On family history, parenting, education, social issues and more
With Boris in town, we are making the most of these last days of summer and this God-given weather. I took Friday off, and we did the thing we’ve wanted to do forever – going on the South end of the Lakefront Trail and, while going, crossing all the bridges over the Lake Shore Drive!
We did it, and it was breathtaking!
After my mom’s Xfinity internet was fixed, I was still determined to change her provider because I didn’t want to go through the same experience again. I ordered Astound service for her address, even before her Xfinity was fixed. This ended up being a very stressful half-day because I didn’t realize that the technician would call me about 30 minutes before arrival, and I went to my mom’s at 1 PM. The technician ended up coming at 5:40 (past the appointment window), and he couldn’t find where to disconnect my mom’s Xfinity, and we ended up working together (me looking at the meter while he tried to unplug different connections outside). He worked till 7:30, and between 1 and 4, I had constant calls from work, while the internet at my mom’s house was far from perfect.
Not to mention that I sat on her bed for all six hours, surrounded by two computers, two phones, and without any support for my back. And not to mention that I started working at six that day to make sure I was mostly done by 1 PM, and I notified everyone about that.
But the good part is that my mom finally has reliable internet for a very modest price, and I also got $200 credit on my account for sign-on. Canceling Xfinity was relatively painless, because they already had my record of dissatisfaction :). Now, the only thing left if to ship their modem back, and it’s sitting here at my home ready for shipping.
Talking with my former neighbor R.
– My granddaughter met a couple of European girls in college and became friends with them. You know – now it’s cool to be European! People are saying: Awww, she is European! And in the past, it was the opposite, and everyone wanted to be American. I didn’t want to be Hungarian or Austrian. All my parents’ friends were from Austria, and I didn’t even want to stay at home when they had people over! I wanted to be American, and I would get out of the house and go out with my American friends. And it’s so different now!
Talking about her divorced son and his interactions with his children:
— He is so frustrated that he doesn’t see them enough and isn’t building relationships with them. When we were young, there was no such thing. You were not supposed to be friends with your kids. Now, my daughter and her daughter are friends. And when we were young, it was not even a question. Kids were supposed to do what their parents tell them, have good grades, and stay out of trouble. And nobody even thought of building relationships!
Just to be clear, she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing that kids are friends with their parents nowadays. She likes it, but she sees this difference, and I think it’s commendable that she sees it as a positive thing.
***
Talking with my other friend, whose daughter went to college in one of the Southern States.
— She is telling me: mom, the other girls arrived, and they all look the same! Like twins! All the same white blondes. You know how she’s used to seeing all different faces at her high school, and now she is: where is diversity?!
***
Having a conversation at work in the cafeteria. One of my co-workers wants to downsize after the last child departs for college, and reasons that he has very few options since he lives by the lake. I nod energetically, but two of our other co-workers who do not live by the lake are mildly puzzled.
— What do you mean? You mean, you have a good view?
— No, he means “living by the lake!”
— So the air? The climate? Is it better?
— No, it’s not about it. It’s “living by the lake.” It’s a thing!
My co-worker nods:
— Yes, once you lived by the lake, it’s non-negotiable.
My right hand injury was going back and forth for almost two months, and about three and a half weeks ago, I decided I should check with my physical therapist one more time. He assured me that these back-and-forths were normal and showed me a couple more exercises. He told me it will be two to four more weeks. As of now, I feel like it’s “almost” normal, to the point that sometimes I forget that the right hand is injured, but it’s still not 100%. My trainer told me this morning that it’s always like the last one percent takes the most time, and I believe him :). I am happy that I can do most things with my right hand, because it is still my stronger hand, and when I can’t operate it normally, it doesn’t make my left hand stronger 🙂
I am glad we were able to visit, even if it was brief. We will plan it better next summer!
I mentioned it already, but it was indeed my Wednesday highlight! It was the group’s first meeting, and there was quite a crowd! OSS is a huge topic that interests me on many levels (that’s why I jumped at the opportunity to be on the LPI board!)
Robert gave a great talk about the nature of Open Source, and perfectly described all aspects of it:
OSS is vital for code quality (you have thousands of testers worldwide). OSS is vital for DEI because anyone from anywhere in the world can use it.
It was very heartwarming to be welcomed at this meetup! I found a surprising number of people interested in what I am doing and interested in volunteering for the Prairie meetup, so I am trying to build momentum. One person with whom I talked told me that it’s the first time he has met someone as enthusiastic about the job they are doing as I am, and that he wants to help my organization. And everyone loved my Prairie shirt 🙂
It was quite a week! There were some very positive things, but also some extremely annoying things, and lots of stress at work and otherwise. I started my workday yesterday really early, even earlier than usual, and was hoping to be done earlier as well, but instead, I had to work miracles for several hours, and then I stayed at my mom’s place for the switch to a new internet service provider, which also ran way later than I planned, so Friday night ended up not being a beginning of the weekend either! Today, I resolved not to look at anything work-related and to give myself a break from all my other queued activities and just recharge.
I might regret the latter part tomorrow, but today I feel great :). I started with a really long (33 miles) bike ride. The weather was perfect for biking (although it looked like I wasn’t the only one thinking that way), and even before 6 AM, it was pretty crowded on the Lake Front Trail.
Then I made breakfast and had a piece of cream cheese rhubarb pie, which I baked last night, and then headed to the closest beach (to maximize the time by the water). The water was just warm enough to be pleasant, and then I lay on the sand and listened to the waves, and there was nothing in the world except for the Lake and me 🙂
On Sunday, I made a trip to Palatine, which I had planned for a while. I wanted to see at least some of my friends, especially my old neighbors who never visited me at my new place and are unlikely to ever visit due to multiple health issues. I was ready to take public transportation when one of my friends I wanted to visit offered to drive me both ways. At first, I wanted to say, ” No, thank you”, but then I realized that this would give us almost two extra hours of talking/catching up, and also that she could visit my mom, who is always happy to speak Russian with someone, so I enthusiastically agreed.
It’s interesting how familiar my old place still feels. I loved visiting and noticing both what stayed the same and what changed: new businesses, new names on old establishments, new construction, and new green patches. Looking at an almost sterile environment, with no garbage in sight, with perfectly manicured lawns everywhere I looked and impeccable landscaping, I was thinking about whether I would want to observe this site day after day, after day. I know I liked it when I lived in Palatine; I loved seeing this picture-perfect everywhere I looked, and at some point, I thought all of America was like that :). I also realized I haven’t been that far inland in a while, and I forgot how humid and stuffy the air can get!
I also wanted to visit Deer Grove Forest Preserve, which, as I keep saying, is the only thing I really miss after moving to Rogers Park. My friend, who is a steward in Deer Grove, took me there for a walk at the end of our visit, and it was great to see the prairie in full bloom and lots of restoration being done.
The best part of the day, however, was talking to my friends. All of them have very different backgrounds, different perspectives, and are in different places in their lives. Still, all of them are near and dear to me. I told the story of “what had happened with me during the last year” three times and got different reactions, different questions, and heard three different stories in return. And all three were very deep and meaningful conversations, not me merely nodding or reassuring someone that their life is not over :). Love my friends 🥰
Continue reading “Visiting Palatine”Mom’s internet has not been working since last Sunday (August 9), and I have already spent close to ten hours on the phone with tech support. The worst part is that each time you have to go through an AI agent that tries to send you back to troubleshooting, and you can’t explain that this’s your tenth call about the same issue and that you’ve already done all the troubleshooting. On Friday, a technician finally came to my mom’s house, but even there, he was unable to identify a problem and said that he would pass the call to another technician and that someone would call me later, but no one called, and I had to start the process all over again. My mom has a hotspot on her phone, but it was a project to teach her to enable it and to reconnect after she walks away from the computer.
On Saturday, I gave up and called another internet provider (the one I have my service with) and asked them for a new line for her. Unfortunately, they can only come on August 21. I still have a second appointment with her current provider on Wednesday, but I can’t spend that much time away from work, as there are more things I will need to address in the near future. The reason I am not canceling it is that I want my mom to get at least “some” internet sooner, and also, if for whatever reason, the Friday appointment would be delayed (things happen!), I want to have at least a temporary solution.
I could not imagine it is even possible to deliver such poor customer service! I wanted to cry on Friday night when I got off my last call with a human – it lasted 40 minutes, including all the wait time, and there was no satisfactory resolution of our issue. I left them a “zero” review the next day. 😂
my experiences with data, coding, reading and other life musings...
Foto, travel, St.Petersburg, Stokholm, Tallin
Data Platforms, Built on Trust, PostgreSQL, AI-Ready Architecture, and Enterprise Trust
Jeremy Schneider
A journey of curiosity and unfinished thoughts
Shaken, not stirred
Information about SQL (PostgreSQL & SQL Server) from the Asylum.
Chasing Wellness
Curiosity to Infinity
SQL help, examples, tips
Musician and Network Engineer
Living life to the fullest
Life in Copenhagen, Denmark, after moving during Covid-19.
Spontaneous Blogger! Doze on Sunday @7 PM IST
a written collection of souvenirs
ramblings of a crazy lady living with MS
Every Family has a story to tell..........Welcome to mine
Travelling without Limits
