Tell me about it
I was looking forward to heading down to the Pinball Hall of Fame on returning from my holiday (Father’s Day + Birthdays) visit to Phoenix, but the to-do list is only getting longer and the pinball machines aren’t going anywhere, so the trek to the Las Vegas Sign (their nearest landmark in the land of artificial landmarks) is deferred.
As well, my flight from PHX to LAS via SWA was delayed, for almost two hours by the time we actually pushed back from the gate, and this appears to be a problem for Southwest Airlines in general, even a week after my travel:
Southwest Airlines cancels and delays 1000s of flights. Again. (SFGate 26 June 2021)
My own flight was puntuated for me by a mildly violent passenger and his exemplary family, who rather than asking, “Exuse us, can we get in front of you in the aisle?” as we were deplaning, shoved me out of the way and advised me that I needed to wait my turn (standing in the aisle next to their seats, waiting with everybody else in front of me… so maybe words mean different things to different people). The gate people for SWA were completely ineffectual and this family of three continued to berate me as I left the gate area, because SWA caters to a certain class of passenger, perhaps. Or maybe Vegas does?
Next time I’m going to try out JSX and see how that turns out. Having flown 100+ segments each year while with Intel, traveling here and there and back again, I’ve seen a lot, and I’ve developed a certain patience for the trials of travel (especially flight attendants… never ever mistreat these people, they will save your life), but I had not run into this class of, um, person.
Next time, JSX, we’ll see how that goes.
How Funny
Watching stand-up comedy on YouTube is certainly no substitute for experiencing it live, but it’s certainly a fun way to learn more about the comedy spectrum…
Chonda Pierce works the accent and the attitude to deliver unexpected quips and bits, good times. This is a fun show, especially if you’re watching with your parents.
Michael Jr. is funny. Sometimes he has some bits that lean toward serious message time (this is only one of several long shows and short bits you can find on YouTube), so he brings a nice mix of heartfelt humor and outright comedy, if that makes sense. I’ve enjoyed many of his shows but had not seen this one.
Eric O’Shea is, well… let me just say that my Italian Mother read from the same manual as did his mom. Ejoy.
Light Reading
A few audio books to work the mind while going to, working out in, and returning from the gym… Book links here will bring you to the respective authors’ websites, they are not affiliate links.
The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef was an interesting read, but I actually want to go through it again in the 10 days remaining on my library loan. Galef has an interesting YouTube Channel, Measure of Doubt, and I had been something of a fan prior to the book coming out. The subtitle is Why Some People See Things Clearly and Others Don't, something we can all identify with on at least one end of anything.
Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Hurari is my current read, the third in Hurari’s trio of books about humanity. I like his books because he seems to be quite thoughtful in his analyses of past, present, and future, and while I do not believe he is the all-knowing authority nor a perfect historian, he is insightful and interesting and these make for good reading (or listening).
Thanks!
I’ve all but stopped using Facebook, with a little bit of Twitter now and then and consuming of this and that from around the internets outside of the big platforms. Newsletters and other things (basically self-hosting a blog and other toys, if AWS is self-hosting) are a way to move the pendulum back toward agency, which would should all embrace in my opinion. Is Substack idea? No. Is Revue checking off all of the boxes on my wishlist? No. But they’re a step in the right direction, and I’m looking forward to taking more such steps.
I keep my podcast/newsletter/project links updated at an external profile page on the Buy Me a Coffee site. Why? Because it is a convenient spot to do so, located suspeciously near a method to contribute to my caffeine supply. Coming from the “you don’t ask, you don’t get” school, there is an obligation-free place to share links and provide a tip jar outside of my actual projects. Check it out, no pressure.
Again, no obligation, but I think having this setup makes it easier to offer this content in this context (a single page, though I have added two posts for updates now) regardless of whether I have a personal blog, and this I have a consistent information hub that I can link to from all related projects. It’s something of an experiment, but so is everything.
Artwork Attribution
Photo by Andrey Grushnikov from Pexels