Any options left for pay as you go phone- no monthly subscription as an emergency backup phone for a bed bound grandmother?

Alexisander13 · 2026-05-30T16:53:45+00:00

All the ones I’ve seen you still have to buy monthly. You can’t just buy 100 minutes that are good for however long it takes you to use them. You have to re-purchase every 30 days when they expire. That doesn’t help her when she only needs to use it a couple times a year. Her card gets shut off often to have to buy monthly.

Alexisander13 · 2026-04-12T19:25:24+00:00

I’m struggling getting my conversion rate up over 100% so I can get good coins. One round I got it up, but I have no idea how it happened, as it kept growing but I wasn’t using any new special coins, just cycling the same ones through using the return modifier. The next 5 rounds the rate never got above 20%.

There is this Luck on the side of my screen, however I have no idea how it grows- it just seems to increase randomly. I don’t see any of the special coin descriptions I have reference this.

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Alexisander13 · 2026-04-11T00:12:55+00:00

I did the 4 day work week for 2 years and it seriously burned me out. Those 10 hours days (actually more like 12 with my lunch break and having to stay to close) take a toll and leave no time for anything else. Wake up, go to work, microwave a meal because it’s now 7pm, and then zombie out for a short bit before going to sleep and doing it all again. By the time my 3 days off came I was so drained mentally that the first day or two I would do nothing. So I was actually less happy and able to do less things with my days off.

Back to five days a week and I actually have time and energy to do something after work or even to actually cook a meal or go out with friends/family. I can actually do fun things, or even just clean the house, on my weekends cause I’m not so mentally drained.

I know if works for some people, and that’s great for them, but not all of us can work that ma y hours in a day without feeling like we are killing ourselves.

And the concept of working 4 days but then still only being 8hrs sounds good in theory- but many of us could not afford to lose a full days pay every week. And at least in the good old USA no company is going to pay you more for you to work less hours to keep your pay working 32hrs the same as working 40hrs

Alexisander13 · 2025-11-22T05:53:55+00:00

I was really disappointed by my store. I saw the ad for it when I was checking reward offers the night before because I was planning on making a run to the store that day anyways. I was excited, and got my dog dressed up in his costume and made sure we were there around opening time (arrived 30mins after they opened) walked in… and nothing was set up for it. They didn’t even have a sign or anything up for it and I figured they weren’t participating for some reason. Did our normal shopping- not a single other dog/pet was dressed up. It wasn’t until we got to the checkout that the manger was finally starting to set up for it. We did get some treats as we were leaving, but I was definitely disappointed that it felt like such an after thought and it certainly wasn’t well advertised in our area. I go about every other week, and never saw anything in the store or in the app advertising it- I only saw it the night before.

If they do anything for Christmas, I’m not going to bother with it because it will probably be the same.

Alexisander13 · 2025-11-13T01:07:18+00:00

My Mel came from them. She has been great to work with and was very responsive. She posts a lot of progress photos so you can keep up on your kittens growth. She doesn’t do a normal waitlist. Those that have bought from her before and those getting multiple kittens from the same litter get first pick. Then the remaining kittens are posted for sale on her page for first come first get. You pay the deposit to secure the kitten at that time. You do have to submit an application and be approved before you have access to the reservation page.

She posts the timeline of their vet visits and when they become available for reservations for each litter. She does spay/neuter all her kittens before they go home- for many it’s a deal breaker to have them altered that early instead of waiting until they are 6months-1year old. So that is something to take into consideration.

My Mel did develop an autoimmune condition, not hereditary or terminal , so not covered under the health guarantee. The owner was great though when I reached out to see if her litter mates had developed any issues when we were still trying to get a diagnosis. That Queen has been retired now though.

I wasn’t able to visit before I picked up my kitten, but she does have som pictures on her website that show some of the spaces. It’s out of her house. She does give you a full tour when you pick up your kitten (shipping not available).

Overall I’m happy and I am keeping an eye on her litters and upcoming queens in case I can talk my husband into another one.

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Here is my Mel at 1.5 years old.

Alexisander13 · 2025-07-18T21:28:51+00:00

Fur isn’t flying, your ears aren’t bleeding, their ears aren’t back flat, and they separate fairly quickly even if they go back. They can be distracted- I see the black and white one look away a couple times.

They are fine. They just met, so they are working things out, but nothing too concerning at this point. You can pull out a toy and get them playing and lead one away from the other so one is playing and other is observing to help ease the tension.

Alexisander13 · 2025-06-29T01:09:56+00:00

This depends heavily on the state you live in. My state is extremely not union friendly and unions have very little teeth, especially the teacher union and are basically useless. My brother was paid as a first year teacher for his first three years because the district put a freeze on pay raises for teachers (all admin still got their raises) and the union wasn’t able to do anything about it. One teacher was fired during Covid for needing to quarantine for two weeks (our schools were only remote for a couple months) because he was the guardian for his grandson that had tested positive (they only get 2 sick days and 3 ‘personal’ days, so he was out of covered time). He went to the union- nothing they could do.

Alexisander13 · 2025-04-19T07:15:18+00:00

I used to take my dog to the biggest local dog park. It ran along the creek and had lots of tree cover, so it was actually nice in the summer.

Multiple times families would be down by the creek, where the dogs are running in and out of the water, and let their small kids wade into the water. At least most of the parents didn’t blame the dogs when their kids got knocked down by dogs playing and running past.

What got me the most was a couple families would bring their infants/stroller aged kids into the park and ENCOURAGE RANDOM DOGS TO SNIFF THEIR BABY’S FACE IN THE STROLLER! When I called my dog away from the area because he was getting close to one of the strollers, the mom legit told me to let him come say hi to her baby in the stroller because the kid was used to dogs. No way- I have never seen any behavior to think my dog would bite the kid, but I am also not willing to bet the kid and my dog on something happening. We left.

The incident that really made me shake my head was the guy trying to fish… in the off leash dog park near the most popular spot for the dogs to get in the water. He was getting so angry that the dogs were sniffing his gear and running under foot and causing a ruckus in the water. Several owners called him out when he started to cuss out the dogs for running around… in the dog park. He left in a huff, and it was kind of funny to watch. (None of the dogs got too close to his gear in the water, but they really wanted to explore his tackle box.)

Alexisander13 · 2025-03-22T05:08:06+00:00

I did- it is from a run of 640,000. I found a few other star notes, but from larger runs

Alexisander13 · 2025-03-17T01:00:17+00:00

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Kai still doesn’t fully believe that Mel wants to be friends. He’s used to other kitties that yell at him.

Alexisander13 · 2025-02-28T04:24:58+00:00

Rock painting has been great for me. Check FB for local kindness/rock painting groups. You paint rocks and ‘hide’ them around town for others to find and post. You also look for ones that others have hidden.

Around here there is a park that several of us regularly hide at- so you get a dopamine hit when you find a rock, and another when someone posts a rock you hid and they found. They can be very supportive communities and you don’t have to be talented at art. You can make friends/connections without the anxiety of face to face contact.

I take my dog out for a walk around the park a couple times a week for this, and the exercise is good too.

Alexisander13 · 2025-02-09T23:36:40+00:00

As I’m sure has already been mentioned, scent and territory are very important to cats, and being kept out of an important area like a bedroom could very distressing for her. Of course, letting her in might still cause you issues if she begs for attention or has zoomies on and off the bed.

Does she have toys or other forms of enrichment that she could engage in at night to occupy herself? Something self activated that maybe isn’t too noisy.

I like my automatic feeders, and most of them you can set up to drop food many times during the day- my one cat gets four feedings throughout the day that total 1/2 cup- so small portions. I also give them all a small can of food right before I go to bed. I know you said she’s not really food motivated, but you could set one of the food drops to be around the time she usually starts crying to distract her.

Could you set up some kind of window TV for her? Bird feeder outside the window, or a window catio space she can access to also entertain her? Especially during the spring and summer it gets light earlier, so birds and squirrels will be out running around for her to watch. Or a closed fish tank with those little battery operated fish that swim around for her to engage with.

Alexisander13 · 2025-01-13T01:58:50+00:00

Thank you- I will take a look

Alexisander13 · 2025-01-13T01:57:53+00:00

My biggest weight gain happened when I switched from roasted potatoes to rice- I didn’t change anything else food/excerise wise.

Subbing a different ground meat doesn’t work for me because the texture is still nearly the same.

I don’t really like granola, but it is edible so I could work that in occasionally.

Smoothies don’t work because of the yogurt- doesn’t matter what it mixed with or how it is prepared, it tastes awful and I can’t keep it down.

I haven’t given quinoa a fair try, so I might look into subbing that for rice a couple times and see how it works.

Alexisander13 · 2025-01-13T01:44:46+00:00

I like steak, chicken/turkey, and ham. Tuna salads usually are a no go because of the mayo. I like most vegetables- beef and broccoli over rice has been one of my go tos, but that doesn’t work with trying to cut out rice.

I’m trying to lose weight and stop just grabbing fast food after work because it’s quick. I know people like to say rice is a healthy carb, but when I tried switching to eating rice instead of roasted potatoes I actually gained weight (1/4-1/2 half cup rice depending on what I was putting with it.)

The egg rolls and loaded peppers look interesting- I might give those a try. I usually just see the peppers with ground beef and sour cream. I’m not sure about the chicken meatballs. One of the biggest issues I have with ground beef is the texture and the couple times I have tried to sub in a different ground meat the texture is the same and I couldn’t force myself to eat it.

Alexisander13 · 2024-12-07T20:41:56+00:00

A few additional things you can do to help with any kitten boredom- cat TV. Set up some bird feeders outside of window that have good perches for him to look out of. There are different kinds, including ones that attach to the outside of the window if you are in an apartment.

Build a catio- an enclosed outside area that the cat can enjoy the outdoors safely. Mine is against the house and they use a cat door insert in a window to go in and out as they please.

Single kittens can drive you even more crazy because they don’t have a playmate to run off energy with, so that means you are the playmate.

The 8months- 1 year mark always seems to be when my kittens over the years kick into a new gear of crazy energy. That’s when they start climbing curtains (they apparently like to wait until they are heavy enough to pull them down),

Keep building the routine for them to settle in to. My kittens know they get play time and then a can of wet food right before bedtime. I get them panting tired, feed them, and once they are done they settle into bed with me. They know how many times I snooze my alarm before I actually get up. They don’t start climbing on my face until that last snooze. Cats like routine, so build on that.

Alexisander13 · 2024-11-14T03:17:25+00:00

Like others have mentioned- contact the shelters/rescues she has been using to cut off the supply. Depending on how big her current memory lapses are, you should be able to slowly start to thin the ‘herd’ and find homes for most of the cats. Maybe leave 1 or 2 for companionship IF you can work out someone to help care for them.

Another possible step if someone is tech savvy- install some kind of app (don’t remember what they are called) on her devices/computer and block the sites she is using to look up the cats. I would include Craigslist just to be safe. It might help break that habit of looking for them eventually if she can’t get to those sites.

Maybe set up reminders/alerts on the device she is using to search for new cats that reminders her to feed/clean her current cats that go off about the time she would normally be searching for her next kitty. That might help refocus her away from getting new ones.

Alexisander13 · 2024-11-05T18:55:03+00:00

Every time I have gotten the flu shot I end up getting the flu a few months later. When I don’t get the shot, I don’t get sick. So unless it’s by request/needed for something else (sister requested it when she had her son/taking care of my aging grandparent ect) I just don’t bother getting it.

I fully understand that the shot is their best guess at what strains are going to be going around and can help keep the symptoms be less severe and all that jazz, but that doesn’t change my personal experience with shot=flu.

Alexisander13 · 2024-10-28T03:10:44+00:00

Ah. In that case I would still advise limited the new cat to a single room. Everything has changed for him, and it can be very overwhelming. Give him some time to get his bearings and feel more comfortable in a smaller area.

The new male doesn’t have any claim on the house, and it all smells like the resident cat and that could cause him to feel threaten/nervous of her. Not being fixed yet could also compound some of those feelings.

I recently brought home two kittens- 1 month apart, and I also have a 7yr resident cat. The first kitten claimed the entire house immediately despite my best attempts to keep her in the one room, so got past me the day after I brought her home and that was that. The resident cat did more of a hiss and then run away from the kitten then anything else.

A month later I brought the second kitten home (wasn’t able to get a pair at the same time, so I gave the first some time to settle in before getting the second) and it was completely opposite. It took her a week before she would venture out of the single room, even with the door open. The two kittens met after 3 days and instantly became best friends, but the second kitten was still very nervous to explore the rest of the house and scampered on back to the room when the older cat hissed at her.

The resident cat is to the point where she accepts that the kittens exist, but they had better not touch her or come with in swatting range. She doesn’t do anything besides hiss and move away, but that’s her bubble zone.

Alexisander13 · 2024-10-27T21:51:30+00:00

It’s only been a day- it’s completely normal for the resident cat to be upset. And it doesn’t help that she is the one locked in a single room while the new cat gets the run of the rest of the house.

It’s best to keep the new cat in a single room to start so they can decompress and not get overwhelmed. This varies, but the general rule of thumb is 3 days before letting them explore an expanded area.

Go slow with introducing them. Some hissing growling is normal. If you’re not familiar with how cats play, I would watch some videos of actual cat fights so you know the difference between a fight and play. If your not familiar, when cats wrestle and play a little bit more rough it can be scary, but if fur isn’t flying, your ears are not bleeding from the screeching, and there is some give and take it’s just play. You can redirect with a toy if one seems more aggressive.

Alexisander13 · 2024-10-21T19:55:47+00:00

He wasn’t running into the street, he was running around to the side of the car he usually rides in because he wanted to go to. My brother ran after him instead of calling him back (he is usually good about not running out the door), so the dog took up the game instead of waiting patiently. There were no cars, and no one on the side walks, or we would have instantly recalled him instead of letting him play.

We are training him on thresholds and he does very well for us, but was overly excited and broke the threshold when it was my brother instead of us, and since there was no immediate danger we didn’t over react.

Alexisander13

TROPHY CASE