"I'm up on the eleventh floor"

 And I'm watching the rain pour below.

Okay, so the above line isn't the real next line from the song. And I wasn't on the eleventh floor, I was on the eighth. There are no floors higher than that where I work. 

I had an adventure yesterday afternoon. 

We had one of those  torrential downpours where the thunder roared, the lightning crackled and the wall of rain was deeper than the wall of sound.

It was a slow roll of a start - the black clouds coming in, the drip of the drops. 

Then a whip of light and a rumble happened. Next thing you know, it's P O U R I N G. 

Hard. 

Wind is blowing so fierce, the palm trees might topple over if they're not careful. That's when we could see the trees because the rain was so fast and furious, that people reported they saw hail. The weathermen reported this storm front spawns tornados. 

And here I am, at work. I've got my watch charging because there's something running in the background again and it's using all the juice. I've got my work phone on silent and charging because I never took it off the cord. All I've got in my pocket is my personal cell phone and I decide to go up to one of the attached buildings and see if I can see Captiva.

Bad idea.

Where my office is located, there is a central commons area. At the end of one hallway is a set of elevators to one residential building and down another hallway is the other residential building. Both are easy access for the residents. 

So I went to the building that has a better view of Sanibel and Captiva, plus all the mangroves. I took the elevator up to the top floor (eight) and got out. Mind you, it's damn windy out. It's bucketing rain. The floor is slick and a death trap to anyone walking on it, let alone a resident. Why they decided to have painted cement in a part of the country that gets a lot of rain for a few months, is beyond me. 

But carefully I went to each end of the floor and looked across the tops of the trees.

Or tried to.

The rain was coming down so hard, that the tops of the trees were barely visible. I could not see any other buildings or mangrove islands that you usually can spot on a clear day. Some of the closer trees looked like they were stuck in a real heave / dense fog. You know, the type of fog where it's all white on top and as you work down to the ground it starts getting lighter. That's how the trees looked. 

So I had enough of getting drizzled on and I made a bee line to the elevator. I was under cover enough that I was just getting "ocean sprayed" and not "drowned rat".

Don't ask the difference. Ocean spray is like when you go to the ocean and you get misted by the water. Drowned rat is when you look like you've just jumped in the ocean with all your clothes on. Which has happened to me before. The rain has come so quick while I've been working, that I can't get inside and get dry. Mainly because I'm not near my office. So I get drenched to the point I need to empty out my wallet and put toothpicks in it to dry. Put all my cash on paper towels, wipe down my plastic cards...

Anyway, I get on the elevator. I decide to go to the first floor and check the recycle bin. I like trawling the bin because you never know what you'll find (I've found a lot of stuff that's been pitched). 

I get to the first floor. Check the bin. Nothing. Trash has been picked up. Head back to the elevator to go 2 floors down to the Commons area.

Elevator doors open, I step in. Press "C" (commons). Doors shut. 

Next thing I know, it's dark.

Fuck. Power just went out. And I'm stuck in the elevator with just my cell phone.

A phone that doesn't have everyone's work number in it that I would need in an emergency. 

The power outage lasts just a minute but I'm pacing in the elevator. 

I'm panicked. I had felt zero gravity like the blood drained entirely from my body. It was dead ass silent. I felt some negative pressure in my head. I don't know what to do. 

It felt like those scenes in horror movies where the person is knee deep in getting chased or being watched and the killer is about to get them... the sound drops from the scene and there's a close up of the person, worried face, scanning the room. But no sound at all in the scene. 

Yea, I had one of those moments.

I might not like my job, but I don't want to die in an elevator there. 

So I get my phone out. I start texting the girl at the front desk because I have her personal number. I can't remember which building I'm in. I am finding it hard to breathe. 

I don't know what to do. 

It's still silent, although there was just a couple beeps of the elevator restarting and the buttons turning on. But nothing else made a sound. 

I put my phone away and don't text the woman. Instead, I press some of the elevator buttons. I can't be that far down or between floors.

Nothing happened. The buttons lit up but there was no movement. Maybe because I was already moving when the power blipped, so the elevator needs to be restarted to finish its descent. 

I don't know. I'm not moving. Doors aren't opening. I panic some more. 

I try to pry the doors open. I get it cracked enough to see light and doors in front of me.

Yes.. not between floors!

I continue to muster enough strength up to get the doors open enough that I can slide out. 

Which I did. 

Except I was so excited to see the lower level garage (P1), that I didn't realize I wasn't completely level with the ground. 

I step out of the elevator with more of a stumbled jump. 

I was about 2 feet off the ground. 

Getting on solid ground, I closed the doors back up. Walked out the mini lobby, and went to the stairwell. Walked through a short hallway that led to the outside. Opened that door, walked out in the rain, and rain into the Commons area. It wasn't that far of a run, just 10 seconds, so I didn't get all that wet. 

I told the girl at the desk what just transpired and how I was going to text her. She said she wouldn't have heard her phone anyway, as she was in the back room making copies. But she'll call the Call Center and report the elevator being out of commission. Which she did. Explained that I had just been stuck in it and that I had to open the doors myself to get out. Can someone take a look at it?

For the next hour, I just sat at the desk, wondering what in the high hell just happened. It was something you see all the time but don't expect. 

How many times are we in places during storms and don't think something bad will happen? 

I want to know what happens to these residents with wheelchair and walkers and the power goes out. How do they get to ground level if they can't walk so great?

All I know is that I'm never getting in an elevator during a storm again. That's all I know. My fat ass is taking the stairs whenever I need to go higher than the ground level I'm on. So I'll be out of breath for a minute. But at least I won't get trapped again.

Now I've got to get ready for work. At least it's Friday.

Stay safe, stay dry and stay off and out of electrical places.

Cheers;

This is *NOT* a 1991 Anthony Hopkins | Jodie Foster film!

But it *IS* a scary looking beast sitting at my front door.

For the past four days or so, our house has been smelling real musty. The kind where you vacuum the entire carpeted house with a 25 year old hoover, and you end up smelling dirty rugs at the end of the cleaning. Almost like no amount of aerosol will mask the fact your top of the line sucker ain't doing it's job no more. 

Add insult to injury with the fact the house isn't getting cool. No matter how my mother keeps running to the thermostat to fix the temperature.

So we're eating lunch today and I'm like "the smell is starting to get to me. I haven't said anything all week, but the air in this place isn't feeling so clean". She said she knows, she's been smelling it too, but doesn't know what to do. The air conditioning unit is on and running, but it's taking it's time trying to cool the place down. 

Mind you, we're on a first floor condo unit. We have a 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo with a giant living area as the main section of the house. It's not giant per se, but it's big enough to have a couch and sectional in, plus a wall entertainment center. Which is just a couple of shelves built against the wall, a space for the TV and some bottom cabinets for the movies. It's not a million dollars, but my mother thinks it's pretty. All in all, the square footage for this place is about 1800. 

I asked her if the pipe out front has been cleaned lately. It's been in the past where if the A/C isn't working so great, we have to take a wetvac and suction out / clear the pipe. She said she thinks it's been dripping, but isn't so sure. So I grabbed the shopvac and went outside. 

She followed suit and when she went to shut the front door, she found a visitor on the wall.

This dude is just waiting for the opportune time to fly right into the house, unnoticed. Considering he was close enough to the doorbell, that was probably going to be the next step. Lay on the buzzer, get us to check the door. Open it up, see who's out there. No one? Sure, no one.. because this guy flew right into the house and now we've got to figure out how in the hell to get him out. 

That didn't happen, but out luck, it would. 

Just like when we lived in Brockton and she made me chase after a little brown field mouse for 45 minutes... all through the top floor of our house... with two cans of Raid. Almost an hour of panicking plus depleting both insect repellent bottles, the mouse flopped / seized to death in the kitchen. I then had to run downstairs, get in the garage, get a shovel, run back through the house, upstairs, shovel the mouse and take it to the backyard and toss it in the woods. 

I still have nightmares. 

And I haven't forgiven her for it. 

If you want to know inhumane ways to kill pesky animals, I'm sure I can offer you all kinds of advice. Although I do not... I repeat... I DO NOT condone it. As this was about 8pm on a Friday night, the option of calling someone for help was not the best, as we'd lose sight of the animal before a friend came. So... my mother grabs one can from under the sink and the other from the hall closet, almost throws them at me, and off I go. Chasing after something that could fit in my hands. 

Anyway... yeah. I don't suggest doing any of that... killing in the name of getting it out of the house. I'm sure there would have been other ways to shake it, but at the time, no one thinks.

All photos on this post taken with an iPhone 11. Edited in Photoshop just to put my name on it. I've still not charged the battery for my Canon, and since we were outside trying to fix the air conditioning, I wasn't about to run in and out repeatedly. 

Getting back to the pictures... allegedly it's a moth. I don't know what kind, because there are a lot of different ones that can be found around here. But my mother looked at a picture of one online and said they look a like. I don't even want to go back and try to find the name because I don't want to mislabel it. Too many commonalities with other insects. 

So... as I submit this, the house feels cooler and I haven't ventured out to the living room yet. But I'm sure the smell has dissipated. 

Until the next big adventure in my daily routines...

Cheers;

Someone didn't do their research...

I've said it before in my blog posts, and I'll say it again: Although I'm sitting here writing an opinion of what I'm done or am currently looking at, I always do my research. I implore who ever reads my blog to do their own search as well, so that they may gain knowledge about whatever the topic at hand is.

Case in point:

Yesterday (while at work and on a 10 minute down time), I received a phone call. I typically don't answer my phone while at work, nor do I answer if I don't know the number. Seeing how the caller ID read out the phone number and location (San Diego, California), I gave it a shot and answered it.

I did not get the name of the person, as they immediately started running off the name of a book. The book sounds like some twisted version of a conspiracy theory's next door neighbor, and the name of the author doesn't ring a bell. The caller was looking for "Destroyer of Man by the author Dominic Owen Mallary". I asked the person to repeat themselves because the voice sounded like your typical chilled Californian, on top of the fact this call was unexpected - do I look like a book seller? Did I answer my phone saying "Thank you for calling Amy's Books"? No. Again, the unknown caller states they are looking for "Destroyer of Man by author Dominic Owen Mallary" and asked if I were Dominic. I asked what it was in reference of (because you know when you get these crazy calls, especially from someone in the US, you have to keep them on for a few minutes to see where it goes), they said they are from some publishing agency and would like to talk to Dominic. Am I Dominic, or do I know how to get in touch with Dominic? I said "I can not confirm nor deny who I am", and they responded that they need to know in order to complete the conversation and not further waste anyone's time. As much as I would have loved to keep the conversation going, again, I was at work. So I hung up.

My coworker heard my end of the conversation as she was sitting next to me. She heard bits of what the caller was saying as well, and all she could do was laugh. We both did. It was the most random phone call I've gotten in months, and the ridiculous part was how I kept the person on the phone for 5 minutes without stating my identity (and they stating theirs, except for the name of the publishing company).

Since I had a few minutes still, I did some Internet trolling. I found the book on Amazon (as I've linked), and pages of search engine results on the kid being dead. Honest truth - search this kid and you'll see he died a decade ago. My co worker asked if it's possible I have his number. I said "it's not. I've had this cell phone number since 1999. Long before he decided to off himself". Just because Worcester is in the same 508 area code as my cell phone, doesn't mean I job share with a metalhead (seriously... look this guy up. My co worker and I both agreed he looks like a creep, but he's a "gothic punk").

I don't know why I got the call or what the person was looking for, but when you ask for the person or if the receiving party knows the person, you obviously didn't do your research. The fact that the caller immediately said "I am looking for Destroyer... by the author Dominic..." means they just know of the title and not that he's no longer coming down for breakfast. The person was most likely looking to gain some sort of publishing rights to the book as they were so adamant on speaking to the guy. They could have very easily said "My name is such and such, and I'm with such and such publishing. I'm looking to speak with Dominic in regards to a previously published book", and go forth with the conversation. But that's also providing this person did their research because then they'd know the guy is pushing up daisies in North Cemetery, Berlin (Worcester County), Massachusetts.

It might be a case of miscalling a similar number, but who knows. All I know is what I've been saying for a couple years: Do your research and figure out what you need to do in order to complete what you want. I can't forward the call to Dominic - I don't know who he is, except that he was an Emerson College graduate, into punk and screamer rock, and a year younger than me. As well as he grew up in Worcester. I had to Google him to find this information, plus some. Maybe everyone should do some (even) basic searching, and they can get a multitude of answers... you never know until you look!

Take care of whatever you do and watch what you do - it may be the last time you do your routine...


Cheers;

"Look what the tide brought in"

'Business first': I know what today is, and as much as I don't want to acknowledge it, I have been wearing a different db shirt every day since Sunday. I will most likely round out the week with them. I've also got 4g ★ plugs in my ears. There's a rumor that we might play either the Ziggy movie or Velvet Goldmine in the office this afternoon, providing things aren't hectic. I just hope the person bringing the DVDs didn't forget. I also have to report that the TW forum has officially been taken down. Well, the page is still viable, but the Conversation Piece isn't. Mr. Torrie's email or ISP or something is broken, giving an error message... I noticed it a couple weeks ago, and even with emptying my browsing history, the same error message appears. I guess this is another thing "we" can add to the list of places that are no more...

I also can't believe it's been a complete year. Where did the last 12 months go? It seems like just yesterday my friend texted me "the news". Yet, celebrity deaths steamrolled the year and one after the other, people dropped like flies. I read that New Years Eve, William Christopher passed away (Father Mulcahy on the TV version of M*A*S*H). I could stand corrected, but I think he ended the year. That's not to say other big names didn't go to better studios during Christmas week - George Michael (on Christmas, no less), Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher (a day apart), and too many others to do a full list. The "In Memoriam" segment of the Oscars is going to be about 45 minutes this year, if not longer. Plan your night wisely. 

Ok.. so on to happier news:

On the weekend of July 4 2016, I was in Captiva for work. We were setting up a sound system for a fireworks event on the beach. During a slow moment on July 3, one of the managers took his 3DR Solo Drone Quadcopter out to show everyone what it can do. He was planning on taking aerial footage of the event Sunday night. As we watched him hook everything up - practice pads, the Go Pro to the drone, he did some test flights around us. As we "oooh"d and "aaaahh"d, it got to his head a little, and the next thing we know, he says "watch this!". He zips it high in the air, past some trees and it didn't return. It was supposed to circle back to us and land in the middle of a grassy area. As we all headed towards the water, we heard someone say they saw a drone crash into the water. Oh great; a combined total of $700 in technology has now been plopped into the ocean. 

Almost immediately, the manager runs to his car, grabs his swim trunks and gets changed so he can dive in the warm Gulf and find his toys. By this time, the drone had sunk to a point that it can't be seen by the naked eye and he has to call in a few favors. In comes a friend who has scuba experience and they both go swimming. The scuba diver can't find the drone and it's dark already. Early the next morning, the manager and I hop in to a golf cart, speed to the beach and troll the shore. The only thing we found were baby sea turtles and a lot of seaweed. 

The $300 drone and $350 Go Pro were eaten by the Gulf of Mexico. 

Speed up to January 9, 2017. I get a phone call from the new manager of the property I was at, saying he was on his way to drop off equipment at my property. And guess what: "Remember when [name with held for blog] flew his drone into the ocean on July 4th? Well, someone who worked at the property then, found it washed up on shore. I'm bringing it to your property for him to pick it up". No way... not possible. Six months later, this thing washes up on shore??? That's crazy talk! 

Sure enough, when the manager came by, he had his normal drop off, and then a special delivery. Surprisingly, the drone was still together and holding up quite nicely. It reeked like hell... rather, it smelled like a bad ocean fart, and it was covered in barnacles and shells and other bottom of the ocean stuff. It's amazing that it survived the way it did; I'm kind of shocked it is not in pieces. Curiosity wants to know whether that mess of shells and sea stuff contains a video capturing device or it's just layers upon layers of the oceanic environment. Time and truth will tell, especially if it's cracked into....

Specs for Video:

• Photo stills and video shot on an iPhone 5S.
• Edited with Pinnacle Studio 18 Ultimate
• Stock music from Pinnacle
• Drone: 3DR Solo Drone Quadcopter

Cheers;

See also:

3DR drone items via Amazon

Go Pro items via Amazon

"They say 'Jump'"

They say hey that's really something

They feel he should get some time

I say he should watch his ass

My friend don't listen to the crowd

They say 'Jump'

Got to believe somebody

Got to believe

"Jump They Say", 

off the album Black Tie White Noise

David Bowie

1993

(I only took the last section of the songs to post).

I was thinking about this song last night... if I stand corrected, I think the original concept was about Terry Jones, David's schizophrenic older brother (half brother). Terry had committed suicide some time in the early 80s and this song had become David's way of "memorializing" his idol (he looked up to his brother, as a lot of younger siblings do to their family members). I remember the video being aired on Mtv, and it was David in a suit, spending a lot of time on the roof of a high rise office building. As I write this, I am not looking up the information, so I definitely could stand corrected on it. I just looked the lyrics up, and left it at that (I partially posted the lyrics. Youtube the song if you can find it).

Some things just stay with you...such as the fact I remember the first time I saw the Sex and Candy music video by Marcy Playground. It was 3 o'clock in the morning, I had fallen asleep on the futon in front of the TV and I woke up with a strange ass music video playing... I thought it was odd as hell, but left it on as I put the futon away. I shut the TV off right after, and went to my bedroom.  Other things you just want to forget. Things happen.

But the whole reason I was thinking about Jump They Say,  is because it's meaning relates to the post I made the other day about db and death. The lyrics sound more trivial and political than he intended, but it's yet another point written down in the Reaper category.

I have a correction to make from my last post as well: I was asking what happened to the Scooby Gang and failed to mention other key players, such as Reeves Gabrels. Where is he? Passed? Under a rock? I haven't researched it yet to give a solid answer, but I know he's another long standing guitarist that was missing from the ★ album.

I also must point a "positive" out with this record. I feel it's a much needed throwback to early work (1970s and a couple from the 1980s), in regards to numbers of tracks and their length. I'm thinking Station To Station and Young Americans. I know there might be others that were put out with 8 or less songs, and at least 1 song had more than eight minutes in duration (See title track to Station To Station). Others ranged from 5 minutes and thirty seconds to just under 7 minutes. I recently read that when Bowie wanted to list ★  with a good single, he knew he wanted to keep the title track the length it was (9:47, or there about). So he picked Lazarus as his main front runner, because the download sites (iTunes, Amazon) didn't look highly upon singles being super long. Especially if you're going to judge how the audience accepts the music (rate the singles put out / the album as a whole), no one will want to listen to a 10 minute song, or at least accept it with open arms as the main bread winner for singles. But sometimes people do; it's a matter of time. That's why I think the title track of Blackstar came out as a second single.

I could be wrong.

"Quick" change of topic and to other news for a minute.

Some celebrity death round ups (only change is it's not completely about db. lol):

We ended the year with:

Lemmy Kilmister, the front man to Motorhead. He passed on December 28, 2015. I don't know much about either, but only know Lemmy had an unforgettable look to him - between a somewhat bushy set of Muttons and a black cowboy hat, I can't tell you any more. Motorhead was not one of those bands I can name a song from.

Natalie Cole, who was the daughter of Nat "King" Cole. She died December 31, 2015. I only know of duet-ting"Unforgettable" with her father.

M*A*S*H fans will be saddened that Wayne Rogers ("Trapper" John) also passed on December 31.

After this, the deaths take a slow roll for January. It was quiet until the fifth, when a French composer / conductor by the name of Pierre Boulez passed away. Followed by Pat Harrington ("Schneider" on "One Day At A Time) and big band singer Kitty Kallen on the seventh. Things got silent again, but only for three days when it was Bowie's passing was announced on the 10th. That got the ball rolling for the 11th (Monte Irvin) and Brian Bedford on the 13th. The following day, January 14th, Professor Snapes (Alan Rickman) held his final potions class. Céline Dion's husband, René Angélil, also died on the 14th. The 15th saw Dan Haggerty - "Grizzly Adams" pass away.  Even as I sit here writing this, I find out that Céline's brother passed today, January 16, 2016 (partial death list sources here). 

It seems the majority lost their battle(s) with cancer. 

I'm bummed over Wayne Rogers. I think there's only a handful left standing from the 4077 and Alan Alda keeps getting older the more I see him on PBS. Every time I hear his voice, I just want to shut my eyes and forever picture him with high energy and thick black hair. Not that he's lazy-ing around these days, but the "grandpa" features (balding, salt and pepper hair) are messing with my mind. 

I vaguely recognize the name of Kitty Kallen. I have been known to have Big Band music in my record collection, so maybe she's on something I own. I don't have any of her albums, although I probably could find one somewhere. I know I've heard various people cover Bésame Mucho, so maybe that's the other way I know her. 

I can't believe Alan Rickman died, four days after Bowie. Both men were 69 and died of cancer. People have been joking that it's the "best age to go out at" (mainly because it's sexual). 69 is not "old" these days; it's fairly young. I know a lot of people were fans of Professor Snape (some Potterheads in general). When I found out, the first thing I said was "Wendi must be so gutted" - a friend of my mother's, is a big Alan Rickman fan, so I asked my mom to tell her friend I was thinking of her. I remember of the first movies I saw him in was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves when I was younger. I have to admit, I'm not a Bruce Willis fan, so I have not seen any of the Die Hard movies. I'm glad, however, Rickman finished filming the new Alice In Wonderland movie, but how strange will it be when they release it? Knowing his voice has been led to the Blue Caterpillar will be just as sadly awkward as receiving Blackstar in the mail yesterday (I'm super glad I pre-ordered.. Amazon is "temporarily out of stock" on all Bowie albums, and the prices have skyrocketed). I'll probably be renting that movie once it goes to DVD. 

Okay... so I'm re-reading what I've written so far, and I'm officially starting to ramble. Thanks for the +1 on the other posts (B) and I'll check in with this place again soon..

Take care of yourselves!!

Cheers;

Hit the deck!

What is it, two more hours before the world is supposed to end?

Today is the Mayan prediction of comets, meteors and asteroids. Fire and brimstone. Rape and pillaging. Tsunamis and snow and rain and earthquakes and any other bull spit you want to believe about Earth going *poof*.

Just a quickie

Now that Strokin Dick Clark isn't coming down for breakfast (yea, I'm slow on the uptake for blogging it), one of the websites I belong to, has posted a limited edition memorial bling. It's entitled "RIP DICK" and looks like this:

Here, I thought the people I hung around with were a bit pervy. When this bling came out, every member on the site loved it. The only down side is it says "RIP Dick" under the picture. So whoever owns this bling on their profile, gets a piece of ripping mister Clark in half. So much for Stroking Dick! 

Cheers,

Even in death, may you prosper

Yet again, Yahoo has become notorious in providing my Top News feed with June and July headlines. This time, Character actor G.D. Spradlin dies in CA at 90 (July 26, 2011), Jackson tribute concert planned in Wales in Oct. (July 25, 2011), and Winehouse autopsy inconclusive; funeral Tuesday (July 26, 2011).

This time,  is saying I live in Los Angles. I'm still in Florida.