A Day in the Life

On Sundays, Nightingale meal preps for the week.  Her day starts with trips to Aldi, Kroger and occasionally Costco.  Meanwhile, I do her laundry.  I use to do all the laundry but I've found that it's easier to break it up over the week, especially since we all have our own laundry baskets, which we mostly keep separated.

On Mondays, I clean up the kitchen of anything that couldn't go in the dishwasher overnight.

Thursdays are usually pasta for dinner, and Fridays are pizza night, usually frozen.  Boris gets cheese, Natasha gets pepperoni, and NG and I share a Detroit-style.

I spent the lion's share of this week power washing the detached garage, among other things.  It looks good, but that won't last, but that doesn't mean you don't do it.  That is a direct quote from Nightingale In fact, I should do it more often.  

I'm slowly knocking off a lot of little things on the To-Do List.  I have a very short window before the weather becomes unbearable to do anything outside.  In fact, it seems to have gotten warmer sooner than in previous years.

I've managed to lose about 15 lbs, but  I don't recommend anyone do it the way I did.  I've cut back on fried food and eat more salads for lunch.  I have also managed to run three times since buying those expensive running shoes last month.  But the game changer that I don't recommend was a bout of food poisoning one Saturday last month ( before the shoe purchase).  I couldn't keep anything down, not even water.  It was 24 hours of misery.

Have you ever been on a Stealth Date

 Have you ever been on a Stealth Date?  A Stealth Date is when someone thinks you and one of their friends would be perfect together, so they get both of you to go to something with them, but then your friend either doesn't show or disappears.

It took me 26 years to realize I was on a stealth Date back in 2000.  Mostly because I haven't really thought about that morning or dwelt on it for 26 years.  It's also possible I've been on other Stealth Dates that I wasn't aware of, because it's right there in the name.  Plus, I'm naive, and we Neurodivergents tend to initially take people at face value.  

Winnie, Stephanie, and I were supposed to go to a Street Art Fair one Saturday morning.  We agreed to meet at the Ogilvie Metra Center because they would be taking the Metra downtown.  When I got there, Stephanie said that Winnie had called her earlier and said she couldn't make it.

I didn't think anything of it at the time.  Now Stephanie happened to have forgotten her wallet, so she may or may not have been in on the Stealth Date thing, but I didn't think much about it at the time.  I really only paid for the water taxi downtown and a cup of coffee; she didn't want anything else.  We also somehow skipped the Art Fair and just walked through Crate & Barrel.

The thing is, Stephanie had a boyfriend, so I wasn't even in Pursuit Mode.  I tend to stay in my lane, like that.  I only saw Stephanie one more time that year.  She came to a party I had at my apartment, but didn't stay long.  I don't remember her last name or much about her, so I cannot really look her up.  Winnie and I also didn't stay friends.  She was just a little too weird even for me.  

Work Friends, Colleagues and Acquaintances

Last week two former work colleagues reconnected with me.  I sent a text to Sasha* asking a simple yes/no/the color purple question.  A tad bit later she responded, ignored the question, and just said she was traveling back from Tampa Bay.  Date with Tom Brady?  I said no worries, we can chat/text tomorrow after you get some sleep.

* I don't remember what alias I use for her here.

So of course, she does the one thing that fucking annoys the hell out of me. She calls without first brokering a call, as if we are living in 1987.  It turns out her dad is going to have quadruple bypass surgery the next day.  

We talked for about an hour until the call started getting staticky.  i guess she was driving and got ot a place where the reception wasn't great.   I was also picking up my kids at this point, so I said let's talk tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a person I worked with at Big Audit 2.0 reached out to me on LinkedIn.  I like her, but I trust her as much as I trust gas station sushi.  She really straddled the line of being my work friend and also enabling my Office Nemesis.  Let's call her Veronica.

Veronica reached out, acknowledged that it has been 4 years since we last chatted. In fact, it was actually 4 years almost to the day.   I'm not sure if she was genuinely interested in what I was up to verses a fishing expedition but I took the bait.  We exchanged some messages and left it with maybe we will have another phone call soon.  

"no special reason to reach out, I was scrolling through LinkedIn and remembered out chats: I miss those! there is nobody left to chat with at work, I so do not fit the group I am in right now - it's really sad; there are no lunches, or after work drinks, everyone is sitting alone at home...and majority of people I came up with are gone and the group I am in right now is a lot younger than me so they are at a different stage of their lives; I am not on social media other than Facebook which I try hard to stay away from as it has become toxic; I will stay in touch here on LinkedIn for now, maybe we can chat on the phone one day? like dinosaurs we are :)

stay well and in touch!"

I'll probably send a volley to her, seeing if this is a Genuine Offer versus Conversational Device.  I'm 0 for 3 with recent phone calls and that doesn't include Sasha.  She actually did ask me how things were going when we talked the second time.  

Welcome 2025

I didn't even get a chance to start my annual first post of the year before things went bad for us in the United States of America.  We attacked Venezuela over the weekend and are about to annex it, at least temporarily.  

Every year, I revisit what to do with this blog.  It takes more effort than it use to for me to write posts that even I'm interested in, but I also like the archiving feature of looking back on things I have pretty much forgotten about.

So on to it. Last year there was a noticeable decline in recruiters reaching out to me.  I still got some interviews and even had a job that lasted not quite a month (I  need to finish the writeup on that one).  But I think it is safe to say my Document Management SME career is over.

 The holidays turned out better than expected.  My BILs and I didn't have any clashes or agenda arguments.  It's not just that we were on our best behavior, but I think it's also because we are older geezers now and it's just easier to find a way to get along.  

That's not to say it was perfect, there were still some remnants of the old: talking over one another/struggling to be heard.  Trying to find the best way to achieve a desired outcome.  But it was a lot easier than in the past.  Confederate Jethro even tried to bond with me but his misogyny made it hard for me to go along with it.  

After the Adamas got back to Michigan, my wife and her sister talked.  Apparently I annoyed my BIL by putting too much cardboard on the Solo Fire Pit we "borrowed" from the Father-in-Law.  Now keep in mind I'm hearing what was told to my wife by her sister.  I'm sure BIL was annoyed if I put too much cardboard in and created too much ash.  But I wasn't the only one doing it.  And he likely said it more in a making conversation with his wife -- who still tries to pick fights with him whenever she can  -- way, than a pissed off way.  

Also, as he didn't talk to me about it, I really cannot be bothered to be upset about this information.  I have bigger things to worry about.

Something to look forward towards

It looks like the Chicago Cubs will at least make the playoffs as a Wild Card.  With 13 games left, they only have to win 4 more to make it in.  

Thus, I will pause my Chicagoan skepticism and think positively for this one.  They can clinch as early as Tuesday night.  They play the Pirates, who are already eliminated, and while they would love to be the spoilers, the Cubs have to win the series if not sweep.

Next, the Cubs play the Reds in Cincinnati this weekend.  They are 2.5 games back so they are still in it.  They will be fighting to win that four-game series.  

St Louis is hanging around because the Mets had a long losing streak, but the Cardinals failed to gain any ground during that time as well.  They lost a heartbreaker to the Brewers in extra innings that would have helped them and perhaps the Cubs.

The Cubs last two series are at home against the Mets and the Cardinals, respectively.  As of now both of those teams have something to play for.

Meanwhile, Milwaukee is already in the playoffs but can clinch the division by Friday.  They are on a bit of a decline down the stretch but there isn't enough stretch for the Cubs to take the Division away from them.  Other than the Padres, they aren't playing anyone really good but they also play the Reds and the Cardinals who might be still be in the hunt. 

I hope they can go deep in the playoffs and even get to the NLCS.  Given how they have been playing in August and September, I'm not confident they can go further than that but there is always hope.  

At the moment, I certainly cannot say the same for the Chicago Bears!

An Unhealthy Relationship with Chicago Sports

In past years, when I lived in Chicago, September signaled a key sportsball time.  Both baseball teams were still playing ball (occasionally still in it for a playoff spot) and Bears football was just starting, so they also were still in it, at least until October.  I recall once watching the Cubs game on one screen and the Bears game on another at the Cubby Bear while having brunch with a few friends -- Cubs were on the road that weekend.

This year the Cubs look like they will finally make the postseason, albeit as a wild card.  They had a division lead up to the All-Star break but had a weak August, while Milwaukee had two great win streaks in a row.  With 24 games left and the Cubs are looking like they are righting the ship.  In the previous two years, they came close but faded in August and by late September were eliminated.  That could still happen but I like the odds.

Watching games down here is challenging.  The Cubs put the majority of their games on the Maquis Network so you have to pay to watch, even if you live in Chicago.  I think there are some other streaming services that carry some of those games but the point is, there are less and less Over The Air games carried on my local network (streamed through Fubo).  

I often "watch" the game online at either Yahoo Sports or MLB.com.  These virtual games combined with chatting with the people over at Cubs Magic Number get me through the games I cannot watch.  It's kinda like the olds days at the No-Name Software Company where I would read the live blog of a game at the long defunct ChicagoSports and make a few comments while waiting for customers to get back on the phone after a long hold.  

Meanwhile, this region of the States doesn't usually carry Bears games so I usually get to watch a third of the season.  We are not gonna pay for the YouTube TV package this year because it is ridiculously expensive, not sure how the Bears will do and since too many games are Sunday at noon, it cuts the day in half when I need to be more productive.

The thing about Chicago Sports teams and their playoff potential.  It takes an entire season to get there and that means time is moving on.  There are more days behind me than ahead and investing in a whole season of games just to see them tank is frustrating.  Let me clarify that last sentence.  Of course I'm gonna watch the games regardless.  But I only have so many years left to see another Bears Super Bowl or Cubs World Series.  

Somebody that I use to know

 It was brought to my attention the other day that a friend from college died of cancer earlier this month.  Obviously, this sucks.  But what I'm finding strange is how I'm feeling about it.  Lily Hung and I were good friends in the early 90s.  We were at UIC together and our group would meet in the cafeteria before class and grab coffee or breakfast.  We would often have lunch together too.  I had my first Guinness with her at Hawkeye's.

Lilly also introduced me to volleyball and the Lincoln Park Volleyball club.  She was a far better player than I and she often played in tournaments, which is where she met her husband, Andres.  And that is when we started spending less time together.  A few times over the years, she'd make a half-hearted attempt to get together but our schedules never jived and it fell flat.

Again, I'm not sure why this is causing me so much confusion.  We had our Season in the Sun but then grew apart.  No big deal, really.  But perhaps my neurodivergent mind is telling me, while looking through the Lens of Time, that we could have had a different type of relationship.  

Could we have had a romantic relationship?  She often pointed out that I was good looking, but I guess I never made a move.  Could she have helped me navigate the Mysteries of Life better?  What would be her motivation to do so?

My short answer is that I guess I missed the lunches and dinners and good conversations we use to have and that they went away only because the dynamic changed.  She needed something more and I couldn't provide it.  

What Streaming Services Might Cost a Family

After receiving one of my credit card Year-End Summary reports, I went down a rabbit hole of a sort.  I decided to see how much we spend on fixed services like our streaming services, and also our mortgage and utilities.  I limited it to things like Gas, electricity, Internet, and Water (which includes rubbish, recycle, and sewer) and also added Cell Phones and must-have-in-the-South Pest/Termite control.

I'm gonna share the Streaming services here because it isn't a state secret how much people pay for each individual service.   We have the 4 we explicitly pay for.  We also have 2 that other members of our family pay for but choose the plan that lets you add extra accounts for supposedly cheaper than each member getting their own account.  

[We aren't talking trip to Paris saving; it's more like we can supersize our quarter pounder meal.]  And then there are a couple of services that don't have extra account options but they don't care yet if you share with family members.

The four we have:

We have Amazon Music because my nephew re-enabled it once and I have been too lazy to cancel.  Plus the ability to play any song at will is worth the $10 to keep my kids entertained for 10-15 minutes when they use it.

The Paramount+ auto-renewed last Fall so we are stuck with it for a year.  My understanding is that if I do cancel it, I will not get a prorated amount of money back.  

We keep Amazon Prime because we use it more for the free shipping and whatever other benefits still exist. 

I think the point I'm trying to make is that barring some extreme series of unfortunate events, it isn't game changing to drop all of these Streaming Services, let alone any particular one.

It would be smart to drop all but one, bing watch everything we can, then cancel and add one of the dropped.  Rinse and Repeat.  But that takes timing and organization which is not currently in surplus in the Icarus household.  

Some Random Thoughts

My cats seem to have an implicit agreement between them not to cuddle with the same human being at the same time. This was not always the case and I definitely remember it not being the case with our previous cats.  Elsa has become more of a cuddy cat than she used to be but still isn't a heavy snuggler like Ryder.

****
You meet the same people in different forms throughout life.  In college, I met a guy named Troy on the first day of moving into the dorms.  He seemed like a good enough guy but there was something that my spidey sense said don't get too close.  In retrospect, I should have hung out with him more.  

20 years later, on my first day of orientation at a new job, I met Greg W.  We became work friends and there are definitely some similarities between Greg and Troy.  

****** 

I have a related strange theory.  The light at the end of the tunnel we see when we die is actually us going through the birth canal and being born into a new life (or C-section or whatever form we are born unto).  

But here's the thing: we get to take a tiny portion of our knowledge, experience, wisdom, or whatever.  but really tiny.  that's why some people are naturally good at math or writing, etc. and maybe you can trade for looks and athletic skills, I don't make the rules.  it's just a theory.

****

 I often wake up in the middle of the night and remember some random memory and it is so cringe.  I really was born with two strikes and played against people born on 2nd and 3rd base.  

*****

In case it's not obvious, I am not a fan of #elfontheshelf.  When I was a kid, if a doll moved in your house, you cut that Fucker up before it could multiply and burned it for good measure.  luckily, we only have a week left of this nonsense.

We didn't have EOS when I was growing up.  And until we had children, I only had an obtuse cursorial understanding of what it was.  It seems it started out innocently enough: you moved a doll around the house after putting your kids to bed (instead of doing anything that might lead to more kids) and each morning they would try to find it (instead of getting ready for school).  

But someone, I suspect the mommy bloggers (what we currently call influences) had to take it to the next level.  They came up with elaborate concepts and designs and you are a lesser parent if your kid doesn't have a good story to share at school.  

I didn't get the choice to opt-in or out of it.  But this year Nightingale has decided that I have to come up with some ideas.  The thing is, there are no Easy Elf On The Shelf ideas.  If you google and find an article with 25 ideas, each one just has that one thing you don't have in house to make it work.

Election Aftermath

Donald Trump managed to repeat history and become the second U.S. president ever to return to the Oval Office after losing reelection four years earlier. (The first was Grover Cleveland in 1893.) 

While he lost the (irrelevant) popular vote the first two times he ran for office, he won it this time, along with the necessary Electoral College votes.

To say we are disappointed is an understatement. We knew our votes didn't really matter in Mississippi-Stan. Our in-laws alone canceled our votes 2-1. But there was a glimmer of hope these last few weeks, and to use the coin of the phrase, we were nauseously optimistic. 

In the days and weeks to come, Pundits will explain why Kamala Harris lost to the Fanta Menace.  Among the list will be:

• Racism
• Misogyny
• Muslim and Arab Americans disappointment with Biden's policy re: Israel and Palestine
• The democratic party's inability to appeal to the progressive left
• Voter suppression
• gerrymandering
• 3rd party siphoning votes
• Not having a legitimate primary where people could truly choose the nominee

It's a combination of all of the above.

Furthermore, he has the House the Senate, and SCOTUS.  We are truly screwed.

First Day of May

A freeloader has arrived

It's hard to believe that three short weeks ago, we actually had to turn on the heat in the mornings.  Then it was heat in the morning, AC in the afternoons.  Now it's AC on a moderate setting just to deal with the humidity.  By next week the AC will be running more regularly.

I need to note for the future that I should work on some outdoor/garage projects in late March or early April versus now because it is getting too hot.

There is so much I want to do around here but I lack the motivation to get started.  The detached garage is now empty enough that I could use it as a workshop.  I could theoretically epoxy the floor without too much trouble although I think I would rather outsource that task if I ever get employed again.

The attached garage needs a few more things to go away and I could definitely epoxy it as well.  I would like to use some of the leftover paint from the House Repaint to repaint the dirty and chipped walls.  

Three weeks from now the kids are done with school and I will have to entertain them.  In theory, that means we get to sleep in a bit.  in reality, Boris will be on his iPad as early as he can.  And once he's been awake for a bit, he gets hungry.  And if I don't feed him a proper breakfast, he will raid the cupboards in search of crackers, pretzel chips, or other unwise choices.

When they were kept home from school because of snow, way back in January, they discovered that a school friend lived kiddy corner from our lot line.  They have been hanging out with K ever since.  In fact, she has become our third child in a way.  She's the sister Natasha never had but always wanted.

Alas, she won't be here for the summer so another BFF bites the dust.  Fortunately, she gets to see her BFF from the old neighborhood in another month. 

We have plans to visit Chicago and Grosse Pointe, Michigan in June.  It pains me that we have to spend so much money to do so.  My mom's house isn't an option so we need hotels and/or friend's houses.  And it didn't need to be this way.

My mom could have sold her house and lived in our Portage Park home.  We could have worked something out so that the mortgage didn't change but her name could be on it.  

Never Stood a Chance

 There can be no mistaking it: I'm closer to the Neurodivergent (ND) end than the Neurotypical (NT) end of the spectrum.

That said, I could "navigate a standard educational system...learn skills like speaking, reading, and writing at the prescribed times during childhood. and kept up with my classmates, and graduated alongside them."

Nightingale cited a study or source, which I don't have right now, that said a Rule of Thumb is a Neurodivergent person is on average 30% behind the emotional development of a Neurotypical person of the same age.  And that is the average.  some are better but that means some are even lower!

I did some calculations using 75% of my age at the given points and here is what I got:

Two things to note:  when you are really young, the difference isn't as noticeable.  That's why a 3-year-old NT and a 4-year-old ND can play together quite fine.  I mean they will have issues for other reasons.  

While it likely never goes completely away, at some point you do, hopefully, grow enough that it again is not as noticeable.  Now that I'm in my 50s I like to think I'm fit to handle sitting with the adults.  

I cannot believe I managed to survive in a world this cruel.  It certainly explains why I failed at times and had trouble interacting with people.  

Often when I wake up in the middle of the night, I think about some past interactions that went South.  I was hopelessly, hilariously outgunned, and often times the other persons knew it.  They might not have known terms like Neurodivergent, but they knew I was not quite right and sometimes took advantage of it.

For instance, there is no way Mel didn't know that I would do anything for her and she took advantage when we were roommates in 1999.  

It's very hard to make friends in adulthood

A blogger friend posted something that intrigued me.  Her blog is private so I cannot simply link to it.  I'd like to screenshot or quote because I was taught to give credit where credit is due, but I also understand her desire for privacy.  

(I also have noticed that when I VagueBook and come back to read something years later, I don't remember who I was speaking about).  Therefore I will link on the off chance she ever reverts her blog back to public.  [Ironically, when I started blogging, she told me that most people don't care about your little corner of the internet.]

So Alex wrote that she tried to make friends by joining a book club but it was unsuccessful for various reasons.  In no particular order, it wasn't the drink wine and forget about the book after 5 minutes type of B-club; She missed a few meetings because of work; She doesn't like Fiction and the members already have their Friends Slots filled and only want to discuss the book.

As someone who has both organized and participated in Adult Playground Activities, I can relate.  Sometimes no matter how friendly, engaging, and/or open you are, people just aren't receptive.  They have their TopFive Friends and don't have any slots left for anyone new.

Other times it's some minor criteria like you just weren't attractive enough.  Or you didn't show up consistently.  people don't want to invest in someone who isn't gonna show up next meeting.  

Sometimes the problem is more nuanced.  If you don't have that friend to tell you that you have no sense of humor or a stick up your butt, you're not gonna figure it out on your own.  Of course some friends don't see that side of you.  Or some friends do but they are friends for other reasons and that side isn't a liability.  Finally, people take the path of least resistance and it's easier just reducing your time with someone then telling them, "Why yes, you do have a stick up your butt".

I've been told on more than one occasion that I'm so negative. My defensive self wants to argue that I'm just realistic and pragmatic, but that is self-defeating.  The truth is I'm negative but not always negative.  But once you get a reputation for being negative, people look at everything in a negative lens.

A friend posted something about a neighbor giving her a free meal.  I joked that now she has to listen to her speech about essential oils.  Is this negative?  everyone makes Essential oil jokes.  But said friend was working off years of other darker comments.  If we are being fair said friend is also a bag of crazy kittens herself.

It got me thinking about the P10s and other running groups I've been part of.  it didn't occur to Nirodivergent me at the time but there was definitely a hierarchy/caste system.   When certain people had parties, members would skip their parent's funeral to join.  But when I had one, I'd get some very ungracious responses.

How About those New Year Resolutions?

A friend posted on her blog (I cannot link because it is private) that many people don't bother with New Year's Resolutions "because they recognize it as a hopeless exercise in futility."

 My goto NY resolution was to be in a better place, "physically, mentally, spiritually, psychologically, etc". 

I used to also "give up" my resolution for Lent.  :-)

One thing I recently thought about is: you have all year to meet your NY Resolution.  Unless it is oddly specific, i.e. I want to get my taxes filed by March 1st, you can start over as many times as it takes to get it done.

Orange Shrimp with Fettuccine

Sometime in the 90s, someone gave me a cookbook with different pasta dishes.  This is one of the first grown-up dishes I used to make and it was my go-to for trying to impress a lady.  It took many iterations before I ever made it with all the correct ingredients.  

For one thing, Shrimp was usually expensive, though I was probably being cheap versus budget-conscious.  I’d wait for that big shrimp sale Jewel used to do twice a year.  

Also, a bottle of sesame oil seemed pricy for the little amount.  Again, more about my cheapness than actual reality.  But once I used it, I would never not make this dish without it.  

 

Finding snow peas was tough too  Jewel didn't have fresh ones so I had to find them in the frozen section.  I learned it was easier to use a can of mandarin oranges than peeling and sectioning 2 actual oranges.   

Anyway, I made it again for Friday dinner and even Natasha likes it.

Shelves and Steaks

 I did a couple of things around the house.   First, I finally used these shelves I bought at my in-laws bi-annual yard sale.   

I've always wanted to set up a coffee bar (with hidden liquor bar components) but didn't have the chance to do so until now.

Next, I created this shelf from a shelf we used on our old sectional.  The kids destroyed the sectional and parts of it are in the Master Bedroom and Kid's room.  

Finally, here are some steaks I grilled for Nightingale's 49th birthday.  I thought about buying some lobster tails but as I have never cooked those before, I didn't want to screw up a $29/lb purchase.

My LinkedIn Diet

 Last Wednesday I decided to take advantage of the option in the settings of my LinkedIn account and "take a break" from LinkedIn.  What this does is log one out of LinkedIn and make your profile invisible to searches.

and it was necessary.  LinkedIn is one of the 6 or 7 places I browse constantly, looking for new content.  Not to mention hope for a new job.  but unfortunately, the possibility of a new job is gone while I live in Miss.  And honestly, my No-Name Software Skillset isn't getting any sharper.  I'm not likely to re-enter that sphere ever again.  

I only plan for this LinkedIn diet to last until after Labor Day.  It's a slow time of year anyway and I doubt I'm missing anything besides the cagey recruiter who wants to see my cards before telling me anything useful.

The End of An Era

|Two quick factoids to mention.  First, the kids went back to school last Thursday and this is the end of their first full week.  They are Third Graders now.

Second, I have lived here for two years.  We loaded U-haul #1 on July 31st and came down here with the kids.  I think we brought the cats on the second trip.  Nightingale was able to join us on October 1st.

Now for the really big news

In May of 2022, Nightingale took a contract remote job with Big Pharma.  The work was glorified data entry but she hoped it would lead to an opportunity to come on board FTE.  The timing was good because my contract gig was about to end.  While I did get another gig, it was short and I haven't found anything since.

Today is Nightingale's last day.  She gets two weeks off and then starts her new gig at a Veterans Administration Hospital.  The pay is substantially better but will require her to go into the office.

Since moving down here we have not been unemployed at the same time.  We had planned to spend October of 2021 exploring Memphis but then I got a contract job.  

We have big plans for the two weeks off. We hope to purge, purge, purge.  We also hope to organize, organize, organize.  I know her goals are ambitious and it will be my job to help keep them in check and avoid scope creep.  It will be better to have a few finished items than to have more unfinished ones before she goes back to work.

If there is any time left, we will start the framework on some home upgrades.  I'm thinking of tackling what we call the kids'/guest bathroom.  I believe I can sand, prime, and paint the vanity a better color than the 80s dark faux wood.

Part of that is predicated on it getting cooler so I can organize the detached garage and then use it as a workshop to paint the doors.  And eventually, maybe do real furniture flipping.

It won't get cool enough to work on the garden for at least another month but we need to get that done too.  Right now we have bags of mulch and dirt sitting on the driveway.

I'm also thinking of epoxying the detached garage, assuming I get it organized enough that moving things out of it is easier.  

Down the Zombie Rabbit Hole

On the Svengoolie Fans Group on Facebook a user asked

I answered with my theory is Zombies refer to the reanimated dead via VooDoo.

3

This is a throwback to something I wrote here a decade ago.  Which wasn't entirely correct as it turns out.

 and look at the rabbit hole I went down for this question:

Types Of Zombies

Biological zombies. Parasites modify the host creature's behavior. ...

Supernatural zombies. These are zombies that are created in a supernatural way. ...

Chemical zombies. Strange chemicals are discovered and are meant to bring back the dead to life. ...

Technological zombies. ...

Constructed zombie. ...

Magic zombie.

https://greatroomescape.com/blog/zombie-types/

Let's not forget that Vampires are simply intelligent, self-aware, zombies. 

Looking for the good news

 So let's talk about some minor good news.  For years I've been managing a Facebook Page and a Twitter account, initially for promoting the stuff over at ChicagoNow, though the FB Fan Page is more of a MEME page for the last couple of years.  I'm finally getting the kind of traffic I would have killed for when I first started.  Although not nearly as much as the heavy hitters get on an hourly basis.

How did it happen?  Well in the beginning very slowly.  I begged friends and fellow bloggers to like my page and only a small minority acquiesced.  We were told not to buy followers but for some reason, that sounded a tad suspicious.  I mean I know that most of the purchased likes are likely fake accounts but what if everyone else is doing it?  I did a little experiment and invested a measly $25 (I think, it's been a while) and bought a few followers to get me up over some number.  After that, it seemed that my visibility increased slightly.  More of my organic likes were seeing my Page.

Months or perhaps even a year or more later (maybe I'll spend some time looking up the stats) I invested $100, a birthday present to me.  I managed to surpass the 2K mark and now my page seems to get more traffic.  Some of my friends don't even remember that it's my page but they share it as if it's a real celebrity lol.

As for Twitter that's even more of a mystery.  I had an account since nearly the beginning but didn't do much with it.  It was a long time before I surpassed 1K.  I think I worked the TwitterVerse slowly and steadily and the number increased the same.  Then one day (March 19, 2014) I started getting tons of followers, most with middle eastern and Arabic handles.  Our theory is someone with a similar Twitter name or ID bought some followers and I got them instead.  I'm still short of the magic 10K which supposedly makes you an influencer unless that number has increased but I don't mind.