Space station escapee rides again...

Having escaped from Space Station Thailand (extreme long-term air pollution, extreme long-term heat), I rode a bicycle again for the first time in months. It was glorious!!!

20240511

Almost heaven, Tell City, Indiana (and Southern Indiana).

Southern Indiana hills, Ohio River.

Highway 37, take me home.

Note:
One spends a lot less time online when living in nature. Such a long time I was on that space station!!! Ouch!!!

Sentinel Tree at Sunset Park

Blackberry (I think)

The sweet smell of honeysuckle!!!

Mulberries

This is what Southern Indiana thunderstorms do to trees.

Tell City Riverwalk

My first deer sighting (Windy Creek Trail)

They did a great job on the water towers.

Just about dawn over Mom's (previous) house.

Photo of the tree before it got a couple of its limbs snapped off by a powerful thunderstorm.

Tugboat moving along real good...

Bunny rabbit at Tell City Riverwalk says: "You can't see me because I'm not moving."
Fair enough... I couldn't see you. Neither can the people looking at this video.

Buzzards over the Ohio

Now that's the Windy Creek I remember.

The local cow herd in Dale.

Bun-Bun eating his apple...

Barge on the Ohio

2024 May

Is everything in America a huge hassle in 2024?

Disclaimer: 

The title of this post could instead be: Why did you forget to disconnect your VPN, dumbass?

I apologize for falsely accusing Walmart of dumbassery, when it was, as usual, my own dumbassery that was the problem. Because of NBA League Pass requirements, I had my VPN connected to another country, and of course Walmart.com developers were correct in flagging my IP address as suspicious.

In this case, Walmart was innocent, and I was guilty. Sorry.

Original rant below:..

I was gone from America for a couple of years. Has everything online deteriorated since I left? All I wanted to do was order a portable washing machine from Walmart online. But, nope. They cancelled my order after they let my order go through.

Then I had to call the customer service number, go through the IVR (interactive voice response) menu, and deal with a rep. The only good part of the experience is that I got lucky with a competent rep.

Here I sit, needing a portable washer, with my order cancelled, and unable to reorder for 4.5 hours. Thanks for subjecting me to your ridiculous internal technical limitations, and thank you, Walmart, for the huge hassle. I sure do hope that the next time around I am deemed worthy of ordering your cheap-ass portable washing machine.

FFS!!! I am really beginning to understand why all Americans are pissed off. I strongly recommend that we turn off all the electronic bullshit effective immediately. I am quite certain that all of us will start feeling better almost immediately.

No wonder Americans are all pissed off...

Disclaimer: 

The title of this post could instead be: Why did you forget to disconnect your VPN, dumbass?

I apologize for falsely accusing id.me of dumbassery, when it was, as usual, my own dumbassery that was the problem. Because of NBA League Pass requirements, I had my VPN connected to another country, and of course id.me developers were correct in flagging my IP address as suspicious.

In this case, id.me was innocent, and I was guilty. Sorry. Some of the other criticisms remain valid, and there is no doubt that purchasing a VFW cap from the VFW online store was a huge hassle.

Original rant below:..

What a terribly frustrating web we have woven on the Internet. Today, I needed to order a garrison cap from the VFW store online. Below are just some of the obstacles I experienced in what turned out to be an hour-plus long torture session.

To the people who build and maintain this sorry excuse of online infrastructure, I strongly recommend that you delete all of it--and I mean all of it--and start over from scratch. It is driving people crazy, and it is not their fault. It is your fault. You have created an Internet that sucks elephant balls in terms of being able to get things done.

• Tried to order a garrison cap from the VFW store.
• Forget about the fact that I don't know my cap size.
• I guessed at 7 3/8 inches because that's what the Internet told me is the average U.S. male cap size. Or was it hat size? Is that the same? Who knows?
  
  
• Could not complete the order because I couldn't create an account (required).
  
  
• Had to use id.me to create an account.
• Unable to login to my existing id.me account on my Chromebook.
• Got into some kind of queue of 468 users to try to log into id.me
• They sent an authentication code to my long-time phone number.
• Finally, I successfully logged into id.me on my Google Pixed 4a phone.
  
  
• Tried to use my id.me account to log into the VFW store.
• Unable to log into VFW store using my id.me login credentials.
• Saw an option to login using my LinkedIn account.
• Flagged as a suspicious login.
• Received an authentication code via SMS for my LInkedIn account.
• Successfully authenticated my LinkedIn account.
  
  
• Went through two or three screens to connect my LinkedIn account to my id.me account.
• Finally, successfully logged into VFW store using my LinkedIn account connected to my id.me account.
• Did the entire order process again, guessing at my cap size again.
• Completed the order, paying via credit card.
  
  
• Tried to save a PDF receipt to my Microsoft OneDrive, where I store most of my files.
• Unable to create a VFW folder using OneDrive on my Chromebook.
• Successfully created a VFW folder on OneDrive using my Google Pixel 4a phone.
• Unable to paste PDF file to OneDrive>VFW folder on Chromebook.
  
  
• Gave up on saving the PDF file to OneDrive.
• Created a VFW folder on my Google Drive.
• After considerable effort, finally managed to copy the PDF file from Files>Downloads to my Google Drive>VFW folder.
• (This is not where I wanted the file to live. I wanted it in OneDrive. Once again, I have important files split between One Drive and Google Drive.)

At US$44 for the cap, plus US$8.95 for shipping, plus an hour-plus of time and frustration, this had better be a good f'ing cap. I very much wish I could charge the developers responsible US$100 for my pain and suffering.

To all the developers out there working on U.S. Internet infrastructure today, let me brighten your day by letting you know that it is all a stinking pile of crap that is usable by only the most insano, never-ever-give-up type of user. Thank you (NOT!!!) for the horrible user experience.

Bottle of water after security: 19 cents plus paperwork.

"Passport, please."

"Passport?" (As in, you've got to be kidding me...)

"Yes."

I give the lady my passport. She does something on the computer. Talks to her coworker.

"Boarding pass."

"My boarding pass?" (disbelief)

"Seven baht, please."(As if the transaction is just now starting...)

I gave her a 20 baht note.

She gave me back my 13 baht change.

I walked out with my USD 19-cent bottle of water, happy about the price, but sad about the paperwork required.

To all my computer genius buddies, I am sorry to break it to you, but you have succeeded in f-ing up just about everything in the entire world. Well-done, I guess, at least in an alternate reality where everything that sucks is actually great.

Put me on your No Electronic BS plan.

I beg you to have mercy on me with all your electronic BS. Let me buy an economy class airplane ticket with an aisle seat. After that, I do not want to visit your website or mobile app again. I don't want to find passwords. I don't want your authentication codes via SMS. I don't want any of it.

The frustrating hell you put me through for seat selection and additional charges is evil. Soon, I will go to your ticket counter to check in, already well-enraged.

Should I ever be presented with the opportunity to flood your server rooms, I will do so with gusto. Expedia, American Airlines, Starlux Airlines, all of you all suck elephant balls!!!

Separate hot tub not needed.

You don't need a separate hot tub when the swimming pool itself is a big hot tub. I did not measure the water temperature. But it felt a lot like being in a hot tub. Count me as impressed by the power of the sun.

20240425

It's getting serious now...

I actually skipped riding the bike the other day. It felt too unlucky so close to departure day.

At any rate, Mighty Mite, hidden under a cover, is going to take a long nap.

20240425

I've got a Basketball Jones...

The Lakers and the Nuggets did not let me down on Sunday, April 21st at 07:30 hours. That was an excellent game, and LA came back very close at the end.

If you ever find yourself stuck indoors for months, an NBA League Pass for the entire playoffs is a bit of a treasure. 

20240420

The numbers tell the story.

20240421