Ponderings and Musings

With my 55th birthday on the horizon, and 55 being a really big number in my head, I thinking of this moment to be milestone, a stepping stone, a launching point. (I couldn’t think of another stone).

Up until age 50 I did my best to hide my eccentric thoughts and my quirky ways. I’ve probably not been that great at it, but I’ve used a lot of energy trying to subdue my impulses and different ways of thinking. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been told to thinking outside of the box, when I don’t even see a box, I haven’t found a box, and I’m probably not even in the same box as the box. “Look at the big picture” evokes the same response, what picture? What wall? Is it in a house?

As I turned 55 tomorrow (and it’s not official until the time I was born in the Eastern Time Zone back in 1968), I’ll be my more authentic self. That’s the way of 2023, right? Be your authentic self.

We’ve been trying to eat healthier over the past month or so. Having good cooks in the family certainly helps the situation.

Earl, Marshall, and I went camping this weekend at a Men’s Retreat a couple of hours from here. We had a very relaxing time, made some new friends, and a good time was had by all.

Camping is a generous term; we actually stayed in the ranch lodge in a comfortable room. Camping facilities are available. Tents, RVs, and sheds converted to sleeping quarters, all outfitted with air conditioning, are scattered about the property. There were about 40 men in attendance this weekend.

We look forward to going back when the temperature is a little more moderate.

Chris and Mike have done a fantastic job sprucing up the guest suite here at the Desert Compound. The room is officially known as the Solarium on the blueprints, and the space offers a private bath, a king sized bed, and wonderful views of the mountains and Saguaro National Park East.

Curious, I decided to watch a suggested video on YouTube the other. I’m not going to post a link to the video because I don’t want to tempt the algorithms any more than they’ve already been tempted, but the video was from a conservative commentator on why Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law isn’t really that bad.

Now, as a quick sidebar, I did learn that the bill isn’t actually called “Don’t Say Gay” and in no place does it even mention the word gay. The media’s nomenclature appears to be based on the intent of the law, not the actual wording of the law. I’m not here to debate whether this makes a difference and if this entire law is a good thing or a bad thing, I’m just pointing out some things I learned around the law.

So after watching this video YouTube apparently discerned I had completely changed my political stances or something because now the algorithm is pushing conservative viewpoints in my suggested feed. It’s been two days since I looked at that first video and this morning my “suggested” feed looked like this.

I try to use my iPad Pro for media consumption such as videos on YouTube, but because of the way the iPad works, and its app based ecosystem, the best way to watch YouTube videos is to use the YouTube app. Using the YouTube app doesn’t allow for plugins that squash things like suggestions and ads and the like, something I very much enjoy on my laptop when watching YouTube through a browser.

This little discovery points out several things to me.

1. Closed ecosystems forcing you to consume Internet content a certain way is not always the best way, and in fact, is frequently not the best way.

2. Algorithmic services like YouTube and Twitter and Facebook want you, the user, to be outraged. Not only are they relying on scooping up as much information as possible from your device, they’re trying to engage you by apparently getting you incensed. I can’t help but think this is a contributor as to why people out in the real world are always so damn cranky. Algorithms have changed societal behavior in an unfortunate way.

I decided that I will no longer consume YouTube videos without the safeguards of the plugins I have installed on Firefox and Safari, plugins that are only available on laptops. If I feel like I want to watch YouTube and I don’t have a laptop nearby, I’ll read a book or play Solitaire or something.

This is one of my favorite songs from the 1980s. The funky bass line, the instrumentation, and the vocals are just wonderful. We didn’t hear this much on Top 40 radio in Upstate New York, it was a little too funky for the bland approach to Top 40 back then. I discovered the track on “Soul Train” (it might have been the performance in this video) and I bought the 45 back in the day.

When I was Program Director of the Rhythm/Dance Top 40 in the 90s, this track was prominently rotated in the back catalog. We made our own radio edit from the original 12-inch version; I should recreate that using modern methods and share it someday.

From 1983, here’s the S.O.S. Band and “Just Be Good To Me”.

I enjoy flavored coffee. I don’t add anything to the coffee, I drink it black, albeit with the flavoring thatLcomes with whatever I’ve ordered from Amazon or picked up a local store. I always look for signs of natural flavoring instead of the artificially flavored stuff. I don’t asL what the natural flavoring is, I just focus on the word “natural”.

Amazon was having a sale on a variety pack of Crave Coffee. The coffee has been quite good and the pods have been working as intended. Working pods without getting grounds in the cup or water shooting out from the Keurig machine are always a win, and never a certainty when ordering from Amazon. There are some brands that have produced a harrowing experience.

I was surprised at Crave Coffee’s marketing approach around their logo. It’s very strange to sink five spikes into a face with an abnormally large smile drinking coffee.

Few folks I know understand this, but it is on my bucket list to experience an airline flight like this once in my life. I may have to max out a credit card to do it, but I will do it before I depart.

I always get nervous when I see things like “No Refrigeration Required” on items like mayonnaise. But here we are, looking at a container of mayonnaise with no refrigeration required.

It makes me wonder what’s added to the mayonnaise to not require the traditional methods of validation. Are there plastic beads? I know at one time we often heard, “better living through chemistry”, but I have this thing about food expiration dates and the freshness of my meal in general, so perhaps I’m extra sensitive to additives and things done to our food to make it last longer or through unnatural means.

Of course, refrigeration is just a gimmick to slow down the aging process of our food but over the decades I’ve learned to accept that. And I’ve put a *lot* of preservatives in my body over the decades, so I don’t know why I look at these bottles of no refrigeration required mayonnaise and wonder what they’ve done to it, so maybe I should just learn to accept progress.

It’s been 15 years since I updated our photo on the front page our of site, so perhaps it’s time.