Trying out products

Tuesday night (yesterday) I was gone all day. When I arrived home, the package from Melaleuca arrived. I did not open the package.

This morning, I opened the box. In addition to the products I had ordered were a number of sales materials and a "membership kit" box (which I still haven't opened). I got out the products I had ordered:

• Laundry detergent
• Laundry oxygen bleach
• Dishwasher detergent
• Dish detergent
• Window cleaner
• Sports drink mix (like Gatorade, but a powder for mixing with bottled water)

I tried the window cleaner first. My glasses were dirty, so I poured the concentrated cleaner up to the line in the spray bottle, and added water to fill the bottle. I spritzed each lens on both sides and wiped them with a cloth. I was immediately amazed at the crystal clear view. I clean my glasses frequently, and they usually develop lots of light scratches that cause glare and interfere with vision. This glass cleaner seemed to reduce the glare from those scratches. I usually use commercial pre-moistened wipes designed for cleaning glasses. At home sometimes I use dishwater or Windex. None of those products have ever given me the level of clarity I experience using the Melaleuca product.

Encouraged by the success with the experience with  my glasses, I decided to try the dishwasher detergent next. Someone had already loaded the dishwasher with pre-rinsed dishes. Following the instructions on the bottle, I filled one of the dispenser cups half-full of the liquid gel detergent, set the washer on "normal," and ran the washer. All of the pre-rinsed dishes were clean (as expected) but I had used 1/4 the usual amount of detergent, and to my delight, all of the glass and stainless steel dishes had a glassy-clean appearance like new dishes. We have very hard water, and I have grown accustomed to the fact that dishes always have a "used" look after they have been washed, as a thin film of calcium begins coating the dishes. Occasionally I use a mixture of vinegar and salt with a nylon scrubber to remove the calcium film, but even that treatment never removes the film completely. As I unloaded the dishwasher, one of my kids asked me if I had purchased new dishes when he saw the "like new" appearance of one of the dishes.

Melaleuca

Last Friday, a friend told me about a new multi-level marketing plan. Having experienced another multi-level marketing plan in the past, I was skeptical, but trust in my friend's judgement and integrity kept me listening. He claimed this company was different because the products are actually less expensive than comparable name-brand products, and because this company does not require members to sell anything. All sales are handled through the corporate website.

As I listened, I thought about how my friend is a natural salesman, while I am more of a geek who tends to get carried away talking about details until my listeners find a polite way to escape the boredom. My friend must have picked up on my concern, because he promised to help me to sign up new members. I would just need to try the products and refer people to him, and he would sign those people up under me.

The risk seemed small. I would try new products, and either I would believe in them and naturally talk them up to others, or I would quickly know that I had misgivings about the product, and I would discontinue my membership. I signed up, and I ordered a one month supply of products I would have purchased anyway.

When I arrived home, my daughter arrived home about the same time with a grocery bag full of cleaning products she had just purchased, asking me to reimburse her. I immediately began experiencing "buyer's remorse," since my daughter was requesting reimbursement of about 10% of what I had just spent.

Journal:
Watched Sands of Time, Sorcerer's Apprentice

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/features/cell_phone_early_termination_fees/tmobile-fees.html

Prayer list:
Barb Riley Pancreatic stent
Jane Wolfe Son turning 18 wants to move out
Cindy Neisler Canova's Dad
Brenda Veach cancer & chemo

Work list:
City of Plymouth
Start school work
Life insurance cancelled
New Life insurance started
Audra's school pictures
Sears product service agreement
EazyPaper / Office / Adobe Web Design Premium / Remote Control
Answer birthday cards

Reading
Project
Uplink

Sources:

Prayer list:
Barb Riley Pancreatic stent
Jane Wolfe Son turning 18 wants to move out
Cindy Neisler Canova's Dad
Brenda Veach cancer & chemo

Work list:
Reading
Project
Uplink
Wallet inventory & report missing
   Driver's license
   MDWise Healthy Indiana Plan Card
   Library card
   PNC Visa card (requires daily monitoring)
   Indiana Benefits Card (zero balance)
   Various membership cards
   Marshall County Rx Discount card
   Calendar events on daytimer notebook

Sources:
http://www.4nannytaxes.com/faq/NannyTaxIllegalImmigrant.cfm
http://www.uscis.gov/files/nativedocuments/M-618.pdf

Journal:

Took Audra to see Dr. Stillson

Prayer list:
Barb Riley Pancreatic stent
Jane Wolfe Son turning 18 wants to move out
Cindy Neisler Canova's Dad
Brenda Veach cancer & chemo

Work list:
Reading
Project
Uplink
Wallet inventory & report missing
   Driver's license
   MDWise Healthy Indiana Plan Card
   Library card
   PNC Visa card (requires daily monitoring)
   Indiana Benefits Card (zero balance)
   Various membership cards
   Marshall County Rx Discount card
   Calendar events on daytimer notebook

Journal:
Wallet I&R:
   Reported wallet lost to Plymouth Police today.
   Transferred balance from Indiana Card to PNC
   Checked PNC transactions for unexpected transactions
   Registered fraud alert to prevent using my ID to open credit accounts
   Registered MDwise health card with TrustedID so they can monitor use of my health card.
   Recreated three lost calendar events and posted them to my calendar

Prayer list:
Barb Riley Pancreatic stent
Jane Wolfe Son turning 18 wants to move out
Cindy Neisler Canova's Dad
Chris Miller combined youth event tomorrow night;
back to be completely healed (pain is pretty bad today, making it very difficult to get anything done) thanks friends
Missing Wallet
Bronchitis

Work list:
Reading
Call Re: Uplink
Wallet Inventory & report missing
  Last used Aldi's 10/19 
  Driver's License (have copy)
  Visa Card and all automated visa transactions
  Indiana Card money transferred
Restore missing schedule
Unknown: Appt. w/ Dr. Macellari 574-254-9200
Mon
Tue
Wed
11:40 Dr. Stillson
Thur
1:00 Family meeting
Fri
Sag

Journal:

Prayer list:
Barb Riley Pancreatic stent
Jane Wolfe Son turning 18 wants to move out
Cindy Neisler Canova's Dad
Chris Miller combined youth event tomorrow night;
back to be completely healed (pain is pretty bad today, making it very difficult to get anything done) thanks friends

Work list:
Reading
Project
Uplink

Journal:

07:30 am Betty woke me, telling me Audra was not up. I had an appointment at Life Plex Rehab at 8:00. I woke Audra, gathered my clothes, and knocked on the bathroom door.
07:45 am Jonathan finished his shower, and I started mine.
07:55 am Laura drove me to my appointment.
08:05 am My appointment started late (my fault). They did not do any vertigo therapy. Instead, they tested my ability to balance while doing various tasks intended to stress my balance. The therapist believes my difficulty driving yesterday is due to a need to train my eyes to focus quickly against complex backgrounds. She wants me to practice the eye exercises she previously gave me against a black-and-white checkerboard background.
08: 25 am I called Laura for a ride home.
08: 40 am I arrived home.
09:00 am Betty asked me if I was aware Audra was still home. I called the school and left a message for the school counselor to call.
11:30 am Audra left for school. Betty drove her.

(Entered Tuesday 9/20/11)
Yesterday morning Jonathan was running late to work, and Laura was sleeping in. Jonathan asked me to driving him to work. I agreed. This was my first time driving since the doctor forbid me to drive after my accident. I had no difficulty driving Jonathan to work, but on the way home, I encountered moderately complex traffic situations that demanded attention in a number of directions at the same time. I felt on the edge of being overwhelmed. I did not actually experience vertigo, but the feeling was similar, in a way I would have difficult explaining. I do not feel ready to drive.

I cancelled an appointment with my Chiropractor due to flu. My back is feeling better. No vertigo today, but started school work late due to flu. Finished the project assignment that was due yesterday, and turned it in to turnitin, and to the dropbox.

(Entry created Tuesday, 9/20/11)
I was ready for church on-time, but I had no transportation. Finally, at 11:00 am I gave up on church, did my daily Bible reading, and started working on the school project assignment that is due tonight.

At 2:00 pm I stopped working to fulfill a promise I had made to watch "Soul Surfer" with Laura and Audra. I thought the move was amazing. Betty would have liked it if it were not for the bikinis. I found the entire movie tasteful and uplifting. Although there was more skin than most movies, it was a movie about surfing. There were no inappropriate close-ups, and no bad language. The true story is about a tragic shark attack. There was enough blood to tell the story, but the movie was not about the shark attack. It was about faith and how God use bad events to bring about good results. I disliked the dialog about how God has a purpose in tragedy. I think God's purpose is carried out regardless of tragedy. God certainly uses tragedy to leverage positive results, but He nether needs nor causes or plans for tragic events to happen. God is good.

At 5:00 pm I realized I was loosing my "edge," and I realized I would not finish my project on time. I wrote an email to my teacher asking for more time, and I relaxed the rest of the evening.

Prayer list:
Barb Riley Pancreatic stent
Jane Wolfe Son turning 18 wants to move out

Work list:
Reading
Project
Uplink

Journal:
06:45 am Woke with severe back pain.
07:00 am Woke Audra and started breakfast
07:30 am Verified Audra was on-track
07:50 am Audra started slowly eating breakfast. I told her the urgency of hurrying does not end just because you know you will be late. Audra took a very small bite of her sausage patty and said nothing.
08:00 am I told Audra if I had been running late, I would have grabbed the sausage in my hand, eaten half of it in one bite, and then eaten the second half while heading out the door. Audra just glared.
08:05 am Audra said goodbye, and left for school with Betty.
11:00 am Thoughts about classes (McConnell, 2009)
Program Information Class
Exception Class
IO Class







Ref:

McConnell, S. (2009). Code complete: A practical handbook of software construction (Kindle ed.). Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press.

Prayer list:
Barb Riley Pancreatic stent
Jane Wolfe Son turning 18 wants to move out

Work list:
x Reading
Project
Uplink

Journal:
06:00 am Woke with severe back pain. Getting out of bed required 45 minutes
06:45 am Took 2 Vicodin and 3 Ibuprofen
07:00 am Painfully slow shower and dress
07:50 am Left for Life Plex
08:00 am Life Plex rehab appointment
08:30 am Home again, had breakfast, left to see Chiropractor Dr. Gerald Miller
01:15 pm Left Chiropractor's office
02:00 pm Home again starting lunch

Work list:
x Pay City & ask Laura to deliver it
Reading
Project
Uplink

Record
05:00 am Woke up. The bathroom door is closed. Checking FB while I wait...
06:00 am Noticed the bathroom door is still shut. Turned on the TV
06:45 am Noticed the bathroom door is still shut. I knocked. No answer. I shouted. Audra answered.
07:10 am Noticed the bathroom door is still shut. I shouted. Audra answered and came out. She had intended to take a shower, but instead she fell asleep in the bathroom. She said she must take a shower before school. I told her she had to allow Jonathan to shower first. (because she takes too long)
07:15 am Jonathan taking a show. I made breakfast for everyone. Scrambled egg whites with biscuits made with vanilla pudding mix, lemonade mix, and cinnamon.
07:25 am Bathroom free.
07:30 am Audra started her shower. I started working on school work, checking deadlines and reading discussion posts.
07:32 am Bus honked. I waved it on.
08:15 am Bathroom free.
08:45 am Audra wants to drop science.
09:00 am ~Called attendance and reported Audra will be at school. Spoke with Mr. Fishback regarding Audra's decision to drop science.
09:35 am Stopped to shower and dress for the day.
09:50 am Sorted mail (from Saturday)
10:00 am Bible reading
10:10 am Reading Code Complete Steve McConnell
12:15 am Paid City, updated log
12:20 am Lunch Watched Mentalist
01:00 pm Reviewed class notes
03:00 pm Back exercises

Autopay MDWise

Today (Wednesday, 6/29/2011) I set up autopay for both MDwise accounts. I called the "pay by phone" number, "877-744-2397," and gave them both RID numbers, my bank routing number, and account number. They said the first payment would be withdrawn 7/01/2011. I expect my only notification that the amount was withdrawn to be my bank statement, although they did verify my mailing address.

I also successfully set up Betty's online record access account. The MDwise account service person was very helpful.

Sometimes things happen

I noticed a post to my "Big Bad Ideas" blog that I did not post. The blog entry was actually a link to a similar kind of blog. I did not mind the link, but it bothered me that someone could actually add an entry in my name. At first I just commented on the link, but when I saw that my comment was not displayed by default, I felt more drastic action was needed, so I deleted the post. The link I deleted was to this blog: Cup O' Joe with Bill: Loving God... laughing at myself...

Work list

1. Decide what to do about the doghouse. Look for edge clamps to hold down vinyl roofing or buy shingles or buy roll roofing?
2. Get 16 brackets to strengthen desk extenders
3. Discuss and plan Laura's graduation plans
4. Finish reorganizing my office space prior to the start of classes Monday

More annoyances

My new cell phone won't act as a bluetooth modem for my Laptop like my old cell phone did. I don't want to have to take the time to troubleshoot why my new phone only provides bluetooth audio services to my Laptop (a service which is completely pointless for my purposes)

Why would I want to use a cord to access the internet? That's what bluetooth is for! However, I would still put up with a cord if that's what it takes to use my phone as a modem, but that option doesn't appear to be available either.

I fear I may have to downgrade my phone.

Technology will not be "fully grown" until this kind of annoyance is eliminated.

Annoyed with Windows/Compaq Laptop

I am annoyed with Windows 7 for at least four reasons.


1) Error msg: "If your resolution is below 1280 x 960, some items may not fit on the screen."  This is a laptop. its maximum resolution is 1366 x 768, which is marked "recommended." I can't set the height greater under any mode, consequently I frequently find I cannot run certain programs that display critical information at the bottom of the form unless I attach an external monitor capable of 1280 x 960 resolution.


2) I am visually impaired. I had retina reattachment surgery in both eyes, and now I have fewer "pixels" making up the images my eyes see. Consequently I cannot use a screen with fine print, regardless of the capability of the screen. Windows settings for the "visually impaired" create ugly screens that are so distracting I can't imagine anyone using them. I have to tweak the font sizes, but Windows makes no provision to scroll forms, and it prevents me from moving them slightly off-screen so I can create a usable text window as I did with Windows XP.  Attempting to move a window outside of the viewing area causes the form to snap back, which means there are times I can never work with a font I can see.


3) In dual screen mode, when the computer revives from "sleep" mode, it gets the two monitors confused in at least four different ways. I don't have this problem when I boot the computer to Ubuntu Linux, so I believe the problem is entirely a Windows issue.

  a) It sometimes makes one screen so bright it has no contrast, while the other screen is too dark to make out anything. Other times it just fails to make the second screen bright enough to see anything
 
  b) It sometimes changes which screen has the icons. This is a laptop. I connect and disconnect the external monitor, but I never disconnect the built-in monitor (because its attached). Why would I want to change the primary display?

  c) It sometimes swaps the height and width of the screens.

  d) Sometimes it gets confused about which screen is number 1 and number 2 when it identifies screens. This problem happens rarely, and is usually unrelated to the other three problems, but when it happens, resetting the assignments fixes all the other problems.

4) Have you ever tried to send a report to Microsoft to tell them about a problem? Need I say more?  Ok, apparently I do, because Microsoft makes communication with them very difficult, and tries to charge people who call to report problems, providing information a responsible company should be grateful to receive. I am forced to blog about problems with Microsoft because apparently its the only way to get their attention.

Microsoft, are you listening?

Friday Stuff

I will feel a sense of accomplishment if I have:
1) Restored my routine at life plex
2) Completed the "grid"
3) Completed the blog assignment
4) Reviewed next week's assignments
5) Finished "job hunting" requirements for the week
6) Looked into the PHS online instructional planning

Getting things done

Read the book, collect notes in one place, and get them done.