Snails are very slow.
Here he comes slither slither.
His trail is shiny.
This haiku is brought to you by 10 year old me, published in a school booklet from Manor View Elementary (in Maryland I think) in the 1990-1991 school year.
I was pretty creative back then. I even have some drawings of snails from back then. I guess I went through a phase where I was very interested in them. I wonder if that was before or after the memory I have of eating cooked snails in a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown in NYC.
You ever get antsy and want to switch things up just for the sake of switching things up?
I’m not talking about FOMO, really. I’m sure for some people that pushes decisions. I’m talking more about when you get comfortable and everything is just working the way it should but you start feeling anxious and get the urge to try or do something different just to shake things up a bit.
I fall into this trap by rotating through using different apps or platforms, looking for a different kind of experience, like occasionally reinstalling X or TikTok just to see if things are different there, or when I tried Threads for a while to see what that would be like, but honestly it’s all just more of the same. But if makes me feel like I’m doing something new.
I also fall into this trap with operating systems, bouncing from Windows to Mac OS, to Ubuntu, back to Windows, trying Arch, then Mint, then Bazzite, and then things get comfortable: Mac OS on my laptop, Bazzite on my desktop, iOS on my phone. And then I’m like, what if I tried this new operating system that people say is better, and maybe I’ll install CachyOS and get a quick bit of joy from setting it up and customizing it, and it’ll probably work well for what I need to use it for, but then I’ll probably want to switch back to Bazzite.
Maybe I just like settings things up and customizing them, like when I set up a home server and ran a few websites from it for a while, but never really used those websites for anything in particular. Or when I shuffled the categories for all of the posts on this blog a few years ago. The fun is in the creation and organization rather than the use.
I wonder if I can direct that towards something useful, or if there’s even a need to do that. Maybe a hobby can just be a hobby and a way that I enjoy spending time.
This place has such an interesting name. “Hell Gate Bridge” makes me want to dive into the history of this location, because it sounds so dramatic.
So, why not? Let’s see what WordPress’s AI has to say about it. I’ve never used it before and this seems like a good opportunity to try it out.
The Hell Gate Bridge, completed in 1916, spans the Hell Gate, a tidal strait in the East River between Queens and the Bronx. Its dramatic name is derived from the Old Dutch term “Hellegat,” meaning “bright strait.” The name was originally used to describe the area’s treacherous waters, known for their strong currents and the rocky landscape. Over time, “Hell Gate” evolved into a name that evokes a sense of danger, contributing to the bridge’s imposing identity. Historically, the area has been a significant location for shipping and transportation, making the Hell Gate Bridge a vital link in New York City’s infrastructure.
WordPress AI
Hm. Even the AI thinks the name is pretty dramatic. But that summary is pretty on the nose and anticlimactic. I did ask for a short summary, though. At some point, I need to read through Gotham: A History of New York to 1898 by Edwin G Burrows and Mike Wallace and its sequel. I have both books, well, as audiobooks anyway but I’ve been keeping them on the backburner for years. I keep getting caught up in fantasy and science fiction series, like Fourth Wing, which was recommended by a coworker, and He Who Fights With Monsters, a litrpg series. Litrpg is kind of niche, but I like that it’s the equivalent of reading an MMO video game, which is a genre that I no longer have the time to commit to.
When I was in college I took at least one history class that involved New York City, albeit tangentially. It was about immigration to North America and New York City played a pretty big role in that. I know I learned quite a bit more in that course, but after 12 years what I remember most at this point is that the red light district followed Broadway north as the city expanded. At some point, that movement seems to have gotten stuck around Times Square, because I distinctly remember being a kid in the early 90’s and looking out the window at XXX Peep Show neon signs right across the street from the Olive Garden. Coming to New York City to visit family back then really felt like visiting the city of sin.
I’m hoping the Gotham book series includes more than statistics and dry facts. I want to read real stories about New York history. I want the gossip and drama. That being said, if you have any interest in New York history and are looking for some historical fiction in video form, I recommend a show called Five Points and a movie (which is a classic) named Gangs of New York.
AI generated image, but pretty close to what was actually received.
With the government shutdown stretching into its third week, government employees on a bi-weekly pay schedule received their last paycheck this past Thursday. It was an abbreviated paycheck as well, for only 56 hours instead of a regular 80 hours, because 24 hours of the pay period were in the new fiscal year. Active duty service members received their check on the 15th because of money being diverted from other programs, but there’s no guarantee that there will be more money available on the 1st to cover the next military pay check. Essentially, money is getting short and its time to start cinching our belts.
Federal Credit Unions like USAA and Navy Federal CU have 0% interest loan programs to help cover people’s expenses until they receive their next deposit from DFAS. However, I’ve heard some people saying that they’ve been denied these loans. Apparently, credit scores are being taken into consideration, so some people, and probably those most likely to need assistance, as lower enlisted and younger federal employees generally have lower credit scores, won’t be able to take advantage of these loans. So, there’s still a gap that needs to be filled to keep bills paid and keep food on the table.
The MWR and the chapel on Fort Hamilton (and those who support them) have stepped in to help fill that gap. This past week, the MWR and chapel distributed household goods and groceries to military families and select federal employees who are in an excepted status. Items distributed by the MWR included toilet paper, paper towels, tooth brushes, toothpaste, bars of soap, laundry detergent, frozen pizza, frozen vegetables, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen hash browns, and canned vegetables. Items distributed by the chapel included bags of potatoes, apples, rice, carrots, and onions.
Next week, another program called Blue Star Families will be distributing food to military families and select excepted federal employees, sponsored by Amazon, HelloFresh, and the New York City Department of Veterans Services.
It’s amazing that so many people and organizations are stepping up and making resources available to military service members and excepted federal employees in the Fort Hamilton community. Their efforts are greatly appreciated and go a long way towards easing the burden created by the government shutdown.
I haven’t really posted much or regularly for quite a while and I think it’s not so much for lack of interest, but lack of time and that spark of creativity. Working full time, long commutes, and trying to do errands and fulfill other responsibilities on the weekends is time consuming and draining and it doesn’t do much for creativity. Plus, the last five years or so have been pretty tough with family members and pets passing away. I feel like I’ve spent more time distracting myself than engaging with anything creative or meaningful. I haven’t even gone to the museum in what feels like and probably is years.
This has been an especially weird year for me. I barely did any reading this year, instead turning to podcasts and watching the news. I became obsessed with watching every press briefing, watching Congressional proceedings, and then listening to podcasters talk about the same things that I’d just watched or listened to myself.
As the year wore on, I started to find myself wanting to disengage, so I put away the political podcasts and turned off the news and eased myself back into reading again with Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward series. I wound up rolling through all of those books in about two weeks. It sparked my interest. I guess it sparked joy. I moved right on to Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi, which is the start of another series that I’m currently devouring. It’s also scifi, but it’s a different tone and flavor from Skyward. More mature I guess. The tone of it is like watching old war movies from the 70s.
I spent a lot of the last few years trying to read books for education, personal enrichment, and growth. I burned out on those genres. I realized that when I forced myself to finish Kokoro by Beth Kempton. It wasn’t the right book at the right time for me, even though I think it was overall not a bad read. I’m going to spend the rest of the year glutting on scifi and fantasy books to scratch that itch that got me interested in reading in the first place when I was a teenager. Then I’ll flirt with the heavier stuff again. I guess I just want to stop pushing so hard at things that are serious and try to enjoy life too.
I dumped Threads. The site is being overrun by bots and trash posts that are more attention seeking than informative. Beyond that, it’s a cesspool that was bringing out the worst in me. I’d read a few posts by people talking about how social media was making them feel. Enraged essentially. And I knew intellectually that algorithms on social media platforms are designed to push for engagement, and what’s better at getting people to engage than something that pisses them off? I don’t need that. I’m getting older. I don’t want to waste my time arguing pointless arguments on the internet with people that don’t mean anything to me. I’d rather do things I enjoy and look at things I enjoy. So now I’m down to Facebook (for family), Instagram (for the LOLs), and Reddit (for topic based engagement).
Flipping through Reddit, I noticed that a lot of posts from the Apple page are people joyously announcing that they bought a new Apple device. It feels like they’re buying the device more to feel a sense of inclusion in something rather than because they appreciate the device for what it is. Like people have a desperate desire to feel a sense of belonging and place. I feel like it’s a need that people used to fill with religion, but religion doesn’t do a good job of meeting people’s spiritual needs anymore. Not Western religion anyway, perhaps because of the insistence on faith over reason and perhaps because of the movement that tried to push the idea of biblical inerrancy in the US, rather than recognzing the Bible for what it is: a collection of stories by various authors at various times and places trying to explain the unexplainable. I’ve spent a good amount of time reading about different religions and all of them have flaws, but I thnk it’s important that people are able to committ to something that acknowledges that there is something greater than themselves, something that can provide meaning and context to our lives. I’m still searching and thinking.
Summer is basically on its way out the door. I missed most of it. I spent most of my weekends this summer at home recuperating from the work week. I wanted to go out and ride my bike more this summer. I just couldn’t muster up the will to do it, even though I knew it would be fun. I don’t know what that’s about. Just fatigue I guess? Or maybe I need to work more at prioritizing what I enjoy. Maybe I’ll find a way to work it into my schedule so that I can make a habit of it, for exercise purposes. Even when it gets cold. I have some cold weather workout clothes, if they still fit!
I got a promotion and a few raises this year at work so that’s pretty good, and worth noting. I actually enjoy going to this job. I don’t dread waking up to go to work. That’s winning. The pay is almost up to what I feel like it should be to do what I do, and in a few years I’ll be comfortable there too.
All in all, 2025 has been pretty good to me, especially in light of the last 5 years. I feel like I’m starting to come out of a rut. I’m also excited for Fall and hoping the end of 2025 has that cheerful spirit that seems to have been lacking lately.
It was intresting to me that Disney released three episodes up front, but I think it might have been symbolic of the three storylines that were being told, and it seemed like Cassian’s storyline was unnecessarly drawn out to fit into the 3×3 structure they created. His whole ‘adventure’ on the planet was sort of amusing, but mostly annoying, and doesn’t seem to have added anything to the overall storyline. Maybe I’m wrong and those guys will show up again later on and do something meaningful, but from the way they were portrayed, I really doubt it.
What was more interesting was the three layers of the rebellion they portrayed. First, you have Cassian and Bix, representing the foot soldiers and common people. Second, you have Mon and Luthen, representing the wealthy patrons of the rebellion. Third, you get Dedra and Syril, though that story seems to be mostly about Dedra at this point, representing the complexities of working for the government. There also seems to be an emphasis on class/economic differences, contrasting the struggle on the ground with the ‘struggle’ represented by Tay’s threat at the rave/wedding celebration.
The first three episodes jumped back and forth between Cassian’s, Mon’s, and Dedra’s storylines so you walk away not having seen as much as you think you might have. There were a few things that jumped out at me though. Bix’s encounter with the Imperial inspector was intense. I wonder if this storyline was inserted as a way of alluding to current politics in the US. I don’t recall any previous references to people being on other planets in the Federation/Empire ‘illegally’, or any mention of work visas. It’s been a while since I saw the movies, so maybe I’m wrong, but there seemed to be an effort to equate Bix’s situation with that of illegals in the United States, but it seems like a reach to suggest that illegals are being sexually assaulted prior to deportation. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, though. Another thing I wondered was, is Syril’s mother supposed to be the Jewish mother caricature? And finally, that floating party ball was really banging.
Overall, the show seems to be off to a really good start. I’m enjoying it more than The Last of Us season 2 so far, though I was glad to see the final scene of season 2 episode 2. That dude is getting annoying.
2020 was toilet paper; now it’s the same again but with eggs.
Right before the prices shot up, I bought a dozen free range organic eggs for $8 on sale, I think at H-Mart in Little Ferry, NJ. A week ago, I went to the commissary on Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and all they had left was the generic store brand, not organic, not free range, for $6.94 a dozen. Three days ago, I went to the commissary, and they had no eggs at all, just a sign telling customers that by order of the base commander they could only buy two dozen per person.
I get that lots of chickens have been killed because of bird flu, but given how much the government lied to us over the last four years, I wonder if the bird flu is even real and the chickens were killed in some weird push to get people to eat vegetarian. More Green New Scam nonsense. The beef prices have shot up to double what they were before 2020. Now they’re going for the chickens and eggs. Next they’ll be after our pork. Then we’ll just be eating beans and bugs, I guess. Isn’t that the conspiracy theory that’s been floating around for a few years? Instead of croutons, we’ll have toasted roaches.
Anyway, it’s Valentine’s Day, and Moet & Chandon champagne is a lot stronger than I expected.
