Apple Pay? Not so Fast…

Posted on November 3, 2014 by

I have a shiny new iPhone 6. I got it specifically to use Apple Pay. We have had to replace debit cards 3 times this year, due to no fault of either the bank/credit union or us. Every case was some sort of retailer or card transaction processor data breach. The huge increase in security of Apple Pay was the killer app driving me to acquire an iPhone 6.

But we live in Bumfuck, lower Michigan. Technology is not rolled out first here, never mind that we are less than 30 miles from the second largest city in Michigan. The last time my daughter visited, she looked at her iPhone and said “EDGE?!? I can’t remember the last time I saw that.”

We called our credit union, and after we told them what Apple Pay was, they told us they were thinking about considering implementing it.

We went to a nearby credit union that was on the Visa list of participating financial institutions. They are too small-time to have been included in the initial roll-out, and have no idea when Apple will allow them to implement it.

We called the local Fifth Third bank, also on the Visa list, and they did not know what Apple Pay was. But after checking around, they are “in the process of implementing it” and have no idea when it will be ready to use.

I called the local Chemical bank, and they insisted that it was solely up to the retailer and had nothing to do with the bank. They are wrong.

We have no Chase bank, no BofA, no Wells Fargo or Citibank.

We do have USAA auto insurance. Later today my husband is calling them, because their implementation of Apple Pay began working today.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Tardis Handwarmers

Posted on June 10, 2013 by

 

13 - 1

I made Tardis handwarmers for my daughter-in-law. No pattern was used, I simply did a little math, dividing the stockinette portion into 3 roughly equal sections of 8 rows each: before the thumb opening, the thumb opening, and after the thumb opening.

 

 

 

Posted in Knitting | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Hermione’s Hat

Posted on April 2, 2013 by

 

Image

In the last Harry Potter movie, Hermione wears this cute cable and eyelet hat. I wouldn’t know this as I haven’t seen the movie. But I ran across the pattern, and it was pretty without being fussy or overly feminine. I knitted it for myself. It should have fit me perfectly, as I have a very small head and the hat was said to run a bit too small for the average adult. Unfortunately, I knitted the pattern exactly as written instead of going down a needle size. The result was a hat perfectly sized for a normal head, but not mine.

I mailed it to my daughter-in-law along with the Tardis case. It will perfectly match the fingerless gloves I made for her earlier, being made from the same ball of yarn.

The pattern I used is Hermione’s Cable and Eyelet Hat by Jackie Lauseng.

I will make one major change when I knit it again. I will relocate the eyelets to be in the middle of the cable’s straight section instead of immediately before the cable twist row. I may put 2 rows between the eyelets rather than one.

But isn’t this a very pretty hat?

Posted in Knitting | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Tardis Kindle Case

Posted on April 2, 2013 by


IMG_0063

My daughter-in-law is a huge Dr. Who fan, and she loves reading on her Kindle. When I saw this pattern for a Tardis Kindle case I knew I had to knit one for her. And so I did.

I mostly used the pattern by AmericanWitch on Ravelry. I didn’t do Judy’s Magic Cast On so I had to sew the bottom shut. Guess I had better learn that cast on soon! Now I just hope it will fit her Kindle!

Posted in Knitting | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Sleep Compatibility

Posted on February 5, 2013 by

Jim and I are lucky to be sleep-compatible. This makes sleeping in the same room and bed easy. I feel sympathy for any happily married couple who are not sleep-compatible. What I mean by this is preferring, or at least tolerating, the same conditions for sleep, in terms of temperature, touch, light and sound.

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Applesauce Walnut Muffins

Posted on February 2, 2013 by

I made a new post on my food blog, TF Diabetic. Check out the sugar-free, gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free yumminess! Applesauce Walnut Muffins.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Seemingly Gay Guy

Posted on January 30, 2013 by

Ladies, do you trust the seemingly gay guy behind the brand-name cosmetics counter at the upscale department store? I have always believed I could, even should, trust him. The ladies there, not so much. Until today, anyway.

Yesterday I made a Major Cosmetics Shopping trip to Grand Rapids. All my cosmetics were so incredibly (and unsafely) old that I threw them out when we made the move here.  I have tried a few drugstore brands during this year following the move, but found them unsatisfactory. So hypoallergenic Brand Name it had to be. My skin is sensitive, and I think what mine senses is price tags – meet the price minimum or it will turn brilliant red, break out in a rash, and peel.

Ever since my hair has become almost entirely grey I have had a hard time choosing cosmetic shades. The old trusty colors don’t work so well. And when I arrived at the Brand Name counter, I found that the few shades that did still work were discontinued. I put myself into what I assumed were the capable hands of Seemingly Gay Guy behind the counter. And I accepted his choices of shade for me, after telling him I preferred soft roses and pinks.

This morning I played with my new toys  applied my new products, and I hate every single color. They are all brown-based shades. Plum-tinted brown blusher. Brown-tinted violet eyeshadow. Browned plum lipliner and lipstick. Brownish-violet eyeliner. Have I mentioned yet that I hate, hate, hate brown makeup? Seemingly Gay Dude was not even able to look at my pink-alabaster skin and choose the right shade of powder! No, he gave me a shade of powder that goes on darker than I am when I am suntanned, with not a touch of my natural pink. Worse, he gave me 2 products that were not even the ones I requested.

It’s not that it doesn’t look okay. Jim likes it. But it’s a very made-up look, a fakey-tan look that is using the colors that might be natural on somebody with skin 3 shades darker than mine. I hate it, and now I have to drop yet another 3 figure sum of money on replacement shades that I do like.

Posted in Inconveniences, Life in the USA, Shopping | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments