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''Lost-Summer'' 2012* (Jul-Aug) /
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''Lost-Winter'' 2012* (Dec-Feb) /
''Lost-Spring'' 2013* (Mar-May) /
''Lost-Summer'' 2013* (Jun-Aug) /
''Lost-Autumn'' 2013* (Sep-Nov) /
''Lost-Winter'' 2013* (Dec-Feb) /
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Winter 2016 (Dec-Feb)
As part of my ''water conservation'' plan, I'd begun (initially inspired by a related suggestion proposed by ''Gracie'') to routinely urinate into a container, or just going outside or while showering... and the water-usage as reflected on the monthly bill shows that it's been having the significant though not necessarily huge effect: I'd also been doing this in conjunction with using water in the shower and handwashing basins sparingly, as well as allowing as little water as possible to escape down the drains, routinely tossing old dishwashing water outside onto the grass or gravel driveway.
I'd also been adding to my DVD collections considerably, to where I've in essence run out of available space in my display cases.
I'd also cut off the bulk of the hair on my head again, both to be more presentable for the job but also to make it somewhat more manageable and less ''chaotic.''
And in yet another attempt to try to find a ''love connection'' (or even just a ''pussylicking connection'') of any sort, I once again tried to offer myself as a potential catch in the ''online dating'' websites, and still managing to generate zero interest... and I sincerely doubt that my declaration of not expressing interest in ''black girls'' had much of an effect in that.
August 29 - September 1, 2014 (Friday-Monday)
When I was finally ready to face my regular routine when Friday (Aug. 29) rolled around I was told by my mother that Gracie was considerably more upset than what was displayed by her when I made the brief stop at the worksite the previous evening, even being told that she'd huffed about how I'd supposedly ''messed up'' something involving her banking account before I'd left, as a result of my having asked her on Monday (Aug. 25, prior to gathering everything I'd needed to begin working on my motorcycle maintenance) to make an ATM withdraw of $40 from her account so that I might have ''cash on-hand'' for my trip, for which I'd written a personal check in that amount as a replacement of those funds but which she instead chose to cash outright at the teller's booth and hand me the cash that way (in other words: ''What the hell is she talking about? 'What' exactly, regarding her banking account, got 'messed up' or 'disrupted' in that process?'').
I'd also sent a lengthy follow-up audio email to "Cherry" detailing my exploits in trying to ''Escape from New York'': she responded back again sharing that she'd also enjoyed our brief visit together and to tell me that she'd enjoyed the pair of ''mix tape'' music CDs I'd produced for her which I'd given her upon meeting her at the museum.
On Saturday (Aug. 30), still feeling heavy under the post-travel lag, I left the job letting Gracie that I had no intentions of hanging around trying to have any sort of conversation. But when I came back to relieve her from her workshift I made certain to express to her with no ambiguity whatsoever, before I allowed her any chance to raise the issue, that any ideas of the both of us riding out that distance on motorcycle together as operator and passenger, as she's constantly been pressuring me to consider doing, was essentially never going to happen since, truthfully, not only would she not be able to have the endurance required in order to make such a stressful trip (even if it'd included frequent stops) but also, again truthfully, it would place too much stress and uncertainty on myself as well to where such a trip would definitely be a struggle and unpleasurable but also potentially dangerous.
Also on Saturday and the following day (Sun., Aug. 31) I came to realize that Gracie seems to thrive on stirring people up and ''frustrating'' them to the point of arguing with her: this was first concluded when, on Saturday, she turned such a seemingly trivial matter as reorganizing the contents of the worksite refrigerator to accommodate not only her items but also the ones I'd brought earlier which I'd not utilized throughout my workshift but intended to leave on site for when I would return for the next shift into several emphatic demands that I remove my items altogether and take them back to the house (only to return them again), acting as though she hadn't sufficient enough room for all of our items, even trying to make the claim that as the refrigerator becomes more full the ''less cold'' it keeps things! -- then again on Sunday, when I'd tried to get her to take a photograph of my back shoulder in order for me to get a clear image of the sore spot on my back, which I'd for some reason had difficulty getting taken via ''timer'' setting.
Regarding the sore shoulder, I'd finally managed to get a few of my own images later Sunday night, and was confronted with the same dark reddish/brownish blemish I'd documented back in late-June, which is now accompanied by a small series of red vein-like discolorations further down my back, and of course still in intense pain, causing me to more seriously suspect (rather than doing so somewhat ''pretentiously,'' as I had been doing up to this time) that what has all seemingly been interconnected symptomatically since October of 2012 may in actuality be ''cancerous.'' I brought this and my concerns to my mother's attention early Monday evening (Sep. 1), in making the advanced request to use her cellphone to try scheduling with a different ''primary care'' internist whom I can make an appointment with right away, rather than waiting until next month when her doctor will be accepting new patients.
Unmentioned Highlights from Previous Quarter...
''Holiday Weekend in Review''
September 2, 2014 (Tuesday)
That ubiquitous saying-- ''If you want something done right, you'll have to do it yourself'' --has always rang true in my life... especially whenever/wherever it had involved something of major seriousness & importance! And this yet again!!! proved to be the case this afternoon when I tried to call the number on the back of my ''health care'' membership card (which I'd already known was bull-shark from the get-go, as has always been the case in my history!) and I desperately tried to explain to the representative on the other end of the line that their network's ''referral webpage'' was for all practical purposes obsolete and entirely unreliable, so I thought they might have a better chance of forwarding me along, going on the assumption that they would have more reliable and ''up-to-date'' resources on their end. But even after I'd explained this at least twice in our telephone conversation she still insisted on trying to convince me that the information I was requesting could be accessed and acquired via their website! (As I've always said, My #1 ''curse'' in life: "NO ONE EVER *LISTENS* TO ME!") After finally getting her to understand that because of all of the difficulties with their website, and because I could no longer afford to be left hanging until my mother's doctor decided that the earliest he could accept new patients was nearly 2 full months from the time I'd first called (who has staff working for him who [claim to] have no clue as to whether or not he's ''in network,'' who thinks that a dumb-ass answer like, ''We accept 'ALL' insurance,'' sufficiently answers that very specific question!), she claimed that she would make the calls on my behalf and get back to me (after 20 minutes had already been wasted eating-up my reserve of minutes!)... and a few minutes later she did come back with several names and numbers of ''primary care'' doctors'' whom she'd assured me she'd confirmed were accepting new patients currently -- which got filtered down to two names after I'd specified ''internists.'' I'd recognized the first name she'd given me as one I'd come across on their website service, so my first assumption was that he was at least one of the doctors who was listed on that totally useless website who was actually a ''McCoy,'' but when I'd tried to place the call to one of the numbers she'd provided me, Shoor-ee-PHUKKING-Nuff! that phone number led to a *DEAD* line!!! and proved *TOTALLY* USELESS!!! -- So now I'm relegated to doing what I SHOULD have done from the very start: just skim through the downloaded PDF of their ''Provider Directory'' (which again I had to find ALL ON MY OWN, without *ANY* help from these UTTERLY USELESS jackasses!!!) and just called individual numbers ON MY OWN until I'd come across somebody who could address my concerns! ((PHUKK-PHAGGS!!!))
22:15, Eastern Daylight Time
September 3, 2014 (Wednesday)
Borrowed my mother's cellphone this morning expecting to be on it a very long time as I rifled through the lists of numbers in the so-called ''Provider Directory'' of my health plan network, until I realized that much of the misinformation I'd complained about that was presented on their website had also been transferred to the PDF directory as well, so I was deliberately skipping over any names where certain information was included with them that reflected this misinformation, even if there had been several additional ''alternative'' contact addresses/numbers included. Eventually I came across the first name that looked promising, in what I thought I'd place in the ''consideration'' list after consulting with several others (especially since the internists who were part of that particular practice were not accepting any new patients until as late as February, and even though I could still be seen at their facility within a week despite this, that visit would entail making an appointment to be seen by their ''Physician's Assistant,'' who also happened to be ''female,'' while my preference was to be examined by a male). But being further disappointed by what I was seeing in the list of providers, I called their office back and set up the appointment for Monday morning (Sep. 8).
Gracie also came by early this evening, curling up naked beside me as I was trying to catch-up on some sleep, then dropping the bomb on her after taking a shower that I was preparing for another on-the-road venture, thus again disrupting any chance of her trying to spend the night.
23:58, Eastern Daylight Time
August 4, 2014 (Thursday)
I ended up staying awake too late, watching a movie online, so that when I tried to catch a nap I'd slept longer than what I'd wanted to be my departure time... and because the skies were looking too questionable anyway I opted instead to tag-along with my mother and her friend as they did their typical every-other-Thursday hang-out visit, during which we had lunch at ''K&W Cafeteria'' (known dissingily as 'Kanes & Walkers,'' as no one who ever dines there seems to be younger than their Late-40s), then made a brief stop into ''Ikenberry Orchards'' gift shop type of thingy, where my mother always gets her jams/jellies.
23:55, Eastern Daylight Time
September 8 - 11, 2014 (Monday-Tuesday)
Went to keep my doctor's appointment on Monday (Sep. 8) and got briefly misdirected trying to follow the route as laid out using ''Yahoo! Maps,'' resulting in my arrival time causing me to be bumped from the schedule, especially after I'd been informed that I'd needed to switch my ''Primary Care Physician'' from one which my insurance provider had selected for me, on top of the fact that I'd forgotten that the physician's office was to send me a packet of forms to fill out prior to arrival: I was able to get the PCP switch while on site, plus filled out most of the forms in-office.
I'd arrived to my next appointment, which had been rescheduled for Wednesday (Sep. 10), again by the skin of my teeth, but was still able to be seen, whereupon I'd explained my situation with the reoccurring itching and burning pain and ''cramping'' in my back, and based upon all I'd described the Physician's Assistant strongly suspected that what I've been experiencing are the effects of ''Herpes Zoster'' (''Shingles''), and asked if I'd ever had ''Chicken Pox'' as a child (which I'd asked my mother about later, and she said she was uncertain but thought that maybe both my sister and myself had been infected as young children). While there I'd also requested a physical exam and inquired about a prostate check; they also drew blood, recommended and injected a tetanus/pertussis booster, and mentioned colonoscopy which I'd also intended to bring up. I'd also described my headache/intestinal combination issues, relating everything relevant to those, and it was suggested that they might be a sign of ''Irritable Bowel Syndrome,'' though I still have my suspicions concerning that preliminary diagnosis, even though the P.A. assured me that the ''headaches'' which come in association with the digestive problems can be interconnected with the ailment. It was also during this visit with the P.A. that I'd learned by her acknowledgement that the issues I'd been having with my particular healthcare provider network were well-known issues even with them, so I wasn't left feeling so stupid and/or stubborn for all the hell I felt put through in trying to deal with those assholes.
After the poking & prodding, I rode out to Gracie's apartment to see about going out to lunch with her, as she'd been constantly harping on me to spend some time together on our mutual ''off'' day, and she wanted to make use of a ''two-for-one'' coupon for ''Applebee's,'' but when I'd arrived she was playing hesitant, wondering what I was doing there. The way she was behaving let me know that she was trying to hide the condition of the apartment, and having already been curious about the state of the place since I'd last walked through it I used the excuse of needing to pee to get a glimpse at the place, and it was just as trashy as ever. When wanting me to wait outside while she bathed, and talking around why she was uncomfortable with me being there during that time, she finally admitted to bathing in the kitchen sink (I'd already known she never used the shower, but I'd assumed that she took tub baths instead). She'd also given indication that she's spent through the lump sum of money her grandmother had sent to her by telling me that she didn't have any money to take me out and that she wouldn't have any money until Friday... so I agreed to cover the meal.
After lunch we went riding a bit on the ''Blue Ridge Parkway'' before coming back to the house to watch a DVD movie that I'd still not viewed since it's arrival. Again, she was talking about ''spending the night,'' even after she had been telling me that she needed to clean her apartment in preparation for ''inspection'' which was supposed to be taking place the next day.
Thursday (Sep. 11), perhaps the effects of the immunization boosters were catching up with me, as I was feeling groggy and headachy throughout most of the day.
''Week in Review''
September 15 - 18, 2014 (Monday-Thursday)
After a tiring and frustrating weekend, which was mainly the result of trying to produce my next video commentary project on any number of these ''free'' video editing tools which are either infuriatingly difficult to manipulate (even with ''tutorial'' assistance) or rage-inducing ''crash prone,'' and still struggling with it all well into Monday (Sep. 15), I finally called the gastroenterologist's office to inform them that I'd still not received the email they said they'd send to me with instructions on how to prepare for my colonoscopy and retrieve my prescription, so by the time I did receive it I was deathly tired and in no mood to remain awake trying to review it, so I went to sleep having eaten only a couple of brownies and went through the rest of the time assuming that I could avoid the gut-tearing laxatives I'd known they would prescribe me: after reviewing the instructions later however, I came away with the notion that I'd not begun the preparatory regimen early enough to be able to keep my Tuesday afternoon (Sep. 16) appointment, and my mother agreed, especially after she told me she might not be able to provide me with the ''required'' post-procedure ride as she had planned on going to visit my sister who had again ''snuck in'' to visit my aunt in ''Martinsville,'' since she's still bitter with Mom and (also because of) Me.
So after a short sleep Tuesday morning, I called (and got an answering machine) to explain why I would not be keeping the appointment, but wound up having to call again after several hours had passed and I'd not received any kind of return confirmation call from them. (I swear, it seems like EVERYTHING that's been involved with my trying to get my medical health checked out has been resulting in nothing but one giant run-around after another!) I had the appointment rescheduled for next Wednesday morning (Sep. 24).
Wednesday (Sep. 17) I'd determined that I was once again going to try to find a free video-editing software program that could reasonably replace ''Windows Movie Wrecker'' but would still have roughly the same sort of interface, user-friendly familiarity, and at least the same or similar ''flexibility,'' and I found one that ''looked'' very promising, but I did not like the idea of an obnoxious ''watermark'' obscuring the final rendered result which could only be eliminated with the purchase of the ''registered/activated'' suite, which would've run somewhere beginning at around $40 and up (initially, I'd been led to believe that the watermark, though still not desired, was going to be somewhat subtle translucent logo in one of the corners, but it was literally ''hard text'' smack in the center of the view screen!). Of course, I did not like the idea of being expected to buy something outright, especially if I had no idea how well it worked in real application, but as it turned out there were several vloggers who had dispensed information on how to ''crack'' the activation code, which with regret I'd downloaded and installed once I felt assured that I hadn't downloaded anything malicious that would hurt my system: not only did I try it and it worked, but the editing program was just what I needed to replace that ''Windows'' crash-&-burn garbage and that ''Flash Integro / VSDC'' You-Need-A-Master's-Degree-To-Figure-Out time-stealing monstrosity! I felt like shit for a long time because I felt like I had to resort to ''stealing'' in order to FINALLY find something that worked well all the way around, but gradually began feeling less guilt over it as I came to discover that even with the ''crack'' there were still important functions which were unavailable, thus requiring me to still utilize any of the other alternatives which are still part of my collection in order to make-up the slack.
Before the evening came to an end, I'd decided to take a ride out west through ''Salem''-- possibly even on out to ''Blacksburg'' --just to enjoy what was left of the relatively nice weather. Along the way, I felt the conflicting urge to stop by Gracie's apartment to invite her along for the ride, but when I'd again shot down the idea of allowing her to spend the night at the house she changed her mind about wanting to come along -- (as I would soon realize just as I was riding back out, I hadn't even brought the extra helmet for her anyway). I continued through Salem, stopping briefly at ''Lake Spring Park'' to photo/video-document the area and its activities, until it had gotten too cold for me to want to continue, so I turned off onto the first access point onto ''Interstate 81'' out past ''Fort Lewis.''
''Week in Review''
September 21, 2014 (Sunday)
Attempts to use the new video-editing software last night and this morning on the laptop proved to be an even further lesson in futility, as the moment I kept trying to use ''feature-rich'' aspects of the program (such as transitions and effects) the finished product, though viewable in the ''preview'' pane, would never render into a savable file. So immediately after I'd returned from work I scoured the Internets for a ''crack'' of the latest software suite, surprisingly found one, installed the program, and still got met with the same problem, even after numerous uninstallations/reinstallations. I could not understand why both versions of the program would work just fine on my ''primary'' system-- which is still running ''Windows XP'' --but refuse to operate properly on my laptop which is running ''Windows 7,'' even though the program is supposed to be compatible with Win-7. As part of the ''troubleshooting'' process, the ''compatibility mode'' for the program was reset to ''Windows XP - Service Pack 2,'' and from there it seemed to work as intended.
17:20, Eastern Daylight Time
September 22 - 25, 2014 (Monday-Thursday)
At my mother's advice, I called the gastro-folks Monday morning (Sep. 22) requesting a colon-cleansing regimen that would be gentler on my system, and they said they were going to substitute my original prescription (which I'd still not retrieved) for something called ''movi-prep,'' but when I went to pick it up later in the day, it looked nothing like the instruction manual I had been sent in the email, so I was uncertain if what I'd acquired was a ''generic'' of what I thought I would be getting or if was still the original deal. One thing was certain though, and that was the fact that I was in no way going to be swallowing all four of the laxative tabs they had prescribed me, considering how only ''three'' of those things in the past had put me through major hell!
Also on Monday, for the life of me, don't ask me why, I'd decided to order another refurbished laptop through ''Amazon.com'' from the same people I'd purchased my current laptop from -- this time spending $340, but getting a considerable ''bump-up'' re: features... or, again, so they claim, as I'd learned that the first laptop they'd sent me was with the promise that it would be a ''64 bit'' system but it turned out only to be ''32 bit.'' Just before placing the order I called Gracie to ask her about what it was she had wanted me to order for her the previous night, since I'd cut her off from the phone conversation before she could go into any detail -- turned out she had wanted me to order a package of ''female condoms'' for her; I'd tried to explain it off by implying that it would disrupt the order I was placing at that time.
While going through the colon cleansing prep Tuesday (Sep. 23) I'd asked my mother if she would drive me out to ''Food Lion'' (or as I snidely refer to it, ''Hood Lion'') so I could use the coupons they'd sent me in the mail, mainly to get some juices to rehydrate, since I'd wanted to avoid the diuretics of tea and coffee (which I also did not wish to consume due to their dark colors, even though the prep materials said the beverage colors did not matter except in the range of reds, purples and oranges): I'd told her that it had already been my plan to ride out there myself, but the bogged-down tired feeling now with the onset of a headache had demotivated me enough to seek the alternative. That I'd decided to use those coupons then was a very fortuitous call, because in examining the coupons again I'd learned that this would've been the last day for their use, and I'd thought that I had more time on them before they expired. By using the coupons and shopping only for the specific items (a box of mac&cheese dinner, another ''box dinner'' of my choice, a jar of shrimp cocktail sauce as my ''condiment'' of choice, a head of iceberg lettuce as my ''produce'' of choice, 2 & 1/2 lbs. of bananas, a 64 oz. jug of shelf-stable fruit juice, a jar of salad dressing, and a 10-pack box of ''Capri-Sun'' juice packets, I'd paid (with tax) $2.75 -- even though by my calculations the pre-tax amount should have been $1.99, but I really was not about to complain... ''count your blessings,'' you know what I mean? (Anyway, thankfully, the ''juice packets'' were a freebie, because the pair I'd drank after another of my ''elimination'' sessions early the next morning happily returned the favor by coming back up -- in conjunction with another gut-geyser.)
When Wednesday rolled around (Sep. 24) I kept getting frustrated with my mother (whom I'd asked to drive me out to the endoscopy appointment, since they were insistent that patients have somebody on hand to transport them post-procedure) who kept refusing to listen to me repeatedly tell her both since the previous night and during the car ride that the place where the procedure was to take place was just before reaching the ''US-220/I-581'' underpass just before reaching ''Tanglewood Mall,'' even mentioning that it was before crossing into ''Roanoke County'' and that it was on ''Franklin Road'' just before it becomes ''Electric Road.''
Prior to the procedure, while I was in the waiting room, I'd sent a text to ''Cherry'' and my father, and my father's wife called me back just as I was getting dressed again shortly after the procedure, from which I'd awakened from anesthesia literally dreaming. I spoke with my Dad for a few minutes telling him what was going on and telling him about my recent trip to NYC which he'd apparently not been informed about by my sister.
I'd also spent nearly the entire week trying to work with these alternative video editing programs, figuring one of them out fairly well, but having to deal with its limited features and its tendency to disrupt an established timeline by chopping off blocks of other activity tracks whenever a different one is being manipulated or restructured in some way. After all of these video-production headaches (in between trying to work & rest between an actual recurring micro-migraine headache), I got hit with even more awesome news when trying to upload my most recent commentary video onto ''Who?Tube'' it refused to allow me to post a half-hour long video until I ''verified'' the account with a phone number, which I'd previously been able to circumvent simply by switching my posted videos off from ''unlisted'' to ''public,'' but even this was no longer allowed to work! I'd first tried to use my mother's phone for that purpose, but somehow the attempts kept failing, but after Gracie called a short time later I'd asked her to relay the activation code back to me (on my mother's phone, of course) after using her number as the registration number. Then, to really put the icing on the cake, as I was in the process of updating my embedded-video ''anti-Who?Tube'' channel page on ''AngelFire,'' I was hit with the fact that the service was no longer connecting URL requests to the appropriate webpages, even as the service still allowed access to the ''web shell'' editing platform! ...and this was on *ALL* of my channels! -- I have no idea if this is just a ''temporary'' hiccup due to some servicing & maintenance they might be doing on their system, or if this was all part of an unceremonious ''G.T.F.O.'' they're sending without the courtesy of any sort of advance notice.
''Week in Review''
October 5, 2014 (Monday)
Just got off the phone with ''Amazon.com'' to get a replacement DVD sent out to me in lieu of not having been sent either an order receipt or ''return-shipping label'' from the latest order I'd picked up at the post office yesterday before going in to work -- after explaining the situation to the representative on the other end of the line she agreed to send a replacement copy without requiring me to mail back the defective item.
I'm still suffering from a very painful lower back, which had come upon me out of nowhere several hours before dawn Sunday morning (Oct.5), and I'd done nothing to put any exertion or strain upon my back at all, so I stumped as to what may be causing it: the good news is that even though it's still quite painful, it does seem to be subsiding.
The set-up on my ''nyoozed'' 64-bit ''HP'' laptop is almost complete, minus a few ''user preferences'' which require formatting, so now I've finally begun to re-devote some time to updating and formatting the ''Windows 7'' environment on my desktop machine, so I can finally get around to making that ''full transition'' from ''XP'' before we're next forced to ''up-yours grade'' to that ''Windows 10'' skunk factory, which they're already promoting as the looming thing, especially since I'm already working in that environment on every other machine in my possession, including Gracie's old ''HELL'' laptop, which again fell into refusal to boot to screen yesterday evening but which I'd about an hour or so later managed (at least as it would seem so far) to figure the additional ''workaround'' step in order to circumvent that problem as well.
17:55, Eastern Daylight Time
October 10, 2014 (Friday)
Just returned back from being taken to the ''Federal Express'' drop-off/distribution center to return the laptop to Tampa after I'd gone to the library earlier in the day in order to print the ''return shipping'' label they'd emailed to me yesterday (Thu., Oct. 9), which had been sent a day later than when they'd assured me that they were going to email the thing out to me, which was supposed to have been right after I'd gotten off of the phone with them (Wed., Oct. 8) after fully explaining to them the ongoing problems I'd been having with the headphone jack not working even after doing all I could do on my own within the system, searching online for other solutions, then following their own emailed instructions involving updating the ''BIOS'' and audio drivers, all to no avail. Prior to repackaging the unit for re-shipment, I tried to make certain that I'd ''matched-up'' all of the existing programs and files between all system accounts as close to completely as could arrange, with the few slight exceptions with consideration to the uniquenesses of the ''32-bit'' configurations, both those that were due to deliberate set-up & structuring as well as those which were for all intents and purposes unavoidable.
17:55, Eastern Daylight Time
October 13 - 16, 2014 (Monday-Thursday)
Took my re-certification class for my job Monday morning (Oct. 13) and was so dead tired that I was barely able to remain alert, thus I was quite thankful that it was simply a ''refresher'' instruction course and did not require any sort of written ''tests'' to be performed.
Mother left Thursday morning (Oct. 16) on her weekend trip to South Carolina; I'd also scheduled an appointment for an ophthalmologist visit earlier the same day, but they couldn't fit me in until early next month.
''Week in Review''
October 17 - 19, 2014 (Friday-Sunday)
Scheduled my eye exam appointment Friday morning (Oct. 17), then retrieved my laptop from the post office. On the way back to the house I decided to stop into the halal grocery for a tin of baklava, but they didn't have it; instead, they had a similar tin from the same confectioners but filled with individually wrapped baklava-filling stuffed doughy cookies which I'd decided to try at the same price and was not at all impressed with them... not worth the $30, in my opinion.
Upon testing the repaired laptop I was concerned when yet again the headphone jack would not function, but it was soon determined that for whatever reason the USB speakers, when plugged in, will override anything attempting to utilize the headphone jack.
Also, on Gracie's ''HELL'' laptop, I'd downloaded a few articles on dietary myths, particularly where the focus was about ''carbs,'' in hopes that this information will succeed in getting her off of our backs with all of her incessant ''anti-whitecarbs/anti-gluten'' histrionics: I left that trash laptop at the jobsite with her on Saturday (Oct. 18) for that very purpose... and even then, the very next day when I came in to relieve her (Sun., Oct. 19), in the face of ''expert'' advice, she's still siding with those of the ''emotionalism'' crowd. So just what the hell was I thinking putting forth this latest effort was truly going to accomplish?
''Weekend in Review''
November 6, 2014 (Thursday)
My mother drove me out to keep my eye exam appointment this morning in request to my concerns regarding what was forecast to be a rainy morning which in actuality never amounted to anything of real concern.
After the exam, I'd asked for the opportunity to check into my two Asian grocery spots on Williamson Road, mainly to get restocked on my jasmine and lychee black teas as well as a couple of cans of lychee fruit and water chestnuts, but I also decided to get a jar of kim chee and a package of soba, the latter of which neither store carried. My mother had made an impulse purchase of a tin of Vietnamese ''lotus tea,'' which was something I'd never heard of prior to this: upon doing some online research after returning to the house I learned that it is a green tea that is produced much the same as jasmine tea, except for the use of lotus flowers rather than jasmine. Between finishing my grocery purchases and returning to the house, I had us stop by the post office, not expecting much of anything except maybe a couple of medical bills, and was surprised that my baklava purchase had arrived as quickly as it had (...considering how much was assessed as ''shipping'' charges, it made sense to have it delivered in such a timely manner).
14:45, Eastern Standard Time
November 13, 2014 (Thursday)
Had a somewhat difficult time trying to locate the place in Botetourt where I was to keep my next eye appointment this morning for the purpose of updating my lenses prescription, only to be sold more B.S. about how I need ''progressive'' lenses (bifocals) even as I kept explaining (and requested a second exam) that if I can position my current incorrect ''single-vision'' (''distance'') glasses on my face in such a way to where I can see a full-range of vision as I'd always been able to do with all past single-vision glasses (even after all of the retinal repair surgeries which resulted in permanently pushing my eyes out of alignment), then there had to be a way to configure a set of ''single-vision'' lenses that would be able to duplicate the process... but they still kept trying to insist that they couldn't do it and that I'd just have to change & adapt: I'd be willing to bet that if I had ass-wiping money to toss around they'd figure out in a heartbeat how to get me full-vision field-of-view ''single-vision'' lenses, but being someone on a cheap ''healthcare marketplace'' HMO plan which they don't even participate for presciption lens coverages, they're not going to try too hard to figure this thing out.
After nearly a full week of working on the project, I'd finally rendered my first video editing compilation which I'd jumped in to put together while simultaneously testing out the latest video editing program which is really a lot less complicated to work with than their online tutorial videos kept making it seem. Unfortunately, the finished project still suffered from a number of quirks and flaws in the exportation of the file that it requires me to reset and recreate several portions of the project in an attempt to get everything to translate correctly and smoothly.
21:00, Eastern Standard Time
November 17 - 21, 2014 (Monday-Friday)
A combination of both tiredness/motivationlessness and rebelliousness/resistance kept me from pursuing the acquisition of my eyeglasses prescription, beginning with a call placed to my insurance provider on Tuesday (Nov. 18) to inquire as to whether they would cover for such devices, and I was not even in the slightest surprised that they did not do so, but it did catch me in a bit of a somewhat positive surprise when they informed me that they had a network of opticial providers which would more than likely offer discount pricing for those patients who were members within said network. I waited until late the following afternoon (Wed., Nov. 19) before making the call to the information line I'd been referred to in order to identify those in-network facilities (although, regrettingly, my main motivation for making the call even at that time was in response to Gracie's wanting to hang around and snuggle-up), after which I'd made the determined effort to visit each of the closest locations in the area, which all happened to be inside the ''Valley View Mall'' vicinity (which, again, was mainly meant as a way of trying to shake the girl off of my back, but even so I offered to take her with me to the mall, which she declined, adding that she also did not have any money, which I'd already learned a few days earlier).
At each of the optical shops I'd visited (first one in ''Sears,'' where I'd received the most detailed information, followed by ''Wal-Mart,'' which would've been last on my list due to its later closing time, but I'd remained inside Sears for such an extended period of time that ''Pearle'' had closed for the night by the time I'd left) I recited how I felt like I was being slighted and ignored because of the examiners I'd visited the previous insisting that I needed multi-focal lenses, and one of them (''Wal-Mart'') informed me that their previous optician had been someone who would actually take the time to really work with a patient in order to get them into something that they would be satisfied with, which later got me to thinking seriously about asking my insurance provider about getting a ''second opinion'' re-evaluation. ''Sears'' had a promotion for a full-set of appliances which would've cost me less than if I'd used their insurance discount whether I'd purchased new frames or reused my existing frames; ''Wal-Mart'' quoted me an even lower final price for roughly the same set-up (less the ''anti-glare'' inclusion) if I were to reuse my own frames; in passing by ''Pearle'' on the way out I discovered in one of their window displays that they're offering a special ''2-for-1'' promotion, which I'd intended to inquire about on Thursday (Nov. 20), but which again I'd put off getting around to doing... especially since I'd still wanted to mull over the ''2nd opinion'' idea.
Also on Thursday, my mother presented me with what she referred to as an ''early birthday gift,'' and ''not a 'Christmas' gift,'' as if that made it any better despite the many times I've instructed her to not do anything for me because of anything ''holiday-related'' -- she could've just as easily presented the items to me as she did when she did without any mention of any ''associated days'' and I'd have been none the wiser and the more appreciative... but she just refuses to get that.
And although I'd completed my latest video commentary project last Saturday (Nov. 15), it was not until this Friday afternoon (Nov. 21) that I felt that I was finally in a position to upload it for public viewership, because I was so focused on revising, refining, and correcting numerous companion files that I utilize in the creation of these projects, and even afterward I found myself having to correct some oversights I'd made in playlist formatting, as well as filing a ''fair use'' dispute against a copyright claim which appeared to be entirely bogus and unfounded.
''extended Week in Review''
November 22 - 23, 2014 (Saturday-Sunday)
Before being relieved from my workshift Saturday (Nov. 22), Gracie presented me with a hoodie which she claimed to have purchased for $17 at ''Old Navy,'' which I'd expressed some disappointment over because of her being so strapped for cash these past few weeks, especially now that she'll be missing out on a week's worth of work because of her taking the time off to visit her family in Newark, for which she'd been sent a bus ticket by one of her uncles. She also showed me some cheap-ass ring she'd received from some woman she'd been lending money to but was having trouble recouping (as my mother and I had repeatedly tried to tell/warn her about) and wanted to know my opinion on how much she might be able to pawn it for -- she told me the next day (Sun., Nov 23) that the woman claimed that the ring was worth "100 dollars''... I said it was worth more like 100 ''cents.''
Also on Sunday, when I went in to work, I'd decided to give her my ratty, multiple patch-job, back pack when I saw the tote bag my mother wanted to loan her for the trip, since Gracie kept refusing to take the suitcase she'd come here with, concerned about its huge size and her uncertainty over whether or not it and the few things she'd planned on carrying in it would weigh over the 50-lbs. limit, despite all of our assurances that she would have to worry about neither issue.
''Weekend in Review''
Winter 2011 (Dec-Feb) /
Spring 2012 (Mar-May) /
''Long-Vacation'' 2012* (Jun-Jul) /
''Lost-Summer'' 2012* (Jul-Aug) /
''Lost-Autumn'' 2012* (Sep-Nov) /
''Lost-Winter'' 2012* (Dec-Feb) /
''Lost-Spring'' 2013* (Mar-May) /
''Lost-Summer'' 2013* (Jun-Aug) /
''Lost-Autumn'' 2013* (Sep-Nov) /
''Lost-Winter'' 2013* (Dec-Feb) /
Spring 2014 (Mar-May) /
Summer 2014 (Jun-Aug) /
Autumn 2014 (Sep-Nov) /
Winter 2014 (Dec-Feb) /
Spring 2015 (Mar-May) /
Summer 2015 (Jun-Aug) /
Autumn 2015 (Sep-Nov) /
Winter 2015 (Dec-Feb) /
Spring 2016 (Mar-May) /
Summer 2016 (Jun-Aug) /
Autumn 2016 (Sep-Nov) /
Winter 2016 (Dec-Feb)
