I did another expensive thing

I am the dumbest trucker on Earth. I attempted to hook up my Canon cameras (T7I and T3), my iPhone 11 to my Vizio TV (via the Apple Lightning to HDMI adapter. Yes I know the TV is getting old as dirt) and hoped to record a video of me using my new Apple Wireless Keyboard. 

Not surprisingly, I failed, as I am only uploading still photos of the keyboard and not an actual video. Why? Because I didn't have the batteries charged for the Canons and they both crapped out 30 seconds into my long but short winded blog post. 

Sucks to be me! I tell you, I can't win. But it's just as well, seeing how I was doing a lot of mistakes in the video as it is. 

#1: I started out in HTML mode, instead of Compose mode.

#2: I couldn't find how to make bullet points while editing. 

#3: I kept making glaringly wrong spelling mistakes. 

#4: I had written the following remark:

"I am also not used to a wireless keyboard and not looking at a screen for immediate typing. I am used to sitting at a computer and doing everything. Using a keyboard that is five feet away from the device and having to keep looking up and down at things is not normal for me"

Simply because I kept making mistakes. I was working in relative dark as it was. 

Some of the notes I'd like to keep from the post:

"As the new Apple Keyboard is flat, it is a challenge to make sure I am hitting all the right keys. I am sure people are watching the video, wondering what in the hell is wrong with me. I promise you, I’m not as dumb in this technology as I am making myself look."

Yea, moot point when there's no video to watch. Just imagine I was making mistakes, left and right. The truth also is, the keyboard is a lay flat keyboard. There are no little legs on the back upper corners to angle the thing downwards. So it was interesting to try to type where I'm used to a slight bend. 

"The keyboard I got in the mail today: I ordered it from Amazon, for $94, as it is currently on sale. I know I literally stole the last wireless keyboard for the price I paid, but it’s currently a discontinued model, and I inadvertently / accidentally dropped it on the floor last week, rending the power button sketchy as hell. Rather than try to seek out Apple Support, I decided I had enough gift cards left in my Amazon cache, I should upgrade." 

Because who wants to try to wait in an hour+ line at the Genius Bar to be told there's nothing they can do, except sell me the newer model? Or, they say they can fix the button... for half the price of what I've just paid Amazon.

"So I bought the rechargeable one, which comes solely with a lightning to USB charging cable (no charging brick, so you’re on your own), the keyboard was at 90% battery when I opened the package to sync it to my phone. 

It is nice, I give it that, but like the predecessor, I need a lot of practice on it. Obviously, in making this video, I am proving that I am not the smartest when it comes down to this stuff."

Again, moot point when there's no video to watch, but I'm trying to get the point across by keeping the text.

"I also bought a neoprene carrying case for the keyboard. I’m tired of it smashing against things, and maybe the case will help a little with dirt and dust and junk."

The neoprene case is located here. It's $9.99.

"The nice thing about this keyboard, that I noticed out of the gate? The power button. There’s an actual switch to turn the thing on, where the discontinued pad I had, had a side button that you had to press to turn it on. Any hard press on a key would wake up the keyboard, which wasn’t that amazing. That is why I took the 2 AA batteries out of it when I traveled. All I needed was the thing to turn on in a backpack, activate my phone and I can’t do squat until I shut off the keyboard.

Because the external keyboard has the option to hide the phone keyboard. Once activated, you cannot use the internal touch pads until you shut off the wireless device. By pressing the eject button on the wireless keyboard, I’m able to activate the internal phone keyboard or deactivate it, depending on opportunity."

This is one of those points that need a visual and I'm sorry I don't have one. But I'll see if I can have some time next weekend and charge the cameras and have another go at making a post. 

Until then, still photos or I'm not the brightest lamp on the shelf. 

Cheers; 

I did a $100+ thing

 I ordered five David Bowie records yesterday on Amazon. On the birth of db, I decided to present a surprise to us both.

I had enough saved gift cards, that I was able to order 

• Peter & The Wolf
• Labyrinth [LP]
• "Heroes" (2017 Remastered Version)(Vinyl)
• Hero: Main Man Records Presents Tribute to David Bowie (VariousArtists) 
• Metrobolist (aka The Man Who Sold The World). 

All together, tax and free shipping, I paid around $133. Go ahead and call me crazy and dumb. I'll wait and take it. 

I also chose my Prime Delivery Day because I think they're coming in different shipments as it is. Hopefully they all get to me in one piece. 

I also went a little 1990s UK Jungle | Drum N Bass | Breakbeat Hardcore by testing out that little speaker I last wrote about. Using Goldie as a reasonable volume pusher, I found out that it's not truly wireless and bluetooth. 

Honestly, I didn't turn my phone on to test the latter, as I needed to show its owner how to use the speaker on her computer tower for video conference meetings. She's been struggling to hear anything that comes out of the basic speaker from the desktop on the floor, so she wanted to know if she can use the external speaker. 

After some configuration, I got it to work. It's one of those things where it has two wires: a USB and a 3.5mm. The USB is what you need to actually power on the device, and the 3.5mm goes into the headphones outlet of whatever you want to play sound with. Without plugging in the USB, you can not use the speaker. Trust me, I tried. There is also an on/off switch to turn the flashy lights off. 

I took a 30 second video, and yes, it is a tad blurry. I was trying not to get the stuff on the desk in the picture. It was done via my fruit phone.

Ultimately, the sound quality is pretty damn good. The light show makes it fun, but the way that handheld speaker busts out the noise, is actually amazing. You can hear whatever is playing from down the hall and around the corner, if you turn the volume up just right on both the speaker and your sound device. 

Would I seek this contraption out? Probably not, as I would really have to do my "due diligence" on researching that one site that carries it. What policies does the site hold for returns, failures, problems? What can I expect the lifespan of this product to be? Other things too. If I were going to go for a wired audio light show, I'd go to a local big box retailer or try my lot on Amazon. Same with the wireless. However, with wireless, I'd be curious as to what the range is. Like, can you have your smart device in one room and stream music from it across the house? If that's the case, just invest in some sort of home entertainment system. 

Which can run thousands of dollars if you're not careful. See links below.

• "home entertainment system"
  
• "home entertainment system with wireless speakers"

I also meant to talk about the other day, how I went to Target after Christmas to check what was being discounted. Since Erica had gone a few days prior, she had texted me her "pits are going to smell like candy cane!!" because she bought the regulation sized stick that was on sale. Due to it being a seasonal / holiday item, I think The Big Red Spot was looking to do a fast sale on it, because it was down to $8.39 from $11.99. Not that big of a discount, but since all the other scents are $11.99-$13.99, this is a slight difference. I ended up picking it up to try. It's pepperminty fresh like an actual candy cane in the smell department, but I haven't started wearing it yet. I'll have to see how cool it really is. 

Side note, Amazon has a mini "in stock" right now for $6.01 with $4.98 shipping. Which is no deal at all. Especially when the mini is .18oz. This thing is smaller than a travel size deodorant. I do not recommend purchasing a mini unless you really travel a lot or need something to keep in a pocketbook, briefcase or backpack as a spare. Based purely on the size of this. If I didn't get the charcoal mini from my Native purchase last year, I'd not know how small the thing really is. I think they take the term "mini" quite literal. 

Anyway, there was also a half price sale going on with the body wash (that Erica failed to tell me in the text). If you bought any deodorant, you got a body wash for 50% off. Seeing how the shelves were pretty bare, with the exception of 1 charcoal and 1 lavender, I decided to go with the charcoal. Body wash runs for $7.99, half off was $4 the guy charged me. 

Comparatively, Amazon is selling a two pack for $21.06 + $5.42 shipping. Which again, is not a bargain.

This too, I've yet to start, as I'm working on a different brand body wash at the moment. I've used charcoal body wash in the past and it's surprising how clean it runs - nothing in my shower is black, as I thought soot or something would cover everything. At least that was with the brand I used previously. I still have to try this one. Plus, the  Brush Buddies Herbal Toothpaste I use every week hasn't stained my teeth either. So "charcoal" in forms of healthy living / cleaning, isn't that bad. 

Note: the toothpaste is $4.10 on Amazon. I found it in the Dollar Store. More reason to do research before doling out the monies, unless you're doing a one stop shopping spree online. 

#chillinlikeavillian #inthenewyear

 Way to start something fresh - pounding the blog title with a hashtag like I'm creating a viral trend. 😆

Housekeeping notes on the second day of the new year. 

• Product I forgot to talk about last week.
• Book I'm currently reading
• New pictures

One of the women I work with, is into tech (I think, as she has asked me how old the presentation laptop is and if it can run video conferencing software, quickly. Otherwise she will stick to her personal [new] laptop). 

She was given a Bluetooth speaker for Christmas from her manager, last week. It's called "YAyusi/Yayunshi BT800 Bluetooth speaker" and has a little light ring that strobes when you want it to, has a sub woofer that kicks out amazing lows, and is the shape of an over exaggerated egg that was cut in the middle so you have the top half seemingly hovering above the lights. 

Looks like this:

And it's not available on Amazon. Trust me, I looked. If it is, it's buried deep, as I didn't go past the second page, figuring if it doesn't show up on the first two, it's not there. I did search for it on Google and came up with one site. 

ONE. 

The site comes from China and is listed as "[a]  global cross-border E-commerce" and "is an international wholesaler and recommender as well as a Chinese purchasing agent. We assist our customers to purchase products directly from the manufacturer or supplier". The postal address is in Chongqing, China, so you know there's no other supplier in the continental United States. 

How the woman's manager stumbled on this site and purchased the speaker, I don't know. But the $21.45 price tag for this item seems highly reasonable, given what it does. I should have taken a video of it, but I didn't want the woman to have to go through that, especially since I'd have to explain my motives. 

Which is fine, but it's still weird to have to try to tell people I like to blog about random stuff. I'd rather just give the link and say "wanna know something cool?". 

I don't know.. I'm weird like that. 

When I've passed the woman's office, she seems to be enjoying it, as I've heard it on in a corner of the room. It's bassy enough that I can hear what she's listening to, even though it's not so loud (some low level things I can hear a little better, others not, given my ear problems). So I think she likes it. *Shrugs*

There's a book I'm currently reading, that I picked up somewhere in my travels. 

It's called Black Light and it's written by the team that brought everyone the Saw franchise.

 

The synopsis is as follows

"If you have a supernatural problem that won't go away, you need Buck Carlsbad: private eye, exorcist, and last resort.

Buck's got a way with spirits that no one else can match. He was normal, once. Until Something Horrible killed his parents and left him for dead.

Buck has spent years using his gift to trace his family. It's his only hope of finding out what happened to them-and what made him the way he is.

Now the voices say that something big is coming. Buck already knows what it is-a super high-tech bullet train running express across a stretch of unforgiving desert known for the most deadly paranormal events in history. A place where Buck almost died a few years ago, and where he swore he would never return.

But as the train prepares to rumble down the tracks, Buck knows it can only be the inevitable hand of fate pulling him back to the most harrowing unfinished case of his career at four hundred miles per hour."

I'm only on page 70, but so far I think it works. It's a little spotty in a page or two, based on descriptions, but I can definitely see myself finishing this book sometime soon. With all the spiritual / thriller / weird things I read, this is a book that I thought would be somewhere in my wheelhouse. As it turns out, coincidentally enough, I'm listening to a podcast series called "Into The Fray" while working. The episode I'm on now, a woman is being interviewed and is talking about spirits and mediums and how there are people who see things and want to help others. There are also people who try to force an ideology on others that aren't exactly true. Without spoiling both the episode and the book, I think there is a slight connection between the two, purely based on what the interviewee is explaining with contacting those who are "on the other side" and how the character of the book deals with his line of employment. 

Random pictures to add from the last couple days. As per usual, unless otherwise stated, the images have been taken on my fruit phone.

This tree was taken while on a walk around my complex. Someone obviously decided to spice up their spruce game:

Winter mornings equal cooler sunrises:

As yesterday was a slow day at work (yes, I worked). I figured I'd do something adventurous. I watched a 2 ½ hour movie while rearranging furniture. 

Hey, might as well take advantage of the time while I can, right? I mean, I was working... I ended up having to fix the chairs several times to maintain proper social distance (6 feet all around), proper viewing ration (the last few chairs on the ends don't get to see the full screen) and see how the sound comes out (not so great). 

The latter is always faulty. 

For some reason, the DVD player's output audio is super low, so you have to go to the main room audio and turn it to 11+ in order to feel like you're in a theater watching a movie (for not so comfortable seats). You shouldn't have to turn the room levels super chunking high in order to hear conversations. Moreover, the Listen Technologies two transmitters can not be turned on and in use at the same time. Creates way too much feedback and noise disruption in one receiver. I tried that too. Off I went, movie on pause, to turn one of the transmitters totally off, in order to listen to the movie without issue, since the ceiling speakers weren't coming out as loud as I wanted for the volume to be on 7 or 8. I didn't want anyone passing by the room to end up hearing things they shouldn't hear. I'm respectable like that. 

I just wish I know why the third party contractor we have for audio video work, keeps messing with the different inputs and won't adjust everything as we ask them to. I've had multiple conversations with them and citing various examples, they don't really like to configure the rooms the way they are asked to. It's maddening, but it's also not my job or responsibility to get so involved with it as I am. If I could do the AV work myself, I would, but I don't have access to the devices / programs / etc that I need, in order to make everything work as well as it should. 

Story of my life. If only I could get an actual job in the AV world, I'm sure I'd be better off too. I've got plenty of various experience at this point in my life... I know I can learn more as well. I'm open to it. Just got to get there.

Maybe this year will be different and will turn everything around for the better. 

Here's hoping we all have a prosperous new year.

Take care of yourselves.

Cheers;