J.P.

Placement.

If you own a vehicle and live in the City of Chicago you’re required to register your vehicle with the city. As proof of this registration, you’re required to put a registration sticker on the inside of your windshield on the passenger side of the vehicle. This sticker is identical in design as the DMV registration stickers we had back in New York; a laser printer prints the data on an exposed part of the sticker. You peel it off and put it on your windshield. Unlike New York stickers, these stickers stay in place quite well. Also like back in New York, the motorist is required to remove the old sticker and put the next year’s replacement sticker in its place.

A lot of folks in Chicago don’t do this. Instead the start a line of stickers up the windshield. I’d rarely see this in New York State, but it’s all over the place here in Chicago.

I don’t know if the practice warrants a ticket. I know that it drives me insane; it really trips off my OCD.

The sticker indicates where you’re allowed to park in the city, for example, if some streets have permit parking. I don’t know what the thought process is around keeping expired stickers on your windshield, but perhaps a $5 reminder ticket would help motorists follow the rule of sticker placement a little closer while increasing revenue for the city at the same time.

I know, it sounds petty, but with more and more drivers distracted on the roadway, the last thing they need is a row of stickers up the side of their windshield blocking their vision.

9 April 2019 by Why. 0

Protein.

In attempt to quench some cravings but still tip toward the healthy side of the eating scale, I went on a quest to find something “chippy but protein based”. It was then that I discovered Quest Protein Chips. I ordered a box of the Nacho Cheese flavor.

They are awesome!

My Doritos craving is satisfied and I don’t feel as much guilt as I usually do when I eat chips. I look forward to checking out some of the other flavors they offer.

Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmmm.

8 April 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Spring Has Sprung.

Today was my first day wearing shorts in 2019 in The Windy City. The temperature is going to yo-yo a bit in the coming week but today showed promise that spring is finally here.

Whoo hoo!

7 April 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Coffee. Black.

My maternal grandparents are rejoicing as on Friday their youngest grandson drank coffee for the first time in 36 years. Yes, I was 14 years old when I had an after dinner coffee with Mom and Dad in their green wallpapered dining room. I didn’t care much for the experience and I really never got into drinking coffee.

Our semi-weekly housekeeper stocked up our Keurig supply with coffee pods this week and I noticed that amongst all the flavors of tea and hot chocolate that we enjoy, he had added some hazelnut coffee selections. I’ve been enjoying a vanilla hot tea in the morning from time to time and I decided I’d give a cup of hazelnut coffee a try. It was quite delicious! Oddly enough, it made me very productive for a Friday and I felt a tinge more of focus than usual. And it didn’t taste bad at all.

So today I went to Starbucks and had a cup of their Blonde Roast and it was wonderful. I sailed through some coding I wanted to achieve and again I felt focused. Again, I drank the coffee black, I figure if you’re going to drink coffee it should taste like coffee, not some sort of frappachappawhoowhoo whip cream concoction. No cream, no sugar, just coffee.

“Coffee, the finest organic suspension ever devised.”

I’m thinking a cup once in a while will help avoid that extra helping of diet pop I have too often. I figure coffee has to be better than the artificial crap in the chemically laced pop I drink will similar effects on my focus. Moderation is the key.

I totally get how it helped Captain Janeway beat the Borg.

7 April 2019 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Twitter Free.

I’ve been enjoying a Twitter Free weekend. An alert of this post will still appear on my Twitter timeline, but I haven’t looked at content on the platform all weekend and I must admit the only thing I miss are aviation related updates and updates from a smattering of folks that I actually like.

Twitter requires constant care and feeding to keep the noise down to a reasonable level. I know some folks like to jump in there and stoke the dumpster fire, but I’ve grown weary of that. It is no longer a reliable source of news; there will always be bad actors trying to pollute any late breaking news with opinion, spin, and disinformation.

I do miss chatting with those that share common interests. I just need to find a better outlet for it, or else determine if the necessary constant curation of my timeline is worth the effort.

But not this weekend.

6 April 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Shazam!

The family got together to see Shazam! tonight. I haven’t traditionally been a huge fan of the DC movies, but this was very, very good. We had a lot of fun.

I didn’t spot any Easter Eggs from the 70s show; if you see any please let me know what I should have spotted.

One of my favorites from the DC Universe. I liked it better than Wonder Woman and Aquaman. I look forward to any sequels.

5 April 2019 by Geek 0

Movie Night.

So I’m excited to see “Shazam!” tonight. Here’s my first memories of the World’s Mightiest Mortal.

“Oh power Elders, strong and fleet and wise, appear before my seeking eyes.”

5 April 2019 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Real ness.

So Linus Torvalds, the “inventor” (I use this term loosely) of Linux, the operating system that runs 70% of the Internet, as well as a whole bunch of other things like Android phones (that’s a really bad description of Linux), really dislikes Social Media. In a recent article by NBC News, he talks about the anonymity behind Social Media, and how people really wouldn’t say what they say online if they had to say it face to face and using their real name.

He definitely has a point. I’ve read things from bots that would make your hair curl. I always blame the bots because I really try hard to believe that semi-intelligent human beings really aren’t as stupid as they portray themselves to be on the likes Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and the like.

If you follow me on social media, you’d know that I indeed use my real name in most instances. There’s a few places where I use a pseudonym because I like to have an alter-ego once in a while, but I still try to act like a rational human being.

Why last night I suggested that someone build windmills near the White House to test Lord Marmalade’s latest lie that “the noise from windmills cause cancer”. To disprove Mr. Torvalds theory about saying things behind a curtain of anonymity, the real life with real names folks in the White House are defending this outrageous claim by Herr Orange Whippy Wig and saying there’s no evidence denying that noise from windmills cause cancer.

Science, it’s not just for the dorks.

I do agree that Social Media in the United States would be a better experience for all involved if the social media corporations forced validation of users and the use of real names in wild discourse. I limit this to the United States because there are folks that live in other countries who must use social media to communicate with others that are trying to flee said country. Anonymity is very important in some respects, but not when you’re shouting at someone.

Keep it real. Use your name. Take responsibility for your words.

4 April 2019 by Everyone's A Critic. Geek 0

About Me.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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