I get barraged with offers for subscription boxes. Dog toys/treats. Japanese unique candy. Men’s accessories. And many more. It is pretty easy to ignore.
The idea is that the purveyor selects a collection of items. For the “Men’s Accessories” I have seen things like a shaving cup and brush, a Leatherman tool, or some men’s grooming items. For $40 or whatever a month, you will get a box with the goodies in it.
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We all suspect that members of our family harbor some racism and/or bigotry. I mean, we all have that crazy uncle (or Aunt) who causes us all to roll our eyes at Thanksgiving by saying some completely insane shit out loud.
But, having grown up in Silicon Valley in the 60’s and 70’s where people of color were segregated due to a long history of redlining, and a lot of implicit racial segregation.
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Last week, I was doing a little Amazon shopping, the main purchase was a TC Electronics Polytune 3 Mini pedal, and an $8 copy of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure on Blu Ray fell into my cart.
I hadn’t watched this in a long time, but it was a movie that I enjoyed.
It arrived and I ripped it and copied it to my Plex server.
Some spoilers:
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I have blogged in the past that my well aged iPhone, a Xs that I got in December 2018 still worked well, and that it still was doing what I needed. Heck, the battery health tells me that it has 86% of its life left.
But today, I was talking with some colleagues and I recounted that my last phone migration sucked because I had a painful process of moving my 2FA from my old iPhone 6s, and I really didn’t want to relive that.
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I know I have said I could be strong. But alas, I am weak. Weak as a kitten.
Nostalgia is a bitch, and when it strikes, it hits hard. In this case it is the nostalgia for a guitar neck. My third guitar, and the first one I bought with my own money was a 1986 vintage Charvel Model 4, from the era that they were made in Japan. It was a black body, with the pointy head stock, bolt on neck, second generation Kahler tremolo, and superb Jackson active electronics. (more…)
The first hint of age catching up with me was when I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my left thumb. Alas, that was at an age that the surgical remedies were not recommended (fusing the joints – YIKES).
But the latest has really been a gut punch.
I stopped drinking beer quite a few years ago. There was a direct correlation between a couple of brewski’s and a gout flare up. Gout is no bueno. So I canned the malted, hopped beverages. Frankly, this led to significantly less alcohol consumption.
Therein lies the second problem.
I still enjoy the occasional glass of red wine. A Chianti with Pizza, or a Zinfandel with the rare steak I eat.
Alas, even a single glass of wine gets me buzzed, not really a problem, being a cheap date is not a bad thing at my age.
But it is the aftermath. Once the alcohol metabolizes, I wake up. Like wide awake, and not able to go back to sleep. Last Friday I made pizza, and we shared a bottle of a Spanish Rioja (it is what we had that was appropriate for Pizza) and at 1:00 AM I was wide awake.
This never used to be a problem at all. I used to be able to have moderate alcohol intake, and sleep it off without any ill effects. Now it is a principal cause of insomnia.
Just kill me now.
I began watching the Apple TV+ show, Severance, but by the third episode I was thoroughly freaked out and stopped watching. The presumption that an implant could completely separate your work life from your home life was too freaky.
I have long espoused the work/life balance, and this show takes it to the extreme. (more…)
About once a year, I look at my music streaming accounts that I pay for, and think I should trim one. Currently, I pay for Apple Music (part of my One bundle), Amazon Music (because, well with Prime is about the cheapest), and Spotify.
In the early 1980’s I was deep into my Atari 8 bit computer stage. When I got to university, I wanted to use it for papers and other things I had to write (this was pre-IBM PC) so I needed a printer. I bought a solid Epson dot matrix printer, and to connect it to the Atari. I needed an IO expander, so I bought the Atari 850, which plugged into the computer’s SIO port, and it provided serial (RS232) and Parallel ports for printers.
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I have been a computer enthusiast for a long time, having getting my first Atari 800 back in 1980. I had used a Commodore Pet in the mid 70s as part of my “gifted” program in elementary school, and unstructured time with the Apple II+ in high school.
I still have a lot of fond memories of that early era. But putting on my logical hat, and truly remembering the reality of these experiences. Let’s take a trip down memory lane…
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