Ponderings and Musings

Kennedy.

So Earl and I were on our way home from the airport. This involved a ride down “the Kennedy”, known to visitors as Interstate 90 though here in Chicago we call the expressways by their names, not their numbers. Unless they don’t have a name then we use their number. We have to say something.

Traffic was heavy and was slowing down. I always start slowing down a little early, a Kia Soul passed on the right and apparently didn’t realize traffic was slowing down, and tried veering rapidly at the last second but didn’t make it, he smacked a stopping VW Jetta and he smacked it hard.

The VW Jetta won.

The Kia Soul came to an immediate stop, the VW Jetta was pushed to the left and came to a stop. Earl and I stopped in the Jeep and got out to make sure everyone was OK. Earl called 911. Another motorist stopped as well and we agreed the Kia Soul couldn’t be moved (airbags had been deployed and the front end was a mess) but there didn’t seem to be a risk of fire. The Jetta was able to be moved and we moved it to the left side of the road to free up a lane or two on the expressway.

Both drivers were pretty shaken; a third motorist stopped and helped the guy in the Kia out and over to the right shoulder; we stayed with the young lady in the Jetta on the left shoulder. She was a little frantic as she had never been in an accident before and didn’t know what to do. We talked her through the basics: take photos of the vehicles, tell the police everything, get a police report, get insurance and driver information, etc. We stayed on the scene until the police and fire trucks arrived. One or two passerbys screamed at us for being there I guess but for the most part traffic moved pretty well. It was slow moving but it was moving.

Once the officials were there they asked us a couple of questions, thanked us for stopping at the scene and we were on our way. They even blocked traffic so we could get the Jeep off the shoulder and back on the roadway.

I don’t think I feel the need to walk on the Kennedy again. It must more suited for safe driving.

23 March 2019 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Accuracy.

“Hey Siri, how late is Starbucks open?”

“Starbucks is open until 21:00”.

I walk the 1 1/4 miles to this particular Starbucks and it turns out it closes at 20:00 instead of 21:00. Yelp says it closes at 21:00 but Google says it closes at 20:00.

Apparently Google knows what it’s talking about.

Looking around at the various Starbucks within reasonable walking distance from our home, there’s no standardization of operating hours. The location closest to home closes at 20:00 (8:00 PM). Down the street closes at 23:00 (11:00 PM). The one to the east closes at 20:30 (8:30 PM). The maddening thing about this is the hours often change. What closes at 20:00 this week might close at 19:00 next week because “yeah”.

There’s an independent coffee shop within steps of our building but I’m not a coffee drinker. I drink tea. The independent shop has a weak choice of teas on a great day and they’re usually out of tea by this time in the evening. Their hours are consistent though; they’re reliably open until 23:00 every night.

Perhaps I need to start drinking coffee.

20 March 2019 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Informed.

It hasn’t been quite 20 years since TVs started appearing en masse in restaurants. Prior to 9/11 it seemed rare to see a television in a diner or family restaurant. Televisions were usually relegated to pubs and sports bars and the like, but after 9/11, everyone was glued to the news and televisions started appearing everywhere. Moving from old CRT televisions to cheap flat panels certainly helped the cause.

Nowadays there’s a television seemingly everywhere you look.

Living in the third largest city in nation affords us plenty of occasion for adventure, and while we are out and about I enjoy reading up on restaurants, checking in, and leaving my impressions of the experience on Yelp. In fact, I’m an EliteYelp Reviewer for the 3rd year in a row. I don’t know what that means other than I get invited to nifty parties, but it’s kind of cool having that badge next to my name.

The content of programming on these ubiquitous televisions in restaurants and eateries weigh into my rating. I’m thinking if you insist on showing the news on the monitor hanging from the ceiling, you should probably be showing something fairly neutral, that is, if there is such a thing in the United States these days. MSNBC? Too biased. Fox News? Not even close. Local news coverage? I can handle it.

When I see all these televisions invading our gastronomic adventures I can’t help but think of George Orwell’s “1984”, where there television everywhere so Big Brother could command the masses.

It’s a little startling to think that some apparently thought “1984” was some sort of handbook or user’s manual.

I’m struggling to keep my phone in my pocket when we’re out and about, so I have a little extra time to notice all this news being beamed into our meal space.

Big or small, a tether is a tether.

7 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Transcript.

How Trump’s high school transcript was hidden after he demanded Obama’s academic records (Chicago Tribune)

I know no one wants to see my High School Transcript, but I don’t believe it’s something that should be hidden away in the bowels of PACS. So here’s a summary:

  • I did what I needed to do to get by. I found traditional subjects boring and put as much effort as needed to not get in trouble for failing. I rarely studied and I would rush through homework just to get it done.
  • I was elected into the National Honor Society my senior year of high school based on my bare minimum of an average of 85.
  • I don’t remember my exact numbers but I didn’t do well on the SAT (didn’t study) but I did really, really well on the ACT (didn’t study).
  • I failed my Earth Science (59) and Biology (64) NYS Regents exams, but passed my chemistry exam.
  • I passed all three of the required Math Regents exams (as well as English and Social Studies) to graduate with a NYS Regents Diploma. Being that I graduated in 1986, I was in the first round of students that went through “Course I, Course II, Course III” instead of “Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry”. I have no idea what the difference was, since we studied Algebra, Geometry, and then Trigonometry.
  • My top classes in all of high school were typing and computer programming. Band and Chorus also ranked high. I was in the first round of computer classes and I was occasionally showing the two teachers of the class something they didn’t know.

I don’t know why Trump doesn’t want to release his transcripts unless they don’t measure up to his prideful boasting. It’s amazing to me the efforts some will go to bury their past.

6 March 2019 by Ponderings and Musings 0

Greatness.

I’ve decided to try taking a break from social media for a while. In a way this is a little ironic, because this post will appear on my Twitter timeline when I hit “Publish”, but I won’t actually have to get onto Twitter to post it, so technically I’m still taking a break from social media, because after all, are blog entries like this really considered social media?

Before the days of 140 characters, and the recent yet faux-verbosity of 280 characters, people used technology to extend their reach to others through things like these self-hosted personal blogs, LiveJournal, Blogger, and the like. You didn’t need to have a brand, though some folks tried to brand you based on what they read in your blog, you just did your thing in an attempt to reach out to likeminded individuals. Today folks bark. People use their allotted, finite number of characters to bark out their opinions. I’m certainly very guilty of this. I’ve said things online that I would never say to someone’s face.

This does not make me great. This makes me stupid.

I have to ask myself this: would I really flip off Trump in public? Well, the answer is probably yes, but I wouldn’t say the things I’ve said to members of his administration if I was face to face and looking them in the eye while saying it. I’d be a chicken shit, just like the other 95% of folks that do the same exact barking online, and then I’d go the other way. Because being an ass to someone to their face is not a part of greatness.

It’s an example of stupidity.

I’ve tacked a photo of former Arizona Governor Jan Brewer screeching at President Obama, finger waggling in her face, to my wall because I remember the outrage I felt when I saw her behave that way.

Photo courtesy of LA Times

There was nothing great about that moment. Governor Brewer was grandstanding. She was making a big show of standing up to the president to rile up her base. We don’t need big shows. We need people trying to be their authentic self. We need to keep it real and we don’t need an audience to do it. So much puffing and chest pounding these days. It gets so nauseating.

Honestly, I just want to aspire to be me. That should be my focus. All of this grandstanding, and barking, and carrying on through social media accomplishes nothing. It helps gain notoriety and little else.

I don’t want to be notorious. I want to be great. I want to be great at being me.

5 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Cold.

Taking a look my weather app du jour, it is currently 0ºF with a wind chill of -11ºF. Not the coldest it’s been (by any means) this year, but we are less than three weeks from the meteorological beginning of spring and quite frankly I’m ready for some warmer weather.

On the bright side, the forecast warms up for the foreseeable future. It looks like by the end of this week it’ll start showing signs of spring and it’ll be in the mid 40s by next week.

That made my shorter-than-usual walk this morning a little more bearable.

4 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

The Moral of the Story.

I grew up on the Shazam/Isis Hour. It’s a shame that the lesson shared by Isis, way back in 1975, is as relevant and important today as it was back then. You’d think we’d know better by now.

Ps. Actress Joanna Cameron has one the best voices ever!

1 March 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Effortless.

So Friday night the family got together and we went to Allstate Arena to see Kelly Clarkson and her “Meaning of Life 2019” tour.

What a thoroughly fantastic evening.

I’ve been a fan of Kelly Clarkson since her American Idol days. She has always seemed so genuine in her public persona; I’ve always felt that we saw as much of her ‘real self’ as we could on television.

The show was wonderful; the music was well balanced, wasn’t too overpowering, and she had a nice mix of her own songs in with a couple of covers thrown in for an extra nice touch. Her banter between songs was quite enjoyable and didn’t feel contrived or scripted. The pleasant personality I associate with her was intact and I felt like she’d be fun to share a lunch with.

One of the things I immediately noticed about her was that she really appears to love what she does. She loves to sing and she clearly enjoys expressing herself through her art. I’ve been to so many concerts where it was clear the performer was working (Madonna instantly comes to mind); Kelly truly felt like she was sharing her art while hanging with new friends.

I like that vibe. We need more of that.

At the beginning of her set she talked about all the chaos and turmoil in the world today, and that the space was an all inclusive space and that everyone was welcome to join in the fun for the evening.

She made the two hour show appear effortless simply because of her demonstrated love of her art.

More people need to do more of what makes them happy. Sharing joy; perhaps this is how we bring the world to a more positive place.

24 February 2019 by Fun and Games Dept People Impress Me. Ponderings and Musings 0

Lift.

Please are sometimes surprised when they find out I don’t like elevators. They say, but you fly small airplanes miles above the ground, yet you’re nervous in elevators? The truth of is, yes, I don’t like elevators. Actually, I don’t mind elevators as much as I don’t like confined spaces. If I can see outside, I’m fine.

We live on the fifth floor of our building. I walk the stairs a lot but I also take the elevator at least once a day. I’d enjoy the experience a little more if it had a window, but I know every nuance of how this elevator works so I don’t sweat it too much.

Now, on two occasions I’ve been riding along with a “belt slipped” or something and the elevator rapidly dropped a couple of feet. The emergency brake snaps on, the panel lights and indicators do a quick reset and the elevator slowly descends to the closest floor. Pressing the open door button will then open the door or you can press the floor you’re going to again and it’ll try to sort things out. I’ve read several maintenance manuals on this particular brand and make of elevator (Kone EcoDisc) and a month or so ago I watched numerous videos of elevator geeks going up and down in broken versions of these elevators. They didn’t panic, so why should I, right?

I just don’t do well in confined spaces if I don’t know my way out. If I can see beyond the space I’m good, even if it’s through a small crack in the door or something.

That’s what I like about airplanes, I can see out all over the place. The only time I’ve ever not enjoyed an airplane flight is when I ended up in a row without a window.

You’ll never find me on an airplane where they substitute the windows with large LED screens to simulate the outside.

By the way, tunnels don’t bother me; I can see my way through and I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I really want to drive through that 20+ mile tunnel in Europe.

In the meanwhile, I’ll keep riding up and down in our Kone Eco-Disc elevator to try to break this concern.

20 February 2019 by Fun and Games Dept Ponderings and Musings 0

Rules.

It makes me crazy when folks departing the train use the door on the left. As one can see in this photo, it is clearly marked “Emergency exit only”. To the right of this Emergency Exit, you can see the revolving gate to allow for normal exit from the ‘L’ platform.

I have never witnessed anyone enduring an emergency of any sort when exiting through this door. The only emergency was one perceived by the person engaging in the passage through this reserved door, and that emergency was either laziness or haste.

Just go through the revolving gate!

It takes a great deal of energy for me to not confront folks on trivial matters such as this. It irks me more than it should. Not to pick on the train, but when folks are listening to music without headphones, I’m also bothered by this. The rules are simple. Do not listen to media devices without headphones, so as not to disturb other passengers on the train.

Keeping with the train theme, stand right, walk left on the escalator. Not difficult. This theme also applies to airports with moving walkways.

Trivial matters like this bother me more than they should. It’s as grating on my nerve as a quartz clock that clicks an irregular beat, or a fluorescent light that hums loudly. Before LED light bulbs became all the rage I would hear the incessant squeal of CFLs or Compact Fluorescent Lights. They disrupt my focus. Years ago I convinced all my office mates that the fluorescent lights in our new work area were way too bright so we removed around 75% of the bulbs. The removal of the high pitched hum or the incessant buzz did wonders for my sanity.

It takes so much of my energy to ignore and tune out the noise. It’s no wonder I fall asleep in less than three minutes at any given time or place.

The world is way too disorganized.

17 February 2019 by Ponderings and Musings 0

About J.P.

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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