Giving Debit Where Debit Is Due

     This week marks an important milestone for me as my rechargeable debit card expires.  It was my first one ever.  I know that it will sound strange that I got my first ever edit or credit card so late in life, but I do have a good explanation for it.  My mother is sort of obsessed with money.  For some reason, she has never thought I was good with it.  While I admit I sometimes go overboard, it was never that often and never intentional.  Nevertheless, she pretty much refused for me to ever get.  I preferred cash anyways, and I rarely had to buy anything too expensive.  The main downside was that I could never purchase things online.  This al changed when I got into graduate school.  To save money, my mother wanted to make sure I could get my books through alternate sources.  This meant getting most of the books through the library, with a few more through my bookstore.  I only had to get a small amount through the college, and for that I needed some sort of card.  After some hassle, I finally got my first card, a rechargeable debit card.  I only used it for a few books, one a used book for a class I ultimately dropped and couldn't return because it was no longer going to be used.  For my second semester, both of my books were available through my own bookstore, so I didn't need the card for awhile.  That's when I started using it for other things.  The first purchases were for digital PDF versions of books that I had been wanting for years.  There was a sale going on, and I bought all six.  I could have ordered print-on-demand physical copies, but that would have cost too much.  I would end up buying multiple other PDFs from the series, including newer ones as they were brought out.  I would sponsor crowdsourcing for other new products, getting some older PDFs of products as well.  Sure, there were other benefits that I would end up either mostly ignoring or opting out on, but I was just so overjoyed to finally be able to get into one of my favorite things after having to sit out on it due to not being able to order online.  I also bought a few other things, actual physical objects and not digital releases, with my card.  I also used it to sign up for my loan streaming service.  I tried to renew early, before my card expired, but I wasn't given the chance.  My mother even co-opted it to order something for herself, although she may have returned it.  She frequently does that.  At the end of the week, my card will finally expire. I'm planning on making one last online purchase in the remaining hours.  Then, I'm not sure what I'll do.  I'll need a new card so that I can renew my streaming plan.  I'll need a new card to make sure my PayPal service remains steady, even if I so rarely use it. I'll need a new card the next time there's a sale of my digital books or crowdsourcing for a new one I'd like to be a part of.  (I'm only now starting to buyback older books that I lost twenty years ago in the flood.  That would be dozens of downloads.) Hopefully, I can start a new account soon, although I'm sure my mother would prefer that I didn't have one.

Maybe You Can't Drive My Car

    I sometimes let someone else drive my car.  Not that often, but it does cause the occasional problem.  For instance, I'm a good six to eight inches taller than this other person.  They have to adjust the seat closer to the steering wheel to drive, and they sometimes forget to return the seat to its original position.  Just yesterday, I had to wrench my hips around just so I wouldn't bump into the steering column.  My knees hit it anyway.  It wouldn't be that much of a problem, but I don't really like to adjust my seat until I'm actually sitting down, as it is easier to reach the controls that way.  Almost as bad, they sometimes adjust the seat way too far back, as if I was well over six feet tall.  While I don't hurt myself, I do wind up messing up anything in the floor behind me.  Next, there is the sun shade.  It's summer, and I like having some sort of visor up by the windshield to keep the car a little cooler.  However, this person frequently messes up the passenger side of the screen, causing it to slip a little.  While that doesn't affect the temperatures on my side, it does make it harder to put the screen away easily so I can drive.  If the screen is set up properly, it can be taken down without any fuss, but there always seems to be a problem whenever it isn't set up right. After this, I can now start the car, only to find more problems.  Whenever one of the car's features sends out a notification, the feature turns on the radio console to use its speakers.  Well, this person doesn't know how to turn the radio off properly, even after numerous attempts at showing them how.  They just leave the radio on, and asking me to go back out to shut it off.  What's worse, they accidentally mute the radio instead of turning it off. This risks draining the battery, especially when I turn the motor on.  Another problem is the digital information display.  This person has an irrational fear of tires going flat at the worst possible moment.  They check the tire inflation every chance they get into the car, even if when they don't really feel anything is wrong.  They've also have starting worrying about the electrical system and the battery life as well.  Half the time I start the car, the information is still there, instead of something more immediately useful, such as the speedometer.  It's not like I'm going to note what the tire inflation, battery charge, or even oil life when I don't need to.  Finally, I can drive.  Or not.  This person has one last bad driving habit.  They don't 'zero out' the steering wheel to straighten the tires.  Frequently, there is a slight turn to the wheel that could cause the car to turn in that direction even after I straighten the tires out.  Worse, this person has even had the steering wheel upside-down, and I don't notice it until it is too late.  I've pressed the wrong buttons on the wheel, and it has led me to think something bad is happening.  I've even almost gone into traffic in front of another vehicle because the wheels were turned in the wrong direction.  As the primary driver, my needs take precedence.  They keep saying that they are going to change and remember to set the car back to my standards, but they keep doing it.  I'm just fortunate that they don't read this blogcast, or I would be in trouble for mentioning them, even though I never mention them by name. If they need, then I could be in even worse shape the next time after they take my car.

If It Is Broke, Then Replace It

    I have had a lot of things breaking down on me lately, with the capper being my computer last week.  That is the reason why there wasn't a post last Wednesday.  Let me update some of the problems I have been having.  First, my watch band snapped a few weeks ago.  I was finally able to get it to a jewelry repair store, but they said they weren't able to fix the damage.  The watch still works, as long as I remember to shake now and again to self-wind it.  I might be able to get a new band though, but it might be difficult to replace it.  Next, my electric shaver stopped working two weeks ago.  As I mentioned in my last regular post, I was trying to find a way to fix it or get a new one.  I checked an online troubleshooting site, but nothing seemed to match my problem.  I went to a local big box store to see if they had anything I could buy as a replacement.  Well, I knew they were kept locked up, even though the trimmers weren't and some of them cost just about as much. However, the shavers were stored with the bottoms of the packages face out. I couldn't tell what brand and model was which.  Let's not even mention about how hard it would be to find a sales clerk to open the cabinet for me.  Well, while I was shopping around, I had someone else call the toll-free number about how to dispose of my old shaver.  Out of nowhere, the company sent me a new, replacement model for free.  I'm not sure why, but I'm thinking that there was a recall of the old model and I missed the notification. I did register my shaver when I first bought it, but I think I remember not using the right zip code for the mailing address and I may have unsubscribed to the notifications after a while.  Still, the new one charges much faster and lasts for about the same amount of time as my old one.  Now, for my old computer.  Last Wednesday, I was doing my regular routine. I checked my email, and then I started watching my YouTube shows before going on to my blog.  I was just starting my video when the screen froze, the audio began to repeat, and the cursor vanished.  The screen then went dark.  I tired turning the computer off and on.  It tried to come back on, but quickly turned off again.  I checked some of my guides for help.  Again, it only partially worked before failing.  I got on my phone and checked Apple's support site for help.  Again, nothing seemed to fully work.  When my mother cam back it, she suggested a friend of hers who is an avid Apple user to see if he knew anyone who could look at it.  He suggested someone, but they didn't work on Apples, but hey knew someone who did.  We called him and described the problem over the phone.  He didn't seem to be that enthusiastic about the chances he could fix it and save my data.  Finally, my mother suggested the technician who works for the town we live in. She called him, and he managed to get to the store a few hours laters.  He looked at my computer and diagnosed the possible problems.  It didn't look good.  He helped me order a new computer, but was somewhat confident that he might be able to save my data.  Well, even though we ordered it overnight, it took almost two days to arrive because it was ordered so late in the day.  The good news was that he figured out why my old computer died.  I can't really explain it all, but there had been numerous warning signs that I had missed for weeks if not longer.  The bad news was that he didn't have the equipment needed to ship the data over to my new computer, although if I had gone through Apple directly like I wanted, it could have.  He was able to salvage the hard drive, so if I ever can find someone who has the equipment, I can restore the data.  Most of the things I lost are also stored on the cloud, so I can retrieve them whenever I want.  Many of my downloads are also stored on other servers, so I can get them back without any problems.  My videos are also stored on YouTube and/or Facebook, so I can retrieve those as well.  A few things are now unavailable, as they aren't easy to get back, but most of them would ultimately be trashed at one point anyway.  The biggest hassle was the passwords.  While I had copies of most of them off my computer, some rarely used ones weren't, especially the very long ones suggested by the computer itself.  I'm now going to have to redo each one and that is the worst.   I can't even remember everything that had a password.  I'm finding new ones every day.  I'm now so scared of what can happen to my new computer, that I'm not using it as much as I used to.  Should I run it off the battery or the cord?  How long should I go before recharging?  I have seen multiple ideas, not all of them agreeing. I know I shouldn't fully recharge it that ofter.  That accident led to the death of my old one.  However, I am still afraid of another disaster.  The final straw is that my old mouse won't work with my new computer.  I have to use the trackpad only until I can find a cheap, newer one.

Not by the Hair on My Chiny Chin Chin

    My electric shaver died on me recently.  It started its decline last week when the battery charge faded just as I was ready to shave.  I had to wash the pre-shave treatment off my face and switch to my cartridge razor.  I used that razor the next few times, as I didn't like to charge my shaver unless I was there to watch over it for the over seven hours it takes to fully charge it.  The weekend came, and I plugged in the shaver to recharge it.  I noticed that it seemed to reach maximum charge a little sooner than normal, but I didn't think much of it at the time, as the shaver had always taken less time than recommended to recharge.  I went to use it for my next scheduled shave. (I almost never shave two days in a row, as I am prone to getting ingrown hairs.  It could be because of my sensitive skin, or the fact that no one ever taught me how to shave properly.  Yes, even after over thirty-five years, I still am not sure how to shave.  This shows the importance of learning how to shave from someone who knows and not just trying to find out on your own.) I put on the pre-shave treatment, again, only to see the 'low battery' light come on my shaver again.  I switched out to my cartridge razor, again.  I didn't have time to look over my razor until that night.  I tried 'topping off' the electric charge.  After about thirty minutes, the 'full charge' light stayed on, but the razor immediately switched back to the no-charge light when I went to turn it on.  I searched for the instruction manual to see if there were any trouble-shooting hints, but there weren't any.  I am going to look on the company's website for additional information, but it looks like I will have to get a new one.  I got my first electric shaver as a gift on my sixteenth birthday.  I would barely use it once a week for those first few months.  It was rechargeable, but I could use it plugged in as well.  I hated it, as it was hard to find the replacement parts for it. Still, it allowed me to shape my mustache that I grew as soon as I could. I got a new one in college.  Unfortunately, it was plug-in only, so that made it harder to use.  Especially since I starting growing a goatee, like most men my age back then. I kept that one for years, even after I started trying out cartridge razors in the late 90s.  I used to alternate between the two, before I went to using the cartridge exclusively in the 00s.  I switched over to my 'current' shaver after the only store that used to carry the replacement parts went out of business.  (Not to mention that I hadn't used the electric shaver in so long that, well, it was in no shape to use on skin any more.) When I got this one, I failed to notice that while it was rechargeable, one couldn't use it while plugged in.  So, I will have to buy a new shaver soon.  Immediately.  See, while I could use my cartridge razor in the meantime, my mother doesn't know I use one.  Yeah, I've kept that a secret from her for over twenty-five years.  It's been tricky having to find ways to buy supplies without her knowing.  It has gotten trickier since I had to upgrade from two-blades to triple-blade models.  (The same store that sold the parts for my electric shaver was also the only one to regularly stock my replacement cartridges.  At least cheaply, and without having to ask for help in getting them.) I have about two days research to find one I like and buy it before my beard grows out too much and starts looking wonky.  Admittedly, I regularly takes breaks like this so a can shave everything off, even my 'stache, so I can get everything clean and even again.  At least I didn't waste any money by ordering replacement blades online for my old shaver.  Yeah, local stores stopped stocking those parts last year.  I guess that it was just another sign that it was getting time to get a new one.