Friday Check In

Happy Friday!

Yes, my wife and I binged on *WandaVision* and loved every minute of it. Talk about Easter eggs! I stand (actually, sit) in awe of people who can create such complex storylines and still manage to entertain at a visceral level.

Our own novel is entering its final editing phase (only thirty pages to go) before the publishing houses are about to be barnstormed and hopefully gobsmacked. It's a shame we couldn't get it out in time for Opening Day of Baseball season, but it's technically more than that.

I'll be doing a Webinar for my former university from which I retired after 42 years. It's only 25 minutes, but I am hopeful it will reignite some nice memories.

Unseasonably warm followed by near-cold temperatures prevail. But at least it's not snowing. On the list for the vaccine, so still hunkering down in home and wearing masks.

All best going out to the fellow Cobaltians. Be well, my friends.
Jeff

Happy Friday Folks,

It's been a lovely warm week so we have taken advantage with walks with the doggo on the beach. Spending lots of time out in the sun is always the best.

Running my usual routine of work, reading, vinyl, walks and exercising. Staying busy and healthy while the madness continues.

Looking forward to Falcon and Winter Soldier tonight. Also started watching new show to me called Debris about a Fringe like team picking up parts of a spaceship that broke up in space and are landing on earth each piece has weird properties so it's pretty good I think.

Anyone else found any good TV shows?

Stay safe my friends....

Well, things got lively on the Funny Farm this week. My oldest son and his wife arrived and we've had a grand old time. Then his younger brother surprised us and stopped by for a couple of days and the party escalated. Then of course we had a visit from the dark side of nature for about 12 hours. But none of the tornadoes got closer than about 20 miles, so all was fine. We did have a bit of flooding. But that was limited to the hollow on the north side of the property, so we had no damage.

That's about it for this week. The son and daughter in law are here for 6 more days. We plan to do a bit of drive by touristing for a couple of days. Gonna get out and see a few sights in the area.

Be safe, be well and be happy.

Space

M/M Greybelt somehow got in the queue for the Pfizer vax and got #1 on Thursday. So far, so good, with arm soreness and some fatigue (which when I first saw that word when I was little I asked "what's 'fat-ig-oo'?"). Cured some of it with Spring Training baseball and NY-style pizza, even it's made by some ex-New Jersey guys in the neighboring town.

Still overwhelmed by all the reels and reels of the two OTRR projects, but also greatly whelmed by the generosity of others who have been splendidly working on the files which will be spread to all of OTRdom.

Getting hooked on the long-running Brit series Silent Witness now that we're done with lighter-hearted Death in Paradise until the recently ended 2020 season is released on Britbox.

If you have not seen the Netflix Murder Among the Mormons, we found it riveting. We can usually do only 2 hrs of heavy stuff but we were so intrigued with the real-life story that we had to do the conclusion of its Part Three. The events occurred in the mid-1980s, and we didn't remember them even though it got national coverage... as we thought about it we realized life was a fast-moving kaleidoscopic blur for us then. So it was interesting to see the news coverage of the time.

I must note how grateful I am for Cobaltians chasedad and lasombra who have been assisting in the Suspense east-west-AFRS analysis as we try to identify which coast broadcast was used to make the AFRS recordings. Along the way they have found other curiosities of the productions.

One of the rules that chasedad developed as a means to find differences in the recordings is to hope Wally Maher is in the show. Wally delivered lines in an everyday natural manner, and he would often purposely pause or stumble on a thought or add an "uh" and it would be different in each of the broadcasts. Wally has never failed us. But it's often the guest stars who slightly miss a cue or pronounce something differently. Everyone listens to OTR in their own way... I've always been curious about that... and chasedad and lasombra have an attention to detail that has really added to the enjoyment of the program. Their work will be revealed to all of Cobaltia soon.

We've had fun with calling their work the "C3DS" or the Cobaltian Dialogue Difference Detection Squad (which of course has a Latin motto), and have placed radio immortal Wally Maher into its Hall of Fame.

Greetings, Cobaltians!

Joyce and I received Shot #1 the other day in a fast-paced and firmly efficient caravan at Senior Services, with April 14 being our date for the follow-up. No complications save for a couple very sore arms.

Younger son was licensed as a pastor last weekend, so now he is whooping to Glory even more than usual. Meanwhile, his older brother has accepted the Chairmanship of the Philosophy Department at his University, starting in July. And their old man, yours truly, has been asked by the Alumni Department to do a half-hour webinar on Thursday for the old stomping grounds. March is busy.

*WandaVision* is sadly over now, so we're going to hunker down with *The Falcon and The Winter Soldier* for six episodes, then follow up with "Queen's Gambit*.

Still writing as temperatures are climbing into the fifties and sixties, and those temps are reflected in my burning DVDs of classic Kinescopes from that time frame as well.
Be well and safe, friends. Enjoy the family, Space.
Jeff

Queens Gambit was a bit raw, but it was far more captivating that we thought -- and the special effects (what? special effects for a chess movie??) were spectacular. You'll enjoy it greatly!!

OTR first -- some rare Ethel & Albert discs were in the Joe Hehn collection and they are now at archive.org
https://archive.org/details/EthelAlbertJHMC
Thank you, hillfolk (who still lurks in Cobalt now and then), for your help.

This is my first Friday with gigabit fiber optic service -- and it's stupendous! Planning to do lots of uploading of Hehn materials and also lots of backing up various collections. Because of where we lived in rural Rhode Island, we were on dial-up longer than we would/should have been. But now in fast-growing NC, all the new activity has drawn fiber service providers since they don't have to undo a lot of legacy stuff to install it.

Six more days to real baseball, 13 days to COVID shot #2, so things are looking up from a freedom of movement standpoint once we get past April. We so miss traveling and it looks like we can resume many of our retirement plans to do so once the calendar turns to 2022.

Been working on Kelez-Falk reels that OTRR purchased and I am STILL finding missing Suspense versions and upgrades, even just moments ago as I was typing this. The biggest challenge of late are all the squealing reels I kept putting aside. Now I'm finally doing them since the pile started staring back at me. Today's were outrageously challenging. It's Scotch black tape, no clue what the product number is, but it is from the late 1960s/early 1970s and it squeals from the first turn of the reel. I baked these for about 6 hours and it did not help. One thing I've learned to do is skip the tape guides since some of the reels even squeal on the back side not just the play side! So one tape guide is pulled away with a rubber band anchored to the mic volume knob. The other is taped in on position with shipping tape.

I still use my moistening technique of a drenched wet disposable hand wipe anchored with some shipping tape that touches the tape before it hits the heads. But today I had to put some WD40 on a rag and wipe down the tape path. None of these are good solutions, so you just keep cleaning the heads for any residue this causes and hope for the best. I find that I have to run double speed to ensure the tape passes cleanly and then correct it in Audacity. Otherwise the tapes have too much time to get stuck. It seems to work. But today I did toss some reels after just checking the recordings to see if there were any versions that were missing. Out they went, not worth the effort of transfer compared to all the other stuff there is available.

OTRR could really use more "hands on reel decks", so to speak, to work through these reels. Luckily there are 8 folks doing the heavy lifting right now, but a few more would be welcomed for sure. There is a crew that just does audio processing, too. There are lots of soaps, Morse, variety, and other fare that have a good chance to provide upgrades of recordings that would benefit all of OTRdom.

I'm so behind on writing... because fascinating things keep popping up... how did I get through all those years of work when OTR is so much better?

We've been enjoying Silent Witness via BritBox and are now officially hooked on the new series Bloodlands on AcornTV.

Back to the reels...

GB great news on soon getting your second shot. I am still waiting for my first

I really enjoy the updates on your OTR reel work. Like a treasure hunt. I demand you wear a fedora and carry a Indy whip while running those reels.

It's been lovely weather here so we have been out enjoying that even though we are still very much in lockdown. We can run a 5KM radius good enough to walk the legs off the dog.

Same routine. Basically like most of us I think I am on autopilot going through the motions. But vaccines are here and things will get better they always do and hopefully we learned something about what's important out of all of this.

Can't remember if I mentioned this before but I really enjoyed the Moe Berg movie the Catcher is a Spy. very well done and boy what a thriller knowing its a true story. I don't hesitate to say it's a swell movie boys and girls.

Stay safe my friends...

Happy Friday Cobalt Club. It's been a busy week at The Funny Farm.

The oldest son and daughter-in-law left yesterday and have arrived back home in Hawaii. We had a blast while they were here and will miss them. But we should see them again in about two months, when the wife and I go there for about three weeks. The kids got out of town just before the bad weather moved in. Yes, we had another round of Dixie Alley madness. We were tornado warned once, but it was cancelled before the area of concern reached us. Just a little stress and a lot of wind and rain.

I found an old number 3 farm bell in the weeds in the pasture. It was in pieces and completely rusted over. I spent five hours with a high speed wire brush removing the rust, then gave all the pieces a light coat of machine oil before reassembling it. My son and I then mounted it on a new post. Here's the before and after.



My wife and I also got our first Covid shots this week. We had to sneak across state lines in the dead of night to a seedy Walmart to get it done. But it's done. Now we have to go back in 24 days for our second dose.

There's a lot more that went on this past week. But those are pretty much the high points. Other than getting out to explore a bit of the local history and nature. I've gotta remember to explain Buzzard Roost Spring at some point. Or maybe you can look it up for yourself if you're interested.

Be well and be happy my friends.

Space

Happy Good Friday everyone,

Space I am loving that bell I am hoping that the ringing of it means food is ready.

Another lovely week here weather wise. Been for lots of walks with the doggo.

Same old, same old here on the routine. Keeping busy counting down the days until I get my vaccine.

Finished some really good books the kind you ration because you do not want them to end. But on to the next one as I have a huge backlog of 2020 purchases to get through.

Stay safe and have a happy Easter my friends...

Happy Good Friday folks. I hope all are doing well. Not much to report this week. Mostly the same old routine.

We're (meaning me) are getting things ready to put in a small "test" garden. Just a small plot to see if we can grow veggies, or will it just be a deer feeder. Quite a bit of research has gone into keeping deer out of any possible garden, short of shooting them and letting them rest comfortably in the freezer. But if I did shoot a deer, my wife and daughter-in-law would probably hang me from the nearest tree.

Boss, that bell is widely considered to be the coolest thing on the property. The UPS delivery guy loves it. It's at the corner of the house next to the driveway. I saw him a few days ago and asked him to ring the bell when he has a delivery for us. Then I told him to go ahead and try it out. His face lit up like an 8 year old when he rang that bell. And he can't wait til he delivers to us again. I see a "Please Ring Bell for Deliveries" sign appearing in the near future.

Be well and be happy my friends. And a very Happy Easter to those who celebrate it.

Space

Does the UPS guy know everytime he rings it another angel gets its wings?

Happy Friday everyone. Hope the weather and your activities are keeping you engaged.

It's been another nice week weather wise. Same old routine which is a laugh to even mention after 16 months.

Keeping busy. Anyone catching the show Debris? I really like this show it's by some of the people who did Fringe. It has that story within a story many plotlines going on feel that Fringe had. Still working my way through a mountain of books.

Stay safe my friends....

Is it Friday again? Well, not much to report this week. The major thing this week was completing both my state and federal income tax returns. A bit complicated this year, due to retirement and the associated move. But both were successfully completed. And I only used up about two thirds of the profanity that I know.

We're trying to get all of the final preparations for the Hawaii trip completed. But not having much luck with some of those preps. But we're still on pace to get everything ready in time. Not much time this week for the fun stuff.

The wife saw her first snake this afternoon, near the back deck. She jumped and screamed. I rolled on the deck laughing. She wanted me to shoot it. I asked her where it went. She said she didn't know but that I still needed to shoot it. So, I sent a 40 caliber hollow point into the ground and told her it was a warning shot, and that the snake wouldn't be back. Unfortunately, I started laughing again. Then I got to hear about two thirds of the profanity she knows. Welcome to life on The Funny Farm.

Be well, be safe and be happy.

Space

Ugh! Yesterday was Friday and the day after Pfizer#2. It brought back feelings of the bad flu I had back in 1980. The lucky thing about that was I was stuck home from work during the Winter Olympics and the big run of the US hockey team. Great time to be sick at home!

But we're just weeks away from being in full force vaccination so life can begin little steps toward the happy-go-lucky retirement we worked for.

Mrs GB had a good report, defined as healing continues and all the bad stuff has stopped, for her eye. We were really worried there with some of the scar tissue in the eye that had appeared -- but that has stayed in one place and has stopped gathering. The central vision is still distorted and she'll never have the stamina to read more than 10 min or so at a time with any comfort again. So much for that pile of books that was waiting for "when I have time when I retire."

I had a strange situation with the aftereffects of some ear surgery from 1986 which has gotten worse in terms of a nerve that causes constant pain but I manage by staying busy and diverting my attention (karate helps -- when someone is coming to hit you, you focus on stopping that because saying "stop! my ear hurts!" is not very effective).

There is a new method of implanting a pacemaker device to stimulate the nerve in a way that counters its activity. It's a bit too Buck Rogers for my thinking right now. They run wires along the spine up to the nerve from an implanted device that I think is in the lower back. You get to test drive it for a week but even that involves surgery to get "wired." So very strange. I think I have to get a lot worse before I consider it, but it is fascinating. If anyone has had any experiences with such devices, please PM me.

As for the reels, still finding airchecks and things here and there. Didn't have the patience for squealy reels this week, but the pile is now small.

Watched Atlantic Crossing now playing on PBS Masterpiece Theater but bingeable on pbs.org. It's about Norway's royalty and their interaction with FDR and the White House. That plot summary of mine sounds really boring, but it was well done. Mrs GB has been very pleased with the series they are running about Ernest Hemingway.

And to get in a lighter mood, BritBox has started to post Death in Paradise season 10. Nothing like solving premeditated murders in a happy tropical island. Starting up more Silent Witness this evening. I think we're in season 6, so only 18 more to go.

On an OTR note, Jerry Haendiges was hospitalized with a stroke at the beginning of the week, but is home and recovering now. Doctors expect a full recovery. He can't type yet but his hand will start working again soon. Jerry lost his son Gary just a few months ago, very unexpectedly. Been a tough 2021 for him and Elaine so far.

Happy Friday, to those of you who celebrate it. As usual, not much to report. The wife and I are planning a quick trip to Texas next week, to see the two youngest grandkids. Looking forward to seeing the babies. Not looking forward to the 1300 mile round trip drive. We're hoping to make it an easy/lazy drive, so that we can look around as we travel. We'll see how well that actually works out.


Be well, be safe and be happy.

Space

Friday already. I have to remind myself of that since in retirement every day is Saturday.

Been researching the pain procedure I mentioned last week. There is a patient video that was really good. https://youtu.be/k6vGuHRFgM4 It's an amazing procedure. I was too squeamish to watch the animated video -- so glad there are people who do this stuff. The speaker in the patient video is a nurse who has had the procedure... and then she mentions she had to give up competitive dancing. Hmmm.... why would that be? I got back to the doctor and after a few questions it was pretty clear that giving up karate was likely on the horizon if I had the surgery. It seems the wires they insert along the spine can be prone to movement in activities with broad and aggressive movement. When I have a more sedentary life, or until there is an advance in the procedure and surgery, this is unfortunately not for me. Another dead end for now, it seems.

Worked with more squealing reels this week and it was worth it for some Suspense upgrades. Next week as I type my Friday note, it's time for early days of colonoscopy prep. Perhaps days later that doctor will find some missing Suspense there...  Oh boy!!

Space that is the ideal car for a road trip I give that two thumbs up.

GB sorry to hear about your pain problem. Good for you waiting for better remedies because they are coming. Yearly I attend the Singularity conference on medicine and the improvements in stem cell and gene therapy and nerve repair are phenomenal.

For me being a lifetime Jiu Jitsu practitioner I had two choices for groin surgery the easy way where they use mesh but you cannot practice anymore or the painful 3 month recovery where they suture the muscle layers and you need physio to recover but you can practice. I took the painful way and yes it was f****ing painful as hell but happy I did. I can still do my weighted squats my kicks my throws and ground work. If you have actually trained properly in martial arts you can take pain. Was not giving up a 35 year long passion. So hang in there and a new therapy will appear. Also most people think we are nuts LOL.

Same old routine enjoying spring and the beautiful weather. On the list for my vaccine counting down the days to that.

Anybody watching anything cool?

Stay safe my friends....

Here it is, Friday creeps up on me again, but this one's special: it's colonoscopy prep weekend!

Just like my investments, there will be a big focus on liquidity.

For today and tomorrow, my diet is mainly like a 7-year old's fiberless carb-filled mostly meatless snacking, and then Sunday is, as a buyer and seller of businesses once called it, "a significant liquidity event." But he was referring to the big amount of cash you get when you sell a business. I think it applies, here, too, don't you? Expecting all to "go" well, and then likely minor benign discoveries in Monday's spelunking expedition, as in the past. They will be on the lookout for the missing Suspense.

Still working on Falk Suspense reels here, and it's hard to believe, but I'm almost done. Some of the Hehn volunteers have actually finished their reels -- so now it's all on me to get things posted up on archive.org.

There's a big collection of nearly consecutive Road of Life episodes that have been posted. I have to tweak a couple of episodes, which I hope to do this weekend, and they are at https://archive.org/details/RoadOfLifeJHMC

This gigabit Internet service is just incredible. I have been uploading WAV files to the group working on Kelez-Falk and those things just fly... it is truly amazing. Our Roku streaming seems of much better resolution and no stalls. Even YouTube streaming looks better!

We're into season 6 of Silent Witness and season 2 of New Tricks on BritBox. Watched the 3-part And Then There Were None on AcornTV this week. Enjoying them all.

The Mets are blacked out her for the weekend as they play the Nationals and we're in an area where the Nationals/Orioles cable channel can block out NC subscribers, even on MLB.tv. The way the Mets are playing, colonoscopy prep seems like a better way to "waste" the hours.

GB I am hoping your Colonoscopy appt gets to the bottom of things  

Great news on all the OTR files flying up to the interwebs.

It's been lovely weather here so many walks to the ocean with the doggo. Still waiting for my first jab of the vaccine.

Same old routine but pretty happy with it all things considered.

Stay safe my friends.

Happy Friday.

Well, the Texas trip was cancelled. Actually, we're gonna reschedule for later this summer. Nothing bad caused it. Just pesky bad luck for my daughter in law. Oh well, that 1300 mile round trip by car, will probably become a couple of 90 minute flights. So, that's probably a good thing.

The wife and I got our second arm jabs on Monday. Let's hope that it makes a difference, and that we don't at some point start seeing commercials beginning with "If you received the Moderna Covid-19 inoculation, you may entitled to a cash settlement".

GB, I've said it many times. If you live long enough, healthcare professionals will get you in the end. But I certainly hope everything comes out all right for you.

Boss, we need to find you some new outdoor interests. Have you considered skydiving? After all, it brings both an adrenaline rush and social distancing. But the recommendations of a guy who calls himself Space Cadet, should probably be taken with a bit of skepticism.

Be well, be safe and be happy my friends,

Space

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I received our second stabs in the arm about a week and a half ago, and outside of wracking me up with a day's pains and general dis-ease, the shots did their job. We are now invincible.

I've been laboring over a 500-word synopsis of the novel, to be enticing an agent soon. Shrinking a complex 345-page picaresque novel with a cast of dozens into a readable 500 words is akin to pressing the World's Largest Watermelon through the World's Smallest Chain Link Fence. Toughest writing assignment I've ever explored.

I have to admit we're a little whelmed with the Marvel Disney series *The Falcon and The Winter Soldier*--outside of a couple nice action sequences, we're finding it a hard slog with less than charismatic characters even though we love MCU. *WandaVision* spoiled us.

Summer will bring a very long-postponed visit from Number One Son, so warm weather can't come soon enough. Hope all are well and safe in Cobaltia.
Jeff

Jeff I cannot wait for my limited edition leather bound signed first edition of your book to arrive in a hand made wooden crate that contains 24 bottles of your finest Michigan Ginger Beer.

That's what I cannot wait for ....Just Saying...

Space the most foolhardy thing i do at the moment is ride Motorbikes on Irish roads if you have seen those narrow roads you will understand skydiving is completely safe in comparison.

Boss, over 650 jumps and I had a sprained ankle twice. Third time on a bike, broken bike, knee sprain and 40 stitches. And yes, I'm still thinking about a cruiser in my future.

All of the medical stuff is -- ahem -- behind me and all is well. They did find stuff and all small and benign. The staff enjoyed the experience of my entertaining banter so much they want me to come back in five years so we can have another raucous party with whatever new material I can prepare. In the meantime, all systems are back to "go" status.

The bad news is that they did not find any of the missing Suspense no matter how hard they looked. They left a missing "Meet the Meeks" in place as it was considered nondangerous and the pathology lab does not want to discourage the interns about their career choice.

Turn 65 today. It has number has no meaning other than Bismarck set the date to ensure the German pension system's solvency, supposedly, because the average person was floating belly-side up, in a home aquarium sense, by 62. An age everyone thought they could reach, but the actuaries knew better and kept the secret to themselves. So 65 I am, even though the social security folks say my 65 is now actually 66 and 4 months. Bah! The number has no meaning. You're as old as ibuprofen lets you feel.

Last week I had a Zoom karate class with a sensei who is in his late 60s, and still working in government agency security. He has the respect of all in our system because of all he has achieved in rank and especially knowledge and wisdom (they are two different things, as we know), and skill. Someone said to him a few years ago, "Sensei, I have always admired your teaching, but I always was really impressed by how dignified you walk and how perfect your posture is." He replied "If you had my back brace, and my knee braces, and my arch inserts you could walk the same way, too."

No birthday wishes, just birthday blessings that I'm with the first and only Mrs GB for 42 years and that GB the Younger visits tomorrow for the pagan porch table festival that involves small length of pepperoni on the grill for each of us (must be blistering and almost burned -- "man food" is something Mrs GB still does not understand) as an appetizer, along with "gourmet" burgers from the Publix meat counter, followed by the obligatory carb overload of cream-covered concoction baked flour, eggs, and water.

This year the private celebration of today's official birth date is highlighted by a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast. Ah, the reminder of my wild youthful past.