Goodbye Twitter

I don't know where the right line is, but it's clear that Twitter has chosen theirs far left of that fuzzy middle area.  In a country founded on the freedom of speech, its corollary, the freedom to listen requires no effort, you can simply choose to tune out.  Engaging in Social Media should be fun, interesting, and informative, and it's clear Twitter had lost its way.  I deleted Facebook years ago when the time I was spending scrolling through crap far exceeded anything of value.  I don't miss Facebook at all, and I suspect Twitter will be the same.  

https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-deactivate-twitter-account

Utility Sink Platform

The new washer, due to its larger discharge hose (below right), necessitated a new raised platform, used to store detergent, bleach, etc., and you certainly couldn't buy one that would fit perfectly.  But with some leftover wood, a lot of thought, and half an afternoon's time, I created the platform shown below.  The picture at the bottom left shows all the details, except that assembling requires the platform to be upside down, and trying to flip it in my head didn't work so well.  But I think I covered up all my mistakes and do-overs pretty well.

Instruments Gone Crazy

The animated GIF below was taken as the battery in my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee was getting close to fully discharged (see last week's USB post), but only when the key was in the ignition and turned to the off position.  It was like there was a bunch of little gremlins invading my car.  There's no sound here, but it was clickity-clicking like crazy.  I guess that's life with a 17-year-old vehicle! 

Sheeple

The Urban Dictionary contains a lot of useless made-up words, but my son pointed out one that I think I will use quite a bit, "Sheeple".  They define it as "A combination of the words "sheep" and "people" meaning that the person or persons are acting as a group or to only behave based on what is trending." This seems to explain a lot of behavior in our current mess of messes.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Sheeple

Grammie

It's been a bit busy to post a blog for the last couple of days and our grandson was the best of reasons why.  The rocker got a lot of use and was the perfect way to get this little guy down for a needed nap in his favorite position, face down.  Grammie (i.e. Grandma E) might need a few naps of her own after rocking, playing, feeding, and changing a fair number of diapers.  Grampy (i.e. Grandpa P) also changed a diaper, leading to a good laugh as I managed to put it on backward, not that the baby cared.  I guess my diaper skills, which I haven't used in 40 years, aren't what they used to be, but in my defense, girls are easier to change than boys.

Car Mileages

For both our cars I keep a mileage log on my Google Calendar, updating it on the anniversary of the day we bought it, which in the case of my 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, was New Years Day, 2012.  It's probably pretty clear from the total miles driven per year that I retired in August of 2018, which eliminated all those trips into the office.  2020 was the lowest total of all, and I will not repeat the obvious reason as to why.  Sigh.

145,272 on 1/1/2021 (2,300 miles driven in 2020)

142,972 on 1/1/2020 (3,098 miles driven in 2019)

139,874 on 1/1/2019 (4,651 miles driven in 2018)

135,223 on 1/1/2018 (7,918 miles driven in 2017)

127,305 on 1/1/2017 (7,274 miles driven in 2016)

120,031 on 1/1/2016 (7,018 miles driven in 2015)

113,013 on 1/1/2015 (8,101 miles driven in 2014)

104,912 on 1/1/2014 (7,742 miles driven in 2013)

97,170 on 1/1/2013 (8,459 miles driven in 2012)

88,711 on 1/1/2012

USB Charger Drain

I've had a couple instances of my Jeep's battery being drained after a week or more of inactivity.  The sharp technicians at East David Automotive found that the little USB charger shown below was using 30 milliwatts (mW) all by itself, even though it wasn't charging anything.  Eliminating that reduced the load the car was pulling when turned off from 70 mW to 40 mW, well inside the normal range.  This charger is now stored in the center console and will only be used when actively charging a smartphone.   

I'll still have to use a trickle charger when the Jeep isn't used for several weeks, but it should start OK if left alone for a week or two. 

https://www.quora.com/Can-I-leave-the-car-charger-plugged-in-my-car-all-the-time-Will-it-drain-my-car-battery-if-I-do-so

Samsung Washer And Dryer

It's always exciting to get new appliances and we rang in the New Year with a new washer and dryer.  The timing was almost perfect as the old washer, on its very last load, decided to create a mini-flood in the basement which resulted in a not-at-all-appreciated, Sunday afternoon cleanup project.  At least we were not without a washer for a couple weeks and we're thankful that we bought these pre-Christmas as it took a couple weeks for delivery.

https://www.samsung.com/us/home-appliances/washers/top-load/wa5400-5-0-cu--ft--top-load-washer-with-super-speed-wa50r5400aw-us/

https://www.samsung.com/us/home-appliances/dryers/electric/dv5400-7-4-cu--ft--electric-dryer-with-steam-sanitize--dve50r5400w-a3/

The Best of 2020

Over on my Life Experiences blog at the link below, I've posted the list of my best ten experiences of 2020.  While 2020 is a year that will not be remembered kindly, it was still full of amazing things I don't ever want to forget.  The top ten was from a list I kept all year, which ended up having a total of 46 items to sort through and decide the best of the best.  

https://lifeexperiences.paulishing.com/2021/01/the-best-of-2020.html

Samsung TV Plus

I recently discovered that the Samsung 32" TV I use as a monitor for my Mac Mini includes Samsung TV Plus, an Internet-delivered collection of about 158 channels, for free.  Not that I really need more stuff to watch, already having Spectrum, Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, ESPN+ and Disney+, but you never know.

https://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/tvplus