The Present

In the last heave of June 26, the power switch was flipped on, a minute to midnight. I was activated. Cue this:

YouTube Link

1. Flipped on the pool filter and Polaris minion.
2. Lit the cauldron of the beans.
3. Initiated two loads of laundry.
4. Kicked off two batches of dishes (queued a third).
5. Unpacked iced foods and put them away in the fridge.
6. Sampled instant Starbucks coffee.
7. Uploaded yesterday's blog post and executed the build sequence.
8. Checked the status of the downed Xfinity Internet connection.

While Xfinity is down, I gotta say, they are on my good side: it surprised us yesterday with a free $200 gift card, which in turn, my wife said, "Happy Hot Day." And thus, for #9, I purchased these off Amazon:

• $30 - JBL Tune 510BT headphones
• $22 - JBL GO2 bluetooth speakers
• $40 - Loke Giant Book of Battle Mats, Volume 2
• $38 - Castles, Crypts & Caverns Books of Battle Mats
• $47 - Loke Towns & Taverns Books of Battle Mats

The Past

I wanted to flesh out my thoughts about the following entry, but it really speaks for itself. That said, it absolutely delights me that I was not a whole lot different at 24 going on 25 than I am at 44 going on 45. And yes, it is not lost on me that I am now talking about the past of when I was talking about the past:

Friday, June 27, 2003

Will I be much different in twenty years? 64 going on 65? Nah...

The Future?

And thus wraps up everything today from midnight to 3AM. Next? "Let's do this, LEEROY JENKINS!"

The Plight of Power

Well, I called it: yesterday morning, I referenced thoughts about power grids and in the evening of that same day, bam, a storm came and flipped the switch off for everybody.

Yesterday around noon after I heard the forecast of a storm in context to the 120℉ heat index, I knew to charge up my ol' MacBook. Just had a feeling that would come into play. And thus, I write, though who knows when I will post this.

Growing up in Bartlett, I don't recall any substantive power outages. A few hours here or there, but nothing particularly memorable or couldn't be resolved by a family ride out to Covington to eat at the Four Seasons restaurant.

As for Memphis, it has a deplorable power network. I do remember going without electricity for a week here, a week there. Hurricane Elvis had a formative impact on how I approached life in 2003. I still recall walking up to my truck in my apartment's parking lot: a tree atop the car to the right of me, a tree atop the car to the left of me and just a dangling light fixture swaying in the wind above me.

The great takeaway from going without power is that it lends itself to some great introspection. The world is silenced. Honestly, once I get over the initial inconveniences, I like living life without power. I start to become intuned to reality. What would like be without power or gasoline? No cars, no jets? What if I walked like my forefathers walked? As it is, I like getting settled into bed at 7:30 PM. I suppose I could punt the whole construct and just use the Sun as my wristwatch.

I'd totally have to up my salted meat game! Incidentally, that is exactly what I was eating when the power went off: prosciutto. As for today, I dare not risk opening the fridge, which is...well...rather limiting on my diet! I did drink coffee this morning. I ground coffee beans with a meat tenderizer, achieved a ~190℉ temperature via a water kettle on a gas stove and used my old IngenuiTea device as I don't have a French press on hand. And it made a superior cup of coffee compared to that gasping Mr. Coffee!

We give up a lot of quality for convenience. It doesn't matter if it's coffee or bread—or CDs. Now, the one drawback of CDs is a near-perfect reproduction of the material. That's just the drawback of digital media. But, you'll find CDs by the crateful at yard sales these days. What do folks want? Streaming convenience with a sound dropoff that is noticeable. But, I get it: we gotta hurry so get back to that dystopian, 1984 screen.

That said, I probably got a little more jollies than I should have as I watched a malfunctioning railroad crossguard up and down all night on traffic.

Fitness

My dutiful watch tapped me on my wrist to get things started at 3 AM. Admittedly, it took me a bit to be acclimated to the heat to be able to sleep. I have been a big proponent of a direct fan since 2002. While I had my workout plan ready to pull, I wasn't sure if it was possible I could refuel afterward. And more critical, I could not bake bread! My gas stove is managed by electricity. There would be no DM playlist for listening.

And that's about as far as my thinking ran until I fell asleep again...only to awake to sharp, shooting pain, the kind that makes me writhe around in bed. Yep, I did it again. For some reason since '22, there will be times when I am in bed when I just want to flex one of my legs. And flex HARD. Well, something gives way and it's intense. My only comfort is to know I've been through this before and I'll get through it now. Hellava alarm clock. Who needs power?

Ahh, no bread today...I think. My DnD DM session is this afternoon, so I don't think I'll run through a romp through the kitchen...or will I? I had planned to pause today, but, who knows? Proactive Man!

I slept in. Not to 3 AM. No, this Sunday morning, I slept in to FIVE in the morning. It felt luxurious! Sure beats minutes past midnight anyway. And yet, I felt like I was running behind. No workouts or anything on the docket. But, I understand how critical the morning is in shaping my day. I recognize the value that the morning provides, that other segments of the day do not lend themselves toward mining rich content. Don't let the moment slip away.

Sometimes the night robs the morning. However, I only extended a late session by watching one lecture with my son from Wonderium's 30-episode World War II: A Military and Social History. It is a fantastic series. It is not my first run through the courses, as I recall grabbing the audio version to listen in the car down to West Monroe in 2019.

I get a taste of that camo'd space in Louisiana every time I visit the Bass Pro Shop at the Pyramid. Perhaps it is a glimpse inside my alternate timeline.

It's funny: the older I get, the more I wish I chose an analog life over this digital outcome. I was rare in those days. Today, Apple markets a pair of silly VR goggles for 3500 bucks—sorry, "spatial computing" goggles. Honestly, I'd find more value in how to clean a duck and skin a buck. I thought more about power grids when I lived in Alaska, but it has always been in the back of my head.

Lately, I've had a hankering for hobbies. Like, to learn something new...or to build a model of something. One thing that hit me the other day was how could would it be if I had a real to-scale train running through the house, like a track with tunnels through the drywall? Not now, of course. Maybe that's something in my 15-year bucket.

I have been reticent about learning something new—well, buying into learning about something new. The thing is, that's a lost opportunity—whatever it was. I have resurrected my interest in baking bread. It was really something I did (poorly) on a whim one day in Alaska. There's really nothing to it, but I am glad I've got that stashed away in my toolbox.

What else is out there?