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bill_schubertI was in Times Square in 1978 at about 10PM. It was not the chaos it is now, not a million people. But did have a lot more porn theaters then. My wife and I stood on the sidewalk until one of the NYC cops on horse surged into the crowd to break up a fight behind us. Those horses are massive and she was pregnant so we decided that we'd see the rest on TV. Walked back to our apartment on 86th street and it was fine.
In the 80's I was stationed on the west coast and learned that I could watch the ball drop at 9PM. Only once since then have I intentionally stayed up to midnight. And I didn't much enjoy that. A party.
On Dec 31, 1981 I did stay up for two New Year's eves. It was Singapore and at the time they were actually half an hour off from what is now Singapore Standard Time. So they had New Year's Eve and then a second one half an hour later. Singapore was much more interesting back then. There were a lot of Aussies drinking and wandering around the streets singing Aussie songs. They'd be thrown in jail now.
Going to church on Sunday was about what it has always been. The pews all around us were filled with my friend's family. He and his wife have three natural children all nearing 20 and one of whom was giving his account of his missionary years in California. They also have three adopted children in the 8-10 year range acquired from a druggy mom and dad. So, six in all. Mother and father and M-I-L and F-I-L. They are all ridiculously nice and personable. Really good people. The people were fun. Religion is about as dull as always. I envied the youngest child who climbed all over and under the pews while the service was going on.
Surprise, they don't have wine or even pretend wine (grape juice) nor do they transmogrify the water that they do have. Just bread and water.
I survived and even wore a coat and tie. And am good for a few more decades.
Our attendance was appreciated. All that mattered.
Three straight days of pickleball Mon-Wed. It completely screws up my brain if I'm playing on a day that is not Monday/Wednesday/Friday but my body held up well. I could play tomorrow. I'm no more sore than playing every other day. A tribute, I think, to being lighter on my feet.
Speaking of which I'm holding at 192 at the moment. I dropped from 200 to 191 so quickly I was kind of getting concerned but now we've plateaued off, it seems. I've put more effort recently into making sure I get enough protein. It is a lot of work.
My tastes have changed a lot. I don't enjoy fat as much as I used to. It can make me nauseous. Bacon. Ham. Too many cookies. Etc. I drink black coffee more than I used to.
If they could invent a drug that would make me like vegetables I'd be golden. But, alas, they all suck.
I'll be down in the 180's in January. I've got 10 more pounds before I reassess where we are. The plan I'm on renews for $1200 on 21 January. Every 24 weeks. I'm good with it for at least another half year. The ground is moving all over between oral Semaglutide (I don't mind the shots at all) and insurance looking at the whole thing again so six months from now it will be different and maybe covered. Or I'll hit 175 and start weaning myself off. Lots of negative publicity over the end game but lots of screwy people in the world telling their stories. I'm not likely to pay $2400/year for me and another $3k for Dana forever.
Even then, there are worse ways to spend money. Hell, YouTubeTV costs a grand per year.
All for now. If you've read this far, Happy New Year. If not, so it goes.
In the 80's I was stationed on the west coast and learned that I could watch the ball drop at 9PM. Only once since then have I intentionally stayed up to midnight. And I didn't much enjoy that. A party.
On Dec 31, 1981 I did stay up for two New Year's eves. It was Singapore and at the time they were actually half an hour off from what is now Singapore Standard Time. So they had New Year's Eve and then a second one half an hour later. Singapore was much more interesting back then. There were a lot of Aussies drinking and wandering around the streets singing Aussie songs. They'd be thrown in jail now.
Going to church on Sunday was about what it has always been. The pews all around us were filled with my friend's family. He and his wife have three natural children all nearing 20 and one of whom was giving his account of his missionary years in California. They also have three adopted children in the 8-10 year range acquired from a druggy mom and dad. So, six in all. Mother and father and M-I-L and F-I-L. They are all ridiculously nice and personable. Really good people. The people were fun. Religion is about as dull as always. I envied the youngest child who climbed all over and under the pews while the service was going on.
Surprise, they don't have wine or even pretend wine (grape juice) nor do they transmogrify the water that they do have. Just bread and water.
I survived and even wore a coat and tie. And am good for a few more decades.
Our attendance was appreciated. All that mattered.
Three straight days of pickleball Mon-Wed. It completely screws up my brain if I'm playing on a day that is not Monday/Wednesday/Friday but my body held up well. I could play tomorrow. I'm no more sore than playing every other day. A tribute, I think, to being lighter on my feet.
Speaking of which I'm holding at 192 at the moment. I dropped from 200 to 191 so quickly I was kind of getting concerned but now we've plateaued off, it seems. I've put more effort recently into making sure I get enough protein. It is a lot of work.
My tastes have changed a lot. I don't enjoy fat as much as I used to. It can make me nauseous. Bacon. Ham. Too many cookies. Etc. I drink black coffee more than I used to.
If they could invent a drug that would make me like vegetables I'd be golden. But, alas, they all suck.
I'll be down in the 180's in January. I've got 10 more pounds before I reassess where we are. The plan I'm on renews for $1200 on 21 January. Every 24 weeks. I'm good with it for at least another half year. The ground is moving all over between oral Semaglutide (I don't mind the shots at all) and insurance looking at the whole thing again so six months from now it will be different and maybe covered. Or I'll hit 175 and start weaning myself off. Lots of negative publicity over the end game but lots of screwy people in the world telling their stories. I'm not likely to pay $2400/year for me and another $3k for Dana forever.
Even then, there are worse ways to spend money. Hell, YouTubeTV costs a grand per year.
All for now. If you've read this far, Happy New Year. If not, so it goes.
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Date: 2026-01-01 10:08 (UTC)no subject
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