Online Orders

 

I did a fair amount of online buying today. First, I needed a few supplies for my aging Flashforge 3D printer.  I ordered from a company in Ontario.  My Adventurer 3 is five years old, so I thought I'd buy a few spare parts while they're still available. I really don't have many reasons for having a PLA printer. In fact, there's a box of useless printed junk not far from me. However, the device is just nerdy enough to spark my occasional interest. It's fascinating watching it add one layer at a time to an object. 

Next, I also looked on our drug store chain and found their standard niacin tablets are on sale. The usual $12 a bottle is like $7 something. I take a gram or two per day. It helps with blood lipids and slightly lowers blood pressure. I won't have the package delivered to the house but rather chose the free pick up at the store. Sometimes during a sale, there aren't many bottles on the shelf. 

In addition, Jay also ordered some supplements and nuts via Amazon. We selected the option to have it all delivered in one box. That seemed to make more sense than a quick delivery. None of the items are needed right away. 

These purchases caused me to consider my very first online order via the Internet. We'd just arrived in Canada in 1996, I wanted a globe and ordered this one directly from the National Geographic website.

 

Taxes are the Only Filing I Do Nowadays

Our Air France flight landed at our airport a week ago! Well, that surely seems like a quick seven days!

   

I just discovered I first mentioned doing income taxes in this journal twenty years ago! In those days I had to load the software by using a CD ROM.  I don't know which is more amazing, the changes in technology or the fact I'm still adding journal entries to the SAME blogger.com account.

The weather looked a lot like the photo during most of the day.  It's nearly 7:00 pm and just about the same.  We did run uptown to the Walmart but I am most happy with the fact, I NETFILED both of our 2024 tax season returns this afternoon.  I already got back the 'Notice of Assessments'.

Spying on Myself

Yesterday, I was waiting in the customer service area of my auto dealership. My car had a recall notice to have its battery management software updated.  

I had only around a half hour to waste.  I opened Amazon on my phone. I saw an indoor net camera selling for under $US 20 and clicked to buy. A previous cheap webcam stopped working a few years ago.  This one was offered as same-day delivery. In the evening, while I was watching TV, it arrived and I unboxed it. I also plugged it in, put in an SD card and installed the Tapo app on my phone.

   

After breakfast this morning, I stuck the device on top of the curio cabinet.  I ensured that it pointed so the rotation allows a commanding view of the living room.  We go grocery shopping on Saturdays. I opened the app in the Coquitlam store and was assured that nothing was going on in the apartment without us.

Three Pictures from Today

I'm just adding three pictures to represent things I did today.  

First, above, shows the waiting area of my car dealership in Coquitlam.  I received a recall notice for an update to my battery management software.  My appointment was at 8:30 am so I didn't have to wait.  The technician took around 35 minutes to complete the procedure.  As our Canadian Superstore is very close to the Lougheed Hyundai, I popped in to exchange a SodaStream cylinder and I got three bottles of wine.  I have decided to start a little collection of red wines and keep at least dozen or so in the apartment.

The next photo was taken along Carnarvon Street in the rain.  I walked to the Thrift Store on the other side of downtown.  I did buy a pair of trousers.  They are size 36.  Last summer I had to squeeze into 38s and now I squeeze into pants that are two sizes smaller.

Later in the afternoon, I tried running an object in my 3D printer.  It didn't work well, so I took it apart and put in one of the new spare extruder nozzles I had.  I hardly printed at all last summer and fall.  However seeing how smoothly it prints now has reignited my interest.  I suppose that means I have to get hold of some additional filament.  My Flashforge Adventurer 3 uses 0.5kg spools that are rare and pricier than common, generic 1kg type.

We're watching Disney+ at the moment.  Years ago, I joined when it first began but only subscribed for a short time.  I had to request to change my password but the site remembered my email.  I just thought we could check it out for a month or so and watch whatever we can binge.  I heard the Hulu series called, Mid-Century Modern should premier next week.

Another Day Without Sun

We're still getting up earlier than needed because we're adjusting to jet lag and the difference in our home time zone. It's black outside when we get up but it really hasn't gotten very bright for a few days.  The high temperature is around 8°C.  I guess this gives us a chance to experience a little local winter even though we spent most of the last four months in the southern hemisphere.

 

Jay and I dropped off my passport application and photos at the passport office in Surrey.  That allowed us to stop at the T&T Supermarket in the same mall.  It's a big chain store that carries mostly Asian products.  We picked up some things such as a bit of kimchi, pandan and curry leaves, and dried fish.  Because we turned off the refrigerator during our recent four months away, we are having to catch up on a great deal of food from scratch.

Quantifying

The Amazon guy brought me two of these today.

   

I got them expressly so I don't over pour. Did you know that a standard restaurant serving of wine is 150ml (about 5 US oz). That means there are five servings in a bottle.  The standard size is considered the norm for use in medical studies of wine consumption.

Prior to today, I'd never found more than three servings in one bottle!  😃

 

Not the Credit Card

We just got back home. There are a lot of things to do after being away for most of the winter. I will say that many of the tasks needed for our summer and fall have already been completed. However, I found a new project to start today.

   

I have just one empty page left in my 10-year passport. I blame those countries that issue visas stickers that take up a whole page!  Also, countries which require visa extensions tend to take a lot of my passport's real estate.  Although I've 19 months left on my present document, it's become time to renew. This afternoon, I filled in the application form as an editable PDF and printed it. I have to get photos taken soon, so I can drop them off with my application in Surrey this week or next.

Not in the Zone

Today, we're sitting in the Pacific time zone. However, our bodies still need convincing that we're home. For the last four months we were living between 9 and 11 hours ahead of the clocks in Vancouver. Getting back in the groove is going to take a little bit of extra time. I swear doing these simple time-gymnastics seem to take a a lot longer as one matures (gets old). 

We were up at 4:30 am today. Damn if we didn't get a whole lot done, though! A long list of things to accomplish when back is being smashed:

Contents of all the luggage has been removed.

Several loads of washing has been dried and put away.

Internet devices and the home network have come back to life.

Mailbox was emptied and important government paperwork completed.

Car insurance was renewed at Westland Insurance for eight months.

Veggies bought at LFM and some groceries at the uptown Walmart.

Cooked food sits in the refrigerator with a stock of other fresh food.

Several medicine prescriptions have been renewed.

The apartment has been cleaned and set up for next stay of eight months.

 

Hell, I even updated my car's infotainment system using our PC and an SD card.  And while I was waiting for the process to complete, I cleaned out my glove box and center storage.  I decided to throw away several masks in there from COVID days.