Tag: General

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I hope eveyone had a nice Fourth of July

Fourth, fireworks.I turned the A/C on early in the day yesterday and probably will do the same today.

Much as I hate to run the system. When it hits 90+ up here and one or two neighbors are screaming & hollering, having the drone of a compressor drowning out their BS is nice, albeit expensive.

In fact, being isolated from all their noise yesterday did a lot to enhance my calm. Not surprisingly my blood pressure this morning is lower than in past weeks too.

It’s supposed to be really warm here for the next few days so the A/C will be getting a workout, but I’m going to delay turning it on as long as possible.

The pup & I will go on an early morning walk right after I finish a cup of coffee. If we’re out and back before 9 it’s not too bad. I suspect that the pup even enjoys coming home to a cool house despite his annoyance when the blower comes on.

Beach flags fourth of july.I made progress cleaning out the dang closet of the past couple of days.

The other half had paperwork, invoices, and receipts from 2008 in boxes at the back of the “office” closet. I’ve made it through about 2/3 of that stuff and in the process found gift cards for Barnes & Noble, Arco, Panera, and several other businesses that I’m not sure are still “In Business”. Over the past couple of days I’m up about $150. $100 of that is in gas. I suppose I can fill my tank now. Yippee!

Yesterday, I also watched the traditional Independence Day and the follow on Independence Day Resurgence. Today, I’m thinking I’ll have a Twilight Zone marathon. One of the TV stations used to run the Twilight Zone either on the 4th or the day after the 4th every year. I don’t know if they still do since I’ve not had cable for years. I remember it being a nice tradition on 4th of July weekends.

Mission beach fourth of july.I happened to catch the entire original Twilight Zone boxed set on sale a couple years ago so even with me working in the office, I can have it playing on the computer monitor through the HomePod mini speakers.

That should keep me entertained while I’m sorting through ancient paperwork. I don’t know if I’m going to keep all the Tax data if cut it off at 10 years. Perhaps I’ll say I’m going to cut it off at 10 years then when one of the 87,000 new IRS pricks reads this & audits me for records I don’t have I can produce them causing major disappointment for the poor agent I’ll have to think about that one, and make a decision based on the volume of those records. I don’t want to be dragging a bunch of crap paperwork around with me for the rest of my life.

Happily I’ve also found a home for the two filing cabinets in the garage. Now it’s just about getting them from here to there. Obviously I’m doing something wrong in this. I’m giving this stuff away and I’m delivering it too?

Hmmm something is wrong, but I can’t quite figure it out…

It’s going to be a hot few weeks. Everyone stay hydrated and as cool as possible.

I hope everyone has a great Fourth of July Weekend.

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From this blog It doesn’t look like it…

QuillDarkFeatherInkSet…But I do set aside time to write every day.

Over the past few months, writing has been increasingly difficult and I’m at a loss as to why that might be.

There have been more days than I care to admit where I’ve sat down with the computer, or iPad fully intending to write something magnificent. Okay, maybe not magnificent, how about just writing anything at all?

There have been days when I’d have been happy with the letter “A” on a page. Even that has been difficult and I have no clue what’s disrupting my thought processes.

Maybe it’s time to get some of that over the counter memory drug that’s always on the TV. Much as I don’t want to admit it, I’m in the requisite age group.

YoungFrankenstein abnormal.jpegPerhaps, the problem is the same one encountered in Young Frankenstein and I need a brain replacement. Or I’ve, unbeknownst to me, had a replacement and that isn’t going well.

It tends to frustrate me. No, it pisses me off!

For whatever it’s worth, I’m trying really hard not to end up a bitter, mean, old man.

One of those in the neighborhood is quite enough, and that guy is really starting to damage my calm!

He’s taken to screaming and hollering about literally any noise in the neighborhood. My next door neighbors have gas powered leaf blowers that each uses maybe once a month and even then only for 15 to 20 minutes maximum. We’re always under water restrictions so instead of washing down the decks or their driveways, they’ll use the blowers, especially if they’ve been trimming plants or what have you. 

The neighbor about a 1/2 block away but on line of sight with my street loses his mind and starts swearing and screaming “it’s not a parking lot out here!!!!” Ironically he lives next door to the crazy lady and her boy toy. If she’s not screaming obscenities, the boy toy is grinding metal at all hours of the day & night. Apparently that doesn’t bother the mean old guy but a leaf blower 4 houses away does.

There are a couple of dogs at the end of my street. They’re good pups, if a little barkey. The house directly across from their yard is for sale and they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. Strangers get barked at. They’re dogs, it’s normal. The mean guy loses his shit over that and has shouted some of the most horrific things about the female half of the couple who own the dogs. 

Honestly if it wasn’t that the husband is such a damn nice guy, he’d be completely within his rights to punch the mean old pot head out. To be honest if the husband did it, I’d pull a Sargent Schultz from Hogans Heroes  and “SEE NOTHING!”

The mean old pot head is  also quite frustrated most of the time. He’ll be trying to reach someone on the phone and well, it doesn’t go well. He loses things quite often. Either event will cause a stream of obscenities that can be heard all over the neighborhood. These obscenities don’t stop for literally hours.

I don’t want to be that guy…

I’d prefer to be generally happy, and peaceful.

It occurred to me the other day that he’s actually a coward. He’ll shout the most horrific things from the safety of his house at people that can’t see him and who might not realize where the shouted obscenity or complaint is coming from. In the event that someone was to challenge him he’d pull the pity me card, “I’m old, I don’t sleep well, I’m infirm, blah, blah, blah.”

In other words I’ve lost all respect for him. He’s an old school troll. I should introduce him to social media. Perhaps that would entertain him more than waiting to scream, rant, & rave about someone living their life, on their property, in the neighborhood.

Lately, he’s gotten so much worse It’s become another incentive to leave and find someplace better to live.

I’ve been wondering if part of my problem is simply I need a change of pace. Perhaps I need to have some fun and put distance between my frustrations and myself for a few hours.

On the plus side, I’ve been exploring interesting music via Apple Music. Their algorithm has gotten pretty spot on in presenting me with choices of music that I’m likely to enjoy. Come to think of it, Hulu has also been much better at suggesting something to watch.

I’m not sure if that’s because the algorithms are better, or because I’m no longer sharing my accounts with anybody. That’s not a complaint, it’s one of those things you have as part of being a family.

Happy Summer Solstice!

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Ya know… Sometimes I can’t catch a break!

Doing laundry, you’d think would be a straightforward and simple task.

Laundry bottle.jpg.HA!  You’d be WRONG!

In a Rube Goldberg series of events. I found myself reaching down into the abyss behind the washing machine. Why? To retrieve my laundry detergent of course!

How did my laundry detergent end up behind the washing machine? Oh let me tell you a story but you’re not going to believe it. I was standing right there, watched the whole thing, and I couldn’t believe it. Although what I saw lends credence to one of two theories I’ve had for quite some time.

The Theories are: 1, God hates me. 2, we are living in a simulation and there are times when the simulation glitches.

I’d just moved wet clothes to the dryer, put some dirty clothes into the washer, and reached for the laundry soap. It’s a mid sized bottle of liquid and is mostly full so it’s got some weight to it.

Somehow my hand connected with the handle of the bottle, slipped off, knocked the bottle sideways, where it bounced, skidded directly to the back of the washing machine, then righted itself, & slipped like bugs bunny into the impossibly narrow gap between the wall and the washing machine. 

The only thing it didn’t do was make the silly “Zip” noise as it disappeared into the abyss. It did however make a good “Thump” as it hit the floor behind the washer.

I understand kinetics and weird physics. I also understand that all energy degrades toward a zero state. Somehow, the bottle of detergent instead of bleeding energy towards stillness, looked like it was pulling energy from space time in some bizarre way.

I wonder if unbeknownst to me, the odd sock wormhole was open behind the washer or dryer at the time?

For a moment I honestly considered leaving the bottle right where it ended up, and going to the grocery store for a new bottle.

It wasn’t so much laziness as wondering if the bottle was somehow cursed. I decided ironically “Cursed be damned” and set about retrieving the bottle.

Alas, like the T-Rex my arms were too short to just reach the bottle and hoist it up. I was however able to barely get my fingertips around the very top of the bottle, but could not get a good enough grip on the slick plastic to lift the weight. In other words, just enough to tease me.

Reaching into my Primate Heritage I started swearing and looking around for a tool. My Marine & Navy buddies would be proud of my creative use of language to describe anatomical impossibilities.

I’d probably lose some points for swearing like that at an inanimate object. Although, had the bottle winked out of existence I’d have been fine with that too.

After several minutes with a hanger, and a pair of pliers I crawled back on top of the washer. I wedged myself back between the washer and the cabinets above it, only to have to un-wedge myself seconds later because somehow I’d managed to start the wash cycle. 

2nd attempt I discovered that the hanger would have to be folded twice to give me the strength needed for it to life the bottle without bending the hook I’d made to a straight rod.

3rd attempt becoming a contortionist I was able to hook the bottle and lift it about 6 inches, then I discovered that impossibly, the bottle was too thick to be raised any further. There is no way that the darn thing should have been able to fall all the way to the floor in the first place.

Hmmm, “God Hates me, and we live in a glitchy simulation?”

After more creative casting of curses I came upon a plan. The hanger lifting the bottle 6 inches meant that I could get my hand on the handle of the bottle and perhaps snatch that bad boy out of the abyss and back into reality.

But only if I found a way to try the hanger around something. A cabinet handle worked, the scratches on the wood can be repaired. I was successful! My laundry soap is now in this reality again, as is my missing microfiber car washing mitt.

You might have found yourself wondering why I didn’t just pull the washer away from the wall.

Valid point!

Here’s why. To do so, I’d have to remove the doors to the laundry closet, then slide the washer through a narrow opening and possibly I’d have to pull the dryer out too. In other words… 

That would have been at least a 1 hour project, since all 6 hinges on the doors would have to be removed. All I wanted to do was pour the detergent into the washer and press “Start”.

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Darn it! I always forget about the Memorial Day garage sale event!

Garage sale.There’s a ton of people that will be wandering through the town over the next 3-4 days, shopping garage sales.

Normally I wouldn’t think about this kind of thing because Jerry wouldn’t let me sell or throw away anything. So aside from thinking about the Men who died in battle, including some friends and perhaps having the day off depending on my employer. Memorial Day blows by me.

Last year I wasn’t in any shape to consider it. This year I‘d planned to drag crap out of the garage and basement and sell it. Trouble is, I completely forgot about it.

It took me a minute to figure out why there was so much traffic, while I was walking the dog. Then I remembered and now as I’m cooling down with a glass of Iced Tea, contemplating what I’ll have for lunch, I’m also wondering if I can make quick work of some of the boxes of stuff.

I’ll make that decision after I’ve decided what’s for lunch.

I might have to unplug the surveillance camera in the front yard just because of the traffic. The poor think is pinging like crazy.

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Not really helping Edison…

Electrical transmission.Southern California Edison is trying something new. Instead of killing our power for “Scheduled Maintenance” in the daytime. This time they did it at 2am. Sigh!

At least they sent out appropriate notices. It’s still a pain in the ass. I still have make sure I shut everything down. The alarm system still beeps and announces that electrical service has been lost.

In preparation for bed last night I powered all the sensitive stuff down. At around 2 am the dog and I were startled awake by the female voice from the alarm announcing power loss. We managed to get back to sleep.

Sometime after 4am the predawn silence was broken by Power being restored. The stove alarm was chirping, the refrigerator kicked on, the blower kicked on trying to warm the house to proper temperatures, and the alarm lady announced power had been restored but that WiFi was still not up.

At this point the dog jumped off the bed and wedged himself into a quiet protected spot between the bed and the sliding glass doors.

After all the clicks, clunks blower sounds had started it took me a minute to roll over and go back to sleep. I decided I wasn’t going to jump up and reset clocks or restart electronics because Edison often has false starts. I didn’t want to get everything powered up and reset only to have to do it again.

The dog jumped back up on the bed around 5:45 am. He was feeling cuddly and wormed himself into my arms with his head against my chest. I cuddled him until he fell asleep, then dozed until the 6am alarm signaling it was time to start the day.

After resetting the coffee pot clock, wake up brew time, and starting a manual brew I started powering things back up. Fortunately, everything appears to be working properly so I’m not fighting through some esoteric technical issues.

For that I’m grateful, but I still feel “off” I guess my sleep being interrupted, even if only for a few minutes has an effect.

I do wish Edison would publish an entire schedule of their “Scheduled Maintenance” so I could maybe plan better. As it is, they’ve been sending out notices 2 or.3 days in advance. That’s great, but 3 times in one month is a pain. The first two power outages were in excess of 8 hours. The last one screwed up the ice maker in the refrigerator and took some effort to correct.

Not to mention that they always send the notice that they’re turning power off  for 8 hour spans, literally the day after I’ve purchased groceries.

Ah well… Gotta stumble through my day.