Friday, 2 October 2026

 

Someone dumped this Kyocera 4630 at the transfer station last week, and while I'd planned on just doing a quick sale (if it'd sell, and I think it would), I'm reconsidering this in light of the fact that I don't have a backup phone. With the recent balance transfers, I know that I can't afford to go through the phone company that Mother and I use to get a new one, so maybe holding onto this isn't the worst idea. It's an old-school-style flip phone without all the fancy smartphone capabilities of the older-model Samsung S7 that I use, but I'd be okay with that if it meant not having to blow more money on a communications device. The back door to it looks like it might need replacing, but otherwise it seems physically intact.

Review-wise, this "rugged" model gets great feedback from users. What I'm immediately impressed with is the pleasure of once again finding an easy-to-access battery. The last replaceable battery phone that I had? The compact red Samsung Juke (which I still wouldn't mind having a newer model of) that I carried around Los Angeles with me. Whether the phone works (and how well) is still the big question, but it does attempt to charge the battery when it's plugged in, so that's one operational bonus. I'm not big on the "just in case" aspect of things, however with things shifting uncomfortably fast in this Trump-tainted world, it might be a good idea to go back to the Silent Generation's mindset.

I got paranoid around 3 a.m. this morning and had to go out to the lawnmower shed. For whatever reason, I started searching on storage methods for propane tanks and, because we've got one in the shed, learned that it shouldn't be in there. That meant that I had to get up, work my way through the car tent to the lawnmower shed, go to the back of the shed, get the tank, then bring the tank out. I couldn't think were to put it until I looked at the giant propane tank next to the woods, which keeps the house going, and decided that'd be good for now. I didn't have a concrete block to put under it, but I put one of the discarded black weights down to keep the tank off the ground, then set a plastic tub over it to protect it a bit from the weather. These littler tanks are apparently good to keep outdoors until the temperature gets around 40-below.

Buddy wanted to go with me this morning, so I ended up taking him with me to the bank and to the chiropractor--albeit, leaving him outside the room, as he gets protective and bite-y if someone touches "his" human. The nerve along the front of my left thigh has been troubling me again, more with numbness than with the pain that came about after surgery in February. Still blows my mind that nobody gave a damn about addressing that pain, even though it arose the day after surgery. Afterwards, we went to Mel's in Escanaba so that I could buy him a bag of his dry dog food, followed by quick stops at a rummage sale in Escanaba ($3 for a blu-ray copy of "Good Will Hunting") and a church's rummage sale in Rapid River (a bag of clothes for $9).

Upon getting back to the house, however, I opened the door and noticed something smelled. I'm hoping it's not mice underneath the house--the smell would be stronger if they'd gotten inside--however it might just be that the house hasn't had a good deep cleaning in a while. I took some Murphy's Oil soap and wiped down the paneling in the short hallway going to the front door, then a little bit of the hallway outside the bathroom and just inside the kitchen, and just cleaning that wood and the floor seemed to help considerably.