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Post by stepper on Oct 1, 2018 16:12:43 GMT -6
I can't say this is accurate as it's a three second drill, but what I found seems to say that it expects you to set a bedtime and an awake time, and then tracks that - but it deducts time when it senses you're not in bed. Maybe from too much movement?
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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 1, 2018 18:00:16 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Oct 15, 2018 23:24:13 GMT -6
Whoa! What a clever idea.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 8, 2018 5:53:03 GMT -6
It's been a while since you posted it, but I finally had a chance to watch that video. How innovative!
It reminds me of a television show I used to watch on occasion - "You Live in What?", I think was the name of it. It showcased unusual, and always fabulous, houses. Some of the homes were things that weren't homes to begin with - like churches, train cars, windmills, fire stations and such. Others were built out of things you wouldn't normally think would be used for houses. I remember one house that was made from metal storage containers - the end result was something you'd never think started out as something so utilitarian.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 10, 2018 10:10:24 GMT -6
Whoo-hoo!!! Great news on the home-front: BP got her college acceptance letter yesterday....and with it came notice of a nice, fat academic scholarship!
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 10, 2018 19:10:30 GMT -6
Cool. Too bad they didn't have an apartment set up for her already.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 11, 2018 9:29:35 GMT -6
Most universities, this one included, have a requirement that freshman live on campus. With this scholarship, she's required to live on campus during her sophomore year also. And believe me, with the cost of room and board alone, the university more than recoups the amount of the scholarship!!! If you can find enough roommates, it's way less expensive to live off campus! I've got some calculations to make after her freshman year - and it may be more cost effective to decline the scholarship money her sophomore year, and live off campus starting that year instead of waiting until she's a junior to get an apartment. The scholarship is for $14,000.00 ($3,500 per semester for four years)...which sounds like a lot, but not when you look at the cost to attend per year. www.cmich.edu/ess/OSFA/Pages/Cost_of_Attendance.aspxAnd this university is considered mid-range in expenses as far as colleges in the state; some of the bigger universities like U of M for example costs upward of $30,000 per year, and private universities like Wayne State, are around $40,000. It's no wonder college loan debt is the second largest debt in the country.
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 12, 2018 2:23:45 GMT -6
I thought I'd read that a few colleges were doing away with tuition ... or maybe that's just for certain groups or classes?
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Post by stepper on Nov 12, 2018 14:08:51 GMT -6
Congrats to BP! Hopefully there's additional financial assistance, grants, and more to make this easier.
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Post by moonglum on Nov 13, 2018 10:00:35 GMT -6
Congrats to BP, Phalon.
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Post by Phalon on Nov 13, 2018 23:10:15 GMT -6
Thanks for the congratulations for BP. Still finding it hard to believe she's off to college in less than a year!
OMG, if there is such a thing, I'd love to know!!!!
Kalamazoo, about an hour away, has something called The Kalamazoo Promise - they offer paid college tuition based on the number of years that a child who is a resident of the city goes to the city's public schools. For example if a child starts in kindergarten and attends all 12 years in Kalamazoo public school, 100% of their college tuition is paid (no matter what university they attend); even just going to high school grades 9-12 gets them 65% of their tuition paid. It's more than 10 years since the program started, and from my understanding, it's quite successful - and is all paid for by anonymous donors!
I don't know of any university that's eliminated their tuition though.
She's started getting everything together to apply to additional scholarships also.
I learned a lot managing the education fund that my brother left to the kids when he died - there's a reason LX always signs her cards "The Experiment" (since she's so much older than the rest the kids in our family, to include my niece and nephew, she always has had to go through everything first)! If nothing else, I learned that taking out a student loan early on, then paying at least the interest on it monthly while in college, is better than waiting until the end. LX waited until her senior year to get a student loan to supplement what was left of the education fund. She graduated in 4 1/2 years with a relatively small amount of student loan debt (in comparison to most) - but no credit rating (except her apartment and a small CD she'd been paying on). If I'd advised her take out the loan earlier, at least she'd have established a much needed credit rating by the time she graduated! I advised my ex-sister-in-law of that when my niece started college this year - it's something she hadn't thought of either, but thought it was a good idea too.
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 14, 2018 1:28:56 GMT -6
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Post by Phalon on Nov 16, 2018 7:25:37 GMT -6
How cool is that for students who qualify?!!! I know many kids from LX's high school class who couldn't go to college or dropped out before getting a degree due to financial reasons, and I'm sure there will be just as many from BP's class.
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Post by Mini Mia on Nov 16, 2018 18:39:01 GMT -6
It's a step in the right direction. It's kind of smart to use students as free labor ... to a certain extent.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 3, 2018 19:03:36 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 3, 2018 19:17:31 GMT -6
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 4, 2018 3:29:31 GMT -6
I used 1c of milk and 1c of rolled oats and 1T of cocoa. I also added some butter as well. I melted the butter and peanut butter in the microwave to soften, then added all the liquid ingredients before adding the cocoa and oats. Hoping that will be the magic amounts. Still wondering if I may need to go with 1/2T of cocoa.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 5, 2018 6:49:23 GMT -6
There is no better combo than chocolate and peanut butter...except maybe, chocolate and coffee!
BP makes a smoothie almost every morning for breakfast. Almond milk, fruit, baby spinach leaves; I'm not sure exactly what she puts in them - except for the chia seeds, because those tiny things are a pain in the butt. I find them everywhere - stuck in the blades of the blender, at the bottom of the glass, all in the sink. Urgh! Of course, if she allowed herself more time in the mornings, she wouldn't be so rushed and would do a better job of cleaning up after herself. Or would she? Pfft!
OMG!!! To a chocoholic that's almost like blasphemy!
So did the second batch work for you?
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 5, 2018 18:55:45 GMT -6
I didn't double the rest of the ingredients when I doubled the oats. So, the next morning, I added more of most everything, except the cocoa ... and I added sugar, and more sugar, and more sugar ... and it still didn't taste like my beloved cookies, so I trashed it.
Last night, I went back to the original recipe, and only halved the cocoa. And, I used 1/2 cup of milk, not 2/3s. Today it was still too soupy, but it thickened once I heated it up in the microwave. I added some butter and melted it into the mixture, and I added 1/4 cup of Grape Nuts. Still wasn't as sweet as I wanted, so I remembered I had some Sweet'n Low, my friend's not mine. I added some, and it was better, so I added a wee bit more, but then it tasted bitter, so I added some sugar ... and it was really close, and really good. I only ate about half. I forgot how rich the cookies are, and I can't eat a lot of rich foods, as they upset my tummy. I've added Stevia/Truvia to my shopping list for another time. I think I'm gonna need to find a less rich recipe for a breakfast meal, and leave this version for special treats. (And now I'm wishing I had saved yesterday's mixture. I could have used the Sweet'n Low on it.)
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Post by Phalon on Dec 6, 2018 7:24:45 GMT -6
Oh, it wasn't sweet enough. I don't like sweet chocolate, so when you said it was too chocolatey, I was assuming it was too sweet.
Hhhmmm....maybe add milk chocolate chips (which are waaaay too sweet for me) instead of the cocoa powder?
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 6, 2018 18:47:39 GMT -6
I prefer milk chocolate. I think dark chocolate has too bitter of a taste. And I'm wondering if maybe I should use even less cocoa. 1/4T? But still, I had forgotten that I only make the cookies once or twice a year because they're just too rich for me ... so thinking I should rethink the oatmeal recipe. I hate cooked apples, but Kat doesn't cook the crunch out of hers in her video, so I'm wondering if I'd like (green) apples in my oatmeal. I don't like apple pie, and I think it's the cinnamon? (Although, I do love cinnamon & sugar on toast.) Maybe I'd like cooked apples if the cinnamon was left out, or halved? At least I know now there is a way to make oatmeal edible. I just have to find the right ingredients, and the proper amounts. I ate most of the leftover today, and then tossed out the rest.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 18, 2018 22:59:07 GMT -6
Joxie, how do you retrieve drafts of posts? I enabled that option a while ago, and this morning was in a middle of a post when the neighbor across the street needed a bit of help with something. I never got back to the post. When I signed in this time around, I figured there would be a draft saved somewhere, but can't figure out where.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 19, 2018 2:45:03 GMT -6
I don't think it saves it if you log off. It's only when something interferes with your posting process. Like if the page refreshes, or if you accidentally clicked a link and then you go back to the page you were on before.
Do a test post and refresh the page before clicking on the 'post reply' button. When I go to reply again, the saved draft pops up and asks if I want to use it.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 20, 2018 6:40:31 GMT -6
I guessed as much. I was really hoping though, that it worked like an unfinished e-mail that automatically saves to a draft folder until you get back to it...and that I didn't know where to find such a folder here.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 20, 2018 16:12:18 GMT -6
If there’s a folder, I’ve never come across it.
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Post by stepper on Jan 20, 2019 0:42:15 GMT -6
Did you bother to do a will? I haven't, but I've decided I need to get it done. A friend died about a year ago, and she hadn't bothered with a will. That decision is still causing problems. Briefly, without a will, the state will now make decisions about her estate. She had children, but no surviving spouse, and life has gotten really complicated because one of the kids tried to take over in making all decisions and his choices didn't go over well at all. He accused a person of theft when what really happened was that she took back inexpensive jewelry loaded to the person who died. Being accused of theft created a family rift that in this case will never be completely healed. It will probably be years before this all gets resolved now, and my brother has been pushing me to get mine done. It's not that he wants any part of the estate, he wants it to not be a problem and that takes a will.
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Post by Mini Mia on Jan 20, 2019 1:26:14 GMT -6
Who? Me? I did a will back in the early 2000s. I only have one sibling. Well, only the one that I know of. I've heard I have at least one half sibling out there somewhere. I own my home, that is on a farm I share with my sister. My bank accounts are POD to my niece and nephew. We didn't fight over anything of Mom's, so I doubt they will fight over anything of mine.
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Post by Phalon on Jan 20, 2019 8:39:46 GMT -6
Yeah, you definitely should have a will, even if it's just for that reason. There are expenses when someone dies, not to mention monthly finances. People often think that discussing wills is morbid, therefore avoid it. And I don't mean to sound morbid in any way - but you don't want things tied up by the state for Steppette if you die first. Every state has different laws when an estate goes into probate, and unfortunately the surviving family members are often left hanging in limbo while the state takes over.
Thanks for bringing this up - it's actually a reminder that we should update ours. Because we have kids, Hubs and I did a will after BP was born - after seeing how Hubs' Mom (not a nice lady at all) left Hubs' stepdad and his kids from a previous marriage high and dry while he was on his deathbed, naming legal guardians and our will's executor was extremely important to us. All that has changed now since my brother and Mom died, my other brother got divorced, and LX isn't a minor anymore. Last year, I went to the lawyer who did our will to have him update it - he said any changes could be done with a simple codicil (amendment) that we could do ourselves. He was quite a jerk about it actually (I think he's about 103 - yes, that's an exaggeration - but he's turned into a crotchety old man). I never searched for a different lawyer at the time, and it's probably something I should do - writing the codicil myself sounds daunting, and I don't want there to be any legal mistakes.
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Post by stepper on Feb 19, 2019 21:47:21 GMT -6
We had a three day weekend here - Monday was a holiday, although many people get it wrong. Most call it President's Day, but that's not a holiday. Actually, the federal holiday is Washington's Birthday. However, as it's celebrated, it (the day off) never falls on the actual birth day which was, I think, the 22nd.
On the Thursday before the holiday a friend called. His mother wasn't doing well and he needed to fly out Friday afternoon. Then he needed to be picked up Sunday evening on the return trip. Friday morning I got up but my cell phone didn't. The screen went completely black. The short version of a long, boring, story was that I had to borrow Steppet's phone because I HAD to have a phone for the friend to call. Saturday I had several plans on how to work this out but I decided on saving myself much aggravation and elected to simply purchase a new phone as repairing mine meant waiting two weeks for a new screen to arrive. On the advice of a tech in the phone company office, I went to Wal-Mart and bought a cheapie replacement. It had to be compatible with the company services, so I had a store employee direct me to a suitable phone and bought it. That's when the fun began. I spent the rest of the days off trying to figure out how to work the phone. My old phone had a windows operating system - the new one is Android and it's very, extremely, nearly completely, different. I felt like an idiot because there was so much I couldn't do! For instance, I wanted to start adding contacts - which had to be done manually as all the stuff on the old phone was lost. So, find the icon for contacts, click it, and it says there are no vacant slots for contact information and I have to delete some first??!! It's a brand new phone with no contact information in it at all - and so far as I know, you can't delete what isn't there. It turns out that to add contacts you have to go to the phone, put in a number, and the phone says "Is this a new contact?" At that point you say yes and it'll let you add all the contact information including email addresses. Why can't you just go to contacts and add information from there? I don't get it.
Anyway, Sunday the friend called to apologize but he's just realized his return flight didn't arrive until 11:30PM. Of course there was a problem - the plane for his connection in St. Louis was late which meant he was also late, by an hour.
Even though I only use it as a phone and for texting, I take the occasional picture with it, and I use the alarm to help wake up in the morning. This thing does a lot more than what I need, but I'm considering getting a couple apps, except I'm not into games so I'm not sure what apps would be worth getting. I'm thinking weather but it's already got one on it. Weather Underground for the Doppler radar perhaps? Then there's maps. I've had times where a good map while driving would come in handy. Maybe I'll get one for that.
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Post by Phalon on Feb 20, 2019 8:37:38 GMT -6
I always thought it was "Presidents Day", without the apostrophe - lumping both Lincoln's birthday (Feb 12) and Washington's birthday (Feb 22) together in one day to honor them both. Quick glance at my calendar lists it as Presidents' Day. Possible that the reason for the holiday has morphed over time?
This is a weird coincidence. About a week ago, my phone started doing the black screen of death thing - I'll click on an icon (probably 90% of what I use the phone for is texting), and I'll get a black screen for a minute or so. Xena Sis told me the other day to use her house phone number because her cell phone went black (although it must be okay now, or she got a new phone because she was blowing up mine with text messages yesterday afternoon). I keep meaning to take mine to the Cell-phone Goddess, who although she works for Boost Mobile, will work on phones serviced by other carriers; she is my hero, having saved all of our phones over the years.
I wonder if Android had some kind of update, that's making older phones slow as hell; I know Apple does that when they release a new iPhone model. Their older models are rendered pretty much useless because updates slow them down so much. Doesn't seem to fit with your situation though, since you had a Windows phone; I think I read a while back that Microsoft was getting out of the cell phone market.
You probably can add contacts without going through all that, you've just gotta play around with it a bit to figure out the where and hows. My Android is an LG model; if I click on the phone icon, it brings up "dial", "call logs", "contacts", "favorites", and "groups" options. I can add contacts when I'm using any of those functions....except how to get to the "add contact" or "add as contact" screen is slightly different in each function. My man-boss has a Samsung Android, and he's always handing me his phone, asking "How do I....?", which often involves adding a contact (it cracks me up that he thinks I am adept in anything having to do with technology). His phone is completely different from mine, and I usually have to play around with it to figure out where certain things are located, but how the functions work is basically the same.
I use my phone only for pretty much the same as you - as a phone and for texting. I use the camera a lot, and the alarm is the only alarm clock I have. Other stock apps that came with the phone I use regularly are the calculator, calendar, Google Chrome, Google Maps (I use the GPS feature on that app as opposed to actual maps). I've deleted a lot of the apps that came with the phone because I'd never use them, and others I wish I could delete, but can't because they're necessary for whatever reason to keep the phone functioning.
One app I downloaded serves so simple a function, but has come in sooooo handy so many times - a flashlight app. Although the phone itself gives off light, the flashlight app can be turned up to provide a much brighter light for say, when you've dropped your keys in the dark getting out of the car, and accidentally kicked them to OMG, who knows where.
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