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Getting Rid of Stuff and More Updates for 2022

2022

Hi. It’s me again. I hope you all had a merry holidays and a festive new year. We didn’t do much to celebrate or put up decorations or whatever you’re supposed to do.

In fact, we hardly decorated at all. We did put up a tree, which was nice. But we didn’t do much to the outside of the house.

I’m not that disappointed about it. Nobody else was either. It was just something we didn’t do this time.

The kid was happy anyway. Santa still dropped by and he got a lot of stuff he desperately needed (sarcasm, in case you can’t tell) and his mom got a couple things too. So did his grandparents. I got one or two things as well.

But really, I didn’t need much of anything. Sure, I made an Amazon wishlist or whatever, but that was just because H insisted. I didn’t really want anything for Christmas.

I’ve got more “stuff” than I really need.

One of my “problems” is this: If I’m interested in something, a hobby or something work-related, I’ll go deep into it and get the required tools or whatever, to perform the task or function I need to perform. Basically, I want the right tool for the job.

This tends to mean I end up with a lot of stuff. Sure, I use most of it (some of it every day) but it also means other stuff just sits there unused, or is only used sporadically.

Or, let’s face it, not at all after the first day, week, month, etc. That happens too. I burn out on hobbies sometimes, but the stuff is still there. And I’ve been doing this for years. So yeah, I end up with a lot of stuff.

I should really get rid of some of it.

I’m sure to some of you this “problem’ doesn’t sound too bad. And I know I’m very fortunate to have this problem at all and to afford to enjoy hobbies and acquire tools as I need/want them. I get that.

But that’s not really the point of this exercise. The point is I have too much stuff and will need to take appropriate steps one of these days before there’s no room left for the rest of us.

I’m joking, mostly. It won’t get that bad. I’m not a hoarder. You’re a hoarder. Anyway . . .

There’s other business.

The Flickcast podcast is going great. We’ve got over 400 episodes so far! How about that? If you don’t know, I co-host and produce a podcast called The Flickcast.

It’s all about stuff nerds love. It’s fun and you should definitely check it out.

We’re also working on new guests and some changes for the podcast, which I’m excited about. 2022 should be a great year for the show. Fingers crossed.

• I’m still on Twitch Sunday nights playing D&D with the Whiskey & Waffles gang. It’s also fun and you should check it out too. Although, I won’t be on this weekend due to, well, keep reading.

• I’ve also updated my business website and have been offering prints of my photography for sale. A couple people have even purchased prints. I greatly appreciate that.

• And now, to bury the lead (my High School journalism teacher would not be happy with me). Our kid went back to school in-person a little over a week ago and, of course, that means I got something. Not sure if it’s COVID or a cold or what it is, but it’s definately something.

Good luck finding a COVID testing center appointment anywhere in the next few weeks, though. I sometimes forget Austin is in Texas where the GOP and our “governor” are real pieces of shit and seemingly do whatever they can to make this pandemic worse for people. I just want a test. Why are many of the testing centers closed now?

COVID isn’t over, FFS. Maybe we should let testing centers stay open and allow for virtual school options? Probably a good idea.

I did order home test kits. Let’s see if they arrive . . . ever. Maybe I should just wait for the Biden Admin to send out test kits? I’m sure that’s going to happen real soon now. I won’t hold my breath.

How many years has this pandemic been going on and we still don’t have home tests or adequate supplies of masks, etc.? Greatest country in the world? Maybe. But right now, I gotta say, I’m not impressed.

Fortunately, my symptoms of whatever this is are relatively mild. So if it is COVID, it seems my triple dose of Pfizer vaccine is doing its job. Hopefully this trend continues. I think it will.

Everyone in my house is vaccinated to the fullest extent, too. So whatever I have hopefully won’t be a problem for them. Meantime, I’m mostly staying in my office and sleeping in the guest room until I feel better.

And, if I do need to venture outdoors I’m masking with my dwindling supply of N95s and keeping my distance, just like I have been for the last 20 months plus. I do try to minimize my exposure to others as much as I can. But really, I did that before the pandemic too so . . . yeah.

If you’re worried about me, first off, I appreciate it. Thanks very much. I’m sure I’ll be fine. I have the benefit of modern science on my side. Which is nice.

If only everyone (or enough of you) thought so too. This all might have been over sooner. Alas . . .

Okay. Rant over. Thanks for reading. See you on the other side.

Happy 2020

Well, friends, we made it. It’s the new year and with it new opportunities to do things right. Or, better. Or, whatever. You get the idea. It’s new, okay?

With all that’s going on in the world, and I won’t get too much into that now, I admit I’ve taken some time to reflect and maybe practice a bit of what the kids call “self care.” In other words, I’ve taken some time off from this site and, to be honest, from a lot of other things too.

But now, here I am. Ready? Cool, let’s get to it.

I’m not a person who makes resolutions when new years roll around. I think it only leads to eventual disappointment when you can’t keep them. I do, however, try to think of one or two things I would like to do differently, or be better at, in the new year.

I want to expand my skills and knowledge as much as possible. And I think that’s a good thing. Not just this year, but every year. Every day, if possible.

So, what are the areas I would like to improve in 2020? Well, glad you asked. For one, I’m going to stop hiding. I don’t know a better word for it, so I’ll just use that one. I’ve been hiding.

It’s not like I’ve withdrawn from society completely and am currently filling jars with my urine and stacking them neatly in the corner of my bedroom. I still go places and see people and whatever. I’m just not as engaged in all of it as I used to be and I definitely don’t do it as often.

In fact, I find myself trying to avoid it a lot of the time, for no real reason other than I’d rather stay home and being around other people is a lot of work. You have to talk and listen and pretend to care about what they’re saying. Who has time for that? I’m exaggerating, of course. But you get the idea.

I’ve also stopped exercising and most of the work on my various writing and photography projects. My book has been at about 45000 words for the last six months, at least. I need to get back to it and back out to the trails to hike or, at the very least, clear the clothes hanging on the treadmill and walk a bit. Gotta move, man!

There’s a lot of reasons for the hiding, but let’s just say it’s a lot of personal shit and I won’t really get into it. The real take away here is I’m aware of the problem and I’m going to try to fix it.

No. I’m going to fix it. Yoda doesn’t like it when you say “try,” and he was a Jedi master, so I guess I’ll listen to him.

The second area I’m going to put in some word on is dealing with anger and frustration. The current situation we have in this country has caused me a great deal of frustration and anger. I see things going in a direction I don’t think is healthy and I often feel powerless to do anything about it. I’m sure many of you feel the same way.

I don’t know exactly how to fix the country (cough cough impeachment cough cough) but I do know I can deal with my anger and frustration a lot better than I do. So, I will.

New 2020 Chris will not let things get to him as much and will not dwell on the total asshats currently in charge in Washington. Or with the idiots on social media spouting their bullshit or with any random stranger (or friend for that matter) saying stupid shit.

I will be tolerant and discuss issues in an intelligent and adult manner. Or, I’ll block their ass. But whatever I do, I’ll do it calmly and without frustration or anger. I’ll be fucking Zen about the whole damn thing. I know it won’t be easy, but it needs to happen.

Well, that’s it. This was fun, at least for me. I hope you got something out of it too.

Who knows, perhaps you’ll join me in selecting one or two areas of personal change for yourself? Or you can just go through 2020 being the same asshole you always were.

Either way, we’re cool.

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year

die-hard-ho-ho-ho-1

For most of you, today is Christmas. For some others, it’s just a Thursday. For that first group, I hope you get everything you asked for this year, and one or two things you didn’t.

After all, what fun would it be if you just got everything you asked for. You gotta have a few surprises in life. Christmas is a great time for surprises.

I didn’t ask for too much this year and I was lucky enough to get everything on my list. The truth is, though, all I really wanted was for my family to be healthy and happy, especially our youngest member. His health and happiness is my first priority. I guess I must have been pretty good in 2014 because I’m happy to report he’s doing great.

Sure, 2014 had a few rough spots (very rough, let’s face it) but those times haven’t dampened my enthusiasm, or my optimism, for 2015. In short, I’m looking forward to the new year and all it will bring.

Until the new year, though, I’m going to pass the time enjoying a few of my favorite holiday movies. I’ll give you a couple guesses what some of those might be. You can also hear Joe and I discuss our favorite holiday movies, and whatnot, on the latest episode of The Flickcast.

Happy Christmas and best wishes for a spectacular 2015!

Don’t worry, I’m not only watching action movies during the holidays. This one has almost no action at all, except the bedroom kind. Plus, it has Rick from The Walking Dead and Hans Gruber from Die Hard. That’s gotta count for something.

Happy 4th to One and All

captain-america-4th

Well, to those of you in the United States at least. The rest of you? Happy Friday.

Hey, that’s great too. I love Fridays. The day, not the restaurant. The restaurant kinda sucks, truth be told.

Anyway, that was a bit off topic. We will be celebrating our nation’s independence by doing almost nothing. That’s right, I’m not even going to fire up the barbeque.

Does that make me un-American? I think not. We’re just using today to rest up for the rest of the weekend. I can assure you we will be consuming mass quantities of BBQ, and related, over the next couple days. Plus, there’s probably gonna be some adult beverages in the mix too. It happens.

Enjoy your weekend.

Google Glass Meets Beer Glass

saint-patricks-day-beer

In honor of St. Patrick’s day (on Sunday, you drunks), some enterprising folks thought about what it would be like to use Google’s Glasses during the holiday. Naturally, they made a video. You can see that below.

In other news, I made another step towards responsible adulthood today. There was a lot of paperwork, phone calls and, unfortunately, some harsh language. But in the end, it all worked out and basically boiled down to writing a big check.

To be honest, it was the biggest one I’ve ever written. And yes, it hurt. . . But only a little.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all. Yes, I think I’ll have a beer. I know I’ve earned it today.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GAd1QDcutc?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

All I Want for Christmas Is . . . Nothing

With both Christmas and my birthday fast approaching, I thought it would be prudent to share some thoughts I have about the holidays that will hopefully answer the question I frequently get asked around this time of year: “What do you want for Christmas and/or your birthday?”

The short answer is I don’t really want anything. That’s right, I don’t want you (or anyone else) to get me anything.

Confused? Allow me to elaborate.

I don’t need anything — The truth is I already have pretty much everything I need. If I do really want or need something I don’t already have, I’m extremely fortunate enough to be in the position to just go ahead and buy it for myself.

If there is something I haven’t already bought that I really want, it’s probably very expensive and definitely not something I would ever expect anyone to buy for me. Or, as it is in a lot of cases, I just don’t need it that bad and am willing to go without.

I already have too much stuff — In fact, I’m really trying to downsize the amount of stuff I already have, so adding new stuff is not really a priority. Plus, I am currently looking for a new place to live, which may or may not have more space than I currently have, so I really can’t be adding a lot of new until that’s sorted out.

Although, even if I did end up with a lot more space, I would likely still be trying to downsize. The simple fact is I realized a few years ago I can live with less. It was a terrific realization and I’ve tried to stick with it. So far, I’ve been pretty successful.

I could go on with more reasons, but those are the big ones. I have a good life and I’m thankful for it. I’m also extremely satisfied with the current quantity and quality of “things” in my life.

Although, if someone did want to buy me one of these, or one of these, or one of these (perhaps all three?), I might find a way to make an exception.

Until then, I’m just gonna sit over here on my more than adequate pile of stuff.

Resolutions: Another Viewpoint

In a previous post, I expressed my desire to make at least one resolution to end 2011. Sounded like a good idea a the time.

However, there’s also this:

Resolutions  candh

I’ll leave it to you to decide which one is more appropriate.

See you in 2012.

Christmas 2011

Yes, it’s Christmas. . . at least for those of us who celebrate it. If you don’t, have a great Sunday. For the rest of us: Merry Christmas! I hope you got everything you wanted and only a little bit of what you deserve.