I'm Not Just Boring, I'm Bored

So, this will my last week with Google+ as the service is ending.  To be honest, I barely used it.  The overwhelming majority of my posts on it was shared content with Blogger.  I had set my blog up so that it would appear on my feed as soon as it was posted.  That ability ended a few months ago, but I had already been cross-posting a link on Facebook, so there was no shortage of coverage.  I can't remember posting any pictures, save for my profile pics.  If there were anything else, they were so unimportant that I have long since forgotten about them.  As for general posts, I don't think I had new content in two years, not since I really started to explore Facebook.  I have the option of saving my content, but it was so much dreck, that I doubt I will.  I never really got to explore the possibilities of the platform.  The only books I found had information that was out of date, by years.  Some of the features had changed, to the point that I couldn't really understand them.  I couldn't find any new information to help me out either.  I really was only going on the platform to aid my store, Booknotes.  I barely did anything for it either.  The strange thing is that business uses of Google+ might still remain, at least in some fashion.  I haven't been asked to save the content from that part of my account as I have from my personal account.  I should look back on what little I posted, but what is the use?  I didn't do anything.  I had no friends try to contact me there, so I guess anyone who knew me didn't try to find me, at least by the point I started on it.  I never had anything interesting to report.  I never did anything worthy to post.  I never joined any communities to reach out to anyone who shared any of my interest, such as they are.  I barely do more than that on Facebook, either.  But I do do more than that and I am more connected there, and that's the point.  Lately, things just seem to be in a holding pattern.  I can't seem to get anywhere or do anything.  I am just barely doing a minimum amount of anything to get by.  In fact, I just sent in my latest application for grad school, at least as much of it as I could before the deadline.  I think I did enough of it correctly to at least continue the process, but I am not enthusiastic about it, not as much as I should be.  I still like doing everything that I'm doing, I just can't get myself to react more positively about it.  Not that I do much, but I just can't feel it enjoying me.  Whatever, I seem be rambling.  I didn't plan this week's post as well as I should have.  What happens to one's online life when a social media site ends, when there wasn't much on it to begin with?

Oh, Wi-fi Does This Always Happen to Me

When I finally got a computer, I didn't realize some of the hassles I would be facing.  For instance, internet accessibility.  When I was using public computers, I didn't need to think much about access.  I either had it or I didn't.  There was only an occasional slowness or lag time, but it was usually not a big deal.  Then, I got my own.  For the first few days, I couldn't really do anything with it.  I didn't have a router hooked up at home, yet.  It would be another month before I could get that connected.  So, for the most part, I was limited to using my computer at work, save for a few apps I had downloaded that didn't need full-time access to use.  At first, it took awhile to access the wi-fi signal at the shopping center, as the store's current phone system wasn't offering its own internet hook up.  Once it was received, I was able to go online whenever I wanted or needed to.  Usually.  For basic searches, this works out well enough.  However, because I am so far away from the primary signal, lags develop.  It can take over a minute to just get to my email account, and longer for it to completely download.  Certain sites take even longer, especially those with complicated graphics, such as ads.  Social media sites have the longest times.  Facebook can take over a minute for the Home screen to finish downloading.  Some days it takes closer to five, or even longer, for every last post and shot to come up.  Game apps are the worst.  I have waited for over fifteen minutes some days for a game like Candy Crush Saga to download.  I once waited over half an hour for Golf Clash to download, only to have my computer force restart instead because it was taking so long.  Many times, I just give up.  On days like those, I go out and use public computers, such as at a library, to play.  At least there, the signal is usually steady, and I can use a mouse that doesn't always get stuck at the worst moments, forcing me to use the track pad for uses that I am unaccustomed to.  That also brings a problem, as I happen to go to one of the loudest libraries possible.   Sure, most of the time, the computers bays are a quiet place, like most libraries.  But, for some reason, people begin to talk and otherwise start making noise at the exact moment when I start playing Golf Clash.  I need quiet to concentrate on the exact plays I need for that game.  I hate having to turn around and glare at the previously quiet people, now acting up and ruining the game.  It doesn't always happen, but it frequently does when I play that one game.  Strangely enough, that's the one game where I get distracted upon the most at home as well.  Maybe I'm imagining it.  It's barely a coincidence that this happens. Still, a stronger connection at the store would do me well.

I've Found My Blueberry Thrill

This past weekend, I ate some standard blueberry doughnuts.  However, after my recent pączki party, these doughnuts just didn't have a chance.  Not that they were bad, it was just they weren't up to the same level as the others.  Firstly, they were smaller.  I could fit one on the palm of my hand, while the others were just a tad bigger.  The filling was almost completely devoid of berries, small but lacking the extra texture.  They were also completely coated with powdered sugar.  Not bad, but slightly too sweet.  Too bad that I can't get the other type as often.  As I have mentioned previously, I really like blueberries.  I'ver tried them in numerous applications and variations.  Just recently, I even had the new blueberry-açai Diet Coke, the first time I had knowingly drank it in decades.  I could barely stand it.  I could tase both fruit flavors, but they didn't interact the way I thought they would with the Coke.  I don't know what went wrong, since I had been dreaming of a blueberry flavored beverage for years.  Maybe it would have worked better with vanilla.  I tried various blueberry cereal bars, but none of the ones I liked have managed to stay around.  One of the first ones I tried had too much spice in it.  While I have liked other flavors produced by that same company, this one just didn't hit me right.  That brand is still around.  Other bars from other companies are not, many of which I really loved.  I have had muffins, pies, mini muffins and pies, lollipops, jelly beans, danishes, pastries, fudge, yogurt, cobblers, cakes, glazed doughnuts, mini powdered doughnuts, coffee cakes, and many other varieties.  Some I liked, many I didn't.  For some reason, may of the ones I like keep getting discontinued, while many of the ones I hate manage to linger on.  Some are seasonal, others are year-round.  Of course, there are the actual fresh fruit.  While they can sometimes be found off-season, I usually only get them in the spring and summer when they are cheaper and usually of a better quality.   I guess the type I hated the most was the fudge.  I don't like fudge to begin with, and adding blueberries to the recipe didn't change that.  I even tried some blueberry jam, but I just couldn't get into the way the flavors mixed with what I put it on.  I admit, I will frequently try a product that is blueberry flavored, even if I don't usually eat that sort of thing.  For instance, that Diet Coke.  Ugh.  (On a side-note, Coke now has orange vanilla flavor?!  Who ever thought those flavors would match up well with Coke?  On their own, an orange vanilla drink could work.  Either could work with Coke on their own, but together?  I don't know, but I might try a bottle just to see what is up.).  I am still getting the nerve to try a savory dish featuring blueberries.  It's possible, as they are closely related to cranberries, so some exchanges might work.  Still, I have those pączki on my mind.  Go Big Blueberry!

Paczki Party

I was a little early with my posting last week, mostly because I knew that I was going to be out of town all day.  I would be away from my computer, so I did something ahead of schedule and posted the link to social media early.  Basically, I took the day off and did some shopping.  I actually got some good deals.  I found a pair of pajamas for under three dollars.  They were for winter, so that explains the discount.  I found a pair of Levi's for ten dollars!  And they were in my size, maybe a half size too big.  I have lost a little fat lately, but the inseam was perfect.  I frequently need to hem pants so they can fit.  Yes, they are dark brown, but I don't have any jeans in that range.  They really go better with many of my shirts that can't work with blue, or just barely in grays.  Here is a picture of me wearing them in one of my older shirts.  

But the thing that I really liked the best was a box of four blueberry pączki.   For those who don't know what I am talking about, they are a form of Polish filled doughnut typically made just before Lent.  Usually, they have a fruit filling, but cream fillings are sometimes used instead.  While I can find regular blueberry jelly doughnuts locally, these have something special that I cannot explain.  The dough is slightly different, more sweet maybe.  The filling had actually berries in it, not just the jelly dominant ones I usually get.  The top had a slight covering of powdered sugar, some of which had gotten wet and became a glaze.  Local doughnuts are usually covered in powdered sugar.  Don't get me wrong, I still love them.  These were just extra-special, as I don't get to have them every year, especially since I have only found this type in one store and only in the weeks preceding Lent.  I don't even find regular blueberry jelly doughnuts too often, and I don't buy them every time either.  I used to eat them all the time when I was a kid.  The frozen type, as fresh weren't really around the area.  In hindsight, the filling was probably raspberry, which I don't really like, but it could explain why I didn't always love them.  Then, the brand wasn't found any more.  I tried another, but they weren't the same.  Now, I can get a few different varieties, not all of them my type, but I still prefer the blueberry.  Strangely enough, I never had actual blueberries until I was a teenager, perhaps college.  I guess I just was a picky eater.