Tag Archives: fiction

A Couple of Things…

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photo of Brandie Carlile in concert

1. I had an excellent 4th row seat for the Brandi Carlile concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl this past weekend. She was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! She has such a strong presence and she’s totally in communication with her audience. And she’s a fan of the BIG notes! I love her so much!! #NewestFan

photo of santa barbara bowl sign

I was able to buy a single seat ticket up near the front via AXS and not the commie rat bastard company Ticketmaster which forces you to buy seats in twos.

Sheldon Cooper

2. I’m sure I’ve mentioned in the past that I’ve been a fan of the Big Bang Theory for many years and I tend to have it on in the background while doing household chores, or working on the computer. One of my all time favorite lines is when Sheldon asks Leonard while dining at Cal Tech’s cafeteria, “Do you know how I know we’re not in the Matrix? To which Leonard asks, “how?” And he says, “If we were, the food would be better.”

3. Typically I do not start a series before they wrap it up with a bow and all episodes are available to binge watch. Unfortunately, it was too late when I realized I made the mistake of starting the 4th season of Reacher while they were still rolling them out week by week. BUT!!! The grand finale was being offered on the big screen along with the premiere episode of Neagley. Plus you know I’m all about the popcorn so I attended. The cost was $20, but Cinemark gave you a $20 voucher to be used at the concession stand.
Seeing the finale on the big screen in XD was extraordinary! Happy I made it go right to attend. BTW, after seeing Neagley, I binged watched the whole season.

image 3 Body Problem cast.

4. And keeping with the binge watching theme…when the hell is 3 Body Problem’s second season coming? If you haven’t watched the first season, here’s the synopsis: A fateful decision in the 1960s China echoes across space and time to a group of scientists in the present, forcing them to face humanity’s greatest threat.

The series debuted March 2024, and the second season still hasn’t been launched. I understand there will be two more seasons. I watched the fist season twice because there’s a lot of information to take in. I might watch it again before I watch season 2.
I dove in to investigate and found that there is a three-body problem in physics and this is the simplest explanation I could find from Live Science:

“In a system of only two bodies, like a planet and a star, calculating how they’ll move around each other is fairly straightforward: Most of the time, those two objects will orbit roughly in a circle around their center of mass, and they’ll come back to where they started each time. But add a third body, like another star, and things get a lot more complicated. The third body attracts the two orbiting each other, pulling them out of their predictable paths.”

I highly recommend the series found on Netflix.

Meme of Signs a woman like you

5. I’m not saying this meme I found on social media is true, but it’s funny as shit!

True signs a woman like you:
eye contact, physical touch, compliments, nervousness, engages with you and asks questions, body language such as mirroring your movements, she says, “I like you.”

comic about talking during concerts

6. Thankful that GOD has St. Peter holding the line on yapping during concerts. I knew I wasn’t the only one who cared. #ThanksBigGuy

Image on social media from KTLA news

7. Hero or idiot?
Story posted on social media from local LA news station, KTLA:
“A man was arrested for allegedly pepper-spraying someone who was using their cellphone during a movie screening at a Burbank theater.
Details: https://ktla.com/…/man-arrested-pepper-spray-moviegoer…/“

Yapping during a movie is also rude behavior. #STFU

photo of volunteers sign up to help

8. The Coastal Cleanup day has come and gone. As a rule, when I’m walking around the neighborhood or along the shore, I pick up trash already. But I checked it out to see if there were a lot of interested citizens to get out there and pick up trash. I would say, it was an “okay” turnout. But then again, I didn’t hang out all day. I’m happy that people do get involved and volunteer their time. #Grateful

9. I’m sorry to report that I saw my first incontinence commercial for men, except instead of calling it leakage, they called it dribbles. So I did a semi-deep dive on the internet and found this article from Harvard: What Can I Do About Urinary Dribbling?

I remember in the 90s being quite irritated with commercials about Viagra when it hit the market and it was being advertised with spokesperson Senator Bob Dole. It really creeped me out.

So this “dribble” product creeps me out as well, though I’d love to see our current sitting president be the face of it like Dole was, because you know he gets the dribbles. #HighlyLikely

Young teenager training on street court playing basketball

SIDENOTE:
when I went to find a photo to go with “male dribbling” rant, thankfully all photos were of men dribbling a basketball. #ThankYouGoogleImages

10. The Bill of Rights contain the first 10 Amendments of the Constitution. And just as a reminder or a teaching moment. The First Amendment of the our Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

From my favorite quotes file: “It is part of the price of leadership of this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists.” – Lyndon B. Johnson

Thanks for listening!

A Couple of Things…

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Road trip to Portland, Oregon

The last time I saw my daughter, Sydney Rose, was last summer when she brought her new beau, Nate, to visit here in Ventura. They stayed a week and it was fabulous. As you may remember, my daughter earned her Masters degree in Food Science earlier this year from Oregon State, and she recently landed a new job up in Portland (where said beau also lives). She invited me to visit her new place before other roommates moved in. She didn’t have to ask twice.

With a lot of time on my hands, I decided to road trip it and take my time. Also I learned it is much cheaper to fly than drive…but you live and learn and I got to visit several friends and check out new places.

Redding, California: Sundial Bridge

I left on a Thursday with a schedule overnight stay in Redding, California. I was told by my good friend Maggie, that the Sundial Bridge is worthy of a visit and it was! Apparently the giant sundial is set for the Summer Solstice when its shadow moves 1 foot per minute between 11 am and 3pm. Otherwise, it’s non functional, but pretty to look at. That pylon at the end (the sundial) is 217 feet high and requires a red, aircraft-warning light. The floor is translucent, but not see-through. It allows light to reach the water to protect salmon during spawning season.

Shasta Caverns

The next day I planned to leave Redding for Medford but it was only a two and half hour drive and I had four hours between check out time in Redding (11 am) and check in time in Medford (3 pm). While I was driving through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, I kept seeing signs for the Shasta Caverns, so I thought I’d check that out. Now while it’s a national natural landmark, it’s privately owned and the crew were all super friendly. I asked how long the tour was and I was told two hours which included a thirty minute boat ride across the lake and a shuttle ride up the mountain to the entrance. I was sold.

Caverns shuttle bus

The tour inside was fascinating but a bit grueling as at one point you had to climb over 85 steps, none of which were standard sized stairs. But with the weather outside almost 100 degrees, the coolness inside was a welcomed reprieve. The caverns are constantly 58 degrees Fahrenheit with a high humidity level of 90 to 95% which raises the temperature to about 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. I super appreciative that I don’t get claustrophobic because there were some tight quarters at times. But it was very educational (I took geology at Ventura Collage ten years ago, and put what little knowledge I retained to good use) and the folks on my tour were very nice. I chatted up several couples (from Seattle, Nevada and Colorado) and I met a single young man who was scouting property nearby to purchase. He ended up grasping my hand and helping me up the final stairs after returning to home base. I was sincerely grateful.

Medford, Oregon

With the caverns behind, I arrived in Medford around 4 pm and scheduled dinner with Sydney’s best friend Eli. I took a rideshare to the restaurant knowing wine would be involved. At one point, another waitress came by and set an appetizer on our table and left. We looked at each other knowing we didn’t order it. So I caught the waitress’s eye and motioned her back to the table and told her we didn’t order the deep friend mozzarella sticks. She apologized and picked them up, so I quickly told her Eli already licked them. We all laughed and she asked if we wanted them because regardless of whether they were licked or not, they would have to throw them away. So we opted for the free appetizer.
A little over three hours and a bottle and a half of wine, we said our goodbyes. Sorry to say I forgot to get a photo of us…perhaps the wine played a hand in that.

Side note: There was a fire about 15 miles from my hotel. Looked scary, but the wind dissipated overnight and it wasn’t a threat.

Portland, Oregon

On Saturday, I arrived at the house Sydney is renting early afternoon and we quickly caught up. We decided to catch a movie (not Toy Story 5) and Sydney thought I would enjoy Backrooms. It’s received a lot of online chatter and has had a long run in theaters because of it. It’s a small production indie film which came from a viral creepypasta which expanded on a web series. And yes, “creepypasta” is a real word defined as a genre of short horror stories shared online.
That being said, I still don’t quite know what happened. I don’t know if anyone can clearly explain it. IMDB says, “The film blends psychological horror with science fiction, emphasizing atmosphere and the feeling of being trapped in a nonsensical space.”

The film leaves you with an ambiguous understanding at the ending and from I understand, one can spend hours going down the rabbit hole of fan theories. #I’mGood

Portland with Sydney and Nate

We caught up with Nate on Sunday and got lunch then spent hours thrift shopping, one of Nate’s favorite past times. Sydney needed a TV stand and after a handful of stores we finally found one she absolutely loved. Nate then brought up the subject of a spa he is a member of and which Sydney goes with him several times a week and asked if I would be interested in visiting it. He also said it’s clothing optional and promised both he and Sydney would be in swimsuits (which normally they are “in the buff”). We did and it was quite relaxing between the wet sauna, dry sauna, lounging spaces, jacuzzi and ice plunge tubs. I did not opt for the latter, but everything else was great.
We then headed out for Wings, beer and fries. Nate is wonderful and the two of them are cute as buttons.

Roseburg, Oregon

I left Sydney early Monday and headed to Roseburg for a visit with Loree Pryce. We met a number of years ago when she worked at City Hall in the same Engineering division as me. She’s a big lover of live music so we had that in common right away. She bought property off the beaten path in Roseburg. I was put up in her RV parked outside.

We took about a mile walk to the Umpqua River and took a quick dip as temperatures were in the 90s. I thought the water would be freezing, but it was very comfortable.
After dinner, we had some wine and relaxed in her hot tub in the back.
Next time I hope to spend more time to explore Roseburg.

Sacramento, California

It was boiling hot by the time I arrived in the state capital on Tuesday. Flags were at half staff in honor of the passing of Senator Lindsey Graham, a big proponent of “he who shall not be named.” I ventured out long enough to walk up the street to get dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. One of my long-standing rules is to eat local cuisine rather than chain restaurants like Applebees. I do have to admit several of the ones I choose smelt of septic tanks.

I got a good enough night’s rest and left for home. Google Maps said six hours, but it turned out to be a bit more because there was a crash on the Tejon Pass adding an hour delay. Signs recommended turning off air conditioning because of the high grade and 100+ temperature. To add insult to injury, Google Maps gave me the warning of a crash ahead after the last place to stop for water and/or a bathroom break.

But I made it home with lots of happy memories, but next time I’m flying!