Tick tock, tick tock...

I've had an adventure (not the one ring that rules them all kind, sadly) at work. 

Over the past week or so, there's been some excitement in one of the lakes again. Last time I heard there was a large reptilian circling around, was over a year ago (hi, Emi). Now I had my chance to see it, it's not so scary. Sure, when you're about 5 feet away from it as it's doing its laps around the animal pool, it can be awkwardly amusing. Not sure how fast it'll get on land and attack (because people have little doggies they're walking), as well as wondering if it can jump. Can alligators jump? I don't want to find out.

I also didn't want to drop my phone in the lake. That's all I need. 

In the first half of the video, when you see my hand, someone actually approached me with a little yapper dog and I was warning them about the alligator. The second half the the video is in the same lake, but in a different section (these man made lakes are quite big).

The whole video was taken on my fruit phone and edited in Pinnacle Studio 18 Ultimate. 

Keep swimming!

Cheers;

See also (aka how I got the title post):

Peter Pan movie... classic! Got a ticking gator! 

"I'm high as a kite"

But not at work! 

Wow... Blogger changed it's layouts for posting since my last update. It's definitely looking clean and fresh, kind of old school feel to it. I like it but it's terrifying as well. All new things are terrifying when you're not used to it. 

I've got some pictures to post that I took on my fruit phone over the last week and a half. 

Part of the things I've been doing at work has been delivering groceries to people instead of my normal set up work. So roaming around the world within this city, I've had the opportunity to take some pictures. I wish I had my Canon DSLR with me, but I don't want to get it ruined or lost at work. That's the last thing I need... *rolls eyes*

So..

The only editing I did was taking out the job name on one of the flags in a couple photos plus add my name to each picture. Everything else: WYSIWYG.

Hence the title name!

Posting the pictures was a bit of a pain... trying to format them into the post. Totally need to figure this new format out. 

My friend Rach was here numerous years ago and she left some books with me because she didn't want to take them back to England (because she had bought way too much stuff while visiting). I've started reading Her: A Novel by Harriet Lane. I'm about halfway through the book and am finding it a little weird to follow. 

The synopsis via Amazon:

You don't remember her -- but she remembers you.

Two different women; two different worlds. On the face of it, Emma and Nina have very little in common. Isolated and exhausted by early motherhood, Emma finds her confidence is fading fast. Nina is sophisticated and assured, a successful artist who seems to have it all under control. And yet, when the two women meet, they are irresistibly drawn to each other. As the friendship develops, as Emma gratefully invites Nina into her life, it emerges that someone is playing games-and the stakes could not be higher.

What, exactly, does Nina see in Emma? What does she want? And how far will she go in pursuit of it?

A gripping novel about friendship and identity, about the wild hopes and worst fears of parenthood, about the small and easily forgotten moments that come to define a life, Her is unputdownable-compelling and hauntingly discomfiting.

What I'm finding hard is that every chapter is almost a repeat of the last, but it's from the side of one of the women. So one chapter is Emma and how she is feeling and perceived the interaction with Nina, while the next chapter is Nina's side. It's like, either character has to tell their side and you almost feel like you have to choose your own adventure and root for the good guy girl (or baddie). 

I'm really on the fence about it. It's interesting for sure, even as a concept book for writing each side's version, but I don't know if I'd be so quick to be like "dude, best book read in the past 25 years!!!". Perhaps I need to finish the book before I totally write it off?

Been listening to more podcasts these days at work, but dumped others. Sorry, Brady, but I'm done with Jake's shows. The podcast about musicians behaving badly has become stupid. I agree with some of the 1 star reviews - Jake's trying too hard and it's not interesting. He's putting too much of his own opinion in each episode. Any one can Google the information and make their own mind up about the artist. 

I actually was on a forum the other day that asked for podcast recommendations. The original post was from 2011 and someone recently bumped the thread up, so I added my listenings.

What I had written on the site (and the Disgraceland is repeated from the above mention):

Listening to:

• Broken Record and learned some interesting things about James Taylor and the Beatles during JT's interview.
• Lore which is kind of bumbly to get through but he explains a lot of different folklore through the ages.
• Akimbo more on the business end of podcasts, but has very interesting tidbits thrown in.

Listened to:

• Blackout was surprisingly good if you like radio thrillers.
• Greater Boston started out great but somehow went to shit, quickly. Based in Boston, Massachusetts and I only liked listening to it, to hear them name check all the random places in the area. I would actually talk to myself about this - found myself saying "I remember that place" a little too frequently while at work.
• The Monster Hunters are so fecking cheesy, you have to laugh at it.
• Disgraceland gets a bit boring after a while and I do agree with some of the Apple Podcast reviews on needing to take this podcast with a grain of salt - the guy seems to be embellishing a lot. He also over dramatizes bits of it, to make the whole episode unbelievable. I only listened to it because I know one of the people involved in the parent company (Double Elvis) but 4 seasons of hearing various musicians' "true crime", it's became old news. Anyone "can Google" the musicians named and do their own research.
• S-Town had it's "what the hell..?" moments.
• Crimetown was interesting about a Rhode Island mayor but when season 1 ended and the parent company went to Spotify for season 2, I didn't follow.
• Slow Burn: Season 1 (Watergate) and Slow Burn: Season 2 (Clinton) were good. I wasn't alive for Watergate but learned a little more about the Clinton trials and how screwed up that was.

There are so many others I've tried and gave up on. Some I can't even remember. Others I don't want to remember.

And then there's still Rach's Hidden Wings and Bloodlust that I keep referring to in other posts. 

I've had other podcasts in my queue but I've deleted them when I was done with them. That's why I don't remember them all. I get bored with them quickly and delete them just as fast if they don't catch my fancy. I've been through a lot of different series and seasons and feel that they have to keep me occupied while I'm by myself at work. If I am not learning anything from it or laughing along with them, I toss the audio out and try something new. I'd rather listen once and keep listening, rather then listen once and not get through the first episode. 

Honestly - I really do learn a few new things from what I've been listening to, and continue to listen to. Some of the interview podcasts are pretty good and the cooking ones are better watched than heard because you want to see what they're doing. I've listened to the PBS / NPR related cooking podcasts and it's not the same. Sure - they're interviewing chefs and cooks and everything else, but when they get down to explaining how to make the food product of the day, telling me it's 1 cup of X or a tablespoon of Y isn't as yummy sounding as being able to eat with my eyes as it is put together. 

I dunno... I'm weird. But not a creep. 

I guess that's it for now... until later! 

Be well and safe...

Cheers;

See Also (aka song lyric title):

• Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun
• This is a month older than me? Jeepers!

"I never heard an honest man use 'legit'"

For real... I know I said last week that I'd post a video on how I got to project a TV show in an empty room and keep the audio in my headphones, but legit... I lost the video.

I searched my external hard drive. I searched my internal hard drive. All photos from that day are magically gone. *Poof*.

Sorry I can't put the video up. I'll have to find a way to recreate it with another show during the week.

On a different note:

I was at a relative's house yesterday and they had a new toy: a JBL Pulse 3 Wireless Bluetooth IPX7 Waterproof Speaker.

I got a very short clip of it working because every time I went to take a video of it, people started talking. Having conversations not for airing on my blog.

From what I was told, there's an app you can download for it, and control it in various ways.

For example:

• Change the color
• Campfire and Ocean, among others.
• Connectivity
• Connect with multiple JBL speakers at once for a surround sound party
• Connect to streaming devices (podcast apps, Spotify, Sirius, music app on phone, etc).
• Phone calls
• Use as a speakerphone

Honestly, it was a nice little speaker (has some heft to it, surprisingly), but I really don't see myself having a need for it. Some people love having the newest and greatest, and some people don't. I fall in the latter category.

These toys are fun but I don't have an every day use for it. We have an Alexa that isn't used but a few times a month. I have an iPhone 11 that I make calls on, Skype chat, and listen to podcasts (and take pictures because I don't have my DSLR). I unfortunately haven't used my Canon T7i in a month. I don't go out enough to bring it along. I don't have parties or people over to be able to show off and play bass pumping dance crazy jams on a bluetooth light show speaker.

If the JBl is for you, then you do you. I'm not going to stop you. Even if it's just so you can have a midnight rave in your darkened bedroom during quarantine. Practice the floor stare toe tap dance.
Something. But I'll keep testing these things when I see them and let you know why I won't get it and suggest you should.

Until then, stay well and stay safe. And Happy Mother's Day to the moms.


Cheers;

See also (aka where the quote came from)

• An episode of Carnivàle. 
• It might have been Season 1, episode 3, "Tipton", but it's been a while since I've returned to the travelling cirque to remember which scene the line was used in. I don't think it was season 2. 

"But it's much too late for goodbyes"

Damn you, Tay... I got Julian Lennon in my head right now. Your 80's obsessions are going to kill me one of these days. *Harumph* ☹😞



Shh... don't tell anyone...


But I had a "go play" day at work last week.


I heard a rumor from Ground Control (oh no, don't say it's true but it is!) that you can use Bluetooth (wireless) headphones to listen to audio when you stream to a secondary source from your phone. Or at least via an iPhone.


Okay... let me back track a minute.


Since I got the JLab Audio JBuds headphones, I've been using them to listen to Podcasts on my iPhone 11. I've tried to make phone calls with them, and on Skype, my friend Tay said it sounds tinny. I tried changing the EQ the other day and he said it sounds better. Note to self: use the "balance" EQ for Skype calls. And make sure everyone is near their WiFi spray for better connectivity.

I had read somewhere that when you mirror your video to a second screen (like the TV or a projector), you don't have to use that source's speakers. You can use your phone speakers and if you have headphones (especially Bluetooth), you can use those.

It's all about screen mirroring and selecting the audio source.


Last week I went to watch Apple TV's new series Defending Jacob, which is based on the novel by William Landay. I figured no one would find me in the big event room, since it's closed off to people right now, due to the current pandemic. No events are scheduled, so I have the room to myself. Why not eat my lunch and watch TV "on a big screen"?

I hooked up my phone to the  Apple Lightning to Digital AV Adapter which gets connected with a 6 foot HDMI cable that gets plugged into the wall. Turn on the wall panel to bring down the screen and get the Hitachi projector warm, get my phone on to the Apple TV+ app, turn my headphones on, and start mirroring everything.

I've got a video somewhere on my hard drive that I'll have to upload later because I've got to go finish cleaning my bathroom - the chemicals have sat long enough.


Stay clean!


Cheers;