Another post on Better Things

Better Things, mandatory viewing for aging hipsters, is back again for its final season. This year the kids are older and are starting to grow up. Still obnoxious, they are starting to smooth out a bit and show a bit of responsibility. They are finding out that they are not Eugenie and Beatrice after all. 

In British sit coms, when the novelty is starting to wear off, we often see a costume show. This is a show where the laughs come from watching the cast in outrageous costumes, perhaps alluding to the pantomime roots of English humor. It is usually a sign that the show is starting to become tattered at the edges. Same for Better Things, where half of an episode is dedicated to Pamela mugging with period costumes. Still it was fun to see what a Hollywood costume shop looks like. 

The season is still young. The fact that you have to watch it on the night it premiers to avoid the Hulu surcharge makes Monday nights special. It has been a long time since Monday nights were special. 

The end of masking

Many governors are now ending the masking mandates for schools and stores. This is partially because the incidence of covid 19 is finally going down. Although this is obstensibly because of a desire to "follow the science" I suspect that governors and mayors wish to be re-elected and most Americans are just plain tired of the masks.

A real life example. We are driving on the road and we experience a sudden downpour of hail or rain. We pull over at the rest stop. We wait ten minutes. Ten minutes later we get back on the road. The weather is just as bad, but by now we are bored and hungry and tired of sitting in a car that is not going anywhere. Eventually, we say "hang it all, let's get back on the road, I'm tired of sitting around."

People are just tired of the masks. Even if they say on the television that we should still wear the things at a point we say "damn the torpedoes", let's take off the blooming masks. 

No I don't want to wake up to an inspirational message

 This morning I asked Alexa for the weather. After telling me it will be raining and sleeting all day it asked if I would like to be woken every morning with the daily mindset drill. I said no. I'd rather be grouchy in the morning while drinking my cup of coffee. Sometimes Alexa can act like an over eager assistant. 

Of airports and 5g service

For anyone who has ever flown in this century, the cell phone and  the air passenger are inseparable. One pays for one's flight with the cell phone, gets boarded with the cell phone, uses the cell phone while on the ground, and if one is willing to pay the fee uses the cell phone in the air. This seems to be a potentially problematic relationship with the advent of 5G. Apparently passengers using their cell during landing can disrupt the pilot's navigation operations to a potentially disastrous degree. Europe does not seem to have the same problem because their bandwidth for cell phones is separated from the bandwidth for the altimeter greater than here in the USA. 

I have a potential solution. Block all cellphones on the plane and in the airport. Install phone banks with landline telephones for the use of passengers. Perhaps a blackboard could be updated with messages for arriving passengers. This should allow the country to safely move to 5g service with little inconvenience, well maybe a little  inconvenience to the flying public. 

Secret Santa backfires

 

So I went to a Meetup Christmas party. They had a Secret Santa gift exchange. I got a truffles oil and flavor set. I was perfectly happy. Then the host noticed there was an extra gift that no one had received. Since my birthday is closest to Christmas, I got the extra Secret Santa package. It was a popcorn popper machine. 

Since my lady friend could not make the event because she was under Covid quarantine I offered her the popcorn maker, since she had already paid to attend the event. She said "I have enough junk in my house" and refused the popcorn popper.

A friend convinced me to use the popcorn popper myself, since un buttered popcorn is high in fiber, low in calories, and nutritious. Hence, I started using the popcorn popper. It worked well and the popcorn was pleasant as a snack. 

A few days later I bit into an old maid and broke my tooth and dislocated a filling next to my crown. Food kept getting caught in the new gap next to my lower bicuspid. I had to make a dental appointment.

Today I was recommended that I get a crown put over my tooth. With my dental insurance covering most of the cost, I still will owe six hundred dollars for my share of the work. 

I believe the cost should be divided equally. The organizer who gave me the popcorn popper should give me $200. The lady friend who did not want the popcorn popper should give me $200. The friend who recommended I should use the popcorn popper and eat the popcorn should pay me $200. To me this is fair. 

Editor's note: An old maid is the term used for an un-popped popcorn kernel. Today the term may be politically incorrect. 

Santa Claus is back in the garage

 

Here's an oldie from 2013. As we take down the wreaths and the tree and try to find a place from all the presents and boxes, the plastic Santa needs a place too. Since I don't have a garage it will be the storage closet in the basement. 

Another Christmas come and go

The fun the tinsel ho ho ho

But now it’s over no no no

And Santa’s back in the garage.

We sang our hymns and cookies made

But now that cheery time will fade

Christmas visits have been paid

And Santa’s back in the garage.

Oh holy night is now forgotten

Old wool socks replaced by cotton

I was so glad now feeling rotten

And Santa’s back in the garage.

So here’s a toast to the new year

Hot spiced cider now is beer

Winter gloom instead of cheer

And Santa’s back in the garage.

Next to the gas for the lawn mower

Near the sand and the snow blower

Spirits high now getting lower

Santa’s back in the garage.

End of year top 100 records back in the day

 I just wrote a blog on my Sixties blog about the New Year's practice of radio stations doing end of year hits lists.