So yesterday was actually pretty productive

and I'm on track for today as well. Yesterday I:

1. Went to two pharmacies and got medication for my roommate and myself.
2. Got some groceries while I was at the second to try to combine runs.
3. 'Read' for two chapters (but it was an audiobook, so I listened for about an hour, really), The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, about the 1918 flu pandemic.
4. Listened to music and perused Facebook, which probably shouldn't count as productivity, but I was up and that's what matters.
5. Organized about 60 Kindle books into categories so it isn't a terrible mess.
6. Composed a complete yet eloquent rant on Facebook concerning those who were outside of our Capitol building while the governor was announcing deaths in a huddled mass shouting for him to reopen the state and end the COVID-19 restrictions.
7. Re-watched and sang to 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog', which made me feel quite a bit better after that. :)

Today I woke up at 7 am because I'd set my alarm to early as I had not done my normal task of washing the percolator and its basket so my roommate could make coffee this morning. I wanted to make sure I was up before him, as when he gets up to make coffee he is usually so out of it and if the pot and basket are clean, he is too out of it to do himself. It's one of those little things I do for him each night, I just forgot to yesterday.  For those who don't understand, you try using a percolator rather than a Keurig and see how you do when you're half-awake.

So after I got that taken care of (three hours before he woke up!) I:

1. Called T-mobile to finally get my hotspot fixed, as  I knew I'd need it where I am now, away from the Wi-Fi, and it hasn't worked in months.  Apparently, there was no problem with my plan, the data, the laptop, or actual connexion.  It was connecting, just not giving me Internet.  So we went through various settings and two operators, each of whom had to call me back periodically, and I had to factory reset my phone, but it is now working.  If it hadn't, I still have my phone under insurance and they were willing to replace it. I feel good about my service; they were very helpful.  Now I just need to restore some of the stuff that was backed up and re-download some applications and I'll be good to go.  My music and everything was all on an SD card, so I didn't actually 'lose' anything.
2. I've taken my car to the shop to get the front brakes fixed.  They've needed it for a while.  My mechanic, Kenny @ Mitch's Auto, runs a small shop and I know their business has really been impacted by all this.  So I thought I'd get them fixed while I was off rather than taking it to a chain.  They've always been really great about fixing my car and not overcharging or anything like that.  I'd highly recommend them.  They're on Industry Road near the Circle in Lexington.

Other plans today: 

• I have to go back to our small independent pharmacy as my roommate was asleep when I picked up what was ready yesterday, but he had a few other things he needed.  But that's just a drive-through sort of thing.
• I'm going to take some things to my storage unit.  I have my winter clothes packed up (in one, not two totes this year), and I have a few other things that are sitting in my room right now otherwise.
• Reading some more. I'll listen to more of the Barry book, maybe while I'm waiting for the car to be finished.
• Re-install things on my phone.
• Do some more reading as far as my Kindle goes now that it's ready to go.
• Straighten up my room a little.
• Launder my masks and the clothes I have on right now and from yesterday that I went out in.
• Take some pots and put them in the shed until I'm ready to use them so they don't wind up being blown around like the other day when a couple were in the yard

I wish I was in a good place for gardening.  The soil in the yard at roommate's house really needs to be worked and amended.  I thought about getting a hanging plant yesterday when I got groceries from Kroger, but it's cool right now and we've been under frost warnings.  I'll look next time I make a trip out to the store.  But container gardening is about our only hope right now, as neither of us has much to spare in terms of getting what's needed to improve the soil.  I do have a big tub at the storage unit that might work for a tomato plant later once the frost is not an option.  I just need to drill a few holes in it, although a co-worker has my drill at the moment.

Okay, I think I'll go ahead and post this and switch over to working on the phone.  Have a great day.

Eight more posts

until I reach 10,000. I know, since I don't have a standing Internet connexion right now, I haven't been blogging quite as much. I'll try to remedy that, now I have a better since of how much bandwith I use of the 3.0 GB hotspot on my phone per month each time I go on. I have almost 7 GB of unlimited phone data used this month (mainly because of the factory reset and having to re-download applications), but only about half a gigabyte of hotspot use, so it's all good. That's with six more days left in the month.

Anyway, I'll pass the 10,000-post mark soon. Hopefully the posts will be more substantial than this one. :) Again, good night.

Take note, hotels and other establishments selling access to wi-fi

Marriott Slapped with $600k Penalty by FCC for Jamming Mobile Hotspots

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received a complaint that this particular Marriott location was blocking Wi-Fi signals in conference rooms. Once guests would complain to the hotel about the lack of Wi-Fi reception, they would be offered optional high-speed internet services (both wired and wireless) at a cost of $250 to $1,000.

The FCC conducted a further investigation into that matter and confirmed that the hotel was in fact using jamming equipment so that it could upsell hotel guests. However, this practice is a big no-no, as blocking Wi-Fi signals violates Section 333 of the Communications Act.

This was at Marriott's Gaylord Opryland Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm an infrequent traveler, but when I do stay in a hotel, I expect to be able to use my mobile hotspot/tethering feature that comes with my cellular plan and phone, because really, there's no reason to pay for something I already should have access to. Plus, I've noticed my hotspot is usually more reliable than many 'public' wi-fi you find out there. Good that someone got caught. Maybe the rest of the business world will take note that jamming signals is, well, illegal, as well as just greedy and despicable.

Out in the lobby at a friend's appointment

I'm grateful that it's late enough that I don't have to miss work. A had called to see if I could give him a ride home, but it would really have meant cutting it close on getting to the appointment. I called to tell him that but there was no answer, so I'm afraid he'll have to make it home on the bus.

I brought the laptop originally because I thought I'd work on the game notes, and then I remembered that I have a book review due tonight. I did bring the book with me, but I'd like to have it handy, and the lobby lights are too dim in my corner to really refer to it easily. If I move, I can't charge my phone, which only has about 13% charge. So there you go. Meanwhile, I left the earphones out in the car and I've already gone out and in once to get the phone charger, and I don't want to annoy them back in the office, as the door chimes each time you open it. There's no one here, but I don't really want to play the game over the speakers, either. In other words, I'm finding excuses to put off both of them and just play on the computer instead.

Last night I went to bed early but the last four hours of supposed sleep-time were interrupted by cramping and nausea, courtesy of my impending period. As a result, I was really slow-moving today. But I eventually got going and did quite a bit today. I was also trying to help a co-worker with some Excel formulae. I don't use Excel that much, so it's a bit of a challenge. I know it involves IF, OR, and COUNTIF statements, but I'm thinking I have too many parentheses. After working on one cell for about an hour, I gave up, my brain turned to mush, and I'm thinking I'll look at it tomorrow again with fresh eyes, and maybe consult my over-1000 paged Kindle book on the subject. :)

It's hard to believe that it's October already, and although it's 7:38 pm, it's almost dark out there. I had to initial and date quite a few sheets today, and it was really hard to write '10/1'.

Okay, I think I'm going to move some files for the game over to Dropbox and then sign off. I'm using my phone's mobile hotspot, and I have 3.0 GB of data I can use for that (and unlimited on the phone itself), but I don't want to rack it up too quickly. Good night.