David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 271

Late Snows And Such Have An Upside

I have definitely been complaining about the recent spring snows in Denver (even though they melted in a day or two). I admit this and I don’t take it back. Really, I’m ready for winter to really be over and not just over in theory. However, I have at least realized one upside to the situation. Air conditioning.

Memory of exact weather from year to year tends to be a bit hazy. However, I’m pretty sure that I turned my air conditioning on last year sometime in early April. It doesn’t tend to get too hot for too long in Denver, but it definitely gets warm enough for me to need air conditioning. However, given the snows and what seems to be relatively cooler weather this year, we’re already to May 7 and I still haven’t had to turn my air conditioning on yet.

Heck, it’s only 53 right now and the high is only supposed to be 66. The next couple of days are supposed to be the same, maybe even rain.

Now, I do have a pretty new air conditioner and my electric bills in the summer aren’t as bad as some. Still, every day I go into the year where I don’t have to turn on the air conditioning, I appreciate it. It makes a difference. I’d be thrilled if we stayed in the 50-60s for the rest of May so I didn’t have to turn on my air conditioning until June.

Of course, that probably isn’t going to happen. Also, that probably still wouldn’t stop me from complaining if we had another snow (last measurable Denver snow is often May 11). Still, at least for the moment, I found something about the recent odd weather to feel grateful for. I count myself lucky for that.

Downtown Festivals Kind Of All Look The Same

My wife and I went downtown this weekend to check out the Cinco de Mayo event that was going on downtown. While I was there, something occurred to me. In my opinion, most of the downtown festivals in Denver kind of look the same.

I mean, the majority of the festivals that I see downtown involve a carnival game/ride section, food, a couple acts on stages, and a series of booths that are either informational or sell stuff.  The vast majority of the festival, by a good majority, is the series of booths that are either informational or sell stuff. As I was walking through these booths at the Cinco de Mayo event, I noticed that they were the exact same ones that were at the last PrideFest event (I think that’s what it was) that we happened to stop by in downtown Denver.

Seriously. There were some cable/satellite television booths. There were booths selling inflatable mallets, hats, art, and other such things. There were political and/or social issue booths like information about spaying/neutering your pets. There was more, but that’s the general gist…and they were all the same booths I remember being there during PrideFest. The carnival game/ride section looked exactly the same as well.

Granted, a few of the food items were a bit different for the Cinco de Mayo event, but not the majority. There were still carts for funnel cakes and all that sort of thing. Really, there were more that were similar than were different.

All in all, the acts going on the stages (I saw two) and the crowd were the only real measurable differences between the Cinco de Mayo event and PrideFest. That got me thinking, is it just the fact that we’re having an event for a particular purpose that works here, or should these events actually be different? I just didn’t feel very Cinco de Mayo when the event looked almost exactly the same as any other event I’ve gone to on those grounds. I don’t really need to keep going to those same booths and same food stands absent something I’m doing there to celebrate the particular event in some distinguishable way.

I’m probably just being a curmudgeon about this, but it struck me while I was there. It makes my wife happy to go to these festivals, so I’ll probably keep going. If it were up to me though, it kind of feels like I’ve already done all I need to do there and don’t need to go again, regardless of a new reason to do the exact same thing.

FDA Problems Strangely Don’t Impact My Desire For Egg Rolls

For the last month, I’ve been having problems finding my usual Chung vegetable egg rolls at any of the Targets I’ve gone to. I thought Target was just having problems, because they’ve been having problems in other areas (poor stocking times, always being out of at least a couple of products I regularly buy, bad produce conditions, old dairy items, a new policy where they won’t go get something from the back if they haven’t finished stocking it in the aisles yet, and so on). However, I finally looked online to see if there was a recall or anything and found out there was at least some kind of issue.

As it turns out, there was some kind of FDA thing that had been going on over their shrimp line (no recall, just safety and packaging issues apparently regarding seafood that the FDA wanted Chung to implement). It was only about a month ago that a judge (see the above link) had lifted an ordered production halt related to noncompliance with FDA seafood orders. Note, the production halt was lifted around the time I started having trouble finding the product at Target, but I suppose these things take some time to filter through the system.

However, FDA problems and all, I didn’t stop wanting my vegetable egg rolls. I eat about two of these a day. I’ve been eating them for somewhere around twenty years now (unless I’m confused and there was just a similar egg roll back then that wasn’t Chungs, but I don’t think so since I’ve tried others when I couldn’t get Chung and wasn’t satisfied). I just kept looking at other grocery stores (Safeway only carried the chicken variety) until I finally found them at Albertsons. Then I bought all they had.

Is it surprising that I was still willing to go for my Chung vegetable egg rolls despite the FDA problems? Is it weird that I still went on the hunt for them despite the potential issues? Mind you, I really dig the Chung vegetable egg rolls.

Also, though an FDA issue like this is concerning, it looked like this was mainly related to improving packaging techniques and cooking instructions for seafood safety. Further, though all production had been halted as an apparently punitive measure, it had been allowed to resume as of April 10 and really had only concerned shrimp anyway. My vegetable egg rolls apparently had never been the center of any argument with the FDA. Really, it doesn’t seem like anything big to worry about.

Apparently, though, Target was more upset about the issue. I don’t know if the order had caused a break in availability and Target just stopped dealing with them for that. Target could have also stopped ordering Chung when there was the first hint of any problem out of an abundance of caution. Maybe this is just a temporary thing with not being able to get Chung at Target, or maybe it is permanent. Maybe it isn’t even related. I’m not sure, and any of these are within Target’s rights to do. However, even if any of these are prudent on their part, I have to say that my final conclusion is to be pissed at Target because they haven’t had one of my most regular food items. I usually always do my food shopping at Target, but I may end up switching to Albertsons if this situation doesn’t change. I got to have my Chung vegetable egg rolls, and I hate having to go to multiple places.

Bottom line, I love Chung vegetable egg rolls. Nothing about this seems to rise to a level (or even really relate to my particular product, ignoring the fact for the moment that the halt has been lifted and apparently Chung is complying with FDA directions regarding safety) that really concerns me. I’m sticking with my Chung vegetable egg rolls.

Free Comic Book Day!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! I hear today is Free Comic Book Day. That means it’s time for you to overcome your apathy about the state of the world and go free some comic books. Don’t just sit back and think that this isn’t your problem, injustice is a problem for everyone.

I mean, do you know how many comic books are being held without trial the world over? Millions, many in conditions that might frighten or appall you. Some might even be held for political reasons. Regardless, none that I’m aware of have committed any actual crimes. It’s a frame up, a con.These comic books are being confined in a totally unjust manner. It is up to us to free them.

Amnesty International won’t get involved. They tend to focus on human beings as opposed to comic books. As such, who will help the comic books? If you don’t help, no one will. The injustice will only go on.

Now, it is possible that I don’t entirely grasp Free Comic Book Day. To be honest, I was so concerned by the injustice when I thought about this that I didn’t even read any of the articles I saw mentioning the date. Frankly, I don’t think that would be time well spent. This is not a time for reading, this is a time for action. The time has come to free the comic books.

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!

Getting A Laugh Out Of Bankruptcy

I actually got a laugh out of bankruptcy this morning. I pass the federal bankruptcy court in downtown Denver on my trail ride in to work in the mornings. This morning, I happened to look at the bankruptcy court building just in time to see that the windows around the placard for the courthouse were boarded up. Suddenly, I was laughing. That’s probably a sign that it’s been a long week.

I mean, I know that the windows are boarded up just because they are doing renovations on the bankruptcy courthouse. It wasn’t what it looked like, in fact it was the reverse. Still, I found it amusing.

For just a moment, it looked like the bankruptcy courthouse had failed, gone out of business. It looked like something depression era, boarding up the windows and abandoning the business. It looked like the bankruptcy courthouse had gone bankrupt. That’s what I found so funny, particularly since the bankruptcy courthouse is one of those old imposing stone structures that look like an imitation of classic Greece or Rome. The boarded windows would have made no sense if the bankruptcy court had gone under.

Regardless, the thought just struck me for a moment…and it struck me as funny. I don’t know whether or not anyone would agree with my humor on that, but this is what we’re all stuck with today.

The Kriss Kross Dilemma: How To Feel About Chris Kelly’s Death

I’m a bit puzzled how to feel about the news that Chris Kelly of Kriss Kross has died. It’s not completely clear for me. To be honest, I feel a little bit conflicted. It’s sad, but I’m not as sad as some people. Is this particularly relevant to me or not?

I mean, I’m sad because a living person has died. That’s always sad, regardless of who it is. Some will argue that it isn’t sad when people they don’t like die, but I still think it’s always sad. It’s mortality after all. Whether or not he O.D.’d is beyond the point for me. A human being is gone, and one who was unfortunately pretty young when he went.

It would be more significant for me if I was a fan of Kriss Kross, which was never the case. Sure, I knew of Jump. Hell, I didn’t have a choice. If you were watching tv at that particular time in history, you had that song and/or video drilled into your head (remember how they showed the two kids ostensibly driving the car only the wheels went backwards?).

No, I was not a fan. Still, due to the fact that the song and the group were part of the culture for a time period, I still think his passing has some significance beyond that of just sympathy for the death of a fellow human being. I didn’t like the song or the group, but it was part of the environment that was absorbed into my consciousness and my identity. It’s in there, like it or not.

It’s just puzzling, not having been a fan yet recognizing that he had some influence on my mental world. I don’t know if this makes any sense or not, but I thought I’d ramble about this anyway. My sympathy to him and my condolences to his family and friends (and even fans). I’m just sorting out my thoughts about this being somehow significant for me even though I wasn’t a fan of his work. The world is the world and it always gives me pause when something irrevocably changes (as it always does, sooner or later).

This Is Just Wrong…

This is just wrong…

(note: photo taken from my back porch this morning, the first of May)

Help J.C. Clifford Get A Free Amp?

Hey, take a minute to pop over to this page on Facebook and vote for J.C. Clifford to get a free amp. He’s a friend of a friend and could really use the free amp. I’d certainly appreciate the help, and I’m sure so would my friend and (of course) J.C. Clifford. There is no need to ‘like’ the page and you don’t have to sign up for anything. You don’t even have to share any info at all, just vote for J.C. Clifford.

This sounds like a pretty cool deal. Apparently, Union Jack Amps is rewarding their faithful by holding this “30 DAY UJA AMP GIVEAWAY.” Whoever gets the most votes by May 25 (so there is still plenty of time for you to vote) gets a free 40 watt G-Luxe 2×12 combo. I have no idea what that is, given that I’m not a musician and know jack squat about amps, but it sounds pretty cool. I don’t even know who J.C. Clifford is, but my friend Daemon Donigan vouches for him so he’s got to be cool.

Anyway, just go over and vote if you haven’t already (get your friends and such to vote too). It only takes a second and you don’t have to sign up with some shady app in order to vote. Just be cool and help J.C. Clifford out.

Oops: Looks Like I Unintentionally Repeated A Gag The Other Day

I’ve always said that I reserve the right to repeat myself on this blog, but I actually caught myself doing it on my post about cleaning up the house before my wife returned from her girls only trip to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. The gag was that I supposedly confused my life with Weird Science. The problem? Turns out I’d already done that gag.

I didn’t remember having done it already, and so I didn’t set out to repeat myself. In fact, I thought it was pretty clever. Then, after it posted, it started seeming familiar. I did a search through my old posts and found that I had in fact done it before.

Oddly enough, it wasn’t even that long ago. In fact, it was only a day over a year since I’d done it last time, back when my wife was returning from her girls only trip to Playa del Carmen. Check it out here.

See? It’s a little different, but almost the same post. Seems weird that I didn’t remember but ended up writing almost the exact same post almost exactly a year later. It also seems kind of weird that my wife keeps coming back from girls only trips out of the country on almost exactly the same day at the end of April.

I’d feel more embarrassed, but I did always say that I’ll repeat myself if I want to…intentionally or not apparently. What should probably be more embarrassing is that absolutely no one noticed.

My Wife Returns: A Confession

My wife has finally returned from her girls only trip to the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. While she’s been gone, I’ve been posting all the ways I’ve thought of to irritate her for leaving me on my own. However, I have a confession to make: I haven’t really been doing them.

I did not eat Chipotle for every meal. I did not watch my wife’s favorite TV programs so I could spoil them for her. I did not leave little funny notes on all her food in the kitchen. I did not save the snow from earlier in the week to put on her side of the bed. I didn’t even install any booby traps. I didn’t really do anything. Well, I did cut my fingernails, but that was about it.

Mind you, it isn’t that I’m a nicer guy than I seem to be. It also isn’t that I’m less foolish than I appear to be. No, I came up with all those ideas and then didn’t use any of them because I am a lazy, lazy man. Bottom line, they were all too much work.

It’s probably better that I didn’t, but I still wanted to come clean. Regardless, I’m really happy that my wife is home again.