DL 696.
I am on Delta flight 696 from Syracuse to Atlanta. I am on my way to Memphis to meet Earl who has been working down there all week. I will be working remotely tomorrow doing the Digital Nomad thing and I am very excited about it.
This flight has been uneventful thus far. We are flying at 26000 feet due to strong head winds. Apparently coming into Syracuse they had to do two go-arounds due to wind; I thought it would be bumpy during take-off but it wasn’t bad at all.
The flight attendants are amusing me a little bit with their apathy. Delta flight attendants are usually a little more attentive than this crew seems to be; they’re starting the beverage service over 45 minutes into a two hour flight. Usually they jump up and start serving as soon as they can. The attendant doing the same briefing read the cue cards as quickly as possible and without any inflection or emotion. I am happy that I already know the layout of an MD-90. I did note that she didn’t know what kind of airplane this was until she looked at her sheet. That was comforting.
Terminal B at Syracuse Airport was jammed packed with people. The flight to Detroit was delayed because the baggage door was jammed shut and no one could get it open.
There is a woman sitting in the aisle across from me who apparently just plopped down in any seat she wanted to because the guy that was suppose to be in 12C had a conversation with her and then just moved to what could presumably be her seat. She said she didn’t know how the row numbering worked. Perhaps she should have flown on Southwest where she could have battled her way to a seat after sitting on the floor of the terminal in her section of some sort of holding pen based on when she printed her boarding ticket.
I really miss the luxury days of airline travel. I’m probably one of those snobby businessmen travelers, that I have yet to join the Mile High Club.
I am enjoying my complimentary Sam Adams Boston Lager right now. The FA smiled as I asked for both peanuts and pretzels. I’m not usually high maintenance, just medium range. I like to simmer.
Amanda’s.
I don’t always listen to music while I’m working. Working at home alone, I usually need some sort of noise in my home office as too much silence bothers me because when it’s too quiet all I can hear is the ringing in my ears. My number one choice for sound is ambient music of some sort; words can distract me when I’m deep in a project. But around mid-week I might change it up a bit and have a television show playing in the background or something. After being alone in the house for a couple of days, hearing any sort of conversation going on is a good thing.
Today I dialed up YouTube on my iPad and started looking around for something to play in the background when a familiar face caught my eye. The thing that was odd about the suggestion from YouTube was that the familiar face wasn’t paired with an appropriate name. I expected to see “Maude”, “The Golden Girls” or even “The Stars Wars Holiday Special” but next to a picture of Bea Arthur was a different title, “Amanda’s By The Sea”.
The suggestion was a playlist containing 13 episodes of this series, “Amanda’s By The Sea”, or as it was shortened to, “Amanda’s”.
What was this?
A brief search on the Internet filled me in. In 1983, Bea Arthur starred in the aforementioned “Amanda’s” as Amanda Cartwright, widow and the owner of a small hotel in California appropriately named “Amanda’s By The Sea”. The show was loosely based on the UK’s “Fawlty Towers”. The series lasted just half a season on ABC before cancellation; 13 episodes were filmed by only 10 made it to the air. The other three were later shown in some obscure syndication run.
I decided to watch an episode at lunch time. While not awful by any means, I can see why the show didn’t make it. The cast is a little unbalanced. Watching “Amanda’s” made me realize that while Beatrice Arthur was a magnificent actor, she needed someone strong to play off and the supporting cast didn’t quite fit the bill. Fred McCarren plays her son (and the hotel manager) Marty, his wife is played the same actress that played Stan’s second wife Chrissy on “The Golden Girls”. The cook is played by the actor that played Boss Hogg’s nephew or something on “The Dukes of Hazzard”. Another character, I think his name is Alto, played much comic relief being short and speaking with very broken English. The show is a little more slapstick than “The Golden Girls”.
And here’s where it gets a little odd. MANY of the guest stars on “Amanda’s” later appear on “The Golden Girls”. Since the series was filmed in 1983, Bea Arthur looks a lot like Dorothy on “The Golden Girls”. Some of the sight gags used on “The Golden Girls” are seen here, for example, “would you hand me that loaf of bread. No, the other one” and then Amanda proceeds to slam it over the head of the person she is annoyed with, much like Dorothy hitting Rose over the head with a newspaper. In one scene, Amanda is arguing with a customer about a restaurant bill and she argues with the exact same customer, in practically the same set, during her guest appearance on “The Golden Palace” only there her name is Dorothy.
It’s a little like watching Pert Kelton play Alice in the original version of “The Honeymooners”.
Of course, Bea is Bea. While there are some similarities between mannerisms and the like between her portrayals of Maude and Dorothy, since there was eight years between the two series, there are obvious differences, whereas, since “Amanda’s” came only two years before the premiere of “The Golden Girls”, it’s easy to spot the much closer similarities between Amanda and Dorothy. Heck, Bea is even wearing the same type of wardrobe as what was found later on “The Golden Girls” complete with the boots and the long skirts. I can’t help but think that some of the storyline ideas also made it over to “The Golden Girls”. It’s weird watching the show because it feels familiar but out of place at the same time. Kind of like when you walk into a Kmart in a different city, it’s a Kmart, it feels like Kmart but everything is in a different place.
As I wound up my workday I played a couple more episodes while I tidied up email and such. I definitely believe that Bea can be Bea when she plays off other strong actors. Both the casts of “Maude” and “The Golden Girls” balanced Bea out brilliantly, but like “The Golden Palace” after Bea left “The Golden Girls”, when an element is missing, it can be OK, even quite good, but it feels very out of balance. And that’s the way “Amanda’s” feels, out of balance.
I’ll probably finish watching the series over the next couple of days because I have always adored Bea and it’s fun seeing her in something else that feels comfortable yet I can’t recite line by line. It’s available on YouTube if you’re interested in checking it out.
Software Updates.
Google announced today that they are discontinuing support for their web browser, Google Chrome, in April 2016 for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OS X 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8. Current versions of the mentioned operating systems (Windows 7, 8, 10, Mac OS X 10.9, 10.10, etc.) will continue to receive updates to the popular web browser.
I’m surprised that people are still running these older operating systems, especially Windows XP and Windows Vista. Windows XP has been around for 15 years and Windows Vista was, well Windows Vista, and Microsoft did their best to get people off of that software as quickly as possible because Windows Vista was basically a mess.
Many folks use Google Chrome as their primary browser. I used to, but Apple beefed up Safari in their latest version of OS X (El Capitan) to the point that I feel comfortable using Safari my primary browser now. I still do development work on Firefox, a popular free and open-source browser available on many operating systems, including the ones mentioned in the Google blog entry I referenced. If you’re dead set on staying on Windows XP, you can switch to Firefox and still do what you need to do.
But I wouldn’t really recommend it.
As a young geek I was always thrilled with the release of a new or updated operating system. I wanted to see the new graphics, the different approaches, the changes in paradigm. What new goodies would be lurking at every point and click as I moved around after a fresh update. Often times I would join into beta programs so I could help with the testing. I was even a pre-beta tester on Windows Vista (after that statement I always say, “I’m sorry”), but as I grow older and my expectations of how a computer should work become more solidified, I am cautious about upgrades today. I didn’t upgrade my work MacBook Pro to El Capitan until I was absolutely sure that everything would work. I take the same approach with my home computers and with Earl’s MacBook. I still upgrade, primarily for the security benefits and because it’s the most supported way to go, but I’m cautious about it. We have about six different ways to backup computers and mobile devices in this house. It’d be great if I could get all participants to participate.
While there are usually many bells and whistles associated with a software upgrade, there are also security upgrades that should be strongly considered. These security upgrades help keep the bad folks out of your hard drive. Yesterday I was disheartened to see that my medical records at the doctor’s office are still being maintained on computers running Windows XP. Windows XP is not really supported by Microsoft anymore, leaving these things open to new viruses and other types of nasty attacks. Ransomware is quite popular; your files are remotely encrypted by a nasty organizationthey send you a message that you have to contact a phone number some place and demand that you pay a ransom to decrypt your files. By the way, don’t ever respond to that sort of thing, just consider your files lost and go to your latest backup because you are backing up your files on a regular basis, correct? I’ve had relatives get caught with this sort of thing; they are now running Linux on their rebuilt laptops because Linux is much more impervious to that type of attack.
Part of the driving force of software upgrades is marketing. New software usually requires a faster computer and if you’re starting to fall behind the computer hardware curve, it may prompt you to get a new computer so you have the latest and the greatest. Earl’s MacBook Pro is about there, I don’t know how he chugs along on his six year old laptop with degraded trackpad quality. I don’t particularly like the idea of tossing a computer because the software has become outdated on it; we have a computer built in 1996 running the clock system wired through the house and it is working perfectly fine.
However, if you’re running Windows XP or Vista, you should really consider moving on to a better computing experience. At the very least you’ll still be able to securely run Google Chrome on your desktop.
Relax.
I had my annual physical today. My family physician of over 20 years abruptly decided that he no longer enjoyed the weather of Central New York and gave little notice when he departed at the beginning of the summer, so today I had my physical with a new doctor at the same location. We reviewed my medical history, the dosages of my blood pressure and cholesterol medication. He was surprised that I survived Spinal Meningitis when I was just shy of my second birthday. I guess I just kind of take that for granted. We talked about flying and my FAA Medical Requirements. I like the new doctor. After the first visit I am comfortable with seeing him again.
The nurse that readied me for the entrance of the doctor weighed me, took my temperature and blood pressure and the like. She thought my temperature was low (97ºF) but I wasn’t surprised, normal human temperature is approaching a fever for me. I usually hover around 96.8 or so, so the 97 wasn’t unexpected. My blood pressure was up at 144/98. She weighed me in kilograms. I enjoyed seeing the Metric system in use. I weighed what I thought I should weigh with clothes on so I was comfortable but not happy with her assessment.
The doctor commented that my blood pressure was high; I asked him to retake it and it was much lower. He asked if that happened often and I replied to affirmative; I have high blood pressure because they’re checking my blood pressure. I hate the cuff on my arm. The second time it was much better (but not great) at 130/88.
I think a lot of what elevates my blood pressure is the way I see the world. I choose to look at Facebook and I come to the realization that there have been a lot of ignorant people in my life. I watch all sorts of ridiculous outbursts take place on Twitter and I can’t help but get angry; people are having incredible hissy fits and screaming things about a “War on Christmas” because Starbucks didn’t make their holiday cup festive enough. Hell, they even talked about the Starbucks Red Cup on the latest round of the Republican Debates, which, by the way, is depressing, infuriating and maddening enough to make my blood pressure go up. And we have a whole year to go before we decide who gets the big chair in the White House.
I was going to continue with this blog entry but I felt my face starting to warm, a sign that my blood pressure was going up. I’m going to sit back, wind this down and go watch a video about kittens or something.
Bounce.
I had this song cranked up in the Jeep after listening to their later single “Roam.” I used to bounce around with all the other folks on the dance floor at the 1270 in Boston in the mid 1980s.
Here’s The B-52’s with “Rock Lobster”!
Work Space.
I’ve mentioned before that I love being a digital nomad. The majority of my work time is spent at home in my home office. One of the challenges of not working in a traditional work environment is the separation of work life from home life; it is quite easy to constantly work when the work computer is just a few steps away at any given moment.
Moving from one gig to another career opportunity earlier this year presented me with another unique situation in that with both jobs I work primarily out of the same office. I sit at the same desk, with the same surroundings looking at the same type of monitor even though I work for entirely different company now. Contract workers and the like probably don’t find this unusual but for me there were many similarities and I found myself falling into ruts from my old job rather quickly with my new job, which wasn’t fair to me or to the new corporation nor was it really indicative of how excited I really am about this fairly new gig.Enter my little renovation project.
I’ve been saying to Earl that I wanted to revamp my home office. It’s one of the four rooms we had built into our basement a decade or so ago and my office was originally my music and recording studio. Since giving up that hobby in 2010, the space became my office but with some of the remaining recording equipment still in place. The space wasn’t efficient as an office. I felt crammed into a corner. My desk had too many papers and too much dust. I didn’t feel productive in there, I felt like I just worked.
Earl’s suggestion was that we completely gut the room and start from scratch. I loved that idea but my patience wasn’t where it needed to be to accomplish this. And, aside from the fact that I really do love spending money, I couldn’t justify buying new furniture for my office. Sure, my existing desk has a few dings and bang ups here and there but for the most part it’s functional and it sure looked better than what I had in my last cubicle at my last gig. So on Sunday and yesterday, I loaded up some contractor bags with a lot of junk I haven’t touched in a year or two. I wiped everything down, getting rid of all the dusts and cobwebs. I took off a shelf that ran along one side of my desk, it served no purpose than to gather things and provide a hiding place for other things I didn’t really need. The studio space countertops were repurposed, the drawers and cabinets were emptied and organized. The only thing that I purchased for the space was a desk lamp; I hate overhead ceiling lighting, especially flourescent lighting, so I moved some of our LED lamps. I can now control the brightness and color of the room lighting with an iPhone app. I discarded the keyboard shelf (I never used it) and I turned my main monitor and the whole focal point of my desk onto an angle so that I had ample work room on either side of my computer.
This morning I went to work happy and excited to sit down at my revamped work area. I’m feeling a little antsy about getting out and working remotely again (I’ll be doing that next week) but for working from home, my new space is perfect.
1 AM Flashback.
When I was a club DJ, I would always spin a “flashback set” at 1 a.m. The set usually consisted of three or four songs beat mixed together. This track from 1986, “For Tonight” by Nancy Martinez was one of my favorites to mix in the set.
Countdown.
In just under 54 hours from the writing of this blog entry, the Eastern Time Zone of the United States will be back in sync with the sun. Noon will be noon and we won’t be jimmying around with the clocks to make the sheep (and I’m not referring to farm animals) think they have an “extra” hour of sunlight.
Every time I hear someone comment that they’re happy that the day is longer during Daylight Saving Time (there is no “s” at the end of “saving”) I want to smack them. Instead I start to rant about time being relative and if they want a longer day perhaps they should get their butt out of bed earlier.
I go on and on about Daylight Saving Time around this time of year every year because for the past three weeks I feel like I have been trapped in a constant state of jet lag. It was bad enough when Daylight Saving Time ended on the third Sunday in October, but then George W. Bush pushed it to the first Sunday in November so that the trick-or-treaters could do their thing when it was still daylight, except that at 19:06 EDT, it’s not still daylight. It’s still just as dark when though rugrats go trick-or-treating, so we’re not really saving anything there.
Others counter that the “extra” hour of daylight gives folks the opportunity to enjoy daylight after work for a longer amount of time. I went for a walk during sunset this evening and no one was jogging, running, walking or spending time outdoors. The only activity I could see was the glimmer of computer monitors through unlit windows.
We need stop messing around with the clocks twice a year. We should just set the damn things one half hour back this weekend and never touch them again. If you want more daylight, get up earlier. If you want more daylight after work, go to work earlier. If you want to run around in the daylight, go running earlier. Time is relative. For those of us whose bodies are in relative sync with the actual time as dictated by the sun, going to bed when we’re not tired and getting up when we’re tired just so we can hear how much the farmers love Daylight Saving Time (they actually hate it as much as I do) is getting, well, tiresome.
In less than 54 hours it will be light in the morning again and dark in the evening and I, for one, will not be so blurry eyed and cranky because our arbitrary assignment of time will actually match what’s going on outside.
And just for that, I will go for a walk, in the dark, because I’m not afraid of the dark.
