Post Labor Day post

I hope I have caught up with my suddenly chatty colleagues...

Ha, Ha, define "chatty."  Joke's on you!  Seems to me that there is a lack of will to keep up with the posting business.  I'll not speculate on possible reasons but things change and grow and if it's time to move on, it's time to move on to other things.  Fair enough?

catching up with the gang

 Well it's great to see the old gang back together in a flurry of posts critiquing the Zeitgeist of these days and their place in it.  Good to see The Scourge return and showing that he is not just after cleansing errors from small potatoes, but is willing to also take on big political websites like The Hill.  And naturally I don't think I agree with his characterization of Beagles and I seeing only in black and white.  Some topics, like Trump, have no grey.  And isn't he himself seeing Beagles and myself only in black and white?  We have depth Man, no really.

The worst thing for me about smartphones is their tiny screen and my big fat clumsy fingers.  Not so hot for doing anything complicated.  Not so good for outgoing which I generally save for the computer when I get home, but pretty good for incoming, pretty good for catching up on the news, which I do way too often.  A shiny object for idle moments which might be better spent on plumbing the mysteries of the cosmos, but where did that ever get anybody anyway?

It's great for nuisance calls however.  It blocks many of them.  I see the number and name if it's somebody I know.  If it's no name then I won't pick up.  I can push a button and they get this little message to state their business.  They usually hang up at this point, but every now and then they turn out to be someone I want to talk to and then I pick up.

That NASCAR race, well naturally I look down my nose at the sport and its adherents.  When they had the first one I was afraid that there would be all this racket, though I admit that State Street right below me is rife with ambulances and fire trucks, which is ok they are performing city services, but also hot rods and motorcycles and those three-wheeled thingies that blast music (though I am developing an appreciation for them, it is music).

But it turned out this far north I never heard a thing.  It would be ok if we made a lot of dough, but the last mayor made a sweetheart deal so I don't know if we even broke even.  And whenever we have one of these things, and we have them all summer, Grant Park becomes a maze of cyclone fences and teenagers at minimum wages bossing us around in their adenoidal voices, don't go here, don't go there.  I don't mind when it's Lollapalooza with the Lolla babes strutting their stuff downtown which rakes in badly needed dough, but NASCAR, and that dreadful Air and Water show, I would be happier without them.

I hope I have caught up with my suddenly chatty colleagues, and I hope to hear from you after the weekend.  

Being Old Ain't What it Used to Be

 I agree with Uncle Ken that kids nowadays don't care what old people say.  I suppose most kids were always like that, but I wasn't like most kids.  I always preferred the company of adults, older the better, to the company of other kids, except for girl kids of course.  Indeed, I usually got along better with the girl's parents than I did with the actual girl.  Of course this was counterproductive, but before I realized that I was too old to do anything about it.  Funny how you can be so smart about some things and so dumb about others.

I remember that Pepsodent jingle, but I don't remember that particular commercial.  I also don't remember all those chemicals being in toothpaste.  The only one I remember is stannous fluoride.  Crest was the first one to have it, but now they all have it.  There are lots of other chemicals that are supposed to do all kinds of wonderful things to your teeth, but I don't like any of them.  I use Sensodyne with just fluoride added, and my wife likes her Crest the same way.

I still don't have a credit card, I have a debit card instead.  It comes free from our credit union, and it draws off of our checking account.  My wife prefers to use checks, so she carries the checkbook in her purse while I carry the card in my wallet.  

I have one of those flip phones too.  I don't think it qualifies as a smart phone, but it's still smarter than I am.  I mostly use it to call the regular phone company when our regular phone is out of order, and I carry it when I'm away from home in case of an emergency.  Did you know there are no pay phones around anymore?

My computer had been glitching on me for some time before it just stopped working one day.  Also, I got a notice from Microsoft that they were going to stop supporting my Windows 10 operating system next year, and that my machine was not suitable for an upgrade to Windows 11.  Since I only paid $200 for it eight years ago, I couldn't see putting any more money into now.

Another Thursday

New and Improved Post with IMP!

What a commercial!  I don't remember any of the details but the tune brought back memories but I never did find out exactly where the yellow went.  I couldn't help but notice that you are never told what IMP is;  it was only a lucky guess that I found out it stood for "Insoluble Meta-Phosphate."  And they completely skipped over irium and its ionic surfactant goodness.  But that's advertising for you, a little misdirection to make you want to part with your precious treasure.

But there was something screwy about the link, I don't know if it was the link or my computer/browser.  I couldn't get it to open, I kept getting the YouTube message "this video is not available."  Good thing that The Wayback Machine is still in business.

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Speaking of computer screwiness, Mr. Beagles mentioned that his computer died.  Any idea of the cause or symptoms?  I have a scattershot familiarity with computer hardware and their deaths are always intriguing.  Were you able to save the data from your old box?  I don't want to get deep into the weeds but you mentioned you needed to go to a certain store; nothing at Walmart or Amazon that would do the trick?  Pro tip when shopping at Amazon: add the word "refurbished" after the name of the item you're looking for.  There are deals to be had.

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I have no opinion of smart phones; my cheapo "pay as you go" flip-phone still serves me well since I use it only for phone calls and sometimes as an alarm clock.  When I'm out and about and see all the folks with their devices held in their hands I picture them on leashes, just waiting for further instructions.  They always respond immediately when summoned.

Mr. Beagles shows good financial wisdom in his use of credit cards.  A big downside of Capitalism as practiced in these parts is the slippery slope of consumer debt.  You think you can easily pay your balance off but it doesn't always work out that way; you're in over your head before you know it and don't ask me how I know this.  Now I'm fine with only two credit cards (not counting Target; they give a 5% discount).  One card is for online purchases, the other is for the rare purchases that require more cash than I usually have on hand and I never carry them unless I know I'm going to use them.  And they're paid off every month, in full.  I like to have a nice wad of walking around money but I can't always get to one of my bank's ATMs.  And isn't it nice that some police stations have ATMs in case you need some quick dough to make your bail?  Or so I've been told.

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And just so Uncle Ken doesn't look like some rube, it's Pizzeria Due, not Duo.  Back in the day, about 50 years ago or so, Due's pizza was supposed to be the better pie but don't ask me, I don't think I've ever been to Uno's.
 

New and Improved Post with IMP!

 How long have I had a smartphone now?  I am inclined to say five years, but I have noticed that whenever I say something happened five years ago, it turns out to be ten.  So let's say ten.

Well of course I have reached the age where I pretty much don't like anything new.  TV's were new when we were kids.  Sometimes in the rare occasions when I am among young people, in order to get a little attention from them, to get them to raise their pimply faces from their phones, I will say "You know I remember back to when almost nobody had a television,"  It never works though because kids are never interested in anything old folks have to say, and I know that because I was once a kid.  

But it was different when we were kids, old folks then were stodgy.  We are not like that, we are hip and with it.  We aren't the old old folks of yesterday, we are the new old folks of today.   

New, it was the buzzword of advertising back in the day.  Every product we saw in commercials on our new TVs, was New.  New and Improved, New and improved and containing IMP!   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOhfGezdcXU

I didn't like the new smartphones.  Who wants to be available to callers even when they are out having some kind of exciting adventure?  Phone calls were no longer the exciting events of my childhood, they were mostly annoying, some boring task, some long-winded boring pal, nothing that couldn't be taken care of when I got home.  Who needed them?  At first you get a little credit for hanging back from the latest trend, like a amiable eccentric, oh that Ken.

But after awhile that credit dissipates.  You are supposed to meet somebody somewhere like an airport and they say, once you get there they will call you and tell you where to go next, and you say I don't have a cellphone. and they are Well fer Chrissake, and you are no longer amiable, you are annoying.

Like calling somebody and it just rings and rings and you are waiting for the machine to come on so that you can leave your message, but at some point you realize the machine is never coming on because they don't have one.  So now, instead of leaving your message and being about your merry way, you have to remember to call them later and hope they are home, and if they are not you will have to call them again and so on and so on.  What a pain in the ass.  Why doesn't this jerk get with it?

In Chicago there is a Pizzeria Uno and a Pizzeria Duo just about a block from each other.  One afternoon I was supposed to meet my sister at Uno, but she never showed up, what the hell?

Later I learned that it was supposed to be Duo.  When time had passed and no Ken, she thought maybe I was at Uno.  She had her smartphone with her so she called there and asked if there was anybody there that looked like Santa Claus wearing a Cub jacket, and they said no.  Well you know those people, they don't give a fuck.

The next day I went out and bought a smartphone.  More on that later.

Phones, Gays, Etc.

 We don't have an answering machine, or a smart phone either.  Nothing against them, but we use our phone so little that we don't see the need for added features that we will never use.  I liked it better before the answering machines came along anyway.  If you called someone and there was no answer, you knew you had to call them back.  With the machines, you don't know if they didn't get the message or if they just don't want to talk to you.  If they don't call you back, then you need to call them again.  But how long should you wait before you do that?  I suppose one advantage might be that you could let the machine handle all the spammers and scammers.  But what fun would that be?  Then again, it's not as much fun now since I have resolved not to abuse them with obscene ethnical insults.  Maybe I should rethink this matter.  

I had a credit card once, but they cancelled it after I had it for a year and never used it.  Many years later, I got a debit card because they wouldn't sell me satellite service without one.  I didn't think I would ever use it, but I did and still do.  It's no more trouble that writing a check, and lots of places seem to prefer it.  

All other factors being equal, I am not inclined to vote for a gay or trans person, although I might consider it if there was another important issue involved.  I don't think that gays should be persecuted or anything like that, but that doesn't mean I have to vote for them.  Tolerance is not the same thing as approval. 

We gave all our old vinyl records to my daughter and granddaughter since they already had collections of them.  We had an old rickety portable phonograph, and we gave that away too.  We would like to find a good home for our VHS collection as well, but we don't know anybody who has a working player.  Ours died and they stopped making them some years ago.  I understand you can still find used ones on the market, but they want too much for them and you can't find parts for them or anybody who wants to service or repair them.  We could use the extra space to store our CDs and DVDs, but it seems a shame to just throw those old tapes away.  

An August post

I noticed something in that article about RFK, Jr. that Uncle Ken copied and pasted from The Hill.  They misspelled the name of that New York steakhouse, something other online sources did not do, even as they copied the same source material from, I think, The New Yorker.  So, maybe The Hill isn't as trustworthy a source as some folks might think.  A little further research surprised me with the extent of RFK, Jr.'s drug use in his past.  Heroin is a little too much, don't you think?

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Seems to me that as time goes by our differences become more glaring.  I don't think we are on the same page; it seems like you guys like things in black & white, you're either on this side or that side, no middle ground.  The Old Dog lacks that clarity of vision, all that is visible are shades of gray.  I think it was Mr. Beagles that mentioned he wasn't going to vote for some guy because he was openly gay.  What does that really mean?  Would he gladly vote for him, maybe even volunteer for his campaign, if he would stay in the closet?  None of my business, of course.  We can vote however we want, for whatever reason, right?

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I read a while back that "once you're over the hill you pick up speed," and I heartily agree.  There was a somewhat recent definition of "old age" and it begins at 75 years old, a milestone I hit last year.  The funny thing is I don't feel old at all except for the inevitable physical deterioration we probably share.  And there's a lot that can be done about that; not easy but doable, and that's a rabbit hole that can wait for another day.

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Sometimes words are mere playthings and I wonder if you guys are familiar with the Japanese word "shouganai."  One of the meanings is "If there's nothing you can do about it, don't waste time being angry or worrying about it."  I find comfort in that concept as the entertaining spectacle of this election year continues to unfold but next week is the Democratic National Convention and who knows what's going to happen here in Chicago.

And speaking of entertaining spectacles, that NASCAR race downtown was excellent, some of the best racing I've seen if you can ignore the rain.  It was better than I expected with none of that droning in a big circle.  The speeds were low, not much over 100mph but that was okay, and no dramatic crashes, only some fender benders.  And the video coverage was stunning, I thought, with normal traffic and pedestrians visible in the background.

Last year I said, "There is something delightfully absurd and surreal about the whole situation, very much in keeping with the wacky zeitgeist of Chicago."  I think I was right.  Too bad that it's so expensive to attend, more than $100 for a one-day pass.  I don't think so.

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Do you guys still listen to vinyl?  There's a couple of good record stores near me and I scored a couple of oldies, can't wait to hear them once I get my turntables calibrated for the proper speed.  The years have not been kind to the rubber belts but soon I'll be listening to The Best of Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.  Also found a VHS copy of Zulu with Michael Caine and I'm curious to see how it holds up.  Plenty of fun to be had here at The Geezer Chateau!

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I'll close with a bit of modern weirdness, luxury dog perfume:

https://boingboing.net/2024/08/05/luxury-fashion-brand-launches-100-perfume-for-your-dog-spurring-an-rspca-warning.html

Maybe it's a fake site but are we not entertained?