It didn’t arrive. And at around 6pm on Friday, it said they would try to deliver it on Saturday. Amazon does this too. I’ve been in business 30 years. My business address hasn’t changed since our most recent expansion in 2019. I know Amazon knows I’m a business because that’s what my account says. Yet, they repeatedly think they can deliver a package to me on the weekend.

Don’t they know that the weekend is when I hide behind a locked door at my business address and try to catch up with work? So, no deliveries.

Saturday morning, the tracking says it left Cocoa, FL on a vehicle and is traveling to me. Well, what do I do? If I get it, I’ll have a whole weekend to play with my new toy. Fine. I go to work. But, I don’t want the Fedex driver to be misled that I’m closed. I open the shades on the front doors. I park my car near the entrance. I unlock the door. I turn the lights on. I even turn the closed sign to open. And I wait.

I run to the store and put a sign on the door to deliver it next door, since my neighboring business is really open. Two hours later, I return. I keep checking the app and tracking says it’s still in transit.

I sit up front watching through the window.

Then around 4pm I check tracking again, and it says delivery could not be completed since the business was closed. WTH? I couldn’t be more open unless I sat on a lawn chair out front and held a banner saying “OPEN!” Should I call? I never call. It’s such a waste of time. But my day was wasted. I called. It takes a while to find the number online as I keep getting directed to the Virtual Assistant. But, I didn’t realize that the human being that answered for Fedex would be just as useless to me. “The tracking isn’t always accurate”, he says. “I’ll call them but maybe they closed early. Nope. They didn’t answer.” My favorite part was when he asked for the door tag # when I said they never showed up. So, they couldn’t have placed a door tag on my door without me seeing them do it and them seeing me seeing them.

So, the conclusion is that I should not expect my Apple Watch. I should not get excited with anticipation. I shouldn’t believe the Fedex tracking and its “Out for Delivery” statement. And I shouldn’t believe that when the Fedex human said goodbye that he really meant “Have a nice day!”

I guess in this world of technology in the year 2022, it’s too much to expect a mature, shipping expert such as Fedex to provide accurate tracking information and to tell the world that they tried to deliver but they couldn’t, when they could.

From what I understand, as explained by scientists and medical experts, COVID is a virus. It’s date of arrival in my area is undetermined as we had no way to test for it at the time or the infrastructure. Let’s say December 2019-February 2020.

I am not an expert in science or medicine. So, I accept that I must rely on those that I respect and believe are experts. So, I believe that COVID exists. I’ve seen the explanations, the data, the results.

And, so it exists and is a virus. I know something about computers. So, I think of a virus as a program. A very simple program if we exclude the parts of a virus that adapts and we focus on what a virus does. It infects. It survives (unless the host dies). It doesn’t care if you believe. It doesn’t care at all. It can’t be scared. It can’t be told to avoid the infirm or the aged.

Some of us compare it to the flu. And, it was comparable, in our laymen’s eyes when it first arrived in my community. But, after several months of watching the data, it appears to be only like the flu in that it spreads. Otherwise, it kills far more by percentage of infected. And, it appears to be much easier to spread than a typical flu.

There are some that do not believe the data. This is certainly their choice as they did not gather the data themselves. I suppose I’m less pessimistic when it comes to science and medicine. I think of those fields populated by individuals similar to myself. Trustworthy. Accurate. And yet the ICUs in area hospitals are filling up, at a faster and faster rate as the infection rate increases. The data confirms the results. The results are laying in hospital beds and morgues.

Even if we accept errors in the data, we can reduce or expand the numbers by 10% and still we have strong indicators in the data.

Therefore, I must believe that COVID is real. It’s results are real. After all, I’ve never had reason to not believe any previous worldwide pandemic.

(to be continued)

No masks. It’s mid-June. From a mask-required part of Florida – Dade County. We didn’t know this until they were leaving. But we already made them sit up front and we kept a distance.

The Deal: Get AT&T UVerse and get $700 off your Fiber bill. I didn’t have to sign anything. In fact, one of them couldn’t log into his laptop and called his wife to try to get the password, but was still unsuccessful.

What Happened: UVerse installer makes an appt. Comes on-site. Determines he can’t mount the dish to get a signal. Says he will just leave but keep the account open for our discount. We get a bill for about $130/month for U-Verse service. I still haven’t signed anything.

The Promise: In next few months, I get a discount on our AT&T Fiber. Month 1 – no discount. Month 2 – still waiting for the bill.

I’ll keep this updated if there are any changes. I’m a bit sceptic, but then I’ve dealt with AT&T – see my previous posts. LOL.

So, I’ve got an Amazon Echo. Who doesn’t. I’ve got Siri. If’ you’re Applefied, you have Siri. I have a WEMO switch that allows me to turn my chair light on and off using my Amazon Echo. Ok, that’s pretty cool -when I remember I have it.

So, I had to replace my dishwasher recently. I researched one looking specifically for a wifi-enabled appliance. It’s a bit of a challenge -even today! I was left with either a Bosch or an LG. The LG was local. The Bosch was a return at a Best Buy about 100 miles away. I went for the LG. Turns out Home Depot doesn’t stock dishwashers and wouldn’t let me unscrew the display and take it with me. A week later, I had a wifi-enabled dishwasher. What does it do? It sends me a message when the washing cycle is done and if my drying additive is low. Cute. But, not astounding. Hey, I live with stuff when I’m on the cutting edge. Woohoo! Ahem.

Ok, now down to my concern. Automating the house involves also falling for some “cool” gadgets that turn out to be pure useless. Take my sprinklers system. I ordered a Wiijoo from Amazon. It looked cool in the pics. It was for my birthday. I opened it with the necessary excitement (maybe a bit more) and only when I scheduled some time to install it, did I realize the manual was a tiny pamphlet written rather poorly. Also, the unit was not designed for outside use – so replacing my existing outdoor controller would be awkward. Worse, the process to program the unit with the house wifi settings was archaic. And once I downloaded the Amazon skill, I realized the real issue – Amazon would treat the entire controller as an on/off switch. No zones. No sprinkler amenities. No joke.

Fortunately, my adventure lead me to Lowes to look for a box large enough to mount outside and protect the Wiijoo. There, I came across Orbit’s version of a wifi-enabled sprinkler controller. There was music. A chorus. It was a relief. And after installing it and using the app from Orbit, it was a revelation. Don’t buy a Wiijoo! Buy an Orbit! The company already knows sprinkler systems. They added the wifi and the app is good. Darn good. It can even handle multiple homes as well as zones. And it lets me know when it’ll skip a schedule because there was enough rain in the area within 24 hours (an option I enabled as it’s Internet connected and monitors the local weather). The Wiijoo was returned post haste!

Perhaps this is continuation of my previous article about how media storage has changed – in that what has also changed, with the technology, is how we interact.

For example, watching videos. We used to have to watch everything in black and white – and only at certain times and days and channels. The resolution was very poor and most of us only had one television per household. It was like this for decades. Finally, televisions sprouted color, added remote controls (as a kid, I was the first remote control), grew and became more affordable. But, then they flattened and grew even larger – beyond the 36″ max with most CRT-based TVs. Resolution also improved.

The ability to record and the introduction of cable television and then Internet-based services such as Netflix gave us selection and the ability to watch what we wanted when we wanted – sometimes commercial free. But this freedom can lead to an addiction for some – binge watching entire seasons in one late evening.

Recording also brought selection via video store rentals. Betamax and VHS. Briefly laser disc. Then DVDs. We had large consoles to store all of our collections of VHS tapes and DVDs. But no need any longer. Vudu will let you convert many of your DVDs to digital format so that you can discard even these. At one time I spent hours converting my VHS tapes to DVDs just to make room for … more DVDs. Goodbye VHS tapes. Be kind, rewind. Then, goodbye to DVDs. Netflix will now let you download some content to watch when you’re, God forbid, offline.

What’s next? Virtual worlds. Videos add a third dimension and become interactive. TVs and tablets collect dust as we move to glasses – at first bulky, then sleek. But, now we can move when we interact – like when the workout shows were on TV, but at our own discretion. Sort of the Wii meets video games. Consider the new maladies from this. Ok, ok – I promised to avoid discussing doctor visits.

But, why stop at glasses – so cumbersome. Why not a digital interface embedded in your eye or brain? This allows the hardware to get more discrete. It also makes this type of technology the norm for society. But, with instant availability and instant content of anything we desire, how will we interact socially? As much as we are on our phones now, imagine the new addictions. Even when driving. With self-driving cars, this gives us more time to be plugged in and devouring content. Where’s the creativity. Will society revolt? At what point will technology be frowned upon? Made illegal?

I feel so old school, typing this on a laptop. I’m not dictating. I’m using a real keyboard. Something that has been around over 100 years.

I suppose I’m more in the know regarding technology because I’m old (50) and I do have a collection of antique computers (from the 70’s onward – anything older is just too darn big to collect!) Forms of media for storing data. These are the forms I know and have used to store data:

• Random Access Memory (RAM, turn the computer off and it’s all lost)
• Flash RAM (keeping data with power off, began in EEPROMS and later could be rewritten – think BIOS)
• Cassette (first computer, the built-in counter became very important when storing multiple programs)
• Punch Cards (freshman in college)
• Green Bar Tractor Fed Paper (sophomore in college, not erasable, but vital when turning in homework)
• 5.25″ Floppy Disk (high school and upgraded first computer)
• 8″ Floppy Disk (first job using a computer used these. I was still in high school.)
• 3.5″ Floppy Disk (Macs in Cobol programming class in college)
• Magnetic Reel to Reel (used while working in computer lab in college)
• Hard Drive (largest size and smallest capacity in my collection is 10Mb – not Gigabyte)
• Bernoulli Drive (cartridge system, added 3/11/18)
• CD-ROM (even started creating a guild to CD-based software)
• Rewritable Magneto Optical Drive (HP Storageworks Optical, added 3/11/18)
• DVD-RW (much more storage, but still tedious for backups)
• Tape (used for backups, dozens for formats)
• Zip (cartridge for archives and backups by Iomega)
• NAS (Network Attached Storage) – (Buffalo, Synology, Iomega, etc. added 3/11/18)
• Flash Drive (or usb drive, started at around 1Mb and now I have some that are 256Gb)
• SSD Drives (replacing hard drives with solid state flash memory)
• Internet/Cloud (taking many forms)

I was going to write about other forms of media, but now realize this list is getting quite long. I’m so old! At least I never used paper tape (holes punched in tape to store data).

I think later I will talk about how each impacted our lives. I just have to think of a way to convey this without making myself fall asleep writing it (again, more naps – getting older!)

I often think of it as Consuming vs. Creating. The less we Create, the less we are taking care of ourselves – our souls. But, what is consuming and creating? Consuming is watching Netflix for hours a day. Consuming is playing a video game for hours a day. Consuming is taking and not giving. Consuming is making others work for you and doing nothing for them. Consuming is using resources, including time. Whereas, Creating is the Yang – it’s making dinner, writing, painting, helping others, saving someone time, programming, fixing something, making the world around us better – well you get the point.

My point? If you find yourselves consuming too much – you need to take a break from it. It’s too easy. It’s too addictive. Take a break and create something. Set some time once a week. Don’t get so caught up in consuming that you use it to just survive the day. Using your own inner creativity is the better choice. And remember, it is a choice.

This is one soul’s opinion.

It wasn’t just once that this tripped me up. So, glad to find one left, I place the order. I make payment. I’m told which store has it in stock. I’m on my way or I show up and only then find out that the item doesn’t exist. Sure, I could come up with some creative reasons – but let’s just go with the obvious – poor inventory control. Even in this day and age.

Back in the early 90’s I worked at Radio Shack. We took inventory once or twice a year. We hated it. It was so tedious. We had to do much of it after hours. It began by printing reams of inventory reports. Then breaking them up and each of us taking a section and counting inventory. The big ticket items were easy. It was the force feed (what we called the small parts we sold back then, that were sent automatically (forced on us) based on our inventory) that took hours to count. But, it was never accurate for very long. And it’s disappointing that even now, decades later, this is still true. But, back then, it would be an empty peg. Now, it is a useless trip to a store or waiting on something that never ships – and then a refund.

So, the next time you find an item where only 1 is left, be wary. The ability to pay for it before you get it is no guarantee. Not even in this age of Amazon.

You see, when you don’t pay a bill – even one that AT&T says to ignore until they can fix it, AT&T turns off your real service you’re paying $900/month for – the second attempt working fiber. Bam! It happened on a Thursday afternoon. I though it was a service issue. I called AT&T. They said it was a service issue. I opened a ticket. I waited all night. Finally, I called again (maybe 4th time) and they said it wasn’t a service issue – that the working fiber was terminated due to non-payment – on the account for the fiber that was never used!

Wow!

So, to get me up and running, I moved all my websites and email and other services to our Comcast service. And I paid the $600. What choice did I have? Any dispute would have taken months/years. This was a stickup and I put up my hands.

But, AT&T still shot me. With my hands up! Perhaps a bit dramatic, but after I paid the $600, the sent bills for late fees. They even sent a bill for reconnecting the working fiber AND the fiber I never used that was in dispute! Of course, they said they’d credit me, but meanwhile kept billing me for same. Finally, I paid them just to stop them and avoid terminating my working fiber again for non-payment of $35.

This is why small business will always exist and should never ever go away.

Then AT&T Fiber called.

They promised the world.

They said they’d move my IPs over. After all, my T1 was also through AT&T. Wow! “Great, let’s do it!”, I said.

Several months later and quite a few unexpected visits (their install techs have a habit of just showing up) and some not so pretty orange fluorescent lines painted on the parking lot and sidewalk (to show where the cable will be run, but with no warning) – and voila! Fiber was installed. Finally. So, let the billing begin. It’s about 50% more than my T1 but about 20 times faster.

And what of keeping my static IPs I’ve had for two decades – almost a quarter of a century (God I’m old!)? Um. Well. “We can’t do that”, they said. The wrong fiber service was ordered by the AT&T sales rep. So, I never used it. I had them cancel the fiber and order the correct one. Which requires more visits – even though they will use the same fiber run and fiber switch they installed.

About three months later, it’s installed again! Meanwhile, we’re still being billed for the original fiber. “No problem, they said, we’ll credit you and take care of it.” The AT&T sales rep had long disappeared. We had to deal with customer support. Well, my office manager did. God help her. You can see where this is going can’t you?

So, they billed for the new fiber. They did get the service installed and my IPs moved to the router. I had to install the router myself. They mailed it to me, which is funny. With all the visits from the installation techs, you’d think one of them could just install the router on the wall. Thank goodness I’m an IT tech!

It’s been a few more months and every month we call because we’re still being billed for the old fiber we never used, the new fiber (those bills I’m paying) and the old T1! Are you surprised? Really. So, finally we received a credit for the old original fiber service. But, the balance was still $600 in AT&T’s favor. Do I pay it just to make it go away?

So, I’m standing in my office, staring at the bill, avoiding the tired, distraught look of my office manager. I’m thinking to myself, in what other business can you be given a service that you never use, be billed monthly for it way beyond the time it was cancelled – with each month accruing the same monthly fee – and finally get a credit, but not enough to zero out the bill? And after all that, I’m still tempted to pay them $600 to make it go away completely. For the sake of our sanity.

Meanwhile, the orange fluorescent graffiti is almost all washed away.