Tag: General

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Ya know…

I’ve been on “X” (The application formerly known as Twitter,) for about two years, this time.

I’ve made plenty of comments. Some snarky, some funny, some very serious. But I’ve not made comments wherein I called someone I’d never interacted with, dumb shit or motherfucker.

The left on the other hand often tends to end their comments on something I might have said with epithets like that. 

I responded to Senator Markwayne Mullin the other day.

Senator Mullin was calling out the hypocrisy of the Democrat members of Congress over the admittedly careless conversation Pete Hegseth and others had on the Signal app.

The Senator correctly pointed out that the Signal App was approved for communications by the Government. He also pointed out that none of the material was necessarily classified and that while “Yes,” the discussion should have perhaps been handled over other channels. The issue was not as “Devastating, or a threat to National Security,” as the media and Democrats have been trying to paint it as.

I took a different position. I directly asked Senator Mullin this;

My question was based in what I remembered from the days when I had a security clearance.

I vaguely remember something about identifying myself if I was included on an email or other communication that was above my clearance level.

At the time it made perfect sense to me. I thought it was based not only in operational security but common decency and politeness, so my compliance was one of those things that came completely naturally.

Perhaps its because of my experience with clearances, my recognition that some classifications were so far beyond me that my knowing anything about certain subjects could get me imprisoned, or just that I was raised right, that the question popped into my head.

The one and only time I was included in something that I was not cleared for and brought it to the attention of the meeting organizer, I was complimented and several weeks later rewarded with a higher clearance.

I’d established that I could be trusted. Even though the higher clearance meant more responsibility, and more training in dealing with the different classification. It was worth it.

So it’s from this perspective that I viewed the situation.

Senator Mullin does almost daily posts where he explains the inner workings of Congress and topics that may be occupying the news cycle. I’ll rarely miss one of his posts because they’re informative and he speaks plainly.

There were a number of comments directed at my question that were about 50/50 positive/negative. But one comment was a one sentence very angry defense of Goldberg that ended with the writer calling me a dumbshit.

I don’t really care, but then I thought about it and wondered why the person was so angry.

I looked at their profile and on many issues, I agreed with their positions. What I didn’t agree with was this person’s frequently calling people that they didn’t agree with, dumbshit, motherfucker, cocksucker, etc…

I’ve got a foul mouth, but I try not to say, “Hey you! Yes you! Yeah, dumbshit! You! You’re a load your mother wishes she’d swallowed.“

I might think it. But I’d no more say that, than the man in the moon.

Then I thought about it and decided I’m implementing a new rule.

I’m going to block anyone that speaks to me in a way that I wouldn’t tolerate in a bar. From this perspective, if I’d not speak to you in a bar, or hang out with you in person, there is no incentive whatsoever to put up with you on X.

So, my blocked list grows, not out of fear, or being thin skinned. I simply refuse to be a punching bag for abusive people whether I may agree with them or not.

I value myself too highly to waste time arguing online or to take anyone’s shit.

Treat yourself well, and have a great day.

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Happy time change!

It’s just a single hour. It shouldn’t make that big a difference.

Yet, Seeing that it’s 9 am when the sun and my body are saying it’s 8 am really screws me up.

It’ll take a week or more for me to readjust and let’s not even talk about poor Jesse. 

He’s all about the sun in the sky and doesn’t appreciate his schedule being messed with because I’m obeying some numbers on a clock face.

I’ll spend the next month glancing at the clock and thinking I’m always late, not to mention what this does to my sleep.

I thought we weren’t going to be playing this game anymore. Didn’t California have some legislation pending, didn’t Trump promise to do away with this insanity?

I’m just cranky.

I’ve never been able to get a clear answer. AZ doesn’t swap DST/Normal Time. As of today in CA our time is the same as AZ time.

What is the real time? Did AZ put a stick in the ground one day and set Noon when the stick cast no shadow? Or is the other time that we just left, the real time?

Maybe I’ll put a stick in the ground and check myself!

Have a good day, is it a shorter day or a longer day? I’m so confused!!!

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What is up with X and their prices?

I don’t know what’s going on, but X is getting flat out weird. They’ve literally doubled their price in just the past month or so.

I purchased a blue checkmark last year. My intent was to dabble a bit in monetization via putting out a virtual “tip” jar, seeing how that went then moving into subscriptions. 

I wasn’t expecting to make a lot of money, it was more about gaining experience and trust in the backend payment processing services. There are a lot of these services, and many have terrible reviews and/or horror stories about getting payouts. They’re not very highly rated on the customer support side of things either.

I’m thankful that I took advantage of X’s yearly subscription special because when I signed up for “Premium+” it was about $100 for the year.

4 Months later, that membership is $340. I’ve seen 2 price hikes in 4 months. Oh and I wasn’t able to test the subscription stuff where X paid me for content. I’ve dragged my feet on establishing the “tip” jar because their “preferred” payment processor seems like they have a lot more “Horsepower” and expense than I’m looking for.

That being said, it’s probably all a moot point anyway, because I’m not going to be renewing the subscription.

After the first price hike I was questioning renewal. After the second price hike their fate is sealed. Based on their averages there will be 4 more price hikes before my renewal date comes up.

I’m sure that I can’t afford that. As it is, I’m looking for a new web host. My current one has gotten way too expensive and every bit of their sales/support team is offshore.

Do we see a trend here?

Prices increasing, value per dollar decreasing?

X is kind of interesting. Their AI is interesting. But the value for either is not worth the price unless the algorithm allows you a wider audience that is also blue check marked. Without that wider audience making money sharing “pearls of wisdom” is a bust.

It’s funny too, when I signed up, there were always posts about people getting their first contributor check, or folks being excited to begin contributing. 

Pretty much 5 days after I signed up, those happy posts were gone. Now those sort of posts are exceedingly rare.

What’s become more common over the past few weeks has been people posting they’re not renewing their subscription, (monthly, or yearly,) and apologizing to their followers who rely on verified blue check users to remain monetized.

To be honest I’m losing my taste for X and I can’t really say why. 

I’m having far more, (as X puts it,) regretted seconds than un-regretted seconds.

That means the ROI for the subscription is low, and dropping. X increasing prices just drives more people to abandon the blue checkmark.

It’s their business, they can charge whatever they want, but I don’t have to support it.

My blue checkmark will be around until November then I’m going the be just another one of the unverified riff-raff.

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A guy walks into a bar…

London cozy bar.Yesterday, I was bored. Not really bored but I had an appointment in Palm Springs. 

I could have done the appointment via teleconference. As I was thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t been anywhere except the grocery store, pet store, or postoffice for months.

I’ve grown tired of people and tired of the stupid stuff people do. Without interacting with the world, you start to loose touch. 

Depending on your inputs about the world and the people in it, you might even take on very negative views and start to insulate yourself because that is safe and comfortable, versus having to have your guard up all the time. Probably continuing to insulate like that isn’t healthy.

So I saddled up and drove out to Palm Springs. Yes, I know gas is $5 in California. But the tank of gas in the car was from October, so I needed to burn through some of it and give the car a run.

Traffic was lighter than expected. I chuckled when I had the thought, “I guess the deportations are working.“

I got to my appointment early and spent the extra time walking around, watching tourists, and wondering why the drive out hadn’t been “Fun”.

The road was open, under normal circumstances that would have put a smile on my face because I’d have been opening up the beast, flushing all the accumulated debris from short drives and stop & go traffic out the tailpipe.

But oddly there was no joy in the exercise. That was confusing.

Appointment done, I found something to eat, ran a couple of errands, got my hair cut, looked at the heavy congestion on the traffic maps heading back up to my place, and found myself a bar.

The bar is owned by a bar tender who used to introduce me to a different bourbon each time I went to the bar he worked at. I met him in 2016 maybe 2017. Super nice guy, funny, and made you feel welcome even if the place was packed. 

At some point he & I had chatted about careers, and other stuff, & I’d learned that his goal was to own his own bar.

Sometime between the onset of the COVID lockdowns and now, he’d achieved his goal.

The bar is cozy, eclectic, and old school. There’s no “Soda Gun”, all the drinks are made old style with a flourish and each one is a work of art. It was neat seeing a drink crafted before my eyes that looked just like the pictures in books. 

While I was there a group of 4 guys came in. After they’d gotten their drinks they started talking about the Democrat Party “rising again” they didn’t put it that way but that was how it sounded.

They were still in love with Kamala, they felt that Newsom was too slick and came across as untrustworthy.  

They were also betting that Kamala would be a shoo in for the presidential nomination in 2028. They were talking about how she could easily take Trump down in a debate and were talking mostly as if Trump would be running in 2028.

Later they posited that Trump could put Eric or Don Jr into the Whitehouse then be their puppet master.

I’m not sure where this kind of derangement comes from.

Trump is done! This is his last term. I don’t know if Eric or Don Jr. have any political aspirations and wouldn’t be at all surprised to find they didn’t. After what’s been done to their father, them, and their families why the fuck would they want to go into politics?

I’m betting that after Donald Trump Sr. is done, the Trump family will return to media. Don Jr. has a pretty going concern in his podcasting. Eric seems pretty content running the family business. I expect that Eric will sell all the properties in New York as it’s possible to do so, then move the Trump empire out of that state.

The long term damage that would cause to New York would be a fitting punishment for the law fare the state of New York engaged in.

I couldn’t help thinking, as I was overhearing the political conversation, that these Democrats to my right were missing the target. The one to watch is JD Vance.

He’s young, he’s wicked smart, he’s sarcastic, and witty. He’s the perfect candidate to keep the young people who voted Trump into office this time, voting for the Republican Party. Age wise, he’s perfectly positioned to attract Gen X, millennials, boomers, the other age brackets, and keep them. Because he’s experienced their issues, insecurities, and lived through their concerns.

Kamala Harris would be out classed, out gunned, and out performed in a debate with JD. 

That being said I hope Democrats do run Kamala again. Because if that’s the best they’ve got, their party is dead meat.

I didn’t interject myself in the conversation but I haven’t got any kind of poker face. I’m sure my facial expressions were a dead give away that I was overhearing their conversation and that I was probably “The Enemy”.

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I made it through another anniversary

Two years ago last night, Jerry died. So did a big piece of my heart. Oh, he was a pain in my ass, I suppose I was a pain in his as well. I guess that’s part of relationships. We loved each other and I miss him.

I was a little emotional through the day. I walked the dog, finished de-christmassing the house, made dinner, poured myself a drink and listened to music. I went to bed about the normal time and slept soundly. I do remember some fragments of dreams but nothing coherent.

I didn’t drink to excess. I woke up more or less in a decent mood. 

I haven’t gotten anything much done today. I played on X too damn much. I’m willing to forgive myself for that.

I need to settle down, and to apply for a bunch of jobs. I doubt that I’ll get much if any response. But I feel like I have to try.

As I said, the Christmas tree and associated decorations are all put away. I was able to dispose of a box through consolidation. Going through the decorations was bittersweet.

I have sweet memories of the Christmases Jerry & I spent together.

Each ornament is special and since many of them were saved from the house fire in 2008 there is a greater significance to each.

The house is clean, (except the office,) the amount of stuff remaining to be tossed feels never-ending but I know I’m making progress.

The living, dining, kitchen, and master bedroom are less cluttered. They could all use more de-cluttering but these areas are lighter and more airy. I like it this way.

There is still much to do, and much to get rid of, but where I’m at and the direction I’m moving feels right and good.

The point is, this year while a bit rocky was better than last year. I’m better now and while I still miss him, it’s not the kind of pain it was. I’m stronger and somewhat optimistic.

Perhaps I’m trending toward happy?