Saturday, February 26, 2022

Friday 5 for February 25: They

 

The following questions are from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

1. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. How have you proven them right or wrong? 

Kind of 50 / 50 for me. I am willing to learn new things some of the time, but not all of the time. Doing things in the old way is better than adapting to something new. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

2. They say you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him or her drink. How has this proven true or false in your life?

That's true. If you want something you have to pursue it. Only rarely has something dropped into my lap.

3. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. How have they been proven right or wrong in your life?

I don't have much feeling in this one either way.

4. They say looks can be deceiving. How have you proven them right or wrong?

You can't judge a book by its cover... the same can be applied to record albums, movie posters and trailers. Sometimes the cool looking ones are overhyped trash and the not so attractive ones can be a gem.

5. They say opposites attract. How have you proven them right or wrong?

I think that varies depending on the person or the situation. In politics, to me, opposites don't attract, especially if you are entrenched into your ideology and reject the beliefs of the other.... Capitalism vs. Communism, Right vs. Left, Christian vs. Muslim, etc., etc. Life is never going to be perfect. Look at what's happening between Russia and Ukraine. It's a mess there that could escalate into something even more horrible than what it currently is.


Friday, February 18, 2022

Friday 5 for February 18: You are known

 OH... Today's Friday 5 plus 2.

Here goes.... 



1. What is your least favorite smell?

Doo doo, poop, sewage and anything else associated with it.

2. Cats or dogs?

Most definitely CATS.  Photo above is Poof, my sister's cat who lived to be about 20 years old. We had her since kitten days.

Not a fan of dogs at all. Dogs should not be allowed in grocery stores and restaurants. Ugh! And we have a leash law on Oahu. Follow it.

3. You only get one song to listen to for the rest of your life. What is it?

Too impossible to answer as I like way too many songs to just settle for one.

4. What number is Stephen Colbert thinking of?

His ratings. I never watch that show.

5. Flat or sparkling?

I only drink regular water. Not sparkling and not anything else... no alcohol for me.

6. What is the most-used app on your phone?

Android OS is probably the most used. Next comes....

  1. Chrome browser
  2. YouTube
  3. Google Voice
  4. Gmail
  5. DuckDuckGo browser

7. Describe the rest of your life in five words.

Can't avoid the death coming. 

Saturday, February 12, 2022

Froday [sic] 5 for February 11: Everything possibly worth knowing about a person

The following question gathered from Scrivener's Friday 5 website. Enjoy!

1. Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?

No.

2. What do you think happens when we die?

Depending on what you believe, I think our spirits move on to a new eternity, hopefully with God our Heavenly Father... at least for the good people... The less than worthy and downright bad people probably have a place to go where it will burn for their entire eternal existence.

That said, our physical bodies will start to break down as all of the stuff that holds us together start the process of decay.... rotting very slowly, becoming a vessel for scavengers to consume very slowly as the body rots. Of course there are ways to prolong the dead body by having it chemically treated at a mortuary in order to keep it in near normal, though "petrified" condition, at least so that it can be viewed at a funeral service.

Of course there is the tried, true and cheap solution... just get the body cremated in a very hot furnace (at an approved crematorium) and have all that liquid and other goo burned down to ash, where about the only items that remain are fragments of bones, traces of mechanical stuff added to the body through its life (pacemakers, fillings, artificial replacement parts, etc.). I think the ash is mostly gray and can fit into anything that can be declared as an urn.

Even cheaper than cremation, there is always the option to send your un-needed body to some academic institution where doctors, nurses, coroners and others in training can use it for real life exercises. Scientists can also use dead bodies for medical research.

Beyond that there is always some kind of memorial you can set up, the most simple though not the cheapest is to have the body buried into the earth and have a headstone placed above to "mark your grave". That has been kind of a standard for centuries, though unmarked graves were also common in ancient and recent history.

I think one of the better ways for you to be remembered long term, beyond death is have an online memorial to yourself or loved ones set up. Memorializing your social media pages are an option, and many people do it. I also notice Funeral Homes set up memorial pages for their clients who have passed where visitors can leave items of remembrance behind.

For me, after I die, one of the best, free long term memorial for my life will be having my profile set up at FamilySearch.org, a genealogical site run by The Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is open and free to use by the public. You can create or maintain profiles of people who have passed on, including a profile for yourself to maintain so that your memories of life can be preserved from your point of view instead of someone else writing "I remember my friend... etc., etc." after your death.

Profiles of the living are not activated on FamilySearch for public viewing until AFTER you die. In the meantime you can set your site up so that what you want to be put there is set up by you and not someone else... though others can contribute to your profile after you pass.

Anyway, so much for the topic on death. There are a lot of other things that you can plan for before you go to the great beyond....

3. What’s your favorite action movie?

Most of my favorite action movies are from the late 1970s and 1980s, which is a decade that I watched a lot of movies. I cannot nail down just one, so again here is a top five, though the order may and will probably change if I have to revisit the subject again.

  1. Star Wars - It's got good action, a definite line between good and evil, and as a standalone movie, holds up very well more than 40 years after is 1977 release. Runner up in the series for me is The Empire Strikes Back.
  2. Raiders of the Lost Ark - This is a classic action adventure and the first and best of the four movie franchise (1981).
  3. The Terminator - It was groundbreaking in its release year of 1984 and definitely cemented Arnold Schwarzenegger as a major box office draw. "I'll Be Back".
  4. Die Hard - Bruce Willis was never better in the first of these action yarns.
  5. Rambo II - Of all the Rambo movies, this one was the best for me. Lots of action between Rambo and the rouge Vietcong soldiers.
  6. Aliens - OK there was a lot of screaming in this movie and our heroine Ripley is once again set up to fight the brutal xenomorphs that made their appearance in the first movie of 1979. This 1986 sequel stands out as a high action yarn in a scifi setting.
  7. Predator - Our action hero Arnold Schwarzenegger is at it again, battling a nearly indestructible alien entity sent to Earth to scout out and eliminate our life form.
  8. Gladiator - This is a great action yarn set in the historic times of Rome where gladiators were rounded up to provide entertainment to the death for the Romans. Russell Crowe won the "Best Actor" Academy Award for this picture. It was also the Best Picture of the Year 2000 as voted in by the same academy.
  9. Ben Hur - 1959 action yarn starring Charlton Heston as the main protagonist in this Academy Award winning story set in the time of Christ. The chariot race is the highlight of this movie, which also contains several other action sequences.... "Ramming Speed" ahead!
  10. Romancing the Stone - This is a good one that weaves hard action with comedic elements. Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito are unforgettable characters in this comedic action adventure. (1984)

4. What’s your favorite smell? 

Hmm... The answer to this question hasn't changed since its first appearance (for me) last week.

"Lavender, jasmine, citrus, kimono rose and several others that I can't remember are nice aromas that my friend Lisa puts into her lighted diffusor."

5. Exercise: worth it?

It is but so hard to be disciplined enough to do it.

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Friday 5 for February 4: The full spectrum of human experience

 


I like cats. This is the first part of a series of three Friday 5 questions. Let's see if the upcoming ones are ok.

1. What is the best sandwich?

More time than never, if I opt for a sandwich it usually is TURKEY.

In my former life it was hamburgers.

Not mentioning any brands to any of the above. It just gets too complicated.

2. What’s the one thing you own that you really should throw out?

I have several old computers. They seem to slowly add up because people give them to me. I did get rid of about a dozen old Macs around 2016... and I still have 4 others, including two that are in regular service. I can't fathom the thought of throwing out an Apple computer...

Which also brings me to mostly dead iPods. I have about 5 of them where the internal, built in batteries are next to impossible to replace... gawd.. I hate built in batteries. Why not make devices with batteries consumers can easily remove? I hate it. I used to love my iPod Touch 4.... but its battery gave up the ghost about 2 years ago and now it just sits in a box. Ditto for my 2 iPod Shuffles, an iPod Photo, iPod Nano and iPod Mini. Except for the iPod Touch, at least those older iPods can still be used while plugged into an AC power source... but it defeats the purpose of having a portable device that you can take with you.

And that's why when I finally adopted cell phones in 2014, I opted for Android since there were several that have easy to replace batteries that prolong the device's life beyond the built in obsolescence shelf life common to those with built in batteries. I have one of those phones that is no longer in active service, yet with its replaced battery soldiers on as a wifi device, MP3 music player and FM radio. iPhones don't have FM radios. Lisa and I refer to out of service phones as "Phapps".

3. What’s the scariest animal?

I've had bad experiences with DOGS. I don't like them. 

4. Apples or oranges?

Computers - Apples so far, but Chromebooks are not far behind.

Food - Definitely ORANGES though within the citrus family I like Grapefruit and Tangerines better.

5. What’s your favorite smell?

Lavender, jasmine, citrus, kimono rose and several others that I can't remember are nice aromas that my friend Lisa puts into her lighted diffusor.