Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

Day 3.

Earl and I have been sleeping on an air mattress since closing on the condo on Wednesday morning. Our new mattress doesn’t arrive until Monday; the other pieces arrived yesterday but the mattress is trailing along. It’s fine and sleeping on the air mattress isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

It was about 10:30 PM of the night we moved in when we discovered that the washing machine in our condo has some really bad bearings. The washer works fine but it sounds much like the Space Shuttle at take-off when it’s spinning. Earl and I walked the length of the building during the spin cycle and you can hear our washing spinning from one end of the building to the other.

What a great way to impress our new neighbors.

Tonight we ordered a new washer and matching dryer at The Home Depot. The units will be delivered on Thursday; we’ll limit our laundry activities to daylight hours in the meanwhile.

We have been living the “big city life” since starting the move in on Wednesday and every minute has been pure bliss. I love being able to walk where I need to go. I love having things to do within walking distance. Earl and I are slowly exploring the nooks and crannies of our neighborhood and we’ve been visiting some places in nearby neighborhoods as well. Yesterday we experienced Illinois’ version of the DMV. The Jeeps have new license plates but the driver licenses will have to wait until our next attempt of such an adventure, which will probably take place in a couple of weeks. Luckily, Illinois gives us 90 days to transfer our driver’s license.

Three days in Chicago has taken me away from social media a bit and honestly that’s a wonderful thing. When living in Central New York we often turned to social media for entertainment. There’s just so much to do in The Windy City that I’m finding that I don’t turn to Twitter to see what chaos is happening in the world. I’ve been keeping friends and family updated on Facebook with an update here and there. I’m still not a fan of Facebook but because so many folks are using it, it’s the easiest way to reach out to family and friends. I keep trying to drive them to the blog but having a blog seems so 2001.

By the way, this blog turned 16 years old this week. I’ve been updating this blog since 2001, when I first wrote about flying with my Dad in his Acrosport II for the first time and going to the Field Days (town carnival) in my hometown.

My blog was on the leading edge in 2001. In 2017 it definitely feels like it’s on the trailing edge. Why march in step with the crowd when you hear a completely different song?

5 August 2017 by J.P. Geek 0

3.0

Something is preventing me from posting photos to my blog again. WordPress is becoming more work than it is worth. Once settled into Chicago I might have to find a new way to blog. I really want to write about our new adventure.

(insert photo of new view here)

Earl and I went and inspected the condo to make sure that it met the criteria outlined for closing tomorrow. We will be on the Brown Line bright and early tomorrow so we can sign the paperwork, spend literally hundreds of thousands of dollars (or at least have the bank do that on our behalf) and then we’ll get the keys and be ready to go. I have the day off from work so we’ll be moving boxes and starting to get setup in the new homestead.

I’m really excited about this new adventure. I’m eager to explore the Windy City and see what it has to offer. This morning I was reminded of this song lyric:

There’s only so much you can learn in one place,
The more that I wait,
The more time that I waste.

1 August 2017 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Road Trip.

I had told Earl that when it was time to take the Jeep out to Chicago for the big move that I wanted to take two days to make the drive. This week has been occupied with packing, taking care of airplane ownership business, connecting utilities, disconnecting utilities, packing some more and deciding what was going to make the trip to move and what would be sold in our house sale in September.

I started the drive to Chicago this morning. We don’t close on the condo until Wednesday, and therefore we won’t be moving in until Wednesday at lunch time, but in order to accommodate a sane work schedule, we are driving the two vehicles out this weekend. Earl leaves tomorrow morning and will take all Interstate roads, I’m taking the back roads for the trip. I don’t like driving the Jeep at high rates of speed for extended periods of time, because it really is a backcountry/slower speed vehicle, so I’ve been meandering near the Interstates by way of local and U.S. routes.

The drive is pleasant. I’m stationed for the night in Clyde, Ohio in the last room available in this hotel. I’m continue my meandering in the morning with plans on arriving in Chicago tomorrow around dinner time.

The adventure has just begun.

29 July 2017 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 1

Siri.

Apple has released a new extended ad starring Dwayne Johnson featuring all the things Siri can do. I know that Siri gets a bad rap in the tech community, with many touting that Alexa and Google Home can do much more, but I’m still a fan of Siri. She doesn’t want to sell me anything, she just wants to help.

24 July 2017 by J.P. Geek 0

Brrrr.

When I woke up this morning I realized that I was wrapped up in blankets like it was the middle of October. Both windows in the bedroom were open and I had a fan running because I like the sound of a fan running when I sleep, it helps mask my tinnitus. It was quite chilly. Wanting to go for a walk, I decided to skip the opportunity when I saw it was raining.

Then I remembered that it’s July, not October. Mother Nature has been in a bit of snit this summer. It hasn’t felt very summer like at all this year.

I checked the forecast and saw that today was not likely to get above 70ºF, which is quite cool for this time of year in these parts. I checked the forecast in Chicago as well, since we will be moving at the end of this week, and saw that the weather is warmer and not as wet but still not what we usually get at this time of year.

I really can’t complain since I don’t particularly like the usually oppressive heat of summertime, but I could really benefit from a bit more sunshine. It’s been quite gray here the past couple of days. While I don’t need the press of humidity I do like the warmth of sun on my face. I’m considering taking Vitamin D, something I typically reserve for winter months, just to give my mood a bit of a boost.

24 July 2017 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Soundtrack.

Courtesy of MichaelGiacchinoMusic.com

I’ve mentioned before that my first run at college was to become a music teacher. I attended SUNY Fredonia trying to accomplish this task. I didn’t get very far in the endeavor, as I discovered that I wasn’t really cut out to be a music teacher, but it did enhance my love for good music. Great music. Moving music. Music that inspires. When I worked in Top 40 radio I rarely heard music that was inspiring. While today’s pop music is uninspired, cookie-cutter dreck, the same could be said for music in the 1990s, just to a much lesser degree.

When I started at SUNY Fredonia in the autumn of 1986 they had just revamped one of the orchestra/band practicing rooms to an electronic music studio. Equipped with Macs, microphones, MIDI equipment and lots and lots of analog recording equipment, it was that very expensive room where a select few were allowed to play. Of course, the technology of 1986 comes nowhere close to even what we have in our iPhones or iPads today, but occasionally I would hear awesome sounds coming out of that studio. Sounds that inspired. And I always found that cool.

When we rode “Space Mountain” at Disneyland last week I was immediately moved by the soundtrack that accompanied the ride. Decidedly different than what is heard on “Space Mountain” in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, I fell in love with the movement and whimsy of the piece. It fit the theme of the ride perfectly and the timing seemed to be go hand and hand with what was happening as we experienced the ride. I looked for information on the piece and found that the composer was Michael Giacchino.

The other night we saw “Spider-Man: Homecoming” at the movies. Like a dutiful geek, we sat through all of the ending credits so we could see both post credits scenes. One of the pieces of music during the credits was from earlier in the movie and I found that I could instantly identify the composer. I looked it up and indeed, “Academic Decommitment” was also written by Michael Giacchino (pictured above).

I’ve since been seeking out his work on Apple Music and I’m in love with his style, his approach and his inspiration. He’s a soundtrack genius and after reading his bio I discovered it’s basically because he’s a soundtrack geek. That’s pretty awesome.

Embrace your inner geek and run with it. Your personal inspiration will inspire others.

I feel the need to play around with GarageBand again once we get settled in Chicago. There’s some soundtrack music from my youth that I want to reimagine, respin and see what noodling I can do with it to make it sound 21st century.

I’m looking forward to sharing my inspiration.

17 July 2017 by J.P. Ponderings and Musings 0

Departure.

We are sitting in front of the Paradise Pier Hotel at the Disneyland Resort awaiting our bus to LAX. We will be riding in air-conditioned comfort on a Disneyland Express motorcoach. We have plenty of time until our 17:15 PDT flight to Chicago. I like this relaxed pace.

Tomorrow Earl and I will be driving from Chicago to our home in Central New York to get things ready for the move at the end of the month. Normally I would be bummed about leaving an awesome place like Disney, especially after a very enjoyable vacation like this one, but I’m excited about the adventure that lies ahead less than two weeks away.

I feel recharged. I feel supercharged. I’m ready for the next adventure.

17 July 2017 by J.P. Fun and Games Dept 0