Potpourri

Cool weather again today. I've got most of the windows open. It rained all day yesterday - literally. All day, from sprinkle to downpour and back to sprinkle. And still the DirecTV installer showed up. Poor guy. At least there was no lightning. It was very humid yesterday, too. I had some cleaning up to do before the installer came, and I got pretty sweaty doing it. (Changed clothes before installer showed.) I sweat a lot, and I hate it. When I mow the lawn, for example, I have to wear a headband so the sweat doesn't drip into my eyes. And by the time I'm done, my shirt is very wet. Even when I work inside on a hot, humid day, I sweat a lot. It's a family thing. My brothers and nieces sweat like crazy, too.

I'm having mixed feelings about DirecTV, but I'll keep it. First, and most annoying, is that it won't work with a TiVo. I've had my TiVo for awhile but I don't think I've had it for three years, which is what I signed up for. (Cheaper that way.) So unless someone can tell me how to make the TiVo work with DirecTV, or vice versa, I'll have to cancel TiVo.

I got a DirecTV DVR, which works almost the same as TiVo, and I suppose I'll get used to it. But I'd still rather have the TiVo.

One thing I don't like about the DVR is that it won't autotune. (Autotune is where you program the channels you want to watch, and the receiver changes the channel when the time comes.) I used autotune with DishNetwork a lot because one of the two receivers was located in the living room but controlled the TV in the bedroom. In the afternoon and evening I would just program the shows I wanted to watch and not have to worry about getting up and changing the channel. It's a great feature when you're in bed. Setting the DVR to record doesn't help because the channel doesn't change to record a program. It will stay on whatever channel it's on while recording whatever it's recording. This is better than the TiVo in that I can watch one show while recording another, and I can record two shows at the same time. (This is probably not an issue where everything is digital, but when I signed up most everything was analog, so the only option was to record and watch the same show.)

Since I already had the TiVo, and no clue that it wouldn't work with DirecTV, I decided to put the DVR in the living room, which means it controls the TV in the bedroom. Now that I know the TiVo won't work, and that the DVR won't autotune, I'm going to have to change the locations of the two receivers -- put the DVR in the TV room and the non-DVR receiver in the living room. That may sound easy, but there's a trick to it! The installer told me that there was one box that should never be unplugged, and I'll probably have to unplug that to move the receivers. I have the installer's phone number. I think I'll call him and ask. Maybe he'll come back and change them for me.

All this is why some people just don't like change.
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I decided to try the new stuff at Pizza Hut. I started by ordering online, which I never did before. I did that because I could see what I wanted before I ordered it. Ordering online was easy and, if I ever order from Pizza Hut again, I'll probably order online.

I ordered two of their new "Tuscani pasta" dishes, Chicken Alfredo and Meaty Marinara. (There's an option to order "pasta pairs" where you get two half-pans for one price.) I also ordered their new "Wingstreet Wings." I got the mild buffalo wings, which were good and with just the right amount of spice for me. I ate all the wings and some of the Chicken Alfredo pasta. I wasn't happy with the pasta. The chicken bits were only on the top of the pasta, which means they were added later rather than cooked into the pasta. Also, the only real flavor was in the top "crust" that must have been the layer of cheese that was mentioned in the description. Without that layer, the pasta would have been extremely bland, as the pasta underneath was. For that reason I have to say I'll never order that dish again.

The meaty marinara is still in the refrigerator. I'll eat it tonight.

The order came with "breadsticks" which didn't suck! All the flavorings were on top, so when I took a bite I held the breadstick upside down so the flavor was on my tongue. If I bit rightside up I would hardly taste the flavorings (butter, garlic, parmesan cheese). I actually didn't eat those until just a minute ago. I'll give them a passing grade.
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When I did the outside work a few days ago, I wore shorts, of course. It was quite warm. I knew I should have sprayed myself with mosquito repellent, since I knew the little nasties were active. But I didn't. Today I have at least ten itchy mosquito bites on my right leg. The odd thing is that I don't have any on my left leg or anywhere else! Go figure.
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I got this photo from a friend. I thought I'd share it with you.
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