S. Evan Townsend's Blog, page 28

Evil Cats

Lily

It's Christmas Eve! Merry Christmas, everyone.

Now, on with the show...

Cats used to be thought of as evil back in medieval days. The church would kill them. They were said to be the Devil's tools.

And I wonder if part of the reason is static electricity. Almost every time I pet my son's cat, Lily, I get sparks of static electricity. Especially in winter. Now I'm an educated, modern man, so I know what it is and what causes it. But imagine being a peasant in the thirteenth century and not knowing a thing about electricity. You pet a cat and get shocks. What are they? They must be signs of the Devil. Burn it!

Which just goes to show that knowledge of our world (which a lot of people unfortunately lack mostly out of willful ignorance) is a good thing. I understand why I get sparks from Lily's fur.  I understand why the sky is blue. I understand that the stars I can see are lightyears away. I know why tires lose pressure in the fall. I love knowing about my world. I love science. How about you?

Let me know in the comments below how you like to know about the world.

The Huskies' Season is Probably Over

The Washington State Huskies have the best record (at 3-1) in the Pac-12 North. But they won't be playing USC in the Pac-12 Championship game tomorrow. They are on a COVID lockdown. Instead, Oregon will be playing in that game since they are in second place with a 3-2 record.

I saw somewhere that to go to a bowl game you have to have at least six games played and the Huskies only have four. So they likely won't be going to a bowl. Although Coach Jimmy Lake is hoping for one and will be trying to get the team ready. Maybe the rules changed and I didn't hear about it.

This was a messed up season, anyway. College football seasons are usually 12 games: three non-conference and nine conference games. First the Pac-12, in their wisdom, said no non-conference games. Then they cancelled the season saying it would be played in the Spring of 2021. Then they said there would be a short season of six games.

But the Huskies' first game, against Cal, was cancelled because Cal had COVID in their team. The next two games (Oregon State and Arizona) were played and the Huskies won. Then the Apple Cup cross-state rivalry game against Washington State was cancelled. Instead, we played Utah, and beat them in an amazing comeback. We played Stanford and lost.

Then Washington had a COVID outbreak. The last game against Oregon (whom we hate more than WSU) was cancelled. I would have really loved to have a chance to beat Oregon. And, as I said, Washington won't be going to the Pac-12 Championship game tomorrow.

Frankly, I'm looking forward to the fall of 2021 season. Maybe by then we can have a normal season. Maybe.

Bad Brain Chemistry Few Days

I make no secret that I have a mental illness. I'm not ashamed that I am Type 2 bipolar with dysthymia. That means, untreated, I am depressed most of the time with bouts of mania. There is, for me, no shame in having a mental illness anymore than I would if I had cancer. Mental illness is not a failing. It's brain chemistry
About a month ago, I had a very bad few days of mania. It started out a situational depression and then somehow grew into mania mixed with depression. Now I tend to be an angry manic. It might have been good that my wife was gone for most of those days. When she got home, I yelled at her for no reason.
I had never experienced depression mixed with mania before. It was the strangest, most miserable thing. I was angry and depressed at the same time.
There are four types of bipolar. Type one is the classic bipolar where you oscillate between manic and depressed sort of like a sine wave. Type two you're depressed most of the time with episodes of mania. Type three you're manic most of the time with episodes of depression. And type four is what I was experiencing: mania and depression at the same time. I am so glad I have only experienced that once in my life (so far).
I went to see my mental health person (he's an ARNP, not a doctor), and he suggested ramping up one of my drugs to double the dose for a few days. So I did for two days (with one day of ramping up and one day of ramping back down) and that seemed to solve the problem. 
I just found it annoying that suddenly my bipolar got worse for no apparent reason. Yes, there was a reason for the depression, but why that led to mania, I don't know. 
If you have depression or feel you might be bipolar, don't suffer with it. Seek help, soon. I remember when I'd wake up in the morning and my first thought was should I kill myself. It would have the added advantage that I wouldn't have to go to work (this is back in my corporate days). When I finally sought out help, it made a huge difference in my life. It can in yours, too.

Blogging is Hard

 

I've posted over 1,100 blogs on this... blog. Not sure where I came up with all the things to blog about. Blogging is hard because you have to come up with something to blog about at least once a week. I've tried blog subject lists but they seem aimed at the hobby blogger. I don't do politics on my blog or I could blog every day. I used to do that.

So, for today's blog, I'm going to complain about blogging. Blogging is hard (unless you're doing a political/current events blog). You have to come up with ideas to blog about. And I don't always have ideas. It's very annoying. This is the latest idea I've had: blogging about blogging.

I wonder what I'll blog about next week.

Do you blog? Where do you get your ideas? How often do you blog? Let me know in the comments below.

Cyber Monday Sale

The Amazing Holiday $0.99 Book SaleGoing on now at the blog of Hans G. Schantz. Celebrate Cyber Monday by topping off your library. Select from over eighty titles each priced at $0.99, including more than a dozen that are absolutely free.
Included it The Smugglers of Mars , by me. It will be $0.99 until Wednesday. So get your copy of the first book in the Chumba of the Intelligence Corps series.
Treachery stalks the red planet... Before he was Rick Bailey, before he hunted for the Treasure of the Black Hole, he was Titus Chumba of the Core Empire Intelligence Corps. Sent to Mars to investigate water smuggling, First Lieutenant Chumba finds a criminal conspiracy that spans from the red planet to the asteroid belt. Will Chumba discover the deadly secrets of the smugglers of Mars, learn the identity of the mysterious woman embroiled in the conspiracy, and prevent a cold war with the reptile-like Malvalkians from turning blazing hot?
Get your $0.99 copy now! Sale runs through the second.

Black Friday Sale

The Amazing Holiday $0.99 Book SaleGoing on now at the blog of Hans G. Schantz. Celebrate Thanksgiving Weekend by topping off your library. Select from over eighty titles each priced at $0.99, including more than a dozen that are absolutely free.
Included it The Smugglers of Mars , by me. It will be $0.99 until Wednesday. So get your copy of the first book in the Chumba of the Intelligence Corps series.
Treachery stalks the red planet... Before he was Rick Bailey, before he hunted for the Treasure of the Black Hole, he was Titus Chumba of the Core Empire Intelligence Corps. Sent to Mars to investigate water smuggling, First Lieutenant Chumba finds a criminal conspiracy that spans from the red planet to the asteroid belt. Will Chumba discover the deadly secrets of the smugglers of Mars, learn the identity of the mysterious woman embroiled in the conspiracy, and prevent a cold war with the reptile-like Malvalkians from turning blazing hot?
Get your $0.99 copy now!

Happy Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Don't eat too much!

Automatic Driving

No, this isn't about autonomous cars. It's about... me.

A while back I was on a very long drive coming home from seeing my grandson. I was on Interstate 90 and traffic was fairly light. And I was keeping track of the cars around me so I would know if there was someone in my blind spot (even though my car warns me). And I realized I was taking a gentle corner and not consciously thinking about it. I was doing it automatically. So I started paying attention and realized on gentle curves, I take them without thinking about it. If the curve gets too sharp, I then have to donate some conscience brain power to taking them.

I found this interesting. I've been driving for 45 years and have, apparently developed the ability to do some of it without thinking about it. At least gentle curve at not too high a speed (I had the cruise control set at 76 in a 70 zone, which is about what the Washington State Patrol will let you get away with).

Now, I actually enjoy taking corners fast and devoting brain power to it. But when I'm just cruising along, I apparently don't always have to.

Do you find yourself automatically driving? Let me know about it in the comments below.

Netflix Disc Service

You may not realize this, but Netflix still does disc service where they send you a disc through the mail, you watch it, and send it back. This was their original business model before they got into streaming.

And I still use it. It's how I see most new movie releases. I haven't been to the theater since Incredibles 2 and that was June of 2018.

But the disc service has gotten more and more frustrating and I'm worried Netflix might shut it down. If that happens, I don't know how I'm going to see new releases. Maybe have to figure out RedBox

When I first got Netflix twenty or so years ago I sent discs to Tacoma and that's where they came from. Then I started sending them to Spokane. Spokane was great because it only took one day to get there and one day to get back. Tacoma was two or three days. I'd mail them on Friday and have discs back on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Then Spokane shut down so I was sending discs to Tacoma again. It took a little longer to get discs. 

But a bit ago, Tacoma must have shut down because I'm sending discs to and receiving them from San Jose, CA. Which is about four days each direction. 

Netflix has done one thing to help: somehow it gets notified that the disc has been sent and then they send out the next disc. But it still takes 5-6 days to get a new disc. And holidays don't help. For example, Columbus Day made it so I got discs on Friday rather than Thursday when I sent them back the Friday before. Annoying.

But as fewer and fewer people use the disc service, Netflix needs to consolidate. I understand that. It's just damn inconvenient for me. 

Pac-12 Football Starts this Weekend

The Pac-12 finally decided to allow there to be a shortened fall football season. It's a six-game regular season and then the Pac-12 Championship game. They are calling it a seven-game season but only two teams will be playing that seventh game.

I was very disappointed when the Pac-12 decided not to have a fall season, but perhaps a spring football season. They and the Big Ten conference made the same decision. But then the Big Ten reversed itself and decided to have a fall season. That left the Pac-12 as the only conference in the FBS putting off the season. Which means that the Pac-12 teams can't compete for bowl games or for the College Football Playoff (CFP).

The University of Washington Huskies (Go Dawgs!) start the truncated season playing California in Berkeley. I have no idea what to expect. We have a new coach, new quarterback, a lot of new players. And we've had bad luck against Cal the past couple of seasons. The game will be on ESPN at 7:30 PM PDT Saturday. I'll be in front of my television.
I hate these late games.
UPDATE: There was a positive COVID test at Cal. The game may be delayed.
How's your college football season going? Or do you care? Let me know in the comments below.