My Birthday

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I’ve always disliked my birthday due to how cold it is outside and this year was no exception. There’s so much pressure to do something special to celebrate but the options are scarce because I can’t do what I would like the most – spend time in nature – and I also don’t want to gather somewhere indoors and risk catching something. I’ve gone five years without catching COVID, or any illness, in fact, and I’d like to keep it that way. What I went through in 2019 will forever be imprinted in my mind, and I suspect it was triggered by a virus, so I’d rather avoid all the viruses as much as possible and not risk becoming chronically ill.

Needless to say, we didn’t do anything special this year other than grab some birthday freebies from various fast food places. I’ve noticed over the years that most places have gotten stingier. Beef Shack gives you a $5 off coupon as if they don’t send those out regularly. Starbucks is still giving a free drink of any type and size, but only on your actual birthday. I keep bamboozling myself by trying one of their coffee drinks and hating it every time, including the pistachio latte I tried this year. The only thing I truly like on their menu are the shaken green tea lemonades but I’m usually not in the mood for one when it’s freezing cold outside.

I told Joe I’d rather he just go into work next year since it was a wasted day off. Either that, or I want to be on vacation somewhere warm since I will be turning 50 and should probably celebrate that depressing milestone. It doesn’t even need to be exotic so long as it’s above 60 degrees. Maybe we’ll finally make it out to Arizona to close his parents’ safety deposit box.

In any case, much like Christmas, I felt depressed on my birthday and was happy when it was over.

Stupid parents for getting pregnant in March…

December Recap

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We both got our passports in December, although mine came over a week after Joe’s even though my application was submitted prior to his.

We also had to pay a $35 speeding ticket that was issued for the day we went to Lincoln Park Zoo in October. Apparently there are speed cameras all along Irving Park Rd. Now, Joe was in fact speeding, so I’m not angry about that. What I am angry about is they sent a warning a few days before sending a ticket for the same day. How is it a warning exactly if you’re still going to issue a ticket? Yes, they were for different locations, but all part of Irving Park Rd. If you’re trying to warn people about the strict speed limit on a particular road, shouldn’t they get a free pass for that entire day, thus getting enough time to actually receive said warning? Seems logical to me, but not to the city of Chicago, thus rendering the “warning” useless. I saw on Reddit where people were saying the whole speed trap near parks is a bunch of bullshit anyway because the city is loose on the definition of a park; it includes an empty lot that happens to have grass on it. In any case, we won’t be taking the “scenic” route home again. It not only takes longer with all the lights, but the traffic is pretty heavy, which makes being able to “speed” pretty hard to begin with (he was 6 mph over, which is the bare minimum for a ticket).

12/02 (Mon) – Put out the new Christmas welcome mat we snagged at Lowes in November.

12/04 (Wed) – Watched my Spotify Wrapped and wasn’t the least bit surprised that my top two artists – The Cure and Sofi Tukker – haven’t changed.

12/05 (Thu) – Put up the Christmas tree, and I mean that loosely because the lights and ornaments didn’t make it on the tree until 12/14.

12/07 (Sat) – My bestie’s birthday party. Always a fun time because her friends are fun to talk to, as is her brother, well usually. But for some reason he felt the need to go on what felt like a ten minute lecture about why he doesn’t like The Cure, because of Robert Smith’s voice in particular, after I mentioned they were my favorite band. It was rather uncomfortable, but K and I had a good laugh about it later because he truly didn’t mean to be offensive.

We had Shake Shack for lunch earlier in the day. It was our first visit to the relatively new location in our neighborhood, thanks to a “deal” through T-Mobile Tuesday, if you can call it that. Even with a free burger each, our total OOP was still $12 for two burgers, fries, and a lemonade. Regular price would have been nearly $30! Totally not worth it, either. None of the food was all that great, so I can’t see us ever going there again.

That morning I finally located the Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes ice cream at Dollar Tree of all places.

I had to reach out to the manufacturer, Hudsonville, to ask if they were being sold because they weren’t listed on their site, or on Walmart’s site, and they used to be a Walmart exclusive. They replied back with a list of stores which did not include Walmart. I’m glad, because I’m still boycotting Walmart. The last time we shopped there was in early June. If they don’t care to respond to my feedback about my poor experience in their store, then they don’t care if they lose me as a customer I guess. Although to be fair, I will probably buy more leggings from them at some point since so far I like their No Boundaries brand of leggings the best. But I’ve done my best to not buy anything else from them whereas we used to shop there at least once a month. Suck it, Walmart!

12/09 (Mon) – Won 100 stars via the Starbucks For a Year sweepstakes which was enough for a free handcrafted drink (which Joe used for a latte on 12/28).

Found the best cold brew coffee (which only our local grocery store, Woodman’s, carries) which pairs perfectly with Aldi’s peppermint iced mocha “coffee” which tastes more like flavored milk. It gave me just the right amount of peppermint without aggravating my acid reflux and I didn’t have to deal with Dunkin who can’t seem to make a good iced coffee these days if their lives depended on it.

Also learned there had been a Happy Endings podcast that was now on Spotify.

Very timely, as Joe and I just finished a re-watch of Happy Endings. Every time we watch it I’m so sad it was cancelled after only three seasons. Or more like two and a half since the first season was shorter than normal. They were truly ahead of their time. It’s no surprise that some of the writers on that show also wrote for my favorite show of all time, Brooklyn Nine Nine.

12/10 (Tue) – I’ve been searching for a green hoodie, so we went to Savers for the first time in probably a year. It was a total bust. We looked at clothing, as well as other items, and nothing was appealing. Painted Tree and Half Price Books were a bust as well.

The way they lock up the expensive vinyl records at HPB really bugs me.

See how narrow the slot is to flip through the records? Like they couldn’t have made that bigger but still small enough to stop anyone from pulling out a record. Plus they pack the box so full it’s difficult to even look at each record. I don’t bother with that box anymore because it’s too infuriating.

Tried some discount chicken strips (thanks to T-Mobile Tuesday) from Popeyes. They were pretty good, and easy to reheat in the air fryer. The breading on them reminds me of Long John Silvers, although the boneless wings (without sauce) taste even more like LJS’ chicken planks.

12/14 (Sat) – We decided to have a Polish feast for lunch, so we visited two different Polish delis to collect all the good things at each. I wish the deli closest to us had the best food, but unfortunately thus far the only thing they have that is better than the one further away is their stuffed cabbage. And truthfully, I think my own stuffed cabbage rivals both places. Too bad I’m so lazy about making it!

Finally finished the tree. Decided to switch things up this year with multicolor lights, a hodgepodge of ornaments, and the tree collar flipped opposite than usual.

12/18 (Wed) – I heard a rumor that Costco is switching to Coke products in their cafe. Guess I won’t be getting food from them anymore. I know I’m the minority, but I love Pepsi and it’s getting ridiculous how hard it is to come by a good fountain Pepsi these days. Culver’s had the best before they switched. Taco Bell’s is watered down garage. What a bummer.

12/19 (Thu) – Baked maraschino cherry chocolate chip cookies for the first time. While they didn’t come out looking anything like the recipe, they were quite tasty, so I will be making them again. In retrospect, I should have known something was off looking at the recipe photo.

Without red food coloring, there is no way to make the cookies that pink color. And there’s also no way with the amount of cherries called for to get such a large chunk of them in a cross-section. False advertising!

The recipe made 50 cookies, so I put some in the freezer along with the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I baked earlier in the month (in order to give some to my bestie for her birthday).

And this is what they actually looked like:

I think it’s safe to say looking at Nintendo’s year in review that I am not a console gamer.

I do enjoy playing the Nintendo Switch, so I’m not sure why I do it so infrequently. I play Disney’s Tsum Tsum game on my phone and iPad quite often, though. It’s too bad Apple doesn’t do a gaming year in review. I’d be really curious to see how much time I spend playing that game.

12/20 (Fri) – I quickly became addicted to these mini cranberry orange bisconies from Costco.

Although I think they should be called scuffins instead because they’re more like a cross between a scone and a muffin and not a biscotti and a scone like they claim. The funny thing is, I suggested we try them because Joe likes the cranberry orange Belvita biscuits, but I think I ended up liking them more than he did.

We decided to stay home on Christmas Eve this year instead of going to my parents. There were multiple reasons for this, not the least of which feeling depressed over Wookie’s absence, and getting anxious over the thought of being on the road during a time when people are more abt to drink and drive.

I made my famous three cheese grits casserole for breakfast and for early dinner we pulled leftover mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, and cranberry sauce from the freezer (originally made at Thanksgiving) and added a 1.5 lb pre-sliced ham.

It was so good! Flavorful, not too fatty, and easy to heat up by the slice. I swear we’re just going to get one of them moving forward even if we have company in future years. It was plenty for several people.

Christmas Day was much of the same after we exchanged gifts, including watching multiple movies. I got Joe some grey sweatpants (IYKYK), a set of silicone tool trays, and a pour over coffee maker. He got me two bird shirts (which I’m going to exchange for a different fit), a bird calendar, and a set of 30 something buttons featuring The Cure.

After all the electronics spending recently (computer, TV, iPad) we decided not to go crazy on a present exchange this year.

Dinner was nearly identical to Christmas Eve except with the addition of green beans.

12/27 (Fri) – Got annoyed with Amazon’s subscribe and save which thought it made sense to double up on one of my items just because I kept pushing back the delivery. I assumed when I changed the delivery date it would be smart enough to know that was for a single item and not to send me two, but I guess it is more profitable if they pull that crap instead, right? Needless to say, I cancelled the subscribe and save on that as well as one other item that I probably don’t need on a strict schedule either.

Once my Paramount+ and Showtime discounted rate ends in February and we’re finished watching the latest Dexter prequel, whichever comes later, I am once again cancelling Amazon Prime. It’s $144 annually for what exactly? Free shipping you can get if your order is $35 or more even if you’re not a Prime member? Sure, you get Prime Video, but half the stuff in there is an extra rental fee and they now play commercials before a movie and multiple times during unless you pay them even more money. F that! There is nothing I need to watch that bad that I can justify paying them so much. We managed last year from March through November not having Prime and we can do it again. When I signed up it defaulted to the monthly subscription so I’m fairly certain we won’t be stuck with them a full year.

12/28 (Sat) – Found out I was one of the winners of the fall photography contest held by our birding club. The prize was bragging rights.

That afternoon we went to my bestie’s place to exchange Christmas gifts. I got her multiple items, but the funniest is she got me the complete series of Brooklyn Nine Nine on DVD, which I almost got for her, but I know she hates getting up to change discs, so I gave her a USB drive with the entire series on it instead, amongst other TV shows she likes. She should be able to watch them through her PS5.

12/29 (Sun) – Picked up some Christmas lights that were 50% off at Home Depot. We grabbed a few different style/lengths to try as a replacement for the ones we had around the patio door all year before I had the audacity to take them down in early December to put up multi-colored lights instead. When I put the previously flawlessly functioning lights back up, they wouldn’t turn on. We couldn’t find a loose bulb, and replacing the fuse did nothing. Such a bummer as they were the perfect length (approximately 25 feet). The replacement we ultimately chose to use (an incandescent set) are only 21 feet in length. I just didn’t care for the LED set (which was 28 feet long) because they seemed so bright even though they were a nice warm light. I cannot stand the pure white light LEDs that some people use.

I reached my reading goal this year with only two days to spare!

I always start the year out strong, even getting ahead of schedule, but once the weather warms up it goes downhill because I’d rather be out in nature or editing my photos. Next thing you know I’m behind on my reading and feel pressured to race through books to reach the goal I set. Therefore for 2025 I’m going to set a really low goal of 10 books so that I can enjoy reading when the mood strikes me without any self-induced pressure. I want to enjoy reading and not feel like it’s a chore.

12/30 (Mon) – Cleaned our seed bird feeder after hearing there’s an avian flu going around. It seems to be primarily affecting waterfowl, but the feeder needs regular cleaning anyway and it had been three weeks since I last did it. I don’t want my lovely birds getting sick!

12/31 (Tue) – Joe picked up a Mike’s Hot Honey pizza from Lou Malnati’s and we enjoyed a movie. Afterwards we flipped through some of the streaming services that were broadcasting live New Year’s Eve content, but it was all terribly boring, including Peacock’s year in review show hosted by Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. The fireworks around the world broadcast was interesting for a short time, but overall it was lame. Joe was falling asleep on the couch by 9:30 and we moved upstairs where he went to bed while I surfed online and chatted with my brother until the fireworks died down around 12:30 am. And I wish nothing but stubbed toes every day in 2025 for the person who thought blowing off more fireworks at 1:15 am was a good idea.

Notable movies this month:

The Advent Calendar (2021) – Really enjoyed trying to guess where things were going in this Christmas horror movie.

Secret Santa (2018) – Yet another horror film centered around the holiday. This one turned brutal, but it was also quite engaging.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) – Most people are familiar with and have seen this movie before, and I thought I was one of them, but it turns out I only remember the very last part of the movie and don’t think I had ever seen the movie from start to finish. It’s quite good.

Carry-on (2024) – Were there are a lot of inaccuracies between airport operations and how planes work? Yes. Was it engaging regardless? Also yes. And honestly, isn’t that the ultimate goal of any movie, to be entertained? And I was.

Juror #2 (2024) – This one really made you think what you’d do in the main character’s situation. My biggest gripe was how they left the ending open to interpretation.

Ricky Stanicky (2024) – I’m really loving John Cena in comedic roles, and this movie was no exception. Sometimes a stupid fun comedy is just what you need.

They Came Together (2014) – I was recently listening to Max Greenfield on the Happy Endings podcast when he mentioned working with Jason Mantzoukas on a movie. I took to IMBD to track down the movie in question which was this. It seemed familiar, but also not, and had a lot of actors I like so I gave it a shot. It was a little more slapstick-y than I care for, but still entertaining enough. The most disappointing part was how normal Jason Mantzoukas’ character was in it. He truly shines when he plays an insane person.

iPad Saga

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I never thought purchasing an iPad would be so fraught with drama, but thanks to Costco I will never order another Apple product from their website again.

My 7 year old iPad Pro 10.5 from 2017 has seen better days. Operationally speaking, it’s still running fine, but there are bright spots appearing on the screen in multiple places and according to what I’ve read, indicate the screen is basically coming apart and will fail at some point. In addition, the battery inside is original which means it has to be charged daily just to have enough juice for me to watch YouTube while walking on the treadmill and play Tsum Tsum and browse Reddit in the evenings.

Much like with the reasoning for buying a new TV before our current one fully kicked the bucket, I decided now would be a good time to replace the iPad and save a little money. I was originally looking at the most recent iPad which was discounted to $500 from the original price of $600. Then Joe pointed out that the iPad 10.9 10th generation from 2022 was on sale at Costco for only $250. Considering what I use my iPad for, did I really need the latest and greatest for twice as much money? No.

They were offering the iPad in two colors – blue and silver. The blue was available in our local warehouse, but the silver was not. I looked into it, and unlike with iPhones, you can in fact see the color of the iPad even with a case on it, so I definitely wanted the silver one as it would look better with a purple case. I ordered it from Costco’s website with a promise I’d have it in a week.

Cue the nonsense… aka the timeline of how everything went down:

Ordered the iPad on 11/22 with an estimated delivery date of 11/29.

Chatted with Costco through their app on 11/30 when the iPad was still showing as scanned by the carrier with no further movement. Was told they’d escalate the issue and I’d hear back in 48 hours.

Called Costco on 12/02 when I did not in fact hear back in 48 hours. They claimed they were still working on the issue and someone could call me in 48 hours.

Called Costco again on 12/06 after not hearing back from them. Guy who answered was super rude and didn’t want to help, telling me the only thing he could do was issue a refund. When I pushed the issue, he said he could issue an exchange order. I asked him what that was, and he literally replied, “it’s an exchange order”. Like WTF? I said to him, “can you explain to me what an exchange order actually involves?” and then he finally explained that it marks the original order as not received and a new order is issued.

Costco called me on 12/07 and the very nice and helpful lady explained to me that they could not issue the exchange order until the silver iPad came back in stock. She said they could keep checking the status on their end, but I would have better results if I kept checking myself and called them as soon as it was back in stock. I wasn’t happy about having to monitor their website for them, but at least the woman was trying to help the best she could.

Called Costco 12/10 when I saw the silver iPad was back in stock and was told they would issue the exchange order right away. The woman I spoke to was quite friendly, but I should have been wary when she remarked “I cannot seem to do my job right today”.

Called Costco 12/13 when I still hadn’t received a new order number. The agent (Kendall) wanted to argue with me when I said I don’t understand why Costco is making this my problem. She wanted to know how they were making the issue my problem and I had to explain to her everything I had gone through up until that point and how I had to keep an eye on their site and call them to get anything to happen. She then agreed that they were in fact making this my problem.

She put me on hold to talk to someone else and came back claiming they were going to “push the exchange order through”, as if they were doing me a favor shipping me the item they already charged me for weeks prior. I think they screwed up and didn’t want to admit it.

One of the things the agent mentioned prior to putting me on hold was that Apple requires them to do certain things before issuing a replacement iPad. But that’s Costco’s issue and the carrier who supposedly picked it up but lost it, not the customer’s!

Furthermore, I could maybe understand that stance if the iPad had actually shipped and showed as having been delivered. Then it would make sense that Apple (and Costco) would not want to send a replacement before doing an investigation to make sure I wasn’t committing fraud, but everyone could see it either didn’t move from the warehouse at all, or the carrier picked it up but never scanned it into their system (which is what the agent who called me on 12/07 claimed). From my perspective, there was zero movement on the item because it showed a tracking number issued and nothing further. So given that information, they should have shipped out a replacement immediately instead of playing games and making me jump through hoops.

Luckily the next day I did actually get an email with a new order number and finally received my new iPad on 12/18.

Never again, Costco, never again!

—

When it came time to unbox and set up the new iPad, I ran into an issue.

I used a new to me method where I placed the old and new iPads next to one another to transfer data over which I thought was much easier than plugging it into my computer, loading iTunes, and having to choose between starting from scratch or restoring from backup (of which there was none as I guess I had never backed up my old iPad in iTunes, whoops).

A few days later I decided I really should back up the new iPad, but when I plugged it in and fired up iTunes, I was presented with this screen.

I was so confused. Did this mean I had no choice but to reset everything anyway? Or just never be able to back my iPad up? I was upset over the prospect. I cancelled out of the screen to see if iTunes would recognize the device since it was registered to my account, but it would not.

After some internet research, I learned choosing “set up as new iPad” simply allows iTunes to interact with it. The language on that screen is so misleading and they should fix it, or at the very least explain what it will do.

I was a bit anxious choosing that option, even though the internet assured me it would be fine, but they were correct, and I was then able to create a backup. Whew!

—

I would like to also point out it took some getting used to the new iPad because it’s thicker and the aspect ratio, coupled with the difference in border around all the edges, makes a lot of things appear larger on the screen.

Old iPad vs new iPad

November Recap

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11/01 (Fri) – The new Cure album, Songs of a Lost World, was released and I listened to it on Spotify because despite pre-ordering it from Amazon in September, it was not delivered on the release date as promised.

I was apprehensive about a new album, because I have not fallen in love with any new material since Wish (1992), but it’s pretty good. Not an album I would listen to all the time, and devoid of any songs I would add to my “Cure Faves” playlist, but it has a very cohesive sound. If I had to compare it to any of their earlier work I’d say some songs sound like they were written at the same time as Bloodflowers, but the album’s sound flows similar to Faith or Seventeen Seconds. There are no radio hits on this album, but I am looking forward to listening to the instrumental second CD from the deluxe version of the album whenever Amazon feels like sending it to me.

Later that day The Cure streamed a live show on YouTube. They played the new album in it’s entirety and then moved onto songs they always tend to play live, with two encores, totaling three hours. It was amazing! They really do put on a fantastic live show – they always sound good and play for a very long time. I can only hope they choose an outdoor venue for any upcoming tours so I can see them live again (not willing to risk COVID or more damage to my ears at an indoor venue).

11/02 (Sat) – Decided to attend Crabtree Nature Center’s Waterfowl Watch which was a bust. Why are the birds always on the opposite side of the lake from any viewing area? It’s so frustrating! Needless to say we didn’t stay long. We stopped at a nearby park with a pond which was completely empty. The only highlight was stopping at Pita BBQ on the way home to get some delicious food for lunch.

11/04 (Mon) – Saw what I think might have been a juvenile red-headed woodpecker on the suet feeder but it flew off as I approached the window for a closer look.

11/06 (Wed) – Woke up feeling extremely sad and disillusioned over the election results and could barely pull myself out of bed. I naively believed Americans were smarter than this. I thought more than half the country had more integrity and empathy for people. Clearly I was wrong. I should have known better after what happened with the COVID pandemic, but despite my “negative attitude” I’m actually a pretty optimistic person. I really didn’t think people would rather see a convicted felon who is downright idiotic and a compulsive liar in office than a black woman. Look, I’m not a fan of any politician (although I dare say our governor here in Illinois is pretty great), but people really believe Pumpkin Spice Palpatine is the best choice to run this country? I weep for our immediate future and the long-term ramifications of this awful decision. Shame on America.

I ended up drowning my sorrows in a Chicken Big Mac from McDonald’s. I think they are better than the original Big Macs, mostly because I find McDonald’s burgers off putting these days. They changed something in them a year or so ago and now I hate them.

11/07 (Thu) – ABT came over to look at the washing machine that we had purchased in August because during a load it made a horrible loud noise and was shaking quite noticeably during each spin cycle ever since. The technician, David, was very knowledgeable and knew right away it was the shocks. ABT has great service, but the downside to their warranty repairs is having to wait for them to come out to diagnose the issue and then come back once the necessary parts come in. David explained these machines are made with very cheap parts and not to expect a lifespan of 15 years from them like we had with the previous washer. He also recommended I use the highest water level possible to reduce the strain on the new shocks once they are installed. So much for a water-saving efficient machine, am I right?

11/09-11/10 – Weekend Recap

11/10 (Sun) – Picked up a few different Christmas Tree Cake items from our local grocery store.

While the muffins are better than the donuts, I didn’t think either one deserve to be purchased ever again. I cannot find the ice cream anywhere, and after doing a little digging, found out it was a Walmart exclusive but even they don’t seem to have it (or at least their website isn’t indicating it’s available). I’ve been boycotting Walmart since they ignored my feedback a few months ago and will only shop there if I absolutely have to (like to get the ice cream or another pair of my favorite leggings).

11/11 (Mon) – Saw a white-breasted nuthatch for the first time in the backyard.

11/14 (Thu) – Saw a red-bellied woodpecker in the backyard for the first time this season, and the nuthatch came back so I was able to get photos of it.

11/15-11/17 – Extended Weekend Recap

11/15 (Fri) – Fell in love with these horseradish potato chips from Trader Joe’s. They aren’t overly spicy but have just the right consistent flavor to make them addictive.

11/19 (Tue) – The new Cure album was finally delivered. Thanks, Amazon.

The squirrels chewed the crap out of our oldest squirrel baffle to the point where both the piece that wraps around the pole of the shepherds hook and the baffle part itself (both of which were made of plastic) was compromised, so it kept sliding to the ground. When Joe got home we went to Menards to get a new all metal baffle. The problem? It wouldn’t fit properly on the squared off shepherds hook we had been using, so we ended up getting a new rounded one from Lowes. The problem? The stupid baffle still wouldn’t fit securely to that either! The baffle looked to be the same exact one we had gotten from Menards a few years ago but clearly they did something to it to make it suck. Joe ended up adding some neoprene between the pole and the fastener to get it to grip it tightly enough that it wouldn’t just slip down, so now we have two identical shepherds hooks and two almost identical all metal squirrel baffles to keep those pesky squirrels away from the seed and suet feeders.

In-between Menards and Lowes we got Taco Bell for dinner and it came with this retro looking cup which I thought was cool.

11/21 (Thu) – Sometimes procrastination pays off. Our passports expired four years ago and we had been dragging our feet over going somewhere to apply for new ones. Then the rules were changed and we learned if you were still in possession of your old passport, and it had expired less than five years prior, you could apply online for a renewal and use a photo taken with a mobile phone, so we did just that. We don’t have any international trips planned, but you never know when we might want to move out of the country. ;)

I also ordered a new iPad from Costco. Well, not a new model – I got the 10.9″ 10th Generation model from 2022 as it was on sale for $250 to replace my iPad that has bright spots forming on the screen. I use it primarily to watch YouTube when I walk on the treadmill and play Tsum Tsum, so I didn’t necessarily need the latest and greatest model.

Update: As of 11/30 it still hasn’t been delivered even though the estimate was 11/29. I chatted with Costco who is looking into it. I’m worried because the one I want, the silver, is now showing sold our everywhere. I hope they don’t try to give me a blue one. I already ordered and received a purple case for it which will not look good with the blue since you can see that in the cutouts from the ports and along the screen on the front.

11/22 (Fri) – Our new TV was delivered by Costco.

11/23 (Sat) – We got breakfast for super cheap from Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

Thanks to T-Mobile Tuesday all that was $6.

We had to go inside a bank for the first time in years so I could cash a check my mom randomly sent me; she had made it out to my maiden name for some reason so I needed to show them my marriage certificate.

11/25 (Mon) – A few days prior I got an email from FedEx about a package that was coming, but I didn’t recognize the “sender”, so I was very confused and kept racking my brain trying to figure out what it could be. The package arrived today – it was my free gift for donating to the American Bird Conservancy. This full color coffee table book is really cool!

What I can’t seem to understand is why the shipping companies will often only include the shipper and address of a warehouse or third party instead of the entity responsible for the shipment when you check the tracking details. I would have known right away if it said “American Bird Conservancy” as the shipper, but it had some weird name and address that tied back to a printing company even though American Bird Conservancy was on the outside of the package.

We had something similar happen with a lost package through USPS and to this day I have no idea who the package was from or the contents due to the limited information. USPS even admitted they delivered it to the “wrong business”, but never did a thing about it after claiming they would try to retrieve it.

11/27 (Wed) – David from ABT returned to repair the washing machine. It’s not as bad as before, but it still seems to shake a bit during spin cycles, although it could have always done that since I don’t stand around watching it during the cycles unless I hear something weird.

I might take a video of the shaking and the other parts of the cycles where it makes what to me sound like abnormally loud mechanical noises and ask ABT their opinion on if that is considered normal by GE’s standards. I’ve already been told it’s normal for it to release a small amount of water into the drum hours after a cycle like it’s been doing. I think that’s bullshit and GE just has a poorly designed washing machine, since the old one never did that. I keep the lid open all day after a load anyway, so it shouldn’t cause any mold to form.

David encouraged me to buy the extended warranty with ABT for $200 which will cover an additional four years past the measly 1-year warranty with GE. The machine only cost $550 to begin with, but the repair if not under warranty would have cost a whopping $415! I cannot believe these companies with their cheap parts charging so much to repair stuff that breaks so easily. We truly are living in some shitty capitalistic times. No longer will your appliances live for decades because corporate greed is way too strong.

11/28 (Thu) – Watched the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving parade and National Dog Show, as is tradition, even if both often leave something to be desired.

Also put up the new upside suet feeder we bought from Amazon. We’re hoping this will keep the sparrows away.

It seems like a new tradition now to buy a bird feeder for Black Friday since we had gotten our seed feeder last year during the same time frame. The woodpeckers took to it quickly, and hopefully the chickadees and nuthatches (we have two now) will too.

Update – Still haven’t seen any chickadees on it, but a nuthatch was spotted on it and a red-bellied woodpecker ate from it too.

We weren’t planning on hosting Thanksgiving this year but Joe’s daughter reached out two weeks beforehand asking if we were and offered to bring a side dish (which ended up being a Hello Fresh carrot dish which had an interesting ginger flavor we liked). We decided to go ahead since the only difference would be the size of the turkey we needed; I wanted to make all the traditional sides regardless of who was coming over. Joe’s son, E, could not make it due to his work schedule, and his daughter’s SO, J, was busy with his family, so it was just K and us. She arrived a bit before 4 and we had dinner where I tried this new Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale.

It was ok, but not something I’d ever buy again.

After dinner we chatted and played a game called Mantis she and her SO had brought over last year.

We bought our own copy shortly after. It’s really addictive and we played for hours. We were having so much fun, K didn’t leave until almost 12:30 am. By that point I was absolutely freezing. It’s one thing to have the thermostat set to 68 degrees when you’re already in bed, it’s an entirely different thing when you’re still walking around the house. It took me a long time to warm up once in bed, even with the help of a heating pad. I didn’t fall asleep until 1:30 am and felt like I was hungover the next day.

11/29 & 11/30 (Fri & Sat) – We really didn’t do much except make a quick run to the library and eat Thanksgiving leftovers. It was a very chill couple of days.

Notable movies this month:

Trap (2024) – As soon as I saw the preview for this movie, I knew it was going to be good, and other than a couple of WTF scenes, it was. I was really impressed with Josh Hartnett’s acting.

Bernie (2011) – Starring Jack Black, this movie was based on a true story of a guy who strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow and things turn sour in the end. What was fascinating was all the support Bernie had from the community despite what he did.

It’s What’s Inside (2024) – Wow, this one took a very strange but gripping turn. When I don’t look at my phone during a movie, I know it’s a good one.

Strange Darling (2023) – This was one of those movies that kept you guessing over and over again.

Inside Man (2006) – Who doesn’t love a bank heist? This one took an even more interesting turn than most; don’t let the release year dissuade you.

Jackpot! (2024) – Starring Awkwafina and John Cena, an unlikely duo, this was just pure fun. Not every movie needs to win awards to be entertaining and this was thoroughly funny and enjoyable. Hard to find a good comedy these days.

Thanksgiving (2023) – A horror movie that was a bit too gory for me, but kept me engaged even if I guessed the killer pretty quickly.

Sony Bravia 65″ LED TV

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On November 22nd we got a new tv for the living room.

Back in January our Samsung 55″ TV started showing purple spots which have since multiplied and indicate the LEDs are going out. I watched a video on how to replace them and it’s a ridiculous process, so we decided it would be better to buy a new TV instead. We originally planned to wait until the Samsung died completely, but with the upcoming tariffs expected in January, the cost of electronics is going to increase, so we made the decision to purchase now instead.

I did a lot of research and based on how bright our living room is, and that sunlight hits the screen directly sometimes, an OLED was out. They’re pretty expensive anyway, and Joe didn’t want to spend more than we spent on the Samsung, so we kept our budget to $1000-$1200 and settled on a Sony Bravia XR 65″ (X90CL) for $999 at Costco.

We decided on Costco instead of our preferred retailer, ABT, because Costco was offering a free extended warranty which will now cover the TV for five years.

Due to its size, it wouldn’t fit with the stupid legs on our existing TV stand, so we also had to buy a new tabletop stand for it which we got from Amazon. We like our TV stand and didn’t want to spend another $500+ to get a new one. I’m not necessarily regretting that decision, but I am a little bummed that the TV sits higher than I would have liked and because of how it hangs from the stand, it’s tilted ever so slightly back to keep it from toppling forward. The stand also allows you to swivel the TV which makes getting it to look straight a bit of a challenge, but the swivel makes access to the back of the TV easier. There are always tradeoffs.

Why these TV manufacturers almost exclusively use ugly feet on smaller TVs that can handle a middle stand is beyond me, but I hate it, because you either have to buy a wider TV stand or mount the TV on the wall or a middle stand like we opted to do.

And you can also tell from the photo that the TV is now blocking the shelf we had above the old TV that held the center channel and two speakers for our audio system. It looks stupid to me and I’d like to remove it and push the TV back a little more.

I’m having trouble adjusting to the larger screen size. Apparently 55″ was ideal, at least for me (Joe doesn’t find the bigger screen overwhelming like I do). I’m just glad we didn’t get a 75″. We considered it until measuring out how much that would cause us to have to spread out the furniture surrounding the TV console to accommodate it.

I’m still working on adjusting the TV’s picture settings to get things how I like them. I feel like the color in particular is too warm with a green cast to it. As it stands now, I feel like the Samsung has a better picture/resolution than the Sony even though the Samsung only has a 60 Hz refresh rate whereas the Sony has 120 Hz. I’m hopeful that once I get the settings to our liking I will no longer feel that way.

I do like that the Sony uses Google’s Android TV for their OS. It was one of the reasons we didn’t get another Samsung or an LG, although I still don’t understand why they all put the streaming apps in one ridiculously long row instead of using a grid system like Roku does. Sure, you can rearrange the order of the apps, but it’s still cumbersome having a single row of every app you use. It’s annoying having to scroll through so many apps to get to the one you want, especially when Sony put a bunch of their proprietary apps in the list. Couldn’t those at least been placed in a separate row beneath the streaming apps? And don’t get me started on how I can’t even delete certain apps at all, like Disney+ and YouTube Music.

Because the OS is powered by Google, I was able to set up a screensaver to display photos directly from Google Photos. It’s really cool watching some of my best photos cycle through on such a large screen. It even inspired me to go back and re-edit older photos so they are displayed in a higher resolution and look sharper now that I have better editing software and have learned new photo processing techniques. You can also play Spotify through the TV while watching the screensaver which is fun.

The sound, which is Dolby Atmos, is much richer than the old TV, I will give Sony that. But by the same token, the richer sound is weird to me when watching TV shows in particular. I guess I’m used to, and prefer, a flatter sound, particularly when watching sitcoms where dialog is the focus. This explains why I rarely turned on our stereo system or felt the need for a sound bar. There is a dialog sound setting on the TV but it still doesn’t sound right to me. I’ve been waiting to see whether I’d adapt to the richer sound before tinkering around with it, however.

I just hope as time goes on I adjust to the TV. I am very sensitive to change and it sucks to be excited for something new but then not like it at first. That seems to happen a lot with me, however, so I’m trying to remember that and not feel disappointed by how I feel.