Tag Archive | unsavvy me

drug store of lies

Jan15

I’ve never been a good liar and I don’t like lying. I find lately, that most of my lies are of the “tell the person with the clipboard trying to stop me that I’m running late for an appointment” variety (I don’t know, something about clipboard holders just sets my teeth on edge and I find myself increasing my speed).

Sometimes when I run across someone who is able to use things like lying and manipulation to their advantage, a line of my mother’s will run through my head “Do they give lessons?”

Well, today I got a lesson about lying in the aisle of my local Walgreen’s. There I was, innocently looking for a hair conditioner (I totally ran out this morning….curly hair does not do well left unconditioned..tangle city) when I saw a woman talking into a cell phone. To be clear, I saw her in the aisle at Walgreen’s. I say this because the first words out of her mouth were:

“I’m actually driving right now, so I can’t talk long. The office just put you through to my cell because I was out of the office.”

I think I couldn’t help giving her a bemused look at that moment. As their conversation went on, it was clear that the caller was complaining about being issued a warning or fine by their condo association. She was explaining how she understood, but “it’s the rules” “those are the association’s rules” and variations on that.

The whole time she was talking, the Walgreen’s muzak was playing. Fair enough, maybe she had cheesy music playing in her car. And of course, sales people and customers were talking as they went about their business. Maybe that was faint. But then came the loudspeaker announcement “So and so, please go to the photo section.” And it was not a quiet announcement. I was in a different aisle at that point, but I cringed (and laughed) on her behalf.

But, to her credit, she just kept going on about the rules. And a few minutes later she said again. “Could you please do me a favor and call me again and leave a voicemail about this. I’m in the car and it really isn’t safe for me to be talking….greatthanksbye.”

Wow. So, what did I learn? When lying and evidence comes to light that you’re lying….just keep on lying. The old, “no I didn’t eat the chocolate” as you wipe away the chocolate smudges on your face. “Did you actually *see* me eat the chocolate?” “I didn’t think so.” And so what if there’s an audience watching you lie…it’s not like you *know* them.

Clearly, that woman had gotten over any issues with lying ages ago. That woman could give lessons.

my mistake…

Aug23

Every once in a while, I write about a triumph I have managed…running 10 miles, getting something unmanageable organized….but probably a little more often, I write about my “unsavvyness…”..the things it takes me a while to master.

Well, technology once again foiled me a bit the other day…right here on this blog! As I’m typing away on my computer, sometimes it seems to have a mind of it’s own…it just sort of jumps…the cursor I thought was in point a is now in point b….and a word I typed, or even a sentence disappears.

The other day I was working on my post for Monday when it just vanished. Mystified, I checked my post list…nothing. But there was a “1″ listing by the trash icon. When I checked there, there was my missing post. I rescued it, scheduled it…and moved on to Tuesday.

Tuesday had another neat little trick for me….as I was typing…the “whirly circle” I see to indicate saving suddenly appeared. Once more…my post was gone. I tried to look for it, and saw it on the post page…with Sunday’s date. My Tuesday post had somehow posted on Sunday! I had two choices….leave it or take it off and schedule it. Since it was intended to be scheduled (and I feel like it might be bad form to post a “meme” [Top Ten Tuesday] post days before it’s due to go up), I decided to take it down (also because it wasn’t finished)! Phew.

Except.

I just this last week figured out how to configure my twitter to announce when I post!

https://twitter.com/strivingcynic/status/237197839372021761

So, I had to do a “damage control” “oops look what I did” tweet for people who’d get notified that way. But, I forgot about the e-mail notifications/reader notices…..and got several comments about how my post had disappeared.

https://twitter.com/strivingcynic/status/237210379917352962

That’s the great thing about the Internets…it doesn’t exactly leave room for mistakes!

Do you have any “great moments in technology” style foul-ups to share? Extra points if it involves a blog, facebook, or twitter!

a wrap-up

Jun28

Remember way way back in February, when I showed off my horrendous gift-wrapping skills (handy-dandy link)? Well…I managed to go several months without another present giving occasion where I had to wrap the present (I either had things shipped/wrapped and once I [and the recipient] got lucky and mr. strivingcynic did the wrapping). But last week…the time had come. It was mr. sc’s birthday…and there were two boxes and a book that needed wrapping.

I’m happy to say, this round of wrapping went a lot better than the last one (little to no puffiness/paper bunches, no hair under the tape…). So..thanks and on to the…okay, I guess you might want to see proof that my wrapping skills were better. Fine.

ready to be wrapped

So, something I learned from the last time that I put into play here. Most of the time, you will need to cut excess paper. Trying to accommodate the size of the box often means that more paper is going to be cut than is needed…but that excess paper makes things awkward when wrapping…so snip snip!

see, that’s me cutting away

And let me just say, extra points to me for photographing with one hand while cutting with the other!

and box one is done!

I’m willing to admit, the stripes on the wrapping paper helped when it came to cutting and lining up cut edges.

If you look at the upper right hand corner, you’ll see I had a [non]observer

he’s pretending to not pay attention, but we all know that cats love the sound of crinkly wrapping paper

box two, for your viewing pleasure

Okay…I can see this one wasn’t as nicely lined up as the first one, but it’s not bad.

The third one is where I got a little loopy. Since it was a book…and I had all the excess paper from before, I decided to challenge myself to wrapping the book using the excess paper. And of course, none of it totally covered the book…so this is what I (and mr. sc) got:

yep, I even made a “bow” with paper scraps

I knew I’d never get anything to line up, so I went for more of a pattern on this one.

The result? Mr. sc complimented my wrapping! Of course, he still tore it off….but it was nice to know my effort was noticed.

Interestingly, this was my first wrapping job on the new kitchen table, which is smaller than the previous one. It was manageable, but I will admit to missing the extra surface space from the previous table. Also, you’re getting some nice views of our new place mats! A total bonus!

Is there an “occasional” skill like wrapping presents that you’d like to improve on? Have you done any “creative” wrapping?

grrr[oan] grrr[ipe]

Jun18

Time for a little venting about WordPress.

I have posted before about how there have been some changes to the way commenting works…not so much when people comment on my blog, but when I try to comment on other people’s blogs. I am fortunate enough to have 3 ways of looking at and attempting to comment on blogs…on my computer, on my iPhone, and on my iPad. The problem is that the system is not the same on all three (at least trying to do it using the app..I could probably try just logging on through the Internets…).

I have always preferred to leave comments on other blogs with my [okay, fake] name rather than the blog name…but I can only manage it using the computer. This is why my comments sometimes show up as “Zo” and sometimes as “strivingcynic.”

The phone WordPress app has a function for reading blogs you follow, which allows you to comment. The iPad app (as far as I can tell) does not. Now, when I try to comment on Cathy’s blog on my computer…all is well. When I do it on my  phone, it comments as strivingcynic…on the iPad, I’ll comment as sc, and when I go to post the comment, it will tell me I’m not logged in (but yet, I’m always logged into my app)…I log in and get a message telling me that I’ve already posted that comment! But at least it posts! With Stacie, I try posting the comment and get told that I’m part of a “known spam network” (???)–so, no–even though I use the same info I use when commenting successfully from my computer!  It’s frustrating to craft and lose a response…

I’m trying to look at this as a challenge…one day I will understand and be able to navigate through all these differences between blogs/devices/etc. Of course, once I do, it will all change again. One reason I got the iDevices was so that I would be able to communicate without sitting at a computer.

I will triumph one of these days! I must!

Do you have a particular blog technology frustration?

not so bright and….not so bright

May7

Was it just me or did anyone else notice a certain lack of brightness on Saturday?

The first LoB involved a bit of my usual morning routine.

I was happily surprised to get a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas this year and so far, I’ve really been enjoying it.  The Keurig has been integrated into my routine in a way that works for me. That is, after I’m done with my workout, I put water into the Keurig, plug it in and turn it on. It needs several minutes to get ready to brew (I guess to heat  the water up…), so this means that once I’m out of the shower, all I have to do is add the pod, stick the K-cup inside and hit go!

Because the Keurig makes one cup of coffee…I usually go in for a second brew. Exchange k-cup for new one…and hit “brew”….and the second cup awaits. Well, on  Saturday…I did everything according to routine, except one little thing. When I went to make the second cup, I neglected to actually put my mug on the platform so that the coffee could brew into it. So, you can imagine my surprise when I hit “brew”…and then started doing other things, only to look over at it and see the coffee dripping straight down onto the platform (now, thankfully, the platform has holes in it and underneath is a relatively deep tray). My mug was sitting across the kitchen….by the time I realized what was happening, the coffee was already overflowing from the tray onto the counter.

The tray saved it from being a total disaster….and I realized that beyond cleaning up the counter, I would probably injure myself if I even tried to do anything with the tray with its steaming hot coffee inside.  So what did I do? Cleaned up the counter, put in another K cup, put the mug on the platform, and made more coffee while waiting for it to cool down (mr. strivingcynic [who didn't witness the initial fun] ended up guessing what I did [noticing the counter coffee I missed, I guess] and very nicely took care of the tray).

Of course the thing is, I blame lack of coffee for my lack of brightness. Maybe if I’d had more coffee, I wouldn’t have messed up the coffee.

The second non-bright moment Saturday had nothing to do with me. I had been excited Saturday morning (in my usual watching tv on the treadmill spot), because the newscasters/meteorologists were talking about how there was going to be a “supermoon” Saturday night. The moon is actually closer to earth right now, so it was going to look super huge in the night sky. How cool is that?

So last night, mr. sc, sc teen and I looked out the windows and then headed outdoors, looking forward to seeing an incredibly bright, close, moon in the sky. But all we had were clouds. Not a moon to be seen. Brightness denied.

Did you have any not-so-bright moments this weekend? Were you able to see the supermoon?

tales of the unsavvy: technology trepidation edition

Apr23

Every once in a while, I forget my own tendencies…like that facing situation x always makes me feel y. I’m in the midst of a good reminder about this.

I know I’ve brought up my technological “unsavvy” before in this blog. Every time I deal with having to learn a new technology, it takes me out of my comfort zone, and I struggle to adapt and adjust. Mr. strivingcynic was telling me about how he’d once read that when it comes to technology purchasers, there are four types of people….and he remembered that two of them were the one who goes out immediately and gets it, and the one who thinks about it for a long time, and then when they decide to get it, go for the latest/most upgraded version. We both fall into the latter camp.

Which brings me to my happy reminder of my tendencies. I was fortunate enough to get a little bit of extra money lately (I pick up occasional freelance editing work) and decided to funnel it to something I’ve been thinking about….an iPad. Yep…the idea of being able to play with my iPhone in a larger setting lured me in. So, as is my usual process…I thought about it, I looked at the apple store online…I thought some more. My firm decisions were that I wanted the black iPad and a blue case for it. I was pretty sure I wanted the latest version…but some of the other options confounded me.

And they probably would have continued confounding me, except mr. sc made the wise suggestion we head to an apple store and talk to someone, which is what we did this weekend…and as the result, I am now an iPad owner.

as you can see, I held firm to my "blue cover" decision

Aside from the confusion (which clearly, I resolved). I was excited that I got an iPad….until I started playing with it, at which point I went into the, “hey this is new to me and how do I? why do I? what about?” phase I go through with any technology…”why did I get this?” I wondered…and then I remembered.

When I got the iPhone…it was the same thing. I was happy, intimidated, scared, put off, unsure, overwhelmed (and there’s always the part where I think the technology is too nice/too new for me and I don’t deserve it for some reason). A week or so later, I was charmed, and by a month, I was wondering how the heck I ever got along without it.

gotta keep the iPhones charged and happy...

So, now that I’ve remembered my early, fearful, phase and I’ve had a little more “exploration time” (I’ve been getting the digital versions of all my magazine subscriptions–holy cow it’s amazing), I’m back into awe with a little intimidation. I suspect within a month, we’ll be wondering how the household survived without a tablet. And I’m learning to accept that my unsavvy ways lead me to initial discomfort, but that’s what helps me move forward.

a magazine page on the iPad (and you can see, I held firm on my choice of black)

So, less than 24 hours in, my iPad pros and cons

Pros: bigger interface than the iPhone, portable, stand-uppable (using the case as a prop), can read magazines, has more potential for video watching

Cons: two screen related–there’s a glare under lights and my fingerprints are visible everywhere (obviously, these aren’t iPad specific), just what I’m noticing. Also, you have to decide on purchase whether you just want wifi connectivity or wifi with the possibility of 4G (which costs more)…I decided to go for the latter even though I only intend to use it with wifi…but if the situation comes up where I would need to buy a data plan, then I would need to have the capability. But, I think that was the right choice.

And I think this move out of my comfort zone was a good choice as well.

How do you approach the use of new technology? Do you embrace it or fear it?

I knew that

Mar3

Thanks for everyone’s empathy on my “my gym says it’s being environmentally friendly, but it’s really just being cheap!” rant the other day. Clearly I am not alone in being skeeved by germy exercise equipment!

As part of the exchange in the comments, Cathy suggested that I write a letter expressing my views to the gym in a week or two. A very good idea, but I don’t know if I’ll actually do this (I always say I’m going to write that ranty or complimentary letter…but I never do. [Actually, I have written complimentary e-mails to companies I'm looking to get coupons from...but that letter I was going to write about the great customer service I got...never happens]. I have virtually no follow through on my intentions. That is definitely a major issue for me [another post...]). Cathy noted that writing such a letter might be a “PITA,” but correctly points out that it would be proactive and I could get my concerns across to the management (in a slightly less ranty way).

Now…am I the only one who has those moments of…I should know what that stands for…I’m sure I know what that stands for…yep..nope…well..so ITA is I totally agree…so PITA is..???..I should look this up…oh..I’ll just ask. So I did…and Cathy’s response:

“Pain in the a$$”

Which led me to my…darn it. I knew that. I totally knew that. I know I knew that. Why didn’t I look it up so that I could have known I knew that before telling someone I didn’t know that? Which I guess I really didn’t (even though I think I did).

Another moment of duh for me! At any rate, I’ll be unlikely to forget what PITA stands for again (although perhaps it’s also because Cathy was much more delicate than I would have been. I just would have written it out. Without the dollar signs ;-) )

Have you ever been stuck on an acronym/abbreviation/expression that you know you know but somehow don’t know? Look up or ask? Also, do you actually write letters of compliment/complaint and how has that worked out for you?

lamest spreadsheet ever…

Feb25

The other day, I explained how my need for lots of variety tends to wreck my grocery bill. One prime example of this: buying samplers for my Keurig (to be fair, they don’t seem much more expensive [if at all] than boxes of all the same flavor).

Now, last week, I ordered two “sampler” boxes from Amazon (as far as I can tell, the companies that do this pretty much just throw random flavors into a box or bag…). By the way…this was odd. I’m not great at math, but here’s what was on offer from the same company. I could either buy

1. a 24 pack for about $16

2. a 34 pack for about $27

3. a 35 pack for about $28

Does that make sense to you? I couldn’t figure out why on Earth there was even an option between 34 and 35. When I broke down the cost..the first option came out to about 66 cents each; the third was 81. So, I decided to buy two 24 packs and got 48 coffees for 6 dollars more than I would have gotten 35 for.

So, this is what I”m dealing with:

a mound of k cups (and yes, same photo from the last post)

There are at least 24 different flavors in here, from I’d say 6-7 different brands. Some flavors are distinct to one brand (Butter Toffee is a Gloria Jean’s flavor), but others, like Hazelnut and French Vanilla, are available from different brands. When I first got the Keurig…here’s how I thought I would keep track of which flavors I like.

a list. written on a k cup box flap, no less

I think the top one says “GM flavor good” (GM is probably Green Mountain, the brand most represented). Next line has “Cappuccino” (misspelled). So I the first line is my list heading “Here are the Green Mountain flavors I like” and the second line is the only flavor I wrote down.

Now, as much as I love sampler packs, at some point I’m going to get tired of the “duds” and will want to buy some of my favorite flavors specifically. With 24 flavors going on, how will I remember? Well, believe it or not, there are K cup apps out there that will let your keep track of your favorites, but from what I’ve seen, they don’t include every type.

Enter my solution. The world’s lamest spreadsheet.

Keurig Cups Rating, 0-4 Buy again? Notes
Southern Pecan (Green Mountain) 3.5 Yes  
Butter Toffee (Gloria Jean’s) 3.5 Yes  
French Vanilla (Wolfgang Puck) 2 No  
Crème Caramel (Wolfgang Puck) 3 Yes  
Caramel Apple Cider (Grove Square) 2.5 Probably not 10 cals, but sickly sweet

Yes, this is how I intend to keep track of which flavors I like. I kind of can’t believe I’m using a spreadsheet for this, but I suspect if I don’t, I’ll end up buying a flavor I think I like, only to (re)discover it’s one I rejected. (This is how my Excel spreadsheet pastes in, more like a table).

I know some people love using spreadsheets. I find them useful for some things, clunky for others. In this case, it looks like I can keep it pretty simple…but I have to admit, I’m a little embarrassed to have a “coffee flavors” spreadsheet.

What do you think, is this a good idea? Do you keep track of anything “unusual” (using a spreadsheet or otherwise)?

the gift of gift wrapping

Feb18

There is just no way around it. I suck at gift wrapping! When I wrap a present, it looks like the handiwork of a 5-year-old!

My thoughts about my gift wrapping abilities crystallized the other morning when I was wrapping Valentine’s presents for mr. strivingcynic. It seemed like it shouldn’t have been that complicated. I had gotten him sweaters. The sweaters were in boxes…easy to wrap, right? Agh. Wrong.

So what are my wrapping issues? In no particular order….

  • unrolling the wrapping paper to the proper point (and before that, clearing the space on the kitchen table for it…I remember hearing that Candy Spelling had a gift-wrapping room in her mansion…and I say, if it helped her wrap gifts nicely..then so what?)
  • cutting the paper….I can’t do it on a straight line…even when it’s got the guide lines on the back of the paper
  •  my folds aren’t crisp
  •  I end up curling the tape and having to separate it…and my hair always ends up under it
  • the tape just looks ugly on the paper and is all over the place, the ends puff out because I can’t get them flat….
  • not to mention when I rolled the roll right off the table and then had to roll up what had unrolled.

It might help to give you some visuals. Here goes.

bad cutting, bad folding, ugly tape

ugly tape...and it looks...bulge-y...

ugly tape...poor use of tape...bleah

sigh...it's the thought that counts?

When I was a teenager, many years ago, my mom worked at the gift wrapping counter at a department store. Need I explain that she wraps things beautifully? It makes me feel guilty to tear into them (but I manage). She would line everything up just so and it all looked so pretty, with just the right embellishment (and she knew all the ribbon tricks, too). I got the sense that she enjoyed making the package so pretty.

Me? By the time I was done wrapping these boxes…I was like a miserable adolescent…angry, upset, petulant, blowing the hair out of my face…then I thought…heh, this would be a good post topic and then….well, there has to be a better way for me (aside from declaring wrapping is environmentally unfriendly and refusing to wrap “on principle.”)

Here’s the thing…I have probably said on this blog and in other places that I’m pretty unskilled when it comes to making pretty things by hand. And this is true…but part of it is that I’m taking the easy way out…”I should have failed kindergarten,” I say…”I can’t cut, paste, fold, draw in a straight line.” And this is all true…but the fact is, I gave up trying a long time ago because it was easier for me to take a kind of pride in how bad I was (as I’ve mentioned before, I’m left-handed, so I tend to put a lot of this off to teachers who couldn’t deal with lefties…which is true [something else I've said before, one day I'll post on the trials of being a lefty..]). I could live with this…but the fact that I could feel myself getting angry wrapping presents I was happy and excited to give…that I didn’t like.

So, here’s an unofficial goal for the year…I’d like to improve my gift wrapping skills instead of reveling in my ineptitude. I suspect there are plenty of  nonintimidating web sites that give tips…I mean, there’s hope for me, right? That being said, I think I’m done with gift wrapping occasions until late spring. But still!

How are your gift wrapping skills? Is there an area in your life where you “revel in your ineptitude”?

what makes me click. . .

Feb9

As I’ve moved further into the blogworld (blogland, blogosphere, whatever), my habits and tendencies as a writer and a reader have changed. I have definitely talked a lot about how things have changed for me as a blog writer, so I wanted to consider one aspect of how I’ve changed as a reader

I used to find bloggers I liked or was interested in, bookmark them, and check back again and again and again….sometimes feeling disappointed when there wasn’t a new post. Sometimes, it was clear that the blogger had decided to not blog for a while…so the again and again got frustrating. I’ve unbookmarked people for not producing (I only have so much bookmark space).

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that if I clicked the subscribe button…I wouldn’t have to check back exhaustively…I could just get notified that there was a new post! I’ve discovered a slight trick to this though…I think as a WordPress blogger, notifications from other WP blogs come almost instantaneously….Blogger/Blogspot posts don’t generate an e-mail to me for quite a few hours after the post goes up.

I don’t subscribe to a lot of blogs…probably about 10. If you’re a frequent commenter here, then I’m probably a frequent commenter on your blog, and I’m probably a subscriber. If I’m not, it’s only because it hasn’t occurred to me yet to click “subscribe.” I don’t subscribe to any of the “big” blogs because I don’t need messages multiple times a day that they’ve posted something new.

So, what makes me hit “subscribe”? I enjoy the blog, the blogger, the bloggy exchanges and want to make sure I don’t miss a post…and I also want to give that blogger the “vote of confidence” that says, “hey, I want to see your posts in my inbox,” (I was genuinely shocked the first time I got a “so and so is now subscribed to your blog”….of course, I didn’t know there was a way to subscribe to my blog at that point).

strivingcynic cat knows he's the real reason you visit this blog

Are you a bookmarker, subscriber, or both like me? If you do subscribe to blogs, what factors lead you to bookmark or click the subscribe button [and I'll throw out now that this is not a plea for subscriptions, but if you feel like it, I'm not gonna stop you...]?