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Where in the World is Mike?

I am traveling this week. No where exotic.

Just back to PA for a few days for work. It is nice to be back for a little while but I do miss home.

I’m going to a place I’ve never been to before this evening. I may be able to grab some photos and if so, I’ll post them here.

Todaloo.

Update: As promised, a couple of photos. I should have taken more pictures but I didn’t.

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Time for…

…a theme change!

Unfortunately for me, I actually paid for the previous theme. It had a lot of bells and whistles but all I really want or need is simplicity.

I already forgot the name of this theme but that is ok. It rocks.

I love you whatever your name is.

1 Year Anniversary of Journaling

One year ago today I decided to start keeping a journal.

It has become something I am in throughout the day. It has evolved into a place where I keep everything important about that particular day.

I am so happy that I decided to do it and also stuck with it.

Yay me!

The Summer Slow Down

I used to think that the Winter time was the time that we slowed down and weren’t as productive as at any other time of the year.

I actually think the summer is the least productive time. I’ve gotten so much less done this year and a lot of that has to do with the pool. Whenever I see the sun come out, I head out to my backyard paradise where I can assure you, I am not getting things done.

This vacation has been one of my least productive. I’ve gotten some things accomplished but I could have done better.

I’m even thinking about using water beads and heating the water in the Winter time.

OK, Rambling time over…

Weird Series of Events

I would start this sentence with “so” except that every time you do, I think a small child dies somewhere.

I was on the fence about going to my brother’s funeral. Why? There are any number of reasons but the main reason is that there are people there. Anyone who knows me to any extent knows that I have a social anxiety problem. I’ve had it all of my life and the only times I ever tried to do anything “social” someone else pushed me to do it.

If left to my own devices, I’ll stay away from public events. It has absolutely nothing to do with COVID-19 although lets face it, the whole thing was great if you don’t like being around other people.

The morning of the funeral I was outside rounding up some pool supplies for the weekend. I’m getting read to shut the make-shift gate and I look up to see an SUV hitting his breaks right before he T-Bones another vehicle at the intersection in front of me.

I took this an a sign. A sign that I should possibly stay at home and not jump into a motor vehicle. I don’t drive because the law says I can’t. I don’t drive because I don’t want to drive. I fell out of love with it a long time and many trucker accidents ago.

My brother was killed in a single vehicle accident. He was driving and wasn’t wearing his seat belt. Everyone else was. They lived. He did not.

In summary, I know I haven’t put up a post in a couple of days. So, this is it.

Jesus. I used the word “so” to start that last sentence. I feel dirty.

Services Update

It looks like I am going to attend the services for my baby brother because in this instance, it would seem completely wrong for me not to attend.

My brother and I weren’t really close in the latter part of his life but we were close in the first half.

That is how I will choose tom remember him.

The little guy that was excited about everything. He used to be a little fireball so full of energy and wanting to try everything.

He loved riding around with me on my Suzuki Quad Racer when he was little and thought it was the greatest thing ever.

We always thought the he would be the one to go off to college and change the world as we knew it.

His life took a different path.

I believe that this path is the very reason we need to attend a service to mourn his passing this week.

R.I.P. Little Brother.

Obituary Madness

I find it immensely entertaining to read the obituary pages of my local newspaper.

Why?

Well, because of all of the bullshit in the short articles about each person. I’m not talking about wild claims of how good of a person they were. No. I’m talking about something even more hilarious.

It is the part that claims that they went somewhere that has me a bit baffled.

John went home to be with the Lord.

No. He didn’t.

He died. John went nowhere. He ceased to exist as John and became a near useless pile of biological matter. People can’t get their heads around death as a concept.

We simply can’t just die. We know all of these things. The human spirit lives on.

None of those things are true.

Death is a very appropriate word even if most people don’t understand what it truly means.

Big Toe Fun

I was in a very big hurry to get my Amazon packages off the front porch when (much to my surprise) I slammed my big toe into a section of the house and broke it open.

It hurts.

It doesn’t hurt as much as I think it should which kind of scares me a little. Since I go barefoot so much, I may just have tough feet.

It was a stupid thing to do and most people would not admit their stupidity.

I will.

Mother’s Day

Found a nice history of Mother’s Day this morning.

I’m pretty sure I’ve always believed that Hallmark created it but they did not. They just profit from it which went against the wishes of the person who officially founded it in the U.S.

I live in a nudist colony. Hence the picture.

Unrecognized

This is the first time that I can remember that I don’t recognize any of the names on the famous birthdays page of the newspaper.

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Tiredness

I am tired.

That is why you are only getting a drive by post today.

The only thing I can complain about today is the weather. Only the afternoon weather. It rained all of the way into work and I fucking loved it.

Ok. That is all I got.

That Smell!

I am riding back and forth to work again on the bike. I absolutely love it.

While riding home this afternoon after it had been raining on and off throughout the day, I couldn’t help but notice how much the outside smelled. Bad.

It smelled like old socks mixed in with a little chicken shit with a side of hairy ass thrown in just in case you still have a sense of smell when it is all over.

Granted. That is not a professional opinion. I’m sure science types would say “math, math, big words, science, and suck it,” or something along those lines.

It still stinks outside. Maybe we should call the cleaning lady.

That is all I’m saying.

Pool Area Project

My illustrious pool project for 2021 is almost completed.

The first year I used an inflatable pool that costs a whopping $10-20 dollars.

I bought more expensive inflatables since then but for the last couple of years I have gravitated back to that original $10 design. It just works.

This year I have added a beach area, tiki candles, and fencing. It was pretty expensive but I think that the privacy of being able to lay out in the yard without all of the cars driving by disturbing me will be worth it.

We’ll see.

Book Review – Sort Of

I’m not yet going to give details of the book but I’m listening to a science fiction nugget.

I like the whole idea of it. There are parts that don’t seem to make much sense.

For one thing, the main enemy is missing the motivation. They are bad and try to kill the main characters but I still don’t know why.

It sounds like democracy versus communism. That seems off.

I’ll write a good review when this book is finished. It will probably be soon. I think I have 5 hours left.

Travelling

I am doing something today that I rarely do.

Travel.

I am totally ok with staying in my own area and minding my own business as long as I can write, I’m happy. Sometimes, I have to get out of the comfort zone.

Hopefully, it will all work out in the end.

Bad Decisions

When you reach the age of 50 or thereabouts, you begin to look on the world with different eyes.

The one thing I have seen recently is just how much young people make really bad decisions.

At 50, your decisions are based on a lot of things but are mostly free of emotions. You take things a bit less seriously and you also realize that not everything that everyone does is about you.

It is easy to see the bad decisions that people make everyday by just opening up the newspaper and reading it. The criminal section is literally mind blowing.

The problem with some of these bad decisions is that they can’t be undone. You can’t take back your irrational behavior. People don’t unsee the things you’ve said and done.

Take a moment to think before you speak. Think before you act. Think beyond the moment. I know it can be difficult but life isn’t always about the single move in front of you. It can be about the several moves that are ahead of you that you can’t yet see.

Help your heart get out of the way so your head can see the path ahead.

Ok. I have to give the soapbox back now.

Baby Bottle Service

How about your favorite coffee beverage served in a baby bottle?

No. I am not making this up.

From my daily newspaper…

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I’d link to the whole story but since it’s a paywall, I’ll refrain.

Phone Calls

I don’t like to talk on the phone. Anyone who knows me will tell you how true that is. I hate making phone calls. I’d rather text, IM, or do smoke signals.

I’m saying that because my house mate has been on the phone with a member of his family for probably somewhere along the lines of oh, say five hours.

Yep. That is not a typo (this time). Believe me, I’ve had many many typos. My whole life is a typo.

I don’t like I’d have six minutes worth of things to talk about let alone 6 hours.

Trust me. I am probably the most boring person there is. A rock probably comes in first place but damn it, I am a close 2nd.

Why Don’t Men Care

Perhaps, I should relabel this post as “Why Don’t Most Men Care?”

What am I talking about?

I’m talking about men who sit by while their daughters pose nude for magazines, pictures, or whatever. Think about all of the magazines with nude women in them that you have ever seen. Most of those women have fathers who had to sign off on what they were doing. Why is that?

Why do some men want their wives to go out wearing as little as is humanly possible?

I remember pulling off my girlfriends top in our parking lot in broad daylight. Anyone could have seen her tits. Some people driving by probably did. I do not know why I didn’t care. She was beautiful.

Perhaps, that is the reason. I think my daughter is beautiful and I don’t really mind if others see that as well. It doesn’t bother me.

My ex-wife is a nudist. I don’t care.

My daughter lives in a nudist colony. I don’t care.

Maybe, this is a topic that I just don’t really care about.

Fake People

Let’s face the reality. People are shit.

With that being said, it is little wonder why this story is relevant.

Researchers at Netease Fuxi AI Lab and University of Michigan have recently created MeInGame, a deep learning technique that can automatically generate character faces by analyzing a single portrait of a person’s face. This technique, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, can be easily integrated into most existing 3D videogames.

Pretty soon. We won’t even need the “real” input photo and computers will just generate characters for us. I am also going to assume that computers will also generate fake voices to go along with it.

What does that mean?

It means big movie studios will be able to make a movie without all of the overhead of the actors. I’m sure there will be labor rattling in the beginning but actors are expensive. They also can say bad things in public, hurt your brand, etc.

A computer that you control, will probably not do that.

Hell Weekend Ends

Well, it was pretty exciting but the weekend upgrade thing is over.

Well, for now anyway. I expect we will be still working on things for most of the week.

Collective sigh…

P.S. Yes. Nude girl jumping is appropriate.

Cancel Culture

I am surprised to see this from California.

“Cancel culture and the efforts to silence differing opinions and voices should be a growing concern for all of us,” said state Sen. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore. “A climate of intolerance has been established and has stifled healthy and normal debate. Anyone who values their own freedom of speech should be concerned.”

Hell Weekend Begins

I guess another term for it would be major system upgrade.

I’m not sure how much writing I’ll be able to do over the weekend but I am hoping to keep to the schedule.

I’ve gotten a brilliant idea to write a screenplay for my next big thing. I’m still working out what the movie would be about.