Subscription based podcasts

It's been long enough in listening to the  "Into The Fray" podcast by Shannon LeGro, that the advertisements in the podcast bombarded me in the first episode I got back in to.

All I can say is, "Wow". 

Within the first 5 minutes, the conversation got interrupted and there was about 90 seconds worth of random commercials. There's already been a few more advertisements in this episode and I'm only 45 minutes into the hour and 50 minute airing. 

The last episode I listened to, was long enough ago, that I've got to listen to over 200 installments. I went from listening every week to being squirreled by other people's audio; so three years later, I've got a lot to catch up on. 

Which actually means half of what is in the list, I can automatically marked as played, because they're for "subscribers only". 

There are people who pay to listen to the show with no advertisements, no interruptions, receive extra features, better information, and so forth. The Patreon fee is $3 a month for the basic level and goes up to $50 a month for true inclusivity - this is a small club; only 5 people belong, according to the Patreon page. All levels have option to "pay annually" and "save 10%". 

Conversely, via Apple, the "premium" subscription is $4.99 a month or $59.99 a year. I think the difference is between the two services, outside of the "Listen Ad-free / Get Bonus Episodes / Listen First" option, is just that - you only get bonus episodes and no ads in Apple. Patreon adds merch, the ability to enter the closed off Facebook page, Youtube videos, exclusives no one else can get. Spotify on the other hand, based on just looking at the page, doesn't have an option to support? I could be wrong.

I like the show, but I can't afford the membership fee right now. On any platform. Therefore, in the Apple Podcast player, I'm sending the locked episodes to the vault. 

This "significantly" cut down the episodes I need to listen to. Sure, I'm missing bonus content and 5-10 minutes more of the show, but some of the subscription episodes are aired with commercials, so it's not a big problem... except when a sentence is cut in half and some ad for another app chimes in. It's jarringly weird because then you forget what the person was talking about and hope you didn't miss anything else from what they were saying.

Happened to me with this episode I'm listening to; Shannon asked a question and the guest started answering. He was mid word and all of a sudden I got blasted with some advertisement. It was loud because it was just spliced in but whatever AI Apple uses. When the show came back on, it sounded like I missed something. I can't tell because I'm not a paying member. 

I guess my point is, since I've noticed this is becoming common practice with other podcasts, "buyer beware" that you might get service interruptions in your audio when you least expect it. 

It's not new because we're getting them on our television shows and video streaming services already. But now when you want to cut off the world for a little while and listen to an audio program that isn't on the radio, you're going to have to contend with timed sales pitches.

If you're into the supernatural, go check out "iNTO THE FRAY" because it's pretty interesting, if you ignore the advertisements. Shannon LeGro does a good job on this and it's worth listening to. If you don't want to hear it, you don't have to. I won't judge.

Until something happens in the universe shift, be safe and well.

Cheers;

See Also

• "iNTO THE FRAY RADIO - Encounters with the Paranormal" via Audible on Amazon
  
• "INTO THE FRAY" via Audible on Amazon - this seems like a side show, but not the actual podcast / subscribers version
• "iNTO THE FRAY RADIO - Encounters with the Paranormal" via Apple Podcasts
• "iNTO THE FRAY RADIO - Encounters with the Paranormal" via Spotify
  
• "Into The Fray Radio" official website
  
• "Into The Fray" via Patreon

People take it literally

I've got a "Free Hugs" shirt that I've worn out in public a few times. It's not a generic shirt that just says "FREE HUGS", but it's the Chucky doll with his hands outstretched. 

It actually looks like this:

Amazon link is here in case anyone wants their own.

One of the first times I wore it, outside of Halloween, my mother and I were in Rooms To Go. One of the sales people sees the shirt, points to it, and asks "seriously?". I didn't realize what was going on and I asked what he was talking about. He said that I'm "wearing a 'free hugs' shirt" and am I "giving away free hugs?". He had put me in an awkward position because what do you say to that, especially since you're trying to shop at a store he works at and may end up buying from him? So I weirdly said "yes?" and he asked if he could have a hug. I had to at that point. What choice did I have.

Yes, I could have told him to kick rocks. It's weird; it's gross; it's something you don't expect. But at least maybe we could get better help in the store if I complied? 

We didn't, as we ended up finding nothing we wanted.

Whomp whomp. 

I know I get stares when I wear it, but no one says anything to me. Or, they hadn't until we were in the furniture store, not have they since.

Speed up to this week and I'm wearing it again.

My mother and I are in Publix and I'm standing in the deli line, waiting to order a Pub Sub of The Day. 

When it got to be my turn, I did my ordering. As I stood there, another deli worker saw my shirt. She started questioning me. 

The first thing she asks if I wear the shirt to any of the colleges and their games. I said no, figuring that would be the end of it. 

Keep in mind what this shirt looks like and what the movie was about.

The employee then asked if I'm part of The Ministry, since I'm wearing a "free hugs" shirt. Again, I said no. She went on to explain "how people in The Ministry go to the colleges and college games, looking to give out hugs in the name of Jesus because the kids don't have family near them and are making friends. But a hug can do a lot of positivity for them because it's a personal connection and contact. The Ministry goes all around the country to do this and it's all in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior". 

I'm standing there trying to hold my mouth shut. Like, this woman, who doesn't even look like she should be a Christian, is asking me if I'm doing the Lord's Work at college campuses. Lady, does this shirt really make me look like I go out and hang with the 18-24 year olds? Maybe they have seen the film, but I doubt they want a hug from a random stranger. 

Hell, even when I was in college (over 20 years ago), I crossed the street immediately when I saw the Krishnas on the sidewalk. I knew better than to engage with them. I'm not going to a ball game and risk getting myself in trouble. No thank you. 

I kindly told her that it is something I don't attend to. It's a nice gesture, but I don't do it. If I had kept saying things, I think she might have wanted to try to convert me, seeing how the customer in back of me ended up becoming part of the conversation and agreed with the employee. 

Guess I'm in the wrong store, city and state if I'm getting asked about specific opportunities while trying to get lunch... 

Then again, a cousin ended up getting hit on at the Entenmann's display at another Publix once... 

Don't get me wrong; everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, there's a type of conversation that shouldn't be had in specific places. A deli employee in a grocery store shouldn't be asking about religion type situations when they don't know what the customer does outside of the store. 

Yes, I understand the context. It was as simple question for the good of humanity. Doing something nice for the community; karma points. There's a difference in how the conversation can be made, however. Once I was asked if I go to the colleges and I said no, it's the end of story. Had the employee finished her inquiry by saying "Oh, okay. I was just asking because I know there's a group who goes out because..." and then drops it, I wouldn't have an issue. There was no need to go into immense detail and ask if I was part of that group, as well as including the person behind me in the discussion. 

I know it's my hang up and I need to get over it. But sometimes it's just a weird thing to me because I'm taking as much of it out of context as they are. Maybe it's a sign I should stop leaving the house. Haha. 

I've got to seriously figure this stuff out though. How to better end a conversation without it being awkward as hell and also not get me kicked out of the business.

Until then, if you want to go hug a stranger, do it, but also, make sure you're not stinky and sweaty. It's still hot out there.

Cheers;

"It takes too much to touch"

Can't finish the sentence because my what I'm going to refer to, isn't a "her". It's a piece of tech. 

But I can add another song line with an edit:

"It's getting hot out there, so take off all your clothes" or cases, or whatever. 

Okay, I bastardized Kanye West's "Gold Digger" and Nelly's "Hot In Herre" however it's for a point. 

I was at the pool this morning and it hit 103° at 10:30 in the morning.

Which is why my phone got so hot in my bag that my phone overheated itself because the sun was beating down on my bag.

Yes, you can barely see Denis O'Hare in the background. It is one of his characters ("Liz Taylor") from the American Horror Story series (season five, "Hotel"). That's neither here nor there. Just pointing it out in case you were wondering what that ghost image was.

Okay, so in full disclosure, my phone is in an old Vera Bradley zippered neoprene tablet case. A type of carry all that is only available on sites like eBay at the moment. 

I decided to put my phone in this the other day, as we got stuck in a small rain storm while at the pool and the bag I'm using to carry all my stuff (towel, water shoes, sunglasses, mask) doesn't have a zipper on the main compartment and the front pouch is Velcro. Therefore, I don't want to inadvertently end up getting my phone wet if it rains again while we're swimming. 

Which also brings me to why my phone overheated.

I mean, the thing is in a zippered neoprene bag, in another bag, in the harsh (sun)light of day. It's essentially cooking itself to a slow death. This idea that I had to save my phone ended becoming a thermal trap without even thinking about it. 

Sometimes I'm a 20 watt bulb among a box of 100 watts and there's nothing that's going to stop me from dimly shining. 

I've now got to re-adjust what I'm going to do about this because I don't want to create a battery fire at the pool. I don't think the chlorinated water and a Lithium-ION battery mix well. Plus, I can't afford a new phone at the moment, given the fact this phone is new. I upgraded to the 17 in January, so it's only six months old (welp; old enough to upgrade, according to other people!). 

I guess, what I'm saying is.. if you're going to be out at the pool or anywhere in the sun with electronics, don't keep it in a heat conductive unit for long periods of time. My Yeti sleeve has worked amazing because I get to carry my tumbler everywhere and not drop it (and my water stays cold), but for keeping my devices dry in case of rain? No Bueno. 

If I think about it, I could put the phone in a plastic bag, like the ones you get from the grocery store, and make sure the bag is tied. Or, I change the outer bag completely, so I have zippered compartments all around. I know the main bag isn't the best as it is, since it's mainly a type of overnight bag where you are just going to a friend's house or somewhere close (not traveling far since it doesn't zip). I am definitely going to readjust this for sure.

Until I can figure it out, learn from my lesson and don't keep your tech in a hot box. Keep yourselves hydrated as well. 

Stay safe!

Cheers;

See Also (links via Amazon)

• "Hot In Herre" is from Nelly's 2002 album, "Nellyville"
• "Gold Digger" is from Kanye West's 2005 album, "Late Registration"
• "neoprene pouch with zipper" key word search
• "Harsh light of day" redirect is throwback to a "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" episode as well as a Fastball album from 2000, titled "The Harsh Light of Day. #Showusyourageandera!
• Coincidentally, the Fastball album has a song called "Vampires", which could be Buffy connection too... Even though it's not, but you never know; since I tweaked the line anyway. 😁
• "American Horror Story: Hotel" on Amazon Prime
• "neoprene sleeve for Yeti tumbler" on key word search. 
• This is the one I'm actually using (and they've held up since purchasing them in 2022. I am still on 1 of 4. Totally better version than what I was using prior - different model / brand / seller): 4 Pack 30oz Neoprene Carrier (Black,Blue,Pink,Navy)

The things we remember

My friend Cat texted me at 11:30 last night, rather mad. 

(She lives north of Boston and the family wanted to go see the fireworks, locally) 

Due to the crazy weather happening around the country, Massachusetts hasn't been immune to any of the heat and humidity. It now has some thunder problems. I know there was some questions around the festivities at the Hatch Shell and the holiday lightshow ended up being postponed a couple hours due to impeding thunder storms and high wind. 

Since Cat was doing stuff in her city, she made the comment to me that "5 minutes and 31 seconds.. that's how fucking short the fireworks show was. They suddenly stopped, we waited a while and it started to rain. Ppl left in hoards. It was an embarrassment for the 250th".

I don't know what else happened or how bad it was there, as I did text her back this morning and she hasn't responded. She must still be mad because I know she had company over and they were planning an outing. 

Locally to Fort Myers, I honestly don't know if any of our stuff happened because I went to bed early and usually the boom display wakes me up. None of that happened; I slept through whatever was (literally) popping off. No one talked about it today at the pool, so maybe things were kept (relatively) quiet.

It got me thinking of what we used to do when I was little. 

I remember going to New London (CT) and we'd pack a beach bag full of blankets, chairs, water and snacks, drive down to the waterfront, find a place to park the car on the street and then place our butts on the beach. Someone usually had a radio with them and the transmission always played the Wolfman Jack radio hour, and we would watch the light show. 

This, at least, was the early years of my youth since the Wolfman died in 1995. Now that I really think about it, I think a few years it was Casey Kasem as well; the channel usually changed to one of the shows, depending on who brought the radio and how much they wanted to share it.

As I'm writing this, I'm also thinking that we only went to the Hatch Shell a real slim handful of times. I truly only remember doing the beach thing when I was little. I don't recall what we did in my later years, but since moving to Florida, we haven't go anywhere to celebrate. 

Or at least, I haven't. 

This is definitely brings back memories (now I've got the song in my head. Great....) and I am seriously trying to think of the things we did in between the years we weren't at the July 4th thing at the beach. It's tough; I'm sure we did something. I'll probably remember it later. 

As much as I hate getting political, another "memory" I'm having lately, is based on a podcast I'm listening to (even as I create this post). 

I'm currently playing "Homegrown: OKC" by "USG Audio". 

The synopsis via Amazon is:

"Dive into a case of domestic terrorism from the past that’s really a warning about the future. Back in 1995, there was a disaster that should have prepared us for January 6th and the political violence that we’re seeing today: the Oklahoma City Bombing. Journalist Jeffrey Toobin reveals the story behind Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City Bombing, and right-wing extremism in America - how a decorated army veteran became consumed with rage, how he somehow went underground and built a bomb that damaged fifty blocks in a modern city, and how everything that led to the horror of April 19th, 1995 is still very present in America. Homegrown: OKC is a USG Audio podcast produced by Western Sound and Esmail Corp. Based on the book “Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Rightwing Extremism” by Jeffrey Toobin."

Everything seemed to happen during a school vacation. Some sort of hijinks during the months preceding to summer so that trials happened when I was off for summer. 

The bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building was one of those things. I was on spring vacation when Timothy McVeigh nearly leveled the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The trials went on for a while. 

I remember the news talking about this when it happened (I was in junior high school) and during my college years, I included this incident in a thesis paper I wrote for a sociology class. 

Now that I'm older, I'm listening to various podcasts, which extend to historical and political things. Therefore, I'm currently listening to USG Audio's investigative piece about the bombing. This is an in-detail story about what happened during the bombing and how it led to a future piece of history that could have been avoided if we listened better to history. 

Again, I'm trying to be neutral on this topic because it can be a touchy issue. I'm listing it only because I wanted to update my blog on what I'm currently listening to. If politics or history aren't something you want, there's no need to seek this out. If you want to learn a little more about what could have been avoided, then try hearing this. I am only two episodes on, but they're long enough that it feels like it could take a bit to get through. I'm sure that will change shortly. 

In the interim, I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and finding some fun to do.

Cheers;

See also (aka links on Amazon)

* Wolfman Jack (I highly suggest reading his autobiography. It's a pretty rad story of his life and how he got into broadcasting)

* Casey Kasem info

* Maroon 5's song "Memories" from the 2021 album, Jordi. 

* "Homegrown: OKC" podcast

* "Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Rightwing Extremism" by Jeffrey Toobin (the book the podcast stems from)

Happy July 4th | Gotta take off ad blocker to watch music videos?

Quick post in between rain storms to say "Happy 4th of July" to those celebrating "the birth of the USA". I know I have readers around the world, so there should be some clarification (which I know is silly of me). 

As my neighbors have their flags out, I went over to one of them and took a couple pictures with my iPhone 17. Edited for content with Photoshop, and I know I need to practice my color correction more). 

It's starting to get a little windy out, so like I said, we're in between storms at the moment, which is why the flag is moving the way it is.

Locally, there are fireworks scheduled tonight, however, like a lot of places in the United States, we're under a ban burn. Therefore, what's going to pop off later, will be highly watched so no fire is unintentionally started.  

Which is kind of crazy since we've been having sporadic rain bursts the last 72 hours. It hasn't been enough to keep the ground saturated since it's been so hot, but the flooding in some of the streets say otherwise. It's a part of life down here - the random deluge of water and the way it quickly floods certain areas and then stops just as fast as it started. 

Hopefully the pyrotechnics tonight won't be cancelled due to storms, but you never know. It's kind of heavily overcast right now and I know my friends up north are bummed their cities aren't doing anything. 

The news today has been showing all the celebratory stuff across the country as well. From coast to coast, news anchors are interviewing locals and reminding viewers of national monuments and treasures. As this is the 250th birthday of the country, it is a special time in people's lives. It also is coinciding with the World Cup, being played in North America, so all the soccer football fans are getting a special treat. 

There's a moth sitting outside my window that is hanging out on the screen and it's squirreling me. It's been there all day and I don't know what it wants. It can't come in; "there's nothing for you, here!". 

Go. Away. 

Speaking of going away, I had to disable my adblocker on Chrome because YouTube finally caught up with me: I was having ads not play while watching random videos. 

I got a message two days ago, saying "Ad Blocker violates YouTube's Terms of Service". 

Whomp. whomp. 

Message received... I had to turn it off, unless I risk being banned from YouTube and other Google Services. 

I never thought twice about the ads, since I've gotten used to seeing them on other devices (televisions for example). When I got this on my laptop, a quick search said this type of message has been around for a few years already and it's a catch-all for various revenue streams and other incidentals.

I'm not going to get into the politics of it, but now that I read up on it, I'm surprised it took this long to get that message, truth be told. 

I'll have to be fine with it, if I expect to keep my accounts "in good standing". The expectation (in my head) is, if I'm still going to blog here, have a Google email address, utilize Chats and upload occasional videos to share, I need to comply with the ToS thing and turn off the adblocker. I'm sure it's a scare tactic as there are comments floating around the internet pointing in various directions, but I'm not going to take the chance. I also don't want to pay for premium, but if that's your jam, I'm not going to hate you for it. It's not for me; I don't watch YouTube often enough to warrant an extra subscription service. 

So there you have it. Two days of shenanigans wrapped up in a small post. 

Or would be small post if I didn't include photos. 

Whatever the case, if you're celebrating today and tonight, I hope you're safe and stay hydrated. If you're celebrating with the States from another country, woohoo! Party across the continents! If you're staying low and chill, not doing anything, I don't blame you one bit.  I remember a couple years running, Tay and I would have an email going back and forth on this day, and it would be entitled "Are you [expletive] the fourth just like me?". Meaning, it was a regular day and we just chilled; didn't do much, didn't go out. It was business as usual and the usual business was protesting something. somewhere. Even if it was just in our heads. 

Tay, if you're reading this, "Eff the Fourth. Email me; I would like to talk to you since you've taken too long of a powder".

For now, I hope everyone remains calm, cool, hydrated and fantastic. Until something else happens and I post something new. Take care of yourselves and your friends.

Cheers;

See also (links via Amazon):

* iPhone 17

* Photoshop

* "There's nothing for you, here!" comes from Edward Tatsyrup, a character from "The League of Gentlemen", a BBC dark comedy. Watch how you order on Amazon; some are PAL discs while most are coming from third party vendors. 

The decision has been confirmed (tech talk)

 I decided to two things: 

One: Go ahead and try the Apple USB-C to USB Adapter again.

Two: Attempt to purchase a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone adapter dongle. 

Both purchases were done through Target instead of Amazon because I happened to be in the Bullseye store for something completely different, on completely separate days.

Conversation about the first purchase...

In store, the Apple USB-C to USB Adapter was ninety-nine cents more than what is currently listed on the A to Z retailer. Target had the adapter for $19.99, where Amazon has it as $19; before tax and potential shipping (if you're ordering online and there's a delivery fee). These prices could change, due to business needs; so don't quote me for a correction in six months. 

While in the store, I did ask the electronics employee if I could open the box and try it out. I wasn't about to go home, have it not work, and then drive back to return the device. Unfortunately, she stated I would have to buy it first, as store policy states that customers can't arbitrarily open boxes to test things or check out what is actually in the box. It is a profit and loss situation; leads to potential thievery, etc. However, if I were to purchase the adapter, stand at the desk with her, try it out, I can immediately return it and get my money back; no re-shelving fee included if it didn't work. 

I thought about it for a minute because it did seem wasteful but it made sense because it was saving me from running back and it was also saving them from having to explain to leadership what was going on. Therefore, I purchased the adapter. I was smart enough to bring a thumb drive with me in the event this were to happen. 

After struggling with the USB end of the adapter for a few minutes, my phone saw the drive. It was the weirdest thing because the Lightning version I had was so much easier - there wasn't any stiffness to the port like this one had. I was worried that it wasn't going to work, as the thumb drive wasn't immediately recognized by my phone. It turns out, I didn't push the drive in far enough into the adapter, so there was no connection between the two pieces. Which is why there was a stiffness - it was as if the USB end of the adapter is made a hair smaller on the inside, making it tough to push the drive all the way in. It does feel like it's connected when you first put it together, but when the phone didn't immediately recognize the drive, something was faulty.

This very well could have been my issue from the original one I purchased a few months ago on Amazon - I didn't get the two things to talk to each other because they weren't fully connected. 

Once I saw my thumb drive and was able to move some files around via the Files app, I immensely thanked the employee for her patience and helping me out, because she too, was in awe of why it originally wasn't working. She had started looking online for answers as I stood there trying to figure out what my next move was, while wiggling everything to make sure there wasn't any short. 

It still works now, and I have actually gone back to Target and bought a second adapter, to keep in another back because I did in fact need it another day and didn't have the first one. 

Win for the first piece of tech!

Now on to the conversation about the second purchase...

This post is not brought to you by Target, but it sure feels like it. 

I was in Target this week for some browsing in various departments and walked through electronics, yet again, just to see what was on clearance. I was actually making my way to the music section because I like trolling through the vinyl.

I started in the headphone section, which is the first part of the department from where I was in the store. Looking at the sales, they've shockingly got Shokz Open Run headphones in Lavender on clearance (No pun intended). The retail price for the headband type is $129.99 and the clearance tag read $64.99.

I'm attaching a picture because when I saw it, I was surprised it was already at a fifty percent discount. I don't know why, and I also can't find the lavender one on Amazon for the initial price tag because it may be a Target exclusive. Scratch that: a quick search says it's potentially a seasonal color, which possibly explains the price reduction and Amazon doesn't have it in stock at the moment.

 

Side quest: My mom took the photo to show to her brother because he had purchased a pair back in January and if his Target had the same deal, he could go and buy another one for himself or for his kids. My uncle wanted me to have a pair because "it's a game changer".  

After many a text back and forth, I had to keep insisting I wasn't interested in it, even for that low price. It does me no good because I still need to stop the audio to speak / listen to someone in front of me. If all I'm doing is making phone calls, I have other headsets that can do the same, for as much the may make me sound like "Mumbles Menino" (IYKYK 😅😆). If it's for safety reasons, it still does me no good due to my hearing challenges anyway. I'm going to have a hard enough time focusing on things if I have to struggle to listen in my one good ear. I'm not out playing in traffic when I'm using the headphones; I'm usually in the gym. When we go travel to Sarasota or if I ever get to go on a plane again, these open ear headphones won't help me since I'll still be able to hear my surroundings. It'll bleed into what I'm listening to and be a major distraction, defeating the purpose of what I'm personally listening to. 

As it is, when the fire alarms (or other big blaring alarms) go off, I need to immediately put my over the ear headphones on and either figure out how to shut the alarm off, or wait until someone else can do it. I can't deal with the noise; it hurts my head, the shrill. Same goes when my mother tries to open her rusting ironing board. The way the pieces rub together, they need to be oiled; it's like fingernails on a chalkboard. If I were to put on these bone conducting headphones, I'm still going to hear the sound that bothers me. I need the full wrapped ear phones in order to block the noise. 

No one understands that and it's not worth the continual conversation. 

As everyone is different, this is my issue, not yours or anyone else's. If you want to invest in safety and precautions and be part of the "in crowd", definitely look into the Shokz bone conducting headphones. My uncle and other people rave about them, and even when my mother tested them in the store, she was completely aghast and amazed due to the high quality of the sounds protruding out of the little speakers. She was ready to buy a few of them, but she doesn't use headphones herself, and I had to cause a small scene in the store to get her to not buy me a pair. 

On to what I really did...

I ended up buying a JLab USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Adapter Dongle, so I can plug my regular headphones in when I need them. 

For $4.99 in Target, they're two cents less than Amazon ($4.97). It's a good deal because Jlab is a big enough brand name, that I trust them. I've got a pair of the Jbuds Air Sport (can also be called Go Sport, it seems) headphones as well as the Jbuddies over the ear headphones. Both have worked great, however, the sports are now at the "they're aging" point: they're losing their charge after 90 minutes. They will charge up to 90% but then once I start using them, the power degrades and by the 120 minute mark, they're down to 20%, sometimes a little less. I've had them for about 6 years or so, so I've definitely got a great worth out of them. I've yet to upgrade to a different Bluetooth in ear set because sometimes if I leave them in for long periods of time, I've got ear / hearing issues that last a day or so. Which is why the over the ear cans work out better for me. 

With the new adapter, I'm thrilled because now I can use my clunky wired headphones again and be able to not have them laying around the house unused. Actually, I use them with my Roku remote because there's a line in for that (I'm using a Roku 3, which is long discontinued now. It's considered a "legacy device" at this point. It's still functional though). 

I haven't made a phone call yet with the adapter (I have wired headphones that are also calling headphones) but when I tried to make a video and spoke over the visuals, it seemed to record fine. Podcasts are playing well through the adapter and I've not had to fiddle with settings as of yet. I'm sure I'll do some changing if I listen to music, but for now, the $4.99 was well worth the investment. Just got to be careful not to lose the cord!

#Winning! 

That's about it for now. Hopefully everything remains good and works. If something happens, I'll do an update, but for now, let's get this thing to remain positive. 

Stay cool and dry this week. It's going to be another scorcher. The Europeans are still baking in the humidity and there was a winter weather warning in a few places in the US the other day. Snow in June??? Da fuq?? Wherever you are, stay vigilant and stay safe!

Cheers;

See also (aka links to Amazon):

• Apple USB-C to USB Adapter
  
• JLab USB-C to 3.5mm Headphone Jack Adapter dongle
  
• SHOKZ OpenRun with USB-C Charging,Bone Conduction, Open-Ear Headphones, for Running & Workout - Blue
  
• SHOKZ storefront
  
• JLab Storefront
  

Just some random clouds...

It's been a week of high humidity here - 100 to 110 degrees and it's been tough to want to do things outside. 

News this morning said there's a massive heat wave going through parts of Europe as well. I've checked in with my friend Rachael, who lives in England, and so far she's okay, because she was recently visiting another part of the country so she didn't feel the effects of the heat in London. I'm sure she will be fine, but I know they're not used to it. I remember when I went to visit her in 2009, it happened to be one of those weeks where they had randomly high heat, but to me, it wasn't that bad. Considering I've since moved to Florida, there's definitely a difference in region and climate. 

It stands true when Rachael said to me today, "[T]he humidity makes it worse due to the 'wet bulb'. In other countries it regularly gets that hot but they are better set up for it". She's right; other areas of the world are used to the heat and humidity, and it all depends on where you are - there are places where it's a dry climate, so 115° isn't as sticky and drippy as it would be in the tropics (for US readers, think of Las Vegas dry versus Louisiana bayous wet). 

Before I started this post, I looked at the Weather Channel App on my phone and it was already 86° and felt like 90. I'm sure by the time I'm done writing, it'll be higher, as this time yesterday, it was already nearing the "feels like 100". 

Last night I had to get something out of my car and the sun setting was giving the clouds such an interesting share of salmon colored pinks and bee colored yellows. I wish my phone picked it all up better, because it was very apocalyptic outside. 

The pictures don't pick up everything, but the cloud coverage was strange in the fact there are some small swoops going on. Like bubbling on the outer edge of the flatter areas. I'm no meteorologist, so I don't have the vernacular to explain everything in detail. I just thought the color of the sky and surroundings, mixed with the way the clouds were forming, it was interesting. 

Maybe it's due to all the warmth we've been getting lately, that the sunsets are so different. Go ahead and call me weird. At least we haven't had a named storm yet, as we're officially 23 days into season. Let's keep it this way, even though some of us are a little hesitant to bring it up, as we don't want to risk a jinx on our heads... 

That's about it for now. I've got to get some stuff done early this morning before it gets hotter out, so I'll check in another time. Hopefully the temperature doesn't go past 105 today.. 

Take care of yourselves and totally get some water in you!

Cheers;

Happy Birthday, "Eddie" if you're still reading these posts...

See Also

* Have you read Rachael's book yet? Sangre De Toro

* The Weather Channel App via Amazon

* It's Prime Day with sales... are you buying?? 

Weight until you see it | Big Brother is watching you

I was out of town over the weekend (okay, I was in Sarasota; it was Monday to Wednesday), and went to the gym in the community I was staying in. 

As it is, this community has expensive houses because it's got a golf course and a couple restaurants. Actually, there's a small pop up bar type of restaurant and a new sit down restaurant. The pop up bar is by the giant pool. There's also a coffee bar and salon - both nails, hair and body (massage). 

This is where the gym comes in. 

The gym isn't exponentially huge, but there are enough machines that you have a grand choice of what to work out on. Treadmills, stair steppers, elliptical, bikes, weights.. the list goes on and they're the Technogym models to boot. There's another room for classes, unless you want to go in and do your own aerobic workout. 

The Technogym stuff is not like what we have in my community gym. The ones I was using this week are the upgraded models - more access to apps on the screens, safety lights on the handrails of the treadmills... there's a whole list of features and I can't link to the brand on Amazon since they don't carry the name (I'll link to the models I think I used from the actual website instead).

Although, just using the keyword "Technogym" brought up other types of equipment, as seen here.

Just to cite a price example, Technogym is thousands of dollars more than a Nordictrack or Peloton. We're talking over 10 grand as a starting point, where as other big names start between 800 and 1,000 dollars, working their way up to five thousand (or more.. which are combination platters - cross training type machines). 

From the Technogym website, this may be the treadmill:

It looks like it is the "Excite+ Run Live 22 9000" and the base model starts at $20,470.  Multiple that times 4, because that's how many treadmills this place had. The base model of this particular treadmill starts at $10, 640 ("Excite+ Run Connect 300"). 

The "Technogym Ride" ($7,300) (x2), "Bike Personal" ($12,300) (x1) and "Artis Recline" ($14,260) (x2) were spread out in the gym, so they weren't a straight line of bikes. 

Technogym Ride

Bike Personal

Artis Recline

The gym doesn't allow cell phone use to take pictures, or I would have gotten the exact versions used. This is a nice rule and I wish my gym enforced it because too many kids are using my gym and taking selfies and doing other stupid photo stuff; it's awkward and that's why a kid fell off a treadmill two weeks ago and slammed against the wall - they were messing around (on FaceTime) and did something stupid. 

Anyway, I could go on and list every single machine I saw at this other gym, but there are too many and it's too costly. As the items listed shows, it's probably more economical to purchase other name brands for your home gym, if you want to go that route. Or, just pay an annual fee for the local establishment (Gold's, Planet Fitness, Crunch, etc) and know you don't have to shell out several large car payments in order to lose weight. In the end, yes, it's nice to have the machines in your own house, but is a single eighteen thousand dollar multi gym pulley system worth it? You literally could have several years at a "normal" gym with added benefits (juice bar, workout coach) for that price. But to each their own. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

One thing I did notice, however, in this community gym, is they have an interesting hybrid analog digital bathroom scale in the changing room. 

Forget the fact the bathroom is so grandiose, that there are plenty toilet stalls, lockers, showers (with full body wash, shampoo and conditioner bottles, plus the double shower heads - handheld and rain), towels for the shower (and there were towels for the sweating people in the gym), nice hand lotion, hand soap and hand sanitizer at the sinks, but the scale had a "wtf is this??" moment. 

It's an Eilison "Highly Advance 2-in-1 Digital & Analog Weighing Scale", and obviously well used since it definitely needed to be cleaned.

I did mask myself out of the picture, at least a little bit, but I did not get a photo of it turned on. The LCD screen lights up blue with white numbers, telling you how much you weigh. The analog dials also light up white with the same blue background. 

I think, because the Amazon pictures show white background light and blue foreground. I honestly don't remember because I only stepped on it for a brief second. 

I thought this was a good little contraption because it not only shows you on the dial, but it reads it out as well, just in case you couldn't make out where the arm was leaning to on the numbers. You're able to get a solid number instead of questioning exactly how much you weigh. 

The scale did seem solid and I would be tempted to get one, if we didn't already have a Weight Watchers digital scale in the house. At $59.99, it might be worth the price, because it doesn't leave room for error. Digital scales are nice these days, truth be told. This one looked well used, as again, it needs to be wiped down. But, if that means people are using it, then it's got to be good. How often do you see people randomly stepping on a scale anyway? 

Switching gears, my mother got a text from Hotwire this morning. 

This tech is so savvy, it knows when our boxes are breaking.

I don't know if we should be worried, scared, or hole up and disappear. 

Maybe all of the above?

Considering one time when the remotes weren't pairing or working correctly, we called Hotwire and they said to shut everything completely off. Put the remote face down on the cable box, but unplug the box as well. They're going to send a refresh signal to the devices and the remotes will work once it is complete. When they told us to plug everything back in and turn it all back on, the remotes worked, strangely enough. I don't know what kind of voodoo they did (*giggles* *squirrel*), but everything was matching. Even after changing batteries and moving things around. There's truly some outer worldly things going on with this company, and it's strange as hell. 

However, if the text and message are true, this time next week, a package should be at our door and I'm going to need to hook everything up. I wonder what I've got to do with the old wires, as it doesn't really say... 😒

All I know is it's time for me to figure out what I need to get accomplished for today.

Until I get work out the crazy... stay cool, hydrated and safe. It hit 110° with humidity here yesterday and we're on track for it to repeat itself today.

Cheers;

Shakey shakey

(Earth) Science!

My mom and I were watching television (2pm) and she wanted to go get something to drink from the kitchen. As she was putting the lounger back down from our couch (we have a reclining sofa), the couch started to slightly shake.

We both looked at each other and was like "earthquake? No. New couch breaking already? Hopefully not". We didn't think anything of it, even though there was nothing really moving around and really wasn't all too noticeable of a movement to begin with. Almost like baby shaking.. the kind of steady movement you quickly feel when a car passes by you on the road or construction in the neighborhood.

Totally not a shake that makes you wonder the seriousness of it.  

About an hour later, our North Dakota snowbird neighbors texted us - "Are you guys okay? Did you feel the earthquake?" We looked at each other and was like "What?? For real?" so we both texted back that we didn't think it was true, but thought something had gone on. We thought it was the couch or traffic or something else. Completely unaware that it was a for real thing. 

Come to find out, it was residuals from a 6.1 earthquake off the western coast of Cuba. The tremors were felt in various places in Florida, including cities in Lee County (me), Orlando and spots on the East Coast. 

According to various sites, including the United States Geological Survey, the 6.1 magnitude quake hit 104 km WNW of Mantua, Cuba. Which is why parts of Florida received some of the effects. 

Right now there are no signs of tsunamis - no warnings or anything, but a few high rises needed to be evacuated for safety reasons. 

It's the weirdest thing because it's been over 90° every day this week and hit 101° today due to humidity. rain needs to come, but instead a little quake knocked on our door. 

The news said there were some high rises downtown that evacuated for safety reasons until security figured out what was going on. Some viral reports on other sites were showing people in Hollywood, Florida and their home water cooler was shaking. That owner said "it was almost an hour" but I don't know; it seemed like two minutes for us. I think the Southwest corridor is closer to Mantua than Hollywood is. But it could also be the way things sprawled out, if Saint Petersburg also got a little aftershock; they're a little over 2 hours north of me. 

I'm going to add some screen caps, and the links to the articles are listed below. 

USA Today, 8 June 2026

WINK News, 8 June 2026

According to Wink's 3pm newscast, an earthquake hasn't been felt in Florida (or this area) since 2006.

Wink News 3pm news cast. Taken on my iPhone. 8 June 2026

We weren't even here for that. I don't even know what job I had in 2006 when it would have happened, but it would have been in Massachusetts. 

I think the last earthquake I remember noticing, I was under 8 years old. It was mid day, maybe? Or early evening? I don't recall fully, but I was real little and at that time too, I was watching television in my parent's room because I wanted to see a specific show. The room shook some. Not enough to move anything, but enough my little pea brain didn't know what was going on. My mom said she didn't didn't notice it and my dad was at work. There wasn't any other quake in MA that we got for me to compare this to. 

CiberCuba has an article stating "The National Center for Seismological Research (CENAIS) of Cuba adjusted the magnitude to 6.2 Mw and located the epicenter 142 km northwest of Minas de Matahambre, in the province of Pinar del Río, at a depth of 20 km". 

CiberCuba screen grab

The article went on to quote a local meteorologist, Matt Devitt. He had been working at Wink before the station reorganized, and he's one of the good guys that got everyone through a lot of bad juju down here. Devitt stated this was "the second largest earthquake ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico", which goes with what his former employer stated in the screen cap I took with my phone. 

It feels like the Earth is upset with the sentient beings inhabiting the soil right now. Between flash flooding, random high heat in places that aren't usually so humid at this time of year, cold still happening in places it should be warming up, earthquakes in areas you're not expecting.. there are things going on we aren't in control of. 

As my friend Cathy said, some "scary shit" is happened. Emi (in Orlando) said that a neighbor texted her asking if she and her boyfriend felt the apartment building shake, and both of them said no; they had no clue what the neighbor was talking about. I said that she probably figured it was normal amusement park stuff (they live central to the Mouse House and competition). She said, if anything, they would have thought it was construction stuff. Erica (in the Keys) didn't notice the movement either. She's usually spending her days at work, which is in and on the water. She wasn't working today, so she said she'll ask some cohorts later, as they're doing a DnD thing tonight.

It's so strange how news travels and what people know. My mom's local friends had no idea we had an earthquake, yet, a snowbird neighbor had to text us. We felt it but thought it was something different. Reports are saying similar things; the people felt a shake but didn't know what it was. They shrugged it off like it was a glitch in the matrix. 

I don't even know how to explain any and every thing. I keep seeing news clips about crazy weather in random spots and the more unusual it is, the more I'm reminded of the science fiction movies in the early 2000s. The ones where we were being warned but laughed them off because it wouldn't happen in our lifetime. Even watching the documentary style television shows that show you life after we leave.. what would happen to the grounds we walk on.. so unbelievable in one respect but true in another. 

Without raising a lot of questions or flags, I'm going to leave the tin foil hat just slightly bent and stop talking about things that could go sideways. I wanted to post about the earthquake Cuba had and was felt in Fort Myers and tell my friends that things are okay! 

Until something else surprises us, go learn something new.

Cheers;

See also

• Cervantes Jr., Fernando. "6.1 magnitude earthquake reported off the western coast of Cuba". USA Today, 8 June 2026, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/06/08/cuba-earthquake-magnitude-tsunami/90461901007/. Accessed 8 June 2026
• Hayden, Oceana. "Shaking felt across SWFL after 6.1 magnitude earthquake near Cuba". WINK News, 8 June 2026, https://www.winknews.com/news/6-1-magnitude-earthquake-reported-near-cuba-shaking-felt-across-swfl/article_4012f53d-a250-4792-a019-0392ceb81402.html. Accessed 8 June 2026
• CiberCuba Editorial Team. "Strong earthquake off Cuba felt in Miami and other areas of Florida". CiberCuba. 8 June 2026, https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2026-06-08-u1-e135253-s27061-nid331628-fuerte-sismo-frente-cuba-siente-miami-otras-zonas. Accessed 8 June 2026.
• I googled "fort myers earthquake june 8 2026" to get the links and articles

Sci-Fi movies and shows via Amazon

• The Day After Tomorrow
  
• 2012
  
• Life After People
  

What makes the drink "dirty"?

.. and why is it different from other flavored drinks?

It seems like an "all the rage" thing the last few months have been "dirty" drinks: 

Dirty Soda

Dirty Coffee

Dirty Tea (or not)

Dirty martinis (/liquor. This is pre-dating me. So let's scratch that)

I've had a dirty soda from a recently opened chain restaurant that specializes in the product. The place is called Swig and they're seemingly popular among young adults and certain mid west states. 

I'm not completely knowledgeable about the history of Swig, but online research says it was brought out of a need for something to have in the LDS (Latter Day Saints) / Mormon culture since the members abstain from consuming certain foods / liquids. They wanted to have something where they could stay within their restrictive diets but still feel part of a crowd or have something differently cool. They started mixing creamers in soda instead in lieu of creak in coffee due to java being one of those "no-nos". This crazy science experiment exploded out a new type of drink. 

This again, is just something I quickly looked up and very briefly summarized. I don't want to offend anyone by writing a list of reasons for the start of the brand, nor do I want to get anything wrong. I know very little about the lifestyle, even after working with someone who had left the faith and had a lot of bad things to say about her time in it. So I'm just going to leave it at that. 

It's not to say I didn't want to try the excitement. While it's true I've mixed stuff in my drinks before and had my own weird outcomes, actually ordering and paying for this out in the wild is totally a different beast. 

I have tried Swig three times since the store opened. Each time I got something different. Honestly, it's nothing to write home about; I don't know what the hype is. Someone, somewhere decided to mix some lactose with Dr. Pepper, add some fruit puree and sell it to the masses. 

Which is why I'm honestly wondering what the difference between this and a regular "Cherry Pepsi" is. The big name companies are already producing flavored products and people are buying it. What makes adding fruit puree or creamer to the drink a new thing? It's a quick fad, at best, but adding a lime or lemon to the Vanilla Coke has been around for decades. This is not really new; or is it a TikTok trend that someone forgot to say it's too viral to forget? I don't know; I'm seriously wondering this. I mean, it's interesting as hell because so many people have created other things from the dirty soda concept, and I would like to know "why". 

Why is Dunkin' Donuts now selling "Dirty Coffee"? I've seen so many YouTube videos about it over the last two weeks - the making of the drink and what it tastes like. The reviews are mixed, but I've seen more negative than positive comments about it. Including conversations about the price, the taste and how it's not real coffee. Some Dunkies workers have made videos to show exactly how it's created: in whatever size it's ordered in (medium is the standard?) there's ice, Dunkin's proprietary blend of coffee milk (which, in general, is a dairy-based drink made by mixing coffee syrup with milk), Pepsi (yup, the brands are collaborating) and Dunkin's proprietary cold foam (which comes in an aluminum / aerosol nozzle can - imagine a can of Reddi-Wip). All this for an energetically carbonated coffee pick me up. 

After seeing the videos, I have to say, this is one thing I won't be trying. It looks gross. I like milk, I like coffee, I like Pepsi (although growing up, we were a Coke household). I'm not going to attempt to mix any of them together to create some Frankenstein drink because there is nothing else to drink. Plus, if there's no actual coffee in the cup, why bother? 

(Sugar. That's why)

Yes, I know the concept of coffee milk, but I'd like actual coffee in my glass with the opportunity to add whatever type of dairy I'd like (creamer, milk, etc). Cold foam addition is nice, but not something I go out of my way for. Where I'm not an added sugar / sweetener person (anymore), I don't like putting in extra stuff in my drink. As it is, an "iced, regular" at Dunkies has the ability to be chewed. There is enough sugar on the bottom of the cup, that you've got a snack to go with your drink. Plus, once the cold foam starts liquefying in the cup, it becomes too white - super sweetened cream meets dairy cream. 

I'm by no means saying this product is no good, since it's out there for a reason. Maybe some YouTubers are right in saying it's a cash grab, but maybe others are right in saying it's a mainstay for a few minutes. It is something different for sure. But overall (in general), what happened to a coffee chain selling coffee? 

I miss Honey Dew Donuts for their over sugared flavored coffee. I didn't get Mary Lou's much, so Honey Dew was a bomb alternative to Dunkies... besides Cumby's random 99¢ any size. 😋

I'm not going to lie: I did try my hand last night at making my own dirty soda. 

Try some, buy some...?

I had some A&W Zero Sugar Root Beer, Horizon's Home Style Vanilla Creamer and some Torani Sugar Free Caramel syrup (small bottle. It was BOGO last month). Putting the root beer in a tall glass, I then added a shot of the syrup and creamer. The dairy fizzed with the carbonation real quick. But once that foam cooled down, I tried it. 

Holy cow... it was like drinking a root beer float. Due to all the flavors, there was no way this tasted sugar free. I know there's sugar in the creamer, so maybe that was cancelling out the other two products, but wow. This was good. It tasted like dessert. 

WooHooooOoo....

I really couldn't believe it. Even without ice, the drink acted like I had vanilla ice cream in it, due to the way the creamer reacted to the carbonation. It fizzed and foamed and almost went over the rim of the glass. Like a real after dinner spectacle treat. 

Yet there was no scoop of anything in it; just liquids.

It was like being back in middle school watching the kids at the fair make their volcanos rise up and smoke, but still stay really calm at the same time. There's some sort of magic with it.

(Fat kid getting excited over food. Nothing to see here. Keep moving)

Now I have to ask myself: Would I make a habit out of making this? 

No, because I don't want to have too much (unnecessary) dairy every day. 

If I can help it, at least. 

I have my morning coffee with cream. This past week, I've been using the Planet Oat brand oat milk in my smoothies. If I end up having a cup of coffee in the afternoon, I'm using creamer again. Or, if I'm having a cup of Teeccino tea (I'm currently drinking the Snickerdoodle flavor), I'm using creamer in that. By supper, if I'm drinking a cola product, I don't want another shot of diary in my drink. 

All these "ifs"! 

It actually becomes too much and I'm trying to limit my intake for health reasons (not that what I'm already doing is so healthy.. I know it's all bad for me). I also don't drink cola products every day. Maybe a couple times a week. I've been drinking various sparkling waters or just plain water, even though most time it's the former. 

Therefore, it was a valid attempt to take an idea I've seen around town and online and try it myself. I had the tools to get it done and I'd probably stick to buying regularly branded (or pre mixed / made) products. It's easier than worrying about keeping a pantry full of add-ins and add-ons, expiration dates, refrigeration, etc. Just buy a six pack of flavored cola and call it a day. While you're at it, buy some limes and lemons. Maybe a small container of maraschino cherries if you want the sugared version - drop one or two in the drink when you get Cherry Coke. Saved you an extra dollar, I did. It'll go a long way. 

I've kind of squirreled my way around this post and all my links below are for things I've mentioned. I get commission on things purchased on Amazon and if I link to an outside company, like Teeccino, I receive a credit on my own account for future purchases if there is a purchase made by the person clicking the link. It's easy enough and we all win from it. The Amazon links are for purchases or references or all of the above; suggestions and opinions. 

You do you. 

Think about what's popped up on your socials lately.. have you seen any ads for dirty drinks? What are your thoughts? Try it? Don't try it? Worth setting up a kitchen lab yourself and making your own concoction? You never know what you'll (literally) cook up unless you get an idea... 

Now go out and make some yummy magic. 

Cheers;

See Also

• Please note that with the perishable food stuff, Amazon and Whole Foods are working together to get it delivered. 
• The Horizon creamer is only available in Caramel flavoring, and has a $13.95 delivery fee on top of the $6.99 creamer price. This price is for a single carton too. If you want to check it out, here is the link but I suggest going to a normal grocery store to pick it up. If you have a Whole Foods and that's your jam, by all means, check their stock too. 
• The Planet Oat Milk I'm using is not a Whole Foods delivered item, but it is a refrigerated item. There is a $12.99 delivery fee on top of the $4.25 cost of the single carton. 
• There is a shelf stable version for $3.99 with no added delivery fee, as it isn't currently in a cooler. 
• Amazon has cans of A&W Zero Sugar Root Beer for $8.39 for a pack of 12. It's roughly the same cost as the grocery store. 
• Amazon has a 4 bottle variety pack of the Torani Sugar Free Syrups. It looks like it could be a good price at $31.88 because it comes down to $7.97 a bottle. They're the 25.4 ounce bottles too, so this is comparable to retail stores, as I've seen it between $8 and $10 a bottle. 
• "Try Some, Buy Some" and "WoooHoooo" comes from the George Harrison track "Try Some, Buy Some". It's on the 1973 album, "Living in the Material World"
• The Teeccino storefront on Amazon has most of the flavors. There's also the branded website has discounts or freebies if my referral link is clicked and an order is placed. But also, there's a weekly email blast with recipes that sound pretty stellar.