It's a little wet out

All day I've been trying to capture some video to post here, in order to help describe how quickly a summer day can change into a pouring floody day. I've taken various videos since 10 this morning, but none am I really happy with. I finally took one that I'm just going to say "the hell with it" and upload it. So about four hours later, I'm posting a video that doesn't even begin to describe the level of hard rain we can get on any given day. 

In the video, filmed with an iPhone 11 and edited in Pinnacle Studio, I do shoot the water "rushing" down our street. There is a point where I grab a big golf umbrella (something I bought eons ago at the Tommy Hilfiger outlet store.. in.. Wrentham, MA I think) and went not only on the flooding path to the front door, but onto the street. So the sound changes when I have that umbrella out. But you'll notice my red crocs swoosh the water around in places. 

Bob Dylan may have said "A hard rain's gonna fall" and Garth Brooks stated that "the thunder rolls and the lightning strikes", but neither described the level of water we get here in Florida, at any given time. My video doesn't begin to describe what we got today, let alone any other day it's been raining. Summer time can be a crap shoot - you can get the normal 4pm rain for ten minutes, or you can get an all day random burst of energy pour. Sometimes you get the deluge wall of rain that is so hard, it's a struggle to see in front of you. I've been driving in those and it's scary as hell.  You do learn to deal with it, but it's concerning at the same time, due to how fast it comes down. There are streets in the city that are under water in mere minutes. 

Although the video posted is more recent to the time I'm writing, it proves how fast the gutters of the street can fill with water. If it didn't stop throughout the day, and the water soaked into the land, I'm sure the street would be more full of water than it currently is. Like I said, I have been in places where all it takes is one of these 30 minute buckets and the road doesn't have time to sponge it up, so you're ankle deep in (sometimes) very cold water, really quick. 

As hot as it's been lately, today's rain is super cold. When I went outside, the temperature dropped enough that the humidity was gone. However, putting my foot in the puddles, it was like I was feeling the tap water on cool. Even as the rain came down and hit me, it was cold. Kind of like a day in early fall - where it is not as hot out and you think you can get away with one last day of comfortable clothing - shorts or capris, a t shirt and maybe a windbreaker if needed. But then the storm clouds come in and it starts raining. Now you regret it because it's cold and you're wet.

It's as if you're Brad and Janet, arriving at the Frankenstein Place for the first time. 

(don't be scared; it'll be over soon)

It always cracks me up - when we have the storms. I think of the scenes in Rocky Horror when the characters end up in a bad storm and get a flat tire, then they need to find a phone to call for help, all while they're stuck in the middle of nowhere. After finding a place, chaos ensues and this is one of those cult classic movies that probably wouldn't get made "in today's mindset", which is unfortunate. 

I still like it anyway. 😋😁

It's taken me well over an hour to make this post because I was also editing the video. It's quiet for the moment, but still a little dark out. I'm sure there is another round of storms coming, and I've been really testing the limit as to how long I can be on. This morning I was doing some work and the electricity blipped for a second. I don't think I should tempt the fates any longer. I should call it a day and let you decide what the night will bring. Maybe I'll make some popcorn and put on Rocky Horror while the TV still works..

Stay dry, stay warm, stay within your means.

Cheers;

See Also

* Bob Dylan quote comes from his album "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" and the song is titled "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall". It's track 6 for reference. 

* Garth Brooks quote comes from his album "No Fences" and the song is titled "The Thunder Rolls". It's track 1 for reference. 

* The gifs come from the 1976 movie "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". I do not own the rights to these images; I found them online. 

A little addition to the morning coffee

I need to start off by saying I'm in no way advocating for what I'm about to post. I am not a medical or health professional and I advise you to seek the advice of your doctor or someone with more field knowledge than I. What I did this morning is on me and me only. If you want to try this, please do it with caution and speak to a practitioner, should you decide to go forward and make this a routine thing. 

This morning I decided to add a shot of olive oil to my coffee.

Yes, all that wording in the disclaimer to say "I put olive oil in my coffee". 

I got it in mind to attempt it this morning, after having tried it last year at Starbucks. At the time, it was an expense and not the best, as some of the drinks they were adding the Partanna to, were just weird. Out of the limited options, I found that the "Golden Foam Cold Brew" was the more palatable drink, although I wouldn't have purchased any of them again. The cold brew was smoother and although the oil separated quickly, it left a richer taste in the coffee. The whole experience left me wondering what I did, as it was an unexpected outing into the coffee world. 

Tay had been talking about adding olive oil to drinks for a few months prior to Starbucks rolling out their version. He's a big olive oil enthusiast, putting it on everything, including using it as shampoo (trust me on that. I'm not going deeper into discussing it, but let me just say I know things about him I shouldn't and can't / won't share). He had tried it in his own coffee and I think tea at one point. He thought it was interesting but couldn't legitimize buying it at the big coffee chain. I think he did, at one point, just to see what the fuss was about. I don't remember his reaction, sadly, except he hoped that the chain would try adding it to tea. Obviously that didn't happen. 

As short lived as it was, it's also been forgotten about. There were too many challenges with this. One, it turned into an added expense for people. Two, it was limited to just a handful of drinks. Three, customers were having ill effects from consuming it. Olive oil and coffee are already laxatives in their own right. so adding them both together, you get a war going on in your stomach and the only way to end it is by dropping some bombs in the toilet. 

Which is why it's not something normally advised to do on a daily basis, let alone a single drinking session. 

There's also the added high monounsaturated fats content in the olive oil, so if you're on a specific diet or watching what you eat, this might not be something you want to put in your gut unless you're using it in a salad (so those items can "soak up" the oil and transfer it into something else). Left alone with coffee, you're going to be losing a slight bit of those calories, but for what benefit? Unless you've got an iron stomach and it doesn't effect you, on top of working out, I don't know what it would do long term. I haven't read any studies about it.

That being said, today was a one off adventure. I thought about Tay for a minute and decided to try putting a little bit of "EVOO" in my coffee this morning, just to see what it would be like. I had bought some Death Wish k-cups a couple weeks ago, so I thought I'd try the olive oil in one of those. Spice it up a bit. Adding some Chobani creamer, it was overall okay. The oil did separate as I added it last. It sat on top of the coffee, even after stirring. I couldn't taste the oil in the coffee, so maybe the creamer and coffee was masking any flavor of the oil, or I just used too random of a bottle. Either way, about 45 minutes later, it made its way out. 

TMI, I know. But if you want the truth, there it be. It could have been the snacks I had yesterday, my smoothie prior to the coffee, or it could have been the olive oil. I'm probably not going to be trying it again, as olive oil isn't cheap, so adding it to coffee "for shits" (literally) is not a good idea. Plus, it only lasted one trip in to the bog. I'm feeling fine and I felt fine when it happened. It was just a surge of "gotta gooooooooooo" and it was done. No sickness, no nothing.

To each their own I guess. Again, I'm not advocating for any one thing. I'm just giving an experience I had today and letting you know what went down. 

I really need to shut this down right now. I hate to make it quick and random. It's 4:31pm and the sky is getting black out. There is a ton of lightning and thunder outside and it's getting more frequent. Way to finish out the day, considering I also had to buy a new battery for my car this morning. My car was deader than dead - it absolutely would not turn on. So AAA came to my house, installed a new battery and I'm good for a few more years. 

But more on that another day... I need to get off before we lose power (which has happened before in these storms).

Be safe, be dry and if you're in the path of Erin, be extra careful!

Cheers;

See also (aka some articles about Starbucks coffee)

* Starbucks Oleato (via the Starbucks site)

* CNBC Article: Starbucks discontinuing Oleato olive oil drinks at U.S. cafes

* CNN Article: "Starbucks abandons the olive oil coffee that was the brainchild of its former CEO"

* Amazon link for Partanna Olive Oil in the event someone wants to try to replicate one of the drinks

* Amazon link for Starbucks Espresso Beans with a link for a grinder.

See also (aka "other")

* Amazon link for Death Wish coffee

* Amazon link for Chobani Creamer

The math ain't mathin'?

Went to Target the other day to do some general shopping and they had the 40-48oz Starbucks iced coffees on sale. These are the refrigerated bottles of espresso, cold brew, regular coffee, and flavored coffee (pumpkin spice, caramel macchiato, etc). Two for ten dollars, you "save" 99 cents a bottle, as they're typically $5.99 (the ones we got. Prices range for other flavors and types).

As it's a decent enough sale, we ended up getting 4 bottles: two Blonde Roast, Black, Unsweetened for my mother, one Black Unsweetened Espresso and one Oatmilk Brown Sugar Cold Brew for me. I opted for the espresso for morning smoothies and the cold brew for any time. My mom likes the Blonde Roast for whenever.

For sizes, the Blonde Roast bottles are 48 ounces and the Espresso and Cold Brew are 40 ounces. 

I opened the Cold Brew yesterday and started drinking it. It's not bad. It has a very slight nutty / cinnamon flavor to it. It is a little sweet as well. It's weird that I'm picking up a profile not known for what it is supposed to be - oatmilk and brown sugar. It's also a dark drink due to the oatmilk. Creamer / half and half usually lightens up black coffee, but any dairy alternative usually keeps the coffee a more dark brown color. It's not bad, really. I just wouldn't make it a habit to get again.

The interesting part of this is (stay with me): the bottles I chose are 40 ounces and the nutritional facts state that the recommended serving size is 12 ounces. The estimated serving amount per container is "about 3".

I noticed that this morning when I opened the espresso bottle.

Now, if there is 40 ounces in the bottle and a serving size is a 12 ounce glass, 12 x 3 = 36. Where does the other 4 ounces go?  

Yeah, "about 3 servings per container" means you can fudge your cup a little and get more or less than you want, but then why be exact when you have the 48 ounce bottles?

The Blonde Roast is a larger bottle, yes, but also the serving size per container is correct. 12 x 4 = 48.

One comment made by someone I told this to, is "the Espresso is more concentrated, so that's why it's less". My question is "then why the same with the oatmilk one?". The next answer was "I don't know. Maybe it's accounting for ice?", which begs the statement "the Blonde Roast would be iced too". Enter shrug. 

I don't know. I can't math this math and I don't want to attempt it. 

Starbucks bottles don't go "on sale" often, if you're looking for a buy one, get one free deal. Usually they're a "twofer" deal like this Target option, although my mother does run to Publix on the rare chance it's a BOGO. It's so rare, that Publix just does a "twofer", so she usually just gets one bottle. It's not like you're getting an entire savings of a bottle (free), although the grocery store has them for two dollars more on a regular basis. Therefore when it's "2/$10", it's good. 

Especially if you consider Amazon has the bottles marked down currently to $5.54, but you're ordering it with Whole Foods as both the seller and the shopper so they you pay an additional $13.95 and say that's for delivery (on top of other fees). Even as a Prime member, the price goes down to $4.99, but you're still paying the standard delivery fee, which doesn't make this a good deal all around. Realistically, you're better off paying full price at a local box store than trying to buy it online.

On top of that, Amazon is currently sold out of the Blonde Roast and they don't know when they'll get it back in (as of this posting. See here). 

The Medium Roast is in stock, but the they have low quantities (see here). 

I guess overall, this is more of a reason to do research if it's something you want. "A good deal had by all" is not the same as "a good deal across the board", regardless of where you subscribe to and who you pay a premium to. Amazon, regardless of Prime status, isn't economical in this instance, unless you're in an area far away from any type of store. I'm sure that's a factor to some people, but generally speaking, most of the humans who have access to Amazon have access to any type of grocery or other store. Even if it's the boonies and a Dollar General. I've seen some random documentaries about people living so far out in rural areas, that the only option for any type of store is a DG and that's about an hour or more away. Some have no choice but to get their mail at a post office box because the service doesn't go that far out. This too, is a drive for the person. It's sometimes by choice, sometimes by necessity, other times a mix of the two. I can't say which series I've heard this stuff on, as I tend to watch a lot of various videos, both online and with independent media sources, as well as listening to a lot of podcasts explaining cultural and societal differences among populations of the world. "Gotta get the edumacation somehow". 

Oh, speaking of education and podcasts:

I finished Murder Homes the other day.

 Per Amazon synopsis: "The real estate market has never been hotter. Houses sell as soon as they’re listed. Bidding wars lead to all cash deals far above the asking price. But there is one kind of property that often sits on the market for years, no matter how much of a bargain it seems to be. Potential buyers come and go, the price keeps going down, and still the house stands empty. In real estate jargon, it’s called a “stigmatized property” because the home comes with a history. An unfortunate one – a horrible death occurred here. But what few people know is exactly what happened.... or why. Each week, Murder Homes tells the story of a single property. Who lived there? What secrets did they keep, and what did they leave behind? Part history, part murder mystery, this podcast mixes expert interviews, witness accounts, and court records to pull back the curtain on the hidden stories each property has to tell. Would you be able to live somewhere that seems perfect, if it weren’t for the ghosts of its past?"

It's okay. It was slow moving in some episodes and not that scary. I wouldn't say it's a "Zillow gone crazy" type of show, but it does seem a little fictional in places. I don't know what they use as reference material, so I can't say I'd be all into more seasons of this show. Maybe if it was a visual series, it'd be different, but it'd be boring at the same time. Kind of glad I had it as background talk while at the gym. 

I've moved on to something called Strange Air, and it's not what I was expecting. 

It's being distributed by a company called "Fable and Folly Network", which I noticed in their library, Greater Boston was apparently acquired into. I think Greater Boston was in someone else's catalogue when I was listening to it. 

The synopsis for Strange Air per Amazon is:

"Ten years ago, Malcolm Smith was the host of “Strange Air”, a successful radio show about the paranormal. One night, during a live broadcast, Malcolm vanished into thin air. To this day, no one knows what happened. Now his daughter, Chase Smith, is in her last year of film school and she’s making a documentary about her father’s disappearance. (Starring Natalie Lander and Patrick Fabian from Better Call Saul.)"

I'm not impressed. The first couple episodes feel disjointed and overall low budget. It's not horrible, but it's not amazingly good. The synopsis sounds better than it is. I might have to listen to it again when I finish the series because I've got it playing in the gym as background and not totally invested. 

Then again, something as crazy as The Osbournes Podcast had me laughing like a loon some days while on the treadmill. Total bananas, this series, basically because they were honest with each other, even through the oversharing, over talking and generalized cursing. You don't need to see this on their Youtube channel in order to know it's legit. It was good insight to the Osbourne legacy and I'm glad it ended when it did - well before Ozzy passed away. The show was an ADHD nightmare at times, but you learn a lot about the family without needing to know much as it is. 

There are so many more shows on my list and I'm over a year behind in what I was listening to on a regular basis (Into The Fray, Betwixt The Sheets, etc.). I keep hearing ads for other podcasts in between stuff I listen to, so nothing becomes a one off for me. I go down a strange rabbit hole of other networks and find more random things to listen to. Hopefully one of these days I can get back to those series I previously started and let go to gain more episodes. 

Until then, do some homework, listen to new things and drink drink drink your wine, raise your glass high.

Cheers;

See also

* The line "drink drink" comes from the title track of David Bowie's 1976 Station To Station album. 

It's like they know...

WARNING

The post below talks about a pet store and my opinion on what the animals looked like, with pictures. This is not a paid advertisement for the store or any animal cause. It is just my thoughts by themselves and does not reflect those around me. For the readers who are animal lovers or have a hard time watching an ASPCA ad, please visit again and don't read this post. Unless you want to. I'm not going to stop you. However, this is your fair do's. It might not be for everyone to read and I understand that. I thank you for stopping by and continuing to stop by. Please return on another day and check for an update, should you decide not to stay on this post.

Yesterday my mother wanted to go to a specific store to check their "sale", so I walked in to Petland, which is in the same plaza.

Well, "you know there's a problem, when..." the store is pretty clean looking, the accessories are seemingly marked down, and there's a candle burning as you walk in to the store. 

Yes, there was a good size candle burning at the registers, masking any type of smell there may be. Plus, there were hand sanitizers every two cages, asking people to "please sanitize your hands before and after touching the puppies" (I didn't get a picture of this, and I probably should have. It was a "huh??? moment). 

I'm not sitting here trying to call out Petland for anything shift and shady. I'm here just to say how sad it was, walking around the store. The associate seemed nice, but a little desperate to take a dog out and have me play with it. The first question you're asked is if you have an appointment, or are you just walking in to check things out. I chose the latter because I didn't want to go to the store my mother was in. The associate said that I should let him know if I want to have any of the puppies taken out and played with, because it will be no problem. I thanked him and looked around. 

As it wasn't that busy, sans a family in one of the play areas fawning over a puppy, it seemed like the place was rather empty. I could feel eyes on me as I walked around. I took my time doing a circle around the store and once I got back to the babies, the associate asked me if I have any animals. I said no, and he laughed. He said "everyone should have a puppy" and did his best smile to get me to agree. I kept quiet. He then said that I "should play with one of the puppies here. They are puppies after all, and puppies always want to play". I thanked him but said I was just interested in looking around.

It really is a sad store, this Petland. You walk in and you can feel something bad is happening, and once you see the puppies, you can definitely tell something bad is happening. They're all beautiful little animals, but they're all drained looking. Meaning, they look sad and defeated. It's as if they know people aren't going to buy them and they're going to spend however many days and months locked in their crate before the store decides to do something else with them. 

Which I do not know what, and I don't want to know. 

The puppies I saw were 2-4 in a cage and if they weren't sleeping, they were sitting there waiting for a human to look at them. A few saw me approach their window and immediately came over and pawed at the glass, as if to say "pick me up?". I didn't want to, because I didn't want to have to sign my life away and get conned into a sale of an animal. 

My mother would kill me. Haha. 

But more importantly, if these dogs are already looking sad and lonely, they're going to end up going back in their cage when it's time for me to leave and that's not fair for them. Plus, if you have to sanitize yourself before and after, what underlying issues are there in this place? 

As it is, the cages up and down units. Imagine a 2 shelf bookcase, but instead of being shallow for books, it's big enough to hold a crated dog. The crate is built in to the wall - the top, left and right sides are wall, the front is plexiglass so you can see the animal, the back is a lockable double door (with bars) for the employee to get the dog, and the bottom is a grate with enough space between that and the flooring, so the dog can use the bathroom when it needs to. I'm not going to go into details about bathroom usage, but I did notice a few cages that really needed to be cleaned because the flooring didn't look like normal bathroom behavior. 

I took some photos, and they all have various reflections of the store in the glass, so don't mind the lighting. You'll see how the dogs look almost abused, but they're also so pretty at the same time (the husky, for example, sat like a champ and his eyes were spectacular blue). 

My heart breaks for them because it really makes you feel so bad for them. Again, there were ones I didn't get photos of, as they were sleeping. There were ones who were awake, but they looked just like these ones - they know their fate and they're going to be here for however long with no home to go to. 

It's a struggle because I don't want to be negative about this, however, I really truly walked out of there feeling awful for them. I had told my mom what I saw, and I think she felt bad too, even though she didn't want to go in. 

This is a place I one hundred per cent could not work for. Seeing what the puppies looked like (they were clean, admitedly, and some were spunky, ready to play. Although, it could have been just boredom for them and seeing a new person they wanted to meet), I could not morally try to sell a customer one of the dogs because there's some thing scratching at the back of my head, telling me "this is wrong". There's some big bad aura in this place and I've read some horror stories about the mistreatment of the animals, so seeing them kind of puts it all in place. It almost felt sterile when I walked in, but not in the good way. Maybe that's why there was a candle burning. Who knows. But to work here? No. It's not worth my going home at night, wanting to scrub my skin clean and wonder what will happen to the dogs and if they will be there tomorrow, not only safe, but okay. I can't sell an animal knowing there might be something wrong with it, especially since this is the type of place you get commission on because it's an upsell type of job. Petco or Petsmart, sure. Maybe I could work at those places because it feels more uplifting, more positive. They seem to help all animals get healthy by selling food and treats (at a huge markup, yes), as well as getting animals a makeover with a haircut. You're not actively selling a sentient being that is cooped up looking battered. Yes, there are random little creatures, but I honestly don't get the same dark impression from them as I got in Petland. 

Maybe it's because I'm not an active shopper? So I don't know all the ins and outs?

It's strange, I know, and I don't know how else to explain it. Like I said, there's been horror stories about this brand and I'm sure there are just as bad reviews about the other pet stores. I feel that there's a difference when you walk into them as they seemed more inviting. 

There are no words to really describe any of this correctly. I know there are problems in every store and I'm really trying not to be so bad on one and good on another because my experiences have been different in each place I've walked in to. That's what it boils down to: personal experience. What you see and do, what happens, how you're treated, etc. Everyone is different and every moment is different. Someone reading this could disagree with me wholeheartedly, while the next person could completely agree. I'm fine with that. We are all entitled to speak our minds and have a conversation about it. All I ask is to not be mean or play dirty. Be respectful and you'll get it back. 

Do your research. Grab life by the chewy toy and run in the grass like a maniac. 

Cheers;

Summer is already over :(

This time next week, the kids will be back at school. 

Where has the last three months gone? 

Considering we have been reaching over 100° (with humidity) for the past several weeks, the kids are going to be drenched in sweat as they wait for the bus, but freeze in the schools because the air conditioning will be on full blast. What a way to get sick the first week! The high numbers have not been every single day (to make or break a record), but it's been enough of a notice, that even the normal storms are like "nope. Too hot". We must have had only a week's worth of rain lately. Or so it feels. Normally we have something every day by this point in the year. 

The Saharan Dust is what is keeping a lot of the crazy at bay, so what we're missing in water from the sky, other areas have gotten, and then some. Although the northern border states (next to Canada) are getting inundated with the Canadian wildfire smoke right now. The news keeps showing how the air quality is so bad in places like Chicago, New York City and Boston, that you can't even see in front of you. We have (snowbird) neighbors who are living in North Dakota. They are about an hour from Canada and the woman said to me via text that "it's really bad here". Just because they aren't getting heat and humidity (it's in the 80s though), doesn't mean they're not getting something worse than us. 

This seems to be happening more frequently as the years progress: The fires from Canada enshroud a lot of the United States and it becomes a health hazard to those who have breathing problems. Florida gets stuff too, but when the dust settles (literally) and the haze goes away (it was orange yellow last night, so it's still floating around), we start getting into trouble. 

There are three storm systems in place right now in the Atlantic. National meteorologists are watching them, and luckily, we aren't halfway through the alphabet like the Pacific is. For the Atlantic, the most current name is Dexter, and he is just hanging out in the ocean, doing his thing. He's vibing with the sharks and chillin' with the fishies. Dexter seems to be staying enough off shore, that anything he does, may only affect the tides, not the continent. However, there seems to be two more disturbances behind him. Hopefully they'll follow his lead and stay out in the water and not step on land. We are at that point in the summer where these things start to slowly ramp up and the east coast gets pop after pop of low lying crazy. 

Considering tt's projected that Fort Myers is going to be 100% rain the rest of this week (into the weekend), but we'll see. They've been saying for a couple weeks we'd have daily rain and we haven't. We've gotten some thunder and lightning (ooh, there was a quick strobe last night around 1am. I got up to pee and all of a sudden my room flashed like someone was doing a security sweep. There was no thunder with it, though) but that's about it. Bone dry. Which is also why the 105° humidity is so brutal. The moisture in the air isn't enough to make the clouds do anything except help the sun beat on everyone. We're all sweating here and fat kids shouldn't be sweating so profusely. It's gross and feels gross. Trust me - I'm in the fat kid club. It's not a good feeling, although "swamp ass" makes it all worse for everyone - the skinny kids too. 

It's the price you pay to not have snow, I'm told. I'm not amused or sold on the idea. There's something inhumane about the constant "blah. Too hot to do anything". Even Tay would tell me it seems so immoral to be "living in the tropics". If my mother didn't feel like my shoveling 4 feet high snow in the middle of 2010, just for an oil delivery (for an oil delivery), we may still be in Massachusetts. Who knows. I would like to go back though. Permanently. Just need to find work. 

Finding work is hard these days, especially locally. Summer is when things close down in the area. The tourists and snowbirds aren't around, so businesses don't keep a lot of employees. A lot of companies start letting people go "whenever Easter falls" and will then pick up and hire workers "around Halloween, sometimes a little before". 

For summer work, I've been told by numerous hiring managers that "hours depend on business needs" and the amount of projected hours they can give would be 8-15 a week. Nothing more, but maybe less. Everyone they keep for the summer also needs work, although one manager told me that majority of her staff have two or more jobs, so she has a little more freedom to give an extra hour to someone, but that's it (strangely enough). It's because she won't take away an hour or two from a long standing employee, just to give the new kid some extra time. She also knows when people say they can work 15 hours a week, they're working 15 somewhere else. Or they have a family they're dealing with, so they can't work more than that. 

That may work for those people, but I'd like to know that if I'm committing my time, effort and energy to your business, you're going to reciprocate and do the same. I'm not looking to have multiple jobs. It gets too confusing and I won't know if I'm coming or going. If I have "open availability" for one job, then please allow me the benefit of working more than 20 hours a week, every week, but I'd prefer over 32 for insurance purposes. 

It's not fair to expect people to be at a beck and call and able to work whenever, but you only give them 8 hours in five days. I know everyone is different and I'm no better than anyone around me. I don't claim to have special privileges or want to be treated differently. I'd like to just find work where I can hone my skills while learning new ones, experience life and be able to help both myself and the business I work for, grow, all while working 32 to 40 hours a week. It seems simple enough, but it's not. One company said they have a minimum of 4 hour shifts some days, and due to the fact it would take me 30 minutes to get to the business, it might not be fair for me to work there, especially since they too, only offer a maximum of 15 hours a week. That and they weren't hiring when I walked in to inquire. 

I know New England isn't immune for no work due to lousy weather. Winter there can be as bad as summer, but business don't close down so severely that they basically fire 80% of the work force for six months. The only hindrance of "the daily grind" is snow, and I've worked at plenty of places before moving to Florida, where I got stuck at my job for a couple extra hours due to an incoming / ongoing storm. Or, I got delayed at home a little bit when I went to start my day. I know what it's like to commute over an hour on the train in bad weather and the tracks are frozen. I've been there and it caused me an extra hour of time so I'd basically be within 30 seconds of start time, rather than have 30 minutes to collect my thoughts before start time. I'm aware of the differences. But the fact that you can see the snow and touch (shovel) it, is far more of a reality check for "incoming!!!!!! *boom*" than a tropical depression turn storm turn hurricane. Hurricanes are far more powerful than snow, and in a shorter amount of time, once they arrive. Snow is cold and can knock out power so you may freeze in a situation, but there is no excessive water that decides to go swimming in your house and ruin the integrity of the structure. Unless your pipes burst due to freezing over. That's not an every day occurrence though. When I was little, we got flooded on our property a few times, but that was because we were the end of the street with a sewer system that the city didn't admit was there. Luckily, we never got water inside our house, but we did have a lake in our yard. It happened to be in summer and fall when it rained for more than 3 days. The ground was so saturated, the water had no where to go. One year, it was so bad, a quarter of the street was blocked off and we couldn't get out of the driveway for a few days because the water was that night and due to being at the intersection of another street, we watched neighbors try to figure out how to get to their place without riding in the water. It was the oddest thing. We survived though, and I think only one neighbor needed to fix one of their cars because they didn't realize how deep the water was. You live, you learn. 

Nature is cruel and crazy. Much like how I squirreled this post. I'm going to end it here so I don't get any more wild, talking about random things. 

If you live "in the south" and have kids, now is the time to make sure your child has all their back to school stuff ready. Keep an eye out for the storms. If you're anywhere else, especially "in the north", be safe while breathing in that wildfire. Stay indoors and don't do anything stupid. For everyone else, just be kind and do what you need to.

Cheers;

I was thinking...

.. and I could be wrong..

But... 

If you look at all the "aging" (male) rock stars / musicians out there right now, how many have stayed in their genre and stayed with a specific "aesthetic"?

Meaning, the dark horses (metal heads, rock n rollers) like Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, KISS.. they've primarily all had the makeup and long hair, but only kept their facial hair for a brief minute. If you turn to the internet and find their older photos, they've only had a type of mustache or beard for half a season. It never stayed with them, as much as their outfits or ponytails have. We remember them more with eye makeup and long hair, rather than a polo shirt and a goatee.

Yet, the bands known more for their cleaner looks for the most part of their careers - the Beatles, The Beach Boys.. these bands known for positivity - have a good mix of cropped head hair with some sort of facial hair. They've got promotional material where they're either clean shaven or they're with fur on their face. We remember both sides of the conversational picture. 

I could be wrong with this, but I got to thinking today, how those male celebrities that are profiled to be more into the gothic and dark look, have kind of remained clean cut in a way. Yes, they have long hair, but it's not unruly. It's just that they don't keep their face full of scruff. We think that the things they sing about and how they dress make them bad people because they're all in dark clothing, but they also portray some sort of light as well. 

I can't explain it and I know I'm doing a horrible job of trying to get my point across. But the death of Ozzy got me wondering how much of his peers (/ generation / music in general) really aren't as bad as they're made out to be? 

It's all theatrics; a stage show; presence. The Beatles were the same working class lads as Ozzy and Bowie, but I feel like the four Scousers attempted to beef up their pop look a little more with smart ties and later long hair, beards and kaftans (then back to clean for another minute), rather than what the art student from Brixton attempted to do with a soul patch in the 1990s. DB was on his own plane and kept it clean until the drum n bass years (and then went back to clean). He may had had long hair or a mop top during some decades, but he also had a rooster cut and an earring. With the Brummie, he had scruff in the very early 70s for a minute but that was while he was growing his hair out. Cooper's mustache was mid 1970s for an album but didn't last as he went full eye liner instead. We know Jimi Hendrix had his fro and goatee, but his thing was psychedelic. Much like Prince - curls, 'stache and a little patch but he did it with soul and finesse. 

The new school artists.. NIN, Foo Fighters, Van Halen.. all too had some form of facial mix. The front man, the string man or the percussion man.. Only one person was allowed to have something fun on their face at one time, it seems. Not everyone in the band got to look the same at once. If they did, it was again, only for some promotion and didn't stick. 

Again, I could be wrong. I'm also not lumping certain people into this post. I feel that it's within all genres of music, not just metal or rock. It's pop, rap, soul, everything. I'm not name checking all of the artists of the world, but just some I can think of, off the top of my head, without diving into an online image search. It's just one of those things where I'm like "isn't it a bit odd, that we profile certain people for something totally weird, yet, they don't look like they'd fir that stereotype?". For example, if I were to start comparing other genres, what's going on in the rap game, it seems like there's decent mix of tattoos, beards, mustaches, goatees, dreads, fades and sagging pants. Only a handful then would be faded in the head hair and clean in the cheek hair. Country has their jeans, boots, cowboy hat and acoustic guitar. I feel like Willie Nelson may be one of a handful of musicians that has a full beard and long hair. Everyone else keeps things cropped tight. This is real country, not neo country / rap like Shaboozey, Jelly Roll or Post Malone - the crossover guys. Or just plain new country like Morgan Wallen. I feel like the new school guys are trying to appeal to everyone, no matter what station they're singing on.

I'm not trying to be offensive, so I apologize if anything sounds that way. I just felt like there's this weird disconnect on what we think we know of a genre and what we really see. Everyone does their own thing and it just seems so surreal and doesn't fully match what we think the "type" should be. As long as we're not fighting with each other anywhere, does it really matter in the end? Let the music speak for itself and if you learn something new, more power to you. All we hear is stuff to make us think and ask questions about. If you can research what you listen to and see what type of history is involved with it, you've expanded your knowledge base and can share with someone else. 

Which is what I try to do. I listen to as much podcasts as I can and I read a lot of books. If I can share what I see or hear, I do. If it's something that I really can't divulge the secret of, I don't. It's all in a day's experience, no matter how new or old it is. 

So go out and do some digging - either in the grass and plant a tree or in the interwebs and find something new to tell your friends about. Be grateful of what's out there and stay out of the heat if you can. The rain is coming in places and the Saharan Dust is covering others. Take care of yourselves.

Cheers

Another (aging) rock star gets his microphone cut

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Cat texted me "Ozzy Osbourne died 😭" and I immediately looked it up. Sure enough, John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne has passed away at the (young) age of 76. 

I can't say I'm such a diehard fan, that I have posters, replicas, memorabilia or anything else in my room, however, I do have some music on CD. Admittedly, I remember my junior year of college, I had one of those centerfold type posters that came out of one of the imported Brit music magazines. I don't remember what the article or which magazine it was, but the poster happened to be of a young Ozzy, probably around the start of Black Sabbath. It was on my wall with other (more current) artists of the time. I collected a fair share of music posters at that point, and they were all from the likes of Uncut, Mojo, random cut outs from Rolling Stone, Spin and some others (like the unrelated Interview). The imports were how I got to hear some new music and I actually still have all the monthly discs, to this day. It's not an enormous amount, but it's plentiful enough, even though I've thrown out the magazine it came with, a long time ago.

Moving on. 

Some of the things that I am familiar with Ozzy are the more "known" facts: he's from working class Birmingham, England. He was born after World War II and due to his dyslexia, didn't have a great education. Ozzy was an avid Aston Villa fan. 

Due to his rise in fame, recently the city of Birmingham has worked with the family and there is a museum installation where some of his personal effects are - music memorabilia, artwork, sound and vision items, and it's being held for public viewing until September at the local art gallery. I know from listening to the Osbourne family podcast, they were thinking of opening their own museum of sorts, unless this exhibition is what they were talking about. The podcast ended in mid 2024 and the exhibition opened July 2025.  

Honestly, I would say I'm enough of a fan, that I could sing along to some of the Black Sabbath songs (as well as Ozzy's solo stuff). I might not be able to tell you the exact track title or year it came out, but I might know the tune. I know Ronnie James Dio replaced Ozzy in Black Sabbath, and I went to see the hologram tour of Dio a few years ago (I posted about it in my blog). That was interesting, but I know less about Dio, so most of the songs played were over my head. The graphics shown on the jumbotron were okay, and it was interesting to see some of his original bandmates be the ones to take the lead on the music. My review for that night is a link under "My Back Pages" so that would be another read later on. You just need to find it.

I've seen episodes of the Osbournes television show that aired in the early 2000s on MTV. That show was a mess, but it served as an introduction to and jump off for other reality shows. It spawned a lot of other series and it's amazing how there wasn't much to watch prior to this, regarding celebrities and their families being recorded twenty-four-seven and edited for television. I think there was a podcast episode where this was even referenced - how no one else was doing that type of programming and after the series ended, there was a boom in other shows. Although there were off shoots of family shows being aired prior to the aughts. 

I'm struggling to write more because I don't have enough to say about Ozzy. He and his family have struggled with drugs, alcohol, various types of abuse, and have had a lot of negativity in their lives, but yet, the last concert he did (earlier this month) was back in his hometown and they raised thousands of dollars for various charities (Parkinson's research and local children's hospitals). The concert was over 10 hours long and featured so many bands, that it was a very good show, based on news articles and posted videos. One other thing that came out of that weekend was Ozzy's daughter Kelly got engaged to her partner, Sid Wilson, who is in Slipknot (they have a toddler together as well). 

I know the band Slipknot, kind of. I know their logo, have seen them wearing masks. I've seen the popular image of their self titled 1999 album "Slipknot". One of the singers is a guy named Corey Taylor. I can't tell you what their biggest song is, but the only one I can name would be "Snuff", which is track 11 off their 2008 album, "All Hope Is Gone" (I had to look that information up). This song might be the only individual track I have (downloaded) of the band. 

Ozzy, who is spoken of as "The Godfather of Metal" really has had a trickle down effect on a lot of bands that came after his. You don't realize how many artists are out there, who are lumped in the metal genre or have metal adjacent songs. 

For a man who grew up 100 miles south of "The Four Lads from Liverpool" (and liking them - using them as the catalyst for getting into music), he sure changed the course of his history and what we listen to, as well as allowing the more darker tunes to be more mainstream.

Godspeed, Ozzy. May you finally get the rest you need. 

Cheers;

See also (magazine links via Amazon):

* Mojo Magazine

* Uncut Magazine

* Rolling Stone Magazine

* Spin Magazine

* Interview Magazine

Ozzy (various links via Amazon):

* Ozzy Osbourne

* The Osbournes Podcast

* The Osbournes TV Series

* Black Sabbath

* Dio

* Slipknot

* The Beatles

Feels a little apocalyptic

Past few weeks, whatever is happening in the world, the sunsets have been wild. 

Burst of reds, oranges, purples.. colors so vivid and odd, it really feels like a scene in one of the "end of the world" movies. The type where the undead will come creeping out of a corner if you're not careful because you thought you checked every inch of that abandoned town you've been hiding in. 

But we aren't there... yet. It's still too Hollywood science fiction. 

What we have is something completely different and it's just as weird. 

I think part of the reason the orange is showing up more, is due to the Saharan Dust coming our way. It's lingering a bit longer this summer and won't stop until the end of the month. So they say. It's also why we haven't had an influx of tropical storms turned hurricanes. The sand is prohibiting the Atlantic from doing it's churning and delivering us a big case of "oh damn, get the shutters up". 

The photos and video I'm posting were taken on an iPhone 11. No edits on the photos except my name. There are two with different fonts. Those I put my name on via the photos app in my phone and sent them to friends. The video was edited in Pinnacle Studio, and all I did for that was add my name and stock music (which came with the program). 

When I sent the photos to my friends, Shawn had said that one of them "looks like it could be a postcard, calendar, or something tourists would buy up" and that overall, they are "really cool picture[s]". 

That's why I'm going to do a little housekeeping and say "like what you see? Show some support. I am using a site called Ko-Fi, if you want to drop something there [aka "Buy me a coffee"]. Comments here are welcome as well". It's not easy generating stuff on a weekly or monthly basis and I keep saying I'm working bettering my photo skills. I'm trying to get enough work done where I can swiftly and easily do so much more. Everyone likes my photos and videos, but I know they need work. That's why Ko-Fi and comments are helpful if you're looking at my blog and potentially saving a picture or two (I know it happens. I'm not that naïve). Hence, drop a dime, drop a line. Be nice. 

Anyway, without further ado, the proof or it didn't happen:

Overall, the pictures and video also prove that there is a difference between being able to auto focus in a phone and being able to know your digital camera (or film camera) well enough to focus and manipulate the images before processing. During the film days, there were more blurry photos than still photos in my books and with digital, it may be easier to delete the image, but there's still trial and error. Look at my moon pictures from yesterday. The difference between holding a lightweight machine the length of a brick (but the heft of a small pack of crayons) can take a better image than holding a camera with a heavy lens, and have some shaking going on. Even if you use a tripod, you're probably better using a wired remote to shutter the lens, or you might not get the photo you're looking for. I should have used a tripod yesterday, but I didn't. I used a phone last night. It's literally night and day, even though it was not totally night nor totally day when they were both taken. Just happened to be 14 hours apart. 

I don't know. I'm probably talking nonsense. It's still a valuable lesson and it's a learning experience and experiment. Things happen. 

Much like I was texting Cat and she was telling me about her daughter wanting to go into photography as a job, but "due to AI, photography is dying", so the girl will probably pick a more favorable employment opportunity. I told Cat that her daughter should still check it out - there's still random types of work to do. It's not the best, but she could do the "school picture day" pictures with some sort of roaming portrait studio. If she can get some sort of low level apprenticeship or internship with a local photo studio, she can still learn a lot and gain valuable skills. As long as the drug stores are printing photos on the big plotters, there's a need for photographers. 

I worked for two different photo studios and one of them actually went to Costco for bulk printing. I learned a lot from both companies - talking with the graphic designer and printing tech at the first one, taught me how to use the newer versions of Photoshop and how to use industrial printing machines. I was able to do a lot more corrections and manipulations with speaking with them and watching them, than I was doing on GIMP. I knew enough that each keystroke translated and transferred easily to the Adobe product, but I still was a novice. I still am a novice; I admit that. I also got to know more about processing photos. What it takes to edit the image for proper sizing and printing on big chemical machines like the Fuji photo printer lab contraption we were using. I had dark room experience from college, but this is a whole different ballgame. The other studio I worked at, made me aware that you really need to type out your business materials in a Word document or have someone else read the information before you embed it on a photo in Photoshop. We were printing flyers (business information) that were so misspelled and misaligned, it was a real embarrassment. Yet no one checked for errors because it was one of those in house promotions and there was a need for foot traffic. I learned more of what not to do in a business from this one shop, than anything else, quite honestly. I know that sounds mean and rude, but I learned a lot about how to run a company and what stuck with me was how things were being done from a business standpoint instead of a client standpoint. Flash in the pan easy and quick to get a body in, versus take your time to make sure you get the right person in. If you're doing professional portraits (headshots), you need professional advertising. Don't have half your flyer read like a second grader wrote it. 

Yes, I have my faults. "Don't throw stones at glass houses". My blog is littered with problems and I know that. I also know I'm not an LLC or a proper business. This is something I do as a hobby - share reviews, pictures, opinions. I don't mind talking about things and I hope people read what I type and maybe change their own thought about the topic. I'm not looking to convert anyone. I'm just free writing until my mind says "enough". If it doesn't make sense, it doesn't make sense. I tend to ramble and not check my work. Yet here I am, talking smack about a company who didn't check theirs either. I only worked there - I didn't have a major stake in the company, so their advertising was on them. I wasn't part of those meetings or that department; I stayed in a corner working on videos all day. 

It's not a bad thing and it's not a good thing. It was something I learned and can pass on to other people. Which is why I said to Cat her daughter should still think about doing photo stuff. If anything, she will learn some new ways to do everything and if she goes a different job route, so be it. At least she has gained more knowledge on something she likes to do. 

Isn't there some sort of adage where "knowledge is power"? We should be enabling our kids and our friends to seek out things they like to do and encourage them to work / collaborate with others to learn more about whatever it is. Just like I am slowly learning more about my own camera and I try to do things with it, even if the picture comes out horrible, I know what not to do the next time. 

Long story longer, I completely squirreled away from the original idea of this post. 

At any rate, stay glowing and keep your eyes peeled to the sky (and ground. Always look around you)...

Cheers

See Also

* Kind of feeling like "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" by REM (off their "Document" album - track 6 for reference)

So close, yet so far away

No, it's not about the Carole King song, but it's about the moon this morning. 

I had to be up early because I needed to go somewhere. It also happens to be trash day, so I took out extra trash to be picked up.

That's when I saw the moon. 

I really need to work on my picture taking better. I didn't have enough time to set up everything (tripod, camera) so I went back in the house and grabbed my Canon, popped in the battery and SD card, screwed on the 75-300 zoom lens and back outside I went. 

I put the camera on manual mode and played around with the settings a little bit. For giggles, I am adding some bad photos in this post, as a comparison reminder to myself on how I really should learn my camera more. Although, the "bad" photos came out a little weirdly okay (like the way one of the photos looks like I shot into the sun and it's flaring a bit). I know they're a little fuzzy in places and not as clear as they should be, but it's all in the experience and experimenting. I'm no professional by any means.

Part of the reason I need to work on the photos is due to the fact it was 6:25am, not 12 midnight. The sky wasn't as dark as the black background seems to be. It would have been nice to get the blue sky that was popping up as I stood outside with everything. 

The minor editing I did on these was a sharpening and my name in Photoshop. A few of them have been manipulated with auto tone, color and contrast. Another reason that I'm not using ace equipment. My HP laptop is not calibrated to edit photos the way it should be. Especially since the laptop is 12 years old and I'm trying not to kill it. I know I need an updated computer - this one is running Windows 8.1. I'm not good with change and updates on things. I get a little crazy. One day I will update everything. One day... maybe if I ever move....

There's nothing much else to say about what I did and did not do to the pictures. The main garbage bin got emptied around 8:30am and the recycle around 9:15. The city is sending out the pickers early now that it's summer because of the heat and humidity, as well as the random rain we've been getting.

Boy, has it been storming pretty good here. Not like it's been in Texas. That's really awful and it's sad that the flooding happened. The news keeps replaying the same information and you feel bad for everyone there. On top of it, my mom saw on her Facebook yesterday, that the Expressway in Massachusetts was completely closed off by 11am due to flooding. People were getting trapped on their commute and had to turn around because the staties were closing the roads. Comments were wild - main roads, some back roads... places were underwater. All from the storm that hit Texas and moved east and north east. We're getting massive thunder and lightning but haven't had the flooding rains yet. We don't need it, but it'll be inevitable. We're just hoping we don't get hit with a hurricane or two.

Put on your tin foil hat, kids. Randomly, my friend Cat texted me the other day and asked if  I had heard anything about the UFO sighting in Fort Myers from the day prior. I hadn't, but apparently there's some rumbling on whatever social media she follows, saying people are reporting strange (almost nightly) sightings in the air. I honestly haven't heard anything about it, and am not going to try to link anywhere or post to anything. I don't know where she finds the videos, as she didn't tell me how she came across it. I did try to search for it myself, but I came up almost empty handed. There was one video of someone saying they were watching a webcam from a place down on Fort Myers Beach, and they finally saw some lights flickering. The angle of the webcam was facing what used to be the pier and the person zoomed in to the dark sky to show a string of lights or windows or something. It is one of those things where the user stated they know the beach is visited frequently by outer worldly guests, but this was the first time in a long time that the ship was caught on camera. Again, I cannot validate any of this as I have not been following it. 

Had Cat not asked me about it, I wouldn't have tried to look in to it myself. I don't know how real it is, but I also am not saying it's truly faked. I'm not judging and I'm not going to attempt to sell anyone on the idea that there is something going on at the beach. Oddly, it would make sense if there was more going on than what we think, since the area is still trying to build back up from Ian's destruction, but I don't know to what extent this would happen. Maybe that's why things are taking their time to finish? There's some magic in the air prohibiting a rush? It's all part of the southern slowness of "why hurry"? I am not sure and I don't want to jump to any conclusion. I'll gladly share the news, but I'm not going to say exactly what's going on as sometimes you just don't know. Things can be manipulated, hacked, etc. Choose your own path with it and see where it goes. 

Therefore, I think I'm going to cut it here and go to the gym. It's early enough that if I do my ~2hr workout, I can be home in time to take a nap. I didn't sleep well last night and since I had to get up at 5:30 this morning, I'm going to either need a few more cups of coffee  or a major snooze if I expect to not pass out before supper tonight.

Until then, be safe, take care of yourselves and always look to the skies. You never know what you'll see. Listen for alarms as well... you don't want to end up being swept away in anything...

Cheers;

See also:

* Carole King, "So Far Away" off Tapestry (track 2 for reference)

* Amazon Prime Day 2025 ends tonight, July 11, 2025 (as of this posting, there's 16 hours, 50 minutes and change left). Did you buy anything?