C. Henry Martens's Blog, page 4
October 4, 2018
Review: Manifest
©2018 Kari Carlisle
Coincidences. We have all experienced them. And usually, we dismiss them as just that – coincidence. But once in a while, a coincidence seems just too… convenient. Is there something else behind this? If so, what? Or who?
Manifest is a new NBC series on Monday nights that addresses coincidence in a most inventive plotline, the connection of a group of people who are intertwined by a common experience. They boarded an airline flight in the year 2013 and landed hours later in the year 2018. This slightest of descriptions is all it took for me to be giddy with anticipation over this new show, and after two episodes, it is delivering more than I could have hoped for.
The first episode follows Michaela and her brother and nephew as they forego an overbooked flight to take the later flight 828. When the passengers land and learn they’ve missed five and a half years of their lives, it’s clear there is a lot of catching up to do and plenty of fodder for primetime drama. But there’s more…
Main character Michaela, played by Melissa Roxburgh (Star Trek: Beyond, Supernatural, Arrow), is distraught to learn of major events she’s missed that have a huge impact on her life, love, and career. She struggles to understand how “All things work together for good,” as her mother asserted as her favorite Bible verse, Romans 8:28.
Within a day of returning from the fateful flight, Michaela starts to hear a voice, her own voice, in her head. She hears it as she passes by a particular address beginning 828. Flight 828. Romans 8:28. Address 828… coincidence? Only the first of many that I won’t spoil by reporting them here. Be assured, the coincidences begin subtly and then sneak up on you with a big WOW!, not a groan.
It turns out Michaela is not alone. Something has happened to the passengers of flight 828, and episode two has the government very concerned about what’s going on, let alone the passengers themselves who are trying to make sense of what they are experiencing and what it means and how they are going to regain some semblance of a normal life… if that’s even possible.
After just two episodes, multiple stories are unfolding, and the series promises to string us along for as long as the ratings keep this show alive. What is behind the voices, the coincidences? Is it God? Something supernatural? Aliens, technology, magic, the government, some secret agency? Undoubtedly, the evidence will take the characters – and us – in many directions from week to week.
Aside from the enjoyable and complicated story arcs, the characters are compelling and lovable. Most of the main characters are developing depth quickly, and the rest are not far behind. The acting is superb to the least of roles, including characters we don’t expect to see again. As for diversity, we’re already seeing gobs of it, and I’d be surprised if that doesn’t continue.
Manifest is my new favorite show. While the Fall lineup on multiple networks seems strong this year, Manifest is the one show that I’m excited and looking forward to watching each week. If the actors keep delivering superb performances and the writers continue to deliver strong, unique stories and dialog, we can expect to see this show stick around for a few seasons. Fingers crossed for this one!
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
Coincidences. We have all experienced them. And usually, we dismiss them as just that – coincidence. But once in a while, a coincidence seems just too… convenient. Is there something else behind this? If so, what? Or who?
Manifest is a new NBC series on Monday nights that addresses coincidence in a most inventive plotline, the connection of a group of people who are intertwined by a common experience. They boarded an airline flight in the year 2013 and landed hours later in the year 2018. This slightest of descriptions is all it took for me to be giddy with anticipation over this new show, and after two episodes, it is delivering more than I could have hoped for.
The first episode follows Michaela and her brother and nephew as they forego an overbooked flight to take the later flight 828. When the passengers land and learn they’ve missed five and a half years of their lives, it’s clear there is a lot of catching up to do and plenty of fodder for primetime drama. But there’s more…
Main character Michaela, played by Melissa Roxburgh (Star Trek: Beyond, Supernatural, Arrow), is distraught to learn of major events she’s missed that have a huge impact on her life, love, and career. She struggles to understand how “All things work together for good,” as her mother asserted as her favorite Bible verse, Romans 8:28.
Within a day of returning from the fateful flight, Michaela starts to hear a voice, her own voice, in her head. She hears it as she passes by a particular address beginning 828. Flight 828. Romans 8:28. Address 828… coincidence? Only the first of many that I won’t spoil by reporting them here. Be assured, the coincidences begin subtly and then sneak up on you with a big WOW!, not a groan.
It turns out Michaela is not alone. Something has happened to the passengers of flight 828, and episode two has the government very concerned about what’s going on, let alone the passengers themselves who are trying to make sense of what they are experiencing and what it means and how they are going to regain some semblance of a normal life… if that’s even possible.
After just two episodes, multiple stories are unfolding, and the series promises to string us along for as long as the ratings keep this show alive. What is behind the voices, the coincidences? Is it God? Something supernatural? Aliens, technology, magic, the government, some secret agency? Undoubtedly, the evidence will take the characters – and us – in many directions from week to week.
Aside from the enjoyable and complicated story arcs, the characters are compelling and lovable. Most of the main characters are developing depth quickly, and the rest are not far behind. The acting is superb to the least of roles, including characters we don’t expect to see again. As for diversity, we’re already seeing gobs of it, and I’d be surprised if that doesn’t continue.
Manifest is my new favorite show. While the Fall lineup on multiple networks seems strong this year, Manifest is the one show that I’m excited and looking forward to watching each week. If the actors keep delivering superb performances and the writers continue to deliver strong, unique stories and dialog, we can expect to see this show stick around for a few seasons. Fingers crossed for this one!
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
September 20, 2018
A Trip Around the Moon
©2018 Kari Carlisle
Touted as the first science fiction movie, “A Trip Around the Moon” was released in 1902. A wonderful 12-minute French film, it’s worth watching. While we know now that the moon does not have an atmosphere, water, flora, fauna, and a village of tribal moon-beings, I encourage you to suspend disbelief and watch it HERE.
Fast forward to yesterday. Elon Musk announced the first paying passenger on SpaceX’s Big Falcon rocket. Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa purchased for an undisclosed amount every seat on the rocket that will make a trip around the moon in 2023.
Maezawa is young and fit, by all appearances able to withstand the rigors of space travel. This trip will undoubtedly fulfill a dream for him and make everyone on Earth who shares that dream green with envy. What I’m really excited about, though, is to learn who will get to tag along for the ride.
While astronauts are typically scientists and engineers, and though Maezawa is considered the first “space tourist,” Maezawa has a special plan for the people he selects to accompany him. They will all be artists.
In an era when art sales are depressed, and artificial intelligence is being utilized to create art, it worries me that art is not valued the way it should, the way it has been throughout history. Maezawa’s plan gives me hope. He wants the artists he selects to create art based on their experience. I can’t wait to see who gets to go and what creativity comes from it.
So, if you are an artist and want an opportunity to make a trip around the moon in five years, you had better figure out a way to get under Maezawa’s radar. Good luck!
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
Touted as the first science fiction movie, “A Trip Around the Moon” was released in 1902. A wonderful 12-minute French film, it’s worth watching. While we know now that the moon does not have an atmosphere, water, flora, fauna, and a village of tribal moon-beings, I encourage you to suspend disbelief and watch it HERE.
Fast forward to yesterday. Elon Musk announced the first paying passenger on SpaceX’s Big Falcon rocket. Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa purchased for an undisclosed amount every seat on the rocket that will make a trip around the moon in 2023.
Maezawa is young and fit, by all appearances able to withstand the rigors of space travel. This trip will undoubtedly fulfill a dream for him and make everyone on Earth who shares that dream green with envy. What I’m really excited about, though, is to learn who will get to tag along for the ride.
While astronauts are typically scientists and engineers, and though Maezawa is considered the first “space tourist,” Maezawa has a special plan for the people he selects to accompany him. They will all be artists.
In an era when art sales are depressed, and artificial intelligence is being utilized to create art, it worries me that art is not valued the way it should, the way it has been throughout history. Maezawa’s plan gives me hope. He wants the artists he selects to create art based on their experience. I can’t wait to see who gets to go and what creativity comes from it.
So, if you are an artist and want an opportunity to make a trip around the moon in five years, you had better figure out a way to get under Maezawa’s radar. Good luck!
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
September 6, 2018
Your Brain Needs This
©2018 Kari Carlisle
Today should be the most important day of the year – National Read a Book Day. It’s never been easier to get a book, and yet it seems people are reading fewer than ever.
There are lots of reasons people are not reading. Too busy. TV entertains me. Can get all the information I need from the Internet. But the main reason I think is that people have just gotten too lazy. It’s easier not to read than to read.
I’m sure that most would agree it’s a good thing to read but still can justify not reading. It’s time to reevaluate your reading behavior.
I can hear you thinking, I’m reading this blog, that’s reading, right? Sure, but reading blogs and other short bits of information is what’s killing your good reading. You’re rewiring your brain to absorb small bits of information instead of diving into the depths of a topic or story. It’s only a step above getting your news and opinions from Facebook memes. To truly understand something, you need to focus on it.
If you’re the type of person who has never really enjoyed reading and couldn’t possibly pick up a book and read it through, you of all people need to consider rewiring your brain, starting today.
You’re okay with the way your brain is wired? You are missing out on a depth of knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment that can only be achieved through reading books.
Recently, I have had several conversations with someone who started reading, and the result is amazing. He chose books that interested him and just started reading. Now, he can’t get enough, and he’s encouraging his friends and family to read also. He asked me what it is about reading that helps someone understand things better. He realized that he could get the same information from videos, but reading is different. When you expose yourself to multiple sources of information (audio, video, written, etc.), your brain remembers things better. It creates more connections.
Another thing you need to understand, especially if you have children, is that reading to children and encouraging them to read is critical to their early brain development. Reading to children right from birth will help their brains develop to their greatest potential, giving them the best opportunity to succeed in school, work, and life. Children who are not read to lose their ability to fully develop.
If you’re not much of a reader, it may be difficult to get started, but don’t be discouraged. Pick a book that’s of high interest to you (fiction, nonfiction, biography, how-to, motivational, etc.) and force yourself to read a page. Then two. Read a chapter. Keep going. Even if you fall asleep, don’t give up. No matter how long it takes you, keep at it. It will take effort and time to rewire your brain.
One action that may help you is to keep a notebook handy and jot down ideas and thoughts that spark your interest. The addition of taking notes will dramatically speed up the process of rewiring your brain. Even if you only spend 5-10 minutes a day, the effect will be dramatic. Your vocabulary will improve, you will begin thinking more critically about things, and you will become a more interesting person to talk with. There is no downside to reading books. Get started today.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
Today should be the most important day of the year – National Read a Book Day. It’s never been easier to get a book, and yet it seems people are reading fewer than ever.
There are lots of reasons people are not reading. Too busy. TV entertains me. Can get all the information I need from the Internet. But the main reason I think is that people have just gotten too lazy. It’s easier not to read than to read.
I’m sure that most would agree it’s a good thing to read but still can justify not reading. It’s time to reevaluate your reading behavior.
I can hear you thinking, I’m reading this blog, that’s reading, right? Sure, but reading blogs and other short bits of information is what’s killing your good reading. You’re rewiring your brain to absorb small bits of information instead of diving into the depths of a topic or story. It’s only a step above getting your news and opinions from Facebook memes. To truly understand something, you need to focus on it.
If you’re the type of person who has never really enjoyed reading and couldn’t possibly pick up a book and read it through, you of all people need to consider rewiring your brain, starting today.
You’re okay with the way your brain is wired? You are missing out on a depth of knowledge, understanding, and enjoyment that can only be achieved through reading books.
Recently, I have had several conversations with someone who started reading, and the result is amazing. He chose books that interested him and just started reading. Now, he can’t get enough, and he’s encouraging his friends and family to read also. He asked me what it is about reading that helps someone understand things better. He realized that he could get the same information from videos, but reading is different. When you expose yourself to multiple sources of information (audio, video, written, etc.), your brain remembers things better. It creates more connections.
Another thing you need to understand, especially if you have children, is that reading to children and encouraging them to read is critical to their early brain development. Reading to children right from birth will help their brains develop to their greatest potential, giving them the best opportunity to succeed in school, work, and life. Children who are not read to lose their ability to fully develop.
If you’re not much of a reader, it may be difficult to get started, but don’t be discouraged. Pick a book that’s of high interest to you (fiction, nonfiction, biography, how-to, motivational, etc.) and force yourself to read a page. Then two. Read a chapter. Keep going. Even if you fall asleep, don’t give up. No matter how long it takes you, keep at it. It will take effort and time to rewire your brain.
One action that may help you is to keep a notebook handy and jot down ideas and thoughts that spark your interest. The addition of taking notes will dramatically speed up the process of rewiring your brain. Even if you only spend 5-10 minutes a day, the effect will be dramatic. Your vocabulary will improve, you will begin thinking more critically about things, and you will become a more interesting person to talk with. There is no downside to reading books. Get started today.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
August 23, 2018
The Erosion of Our Freedom of Speech
©2018 Kari Carlisle
Over drinks at a party I attended a few weeks ago, the topic of discussion turned to Facebook. Specifically, the topic was Facebook’s policy and process regarding “hate speech.”
I don’t deny that hate speech exists, and I’ll admit that such speech can be powerful and damaging in many ways. But my party friends and I agreed that Facebook’s censorship goes too far.
Each of us had examples of comments or whole posts that had recently been removed by Facebook, and each of us agreed that the content removed would not be considered hate speech by any normal person. It seemed to us that any two people who simply disagree on any topic will potentially face censorship on Facebook.
My own example involves a joke that I posted about dangerous dog breeds. To be clear, my opinion is that breed is not an accurate predictor of a dangerous dog. After posting the joke, two of my Facebook friends began commenting on my post. Each was firm in their opinion, one that all pit bulls are dangerous by nature, and the other that breed does not determine temperament. Within hours, Facebook had removed not only their comments but also my post. Facebook had decided that two people having different opinions about a dog breed should be branded as hate speech and removed.
Since when was having different opinions on something being hateful? Has society degraded to the point we can’t have a civil conversation about anything, or has Facebook simply decided to be the thought police for us?
Of course, I understand that Facebook doesn’t have rooms full of people monitoring everything posted on the site and making individual determinations about what constitutes hate speech. Facebook has rooms full of people developing algorithms to do that. That’s why it doesn’t work very well.
What does this mean for free speech? One could argue that we retain our free speech offline. And who are we kidding anyway? When has anyone ever changed someone’s mind on Facebook? The point really is when does Facebook get to decide for us? When does Facebook have the right to limit my expression of my opinion?
I get that real hate speech, the kind that draws impressionable minds down the rabbit hole of hate against one another, has no place in social media, but Facebook hasn’t figured out where to draw the line. Until then, enjoy all the cute baby and animal videos because that’s what Facebook is being relegated to. And if you’d like to weigh in (with civility) on pit bulls or anything else, feel free to do so on this blog’s comments. We’ll only censor you if you really are being hateful or only trying to sell something. And we don’t have algorithms to make that decision for us.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
Over drinks at a party I attended a few weeks ago, the topic of discussion turned to Facebook. Specifically, the topic was Facebook’s policy and process regarding “hate speech.”
I don’t deny that hate speech exists, and I’ll admit that such speech can be powerful and damaging in many ways. But my party friends and I agreed that Facebook’s censorship goes too far.
Each of us had examples of comments or whole posts that had recently been removed by Facebook, and each of us agreed that the content removed would not be considered hate speech by any normal person. It seemed to us that any two people who simply disagree on any topic will potentially face censorship on Facebook.
My own example involves a joke that I posted about dangerous dog breeds. To be clear, my opinion is that breed is not an accurate predictor of a dangerous dog. After posting the joke, two of my Facebook friends began commenting on my post. Each was firm in their opinion, one that all pit bulls are dangerous by nature, and the other that breed does not determine temperament. Within hours, Facebook had removed not only their comments but also my post. Facebook had decided that two people having different opinions about a dog breed should be branded as hate speech and removed.
Since when was having different opinions on something being hateful? Has society degraded to the point we can’t have a civil conversation about anything, or has Facebook simply decided to be the thought police for us?
Of course, I understand that Facebook doesn’t have rooms full of people monitoring everything posted on the site and making individual determinations about what constitutes hate speech. Facebook has rooms full of people developing algorithms to do that. That’s why it doesn’t work very well.
What does this mean for free speech? One could argue that we retain our free speech offline. And who are we kidding anyway? When has anyone ever changed someone’s mind on Facebook? The point really is when does Facebook get to decide for us? When does Facebook have the right to limit my expression of my opinion?
I get that real hate speech, the kind that draws impressionable minds down the rabbit hole of hate against one another, has no place in social media, but Facebook hasn’t figured out where to draw the line. Until then, enjoy all the cute baby and animal videos because that’s what Facebook is being relegated to. And if you’d like to weigh in (with civility) on pit bulls or anything else, feel free to do so on this blog’s comments. We’ll only censor you if you really are being hateful or only trying to sell something. And we don’t have algorithms to make that decision for us.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
August 9, 2018
House of the Rising Sun
©2018 C. Henry Martens
I lived in Nevada, east of Moundhouse, and I worked west, so drove through the red-light district daily for years. I never used the facilities.
But when I was going to college in Logan, Utah, four guys I didn’t know said, “Road trip!”, and I got suckered into going. I don’t remember why Ely was their destination, but off we went in an old Ford van.
The trip was uneventful except for getting lost twice, running out of beer, having a flat tire with no spare, running out of beer, running out of beer, and oh yeah, running out of gas, too. Your basic college road trip.
We get to Ely, and these guys all want to play blackjack but only one had fake ID, so the rest of us wait around for about an hour until we get bored and threaten to leave the guy at the tables to thumb home. Somebody gets the bright idea to find out where the local cat house is.
We find it… and none of these party animals want to go in. They just sit in the van like they’re afraid they might catch something by crossing the threshold.
I can’t stand it. The trip has been a complete bust… and I’m curious.
I tell the guys, “I’m gonna check it out. Be right back,” and jump out of the van.
The place is old. The place is scum fucking filthy. And worn, like old tennis shoes held together with duct tape.
I’m standing in a big room with a gray carpet (I think it’s gray, but it might just be the dust), so old the floor shows through fairly often. To my right is another room, long and dark, with a bar running toward the back of the building. A staircase rises from the front of the house and over the bar, a hall barely visible above.
The big room has cheap metal folding chairs along the walls, reminiscent of a junior high prom. Two guys engaged in conspiratorial conversation inhabit a corner, snickering. They are both disfigured, and I get the idea they see themselves as men of the world.
No women are in evidence.
I ask the two men about that.
They assure me the girls will be right down.
And one appears at the top of the stairs.
I don’t really know what I was expecting. From the looks of the place, I know it wasn’t much.
The girl slithering down the stairs would put Mortisha Addams to shame on her best day. The chick is hot in a sultry, evil, witchy kind of way. Too-tight black nightie with black, thigh-length stockings, long, straight, black hair and eyes, and skin so pale you can see through it. Vampire pale.
She’s a total bitch too, just as you’d expect… but soooo beautiful.
By the time she’s put me off thoroughly, another girl tops the stairs.
She glows as the descends. Just the opposite of the moody brunette, this one shines golden. and when she laughs, it seems like the room gets a soft, warm, glow. It isn’t Goldie Hawn, but it might as well have been. I can’t even remember what she wore, but she had legs all the way up to there.
A horn honked outside, insistent. Three loud beeps, two short and one much too long.
I remembered the conversation about leaving the blackjack player to thumb home.
I picked my tongue up off the floor, and adjusted my gonads, and fled.
I don’t remember the return trip, probably because I was busy remembering the surprise visions that dwelled in the house of the rising sun.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
I lived in Nevada, east of Moundhouse, and I worked west, so drove through the red-light district daily for years. I never used the facilities.
But when I was going to college in Logan, Utah, four guys I didn’t know said, “Road trip!”, and I got suckered into going. I don’t remember why Ely was their destination, but off we went in an old Ford van.
The trip was uneventful except for getting lost twice, running out of beer, having a flat tire with no spare, running out of beer, running out of beer, and oh yeah, running out of gas, too. Your basic college road trip.
We get to Ely, and these guys all want to play blackjack but only one had fake ID, so the rest of us wait around for about an hour until we get bored and threaten to leave the guy at the tables to thumb home. Somebody gets the bright idea to find out where the local cat house is.
We find it… and none of these party animals want to go in. They just sit in the van like they’re afraid they might catch something by crossing the threshold.
I can’t stand it. The trip has been a complete bust… and I’m curious.
I tell the guys, “I’m gonna check it out. Be right back,” and jump out of the van.
The place is old. The place is scum fucking filthy. And worn, like old tennis shoes held together with duct tape.
I’m standing in a big room with a gray carpet (I think it’s gray, but it might just be the dust), so old the floor shows through fairly often. To my right is another room, long and dark, with a bar running toward the back of the building. A staircase rises from the front of the house and over the bar, a hall barely visible above.
The big room has cheap metal folding chairs along the walls, reminiscent of a junior high prom. Two guys engaged in conspiratorial conversation inhabit a corner, snickering. They are both disfigured, and I get the idea they see themselves as men of the world.
No women are in evidence.
I ask the two men about that.
They assure me the girls will be right down.
And one appears at the top of the stairs.
I don’t really know what I was expecting. From the looks of the place, I know it wasn’t much.
The girl slithering down the stairs would put Mortisha Addams to shame on her best day. The chick is hot in a sultry, evil, witchy kind of way. Too-tight black nightie with black, thigh-length stockings, long, straight, black hair and eyes, and skin so pale you can see through it. Vampire pale.
She’s a total bitch too, just as you’d expect… but soooo beautiful.
By the time she’s put me off thoroughly, another girl tops the stairs.
She glows as the descends. Just the opposite of the moody brunette, this one shines golden. and when she laughs, it seems like the room gets a soft, warm, glow. It isn’t Goldie Hawn, but it might as well have been. I can’t even remember what she wore, but she had legs all the way up to there.
A horn honked outside, insistent. Three loud beeps, two short and one much too long.
I remembered the conversation about leaving the blackjack player to thumb home.
I picked my tongue up off the floor, and adjusted my gonads, and fled.
I don’t remember the return trip, probably because I was busy remembering the surprise visions that dwelled in the house of the rising sun.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
July 26, 2018
More Difficult Than I Thought
©2018 Kari Carlisle
Several weeks ago, I wrote about a fitness challenge I was starting in the post, Fit Enough to Bug Out. My workplace challenged all employees to walk/hike/run 50 miles in 50 days with a minimum of one mile per day. If anyone skipped a day, they were out. Now that the fitness challenge is over, as promised, I am reporting on my results.
I did it! I completed the minimum of one mile per day for each day of the challenge.
But if you remember, I personally challenged myself to complete at least 100 miles in 50 days. So, how did I do?
Since I regularly hike daily with my dogs around 1.5 – 1.75 miles with occasional 2-3 mile hikes, I thought 100 miles would still be fairly easy. It wasn’t.
Many factors threatened to derail my plans. I had to deal with bad weather, wildlife, rotting dead farm animals, work travel, food poisoning, and sciatica. Granted, the first four are common issues, but it seemed like the universe was just out to get me over those 50 days.
Bottom line, I managed to exceed 108 miles! Honestly, I thought I’d smoke past 125, but I’m proud of myself, especially considering what I managed to overcome.
Now that the challenge is over, I’m not pushing myself so hard, but I still haven’t taken a day off. I’m continuing to exceed a mile daily and will continue to do so as long as I need to walk my dogs. This morning’s 2.25-mile walk was nice, early morning before the sun started baking us, but I had a slight headache. Heck, I’ve walked my dogs with full-on migraines, head colds, stomach flu, you name it. It’s rare that I don’t “sacrifice” myself for them. If I need take a day off, they drive me crazy, so it’s just easier to do it.
So, the question is did I inspire you to a fitness challenge of your own?
While I’m updating you, I want to catch you up on another post I wrote last year, Ground Zero for Plague.
Last year, there was a die-off of the prairie dogs that surround my little neighborhood. AZ Fish and Game had declared the die-off was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, bubonic plague, Black Death. The good news is that no people or pets have contracted the plague.
The bad news is the prairie dogs have returned with a vengeance. Seriously, I think there are at least 3 or 4 times as many prairie dogs as there were prior to the die-off. I admit they are so cute, especially the little babies running around.
But I mean it – it’s bad news. The prairie dog town has expanded, they are destroying landscaping, digging under the road… and they are now getting into my backyard. And pooping EVERYWHERE. It’s disgusting. And they have fleas, and though we’ve only had a few bites, it only takes one with plague bacteria to cause an infection.
I’m also concerned about my dogs. Simon has already attacked one prairie dog, and I’m worried about other kinds of infections, not to mention bites and other potential injuries.
Fortunately, plans are underway to relocate the prairie dogs out of our housing area and hopefully install an exclusion fence. I don’t know when it might happen, but in the meantime, there’s not much we can do about it. Stay tuned.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
Several weeks ago, I wrote about a fitness challenge I was starting in the post, Fit Enough to Bug Out. My workplace challenged all employees to walk/hike/run 50 miles in 50 days with a minimum of one mile per day. If anyone skipped a day, they were out. Now that the fitness challenge is over, as promised, I am reporting on my results.
I did it! I completed the minimum of one mile per day for each day of the challenge.
But if you remember, I personally challenged myself to complete at least 100 miles in 50 days. So, how did I do?
Since I regularly hike daily with my dogs around 1.5 – 1.75 miles with occasional 2-3 mile hikes, I thought 100 miles would still be fairly easy. It wasn’t.
Many factors threatened to derail my plans. I had to deal with bad weather, wildlife, rotting dead farm animals, work travel, food poisoning, and sciatica. Granted, the first four are common issues, but it seemed like the universe was just out to get me over those 50 days.
Bottom line, I managed to exceed 108 miles! Honestly, I thought I’d smoke past 125, but I’m proud of myself, especially considering what I managed to overcome.
Now that the challenge is over, I’m not pushing myself so hard, but I still haven’t taken a day off. I’m continuing to exceed a mile daily and will continue to do so as long as I need to walk my dogs. This morning’s 2.25-mile walk was nice, early morning before the sun started baking us, but I had a slight headache. Heck, I’ve walked my dogs with full-on migraines, head colds, stomach flu, you name it. It’s rare that I don’t “sacrifice” myself for them. If I need take a day off, they drive me crazy, so it’s just easier to do it.
So, the question is did I inspire you to a fitness challenge of your own?
While I’m updating you, I want to catch you up on another post I wrote last year, Ground Zero for Plague.
Last year, there was a die-off of the prairie dogs that surround my little neighborhood. AZ Fish and Game had declared the die-off was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, bubonic plague, Black Death. The good news is that no people or pets have contracted the plague.
The bad news is the prairie dogs have returned with a vengeance. Seriously, I think there are at least 3 or 4 times as many prairie dogs as there were prior to the die-off. I admit they are so cute, especially the little babies running around.
But I mean it – it’s bad news. The prairie dog town has expanded, they are destroying landscaping, digging under the road… and they are now getting into my backyard. And pooping EVERYWHERE. It’s disgusting. And they have fleas, and though we’ve only had a few bites, it only takes one with plague bacteria to cause an infection.
I’m also concerned about my dogs. Simon has already attacked one prairie dog, and I’m worried about other kinds of infections, not to mention bites and other potential injuries.
Fortunately, plans are underway to relocate the prairie dogs out of our housing area and hopefully install an exclusion fence. I don’t know when it might happen, but in the meantime, there’s not much we can do about it. Stay tuned.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
July 12, 2018
A Tough Day
©2018 C. Henry Martens
Two weeks ago, Julie was cleaning her house. She was always cleaning her house, a home made beautiful by her effort as she put a woman's touch into every nook and cranny.
She wasn't feeling well, and she'd noticed a tinge to her skin color, but the weekend was looming and she decided to put off her concern. She was a woman, a mother, a wife, and she was comfortable with putting off her concerns about herself.
On Monday, Julie was in the hospital. She was so yellow some of her family thought she was orange. An emergency procedure placed a stent, a tiny plastic tube to keep a duct open, in the vicinity of her pancreas and liver. The procedure was relatively minor, so Julie was released to go home.
Somewhere in this time frame, a fire started. It would become known as the Dollar Ridge Fire.
Julie went home with hope. The doctors were concerned. There was a mass. There were tests performed, the results to be waited on. The family was made aware.
Wednesday, Julie returned to the hospital in pain. The stent had caused swelling, which shut off the duct that it was intended to open.
Over the course of the next week, things deteriorated.
Family gathered together as strong families do. Julie's husband, Tony, stayed by her side, a son and daughter-in-law took over much of Julie's care when the medical establishment was too involved in other things. Grandchildren visited and hovered if work didn't conflict, and Julie's younger sisters visited the hospital room so often they became a fixture.
In some ways, it was an ugly, painful, and frustrating time. The not knowing was the worst part, but eventually, the knowing, as realization dawned on all of us, was even worse.
In some ways, there was beauty. To see a family close ranks in the care of a loved one is a valuable and mystical experience.
Julie chose to die at home and left the hospital on a Saturday after a week and a half in medical care. My wife and I helped Tony get her in the truck, a mismanaged affair by the hospital.
Hospice supplied a bed at Julie's home, and it was set up in the front room by the window. The hospice nurse advised and supplied pain management.
The Dollar Ridge Fire was growing but seemed far away. It was consuming one of the family's favorite areas and feeding itself on the drought-dry cedars and pinions and sage.
Focused on Julie, Tony and his sons watched the fire, hoping for the best. The son and daughter-in-law caring for Julie in the hospital lived next door, so two homes and all the tools of their trade were threatened.
The aircraft fighting the fire flew overhead so often that it was not uncommon to feel droplets hitting those below.
An area was designated for mandatory evacuation, and Tony and Julie's home was right at the boundary. Perhaps because when the sheriffs were informed of Julie's condition, the boundary was adjusted.
Julie continued to decline.
We had planned a trip to see Julie on the Fourth of July from our home several hours away, but emotions being what they are, my wife, Julie's youngest sister, vacillated between not going at all and going a day early.
Early on the third of July, my wife decided to stay home. The news wasn't good, and I could tell she had reservations about seeing her sister in a declining state.
The telephones had been getting a lot of use, and as one of our major concerns was that we didn't want to be in the way yet wanted to help, ours was getting a lot of use. In calling Tony to offer any help we could give, he asked us to buy him a broom.
A broom.
He said, “I don't know how Julie kept up with all the dog hair.”
Of all things, he wanted one of those rechargeable electric brooms.
We had planned on taking the car since it gets much better mileage than the truck. The morning news and some comments on the phone conversations made me wonder if the truck might be needed. We'd already offered, even suggesting that we bring a trailer in case of evacuation, but Tony had declined.
It occurred to us that he might be entertaining some fatalistic thoughts, trying to minimize events as sometimes people do.
We decided to take the truck.
By the time we got to the house... broom in hand... Julie was unconscious. We missed her by minutes. The hospice nurse just happened to be visiting and had administered a high dose of morphine.
The room seemed overly crowded, so I went outside to sit in a shaded plastic chair, watching the smoke from the fire rise.
The fire was south and west of the homestead. Fruitland is high in the mountains of an old range with low, rounded peaks and eroded canyons. The peaks south looked like nothing more than large hills, and there were no flames visible in the miles I could see. Mostly white smoke poured up, filling the horizon.
We had watched a helicopter dip water from a pond on the way in, just up the road not a mile away. There were constant planes in the air, some small crop dusters and at least one identified as a B-26. They appeared to be having some success as the fire had topped the ridge the night before in places, yet now, there were no flames visible.
Occasionally, someone would come out of the house. The vigil over Julie was wearing, and they needed some release, some time away. They found relief in watching and discussing the fire, the planes, and in discussing the stories they knew of neighbors and friends evacuating. I was told about the propane tanks exploding and of the two police vehicles being engulfed in a flare up as the officers fled on foot with the elderly couple they had come to rescue.
My wife came out and cried a little but mostly expressed that she was so glad we came.
We started to discuss leaving. We had a three-hour trip home and didn't want to stay for dinner, again not wanting to be in the way.
The smoke west of us suddenly blackened.
Within fifteen or twenty minutes, the flames had breached the top of the ridge, and we could see the fire moving toward us as the wind picked up.
Everyone seemed to come to a decision. Perhaps they had already discussed evacuating when the flames breached the ridge, but it seemed like there was an unspoken and universal agreement. We all began to pick and choose what we considered valuable and began to load the trucks.
Tony and sons plow snow and remodel and build in the summer months. Their livelihood is tied up in their trucks and tools.
Three men showed up. The local Baptist pastor and two weathered and well-worn men, locals that the family know.
While Tony stayed in the house with Julie, he and the pastor worked together to remove what they could, the pastor packing the truck outside.
The elder son, Tod, his home next door threatened, concentrated on his own priorities, loading his own truck. His son Nick helped, loading his own truck with Tod and Wendy's valuables.
The younger son, Little T, took over for Tony outside. He took charge and let the rest of us know what we should do to best help in saving what we could. Little T's son Daniel showed up and pitched in. The snow bladed trucks were hitched to trailers, the beds loaded, the trailers stacked. ATVs, tools, tires, ladders, and chainsaws, as well as anything else movable and of value. Five snow plow pickups and three utility trailers as well as a pontoon boat. My own pickup would tow the new camping trailer.
My wife began to strip the house of sentimental things, loading them into our pickup. I had to stop her, saying that the truck needed to be empty so I could use the truck to shuttle people back to get the rest of the every-day-driven trucks.
We would be taking them to Daniel's house, seven miles away and across the highway to the north.
The farm animals would be left behind. There was no place to keep them, and domestic rabbits and ducks would die in the wild if released anyway. If the fire bypassed them they would be better off where they were. The Labradors would ride on top of the loaded trucks.
In the meantime, my wife, Wendy, Julie's daughter-in-law, Nick's wife Catherine, and Mary, a friend of Julie's that had flown from Oregon to be with her, took care of Julie.
Tony was reluctant to call for an ambulance.
In the midst of the chaos, the two sons pestered their father to call the ambulance.
Tony didn't want to... but he finally called the ambulance.
The flame was moving across the hills fast. Every fifteen minutes or so, I had stopped to look up and take stock of the fire's progress. The fire breached the ridge two miles away. In the two hours we had been saving what we could, it had advanced a mile.
We had to move. It was time. If we didn't shuttle the plow trucks soon we wouldn't be able to return to get the rest of the trucks and help with Julie and getting our women out. Tony and his truck were to be left behind for those staying behind, just in case.
For some reason, everyone seemed hesitant to leave.
I insisted.
We intended to caravan to Daniel's, but he and I drove too fast, leaving the rest behind when entering the highway in heavy traffic. Still, everyone made it as they followed others that knew the way.
We parked the trucks and I was having trouble unhooking the camper. Daniel jumped in and pulled the pin on the receiver rather than unhook the ball. Because I was stuck, the other men unloaded one of the plow trucks and took off. Little T arrived with his truck late, slowed by towing an unstable wood splitter. He and Daniel piled into my truck, and we drove like mad to get back to the homestead.
We couldn't even see the smoke of the fire from Daniel's, seven miles away by winding roads. As we got closer the smoke seemed to grow larger and darker and more threatening. By the time we were on the highway, I wondered if there would be much time.
We got back to the homestead, and the flames were still over a half mile away. The mountain was no longer visible. Orange eruptions flared and danced below the dark clouds of ash at the fire line. Some flames were huge. Houses or outbuildings or larger trees.
The ambulance was still not there but was expected any time.
I told everyone I was going to move my truck so the ambulance would have plenty of room, and everyone jumped to do the same.
The ambulance arrived.
My wife appeared as she left the house to stay out of the way. She collapsed into my arms, aggressively attached to me and sobbing.
“Never leave me! Never leave me. Oh God, you can't ever leave me! Please don't ever leave me!”
I held my wife. At this point, there was nothing else to do. She was my priority.
As suddenly as her tears had started, they were over. She had things to do.
Last minute scrambling to save what we could. I put my favorite antique metal lawn chairs in front of the garage where there was no fuel for the fires. Maybe they would survive.
The fire was a half mile away and covered the hill to the south. With a wind from the west, most of it would bypass the homestead, but there was an arm of encroaching fire still to the west, oncoming. Heavy gusts blew over the metal lawn chairs, and the sky was lost to the smoke. Everything was tinged orange.
Julie came out of the house on a collapsible stretcher. I remember noticing the bright yellow parts on it. She went into the ambulance. Tony climbed in with her.
The ambulance left.
I told Mary, Julie's friend from Oregon, that she would be going in our truck. I threw her bag into the back. She climbed into the truck and suggested it was time to leave.
I heard Tod say that he and Wendy were going to stay behind for a while.
Everyone else had left.
My wife climbed into the truck and we took off.
Arriving once again at Daniel's, we pulled up to the porch to unload the easy chair we had in the back. Tony had suggested in the last minutes that he would like to save it.
The ambulance was parked directly to our left, the doors open wide. Julie was inside.
We were informed that Julie had passed away.
My wife is glad we were there. She told me she had the privilege to close Julie's eyes in the ambulance.
Life... and death... brings out the best in strong families. Those people that lost things to the Dollar Ridge Fire will be stronger for the experience. But it was a tough day.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
Two weeks ago, Julie was cleaning her house. She was always cleaning her house, a home made beautiful by her effort as she put a woman's touch into every nook and cranny.
She wasn't feeling well, and she'd noticed a tinge to her skin color, but the weekend was looming and she decided to put off her concern. She was a woman, a mother, a wife, and she was comfortable with putting off her concerns about herself.
On Monday, Julie was in the hospital. She was so yellow some of her family thought she was orange. An emergency procedure placed a stent, a tiny plastic tube to keep a duct open, in the vicinity of her pancreas and liver. The procedure was relatively minor, so Julie was released to go home.
Somewhere in this time frame, a fire started. It would become known as the Dollar Ridge Fire.
Julie went home with hope. The doctors were concerned. There was a mass. There were tests performed, the results to be waited on. The family was made aware.
Wednesday, Julie returned to the hospital in pain. The stent had caused swelling, which shut off the duct that it was intended to open.
Over the course of the next week, things deteriorated.
Family gathered together as strong families do. Julie's husband, Tony, stayed by her side, a son and daughter-in-law took over much of Julie's care when the medical establishment was too involved in other things. Grandchildren visited and hovered if work didn't conflict, and Julie's younger sisters visited the hospital room so often they became a fixture.
In some ways, it was an ugly, painful, and frustrating time. The not knowing was the worst part, but eventually, the knowing, as realization dawned on all of us, was even worse.
In some ways, there was beauty. To see a family close ranks in the care of a loved one is a valuable and mystical experience.
Julie chose to die at home and left the hospital on a Saturday after a week and a half in medical care. My wife and I helped Tony get her in the truck, a mismanaged affair by the hospital.
Hospice supplied a bed at Julie's home, and it was set up in the front room by the window. The hospice nurse advised and supplied pain management.
The Dollar Ridge Fire was growing but seemed far away. It was consuming one of the family's favorite areas and feeding itself on the drought-dry cedars and pinions and sage.
Focused on Julie, Tony and his sons watched the fire, hoping for the best. The son and daughter-in-law caring for Julie in the hospital lived next door, so two homes and all the tools of their trade were threatened.
The aircraft fighting the fire flew overhead so often that it was not uncommon to feel droplets hitting those below.
An area was designated for mandatory evacuation, and Tony and Julie's home was right at the boundary. Perhaps because when the sheriffs were informed of Julie's condition, the boundary was adjusted.
Julie continued to decline.
We had planned a trip to see Julie on the Fourth of July from our home several hours away, but emotions being what they are, my wife, Julie's youngest sister, vacillated between not going at all and going a day early.
Early on the third of July, my wife decided to stay home. The news wasn't good, and I could tell she had reservations about seeing her sister in a declining state.
The telephones had been getting a lot of use, and as one of our major concerns was that we didn't want to be in the way yet wanted to help, ours was getting a lot of use. In calling Tony to offer any help we could give, he asked us to buy him a broom.
A broom.
He said, “I don't know how Julie kept up with all the dog hair.”
Of all things, he wanted one of those rechargeable electric brooms.
We had planned on taking the car since it gets much better mileage than the truck. The morning news and some comments on the phone conversations made me wonder if the truck might be needed. We'd already offered, even suggesting that we bring a trailer in case of evacuation, but Tony had declined.
It occurred to us that he might be entertaining some fatalistic thoughts, trying to minimize events as sometimes people do.
We decided to take the truck.
By the time we got to the house... broom in hand... Julie was unconscious. We missed her by minutes. The hospice nurse just happened to be visiting and had administered a high dose of morphine.
The room seemed overly crowded, so I went outside to sit in a shaded plastic chair, watching the smoke from the fire rise.
The fire was south and west of the homestead. Fruitland is high in the mountains of an old range with low, rounded peaks and eroded canyons. The peaks south looked like nothing more than large hills, and there were no flames visible in the miles I could see. Mostly white smoke poured up, filling the horizon.
We had watched a helicopter dip water from a pond on the way in, just up the road not a mile away. There were constant planes in the air, some small crop dusters and at least one identified as a B-26. They appeared to be having some success as the fire had topped the ridge the night before in places, yet now, there were no flames visible.
Occasionally, someone would come out of the house. The vigil over Julie was wearing, and they needed some release, some time away. They found relief in watching and discussing the fire, the planes, and in discussing the stories they knew of neighbors and friends evacuating. I was told about the propane tanks exploding and of the two police vehicles being engulfed in a flare up as the officers fled on foot with the elderly couple they had come to rescue.
My wife came out and cried a little but mostly expressed that she was so glad we came.
We started to discuss leaving. We had a three-hour trip home and didn't want to stay for dinner, again not wanting to be in the way.
The smoke west of us suddenly blackened.
Within fifteen or twenty minutes, the flames had breached the top of the ridge, and we could see the fire moving toward us as the wind picked up.
Everyone seemed to come to a decision. Perhaps they had already discussed evacuating when the flames breached the ridge, but it seemed like there was an unspoken and universal agreement. We all began to pick and choose what we considered valuable and began to load the trucks.
Tony and sons plow snow and remodel and build in the summer months. Their livelihood is tied up in their trucks and tools.
Three men showed up. The local Baptist pastor and two weathered and well-worn men, locals that the family know.
While Tony stayed in the house with Julie, he and the pastor worked together to remove what they could, the pastor packing the truck outside.
The elder son, Tod, his home next door threatened, concentrated on his own priorities, loading his own truck. His son Nick helped, loading his own truck with Tod and Wendy's valuables.
The younger son, Little T, took over for Tony outside. He took charge and let the rest of us know what we should do to best help in saving what we could. Little T's son Daniel showed up and pitched in. The snow bladed trucks were hitched to trailers, the beds loaded, the trailers stacked. ATVs, tools, tires, ladders, and chainsaws, as well as anything else movable and of value. Five snow plow pickups and three utility trailers as well as a pontoon boat. My own pickup would tow the new camping trailer.
My wife began to strip the house of sentimental things, loading them into our pickup. I had to stop her, saying that the truck needed to be empty so I could use the truck to shuttle people back to get the rest of the every-day-driven trucks.
We would be taking them to Daniel's house, seven miles away and across the highway to the north.
The farm animals would be left behind. There was no place to keep them, and domestic rabbits and ducks would die in the wild if released anyway. If the fire bypassed them they would be better off where they were. The Labradors would ride on top of the loaded trucks.
In the meantime, my wife, Wendy, Julie's daughter-in-law, Nick's wife Catherine, and Mary, a friend of Julie's that had flown from Oregon to be with her, took care of Julie.
Tony was reluctant to call for an ambulance.
In the midst of the chaos, the two sons pestered their father to call the ambulance.
Tony didn't want to... but he finally called the ambulance.
The flame was moving across the hills fast. Every fifteen minutes or so, I had stopped to look up and take stock of the fire's progress. The fire breached the ridge two miles away. In the two hours we had been saving what we could, it had advanced a mile.
We had to move. It was time. If we didn't shuttle the plow trucks soon we wouldn't be able to return to get the rest of the trucks and help with Julie and getting our women out. Tony and his truck were to be left behind for those staying behind, just in case.
For some reason, everyone seemed hesitant to leave.
I insisted.
We intended to caravan to Daniel's, but he and I drove too fast, leaving the rest behind when entering the highway in heavy traffic. Still, everyone made it as they followed others that knew the way.
We parked the trucks and I was having trouble unhooking the camper. Daniel jumped in and pulled the pin on the receiver rather than unhook the ball. Because I was stuck, the other men unloaded one of the plow trucks and took off. Little T arrived with his truck late, slowed by towing an unstable wood splitter. He and Daniel piled into my truck, and we drove like mad to get back to the homestead.
We couldn't even see the smoke of the fire from Daniel's, seven miles away by winding roads. As we got closer the smoke seemed to grow larger and darker and more threatening. By the time we were on the highway, I wondered if there would be much time.
We got back to the homestead, and the flames were still over a half mile away. The mountain was no longer visible. Orange eruptions flared and danced below the dark clouds of ash at the fire line. Some flames were huge. Houses or outbuildings or larger trees.
The ambulance was still not there but was expected any time.
I told everyone I was going to move my truck so the ambulance would have plenty of room, and everyone jumped to do the same.
The ambulance arrived.
My wife appeared as she left the house to stay out of the way. She collapsed into my arms, aggressively attached to me and sobbing.
“Never leave me! Never leave me. Oh God, you can't ever leave me! Please don't ever leave me!”
I held my wife. At this point, there was nothing else to do. She was my priority.
As suddenly as her tears had started, they were over. She had things to do.
Last minute scrambling to save what we could. I put my favorite antique metal lawn chairs in front of the garage where there was no fuel for the fires. Maybe they would survive.
The fire was a half mile away and covered the hill to the south. With a wind from the west, most of it would bypass the homestead, but there was an arm of encroaching fire still to the west, oncoming. Heavy gusts blew over the metal lawn chairs, and the sky was lost to the smoke. Everything was tinged orange.
Julie came out of the house on a collapsible stretcher. I remember noticing the bright yellow parts on it. She went into the ambulance. Tony climbed in with her.
The ambulance left.
I told Mary, Julie's friend from Oregon, that she would be going in our truck. I threw her bag into the back. She climbed into the truck and suggested it was time to leave.
I heard Tod say that he and Wendy were going to stay behind for a while.
Everyone else had left.
My wife climbed into the truck and we took off.
Arriving once again at Daniel's, we pulled up to the porch to unload the easy chair we had in the back. Tony had suggested in the last minutes that he would like to save it.
The ambulance was parked directly to our left, the doors open wide. Julie was inside.
We were informed that Julie had passed away.
My wife is glad we were there. She told me she had the privilege to close Julie's eyes in the ambulance.
Life... and death... brings out the best in strong families. Those people that lost things to the Dollar Ridge Fire will be stronger for the experience. But it was a tough day.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
June 28, 2018
Review: Echo Dot/Alexa
©2018 Kari Carlisle
As a busy, task-oriented person with a penchant for low-tech time-management strategies, I decided to give the Echo Dot a try. It may be technical, but I thought if I didn’t have a large learning curve, it might be a convenient add-on to help manage my busy life. After a couple of years, what are the results?
First, I’ll explain what the Echo Dot and Alexa are for those of you who are unfamiliar with them. The Echo Dot is a small, technological device available only from Amazon. The software it runs is Alexa, an artificial intelligence personal assistant. It requires an internet connection to function, and it can, in turn, be connected to “smart” devices in the home and operate these other devices. There are hundreds of tasks (maybe more by now) that Alexa can perform by voice command. Alexa also runs on other Echo devices and is now even available on a television.
I remember when I first received the Dot. My husband and I were kind of excited to get it set up and start to see what we could do with it. The set up was quick and easy, which is saying something since I don’t typically find technology always quick and easy. It’s not terribly hard for me, but it does take a few extra brain cells.
For days, we played with asking Alexa all kinds of questions. We were delighted at some responses and disappointed with others. We tried to have conversations with her because we fell into the trap of thinking of her as a “her.” But when you have to say “Alexa…” before every single sentence and question, it doesn’t come off as a remotely natural conversation.
Every few days (I think. I haven’t counted.), I get an email from Amazon with new great things Alexa can do. At first, I read the emails with interest to see if there was anything that would be useful to me. But mostly, it was just games, jokes, trivia, how to make cocktails (oh, wait, that’s useful), and stuff like that. After a while, the emails started to feel like a lot of the other clutter in my inbox, and I started sticking them in a folder for a later look “when I have time.” I never have time, so I finally started just deleting them without looking at them.
So, what do I use Alexa for? About 99% of our requests are for the weather, to set a timer, or to add an item to our shopping list. We have on occasion also asked Alexa to play music (classic rock for me, baroque for the dogs), reorder an item from Amazon, or answer basic questions. She gave me a great recipe for guacamole. Worth the $50? Probably not, but at least we do use it daily, and it saves maybe a few seconds of time each time we use it.
Probably the best feature has been the shopping list. When I'm at the store, I can use the corresponding phone app to view the complete shopping list that my husband and I verbalized to Alexa at home. I can even ask my husband to tell Alexa to add something while I’m on my way to the store so that I will see it on the list.
There are undoubtedly features of Alexa that I am unaware of that would be desirable and useful. Maybe I need to start sparing a minute to look at those emails.
What I don’t like about Alexa is the timer. For one thing, it’s useless for anything under two minutes. After asking her to set a timer for however many minutes, there’s a pause, probably only a second, but it feels like forever, and then, she replies, “Okay, timer, two minutes, starting … Now.” No, there’s no pause after “starting,” but it almost feels like there is. So just starting a timer takes a few seconds. Then, once the timer goes off, we have a really hard time getting it to stop. Sometimes, we have to say “Alexa, STOP!” several times before she does.
Another issue with the Echo Dot is that it will only function as long as it's connected to the internet. That's sometimes a challenge in our rural location. Seriously, it can't even run a timer unless the internet is working. This is why I never use Alexa for important reminders. I don't trust that 1. she'll remember the important reminder if the internet goes out between giving her the command and the time I need the reminder, and 2. what if the internet goes out during the time I need the reminder? So yeah, nothing important will I trust it with.
And then there’s the really weird stuff. My husband and I will be having a conversation, and suddenly Alexa will start talking. Or singing. Yes, singing. If I go and look at the Alexa phone app, which records everything Alexa hears and her responses, it says she hears us say “Alexa, sing,” for example. Obviously, something we said kinda sorta sounds like “Alexa sing,” but when she starts singing or responding to general conversation, it’s still pretty creepy. There was one time, we weren’t even in the room and she started talking. We’ve been so creeped out at times, that we’ve unplugged it. Kind of an AI time out. Go sit in the corner and think about what you’ve done, Alexa!
And then there's the privacy issue. Alexa is always listening. Amazon says it only records a few seconds and then "deletes" what it hears. I could get all conspiracy theory on you and say maybe that's not really true. Maybe Amazon is keeping data on everyone who has an Alexa device. But why would they do that? Um, to sell the information? To use the information to personalize their marketing to you EVEN MORE THAN THEY ALREADY DO? Or maybe the government has already tapped into the data stream and is spying on everyone, using its own AI in their giant data center in Utah to screen for terrorists, criminals, and conspiracy theorists who are getting too close to the truth. Or maybe all Alexa ever hears in most homes is the TV and the occasional, "Alexa, weather."
Bottom line: We could certainly live without the Echo Dot and Alexa. For now. We don’t own any “smart” devices yet, but I guarantee that once we have a smart TV, we’ll be using Alexa to turn it on, change the channel, find shows, etc. What I really need more than Alexa, though, is a robot that can do all the cooking and cleaning. In all likelihood, by the time the maid robots are available, I’ll be needing one to change my adult diapers.
Do you have Alexa? What are your favorite features? What am I missing out on?
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
As a busy, task-oriented person with a penchant for low-tech time-management strategies, I decided to give the Echo Dot a try. It may be technical, but I thought if I didn’t have a large learning curve, it might be a convenient add-on to help manage my busy life. After a couple of years, what are the results?
First, I’ll explain what the Echo Dot and Alexa are for those of you who are unfamiliar with them. The Echo Dot is a small, technological device available only from Amazon. The software it runs is Alexa, an artificial intelligence personal assistant. It requires an internet connection to function, and it can, in turn, be connected to “smart” devices in the home and operate these other devices. There are hundreds of tasks (maybe more by now) that Alexa can perform by voice command. Alexa also runs on other Echo devices and is now even available on a television.
I remember when I first received the Dot. My husband and I were kind of excited to get it set up and start to see what we could do with it. The set up was quick and easy, which is saying something since I don’t typically find technology always quick and easy. It’s not terribly hard for me, but it does take a few extra brain cells.
For days, we played with asking Alexa all kinds of questions. We were delighted at some responses and disappointed with others. We tried to have conversations with her because we fell into the trap of thinking of her as a “her.” But when you have to say “Alexa…” before every single sentence and question, it doesn’t come off as a remotely natural conversation.
Every few days (I think. I haven’t counted.), I get an email from Amazon with new great things Alexa can do. At first, I read the emails with interest to see if there was anything that would be useful to me. But mostly, it was just games, jokes, trivia, how to make cocktails (oh, wait, that’s useful), and stuff like that. After a while, the emails started to feel like a lot of the other clutter in my inbox, and I started sticking them in a folder for a later look “when I have time.” I never have time, so I finally started just deleting them without looking at them.
So, what do I use Alexa for? About 99% of our requests are for the weather, to set a timer, or to add an item to our shopping list. We have on occasion also asked Alexa to play music (classic rock for me, baroque for the dogs), reorder an item from Amazon, or answer basic questions. She gave me a great recipe for guacamole. Worth the $50? Probably not, but at least we do use it daily, and it saves maybe a few seconds of time each time we use it.
Probably the best feature has been the shopping list. When I'm at the store, I can use the corresponding phone app to view the complete shopping list that my husband and I verbalized to Alexa at home. I can even ask my husband to tell Alexa to add something while I’m on my way to the store so that I will see it on the list.
There are undoubtedly features of Alexa that I am unaware of that would be desirable and useful. Maybe I need to start sparing a minute to look at those emails.
What I don’t like about Alexa is the timer. For one thing, it’s useless for anything under two minutes. After asking her to set a timer for however many minutes, there’s a pause, probably only a second, but it feels like forever, and then, she replies, “Okay, timer, two minutes, starting … Now.” No, there’s no pause after “starting,” but it almost feels like there is. So just starting a timer takes a few seconds. Then, once the timer goes off, we have a really hard time getting it to stop. Sometimes, we have to say “Alexa, STOP!” several times before she does.
Another issue with the Echo Dot is that it will only function as long as it's connected to the internet. That's sometimes a challenge in our rural location. Seriously, it can't even run a timer unless the internet is working. This is why I never use Alexa for important reminders. I don't trust that 1. she'll remember the important reminder if the internet goes out between giving her the command and the time I need the reminder, and 2. what if the internet goes out during the time I need the reminder? So yeah, nothing important will I trust it with.
And then there’s the really weird stuff. My husband and I will be having a conversation, and suddenly Alexa will start talking. Or singing. Yes, singing. If I go and look at the Alexa phone app, which records everything Alexa hears and her responses, it says she hears us say “Alexa, sing,” for example. Obviously, something we said kinda sorta sounds like “Alexa sing,” but when she starts singing or responding to general conversation, it’s still pretty creepy. There was one time, we weren’t even in the room and she started talking. We’ve been so creeped out at times, that we’ve unplugged it. Kind of an AI time out. Go sit in the corner and think about what you’ve done, Alexa!
And then there's the privacy issue. Alexa is always listening. Amazon says it only records a few seconds and then "deletes" what it hears. I could get all conspiracy theory on you and say maybe that's not really true. Maybe Amazon is keeping data on everyone who has an Alexa device. But why would they do that? Um, to sell the information? To use the information to personalize their marketing to you EVEN MORE THAN THEY ALREADY DO? Or maybe the government has already tapped into the data stream and is spying on everyone, using its own AI in their giant data center in Utah to screen for terrorists, criminals, and conspiracy theorists who are getting too close to the truth. Or maybe all Alexa ever hears in most homes is the TV and the occasional, "Alexa, weather."
Bottom line: We could certainly live without the Echo Dot and Alexa. For now. We don’t own any “smart” devices yet, but I guarantee that once we have a smart TV, we’ll be using Alexa to turn it on, change the channel, find shows, etc. What I really need more than Alexa, though, is a robot that can do all the cooking and cleaning. In all likelihood, by the time the maid robots are available, I’ll be needing one to change my adult diapers.
Do you have Alexa? What are your favorite features? What am I missing out on?
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
June 14, 2018
What Happened to Val Kilmer?
©2018 Kari Carlisle
courtesy of imdb.com
First of all, no, I do not have a “thing” for Val Kilmer as my husband accused. I’m just a big fan of his acting and some of his movies. If you’re a regular reader of the Apocalypse Observer, you know that I was disappointed when Kilmer canceled his appearance at Phoenix Comic Fest last month. Now I know why.
Kilmer is probably best known for his roles in Top Gun, Tombstone, and Batman Forever, among others, and his filmography is incredibly long. Tombstone definitely tops my personal favorites list, and I also love Real Genius and The Ghost and the Darkness. Not all his movies are good, but he’s always fabulous is any role he takes on. Red Planet is a horrible movie, but if I ever watch it again, it will be because of him. Same goes for The Island of Dr. Moreau. Kilmer may have developed a reputation for being difficult to work with, but it’s because he’s so devoted to perfecting his characters. He’s a true actor, not just a good-looking guy who got lucky and made it big. He has been very careful about the roles he takes, and you may be surprised at some that he’s turned down.
I spent a few minutes looking at I do have one story about Kilmer that you won’t see on IMDB. He’s actually the friend of a friend of mine, and my friend told me about when his kids were younger, Val was at their house, and they had some cookies out that Val was eating. My friend’s daughter complained that “Batman is eating my cookies.” How cute is that?
While an actor could have many reasons for canceling an appearance, you may appreciate Kilmer’s reason for missing Phoenix Comic Fest. The following week, I learned that he will be reprising his Iceman role in a long-overdue sequel to Top Gun. He began filming Top Gun: Maverick that very weekend. So, I guess I can forgive him and hope that he makes an appearance next year.
What are your favorite Val Kilmer movies? Tell me which ones I need to see in the comments.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
courtesy of imdb.comFirst of all, no, I do not have a “thing” for Val Kilmer as my husband accused. I’m just a big fan of his acting and some of his movies. If you’re a regular reader of the Apocalypse Observer, you know that I was disappointed when Kilmer canceled his appearance at Phoenix Comic Fest last month. Now I know why.
Kilmer is probably best known for his roles in Top Gun, Tombstone, and Batman Forever, among others, and his filmography is incredibly long. Tombstone definitely tops my personal favorites list, and I also love Real Genius and The Ghost and the Darkness. Not all his movies are good, but he’s always fabulous is any role he takes on. Red Planet is a horrible movie, but if I ever watch it again, it will be because of him. Same goes for The Island of Dr. Moreau. Kilmer may have developed a reputation for being difficult to work with, but it’s because he’s so devoted to perfecting his characters. He’s a true actor, not just a good-looking guy who got lucky and made it big. He has been very careful about the roles he takes, and you may be surprised at some that he’s turned down.
I spent a few minutes looking at I do have one story about Kilmer that you won’t see on IMDB. He’s actually the friend of a friend of mine, and my friend told me about when his kids were younger, Val was at their house, and they had some cookies out that Val was eating. My friend’s daughter complained that “Batman is eating my cookies.” How cute is that?
While an actor could have many reasons for canceling an appearance, you may appreciate Kilmer’s reason for missing Phoenix Comic Fest. The following week, I learned that he will be reprising his Iceman role in a long-overdue sequel to Top Gun. He began filming Top Gun: Maverick that very weekend. So, I guess I can forgive him and hope that he makes an appearance next year.
What are your favorite Val Kilmer movies? Tell me which ones I need to see in the comments.
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
June 7, 2018
Fit Enough to Bug Out!
©2018 Kari Carlisle
An electromagnetic pulse has knocked out electricity for hundreds of square miles. Nothing works. Cars won’t run. Plumbing won’t pump water, not that you’d want the nasty stuff the purification plants are no longer purifying. And your perishables have perished. Within mere days, people are panicking, and bands of raiders are roaming the city, looking for any supplies they can find and even steal, killing if need be.
Your own supplies are running low, and the city has become a dangerous place to be. It’s time to bug out. It will take you days on foot with 50 pounds on your back to get to safety and fresh supplies… if someone else hasn’t gotten there first.
The journey will not be a pleasant, leisurely hike. You need to move fast and be prepared to run and hide… again, with 50 pounds of supplies on your back. Will you move during the day or at night? Do you know your route? What is the weather? Even with everything in your favor, are you physically fit enough to make the trip?
We may not face such a scenario in our lifetime, but potential survival situations are not the only reasons to strive for physical fitness. Being fit helps us maintain a healthy weight, avoid illness and injury, and just plain feels good.
This month, my workplace safety committee established a fitness challenge for all employees who want to participate. Called “50 in 50,” the challenge is to run/walk/hike at least 50 miles in 50 days with a minimum of one mile per day (no making up for missed days).
I jumped on this challenge, but for me, it’s not much of a challenge. I regularly walk or hike with my dogs at least 1.5 – 2 miles each day, further on weekends. So, I plan to exceed 100 miles in 50 days. That will make my dogs happy, too.
Wherever you are in your fitness level, you can do better. Will you join the fitness challenge? Can you do 50 in 50? Whether you can walk a block or run 5 miles in a day, decide on a distance and an activity that challenges you, but not so difficult that you set yourself up for failure. Let me know in the comments what you will challenge yourself to do and when you will do it. Writing it down will make it even more of a commitment.
I will fill you in on my results toward the end of July, and I hope you and I both surpass our goals!
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
An electromagnetic pulse has knocked out electricity for hundreds of square miles. Nothing works. Cars won’t run. Plumbing won’t pump water, not that you’d want the nasty stuff the purification plants are no longer purifying. And your perishables have perished. Within mere days, people are panicking, and bands of raiders are roaming the city, looking for any supplies they can find and even steal, killing if need be.
Your own supplies are running low, and the city has become a dangerous place to be. It’s time to bug out. It will take you days on foot with 50 pounds on your back to get to safety and fresh supplies… if someone else hasn’t gotten there first.
The journey will not be a pleasant, leisurely hike. You need to move fast and be prepared to run and hide… again, with 50 pounds of supplies on your back. Will you move during the day or at night? Do you know your route? What is the weather? Even with everything in your favor, are you physically fit enough to make the trip?
We may not face such a scenario in our lifetime, but potential survival situations are not the only reasons to strive for physical fitness. Being fit helps us maintain a healthy weight, avoid illness and injury, and just plain feels good.
This month, my workplace safety committee established a fitness challenge for all employees who want to participate. Called “50 in 50,” the challenge is to run/walk/hike at least 50 miles in 50 days with a minimum of one mile per day (no making up for missed days).
I jumped on this challenge, but for me, it’s not much of a challenge. I regularly walk or hike with my dogs at least 1.5 – 2 miles each day, further on weekends. So, I plan to exceed 100 miles in 50 days. That will make my dogs happy, too.
Wherever you are in your fitness level, you can do better. Will you join the fitness challenge? Can you do 50 in 50? Whether you can walk a block or run 5 miles in a day, decide on a distance and an activity that challenges you, but not so difficult that you set yourself up for failure. Let me know in the comments what you will challenge yourself to do and when you will do it. Writing it down will make it even more of a commitment.
I will fill you in on my results toward the end of July, and I hope you and I both surpass our goals!
Click here to receive the Apocalypse Observer Newsletter in your inbox
www.readmota.com
To comment, scroll down and type in your comment. Under Comment As, you can select Anonymous or Name/URL (you don't need to enter a URL). Then hit Publish.
