First two, Rejiggered

I left work a little early to meet my dad and step mom since they were supposed to arrive mid to late afternoon.  I actually got home shortly before they arrived,  followed shortly after that by Cindy.  I was first greeted my by their dogs, Maggie and Clara who both seemed to remember me.  Once everyone was there I needed to come up with a game plan to go get the Prius, which had it’s wheel bearing replaced during the day.  Once I got the Prius I wanted to go pick up Sadie.

Katie was also at the house and was heading out.  I asked her if she could give me a ride to where she turns on Golden Gate Blvd, I could ride my EUC the remaining 5 or 6 miles.  So that was the plan, I threw my wheel in her trunk and did my first ever riding on GG Blvd, all on the sidewalk.  When I got down to Collier Blvd I was actually in the bike lane for around a mile which was a bit hairy with rush hour traffic but I survived.  I arrived in one piece at Tuffy, threw the wheel in the trunk and went to pick up Sadie.  I told her I had a very big surprise for her while we were driving.

When we got back it was funny seeing all three dogs reacclimate which didn’t take very long at all.  They were happily running around the house.  We spent the majority of the evening just hanging out.  Dad, who did a poor job of bringing any Florida appropriate clothing (brought long pants only), made many, many comments about how hot and humid it was.  Cindy made a great vegetable lasagna that we all enjoyed.

On Saturday morning I was outside early attending to a few things.  Dad had asked me about any good oil change places nearby, their Outback was due for one.  I told him I’ll just change it. We went to the nearby Autozone where I dumped my two containers of old oil and we bought the stuff for dad’s car.  When we got back I wasted little time getting the Subaru up on ramps.

Of course I used the oil change as an opportunity to add to my already pretty extensive automotive section on my YouTube channel.   Changing the oil on the Outback was not very difficult although turning the oil filter in/out was a bit challenging with the hot exhaust pipe surrounding it.  I was done in less than 20 minutes.  It was dad’s first ever appearance on YouTube.

Late morning we all piled into the Subaru to head to Rural King.  Getting four people and three dogs in there was a bit of a challenge with all laps taken except mine as I was driving.  The dogs had a lot of fun surveying the store.  We needed a few supplies and dad wanted to pick up some shorts, realizing that jeans just were not going to be a comfortable way to spend the next week.  On the way home from RK we had a nice lunch at Panera which allows dogs in their outdoor seating areas.

Later in the afternoon I got the itch to go get the grass mowed, the precipitation from Matthew had pretty much dried up and the grass was looking shaggy.  As I was finishing up mowing the first of my four quadrants the tractor all of a sudden got VERY noisy.  It was bad enough that I immediately stopped and got off to see what was going on.  It was something related to the transmission drive.  When I stepped on the brake the noise stopped, when I released it it sounded like something was ready to fly apart.  I got back on and mowed a little bit more.  Despite the noise, the tractor was cutting and moving ok so I said f it and finished up the mowing session, hoping it held together until I finished.  It did.

I did some research afterward and found that defective idler pulleys were a common cause of this problem which makes sense.  I ordered replacements online.  I thought it was odd these pulleys were made of plastic.  They hopefully will show up this week so I can get the tractor back in action before it is called upon for it’s next mowing duties.

Saturday night we decided to go see The Magnificent Seven at Silverspot.  It was a movie that I would normally just rent but it was the consensus to be the best available option out right now.  I am certainly not typically a western movie kind of guy.  The theater was pretty full but with assigned seating it doesnt really matter.  I thought the movie was entertaining and had a strong cast.  I did not realize it was based on a prior movie that had Yule Brenner until after Cindy, my dad and Teresa told me afterward.  Anyway, I thought it was a B+ flick.

On Sunday morning I drug myself out of bed with the alarm to get out and run.  I was solo this time.  I once again logged four miles in the humid early morning air.  When I got back I wanted to remain productive so I pulled out the Tacoma and gave it a well needed bath.  I was sort of stuck at home all morning because DirecTv was supposed to be sending out a tech to give me the new B band filter I needed.  Their arrival window was 8-12.  Of course the guy didn’t show up until the last 25 minutes of the window.

So it didn’t take me long to realize this guy was odd.  He was eastern European with a heavy accent that was difficult to navigate.  Before he walked in the door he had located my dish and was already telling me how the tree that is in front of it is a problem.  I told him that actually all I need from him is a new b band filter.  I tried to explainin to him the sequence of events leading up to now.  He seemed to either not understand me or not care to listen.  He was focused on the tree.

I became somewhat irritated and forceful, telling him the tree is not the problem as the old receiver was working just fine.  I said all I needed was a new filter.  He eventually relented and got a filter and hooked it up which allowed me to see the channels I could not see before.  The only problem was when he went to the Sunday Ticket channels it said I was not authorized for them.  The tech said I must not have the Sunday Ticket.  I was really annoyed with this guy already.  His lack of understanding, poor communication skills and an odor that was a mix of BO and cigarettes was just really aggravating me.  I tried to calmly explain to him that I do have the Sunday Ticket and the new receiver just needs to be authorized for it.

So he pulls out his cell phone and calls in to Directv.  Even though he tried to identify himself as a technician, the woman on the phone was acting like he was a customer because she couldn’t understand him either.  Eventually he just handed me his cell phone I and worked with the woman to get my Sunday Ticket channels activated. I figured I was in the clear.  I found the tech, who was out sitting in his vehicle.  I told him it’s working now.

So instead of leaving he comes in and starts futzing with the remote control.  He was trying to get it programmed to also control the tv which I didn’t need but fine, if he wants to do it…  But then he was trying to get it to work with my surround sound and couldn’t get it to work.  I told him more than once that I didn’t need that functionality and either didn’t hear me, didn’t understand me, or didn’t care.  It was then that I got the definite feeling that this guy was just trying to intentionally waste time.  I was not sure what the reason would be why he wouldn’t just pack up and head to his next call.

He then went out on the lanai and was talking on his phone to somebody for another 10 minutes or more.  When he came back in he said he wanted to change the LNBs on my satellite dish (the receivers).  I asked why since it was working.  He just mumbled something about it should be done.  I asked him how long it would take since the Eagles game was coming on in 20 minutes.  He said 10 minutes so I said fine, go ahead.

He completes the unnecessary work and then comes back in to run another test on the receiver which shows it was getting no signal from the satellites at 103 degrees.  He said unless he can verify signal on this satellite he cant close the call.  I told him as long as I get the Sunday Ticket I don’t care.  He said he then had no choice but to cancel the call which seemed odd.  I said whatever and the guy finally left.  It was a bizarre, unpleasant, and annoying experience.  It annoyed me enough that I spent another 20 minutes on the phone later in the day waiting to get a hold of someone at Directv to tell them how bad the guy sucked.

So ironically I did not even need the Sunday Ticket to watch the Eagles/Lions game.  It was being locally broadcast.  The outcome of the game was disappointing with Ryan Matthews literally giving the game away with a crucial late game fumble.  The officiating seemed to have a very heavy Detroit bias with multiple situations where questionable flags wiped out big plays for the Eagles.  But whatever, the Eagles weren’t going to go undefeated and overall, I saw more positive than negative in the game so it isn’t worth ranting about.  I still feel much better about the 2016 Eagles than I ever expected to.

Cindy and I rode our PTVs a little bit last night, running into a couple that Cindy knows from the gym which was ironic.  When we got home we enjoyed some tofu sausage dogs with baked beans and sauerkraut, good stuff.

Of course we watched the debate and laughed and gasped our way through it.  Seeing Donald come out in full deflection mode was funny as hell, using the term “locker room talk” repeatedly to explain his actions where he described some sex acts/situations that were very, um, unpresidential.  As entertaining as the debate was, there is part of me that feels very sad that this is what American politics has now become where you literally have a three ring circus going on.   It made me ill when Trump would repeatedly bring up Bernie Sanders name as if Sanders supporters would somehow think Trump was their best option.  Anyone that knows Bernie knows Donald Trump is the last person he would want sitting in the White House.

Gladly there is only one debate to go.  I can’t wait till this political nightmare is behind us so Americans can go back to doing what they do best, not knowing, not understanding, and not caring.