My Adventures with Dell

My computer was purchased in 2015, and it was a Dell. It came with Windows 8.1, and I upgraded it to Windows 10.

It worked ok. Then back at the end of January, it crashed big time, and when I finally managed to reset it, I lost my programs. My data was backed up on an external hard drive, so it was fine.

There is a backdoor through which one can download Windows 10 for free. I used that and managed to get the computer up and running.

In the meantime, my well-meaning husband insisted I purchase a new computer. This one was, after all, six years old, and that's generally all I get out of a computer.

So I went to the Dell Computer site and after chatting with a technician in chat, and then with someone on the phone, I settled on an Inspiron 3880. I needed something with a DVD drive and a media card reader. I don't game much anymore so mostly I needed something for browsing and word processing.

The computer arrived and the FedEx guy practically threw it in the door (he is never gentle with anything). I managed to get the new computer up and running, and over the last two weeks I installed my software, created a backup and restore disk, and hooked my external hard drive backup to it.

However, when I went to use the SD card reader, it wouldn't read the card. I downloaded straight from the camera instead. Later, I tried a different SD card. It went in and it read it. But when I popped it back out, a piece of plastic came out with it.

Now the card reader won't work at all. It doesn't read cards, and it won't bounce them back out, either.

Seemed to me it came faulty.

It happens.

I contacted Dell via chat. I was told that because this was a hardware "wear and tear" issue, it wasn't warranted. At that time, the computer was 13 days old.

The chat person gave me a number to call. I called. I was placed on hold, and after a very long time, the call simply . . . ended. No one ever picked back up and then I got that "erk erk erk" noise that says you've been disconnected.

Frustrated, I went to twitter and tweeted: "Never buy a @Dell!"

Moments later, Dellcares messaged me. They would solve my problem, some helpful person named Laverna said.

After I explained the problem, she too said that they wouldn't fix the issue, because maybe I'd pushed too hard on the card and broken the spring inside. Really? I've been using card readers for 20 years and this is your response?

I told Laverna they were very useless and I would never buy another Dell. (I probably won't after all this.)

This is my fourth Dell computer. They've always been fairly reliable, but I could tell this 3880 was more cheaply made than my old one. The DVD drive feels like it will fall apart when trying to install a DVD.

Anyway, later I received another message from Laverna at Dell. She'd talked to her manager, and they were going to send me a new internal card reader at no charge to me but I would have to install it.

I asked if this would void the remainder of the warranty and the answer was, probably.

I went to Amazon and bought an external media drive, which should arrive today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, Dell went ahead and began the process of sending me this part, which after learning that it would probably void the remainder of my warranty if I install it, I didn't particularly want.

After I received an email saying the part was on its way, I thought, well, I can just hang on to the part and install it in a year, after the warranty period is up. I don't have a problem using an external card reader. There's a USB port for it.

But maybe I can't hang on to it like that, because there were these indications on the Dell support site that I may have to send the old part back.

Early this morning, I woke to find another Twitter message from Dell. Here's the entire thing:

I left it there, because (a) I'm not getting a monitor, (b) no one is coming to fix this, and (c) the FedEx guy doesn't hang around waiting on things.

My best hope now is that when the part arrives, there is a note in there that says I don't need to send the old part back. An external card reader cost me $15. This part can't cost Dell but what, $1 maybe?

Customer service sure isn't what it used to be. If I had the money, I'd give this one to my husband and purchase something somewhere else.

Thursday Thirteen

Since it's a new year and everything is fresh and peachy smelling, I thought I'd sort of wander backwards and list 13 things that have changed since 1981. Why 1981? It was 30 years ago. It was the year I graduated high school. It has a nice sound to it.

1. Portable technology. I can remember when a Walkman was a big deal; look around now at the iPods and IPads, MP3 players, cellphones, Blue Tooths (Blue Teeth?), and laptops. It used to be we went to the world. Now we take the world with us. Better? I don't know.

2. Hair. Remember the Farrah cut? I had one of those, along with 3/4 of the girls in my class. Boys had longish hair then, too, sometimes it feathered! No crew or bowl cuts unless you had decided to join the Army.

3. Dress code. When I graduated high school it was blue jeans and a little skin. Now it's all skin. Girls in particular look like they're 26 when they're 12. It's a little scary. Guys now wear their pants down around their knees and show their undies. That's just weird.

4. Music. As I ended high school, disco was close to coming to screeching and crashing halt and the beginning of punk, metal, and hip hop was on its way. But I think the biggest change in music has been the absolute disintegration of it as a way of bringing people together. Since no one listens to the same songs anymore, there will never be another Elvis. Why do you think older bands like The Rolling Stones can tour and bring in 100,000 people. Will the new bands do that? Maybe a break-out like Green Day, but I seriously doubt that there will ever be music that touches as many people as the sounds of earlier generations. Even my young-adult-aged nephews admit that "those old songs" are better - and that's what they choose to hear.

5. Poverty and class. The gap between those who have and the rest of us (those who don't) widened significantly in this last 30 years. Unlike some who think too much government is the problem with the economy, I peg this as the major source of ills. The downturn of the middle class will one day be looked upon as the death knell of the nation, I fear.

6. Loss of privacy. I remember when no one knew where I was and it didn't matter because they knew I'd turn up eventually. I miss those days.

7. McMansions. I think this trend may be going away because no one can afford these big houses anymore, but watching these things spring up like mushrooms on what used to be farmland about broke my heart in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I'm really glad I don't have one to clean.

8. Job descriptions/vanished trades. I used to be a secretary. I don't know that "secretary" even exists anymore. I used to run a transcription machine and take dictation. I suppose these jobs may still be around in some places but they are not high on anyone's radar. It used to be a goal, to be a secretary. I wonder what has taken the place of that?

9. The rising cost of health care. A very long time ago, you paid the doctor with eggs from your chicken. Now you sign over your soul to some nameless corporation and hope for the best.

10. The computer. My first computer was a Commodore Vic 20, which came out in 1980. My mother bought it and I quickly confiscated it in the way that children do. I soon graduated to a Commodore 64, then on to a Tandy T1000 (Radio Shack brand). These were all DOS based computers. I didn't move up to a Windows version until about 1992, with Version 3.1. I really hated that because while I understood DOS I found that I had less control over Windows. When Windows messes up, I can't fix it.

11. Progressive lenses. Changes in vision correction might not make many people's list, but when you have trouble with your eyes it's a great and wonderful thing to be able to put on a pair of glasses and see. Contact lens improvements, light-weight frames and lenses - these are the kinds of small changes that make a huge difference in my world.

12. Polarized partisianship. To be sure, the bickering has always been bad in this country, and I know this because I'm an amateur historian who has spent time in newspaper archives reading letters to the editor from folks who would be akin to Limbaugh and Maddow in this day. Everybody has a gripe and everybody is right and the middle ground is always the first thing to die. The Internet and 24-hour TV has made this squealing louder and much more insane, and it's not very good for the country or anybody's sanity. I don't see it changing for the better any time soon.

13. The loss of books. Well, we still have books and probably always will, but the days of books like I knew books are gone. Books will be on little machines and the machine will house 30,000 titles, giving everyone the equivalent of an entire county library at their fingertips wherever they go. The scary thing about this is that some giant corporation can swoop down and yank the words back, so people will soon begin self-editing for fear a diatribe about something will cause the company to retaliate. It's human nature to feed the beast, not oppose it. It's highbrow censorship and we won't even know it's taking place.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here.  I've been playing for a while and this is my 173rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Thursday Thirteen

Today, I offer up a few peeves, in no particular order.

1. The new Windows 7 operating system apparently reverts back to some kind of a DOS check occasionally on start-up. It takes the computer several minutes to run a chkdsk command. It never finds anything wrong.

2. My Brita filter in my Brita pitcher has little black specs of carbon or charcoal or something. All the time, every filter. According to the literature on the box, this is "normal." And of course because some corporation says so, we all believe it, right?

3. Snow on the ground for four weeks. Okay, I'm ready to see some grass! Preferably green.

4. Junk mail. I still get an awful lot of it and this year at Christmas it seemed worse than it had been in years. I apparently got on some mailing list after spending years trying to get off of them all.

5. Leaking windows. Our windows, which were installed in 1987, let air in now. During some of the really cold days this month I thought I would freeze.

6. Books that aren't as good as promised.

7. Movies that are worse than I ever expected. (Pretty much anything with Adam Sandler fits this bill.)

8. Pillows that go flat within a month of use. What is up with this, anyway? I pay $30 and up for a name-brand hypo-allergenic support pillow and in 30 days the thing looks like it's been run over by a fleet of trucks. Where's the neck support?

9. Chatty checkout clerks who feel it is their duty to comment on your purchase, the color of your checks, the kind of coupons you use, etc. Mostly I don't mind but sometimes it rubs me the wrong way. I try to remember that pushing items across a little beam of light all day (not to mention hearing that "beep beep" for eight hours) cannot be that exciting.

10. My husband's chewing tobacco. If he only knew how much I loathe that stuff! Or maybe he knows but doesn't care - Lord knows I've complained about it enough. At any rate, I hate it. That big cup of spit sitting around the house. Dribble on his shirt. Flecks of tobacco all over my car. Yuck.

11. Emotional reactions to social and economic issues that instead require actual thinking. I see a lot of this going on, not only from the man in the street but the people who are supposed to be making changes for the better. It scares me.

12. Telemarketing phone calls. Thanks to the federal "do not call" list there are fewer of these interruptions, but I still get them. Other countries don't have this problem. Why? Because they are "opt in" and not "opt out." That means that people can't just up and call you unless you've given them permission to. And would you give permission to the banks, the politicos, etc., to call you whenever they feel like it? I didn't think so.

13. No decaffeinated Irish Breakfast Tea at my local supermarkets. I frequent three and none carry it. It is my favorite and it is extremely hard to find in the Roanoke area.

Lots of people play Thursday Thirteen. Learn more about it and see other participants here. You can see my other Thursday Thirteens here. This is my 122 entry!

The Night Without Lights

Friday afternoon, around 5:10 or so, the power went out.

Before that, it blinked a few times. I looked outside and realized a big storm was upon us, and I was racing around trying to turn off computers and TVs when the electricity gave up the ghost.

A glance out the bedroom window told me we were having a major weather event. It was raining so hard and furiously that I could not see the fence, which is about 30 yards away. The wind was sending leaves and tree branches in my general direction.

I decided the best thing I could do was sit in the car until the weather calmed. At least if lightning struck, the tires were rubber.

Fortunately, our damage was minimal;  a few trees down in the little forest in front of the house and others on the farm, but nothing across the fences. The generator for the water pump for the cattle watering troughs kicked on and worked as it should, so I didn't have to worry about the cows. 

Without electricity, though, I had to find something to do besides keep my eyeballs on this silly screen at my computer.

I opted to read in the natural light, sitting close to a window. My house, as it turns out, is rather dark. We could have used a few more windows but didn't realize that until after we built. Oh well.

Any way, I finished up my book club book. The power did not return. I had the windows up - a rarity for me because of my asthma and allergies. My husband had mowed the night before and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to stand the grass smell. Ultimately, I could not, so I closed the windows in the bedroom and opened a few others in the far side of the house.

It grew dark around 8:30, and I went to bed. I didn't want to read by flashlight.

Fortunately, it was not a hot night. I slept fitfully, waking about every two hours. I know I dreamed and talked in my sleep; not an unusual occurrence for me. I rose at 6 a.m., long before the Man of the House came in from work. He brought me a very greasy ham biscuit from BoJangles for breakfast (something I requested he not do again). Then he fired up a generator, giving me lights, water, and a fan, but we'd already lost the contents of the refrigerator, most of which I had purchased on Thursday.

We had no phones except our cell phones, which do not work well in the house anyway, and I couldn't do laundry. I took a medium hot shower (there was still hot water in the hot water heater, fortunately), and then sat in the car and recharged my phone while I listened to a book on tape.

After that, I washed all the dishes by hand by heating water with my electric tea kettle and pouring it into a big pan. I folded whatever clothing I hadn't finished up the day before. Then I settled in to a chore I had long put off - tearing articles out of newspapers.

Tearing up a newspaper is a bit like ripping a little shred from my heart, but I have piles of paper. When you write for a newspaper and you keep the stories with your byline, you end up with a lot of newspaper piles. And if you keep all the stories on a local subject that you've been following with interest, even if you didn't write the articles, then you have even more paper. 

I made a significant impact on the pile, and then the phone rang. That was a surprise. After thanking the salesperson for letting me know I had a phone, I hung up on them, and then promptly plugged in my internet connection to see if I could get online with my tablet. I could, and then I couldn't. It was sporadic, but I was able to get my fix. Yes, I am addicted to the Internet. I am addicted to blogs, and reading blogs, and to reading the news, and to Facebook, and to receiving email from friends. Even so, I have thus far refused a smartphone simply because I know I will remain glued to the thing from sun up to sun down, and I don't want that.

I want to keep some autonomy, after all. And I rather like it when I go for a drive and no one can get me because only a select few have my cell number. But I didn't like it when I couldn't access things when I wanted.

The lights came back on around 1:30 p.m., and that was the end of that. I stripped the bed, washed the linens, made the bed back up, and put the dishes I had hand-washed in the dishwasher just because. I fretted over the food in the freezer and the refrigerator. I looked online for guidelines as to how long food would be safe without power. The freezer food was probably okay. The refrigerator stuff - no way. Out it went.

Sunday I rose early to head to the supermarket. Halfway through my shopping trip, I realized I had forgotten my wallet. I put everything back, came back home, and went back after it. This is no small feat given that the shopping around here is a 15 minute drive away (10 if you go fast). What should have taken me an hour and 15 minutes took two hours or better, and I arrived home in time to give my husband a ham sandwich for lunch.

So that was our eventful weekend.

And I learned something I already knew but had refused to deal with - the Internet sucks up a lot of my time. I think it is time I place some limits on it, even if it is my major method of socialization these days. That means less Facebook and video games, mostly. Anything to do with writing doesn't count - to me, that's still what I do, write. Even if I'm not doing it professionally at the moment.

A New Day

This morning I watched last year's leaves dance and twist as they skittered across the frozen, snowy field in front of the house.

Two deer moved briskly along the fence line, their fur bristling from the brisk wind. I envisioned chill bumps along their backs as they headed for the skimpy shelter of the cedar trees and thought it an act of Providence that they generally give birth in the spring. A fawn would not easily withstand these frigid days.

The sun moved hesitantly in and out between the clouds and I wished he would stay put a while. The idea of warm loving rays heating up the area around my windows was a welcome one.

The old windows in the house leak so that I could feel a draft across my chest while I tried to work a little at the computer. My hands around the window seals found spaces where the cold air poured in. This despite attempts this fall to seal the things up so we could get another year or two out of them. I thought of my electric bill (we heat with electric) and felt the dollar signs in my gut.

A calm settled over me as I greeted the second day of the new year; I have found myself looking forward to 2010 with an optimism that is almost foreign. New beginnings or just acceptance?

Either way, the world is okay even on a cold, windy gray day, and I feel at peace.

Thursday Thirteen - New Year's Eve

So another year over, another year gone! A new one beginning at the break of dawn. Farewell 2015, welcome 2016 - may all of your hearts be light with joy and prosperity.

I'm late today getting to Thursday 13 - my computer decided this morning to go down and it took some time to get it back (and then the power went out while I was in the middle of writing this). Perhaps one of the worst things, for me, about 2015 has been Windows 10. It has certainly taken up a lot of energy and time that I really didn't have to give.

But onward and upward, as they say. And then with it being New Year's Eve, what will I write about today?

1. So far, I have not made any resolutions for the New Year. I've not thought about it at all.


Has absolutely nothing to do with this post.

2. Some years I choose a power word, but I haven't done that, either. I think if I choose one, it might HEALTHY. But I'm still thinking on it.

3. Yesterday, as the year came to a close, I found that my health is still bad enough that I am still unable to go out and "do" a story as a news reporter. In the effort, I learned that I really don't want to go do them anymore, actually, which was a revelation. I thought I'd never stop wanting to do that but its allure has vanished. Maybe that's because of my health but I think instead maybe I've just grown apart from it. So I think I will be spending 2016 figuring out what it is I want to do with the next five years of my life.

Hollins University. Also nothing to do with this post.

4. I also reaffirmed something yesterday that I already knew - I really don't fit in. I'm an introvert, and while I need an occasional outing, I am not good in groups. That is why being a news reporter worked for me for 30 years. I could be involved yet not be involved. I sat on the sidelines and watched, and then provided information for others. It was a way to teach but not actually stand in front of a classroom.

5. My next phase of life should involve something sort of like #4 - a way to work but not be overly involved. Volunteering has always sounded good and I have done it in the past, but for unknown (at least to me) reasons I tend to rise to the top of the groups. I find myself being nominated for office. Then I am named Secretary or Press Relations or some such, when really all I want to do is attend the meetings, meet and greet, and leave. I have been known to drop out of organizations after being pressed by one person or another to take a leadership role. I don't mind selling the hot dogs but I don't want to be the one organizing the fair.

Trillium. Blooms in April. Also nothing to do with this post.

6. It would be nice to spend more time with friends and family. I am not actually expecting that to happen. Everyone has their lives.

7. Perhaps I should learn something new - take some free classes, or set up my own version of a course in something I'm interested in and watch lots of TED talks or YouTube videos or whatever I can find on the subject. That might be fun.

Bear photographed in 2009. And nothing to do with this post.

8. Maybe, given all the issues I have had with Windows 10, I should take computer programming. :-)

9. Coloring is something I hope to do a lot of. Several people gave me coloring books for Christmas. Very nice books, about mythical places or fairy forests or wizardry. Fantasy elements that interest me. I find it meditative so one thing I plan to do is clear a spot in my office where I can do that daily.

Black swan, 2010. Also nothing to do with this post.

10. This is not a resolution but a must: I need to stay on top of our bookkeeping records better.

11. It would be nice if we could have world peace and hope, but I don't see it coming. I will hope, though, that in 2016 people can be less afraid and a little nicer.

Rainbow 2011. Also nothing to do with this post.

12. Laughter and music are good sounds, ones that I need to hear more of.

13. And I'm looking forward to Downton Abby.


Happy New Year! Thank you for reading Blue Country Magic!

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 425th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Thursday Thirteen

1. Today I am not in the mood for a Thursday Thirteen; I had a horrid experience yesterday at a healthcare facility, and I am in pain, and my frustration and disappointment level is high.

2. So bear with me while I look around me and inside my head for something to write about today. Maybe this: the sky is partly cloudy, but we had a beautiful sunrise.

3. My desk is covered with work, and I am happy about this. I just wish I felt well enough to do all that I want to these days.

4. We replaced our windows in May 2010. Since then, the gas has leaked out of about half of them, and some of them have had weird brown streaks break out through the glass after a period of time. We have been greatly disappointed, not in the service from the local company that installed them, but in the manufacturer. Not long after we purchased these windows, the manufacturer went into bankruptcy and someone else bought it. They are not honoring the warranties well. Right now I have a top glass in my office that I can barely see through because of the streaks.

5. I had a CT Scan done on April 11. It cost $7,500, according to the EOB at my insurance company's website. The report came back saying I have no bladder. Guess what. I have a bladder. I don't have a gallbladder. I will have to cough up about $600 as my co-pay for this, something that isn't even right. My doctor asked for a correction but such errors does not do much for confidence.

6. A CT Scan I had done in September, by the same facility but at the hospital instead of a satellite location (via the ER) cost $10,000 according to the EOBs. By that time I'd already met my out-of-pocket deductibles for the year, thanks to a surgery and another ER visit. Is the $3,000 difference because one was scheduled and the other not? Inquiring minds want to know.

7. I posted my experience yesterday on my Facebook page and here, and it has been gratifying to see the indignation my friends have expressed over, as my brother so gracefully put it over the phone this morning, my "f@cking" at the health care facility. My thanks to you all for your concern.

8. Most of my friends on Facebook did not know I have been ill; I had not posted anything about it on there before. Perhaps I should have mentioned it sooner there. I have mentioned it on my blog a few times, but I try not to dwell on it. Who wants to read that kind of depressing stuff, you know?

9. We are having a beautiful spring. Lots of things blooming. I love the colors and the renewal. The promise of better times.

10. If the rains in Spain stay mainly on the plains, what does it do up in the mountains?

11. Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild & precious life? - Mary Oliver

12. Laugh more, cry when you have to. Hug three times a day for 20 seconds each. Call your friends, say I love you, and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Could that be the recipe for a long, healthy, and happy life?

13. Thank you dear friends for reading these meanderings. Sorry for the weirdness of it all today.



Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 341st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

The Work Begins

This was the French door my husband installed in 2010. It has always leaked. It was a cheap Lowes door.

This is the hole that is left when said door is removed.

This is the new door in the process of being installed.

The finished door, except we need to decide if we're going to paint it or stain it a color to match the rest of the
oak wood in the house.
 

Next up was this double window. I have never liked the color of these replacement windows.
My husband insisted on the woodgrain look but I knew when we bought them
it wouldn't look good. But sometimes you pick your battles. It was easier to
live with ugly windows than fight over it. But they leaked so, oh well.

This double window had some wood rot and mold around it. Fortunately all of this came out and was replaced
with new wood.

We also sprayed things down with mold elimination spray that we have here. I use it all the time when I see anything
that looks like mold and it works well.

The window hole without the rotten wood in it.

The window replaced. Doesn't that look better, that off-white inside instead of that brown
interior on the sashes? Yes, it does. Thank you very much.

Saturday 9: Da Doo Ron Ron

Saturday 9: Da Doo Ron Ron (1977)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song begins by stating that he met her on a Monday and his heart stood still. How did your past week start? It may be a lot to expect you to report that you met someone who made your heart stand still, but did anything noteworthy occur?

A. My Monday started with cleaning the house. Whee. That was about the only noteworthy thing that happened. Well, my throat started hurting again, but who wants to hear about that?

2) While making hit records, Shaun Cassidy also starred as Joe Hardy on the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries. The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books have been popular with generations of American kids. Were you a fan?

A. Oh yes. I read both series.

3) Shaun went to Beverly Hills High School. Over the decades, BHHS has had many good footballs teams. Do you remember what sports your school excelled at?

A. Football and girls volleyball, at the time I was in school. I don't know what sports they play well, now.

4) Shaun followed his older half-brother, David Cassidy, into TV/records/teen stardom. Do you have siblings? If yes, what career paths did they follow?

A. I have a brother. He is the President of my father's company. He knows many people and is in charge of many lives and overseeing many things.

5) His middle name is Paul, after his maternal grandfather. Tell us something about one of your grandparents.

A. My maternal grandfather often came across as very gruff, but he also had a playful streak. We were constantly being told to stay out of his workroom (he repaired TVs on the weekends) but he also ran races with us, gave us quarters to mow the yard, and once sat out on the back stoop with me while we watched a lightning storm across the way.

6) Shaun's mother, actress Shirley Jones, reports that he was more than 3 weeks late and born by Cesarean. Have you heard family legends about your arrival into the world?

A. Yes. I was told that when I was placed in my mother's arms, I stretched and squirmed and pushed her away, and she knew immediately that I did not love her. Make of that what you will. Also, someone said I had cute little ears.

7) "Da Doo Ron Ron" was originally recorded by The Crystals. Can you think of another song that has been a hit by more than one artist?

A. I probably could have before you asked. :-) Now I have to think about it. Ok. Crimson and Clover was recorded by the Shondells and then Joan Jett.

8) In 1977, when this version of "Da Doo Ron Ron" was popular, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak incorporated Apple. Are you Mac or Android?

A. I went from DOS to Windows and have always used Windows. I am now the proud owner of an iPhone, however. Maybe the times they are a'changin'.

9) Random Question: You're exhausted. You collapse into bed and are about to drift into slumber when you hear the drip-drip-drip of the bathroom faucet. Would you kick off the covers and go turn it off? Or would you stay in bed, letting it drip until morning?

A. I cannot sleep with any kind of noise, so I would have to rise and turn the thing off. If it was a drip I could not fix, I'd place towel under it to halt the noise.


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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.

Thursday 13

What's the pollen count in your area? According to pollen.com, the air I'm breathing in is dusty with pollen, a big ol' 10, with oak, maple and birch trees being the main instigators.

I have asthma and I am allergic to all three of those trees. So here's a list of 13 tips to help you breathe better when the sneezes start.

1. Stay inside. I tend to stay inside all day, but pollen counts usually peak between 5:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.. They are also higher on dry, hot, windy days. If your local weather forecaster says it's a bad day to be outside, heed his or her advice.

2. If you must go out, do it in late afternoon.

3. The best time to go out is after a rain.

4. Keep your windows closed both in your car and in your home. Try to purchase an automobile with a changeable cabin air filter - this helps keep the dust and pollen out of the car's interior. Also be sure your car air conditioning is on the "use the inside air" mode that most new vehicles have so that you are not pulling outside air into the car.

5. Use air conditioning instead of window and/or attic fans.

6. Take off your shoes before you go in the house. If you've been outside a while, you may want to take off your clothes, too. You can bring the pollen indoors with you.

7. Wash your pets frequently or keep them inside because they can also transport pollen indoors.

8. Dry your clothes in a clothes dryer and do not hang them outside. Pollen will collect on the clean clothing and negate the benefit of washing.

9. If you can, have someone else mow the yard. If you have to do it, wear a mask. If you are very sensitive, you may need to mow in long sleeves and long pants to keep from breaking out in a rash.

10. Choose ground covers that do not produce pollen, such as Irish moss. (I suppose if you could afford it, there is always artificial turf.)

11. Trees around your house should be the kind that do not aggravate allergies. These include crape myrtle, dogwood, palms (they don't grow well in my area), or willow trees.

12. Take a shower in the evening. Washing the pollen off before you go to bed is the best way to ensure that you're not breathing in something that will aggravate your health for the duration of the night. (During bad pollen days, I take fast 3-minute showers twice a day. Once in the morning to get rid of bed-head and to wake up, and another at night to get rid of pollen. I use a timer so I don't waste water.)

13. Lastly, make sure you change the bed linens no less than weekly and wash the sheets in hot water. If you have had the windows open in your home, at the least you should run the bedspread and any blankets through the dryer weekly to lessen dust and pollen build-up. Washing them is better but that can be difficult to do at home every week, especially if you have a heavy coverlet or comforter.

Finally, if your allergies are severe and you find yourself wheezing, sneezing, or otherwise in need of medical care, see your doctor. Prevention helps but can only go so far if, like me, you are sensitive to everything that blooms. If you have asthma, you may need prescription inhalers and information on how to use a peak flow meter to ensure that you're getting enough air. Asthma is not something to ignore as it can be life-threatening.

For more information, check out these links, or do a search on the internet for your specific concern:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/asthma/basics/definition/CON-20026992

https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/allergens/pollen/index.cfm?utm_campaign=%2B+Housing+and+Community&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=28677697&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-__csl3MaOrrxYQgmj1GU270-qr8gWTj9y5ZGazFlbKlza1oLqFNzhDp6jC1n7GENin3457sCoNkeOn47AhUuyGui8nuw&_hsmi=28677697

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/default.htm

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 444th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. 

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. How many gravy boats do you have in your kitchen?

A. None.

2. Do the clothes in your laundry basket need ironing?

A. No. I do not buy clothes that need ironing. Ironing is a big waste of time.

3. What is the last thing you wallpapered?

A. It was either the bathroom or the kitchen and it was over 20 years ago and both are long gone. Wallpaper is evil. I will never wallpaper anything again.

4.  Wooden floors or carpet?

A. Wooden floors.

5.  Why do we put out guest towels if no one is supposed to use them?

A. I don't put out guest towels. I put out towels and expect people to use them.

6.  If your spatula could talk, what would it say about your duvet?

A. I broke my spatula the other day. It's dead. It doesn't say anything about anything anymore. That's what happens if you talk around me about my duvet. Who knows what all is buried on this farm?

7.  Have you replaced the batteries in your smoke alarms this year?

A. My smoke alarms are 30+ years old and tied to the electrical system, which I think is stupid because that means if the power goes out we have no alarms.

8. If you could put thyme in a bottle, what is the first thing that you'd like to do?

A. Smell it, I guess, since thyme is a spice or herb or something.

 

9. Do eggs really crack or do they merely have a nervous breakdown?

A. They crack and then they are thrown into a bowl and beaten until they are all gooey and yellow.

10. Why are you whipping the butter? What did it ever do to you?

A. I don't whip butter. I take an axe to the butter and use it on the bread.

11. Do your spoons spoon in the drawer? Have you ever noticed? And more importantly, if wooden spoons spoon do they get splinters?

A. I only have one wooden spoon, so I only worried about what it did with the spatula, but since I broke the spatula I no longer have to worry about that. As for my other spoons, they may spoon all they want. They can even have little spoons if they so desire.

12. You hear: "Dumpling, my Dumpling, come hither." The candles are lit, the fondue is dipping, the Godiva is pouring, the scallions are steaming and the music is playing.....but wait, the windows are open.  Why did you close them?

A. I don't even know how to answer that. But my windows are always closed because I'm allergic to everything outside of the house.

13.  Do you need a recipe to cook or are you a bohemian chef?

A. It depends on what it is. I make meatloaf without a recipe and it never comes out the same way twice but it's always good.

14. Is your pot black?

A. The one I pee in is almond colored. The ones in the kitchen are shiny.

15. What is the sexiest spice or condiment in your cabinet?  What makes it so?

A. Paprika. It's just so . . . pappy and rika gettin' it on on the low down.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

A Tale of Two Tablets

Back in October, I started looking at tablets. We are still in the stone age with regards to cellphones - I have a 3G flip phone, as does my husband, and neither of us text or use the thing for pictures or anything like that. All we do is talk on it.

I looked at the Kindles and the MS Surface. I did not look at iPads much, because they were much more expensive. It's too bad I didn't buy stock in Apple years ago, because if I had I'd be rich. Oh well. We can't all own it or it would be worthless.

On Christmas morning, my husband surprised me with both tablets. He gave me the Kindle Fire and the MS Surface. He bought the lower end of both on Black Friday and paid very little for each (he showed me the receipts after I protested). I don't think he realized that I was looking at buying one or the other, not both. But he did get very good deals - they were each about 75 percent off list price. He got both for about the price of one, so I could not say much about the extravagance.

It has been almost a month and I have toyed with both items. The Kindle Fire is very easy to use. All I had to do was log into my Amazon account and there were my books and music I'd purchased. There are many free apps available, including popular games like Candy Crush and Words with Friends. If the thing updated I was not aware of it.

It has taken me a while to adjust to reading on it, even though I also have a first generation Nook and so have used an e-reader before. I have had trouble figuring out how to highlight and make notes, things like that. I should probably read up on it but I generally piddle with things first and look at directions last. I will eventually read the instructions.

The MS Surface is bigger than the Kindle. I like the size of it, as it is easier on my eyes. It has a good feel to it. It has a kick stand in the back so that if you purchase the keypad that is available (sold separately, and expensively, I might add), you can have a mini-laptop. It is lightweight, very portable. It has a space for a mini-SD disk, and since I am not much of a "cloud" person that appeals to me.

It is a hybrid between a tablet and a PC, really. You must have a MS email account to sign in, and I did not like that much. I already have about 10 email accounts and didn't really want another. I also seemed to have to sign in frequently at the beginning, which is a pain because I try to create difficult passwords.

The Surface comes with Office for free, but at first it came with an "Office preview" and I had to go online and figure out that I needed to hunt for a line in Windows setup to download Office. I did that, and was happy to see Word, Excel, etc. there for my use. However, the default save is to the cloud, which is called SkyDrive.

A lot of MS apps were preinstalled, like Bing news and finance, Skype, - things that were of little interest to me, really. Going into the MS apps store, it doesn't appear that any of the popular game apps are even available there. I am puzzled by this.

Like most MS pcs, the thing kept downloading and updating. Then it decided to do an entire new Windows version update. So I let it sit and do its updating thing and messed with the Kindle.

As of today, I am using the Kindle more than the Surface. I don't have Facebook on either tablet, but will eventually put it on the Surface, I suppose. I also haven't hooked all of my emails into either device. I want to try to keep the Kindle for reading but the fact that it has the better game apps is, well, irritating. I imagine there is some way to get those apps on the Surface but I haven't bothered to figure it out.

Now that I have spent time with both tablets, I would tell anyone who asked to go purchase the high-end Kindle. I think that's the Kindle Fire HDX with 32 GB or something like that. Either that or the iPad. I can't really speak to the iPad since I don't have one, but I suspect it is probably the better product.


*Nobody paid me anything to talk about any of the products mentioned in this post.*

Window Dressing

As you may recall, in May we had new windows installed in the house.

New windows called for new window treatments.

These are the curtains that I had in the living room. Well, really they were just panels.

I never really liked them, because they had no color. They had been up for five years; they did the job.

When we went to Short Pump last weekend, I found curtains that I liked. Here they are:

A whole new look. Ta da.