Things still aren't slowing down.
Last post I had gotten my new Xfinity Router. The "setup in 10 minutes" actually took only about a half hour - mostly. I got it going, and had to change wifi names/passwords on all my devices - not a huge task, because that means a phone, TV, and my Kindle. And my smart speaker. Ahem.
I've mentioned my smart speaker before. Rob gave it to us to try to get us into the 21st century. And I use it - a lot. No - it doesn't turn on my lights, or set my thermostat, or make my tea. But it starts my morning with a weather report and the news, and the rest of the day I use it as a radio, and it's nice if both hands are busy in the kitchen and I need a timer I can just yell it out.
That speaker (used to be called a Google Portal but now it's a Nest) is likely 8-10 years old. The screen died a couple of years ago but I never watched videos in the kitchen anyway. But otherwise it still worked. Until day before yesterday, when I tried to connect it to the new router and it just didn't happen. Long story short - after about 3-4 hours of trying different things, using YouTube, Reddit, Google searches, ChatGPT, and various resources on Xfinity* I had to admit that the two technologies were just too out of synch with each other.
*At one point, after a long exchange with the Xfinity chat bot, it finally suggested that I try the live chat (human being). After a long exchange with the live chat, they gave me a phone number to call. When I called, the phone robot said their representatives were busy and I should try live chat. I finally talked to a human who did his best, but we both finally gave up.
I ordered an Alexa dot. That was Monday. Tuesday was something Completely Different. The museum was getting a young barred owl from a rehabber in Central Florida. We're about 4 1/2 hours away. Everyone else was busy, so they asked if I could go meet him halfway in Lake City. I don't like driving, but it's pretty much a straight shot of about two hours.
I had A Plan. We were to meet at 12:30. I planned on getting there (A big gas station at the junction of I10 and I75) by 12, so I could allow for any traffic and rain (it did rain), and be able to walk around, have a sandwich, and generally relax a bit before driving back to the museum. I pull in at 11:50 - and the guy and the owl were already there. So we did the hand-over. Because of the rain and overcast it wasn't too hot, but I'm never leaving an animal in a car for more than a few minutes. I hit the lady's room, grabbed a coffee and a bag of nuts, and headed back to the museum.
It was a long day - but isn't he cute? Only four months old.
When I got home, my Alexa had arrived. I set it aside to grab a shower and a leisurely late lunch/dinner. Then what the heck - set up the Alexa dot. Honestly - not much to it - until I asked it to play my music. The main thing I use my smart speaker for is music. I have YouTube premium, and all my playlists are on YouTube music. How was I to know that Alexa doesn't support YouTube music? Heavy sigh. I would need to switch to Amazon music. And if I want to make a curated playlist, sign up (and pay for) Amazon Music +. What a bother. So I packed it back into the box.
This morning I went on line to submit for a return. It's back to the Google smart speaker for me. All I want is the equivalent of the Alexa Dot. The Google mini is about twice the cost. This time I think to ask if it can play YouTube music. Sure - no problem - just cast it from your phone. Fornicate that. If I have to use my phone, I'll just play music on it.
Fine. Apparently I need the Google Nest. Hmmmm. $140. And I have to go to the bother of returning my $34 Alexa Dot.
I walk away and go to the cottage to work on my puppet. And think about how much I am married to my YouTube playlists. Honestly, not really. I don't have "curated" lists. I just have songs lumped together. When I'm listening, "Hillbilly Bone" by Home Free might be followed by "Le Val de Amour" from the Notre Dame musical, and I like it that way. For $106 I think I can manage to create a new playlist. I've got that started, and I even got the morning routine programmed in (day, time, weather report, and headlines).
I did have to change the voice. The default Alexa voice is so perky and upbeat that I knew first thing in the morning I would want to grab that speaker and strangle it. I have a more mellow male voice on it now.
So in the last two weeks I've set up a new TV, a new Xfinity router, and a new smart speaker (also a new CD player but all I had to do was plug it in). That's enough.
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