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Two voices I loved, gone by their own hands: Chester Bennington committed suicide today, on Chris Cornell's birthday. Cornell committed suicide in May.
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Okay. Once upon a time, my AVG anti-virus software version was free and worked great. Then about two years ago, I agreed to a free trial of the paid edition for one month. After one month I figured I could return to the free version if I wished, but no, when the paid version expired it nuked everything. I was forced to pay for the paid edition just to get my anti-virus back. So I've been paying for that and for some occasional tech support since.
In March, on the phone, I was given a discount of $50 off if I renewed AVG "Total Care" early, thus $149.99 instead of $199.99. I spoke to two people and was somewhat confused because they were confusing but was given the impression it covered everything.
Not so, because I just got an e-mail that my anti-virus software will expire July 24. Renewing the software for a year is $109. The $149.99 just covered technical support. The $199.99 might have covered both. Maybe. That was the impression I just got over a long phone call with a phone guy and his supervisor. I asked them why the hell I would agree to a $50 "discount" that would only lead to me paying $109 instead later, but they both were insistent that it was explained to me correctly in March and it's my fault I was confused and maybe next year I should do them as one thinginstead of trusting their sales people on the phone. The supervisor was absolutely unyielding on any of these points, no breaks or deals offered, just "pay up this year and pay up again next year (and we'll probably game you on tech support again)," and sounded glad to end the phone call. He probably thinks I'm an hysteric.
I didn't renew tonight since I have a few more days before I have to and I am way too upset to throw more than another hundred dollars at these people right now, especially given my luck with them over the phone. What are you guys paying for your anti-virus software?
In March, on the phone, I was given a discount of $50 off if I renewed AVG "Total Care" early, thus $149.99 instead of $199.99. I spoke to two people and was somewhat confused because they were confusing but was given the impression it covered everything.
Not so, because I just got an e-mail that my anti-virus software will expire July 24. Renewing the software for a year is $109. The $149.99 just covered technical support. The $199.99 might have covered both. Maybe. That was the impression I just got over a long phone call with a phone guy and his supervisor. I asked them why the hell I would agree to a $50 "discount" that would only lead to me paying $109 instead later, but they both were insistent that it was explained to me correctly in March and it's my fault I was confused and maybe next year I should do them as one thing
I didn't renew tonight since I have a few more days before I have to and I am way too upset to throw more than another hundred dollars at these people right now, especially given my luck with them over the phone. What are you guys paying for your anti-virus software?
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The swelling is almost completely gone from my left ankle and I'm mostly walking without a brace, which is especially great because it's rough wearing braces or orthopedic boots in weather this hot.
I had a nice July 4th, though it figures that the one year I don't go to the roof of Rentar Plaza to see the Macy's fireworks show is the one year where they actually do have amazing new fireworks to display. I caught the end of that show later on TV. I did end up watching part of a fireworks display in one of the most Queens way possible: parked in my car on a deserted street between a graveyard and an industrial warehouse and looking off over the graveyard to see the fireworks going off near a factory. I had a great view.
Also a rather Queens way to see fireworks: a few blocks from my house as I was driving around looking for a parking space that night local guys were setting off trays of illegal fireworks and asked me to stop my car since they'd just lit the fuse. I was fine with that, especially since I got to see some cool fireworks up close. A minute after that I heard a very classic Italian-style Queens accent yell out, "The Five-Oh! The Five-Oh!" and everyone picked things up and scattered.
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In all my talk of the recent acceleration of old NYC being torn down or disappearing because it can't afford the rent, I didn't even consider or worry for a moment about a favorite store that had always just... been there, Strawberry at Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street. I was naive, because now it's long gone. The bit I could see through the window was stripped down to bare white wall, and I have no idea what the massive back section looks like. I say this because this Strawberry was far larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside. Between that and its arrangement, decor, and stained glass (of trees and flowers), I long joked that it was actually a TARDIS. You can get some small idea of what the interior looked like from this 2007 entry. The photos don't really give you a look at the circular ceiling sections painted to look like sky. This was a discount clothing store!
And now it's gone. I hope the stained glass panels found a nice home but I doubt it.
(There are other photos in the entry, and if anyone looking at them is saddened by the shots of grimy decrepit sculpture, click on the "i. miller building" tag at the bottom of the entry to see the recent beautiful restoration.)
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Between my limping laptop and the lack of fan conversation, I haven't been going online every single night. I never realized before how much of my participation in fandom required nightly live conversations to be worth it to me. It doesn't help that it's summer and thus quieter than usual.
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Several years after I wrote that arc, I've discovered that "Doppelgänger I love you" by Zeromancer is a great song for the Austria section of "Glass Houses." I still think about this stuff.
I had a nice July 4th, though it figures that the one year I don't go to the roof of Rentar Plaza to see the Macy's fireworks show is the one year where they actually do have amazing new fireworks to display. I caught the end of that show later on TV. I did end up watching part of a fireworks display in one of the most Queens way possible: parked in my car on a deserted street between a graveyard and an industrial warehouse and looking off over the graveyard to see the fireworks going off near a factory. I had a great view.
Also a rather Queens way to see fireworks: a few blocks from my house as I was driving around looking for a parking space that night local guys were setting off trays of illegal fireworks and asked me to stop my car since they'd just lit the fuse. I was fine with that, especially since I got to see some cool fireworks up close. A minute after that I heard a very classic Italian-style Queens accent yell out, "The Five-Oh! The Five-Oh!" and everyone picked things up and scattered.
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In all my talk of the recent acceleration of old NYC being torn down or disappearing because it can't afford the rent, I didn't even consider or worry for a moment about a favorite store that had always just... been there, Strawberry at Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street. I was naive, because now it's long gone. The bit I could see through the window was stripped down to bare white wall, and I have no idea what the massive back section looks like. I say this because this Strawberry was far larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside. Between that and its arrangement, decor, and stained glass (of trees and flowers), I long joked that it was actually a TARDIS. You can get some small idea of what the interior looked like from this 2007 entry. The photos don't really give you a look at the circular ceiling sections painted to look like sky. This was a discount clothing store!
And now it's gone. I hope the stained glass panels found a nice home but I doubt it.
(There are other photos in the entry, and if anyone looking at them is saddened by the shots of grimy decrepit sculpture, click on the "i. miller building" tag at the bottom of the entry to see the recent beautiful restoration.)
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Between my limping laptop and the lack of fan conversation, I haven't been going online every single night. I never realized before how much of my participation in fandom required nightly live conversations to be worth it to me. It doesn't help that it's summer and thus quieter than usual.
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Several years after I wrote that arc, I've discovered that "Doppelgänger I love you" by Zeromancer is a great song for the Austria section of "Glass Houses." I still think about this stuff.
Meme: Pick any story I've written and comment to this post with that selection. I will then give you the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet: what I was thinking when I wrote it, why I wrote it in the first place, what's going on in the character's heads, why I chose certain words, what this moment means in the context of the rest of the fic, lots of awful puns, and anything else that you’d expect to find on a DVD commentary track. At least as far as I can remember!
My fic lives here.
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My left ankle isn't injured as badly as it first seemed; I don't know if the injury itself wasn't as bad as last time (as my ankle rolled this time I fell onto grass and soft ground instead of grating myself on concrete) or if I did better on-the-spot care (I went home more directly after the injury, instead of needing to wash pebbles and dirt out of filthy open abrasions on my hands and right knee, and applied pressure a few times on the walk home) or a combination of those. It's neither as badly bruised nor as swollen, and I've been walking on both feet at home for a few days and with a brace on the left ankle outside now, though I cut way down on my walking, especially the first few days, to rest it.
It still hurts when it touches things, like my shoe, and sometimes when I walk but it's not as (temporarily) crippling as it first seemed.
My fic lives here.
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My left ankle isn't injured as badly as it first seemed; I don't know if the injury itself wasn't as bad as last time (as my ankle rolled this time I fell onto grass and soft ground instead of grating myself on concrete) or if I did better on-the-spot care (I went home more directly after the injury, instead of needing to wash pebbles and dirt out of filthy open abrasions on my hands and right knee, and applied pressure a few times on the walk home) or a combination of those. It's neither as badly bruised nor as swollen, and I've been walking on both feet at home for a few days and with a brace on the left ankle outside now, though I cut way down on my walking, especially the first few days, to rest it.
It still hurts when it touches things, like my shoe, and sometimes when I walk but it's not as (temporarily) crippling as it first seemed.
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