A New Column about my odd experiences with tech devices
Monday Morning Rant – July 14, 2025
(Originally written as a Facebook post)
First, the Good News: ☕️☕️☕️
After a month without coffee (because it was too expensive and the weather has been too hot), I’m once again starting my day with a healthy dose of Folger’s Black Silk coffee with milk and sugar! Suddenly, I’m getting a better night’s sleep, and my energy and mood have improved.
Now, the Bad News: 💻🖥📱
Automated communications and electronic devices in general are still the bane of my existence.
- BGE online and by phone is (are?) broken. I was a mostly satisfied customer: paperless bills with email reminders of payment due dates. Until June, when the email reminders stopped, and I was suddenly unable to log on to the website! The login algorithm is stuck in a loop of error messages. Whose fault is that? Is Microsoft software the problem? Is the unreliability of Verizon Internet to blame? Or is it BGE’s “high volume of calls” resulting in “longer wait times”? And no, I can’t use the self-service options. Because They Aren’t WORKING!
Currently, I’m waiting for a callback from BGE (Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.).
- Firestick TV and Paramount+ are a joke! Thanks to my unreliable (Verizon) Internet connection, I have to unplug/re-plug everything (router, Firestick connections) daily before I can watch my favorite and only subscription streaming channel (Paramount+) at night. (Please! No comments from the Peanut Gallery about the impending sale of CBS/Paramount to Skydance.)
Much like the never-ending loop of BGE log-in errors, Paramount+ has its own errors. Like forcing me to re-watch episodes I’ve already seen instead of updating the “cache” to the next sequential episode I haven’t yet watched. Or, when I finally fast-forward to the desired episode, only to be told that the video I’m happily engaged in “is not available. Please try again later.”
I’m “this close” (the width of a hair) to chucking all my devices out the window.
End of Rant.
Who’s Watching What? – July 23, 2025
Last night (July 22, 2025), while I was happily binge-watching Season 22 of NCIS on my Firestick TV, I stopped watching the screen to check my cellphone for a few minutes as the credits were playing. Glancing back at the TV screen, I saw the following strange message:
Are you still watching NCIS?
Yes ___
No ___
Don’t show this message again ___
I was too flustered to take a screenshot before I clicked “Yes”. But I also said out loud, “What the hell is this? Is Amazon tracking me???
Fortunately, I haven’t seen this message again.
But I’ll definitely be tracking Amazon—and any other platform/websites I use.
Advertisers Are Watching Me! – July 25, 2025
| As I do every night before falling asleep, I was playing Solitaire on my phone, and as often happens, advertisements appeared onscreen. An ad for a Wayfair product I’d browsed earlier appeared at the bottom left corner of the screen, showing three angles of the product. When my eye drifted down to the ad, whichever angle my eye focused on was suddenly enlarged in the corner! I tested each angle, and sure enough, when I focused on it, it enlarged! |
How creepy CREEPY CREEPY is that???
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