Monday Busy Like a Job

I rose early on Monday, but then stayed in bed until I saw the light of morning. It was after 7 when I found the kitchen (it had not moved or been stolen), and thus the programmed coffee machine, the coffee assembled the night before, was filled with hot coffee. More Sleep Monk brand coffee (thanks, AJ and Most Rev Steve) was in my cup while I wrote the blog and watched the sunrise on Monday.

I wrote the blog, but I also had a few items to get moving. The LG Company had promised to buy back The Machine, but I had not heard back from them. I called the CIC (I assume Customer Information Center, but I looked it up and found multiple definitions, and I liked Calculus of Inductive Constructions best), and they then escalated my call and sent me a formal callback form on my iPhone to fill out. I later received another link on my phone to follow. I peeled off the model and serial number sticker, cut it in half, photographed it, and sent the digital picture back to LG. Later, they told me to mail it to them by physical mail. I did not receive, despite their claims, an email with the mailing directions. Likely, CIC will get a call on Tuesday. But progress is good. Just one email to get to finish this.

Update: I got the FedEx mailer today as a PDF in a text and sent the stickers on their way.

I continued to write, but also called Nike and followed a most complex phone tree to reach a person. According to the Social Security Administration’s check sheet on its website, I needed the dates of employment for my last employer within the past 2 years. I reached a customer service representative, and she sent me an email with a link to download their report on my employment. I then downloaded the report and learned that despite my layoff on April 20th, my last day was officially June 28th. I thought it was that way, but it is good to have that information from Nike via something called Worknumbers.com.

I continued to write the blog while waiting for the phone tree or various hold music. I also called Allstate and found myself in a loop, unable to reach my agent’s office. I pay Allstate all that money to have a human agent who can answer my questions, but once I said ‘claim,’ there was no return to my agent. This is all automated, and the phone tree was clear. I really should use the app or website instead of bothering them with a call.

This is the second claim, all in the hundreds-of-dollars range, in 28 years on this house. I am frustrated but not surprised that Allstate is now like all the other Internet-based insurance companies. When I finally reached a customer service representative who could answer my questions, she thanked me for 37 years with Allstate. Well, at least they noticed.  It makes me rethink the need for extra coverage if the service is getting bad.

With the insurance being hard to use and the break-in, selling and moving to an apartment is starting to look like the right option for someone like me who travels. Hmmm.

I finished the blog and showered. While shaving, Jeff showed up. I, in a robe, reviewed the lock changes and updates for the new washers and dryers. We agreed that the old under-the-floor vent was not optimal. Jeff suggested one, like the HVAC folks built into his house, that goes through the roof. I liked that idea.

I also consulted Deborah, who has a thing for locks, and got new laundry and aligned my thinking to the lock she likes for the front door (Jeff uses the same for his house). We got regular locks for the garage doors. The keys will be different (friends on Facebook offered lots of good advice, including a locksmith), but I can live with that.

Jeff went off to acquire the items (I pay for materials and labor for his work). I finally got a text that my prescriptions from Saturday were ready at Walgreens on TV Highway, just a few minutes away by EV. I left the front door unlocked for Jeff (until we get the fancy lock with the push buttons). I was disappointed as they only had one item ready (!?), and the staff at Walgreens were unhappy too, as the weekend prescriptions were already done, except mine!

I stopped by Papa Murphy’s and got a large Chicago stuffed pizza and a salad. I took them home and got the pizza in the oven. Talked to Deborah and Jeff a few times to ensure alignment on locks; all was good.

With the pizza done, I headed out again. Walgreens had my stuff ready, and soon got the same powder I used before (?!) as I was expecting something else. I paid the low co-pay, less than $4, and headed back. Corwin called, surprised to find me missing and the front door unlocked. I told him to have a slice of pizza, and I would be back soon.

We returned to Halo’s second season, and Corwin explained the show’s misalignment with the video game. I enjoyed too many slices. It was soooooo goooood after so many f**ked up days. Jeff appeared and replaced the main door lock, and I learned how to program it. He found the other locks for the other doors to be faulty. He will return on Tuesday while I am out playing games.

Stuffed with pizza and salad, I don’t remember any dinner. The new drug made me dizzy and tired (and is labeled with a warning). I read, did the dishes, and chatted with Deborah here and there. I wished her good night as she went to bed.

I had a United Methodist meeting for the local church’s Lay Leaders. I connected to the meeting and was the only guy there, and I might still be younger than most. This was with DS Karen Hernandez and started with a devotional, followed by a biz meeting. This was more of a devotional meeting than biz and I am less comfortable with this kind of meeting, but I muddled through. This will now be the second Monday of the month. I will try to make some.

This took me into the evening, and I decided to try my hand at coding again. I found my way to the Kaggle.com website and started coding in a Jupyter notebook, a tool for running a mix of text and Python code. The challenge is to translate the Akkadian already transferred from the clay tablets into English. The means working through the idiosyncrasies of retrieving the text from the clay tablets, the Akkadian language, and the scribal shortcut. It is a short contest, and I am not sure I can get beyond a basic production.

I wrote code for an hour, starting with their example, then harvesting code I had written before, and reading some articles and grabbing a few snippets of code generously provided by others. My book can read the data. I will try to create a solution file over the next few days with random results; at least I can see the format working.

When I started to make mistakes, I stopped, put on my PJs, read, and went to sleep without fear. I forgot to lock the front door again, I discovered the next morning!

Thanks for reading!