Heads Up, Masks On
1) Cat elevator
2) I watched all of Cursed and The Old Guard. I found the early part slow going and there are a number of sections I just forwarded through. Things picked up by the final three episodes. I wasn't terribly interested in it, but given its conclusion I'm now curious to see where they'll go in S2. Lots of possibilities with Merlin, curious to see if Nimue will become the Lady of the Lake (S2 could go quite differently with new cast), the knights are coming together and I hope Iris dies a violent death.
I also watched The Old Guard. I quite liked it. I don't have that much to say about it, other than I realized I'd confused the actor playing Booker with Edward Holcroft who co-starred in London Spy with Ben Whishaw. Also, heck of a coda to it! But what was most striking was that after seeing it, Netflix recommended "similar" features to it. In not one of them was there a female lead or even more than one woman in the cast. I was not enthused.
I may have mentioned that Mike and I have been watching Vera. We got most of it through Acorn, and a few seasons through Hoopla. But neither had S3. So we got it through Netflix DVD, which is frustrating because the Vera discs have one episode per disc. And it's not like there are special features taking up the space. They could put the whole season on 1 or 2!
We're two episodes in now and have been peeved by various things not adding up. Mike quipped "Well, I guess we've solved the mystery of the missing S3 -- they were trying to bury it."
3) Heads Up on Gift Cards which may be particularly popular this holiday season.
Mike was given an Amazon gift card by his graduating students. This proved timely as I have been looking for farro in our store for months now and it hasn't been restocked. Unfortunately, the card wasn't working. Amazon only gives you a "not valid" message so after going through chat, and then a phone call, it turns out the card wasn't activated when purchased. This could be, of course, because it was shoplifted. But it could also be because it was bought third party and the purchaser was scammed. More rarely it could have been a bait and switch by the cashier, though this would be verifiable on some receipts which will record the card number.
Regardless, it's an awkward position for him to be in since he doesn't know which student actually purchased it and without a receipt which showed the card number, even the student would be out of luck in taking it back and getting it activated. Luckily it's not a large amount so we're just letting it slide. But in searching for options I saw that some people have been out hundreds of dollars because cards were never activated through error, and then when receipts didn't show card numbers they were not able to get this fixed.
4) So our third and final batch of masks came in today and they were another disappointment. Despite the sizing mentioned on the site for several of these, they shifted around with mouth movements. While the mask at bottom, the only polyester and thus non-accordion one, was large enough in coverage, it not only shifted but it was loose enough due to the very thin elastic that there was a good sized air gap under the chin.
Mike had liked these masks not only because, by measurement, they should have been large enough to work and they have a wire up top to fit around the nose, but because of the attached ribbon, allowing them to be pulled off temporarily and hung around the neck. The elastic also has a bead on it for adjustability, although I found when trying them on that they already needed to be entirely open to fit without pulling on the ears. It could come in handy when the elastic weakens though.
These are open up top for a filter, but in trying to get one in and to stay in place, this didn't seem to be a good placement, as the filter kept bunching up and rising out the top. The other masks we have either have an opening in the center or at the ends.
There was a slight chemical smell to them out of the bag but not too bad.
Since these masks were coming from India they took 15 days to arrive. However from the time they were shipped to arrival (via Fedex) was just 3 days and the shipping charges were $5 so that was quite reasonable. What was not great was that the site had a minimum order amount of $25, which is why we ended up ordering 3 masks rather than just 2 as with the others. But overall the total cost was $33.79 which was the cheapest of the three.
We were puzzled by the black mask enclosed. It's largely useless as it's of a thin t-shirt fabric (meaning it absorbs liquids) just one layer and thus also does not accommodate a filter. Maybe that's why it was enclosed as a freebie? Mike thought he could wear it while walking when he's not expecting to run into anyone anyway. So he tried it out and found that the mask is SO thin that he kept inhaling it as he breathed. So much for that. Maybe in the winter as a layer over another mask?
I should mention that he bought several more sports-themed masks himself from two different vendors. Both their sets of masks proved to be too small. Two of them were a double layer polyester mask that would at least be water repellent, but while they are particularly wide across the face, they barely cover his chin if pulled over the nose. This seems a particularly odd sizing choice since it's the nose and mouth that are important. I suspect it has more to do with image cropping than safety. But at least it has double elastic to fit around neck and head for a more secure fit.
He has now used masks in the classroom and said that the only one that worked for him was the XL one from Madison Stitch, which provided coverage, and remained secure while he spoke. He will try these new cotton ones from eShakti though since the initial fit is ok and he'll need at least 2 each week.
5) Our apartment complex emailed all residents that they had to abide by the city ordinance banning gatherings of more than 10 people and the requirement to distance and wear masks at all times. I haven't seen or heard anything but I'm guessing the message was sent for a reason. Welcome back college students!
View poll: Kudos Footer-214
Comments at Dreamwidth
.
2) I watched all of Cursed and The Old Guard. I found the early part slow going and there are a number of sections I just forwarded through. Things picked up by the final three episodes. I wasn't terribly interested in it, but given its conclusion I'm now curious to see where they'll go in S2. Lots of possibilities with Merlin, curious to see if Nimue will become the Lady of the Lake (S2 could go quite differently with new cast), the knights are coming together and I hope Iris dies a violent death.
I also watched The Old Guard. I quite liked it. I don't have that much to say about it, other than I realized I'd confused the actor playing Booker with Edward Holcroft who co-starred in London Spy with Ben Whishaw. Also, heck of a coda to it! But what was most striking was that after seeing it, Netflix recommended "similar" features to it. In not one of them was there a female lead or even more than one woman in the cast. I was not enthused.
I may have mentioned that Mike and I have been watching Vera. We got most of it through Acorn, and a few seasons through Hoopla. But neither had S3. So we got it through Netflix DVD, which is frustrating because the Vera discs have one episode per disc. And it's not like there are special features taking up the space. They could put the whole season on 1 or 2!
We're two episodes in now and have been peeved by various things not adding up. Mike quipped "Well, I guess we've solved the mystery of the missing S3 -- they were trying to bury it."
3) Heads Up on Gift Cards which may be particularly popular this holiday season.
Mike was given an Amazon gift card by his graduating students. This proved timely as I have been looking for farro in our store for months now and it hasn't been restocked. Unfortunately, the card wasn't working. Amazon only gives you a "not valid" message so after going through chat, and then a phone call, it turns out the card wasn't activated when purchased. This could be, of course, because it was shoplifted. But it could also be because it was bought third party and the purchaser was scammed. More rarely it could have been a bait and switch by the cashier, though this would be verifiable on some receipts which will record the card number.
Regardless, it's an awkward position for him to be in since he doesn't know which student actually purchased it and without a receipt which showed the card number, even the student would be out of luck in taking it back and getting it activated. Luckily it's not a large amount so we're just letting it slide. But in searching for options I saw that some people have been out hundreds of dollars because cards were never activated through error, and then when receipts didn't show card numbers they were not able to get this fixed.
4) So our third and final batch of masks came in today and they were another disappointment. Despite the sizing mentioned on the site for several of these, they shifted around with mouth movements. While the mask at bottom, the only polyester and thus non-accordion one, was large enough in coverage, it not only shifted but it was loose enough due to the very thin elastic that there was a good sized air gap under the chin.
Mike had liked these masks not only because, by measurement, they should have been large enough to work and they have a wire up top to fit around the nose, but because of the attached ribbon, allowing them to be pulled off temporarily and hung around the neck. The elastic also has a bead on it for adjustability, although I found when trying them on that they already needed to be entirely open to fit without pulling on the ears. It could come in handy when the elastic weakens though.
These are open up top for a filter, but in trying to get one in and to stay in place, this didn't seem to be a good placement, as the filter kept bunching up and rising out the top. The other masks we have either have an opening in the center or at the ends.
There was a slight chemical smell to them out of the bag but not too bad.
Since these masks were coming from India they took 15 days to arrive. However from the time they were shipped to arrival (via Fedex) was just 3 days and the shipping charges were $5 so that was quite reasonable. What was not great was that the site had a minimum order amount of $25, which is why we ended up ordering 3 masks rather than just 2 as with the others. But overall the total cost was $33.79 which was the cheapest of the three.
We were puzzled by the black mask enclosed. It's largely useless as it's of a thin t-shirt fabric (meaning it absorbs liquids) just one layer and thus also does not accommodate a filter. Maybe that's why it was enclosed as a freebie? Mike thought he could wear it while walking when he's not expecting to run into anyone anyway. So he tried it out and found that the mask is SO thin that he kept inhaling it as he breathed. So much for that. Maybe in the winter as a layer over another mask?
I should mention that he bought several more sports-themed masks himself from two different vendors. Both their sets of masks proved to be too small. Two of them were a double layer polyester mask that would at least be water repellent, but while they are particularly wide across the face, they barely cover his chin if pulled over the nose. This seems a particularly odd sizing choice since it's the nose and mouth that are important. I suspect it has more to do with image cropping than safety. But at least it has double elastic to fit around neck and head for a more secure fit.
He has now used masks in the classroom and said that the only one that worked for him was the XL one from Madison Stitch, which provided coverage, and remained secure while he spoke. He will try these new cotton ones from eShakti though since the initial fit is ok and he'll need at least 2 each week.
5) Our apartment complex emailed all residents that they had to abide by the city ordinance banning gatherings of more than 10 people and the requirement to distance and wear masks at all times. I haven't seen or heard anything but I'm guessing the message was sent for a reason. Welcome back college students!
View poll: Kudos Footer-214
Comments at Dreamwidth
.