Saturday, December 02, 2023
In late October, I wanted to purchase a gift for an upcoming birthday. I had the option of using a credit card, the existing balance in my PayPal account, or opening a buyer's line of credit with my PayPal business account and getting a $20.00 discount on the purchase.
I chose the latter because of the $20.00 discount. I do have credit cards that offer rewards, however the rewards did not equal nor surpass the $20.00 savings by opening the new line of credit.
I made the purchase on October 25, 2023 and paid the entire balance off on October 29, 2023 when the bill came due (had until November 22, 2023 to make the first payment).
I was also happy to add another creditor to my credit profile, in that credit reporting agencies indicate part of the reason my credit scores are not perfect- is because I do not have installment loans nor a mortgage.
I was a little concerned about the hits my credit scores would take with a new credit inquiry. This because, late last year when I opened two new credit cards, I noticed that though my scores initially went down, were almost back to where I started by late summer of this year.
The following illustration shows my current credit scores from TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian. If you zoom on the graphic- you will see the recent score history from each organization.
Keep in mind, I never carry a balance on my credit cards, nor will I with this new line of credit from PayPal Buyer's Credit.
Was the new line of credit worth the slight dip in my scores? Yes. I received a $20 credit on the purchase and a new creditor who will show every month that I am never late.
Do you want to ask, "What are you going to do, now that Mint is closing its doors?" I have not decided. That said, I am going to miss Mint.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Since August 2023, I have been tweaking the new MS Access Database that maintains affiliate links and data for my Amazon Stores.
Yesterday, I added two new fields to each "store" table of the database:
- Video - if available the video I created demonstrating the product
- RelatedPost - if available the post where I discuss the product
The following graphic shows one of the forms with the new fields and the raw HTML output of the WriteHTML VBA module.
The second illustration shows the new fields on the store page.
I was going to provide a video of how the new database features work, however at this time I am just too overloaded with issues. A family member's unexpected health issues has left me scrambling to come up with alternative ways to handle errands that cannot go unattended.
I keep thinking, I just need one more me. No worry, I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.
Saturday, November 25, 2023
Again, this year it was a quiet Thanksgiving. I did most of the grocery shopping on Wednesday, November 15, 2023 because I also had a birthday celebration in the works. Completed the grocery shopping on Monday, November 20, 2023.
Started cooking for Thanksgiving on Tuesday and pretty happy the meal turned out as planned.
It's been a busy week, with everything going according to plan except an issue with one of the cars. Just some of the projects I have been working...
- Updated the Microsoft Access database that maintains all of the affiliate links for my Amazon Stores. So happy this project is mostly complete.
- Holiday meal preparations
- Online holiday gift shopping
- Wrapping gifts
- Minor holiday decorating
Lowkey holiday spending on the table this year. Several issues with cars and other repairs which may turnout to be expensive.
Last two days...
All things considered, pretty upbeat about the holidays, and hoping you and yours are in the spirit as well.
Sunday, November 19, 2023
For about six months, I have halfheartedly looked for a new android since the case on my old one is cracking due to an enlarged battery. I tend to use my iPad Mini when not on a PC.
In late September (2023), a Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 with 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM went on sale at Costco with a savings of $100.00 (Original Price: $299.99). I opted out at that time, however noticed on Monday, November 13, 2023 the same unit on sale for $110.00 off (my cost: $189.99), so I ordered it.
Some of the specs on the unit I purchased.
The android arrived, Wednesday, November 15, 2023, however, because of other plans, I noticed problems with my sites and the Chrome browser that came installed on the new unit, however, did little else.
On Friday, I began playing around with the Samsung Chrome browser settings without much success. Keep in mind, my sites and the many applications I develop and use on my sites, all render correctly on all of the old equipment and browsers.
Long story short, to get the Chrome browser on the new Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 android to render my sites correctly, I had to reinstall the CORS Filter to my Tomcat/conf web.xml file that for some reason had been removed by my web host.
In addition, I had to change most of the calls to my applications and update and recompile many of the Java servlets I use on my sites. Below, some of the Java source files I had to update.
The research, updates to site pages, and update & recompilation of the Java source files which execute my programs- took most of the weekend and I still have a bit more clean up.
I am happy I decided to purchase the new android, and very happy I was able to see problems that I previously had not known existed.
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
I have been so busy lately. Some of the things I have been up to...
- Holiday and birthday celebrations.
- Installation of the Microsoft Access Database engine on a relative's PC to handle a custom database application.
- Update of my Microsoft Access Database and Visual Basic Access code to handle updates I needed to accommodate changes Amazon is making to their affiliate program.
- Playing around with my new Nelko Label Printer for a Youtube video.
- Research for my new WED2C Shop
I have been editing the video shown in this post since about 7:00 AM this morning, and I have a Zoom meeting- I need to participate in today at 1:00 PM, so I rushed a little bit. Why not wait, and finish later? I have too many other projects I need to work on.
Things I wanted to highlight about the Nelko Label Maker printer include:
- Changing the print orientation for each label
- Paper Size Options
- Charging time
All of the above items I searched on when setting up my printer and found no answers.
I did not search on whether or not I could include a custom photo or image to a label, however, pretty impressed this option is available and discussed in the video.
Items discussed in this post:
Monday, November 06, 2023
Since 2017, I have been integrating Alexa devices throughout the house.
Almost immediately, I noticed the reception from radio stations was better
through Alexa devices rather than regular FM stations, so at the same time- I hooked
up most of the new Alexa devices to various stereo receivers and amps that were already
in the house.
This post provides a video of how some of the Alexa devices are used.
The most frequent uses for Alexa in my environment include:
- Streaming Music
- Streaming Security Cameras
- Information Requests
- Timers
- Intercom
Years earlier, before 2017, I hooked up the television in the family room to the receiver/amp and the four older floor speakers in that room. When I added an Echo Dot for streaming music, all I had to do was purchase an RCA splitter and add the 3.5mm (Echo Dot plugin) with a two male RCA plugs on the other end to the existing configuration.
All of this worked well, until recently, when I decided I wanted to create content in the kitchen, which is right off the family room and the television noise.
In December 2018, when I setup the Soundbar system discussed in this post, I noticed for the first time the term "Optical Audio" and noticed the cable included in the box, for this type of connection. That said, I used the 3.5mm cable with the 2 RCA plugs to connect the Echo Dot to the soundbar system. To date, none of my Echo devices support the Optical Audio feature.
When I was searching for a solution to quiet the noise from the television,
I checked the back of the Verizon Settop Box and noticed something labeled
"Optical Audio". So I checked Amazon and found headphones I thought
would be perfect.
Then, I remembered testing another older stereo system in the guest bedroom using a
pair of old headphones that belonged to my father. I checked to see if the
amp in the family room had the jack on the front panel I needed. It did.
Muting the quad speakers via the amp in the family room and plugging in the old headphones is going to work, however I would love to test the more modern Optical Audio jack using the headphones I linked to above. Have you used this type of connection?
