18 March 2024
Another day in paradise! The mornings are still cool and it makes the walks pleasant. I did 0.7 miles today on a different route along Riverland Road. You’ve got to be careful on Riverland even if you are on sidewalks. Rocky and I were almost mowed down several years ago by a kid reaching down inside the car while steering and not realizing he was heading straight towards us. His girlfriend screamed and he recovered at the last moment. We wouldn’t have stood a chance.
The NextDoor App had a litany of complaints about speeders along Riverland Road (35 mph) and they reported an accident along Riverland right where I walk by. Someone once warned me about wearing ear buds while walking and I took that advice. Cars are quiet enough as it is and, at least, if you don’t wear ear buds, you might be able to hear one coming up behind you.
I had a 1 pm appointment with the Genius Bar at the Apple Store to see what’s going on with my iPad. It will not recognize my home WiFi and the Bluetooth doesn’t work. When I met the guy, he solved the WiFi problem – it had to do with the virus protection network (VPN). He wasn’t able to solve the Bluetooth and so he’s sending it off to be looked into. I’ll be without it for a week. It’s under warranty but if it is something my fault – like water damage – there’ll be a $49 fee. I did notice that if it wasn’t under warranty, it would be $500.
While I was at the store, I went ahead and purchased a new MacBook Pro. My old one (2017) was no longer updated by Apple and the keyboard had always given me trouble. I’ve been thinking about a new one for quite some time but waited until I knew I would be in the Apple Store. The purchase went very quickly even though my credit card was denied. I had to check the phone for a text and approve the purchase so he could run it through again. When that happens you know it’s an expensive purchase.
For those of you who are computer literate, I opted for the M3Pro chip with 12 Core CPU, 18 Core GPU, 18 GB Unified Memory, and 1 TB SSD. SSD stands for Solid State Drive which a lot of computers have these days as opposed to Hard Disk Drives (HDD). SSD’s are faster than HDD’s. GPU is Graphics Processing Unit and CPU is Central Processing Unit. Core refers to how many tasks it can handle at one time.
As usual, the Apple Store was packed and I forgot to wear my mask. I’m sure I was probably exposed to Covid. Keep your fingers crossed.
Actually, I still feel pretty good today. I don’t know if it is the anti-depressant working or I’m recovering faster from the Herceptin treatments. I still have balance issues due to the neuropathy and I have to be careful walking. Oh yeah, I also forgot my cane today. It was lucky I didn’t face plant.
In between buying the computer and getting to the Genius Bar, I had to go to the bathroom. They sent me to the food court. You’d think that mall would have more bathrooms than at the food court. I guess I could have gone to Macy’s and hunted for one there but I made it down to the food court and back in time for the appointment.
Tomorrow afternoon is physical therapy with Shannon.
Stay tuned!