Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
Sort of in the doldrums today. Maybe I am just in winter mode. Very close to hibernation.
Read some, origami some, aerobic walkies. Dinner is at a friend’s apartment because we are supposed to be dining alone due to a NON-exposure to Covid. All of the Covid drama at the Asylum is contributing to the doldrums.
Time for a gratitude check.
Grateful for friends to laugh with. Friends who ply me with coffee, beer, cookies, brownies.
The moonrise last night was fine enough to get out the “real” camera. But, not fine enough to round up the tripod! And I am well past the age where handheld night shots are a good idea.
The Asylum’s Covid abatement policies are totally FUBAR. So, I chose to ignore them. If the Asylum chooses to kick me out. So be it. Since the joint is a Covid Petrie dish – I choose to wear my mask when I am wandering around the halls. And, I open my windows at every opportunity. Do I choose frostbite or covid?
Did Zoom yoga for the first time in a month today at noon. It wasn’t pretty. I have been really good at keeping up the aerobics and the strength work. But, the flexibility work has been neglected. The reason you retire when you get old is that it takes all day to keep yourself in “shape”. And, you have to take yourself to the shop (aka doctor or dentist) with distressing regularity.
The Eddie was supposed to run tomorrow. But, it was canceled. The waves didn’t cooperate. Last time the Eddie happened was Feb 25, 2016. (It’s a surf competition).
The project that totally consumed me when I got back from Hawai’i had it’s moment in the spotlight this morning.
It will not mean much to those who don’t aren’t involved with The Asylum, but I am essentially giving the community high fives for good things done last year.
Momma Nature is trying hard to make it winter. It’s not too cold. Just too gray.
So, it was a good day to stay indoors and sulk. Actually, I did laundry. And researched Northwest Passage trips. I think I have picked one out. The cheapest one! Well, it’s the cheapest one for me. Because it has the lowest “single supplement”. Also, they supply all the “gear” that you need. It is late enough to maybe pick up some Northern Lights. Plus it leaves from NYC and not some obscure village in Greenland. And, You get dropped off in Nome Alaska. I can surely get myself to NYC and then back home from Nome. Amtrak and Alaska Airlines. Of my three trips – Tahiti, North Pole, and Northwest Passage, I figure that this is the one that will take the most energy and fitness on my part. So, I shouldn’t wait. If I go it will be late August. About 3 weeks.
Speaking of Alaska. This little story from Canadian TV about a dog walking service in my old summer job place – Skagway Alaska.
Canine commuters in Skagway, Alaska
Dogs in Skagway are extremely laidback. For one thing, the nearest vet is over 90 miles away in Canada. And, there aren’t a lot of rules about leashes and where dogs can or can not go. There are no frou-frou silly little purse dogs.
Finished up my weekly mandatory aerobic exercise with a walk to Harris Teeter for coffee filters. I know, a pretty lame excuse to force myself out on a 2 mile walk. But you do what you have to do to keep the old body moving. And, I rode the bus home. Didn’t need a 4 mile brisk walk.
If you have a Google Phone, and if you let Google track you 24/7, you get little reports telling you where you have been. According to Google, I traveled 35,858 miles last year. 390 of those miles on foot.
Thinking about where to go next. Train to Churchill Canada? Three weeks or so in Bermuda? Somewhere on a boat? Do Charleston again? Or try Savannah? Maybe Yellowstone? Take a lap around North America by train? Go to Vegas? This is short-term next 90 days stuff. The less time spent in residence at The Asylum the better.
Winter is creeping back into place. Well, it’s 48° not 68° like earlier in the week. People were removing the Xmas decorations from my floor lobby. One presumes that The Asylum will remove its decoration next Monday.
Since returning to The Asylum less than 2 weeks ago, I have gotten myself and my stuff resettled in the Old Bat Cave. Seen the dentist. Dealt with 2 months of neglected paperwork. Found a new CPA. Made a cute little 3-minute video.
Today, for the first time since returning, I feel back in “control” of my life. Of course, I am not in control of anything. I am just in the trough between waves.
Picked up 20 cents on today’s walk. Carlton must really be testing me. Wanting to be sure that I still appreciate the value of a penny. Actually, pennies are sort of a nuisance, Carlton.
Actually our life guard at the apartment took this photo. He was, I am sure, a drug dealer. However, he needed to have something that looked like a job. So he worked afternoons as a life guard. Most Arlington county life guards came to work on bicyles. This guy drove a new Cadillac.
Today would be Carlton’s 50th AA Aniversary. And it is our 29th wedding anniversary. We had a great life together. All the credit goes to AA because the fellowship saved his life.
Did everything on my 2Do list today. Everything. Think that means that I needed a more ambitious 2Do list.
Main thing I did was interview that potential CPA. He has more than a few negative Yelp reviews. But, mostly about his “bedside manner”. I am not going to date the guy. I want him to do my taxes. He is mid-40s. Should outlive me. If he annoys me too much this year – well – I’ll start looking for a replacement. I had fun teaching him how to share a screen in Zoom.
And, what did I ask him? Well I asked ChatGPT for “questions to ask new tax CPA”
Those were pretty good questions. I didn’t ask him everything. But most of them. I would never have thought of asking #4. And I don’t think anyone ever asked that question. His answer was “Read what I send you”.
Well, that was an interesting result. I would never “imagine” putting the pancakes in the syrup bottle. But, I am neither Artificial nor Intelligent. But, it’s a cool image. The Asylum has blueberry pancakes this week as a special.
Well, things are getting out of Xmas/NewYears mode and going back to “normal”. So, I was able to actually do some things today. Like seek a new Tax Guy. I have rejected a couple of options because they are old. And, I don’t want to do this again. And several have rejected me because the aren’t taking new clients. One is taking new clients. Which, of course, worries me. Why is he taking new clients? Sort of like Groucho Max’s old line: I don’t want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member.
But the guy who is willing to take me on doesn’t seem to have a criminal record. He isn’t very convient for the bus – but this is 2023, I don’t imagine I would need to ever go to his office. I only went to the old tax guy’s office once.
And it is wonderfully warm. Windows open warm.
The first floor of The Asylum is OVERSTUFFED with Xmas decorations. One of my friends says it looks like Macy’s. Hopefully, the stuff will all vanish tomorrow. Christmas is one of the reasons I go to Hawai’i. To escape.
Turns out, and I didn’t know this until 2020, “my” floor has its very own circa 1955 creche (complete with snow-white baby Jesus) that appears shortly after Thanksgiving.
Apparently one or more of my fellow residents thought that the creche and all of the other Christmas accouterments should leave. Now. So, whoever has appointed themselves our Floor Xmas Decorator says “Christmas Dec 25 to Jan 6”.
I deserve a medal (with oakleaf clusters) for not taking my crayons out and defacing the sign.
And I would hasten to point out that the Three Wise Guys shouldn’t be displayed until Jan 6 in any case.
Finished, more or less, my total immersion MidJourney project. I learned much about controlling MidJourney. It produced some really good images. Most needed a little tweaking with Photoshop. It is something that I could not have done without a lot of stock photography. I spent two days doing it. It was a nice exercise. It’s a little 3-minute thing to loop on the screen in the auditorium whilst people gather for a meeting next Monday.
Except for New Year’s Brunch, I spent Day 1 of 2023 doing MidJourney. Coming up with pictures for my little slide show.
Just before dinner, MidJourney busted me for “Imagine 1500 pairs of underwear”. Turns out underwear is a forbidden word. It was willing to:
Since I didn’t want to get banned for life I didn’t mess around much past “pantaloons” and “unmentionables”.
So far so good for 2023.
The Asylum is having a “normal” New Year’s Eve Celebration. Last year they canceled New Year’s Eve and locked us up. Their ability/willingness to lock us up seems to have seriously waned since then.
I spent the last day of 2022 puttering around with MidJourney. I have a real project. On with a deadline and a client and 20-30 images are required. That will focus my learning.
Tonight, dinner with my accidental family. I made origami bunnies. Missing Hawai’i on New Year’s Eve. The New Year is more important than Xmas in Hawai’i. Parties, food, fireworks. And, New Year’s was celebrated from January 1 until at least the lunar New Year. January 22 in 2023.
Fired up ChatGPT today. It is scary good.
Now, why can’t someone come up with a good Robot AI Cat?