I still have somethings when it comes to getting things accomplished. Long day is long, but I still have a couple more hours of work to do.

I’m in such a better place now than I was when I wrote this:

From 2017:

t’s been more than a week since I had my Tysabri infusion. I don’t feel as strange as I did just after. I am still a bit fatigued, but, it’s not affecting me significantly. My neck hurts, which is different. I’ve had pain in my neck, that went down from just behind my right ear all the way to my right elbow since just around the time I was diagnosed

If you’d told me back then that I’d have been on this stuff this long, I’d have told you that you were nuts.

Down to every six weeks, now. I was really kind of feeling the exhaustion last week, but I don’t think that was due to it being towards the end of my does. No, it’s probably because I wasn’t sleeping well.

I did notice something in one of my news alerts recently that a “biosimilar” version of Tysabri is on the way really soon now.

I should look back at what I wrote back when I was starting Tysabri. Though I didn’t really admit it, I was as scared as I’ve been as an adult.

I’m wondering if surviving that is part of what’s been going on where I’m lacking some of the fear I’d normally have of things. Who knows?

News. Not going to link a specific story, but the DOJ raided President Trump’s house last night. Really? I don’t like the guy, but this is banana republic stuff. I thought the Reason take on it was pretty suspect.

Ten more days. Ten more days to write.

Flashback twenty years ago this day. If memory serves, I was really trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my wife. I’d graduated college, was wondering if this radio thing would ever pan out, or if there was something else I should go do while I tried to get into law school.

What to do when you’re bored

Me? Oh, I drove six hours one-way to watch a 45 minute football practice, then drove home. 😀

Went up to Carlisle to see Redskins training camp. It was really fucking surreal to be back in Carlisle. I guess seven years is a long time, but….

It might be that already, everything from that year is sort of a blur. You go someplace for just one year, and things don’t seem to fit together after awhile.

Biggest thing I’ll remember about Carlisle is my waist size. Ain’t gettin’ into those pants anytime soon….

My hip seriously hurts after the trip.

---

The RedskinsCommanders haven’t had camp at Dickenson College probably since I wrote that..

The complex at Dickenson was a neat little place.

As for fitting into my pants from 1994, I probably could have not terribly long after I was finally diagnosed with MS. Today? Notsomuch.

I think my wife and I did come across something from a similar vintage at my mom’s house. Those did fit, but there was no way in hell that’d I’ve consider wearing them.

Yes. They were Jorts. White ones. 1994 did was a thing.

Last night was an adventure with Intertubes was frustrating. But everything is good now, I think.

Looking at the news, there’s nothing that’s really taking my interest. Olivia Newtown-John died. Something Kardashians, Pete Davidson. Yeah, I can’t bring myself to really care.

I should put together a gift list. I kind of do want one of these.

I did stumble across this tweet that sort of fascinated me:

Completely different way of thinking about things.

I should go get some food. More tomorrow.

Philly by any other name smells just as rank.

Intertubes from Philly-based ISP seem to be back up. Maybe.

Everything went out at around 0100. I’ve been up and down trying to get it working ever since.

What can you do.

The appointment for the tech tomorrow is going to stay on. Still getting well below what we should be getting, but at least there’s something.

I am tired, but I think I’m going to try to stay awake until

Going to recycle a survey from 2005…

Questions in bold, old responses in italics, new in plain text….

1. What’s the last thing you ate?
Beef Jerkey. Yes, I know, nutritious, but I can sleep, so I went to the store.

A Coconut Built Bar.

2. What’s your favourite cheese?
Probably Monterey Jack.

No idea.

3. What’s your favourite fish?
Oh, I don’t know that I have a favorite. I’m not much a fan of striped bass, but I like pretty much anything else. Probably, locally, my fave is flounder. I like fried mullet when I’m back home (yes, we eat mullet down there, stop laughing, it’s really good)

Kind of open to any and all these days

4. What’s your favourite fruit?
Grape. White.

Don’t eat much these days. I like various berries.

5. When, if ever, did you start liking olives?
I’ve always liked green olives. I’d steal them out of my mom’s martini glass when I was very young (like four). Black olives I developed a taste for sometime later.

Unchanged. My wife, who I don’t think was very big on them when we got together, has introduced me to a bunch of different ones.

6. When, if ever, did you start liking beer?
Around fourteen, when it became legal for me to drink it.

Don’t think that’s changed.

7. When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish?
I’m a fuckin’ Cajun. I didn’t have a choice.

I’ll eat pretty much everything out of the water.

8. What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make?
My mom is a great cook; it’s really hard to pick just one thing. I think she’s most proud of her Pecan pies.

I’d rather not talk about this.

9. What’s the native specialty of your hometown?
Hm. That’s a good question.

I really still have no idea.

10. What’s your comfort food?
Beer.

Waffle House.

11. What’s your favourite type of chocolate?
Oh, without a doubt, Kinder Schokolade. Link if you speak German. I haven’t been able to find it here in a very long time.

No idea if that link still works. My take on chocolate has changed since seeing a Shmoocon presentation years ago.

12. How do you like your steak?
rare to medium rare

Same.

13. How do you like your burger?
well-done with cheese.

I’ll take just about anything at this point. I don’t want an egg on it, though.

14. How do you like your eggs?
in the recipe enough where I can’t taste them. gaggs are nasty.

See last. I still don’t like eggs. Or avocadoes.

15. How do you like your potatoes?
Kartofflen Knodel (German potato dumplings)
I’m also really fond of bratkartofflen, although I haven’t been able to find a good recipe for it. Essentially, it’s potatoes that are boiled until they’re pretty much cooked, then diced and fried with onions and parsley in bacon grease. Healthy!

Not real particular.

16. How do you take your coffee?
I don’t at all anymore.

Just cream

17. How do you take your tea?
Not big on tea, either.

Really depends. I still don’t drink very much at all. I did home some sweetened tea when I was down in the Gulf Coast Autonomous Zone a couple of weeks ago. Just regular sweetened. My mother, the native, had unsweetended. I don’t know if that was a dietary restriction, or what.

18. What’s your favourite mug?
Being neither a coffee or tea drinker, I’d have to say a beer mug.

Yeah, I’m not sure what this is about. I do like my Initech coffee mug, though it is a little small.

19. What’s your biscuit or cookie of choice?
NutterButter.

I really don’t eat those too often anymore. I did have some mildly-ginger-flavored breakfast things the other day.

20. What’s your ideal breakfast?
Kirsten Dunst.

Yeah, I have no idea why I answered it that way back then. These days, I rarely have anything more than coffee.

21. What’s your ideal sandwich?
Fried Shrimp Po’ Boy, dressed and pressed.

Muffaletta.

22. What’s your ideal pizza?
Pepperoni on a crust that’s thin, but not flaky in the middle, then yeasty on the outside. There’s a couple of greek places around here who get it right.

Same same.

23. What’s your ideal pie (sweet or savoury)?
Key Lime. omgjizz

Uh? I’m still partial to Key Lime, though.

24. What’s your ideal salad?
Never been real big on salad. It’s kind of something that fills you up so you don’t eat too much good food.

I’m really awed these days by professionally-prepared AND DRESSED salads. To me, that’s a sign that you’ve got a kitchen staff with half a clue. All you need to add, as the eater, is maybe some salt and pepper.

25. What food do you always like to have in the fridge?
Beer.

Yogurt.

26. What food do you always like to have in the freezer?
Wings.

I really don’t have a big freezer. I do like to have some vanilla ice cream.

27. What food do you always like to have in the cupboard?
Soup.

There it is.

28. What spices can you not live without?
Salt, pepper, tabasco, cayenne, file.

Pretty much salt and pepper. I do like to have some hot sauces around.

29. What sauces can you not live without?
Probably canned tomato, because when I cook, I tend to use it a lot.

See last. I like a variety of hot sauces these days.

30. Where do you buy most of your food?
Supermarket.

My wife is adamant about doing all of it, herself.

31. What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without?
Nothing, really. I do love, however, my fryer, and my George Foreman grill. Especially the latter…the neighbors look at you really weird when you fire up the gas grill outside at three in the morning.

Same. I would say I use either my cast iron skillet or my kettle most often.

32. What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry?
Lamb/mutton, squirrel, deer, opossum, turtle, alligator, snake, rabbit, snails, fish eggs.

There’s been others I should probably add, but they’re not coming immediately to mind at the moment.

33. What’s the thing you ate that you picked in the wild?
Oh, lots of things, but mostly blackberries when I was a kid in Germany. Too many will do severe intestinal damage, however. Don’t eat too many!

I honestly have no idea.

34. Arrange the following in order of preference: Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Sushi:
Mexican
Italian
Chinese
Thai
Indian
Sushi
(honestly, I’m not really that fond of the last two at all)

Indian, Thai, Sushi, Chinese, Mexican, Italian

35. Arrange the following in order of preference: Vodka, Whiskey, Brandy, Rum:
Whiskey
Vodka
Rum
Brandy
(Had a real bad time with Brandy once….)

I don’t know that I can really rank this anymore. When it comes to distilled liquor, I would say my most frequently-consumed is Gin.

36. Arrange the following in order of preference: Garlic, Basil, Caramel, Lime, Mint, Ginger:
I can’t answer this question, honestly. They’re too different.

Unchanged

37. Arrange the following in order of preference: Pineapple, Orange, Apple, Strawberry, Cherry, Watermelon, Banana:
Apple
Pineapple
Strawberry
Orange
Banana
Cherry
Watermelon

I don’t know that I’d change this.

38. What’s your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order?
Of choice? Hmmm….I would probably have to go with Sonic and a chili dog with tater tots. I hardly ever get over there, however, as whenever I’m doing fast food it’s like 2am. Taco Bell is the only thing open.

I eat so little fast food these days it’s almost now worth answering. That said, when doing fast food, I try to go with whatever is the signature thing of whatever place I’m ordering from.

39. What’s the next thing you’ll eat?
NFC. Supposed to go out to dinner with friends, but don’t know where.

I think my wife has something planned for dinner tonight. She was supposed to be making, I think, Ratatouille. Or maybe some fish. Dunno.

40. What do you normally have for breakfast?
Nada.

Normally just coffee.

41. What do you normally have for lunch?
Nada.

If I have anything, it’s pretty small. Nuts.

42. What do you normally have for dinner?
Nada. I eat one meal a day, spread out by courses that I eat at work. I normally have a starch of some kind that I eat first (rice, potatoes, corn, bag of chips…), shortly after I get to work at 9pm. Around midnight, I have whatever hot thing I’ve brought with me (soup, or some leftovers….anything I can throw in the microwave). Around 2:30, I’ll have my snack, which is something sweeter….peanut butter crackers, piece of fruit, or if i’m being bad (or was in a hurry), a candy bar. :-/

*shrug*

43. What do you normally have for snacks?
See above. Although if I’m starving some other time, I try to go with something that’s high energy…..hence the beef jerky, peanuts, that sort of thing.

Nuts, yogurt, protein bars, cheese.

44. The four veggies you like most are:
potatoes
corn
onions
peppers

Gonna go full pedant here; peppers are a fruit.

45. What fruit and vegetable do you like the least?
I hate cantaloupe…for the veggies….would have to be the squashes (although I guess those are fruits, too, technically). Eggplant, zucchini, ick.

Yeah, I’m not sure that this is really accurate. I’ll try just about anything.

46. What’s your favourite chocolate bar?
Mr. Goodbar. You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanuts.

I’m surprised I said this back then, but it’s still true.

47. What’s your favourite dessert?
I’m a sucker for custard-like things. Like I said above…key lime pie, cheesecake, that sort of thing.

Still. I’ve gained appreciation for things like bread pudding, too.

48. What’s your favourite drink?
bleifrei: Diet Dr. Pepper
mixed: Margarita
straight: Single Malt Scotch.

Non-alcoholic: Water. Mixed: Gin and Tonic. Straight: I’ve become particularly fond of Port lately.

49. What’s your favourite snack?
Dunno. Probably something with peanuts. Like I said, peanut butter crackers, payday bar, straight roasted peanuts…

Pistachios. Almonds.

50. What’s your favourite gum flavour?
Peppermint.

Same.

51. What’s your favourite ice cream flavour?
I absolutely lurve Baskin Robbins’ “World Class Chocolate.”

I really appreciate a quality vanilla these days.

52. What’s your favourite potato chip flavour?
Sour Cream and Onion

Really depends. If that’s all that I’m eating, I’d still go with the SC&O.

53. What’s your favourite soup?
File (I don’t remember the little accent symbol right now) Gumbo….chicken and andouille.

Really like just about anything these days.

54. What food do you hate?
Quiche.

Yesh. I still don’t like eggs. That said, I could probably choke down quiche more-easily than, say, some done over-easy.

55. What’s your favourite restaurant?
There’s this little pub I like to go to up the road a bit. It’s cheap, they’ve got good beer, and a fireplace on cold nights. (A couple of you will probably know what I’m talking about when I say it’s at the foot of the Coleman Bridge).

Yeah, I know what I was talking about there. No, it’s definitely not that anymore. Considering what I might like for my birthday. Hmm. Bistrot du Coin? Maybe. The local Indian joint that delivers? Probably more likely.

Now on to try to enjoy the rest of the day. Or go back to sleep for a while. Either/or.

Listening to Peddling Fiction Podcast, and having thoughts about generational differences.

They’re a few years younger than I am, and they’re talking about the sex ed they got during school. My wife, who’s a bit younger than they, and I’ve discussed some of what she was taught.

Some crazy differences.

It’s kind of in relation to the new dread disease, Monkeypox.

Fright really doesn’t affect me too much anymore.

Listening to and reading some of the reporting, I feel like I’m really missing the fear I’m supposed to have.

Whatever.

Listened to an interesting ep. of Kennedy Saves The World with Rep. Dan Crenshaw on using hallucinogens for PTSD. Amendments he worked on with AOC may or may not actually find law.

I don’t know that I’m terribly interested, but there’s more than I once had.

What I wrote back in 1999 kind of illustrates that:

From August 6, 1999.

---

No, I’m not talking about carving N’Sync logos into my arm with a razor blade……

But this is an issue I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Some of these coping methods which seem so normal, can be termed as self abuse.

Let’s list some of them:

Overeating

not eating

sleeping all the time

not sleeping at all

chainsmoking

getting drunk off your ass

coffee

but there are so many…..I tend not to sleep, and live off coffee.

These normally are described as coping methods.

It has been said that happier people live longer…..maybe it’s partially due to the lower frequency of self abuse due to sadness.

Well, I’m off to refill my coffee cup…..later.

---

There still isn’t a big desire to “get wasted.” A bit of a curiosity, maybe, because I’m not sure that I even can at this point.

Intense experiences.

I avoided them for most of my life.

What can I do?

Right now, I’m doing the sorts of things that “normal” people don’t think twice about, and seeing how I feel afterwards.

One thing at a time.

But I think I’d like to do something “crazy,” and see what the experience is like.

Maybe it’ll happen…..

Busy day, but I got through it.

Unbearably hot here again. With that, though, there was this story that got some national attention.

I was thinking about Tom Anderson visiting DC from Beavis and Butthead Do America. Yes, I know that’s wrong, but it’s what came to mind when I heard about the old couple.

What can you do.

Watching On Patrol Live, which is kind of the reboot of Live PD, one of the shows cancelled in the wake of George Floyd.

There’s probably better things I could be watching, but…

My mom urgently wanted to ask my wife something about something with which she really hasn’t had familiarity in fifteen years.

This is why she’s not living by herself.

Pfft.

I should find something more substantial to write about for tomorrow.

I really should update these so that they’ve got the entry numbers stretching across months.

Oh well. Maybe this weekend. So many things I need to do.

• TWUUG Meeting
• Go to new office tomorrow morning
• Get my passport
• Finish migrating VPS setup
• See if I can figure out what’s going on with OpenDKIM on the lists VPS

And so on.

I looked through old entries to see if there was something I could reproduce. I remember, now, why that stuff isn’t readily-available.

I think the batteries in this keyboard are dying.

News…..

Brit5ney Griner . But we should be okay with Russia being a legitimate force in world politics. I miss the days when they were disrupting US elections, you know?

The Federal government is getting involved in the Breonna Taylor case. And continuing silence on what happened in MoCo, MDDR about the same time. But they’re good people, and he was a nut, so it was totally justified that they shot him while he was asleep next to his pregnant fiancee.

Ben Roethlisberger will be very happy that it looks like the Choco-Taco has been saved by keyboard warriors. I really miss Kissing Suzy Kolber.

I guess the Hall of Fame game is tonight. I don’t think I’m going to be able to watch. Next to get my wife to sign-off on TV changes in time for the season….

Making some progress today. Had an appointment with some of my medical team this morning; they’re very happy.

Am I? I don’t know. All of this is different for me. I lived for so long in a tough situation that I really have trouble appreciating what progress I’ve made.

I decided to look at what I’d written twenty years ago today. It was a review of a book I’d read…..and I have no idea what book it was. How sad is that?

---

Bad read

Read a promotional book sent to the station last night while I waited on Debian to finish downloading (building a small server to act as an Appletalk to windoze gateway)….

Basically this was a book that tried to be different than most “How to pickup chicks” manuals. It was interesting, but only in its superficiality. Everything a man is “supposed to do” to pickup chicks seemed fake to me — impossible to do. If someone expresses an irrational feeling, *why* should I validate it? If it’s something petty, I’ll just keep my mouth shut and let it slide. If it’s something totally foolish or idiotic, that *needs* to be said.

In essence, though, the book teaches men self-denial. Denial of desire, denial of self-worth, and denial of reality. Admittedly, I’m not one to share what I think of a member of the opposite sex readily to others. In fact, I’m often dismissive about those I’m attracted to. It’s nobody’s business but my own, really (okay, so maybe it’s her business, too). But establishing a friendship with a woman in order to eventually to get sex from her or her friends seems like false pretenses to me; even if this sure-fire method makes *them* the initators.

Tom Leykis has his Leykis 101 series. That is unabashedly about getting more tail for less money. But he doesn’t take the step of playing a phony and leading women on into being friends. He says, take ’em out, don’t act overly interested, don’t spend more than forty bucks for a date, let them know that they’re not the only game in town, and if you ain’t gotten any by the third date, you don’t see her again. None of this petty mindgames bullshit.

Ho-hum. I don’t necessarily subscribe to Leykis’s techniques, mainly because I don’t view sex as a casual matter (damn objectivist thinking comes into play…). But the brutal simplicity of it makes it respectable. And you don’t have to lie in the process.

---

I really wonder what the book was, and whether my take on it would have changed very much.

At first, I thought it might be something related to some philosophy class I had, but it was after I graduated, so can’t be….

It fit in with discussion with my psychologist’s take on this podcast.

There’s no single way to do most things.

Figure out a way to do something, document it, and change it as appropriate.

This sort of attitude is really frowned upon in government work.

Work day isn’t finished yet. I don’t know. I took a particularly-refreshing nap after the first round this morning and afternoon, and am not particularly excited about going back later on to re-do what’s 75% complete.

Ain’t needed, but it’s necessary.

Nothing notably strange with the drams today, so there’s that, I suppose.

The NeoHippies were actually sort of upset that this piece of garbage got smoked.

Yeah. I can’t bring myself to consider all the bad things that have happened during the quest for him. But that’s less important than the fact that he’s dead. We’re finished. It’s time to go home.

That so much can be done from afar makes that even more true.

Not really seeing anything that I wanna revisit from today’s date, either. Whatever.

Settling back into the routine.

It’s fine. And I originally mistyped that as “gine.” That could be a sign that I want some gin to make up for the stuff lost in delivery in May…..

I plucked out a few things to recycle, but I still don’t really have topics set out.

That’s fine.

The little dog is feeling a lot better, I think. The feistiness is coming through, again. It’s nothing like I remember, but she seems more alert, etc..

So. What else? I have to go out into the world on Friday. 21 minutes by car. I think that’s actually a little closer than the other place. *looks around* Nawp. Four minutes longer with traffic this time of day.

Given that I’m closer to the city, and this is further out, I think it’d actually be faster getting to and from.

That said, it really doesn’t matter at this point. Oh well.

So. Resample a survey from 2001 to see where I am twenty-one years later…

1. Smoke? Like a freakin’ chimney

You know you’re stopping that when we get married….

2. Do drugs? legal ones, yes. stay away from the stuff that’ll get me thrown in jail.

Nothing entertaining. I think some of my health care team would want me to.

3. Have sex? not by any definition.

That happens.

4. Sleep with stuffed animals? Inflatible doll

Nope.

5. Have a crush? Not telling. 😉

Yes, and it’s been that way for, what, more than sixteen years?

6. Have a boyfriend/girlfriend? See question three.

Again, see above.

7. Have a dream that keeps coming back? Nope. But I do have some quite odd dreams.

Oh, there’s so many thing….lately it’s been about trying to get somewhere unsuccessfully. Yes, I have notes for my appointment later this week.

8. Play an instrument? not anymore.

Same.

9. Believe there is life on other planets? I’d like to think so.

I can’t rule it out.

10. Remember your first love? Yes.

You know, this one was a full-throated yes back then, but in retrospect, I don’t think I truly was in lover with any of them, maybe? My wife is the only person I’ve been with, and felt completely comfortable. Spending time with her has never, ever, felt like work.

11. Still love them? HER. I’ll just say that I think of her fondly.

Again, it’s just so different. I really can’t compare.

12. Read the newspaper? more than I should

I really can’t remember the last time I did. The print industry, just like TV and radio, is dead.

13. Have any gay or lesbian friends? nobody really close…several acquaintances.

Yes.

14. Believe in miracles? no.

The Saints won a Super Bowl.

15. Believe it’s possible to remain faithful forever? Yes, of course. It’s a matter of self-control.

Still there. I think there’s a whole lot more with the blip about self-control.

16. Consider yourself tolerant of others? Hah! I’m more tolerant than I should be, though.

I’ve come back around to the same place. Because I don’t want to deter you from something does not mean I approve of whatever. But that’s my business. Leave me alone, and I’ll return the favor.

17. Consider police friend or foe? Depends upon the situation.

Same same.

18. Like the taste of alcohol? PURE alcohol? Yep. Mmmmm…scotch.

Hmmm. Do I have any scotch?

19. Have a favorite Stooge? Curly

Probably the same. But now I’ve earwormed myself twenty-plus years later with Frank Black’s Two Reelers

20. Believe in Astrology? Ehh. No. It’s a curiousity, though

No.

21. In magic? Nope.

No.

22. In God? I don’t think I ever have.

I don’t know how long it was after this that my committed atheism started wavering. But, yes, yes I do today.

23. Pray? Not in a long time.

Yes I do.

24. Go to church? Only for weddings and funerals.

I can’t remember the last time I did. I sometimes will watch something online.

25. Have any secrets? 😉 StillStarry asked me one night if I’d answer everything she asked me. The answer is still “no.” 🙂

There’s things I won’t share readily, but there’s nothing of which I’m terribly ashamed, either.

26. Have any pets? Dogs.

We have a dog now. She’s feeling better, which has brought out more of her individual temperament. She’s clearly not as comfortable being on the bottom of the pack now.

27. Do well in school? When I’m not getting myself in trouble, yes.

I guess I wrote this kind of in the midst of my changeover in approach. I really worry how my attitude would be taken today. I do challenge orthodoxy, andnd authority. I think I’d get in trouble for that today.

28. Go to or plan to go to college? I’m there.

I finished. I’ve not gone back.

29. Have a degree? Not yet.

I have a Bachelor of Science in Government Administration. I am a highly trained bureaucrat.

30. Talk to strangers who instant message you? If they’re not at all interested in cyber.

Um. IM history. But I guess, maybe, Twitter is similar? I’ll chime in from time to time.

31. Wear hats? I wear caps. There *is* a difference.

I really don’t have anything anymore. But I’m also rarely outside.

32. Have any piercings? I have enough holes in my body, thank you very much. I do like P.J. O’Rourke’s idea of getting a hoop through the left ass cheek.

RIP, P.J. And, no, I don’t have any piercings.

33. Have any tatoos? I fear needles.

I don’t fear needles as much as I did back then. More than a decade of MS will take that anxiety away pretty quickly.

But even before the MS diagnosis, I was pretty opposed to tattoos. I also find them to be a serious turn-off when it comes to a MOTOS. J

34. Hate yourself? Not at the moment.

Not really.

35. Have a horny spot? only a few people know about it.

Things are so out-of-sorts on me these days, nothing that would have worked on a twenty-one-year-old me works anymore.

36. Get horny easy? Umm….

Kind of see the last one. Lots of things just don’t work anymore. If you’d told me that there’d be so little desire now, I wouldn’t have believed you.

37. Have a best friend? Yep.

I do. I’m still very close friends with the one I answered affirmatively to in 2001, but I’m certainly closer to the one I’d meet five years later.

38. Wish on stars? Sometimes. It’s silly.

Pretty much unchanged.

39. Like your handwriting? My handwriting is hideous.

It’s gotten worse since I’ve lost more muscle control. I can’t make my hands do what they’re supposed to do pretty often. I can still type okay, I suppose, which is how I can continue to write.

40. Have any bad habits? See the questions about alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes. Add to those nailbiting.

A few. I’ve eliminated, or significantly cut down on the ones listed.

41. Care about looks? More than I should.

My vision isn’t good. I do notice something from time to time, but not terribly 0ften. It’s a good day when I notice my wife’s face.

42. Believe in witches? See the entries on my ex-girlfriend.

See, I have no idea which ex I was talking about here. I really bear no animus towards any of my exes at this point. But I don’t know. Given my lack of belief in the “dark arts,” I’d say, “no.” Are there wholly-evil women on the planet? Certainly.

43. Believe in Satan? I’m more certain there’s no Satan or hell than I’m certain there’s no god.

Not with the latter, but still very skeptical of the former.

44. Ghosts? I find them intriguing, but I’ve never seen one.

Still very skeptical.

45. Santa Claus? Nope.

Logically, I know there isn’t one. That he liked my father’s favorite libation should have tipped me off. But I really am not of the opinion that having kids believe in such things is a bad thing.

46. The Easter Bunny? Nope.

Nope.

47. The Tooth Fairy? He was inconsistent. And, really, who wants teeth?

Nope.

48. Have a second family? Eek, no. One is enough.

Still the same. I’m wondering how the story of Charles Kuralt had missed me at that point. I mean, I worked for a CBS affiliate at the time. How did this never cross my radar? My mother loved watching him.

49. Trust others easily? Nope.

I’m not sure how I’d answer this today. Do I trust too easily? Maybe. Or maybe I don’t have the idea that people are out to get me. I don’t think that the vast majority of people are out to intentionally hurt me (or anyone else). Just not how humans operate. One of the discussions my wife and I’ve had is about Anne Frank’s generally-positive view of people. I’m kind of there with her.

That said, I am very big on making people state the ends of their controlling intentions. You think me doing something is so awful that it justifies having someone kill me ot stop it? Okay. Glad we got that out there.

50. Like sarcasm? It depends. I don’t like that I’m so sarcastic sometimes. But then….

I don’t know that it’s necessarily sarcasm I appreciate.

51. Feel understood most of the time? Hah!

No, but, then, I’m so rarely in public, there’s not a lot of opportunity for it.

52. Like sappy love songs? Some are strangely appealing.

Same.

53. This question, for some crazy reason, wasn’t available. So I’ll fill it in….Kirk or Picard? Kirk.

Still Kirk. And RIP to Uhuru. But, in considered retrospection, I think the best starfleet captain was Sisko.

54. Untie your shoes everytime you take them off? Depends upon which pair.

Same. I don’t wear shoes very often. Even when I do, they’re often not laced. But I don’t think I often just slip off tied shoes.

55. Wear overalls? I gave up redman at the same time.

Oh. RED MAN. I think this was snark about chewing tobacco. Ummmm…yeah, I can’t remember wearing overalls since about age five.

56. Think you are strong? Emotionally? Physically? Yes, no.

Same and same.

57. Like skittles? Uhh…

So. Much. Sugar.

58. Like to shop? No.

Same.

59. Look like anyone famous? Not anyone famous, really. I get really off-the-wall ones. Someone once told me I look like Neil Young. How sick.

I don’t really know of anyone, no.

60. Think Brad Pitt looks good? I’m having trouble restraining myself. Mmmmm….Brad Armpit

Um.

61. Have your own phone line? Cellphone

If there was a pre-9/11 question…

I have a couple of VOIIP numbers, but connecting the phones is an exercise in futility with my ISP. They forward to my cellphone, which has had the same number since 1999.

62. Enjoy filling out this kinda stuff? It keeps me from doing actual work. I’ve already worked too much this week.

I was tempted to quit about fifteen questions ago.

63. Have a pool? Nope.

There’s one in my apartment complex. I’ve never been.

64. Have a spa? does it count when you stick the shower massage down into the bathtub while taking a bath?

I think there’s a hot tub over by the complex’s pool. But I wish they had a sauna and an ice bath. I’d really like to try that now.

65. Like jewelry? I wear a ring and a watch. I think that says everything.

Prety much the same. Wedding ring. Ppdometer.

66. Have a web site? Yes.

Yeah. I’m being really derelict in moving it.

67. Like playstation? Nope.

I bought a PS2 sometime not too long after writing this just to play GTA2. I wound up giving it away to my wife’s cousins after theirs died. She got a new gaming console a few years ago, but I never did much with it. Video games really aren’t much fun when you can’t see worth a damn.

68. Nintendo 64? Never played around with one…

Never had one. We had an Atari, a NES, a SNES, and a Genesis. I’m not sure what went to my brother’s ex-wife in their divorce.

69. Sleep a lot? I wish.

Yes. I can normally plow through about nine hours before I need a nap.

70. Get along with your parents? Disgustingly well.

Well, what’s left of Dad is a few miles away six feet under at Arlington National, and my mother’s in a memory care unit. So…?

71. Have AOL? Yes. But it’s not my primary ISP. it has its uses

I will pay for AOL because my mom never got off of it for email. I will probably look at getting rid of it about when I get rid of her old cell number. They don’t cost very much these days.

72. Wear a watch? See question 65.

Yep. See above. But even without the pedometer, I get away without one very often. There’s a clock on the cellphone that’s normally in my pocket.

73. Have braces, or have you ever? Of my extensive dental work, braces haven’t been a part…

No braces, but there isn’t a tooth in my mouth that’s completely natural.

74. Have any scars? What from? Too many to list.

I guess the one that’s still most visible is the one on my right elbow. I got hit by a pitch at about age twelve. You can still sorta see the one on my right eye, but it’s less noticeable with fortysomething crow’s feet.

75. Write poetry? “There’s a place for those who love their poetry…”

Nah.

76. If so, what is your favorite poem you have written? I’d say “Ode to my Choad.” But I didn’t write that one.

Ixnay on the narksay. I don’t know.

77. Make fun of people? Is a pig’s ass pork?

Not nearly as often as I used to.

And that’s finished. Whew.

Yeah, the titles don’t do a lot to describe where I am in this process. This would be entry eleven in what I do during the summer. Maybe I’ll add them going forward.

I spent a lot of the day yesterday listening to various podcasts, and considering what’s going on. I subjected myself to two episodes of Part of the Problem. The first was really good. The second kind of erased a lot of the demount I felt in the morning. Just shut the fuck up about things you don’t understand. Every time you opine about the law, your lack of understanding becomes more and more evident.

All that said, I wonder if my objection is really to the importance they LPMC kids are placing on going Antiwar.

No.

The same could be said of war that could be said of pimpin’ — it ain’t easy, but it’s necessary. Sometimes.

So, I’m coming to the realization that I’m not antiwar. I’m pro going home when the operation is finished. No sanctions. No boots remaining on the ground afterwards. Just go home.

Maybe P.J. O’Rourke’s book title was running through my head; Give War A Chance.

Again, it ain’t easy, but it’s necessary. Sometimes. Yes, you take steps to prevent it as best you can, but if you no longer can, fight, kick ass, and go home.

So. News.

I linked a couple of days ago to the bigtime thunderstorm in Vegas. I was wondering how it was going refilling the lake, which I think I mistakenly attached an extra “e” on the end or, Lake Mead.

Nope. It’s still empty. And there’s some interesting things showing up with the low water levels.

(Somewhat-related — my wife and I bought a Paramount+ subscription last night to try and watch the new Beavis and Butthead movie. Had to pick through and get things to find my ancient CBS All Access login to get the subscription set up. But I finally got it. The app on the TV kept crashing. My wife did get the original one to play; I was dozing off, but I do remember seeing the scene from the Hoover Dam. “Is that a God Damn?” We did get the movie to play on a different device connected to the TV. I would give the new movie a solid “B.” Other TV stuff? Trying to decide what to do for the upcoming NFL season. Unfortunately, where I am, there’s no option for anything than one of the cable companies. The service is okay, but it’s expensive. After two years of paying a ton for some things we didn’t use, we backed down to just Internet, and re-subscribed to Hulu with Live TV. But I want to see some stuff on Reelz, so I’m conflicted. The cable company carries Reelz. I could also subscribe to a different streaming service for a few months…..pfft.)

Other stuff…

POTUS has COVID. And again. The remedies that were supposed to fix everything haven’t. Oh well. Leave people alone, and take care of the folks who get sick when they get sick.

It’s not that tough.