Finally Got It!
2023-09-30T00:32:55Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
How exciting it is to finally get a vaccine dose! It feels like getting a PS5!
So some things I learned along the way:
- Book morning slots. As learned previously, pharmacies don't keep real-time records of their inventory so if you booked a later time-slot, you risk them running out of supply by the time your appointment comes around.
- With CVS in particular, the displayed availability may not represent reality. However, proceed with booking the time-slot to lock it for 30 minutes THEN call the pharmacy to confirm that their supply is good. Locking your time-slot is especially important with high-demand vaccines since they go really fast (the PS5 experience!)
- CVS phone-tree: 1 (pharmacy) -> 7 (speak to a pharmacist) -> optionally 2 (no, if they try to sell you their app)
- Call about a few hours before your booked appointment to confirm the pharmacy still has supply
- Have a backup plan using walk-in pharmacies or other appointments
- For CVS, keep watching for time-slot openings. As mentioned above, they come and go fast.
- For CVS, keep info@alerts.cvs.com on your mail server's allowlist. Block all others.
Final timeline:
16 Sep 2023: First attempt. Cancelled due to shipment not yet received. Receive dose of flu vaccine though.
25 Sep 2023: Rescheduled second attempt. Cancelled due to insurance not yet covering Pfizer.
26 Sep 2023: Rescheduled with Moderna and third attempt. Cancelled due to depleted stock.
29 Sep 2023: Self-cancelled 3 Oct 2023 after seeing original location suddenly has ample time-slots. Kept in touch to ensure their supply was good up to an hour before my appointment. Received dose. Confirmed with them that they just received their shipment just the day before.
3rd Cancellation
2023-09-27T19:18:51Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
I've been trying to get that ever so elusive updated COVID shot and just had my third cancellation!
Timeline so far:
16 Sep 2023: First attempt. Cancelled due to shipment not yet received.
25 Sep 2023: Rescheduled second attempt. Cancelled due to insurance not yet covering Pfizer.
26 Sep 2023: Rescheduled with Moderna and third attempt. Cancelled due to depleted stock.
3 Oct 2023: Rescheduled with Moderna and fourth attempt.
Lesson learned: the pharmacy does not have real-time inventory updates and so there is no correlation with time-slot availability and what's actually in stock. As such, it's better to take a morning slot and also to call ahead to confirm availability.
Visual Voice Mail
2023-09-26T01:19:24Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
I've been relying on the backend SMS messages to determine whether new voice mail came in.
However, today, something glorious happened! Visual voice mail worked on my PinePhone! Exciting!
Bones
2023-09-22T19:03:13Z via Identi.ca Web To: Public CC: Followers
I walk into the office with the Fossils movement (I just refer to them as bones) from Carnival of the Animals in my head and this is what I hear when I sit at my desk and play the radio!Breakfast Scramble
2023-09-22T18:50:41Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
This is still the best thing from 7-Eleven:
We’re Safety Now Haven’t We
2023-09-21T01:16:38Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
https://www.cpsc.gov/Were-Safety-Now-Havent-We
If these are in the public domain, will they release the stems too?!
BBC News Bulletin 17:00 GMT
2023-09-06T19:21:39Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
I normally catch their 17:00 GMT news bulletin broadcast during my morning routine.
Today, I was treated with a hot mic from master control as they troubleshoot why we can't hear the news reader.
I guess it was to avoid dead air but I wish my local public radio station did this during technical difficulties instead of playing standby music. It's much more interesting to listen to!
Disney Plus Restorations
2023-09-05T20:30:23Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
I recently discovered the restorations that Disney has been doing: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-to-debut-28-newly-restored-walt-disney-animation-studios-classic-shorts-to-celebrate-disneys-100th-anniversary/
What a delight that the orchestration is re-recorded! The sound of the chamber orchestra for some of these shorts are so clear and crisp!
Really wish WB does the same with Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes...
Hex-and-Axe
2023-08-25T19:35:38Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
As mentioned before, I'm still working on GOW, which is still really fun to play.
My strategy of abusing my companion has now shifted to hex-and-axe since my companion is now an adult with increased abilities.
Enemies are now keeping their guard up so ranged attacks on their own are becoming less effective. However, if I hex an area nearby, the enemies stay where they are on-guard and I can explode the area for splash damage. This strategy is really effective against those pesky dark elves that throw instant-death landmines if they move around: throw the axe to trigger their on-guard phase and then follow up with the hex-and-axe splash. Repeat.
This is what I love about this GOW: the gameplay is very dynamic and none of my deaths feel cheap.
Where's the Smoker?
2023-08-24T19:01:07Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
Encountering second-hand smoke and want to find its source so you can stand up-wind?
Well, just look for the no-smoking sign! That's usually where you'll find the source!
I wish America would treat smoking like they do with alcohol: no public consumption except in contained licensed facilities!
I wish that too, and everywhere! 😒
Come Study Physics
2023-08-23T20:50:04Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
I encountered this image and the runes part got me especially since I'm still working on God of War (so good!). My mind goes there when I encounter any runic topic these days...Healthcare Providers
2023-08-22T02:06:46Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
August is my maintenance month from vehicle, papers, to physical health.
I noticed something though: I saw no men in my healthcare visits (including vision and dental) from reception to provider.
Maui emergency official defends decision not to sound sirens
2023-08-17T20:43:12Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
“Had we sounded the siren that night, we were afraid that people would have gone mauka,”
For me, a blaring siren (outside of expected test range) means to turn on the radio (or other similar medium) for further information/instructions. I (and I hope others) wouldn't act on hearing a siren alone.
HBO Legacy Ad-Free
2023-08-16T21:25:27Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
I was about to cancel my HBO renewal to transition back to Amazon Prime channels now that's back to make use of my large gift card balance.
However, I noticed the following about the legacy ad-free plan I'm on:
“Legacy customers have access to 4k and Dolby atmos and also stream up to 3 devices at the same time. Whereas the regular ad-free plan will have 1080p resolution and stream on 2 devices at the same time. You keep your Legacy status only when your subscription is auto-renewed. Once the subscription is canceled, you will lose the Legacy plan, and would not get it even if you resubscribe. Currently, there is no date when this 'Legacy' plan will be stopped by Max but they will notify if that changes in the future. ”
So I think I'll stick with this plan for now until they eliminate it before switching back to the Amazon Prime channel method.
@d6chung@identi.ca that's how they getcha. Do you really use those figures? Does 4K do anything for you other than eat up bandwidth?BlackBerry and Cocaine Bear
2023-08-11T20:29:24Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
With a recent flight comes more movies!
BlackBerry was well-paced and engaging so 0 Mai Tais needed. I did enjoy seeing the rise and fall of the beloved BlackBerry (oh how I miss it...). SungWon Cho has some screen-time! BlackBerry will propel his on-screen acting career, yes? Also enjoyed seeing Saul Rubinek!
Just for fun, I also did Cocaine Bear with low expectations. It knew what it was and delivered but I felt that as the story was approaching its climax, the writers were running out of ideas. You may need to sip on 1 Mai Tai to make it to its conclusion.
I also saw and enjoyed Till but unfortunately, that's a 2022 movie.
2023 ranking so far:
Oppenheimer: 0 Mai Tais
BlackBerry: 0 Mai Tais
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret: 0 Mai Tais
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: 0 Mai Tais
Cocaine Bear: 1 Mai Tai
Ad Block
2023-08-11T19:13:21Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
One annoying thing that AC does on their flights is broadcast ads after their safety video. Worse is due to the bilingual nature of Canada, you get double the ads!
Even worse is that their current safety video has an ad built into it: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=lMVHgnHjwBU
However, on my recent flight, the flight attendant who queued the safety video intervened and stopped playback when the ads came on! I wonder if that was some operational violation but I certainly welcomed it!
Dangerous fungus is becoming more prevalent. Scientists believe climate change could be to blame
2023-08-02T00:41:16Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
https://apnews.com/article/dangerous-fungus-climate-change-new-york-c1b5ab8f4232a5f2320929dae3b80200
As expected, they mention TLOU in the final paragraphs.
CORDYCEPS!!
Oppenheimer and Others
2023-07-24T19:23:44Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
Wow! I haven't seen a movie until this past weekend? I got to enjoy Oppenheimer on laser IMAX so I was able to enjoy how it was intended to be seen, which was a delight.
Overall, the movie felt fast-paced and somehow that 3-hour running time didn't feel that long at all! With so much happening, you'll have to pay attention to the dialogue and what's on screen so 0 Mai Tais for this one!
I watched Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves during my flights.
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret caught my attention because of the Simpsons people involved and it was pretty good and engaging! 0 Mai Tais needed for that one too! Hans Zimmer scored this!
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves was also good and it knew what it was. I wished the visual effects looked better but that didn't impact the enjoyment of this movie. So 0 Mai Tais needed!
2023 is starting out well so far!
2023 ranking so far:
Oppenheimer: 0 Mai Tais
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret: 0 Mai Tais
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: 0 Mai Tais
Checking in with United
2023-07-19T16:51:30Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
I may have already mentioned this but checking in with United requires me to modify the DOM as it obfuscates my frequent flyer number and disables the input but then fails validation because it doesn't like the asterisks it added itself!
Speaking of airline websites, I also have to watch the network traffic while navigating Air Canada's website as it tends to be aggressive in 403'ing my VPN connections while the front-end is unresponsive to it!
Isn't it fun to have the browser inspection window open while navigating websites?
You know you lived in Hawaii a long time when...
2023-07-17T01:16:32Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers
...the shaka is your default hand gesture when driving.
I meant to wave at someone I knew on the street with an open-palm gesture but a shaka came out instead! I guess given the locale, that still worked.
