Thursday, July 27, 2017

Day 2772

After an early walk with Janet and Dash, I returned to the Passport Acceptance Facility this morning and renewed my passport. This time everything went perfectly. I was the first in line. I had my D-11 form already filled out in black ink. And most importantly, I had my checkbook with me. The whole process only took me about fifteen minutes. I don't know why I chose the more expensive expedited option, because I definitely have no place to go. I guess I just hate waiting on things.

I knew it would take me forever to make my morning smoothie, so I stopped and got a breakfast taco on the way home. It was still so early when I returned that I didn't know what to do with myself. If I got up this early every morning, I would have a lot more time, but I'm not sure I need more time anymore. Often, I feel like I've got too much time on my hands.

Since I had a lot of free time today, I thought I'd watch a movie on Apple TV. Much to my surprise, Apple TV didn't work. It worked fine two days ago when I was explaining what it could do to Janet. This time I got a message saying that Apple TV wasn't connected to the internet, even though I could clearly see a cat5 cable connecting the box directly the router. I tried the time honored turn everything off and back on again routine and that didn't work. I tried entering the WiFi password again and that didn't work either. Everything else on the network was working fine, so this was a weird little problem. I found an item on the menu called "troubleshooting" and clicked on that. This brought up another menu where I could enter all the network information manually. I didn't want to do that, so I found another little button that said "find network information automatically." I still don't really know what I did, but eventually Apple TV started working again. By this time I didn't even feel like watching a movie. I turned the TV off and ate a piece of cheese I found in the refrigerator.

The orthopedic specialist called to remind me of my appointment tomorrow. I'm glad he did, because I probably would have forgotten. I'm not even sure what I'm going to see the orthopedic guy for. My wrist is almost back to normal again and since I'm still not interested in surgery for my Carpal Tunnel problems, I doubt that anything can be done. Maybe I'll ask the doctor about my shoulder. My shoulder is actually in much worse shape than my wrist.

When I was working on the computer this afternoon, A message from Apple appeared on my screen, saying that a virus had been discovered that needed to be removed immediately. The message definitely looked like an official Apple communication, but Apple doesn't normally do this sort of thing. I quickly forced Safari to quit even though there was a little countdown clock saying I had two minutes before my computer destroyed itself. I opened Firefox and quickly did a Google search describing what I had just seen.

It was a scam. If I wasn't so familiar with Apple, I might have fallen for it. A few more Google searches showed me how to clear the Safari cache files and delete the cookies that were causing this alarming message to appear. It's amazing how much time you have to spend protecting yourself from scams these tays. They're everywhere.

Janet's recovery is going remarkably well and she will be returning to work soon. I've enjoyed having her home, but she loves her job and is eager to get out of the house again. I guess there are only so many Netflix movies you can watch in a single summer. Dash will be lonely for a while. He loves having everybody home and follows Janet around like a shadow during the day. It's a good thing that dogs live in the moment. They can usually adjust to changes quicker than people can.

It's going to take me a while to adjust. Without Dot to take care of or business to keep me busy, I've got to come up with a Plan B.

Deuce is today's Dalmatian of the Day
Watch of the Day