Day: March 1, 2021

TMP — I’m Not Sure

Fandango16 Comments

Every Monday, Paula Light, with her The Monday Peeve prompt, gives us an opportunity to vent or rant about something that pisses us off.

I’m pissed, but I’m not sure who to be pissed at. You may recall that, at the end of last year, I wrote here about a pair of Bluetooth headphones that I got myself so that I could watch TV without having to turn the sound up to 11. This made my wife happy because she and I could watch TV together — me wearing my headphones — without her feeling as if the volume was blowing her ears out.

Well, up until last night I was very happy with my headphones. They are supposed to last around 20 hours per charge and I would charge them overnight every other or third night. But after charging them all night on Saturday night, last night we had been watching TV for only about 20 minutes when I heard a female voice saying “Please charge me.”

Why was that lady in my headphones telling me to charge her? Was she trying to seduce me or was she simply informing me that she needed more juice? Assuming it was the latter, I removed my headphones, plugged them into the the wall outlet via a cable and a USB charger. A little red light on the headphones was illuminated, indicating that the headphones were charging. I went back to the couch, sat down next to my wife, and, much to her annoyance, turned the TV’s volume up to nuclear blast.

Normally it takes around two hours to fully charge the headphones, so it was around 9:00 and went to retrieve said headphones, which had been plugged in since around 7:30. I noticed that the little red light was still illuminated, but I figured that they must have been mostly charged by then, so I unplugged them and put them back on my head. Within five minutes, though I heard that sultry female voice once again begging me to charge her.

I removed the headphones, plugged them back into the USB charger, and said to my wife, “Fuck it. I’m going to bed.”

When I woke up this morning, I noticed that the little red light indicating that the headphones were not fully charged was still illuminated. Shit! WTF? I was getting ready to call the headphones’ manufacturer and tell them that their POS headphones barely lasted two months, when my wife suggested that I should try a different USB charger.I told her that was nonsense, but she said to try it anyway “just to be sure it’s not the charger.”

Fine. I got one of my iPhone USB chargers and plugged my headphones into that. The red charging light came on, and I figured I’d give it two hours to see if the red charging light turned off, indicating that the headphones were fully charged.

Sure enough, two hours later the light was off. So maybe my wife was right and it was the USB charging thingie, and not the headphones, that had failed.

In any event, I won’t know for sure until tonight, as we typically don’t watch TV during the day, if the headphones are holding their charge and if using a different USB charger did the trick.

All I know is that I’m pissed that some piece of technology wasn’t working as it was supposed to work. I just hope it’s the cheapo USB charger and not the headphones.

Watch this space.

Share Your World/Blogging Insights — Double Duty

Fandango23 Comments

Share Your WorldHappy March 1st. It’s time for us to answer Melanie’s Share Your World questions. Let’s do this.

Is every piece of truth worth telling? (Credit to the magnificent Cyranny for this one.)

I’ll answer the same way I answered this when Cyranny asked it: “Nope.” And I’ll add that there are times when truth telling, especially when it can be hurtful, isn’t worth the price. Sometimes it’s just better to not say anything.

Whom do you miss more Freddy Mercury or Prince? (If you don’t know who those people are, just skip this question. It’s cool).

As a fan of classic rock and of Queen, I have to go with Freddy Mercury. And I’ll admit that the only Prince song I’m familiar with is “1999.” Don’t be too harsh on me, Prince fans.

(By the way, at the risk of sounding like a grammar Nazi, shouldn’t the question be “Who do you miss more…?” rather than “Whom do you miss more…?”)

If you could only email or text people for the rest of your life (no other form of communication), which would you chose?

Text. It’s more instantaneous, and you can see when someone is responding to it by the three dots (or something like that) that shows up in your texting app.

Would you prefer to work the midnight shift at a really creepy, out of the way motel OR work alone for eternity?

In the decade before I retired at the end of 2016 I worked from home. I went into my home office, shut the door, and emerged only to eat or to go to the bathroom. So I was very used to working alone and, had I not retired, I could have continued to do so for…well, an eternity (or until death do I part).

Bonus question because yes, these are a weird bunch this week: What’s one secret you’re still keeping from your immediate family? (No details required. You could say something like “The lost weekend in 1982.” You can also answer “Why I NEVER keep secrets from my nearest and dearest!”)

When I first started blogging, I didn’t tell anyone in my family, including my wife. But now she (and my kids) know about my blog. But no others of my real life acquaintances — extended family or friends — know that I am Fandango.

Please feel free to share something uplifting that you’ve experienced so far in 2021.

Hmm. Sadly, in the grand scheme of things, there hasn’t been all that much uplifting about 2021. I’m happy that Trump lost the election, even though he still hasn’t admitted that he lost. I’m happy that Biden won and that Kamala Harris is the first black and Asian-American vice president. And I’m happy that I got my first COVID-19 vaccination in early February and I’m getting my second one this coming Thursday.

Blogging insightsOkay, now for Blogging Insights. Melanie pointed out that Dr. Tanya, who is the usual host of Blogging Insights, is on hiatus as she is moving her household. Melanie adds, “Since [Dr. Tanya] hasn’t come back (yet), I thought I’d just dive in and ask the question anyway. This post isn’t to be considered ‘legal’ because I didn’t ask Dr. Tanya if it’d be all right to do it.”

Anyway, here are Melanie’s “illegal” Blogging Insights questions.

How thick a skin do you need to be a blogger?

I’ve never thought it takes having a thick skin to be a blogger. I express my deeply held opinions on my blog. I have shared that I’m an atheist. I’m a liberal. I hated (and still do hate) Donald Trump and all of the so-called religious conservatives and Republicans who are kissing is big, fat butt.

But hey, I know that there are lot of folks who don’t share my opinions, views, perspectives, etc. and they are free to disagree with me in the comments section of my blog. I can take opposing views and I don’t mind or block the expression of those views, as long as they’re not abusive. But I will also push back on the commenters who disagree with me until it reaches the point that it becomes fruitless to continue such a dialogue. So bring it on folks.

“Bonus question”

How important is being understood? There are one or two bloggers here who put a great deal of time and effort into crafting their blog posts and I’ve heard them express dismay (disappointment) when people don’t necessarily “get” what they mean. Also, if people don’t ‘say’ (comment) a lot about a particular post they’ve worked hard on.

I try to write in such a manner that my posts, whether they are expressions of my opinions and perspectives or are flash fiction tales, are easy to understand. That said, I’m sure there are times when what I write may be misunderstood or misconstrued. But that’s the way things are in the real world, too. If people don’t “get” what I post about, and tell me so in a comment, I’ll try to explain what I meant and I’ll try to use their critical comments as a way to learn how to write more clearly about my meaning or in my message. But I don’t get upset, frustrated, or disappointed. As to people not commenting on a post I worked hard on, well, I don’t necessary expect people to comment on my posts, so I’m not disappointed if they don’t. If they do, though, that’s great and I appreciate such comments.

My Last Photo — February ‘21

Fandango4 Comments
Brian, aka Bushboy, posted a prompt yesterday that asked us to…
  1. Post the last photo from our camera’s SD card or the last photo from our phone taken in February.
  2. No editing — who cares if it is out of focus, not framed as you would like, or the subject matter didn’t cooperate?
  3. No explanations needed — just the photo will do.
  4. Create a pingback to Brian’s post or link in the comments.
  5. Tag “The Last Photo.”

Okay, this does require an explanation. The photo below is the last photo I took in February. Well, technically speaking, it’s not so much a photo as it is a screenshot. My wife and I took a 3.2 mile walk this morning and I recorded the walk on my Apple Watch. When I went to the Health app on my iPhone, I took this screenshot of the specifics of our walk, including a map showing our route, and then I texted the screenshot to my kids with the caption that read, “See, I don’t lead such a sedentary life. I do occasionally put my iPhone down and get off my ass.”It’s interesting how our route on the map, when shown graphically resembles a stethoscope. Anyway, this was the last “photo” in my photos file on my iPhone that was added in February.

Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #108

Fandango13 Comments

Welcome to “Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge.” Each week I will be posting a photo I grab off the internet and challenging bloggers to write a flash fiction piece or a poem inspired by the photo. There are no style or word limits.

The image below is from Ba Tik @ Pexels.com.For the visually challenged writer, the photo is of a young couple sitting on a bed drinking coffee together and the young woman is whispering something young man’s ear.

If this week’s image inspires you and you wish to participate, please write your post, use the tag #FFFC, and link back to this post. I hope it will generate some great posts.

Thanks to all of you who have participated in these challenges. Your posts have been very creative. Please take a few minutes to read the other responses to this photo challenge.

Please create a pingback to this post or manually add your link in the comments.

FOWC with Fandango — Smitten

Fandango20 Comments

FOWCWelcome to March 1, 2021 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “smitten.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Please check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.