The last week and a half have been up and down for me. One day I had a very good day going until I injured my right leg. Best guess is that the pulled muscle will heal just fine and that there's no nerve damage, but that has yet to be confirmed. I'm resting the leg as much as I can.
I had an issue with some things that were said to me in a voicemail message. I had to take a few minutes to compose myself before writing and sending a very long, very detailed e-mail message explaining just what is going on with me. I also did say that if I had truly done something wrong in that person's eyes, that I hoped we could get past it. The situation has been resolved.
It's been almost four weeks since the last time I met with my case manager here at the Y.M.C.A. and I'm upset because she is just not even taking me seriously when I ask for an appointment. I'm supposed to be on a schedule of every two weeks, and every four weeks is mandatory. I'm going to notify the director of housing that as far as I'm concerned, this is not my responsibility. I've asked twice for an appointment and been blown off both times.
On the plus side, I had a good time hanging out with a friend I hadn't seen in quite some time. We met for dinner yesterday. As usual, he was kind enough to do me a small favor. He took me to the store and back home so I could get groceries without having to deal with the hassle of carrying them home on the bus. Alex, you rock.
Wishing you a good weekend, dear reader.
Friday, May 26, 2017
Friday, May 19, 2017
Star Trek: Discovery - First Thoughts
The teaser trailers for the new Star Trek series are now online. One is CBS-based and region locked for the U.S.A. while the other is Netflix-based and can't be viewed here in America.
I have watched the first version and I like what I've seen.
What amazes me, although by now maybe I should be used it to it, are the kinds of comments I'm seeing on a few different sites (TrekMovie especially). Many people are saying nasty things about the show.
People, really? You're going to state that a series that has filmed exactly one episode is doomed to fail? And you're basing that on a series of clips that total about two minutes?
Can we get a reality check on aisle two?
Nothing I saw contradicts the statements that have been made referring to the series as a "re-imagining". A lot of people seem to feel that its setting ten years prior to the original series means that the ship, the sets and the costumes must be identical or very similar to those from the original show.
If you want to disagree with what I'm about to say, fine.
It's 2017, people. The look we associate with "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is a classic 1960s look. I love it. I miss it. But I also accept that with limited exceptions, it just isn't suitable for network television anymore.
There are fan films and fan drawn comic books that nail that look perfectly and I love them for it. Most of these efforts have writing that ranges from average to excellent. There are some things I've seen that, with a little reworking, would make for good viewing on television.
Please note, I said "good" viewing, not highly rated. I don't think for one second that there's enough of an audience to keep a retro styled "Star Trek" on the air for even half a season.
The new show, from what little can be seen so far, looks as it if uses a lot of the same design elements as the recent films. I'm fine with that. Will the writing or the acting be first rate from the very start?
Maybe, maybe not. If we go back thirty years to "Encounter At Farpoint", I believe that had The Next Generation aired on CBS, NBC or ABC, it would have been cancelled after thirteen weeks.
Fox might have been willing to take a chance on a full season as they would not have had much to lose by doing so.
On the other hand, I've long held the view that "Where No Man Has Gone Before" set a standard that many of the episodes filmed from 1966 to 1969 never quite managed to live up to. I really feel that if they had expanded the final cut to ninety minutes or so, it would hold up nicely as a feature film.
But part of filming a weekly show is that it's expected to air every week. The sheer number of scripts that were required to film the original series pretty much guaranteed that some weak material would make it to air.
As always, these are just my opinions.
I have watched the first version and I like what I've seen.
What amazes me, although by now maybe I should be used it to it, are the kinds of comments I'm seeing on a few different sites (TrekMovie especially). Many people are saying nasty things about the show.
People, really? You're going to state that a series that has filmed exactly one episode is doomed to fail? And you're basing that on a series of clips that total about two minutes?
Can we get a reality check on aisle two?
Nothing I saw contradicts the statements that have been made referring to the series as a "re-imagining". A lot of people seem to feel that its setting ten years prior to the original series means that the ship, the sets and the costumes must be identical or very similar to those from the original show.
If you want to disagree with what I'm about to say, fine.
It's 2017, people. The look we associate with "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is a classic 1960s look. I love it. I miss it. But I also accept that with limited exceptions, it just isn't suitable for network television anymore.
There are fan films and fan drawn comic books that nail that look perfectly and I love them for it. Most of these efforts have writing that ranges from average to excellent. There are some things I've seen that, with a little reworking, would make for good viewing on television.
Please note, I said "good" viewing, not highly rated. I don't think for one second that there's enough of an audience to keep a retro styled "Star Trek" on the air for even half a season.
The new show, from what little can be seen so far, looks as it if uses a lot of the same design elements as the recent films. I'm fine with that. Will the writing or the acting be first rate from the very start?
Maybe, maybe not. If we go back thirty years to "Encounter At Farpoint", I believe that had The Next Generation aired on CBS, NBC or ABC, it would have been cancelled after thirteen weeks.
Fox might have been willing to take a chance on a full season as they would not have had much to lose by doing so.
On the other hand, I've long held the view that "Where No Man Has Gone Before" set a standard that many of the episodes filmed from 1966 to 1969 never quite managed to live up to. I really feel that if they had expanded the final cut to ninety minutes or so, it would hold up nicely as a feature film.
But part of filming a weekly show is that it's expected to air every week. The sheer number of scripts that were required to film the original series pretty much guaranteed that some weak material would make it to air.
As always, these are just my opinions.
Friday, May 12, 2017
Many Thoughts To Share
It's rare for me to hold back on how I feel about politics and current events. But right now, there are many other people on many other sites who are saying what needs to be said and saying it better than I ever can. So, I've decided to just talk about a few things that have been on my mind a lot lately.
The first time I traveled across America was in 2007, the second time was in 2009, and last month I did it twice in the span of two weeks. From 2009 to 2017 a lot of things have changed. Many of them have changed for the better. We have, at least as of right now, marriage equality as the law of the land.
I have a cousin who is married to another man. The husband is a person who has never been anything but rude to me, but, I keep quiet and try my best to be nice to him whenever I see them in public. He makes my cousin happy, and that's what matters most to me.
We also have, for the time being at least, have net neutrality as established regulation. If I were to let my manners slip a little, I could say some not so nice things about those who oppose it. Let's just say I'm all in favor of the current F.C.C. regulations and hope to see them not be weakened or eliminated.
I was admitted to the hospital for the first and so far, only time in my life in May of 1977. I had a stomach virus that was really bad. I mean, I could have died from this thing. Several doctors who had patients in my age range with similar symptoms literally compared notes and determined we had all attended the same concert. Once they figured out what one of us had and how to treat it, they were able to treat all of us.
I've been mentally compiling a list of the nicest people I've ever met, and the weird thing is, the list keeps changing based on a few things. To say that someone is a nice person can cover a lot of territory. How polite someone is, how pleasant a person they are, and how they behave under pressure are just a few of the things that go into the overall mix. I've known people who in normal situations are a joy to be around but when things get bad, you can almost see them turning into someone you just don't want to be involved with at all.
I'm thinking of someone who I like a lot. I trust this person a great deal. I have often asked her advice regarding matters both personal and professional. But one time, about a year and a half ago, she went on a rampage. She ripped into us so badly that she literally left many of her students, of which I was one at that time, in tears.
The man to whom she answers, to put it quite bluntly, read her the riot act about an hour before a regularly scheduled meeting of our club. I wasn't in the room, and to the best of my knowledge, neither of them has ever repeated even a single word of what was said. I and several others were setting up for our weekly on campus fundraiser when word came down to shut things down.
What happened next still upsets me. She called all of us into an emergency meeting.
Don't get me wrong, please. Much of what we were on the hook for, as it were, included
legitimate concerns. But a lot of it also included things that were beyond our control. Things we knew needed to be fixed that we neither had the means nor the authority to fix.
That was bad enough. But when the personal attacks started, that was crossing a line that never should have been crossed. That's when I actually started to stand up to leave the room, fully aware that doing so would end my involvement in the club for good. Looking back, I realize now that I should have walked out, and walked away.
Not because of how I had been attacked personally, which I was dealing with fairly well until someone else blindsided me with something I never saw coming. I should have walked out because it was the right thing to do. I was told by several other people after the meeting that if I had done so, they would have joined me. We were the ones who were always there when called upon, and without us, the club almost certainly would have died that day.
I write all this knowing there's a small but very real chance that the person of whom I speak may read this. Ms. M, I'm so sorry, but that's just the way I see things.
So, is she on my list for all the good things, or is she not on it for the one really bad mistake she made?
I don't know, right now.
Wishing you a good weekend, dear reader.
The first time I traveled across America was in 2007, the second time was in 2009, and last month I did it twice in the span of two weeks. From 2009 to 2017 a lot of things have changed. Many of them have changed for the better. We have, at least as of right now, marriage equality as the law of the land.
I have a cousin who is married to another man. The husband is a person who has never been anything but rude to me, but, I keep quiet and try my best to be nice to him whenever I see them in public. He makes my cousin happy, and that's what matters most to me.
We also have, for the time being at least, have net neutrality as established regulation. If I were to let my manners slip a little, I could say some not so nice things about those who oppose it. Let's just say I'm all in favor of the current F.C.C. regulations and hope to see them not be weakened or eliminated.
I was admitted to the hospital for the first and so far, only time in my life in May of 1977. I had a stomach virus that was really bad. I mean, I could have died from this thing. Several doctors who had patients in my age range with similar symptoms literally compared notes and determined we had all attended the same concert. Once they figured out what one of us had and how to treat it, they were able to treat all of us.
I've been mentally compiling a list of the nicest people I've ever met, and the weird thing is, the list keeps changing based on a few things. To say that someone is a nice person can cover a lot of territory. How polite someone is, how pleasant a person they are, and how they behave under pressure are just a few of the things that go into the overall mix. I've known people who in normal situations are a joy to be around but when things get bad, you can almost see them turning into someone you just don't want to be involved with at all.
I'm thinking of someone who I like a lot. I trust this person a great deal. I have often asked her advice regarding matters both personal and professional. But one time, about a year and a half ago, she went on a rampage. She ripped into us so badly that she literally left many of her students, of which I was one at that time, in tears.
The man to whom she answers, to put it quite bluntly, read her the riot act about an hour before a regularly scheduled meeting of our club. I wasn't in the room, and to the best of my knowledge, neither of them has ever repeated even a single word of what was said. I and several others were setting up for our weekly on campus fundraiser when word came down to shut things down.
What happened next still upsets me. She called all of us into an emergency meeting.
Don't get me wrong, please. Much of what we were on the hook for, as it were, included
legitimate concerns. But a lot of it also included things that were beyond our control. Things we knew needed to be fixed that we neither had the means nor the authority to fix.
That was bad enough. But when the personal attacks started, that was crossing a line that never should have been crossed. That's when I actually started to stand up to leave the room, fully aware that doing so would end my involvement in the club for good. Looking back, I realize now that I should have walked out, and walked away.
Not because of how I had been attacked personally, which I was dealing with fairly well until someone else blindsided me with something I never saw coming. I should have walked out because it was the right thing to do. I was told by several other people after the meeting that if I had done so, they would have joined me. We were the ones who were always there when called upon, and without us, the club almost certainly would have died that day.
I write all this knowing there's a small but very real chance that the person of whom I speak may read this. Ms. M, I'm so sorry, but that's just the way I see things.
So, is she on my list for all the good things, or is she not on it for the one really bad mistake she made?
I don't know, right now.
Wishing you a good weekend, dear reader.
Friday, May 5, 2017
Thoughts For A Friday Evening
Hello, dear reader. I would like to apologize for the recent lack of posts. I've been busy with several different things. I do have a rather detailed post that I want to revise and edit before putting it here for everyone to see.
In the meanwhile, here are some odds and ends that really don't fit anywhere else.
1. I had a good workout earlier today. I walked a mile without stopping to rest in thirteen and a half minutes. To put that in perspective, that's just a minute and a half longer than it took me in the spring of 1984, when I was timed in gym class.
2. It was sixteen years ago that I cooked an authentic Mexican meal for the very first time. I did it for myself, my late wife, my cousin, her daughter and her daughter's best friend. The food came out really well, and after we ate, we all went bowling. It was just an all around fun time.
3. The weather in this area has been bad for several days. We've had a lot of rain, with daytime temperatures ranging anywhere from five to twenty degrees below normal. The forecast for early next week calls for light snow on Monday or Tuesday. The latest I can remember ever seeing snow in spring is the third week of April. The rain and gray skies are something I can handle short term, but once we pass a full week, which we will tomorrow, it's just so depressing.
4. I bought a pair of Levis blue jeans six weeks ago and I would like to find at least two other pairs of the same exact design. These jeans are both the most stylish pair I've ever owned and the most comfortable.
5. I was in the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City yesterday at a little after 1 in the afternoon. The mall was so empty it shocked me. That mall has lost a lot over the years. It no longer has a movie theater. It no longer has a McDonalds or a Burger King. The CVS closed last year (or the year before, my memory is unsure) and Macy's closed earlier this year.
I went there to try to find a good kitchen knife from the house wares section in the Burlington Coat Factory outlet, because I'd been able to do so before. Again, shocked is the only word that fits for how I reacted. Literally half of the store has been walled off and is sitting empty. Their selection of merchandise is not anywhere as extensive or as nice as what I'm used to seeing.
I walked out of the store without buying anything. I walked to where CVS used to be, wanting to buy a copy of our local newspaper. I had forgotten the store was closed.
So, in a half hour at the mall, all I bought was a milkshake from the Carvel stand. It was reasonably priced and tasted really good. But wow, except for that, what a waste of time the whole excursion turned out to be.
They say that the retail industry in America is fading, and I believe it. I'm sad to see that happen, because once upon a time, I made a decent living working in retail.
6. My wishes go out to you for a good weekend.
In the meanwhile, here are some odds and ends that really don't fit anywhere else.
1. I had a good workout earlier today. I walked a mile without stopping to rest in thirteen and a half minutes. To put that in perspective, that's just a minute and a half longer than it took me in the spring of 1984, when I was timed in gym class.
2. It was sixteen years ago that I cooked an authentic Mexican meal for the very first time. I did it for myself, my late wife, my cousin, her daughter and her daughter's best friend. The food came out really well, and after we ate, we all went bowling. It was just an all around fun time.
3. The weather in this area has been bad for several days. We've had a lot of rain, with daytime temperatures ranging anywhere from five to twenty degrees below normal. The forecast for early next week calls for light snow on Monday or Tuesday. The latest I can remember ever seeing snow in spring is the third week of April. The rain and gray skies are something I can handle short term, but once we pass a full week, which we will tomorrow, it's just so depressing.
4. I bought a pair of Levis blue jeans six weeks ago and I would like to find at least two other pairs of the same exact design. These jeans are both the most stylish pair I've ever owned and the most comfortable.
5. I was in the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City yesterday at a little after 1 in the afternoon. The mall was so empty it shocked me. That mall has lost a lot over the years. It no longer has a movie theater. It no longer has a McDonalds or a Burger King. The CVS closed last year (or the year before, my memory is unsure) and Macy's closed earlier this year.
I went there to try to find a good kitchen knife from the house wares section in the Burlington Coat Factory outlet, because I'd been able to do so before. Again, shocked is the only word that fits for how I reacted. Literally half of the store has been walled off and is sitting empty. Their selection of merchandise is not anywhere as extensive or as nice as what I'm used to seeing.
I walked out of the store without buying anything. I walked to where CVS used to be, wanting to buy a copy of our local newspaper. I had forgotten the store was closed.
So, in a half hour at the mall, all I bought was a milkshake from the Carvel stand. It was reasonably priced and tasted really good. But wow, except for that, what a waste of time the whole excursion turned out to be.
They say that the retail industry in America is fading, and I believe it. I'm sad to see that happen, because once upon a time, I made a decent living working in retail.
6. My wishes go out to you for a good weekend.
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