Wranting, Zooming, Olean Times Herald blues, and more
I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels
As I start this Wrambling I do so with a feeling of gratitude and relief. Some of what follows will be on the slightly “personal” side so please don’t tell my wife. She is a very private person and is very unhappy when I share my information. Why am I doing this? To discuss a topic that many others may have experienced with and/or will someday. Dealing with the Department of Civil Service, can be very trying, as is any type of contact with a government agency whether at State level or Federal level. The only helpful advice is to tune up your patience and turn down your level of frustration before calling. At the level you have made contact, one might expect more understanding and helpfulness than the “phone answerer” can give.
Case in Point: When I first qualified for both Medicare A and B, thru NYSHIP (New York State Health Insurance Program), upon retirement, I would receive a refund of $118.26 every quarter, as the amount of retirement payment for such, was higher than needed for the Medicare payment. I was tickled to have money coming back in.
Then sometime between a year and two, ago, Medicare raised their rates. I no longer received a refund, but rather, owed $2.11 to them billed on a quarterly basis. I would have to pay that by sending a check in that amount. Paying the postage and the cost of an envelope, while not a huge expenditure, it seemed to me that an annual billing plan would be better than that quarterly payment scheme, and, me being my cheap, but frugal self, I thought it would be sensible. I contacted NYSHIP and requested that change in billing. Not having received a response either way, I let things ride through a couple of payment cycles. They didn’t appreciate that, so they canceled my health insurance coverage.
I spent most of the Thursday morning hours on the phone, speaking to computers and a couple of human people trying to get some understanding and/or a way to make a payment without having the mandated three-month delay, and waiting period for reinstatement. That is why my normal Thursday Wrambling’s publication is now being completed on Friday.
As a side note, the NYSHIP payment portion of any health care service provided was miniscule at best. Medicare covered the bulk of most medical expenses and NYSHIP covered a few dollars above and beyond to supplement the Medicare coverage.
As I read back through that, I’m glad I’m not on your end (as a reader), as it sounds (reads) like a bunch of gibberish. Wrant over! I will now continue to Wramble along with my usual drivel. I don’t pretend to know if the previous statements were covered under “ironic” or “moronic.”
Recently I was invited to join a Friendship, NY area Zoom group for a joint online conversation which occurs one Tuesday a month. I declined, as the meeting times weren’t convenient for me. Following that, I noticed that a couple of the apps I use or have implemented now had Zoom mentioned. This even included changing the name of my “One Drive,” to Zoom One Drive. When I took my Laptop in for a software addition, I was hoping that the Zoom link would be eliminated. It wasn’t and I still have a problem.
When I try to save my files globally to One Drive, it is labeled “Zoom One Drive.” I’m not sure if that is good or bad as I have other computer, internet, and standard apps problems. I’m not sure why, or from where “Zoom” is beneficial or helpful. I don’t want it.
I now continue with another “Wrant,” regarding auto impose, or suppose, or “thumb your nose” at auto corrections or suggestions. I don’t need any help with making mis-typing mistakes but “auto correct” or “auto suggest,” often pop-up, and unexpectedly appear in my writings. Even as I typed that, something I typed triggered some “pop up” suggestions and automatically changed them. Sometimes the suggestions, and automatic inclusion are grammatically better. Sometimes not. I have found substituted words that completely changed what I meant to say. Auto defect doesn’t seem to know what I meant outside of a rigid grammar protocol.
This writing is being done Friday morning. I’m only a few hours away from being able to get another bowl (or 3) of the great Clam Chowder that accompanies a fish fry from the Texas Hot in Wellsville. You don’t have to get the fish fry. I am now addicted to their clam chowder and can’t get it often enough. With a special-order placement that they suggested, I can now occasionally get a little bit extra to put in the freezer to cover those mid-week cravings. With all due apologies to the Texas Hot, I must admit that I recently enhanced the recipe a little, despite the fact that it definitely doesn’t really need anything added to it. In order to add a little bulk to it for lunch one day, I had some leftovers that I added to the soup. That didn’t make it any better, other than to add a little non-soup bulk. I added a little corn and rice, and it merely enhanced that already great dish. Just to give him a plug, the corn that I added was courtesy of that grown by Bob’s Market, Wellsville NY, formerly known as “Simons Market” or whatever Bill Simon had called it. Thank you Bob and The Texas Hot for being such a great addition to the culinary delights of Wellsville.
OK, a page and a half into my writings I will now get to my scheduled agenda.
If you are a regular Wramblings reader, you may have noticed by now, that I do quite a bit of writing, now called “Word Processing” if done on a device. Therein I try to include notations that are not on the standard typing keyboard. To do so, I have to go to the menuat the top of the screen, select Insert, and then go to the Symbols option to find the hexadecimal code for a “two key press, instant insert of something like the monetary “cents” graphic as herein noted “¢”. As I often use many of those notations, like the “degrees symbol in 25⁰, or the number squared symbol such as 6². I have been able to assign my own “shortcut name” to those symbols. I can’t always remember the “Name,” so I made a list of those symbols that I use frequently. I have a sticky note stuck to my laptop between the monitor and the keyboard that lists them. So far, the ones I have found “noteworthy” are the one’s listed above. To activate the “Cents” symbol, you enter the number, then type and hold the the “Alt” key and then press the letter “C” (While still pressing the alt key). That will give you the ¢ symbol.
To get the degrees symbol added to the number, as in 25⁰, you type the number, like the “25”, and then press and hold the “Alt” key along with the letter “D”.
From my teaching experience, it’s a lot easier to describe these things verbally, than trying to write an instruction as to “How to do something.” I apologize for trying to teach herein but it’s what I love to do, second only to learning.
I recently received an unwanted, or unliked message from the Olean Times Herald which was once a “seven day” paper including the very much liked Sunday edition. Their first significant change consisted of cutting to one edition covering both Saturday and Sunday. They then eliminated the Monday’s edition. Now they are announcing even more reductions in their mailed paper editions eliminating the Wednesday and Friday editions resulting in only print editions on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
I guess, to some degree, I can understand the financial aspect of this change, but I fear it is only the next step to finally discontinuing publication all together. There wasn’t, nor isn’t, anything more meaningful in my daily life than to start the day having a newspaper to read. Even then when reduced in frequency, I still had almost daily reading material. To spread the reading out to have something to read most mornings, I would read the first section of the paper one day, then picking up the second half, which is the Sports section to read the next morning. I guess I should be grateful to at least get the reduced local coverage. As I have written before recently, my earliest experience with the Olean Times Herald was awaiting their daily rural delivery of the paper by “Johnny,” At his nearly perfect delivery time to our house on Rte. 275 in Nile, NY. I would be waiting “roadside” for his presence. I was a mere teenager but had developed a love for reading the news and especially the “racing episodes” penned by Gil Stinger. As a side note, his legacy is almost forgotten as my Google search for info on him was very limited. I am now +80 years old and his writings are still in my mind. Maybe it was because “Racing” by my stepfather Paul Miles (8Jr.) was a major part of my youth. I recall several more recent writer/reporters including: Chuck Ward and Chuck Pollock, who is now a contributing writer for the Sun.
On a lighter note, to wrap this up, I still have difficulty remembering which side the faucet handles are “assigned” to. The choice between “Hot and Cold” finally developed a pattern in my head. Nothing worse than turning the handle on, waiting for the “Hot” water to start when you’ve mistakenly chosen the cold water faucet. This may seem trivial to you…and it is, but I finally developed a means of remembrance. I Connected the number of letters of each and matched them up. Based on the number of letters in each, I now tell myself; Hot on the Left, Cold on the Right, based solely on the number of letters match up. Number of letters in the word on one side versus number the number of letters on the other. I know…most people can just remember which side is which. I can’t. Nothing worse than turning on the cold water and waiting for it to get hot, but it never does.
I’ve missed attending, or mentioning, some recent Allegany County Veteran’s Association programs a couple of times recently but plan to advise of some…soon. Maple Syrple time is looming and there are some events that Veterans may not want to miss.
If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to drop me an email at IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com. I am very grateful to those who have already reached out.
