Things I've learned the hard way . . .(Part 2)

[Monocrom]

Learned a small handful of things the hard way, over the last few days.... Biggest one being, the individual(s) who invented Tap technology, deserve to rot in Hell!

Worthless CO-OP board loves wasting our money. Instead of fixing the constantly breaking down washing machines in the laundry the right frickin' way, they decided to replace them. But you no longer insert a special card. Oh no! You have to use Tap technology with a new card. Thing is, plenty of instructions in the laundry room on how to give them your money. Multiple ways to do so. Zero instructions that you have to tap the card twice before these stupid, new, unnecessary machines will work!

Put money on the new special card, load the machine as normal, TAP, make your selections using the physical buttons on the machine. Click "Start" but then you have to TAP your card a 2nd time before the machine will actually start working!

Nowhere in the instructions plastered in the laundry room does it say that! Went down to do laundry. Married couple who have lived in the building since before I moved in, were there (nearly 25 years). Doing laundry. Well, trying to. They had the same issue I did with these stupid new machines. They are not elderly. Not senile. They are both very intelligent people. Yet, they too struggled to figure out what was wrong. This technology is literally worthless! It exists, just to exist. Worthless tech. from a worthless joke of a human-being who likely made millions off of his worthless idea.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Learned a small handful of things the hard way, over the last few days.... Biggest one being, the individual(s) who invented Tap technology, deserve to rot in Hell!

Worthless CO-OP board loves wasting our money. Instead of fixing the constantly breaking down washing machines in the laundry the right frickin' way, they decided to replace them. But you no longer insert a special card. Oh no! You have to use Tap technology with a new card. Thing is, plenty of instructions in the laundry room on how to give them your money. Multiple ways to do so. Zero instructions that you have to tap the card twice before these stupid, new, unnecessary machines will work!

Put money on the new special card, load the machine as normal, TAP, make your selections using the physical buttons on the machine. Click "Start" but then you have to TAP your card a 2nd time before the machine will actually start working!

Nowhere in the instructions plastered in the laundry room does it say that! Went down to do laundry. Married couple who have lived in the building since before I moved in, were there (nearly 25 years). Doing laundry. Well, trying to. They had the same issue I did with these stupid new machines. They are not elderly. Not senile. They are both very intelligent people. Yet, they too struggled to figure out what was wrong. This technology is literally worthless! It exists, just to exist. Worthless tech. from a worthless joke of a human-being who likely made millions off of his worthless idea.

This sounds like a programming issue to me. Once you've tapped the first time, the system knows that you're there and intending to start a load. Having to tap a second time after hitting 'Start' seems redundant.

 

[dc38]

Shaking the dust from your shoes is difficult when the shoes are lead boots.

 

[Monocrom]

This sounds like a programming issue to me. Once you've tapped the first time, the system knows that you're there and intending to start a load. Having to tap a second time after hitting 'Start' seems redundant.

Absolutely! But that's the procedure with these machines.
Also, they slyly raised the cost of doing laundry. They tried to be slick about it.
Didn't mention it. But yes, I can do basic addition and subtraction.
My Superpowers involving numbers also allows me to balance a checkbook!

 

[Monocrom]

Shaking the dust from your shoes is difficult when the shoes are lead boots.

I wish they were lead boots.... So I could kick in those ridiculous machines!

New tech. that doesn't improve significantly over old tech., is just worthless.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

 

[Monocrom]

I would, but I'm not that sinister.
Plus, my neighbors would not be able to do their laundry.
We've already had enough issues with the old machines constantly breaking down since they were installed just a few years back. The new ones were installed less than two weeks ago. Let's see if they're more reliable.

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

@Monocrom, I wasn't suggesting that you commit vandalism. I was joking that you remind me of when Cramer committed it. Say, aren't you both from NYC?

 

[Monocrom]

@Monocrom, I wasn't suggesting that you commit vandalism. I was joking that you remind me of when Cramer committed it. Say, aren't you both from NYC?

Yes.... And, I was joking as well.
Even if I didn't have morals, there's a very obvious camera in the laundry room.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

No matter how many wall-wart USB chargers I buy, I'm always short by one.

 

[dc38]

No matter how many wall-wart USB chargers I buy, I'm always short by one.

AND you'll only find the correct format USB cable when you don't need it...

 

[Monocrom]

1) Battery-powered vacuums are terrible for elderly people. The battery is fine. But the motors overheat long before they can finish vacuuming. And to protect the motors, the vacuums shut themselves off.

2) Uber drivers, even the ones who have mini-vans for transporting the elderly or the crippled, do NOT have step-stools! Found that out when my elderly mother hurt her leg trying to climb into one. Not all the drivers actually help those passengers get inside.

3) If you think you have enough trauma kit supplies....
You are most likely wrong (See #2). I ate through a bunch of wraps, gauze, and medical tape while treating my elderly mother's leg cut from her Uber ride home. Her shoe was soaked in blood. I somehow managed to salvage it. Took literally weeks for the cut to finally close up. Bought a wide but low foot-stool on eBay for her to use from now on. Yes, I will be carrying it in a thick, reusable shopping bag to her next foot-doctor medical appointment so she can climb in and out of those mini-vans.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

1) Battery-powered vacuums are terrible for elderly people. The battery is fine. But the motors overheat long before they can finish vacuuming. And to protect the motors, the vacuums shut themselves off.

2) Uber drivers, even the ones who have mini-vans for transporting the elderly or the crippled, do NOT have step-stools! Found that out when my elderly mother hurt her leg trying to climb into one. Not all the drivers actually help those passengers get inside.

3) If you think you have enough trauma kit supplies....
You are most likely wrong (See #2). I ate through a bunch of wraps, gauze, and medical tape while treating my elderly mother's leg cut from her Uber ride home. Her shoe was soaked in blood. I somehow managed to salvage it. Took literally weeks for the cut to finally close up. Bought a wide but low foot-stool on eBay for her to use from now on. Yes, I will be carrying it in a thick, reusable shopping bag to her next foot-doctor medical appointment so she can climb in and out of those mini-vans.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom's leg injury. It sounds like you were well prepared to care for it though.

 

[Monocrom]

Thank you. I appreciate that. She's doing much better now, and I've replenished the medical supplies I've used. The two medical/trauma shears I had at home, apparently ran away together. Grew legs and magically vanished. Both replaced as well.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

in line with Monocrom's example, I've learned the hard way that once your parent is old enough, the script flips and you become the parent. Now I'm my mother's helper, cook, cleaner, security guard, pedicure, and even accountant. The chemo fog coupled with the natural brain shrinkage at her age have left her unable to remember all her bills and debts like she used to. So me and my brother have took it upon ourselves to put pencil to paper and jot everything down; it's something I already did with my own expenses, so nothing new.

 

[Monocrom]

Yeah, one day you turn around and it hits you.... Awhile back, you became your mother's care-giver.

 

[dc38]

Yeah, one day you turn around and it hits you.... Awhile back, you became your mother's care-giver.

What a blessing...

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

Yeah, one day you turn around and it hits you.... Awhile back, you became your mother's care-giver.

It's been 64 years, but I still remember my mother washing the walls of my bedroom every night before I went to bed due to my Asthma. I turned around three and a half years ago.

 

[TPA]

No matter how many wall-wart USB chargers I buy, I'm always short by one.

I've bought way too many USB chargers over the years.
I'm currently using these: UGreen 160w 4x USB-C, 1x USB-A charger
and a bunch of the Anker display chargers
Anker 100w charger 2x USB-C, 1x USB-A
Anker 140w charger 3x USB-C, 1x USB-A
Anker 160w charger 3x USB-C
Anker Nano 45w charger: 1x USB-C, pocketable

I will say that most of them won't run at the full rated power for extended periods of time before throttling, but I never need that. The UGreen is interesting, but has some limitations. Only two ports are high-powered. The remaining 2x USB-C and USB-A ports are shared, so plugging/unplugging renegotiates all 3 of those ports and reduces how much power it sends to those devices. Still, having 5x USB ports out of one brick is very convenient.

The Anker Nano is pocketable enough. I've grabbed it, plus battery pack for the multiple times I've had to take family members into the ER this year. VERY nice to not have to worry about a phone battery, especially after 10-24 hours.

AND you'll only find the correct format USB cable when you don't need it...

I've mostly gone to USB-C cables for everything and use connector adapters like these if I need something different. I also keep a few multi-headed USB-C to C,A,Lightning cables the bag just in case.

in line with Monocrom's example, I've learned the hard way that once your parent is old enough, the script flips and you become the parent.

I hear you on that. After my dad's doctors screwed up his meds and he had a brain hemorrhage and went unconscious, I had to step in for everything. Home finances, healthcare, living arrangements, taking care of his wife, and the wind-down of his business. There's a lot involved. After a very long medical battle, even longer recovery, I have him in a very nice assisted living home, in the memory care section. He's still improving. I feel bad that I've been so tied up with my fiancée's health issues and haven't been able to spend time with him and work with him to get better enough to live in the regular assisted living side.

 

[Toulouse42]

I've bought way too many USB chargers over the years.
I'm currently using these: UGreen 160w 4x USB-C, 1x USB-A charger
and a bunch of the Anker display chargers
Anker 100w charger 2x USB-C, 1x USB-A
Anker 140w charger 3x USB-C, 1x USB-A
Anker 160w charger 3x USB-C
Anker Nano 45w charger: 1x USB-C, pocketable

I will say that most of them won't run at the full rated power for extended periods of time before throttling, but I never need that. The UGreen is interesting, but has some limitations. Only two ports are high-powered. The remaining 2x USB-C and USB-A ports are shared, so plugging/unplugging renegotiates all 3 of those ports and reduces how much power it sends to those devices. Still, having 5x USB ports out of one brick is very convenient.

The Anker Nano is pocketable enough. I've grabbed it, plus battery pack for the multiple times I've had to take family members into the ER this year. VERY nice to not have to worry about a phone battery, especially after 10-24 hours.


I've mostly gone to USB-C cables for everything and use connector adapters like these if I need something different. I also keep a few multi-headed USB-C to C,A,Lightning cables the bag just in case.


I hear you on that. After my dad's doctors screwed up his meds and he had a brain hemorrhage and went unconscious, I had to step in for everything. Home finances, healthcare, living arrangements, taking care of his wife, and the wind-down of his business. There's a lot involved. After a very long medical battle, even longer recovery, I have him in a very nice assisted living home, in the memory care section. He's still improving. I feel bad that I've been so tied up with my fiancée's health issues and haven't been able to spend time with him and work with him to get better enough to live in the regular assisted living side.

Something similar happened to both my parents. One moment they are (mostly) independent and in no time were in hospital and then nursing home for some serious issues. Both at the same time. I had to look after their affairs and then after they passed about a year later I had to do it all again. My father was sharp as a tack until he went into hospital. Days later he had a massive stroke and it fried his mind. He no longer knew where or when he was. I have two sisters and all three of us were also dealing with major health issues for our partners. It was a hard time. The only good news is that my grandson was born during that period. The lesson is that joy and pain often happen at the same time.