Categories
NoJoMo

15

Halftime

What if the internet and social media went away? What would we do?

I think I understand the motivation for this prompt — wasn’t life so much better before social media? Think about that for a moment, and apply the same general thought pattern to any other technology. You could reword: What if indoor plumbing and climate control went away? What would we do?

Many more of us would die. (This is one of the unwritten benefits of technology — far fewer people die of things that are relatively simple to prevent.) Many more people would do things like spinning fibers into threads. Just imagine how much your life would suck if you had to mill your own flour.

When you think about it more closely, it’s actually a pretty silly question. Technology exists. Using it makes your life better. Even super-scary AI.

Robby Soave (again; I know) described the awesome resistance across the river in Maryland that’s going to prevent a data center from being built.

You know, that proposed hospital is going to take up so much open space, right? It’s going to ruin ancient views. And won’t someone think of the noise and traffic problems the emergency room will bring?

And that water treatment plant? What an eyesore!

Along the same lines, there was this masterpiece from X yesterday….

Things
Get
Better

This is true, even if you ardently refuse to admit it.

I guess that thought brings me to halftime. I’ve written every day for half of this month. Am I satisfied? Maybe?

I think I’ve shown that I can operate in new and different ways, and that’s really not a problem.

I think I have a relatively good technology stack. Where there’s gaps, I can work around them. And those gaps will be filled at some point; things get better.

I’m going to use the Apple link because that was the most straightforward way of finding this week’s episode. But they’re focusing on “vibe-coding” apps, micro-payments, stripping ads, etc. These are the sort of things that really disrupt the ad/subscription models of podcasting. This feels oddly similar to how ride-sharing apps blew up the taxi medallion system in many cities, or driverless vehicles will blow up the side-gigs many people have driving ride-shares.

I’m still hopeful many things will continue to improve.

I should probably dig and try to find what I wrote in 2010 just after I was diagnosed. Things looked so bleak, and there was the constant undercurrent that my situation was solely because of my actions.

Sixteen years later, The ScienceTM still hasn’t figured out what causes MS, how to stop it, or how to repair the nerve damage it causes.

But I’m a horrible person because I didn’t sign to whatever cure someone had cobbled together. For many, nay most, people it’s a lifelong disease with few relapses. I’m not in the majority; what’s new? My case is progressive. I’m not going to “get better” just by eating whatever. Medical technology hasn’t been able to figure out how to repair nerve damage. It just hasn’t happened. Yet.

I will continue to live as best I can. I will continue to try to write as best I can. I am actually excited by things like Neuralink. Even if AOC doesn’t like the guy who’s actually building things.

Is there more I can say? Sure. But I’m halfway finished, even if I was on the road for the first ten days of the month.

The second half begins tomorrow; onward!

Categories
NoJoMo

14

Goodness. This day has started swimmingly. I was supposed to get this dental issues finished up today, finally. (I broke a tooth the night before Easter, and it’s taken forever to try to get an implant done. Every time I go back, they aren’t finished with the work, something else needs to be done, and it’s going to cost me another couple of grand. What’s the Bad Orange Man’s line? That’s probably happening, y’all. Next year. After you finally finish this shit.

With that in mind, please pardon the snippy tone. I was going to say I’m angry, but “annoyed” might be a better way to describe it. I have a feeling what I’d pulled to write about isn’t going to brighten my mood any. Let’s go…

COVID (Flashback to 2020)

COVID policies were the very best of authoritarian force in action. While there were examples where private companies overstepped, those are easier to deal with than the man with a badge and a gun. I can just refuse to spend my money with you. It’s a lot tougher to do that when you’re mandated to frequent a particular provider.
(Aside: I’m probably going to fire this Dentist after all the recent tomfoolery…and thinking back, they were 10,000% into the COVID precautions; swish with this hydrogen peroxide before we even start the exam.)
I don’t feel a lot different about what I wrote about concerning Dr. J. in 2020, and the LP in the election.

Biden won promising to beat COVID-19. He executed those prescriptions perfectly. See? And that was before beating Medicare.

COVID, and the responses to it, were disaster from “both sides.”

Naturally, Reason serves up supporting results by the bushel.

Eric Boehm’s piece is still pretty spot-on. Robby Soave’s piece on what happened to civil liberties in the name of fighting this disease that’s rarely more than a bad cold for most people.

And there’s been nearly no political blowback for what authoritarian politicians did.
Nono, the stuff we did was perfect, but the other side were bad.
I disagree. You all failed in monumental ways. The party alignments changed. And few things were actually fixed. But, hey, you did invent a bunch more currency to pay for it, so I guess there’s that.

But you did ostracize a bunch of people. A curt “Good Job,” probably doesn’t convey the proper message of, “Fuck You.”

I might have chosen this flashback after seeing Fauci’s senate hearings, where he took the fifth over a hundred times. Rodent.

In spite of the public health failures for COVID, look at all the things the government does perfectly. You know, like the nationwide Air Traffic Control. (Interesting that that was from Canuckistani news, and they didn’t have the same problems.) Tagging the USPS or the DMV seems overplayed at this point.

Why is there such confidence that the US Government can do anything right, or well? The expectations of state and local governments are lower, but they failed, too. They did fail with more authoritarian tactics, so there’s that. Pouring sand on that skate park undoubtedly saved tens of thousands of lives.

Changing the people running these failed organizations doesn’t make them better. That’d come from firing them. Like my dental practice.

Categories
NoJoMo

13

I had a free-write penciled-in here, but the unused prompt I had for yesterday will work. Here goes…

Describe your travel plans for the next few months. Is there any destination you’re really excited about?

I’m going to a wedding in December. Aside from that, I really don’t have any right now.

I think the bare calendar is probably mostly a function of being broke for so long, and not wanting to spend money that wasn’t there.

Perhaps some of it is revulsion over certain issues (i.e. my conviction to avoid NYC, or its businesses, so long as Mamdani is mayor.). More likely, it’s just that there’s nothing I really want to see or do right now. Maybe that’ll change when it’s warm again in the Spring, but I don’t know.

Yesterday, I talked about how tired I was following my research visit. I think I’m free of those until February, now, but is there anything I’d like to do? Not really.

With the exhaustion, too, I’d switched over to news to see the weather, having assumed “Da Ders” (Perhaps a better ridiculous nickname for the Former Washington Football Team than “Form(er)skins.” )

Glad to see that they came back and beat The Giants. Still very unsure who in the NFL is a good team. But it is refreshing to see nasty weather Football is underway.

Is there any destination you’re really excited about?

I was excited about my trip to Biloxi earlier this month. I’m curious about my trip to my friend’s wedding in upstate New York next month. Otherwise, there really isn’t anything on the calendar travel-wise.

I should be happy about that, no?

Instead, it’s just a bit of relief. Yeah, I finished the things. I should just relax now.

I’m going to stop before I really start delving into some other things; I’m really just the passenger. I should shut up.

*hits AI review*

Yeah, it looks like Microsoft is back up and running. This was all so much better when Jason and Ben were working all night to try to bring the Exchange cluster back online.

Categories
NoJoMo

12

Today’s prompt asked me to write about faith. I suppose that could go with the near-religious fervor too many apply to mainstream politics.

Even though I could probably tie in the election results to the prompt, I really don’t feel like doing that. Not today. Maybe I’ll write about it later, maybe I won’t write about it at all. We’ll see. No, I’m not happy or disappointed; “both sides” have no willingness to fix the things they’ve screwed up over the past 35-or-so years.

Instead, I’m going to focus on the trip. I was in a casino in Biloxi on election night dealing with pho I’d over-spiced. (It still tasted good, but I added way too much hot pepper…)

Getting to the Coast, I took a direct flight from DC to New Orleans. My brother took a flight from a different airport, we met up in the finally-finished New Orleans airport, then took his rental car to Biloxi.

He and I ended up not gambling at all; just no desire.

The night my brother left, I finally got my retirement treat to myself, whiskey and oysters. I ordered an appetizer of fresh oysters, along with a cup of soup. Since I couldn’t decide whether I wanted whiskey or a Martini, I asked the bartender for her recommendation. She made me a very nice Old Fashioned to go with my food. So, winning..

Overall, the trip worked out. I flew first class on the trip home after Coach-Plus for the trip down. The flight between DC and New Orleans is only 2:20. If I packed lightly, I could probably forego checking a bag.

In keeping with minimalist travel approach, I found a good laundry service who did about a week’s worth of laundry. Maybe not less-expensive than the charge for manual laundromat trip, but not terribly far off, either. I think the total was like $22, and I just paid them $35. So, we’re looking at probably $15 for the materials to do the laundry; is my time worth more than the extra twenty bucks? Yep.

And I had clean clothes to wear to the combined birthday party for my mom and grandfather. I think, though my mom really wasn’t terribly coherent. I suppose that’s to be expected for someone in memory care.

The day before I left, I went over and had lunch with Mom. She was worried about getting her report cards finished. We finally got on a FaceTime call with her best friend, my godmother. Unfortunately, there were only a few moments of coherence, she dozed off about twenty minutes in.

More tomorrow; quite tired after medical stuff this morning.

Categories
NoJoMo Old OD

11

Interesting find in the old archives. I guess I started my first job outside radio on Veterans’ Day.

First Day - 11/11/2005
---------------------------------------------------------------------------



So, first day at the new job.......

Took me an hour and twenty minutes to get to work.  Ugh.  Rolled in the door, just enough time to drop my shit, and we were off to look at what is going to be the new office.  The one we're in now isn't going to be big enough for the contract the company won, and I'm going to have to share my office with a tech once they hire him/her.  The potential new place looks okay; management/corporate types upstairs, and me downstairs with my team of techs.  Yea, looks like I'm going to be a "manager" of sorts, managing more than just myself (which is difficult enough).

*barf*

Anyway, the reason I had to start today was that my boss is going to Europe for two weeks, and he wanted to get me up and running before he left.  So, we get back to the office, start going over what needs to be done while he's gone, and...the power goes out.  Yeah.  We rolled over to Best Buy to get a case for the new notebook he got.  Come back, and start going over things.

Essentially, we've been hired to a) find out why this particular system we're working on doesn't work, b) recommend changes to it so that it does actually work, and c) test every single system before they're installed.  The other guy in the office and I have to devise a system to do those things, then we hire people to actually do them as the contract progresses.

FUN.

Still, I suppose it has the potential to be better than the everyday drudgery of the radio station, where I didn't really get to do anything really neat.  Sure, there were a few things that ended up being interesting, but most of it was just implementing bland off-the-shelf stuff, and stomping out fires.

I got to show off some of my skills almost right away, transferring everything to this new notebook the boss got, and doing some networking stuff.

I have to go to Florida the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  In a Ryder truck.

FUN.

I'm hoping that once we get more people in I'll be relieved from some of the more suck-ass parts of the travel.  At least I don't have to go to Indiana next week, something that was discussed.  Instead, I go to Va. Beach for two days.  Woohoo.  The Florida trip, well, we go to the corporate office near Richmond on Wednesday, box shit up for this conference down there, put it in the truck, and then take the truck down to Chesapeake for the weekend.  Saturday, we head down to Florida, set up shit on Sunday, then hang out....working out of our hotel rooms for the week.  Friday night, we box shit back up, take it back to Richmond.

Blaaaah.

I'm also becoming quickly aware of how little of a life I have outside work.  Trying to find people to hang out with, other than just drinking beer at their houses, ain't easy these days.  People are telling me I need a girlfriend or something.  I dunno.  Might be nice.

I have Friday off.  WTF is that?  A holiday where I don't have to work?  I really can't remember the last time that happened.  A full three days with absolutely nothing to do.  I'm going to be bored out of my mind, with the exception of Friday night, where I'm having my unofficial going away party for radio station people (after I'm gone, but couldn't work it any other way).  Extreme intoxication is on the agenda for that.

I’m still wracked with internal debate about whether I should go further with an inquiry I sent as I was playing with AI tools.

You can find a hell of a lot out about someone just by feeding their name into AI tools. I think I might have searched my own name to find police reports where I was named this entry.

I don’t have a generic name; I’m not “John Smith.” But my appearances in media have really subsided since I exited radio in 2005. Now searching my name yields a few others who share my name. No, I’m not a college golf star. Or a hockey player.
If you were looking for someone, me, specifically, you could probably figure out where that person is without too much work. That wasn’t the case just a few years ago.

The new boss from the old entry above I haven’t spoken to, really, since around my MS diagnosis in 2010. There are many reasons for that, but seeing my name pop up in a police report I’d filed, kind of as a preemptive action, against the guy who’d owned that company.
Or he’d left a threatening message. Or something.
I don’t remember, and that was kind of purposeful on my end.

I really don’t know what happened to the former company owner. Last rumors I’d heard, he was divorced from his second wife. She was the one who’d travel to Sedona, Arizona, to speak to a medium for corporate business strategy.

I’m not creative enough to have invented these details.

But, I’d heard they’d divorced, the new company financial guru had taken ownership of the company, and sold it a few years later. The owner was supposedly living on his daughter’s couch in San Diego. And doing what people do in San Diego.

But, back to the former immediate boss. What happened to him after about 2010? I’ve had an outstanding Facebook friend request for a while now. *clicks on profile* Yeah, no activity in a few years; is he still alive? How many of those folks have died? I know a few from the radio days are gone, but have no idea about these two.

I’ll stew on it for a bit longer. There’s also something else I want to discuss with my psychologist surrounding inaction due to fear. I did eat the oysters while I was in Biloxi; they were wonderful. So why am I afraid to do the other thing?

And I’m getting really distracted. My thoughts are with, and appreciation for, the veterans. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ANC site is swamped today; I’ll come back to see my dad in §54.

Categories
NoJoMo Old OD

10

Before I get into today’s entry, I should say that I fired of a pretty annoyed email to Reason about this week’s Editors’ Roundtable.

I think I said most of my piece in the email, but..

  • The actions against Iran aren’t a “War Of Choice.” How these fuck can you tout being about human rights, when you treat the Islamic Republic of Iran as legitimate? Ask a few AI tools how many protestors the Islamic Republic executed January 8-9 2026.
  • The inflation, I think and Cato agrees, is largely due to the increase in the money supply since the pandemic. No politician has any way to fix this while maintaining loose monetary policy.
  • Thomas Massie can’t go into obscurity quickly enough. The “War Powers Resolution” was, and probably always had been unconstitutional. It’s probably also not applicable for Naval and Air blockades; there’s no boots-on-the-ground.

Just frustrating. I do have some money sets aside I plan to give them in a few weeks, but I’m so incredibly frustrated.

I admit I lit up a few TheFP writers, too, for things they’d thrown out about the Iran operation being the reason for inflation, and the “blue wave” Tuesday. It might have been a bit of a triggering-event, but Cato has been on my wavelength with it. I mentioned David Harsanyi‘s take recently, but both really take a bicycle chain to the idea that it’s all about the Iran operation.

Anyway, I’d planned to finish this up when I was on the airplane. That didn’t happen; I am home. The wrap-up will be for Thursday.

Other stuff….
Flashing back to 2002 for a moment.

Advertisers Have Lost It - 11/10/2002
---------------------------------------------------------------------------



Three.  Three times this afternoon was I awakened by telemarketers.  From the fscking popup ads on the web (it's gotten worse if you're using Internet Exploder from what I understand, even to the point of having things that animate across your screen, which you have to close manually....but I don't use Windoze much anymore).

At the station where I work, the salespeople are focused on selling these hour-long infomercials instead of thirty second spots.

I suppose it's all interconnected....sell, sell, sell, brag brag brag, (alternatively, if you don't sell...lie, lie, lie), and Wall Street bumps your stock up to ungodly heights.....

Even PBS runs ads.  One of their "made possible by..." ads the other day was some bank schilling their new checking account.....

Eventually it has to end.



Notes: --------------------------------------------------------------------


I so agree. We live in the DC area, and we keep our phone on an answering service... too many telemarketers calling... and it's a private number to boot. And yeah on the PBS stuff... that is aggravating too *nods* [Witch]  11/10/2002 6:23:35 PM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I guess this was while I was working pretty much only at night. This would have been the November after I’d graduated, and was trying to figure out what the hell to do with my life.

How relevant are telemarketers these days? If I don’t recognize a number, I don’t take it. If I accidentally answer something that’s pure marketing, I block and report spam.

There’s still things that sneak through, but not nearly as many as back then.

One of the things Adam Curry is working on is a vibe-coded Podcast player that strips out all ads. This is a big problem for the shows that have five-plus minute ad blocks at the start and end of podcast episodes.

Whether or not that really is going to really lock people into the various platforms is unclear. While I don’t particularly like ads, I wouldn’t normally skip over spots if they were quick.

Does that mean I fully-support free-loading? No. But if there’s an additional five-minute block at the end, I’m probably just going to go to the next episode.

I’m tired. Veteran’s Day tomorrow, then trip wrap-up Thursday.

Categories
NoJoMo

9

I’m not sure why I was trying to shoehorn-in this flashback to 2004. Election flashback to 2004. I probably ought to go actually read that, but I’m really not feeling like it. Plus, there’s others in ear-shot, and they probably wouldn’t be interested.

Obviously, there’s still spasms surrounding the election almost a week later.

But nobody has a clue on how to fix anything. I get that shooting someone might feel viscerally-satisfying, but that’s not going to do a damn thing about the $2,000,000,000,000 annual budget deficits.

TheFP’s morning story kind of hit on it last couple of days, including this morning.

I am OTR right now; I’m kind of proud of my restraint on this trip so far. Ooh, I have a coupon for late-night deliveries. I could totally go for a milkshake. But I’d have to spend another twenty bucks. I can be satiated with a sweet-ish protein bar, and policing off the alcohol I have left in my room. Maybe I’ll get dinner later.

So, start in on my “to-subscribe” list.
Do the stuff that’s on my list? No!

Sign up for something that’d quickly caught my ear, and I figured I wanted a bit more of.

So. Feminine Chaos. (And I do have a few free subs that came along…..email me with something in the body proving you know me, or have read more than just this entry.)

Maybe I’ll get around to Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em. (Strange aside, Kat Timpf was talking in one of her social media posts about a Michelob Ultra version of weed that she’d prefer to the ultra-high-THC versions circulating on the street these days; is the secondary reason I’ve never tried weed is that I’m afraid?)

Then some of the various “right wing” stuff I let lapse while I was broke.

But I think I’m just about finished here. I was able to use Muse to coordinate my ride for tomorrow.

Good football yesterday. The Saints are now tied for first place…at two games under .500 after the Bucs pulled off a loss to Chicago.

Day with Mom today, football tonight, then home tomorrow.

After checking my draft entries full of prompts, I’m not finding anything I’d like to write about today. This isn’t very good work, but it’s about what I’ve got for now.

Categories
NoJoMo

8

Prompt: How do I define safety and where do I feel it most in my life right now?

I know I’m generally physically-safe. Unlike during the “Summer of Love,” 2020, I don’t have to worry much about going outside of my little walled sanctuary.

I’m in a place, financially, where I should be able to meet my needs well into old age.

Emotionally, I don’t know. My quasi-stoic disposition is helping quite a bit. That I’m not on-board with fashionable political opinions has strained some personal relationships. Aside from joining your political party, church, cult, whatever, there’s nothing I can do about it. You’re going to have your beliefs; I’m not going to agree with them. I would ask that you not shoot me for being opposed, but if you’re going to, anyway, please have the cameras rolling.

I will abstain from voting except to vote against particularly-bad issues or candidates.

Leave me alone, and don’t take my stuff. It’s really not that complicated.

Categories
NoJoMo

7

Bucket list, still not having one (2013 flashback)

You know, back in 2013, I threw out Halley’s Comet again. I was very young when it came last, and barely remember seeing a little bit, maybe, in a very-cold night sky over Kansas.

You might be able to deduce the awe level….and that it’s really just not there.

So, not that. Quick math shows that I’d be in my 80s by then; let’s be honest, I’m not making it that long.

*hits calc again*

Mid-2040s seems right about right.

But this whole things has me feeling a bit like Craig from South Park.

I don’t know what those embeds are being so difficult lately.

In that ep, Cartman had a new case of Tourette’s.

The, and I can’t find a word for it; fetishization isn’t quite right, but it might be appropriately derisive, of disability is confusing as hell.

I might add this to my to-consume book list, though the one I’m on is taking a long time, and I’m not sure when I’ll get to it.

But, back to the “bucket list,” I really don’t know. Maybe buy a property? I mean, when I was younger, the idea of having a huge piece of land probably would have excited me.

Not so much, today.

The book ideas really haven’t coalesced, so I don’t know.

I need to get myself to combined family birthday parties; happy birthday, grandpa, little bro, mom…

Categories
NoJoMo Old OD

6

Flashback to 2010.

Why are the 20-30 set so apathetic?  I don't know.  Go ask your little brother.  The people I deal with in that age group don't seem as resigned as I am, so I dunno.  They certainly weren't a couple of years ago when they voted.  

I'm failing miserably at this challenge, and it makes me feel old.

But when I was 25, I wuldn't have been so loopy from two drinks I was last night.

I still reek of garlic from the olive and goat cheese plate.  :-/

But, yeah, I was pretty well flying from just two drinks last night, which is either a testament to how little I've imbibed lately, or a function of the massive weight loss.

Two pounds from that come-see-me-now mark from the doctor.  I am a lot skinnier, and none of my clothes fit.  Unlike the last couple of times I've been this light, however, I don't feel exhausted as often.....

I dunno.  If I lose too much more, the shots are going to become unbearable everywhere but my belly, and hip.  "You have NO fat on your legs."  I know.  "Can we trade?"  I'd be really short if I had your legs, dear.

And I'd look even disproportional than I do now.  I don't look so much like SpongeBob anymore, but the legs are still short compared to everything else......

I thought about the birthday stuff, and I fail at that one, too.  Very rarely have I had a really, really memorable one.  At the office, they changed the birthday lunch tradition to a once-a-month thing......then they didn't have one for us in August.  

And I'm like fuck you....

But my birthday was on a weekend this year.  I managed to hide it from them the previous two years.  Besides, a lot of the places they like to go, well, suck.  Really, I'd just assume chew my fingerails than go to Buffalo Wild Wing or Ruby Tuesday.  Seriously.

Quitting now.  Need to get clean, and go grocery shopping

And reusing now:

Why are the 20-30 set so apathetic?

It’s difficult to be Old-Man-Yelling-At-Clouds here. But with so much emphasis placed on safety today, I don’t know that young people have had an opportunity to be reckless, experience things that might be great.

Christ-sakes, I ate raw oysters the other night. There is no way I would have even considered that back then. And, maybe I’ve missed out on many pleasures because of it.

*works through memories of that time where I didn’t do things that I now wonder if I missed out on…*

I should have been more reckless when I had the opportunity to enjoy myself.

But is it apathy, or is it fear? An authority figure is going to be there to clean up after you fail, but also to prevent you from ever getting in a problematic situation in the first place.

But, more to the point, I am naturally-passive. It’s can’t change that, much as I can’t change my eye color.

And, sorry, I’m not going to feel guilty for being the weird specimen I am.

If you don’t like it, encourage the crowd to start recording, then harm me physically. Let your abuse of a crippled guy be memorialized.

Then, when someone tries to hold you to account, take your punishment.

I didn’t take a bunch of risks because I was nervous of the consequences. Maybe that makes me a coward.

Calling the cops doesn’t make you any better. I regret snitching on anyone; I’m sure I did it.

That said, is it really snitching when you actually see an individual harmed by an action, or when it’s misuse of stolen taxpayer money?

scratches chin

  • Eat the oyster
  • Get drunk
  • Have sex that you might regret
  • Smoke
  • Do drugs
  • Go out without a head covering
  • Go out without underwear
  • Share the Mohammad Cartoon, even if you didn’t draw it, yourself
  • Speed

I admit that those aren’t really symmetric. But they’re all the sorts of things that the overly-cautious would tell you to never do. Or even consider doing.

When you write regulations, then hire cops to enforce those regulations, you hurt people. That it’s done by people When you write regulations, then hire cops to enforce those regulations, you hurt people. That it’s done by people you hired doesn’t absolve you of guilt.

If you’re constantly reminding people of risks, you don’t respect them. Or you view them as perpetual children.

But if they’re not doing things because they’re scared of the cops you’ve hired, are they really apathetic?