Monday, May 22, 2017

May Brings Changes

It is said the one constant in life is change, so the events of this unfinished month are not surprising except when nature takes its course.

After the Storm 02

Storms have roiled the area and saturated the soil much to the disappointment of farmers trying to get their crops in. While we were spared the violent side of the weather, others were not including a fatality along with $10,000,000 in damages over in Barron County, Wisconsin. The same system left behind a beautiful sky that prompted me to get the camera out.

Game Over

Last night ended my interest in playing video games, though that interest had been waning for some months now. The catalyst was being harassed by a condescending nut case during a run in Star Trek Online, my go to game for relaxation. Details of the incident are unimportant, suffice it to say I became the angriest I've been in a solid decade.

Disregarding the hostile party, part of the anger was towards my caring about it at all. Dissatisfaction with gaming has been growing due to the realization that the whole endeavor is a substitute for achievement in life. One plays games to wear the costume of a hero, be a creator of farms or empires, and achieve victory along with renown in the case of multiplayer games.

All of these things are lies we are sold to make us feel accomplished and fulfilled, but not too fulfilled since there is always future content to sell by the game makers.

As I get older, these illusions ring more and more hollow. While most people like or are  comfortable with pretty little lies, the lure will continuously be effective. However, I'm not categorizable as "most people" so last night's ugliness was the last proverbial straw that broke this gamer's back.

Uninstallation of ninety percent of the games on my PC followed with the remaining not likely to be played or are games played socially with real life friends. It isn't even bittersweet with the predominant feeling being... relief.

My time will be better spent on just about anything else.

Sunday, May 07, 2017

Overloaded

The past month and a half has been a blur of obligations, medical issues, and no energy to do much else so the blog has been neglected. No promises on increasing the frequencies of posting can be made until life gives me a few breaks. The Cubs could use some breaks right now too, as I type they are down 3-0 to the Yankees and it is the top of the first inning.

Like the baseball team is experiencing, it feels like life is hitting doubles against me. 5-0 now, the Bronx Bombers are clobbering starter Anderson.

Dealing with Dad’s health problems has been most of the drain though that will be letting up for awhile now that he’s successfully undergone multiple procedures to stretch his pyloric valve. Along with a change to Nexium (insurance hates that so the co-pay is large), his heartburn and reflux have vanished. Now to see if he can tolerate solid food again.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

It Sounded Good at the Time

Oh gosh, it has been far too long between posts, yet I don’t feel guilty about it this time. Too many things have been going on in too many parts of my life so something had to give… and this wasn’t the only thing.

Multiple rounds of illness involving whatever upper respiratory virus of the moment circulating amongst the local population robbed me of days then weeks. Sudden developments with Dad’s paralyzed stomach suddenly showing motility led to a highly irritating pair of fiascoes last week added to the woes. Even the weather decided to take a turn for the worst after flirting with Spring like temperatures.

My sole consolation during the past month or so has been getting into audio theory and execution more deeply. Curiosity about crossovers, frequency charts, and clearance drivers has led to a lot of mad scientist behavior on my part not always wisely executed (see multiple rounds of illness above).

Fortunately, end results have been promising with stunning increases in performance for my newly rigged up 5.1 setup in my bedroom to make the PC much more of a hifi platform. It all started with a lucky win on eBay luring me down the rabbit hole.

Thursday, February 02, 2017

2017 and I’m Still Catching Up

While intentions to post were good, I failed to get anything written during the past month and a half. A great deal has happened that while not being earth shaking has been time consuming.

A few of the events in reverse chronological order:

I just purchased a new keyboard, a Motospeed Inflictor CK-104, to deal with perpetual cat hair and crumb problems. Being one of the newer mechanical keyboards with backlighting it has far easier access under the keys for cleaning. Double shot keycaps and nice Outemu blue switches made it a steal at $44 at Amazon.

So far I’ve only gamed on it without any serious typing. Writing this post is its baptism by fire…

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Modifications

black kitten 01

I find myself in the middle of December of 2016 wondering where the year went. Of course much of the elapsed time was spent being ill, yet there was even more weirdness eating up precious seconds, hours, and days. Included in the strangeness are the subcategories of politics, sports, technology, things breaking down, and celestial events. Just how many super moons can one year have?

This is starting to read like a year end post and I’m not willing to concede 2016 just yet. In the spirit of losing time…

Thursday, November 10, 2016

President Elect Donald Trump and Other Post Election Thoughts

Well, Tuesday was some night for many of us and unfortunately for me, I overdid things making the upper respiratory infection that was nearly gone return. While I’m physically having some breathing problems, I can say that mentally, emotionally, and spiritually the atmosphere has lifted allowing me to metaphorically breathe easier. Time to ramble a bit for posterity.

President Trump. A year ago I was telling people to get used to saying this only to be greeted by laughter.