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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Little known fact that when I was in college, each year, I took great pleasure each semester going to the local stationer’s shop and buying supplies. Mechanical pencils, high quality fine point pens (all the better to write and rewrite equation sheets) and other beautiful things. Often from German companies, high quality pads of paper.
It wasn’t necessary for my success, but there is something very pleasing about high quality paper, and writing instruments.
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I grew up in the SF Bay Area, and one of the things that helped make me who I am was a Saturday night slot of horror films broadcast on the local channel, KTVU called “Creature Features” (not to be confused with the series of the same name). This was a weekly show of horror films hosted by Bob Wilkins, a glasses wearing, cigar smoking aficionado of the genre of horror that was growing.
The one movie that I remember from this time was the original “Night of the Living Dead”, one of the first “zombie” movies, it remains an exemplar of the style.
Shot on 16mm B&W, it is a low budget, yet entertaining film. The premise of the near dead coming back to life, chasing the protagonists into a house, where they regroup with others who are in the same situation.
It is rather crude, but an effective movie, well executed, and a timeless classic.
What made me think of this? I heard that a high quality 4K print was made into a Blu-ray disc, and that combined with nostalgia made it an easy impulse purchase.
Sure, I could have streamed it, but I like having the physical media, so it is now in my library
Many times in life, you will go full circle. In the way back time, after my junky – impossible to play – Montgomery Ward guitar and amp got shitcanned, and a persnickety Ibanez V that was nearly impossible to keep in tune, and a lil’ Crate practice amp replaced it, I have been on a search for tone.
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