Month: December 2023

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Happy New Years Eve

Zero Plans!

I guess that is actually a plan. The pup doesn’t like loud noises. I don’t like driving with drunks.

Honestly, Jerry and I had stopped going places on New Years Eve. 

One party we were invited to, became not a nice party because of one guest who was always drunk and always abusive.

In recent years Jerry & I had started declining the invitation.

Earlier in the year, I got an invitation from this same couple to attend their Summer party. I declined that invitation because I wasn’t up for dealing with that particular guest, and it felt a little too soon after Jerry’s death to be attending a party. Okay maybe that’s silly but the wound was still raw.

I didn’t receive an invitation to their usual New Years Eve celebration. That’s just as well, because I didn’t have to decline. Nor did I have to politely explain why I was declining the invitation. 

I’m looking forward to making dinner, listening to some music, and probably keeping to a mostly normal bed time. Although, I might turn on the HAM Radio and listen to the New Year being rung in old school. I haven’t decided yet.

I hope that this new year will be a much better one than the last couple of years. I’m not holding my breath on the “Much” part, but would happily settle for small improvements. 

Happy New Years Eve.

Have fun, be safe.

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First Snow of the Season

It’s funny. 

Yesterday I was hiking around in 50° F weather. There are even some plants that started blooming again. I was wandering around in a sweatshirt on the hike and even that was too hot.

Today, I got up and there was a little moisture on the deck. But over the past 5 or 10 minutes the snowfall is picking up. Oddly it’s still not that cold. 37°F 

We’re starting to get some accumulation and the snowflakes are big and fluffy. I admit I like snow, I just don’t like 8 feet of snow at a time. I’ve described the snowfall I like as “Decorative” snow.

Jesse is snoozing on the couch, he’s occasionally opening his eyes to check on the snow level out on the deck. He’s happy because he loves playing in the snow.

The weather app is showing decreasing probability of snow throughout the morning. I’m sure there will be enough to make the dog happy.

What remains to be seen is how much snow I’m going to have to clear.

At least the two dead trucks that were parked at the side of the house are gone, so I’ll have more space to pile snow and the winter is like last years.

I’ve got all the window shades up, sitting in the living room, I can be comfortable and enjoy the show.

The house is currently on the transition line between snow and rainy slush. If I look to the front of the house, I see big puffy snowflakes, Looking toward the back of the house there are less, and smaller flakes and more water droplets. 

On the one hand this is pretty cool and interesting on the other hand it means that the snow, when I get around to clearing it will be heavy, wet, and sticky.

When It comes to snow clearing… I prefer dry powder. 

When I first moved here, I had no clue that snow came in different styles. I don’t think I’ve seen all the different types of snow, but I’ve seen a pretty wide variety. I think it’s the Inuit people that have 300 words for snow.  I don’t want to learn all the names, but I understand how you’d get 300 words to describe the various textures.

I like the sound of snow falling. Most of the time folks don’t notice it. But there’s a white noise hiss as the snow hits the ground. For some reason, I’ve always thought it was neat and it’s comforting, like the sound of rain hitting the roof. 

I better fuel up with breakfast. I might have some shoveling to do.

I hope your Saturday is a good one.

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I absolutely HATE my Apple TV now! Thanks Apple!

I honestly haven’t been thrilled with Apple TV+. The content is sometimes interesting. Navigating Apple TV+ has always been, uhhh annoying. The most recent updates have made it so annoying that I’m tempted to not even bother trying to use it.

The most egregious example is the dross they’ve pushed upon those of us with actual Apple TVs.

The Apple TV app on apple devices sucks too, but not quite enough to make me super pissed off. For at least the last year the Apple TV app randomly pulled up the spanish titles and covers of movies that I’d purchased.

Before you ask, yes my system settings are all ENGLISH… Oh and the movies in question were produced in America. I could see it if the movie was a foreign film and the title and cover art were indicative of the country of origin.

The AppleTV+ app on the Apple TV is beyond frustrating. I’m finding that just trying to navigate the app to MY Library, I’m inadvertently starting some movie that Apple’s produced in which I have ZERO interest. This perhaps is attributable to my not having the latest and greatest Apple TV. They’ve changed the remote control since I purchased my model.

All I know is that I had no trouble using the previous iteration of the User Interface and since the change. Not only am I unable to easily navigate, I’m frustrated by trying, to the point that I’m yelling at the fucking device. Shortly after that I’ll power it down via the menu if I can get there OR by pulling the power which ever is easier.

Major FAIL APPLE! If I could roll the software back to something that worked on my Apple TV, I would!

It’s frustrated me enough that I wonder about cancelling Apple TV+ and Dumping the Apple TV devices entirely. My PlayStation can access my movies and shows and play them in surround sound just as easily as the Apple TV.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been trying to adapt to the POS software Apple shoved out. It’s not getting better, and I’m not figuring out the U.I. So I’m not turning on my Apple TV as frequently. Situations like these always lead me to wonder if I actually need a device that I’m not using or that is not a pleasure to use. I mean why keep something that pisses me of in trying to use it?

The PlayStation 5 works WAYYYY better anyway. Since I’m not now and never have been interested in Apple Arcade losing the Apple TV device wouldn’t cause a hiccup.

I know it sounds like I’m over reacting. I’m pretty patient with software but in this particular instance it really seems as if the Apple Software folks are trying to over complicate what should be a simple thing.