Category: Life in General

  • Perot Museum Field Trip

    The KC Chiefs are the Superbowl champs and it was a nail-biter of a game. I was happy about the outcome. While the 9ers were an amazing football team through the season, they just haven’t paid their dues. A big payment was made last night and they’ll be back.

    Sandy and I went to exercise class today and then came home, got changed, and went to the Bell Station to catch the train to Dallas to see the Perot Museum. It was nice although a little cold walking from Victory Station to the museum. The museum was nice, I’m not sure what I was expecting but it wasn’t anything that blew me away. I learned a couple of things. There were a lot of kids there and I had to calm myself and remember that this place is actually for them to hopefully create a spark for the love of science and STEM. But they’re still annoying.

    We had lunch there, chicken strips and fries with a large soft pretzel with cheese. Nothing to write home about and the best thing was the ranch LOL. On the way back we noticed there were a lot of homeless that hang out on the train. Nothing scary but makes you think.

  • Superbowl Sunday LVIII

    Ah, another Superbowl Sunday. This was an excuse to party in years gone by but like most of those other drinking holidays, this one has faded too. I still don’t understand why the game hasn’t been moved to Saturday. They should have done that for 50 and then on. But it’s the audience that would benefit most from that as it really doesn’t matter to the teams, they’re both off the next day no matter what day it is. It’s KC vs 49ers this year. I’ll be rooting for KC as I dig their vibe this year. I like the TK & TS angle and thought that Brittany’s SI rookie shoot was pretty wow. Conversely, 9ers are just too ‘golden’, need to rub some dirt on their jerseys and pay some more dues. And this game will be one of those dues. Go Chiefs!!!

  • Getting Old Is No Fun

    Starting exercise class yesterday along with planting the trees left me physically exhausted so we took today off and did inside stuff. I’m happy that we got the plants in but boy, I forgot how much work it can be. Oh well, it’s nice to take time and do nothing. Back at it tomorrow.

  • Hurray for Fridays!

    I’m not sure why but even though I’m in between jobs, I’m always happy it’s Friday. I guess that’s fine as I still have the Sunday blues even though I have no reason to dread Monday’s at this particular point.

    It looks like I’m going to be helping out my old job with some simple integrations and I’m super happy to help. I’ve also been finding great positions with the WGU placement app Handshake. Now I just have to work on being able to craft the resume to the individual posting. It won’t be long once I actually commit to going back to work. I love not working but the pay sucks.

  • A Dying Friend

    A young lady I worked with 3 jobs ago is dying. I accepted a friend request from her maybe 9 months ago and was a bit shocked to find out she was undergoing chemotherapy. At the time I didn’t pay much attention, she was young (a couple or so years younger than I) and was undergoing treatment. Was posting about her son’s acceptance to college, and you could tell how proud she was.

    Then today, she announced she entered hospice and directed all correspondence to her husband stating she couldn’t rest properly with the social media distractions, and that the drugs wouldn’t allow her to answer anyhow. As Sandy works in hospice, I know you don’t go on hospice unless your caregivers have determined that you only have 3 to 6 months to live. While I sit here contemplating the eventual demise that will come at some future indeterminant time, someone is preparing to die. I don’t know what I would do, and as horrified as I am to imagine what she must be going through, my thoughts also are with her husband and son. While death is unavoidable, this situation just feels… I want to say unfair, but nobody ever said life was fair. And no matter how you try to spin it as part of the natural order, it just feels sad.

  • Finding History

    So the internet is more than just news and new stuff. It’s a great archive of old stuff as illustrated by the Portal to Texas History hosted by the University of North Texas.

    As I was perusing the Fort Worth Gazette newspaper of Monday, June 22, 1891, and came across this gem:

    So crazy has been going on for a long time and it seems it has always been reported but I’m guessing now, with our ability to see everything, it seems a little overwhelming.

  • Resume Revisions

    So now that I’ve decided that I’m running with my degree, I need to craft a version of the resume to that end. I’ve got a generic one and one geared to TCC admin but not one showcasing data science credentials. I’ll have to work on that tomorrow.

    Spent part of the day working with the site and although I’m getting the hang of it, I’m running into a wall with the site icon and logo. I’m bad with graphics and I’m leery of using a free site for it. I should have it professionally done but between jobs just isn’t a place for that. I guess I’ll use a free generator for the time and change it up when I can afford professional.

    Did make my active goals today, tomorrow is supposed to be nice so we’ll see if we can’t get out on the bikes, maybe go for lunch. Loving life today.

  • Happy Birthday to Me!!!

    52 years old today. That number seems so large now that I see it in type. Today was the typical pseudo melancholy that attends these events. Don’t get me wrong, I’m incredibly thankful for the life I live and the people in that life. I’m blessed beyond what words can express but in the back of my head, there’s a voice whispering ‘this too shall pass’. I guess it’s something that we all confront.

    Sandy and I went to the gym and then we had a birthday lunch at Outback. It’s been a nice stress free day. Got the canister purge solenoid for the Xterra today, it took all of 10 minutes to put the part in. I reset the code and am hoping that was what was throwing it although the old part didn’t seem to be broke from what I saw on YouTube. Time will tell I guess. I need to also get the TPMS looked at before I get it inspected. Oh yeah, I need to fix the horn too.

  • AM Gym Today

    I was up and at the gym at 6:30am this morning. Not really a particular reason other than the fact that I was awake. I will be working on getting myself back on a real schedule and working out is a fairly important part of that.

    Later in the day Sandy and I went and walked the mall since it was raining and had Chic-fil-a for lunch. I feel a bit old because I found myself complaining that 2 meals at a fast food place was $23. I feel like it was rare that I spent over $5 for a meal at fast food joints but that was longer ago than I think I’m sure. Ahh, more of the joys of getting older.

  • Mom’s Birthday, Haircut and Brrr

    While yesterday was nice weather-wise, we’re back in the cold today. I guess that’s Texas winter for you. Had I been in Erie it would have just been cold.

    It’s mom’s birthday today, she’s 82. Exactly 30 years and 4 days older than I. We’ll be getting together tomorrow for lunch to celebrate both her and my birthdays at Saltgrass. That should be nice.

    Got a haircut today. It’s short and the weather is cold, I should have thought that one through but honestly, it looks so much better. I remember having long hair in school and I wore it well but I don’t think my hair grows the way it did, takes forever to grow in and looks like a mop when it does. To prove that here is my PA driver’s license from back in the day.