Sunday, July 13, 2025
In February, I opened a Belk Rewards+ Mastercard account because they were offering the best price on a pair of Nine West pumps I wanted with additional incentives if approved for the Rewards+ Mastercard. See later references for the cost of the Nine West pumps.
The illustration below shows all of the purchases I have made with the card
since late February 2025.
When I first opened the account, my tier level was at the Insider level. Recently, I received a new card because my tier level was updated based on
my spending since February 2025. On the right, illustration of the old and new
cards.
Since getting the card, I have received any number of incentives to use the card including great prices on items I have wanted for awhile and about $35 in rewards (my birthday is in July).
How did I spend $380 using the Belk Rewards+ Mastercard? In early July, an email explaining- that if I spent $75 outside of Belk, I would get $20 in rewards. I used the card at the cobbler last week ($25), however, I do not think I am going to hit the $75 threshold by the end of the month.
The other expenditures using the card, all Belk online purchases are shown
below in the order they were purchased from earliest to latest.
Nine West Menora Caramel slingback pumps, purchased for spring and
summer.
BOBS from Skechers a gift for a relative.
The next order consisted of 3 items. A note about the cookware. Although, I
have some rather expensive cookware for use with a glass top stove, I wanted
something a little less "used" for content creation. The $40.99
price for the 19 pieces I paid for a clearance package- was perfect. Also, I
cannot tell you how much I love my Vince Camuto jacket. When I first tried it
on, all I could say- "Hi, me." It is lined, tailored, and perfect. Yes, I used to purchase things like
the jacket as part of a suit, all the time.
The next order also consisted of multiple items including personal garments on
sale and a gold shimmer Vince Camuto knit top.
The last order, arrived yesterday and consisted of two kitchen items I
needed or wanted. The coffee mill was needed because the one
I use now works with a rubber band. The counter top single burner, I wanted also
for content creation and to be able to use a cast iron pan. I also had reward
dollars to use by the end of the month, hence the reason the order came to
$25.29 for both items including taxes.
Yes, I love my Belk Rewards+ Mastercard.
Friday, July 11, 2025
I had a couple of errands to run today, so I decided on an old black dress that until today, I had never worn and the tan/khaki summer knit sweater.
It was so hot and humid today, that by the time I finished my first errand- I had my hair in a ponytail.
Details about the black dress can be found at this link, however the dress is no
longer available. Shown below, details about the order I placed on June
25, 2019 for the dress. The Calvin Klein Women's Ninette Black Patent slings were purchased in September 2019 and
are one of my favorite summer heels.
Last week, I went by the King Cobbler shop in Columbia, MD to have taps replaced on two shoes. One of my Calvin Klein slingbacks needed a new tap. I am so very happy my Calvin's are wearable again. I could not get the tap out. The other shoe repaired was one of the Aerosoles Black Suede pumps. The tap was missing. Not sure when I lost it, however, happy it is ready for fall wear.
Below a short video of the outfit I had on today.
I have a busy day planned for tomorrow. Hopefully, things will get back on track.
Tuesday, July 08, 2025
In that I have very little time for video content creation, I am always looking for ways to make the time I spend trying to create this content as effortless as possible.
Currently, I use a number of cameras, software, lights, and other hardware
devices to create video content, including:
- DJI Osmo Pocket 3
- Canon EOS M50
- DJI Mic 2
- HP Laptop w/Windows11 Pro
- ULANZI LM001 Magnetic Mini Light for DJI Osmo Pocket 3
- HP H10H Headset
- Davinci Resolve 19
- Various other lights
The biggest problem I have with my current setup involves voice over creation. It may be that I am still learning the ropes with the Davinci Resolve 19 software (which I absolutely love), or the free version I am using has a few limitations.
Whatever the case, I do not seem to be able to connect via bluetooth both the DJI Mic 2 and HP H10H Headset and have the Davinci Resolve 19 software activate the mic.
Though the software recognizes each bluetooth connection, for some reason it disables the mic after (Davinci Resolve) startup. Yes, in the settings I ensure the mic can be used by Windows apps and programs and that each device is connected before I start the Davinci Resolve software.
Software installed on the HP Windows 11 Pro that does recognize both bluetooth devices, i.e., DJI Mic 2 and HP H10H Headset, includes:
- Snipping Tool (screen recorder)
- Sound Recorder (voice over, audio recorder)
The following video demonstrates the Windows' software audio
recording output.
Note, in the video I used the audio from the Snipping Tool screen recording, however both the audio files from the Windows Sound Recorder and the Snipping Tool sound the same.
I wish I had more time to figure out why I cannot use Davinci Resolve to create voice overs, however for now, I am going to use the Windows software to create the audio files.
In the future I hope to do more with the sound quality using the many features offered by Davinci Resolve.
Saturday, July 05, 2025
I have been staring at a problem with the WiredPages Business page for just over a week and for some reason I am baffled as to what to do about the problem. The problem relates to 3 applications on the Business page which use the Federal Reserve API resource.
Accessing the FRED API in my local development mode to make the same calls
(business page calls)
produces no errors. Accessing other online
applications making calls to the FRED API throughout many of the pages of
WiredPages are also not producing errors. Just the errors for the 3
applications on the lower half of the business page- illustrated below.
I have been looking into many problems over the past two weeks. Many of them I have been able to correct, however, I decided to sit down and not do anything else about the above issue.
Why? I do not like why this is happening. See the FBI category associated with this post. Can I do something else to fix this? Yes, however it is the wrong push and I am not sure why this was done again.
Instead, I am thinking about why I like being a girl. Recently, I noticed
Belk had an undergarment style I like for everyday use on sale for $16.99. I
ordered 5 of the items in various colors. The order total came to $84.95, so
to avoid the $10 shipping fee I also ordered the Vince Camuto top shown
below.
Styles I own that work with the new Vince Camuto top are shown below.
Styles I want to own to pair with the top.
Below some of the links to the items discussed in this post. Unfortunately the slacks are wholesale pieces and I cannot provide the links.
- Vince Camuto Shimmer Tank Top
- Beige Fitted Pencil Skirt
- Nine West Floree Woven Slingback
- Crystal Dangle Earrings
I would need to spend $39.00 (Nine West Slings) and $17.90 for the Amazon Pencil Skirt, however cannot justify the spend. If I come up with the girl logic, I will let you know.
FBI, I have been working with logic for a great many years. My applications should not have the problems I have outlined in this post. I am 'only' using logic in this case and sometimes the hats I buy are too small. Too much interference. I said no.
Friday, July 04, 2025
It was a long end to the month of June with more issues than normal.
The problems began on Sunday, June 22, 2025 when the air conditioning failed. One electrician, an HVAC tech, and two plumbers later everything is repaired, however, it was a very hot two days.
I have been out and about over the last two weeks, however, did not have a lot of time to post about outfits.
Yesterday, I was out again for last minute items for today, (4th of
July), and other errands, so I decided to share my outfit of the day.
As noted in the illustration above, I received a package earlier in the week, containing new undergarments I needed because of weight loss. I decided to get the Vince Camuto summer top because it was on sale and I need more short sleeve tops to wear underneath jackets. I think it is going to be a long hot summer.
Below, a short video of the outfit I wore yesterday.
Happy 4th of July!
