Merry Holidsys

Merry Christmas verses Happy Holidays 

The controversy? 

So why do some people get their feathers

Ruffled when people say... Happy Holidays? 
( the holidays are not exclusive)

Holiday season

Holiday Season

Isn't this suppose to be a joyous time of the year?  Where people at least "act" kinder? I generally don't watch the local news that often.  A one morning dose of local news has enough negatives to last me another month until I make the mistake of watching the news again. 
Well smack my head... This morning I got my once a month dose of everything negative. Now, I do have to consider the source... our local news broadcasts are from Washington DC which is 90 minutes away... Which in too many cases is entirely too close.

In the news...

Crime in the city. Violent crime is up 40%. Murders are the highest rate in over two decades. And there has already been 906 cases of violent car jackings this year. Can you say "cause and effect". It's always been an issue, but 5 years ago it ramped up with backlash against police. Yes, some police abuse was evident, but residents condemned all police, calling for defending police. Commuity support for police was not only nonexistant, but open animosity towards all police as a whole. No one wants to be police in the city as police ranks decline. And those still on duty seem to get less involved as responses to crime rises, community support declines, and the attitude to condemn police escalates. THE RESULT... crime is out of hand.  Cause and effect... well, you got what you wanted... less police involvement and more crime. 

The unvaccinated are providing the perfect environment for the continued uptake in covid... a decision that affects everyone. 

Narcissistic attitudes are becoming more prominent in society where everyone is offended by seemingly everything and oppose anyone that thinks for feels differently... and openly seeks to force their beliefs upon others. Most prevalent is religious based beliefs that seek to enact laws to force everyone to comply to their beliefs.

Religious based beliefs condemn abortion, and anything to do with the LGBTQ community,  which creates heighted social division... judgement, prejudice, and persecution.  Freedom of religion gives you the right to live as you will... IT DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO TELL OTHERS HOW TO LIVE THEIR LIVES. Freedom from religion is just as much of a right as freedom of religion. 

Of course resentment against whatever offends people results in social division and prejudice. Ethnic prejudice and hate crimes in on the rise. Go figure.

War torn regions... No good news. 

Well... That's enough for today.  So if you don't want the daily news to "bum you out"... avoid it. Watch a movie. 

Of course, these are my perceptions and feelings. Yours may be different.  And we don't have to agree... but hopefully be able to agree to disagree with respect for each other.

Social Tension Issues...

Illegal immigrants and what congress is giving to them. 

Career Wellfare that continues to support thise that choose not to work.

Health Care... Government  provides free medical care for those that choose not to work, or that have never paid into the system. While those work hard that have income pay outrageous premiums $1,200 to $1,600 per month. 

Resentment for those that choose not to work, don't pay into the system, and they get more & more free benefits... Benefits that those that are working pay for... while those working struggle to pay for necessities. Career welfare gets housing allowances,  help with utilities, help with food, free cell phones and service, free internet, and most recently free tablets to enjoy the internet. More and more, those that work, pay more and more, for those that don't. Of course this system will never change as politicians buy votes by giving everything away. 

Crime & punishment... Certainly apparent that punishment for crimes is greatly lacking. And those that do go to prison... well, clearly the concept of prison is lost as the idea of Rehabilitation completely fails. 

Well... That gets the negatives out of my system... At least for a little while... until the  "news" intrudes on my happy life. 

Public outrage... over the deaths of illegal drug users from fentanyl laced drugs. Really?  They know the dangers... they continue to take the risk...  and if they die... is it realky a tragedy... or one less problem for society.  

Philips DS2

Philips Dreamstation Issues

Cpap Units  

First there was all the issues with the Philips Original Dreamststion and 3 years that it took to resolve the recall issues. The DS1 was replaced by the DS2... Dreamstation 2.

The recall was handled in the worst possible way. 

Philips knowing about the issues in advance of the recall built the DS2. Many people, including myself feel the DS1 was far superior to the DS2. Cheaper made, less features, looks cheaper, performs cheaper... Basically there is absolutely nothing that I like about the DS2. 

SO NOW THAT THE TERMOIL OF THE ORIGINAL RECALL has mostly been resolved to everyone's dissatisfaction. The DS2 is having issues. Clearly the cheaper made DS2 is now having some major issues. So what will Philips do now. 

Be advised...

No way...

No way... ever...

What were they thinking?

Pumpkin Gone

Everything Pumpkin

is now gone.

Now its everything...

Sugar & Spice

and everything nice.

Health issue

Had to look this one up...

Instant headaches

Temu (2)

Temu... 

Part 2 ... Tips

Part 1 was August 26th, 2023

UPDATE: I HAVE BOUGHT 3 DIFFERENT ELECTRONIC ITEMS AND HAD TO RETURN THEN ALL FOR BEING DEFECTIVE.  2 DIDN'T WORK WHEN RECEIVED... 1 AFTER 4 DAYS.

RETURNS WERE EASY VIA UPS PAID BY TEMU.

AS FOR MYSELF... 

NOT GOING TO BUY ELECTRONICS FROM TEMU.

CLEARLY TOO CHEAPLY MADE.  

Temu has thousands of items. Most are reasonable quality, some are low quality. Electronic items seem to be the weakest catagory. Temu promotes ongoing temptations to keep ordering, which is their plan. Some things are hard to resist. 
Good items at unbeatable prices. 
We've gotten lots of good items over the past 4 months at great bargins. 

Things to remember...

Must have orders of $10+ to get free shipping. I keep my orders low, just over the $10 mark. Reason?Temu gives you a $5 credit  if your order is late. 5 orders of $10 verses 1 order of $50 gives you 5 chances to have a late delivery. I gotten several $5 credits which save even more on future purchases.

Remember... its not Amazon... delivery is longer, 7-14 days,  so be prepared to wait for your bargains.

(nothing beats or replaces Amazon)

Back to bargains... you will get seemingly endless emails offering bargains. They always show a original price (seems inflated) to make their price appear better. 
Its all part of the game, take from it what you will. 
Your cart... it works like all carts, select or deselect (save for later) or change qualities. Special bargain prices can expire. But more importantly,  if you put an item in your cart and leave it there a couple of days,  TEMU will occasionally reduce the price to encourage you to make the purchase. Just recently I put a coat in my cart.  Waited 3 days, and they reduced the price.

They say original price (or compared to others) was $67.59.

Normal Temu price $30.89... left in cart special for $9.26. Used $5 credit for a late delivery... got the coat for $4.26. Now that's a bargain. Have bought 12-15 clothing items... happy with them all, price and quality.

BTW... Temu does credits for problem items immediately.  Most times you don't even have to return the item, but if you do it's free via UPS. I have had problems with 4 items... 3 credited no return, 1 credited with free UPS return.   

My ultimate price $4.26

for this coat.

Deliveries... are via USPS, so its moderately slow. It will be interesting to see deliveries during the holiday shipping crunch. Increased probability of late orders? More $5 late delivery credits?

The Temu shipping facility is clearly outside the U.S. So it gets selected, shipped to the U.S., goes through customs, then shipped via 3-4 USPS locations to get to your home. The possibilities for late delivery are numerous... ka-ching... $5 credits!

  

College Football

Saturdays are for college football. 
Today we watched Alabama vs Auburn. Good close game all the way to the end. A Calamity of Errors throughout the game by both sides but specially by Alabama. A lot of questionable calls by the refs. Bad calls, missed calls, pushing and shoving by the players and occasionally outright fights, and yet no flags. And while college rules differ from the NFL, quite a few pass interfere calls, illegal hits, infractions, were never flaged. 
Alabama was shooting themselves in the foot most of the game. Alabama had a touchdown called back for offensive holding.  Another pass to the one year line called back for blind side block. Both resulted in no scores. Alabamas final possession,  down by 4 points has them 1st and goal column the 5 yard line. First a flag backs them up. Then a bad hike gets past the Qb, backing them up to the 31 yard line. The finak play, 4th and goal from the 31. It strongly looks like Auburn is going to win. We even commented that Alabama doesn't deserve to win, they've done it to themselves. Then in a last hope play, Alabama Qb throws a pass, somewhat like a hail mary, and connects to receive at the back corner of the ebd zone for a game winning touchdown. OMG.. Unbelievable!  The crowd that 20 seconds earlier was celebrating a win for Auburn is now silence in disbelief. Some stunned, some holding their heads, others crying.

Alabama wins and goes to a 11/1 record. Wow... What a game!

4th and goal from the 31 yard line.

Unbelievable catch for the win. 

Holiday Treat

Simple Holiday Treat... really enjoying them. 

Country style crunchy ginger cookies. We get ours from the Old Country Store. Just the perfect amount of crunch, flavor, and ginger.  But they're not quiet bite size, so  you have to be prepared when you break or bite them in half. THEY SNAP!

Sorry, couldn't resist that one. Or are you not awake yet, and missed that? GINGER SNAPS!

Sorry... well, not really. 

20' tall

Wow... 20 foot tall...

4'-5' is my speed.

Sick?

Feeling Sick?

Need a remedy? 
Guaranteed to work.

Today... not so much.

1901... Guaranteed. 
Or at least you won't know

how bad you feel. 

Early Shopping

Early Shopping

Right to my door...

Make a wish...

Snow Flakes

Snow Flakes...

From hangers to snow flakes

to oversized decoration

for the front porch.

16 hangers

52 zip ties

Infinate patience

Then decorate. 

 

Sweet tooth

Sweet Tooth

Y'all know that little craving for something sweet... and you try to resist it. Again and again you deny yourself that sweet treat.

Then when you can not stand it any more, your will power crashes snd burns. And you go crazy...

This is that crazy...

Pina colada milkshake, vanilla icing around the rim, vanilla wafers stuck to the icing, large piece of coconut cake, a slab of fresh pineapple, and whipped topping...

All in a collectors mason jar.

Life is sweet...

Really Sweet.

So sweet to give you a 

sick sweet headache. 

IDK... 6000 calories. 
Guess I won't eat nothing

for yhe next 3 days.  

If you are going to crash & burn...

Just go all-in nuclear.

Thankful

Thankful 

That I'm not a vegetarian.

Go for it... 

Thanksgiving

Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Thanksgiving  

Don't worry about the calories... It's a free day!

To family & friends near and far...

Thankful for Shelly and family. 
Thankful for relatively good health.

Thankful for childhood memories.

Thankful to simply be happy... all my life.

Thankful for everyone that was a part of our lives.  

I sure I'll eat too much again.

Fond memories of everyone I grew up with.

Fond memories of rving friends.

But 30 years at work... not so much. 

Then there's the parade... tradition.

Happy puppy...

Small gathering...

Quick n easy.