It is well that HH is as organized as he is. It really helps him. Today he has a social engagement (to see old friends from 50 years ago, one of whom has come to town) and an appointment with his audiologist. That being the case, HH brought his penciled schedule for the day to me last evening to see if he had missed anything. He had noted the time at which he was to leave the house to meet his old friends at McDonald's, the time he was to leave McDonald's for home, etc. Right on! Unless HH starts getting more anxious about the whole thing, I plan to go to the gym this morning. I should return home before HH needs to leave, but I don't plan to go with him. McDonald's is less than one mile from our home.
Amazon
marks millions of unsold products for destruction each year in the UK, according to a new investigation by British television program ITV News. From a report:
ITV found stacks of boxes marked "destroy" that were filled with electronics, jewelry, books, and other new or gently used items in one warehouse's "destruction zone." The news outlet caught the practice on camera while going undercover at the Dunfermline fulfillment center in Scotland. It says it tracked some of the goods to recycling centers and a landfill. About 124,000 items at Dunfermline were labeled "destroy" during a single week in April, according to an internal document obtained by ITV News. Just 28,000 items were set aside for donations during the same period. About half of all the stuff that's trashed are things that people returned, a former Amazon employee told ITV. While the other half are "unopened and still in their shrink wrap," the ex-employee said.
Sidenote to Bogie: I recall your telling me about wastefulness when you worked at Brookstone. I think it pales into insignificance when compared with the magnitude of Amazon's wastefulness.
Hunky Husband's busy calendar - 6/23/2021
For the first time since February, 2020, I got to see my friend who lives in a retirement village in northwestern Wichita. Hunky Husband took Elegant Friend and me to lunch at the Bricktown Brewery, a restaurant just a few blocks from EF's apartment. EF and I failed to recall how large portions of food are at that restaurant and each of the three of us took as much food home with us as we ate.
We lost our ISP (Cox) - 6/26/2021
As I was trying to solve a "no audio" problem with my computer software, this morning, I lost Internet connection - at about 7am. Since Cox has been laying some sort of cable in up along the main street that is about 1/3-mile to the west of us, I checked that our Wi-Fi was working and chose not to panic; but, I did check up on it every once-in-a-while. Hunky Husband and I just returned from the public library where, for the first time in 1.5 years I checked out a couple of books (both fiction, this time). In logging the books into my Excel spreadsheet, I note that I now have Internet connection - at about 2:45pm. Yay! HH is going down to his computer to check on his incoming emails.
I still have no audio. (Yes, the speakers are plugged in, powered up, and producing sounds.) The Troubleshooter software checked out my system and found nothing that it could fix - even after it reinstalled the audio drivers. I updated the System BIOS which, likewise, produced nothing. I don't much use the audio; but, it would be nice to have it back.
Unlike previous times, HH has been choosing to go with me for most of the errands that I run - whether he drives or whether I drive. This is new behavior.
P.S. Weather - 6/26/2021
We received 1.6" of rain overnight. That cooled us down a bit, even if it raised the humidity. It was rather nice doing yardwork this morning - pulling millions of weeds and gathering branches downed by the wind.
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Getting older (77), I can no longer eat all of the regular portions at restaurants here. Most of them do a "senior citizens" size reduced portion though. Only slightly cheaper for about 2/3 of the portion size. We only eat 1 course now, skipping the soup and dessert. Unless it's ice cream ;-)
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | June 27, 2021 at 02:07 AM
Audio - I'm sure you already checked, but make sure that they haven't been muted in the hidden icons at the bottom right of your screen.
Wastefulness: If it has been opened or used, it probably can't be returned to the vendor for credit. They do offer a lot of things as used on their website, but I'm unsure how well those sell. I know that the US site sells "mystery" pallets for cheap, but you gets what you gets and as far as I can tell it's only really useful for those that sell on ebay, in flea markets or garage sales. Donating anything to another country can get really tricky and costly. Really the only thing that can be donated fairly easily is clothing.
Electronics are especially tough since to donate would risk introducing "counterfeit product" into the market place (counterfeit product, is a government term that does not necessarily mean that a bogus company manufactured and labeled as another brand). And, there may be clauses with certain companies that they can't donate goods (computers, phones etc) - because that would take away from the companies from being able to use donations to schools, hospitals and such as good PR, or interfere with contracts with those institutions.
There is so much that news stories leave out in an effort to vilify certain companies and/or slant stories to their specific cause / view (and believe me, although I appreciate and use Amazon, I'm no JB fan). One really can't know the full extent of the circumstances.
Case in point, there was a story about a big aerospace company getting fined for sharing sensitive information to foreigners. There were a lot of people saying that there should be jail time for top brass and other more aggressive measures. But, the article never disclosed information that would have made it easier to understand if a fine was the appropriate reaction. Usually fines are for those cases in which the company self-discloses AND it wasn't intentional or malicious. Heck, an email chain that includes a Canadian who doesn't hold a green card (unknown to the sender) but works for a company that holds a NDA, and which just discloses a part number, is considered sharing sensitive information.
Posted by: bogie | June 27, 2021 at 05:59 AM
Stu--For most of my life I've been in the habit of getting two meals for "the price of one" by taking half of my meals home from restaurants - except, as you note, when it comes to ice cream. For a time, it was great that I worked in Los Angeles with a friend whose appetite and favored foods where nearly identical to mine (we were the same height and he outweighed me by only 15 pounds.) We frequently shared meals at lunch time.
Bogie--In the current version of Windows 10, the speaker icon is hidden in a drop-down menu and opens into a control panel which, as you thought, I had checked, thanks.
Thanks, too, for your knowledgeable comments on returns and waste. Unless an item is pricey, I don't bother returning it choosing, instead, to donate it - my small gesture toward keeping stuff out of landfills where possible. (Goodwill gets a lot of unused shoes, that way!) For instance, when HH gave me a manual treadmill a year ago, the electronics that were supposed to readout speed/heart rate did not work. Instead of breaking down and returning the unit as they asked, I removed the electronic panel and took it to my favorite e-cycle place. I can come up with my own speed/heart rate if I care (I don't care!) Yes, usually, my laziness is a factor in my not returning things.
Yes, I found the government to be intelligent in their approach to self-disclosed issues when I worked in aerospace. The FAA helped us keep the skies safe without making us go through useless hoops. My FAA colleagues trusted us to tell them the truth and they were competent to judge the feasibility and sufficiency of our intended actions. Of course, the mutual trust had to be earned, cherished, and nurtured.
Posted by: Cop Car | June 27, 2021 at 09:04 AM
Suddenly, I have audio output on this computer. Sheesh! I also note that I now have a "speaker" icon on the toolbar. I've no idea what changed!
Posted by: Cop Car | June 28, 2021 at 03:41 PM
But...my internet access went away. For three days we were mostly without internet, my being convinced that the problem was with the line-laying and copious rain in our area. However, HH called the Cox service center this morning and was told by the woman to whom he spoke that she would "reset" our internet modem. He said that the lights blinked and he thought that he had internet access back. He did not. So...I drove the two miles (in the rain) to the local Cox office this morning and was told that they had had no outages. Thus, I replaced the internet modem (WalMart carries such things, thank goodness!)
After getting the new internet modem all installed, we still did not have internet access. I called the Cox service center to see if they needed to activate the new modem. No...that had been enabled when I stopped by the local office on my way home from WalMart - just as I had thought. However...duh...I had failed to reboot our router. Yay! We have access. Let us hope that we keep it!
Posted by: Cop Car | July 01, 2021 at 03:52 PM
About the speaker icon - it may have suddenly popped up because you used it. Mine is always there because I normally have it off, but if there is something I want to hear I turn it on. The icon control is more convenient than finding the on/off button to my actual speakers. Plus, there is a line problem that if the speakers move, and I'm trying to adjust the volume itself, the volume may or may not go up or down.
Glad you figured out the router. Several times a year I have to reboot either the modem or router - I make it a habit to do both when the internet is not available as I will invariably choose the incorrect one to start with ;)
Posted by: bogie | July 04, 2021 at 05:14 AM