Monthly Archives: January 2020

January 31, 2020 · 23:28

Waiting Room Observations

There are a LOT of hungry, cranky folks in the gastroenterology waiting room.

Snake, garden hose, and alien probing jokes are not so funny here. At least, no one’s laughing and this is some of my best material. Where’s Dennis Wolfsberg when you need him?

On the other hand, being decked out in full Chiefs gear is a great conversation starter. Especially great is one older, shy, Hispanic lady. I suspect limited English, but I catch her glancing over at me and she finally says only, “Mahomes,” and gives me a thumbs up. GO CHIEFS!

As always, the television in here is annoying as hell. At least they’re not playing one of the those truly horrible and soul sucking talk/reality shows that litter daytime TV, but this home renovation thing on cable is no bargain. Why can’t we get cartoons, like some Looney Tunes or something? This place could use some cheer.

Oh, god, they could have the Impeachment coverage on! I love this home renovation show, it’s fantastic, great, engaging, enrapturing! Don’t EVER change that channel!

In recovery: Apparently there was a memo that any staff who wanted to could relax the recommended dress code a bit for today if they wanted to wear purple and gold or something Kobe Bryant related. They’re everywhere!

And we’re good! Mission accomplished. It’s been a year (not me, I’m just on chauffeur duty) and with luck it will be another.

Back to the salt mines!

 

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Filed under Health

January 30, 2020 · 23:39

That Feeling When – January 30th

That feeling when FaceBook pops up with a notice that it’s the birthday of a high school friend – and you remember that he died this year.

And it’s the second or third time that’s happened in the last month or so.

It sort of sucks.

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January 29, 2020 · 23:34

Before You Freak Out Over The Coronavirus…

…get your flu shot!

It’s indicative of how we’ve lost all ability to do any kind of sane risk management. The new Chinese coronavirus has killed 170 people, which could actually be ten times that – but it’s in a country of over a billion people. There are five, maybe six people in this country who have it and it’s front page news. They’re cancelling flights to China for weeks. Every news hour shows folks coming into US airports and being screened and quarantined.

Five, maybe six people.

And yet the flu kills, on average, over 8,000 people a year in this country.

Not five people. Or six. OVER 8,000. And in a bad year that can double.

Not sick. Dead.

Did you get your flu shot this year?

No?

Then STFU about coronavirus.

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Filed under Death Of Common Sense, Health

January 28, 2020 · 23:35

No Context For You – January 28th

Kicking the bucket?

More like trying not to drop my phone into the trash can, I suspect.

Not today, Death. Not today!

(That’s death for the iPhone, not me. I’m fine.)

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Filed under Photography

January 27, 2020 · 23:58

A Tough Time Of Year

Fifty-three years ago tonight, these three men lost their lives in an inferno atop a Saturn rocket.

(Image: NASA)

Tomorrow’s the 34th anniversary of our losing Challenger.

Seventeen years ago Saturday, February 1st, we lost Columbia.

Even if I don’t initially remember, there’s something buried deep in my brain that remembers and knows. Then I see some comment and it’s, “Oh. Yeah. That.”

And yet…

We’ve still got folks living on ISS every day for over twenty years. We’ve got folks, men and women, who have lived in space for almost a year at a time so that we can see what happens to the body on a trip to Mars. We’re still out there doing EVAs and keeping ISS running.

(Image: NASA)

We remember.

But we keep pressing on.

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Filed under Space

January 26, 2020 · 23:51

Chinese Proverb

Apropos to everything, but in particular on my mind tonight, is a Chinese proverb (is it really? I always see it referenced as an “old Chinese proverb,” but is that Western, modern, bullshit?) that says:

“The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”

I hope I can keep that in mind.

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January 25, 2020 · 23:44

A MIG Divided

A MIG-17 to be precise. It’s owned by one of the CAF SoCal staff members (@highalphaairshows) and is having a little maintenance done.

Who knew that they came apart like that? Not me!

The tail end is largely just a shell to keep it aerodynamic and provide structure for the tail and the horizontal stabilizer.

By the way, these no doubt would have been classified, top-secret photos, costing the lives of dozens of CIA agents and operatives about the time I was born.

Here’s the business end which that tail encloses and covers. That’s a LOT of jet engine!

As sleek, powerful, and FAST as the MIG-17 looks when ready to fly, like this it’s just odd. Sort of like seeing your grandmother naked odd.

It’s a wicked machine for turning gallon after gallon of Jet-A into noise, with a top speed of just under Mach 1 as a side effect.

Not something you see every day!

 

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Filed under CAF, Flying, Photography

January 24, 2020 · 23:55

Weird Art

Guerrilla art, lightning round!

 

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January 23, 2020 · 23:37

Yes, I Know

Yesterday I wrote briefly about the glee brought into my life by realizing how much it bothers many Oakland Raiders fans (or are they Las Vegas Raiders fans now? has the front office evacuated Northern California? I digress) that the Chiefs are going to beat meet the 49ers in the Super Bowl.

Folks have pointed out that the joy derived from the misery of others is called “schadenfreude.”

Yes. I know.

I don’t get to taste the sweet nectar of the schadenfreude often, but I drink deeply and enjoy when I do!

(And yes, you’re still getting just little snippets to prove I’m still alive because I’m still slightly busier than god…)

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Filed under KC Chiefs

January 22, 2020 · 23:59

A Joyful Perspective

Chiefs fans are having a good time these days, wallowing in anticipation after fifty years of waiting for another Super Bowl appearance.

Tonight while watching the Australian Open on ESPN, the commentators were filling time during some delay and the topic of the tournament timing came up. Specifically, it’s a week later than normal apparently and that means they’ll be on a long flight home while the Super Bowl is being played and they’re hoping that the flight has high-speed internet so they can watch. Then they got to chatting about who they liked in the game.

The first guy (possibly Patrick McEnroe, maybe?) likes the Chiefs.

The other guy (no idea who it might be) bemoaned the fact that he was a Raiders fan. This is a nightmare Super Bowl for Raiders fans. Their division rival, the Chiefs (who, I might add, have beaten the Raiders something like nine games in a row, muuwaaahahaaaa!!) are playing the San Francisco 49ers, their geographic rival from across the Bay.

I hadn’t thought of that. Not only are we there, but the Raiders fans are doubly miserable!

I don’t much like Raiders fans as a group. There are no doubt many that are charming folks, but as a group? Hate ’em.

It’s petty. I’ll admit it. I’m still going to enjoy it a great deal.

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Filed under KC Chiefs