Friday 5 for November 27: Pandemic daze

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. Where do you get most of your pandemic-related news?

Um... hate to say this... Facebook first and then verify the sources by going to the more traditional local news sites like Honolulu Civil Beat, Honolulu Star Advertiser, Hawaii News Now, Hawaii Tribune Herald. Nationally I will occasionally check what the networks are posting to YouTube, Twitter, etc. There are also the State and National health links such as CDC, and Hawaii Dept. of Health. Just letting you know these options vary in terms of timeliness and thoroughness of the coverage.

2. How do you feel about your local government’s leadership during this pandemic?

They are not very good at leading this crises. The Governor says you can do this or have to do that and the four mayors often disagree, like whether or not to quarantine all visitors for 14 days upon arrival to Hawaii or from within the islands of Hawaii. State says you get a negative test, and you don't have to quarantine. Counties are saying quarantine negative test or not... BAAAHH!!!!!! HUMBUG!

Best to just hunker down, stay home and not go out as often... thereby killing our economy even further than it already is. Hawaii's economy has been in the toilet long before the pandemic hit. We have some of the highest taxes in the nation, the highest cost of living in the nation and some of the stupidest public works projects in the making such as the $14 billion rail project that does not want to die and only suck more money out of the taxpayers.

Guess what? Many taxpayers have no jobs and can't afford the continual bombardment on our wallets. The tourists are not coming to alleviate some of that horrible rail tax collections, thanks to the insipid non-leadership of current elected officials. I don't see much change happening with the some of the recently elected crop of leaders coming into office.

We're doomed.

3. What does your favorite mask look like, and about how many masks have you accumulated?

First of all I HATE MASKS and the mask mandates. Ugh!

Favorite mask you ask? NONE. I only wear them because government requires me to wear them. More of our freedoms have been taken away in the name of safety because of the pandemic. 

I have about 8 to 10 masks of various quality. I am not a fashion guru or anything like that so I just go for something cheap and mostly plain colored... like the standard cheap ass light blue ones, or black or white cloth ones. I don't care much for patterns. I rather blend into the woodwork vs. stand out in a crowd.

4. Where have you most often had takeout during this pandemic?

I have not eaten at a restaurant since February 2020... my last restaurant meal was with a friend at LikeLike Drive-in. After 67 years in business and because of government closure and regulatory "martial" laws passed in the last 9 months, this restaurant and hundreds of others are now gone and closed forever.

I haven't bought a takeout meal from anywhere since the pandemic started. I just buy stuff that I cook mostly in my microwave and stay at home most of my days. Life is no longer interesting, much less fun.

5. What new interests, skills, or hobbies have you picked up since mid-March?

I'm mostly in a state of depression lately and some of my hobbies haven't interested  me much as of late. I have no motivation to go out to take photos or just see stuff. I am feeling so blah in this science fiction like, dystopian life we are now living in.

Learning the ins and outs of my recently acquired iMac with MacOS 10.15 is a new skill I am doing. I had to replace some of my older 32 bit MacOS apps with 64 bit compliant ones, several of which are new... so there is that. I divorced myself from the Adobe suite and Office because I hate subscription based software. Luckily some of the Apple apps and non-subscription software I bought years ago allowed transfer to new versions on the new Mac without incurring new costs. Thankfully I had kept most of the old software registration information, which meant all upgrades were free. So now I am learning a bunch of new versions of software I have used for a long time.

Friday 5 for 11-20-20: High Voltage

From Scriverner's weekly Friday 5 blog: "This week’s questions are lyrics from AC/DC songs. AC/DC put out a new album last week and I’m rather fond of it."

#4 on Mel's Weekly Top 20 this week. | M4B Charts Central - user charts,

1. Are you ready for a good time?

In this day and age of social distancing, mandatory mask rules, and the limitations of participating in group activities, what I do for a good time is basically stay home, watch "TV", surf the internet and once in a while, venture out to take photos. I like spending time by myself.

2. What do you do for money, honey?

Currently looking for another job.

3. Who’s your friend and who’s your foe?

I am thankful for the friends that I have, and I just try to extremely social distance myself from any foes real or perceived. Name are not be revealed to protect the privacy of the individuals.

4. What do you do that’s guaranteed?

Up to my time of death I will do the following guaranteed processes:

• Wake Up
• Eat
• Walk around
• Watch videos and read stuff online
• Listen to music, a podcast, the radio or an audio book
• Perhaps read a book if I can make that a priority
• Sleep

Repeat the basic cycle over again

5. Do you wanna journey?

I have no travel plans at all until this whole COVID-19, with all of its restrictions, mandates, masks, etc. are taken away and we revert back to the freedoms that we had in 2019 and most times prior to that.

Otherwise the only Journey I may get into is listening to album by the famed rock group.

Back to AC/DC... I think Power Up is a good commercial sounding album. They sound as fresh today as they did way back in 1980 or so when I became aware of them... yeah... kind of late considering they been making music since 1975... And now what, they are all pushing into their 70s age bracket? Rock has never sounded so good in 2020.

Friday 5 for the 13th of November: It Can't Be That Bad...

Well I am not superstitious, but bad things always seem to happen, Friday the 13th or not. 

 Here are my answers to the questions this week. 

 Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website! 

 1. What movie makes you happy? 

A Christmas Story from 1983.. you know the one where the kid Ralph wants a Red Ryder air rifle BB gun.... "You'll shoot your eye out!" A great fun movie from start to finish, and the ending is good.

 2. What song makes you happy? 

OK... here's one....

* Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious - Julie Andrews (as Mary Poppins)

 3. What food makes you happy? 

All kinds of food have the potential to make me feel happy. I guess I'll start with anything that has chocolate in it... candy bars, cacao bars, cakes, brownies, cookies, whatever.

I also like turkey and this month is prime season for that.

 4. Who makes you happy with just a text message? 

Lisa and I exchange text messages with cute GIFs all the time.

5. What beverage is most likely to lift your spirits?

I mostly drink water... so water it is.

Friday 5 for October 16: Set Em Up

 Friday 5 Answers for October 16, 2020

Well this is super late but at least never... ha!

Link Back - http://f.riday5.com/2020/10/16/friday-5-for-october-16-set-em-up/

Beware this may contain some spoilers if you haven’t seen these old movies.

1. What’s your favorite film set in space?

I love science fiction and movies set in outer space or about space…. That said:

My all time favorite movie just happens to be set in space, so yes it is an all time space film. This now classic movie separates old science fiction and fantasy movies from the modern. STAR WARS was totally epic. I never saw anything like it before that. It set the standard of movie enjoyment for which I grade all other movies since. “Luke, the Force is with you, always”.

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" is my second favorite. “I am Your Father”!

In the Star Trek franchise there are many movies to choose, but the most spectacular one of them all is  “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”. Ricardo Montalban was great in this movie! “Khan!”

Adding “2001: A Space Odyssey” to this one because at the time I saw it in 1968 it was pretty darn trippy, and also a milestone in the development of modern science fiction film.

Best movie based on a true story set in outer space? Hands down to 1995’s “Apollo 13” by  Ron Howard. Great cast and even featured real live astronaut Jim Lovell in it at the end.

2. What’s your favorite film set at sea?

James Cameron’s TITANIC (1997)...  The fictitious love story is what holds this film together which is an excellent docudrama of the unfortunate sinking of the infamous, unsinkable Titanic. Great characters real and imagined, big cast, good storyline, incredibly realistic special effects, great music, and the huge disaster! What’s not to like?

Other films set at sea that I liked over the years: The Poseidon Adventure (1973); The Abyss (1989): 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1956); Krakatoa East of Java (1969); The Final Countdown (1980); The Hunt for Red October (1990) and most recently Captain Phillips (2013) with Tom Hanks.

3. What’s your favorite film set in a non-U.S. city?

CASABLANCA (1942) - A great story of love and war set in Morocco at the start of World War II. I don’t need to explain it to anyone who’s seen it… and if you haven’t you should. It’s probably one of the greatest films from the 1940s ever made except for CITIZEN KANE (1941).... rosebud …

 

Other non-U.S. cities in film: Many James Bond movies occur in non-US locales, though they skip all over the world. Then there was a TV movie, sci-fi of course that I liked called CITY BENEATH THE SEA from around 1970.

4. What’s your favorite film set before the 20th Century?

The story of BEN HUR (1959) with Charlton Heston in the title role set in the time of Christ... approximately 20 to 33 AD. Always loved this movie from when I was a kid. "Ramming Speed"... "You live to serve this ship"... could almost qualify as a seafaring movie, but it is not. The chariot race is unforgettable and was the inspiration for the pod-race in "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace". “Christ has risen”. They always play this at Easter on TNT.

Close second would be all of the "Star Wars" movies set "Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away".

Other before 20th century movies: "Gladiator" , "The Patriot”, “Braveheart”, “The Ten Commandments,” and westerns such as “Pale Rider,” “True Grit” and “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”, “Dances With Wolves”, “A Man Called Horse” and most of “Back to the Future Part III”.

5. What’s your favorite film set on a university campus?

Only a few come to mind. I think there are more high school movies than there are those set in college.

 

• Legally Blonde (1999) - blonde law student saves the day

• Rudy (1993) - he finally got to play!

• The Paper Chase (1973) - law school students and stern professor

• Animal House (1979) - Food Fight!!!!!

Friday 5 for October 9: Role Play

1. How do you think you’d do in learning to fly a plane?

I’m pretty good flying a plane on my Android device. Heh. But in real life, probably too complicated though I kind of know the basics since I watch so many aviation videos on YouTube. I guess I could learn to fly, but it is expensive and I am pretty much too old to do anything like that these days.

2. How do you think you’d do hosting a nationally televised late-night talk show?

I'd rather do a late night radio show with a mix of news, politics, conservative opinion and music. I am not photogenic or entertaining enough to do late night TV. Plus late night TV is not like what it used to be when Johnny Carson was on the air. Today’s late night show are too left leaning.

3. How do you think you’d do in auto body repair school?

Probably OK after taking classes in auto repair. One thing I know for sure is that older cars are probably easier to self service and repair vs. newer models.

4. How do you think you’d do as the only occupant of the International Space Station for a year?

If it were not so dangerous, i think i would love to be up there doing whatever work i would be trained for. I can handle being away from actual people as long as I can remain in contact through email, text, chat, social media, voice and video. I would have 16 chances every day to take sunrise and sunset photos since the station orbits the globe 16 times a day.

5. How do you think you’d do as a professional dog groomer?

I am not a dog person. I don’t like dogs. I would be a lousy groomer. I have no pets. They are just another mouth to feed. I do like cats. My sister has 4 of them. Good enough when I pay her an occasional visit.

Link back

http://f.riday5.com/2020/10/10/friday-5-for-october-9-role-play/

Friday 5 for September 25: Go Fry an Egg

 

Friday 5 for September 18 - How are you feeling today

 

Questions from the Friday 5 site. http://f.riday5.com/2020/09/18/friday-5-for-september-18-how-are-you-feeling-today/

1. What were you most recently anxious about?

Finances, money.

2. What were you most recently apologetic about?

Getting Lisa upset.

3. What are you feeling cautious about these days?

Finances, money.

4. Heading into the weekend, what are you confident about?

The sun will rise, the sun will set - we will have day and night every day as it has been for centuries and all time. I am confident I will not be dead tomorrow, but beyond that I don't know. I am confident that I am a terrible predictor of the future.

5. What were the consequences (good and bad) the last time you felt adventurous.

I am rarely adventurous..... the last time I did something that was "adventurous" it turned out bad.

On March 3 of this year I tried out for free, a new type of electric scooter. Mind you I have never been on an electric transport device of any type except for a friend's Tesla Model 3 car.

The Tesla has 4 wheels. The scooter only 2 wheels. 

I got up on the scooter, held my balance for about 30 seconds. I did not realize how fast the tiny little electric engine on the scooter could pick up. I hardly pushed the accelerator toggle on the handlebar. Before i knew it the thing suddenly accelerated. 

I panicked while trying to find the button or whatever to slow the thing down.

Needless to say I lost control as me and that thing continued to accelerate and BAM! I hit a wall and fell head first directly into it.

The brunt of the impact fell not only on my head but also on my right shoulder and arm.

I was stunned and probably knocked out for a few seconds. I vaguely remember a scrunching sound.

And then the blood and some pain.

Fortunately there were a few people around to help me get up. Someone had some paper towels and i was able to hold them up to my head as I feebly walked away from the crash.

A good thing is that the scooter was not damaged, so at least I did not have to pay for damages.

Lucky for me a major medical facility was just a short walk away. I went there, got fixed up and was assured of no concussion. I did have big bandages on my head and shoulder. They gave some pills for the pain and I went home shortly after.

I gradually recovered and was at work the next day.

Here is a short list of good adventures:

2007 - Press tour and voyage on the Hawaii Superferry to Maui and back to Oahu. The ferry was a great idea. Too bad it went away.

2010 - Press tour on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. We sailed out on the huge ship, got to watch and photograph operations including aircraft take off and landings, and then flew back to Pearl Harbor Hickam on a large helicopter. It was the adventure of my lifetime.

2013 - Trip to the top of Mt. Ka'ala at the Waianae mountains by van. Photo op. That was fun and scenic.

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Please pardon the poor formatting on this post and others going forward. Google updated the interface on blogger and no longer supports my old browser which i cannot update due to the age of my Mac and the older OSX I have. I hate forced updates that render things obsolete. Arrgh.

With my router broken and my Chromebook rendered useless because of that, I am now forced to post with my Android phone. Do you know phone screen keyboards really suck?