Trying to Enjoy the Holiday

 Today is Independence Day, July 4th, 2021, and at 7:00am, I wonder how much of the day am I going to enjoy? Yesterday, rain descended upon the Valley (a rare occurrence) and from the time I noticed it (afternoon-ish, as I hadn't been outside, and slept in that morning) it continued on into the later evening hours. A nice half-day rain that we could always use in the desert, but one that will leave today feeling the extra mugginess of humidity. Which may end up putting a damper on some of the outdoorsy stuff going on today, including the later afternoon swim/eat at a friend's house, followed by fireworks after dark. Fat people like me, just don't care for that muggy feeling after the rains, and makes us sweat a lot.

The keyboard that came with the desktop PC I Purchased ... I don't remember how long ago, has finally met its end days. I thought it had, that is. The 'painted' letters on several of the keys, have worn off completely. I am sure if I plucked off a key or two, it would show inches of accumulated dust, dead skin, food debris, etc, that has fallen under the keys over the years. I had been putting off getting a new keyboard as I have adapted to the spacing and layout of this one. Granted, aside from the letters missing off the keys, the support legs broken off the back, the rubber 'feet' that keep it from sliding on the desktop non-existent, I had no desire to keyboard shop, and the possibility of not finding something I liked. But the mouse started acting wonky, as well. Would not left-click at times, scroll wheel not working right, LED reading and putting the mouse all over the screen. Both were USB plug-ins, and I finally decided new ones needed to happen to replace some of the aged/worn out devices.

About a week ago, I found a decent deal through Amazon for a wireless mouse/keyboard combo at a decent price. They keyboard was different in style than what I have, but not terribly so, and the mouse was a tad more basic than the gaming mouse I had been using. So I bought it, with an expected arrival date of  7/7 - the day I leave for North Dakota. Sigh. Surprise!! It came on Saturday, so I was able unhook the existing keyboard/mouse (a chore, since I had to get to the back of the Desktop - a feat not done in a long time) and opened up the box. As I pick up the keyboard, the space bar falls onto the desk. Huh? This is starting to not look good.....

Yup, seems the space bar key had somehow become unattached from the rest of the keyboard, but made it inside the package. I unpacked the rest of the box, and no extra pieces of plastic, or springs, or anything that appeared to be broken pieces, were in the box. I checked the shipping box - it was in good shape, as was the product factory box, sealed with tape like from the factory. I easily re-aligned the space bar key, and pushed it into place. It 'sat' a little crooked, leaning down more on the left, but pushing on it, seemed to work fine. Until, you start typing, theneverything startedtolooklikethis. Discovery was made that the space bar only typed spaces, when you pushed at the exact center of the bar, with harder than usual typing pressure. I sighed. I didn't want to mess with reporting faulty product, or having to return it - do I have to pay for that as well? I've never had to before...

I spent the rest of the day trying to make it work. I played games, I surfed the 'Net, I practice typing stuff in an empty word document. Yeah, this was just not going to do. So this morning, since I am awake at 6am (sigh, alarm was set for 8) I made a quick run to QT for some Coke and a couple jalapeno sausage dogs, and sat down to contact Amazon. Well, I'll be surprised... it was easy to return the item. And free. I just need to re-pack it, tape the box up, and drop it off at the UPS store, which is just up the road a mile. I also requested they send me another one, which is due to arrive the day I return from North Dakota. In the meantime, the old keyboard/mouse are hooked back up, and seem to be working just fine. I hate hanging on to something I don't need, but I may end up keeping the old ones later on as back-ups, you know, just in case.

Well, I am supposed to be making deviled eggs for the party later today. I kind of blew it off yesterday, though we did get the eggs boiled at least. Which means this morning/early afternoon I need to get off my butt and get the shells off, and make the yolk stuff. I boiled up two dozen eggs, so it'll be close to 48 eggs - minus one or three for taste-testing - and I am going to try something a little different with about a third of them. Decided to spice them up a bit, and will place like a sliced jalapeno in each egg's yolk area, then finely dice up jalapenos and add to the yolk mixture, which is then placed on the slice, then maybe add another slice on top. I only picked up a small can of jalapenos, so may end up with the one slice and the rest being added to the mix. Figured it sounded good, and worth a try. I may wait another hour or so before I start on that mess.....

So, that's how my 4th is going so far. May yours be better, and remember why we celebrate today.

PeacE