My first fireplace

 

So, living in South Texas means that winter, for the most part, is warm not cold and wet, not snowy. I've looked at the temperature forecast; tonight will be in the mid to lower 30's. That's a big deal to me because I'm actually going to enjoy my first ever fireplace. Yay!

I watched a few YouTube videos on how to build a fire correctly, so I don't burn the shit out of myself or my apartment. But, being a fire place virgin, I decided to buy a fire log instead of going all out. If that works out OK, I'll throw some wood in there and go big next time.

Needless to say, I'm very excited about lighting my log tonight. Ha Ha Ha!!! My fire log that is. 

Who knows if we will ever have another serious cold front this winter. So, I'm going to enjoy this as much as I can.

Merry Christmas!!!

My First Pair of Glasses. Shit!!!

 This is depressing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting for the first storm of the season. Hanna

As I did just before Hurricane Harvey, I fired up my Music streaming app (YouTube Music), loaded up REO SpeedWagon and jammed to "Ridin' The Storm Out."

Actually, tropical storm (soon to be Hurricane) Hanna hasn't hit just yet, but I thought I'd get started early. Unlike Harvey, this storm isn't near as strong. Still, many people, including myself, have stocked up on food, water and snacks to get through Saturday. We are expecting lots of rain and wind. I've heard we should expect gusts of up to 65 to 75 MPH. We should be feeling the brunt of the storm Saturday Morning with land fall (of the eye) just to the South of Corpus Christi.

Of course, I'll be shooting video and probably doing some Periscope casts when the weather goes South.

As for right at this moment, I'm just watching some podcast and practicing some film editing.

Adios for now!

Covid-19, to mask or not to mask?

   

Remember the rare time when you saw a person wearing a surgical mask in public. What was the first thing you thought? As for me, I looked at people like that as ostentatious. How times have changed. Now, it's not only mandatory to wear masks in some places, it's considered essential to avoid contracting and spreading covid-19. To a large degree, it has become vogue to wear protective respiratory masks. Just walk into any grocery store or department store and you'll see designer masks of all types.

During this time there is no question wearing a surgical mask or N-95 mask is a good idea. Particularly if you are in a high risk group. 

However, I have this observation. As humans we evolved to this point by exposing ourselves to an enormity of viruses, germs, pathogens, bacteria and other organisms lurking among us. That is how our bodies have built resistance and we have survived as a species. Remember that when wearing a mask you not only, in part, block the covid-19 droplets you also, in part, block all other particles and droplets. Thus, precluding the body from exposure and preventing our immune system from building resistance to other potentially harmful organisms. It's a catch 22 situation. Wear a mask to avoid covid-19 exposure. Wear a mask and suppress your body's ability to fight off harmful organisms which are all around us and which mutate.
It is my personal choice to wear a mask sparingly. I certainly don't want to contract covid-19 or anything else. But, I do want my body to be exposed to the open air and whatever is floating there. Whether it's a new strain of Flu, the common cold or even, yes, the novel Corona virus, I want my body to build resistance and fight it off. It's called evolution. If I survive, great. If I die, so be it.

Do face masks really reduce coronavirus spread? Experts have mixed answers.

https://www.livescience.com/are-face-masks-effective-reducing-coronavirus-spread.html

The simple things (a tomato soup and a sandwich)

The other day I didn't get a chance to eat dinner before I went to work. That doesn't happen very often, in fact I think this was the first time in a very long time I was running so late I had to rush out the door and didn't get a chance to so much as bite into something.

I got to work and after about 3 hours I began to get hungry. Very hungry. I took a couple of sandwiches with me for lunch but I didn't feel like eating those. Just didn't want what I had packed the night before. I kept on working for about thirty minutes and I just could not go on any longer. I had to get something to eat. Luckily we have a 24 hour "grab n go" where they sell chips, sodas, candy bars etc.. I chose to get a hot tomato and basal soup, a ham and cheese sandwich, a diet Pepsi and dark chocolate blueberries. I went back to my department, set up my meal and started to eat. It was one of the most enjoyable meals I have ever had. I so enjoyed dipping my sandwich in my nice hot soup and eating it that way. I mean everything, every bite was magnificent. All the way to the very last bite of my chocolate covered blueberries to the last swallow of my soda, it was so so good. I can honestly say that out of all the parties and potluck food I've been through all my life, this one little meal tops them all. Sure there has been "better" food before, but just the timing and the chance, the perfect storm, if you will, of this one tiny meal surpassed anything.

I think the fact that I was so hungry and the unexpected fact that I decided to dip my sandwich in my soup made this simple yet fulfilling experience a joy to remember. OK, I'm making a big deal out of a dinner meal. Yes, but to me, it was great.

My point in blogging about this is because sometimes the simple things in life bring the most pleasure. Something so mundane can sometimes be so wonderful.

Kobe Bryant - when I heard, how I'm coping

Here I sit just about a week after hearing about the death of one of my favorite athletes of all time. Being a Lakers fan since 1979, this horrible news hit me a bit harder. I heard about Kobe Bryant's death after I woke up and was getting ready for work. I turned on my TV just like I do everyday to get caught up on the news and so forth and I cast my eyes on the jumbo tron at the NFL pro bowl. No one was talking at the time, and what I saw was Kobe Bryant's picture and 2 years below that. His birth year and the year 2020. At that moment my heart sank. I knew that was not good. Of course my first thought was it was a mistake. No way, what ever happened just can't be. One of the first things I thought was, car wreck. Then the commentators began to talk. Or, tried to talk. I felt so bad for them because they were trying so hard to hold it together. I began to cry at that moment. While watching them I read the ticker and began absorbing the reality of what had happen.

I went through my routine of coping. First, there is crying and disbelief. Then, I shut (or try to) shut all news of what happened. Every time I came across anything to do with #KobeBryant on my social media feeds, I just swiped past it. When a news channel aired any update about Kobe, I'd change the channel. In some ways I'm still in this mode right now. Inevitably, while I'm having fun watching a movie or something comical, the though that Kobe is gone hit's me in the face and I have to pause for a moment and face reality and relive the pain.

I am so very sad at this point of my life. I still can't fully except that I will never see Kobe alive again. And that makes me sick, it makes me so sad, it makes me angry and it makes me feel hopeless and helpless.

To my #lakersnation , I feel your pain and sadness. We are going to have a hole in our hearts for a very, very long time.

I miss you Kobe and we will never forget you.

#GoLakers