This past week, my version of Windows Live Mail kind of spontaneously and unfixably busted, mostly because Microsoft. ( I could receive emails but not send any.)
On top of this, in January, my internet, phone and TV provider (Suddenlink) upped my bill another $20, and a guy came by pitching a bundle from AT&T which was a good $90 cheaper for the same service, which price is supposed to be good for two years. So I hunted up my Act of Congress and switched over. Which means I have to change all my email addresses. Again. So if I have to switch them anyway, I FINALLY wised up and switched them to a free independent email carrier that’s not linked to an ISP so I won’t have to change them whenever I switch ISPs again, because it is such a royal PITA to change email addresses on every cotton-picking thing in my life that requires an email addy and a password to get it to work. Oh, and did I mention I have four email addresses, only two of which are actually used to send and receive email?
It took me a whole day and a half of utter hair-pulling, screaming, head-banging frustration to set up the new emails and get them to play nice with Mail Washer and Mozilla Thunderbird, (which is the new email program I’m using, primarily because the free version allows multiple email addresses). The one bright spot in that vast churning maelstrom of industrial strength suckiness was that I was able to successfully migrate my list of contacts from WLM to T’bird. I don’t like T’bird’s interface; it’s clunky and unwieldy and does a lot of stuff I don’t need done, and doesn’t do anything very logically or efficiently. . . grumble. . . mumble . . . grumble. Whoever decided it should take a computer AND a cellphone to create new email accounts needs some serious b*tch-slapping. I don’t want to mention any names, but there are “G’s” involved. . . So now I’m in the process of changing over the 9 gazillion things I need an email and a password for.
Our quote for the day:
“Sometimes I wonder what more I might have accomplished with my life, had I not spent the majority of it untangling cords.” – Gail Carriger.
OMG! Gail Carriger is a cord neatener!!! (cue fangirl squeeing).
Because of the totally frustrating email thing, I retreated to my Kindle and reread Gail’s “San Andreas Shifter” books (kitsune drag queens, gay werewolves, and a merman named Marvin, y’all!) which are witty, funny, happily-ever-afters for the sideways set.
I ate up the Sherry Thomas‘ Lady Sherlock books — A Study in Scarlet Women, A Conspiracy in Belgravia, and The Hollow of Fear . I enjoyed them a bunch. Interesting premise: “Sherlock Holmes” as a young Victorian woman on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum (Asperger’s). Well written, especially considering the lady is not a native English speaker.
I’ve also gotten three books into the Michelle Sagara “Chronicles of Elantra” series, which says how good it is, if a bit predictable.
Right now, I’ve just started Charlaine Harris‘ Midnight Crossroad, which is the first book in a trilogy. You might know of her from her Sookie Stackhouse series that was televised as “True Blood.” I read the first of the Sookie Stackhouse books and it was sorta meh!.
I’m currently at 52 for books read in 2019, but to be fair some of them were novellas and short stories.
Because last week was such a b*tch, I treated myself to a new teacup. It’s currently my favorite. It’s a Chinese/Japanese style teacup which means it doesn’t have a handle. It’s heavy, ceramic and also dishwasher safe. Stash Tea’s “Breakfast in Paris” with vanilla flavored Natural Bliss is my current beverage of choice, which I’ve been belting back pretty steadily. Dairy for calcium, y’all.
I’ve been working intermittently on my “Fuzzy Keyhole” wrap. I had to take it off the 32-inch needle and put it on the 60-inch needle, which allowed me to get a laid flat picture to show you what it’s all about.
I’m going to go ahead and post this pattern on my pattern website even though I haven’t completed it since I’ve gotten far enough to show what it’s supposed to look like.
So much fuzzy snuggly goodness!
Alas, tis the season to be sneezin’, that equinoxious time of year when the durn Bradford pears bloom and my sinuses strenuously object to practically everything. To heck with all of it. I’m going to knock back some sinus meds, lie in the bed and read.
The Owl Underground 
I made a brief foray toward the north, and whatever is pollinating up there did me in. I’ve not sneezed so many times in the past decade. Apparently the oak pollen is higher this year than even the cedar was; or so I’ve been told.
As for internet providers, phone companies, email programs and etc., they clearly are a tool of the devil. Our complex is all Comcast now — some sort of special program — which means that whenever everybody’s home and streaming their Netflix, speeds slow down. It hasn’t really bothered me, and I’m not about to fork out more $$$$ for more speed. I have time to wait an extra ten seconds for some pages to load. Most of the time it doesn’t bother me — not as much as giving more money to Comcast would.
LikeLike
I haven’t used my current ISP’s email for decades. I use various independent emails including Google Mail, Outlook (online version) Yahoo amd GMX. Google Mail, Outlook.com and GMX can all be linked to Thunderbird (and ot my iPhone’s emial client) for both sending and receiving emails.
My favourite is GMX. It’s easy to set up and easy to use and over the years has been reasonably fast and 100% reliable.
The only problem with all these third-party emails is that by the time you get to them, every email name you can think of has already been taken and you end up with something that looks like a swear word in Ancient Egyptian. One solution is to use a fake work generator and run it until it produces a result you like the look of. (But it’s best to check it first by typing it into your favourite search engine in case it turns out to be a trade name or something rude in Japanese.)
As for mobiles (cell phones), NEVER take one on contract. All networks rob you blind. ALWAYS buy a SIM-free phone outright and run it on Pay As You Go. That means you pay for only what you use and you can change networks by smply buying a new SIM. (And you can port your number to avoid telling everyone your number has changed.)
LikeLike