The next morning…

Again, I’m using my iPhone 11, Logitech M535 Mouse and Apple Magic Keyboard to write this post. So please excuse any and all errors.

This morning is not foggy in Bradenton. It is nice and sunny, and feels comfortable enough. It’s a little chilly, and allegedly there is rain coming at some point today. 

All photos taken with a Canon EOS Rebel T7i and stock lens. Some look a little “funny” because I was shooting through the screen.

I know the people I am with are going to want to shop all morning today before the weather changes. So it’ll be interesting. There was talk about Bealls, Costco, some other retail stores and lunch at some point. 

After all the food we ate last night (turkey, stuffing, [string] bean casserole, some sort of potato dish, homemade cranberry sauce, apple pie, pumpkin pie, homemade carrot cake and fruit for dessert), I’m still so full. I can’t think about eating today. The crazy thing is, all the food was made kosher because a couple came and they are strictly kosher. So the normal fare had to be made extremely differently. Such a nice set of hosts I am staying with? 

I’m so tired, but this is what holidays are for - over eating, under sleeping and trying to con yourself into getting a deal on an item you know damn well is already over priced. But you buy it anyway. 

Hopefully we have enough down time today that I can take a nap… and it’s only 8:37am and we haven’t left the house yet….

They’re talking about leaving shortly, so I suppose I should wrap this up and get ready.

Keep your wallet safe.

Cheers;

“Visions of the things to be”

Early morning fog where I am in Bradenton, Florida (For Thanksgiving today) makes for the M*A*S*H theme (“Suicide is Painless”, track one off of the album from the movie).

I’m writing this post on my iPhone 11 and using my Apple Magic Keyboard with Logitech M535 mouse, so please excuse any and all errors. 

As it is still early, I don’t have a lot of crazy photos, but I did take “some” fog photos (okay, over 40) that I slimmed down to 20 to put on my blog. Plus there’s one of Chester. 

I didn’t do any editing except put my name on the photos because again, I am working off my phone for this.

All photos of the fog and dog were taken on Landscape mode on my Canon EOS Rebel T7i digital camera with the stock lens. 

The photos below were taking on a walk and it’s local “greenery” along the route. The condensation on the plants had the people I was with, amazed. They were taken on my phone and not super edited except putting my name on them. 

I know they’re probably not the best, but it’s one of those days where everything is hectic. The dog is going postal at everyone because he wants attention and it’s not even close to 11am. There’s only 4 people in the house right now and that includes me. Five more people are expected for dinner tonight, and we will see how that goes. 

The plan is to eat by 5 tonight, cleanup by 8 and bed by 9, if not sooner. Tomorrow we are attempting some shopping but not the crack of dawn shopping. We don’t need anything except maybe window shop for what’s left of what happened before 7am. Someone mentioned Costco, others mentioned Best Buy. One of the relatives needs a new computer (Apple desktop as it’s a 2013 model and won’t update. Doesn’t that sound familiar????). 

Until we can figure things out, I’ve got to give my phone a rest. It’s at 65% battery and I’ve already had to log back in to this account a few times. I don’t know why I keep losing the connection. There are plenty of Black Friday deals on Amazon for those who want to preview and shop early, and no go out. 

Don’t over indulge tonight but remember it’s still not too late to turn your scale back 10 pounds before you start eating. 

Cheers;

Friendly reminder for Mobile users (those on smart devices): go to the desktop version for hidden links, including my Ko-Fi page. 

"I will get by"

Lots of personal stuff has been going on this week that I can't talk about in this blog, but it all has weirdly affected music in my head. 

This morning I woke up with The Grateful Dead's Touch of Grey (track 1 off of the 1987 album In the Dark). I think a lot of people recognize the refrain (I will get by / I will survive), if they don't recognize the song. More over, I think people might recognize the music video as well (the band playing the song as animatronic skeletons), if they aren't complete Deadheads (I wasn't "born on the bus". I know some of the songs because I've hearing them once or twice, but I can't really tell you what the title is or what album it's on). 

It's odd, the things that pop in our head. I haven't heard Touch of Grey in a dog's age, but somehow I will get by circled in my head for at least half an hour this morning. I did have to Google it to make sure I wasn't imagining the lyrics or artists. I was right in it being a Grateful Dead song, and I followed the rabbit hole and saw it was the skeleton video, something that aired a lot on MTV when I was younger (and the station played mainly all music videos). As Archie and Edith once sang, Those Were The Days).

I keep forgetting to post some new tech I saw at a community board meeting. Due to the new culture of video conferencing everything, the master board decided to spend a little over a thousand dollars ($1,049) and purchase an Owl Labs Meeting Owl 3 - 360° 1080p HD Conference Room Camera. 

We saw it on the table one day when we went to one of the meetings a few months ago. I kept wondering what it was, and one of our snowbird neighbors was zooming the meeting. She kept telling me I was in directly sightline of the camera, so I should wave to confirm I got the text. I told her I didn't know where the camera was, and she said that she sees me straight in front of her. I said "I see an owl looking thing on the table. Could that be the video camera?" She said she didn't know, but it is a clear picture. No distortion, nothing. 

As the meeting progressed, I kept watching the flat screen TV behind the board members, and saw the video playback of the room. Sure enough, the video kept moving slightly, and I saw myself. Well, it had to be this owl thing. No one talked about it, until a couple meetings later. Someone asked about the thing on the table and a board member explained that it's the video conference camera. At this point, my mom was back to watching the meetings in the house and she even remarked on how clear everything was. A complete upgrade from what they used to have. I think it also is picking up audio, because a comment was made how clear the sound is as well. 

For the parcel meetings, it's night and day. They don't have access to that contraption, so it's not high quality. Video is pixelated, sound is garbled. My mom asked one the board members she's friendly with about it, and the response is that the owl is a main board expenditure and only they are allowed to use it because it's a different association that owns it (we have a main board and a parcel board, and each parcel unfortunately doesn't use the same master management company). Therefore, my parcel is at the whim of the older technology. 

If people are still going to go the route of big video conferences and update their computers to slimmer models, I can see where this owl might be a new key to feeling like you're all in one room together. Having worked in the event industry for a few years (setting up and dismantling AV equipment), this would be so useful for when a company is trying to live stream their event to another part of the world. I remember quite a handful of retreats and openings that would happen at my hotel, where the various lectures were being recorded for other people to be able to watch. This is small enough that it seriously looks like decoration and you don't even realize it's actively recording. It means business and it's obvious. 

Is it worth the thousand dollars? Perhaps, if you were planning on using it for large scale ventures and could get a better return on it. 

If it was under a grand and you were using it for small business video conferencing, would it be worth it? Oh yeah. 100%. 

I don't know the price point would be worth it for a once a month meeting though. The picture and sound quality is amazing, but to keep it locked up for a 2-4 hour meeting once a month isn't cost effective. If it got used for a lot more events (like when I worked in the hotels), then I'd be like "let's record everything!". Even though it'd be a one and done event, these companies are here for a few days to a week, depending on what's going on. Unless you're a bigger community or a business who needs it on a regular basis (more than once a month), I conflicted on using it. 

I don't want to keep sounding negative about it. The features are amazing and I'd love to see it used more. Maybe in my next life I'll be able to accomplish that. 

Until then, keep surviving. 

Cheers;

"And I think it's gonna be a long, long time"

 The post title can go one of two ways (both Elton John songs):

1 - Originally sung on Honky Château as Rocketman (I think it's gonna be a long, long time) [track 6]

or

2 - Remixed on The Lockdown Sessions as Cold Heart (PNAU Remix) [track 1]

Why am I making this comment? 

Because I was wearing a purple version of this David Bowie shirt today. 

I was in Publix and they still had that digital coupon for the free drink at the deli department. 

Yes, it's a digital coupon you have to "clip" in the app, if you have the app, in order to get a free fountain drink. And.. it's a half sub or whole sub, little did my mother inform me until I placed an order for us to share today. 

If you're curious, the sub we had was "Publix Deli Turkey Cranberry Holiday Sub", which consists of Ovengold Turkey, Gruyere Cheese, Bacon, Mayonnaise, and Cranberry Orange Relish. We had it on Italian five grain bread with lettuce and tomato. 

And yes again, I got a Coke Zero and my mother was in love with it.

But that's not the point. 

The point is, the guy who made the sandwich saw my shirt. He says to me "Bowie; the rocket man" and turned to complete the meal. I wanted to say "No, that's Elton", but I didn't. 

Sure, Bowie sang about a rocket man, but he didn't completely sing Rocketman. 

If we're going to get down to obscurity and nitpick, okay, fine. There's crazy bonus EP from that jumped off of 2013's The Next Day. This EP is called The Next Day Extra EP and I swear I didn't know about it. The "Like a rocket man" track (5) talks about a rocket man, but it's not in the space theme we are used to. I found the song and think it's about someone just going a little off kilter with another person and going into the unknown with them. Far from the songs of yore.

Like the Starman we're used to (track 4 off The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) or track 1 (Space Oddity) off of David Bowie (aka Space Oddity). But not Elton's version of a space traveler. 

Who am I to judge though? I've seen both Brits in concert and have enough of their albums that I can find something to listen to. I won't start correcting everyone I see, but I'll make damn sure to try to sort it out another way. Sometimes it's not worth the conversation, especially when someone has a hand in your food or a sharp object to your head (hair salon).

I was at the gym tonight and since it's getting dark early (like 5:45ish), it's weird now to go to the gym at 6. I went anyway, and when I came out, I was all by myself in the parking lot, so I decided to take a few photos of the playground to see what kind of light my phone could pick up.

All photos, including the one above, are taken on an iPhone 11 and edited in Photoshop (I put my name on the ones below, only, and I blurred out the background and my head on the one above). 

As much as I don't like to rely on my phone, they came out kind of cool. Even my mother says "the playground looks nice at night!". Little does she know it's not that lit. The whole piece is enshrouded in darkness to the naked eye. The camera does some sort of magic when taking the photo, so it enhances night shots. 

The neighbors spent today putting up their string lights and blow ups. 

Guess it's Florida when you see a flamingo in a Santa hat... 

The penguin is cute, I have to admit that. It has taken the couple the better part of 2 days to slowly get everything rolled out, and Ed's not even done yet. He has to get the walkway arch worked on, and then it will be complete. Slowly but surely, he gets shit done. Even when the curtain of lights on the upright bushes (by garage) weren't working this afternoon. It's amazing the amount of stuff he puts up on a yearly basis. Even for Halloween, he goes all out. 

Other people in the community have had their lights up for a while, so I'm sure I'll get pictures when I can. But for now, it's getting late and I am tired. 

Off to bed I go and hope the decoration fairies go easy on the area..

Cheers;

#Brandmanagement ???

This morning my mother and I went to Publix to do some grocery shopping and she saw somewhere on their ad that they have a special in the deli department: buy any half or whole sub and get a free medium fountain drink. 

So today's whole sub deal was Publix brand deli Italian. 

We decided to get that on the five grain bread with oil on the bread (no vinegar because she didn't want it - we were going to share this). On the entire roll we had tomato and lettuce, and I asked for pickles and yellow (banana) peppers on half of it (for me). 

Once we were done shopping, I went back to the deli and got the drink - Coke Zero Sugar, medium, no ice, because we were going to share this too. 

When we got home, we put all our groceries away, we ate our lunch. She took one sip of the Coke and said "This is Coke?" because she didn't know that's what I got. I said "Coke Zero" and she said "there's nothing better than a Coke" and smiled. 

Guess we know what brand she likes, besides insisting we use Heinz 57 as our ketchup...

This let to a conversation on who owns Coke, as I said "Maybe you like it better because it's kosher and that's what you're used to?", to which she said "Pepsi is kosher". I said "It hasn't always been". We then wondered what type of backers own each brand, as she thinks Pepsi is tied to some Saudi companies. 

(Please understand we don't mean any disrespect to either brand or any country. Just curious as to the investors of each company)

As she's more used to Coke being around and kosher, maybe they've got a better backing from the ultimate Rebs, where I have done a quick Google search and have found Pepsi does have limited ties to Saudi Arabia, but not a complete investment backing. They also have had kosher certification and also have had it taken away. Meanwhile, Coke has always been kosher, since 1935 and especially on Passover (the yellow caps), and their certification has never been taken away.

This led to my quoting the scene from Mommie Dearest where Joan Crawford is meeting with the PepsiCo board, and she's trying to get her way with how to run the company. She says "Don't fuck with me fellas. This ain't my first time at the rodeo". 

From there, I said to my mother "how sad is it that I can randomly quote movie lines? Especially old ones?" and she said "pretty random but I liked that movie". I said "I think we have the DVD somewhere if you want to watch it", and she asked if I were serious, and I said "I need to find it, but yes". I also said "it's more random that when they keep saying we are getting bad storms, I quote the scene in All About Eve where Bette Davis says "Fasten your seatbelt. It's going to be a bumpy night". 

My mother rolled her eyes at that one and said she didn't really like that movie, however, I "majored in film, so it's expected" that I quote or know trivia about movies. I said "it's the only thing I know since my English Lit classes didn't teach me the classics like The Catcher in the Rye or Of Mice and Men. I sure as hell read The Great Gatsby half a dozen times". Why? "Because it wasn't in the cards curriculum at BHS for them. Neither was it at Newbury".

I squirreled our conversation and now I've squirreled this post.

My mother asked if Pepsi doesn't have major shares in the Middle East, "is it John Kerry's wife?". I said "no, she's a Heinz", and my mother says "oh, that's right". Again, more reason we use that brand of condiment in our house. LOL. 

As I am writing all of this and getting side tracked, now that I think of it, I feel like various Coke products have always been around in both my grandparents houses. Not that we drank a lot of cola in Newton (my father's parents house, but he did have a fondness for Coke). I spent more time in New London (with my mother's parents house where we had access to colas. I don't remember Pepsi being around that much) so we had more options of liquid hydration. 

HNE - if you are reading this, can you verify the cola products in your house? Were there any? Why do I remember your brother only ordering Cokes when we went out and that's majority of what we had in our house? (even Ben P... do you remember any of this from when we were little? You'd have had more years of memories than I)

So maybe it is an American / religious thing. Considering both brands are world wide, are there more Coke products in the Middle East than there are Pepsi brands? 

According to a June 14, 2024 Visual Capitalist article, "At 130 years old, Coke also is the most consumed soda in the world, with an estimated 1.9 billion servings across 200 countries. As a result, Coca-Cola is one of the world’s most valuable brands.

While Coke has maintained 17-20% market share since 1995, Pepsi has seen a drop from 15.0% in 1995 to 8.3% in 2023."

However, there's a February 2021 Green Seed article that states something a little different:
"Unsurprisingly, when you look at the global charts and figures regarding global carbonated soft drinks for most years, whether you are looking at the UK, the US, or globally, it is almost always Coca Cola and their classic coke that is the most popular.

Within the diet carbonated drinks market, Diet Coke, also from Coca-Cola is the most popular.

We say almost always because it is not always the case.

For example, there is a long-standing myth that Scotland is the only country in the world where Coca-Cola is not the best-selling carbonated soft drink.

Interestingly, while it is true that Irn-Bru, every year, without fail, outsells Coca-Cola, it is not the only country where it happens.

In Cuba and North Korea, there are US trade embargoes in place, which means Coca-Cola is not actually sold there, and therefore, local soft drinks tend to dominate the market in its absence."

That makes sense that one brand might not be a popular item due to limitations on where it can be sold. Much like Pepsi not being fully Saudi, because it's not allowed in that country due to Halal reasons. 

Green Seed also goes on to say "The most powerful companies, those who have the biggest share of the global carbonated soft drinks market, and the non-carbonated soft drinks market are the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo Inc. The Dr Pepper Snapple or Keurig Dr Pepper group.

Interestingly, though, according to Wall Street, the shares of Pepsico Inc. gained 19.45% from 2019 to 2020 and 49.20% over the last five years, while Coca-Cola Company experienced a gain of 15.75% and 22.13% in the same periods.

From May 2020, Pepsi-Co enjoyed a market cap of around $188.6b, whereas Coca-Cola Company was $185.8b.

As you can see, it’s difficult to really say which of these brands controls more of the soft drinks market, without looking at specific lines of beverages." 

I guess it depends on seasons and marketing, for the shares and money to go up. One article I read stated Coca-Cola reaches more American households due to its advertising, especially during big sports games, than its competitors. Although you do see the crunchy PepsiCo snacks like Doritos and Fritos advertised. Maybe Pepsi lost a lot of funding when Michael Jackson lit his hair on fire in 1984?

 I don't know, but it would be interesting to see if anyone has any more research to add to this. Brady.. can you add anything?? 

Until we get it sorted, stay carbonated.

Cheers;

Can't.Make.This.Stuff.Up!

- Enter hand clap between each word -

We just got a call from what sounded like a 50 year old Canadian male. 

I know I am profiling, but it sounded like a mid range extreme northerner. 

The house phone is ringing and my mother isn't picking up because it's a number she doesn't recognize. 

So I told her I'd see who it was. 

"Hello?" I asked. 

"Oh thank goodness! I've been trying to call and text you guys for three days!!!" the voice said. He seemed so enthusiastically out of breath. 

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes. I am so glad to finally get in touch with someone. I've been calling and texting for three days!  To whom am I speaking with?" He wanted to know.

Okay, first off, you've not been calling or texting us. You've been calling someone else. Secondly, why be so formal all of a sudden, asking "whom am I speaking with"??

I asked him who he is trying to reach, and he responded the name of a taxi service. I told him he has the wrong number, and he started apologizing immensely for calling us, and I said "they've actually been out of business for a few years, so you are better off trying someone else" and he kept apologizing for calling us, but thanked me for picking up the phone and letting him know. 

It was the most random phone call, but then again, we are used to it.

For almost as long as we've had this landline number (yes, we have a landline), people have been calling all day and all night. Doesn't matter if they're sober or straight, 10am or 10pm. People called. It used to be more frequent in the beginning, but it's calmed down a lot in the last few years. 

People misdial the taxi number and use our number because they are so close in digits. It's really a matter of moving your fingers differently on the keypad. The taxi service's number stays around the same square on the keypad and ours shifts slightly. Basically, the difference is, two of the same digit changes to s different number but the rest of the string is the same. It's like saying "3369" and entering "3569" instead. The taxi service being the 3369 and us being 3569. 

I don't know if that makes sense, without giving out phone numbers or actual taxi company. 

There's also a reason that company's online reviews feature comments that "they don't show up", "they don't answer their phone"... we are getting the phone calls! The ones that go through to the company, do nothing. Plus, the last reviews are from 2016. They've got two Facebook pages - one hasn't been updated since 2016 and the other has a help wanted post in 2018, a meme video in 2019, a meme video in 2020 and a meme video in 2022. The videos are not business related or of them. Why post that stuff if this is your company page? Plus, further digging has two different websites too. Both with similar information, except one is a little more streamlined. 

Sometimes, crazy amazes me. This is not the reason we keep our house number - to get spam calls for customer service information. I thought it was "in case of power outage or emergency"....

Safe travels for those who need a ride somewhere!

Cheers;

Okay, I googled the area code that popped up on our caller ID. Google says the area code is the "southwestern suburbs of Minneapolis-St. Paul in the U.S. state of Minnesota". So I was close enough to the northern border. 

I guess I got too close to the yellow line?

I was at the gym tonight and decided to walk out to the bathroom area and get some water from the water fountain bubblah. I walked a little further out and looked at the pool and the lake. 

The Christmas lights are up on the palm trees at the front entrance. They were put up the week before Halloween. 

As much as I think Christmas lights on palm trees are tacky, it's still so weird for it to be 85° in November and be able to walk outside and know the holiday season is upon us. 

So I decided to take some pictures of what I was looking at. I was minding my business and had my headphones in (I'm listening to Mythology, a Spotify podcast - one that Amazon doesn't seem to have to link to). 

I must have gotten too close to the yellow line (which must mean I'm too close to the pool) because a muffled voice started yelling at me. I had no idea what they were saying, but I was like "eeps" and went back into the gym, went towards the other door, and out to my car. 

Hopped in my vehicle, started it, and drove away. Got home, told my mother and she goes "hopefully you didn't get your picture taken or anything. All you need is your card banned from using the amenities". Yeah, no kidding, ma. 

The nuts thing is, not all the cameras work around the community, so they tell us at every meeting. There are just as many people who tailgate into this place, than there are those who follow the rules. Too many people wander into our gated community, when the gates are even working, and it's a wonder when they actually will because people rush in and strike the bars a lot. Why we have a system in place, no one knows. 

But I am standing at a door, taking in the scenery, and get our security company yelling something at me. A company who isn't even local. Plus we are supposed to have someone patrol the area at night and tag cars who are parked in the street between specific hours. If the car is tagged so many times, it gets towed. Yea, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't. The rules are in place, but not followed 100% of the time. You win some, you lose some. 

The photos I took aren't the best; I was in a rush and I was spooked. They were taken on an iPhone 11 and no editing. 

It is what it is, and maybe I'll get better stuff closer to the actual holidays and not when security thinks I'm making an attempt to go night swimming. 

Until Florida gets snow on Jesus' birthday, I'll be back beforehand. It's time for bed. 

Good night!

Cheers;