Ramblin' Man

[Aberzombie]

It's also the birthday of a former coworker, Mr. Jim. He's in his early 60s. A solid dude, and one of the people I liked most at my old employer. I'm still in touch with him, and sent him a "happy birthday" text this morning.

He got let go the same day as me, which actually pissed me off more. He's only a few years from retirement, and that douchebag of a company screwed him over like that.

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Not much planned for today. I do want to go over to Lowe's at some point. Mainly, I want to pick up some lightbulbs. I know they'll have the ones I want. However, I also think it would be fitting to wander a hardware store on my father's birthday. I think he'd have liked that.

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I might also do a load or two of laundry. Not as much of that to do with the kids out of school and me out of work. We're hardly going anywhere, so the kids mostly stay in their PJs all day.

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I will, at some point, put on Return of the King. Got to finish out the trilogy.

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I watched Two Towers last night. I love the Battle of Helm's Deep. So well done. And I love when the Ent's lose their s#@t and attack Isengard.

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It was around 9:30 when I finished up with Two Towers, and I thought "What could it hurt to continue my rewatch of Person of Interest? Just one episode."

Three episodes later, it was close to 11:30. Way past my bedtime. Worth it, though, since I was able to finish up Season 3.

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I think I'll definitely try to do a bit of cataloging today as well. Maybe even some bagging and boarding.

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And, of course, a bit of mapping.

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I'm looking at another of my threads, and the recent conflagration that started their. I see one person's attempt to inflame the situation further and can't help but think "Pot meet kettle."

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Ah well, not much you can do about people determined to be buttheads.

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It's another gloomy morning outside. Cloudy, but with a nice breeze. I think we're supposed to get cooler overnight and into tomorrow. Then stay cold for a few days, but be back up to warm temps by the end of the week.

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And, dumbass that I am, accidently ran my newer compression sleeves through the dryer. You're supposed to let them hang dry. Sadly, I did the same thing to my older compression sleeves and compression socks just earlier this week. Swore I'd be more careful, then wasn't.

Stupid old man brain.

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I'm suddenly seeing rumors that apparently the current "creative" team behind the abomination that Star Trek has become have expressed interest in rebooting the original series, but with (and I quote) “storytelling values we have today.”

Good lord. What won't they take from us? Or at least try to taint the memory of.

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My trip to Lowe’s is done. Lunch has been eaten. Some dishes have been washed. And now I’m about an hour into Return of the King.

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They just introduced Denethor. My introduction to the great John Noble.

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THE BEACONS ARE LIT!! GONDOR CALLS FOR AID!

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sigh

Sometimes, and a-hole is just an a-hole. And far too often, there’s more than one.

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Over the years and many times watching Return of the King, I’ve gained new appreciation for the scene where Faramir and his troops charge Osgiliath while Pippin sings to Denethor. Even though it wasn’t in the books like that, the scene was masterfully crafted.

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One thing I’ve always thought - they made Shelob too small. It’s probably just me, but I always got the impression she was much larger than even a man. At least about the size of a fully grown male elephant. Maybe slightly larger

Nevertheless, the battle between Her Ladyship and Samwise is epic.

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GROND CRAWLED ON.

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Did something a bit different with my chicken kabobs tonight. A different marinade from my book. This one is called Spicy Cajun. I mostly picked it because I had most of the spices already, but cut out the salt. I’m trying to cut back on that stuff.

The chicken was a bit overcooked (better safe than sorry, as far as I’m concerned), but tasted good. I also put some onions and peppers on the skewers.

Even the daughter liked it.

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Now I’m watching a bit of Batman. Once this current episode is done, I think I’ll catalog some comics.

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Well, it's Monday.

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The last Monday of the year 2025. A most wretched year, at least towards the end.

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I texted back and forth a bit with one of my former coworkers yesterday. This was the guy having a birthday (same as my dad's). He was telling me he felt bad because he hadn't done anything to really look for a new job. Asked me how I was doing.

So I told him I'd applied to several jobs, but only received two rejections. Also mentioned the news my brother shared with me that my old company (from when I first moved here) might be hiring again soon, due to a big job they're supposedly getting.

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The other day, I mentioned how one of the things my father taught me was working on a car. He really taught us all that, but I think I was the last of the brothers to do extensive work on his own vehicles (not so much anymore).

Anyway, on FB I made mention of a time when my father had to help me with replacing a belt. We spent a good 15 or 20 minutes trying to figure out how to loosen things up to get that belt off. Finally, in an "ah ha" moment, my father realized the wheel the belt went around had a hole in it. When that hole was aligned a certain way, it revealed a bolt that could be loosened, which then allowed other things to be loosened and the belt to come off.

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And that brings me to more modern times. My son will soon turn 15, and can start the process of learning how to drive. I'm heavily considering teaching him how to do certain basic things to a vehicle.

How to change a tire is obvious, of course. Same with being able use one vehicle to jump start another. How to check oil. How to make sure your battery has water. Adding wiper fluid. Little things like that.

However, I'm also considering teaching him some more in-depth stuff (that I nevertheless consider to still be basic): Oil change, spark plug change, air filter change. Changing out brake lights and/or headlights. Maybe even how to change a belt.

I think these are things every man should know. It seems like society is rapidly moving away from men learning these things. Often I see the reason as cars are so complex these days, it's best to let an expert do it. That's a most insidious trap. The same kind that certain other types of people would use, I think, to put us on a certain Road made famous by Hayek.

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Ye gods. That's a lot of words. Far more than I usually put into my posts.

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I saw an article about a recent archaeological of a pleasure boat they think was used by Cleopatra. While the discovery was interesting in an of itself, I was more fascinated by a map included in the article. It showed a modern satellite image of the old port in Alexandria, with what appears to be now sunken or otherwise destroyed structures and landforms from long ago. It gave the port an entirely different look from what is currently in existence. Had me itching to maybe include it in a new map.

I'll probably at least take a screen snip of the map. I do that whenever I find some place interesting. I keep them in a folder called Inspirational Pics.

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Anyway, not much planned for today. Some job hunting, of course. Maybe even a load of laundry. And comic cataloging, of course.

I want to limit my time outside as much as possible. It got cold again last night, but the worst part is the wind. Windy cold is utterly horrid. The most hideous part of that most hideous and evil of all seasons - Winter.

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Happy Tuesday?!?

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For some folk maybe. Not for me.

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If only because (a) it's cold, (b) I'm one more day closer to the end of the year and no more pay, and (c) the ever present aches, pains, and general discomforts I experience every day now.

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On the other hand, the start of a new year can hopefully bring with it new opportunities.

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Then again, those could also be new opportunities for The Universe to screw with my life.

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So maybe 50/50 on 2026 being suckstastic or not too bad. I've long since given up on ever having an actual good year.

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After dinner last night I didn't feel like continuing my rewatch of Person of Interest. So I surfed a bit and found Fatman. I'd seen it once before. It's Mel Gibson as Santa Claus, and some evil little kid has hired a hitman (played by the great Walton Goggins) to kill him. It's a really weird movie, but thoroughly enjoyable.

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Then I watched Person of Interest.

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I also did some more cataloging of my comic collection. I think I've pretty much got it all. Except for a few stragglers, some newer books, and a handful of indie stuff the catalog app didn't recognize.

It's....a lot.

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Today, I'll try to continue with my bagging and boarding efforts.

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I might also take a run over to Walmart. I want to get a small net bag for the washing machine. Something I can put my compression socks and compression stockings in. I think it'll make it easier to remember they don't go in the dryer.

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There was something else I needed at Walmart. Something which I made a mental note of yesterday. Of course, my mental notes seem to be mostly written in mud during a rainstorm.

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I was up at 5 am this morning for my usual morning ritual of medicine and taking the dog out to potty. Tried to go back to sleep afterwards, but couldn't seem to unwind my brain. So I got back up and jumped on the PS5. Vegetated a bit with some Diablo II.

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That third(?) Avatar movie seems to be holding pretty strong at the box office. That makes me weep for the future of good science fiction. Sad thing is, it'll make over a billion dollars, and in another few months no one will be talking about it.

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I saw an article about the latest beer from Sam Adams: 30% ABV. That apparently makes it illegal in 15 states. They're selling it in 24.5 ounce bottles for $240.

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I keep wanting to watch that show Landman, about the oil boom in the Permian. I hear it's pretty damned good. It's on Paramount+ though, so I doubt I ever will. I don't need another streaming service.

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Anyway...time to finish up with my usual morning posts and then go do...other stuff.

I've got to do a bit of job hunting today and hope I find something to apply to. I try to apply to at least one job a day. However, I didn't find anything I wanted to apply to yesterday. If that keeps up, I'll have to start looking further away. That's the last thing I want though...a long commute.

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Huzzah! I applied myself!

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Also, forgot to mention earlier, but I received my PE certificate from North Carolina. Much like with Florida, the certificate is ginormous. Not sure why. Hopefully, it will do me some good.

I have my doubts, however, and won't hold my breath. I've never gotten a single job or job offer because I was licensed in any state.

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My visit to Walmart was fruitful. Picked up a mesh bag for my compression items, as well as restock of my manly vitamins (Men’s One A Day, the age 50+ version). To further my productivity, I stopped off at Chick-Fil-A on the way home and got lunch for everyone. Except the dog, of course.