Keeping up a blog is tough work when you have a day job and your life is somewhat predictable and boring. Let’s try this again. I’ve been working on my toy photography (another hobby, see my other post on hobbies). Here is something I did with some old (at least 10 years) McFarlane toys.
Yesterday was, pardon my french, a shitty day. I got my second COVID shot on Sunday afternoon and it hit me like a [censored metaphor].
Wow it was the flu basically. Low grade fever, headache, achy body and tired as hell. I slept half the day and dozed off and on in front of the TV the other half. But I’m done and I’m protected(?).
I really really really don’t want an effin booster shot at this point.
I must confess. I am a hobby hopper. What’s that? It’s a person who has many hobbies that focuses on one for a period of time and then loses interest and moves on to another of his/her hobbies.
The reason for loss of interest can vary. You can get tired of it or, in my case, something triggers your interest in another of your hobbies and you drop one and move to the other. The trigger could be a magazine article or a friend who shares that hobby asks you how things are going. It’s a vicious cycle for someone like me who has the monetary resources to deep dive into a hobby. I go full on. Let me explain.
Hobby #1 – Guitar and music. I have a full home recording studio set up. I’ve been making and recording music for decades. I can pretty much put out my own album or EP given the time. I have drums, bass, keyboards and multiple guitars at my disposal. I’ve wrote and recorded many songs, some released to Soundcloud. I have recorded a full band in my house. I am a member of a couple of recording and mixing groups. The idea was to turn this hobby into a side business. I am currently not involved in this hobby.
Hobby #2 – Five years ago my wife and I had a date that included a gun handling class. We loved it. If you’ve never done something like this, I suggest you do. We took a class that goes over gun safety and lets you shoot a number of different weapons. It was enlightening and enjoyable. Up to that point I had never owned a gun and only shot one when a friend invited me to the gun range. After the class I bought a pistol and began visiting the gun range. I then bought a rifle, those not in the know would call it an AR15 but AR DOES NOT stand for assault rifle. It stands for ArmaLite rifle, after the company that developed it in the 1950s. So get your shit straight. And I haven’t been to the gun range in 4 years now. I am not a member of the NRA and I support background checks (we have these in Texas) before allowing someone to buy a gun. I am not currently involved in this hobby.
Hobby #3 – writing. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Writing is hard. Similar to writing lyrics being hard. I’ve competed in NaNoWriMo a few times but I’ve never completed the challenge. You can tell when I’m in a writing mode, I resubscribe to Writers Digest magazine and I re-read a number of “How to” books. But I never sit and take the time to write consistently. I have many many book ideas and I’ve got outlines (I’m not a pantser) but I’ve yet to complete more than 1/4 of a book.
Hobby #4 – comic books. I purchase and read comic books monthly. I’ve been doing it since 1982 (I took a 5 year hiatus at one point) and before that as a pre-teen. Sadly those books from my pre-teen years are gone, sold in a thrift store. But since 1982 I have been a collector and I have an extensive collection. As of this post I have just over 16,000 comics. I have a room in my house for this. I am actively involved in this hobby.
Hobby #5 – Toy collecting. Going hand in hand with the comic book collecting is comic related toy collecting. This includes building Legos. I have a collection of 1966 Batman toys and statues. I love the Batman TV series that aired in 1966-1969. At one time I had a number of action figures from comics, Star Trek and Star Wars. I also have a few years worth of Hot Wheels collected. I still have many of these in boxes in closets. I have a small collection of Starting Lineup Hockey figures as well. Some are worth some money. I guess in retirement I can start selling some of these off.
Hobby #6 – KISS. I am a KISS fan and I have a fairly decent collection of KISS paraphernalia. Including vinyl records, posters, toys, magazine and books. I’ve got a bunch. I tried to sell my collection at one point a year ago. The person bailed on me. I’ve since decided to keep everything I have and I’ve slowed down on the KISS purchases. Selectively participating in this hobby.
Hobby #7 – Vinyl record albums. I have started listening to and purchasing record albums again. I have a turntable and a small stereo that allows me the ability to listen to records again like I did as a teen. I still have 60% of my collection from my early years. Sadly I let go of a number of great original albums and I’m now in the process of rebuilding what I lost. I find myself listening to albums now more than my iTunes collection (which is huge). I am currently involved in this hobby.
Hobby #8 – photography. I’ve had a camera in my hands starting around 7th grade. I have pictures from my early teen years all the way up to today. I’ve chronicled most of mine and my families life. Of course this got infinitely easier with the coming of camera phones. But lately I’ve been getting into using my DSLR more and plan to do portrait photography, Macro photography and sports photography, combining the toy hobby with photography. I am actively working this hobby and have purchased a number of items to set up a home portrait studio. I’ve re-learned the tools and methods. I just need to start practicing this. I’ve always enjoyed photography so this is another area I’d like to turn into a side business during retirement.
So there you have it. I’ve been known to rotate through one or two of these every few months or so. For example the writing bug usually hits in October as I think about participating in NaNoWriMo. The photography bug hit a month ago when I started looking into photographing Toys. That expanded to portraiture. As I mentioned before, I have the financial resources that allow me to go and buy things like lenses and studio lights, and toys and record albums.
Where the hell have I been? I get emails occasionally of people finding this site and actually liking some of the posts. Wow! So I thought maybe its time to get back on this horse and giddy up.
Why the break? Well if you read my January 1, 2021 posting you’d know that we had a second COVID hit (my middle son was really sick in April 2020). This time I got sick but did I really? I must have, because I had a flu shot back in October right? Anyway I never had a fever, just achy, some shortness of breath. I continued to work from home so can I call that sick? We survived but it was a week of congestion, aches etc.
Then two weeks later I screwed my back up. I was hunched over for a week while my body slowly repaired itself through ice/heat and over the counter back medicine.
So January pretty much sucked.
In February Snowmageddon hit. I live in the Dallas metroplex. We were without electricity on and off for a few days. I was fairly lucky compared to others. We would have electricity for an hour then none for 6-7 hours or in one case overnight. It sucked. We had to huddle in front of our gas fireplace to keep warm, the house temperature dropped to around 40 degrees. Our houses are not made for extended freezing temps. Luckily we only had damage to our swimming pool pipes due to that overnight lack of electricity. A few hundred dollars for us. Our house went unscathed but then we were dripping water constantly. So February was freezing suck fest.
March has been work. And here we are in April already. A years worth of pandemic under our belt. Who would’ve thought that we’d still be wearing masks and pointing fingers at those who don’t. Are you a masker or unmasker?
Circle Circle Dot Dot, I got my cootie shot. My first dose of Pfizer was received on Sunday, March 28, at a WalMart. No initial reaction but 24 hours later on Monday I had the same reaction as the flu shot. Had a low grade fever and a few aches. By Tuesday morning I was fine. My arm hurt for 4 days. Felt like someone hauled off and punched the shit out of it. Not looking forward to the second dose.
I guess I should update my Omada status as most folks who find this site are health related folks. As of this morning, which I think has been 27 weeks, I have lost 20 lbs. I hit my initial goal a long time ago so I set a new goal. The lessons continue and I learn things that I rarely put into practice. Sorry Omada coach. Comes down to calories in vs calories burned. I have my good days and I have my bad days. Weekdays are pretty easy to maintain but weekends are made for pizza and junk food. I’ll keep after it and see if I can’t get lower.
So I guess I’m back. Plan to do more posting. I promise. Really. I will.
Sure its a new year but today doesn’t seem like a cleansing start to something new and improved and enticing. Wife sick, went to Doctor, tested positive. I’m slightly sick. My 59 year old body is fighting it off somewhat. My youngest son’s girlfriend is sick, tested positive which means my son is probably positive and has been feeling sick. Her whole family has gotten sick. This also means our 6 year old grandson who has been with us this past week must now sit out of school for 14 days due to exposure. He got tested, we are waiting on the results. 10 months we were careful and healthy. 10 months. So this doesn’t seem like a happy new year. I don’t feel like making any resolutions. I need some TheraFlu.
Setting out on our second trip with the travel trailer, we picked a different park on the lake but still only 15 minutes from the house. We decided to be a little ambitious and planned for two nights away from home, setting up Saturday, December 19 and returning to the house Monday December 21.
We made it to our spot that was much more level this time and a decent view of the lake. First hiccup – we couldn’t get the truck unhitched so we went ahead and leveled with the truck connected. No biggie. We finished setting up, connecting to electrical and park water supply with no issues.
We settled in and fired up the new Blackstone griddle and had smash burgers. They turned out pretty good except, second hiccup, we forgot the condiments. Meat, cheese an bread but it was still good eating.
Next, we went to wash the dishes and we couldn’t get the hot water heater to work (hiccup three). What did the dealer person say about that? What buttons to push? Check the manual, nothing useful in the manual. Google and YouTube searches later and we think we figured it out. Still can’t get the water to heat up though. In the process of continually letting the water run to get hot flowing we filled the gray water tank to 2/3 (hiccup four). This RV park did not have sewage only a dump station on the way out so we were stuck with only 1/3 space for shower and sink water (the toilet is the black tank) and we were worried we wouldn’t make it to Monday with so little space.
Wake up the next morning, eat some breakfast and relax for a bit. Still no hot water, so no shower. We take a short walk along the lake and then come back and make grill cheeses (forgot the ham) on the griddle. Eat lunch and then discuss our options. We decide to call it quits and head home since the gray tank was 2/3 full and now the black tank was sitting at 2/3 from over flushing.
On the way out of the park we stopped at the dump station, hooked up the sewage hose and after a rush of water on my gloved hands we dumped what I hoped was both black and gray tank contents into the dump station. Can’t tell how much of the black tank was dumped because I think I broke the valve handle on the black tank. It wouldn’t budge in or out so I’m afraid there may be waste still in there.
Called the dealership on Monday morning and they can’t fit us in until January 4. God I hope we were able to dump the black tank otherwise the trailer is sitting in storage right now with stuff in it. We think we figured out the hot water situation except we may have turned it on prematurely before there was water in it and may have burned the heating element. Another item for the dealer to check and fix.
*sigh*
I hate it when I binge read an author I’ve discovered and then I hit the end of their current story line or book in the series and I go through withdrawals. Ever get the author withdrawals?
I did this with Brad Thor recently. I discovered his Scot Harvath series (espionage, special forces thrillers) and started reading. His 16th and latest in the series was released June 2020 and of course I bought it and read it within a couple of weeks (I like to read a couple of chapters each night before bed). 16 books later and I’m very close to emailing him and telling him to get busy on a new book. I need my Scot Harvath fix.
Have you binged a series? Here is a list of the Authors and series I’ve binged over the years:
Years ago I leaned toward horror but lately, with Brad Thor, I have gotten into spy type thrillers. I also enjoy autobiographies. I’ve read all the KISS books; Nikki Sixx, from Motley Crue, books; Aerosmith, David Lee Roth, Led Zeppelin and many others. The latest being Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford’s Confess.
Finally, on a recent trip home for Thanksgiving I visited Books-a-million (cause there really isn’t much else to do where my Mom lives) and I came across author Michael McBride and his latest book Mutation. It looked interesting so I bought it. Then I realized it was Book 3 of a series called Unit 51. Ugh. My OCD kicked in and I set the book aside and proceeded to order the first two books in the series from B&N. So I’m waiting impatiently for B&N to fulfill my order. Turns out Mr. McBride has a number of horror related books so I’ve found a new author to binge.
What authors have you binged on? What authors are you impatiently waiting to come out with a new book in a series?
After picking up our Winnebago Micro Minnie 2108TB (we need to name him/her) on November 28, we decided not to wait to use it. Our friends had booked a TX State Park site for December 11-13 about 1 1/2 hours away and we did too, however we wanted to try things out close to home before driving such a long way from home. We wanted to get acclimated with our new hobby, toy, way of life, recreational endeavor. However you want to call it.
So we booked a site, December 5-6, at a local lake that is a 15-20 minute drive (non-towing time) from the house. Just in case we needed to shoot back to the house and get something we forgot or if we just wanted to give up and go home.
We checked into the park at 3:00 Saturday (it was pretty empty), found our site right on the lake, and I proceeded to entertain our RV neighbors with my trailer backing skills. It took me many times of pulling forward, cutting the wheel, pulling forward, etc. until the neighbor came over and directed me better than my wife and I was able to get the thing backed into the site.
We followed all the checklist pulled from YouTube RVers (we watch a lot of YouTube how-to for Noobs videos). We got everything set up – leveled the trailer, chocked the wheels, unhitched the vehicle, plugged into shore power, extracted the slide out dinette, set up the outdoor carpet and lounge chairs, deploy the awning. Whew! Not as bad as setting up a tent site but not a simple back into a site and you’re all set scenario.
Then the good part of the trip started. We took our chairs to the gravel/shell beach on the lake behind our rig, sat down, drank some adult beverages and watched the sun go down. This was why we bought an RV. The peaceful, serene area was only interrupted by the occasional small fishing boat passing by.
We were determined to exercise all the features of the trailer to make sure they worked. We cooked dinner on the burners, we used the microwave/convection oven, we had the fridge working, we watched TV, we listened to the stereo, we used the toilet, I took a shower Sunday morning. We even ran the furnace cause it got down to 40 degrees. We tried everything but the air conditioner and site water hook up and were satisfied.
We learned a few things too, like how the water pump works and it is noisy, how the water heater and furnace don’t work without the propane turned on. We monitored our fresh water tank. I learned to DOUBLE check your black and gray tank valves before removing the cover to connect the sewer hose for dumping (ugh, not good getting that stuff on you). We learned, which was the whole purpose of this one night trip. We feel ready to go out now with confidence, except for the backing into a site part. Ugh. Still getting comfortable with that.
So come this weekend, December 11, we shall see how things go with the long road trip to a State Park.
I meant to post this back on December 5th as that would be 10 full weeks of Omada. So, anyway…
After 10 weeks I am down 10 lbs. I posted a 5 week update and I was down 6-7 lbs so I am averaging about a pound per week. Is the program the cause? Hmmmm not really. It has put a focus on my weight with the daily weigh-in each morning, but am I eating better? No. I’ve said this before, I know how to lose weight. Eat less calories. You don’t even have to exercise either. I track my calories through Lose It! and I know when I’ve eaten waaay too much.
That said, the Omada program has provided some interesting lessons that have got me thinking about things and how to handle situations and why I eat when I eat, etc. So there is that. It’s more of a mind conditioning program than a calorie counting, lose weight program. It definitely has given me things to think about when it comes to motivation, stress, sleep and the latest lesson about Brightening your Outlook. Those have been helpful.
But I’ve not adopted any new eating habits. Cooking and grocery shopping and planning is just not my (our) life style. We usually decide what we are eating the day of. What’s for dinner? I don’t know, what do you want? I don’t know, what did we have yesterday? Not that. And so it goes every evening.
And my coach has reminded me that eating healthy foods will improve my energy allowing for exercising, etc. I’ll try.
This post has Amazon affiliate links but since I’m not making some expected quota I’m about to lose that designation. So whatever.
I have a vinyl collection. Hell, I had a really good cassette tape collection too back in the day. And I’ve been known to own a few 8-track tapes but those were on their way out when I was hitting my teenage years and so I bought vinyl for the house and cassette tapes to play in the car. Alas I only have one cassette tape left, the first Rush album. I had a cassette tape carrier that stayed in my Chevy Monza (maroon colored hatchback) and I would blast my music through a self-installed Pioneer cassette deck mounted right under my glove compartment. It fed two Jensen speakers that were mounted in wooden enclosures (again all self-installed) via long speaker wire. The speakers would sit in the far back of my hatchback car and whenever we were out partying at the lake, empty field or the drive-in, I would pull them out of the car and set on my roof. If you’ve ever seen the movie Dazed and Confused, that was us in Texas as teens.
I made the mistake of selling off a bunch of my vinyl (the Great Vinyl Purge) when CDs came out and I started replacing my albums. Stupid stupid stupid. Now I’m rebuilding what I lost or gave away. It’s not easy like it was in the “old days”. You probably don’t remember the Columbia House record club. There were others similar. You would pick out 10 to 13 albums for “free” with the promise to buy 6 to 9 more at regular (inflated) prices over 2 or 3 years. I did this numerous times. I’d get the free albums, buy the promised albums quickly and then cancel my membership. Then I would then sign up under a different name or join a different club. That is how I built up my initial record collection. I still have many of those free and purchased albums. Sad I dumped so many of my good (and highly valued now) albums.
But I digress. This months PawPaw’s Vinyl of the Month is Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. I’ve mentioned this album before when I was in a quandary over whether to buy Ted Nugent‘s first album or Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak. At the time I chose Ted but later when I got more money I went back for Jailbreak. Alas I gave/sold this album in the great vinyl purge and just recently bought a reissued version.
I’d read about Thin Lizzy in Creem magazine. I learned about all the latest bands through Creem and later Circus magazine. Jailbreak did not disappoint. Released in March 1976, Jailbreak was Lizzy’s 6th album release. Everyone has heard The Boy’s are Back in Town but my favorite song off this album is the Cowboy Song. Every band I’ve played in since High School has performed this song and many times I was the singer. In addition to that song there is Jailbreak, Warriors and Emerald that all stand out as excellent songs. The twin guitar leads that Thin Lizzy is notorious for are all over this album. Think Lizzy put out 6 more albums and then broke up. Sadly a few years later Phil Lynott (bass player and driving force from the beginning) died from sepsis brought most likely from his heroin addiction.
For being the first Thin Lizzy album and gateway to further TL albums, and opening the door to the twin harmony guitar leads, Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak is PawPaw’s Vinyl Album of the Month.
Our thoughts define us, so let's focus on a few.
Let's Legitimize Personal Creative Nonfiction
It's only kinky the first time...
Integrating the spirals (holism, art, music, and writing) for peace, ease, freedom, and alignment of mind, body, spirit, and soul.
Retirement Ain't Easy 