Tag: General

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Apple, You Kinda Screwed up…

From the moment that Apple HomePods were announced, I was interested.

That being said, I wasn’t going to pony up 600-700 bucks for a pair unless I could hear them. Therein was the problem.

You see you could look at them in an Apple Store you could play with the colorful Siri swirl. But you couldn’t actually hear them. Anyone who’s been in an Apple Store knows the chaos the customers endure to shop there.

People playing with every device at every counter. The loud talking, the kids shouting, the Apple Representatives talking louder to be heard over the din.

Boops, Beeps, suddenly loud music from various corners of the store, the Apple Training person giving a class, people trying to get their computers working, and asking endless questions about their new devices they’re in the process of setting up, all over the drone of the latest popular music that the store is playing to “enhance” the customer shopping experience…

You get the picture.

If someone wanted to hear the HomePods with music similar to what they actually listen to in a quiet environment they were pretty much SOL. Against the cacophony of the store there’s no way you could actually hear Mozart, or the delicate pluck of a string. There was no way to actually hear the speakers… Just the speakers.

When Apple released the HomePod mini at $99 it put a HomePod device in the realm of buying one just to try it out. Worst case scenario the sound was crappy but you had access to Siri and could ask about the weather as you made coffee in the morning.

That’s how we came to have a HomePod mini.

We were astounded at the quality of the sound from such a little device. So astounded in fact, that we bought 3 more.

Several weeks after that, we were visiting a neighbor’s house and he had two full size HomePods. He also had a regular set of very nice speakers for listening to his vinyl collection.

I asked if he liked the HomePods. He said, “Yes, very much,” He went on to explain while switching off the turntable that they sounded great when he was streaming music and that he also had several HomePod minis scattered about the house in the bedrooms and his office.

Then he started streaming music to the HomePods.

The sound was glorious. Amazingly glorious, the room was filled with well balanced music. The bass was strong but not overwhelming and the treble was crisp and clear. Had I known what HomePods really sounded like in a quiet room I’d have bought a set shortly after they came out, and I said so.

Then the neighbor said, “If you want a pair you’d better hurry. Apple just discontinued them today.”

I was bummed out.

The other half who is not often impressed with speakers or reproduced music asked a few questions and I thought that was it. I’d missed out on something that was really great.

Two weeks after that a couple of boxes addressed to the other half arrived via UPS.

Magically, two space gray HomePods had appeared. The stereo pair of HomePod minis moved into my office and a new stereo pair was created in the master bedroom. The HomePods are on the credenza flanking the TV now. They handle music in the living room and serve as speakers for movies being played on the Apple TV.

They support the Dolby Atmos stream from the Apple TV and the sound is amazing when playing movies or even TV shows.

There have been some articles calling the HomePod a failure. I don’t think the devices are failures, Apple’s marketing department failed. They clearly didn’t understand that while people will pay 2 or 3 thousand dollars for a computer they’ve never seen or used, folks will need to be a little more “Ears On” for a set of speakers. Even if those speakers are $299 each.

A computer, will adapt and you can hammer it into what you want or need.

Speakers on the other hand either please your ears or they don’t. We all hear differently, it’s not a one size fits all solution.

There are some magna planar speakers that I really like and yet I’ve heard others that I didn’t care for. Some models “hiss” while in operation and that hiss seems to be independent of the speaker’s input source. I find the hissing to be irritating. So even if I had enough cash and space to buy a set of magna planars I’d still be listening to them very carefully as I was making my selection.

Spending $600 on a set of machines I’d never heard before was simply too big a leap of faith for my budget. Sure, I could have bought a set and if I didn’t like ’em I could have returned them, but who wants that hassle?

As I sit here writing this, my Office HomePod minis are playing a selection of guitar solos that are quite beautiful and quiet. I could never have listened to this kind of music in an Apple Store.

The Apple Store venue would have made this music sound like the speakers weren’t of good quality regardless of it being played on full size HomePods or the HomePod mini.

As I said, if there was a failure, it was on the part of Apple’s marketing.

I think they were a bit too arrogant in believing that slapping an Apple logo on something would entice people to buy whatever that thing was. Sure there are lots of Apple fans who salivate yearly for the next Apple widget.

There are a lot more people out here that look at Apple products from a more objective position. We want to evaluate the product and we want to be able to think about the product and it’s utility to our lives.

I didn’t get on board with the Apple Watch until Gen 3. Only then had the watch’s utility caught up to the hype and expense in my mind. Yes, there were other reasons for my purchase of the Gen 3 at the time. I eventually upgraded to Gen 5 and don’t anticipate another upgrade until Gen 7 or 8. Then, only if the Watch provides additional utility that is well beyond what my Gen 5 provides.

I would recommend HomePods (The big ones) if you can find them. I’ve been very pleased with mine, and I continue to appreciate and enjoy my HomePod minis on a daily basis.

That may be in part because there is so little I want to watch on TV and I’ve been shifting more to music and reading a good book.

On music, I have to mention that since I started with Apple Music at 9.99 a month I’ve not been disappointed. Perhaps its because I have access to a world of music that I’m listening to more. Being able to stream literally anything without the worry of buying a crappy album and being stuck with it. I’ve become far more likely to listen to new artists and Apple’s curated lists of music. “Guitar Chill” is my latest discovery.

These lists are updated typically every week and they’re usually quite good. The HomePods let me enjoy them without having something stuffed in my ear. Being able to say, “Siri Stop” is really nice when the phone rings. Although you can use the HomePods to answer the phone and then they’ll act like a speaker phone. I use that option rarely since I don’t like speakerphones in general. I’ve got to admit that it’s nice if I’ve got my hands full.

Thinking about it, I wonder if it would be too over the top to have a set of HomePod mini’s in the garage? If I was doing a lot of work in the garage or working out daily there, it might just be worth it.

Hmm… Nah, I’ll give that one some more thought.

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And I’m back…

Due to a family event I’ve been traveling.

Instead of flying (like a normal person) I drove from California to Florida and back again.IMG 1895

This was driven in part by my hatred of masks, which I think are really not much more than theater (a waving of hands and virtue signaling to make it appear something is being done to combat COVID – 19, a.k.a. the China Virus.) The idea of being forced to wear a mask for upwards of 14 hours while in transit was simply abhorrent. Frankly, by the time I got to Florida they’d have to commit me.

Another reason I chose to drive was that I’ve been cooped up in the house for over a year, Thank you California Lockdown! I really needed a different view of the world.IMG 1863

Lastly, while I could find an airfare that was acceptable (being masked not withstanding, a Valium would have knocked me out for the duration of the flight…) The cost of a rental car was about 3 times higher than the cost of airfare.

So all those factors combined led me to driving.

This was the first road trip with my car and I enjoyed it immensely. I probably spent as much but I was alone and didn’t have to be subjected to insane, oppressive, rules.

A side benefit that occurred to me in Texas was that I would avoiding contact with the great unwashed masses, thereby minimizing the possibility that I’d carry something to my elderly parents home.

IMG 2193

Another benefit was that I was free to wander, I was on my schedule and I could stay at or leave a place that wasn’t doing it for me.

This meant that not only was I able to see my parents and attend the family event, I was able to see the other side of the family and spend some time visiting my brothers in Northern Florida.

The trip was glorious. Once I made it to the South, away from the oppressive Western States, masks were optional. Texas is open for business and the people were going about their daily lives smiling. The same was true of every Southern state I drove through. There were lingering vestiges of mask mandates on the doors of convenience stores but these were reminders of what had been, not necessarily mandates.

Some Restaurants & Hotels still asked that you wear masks in lobby areas and to be seated but they weren’t demanding it. After a year of masked fear it was both strange and refreshing to see people’s faces and smiles were glorious.

Florida was wonderful. Food, drinking, and people talking was something I’d really missed. My youngest brother took me to a place I’d never been called Wakulla Springs. We went to a gun show, and hit many drinking establishments.

One common thread in all these places was news programs were generally not blaring doom and gloom. In one place President Biden was booed by the patrons when he appeared on TV. The owner of the venue immediately changed the channel on the TV over the bar.

I saw rain, and thunder storms. There was green in abundance and people not hunkered down in fear. In other words, I saw our country as it should be. People were alive and vibrant.

Contrary to what the media presents in local news in the West or Nationally, folks were being prudent not careless. They were mindful of COVID and not being foolish with their health or the health of others. They were simply exercising their personal freedom of choice regarding their health and accepting risk, each to their own comfort level.

In other words… They were being free Americans.

Coming home, I stopped in Vicksburg, MS and visited a Civil War battlefield that has been made into a National Park. I’d never been there before and spent about half a day wandering. Should I ever revisit Vicksburg or a similar park I plan to have a bicycle.

Vicksburg, in particular would be best appreciated from a bicycle since there is limited parking and are a ton of monuments and explanations of what was happening that can’t truly be appreciated from a car. The road would also have been great to hike, unfortunately I hadn’t actually planned to visit the park and was not properly prepared for hiking it.IMG 1872

The park itself is beautifully maintained, and worth the time to visit

Crossing into New Mexico from Texas was a bit depressing. The lighted traffic signs were all talking about mask mandates and being safe. The hotel was like checking into a hospital complete with reminders at every corner to social distance, wear a mask, sanitize… Live in fear…

Arizona was a little less intrusive about it. Their mask mandates were lifted but most people were still masking up and acting like zombies. Except for one young lady in a gas station outside Flagstaff. She was unmasked and said she was waiting for the owner to take the damn mask signs off the door.

She’d had COVID, and was completely over all the fear mongering. 

Crossing into California was very depressing because it meant the end of my trip and submission to whatever Gov Gruesome decided we had to comply with.

I tried to focus on the bright things waiting for me at home. My own bed, the dog who I knew would be happy to see me after being gone for so long, and the other half who would hopefully be happy I was home too.

Now that I’m home it’s easier but as my brother says… “You’ve got to get out of California”

He’s absolutely right!

 

 

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The Storm

So the storm was everything the National Weather Service claimed it would be.

Wind, rain/sleet, and snow. Lots of snow. About 16 inches at my elevation.

The front deck 1/29/2021

It’s not all that unusual to get snows like this here. What is unusual is that we’ve had essentially 3 back to back over the course of a few days.

The street. which was clear down to the pavement on 1/28/2021 and is buried again on 1/29/2021

The problem with our street is that it’s not county maintained. Meaning the residents have to clear it ourselves.

So we all pull out shovels, snow blowers, and one of the neighbors has an ATV with a snow blade on the front. Unfortunately, in the last snow he broke a shear pin and is waiting for the replacement which is on it’s way from MN via the USPS. He’s thinking that he won’t get it until spring.

The snow mound that is my front yard.

So after a full day of working, resting, & working again I can see most of the driveway again. One of the neighbors is at the far end of the street running his snow blower. What usually happens is all the neighbors fire up their snow blowers at the same time and the begin a carefully choreographed series of passes on the street.

That doesn’t begin until driveways are cleared otherwise we end up losing track of the driveways and have to do more work to find ’em and clear ’em. Something you don’t find out until you’ve regularly used a snow blower is, after you’ve blown the snow with a snow blower, it tends to compress into ice. So if you bury someones driveway sometimes the only solution is a pick and standard shovel instead of the traditional snow shovel.

One other really nice thing is that if one of the neighbors is away, and there’s a snow storm those of us who are home clear their driveway so they have a place to park when they get back. It’s not something any of us have talked about or agreed upon. It’s just a nice unwritten rule of kindness.

The other rule is that if the storm was really bad and your driveway isn’t cleared yet, you park in one of the neighbors drives until we get to yours. That rule is also unwritten and one of the nice things about our street.

We also have a common bag of various sized snowblower shear pins, unfortunately, none of us had anything big enough for the neighbors ATV snow blade. Dang IT!!!!

A shot of the house after clearing the road

In the picture above, the dark streaks are where the new guy on the block ingested some of the dirt from my yard. Ooops! No matter, the yard will be fine, but his snow blower was very unhappy for a couple of minutes. This picture isn’t super pretty but it gives a good reference of ground level and the relative depth of the snow.

Fortunately, we haven’t had to contend with snowplayers today. They have a bad habit of turning onto our road then freaking out when the realize 2 important things. 1) It’s a dead end. 2) It’s very narrow and there isn’t anyplace to turn around unless there happens to be an open driveway.

Usually they end up having to back down out onto the wider county maintained road. Which is also full of snowplayers trying to get up that road to its dead end, or it’s full of those who have found out that there is no way through and turned around.

This is why we don’t like snowplayers up in the neighborhoods. There are lots of little roads that dead end. Lots of these people come up here thinking the whole town is a snow/ski area, and they refuse to read signs that are clearly posted saying that a road is a dead end, or following the larger and equally clear signs that point to the designated play areas, and ski resorts.

They get tired of crawling along on the main, and well maintained road and tend to turn onto the first side road they see. Then the police get involved and start running them out of the neighborhoods, writing tickets, and towing vehicles.

Us locals, stop with a smile and present our drivers licenses (to prove our address and get waved on through police checkpoints). Sometimes we’ll provide thermos refills for the officer on duty. Especially if we notice an officer who hasn’t had a break in many hours working in the cold.

I’m afraid that tomorrow (Saturday) will bring a ton of rude, giddy, idiots, which will make all of the neighbors weekends a pain in the ass. We tend to take turns shooing the idiots off our lawns, out of the streets, and out of the reforestation project(s).

Then we spend Monday and Tuesday picking up all the trash. Broken plastic sleds, paper, dirty diapers, gloves, shoes, face masks, and the amazing detritus of human beings.

I am amused by the irony as well. These are the same people who would scream at the top of their lungs against pulling out of the Paris climate accords, but think nothing of trashing a pristine mountain town.

After all, they don’t have to actually clean up the mess. They don’t have to call the forestry service to help sick wildlife. They don’t have to worry about anything do they? It’s someone else’s problem when they drive back down the mountain.

Following are some pictures that illustrate the point really well.

A local creek about 10 miles from home. This picture was taken 15 year ago before the road to the creek was paved.
The same area about 4 years ago.
There is a creek under these uprooted trees. People were climbing the trees and then using their weight to pull them over. Seems the people wanted a bridge so they could cross a creek that has at best 10 inches of water in it during the Summer.
Filthy Humans!

If I sound harsh about people. It’s because I see the kind of wanton destruction and disregard all too many people have for the “Natural” surroundings that I live in and appreciate.

Ironically, lots of these people come to these wilder places to, “Get away from the city,” Unfortunately, they bring all their bad habits with them and just expect it to be magically cleaned up every night.

Before anyone talks to me about Climate change, the Green New Deal, Carbon taxes, or my gas powered car. They better have a simple appreciation of what’s happening every day in their local wilderness.

Cause if they don’t… I’m going to eat them for lunch!

Sorry, I digressed…

I’m not a traditional tree hugging Eco-Warrior. I’m just a guy who likes nature and gets really mad about the hypocrisy of people who are willing to pay stupid taxes and force everyone else to do the same, terrorizing us with dire warnings about Climate Change.

Too many of these people have never in their lives spent a day carrying a big trash bag through a forest picking up other people’s trash. Or tending a trampled sapling, or scrubbing graffiti off of rocks, or looking after an animal that ingested something left behind by a thoughtless person.

I do all of these things, and for the record, I’m not part of any organization. There’s no-one taking pictures. The big garbage bag ends up in my trash or recycling bin which ever is appropriate. I do this because I believe it’s the right thing to do, and should be done for no other reason. I’m the human walking in the forest seeing all the mess. Rather than tut-tut about it, I’ve got two hands, and a backpack with at least one trash bag inside.

Leave no trace. Leave a place better than you found it. That way the next person on the trail can appreciate the beauty and hopefully they’re operating on the same philosophy.

I’m a big believer that until you tend to the local issues you can’t really address the global ones. I also believe that if everyone simply tended to their own local issues, the world would be a lot prettier and healthier.

After all anyone can write a check, or click “Like” and feel smug about it. Put some skin in the game if you’re really serious.

Just my two cents. What I’ve said may not be right. It may not be right for you in particular. But It’s right for me and given that I do have skin in the game I’m not going to apologize if what I’ve said offends anyone.