As I enter week 3 of self isolation I now see eating as viable form of entertainment as we all drop to the Internet speeds of 1982.
A new router might help those download speeds.
Netflix has put the brakes on their streaming speed. That mean we're all sitting at home in front of our high tech, flatscreen, smart tvs watching shows that look like they might actually be in the form of a flipbook.
They stop, they start, they herk, they jerk - you finally give up to scroll through Instagram but realize you only have 2 hours before you should go to bed and that definitely isn't going to be enough time for a photo to load.
So? You eat.
Welcome to the new normal. It's super fattening.
I have now officially accepted eating as a viable form of entertainment. Cooking too. When this whole situation degenerates to the point that I'm doing laundry on a regular basis you'll know we're all doomed.
This week I'm giving you a video recap of basically how my week went.
A brief synopsis; this week I made garlic powder and onion powder - you can learn to grow your own garlic in this post and how to grow onions in this post. I made chocolate chip cookies, went for morning walks, whipped up an absurdly large pot of macaroni and cheese for one person and helped my mother fix her television. I did this over the phone.
Betty's Samsung Frame tv was suddenly talking to her. It wasn't closed captioning, it was the voice guide that she accidentally turned on in one of her jabbing at all the buttons fit. This is what she, and many of us do when anything computerized won't do what we want. Just repeatedly jab at buttons until the device either resolves itself or breaks down entirely in a puff of smoke.
I also talked with people from a reasonable distance. Like my niece who surprised me in a Say Anything kind of way at the side of my house on Friday morning.
What I've Been Doing This Week
6 shockingly easy ways to speed up your Internet connection.
The Internet really is MUCH slower since everyone has been home binge watching Netflix and surfing the Internet for whether you can use a meat thermometer to check your temperature.
There's a few simple tips in this post on how to speed up your Internet a bit. If you have an old router, upgrading that could help you out a lot.
How to Make Homemade Hamburgers!
Tonight I'm BBQing!! Homemade hamburgers. Plus I'm adding cheese so technically a cheeseburger. and I haven't decided on onion rings, regular fries or sweet potato fries. Since download speeds are so slow maybe I'll opt for the MOST entertaining option which is all of them.
How to Darn a Sock in 3 Minutes.
I darned a sock! Like a mennonite! Or a Karen! I call this darning, but technically it's only mending. Feel free to make me aware of this in the comments as others have. 😂Seriously if you have sweaters or socks that have a small hole, now's a good time to fix them. What the hell else are you going to do? Watch more flipbook shows?
Perfect Macaroni and Cheese Recipe
THIS is the macaroni & cheese recipe I made. I made the wholeeee recipe. It's Martha Stewart's macaroni and cheese and it's GREAT.
Grow a Grass Easter Basket - in 5 Days!
If you have some grass seed hanging around (rye works great) this is a fun, crafty little thing that only takes 5 days to grow. Good for adults and kids. The genuine grass Easter basket.
Vegetable Gardening as Therapy.
Most of the seed companies I use for ordering seeds are SHUT DOWN. Not the actual companies, but the websites because demand has been so high they've had to shut down just to get caught up.
This as people look for things to do and decide that now is probably the perfect time to grow their own food.
There will be more Victory Gardens this year than since the inception of Victory Gardens in the first World War. (that's just just a notion of mine, not an actual fact)
This post will help you with some gardening tips and tricks. But more than that, it explains how, in times of stress, gardening is a viable and extremely effective form of therapy.
Back to that Internet speed problem. If you KNOW that you need a new router here are two options. A TP- Link, which is a very good moderately priced router and the more expensive Nighthawk router from Netgear (which I own).
Have a good remainder of your weekend and if you have any problems with your smart tv, check with Betty. She knows how to fix something like that now.
Gretchen SExton
BEST video of the 2nd week of covid quarantine!!! Just perfect.
You. Rock.
Thanks!
Teresa
This is the best video you’ve EVER made.
Thank you!!!