STAPLES REWARDS - CASHED IN

 I am proud of my knowledge about recycling but there is so much info out there it's good to have connections.  Electronics-recycling is not as easy as it should be.  I used to take stuff to the Best Buy store near me, in Caesar's Bay.  What I don't really like is they lump Recycling Desk with their Customer Service Desk and there's almost always a long line at the Customer Service Desk.  It's kinda silly, because they only do that to make sure the stuff people try to drop off are acceptable to them.  They charge for recycling TVs and computer monitors of certain sizes.  It's a good thing that a friend from my local Buy Nothing group told me about Staples' recycling program.  It takes more than just electronics stuff!  Pens and writing instruments, alkaline and recyclable batteries, inks and toners, and even TVs and computer monitors, free of charge.  Once a month, I visit the Staples store in Linden Commons to recycle whatever I gathered that time of the month.  You do have to register with Staples, so your recycled items can be tallied and points earned.  I used the points to buy a ream of paper here and there, a few times to buy pens, not stuff that I really want but hey the points may expire so why not just use them.  This past week I splurged for a webcam.  Recall that a few weeks back I thought Camo Studio was such a cool thing?  Free software to connect an old iPhone to use as a webcam, that is cool, right?  It still is, it is just that my old iPhone is, well, just too old.  The battery doesn't last and the connection to the computer, via Camo Studio, doesn't seem to last that long as well.  I still need a webcam after all, something to mount above one of the two monitors connected to the Lenovo laptop.  The laptop has a built-in webcam, but in its closed state sitting on the side, the webcam is unusable.  I got the cheapest webcam available, some LogiTech 720p/30fps model.  All the other models are priced from $100 and up.  Yike, is that the effect of tariffs or what?  Already?  Anyway, if you have a Staples store near you and you are as passionate as I am about recycling, register with them.  I am old-fashioned and still enjoy walking into a store and look around.  Maybe you are too.  If you don't want to bother with the points, i.e. you buy all your stuff on-line, then just let the points expire.  It's good to recycle.  Staples is trying to be a good corporate citizen, or maybe there is money to be made, we should support them either way.

GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT FOR MY SON

 After over two plus years from graduation with a degree in Game Design, my son finally landed a job.  I blame it partly on COVID-19.  He missed his summer intern jobs.  Even though he attended graduation ceremony in May 2022, he had to do some project that finished in August 2022.  Maybe he didn't send out enough resume, or maybe the game companies weren't hiring, he got nowhere.  He took an online web-design course with other programming classes but that didn't help either.  I got him to help me with my local Buy Nothing Swap Meet, just volunteer work but it helps to get him out of the house and meet people.  I also got him to work as a poll worker, again just for the experience.  I always think of working for the Board of Election the equivalent of serving jury duty or being in the military.  It's mostly civic duty, the pay is not much, if you don't count the tuition military people get afterward.  But now, a few weeks back, he finally landed a job, something more steady, even though it's not related to his study.  At this point, something is better than nothing.  The interesting thing is he was hired as a part-time worker, just a few hours on a few days during the week, then a block of eight hours on Saturdays.  Some other kid was hired full-time but his performance was not good enough.  He was terminated and my son became a full-time employee.  Talk about being in the right place at the right time.  It's also about who you know, since we learned about the job from a friend's daughter.  It's my hope that my son continues to work on his game and some day publish it and it becomes a killer app.  Hope for the best but dream a little, too.  Congratulations, son!

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY, GOVERNMENT!

 Ugh, another week that I need to work hard to find something positive to write about.  On the CityStrides.com web site, I have stiff competition in Staten Island, NY to regain my number one spot, but a morning walk that would get me at least five streets completed had to deleted.  I forgot to stop the Strava app when I started driving to work.  I was able to crop the route in Strava, but I already deleted the activity in CityStrides, somehow it wouldn't sync again.  Oh well, what else...?  Oh, right, the stock market crashed, rich people were cued to buy low, then President Inside Trading halted the tariffs so the market would go back up and rich people got richer, what's not to like?  Speaking of poor people get poorer, it is almost Tax Time.  This year I was diligent and dropped off my paperwork with the tax accountant almost a month before the April 15 deadline.  The person there that evening scanned the documents and gave the stack back to me.  Supposedly I only needed to answer a few simple questions in their web portal, then three weeks later the tax forms would be done.  When the time came, I called hoping to pick up the completed paperwork but some grouchy woman said they were running behind so it wasn't ready.  Another week went by and I called again, this time I asked if I would need an extension.  The woman on the phone, someone different from the one last time, said somehow there was only a Schedule C in my file.  No W-2, bank statements, the usual lot!  Luckily, she offered to take care of it first thing in the morning, a Saturday, if I can bring the documents in.  I followed through and next day by the time I had a late breakfast, all was done.  I owed some money but at least it's over, for this year.  That's the silver lining I had to dig deep to find, so sad.

CAMO STUDIO = COOL STUFF!!!

It has been a rough week.  I did not think I can find something to write a Happy Note about.  Dump and his co-President continue to wreak havoc to the U.S. government, economy, whatever they can touch.  The weather is cold again, some spring we have.  I was coughing and sneezing after dinner a few nights in a row, had to turn in early for the night.  Today, I was tasked with making use of two monitors and a set of mouse and keyboard.  Sounds like an easy task, since I do have an old Lenovo dock.  Only issue was I connected the USB-C cable to the wrong port on the dock, for a few minutes I was sad that I wouldn't be able to use the monitors etc after all.  The better news, worthy of a Happy Note, is that I was able to use an old iPhone as a webcam for the laptop that's connected to the two monitors and set of keyboard and mouse.  Laptops do come with built-in webcam but in its closed position the webcam cannot be used.  Entered Camo Studio, a little program that makes everything works together.  You need to install it on the computer first then the companion app is needed on the phone itself.  Click 'Pair A Device' and you are presented with a QR code, use the Camo app on the phone to scan that.  In the beginning, I didn't have the phone app ready and the Windows program switched to pairing by file.  Just cancel that and you will have the QR code again to scan.  It really works!  Well, I didn't actually make any video calls yet but the preview looks good.