaking came back. I then installed slotted disks and new pads on all four corners, which solved the problem for a little while but it is back. I have obtained a new caliper mount and hopefully that will solve the problem, if not I do have a new caliper and brake hose. (Note: it ended up being the anti-rattle clip that had come out of position and was rubbing the rotor. New clip, problem solved.)

Last but not least I cooked up another batch of Chicken Marsala tonight, using a modified recipe, and it meets the full approval of Mrs Hades, who is a Chicken Marsala connoisseur. The modified recipe makes a lot of extra sauce, which Mrs Hades likes, and has a nice subtle taste which was appreciated across the board. It looks like this will go on the regular Refuge menu.

And without further ado, here it is:

Chicken Marsala

1/2 C flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground oregano
8-12 chicken breast filets (or 4-6 whole boneless breasts, pounded 1/4” thin)
4 T olive oil
8 T butter, divided
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups sliced mushrooms
1 med Vidalia onion, sliced thin (optional)
2 cups dry Marsala cooking wine
3 T chopped parsley (or 2 T dried parsley flakes)
1 tsp rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
1 lb pasta of choice

Melt 4T butter in pan, add olive oil. Combine flour, salt, black pepper and oregano in a Ziploc bag. Pound the chicken pieces until they are 1/4” thick. Shake 3-4 chicken fillets at a time in the flour mixture and brown, approximately 3-4 minutes each side, over medium high heat. Remove to a separate container and cover to keep warm.

Add the mushrooms, garlic and onion if used. Saute over medium heat until brown. approximately 4-5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with the Marsala,add the parsley and rosemary. Stir well, return the chicken to the pan. Cover and simmer on medium low heat approximately 5 minutes.

Remove the chicken pieces once more and cover to keep warm. Swirl in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat, stir until an emulsion is made.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Dish the pasta out, add chicken to each serving and cover with sauce. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Father's Day Weekend

For me the "weekend" started on Wednesday.

I put slotted rotors on the Mustang on Thursday.

I played trains with my grandson on Friday.

Yesterday we had a cook out in the back yard and made s'mores over the fire pit.

Unfortunately today it's back to work.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there.

Baja

When last we spoke of the yellow beastie it was to document this occurrence.

At the time I speculated blown head gaskets, since it is a common Subaru item. Unfortunately...or maybe fortunately since it was the least expensive of the available options...this speculation was proven to be true. Yes, that is coolant pouring out of the header when I unbolted it, the water was getting in to the #1 cylinder.

Having neither the time nor the money to fix it, and having another car to drive, the poor Scooby has sat unattended for a few months. Recently I've been able to scrape the cash together to get things started, though, so by this weekend the Scooby should be on the road again.

Last week the trucklet came apart and the heads went to the machine shop to be checked out and resurfaced. On Tuesday they were ready so I went and picked them up and then went to the parts store for the needed materials.

In addition to the head gaskets I am also putting on a new timing belt with the associated components as well as swapping out all the accessory belts, fuel lines, heater hoses, radiator hoses and vacuum lines. It's also getting a pair of O2 sensors since they don't do well with coolant baths, and I've had a bad one for a while anyway.

 I'm 15K miles shy of the scheduled timing belt change, but since everything else is apart it's a good time to get it done. I sprung for the whole kit this time, which includes the water pump and all of the pulleys. The accessory belts were done 90K miles and six years ago, so it's time for them as well.

I've been smelling fuel on the cold mornings for a while, which is another common Subaru occurrence caused by deteriorating fuel lines, hence their replacement. As far as the other hoses, they have never been changed since I've owned the trucklet and some of the vacuum lines were getting a little soft, so I figured it was a good idea to change them all out as well.

All told the final cost, including labor, is going to run me right around one and a half K, which is still cheaper than replacing the entire motor or having to buy new heads for the darn thing (but not by much). Since I have already done the clutch, struts, ball joints, drive axles* and center drive I am hoping to get at least another 100K out of it before having to do anything else.

Eldest Son is doing the work for me. I could do it myself but I'm getting to the point where I'd rather pay him to do it.

*And strut bearings, which was why the truck would start to pull one way or the other right after a sharp turn in that direction.

Moving And Shaking

I've been on the waiting list to join one of the local (local being a relative term, it's an hour away but so are all the other ones) gun club for a couple of years now, and a couple of weeks ago I got the notification that my number had come up, so to speak.

The club owns the range where Range Partner and I go to shoot, he's a member so we've been shooting on his ticket. He's changed jobs and his schedule is kind of crazy lately so it's been a while since we've been shooting. This way I can go even if he isn't available.

At the same time M has decided the gun safe should be in the office. That's a heavy bitch, when it arrived four of us lifted it up out of the trucklet and brought it in through the front door. We had no materials handling equipment, so once it was in the door we made the command decision to put it in the first available corner and there it has sat ever since.

And of course now that just will not do. However, it has not gotten any lighter since I brought it home, so I really needed a hand truck. Lucky for me I know a guy...and he owes me since I helped him move his gun safe once, which is kind of ironic, really, since this is kind of where the whole thing started.

So off to the gun club I went today where I got my orientation and shot 50 rounds through the Sig to demonstrate that I can follow directions (although I really did suck at it, good thing I'm joining a range) as Range Partner laughed at me. Afterwards it was off to the Refuge for some toasted cow and safe moving. All too soon the day was over, and we parted with the usual declarations that we would have to make it happen sooner rather than later.

It's been a pretty good day.

Yeah...

So Thursday this happened.

Sunday night into Monday this happened.

Today I went out to move the trucklet over a bit to get it out of the way, and just out of curiosity I turned the key...and it started right up.

The coolant is still mysteriously gone, so I still have a problem, but at least now I know it didn't slip time and possibly damage valves or pistons.

I'll take it apart this weekend and inspect the heads. Maybe I will get lucky and just have to replace the head gaskets. That would be nice.

It's not all bad though. This happened Sunday also.

Valentines Day 2015 was the day I asked her to go out with me and she didn't run away screaming, so we've officially been "a thing" for a year now. It's been a good one.

Well

Damn.

Not really what I'd hoped to be doing with my day.
Boy and I went to Fort Bragg today to get his ID card, mostly so I could quit paying so much for his health insurance. On the way out I thought I smelled antifreeze, but it went away immediately so I thought nothing of it. On the way home the heater started blowing cold air, so I looked at the temp gauge and saw it was spiked. The motor died as soon as I pushed in the clutch. I let it cool down and tried to start it, and it has no compression.

Either the head gaskets are blown (a common Subaru problem) or my timing belt skipped a tooth. I'm hoping it's head gaskets because that's cheaper to fix. It was about time for another timing belt anyway, so either way I'll do it when I'm there, but if it's only the head gasket I won't have to get the valves done. I guess I can't complain, it has 90K on it since the motor was apart the last time, but it is an expense I wasn't planning on.

Seems to be a lot of unplanned stuff happening lately.

Oh, G

So it ends up I didn't like the old Droid as much as I remembered.

There were several things I missed about the HTC, so I switched it back...but oh yeah, it won't charge. Maybe I can turn it in under the warranty...

well, if I hadn't switched it for the Droid, that would have worked. But, since now I have totally buggered myself, time to get a new phone! Along with a new 2 year obligation, oh boy.

So, I got a Droid Turbo 2. Nice phone, leather back which I immediately covered up with a case, and a non-breakable screen. That might be handy. Another nice thing, a charging dock. No need to plug it in, just sit it on the charging dock and let it charge as I sleep. Easy peasy!

Download a few apps (including Blogger that I pulled my hair out to get set up), set everything up just the way I want it...yeah, don't care much for having to hit another button when I open the phone app just to get a keypad, and then I deleted my email app because you CAN'T SIGN OUT OF IT!!! and I think I can live with it.

So the other day I'm talking to M just before she goes to bed, as I usually do, and she mentions her cousin John is in the hospital for some sort of stomach problems and he's posting on the book of faces. I try to open it up and I can't get the internet when I'm on the phone. That's annoying, never had that problem with the HTC...and as soon as I hang up the phone I can get on the 'net, no problems. Hmmm. I check out the issue on the internets and find out I have to turn on advanced calling. OK, no probs, everything is hunky dory, right?

Yeah...not really.

As I'm driving home my phone hooks up to the bluetooth and the actions app I have turns off the wifi, turns on the GPS and opens up Mapquest as I have set it up to do. I then call M for the trip home, as I usually do, and dammit, my Mapquest hangs up with the message that I can't get data while I'm on the phone! W? T? F??? So I divert to the Verizon store to find out what the deal is.

Long story short, you can't get voice and data unless you are either 1) on the wifi or 2) in a 4G LTE network area.

Long story long, the old 3rd Generation (3G) network, which could only provide voice or data but not both, is being replaced by a new 4th Generation (4G) with Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology that can use voice and data. Up to around 2008 since 4G was in its infancy (or not even around) you were limited to either making a phone call or using the internet/GPS, but not both at the same time.

However, many cell phone users were upset that they couldn't navigate to their favorite restaurant while inviting their friends to join them, or talk on the phone to a client while they are trying to navigate to the clients business, or look up something on the net while on the phone, etc. So, to overcome that little shortfall some cell phones (like the HTC One M8) have a dual receiver, one for voice and messaging and one for data.

But now, since we are entering the brave new digital world that old clunky outdated 3G network is being phased out...so no need to put in that second R/T, but instead of saying that you may be limited if you aren't on a 4G LTE network we will just tell you about the extended battery life. Yay! And since the LTE network is expanding every day, no one will notice! Yay!

Except when you aren't in an LTE coverage spot that is. Oops. Sorry about that. Of course if you start out in an LTE area you can start out with voice and data, but if you move into an area that isn't covered...goodby one or the other. And, since Verizon has built its reputation over not dropping calls (can you hear me now?) they opted to drop data rather than drop calls.

I guess that makes sense, the cell phone is primarily a phone after all, but it sure seems like I'm paying a big chunk of money to take a step backwards.

The Droid I Was Looking For

I haven't really liked my HTC One cell phone since I bought it, and now it's refusing to take a charge if it is turned on. I have to either turn it all the way off or put in in airplane mode to get it to charge.

I've been sorry to have let my old Droid go, but recently Middle Daughter traded up and I was able to get it back. Yesterday I went through the steps of re-activating it and I've been downloading the apps and add-ons that I've become accustomed to.

The screen is smaller, so using it for the Kindle won't be as good. I'll also miss the stereo speakers on the HTC, but it's not like I used it much for listening to music anyway. If nothing has changed since I switched up the battery will charge when I'm in the car using the GPS or if I have it plugged in and all services active.

So today, to reward me for all my efforts, I've gotten three phone calls from the same number between the hours of 8 AM and noon. Spammers. I finally answered the last call but I can't say who it was because when I picked it up I whispered "It's done but there's a lot of blood. Send the cleaners. Make payment as agreed. Do NOT make me come looking for you. Lose this number." Then I hung up. They haven't called back so far.

One more thing I'll miss about the HTC One, I guess...the ability to block numbers.

Helping Hands

Today M and I got together with the Wake Forest Mustang Club for a poker run, the purpose was to raise some money for a local mom to get a handicapped van for her two daughters.

The run went well, the weather was clear and sunny even though it was a bit cold.

 We left Wake Forest NC a little after 9:30 and collected cards along the way, ending up in Wilmington NC at the USS North Carolina.

At the end of the day we went out with the group for supper and then back home. It was a good day all in all, and it will have to do me for a while since the Mustang is now down for a left front caliper.

The brake telltale started sounding off about halfway there, fortunately the pad is not yet down to metal but it is at the wear limit. The pads just went on it in October, and only the inside left one is down to the wear limit. The rotor is not damaged or even significantly worn, so I won't have to replace it which is good since both rotors were just replaced. A new caliper and hose, new brake pads and I should be right back on the road.

Just another thing that I hadn't planned on spending the money on, but I guess I know what I'm doing next weekend.

Nice To Be Home Again

Eleven states and both families have been visited in the past ten days. Gifts and greetings have been exchanged and a good time was had by all.

We got back home today in the rain to find the roof still leaks in the kitchen and bathroom. As I type this missive I am listening to pieces falling off the kitchen ceiling.

I guess for the new year I'm going to break down and put a new roof on the Refuge...and one on the Mustang as well, for the same reason.

Be it ever so waterlogged, there's no place like home...