Apparently, someone close by doesn’t love their Netgear wireless router. 😛

What a lazy weekend. Not much really to report other than …
– Didn’t eat any food at BimBeriBon Friday night.
– I was in bed by 9:30 Friday night. Old Fart Alert!
– Took trash to the dump Saturday morning.
– Took a massive nap Saturday afternoon.
– Ate too much Papa John’s on Saturday night.
– Bought a copy of the screenplay for Three Billboards … on Sunday afternoon.
– Did three miles on the treadmill each day. Ugh.

Such excitement!

In “I Am About to Lose My Mind” News … I snagged a Saturday Day Pass to the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville. So, unless she cancels or I die before then or I can’t get into the venue due to “first come, first served” general admission seating, I will be seeing Diamanda Galás!!! Seeing her live has been something I have been dreaming about for about 30+ years. I am stupid excited about this!

Meanwhile … I have these two bad boys on pre-order. It’s about damn time 4AD re-issued more Cocteau Twins on vinyl.

And lastly … it might snow tonight. I love snow, but I am officially ready for warmer temps.

It’s always nice to feel marginalized.

(Part of me wonders if I have done this to myself.)

I really need to get off my ass and do some maintenance to the site. The first couple of years of this blog were on Blogger and they didn’t have headlines for posts. When I switched over to WordPress, headlines were required. So, when you search the archives, the headlines are the link to see the whole post … which means an archive search that brings up content that was created on Blogger won’t let you click through and get the whole post.

Will it be weird to go back fifteen years and start adding headlines? The way I was posting during the blogger days doesn’t really lend itself to having headlines on every post. Then maybe I should just add headlines to select posts?

Maybe I should just say “Fuck it!” and let readers see those posts via the month/year search feature?

Maybe I will just have a snowy day cocktail instead and worry about it later. That sounds like a best plan.

UPDATE:
What a dumbass I am. For posts that don’t have a headline you can click the date to access the full post. Going to have that cocktail anyway! 😛

So, hey! I bought a new light backpacking/day hiking pack.

Several years ago, I bought an Osprey Stratos 24 Pack after having used a Gregory Crux backpack for nearly 20 years. The Gregory pack was essentially just a rucksack and not terribly comfortable when loaded up with gear. And it made my back super sweaty on just about any hike. I was in the local outfitting store one day, and saw the Osprey packs with their super cool “Air Speed” suspension system. Essentially, the pack frame curves and keeps the pack off your back with space for air to flow through so you don’t get sweaty (or as sweaty as you would with a normal pack). I feel in love and bought the smallest one they offer.

The trusty Osprey Stratos 24 …

Compared to my old pack, the Stratos 24 was a Cadillac. Super comfy to wear and it barely felt like you had a pack on. That was awesome. I tend to over pack on day hikes, and quickly discovered that the 24 size would barely hold all the gear I like to carry. That was a bummer. But, I made do and figured out ways to strap things to the outside and what gear I could really leave behind. The Stratos 24 ended up being a great bag for the last three years.

Before Christmas I bought a hammock. I knew I wanted to carry this on hikes as well and that the 24 just couldn’t handle carrying any more gear. Thankfully, Christmas cash came to the rescue and I ended up buying a Stratos 36 (the largest in the Stratos line). I tested out loading gear and it’s the prefect size. Now if the damn temps would warm up just a little, I can get out and test the pack and hammock on the trail. Yes!

This has been your overly long post … the gist of which is simply “I bought a new backpack!”

And here we are three days in 2018. Such excitement!

I disappeared last week. Actually, I was lazy and didn’t feel like posting.

New Year’s Eve was supposed to be full of friends and fun. David and I had invited people over and spent a chunk of money on food stuff and such. Alas, Mother Nature had other plans. A freak “freezing fog” rolled in mid-afternoon on Sunday and, by party time, the roads were covered in ice. Kiki did brave it and was the only person to show up. We ate food, drank too much (at least I did), played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and watched The Poseidon Adventure (the original one, of course). It was pretty fun … though we still have a crap ton of bad-for-you party food hanging around the place. (I might have gone into a cupcake induced shame spiral this morning because we have a bunch left over.)

Bowser was so pumped about the New Year, he yawned out of excitement.

On New Year’s Day we went down to Mom’s for a Hoppin’ John dinner. Lots of cool folks were there and it was fun to catch up … and somewhat disappointing to keep hearing how everyone is down on the same thing I am down on. If you look back through the first 12 years of this blog and then look at this past year and see what I no longer post about, you might be figure it out. I know that’s vague … and maybe one day there will be a post about it. Maybe.

Anyhoo …

Thanks to the magic of the internet, I have found my new 2018 workout routine!

Yep. I had a dream about Trump last night. I was at a hotel and there was a conference where Trump was giving a talk. The event was set up on the patio of the hotel and about 40 people were listening to him speak. He would say certain things and the people listening would move in rhythm like they were hypnotized or were being mind controlled. Everyone had large, frozen chicken breasts that were thawing and dripping raw chicken juice on the concrete patio. Now everyone is gone and the patio is covered in that raw chicken juice. I go and get a water hose and start washing the patio off. An older Trump supporter comes out of the hotel and questions what I am doing. I get angry and tell him that the situation is unhealthy and dangerous and that someone has to “clean up the mess that Trump and you all have made.” That’s when I woke up. Is America great again yet?