Category: Shopping

September 2023 Recap

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Started listening to a podcast called Morbid. I swear I used to listen to it years go, but none of the episodes were already marked as played in Apple Podcasts, so I’m not sure, but I really like it and there’s a huge backlog of episodes to enjoy.

9/02 (Sat)
Went on our second bike ride of the year at Cricket Creek where we saw a herd of deer. I chose that location so we could pick up breakfast from a Mexican restaurant on the way home.

That afternoon I ripped out a bunch of zinnias since they had gotten out of control. Next year I will plant fewer flowers.

9/05 (Tue)
Saw a bald eagle at Armstrong Park!

Obtained our REAL IDs from the state so we could get into Fermilab (they started requiring those, or a passport, earlier this year).

9/13 (Wed)
Our new windows and patio door were installed.

9/15 (Fri)
Purchased a pair of Sketchers from Target to replace the shoes I wear on the treadmill which are literally falling apart. A few days later I saw there was a Target Circle deal for 20% off shoes so I chatted with an agent to see if they could refund me the difference. They ended up giving me $15 back which was way more than I asked for, but who am I to argue? So instead of $30 the shoes were $13.88 which is good because it turns out they aren’t that comfortable for treadmill walking. I should have known better – I’ve never like Sketchers. I plan to keep them because they are slip-ons which comes in handy for walking Wookie, but I still need to find something else for the treadmill.

9/21 (Thu)
Wookie turned 7 years old! She has kidney issues which are currently stabilized with medication and a special diet, but it pains me to say she will have a shorter lifespan than her breed normally does because she will eventually go into kidney failure. I really do not like thinking about it because I love her so much.

We bought her a special treat – Milk-Bone Pup-Peroni Mash Ups which are described as “crunchy Milk-Bone biscuits, exploding with baked-in, meaty Pup-Peroni chunks”.

I figured they might be better for her stomach issues. She loves Pup-Peroni but they didn’t seem to agree with her. She LOVES these. She gets one every evening and she does a million little excited spins when she knows it’s time.

I tried to sign up for a paid Dropbox account so I could migrate away from Google One, but Dropbox didn’t want my money. Once I got to the payment page there was a “verify you’re a human” test that would say I passed, disappear, and then say “verification failed”. I tried it multiple times but got stuck in this endless loop of telling me I was ok and then saying “sike, you’re not! try again!” What a bummer, but maybe it’s for the best.

9/23 (Sat)
Visited the Morton Arboretum for the first time in about 5 years. Between my 2019 sickness and them changing to timed entry during the pandemic, it was no longer appealing. They finally dropped the time entry requirement for members, so we signed up. Fall is the best time of the year there, plus we can drive around the grounds in the winter and hopefully see some owls. We’ve been looking for them everywhere and have yet to spot a single one.

9/24 (Sun)
Went to both Fermilab and Mount Saint Mary Park again, but neither were as fruitful as our previous visit. It seems the birds just aren’t as active this time of year.

9/28 (Thu)
Had lunch with my friend, C. I drove to her place and then we went and grabbed food from Burger King to bring back to her house. It was a very nice afternoon.

9/29 (Fri)
An issue I had with Chick-fil-a was finally resolved. I had mobile ordered their limited time Honey Pimento Chicken sandwich on 9/9 only to find barely any of the specialty sauce on it when I opened the sandwich at home. I submitted a complaint online and other than an automated reply, never heard back. I even called their customer care a week later and all they could do is tell the local restaurant to call me, which still didn’t happen. So I called them directly and the woman I spoke with, Heather, was very apologetic and put five free items in my rewards account to redeem:

Two honey pimento chicken sandwiches
A caramel crumble milkshake
My choice of a few other sandwiches
And a free drink of any size

I got the special chicken sandwich and the milkshake the next day and both were delicious!

9/30 (Sat)
Went to a few nature places and then Bass Pro Shop to look at hiking boots. Ended up buying a pair that I plan to wear around the house to ensure their comfort. Afterwards we went to IKEA to look at window treatments and found some white cordless cellular shades that should look nice in the living room. We have been using temporary black paper cellular shades but decided black was too dark.

Canon R7

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So after having the same camera for 15 years (Canon 40D), I decided to upgrade to a mirrorless camera and went with the Canon R7 because I heard fantastic things about it’s autofocus system and ability to track animals such as birds.

I ended up getting the kit with the 18-150mm lens from ABT who delivered it via their own truck the same day. Talk about service! I guess that’s what you get when you spend almost $2000. Yea, this thing cost more than our refrigerator!

(Incidentally Joe received his new Google Pixel 6A the following day so we’ve just been spending money left and right. So thankful we can afford to do these things because we socked away money when we were both at the height of our respective careers).

I wasn’t able to get out to test the new camera until a couple of days later, but I used that time to look at people’s suggested settings because there is so much more to this thing than my old camera. Many more buttons and dials too. The main thing that I miss is the little screen at the top of my 40D. With this new one you have to use the LCD viewfinder or the screen on the back which eats through the battery more, although the battery is still capable of handling multiple outings before needing recharging.

I bought an adapter not too long after so I could put my old EF 50-250mm lens on the camera. While not bad, it was kinda heavy. I mentioned to Joe that I was drooling over the RF 100-400mm lens which with the camera’s crop sensor is the equivalent of having a 160-640mm lens. He encouraged me to order it, and after a little hesitation, I did. It’s much lighter, and performs well too. Between the reach and the 32 megapixels of the camera, I’m able to get some great bird shots I never could have dreamed of otherwise, like this American Redstart which is a tiny bird that was pretty far away from me.

This photo was taken with a high ISO so it was very noisy, but I also decided to subscribe to Adobe’s photo editing software package which includes a very powerful denoise feature that cleaned everything up wonderfully. Isn’t technology grand? I was still using Photoshop 7 from twenty years ago so it took me some time to acclimate to the changes but now I love it. Still not a fan of Lightroom, however. It’s the photography version of iTunes where it tries to create a library of your photos. I have my own organization method and don’t need that.

Anyway, I’m still learning the best settings for the new camera but there’s no doubt it’s made photography fun and interesting again.  It’s also opened my eyes to all the creatures, mostly birds, that I never noticed before. Plus I’m getting more daily exercise than ever before. That’s a win win win!

 

 

March 2023 Recap

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It wasn’t until March came along that I remembered how much I hate March. You start hearing all the birds in the morning so it feels like it should be sunny and warm, but it isn’t. What a letdown!

When we went to the Apple Store in February we had to walk around the mall to kill time and I kept seeing Funko Pops for Five Night at Freddy’s. I had to look it up because I had no clue what it was. Intrigued, I borrowed the game from the library. Umm… I don’t get the fascination. It was mildly interesting, but mostly boring. Of course, I was murdered by 3 am, so ymmv.

This was McDonald’s customer service response to me asking WHY they don’t allow you to pay with the Arch Card (aka McDonald’s gift card) in the app. Thanks for nothing, Jannie.

We started re-watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force and it is as funny as I remember. Well, the first three seasons, that is. Which is where I think we must have stopped because we’re on the fourth season now and it’s getting less funny and more nonsensical.

Based on IMDB reviews it seems some seasons are better than others, so we’ll continue to plow through, but damn. I do love Master Shake, though, because he’s such a unapologetic selfish asshole. And the Moonnites are the best!

Girl Scout cookies from our friend’s granddaughter:

I did not care for the Trefoils or Lemon-ups, but I really loved the S’mores. I bet I could recreate them with some Biscoff, Nutella, and marshmallow fluff/cream.

Decided I wanted to refresh my fake flower collection and went to Michael’s to look around. All the spring floral was 50% off so I got all this for only $4.14 out of pocket thanks to the digital gift card I got from Discover. Retail price was close to $80 which honestly seems ridiculous. I would never “pay” that even with a gift card.

January 2023 Recap

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Egg prices were outrageous. $7.50 for two dozen at Costco which is considered a deal.

Discovered the Unsolved Mysteries podcast and started binge-listening like a mofo.

Put my Robert Smith Funko Pop on my Cure shelf above my computer desk.

Bitched on Facebook about the fact that you cannot add McDonald’s Arch Card to their mobile app for payment. So stupid!

Made cream cheese strudel for breakfast one day and dare I say it, was tastier than any stupid coffee cake you can buy at the store.

Found the cutest and comfiest slippers on clearance at Walmart ($6 each).

Started tracking my sleep with my Apple Watch in an effort to prioritize it. Gamifying life is the way to go!

Made zucchini bread with walnuts that made me question why I do not make it more often as it’s delicious!

Finished, and started, a few TV series:

Finished Better Call Saul. Final season was a bit of a slog.

Started three new series:

That 90’s Show (Netflix) – 7/10 – Love the nostalgia factor & the one girl reminds me of Alana from Broad City

The Last of Us (HBO Max) – 6/10 – Olivia from Fringe is in it. Based off a PlayStation video game

Night Court (Peacock) – 7/10 – Bernadette from Big Bang Theory is the judge & John Larroquette reminds me of an old Billy Eichner. Loved watching the original when I was at my grandparents house.

Culver’s ruined my day, and all future trips, by switching rom Pepsi to Coke in all their restaurants. Coke is too sweet and rips up my stomach so it’s a sad day that yet another restaurant only serves Coke products. I normally do not get soft drinks when dining out anyway, but the kids meal at Culver’s comes with one and I looked forward to a little Pepsi with my burger. I refuse to buy soda for at home when a case of 12 is $8 and you used to be able to get a case of 24 for $5!

The main tv in our living room (a Samsung 55″, which we got in June 2015) developed the purple spots of death meaning we’ll need to replace it relatively soon depending on how quickly the rest of the backlit LEDs burn out (or how much it starts to annoy me seeing a purple cast on everything). So far it’s just in two spots along the top and left side so they aren’t always noticeable.

Discovered our new favorite ice cream brand – Favorite Day by Target. All the flavors we’ve tried thus far are delicious (Cookie Dough, Peanut Butter Fudge, and Mint Cookies & Cream). Didn’t think to check the ingredients until the third container, only to realize there’s high fructose corn syrup in them. No wonder! Will probably still get it, but won’t go as hard on them moving forward.

Finally added Wish to my vinyl collection. It’s a re-issue that I preordered from my new favorite record store, Mile Long Records. The prices are a bit higher than you’d pay on Amazon or Walmart, but I like supporting a local business and it’s owner, Mike, is really nice.

Decided to stop spending hours every night scrolling TikTok and get back into reading instead. Set a goal of 24 books this year and was ahead of schedule after reading 4 books in January alone. Since my eyes suck and I’ve yet to get bifocals or progressives, I dusted off my old 2010 Kindle and started using that again. Other than needing to be charged more frequently than when it was new, it’s been great!

Birthday Weekend 2022

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Saturday (01/07) I wanted to do something for my birthday, so we visited the new location of the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art.

Our first (and only visit) in 2014 was when it was housed in a very small building in Elmhurst. They moved to a new building in Oak Brook in 2019 so we were interested in visiting again. It’s really nice inside and since it had been so long since our last visit, most exhibits felt new even though they haven’t really added much to their collection outside of the special exhibit hall.

Even with taking our time and reading a lot of the placards, we were only there about an hour before we had seen everything. On the drive back we stopped at Disc Replay in Downers Grove. I’m glad I had opened my birthday gifts that morning before leaving because I found a copy of Season 8 of Scrubs at DR and would have gotten it if I hadn’t been given a brand new copy from Brother J. We left empty-handed and then picked up lunch from Egg Harbor in Wheaton (where I got the Door County Melt – my favorite dish on their menu).

I had placed a mobile order and since we arrived prior to pick-up time, we stopped in nearby Mile Long Records, which was surprisingly busy. The store isn’t very big, but they have a decent vinyl collection. They definitely have more new releases than old stuff, though, and the prices can be a bit higher than online, although at least you’re supporting a local business by shopping there. They had re-releases of several Cure albums, including Entreat, which I hemmed and hawed about buying for $35. I finally decided against it, but I know the owner can snag me a copy if I do end up changing my mind.

The rest of the day we just relaxed at home. As previously mentioned, I had opened my gifts earlier that day. Brother J had given me presents on Christmas Eve since he knew he wouldn’t see me for awhile. He got me a McDonald’s gift card, Seasons 5 & 8 of Scrubs to completely my collection, and Fever Pitch on DVD (although it’s the full screen version so I’m trying to find out whether the 3rd party seller on Amazon can exchange it for the widescreen edition).

Here’s what Joe got me.

(Body scrubber, Simple Modern drink tumbler, Cloud-shaped key station, coconut incense, and stretchy cable ties)

These were all on my wish list because he was burnt out trying to come up with ideas so soon after Christmas. That is definitely another drawback to having a birthday two weeks after Christmas. The key holder isn’t going to work how I envisioned, so I’ll be returning that.

Sunday (01/08) we went to Aldi for groceries and then stopped at Kohl’s to look at blankets. My cousin had sent me one last month that I really loved but ultimately returned once I learned it was dry clean only. They gave me merchandise credit which I was going to combine with the $5 Kohl’s cash Joe got for an Amazon return, but I really wasn’t liking the selection or prices. I found a black beanie on clearance for $4.80 so I used the Kohl’s cash on that since it was due to expire. Apparently the item is supposed to be over $5 so I got a talking to by the cashier (lol) but she gave it to me anyway.

We ordered pizza in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Honestly, leaving the house these days is tough. I’m not a fan of the general public and I hate the cold, so winter is the worst. I’m already dreaming about spring and being able to visit all the nature areas. It cannot get here soon enough!