That one! THAT pipe/valve/plumbing thingie is the one!
Also, SHIT! I’m getting age spots on my hands…
Which, I guess, beats the statistically most likely alternative.
Category Archives: Paul
The Roller Coaster
I suspect that one reason we love (or hate) roller coasters is that, aside from the physical thrills and sensations, we recognize the way our emotional and spiritual real life situations are mirrored in all of the ups and downs, spins and loops.
I just hit a handful of key deadlines (as part of an amazing team, the kind that my Pepperdine MBA program told me about, but which I had trouble believing in at the time – that’s a story for another day) and after more weeks and weeks of stress and long days and all that goes with it, all of a sudden today it’s just…normal. I have plenty to do, and to a certain extent there’s some chaos in trying to figure out which items to pull off of “the back burner” first, but getting it wrong has minimal consequences. Annoyances, possibly. Inconvenience, probably. “Consequences?” Not really.
And then I looked at the Chiefs’ calendar and saw that we’re playing the Raiders in Las Vegas next week, on the 25th, and wait, that can’t possibly be right because we’re playing them on Christmas and HOLY GUACAMOLE, BATMAN! Christmas is in just ten days! When did this happen? Why didn’t anyone warn me?!
I understand intellectually where we are on the calendar. There are lots of lights up outside. There are stacks of gifts waiting to be wrapped and put under the tree.
But mentally, coming down off of that “deadline high” (and being a little bit sleep deprived) I had slipped into an emotional state where I figured that I could kick back, relax, and coast a little bit.
But there’s Christmas stuff to finish and cards to get out and presents to wrap and all of that stuff on the back burner and the budget to be working on at work and a couple of other big projects that are lurking around the corner and all of a sudden the corner is RIGHT HERE and we really, REALLY need to make 2024 the year we find our forever home, buy it, and move…
And above all, having coped for weeks with one critical task and deadline after another, gone (for an hour or two) into coasting and relaxing mode, and now almost immediately being surprised and ramping back up, there’s an element of PTSD. What have I missed? I’m tired, I’m worn down, I’ve let down my guard for an hour, is there anything I’ve overlooked? Day after day after day of critical deadlines, how can I not have one tomorrow? What ball am I dropping? What’s gonna bite me in the ass? I almost forgot about Christmas for crying out loud, what else am I capable of forgetting?
It will be fine. Really.
But.
It is a roller coaster. You can go through all of those plunges and rolls and curves and manage to make it through, but in life you don’t get to just stop and get off the ride. There’s another lift hill ahead. Or a hidden cliff that you’re going to plunge over.
Breathe. ENJOY! Relax.
But you may not get to kick back into cruise mode just yet.
Filed under Deep Thoughts, Paul, Photography
Not NaNoWriMo, 11/06/2023
Yet another day of a zero word count. Again, I knew this was coming. The deadlines of this week have been there like Gandalf’s Balrog for weeks now – “You Shall Not Pass!”
The good news is that I’m starting to think I’m going to make it. The “to-do” list that looked like the NYC phone book is starting to look like a Post-It Note. Okay, it’s one of those BIG Post-It Notes, but you get the idea.
But on that priority list, writing for NaNoWriMo is “later!”
Plus, I had a commitment to go down a pint.
I know my name, so why do they put this sticker on me? Is it so that they know what name to shout as they’re slapping me to wake me up after I pass out? 🤣😎
Filed under Health, Paul, Photography, Writing
No Context For You – October 26th
The things we take for granted…
Something works. Then it doesn’t. And it’s a pain to fix it.
No matter how careful or skilled we are, even “fixed” it’s not quite the same. It’s close, and you’re grateful to not have to deal with the moderate to severe issues from when it was broken.
You probably don’t even notice it at first. Because it was “fixed!” If something were still seriously off, well, then you would keep working on it. Until it’s “fixed!”
But at some point you realize that it’s not the same. Maybe the health app on your phone or watch gives you an odd, totally unexpected notice. Maybe the door that used to swing shut tightly with just a feather touch now needs to have some pressure applied to shut and stay shut.
So you adjust. Or maybe you just realize that you’ve already adjusted, you just didn’t realize how much until your phone gives you an odd, totally unexpected notice.
Aware now, coming into tune with the new reality which you didn’t ask for, you pick up your pace, you learn new habits, you start pushing that door, you try to keep the health app on your watch happy.
Or at least, happier.
And you move on. With the occasional, wistful thought for the way it was before. When the things we took for granted were there, and not replaced with the adjustments and compensating habits.
All of which we’ll soon take for granted.
Filed under Deep Thoughts, Paul, Photography
Zillow Listings
Over the past three years or so I’ve looked at a LOT of listings on Zillow. Thousands of them. Possibly ten thousand or more. More of the reasons and story and results some other time, but right now I notice there are a couple of red flags that just really are starting to get on my nerves.
Dear Mr. or Ms. Realtor, let me make sure I have this correct. You want me to put my trust in you and pay someone something between $400,000 and $700,000, with you getting what? 5%? 6%? You want me to let you be my guide through a gazillion details on what will probably be the biggest financial transaction of my life. A complex, detailed transaction that I’ll maybe do once or twice in my life but which you do every day, because you’re the expert, the professional.
And yet…
And yet, when writing and posting the Zillow ad copy, you can’t be bothered to proofread it for spelling errors that should embarrass a third grader? Spelling and grammar aren’t your strong points? Okay, you’re trying to earn a $40,000 payday on this gig, maybe spend $50 on ten minutes of a proofreader’s time. Or at least ask what that red, squiggly line right there means in Microsoft Word.
Perhaps it’s not an outright deal killer, but it does not instill confidence.
These drone shots are gorgeous and that spectacular sunset is a wonder to behold!
Until, of course, you realize that that exact same sunset, or at least its AI cousin, is in every! single! listing! And if you know anything about computers and software these days, you realize that the latest version of Photoshop has a pushbutton feature that will add that sunset skyline to any photo. I’m sure that there are some spectacular sunsets in the upper desert. But this isn’t one of them.
In fact, if you look through the rest of the pictures for this particular house, you’ll find this:
Now look closely at the first picture with the fake sunset, down at the bottom where the bright sun is casting shadows of that iron fence on the ground beneath and between the tumbleweeds. Those look exactly like the shadows in the lower picture, cast by the bright sun overhead some time around mid day. Yet the sun is supposed to be setting on the far horizon…
It’s not AI, it’s not a rendering with some decent software that will adjust the shadows and other effects of perspective. It’s a Photoshop plug-in that darkened everything to make it look like dusk, added the sun and purple-pink sunset clouds, and make all of the windows yellow, a so-so first attempt to make them look like there were lights on in the house. But that’s it.
I get it. It’s advertising. And I know that these days a lot of the interior pictures are “digitally staged” with fake furniture and wall decorations and paintings. Which makes me immediately ask, “What else has been digitally ‘enhanced’?” Are there stains and wear on the carpets or floors that have been removed? Are there stains or holes or damage that have been “removed?” Are the appliances or ceiling fans “digital enhancements?”
The other thing that I know is done is that the interior pictures are taken with an ultra wide angle lens, making the rooms look MUCH bigger than they truly are. That’s been striking when we’ve actually looked at places in person. Having poured over a few dozen pictures of a place I really liked, seeing it in person was disorienting at first. It was the house I had been looking at for months – but it wasn’t.
I don’t think there are a lot of regulations on what’s allowed and what’s not in terms of “truth in advertising” on these ads. At the far extreme, sure, you can’t actually show a different house or rooms that just don’t exist. But I don’t think anyone shows 100% factual, accurate, “normal” photos with no manipulation used.
Which is why when the time comes to be ready to push the button, we’re going to go physically walk through a lot of houses. (Probably not ten thousand plus!)
Filed under Forever Home, Paul
No Context For You – September 25th
Somewhere in my addled, pain dulled, too little sleep, getting old sucks brain are some half formed thoughts about this picture. Something about things in transition, in this case trapped halfway between being dusty and dirty and being clean, halfway between being wet and dry, etc. But like the globules of red goo floating around in a lava lamp, those thoughts are just not coming together today.
On a completely different note, November is now five weeks away. November means NaNoWriMo. I had a lot of fun doing it for three years (search for it, some of it didn’t suck for a first draft) and I’m wondering if I’m guanopsychotic enough to try it again with everything else going on.
Of course, we know the answer to that.
Filed under Paul, Photography
Functional With Assistance
“Assistance” in this case being ibuprofen.
Two thoughts:
- Getting old sort of sucks, but (I assume) it’s better than the primary option, i.e., being dead.
- “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got, till it’s gone” – Joni Mitchell
Something simple, like getting up from my desk or chair and walking to the bathroom or kitchen, is one of those simple things in life right up to the point where you can’t do it without being in enough pain that you want to scream and/or pass out. When you get enough “assistance” to be able to do it again at about 75% functionality, even that’s just a joy.
I’ll be fine. It’s just a muscle sprain of some sort. They ran tests to make sure it wasn’t something more serious. Having done that, it’s a RICE routine, “assistance,” come back if any of these horrible things happen, and give us a call if it’s not better in a week or two.
Okey dokey!
I hope that your week is going better than mine. “Adventure” is good, but if I’m going to be in that much pain I want to have done something exciting, stupid, forbidden, evil, sinful, ill advised, or all of the above to remember and savor in return for the punishment and consequences. The fact that it was a day ending in “y” is not sufficient!
Art – August 24th
Balance. I think about it a lot.
On the one hand I can get really, really focused. Which can be good, it gets things done.
On the other hand, being that focused means that you can miss other problems, other threats, other things that need to be taken care of and might be just as important. Which can be bad, it leads to mistakes.
I sometimes get to where I was an hour or so ago and I have nothing for my daily post and I don’t want to take the time. I’m focused. I have no thoughts to share. I’ve used up all of my current pictures. I’m not going to get into the politics or news of the day because that’s a bottomless well of toxic sludge. I just want to stay focused and get things done and off of my plate!
Then I remember. College. Physics major in addition to working full time plus to make ends meet. Focused. Laser focused. I had to take a breadth class and the only thing I could find at 08:00 AM, when I got off work from the graveyard shift, was an Art 101 class. UC Irvine was legendary for “performance art.” (I’m pretty sure I’ve ranted at length about this elsewhere on this site, so search for it. If I haven’t, someone let me know, it’s a fantastic story. For now, just the summary version.) I was skeptical. To say the least. I wanted instructions to follow. I wanted to learn to draw or paint or sculpt or whatever. Get my “easy A” and get out.
As Coach Corso says, “Not so fast, my friend!”
The short version is that I learned to think. I learned to look at problems differently. I learned a skill that I can occasionally click on in my brain, to see things differently, to “think outside the box,” so to speak. And like the old joke about the guy who tells his guru that he’s too busy to meditate for an hour and gets told instead to meditate for two hours, the fact that I didn’t think I could afford the time to play around and come up with something to post tonight meant that I HAD to stop and make that time anyway.
So I did.
Nothing fancy, taking a bit of a generic photo from earlier in the week, transforming it, twisting it, transmorphing it, playing around for a while with this and that, listening to some weird ass music (Erasure, John Michel Jarre, and Enigma primarily) until I got to something that looked cool.
Balance.
A Special Level Of Hell
There truly should be a special level of Hell reserved for software executives who make major upgrades to perfectly functional software with zero warning.
I’m looking at you, Adobe Acrobat.
A program that I use dozens and dozens and dozens of times a day. If I’m churning out reports, easily 100+ files a day. I’ve used it for years, it’s all muscle memory for 99% of what I do, and for that other 1% I’ve got a pretty good grip on how Acrobat is organized so it doesn’t take long to figure out where to go to get something new done.
Until it’s…not.
Until I get a bunch of windows telling me how *new* and *wonderful* and *user friendly* the new version is and how it will make my work so much faster!
Maybe. Maybe once I put a few hundred hours into using it. Maybe once I sit down with some tutorials or “play” with it to first learn how to do the same tasks I already need to do a thousand times a day, then figure out what the *new* and *wonderful* version has that will let me do things so much more efficiently. Design my own menus? Great! (Later!) Set up custom commands and macros? Fantastic! (Later!) Design my own pages! Amazing! (Later!)
Right this second? I need to get my work done and I’m already under enough time pressure so I could swallow a lump of coal and shit out a diamond. So when tasks that normally take 3-4 minute now take 8-10 (or more) minutes, I’m not happy. When I have to stop and think and hunt and learn with almost every keystroke to do even the most fundamental tasks all freakin’ day long, I’m less than impressed.
The one and only saving grace, and thank god I glimpsed something about it and I remembered seeing it so I had a chance of hunting for it and finding where it was hidden, was a command something like “Turn off new version.” Hit that, pray for the best, and suddenly my fingers don’t feel broken and useless and misguided anymore.
So today went better, at least on that front. And then when I was working through something this evening my screen was hijacked and Adobe wanted to know if pretty please, wouldn’t I like to take a short survey to tell them *WHY* I was foolish and blind enough to roll back their interface, why I was so much of a Luddite that I would abandon the spectacular, new, and wonderful benefits of the new version? This was critical! They needed to know!
Boy, did I tell them!
They had limits on how much text I could put into the response boxes, so they didn’t get ALL of the comments above. Just the highlights. Maybe a little more swearing.
Do I want to leave them my phone number and email address so they can contact me if they have any follow up questions? Sure.
I’m praying they have follow up questions!
Filed under Computers, Freakin' Idiots!, Paul
No Context For You – August 22nd
When attacking a problem it’s important to be able to judge when you’re in way over your head and need to call for help.
It’s a skill that I’m working on. I tend to wait way too long. Maybe this will help me learn.
Calling for help was almost an accident today, triggered by me doing something stupid that made me think the problem had suddenly gotten much, MUCH worse. It hadn’t and I soon realized that, but I also realized that I had run out of ideas on the original problem. Since help had been called for by that time, so be it. Let the experts do their work and hope that they didn’t find it was something simple that I had completely overlooked.
It wasn’t. Instead they found a Sarlacc living under the house.
Filed under Castle Willett, Paul, Photography
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 