Rush and the new drummer

I wish it would have been one of us. 

My favorite band in the whole wide world is Rush; I’ve been saying that since 1981. Nothing has changed since that time and nothing ever will. As all of us Rush fans had to suffer the lose of our beloved drummer Neil Peart, we could never imagine anyone else taking his place. But, after a few years, the remaining band members decided that the show must go on. I can’t blame Alex and Geddy for wanting to get back out and start playing as Rush again. I mean, come on, they’re musicians. Playing music is their passion. And for us fans, we wanted to see them on stage again.

So, enter Anika Nilles. Rush’s new drummer.

My feelings are this. 

There is no question she is a great drummer and has done a magnificent job as Rush’s drummer. Yes, there’s a BUT here. Why do I feel that this is just another job for her. Maybe it’s not, but I feel like it is. I feel like they picked her, she accepted, here are the songs you need to learn, got it, preform them, it’s been fun and on to the next job. 

It just doesn’t feel genuine. Yes, it sounds great but it just doesn’t feel right to me. Could it be that I just can accept someone else back there taking the place of Neil? Maybe. But, I don’t think so. It just feels like, she is not one of us.

I wish Geddy and Alex would have gone with a drummer who lived and breathed Rush. I know there are hundreds of us out there. Someone who you could answer instantly, for example, what album is Circumstances on? Or, What is the name of the space shuttle in Countdown? Someone who could answer those kinds of questions without hesitation. You know, someone like us.

Well, it’s not my band and not my call. But, I would have felt better if it were one of us, a true diehard Rush fan.

My guitar, my friend

 I've always had a proclivity for starting something and never finishing it. That's the way I've been for as long as I can remember. I get interested in something like photography, and really get into it; I learn all I can about it and really have fun at it. Then, after a time, I get bored and forget about it until weeks, months or maybe even years. Then I'll pick up my camera (Canon 80D) and go crazy again taking photos or filming. This is just one example. My interests are far too many, maybe.

Such is the case of, my guitar. I bought my very first guitar in 2012 and like all the other things, I learned how to play it, was crazy and obsessed about it. I learned a few chords and played at a beginners level. I was so excited every time I got a chance to play my guitar and sing. Alas, came the boredom. Looking back, I don't know why I got bored and put it down. I was having so much fun. Oh wait, I remember why. THE BARRE CHORDS! When I came across a song that had a barre chord, I cheated. I played the easier way to play the same chord. It was ok for a while but I became disenchanted. I tried to learn how to make the barre chords but I wasn't have much success. So, that was one of the reasons, I put my guitar down and never picked it up for months.

The second time I picked it up, was brief. I just lost interest and thought to myself "I'm never going to be able to play like those guys." and "I'm never going to be able to play those barre chords right." So, down went my guitar. It sat in a corner and never touched.

And now, up and into my arms goes my guitar once again. Why? Barry Manilow. I went to a Barry Manilow concert not too long ago and it was an epiphany for me. When I was young I would sing his songs in my room over and over again. I never dreamed I would actually see him in person. That was so very awesome. My love for music was ignited and there was no putting it out. I picked up my guitar and I said to myself "I'm going to learn how to play barre chords one way or another." I'm still not that good, but I'm going to keep playing and playing and playing until I get it. 

I have to give a shout out to Tony Polecastro and one of his Youtube videos entitled "Give me 12 minutes. I'll save you 15 years."  I watched this video and it motivated me so much. Part of the reason I would put down my guitar was, intimidation. And, I don't intimidate very easily. Watching all those guitar players on Youtube bust out licks, and yes barre chords so effortlessly, was extremely intimidating. I would always tell myself, "forget it, I'll never be able to do that." Then I watched Toney's video. Now, I don't give a shit about anyone else but me and my situation. Thanks Toney!

I don't know how long I have to live. But, I want to, not only get good at playing, I want to express what I feel inside via my music.

Off with the hair!

 

I've never had this much hair on my face. I have never liked facial hair but this time, I've been very lazy in regards to shaving my face. One day turned in to 2, 1 week turned in to 2 and so on, and hear I am with a hairy face. That ends today. The hair comes off, at last.

I overate. But, it was delicious.

 Originally, I was going to make pork loin steaks over rice. Well, I forgot the rice. But, I remembered that I had some leftover pasta shells and beef from yesterday. I thought to myself, humm? Wouldn't it be cool to warm up the pasta shells and beef and use them as a bed for my pork loin steaks? So, that's what I did. I have to say, that was one of the most delicious meals I have ever had. The only problem is, that I over ate. It was too much. But, that is by far, not the only time I have overeaten. I've been well known for overeating.

In the end, I was OK. I enjoyed my creation even though it was a bit much.

Sickness and Health

 

I was at work. Things were going well until about 2 in the morning; suddenly my stomach began to feel tight and uncomfortable. It felt like I needed to take a giant shit and or let out a giant fart. But, nothing. At the same time nausea began to set in. Lovely, nausea and constipation, what a wonderful combination. As the morning went on, it got worse. By the end of my shift, the nausea and pain in my stomach was bad. All I wanted to do was to get home and lie down. I did make one stop at a convenience store to pick up one of my grandmother's home remedies for nausea, a 7UP.

I got home, stripped all my clothes off and got in to bed. I thought this would make me feel, at least, a little bit better. It didn't. The pain in my stomach felt like my intestines were being twisted and turned. Despite my nausea getting better (thanks grandma), I could not relax and rest, the pain was too much. So, I just tossed and turn and got a few winks here and there. I couldn't eat because just the thought of food would make me feel sick. To add icing to the cake, I also had heartburn. But, two Tums took care of that, thank God.

A little more than 24 hours later, with little sleep and nothing to eat I woke up. I HAD to get my car's registration sticker that morning. I was dreading having to get up, shower, get dressed and go out in public. All I wanted to do was sleep and rest. But, not having anyone to rely on, I had to get up and go. I felt really sick. I thought about it and came to the conclusion that part of the reason was that I hadn't eaten anything in more than 24 hour. So, I eat a soup and almost instantly felt a whole lot better.

What a nightmare. As the days went by I felt better and better. That was one of the worst feelings I have ever had. It felt so good the have my apatite back and my bowls back in order.

Frustration Day

 

    Have you ever had "one of those days" where frustration is the emotion of the day? I had one today. First of all, it was one of those days that all I wanted to do was to sit and be a couch potato. I did not want to venture outside, I didn't want to interact with people in any shape or form. However, I had to go to the gym and to the grocery store. The frustration stared because of the fact that I HAD to go to the gym. That's a bad sign to begin with. For me, I should not have the feeling of frustration when I have to go to the gym. I should be looking forward to it. I should be excited about working out. So, having those feeling towards working out, made me feel disgusting about myself. Made me feel ashamed of my self for feeling like that. 

So, here I go getting my gym bag ready. Out the door I went; frustration in tow. Got in my car, hooking up my phone to the car, waiting for my car to warm up (yes, because I'm old school). I tapped on my fitness club's app to, #1, check the Crowd Meter, #2 to generate a check-in code. Well, the app would not load. It said, "no connection - try again." I, tried again and again and again, nothing. I killed the app and tried again, nothing. I re-started my phone, still the app would not load and continued to say "no connection." I restarted my phone tapped the app, still nothing. I uninstalled the app, redownloaded and installed the app, nothing. Frustration level at a high point now. I loaded other apps with no problem. Streamed content with no issues. Ah Ha, it's the app and or their servers, not me. I call the gym and asked if they were having problems with there servers. The Attendant tried his app and it worked with no issues. Frustration level in the red now. Finally, after about 30 minutes, hooray!!! The app loaded!!! Forget the crowd meter, I generated the QR code and screen shot the code and proceeded to have a pretty good workout.

After the gym I unfortunately had to stop by the grocery store. The frustration with the app was gone, but I was just felling irritated. Don't know why, just did. I quickly got the things I needed and out the door I went. Got home, put the groceries up, got my snacks and flopped on the couch. Oh, the bliss. Home at last.

 It's the 20th of March. And, for me, it was supposed to be a time of celebration. The first day of Spring and I was looking forward to hot weather ahead. Happy day! Not!!!

My cell phone was stolen at work. At first, of course, I thought it was me. Where did I put my phone? I know it was here. "Has anyone seen my cell phone?" I looked in my car and everywhere else I could think of. I tore apart my back pack, nothing. So, slowly the sinking feeling when you realize, my phone got stolen sets in. I had trouble concentrating the rest of the shift. Luckily, the phone was encrypted except for my SD card. I logged on to my Google account and tracked the phone. It was not near by. It was stolen.

The next thing I did was to call security and see if they had videos footage of the area I was sitting at and on the time in question. They did. One of the officers came up to the floor and asked me a few questions. He told me he would be back after searching and looking at the footage. He came back after a while and told me he saw a person walk past my work station, looked over at my work station then walked back and reach into where I had my things and pulled back out. Unfortunately, due to regulations, the officer could not tell me very much. I was told that I needed to request the footage and determine what to do from there. I was very thankful of the help by the officer in helping me and informing me who I need to contact to get the footage.

Now it's wait and see. I'll take a look at the footage and probably file a report.

Totally sucks. Luckily I had an older phone that I can use for the mean time until I get another phone.

My advice:

Newer Android phones and iPhone are encrypted from the factory. HOWEVER,!!! (on Android) the SD card is not. The data can still be read if the thief takes it out of the phone and reads it from a PC.

To encrypt the SC card you have to "format as internal." If you do this, the card will be recognized as internal. And, the phone being encrypted, the data on the card will not be able to be read on any other device but the encrypted phone.

Here is a link for a step by step process to encrypt your SD card.

How to Encrypt an Android Device and Its SD Card to Protect Your Data

I'm done moving, for a while I hope.

 

It's been hell. Between the packing, the loading, cleaning, the unloading and the unpacking I'm fucking so tired. Oh, and not to mention the emotional side. Yes, I'm a very sentimental type of person; as I finished up cleaning my old apartment, it was sad to leave for the last time. But, I just closed the door and didn't look back. I guess the end of my stay there had other symbolism attached to it. I had what I thought was a "good friend" living near by. Someone who I've known for a long time and had actually dated. Without going in to details, this person, in my view, turned their back on me by making ridiculous stipulations on me in order to keep her as a friend. So it was "do this or you're not aloud in my house" and "I don't want to come near you unless..." What a friend, not!

So, my leaving that apartment, was also the end of that "relationship" as well. Which is sad, but it wasn't my decision. I wish that person well.

At the moment, I'm loving my new home. At the other apartment, I was next to an interstate highway and the noise level was horrible. The air-condition blower was in the bedroom and it sounded like a fright train. And, the parking in the evening was terrible. Here, it's like night and day. It's very quiet, the blower is in the bathroom and it's quite. The parking here is great. There is plenty of parking day or night. Time will tell the whole story. But, right now I'm very happy. 

The camping bug

 

A few weeks before my trip to Big Bend National Park, I started to get the camping bug. That is, I really got the yearning to go camping again. The last time I had gone camping before Big Bend was decades ago. I started getting the itch after watching camping videos on YouTube. Once that started, it was full speed ahead. Every paycheck I would purchase a little bit of camping gear. A few weeks later I had enough to were I could go do a trail run. I chose the beach at Port Aransas. There I evaluated what I had and what I still needed. What worked and what didn't.

Then, it was on to Big Bend. That had to be one of the best; most awesome time in my life.

After that trip, a week later I camped at Corpus Christi Lake State Park. A short time after that it was on to Goliad State Park. And, a couple of weeks ago it was Choke Canyon State Park. The burning to go out camping again is back again. I'm fit to be tied. However, I have a move coming up soon so I have to shelve the camping thing for another few weeks. Shit! Well, it'll be great when I do go out there again.

I have whittled it down to 2 Parks for the next sojourn. Guadalupe State Park or Palmetto State Park. Both are wonderful and I can't wait to go to either one.

Here are some pictures from my camping trips to Goliad State Park and Choke Canyon State Park.

  

My trip to Big Bend National Park. Mountains!!!!!

 

There are certain things that move me, that awe me, that leave me amazed in wonderment. One of those things are, mountains. I see them all the time in pictures and movies. But never in real life. In 1984, I took a trip to Mexico City and Taxco Mexico. To say I was in a dream is a tremendous understatement. That was the very first time in my life I set my eyes on real mountains. In 1996, I retuned to Mexico City and again marveled at the creation of the Sierra Madre orogeny and geologic time.

A few days ago I went on a trip to Big Bend National Park. And once again I gazed in amazement at the mountain range there. Driving just a few miles outside of Del Rio Texas, I started to make out the outline of the mountain range far in the distance. At that site my adrenalin started pumping and the excitement began to build. Finally, after so many years, I was getting close to - mountains.

Needless to say, as I drove into the midst of the mountain range I was experiencing data overload. With mountains all around me, I felt like I was in heaven. It was a great feeling, but a strange feeling. Absorbing all the majesty of the mountains, it felt at times like I was in a dream. I see them, but I can't believe their there. I don't think I ever came off that high; but I soaked it all in as much as I could.

I'm already planning a trip back next year. The only regret I have is that I couldn't spend more time at Big Bend. Next time, I'm staying for three or four days, minimum.

Here are some photographs I took on my hike on The Window Tail. I have many more photos I have yet to process. I will be posting more as I go through and edit more photos. There is also I link to my Flickr Big Bend album.

Click here for more photos

My New Girl - 2021 Honda Accord LX

 Her name is "Black Mamba"

My sincere thanks to these videos for helping me make my final decision. Great content!

Justin Fuller

https://youtu.be/mg9HqctgxN4

Raiti's Rides

This is a 2020 Accord LX review

https://youtu.be/rhPesjhQIz0

Mike's Car Info (Night review)

https://youtu.be/LwDSX2x5j_k

Rusty Wallis Honda

https://youtu.be/qdc2XCU7644

Supercharged Petrolhead

https://youtu.be/fgPDqzjumEg

Erick Car Sales

https://youtu.be/yImgnvm2mrw

Deep scaling fear

 I had my first Deep Scaling procedure with my dentist 2 days ago. I have to admit it, I was scared as shit. Everything when OK. The hardest part of it was the needle that administered the Novocain. That hurt! Some of the process still hurt a bit, well, more than a bit but I took it. My doctor is really great and his staff is great as well. They made me feel as comfortable as possible.

I have three more deep scaling procedures to go and I'm not looking forward to them. I realize the procedures are very necessary for the health of my mouth; I have to suffer in order to get this mouth back to a healthy state. I feel like shit because I turned my mouth into a big sewer and now I have to pay the price.

God willing I will be able to get my mouth healthy again and never make this kind of mess again.

My new jewelry

 

I'm loving my new jewelry! A mid-life craze or a Goth trip? Well, I would say it's the latter. This is super cool. I love silver rings and things, specially when their skulls and that sort of thing. And these are all stainless steel, can't afford silver at this time. But, they look lovely and I'm enjoying them tremendously.

On the photo above, from left to right top row:

The Grim Reaper

Multi-Skulls

Jason Friday the 13th

Black Celtic Dragon

The bracelets (top to bottom):

The Lords Prayer

Wide Silver Tone Double Strand Curb Chain Link Bracelet

Stainless Steel Cuban Chain

My first wireless Bluetooth ear buds. So awesome!

 

I've never owned a pair of wireless ear buds or wireless headsets, until today. I was so jazzed up waiting for my new ear buds, I kept checking the tracking info on my phone. I heard a knock on the door and I instantly knew what it was, 

my earbuds!

I nervously unboxed my new toy and set them up. I have to say, so far, I really love my ear buds. A lot. The sound is great and they don't fall out of my ears like I thought they would. I'm very pleasantly surprised at how good they sound and how easy they are to use. I've made so many excuses just to have the opportunity to use my ear buds and enjoy my favorite music, podcasts and YouTube Videos.

If you happened to be in the market for some great, inexpensive Bluetooth earbuds, look into the ToZo T12. $39.99 on Amazon; at the time of this post you can get a 20% discount on this item.

Check out these great reviews of the ToZo T12 Bluetooth ear buds:

https://youtu.be/Q-vUGIHvKlE

https://youtu.be/4DWrEDt-zDI

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