A note to young folks: download the things you love

Posted by Matt Birchler

Things on the internet can be forever, but you can't assume someone else will keep them going, especially when it's stuff like video, which costs real money to host. If you love something, try to get a local copy and store it on a hard drive you control.  

This makes me think of Fatman on Batman by Kevin Smith. I stopped listening to the podcast or watching the videos years ago. Before it used to be an interview-like podcast, with comic book creators, and now is more like a commentary/review show, or at least the last time I tried to listen. It is not even called Fatman on Batman anymore, now it's called Fatman Beyond. I remember I discovered it through Greg Capullo,  one of my favorite comic artists,  in and old social platform called Twitter. He told his story about how he came to work for Marvel, Todd Mcfarlane on Spawn, and then DC, and it was fascinating. Other great interviews were with the late Neal Adams on how he came to fight for the rights of creators and how the creators of Superman, finally got the credit they deserved.  I used to listen to these episodes over and over because they fascinated me.

All those episodes are now gone! At least from the main RSS feed, last time I checked. I am sure if I look hard I might find them somewhere. Sad, I wish I had somehow seen it coming and made a local backup of them somehow.

Armored tells the story of Andy, an orphan adopted by a family who are still mourning the loss of their biological son. When Andy is attacked by the same supernatural beast that killed his adoptive brother, he finds unlikely aid in the form of a haunted suit of armor. With the help of the suit's ghostly owner, Sir William, Andy will get to the bottom of the terrifying threat plaguing his family.  

IGN

Color me interested. 

Servay says! Well, the internet says!

The Turkish get-up is a comprehensive exercise that works almost every muscle in your body, and it also improves your balance, stability, mobility, coordination, cardiovascular endurance, and mental focus.

I haven’t done or tried to do a Turkish get-up in years. I think in part, I am afraid of them, or was. It can be a lot to handle especially if, like me, you haven’t practiced them in a while. They used to be my favorite thing to do, though, back in the day. I mean, this was just a warm-up exercise.

My plan today is to work on my form and see where I stand, strength-wise, and go from there.

Friday, August 11th, around noon, we head out to Bend, Oregon. This trip, had two intentions, the most important being, meeting up with the Burks. Why Bend, Oregon? Neither party has ever been. Thus, it was the perfect excuse for the trip.

After almost five hours of non-stop driving, well, we did stop in Burns for gas and pee-stop.

Our first stop was, Crux Fermentation Project, because we needed food, duh! 😜

Next morning, breakfast at the Bends. It was Smokey, due to neighboring fires, of course, and yet it was a good morning out.

An hour or two after breakfast. A nice yellow thing shows up!

And so, our adventure begins.

There was some beer and crafting at Bend Brewing.

Then some mermaid hunting.

The Mermaid

Then, it was another brewery plus, tiny tattoos session by Marley.

More crafting courtesy of Valerie

After all that fun beering, walking, and crafting, there was one stop that _had_to be done. The last, and only, Blockbuster in the United States of America!

After our visit to the last and only Blockbuster in existence, a nice little bbq at the Airbnb that was not documented in photos was had. There was good local Bend beer, steaks, chicken, salad, and then some.

Once our friends were fed and somewhat rested from all their driving, they left. And we stayed one last night before driving back to the 208s.

So, what is next for the wonderboy (yours truly)?

After driving almost five hours, again, we drive not to our home, but straight to the airport!

Our wonderboy is now heading to Sacramento, California! For work. Field grow outs, tomatoes. Also, we had the chance to see how watermelon seed production gets done. Something I hadn’t experienced before.

There was also good local beer to be had, of course.

And there was that. Four states in less than 24 hours. I mean, on a Sunday.

I want to thank Jason and Valerie for joining us in Bend. We had a good time. In fact, in you’d as Marley what her favorite part of the trip was, it was riding in Jason’s car 😅, and second, hunting for mermaids.

We definitely want to be back in Bend, but much longer. There’s so much to enjoy and explore.

According to “The Oracle”, I slept 7 hours last night. That is a new record! Let us see how the rest of the week shapes up. Last week due to some work travel and Marley starting school again, it kind of screwed up my workout routine, so very little was accomplished or done. The plan for this week is to come back in full force.

My only debate is if I want to set up my new workout routine in the mornings, right after dinner, or at night after the girls go to bed. I must admit, going to the gym right after work, was probably the best time.

IGN: Apple TV+ Godzilla spin-off Monarch: Legacy of the Monsters Gets First Look Images

Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), taking place in the 1950s and half a century later where Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows. The dramatic saga – spanning three generations – reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.  

I am so ready for this!!

Today’s workout was pretty awkward. When it comes to “conventional” training, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I have been training using kettlebells or unconventional training for so long that I feel like I’ve lost that knowledge in some way.

Today was leg day (the best day) and I had decided to do some squats with the barbell like most people do. It felt so weird, as if I never had my form right. On top of that, the two lady trainers were exactly where I was and it made me feel super uncomfortable and awkward 😅. I just wanted to finish my rounds and move on to the room I’d normally workout in, away from everyone else.

Once I was in that room with a heavy kettlebell, I was home, I was safe. I don’t know, it is a weird feeling.

This weekend, was a good weekend. Yesterday Annie went out with her friends for some zip lining in Tamarack, here in the Idahos. Meanwhile, I spent the afternoon with the girls, Annie’s brother, his wife, and their kid, at the water park and later at the community’s pool.

Today, after picking up around the house, we all went for pedicures. It only took 40 years for me to get my first one.

Now we are closing this fine weekend with some pizza, and beer, beer for the adults only that is.

It is a super-chill morning today, so far. It rained last night and we are still getting a little drizzle. It is currently 66 degrees outside and the highest will be 86. The coffee is good, as good as Starbucks coffee can get, that is. I had a decent night’s sleep, and a good breakfast, it is quiet in the office and my boss won’t be around today. So today, I am Gaby, and not “Hey, Gaby!”

I am liking today so far.

Playing: Don’t Know Why by Norah Jones

It has been now about three nights of less than 4 hours of sleep, 3 hours max. Why? The fuck I know (laughs). I haven’t changed anything, and still taking my sleeping pills, and yet, for whatever reason, can’t seem to have a good night’s rest.

The only times I can sleep well is if I drink, and, I am sure as hell, that I don’t want to rely on the drinking. My humor seems fine though, I am chirpy and as focused, and alert as I can muster. Maybe a little snarky every now and then but that’s normal in my personality I think.

It is messing up my workout routine, though. I am yet to skip any days, well except for Monday, but no matter how exhausted I am feeling, I have managed to go to the gym and do my sesh the past two days. But I struggled and today, it won’t be any different.

Silly Gabz, you need to listen to your body and get some rest.

Yes, perhaps but I can’t help it at this point, I just go and do things.

Perhaps I need to try something different.

I like sleeping, I’ve just forgotten how to I guess.

I love my job like I truly do and I’m happy to do the things I do, no matter how overwhelming they might seem at times. Today we had a meeting, something about core competencies for each level. Technician, Analyst, I think then it’s Technical Expert and Manager level.

When looking at that slide and all the different buckets and their competencies within those buckets, I came to a realization. I have more buckets than what my current level is described as. My current position is, on paper, at a technical level, when in reality, I match all the Analyst’s buckets. I have been doing what would seem like a 60K job for 47K. These are made-up numbers but you get the idea.

In a way felt like a slap in the face that I wasn’t looking to get. But probably a necessary one. Why go above and beyond when I am getting the bare minimum? I don’t want to sound ungrateful or something but can’t help to be somewhat bothered by it.

Not sure what will happen from here, definitely will have a talk with my manager on our next 1-on-1 (which is tomorrow). And for sure, I don’t want to become a little bitter, or discouraged, and lower my standards in the work I do and the passion I have for it.

Skoobs - On Having a Blog

I feel a sense of peace of mind here. Where social media feels like a busy commercial area, full of flashing lights and noise, this is more like a quiet home in a quiet neighborhood. All of these things are why I’m an advocate of owning your own webspace. Largely, because it’s your own webspace. Not Meta’s, not Twitter’s (or whatever the fuck they’ll call themself in 24 hours), nobody else. It’s yours. Own it.  

(in my best papa swolio's voice)

Why are you doing, posting on social media?

GET YOUR OWN BLOG, NOW! 

GET. YOUR. OWN. FUCKING. BLOG.

A few months ago, our company changed timekeeping systems, to a much “intuitive and reliable” one. Well, little did we know. The thing is confusing to use, things are tricky and don’t make sense. Even the managers don’t know what to do in some circumstances. Heck, you can’t even enter days off ahead of time you either enter your time off on the day of or after the fact.

A few weeks ago, my mom was here, visiting the girls, and I took three days off. When I got back I tried to enter my time in the same way I have done before with our previous system. Well, first, is not like I could change the pre-populated time, to vacation time. Then I was told, to leave it and enter a “new shift” with my vacation time and vacation code, and the system would automatically update, somehow.

A week later, payday comes around. I got asked if I got a raise. I was confused for a minute, then, I realized what had happened. The system did don’t correct itself, I got paid for 24 hours of overtime…

Then, a debate started in my head. Do I say something? Should I not? Is not my mistake. Or is it? Now I’m conflicted, and I knew this would not let me sleep. So that afternoon, I talked to my manager and explained the situation.

I was praised for my honesty and for coming forward and saying something. Neither I nor my manager knew exactly how to go about it. Eventually, he talked to his manager who in turn asked him to reach out to HR.

Long story short, my next paycheck will be short. Sometimes being honest sucks 😜

Today, on this beautiful morning, the sun was out, the birds were chirping and I was ready to head out to the wilderness that is life and work. I’ve got my backpack, my lunch, my coffee, and loud music – I’m ready. I take my usual route, for when I am not taking the girls to grandma’s, and head out to the freeway. Normal traffic, nothing out of the ordinary. When I noticed that the traffic in the opposite direction was stalling more than normal. I said, hm! Then I saw that a car or two were “stopped” obstructing the traffic and there were some people sort of dealing whit the situation, cops, an ambulance, and whatnot. Then I saw it, a red car, a mini SUV, upside down, doors wide opened, yikes!

Slow down, pay attention, and be safe out there, people!

Oh, and wear your seatbelts.

I had a realization, regarding how I deal with my RSS feed these days. I do not (gosh the word that comes to mind is consume and I hate that “term”) consume or read on any of my devices, like my iPhone, or iPad, I use Feedbin’s website, on my computer. Whenever I have a few minutes to spare I skeem through it and favorite, or star, things that I may or may not come back to later. Or, I open the site, hit alt + O, and save it to Omnivore.

Weird?

Although Marley is still an eager little beaver about her braces, she’s also facing the inconvenience of them. She complains that her teeth hurt, which is most expected, they will be sore for a few dates for sure. The most difficult time is night time, gotta give her some ibuprofen beforehand and wait until, well, the pain is tolerable enough for her to settle down and fall asleep.

Last night was a little bit of a struggle and tonight, well, so far it’s shaping up to be the same. So I am here typing while she plays on her Switch waiting for the ibuprofen to do its thing. Well, I know better, she’s also stalling but it’s relatively early so I’m okay with it.

However, I could use the sleep. Last night was a struggle, also for me, in a way. It wasn’t until 2:00 am ish that I finally settled, just to have nightmares all morning long. Today, was a real struggle at work. Not only because I was sleep deprived but it was a really busy day, way too many fires to put out. Also, I ran out of one of my meds and didn’t have time to pick them up yesterday so today I was both sleep deprived and chemically unbalanced. I still managed to make it happen, still some fires left but that’s tomorrow’s Gaby’s problem. I did manage to go to the gym after work though, I was happy about that, it did me good, mentally.

Anyways, let us hope for a good night’s sleep and a better, more swimmingly day tomorrow.

Darknet Diaries EP 135: THE D.R. INCIDENT

Omar Avilez worked in the CSIRT of the Dominican Republic when a major cybersecurity incident erupted. Omar walks us through what happened and the incident response procedures that he went through

Of course, like almost every episode of this show, this was a good one, at least to me. And I agree, it is still scary that in this day and age, we are still so vulnerable to cyberattacks and especially at this scale.

It also reminded me that not long ago, in 2022, Puerto Rico also got hacked by this type of attack. And in case you’ve forgotten your geography, PR and DR are neighboring islands. I don’t remember if any other agencies or systems were hacked at all. I just remember that the system known as AutoExpreso, which controls the electronic toll collection, was hacked.

PuertoRicans being PuertoRicans, they were not mad about it, I mean, the government sure was, but not the public. The only thing the public was mad about was why the hackers did not delete all the fines and debts. 🤣

Counting corn, ain’t happening today. I forgot they were watering the field today so it is all muddy and almost un-walkable. This means I’ll have to finish up on Monday, and next week, it’s going to be scorching hot. However, if I survived Florida, I can pretty much survive anywhere.

It is all peachy!

Coming up. How to delete your Reddit account. Just like everybody in the Mother will be blogging about for the next few days.

🔗 Why My Adventures With Superman Is More Like Dragon Ball Z Than You Realized

Similar to Dragon Ball, My Adventures With Superman features a constant sense of escalation where Superman grows stronger with time and experience and gains new abilities, only to find those abilities tested by ever-stronger opponents. Though as Wyatt explained, as much as the show draws from Dragon Ball, that sense of escalation has always been a part of the Superman comics. The crime-fighting Superman of the early Golden Age stories is hardly the all-powerful defender of the DC Universe he's become.  

My entire life, I have been a Superman fan, and ever since a teenager, a Dragon Ball Z fan. I am very eager to watch this and see what they do with this iteration of Superman.

 this post was going to be a Toot

I force-closed my apps for 3 days. It made me kinda hate my phone. by Matt Birchler

I'll say up front that I don’t judge anyone who force-closes their apps.

Me:  I DO AND ALWAYS WILL! 😜

This seemed like a good experiment or POC, and a good write-up. I personally never force-closed my apps, In my head the devices are "smart" enough to handle this. Well, I may use to do it back in the iPhone4 days, but not anymore. I can't remember when I stopped doing it. My lady, on the other hand, still does, I see her force-closing her apps, and her brothers too, and yes, I judge them every time. Seems like a waste of time to me. 

The Hellboy Universe Expands With Three New Audiobooks

The three audiobooks are part of the same continuity as the comics, with Hellboy: A Plague of Wasps acting as a direct follow-up to 2022's Hellboy in Love. Together, they form a trilogy with ramifications for the larger Hellboy universe. The trilogy includes:
Hellboy: A Plague of Wasps
Things turn strange and dangerous when Hellboy accompanies his girlfriend, Anastasia Bransfield, on a trip to Brazil. They venture into the rainforest to stop an evil force from spreading. This first audiobook in the series will be available on July 31, 2023 wherever audiobooks are sold.
Lobster Johnson: The Proteus Club
Set in 1933, reporter Cynthia Tynan finds herself drawn into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of several prominent New Yorkers and seeks the aid of Hellboy’s childhood hero the Lobster. They must confront German spies, religious lunatics, and monstrously transformed people who have been subjected to hideous experimentation. The Lobster Johnson audiobook will debut in October.
Hellboy and the BPRD: The Goddess of Manhattan
Hellboy, Liz Sherman, and Abe Sapien are drawn into a bizarre case linked both to Hellboy’s adventure with Anastasia in Brazil and to Lobster Johnson. Co-authored by Young Hellboy writer Thomas E. Sniegoski, the third audiobook in the series will be released in November.

I am so ready for this!

If you have fooled my blog or at least know me a bit, you should know that when it comes to working out, I prefer kettlebells. And if you didn’t, well, now you know. I love kettlebell workouts, I’ve been doing them for years now, circa 2013.

Why? Well, it’s not so traditional, I much prefer their versatility and “playfulness”. I find gym machines boring, plus there are some benefits to it.

• It helps with full-body strength.
• Low impact cardio
• Improves core strength and stability.
• Explosive power in the hips. (queue swings and snatches)
• And betters coordination and mobility.

Among other things.

It’s so easy to just grab a bell, and have a good full-body workout. I can do it at the gym or at home. I currently have two bells in my play box.

I can just take them both, put a mat on the patio and go at it, or on the grass. Outdoor workouts are the best, in my opinion. I need more bells, I want a set of the same weight for double-handed workouts, and a very heavy one. But for now, these should work and do more than enough “damage” 😏

Keep moving!

Gaby: let’s work out!

Body: sure!

Gaby: let’s do 5 rounds of 500 meters on the rowing machine

Body: fuck you, we are doing 3

Gaby: let’s do 5 rounds of x6 heavy kettlebell swings, x8 cleans to squat to press and 6 burpees

Body: fuck them burpees, not today!

Gaby: okay, no burpees then.

Something or someone is telling me I need to get some rest.

Yesterday, I was reminded that seven years ago, I bought my first Olympus camera, the OM-D E-M10.

Why that name? Who knows. But it was as an early Father’s Day present to myself. This was back in 2016, the year when Marley was born, and she was pretty much the excuse for me to get a camera.

Why this particular camera? Well, at the time I remember reading Casey Liss’s quick thoughts on it and Shawn Blanc’s thoughts about it too. And so, that was the extent of my research, really! 😅 And not only that but it was (still is) reasonably priced. And I also knew I did not want a DSLR camera. I wanted some compact but more than just a point-and-shoot. The next thing I knew, I got myself an Oly. This camera reignited my passion for photography, I must say. Eventually, I ditched the kit lens and got myself a 25mm prime lens, a 45mm, and a 17mm. Now, perhaps two years later or so, I upgraded to the Olympus OM-D E-M10 MARK III. Still having the same three lenses in my toolkit. And still have my passion for photography.

Not going to lie, part of me wants to “upgrade” or move to a different system, like Fujifilm, but it is not a must, at least not yet. The system that I currently have still serves me well.

If you’d like to check out some of my photography, check out my Glass account page.

😉

In the past few weeks or so I have been playing, well, a few games. One of them is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which I have played a couple of ours and have my thoughts about it, but not today.

Another game I have been playing is Cassette Beasts on the Nintendo Switch. This one is like a whole different take on a Pokemon game-like. It is super fun, the soundtrack is great, and awesome pixel art. So far it’s a little buggy, but it is so much fun that I can get past the fact. Have more thoughts but not today.

The game that’s got me knees deep on right now, is Diablo IV, currently playing on the PlayStation 5.

My first experience with a Diablo game was Diablo III: Eternal Collection on Nintendo Switch. I might have tried it on the PS4 but it was on the Switch where I really got into it. And I played the heck out of that game and even more than once. So when Diablo IV was announced of course I was eager for it to come out.

The pre-order date came around and pre-ordered it, whichever the mid-tier of the game was just so I could have early access and whatever else. I did get a chance to play the Beta once or twice but not enough to give me a sense of how the game was really going to be, plus I was knees-deep on ToTK.

Finally, the time came around to play the full game and I was delighted with it. I felt at home, this is my kind of game, and this is the kind of game I get addicted to, just like with Diablo III. It is everything you would expect from a Diablo game, amazing cinematics, a compelling story, stellar graphics, great voice acting, character and combat customization, and of course, lots of build-crafting, and hunting for the best gear you can get.

When I played Diablo III, I pretty much exclusively played as the Necromancer, I always felt overpowered with that class, and so much fun. This time around, though, I am playing (so far) as the Barbarian and so far it’s been a lot of fun with a decent amount of weapons and pretty cool skills and power-ups.

I am still trying to get used to some of the menu options, especially around the “skills tree” or whatever is called, it seems a little confusing and unclear to me as to what am I getting, and I don’t know why. Of course, I am playing this game in the easiest setting, I am not here for a challenge, I am here for a good time. And yet, is not as easy as Diablo III is in its easest mode, I never died on Diablo III, on D4 though, yes I have died a few times. It can get a little hairy when many baddies band together and you are not paying attention to what you’re doing.

I am sure there’s more to this game from what I have experienced so far, there is so much more to explore and discover. I hate (Love) that there is a real money item store, that’s how they get me, by getting me to spend money in order to get that shiny armor or horse, or whatever. This game will be hard to put down, I need to keep track of time otherwise will continue playing for hours without end, I am loving it.

Currently, there are no plans or have been officially confirmed or announced to bring Diablo 4 to the Nintendo Switch. That being said, I am sure that eventually, it will, and whenever that happens, you can be damn sure that I will be getting it on the Switch as well.