tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5939704774445430072024-03-17T17:00:34.196-05:00 Homer's TravelsBruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.comBlogger2431125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-86906568642948390932024-03-17T17:00:00.023-05:002024-03-17T17:00:00.134-05:00Weekly Ephemera #88<div><div>I hope you all had an irrational 𝝅 day and an inebriated, but safe, Saint Patrick's Day!</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Another ordinary week for me and an exciting one for the Wife. The only thing I did was take my Mom to, what both my Mom and I agree was, a totally worthless and a bit weird appointment with a neurologist. It was an appointment that could easily have been an email or phone call.</li><li>While Mom and I were wasting time the Wife was going to the airport to fly to New York. She is there until later tonight. She is there to attend the Big East basketball tournament. Unfortunately the Wife's team, the Creighton Bluejays, got knocked out in their first game. But there was more basketball to watch and a bit of New York sightseeing along the way.</li><li>I finished the Doom Patrol. It was a well written series finale. You were both happy and sad for the characters and the ending scene and music was near perfect. I will now move on to something else once I figure out what that thing is.</li><li>I only walked once this week. No reason I didn't do more. I have just have a massive deficit of motivation. I only walked 6.6 miles (10.65 km). So far I'm walking less than any of the eighteen years I've been keeping track. Not good.</li></ul></div>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-91487522680660250022024-03-15T17:00:00.005-05:002024-03-15T17:00:00.126-05:00Book: Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children Of Ruin"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/4agKYgM" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="431" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsw7WiIdckhcHevjKYeyOs0-DADR-p8mtX_4VDfVTMsfIi8DCm_R5b1UQkGLxT-_PcF6kK60gHRmG4p7OXJRedPXuJ5SmN-xl81w3jxCPMPJ8vNqPjJ5Y5JVMtzM27x45VnbOD1LZzzC88x-NkGP5gi3d987p8GKZACY6A6ibSqfU5mjoQi-LZ3ekQoV8c/s320/Screenshot%202024-03-15%203.01.59%20PM.png" width="209" /></a></div>The second book of 2024 - I can't believe I've only read two books in two and a half months - was the second book of the Children of Time series. The book continues a few years after the events of "<a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/09/book-adrian-tchaikovskys-children-of.html" target="_blank">Children of Time</a>".<p></p><div>In Adrian Tchaikovsky's "<a href="https://amzn.to/4agKYgM" target="_blank">Children of Ruin</a>" the Humans and their allies the spider-like Portiids set out to investigate a signal they were receiving from a distant star system. The book flashes between two time periods, one when the Human terraformers first arrive into the system and the other when the Humans and the Portiids arrive. They find two planets, one terraformed by the Humans and another hiding a terrible secret released centuries ago.</div><div><br /></div><div>I liked the first book and I liked the second book too. The life forms introduced in this series are interesting with varied societies and adaptations.</div><div><br /></div><div>It took me a month and a half to read this book, not because it was long (it was) or uninteresting (it was interesting). I read when I go to bed. It's my unwinding time. Unfortunately I have had the urge to stay up later lately and this means when I start reading I am already a bit tired. The result is I only read a chapter or two (usually around one or two percent of the book) per day. At this rate I will not get anywhere close to the twenty books I set as a goal for myself this year.</div><div><br /></div><div>I gave this book four stars out of five on Goodreads. I am looking forward to reading the third book in the series someday. </div>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-21417491335117610582024-03-10T17:00:00.001-05:002024-03-10T17:00:00.259-05:00Weekly Ephemera #87<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>On Monday we met with our tile guy who took measurements and gave us an estimate. It will be up to us to buy the tile. This guy did the stone on our fireplace while I was hiking the Appalachian trail. He did a great job then (even though I had reservations about doing this job but the Wife won that one) and I expect he will go another great job in our bathroom.</li><li>I hiked twice this week. I was hoping for three times but the will petered out by the end of the week. In total I hiked 16 miles (25.9 km). I think the brief snow we had overnight Friday just made me want to hunker down even though it was all gone by the end of the day.</li><li>While I hunkered I decided to start watching stuff on HBO/MAX. The Wife had been binging shows for a week or so already and I figured I needed to watch my stuff before the month ended. I started with "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_Us_(TV_series)" target="_blank">The Last of Us</a>". I liked this post-apocalyptic series but I didn't like it as much as I expected. I think this is because I watcher thirteen seasons of The Walking Dead (and several seasons of one of its spinoffs). As I watched "The Last of Us" I couldn't help to notice the parallels between the two shows. This made "The Last of Us" feel less original and more like a copy.<br /><br />Next I started on seasons three and four of "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_Patrol_(TV_series)" target="_blank">Doom Patrol</a>". I look forward to these.<br /><br />Now a minor rant. I was going to watch "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_Patrol_(TV_series)" target="_blank">Titans</a>", a live action version of the Teen Titans comics. It is an HBO/MAX exclusive. When I looked it up it said it had four seasons. When I dug deeper I realized that only season one was available on HBO/MAX. WTF?!?! Either you show all four seasons of the show that you own and created or you do not show any of it. I do not understand what HBO/MAX is thinking. This continued with "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westworld_(TV_series)" target="_blank">Westworld</a>". I wanted to watch season four but the entire show was gone. Another show, only available to HBO/MAX, taken away from us. (Both of these series can be purchased on DVD or Digital but they really should be included in the relatively expense HBO/MAX subscription.)</li><li>If you live in the United States (or other daylight saving time followers) I hope you've turned you clocks ahead an hour. Can't wait when this crappy practice ends ... hopefully in my lifetime.</li><li>This coming week is an exciting one for the Wife. She is flying to New York with some of her ex-students' family to attend the <a href="https://www.bigeast.com/tournaments/?id=166" target="_blank">Big East Men's basketball tournament</a>. She is soooo excited. I am so happy for her. She will have a fun time. Having Saint Patrick's day happen when she's there is the cherry on the sundae.</li></ul><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-73784296365766126742024-03-05T07:00:00.003-06:002024-03-05T07:00:00.135-06:00Rome 2023 - Magnet Addition<p>This post is a bit late since our Rome trip was last September but I am a bit behind in scanning our travel magnets. Hopefully I will catch up over the next few weeks.</p><p>Our trip was a week long but we still managed to return with nineteen magnets. Here are a few of my favorites:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD8zv_JHra4-t_yGa76BQ0Tr85kNa-1ALfGiuRWYVmf_MldhnSYHr6h_98dAAxT-mWasRF-m_-R8kUGlFXUuVhEwJMFblotPcHskkzuGjOrEhVt9RvIVjb4MsneQMkGgkfH4N5Jtun6l5leEyQCtZKU6lMBqQk3p_ymiyYqMIyht7acMrdjMSsORQwWPh/s1434/2023%20Rome-003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1434" height="458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTD8zv_JHra4-t_yGa76BQ0Tr85kNa-1ALfGiuRWYVmf_MldhnSYHr6h_98dAAxT-mWasRF-m_-R8kUGlFXUuVhEwJMFblotPcHskkzuGjOrEhVt9RvIVjb4MsneQMkGgkfH4N5Jtun6l5leEyQCtZKU6lMBqQk3p_ymiyYqMIyht7acMrdjMSsORQwWPh/w640-h458/2023%20Rome-003.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seen on many public infrastructure.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcE41nXv0hUZuXIZyH4Lu_erRbzsL_OfMabVGWI7I2s0Opm7lNFOS9KJq0JZl-0WUMiw6qsK3QSEOO9fOSifcGfALxKxeD6Q8pai6N3rWjbIL4Ru9nDMBUygxxeCM7KPAClCPMpTjY_VHx8NQ1MMyLef-ya-0ApRwiji7VHWJwuqEihSBJNDI3rZCmAkb/s1026/2023%20Rome-011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1026" height="638" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkcE41nXv0hUZuXIZyH4Lu_erRbzsL_OfMabVGWI7I2s0Opm7lNFOS9KJq0JZl-0WUMiw6qsK3QSEOO9fOSifcGfALxKxeD6Q8pai6N3rWjbIL4Ru9nDMBUygxxeCM7KPAClCPMpTjY_VHx8NQ1MMyLef-ya-0ApRwiji7VHWJwuqEihSBJNDI3rZCmAkb/w640-h638/2023%20Rome-011.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice stained glass like magnet.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZJdjoO04qsZQoDlj_Hz086q2Wc8vzObipdAHX2fAmhaj83Z3TXrP49ymW0nd0IQ3Nt8pHiaBaoKvIqwxIIb5Rbgn6DHX-SGU1ccjbCWD04nnPzaaHTsUImVVT3KyVTT6gGX3zgI3Y78D-pDqMEpAitQqkR6XT4XD7s_8SpyF9r3o18pNsX99pHZxCfNd/s1239/2023%20Rome-016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1239" data-original-width="1024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ZJdjoO04qsZQoDlj_Hz086q2Wc8vzObipdAHX2fAmhaj83Z3TXrP49ymW0nd0IQ3Nt8pHiaBaoKvIqwxIIb5Rbgn6DHX-SGU1ccjbCWD04nnPzaaHTsUImVVT3KyVTT6gGX3zgI3Y78D-pDqMEpAitQqkR6XT4XD7s_8SpyF9r3o18pNsX99pHZxCfNd/w528-h640/2023%20Rome-016.jpg" width="528" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everyone needs a Pope magnet.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>We have run out of space to display our magnets. We are currently brainstorming ideas for expanding our display capacity. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can check out the magnets I've posted either by clicking on the Travel Magnets tab at the top of the blog or by clicking on my <a href="https://goo.gl/photos/PfCfaiVdKcV4Q5Rr8" target="_blank">2006-2023 Travel Magnets</a> Google Photos album link.</div>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy41.9027835 12.496365513.592549663821153 -22.6598845 70.213017336178837 47.652615499999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-55813143857959396872024-03-03T17:00:00.001-06:002024-03-03T17:00:00.140-06:00Weekly Ephemera #86<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I had a dentist appointment on Monday. The <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/#:~:text=This%20week%20I%20went%20to%20the%20Oral%20Surgeon.%C2%A0%20He%20suspects%20the%20pain%20in%20my%20gum%20is%20a%20bone%20fragment.%C2%A0%20The%20fragment%20has%20irritated%20my%20gum%20and%20got%20infected.%C2%A0%20I%20am%20on%20antibiotics%20and%20will%20go%20back%20to%20the%20surgeon%20to%20reevaluate." target="_blank">pain I was experiencing turned out to be an infection</a> caused by a bone fragment in my gum. The antibiotics prescribed worked and I am pain free.</li><li>We met with a bathroom remodeler three times this week. The first was to find out what we wanted. The second was a visit by their plumber to verify that there was nothing behind the wall that we wanted to take out so we could expand the shower. The third was to pick out materials, colors, patterns, and other things to finalize the redesign. We were also left with a firm price for the remodel. It looks like next year our travels will have to be short and local as the price was the cost of a typical trip for us. The bathroom will be really nice once the work is complete sometime in late April/early May.</li><li>I took my car in for routine service on Thursday. I came out of there paying five times what I usually pay. And the extra cost was just routine maintenance.</li><li>We received our IRS tax refund this week. <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/#:~:text=%2D%20First%2C%20I%20should%20edit%20the%201099%2DR%20to%20%22correct%22%20them.%C2%A0%C2%A0%0A%2D%20Second%2C%20file%20my%20claim.%0A%2D%20Third%2C%20wait%20for%20the%20IRS%20to%20email%20about%20the%20edited%C2%A01099%2DR.%0A%2D%20Fourth%2C%20explain%20to%20the%20IRS%20why%20I%20did%20what%20I%20did%20and%20hope%20they%20agree." target="_blank">Not sure this means it's all done or if I will still be receiving an email in the future.</a></li><li>The weather was really wacky this week. On Monday it was 80℉ (27℃) - an all time high for a February in Nebraska. By Wednesday morning it was 9℉ (-13℃). This weekend it's back around 70℉ (21℃). The variability is kind of normal for Nebraska this time of year but not by these magnitudes.</li><li>With my appointments, and a couple of my Mom's, I ended up not walking this week. Next week looks much more promising in the walking department.</li></ul><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-42186339641808868742024-02-25T17:00:00.001-06:002024-02-25T17:00:00.136-06:00Weekly Ephemera #85<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I called my investment company about my 1099-Rs (I mentioned them in my last <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/#:~:text=I%20started%20doing%20our%20taxes%20on%20Saturday.%C2%A0%20For%20some%20reason%20our%20investment%20company%20marked%20some%20IRA%20withdrawals%20as%20taxable%20income.%C2%A0%20I%20will%20have%20to%20contact%20them%20this%20coming%20week%2C%20clear%20up%20the%20errors%2C%20and%20get%20a%20new%201099%2DR%20issued.%C2%A0%20I%20would%20have%20been%20done%20this%20weekend%20if%20they%20hadn%27t%20done%20that.%C2%A0%20What%20a%20pain." target="_blank">Weekly Ephemera post</a>). Turns out they are not mislabeled or at least they label all Roth IRA withdrawals this way even if it causes problems for tax filers. So I called a tax filing company (I use their software to file my taxes) and asked how to properly file. I expected to be pointed to an IRS form I would have to file. No. This is how I need to fix it:</li></ul><blockquote><i><blockquote>- First, I should edit the 1099-R to "correct" them. <br />- Second, file my claim. <br />- Third, wait for the IRS to email about the edited 1099-R.<br />- Fourth, explain to the IRS why I did what I did and hope they agree.</blockquote></i></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">I took a deep breath and did what they suggested. This could go well or lead me into a deep dark hole. Wish me luck. </p></blockquote><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> On Thursday the Wife and I went to our local home store and set up an appointment for a bathroom remodeler to come by the house. We are planning to gut our master bathroom and we hope to get ideas and an estimate for what it will cost. Expensive, I'm sure.</li><li>Thursday afternoon I went to see the Oscar nominated animated and live action shorts. This has become an annual ritual for me. Over the years I've noticed that the animation is becoming more serious and tackle hard subjects. This year was no different. The live action entries have always had a hard edge but this year there were a couple uplifting and/or humorous entries. I enjoyed my little two movie marathon.</li><li>I'd hoped I would walk farther this week and I managed to meet that goal. I walked three times for a total of 21.9 miles (35.25 km). Unfortunately this coming week is full of appointments and walking time may be limited.</li></ul>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-87302711881257558992024-02-18T17:30:00.003-06:002024-02-18T17:30:00.149-06:00Weekly Ephemera #84<ul style="text-align: left;"><li>This week I went to the Oral Surgeon. He suspects the pain in my gum is a bone fragment. The fragment has irritated my gum and got infected. I am on antibiotics and will go back to the surgeon to reevaluate.</li><li>On Tuesday I went to get an ultrasound to check on my kidney. Things are looking good though there is at least one stone that they missed. It is non-obstructive and the Doctor wants to check it out in six to nine months.</li><li>Met with our insurance guy on Thursday. As usual we made a change in one place and saved $80 but made changes in another place that will cost us $80. We do have better coverage so it's all ok.</li><li>I started doing our taxes on Saturday. For some reason our investment company marked some IRA withdrawals as taxable income. I will have to contact them this coming week, clear up the errors, and get a new 1099-R issued. I would have been done this weekend if they hadn't done that. What a pain.</li><li>I walked twice this week. I started pushing slightly longer distances and ended up doing a total of 15.5 miles (24.9 km). These hikes are still quite short compared to what I used to do but I will continue to push for longer and more frequent hikes.</li></ul><div>A rather mundane week.</div>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-57678030894673443142024-02-14T17:00:00.006-06:002024-02-14T17:00:00.144-06:00Skydiving ... ✔While we were in Tampa we did something we'd always wanted to do, Skydive. I don't have a written bucket list or even one in my head but the idea of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane has been in the back of my head for a while. Turns out the Wife has had the same desire.<div><br /></div><div>We arrived at the airfield mid-morning and checked in. We watched an orientation video about the safety, and lack of safety, of skydiving. After the video we signed waivers, measured our weight, and were assigned instructors.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our skydives would be tandem meaning we would be attached by harnesses to our instructor who would be in charge of deploying the chute and steering our descent. While the instructor was in jumpsuits and helmets, the Wife and I were just in our normal clothes. This felt ... odd ... but I figured they knew what they were doing. As our instructors put on our harness they explained the basics like what position our body should be in when we are in freefall. The instructors would also be the photographers.</div><div><br /></div><div>We got on the airplane. There were two benches parallel to the length of the plane. We sat straddling the benches. There were six or seven solo skydivers who would jump ahead of us.</div><div><br /></div><div>The pilot took off and reached 13,500 ft (4,115 m). At this point the solo skydivers opened the door on the side of the airplane (similar to a garage door) and jumped out. Our instructors attached our harnesses, checked all the straps, then told me to just let him 'carry' me to the door. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Wife jumped first. I followed soon after. I was expecting the instructor to ask if I was ready but he just told me to put my head back and he jumped out of the airplane. I guess they don't want you to think about it too much.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaHWjKkD6-id9eui8JK8ycjVgjv8mosaoaOtybg16BqMSiP547AHL60EksfEDQddTse4sDB8P12FzWDaNKCQ1bId0FQ9Dec6v-ckhjxnysw9V0Z_7eb07qU68tFPett7H248wukoqzmkJ_9JXvzFoJ6mI1ZSL5kgw823VqOulX5LgXUB0E_A9QUqcU_eA/s5184/G0044215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaHWjKkD6-id9eui8JK8ycjVgjv8mosaoaOtybg16BqMSiP547AHL60EksfEDQddTse4sDB8P12FzWDaNKCQ1bId0FQ9Dec6v-ckhjxnysw9V0Z_7eb07qU68tFPett7H248wukoqzmkJ_9JXvzFoJ6mI1ZSL5kgw823VqOulX5LgXUB0E_A9QUqcU_eA/w640-h480/G0044215.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All strapped together ready to jump.</td></tr></tbody></table>Falling out of the plane was an odd feeling. I'd expected to feel my stomach coming up my throat like the feeling on a rollercoaster dropping down a steep hill but there was no discomfort at all. All I felt was the rushing air. The view was magnificent.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPi5qRoZdcuOUZ2eftEsn7Z_czXMM3B2OiI7oBZOcYvTqn8Cxuhr1Q1Yia0C2cXQUSMlCF6UAnL3Iv-mIdU8BZtnqmeu8SScc2ZW_wU43zGbxp7wJSiZgJXWMm39r3f3YHiBbW120PDC_Dj_rFyMJxzyIlN51SLnL2II3tbbAg1mzTkQyiZjF4SSREaKZ7/s5184/G0054277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPi5qRoZdcuOUZ2eftEsn7Z_czXMM3B2OiI7oBZOcYvTqn8Cxuhr1Q1Yia0C2cXQUSMlCF6UAnL3Iv-mIdU8BZtnqmeu8SScc2ZW_wU43zGbxp7wJSiZgJXWMm39r3f3YHiBbW120PDC_Dj_rFyMJxzyIlN51SLnL2II3tbbAg1mzTkQyiZjF4SSREaKZ7/w640-h480/G0054277.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free falling ...Yeah I'm Free falling ...</td></tr></tbody></table>After falling for a minute or so the instructor deployed the chute. The deployment was less violent than I'd expected. The instructor explained how he could steer the parachute. We floated down around the airport for about six minutes. Before we landed the instructor explained what I needed to do when we landed. I held my legs up until the instructor said stand. He applied the brakes and the chute lifted us to our feet. Easy Peesy.</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxuywkLPBSjYxnKf6wDMp6PaQfkmUoSO7AwzuCPSYfWFnmfCQQVnNTFLjHOxsclMJ4uG0lOtTcpQjLatMW6bF4Rkk_AZZx1GdaTlj6gkEdLVeE9JeLR-EDezMPGZYugmc-mg2Y67OB33Sx2BtZ3GIwpLRYJNFGn5vEDjfK-ReZuFyAz-e2LsrBHjIXoTX/s5184/G0064321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIxuywkLPBSjYxnKf6wDMp6PaQfkmUoSO7AwzuCPSYfWFnmfCQQVnNTFLjHOxsclMJ4uG0lOtTcpQjLatMW6bF4Rkk_AZZx1GdaTlj6gkEdLVeE9JeLR-EDezMPGZYugmc-mg2Y67OB33Sx2BtZ3GIwpLRYJNFGn5vEDjfK-ReZuFyAz-e2LsrBHjIXoTX/w640-h480/G0064321.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chute deployed ... just hanging around.</td></tr></tbody></table>While there were several things I didn't expect, the biggest thing was how I felt. I felt nothing. Before the jump I was not nervous, scared, anticipatory, or excited. During the fall I felt very detached. I was there but it didn't feel out of the ordinary. I had to remind myself to smile at the camera. After landing it was "OK, we're done." This made me feel weird. I think I should have felt something but I didn't. Last December I started taking anti-anxiety medication to control some heightened anxiety I've been experiencing since last summer. I wonder if the medication is working too well.</div><div><br /></div><div>Despite my lack of emotion I'm glad I did it and I did enjoy the experience. Not sure I need to do it again but it is something everyone should do at least once in their lives. ✔</div><div><br /></div><div>Pictures can be found in my <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/yAppwjnVKXZCz7QE8" target="_blank">2024 Tampa (Skydiving)</a> Google Photos album.</div>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0Zephyrhills, FL, USA28.2336196 -82.181194699999992-0.076614236178844664 -117.33744469999999 56.54385343617885 -47.024944699999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-32009358621850508022024-02-12T07:00:00.022-06:002024-02-12T07:00:00.155-06:00Music: The Eagles With Steely Dan At The CHI Health Center<p>On Saturday night the Wife and I went to an Eagles concert. It had been a year and a half since our last concert and it felt good to join the full venue to enjoy some great music. We've been to an Eagles concert before and I have seen the warm up band, Steely Dan, before. Repeat performances will be a mini trend this year.</p><p>As I said, the warm up was <a href="https://www.steelydan.com/" target="_blank">Steely Dan</a> who I'd seen in <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2013/08/music-steely-dan-with-deep-blue-organ.html" target="_blank">August 2013</a>. Unlike most warm ups that are often limited to a few songs, Steely Dan did a fairly long set of their best music. It's been a while since I've experienced such a long, and good, opening act. They were as good as I remembered.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT5BuIPVyS2pMczmWSSQiE6V9EOZoLhgyX0tHsmxqi_xR7-73BwN332DRmF0fUZ4H4618M3eZ0UwCyEu9UXLr1DkIl2Wkf6w9krAmjGDjmcxBAqw6mE67Lg8Yhb9nmHlggOsiRD5MpnNwRIqu3D-YdBHO076vQqNC7mKn55xUI5qOPCU5wk4Q4FA76lDA2/s4080/20240210_225007.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="4080" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT5BuIPVyS2pMczmWSSQiE6V9EOZoLhgyX0tHsmxqi_xR7-73BwN332DRmF0fUZ4H4618M3eZ0UwCyEu9UXLr1DkIl2Wkf6w9krAmjGDjmcxBAqw6mE67Lg8Yhb9nmHlggOsiRD5MpnNwRIqu3D-YdBHO076vQqNC7mKn55xUI5qOPCU5wk4Q4FA76lDA2/w640-h288/20240210_225007.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near the end of the Eagles performance.</td></tr></tbody></table>After a short switch over <a href="https://eagles.com/" target="_blank">the Eagles</a> took the stage. The band has changed a lot since we last saw them in <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2007/10/music-eagle-and-dixie-chicks-at-nokia.html" target="_blank">October 2007</a>. Glenn Frey passed away and has been replaced by Deacon Frey (Glenn Frey's son) and <a href="https://www.vincegill.com/#/" target="_blank">Vince Gill</a>. The original members have all aged seventeen years and, frankly, it is starting to affect their music. While I liked the performances, it was not up to what I heard in 2007. The fact that this is their farewell tour is probably a good thing. I mean, the Wife and I both thought Joe Walsh was singing without his teeth (he had his teeth) and it was hard to understand when he sang. We are all getting older.<br /><br />The last time we saw the Eagles they were promoting a new album. This time they were saying thank you and goodbye to their fans. Both Steely Dan and the Eagles had lost founding members over the past few years and now they were leaving the touring life. You could sense the feelings coming off the band members and there was an amount of sadness behind all the great music filling the CHI Health center. <br /><p></p><p>It was an incredible evening. The long Steely Dan opener followed by two full hours of Eagles hits was an incredible way to spend a Saturday evening.</p><p>A few photos can be found in my <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/dNtLTHuz4PU6yG9Z9" target="_blank">2024-02-10 Eagles w/ Steely Dan, CHI Health Center, Omaha, NE</a> Google Photos album.</p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0455 N 10th St, Omaha, NE 68102, USA41.2627223 -95.928165112.952488463821155 -131.0844151 69.572956136178846 -60.7719151tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-42921162224941240702024-02-11T17:00:00.036-06:002024-02-11T17:00:00.140-06:00Weekly Ephemera #83<ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: left;">The highlight of last week was a concert at the CHI Health Center. It was an awesome performance of two great bands. I will be posting about this tomorrow.</li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrWKU2-NM7l_zRiPHuyT2ZAwzGB2ei01Huc4tsBZeNS3LjYThyphenhyphenvcdlRfN6vDA3GZH6Qt2xdIohG1MB0tabeQddrB2vjM2SXSXPDZmbGGit2FZcyHugmLbZLxptVxOMdNiWHxwxr-LWK1HFYyeRUp1mqm1ZoMvBG95ztGgv3xKzDstbnwo0UXAVMBuivKP/s4080/20240210_230959.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="4080" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrWKU2-NM7l_zRiPHuyT2ZAwzGB2ei01Huc4tsBZeNS3LjYThyphenhyphenvcdlRfN6vDA3GZH6Qt2xdIohG1MB0tabeQddrB2vjM2SXSXPDZmbGGit2FZcyHugmLbZLxptVxOMdNiWHxwxr-LWK1HFYyeRUp1mqm1ZoMvBG95ztGgv3xKzDstbnwo0UXAVMBuivKP/w640-h288/20240210_230959.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The John Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge from the CHI Health Center parking lot.<br />The bridge crosses the Missouri River.</td></tr></tbody></table><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span>I walked twice this week. I ended up doing 11.4 miles (18.3 km) which is less than I want but I am having a hard time getting started this year.</span></li><li>We are watching the Super Bowl tonight. The Wife will watch the game and I will watch the commercials ... And the Taylor Swift sightings. This assumes that I pay attention.</li><li>In health news, next week I will be going to the oral surgeon to see if they can remove this unwanted tooth. Not sure they will do it during this visit or if the procedure will be scheduled for later. We shall see.<br /><br />I will also have an ultrasound follow up of my kidney stone situation. Hopefully they will say that there is no longer a kidney stone situation.</li></ul>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge., 705 Riverfront Dr, Omaha, NE 68102, USA41.2656331 -95.922312841.252731851651561 -95.939478937695313 41.278534348348444 -95.905146662304688tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-34036367106472215142024-02-10T07:00:00.001-06:002024-02-10T07:00:00.129-06:00Happy Lunar New Year!!!<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrL_wsRi8NHPU_PjJKSAP41ntXBL0HVWiVL0BIZzIS1frD2QBamirPehLW_YZcx9zWQqnOCVOZ4bp5svnKhPQbIHiEoQnbQ4Bzbn09vQEFR9RP9_foj91tdMhbsgbwXdo-pIN6PV7bag7QFi_F51KR_zJKCbWzOSE5J55LzNciEBzRJOFcxaGb2vIH-7o/s2048/2008-02-09_Chinese%20New%20Year%20Parade_010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrL_wsRi8NHPU_PjJKSAP41ntXBL0HVWiVL0BIZzIS1frD2QBamirPehLW_YZcx9zWQqnOCVOZ4bp5svnKhPQbIHiEoQnbQ4Bzbn09vQEFR9RP9_foj91tdMhbsgbwXdo-pIN6PV7bag7QFi_F51KR_zJKCbWzOSE5J55LzNciEBzRJOFcxaGb2vIH-7o/w640-h480/2008-02-09_Chinese%20New%20Year%20Parade_010.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Eater; font-size: x-large;">Happy Year of the Dragon!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-48846663781940149242024-02-09T17:00:00.001-06:002024-02-09T17:00:00.144-06:00Book: Mustafa Suleyman's "The Coming Wave"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://amzn.to/499FJzl" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="431" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAERYugKbHNMG4rCQ0aYiNPix6eBVoyveNIQFkOPUN7pmCQdGQQeTszh2JmAleftEKMvFeJibfuus5TSaPOegsG5aPoQ_scXVyH66fO7D6FB_Qm6ByOTYcvOtyRYGXvI2M_OmZYM5THFKkUiqKNuJmUqm9XscuN-lXIryQk4YtyZUBzje3GMXWshktaADL/s320/The%20Coming%20Waves.png" width="205" /></a></div>I set a goal of twenty books in 2024. It's February and I am only on my second book. I am not optimistic about meeting my goal.<p></p><p>My first book of 2024 - started in 2023 actually - is Mustafa Suleyman's "<a href="https://amzn.to/3UE6Luj" target="_blank">The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma</a>". The book describes the coming technological wave centering around artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology. He compares this wave with past waves and tries to explain how this wave will be different.</p><p>The author is worried about the coming wave. He suggests that the technology must be contained while he goes on to explain that containment of technology has never been successfully contained.</p><p>I am not sure I agree with the doom and gloom about AI. When talking about AI the author, and most people today, are talking about large language models and machine learning. I do not consider these things AI. I would consider it AI if someone can tell me what the LLM/Machine Learning system is thinking when it is not answering a query. The current answer, based on what has been publicly announced, is nothing. They do not think independently. When they do ... then I would be concerned.</p><p>I gave this book four stars out of five on Goodreads. It was an interesting view of bleeding edge technology even if a bit over-hyped.</p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-18026186327196885522024-02-06T17:00:00.223-06:002024-02-06T17:00:00.146-06:00Tampa 2024: In Search Of Sunshine<p>Last year we took a two week driving vacation to <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/search?q=Key+West" target="_blank">Florida</a> (Key West specifically). While there we visited the Wifes Aunt and Cousin. This year the Wife's cousin offered her condo and car while she and her husband went on an awesome sounding New Zealand adventure. We took her up on the offer last week and had a relaxing and interesting time in Tampa, Florida.</p><p><b>Day One</b></p><p>We left early Sunday morning. We parked our car in long term parking and caught our plane to Chicago. We had a tight connection in Chicago and we arrived at our Tampa flight when they were boarding.</p><p>At the Tampa airport we had some difficulty finding where the Lyft would pick us up and he was waiting on us when we figured it out. On the way to the cousin's condo we asked the driver to stop at a grocery store. There are proper protocols for adding stops to Lyft rides but we, with the driver's consent, broke all the rules. Not sure if it would have cost us more but I did give the driver a big tip.</p><p>We arrived at the condo and got the keys from the guard at the gate. The cousin has a very nice place with views of the bay. The rest of the day was relaxing, eating the food we bought at the grocery store, and watching sports on the TV.</p><p><b>Day Two</b></p><p>On our first full day in Tampa we walked along the bayshore to a breakfast place. When we arrived I realized I left my wallet in the condo. Fortunately I had my phone and could pay with that. This would be the first of two times that I forgot my wallet. This is not normal for me.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUB5i6h7G44XlsxP-54lpb5Mu0aqhusCt1cXc1LvdSQ4M6t7uubIzmN7s2q2ciWsUADH_xvKYw5X7XjuED1iBcH6nNtakUBOUCteF0cj8ke9kun2kOQ6MMQaLUL9oubRHqcnO9g9Q-esGfJzePzfMbgjAP5uNZBmpZiQFnFabx0NI6JGsBcqskC_aQIfMd/s1836/20240129_122926.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1801" data-original-width="1836" height="628" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUB5i6h7G44XlsxP-54lpb5Mu0aqhusCt1cXc1LvdSQ4M6t7uubIzmN7s2q2ciWsUADH_xvKYw5X7XjuED1iBcH6nNtakUBOUCteF0cj8ke9kun2kOQ6MMQaLUL9oubRHqcnO9g9Q-esGfJzePzfMbgjAP5uNZBmpZiQFnFabx0NI6JGsBcqskC_aQIfMd/w640-h628/20240129_122926.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the Ybor City chickens.</td></tr></tbody></table>In the afternoon we drove to Ybor City, a Cuban enclave in Tampa. The city is kinda famous for its free range chickens wandering around the city. We walked around, bought some souvenirs, and bought some cigars for the Brother-in-Law. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Mart%C3%AD#:~:text=Memorials%20and%20tributes,to%20Jos%C3%A9%20Mart%C3%AD." target="_blank">We visited Jose Marti park which for sixty years has been owned by the Cuban people and is considered Cuban territory.</a></p><p>That night we walked to a <a href="https://bullagastrobar.com/locations/tampa/" target="_blank">Spanish Tapas restaurant</a> for dinner.</p><p>The guard at the cousin's condo complex almost saluted us as we were in the cousin's husband's car. He was a colonel and she always salutes him when he comes and goes. The joke continued the whole week as she would salute us as we went through the gates.</p><p><b>Day Three</b></p><p>Today was the highlight of the trip. The aunt joined us as a spectator as <a href="https://www.skydivecity.com/" target="_blank">we went skydiving</a>. It was an interesting experience that I will write more about in a later post.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2EsWi-qzwopvavu9v1OY4s-_ZpuTPldmlKi-N1vhdIbXLf0mJrtb_7euTe7zVU1iUjBWwPEBWGoYEvBP_cdqLWUduK1ipFE6STgNktemEjoCML3P4L6UimA-Vi2ZCMXt0hRMCh0gglHOebQbVvQaNv2D6bpBFn9zJHitzYuSFZH4Hcy2FzdJDPf5lpHQ/s5184/G0054277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3888" data-original-width="5184" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2EsWi-qzwopvavu9v1OY4s-_ZpuTPldmlKi-N1vhdIbXLf0mJrtb_7euTe7zVU1iUjBWwPEBWGoYEvBP_cdqLWUduK1ipFE6STgNktemEjoCML3P4L6UimA-Vi2ZCMXt0hRMCh0gglHOebQbVvQaNv2D6bpBFn9zJHitzYuSFZH4Hcy2FzdJDPf5lpHQ/w640-h480/G0054277.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me coming back to earth.</td></tr></tbody></table>After coming back to earth we returned to Ybor City and had lunch at the <a href="https://www.columbiarestaurant.com/ybor-city-tampa" target="_blank">Columbia restaurant</a>, the oldest restaurant in Florida The food was very good.<p></p><p><b>Day Four</b></p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJGLIURgtb8zrvEONoafWdX7VNwVjP1O3P6NAH9zZlox_PMLJSgz7QbMVW9NoMFAgTHA2EepNt6BQYK0PbcLFmAmR5SGu4A1cBDh3EK35Nm0M8WC6FEbERko12ck7pm4Hyy4asPZ96Su51Sj-qHLC8U8ZbNBABn2QMm1mVcHqaDbZasbDDAvfQsGanSuj/s4080/20240131_111057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="1836" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJGLIURgtb8zrvEONoafWdX7VNwVjP1O3P6NAH9zZlox_PMLJSgz7QbMVW9NoMFAgTHA2EepNt6BQYK0PbcLFmAmR5SGu4A1cBDh3EK35Nm0M8WC6FEbERko12ck7pm4Hyy4asPZ96Su51Sj-qHLC8U8ZbNBABn2QMm1mVcHqaDbZasbDDAvfQsGanSuj/w144-h320/20240131_111057.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Dalí</span> Jesus.</td></tr></tbody></table>After a slow morning we visited the <a href="https://thedali.org/" target="_blank">Salvidor Da<span style="color: black;">lí </span>museum</a>. We ate a pre-Dalí Alive 360° show snack of very good <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarta_de_Santiago" target="_blank">Tarta de Santiago</a>. The show was inside a dome with images of Dalí works projected on the inside.</p><p>We then met up with a docent who walked us through the permanent collection highlighting several works and explaining the interpretations of the surreal images.</p><p>After the guided tour we ate a delicious Spanish inspired meal (our third Spanish inspired meal in three days). While we ate we decided not to go to see the impressionist exhibit. We felt museumed out.</p><p>We returned to the Condo for a relaxing evening.</p><p><b>Day Five</b></p><p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaM3Cs3B0KfKT9OOqnG61Aq9MvWT2MPurrTUGSJs9tLnOuMOlo9NTGZo7w79wI4-GmaECLC-7MqaQVqduqrJkEy9PUV9XYC4HNpunrDjQKU3HG1mUWK0fNprOTtOwFyVoA-t-_rO8t9jqOiNqVobhJopjbfGSxKftg-hkmCwMDalvx-YY6kGRkSeYC2loq/s4080/20240201_113914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4080" data-original-width="1836" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaM3Cs3B0KfKT9OOqnG61Aq9MvWT2MPurrTUGSJs9tLnOuMOlo9NTGZo7w79wI4-GmaECLC-7MqaQVqduqrJkEy9PUV9XYC4HNpunrDjQKU3HG1mUWK0fNprOTtOwFyVoA-t-_rO8t9jqOiNqVobhJopjbfGSxKftg-hkmCwMDalvx-YY6kGRkSeYC2loq/s320/20240201_113914.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our beach day.</td></tr></tbody></table>Today was our beach day. I'm not much of a beach guy. I was when I was a kid but as I grew up the idea of sitting on a beach became less and less appealing. Having said this, the beach we went to, Archibald Beach, was nice. We ate lunch at the snack bar, listened to some live music, and laid in the sun (I sat in the shade of an umbrella). It was nice at the start but the breeze picked up and it got a bit chilly so we went back to the condo. We had plans to go to the Tampa Riverwalk but we decided to do it the next day and we just chilled.</p><p><b>Day Six</b></p><p>On our last full day in Tampa we bought some wine and flowers (I forgot my wallet again ... saved by my phone again) and visited the Wife's aunt, took a tour of where she lives, and had lunch. It was a nice lazy last day.</p><p>When we left we planned to go to the Tampa Riverwalk but, once again, we decided we would save it for some other visit.</p><p><b>Day Seven</b></p><p>Today we cleaned up our mess at the condo, did laundry, and threw out the garbage before catching a Lyft to the airport and headed home.</p><p>Overall we had a very laid back week in Tampa and we both enjoyed it immensely. It was nice to take a break from the Omaha gloom.</p><p>I didn't take too many photos but the ones I have, including some of those taken by my skydiver instructor, can be found in my <a href="https://photos.app.goo.gl/yAppwjnVKXZCz7QE8" target="_blank">2024 Tampa (Skydiving)</a> Google Photos album.</p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0Tampa, FL, USA27.9516896 -82.458752699999991-0.35854423617884379 -117.61500269999999 56.261923436178847 -47.302502699999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-36907541653521381452024-01-27T17:00:00.004-06:002024-01-27T17:00:00.144-06:00Weekly Ephemera #82<p>Another early Weekly Ephemera post and for a good reason.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Tomorrow the Wife and I are flying to Tampa (It's been ages since I've flown domestic - all our flights have been international). The Wife's cousin, who we visited last year, will be on vacation and they offered us the use of their condominium and car. We will be spending the week exploring Tampa and the warmer weather. The highlight of the week will be Tuesday when we scratch an item off my unwritten bucket list and go skydiving. My stomach does flippity flops when I think of it. It will be fun.</li><li>I walked two times this week for a total of 12.7 miles (20.4 km). The last few days in Omaha have been foggy and blucky and it has been hard to get motivated to get out and move.</li><li>Speaking of walking, my GPS took a dump after I downloaded the last track so I had to buy a new one. The old one was around ten to twelve years old and served me well on the Camino and the Appalachian Trail. The new one, a Garmin eTrex 32X, is smaller and has a different interface that will need some getting used to but it seems to do what I need it to do so I'm happy. The carabiner/belt clip from my old GPS unit fits the new one so a piece of old faithful persists. </li></ul><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-54650271936473213472024-01-21T17:00:00.001-06:002024-01-21T17:00:00.130-06:00Weekly Ephemera #81<p>I haven't been writing much besides these Weekly Ephemera posts. I just haven't been in the mood to write. I sincerely hope that will change soon.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I didn't walk at all this week. I wasn't a fan of life threatening wind chills. I did shovel some snow though.</li><li>The Wife had a minor accident that resulted in a dent in her rear passenger side door. It was totally the other driver's fault. He was even cited by the police officer who responded to the accident. We took her car to an insurance company recommended body shop. It turns out it will take a week and a half to get repaired. The mechanic said that they were getting nearly sixty jobs per day during this snowy cold week.</li><li>I've been having some mouth pain for the last week or so. Turns out I am experiencing teething pain. My new dentist said there is either a tooth fragment or a "fourth molar" erupting where my wisdom tooth had been. He referred me to an oral surgeon for an extraction and I have an appointment for the twelfth of February. Until then, acetaminophen and ibuprofen are my friends.</li><li>On the boob tube I've continued my "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece" target="_blank">One Piece</a>" watch along with the new Marvel series "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_(miniseries)" target="_blank">Echo</a>". I liked "Echo". Marvel has been a bit weak lately so it was nice to see them put out a good show. The main character, Maya Lopez, checks a lot of boxes: female, deaf, native-american, and physically disabled.</li></ul><div>This morning I woke up to this sight out our back window. It was a nice way to wake up.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHqvvr_gghqacsjrs19gm3IWlXxgpNP6SCsmUkh-xPG2LBpAJxOx2xHcHoZFKk5WFjFOSZK8QSLQHCvfXcaud02hTV6OnIS2qckQ8ux2vAy1lhrWFipaA4SyPEbDiBZiVoN-4tGaTOe4E_EGqz4ra3Y_MXn5MqCrZBni1OUNMPJyyt1To5VO4s7rzbc65/s4080/20240121_073228~2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="4080" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcHqvvr_gghqacsjrs19gm3IWlXxgpNP6SCsmUkh-xPG2LBpAJxOx2xHcHoZFKk5WFjFOSZK8QSLQHCvfXcaud02hTV6OnIS2qckQ8ux2vAy1lhrWFipaA4SyPEbDiBZiVoN-4tGaTOe4E_EGqz4ra3Y_MXn5MqCrZBni1OUNMPJyyt1To5VO4s7rzbc65/w640-h288/20240121_073228~2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter sunrise and clouds.<br />(with weather station photo bombing)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-68156124053085149702024-01-14T17:00:00.001-06:002024-01-14T17:00:00.146-06:00Weekly Ephemera #80<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I took my Mom to a neurologist this week. It just took five months to get the appointment. We finally received a diagnosis other than 'she is old' and it is a condition that can be treated. I'm usually not optimistic but I think I'll make an exception this time.</li><li>Speaking of health issues I restarted the medication which I suspected made me sick last Thanksgiving. I restarted the day after Christmas. The symptoms I experience then have not reappeared. Unfortunately another side effect, dry mouth, has appeared over the last week.</li><li>While my mouth dried out, something started getting really sore. It appears to be in my gum. Fortunately I have a dentist appointment this coming week with my new dentist.</li><li>This week was dominated by the weather. We had two rounds of snow which required me going out three times to clean off the sidewalks and driveways. The wind didn't help and on Friday we had blizzard conditions. Neither did the sub-zero temperatures (this morning's temperature was -16℉, -27℃ with wind chills near 40℉/40℃).</li><li>With multiple doctor appointments and snow removals I had little time to go walking this week. I did manage one walk at the beginning of the week of 5 miles (8 km)</li></ul><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-71136051181630401612024-01-07T17:00:00.005-06:002024-01-07T17:00:00.133-06:00Weekly Ephemera #79<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I managed to continue walking this week. I walked three times totaling 17.6 miles (28.4 km). Next week will be a bit touch and go as snow is coming and I have a few doctor's appointments to attend to. Hopefully I'll still manage a couple walks at the end of the week when the temps will be in the single digits.</li><li>I started watching an anime show called "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece" target="_blank">One Piece</a>". I like the story but I'm not fond of the anime style. I'm on episode 110ish out of ... 1,088. I have a ways to go.</li><li>While I watch One Piece I am playing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid:_Shadow_Legends" target="_blank">Raid: Shadow Legends</a>. It's an interesting game though it's a grinder, especially if you play F2P (Free to Play) like I'm trying to do.</li></ul><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-82150373973610973052024-01-01T07:00:00.002-06:002024-01-01T07:00:00.143-06:00Best Photo Of 2024<p>All the pictures I took that I really liked were taken on our travels. We drove to florida and took interesting pictures along the way. We walked the Camino which is always photogenic. The history of Rome filled my camera card. Southeast Asia was a month full of exotic scenery and cityscapes.</p><p>In total, I marked forty-five photos as my favorites for the year, over twice the number I did in 2022. While I took my camera(s) I often found it more convenient to pull out my phone to take the picture. My favorite was a picture taken with my phone, We were on the Camino, leaving the town of Torres del Rio. As I hiked up the hill I turned and snapped a picture of the morning golden hour. The town on the left of the picture is the town of Sansol, Spain.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7TH3B52Nty0d1dlB8QkvnV5SEBkaOqhWbzHfUTVqh-IZbL2zC2TSBDvDQB5h2g2x374OVXDiw9v_Xewr9n8ZqnHtJ7xe6k7sEPZiE1RIjVx2cjm8k7hKU6pGE_T6_uyyKSAmN408kE5aQ87RubQqjtpqOqEtwn9pNCblBlY46PPZtqxZA9Sba0QSiGgR/s4000/20230522_071955.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="4000" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN7TH3B52Nty0d1dlB8QkvnV5SEBkaOqhWbzHfUTVqh-IZbL2zC2TSBDvDQB5h2g2x374OVXDiw9v_Xewr9n8ZqnHtJ7xe6k7sEPZiE1RIjVx2cjm8k7hKU6pGE_T6_uyyKSAmN408kE5aQ87RubQqjtpqOqEtwn9pNCblBlY46PPZtqxZA9Sba0QSiGgR/w640-h288/20230522_071955.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Sansol - Shades of Gold"<br />by Bruce H.<br />(Taken the 22nd of May, 2023)</td></tr></tbody></table>I hope you had a happy and safe New Year's Eve. I hope you all see photo worthy views in 2024.Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com031220 Sansol, Navarre, Spain42.5537488 -2.266116714.243514963821156 -37.4223667 70.863982636178847 32.8901333tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-42749219983490035322023-12-31T07:00:00.293-06:002023-12-31T07:00:00.130-06:00A Homer's Travels Look Back At 2023<p><span style="background-color: white;">2023 was similar to 2022 in that there were a few downs and a few ups. On the down side Mom fell and broke her arm; pain in her back has reduced her mobility; and Mom's brother, my uncle Jimmy, passed away.</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">On the up side the Wife and I traveled to Florida, Spain (the Wife's Camino), Rome, and Southeast Asia. I also consider my surgery as an up. Once I heal up completely things will be even better. I also turned sixty without becoming depressed ... I'll call that an up too.</span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXnHEIURljzk-rgqZXsJ94xC6gwd1GG_o_jRpufhWcO9z1dFik4tUhC_eAATk6gjtgGlWsmzu4UQ_1e7Dh_QejApzvENe2gbsxEVdSoQQhHSzVFEl3F5w1kPbrb5VG8X17bjO6V0xBfIBhoIOPG2DoQK1vCMjcnf1ANKMLSSIe5fF7EV8n1RE_u75GSQ0/s4000/2023%20collage.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2751" data-original-width="4000" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisXnHEIURljzk-rgqZXsJ94xC6gwd1GG_o_jRpufhWcO9z1dFik4tUhC_eAATk6gjtgGlWsmzu4UQ_1e7Dh_QejApzvENe2gbsxEVdSoQQhHSzVFEl3F5w1kPbrb5VG8X17bjO6V0xBfIBhoIOPG2DoQK1vCMjcnf1ANKMLSSIe5fF7EV8n1RE_u75GSQ0/w640-h440/2023%20collage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Let's look back at 2023, shall we:<br /></span><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px;"></p><div><ul style="line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="background-color: white; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">January:</b><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> I posted my annual </span><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/01/best-photo-of-2022.html" style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">best photo post</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">. </span><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/01/#:~:text=Spots%20appeared%20on,a%20good%20thing." style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">Spots on the ceiling</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> led to bringing in the roofers to work on the attic air flow. Finally posted pictures of </span><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/01/travel-magnets-2022-fall-travels-edition.html" style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">our travel magnets from last Fall's trip</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">. The last two weeks of the month were spent </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Josefin Slab;"><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/01/its-roadtripping-time.html" target="_blank">road tripping</a></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/01/its-roadtripping-time.html" target="_blank"> around the southeastern United States</a>. I documented the trip while I was on the trip, which I don't usually do, but it worked out mostly.</span></span></span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">February:</b><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> I did </span><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/02/#:~:text=I%20did%20my,in%20the%20bank." style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">our taxes</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> earlier than I've ever done them I think. I posted </span><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/02/travel-magnets-key-west-roadtrip-2023.html" style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">even more travel magnet pictures</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">. We had our </span><a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/02/#:~:text=On%20Thursday%20morning,fine%20this%20weekend." style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;" target="_blank">first 'real' snow of the winter season</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> - late for us. <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/02/#:~:text=I%20got%20a,glare%20induced%20headaches." target="_blank">New glasses were purchased</a> - love the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Josefin Slab;">polarization</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;"> that was added. I went to see the live action and animated <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/02/oscar-shorts-2023.html" target="_blank">Oscar nominated shorts</a> continuing my on-again-off-again tradition. The roofers finally worked on our roof but <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/02/#:~:text=On%20Monday%20the,the%20roof.%C2%A0%20*sigh*" target="_blank">discovered other issues while doing their work</a>. <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/02/#:~:text=Geek%20Talk%20Warning,anything.%C2%A0%20Carry%20on." target="_blank">Goodbye GoDaddy, hello Google Domains</a>.</span></span></span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="vertical-align: inherit;"><span style="vertical-align: inherit;">March:</span></span></b> Our upcoming Camino de Santiago hike <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/03/#:~:text=The%20Wife%20and%20I%20started,the%20places%20along%20the%20way." target="_blank">started to become real</a> as we started to <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/03/#:~:text=On%20Monday%20the,will%20quickly%20evaporate." target="_blank">buy gear for the Wife</a>. Daylight Saving Time <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/03/#:~:text=On%20Monday%20I%20just%20didn%27t%20feel%20like%20walking.%C2%A0%20I%20think%20the%20Daylight%20Saving%20Time%20change%20really%20did%20a%20number%20on%20me.%C2%A0%20This%20is%20not%20really%20normal%20for%20me.%C2%A0%20I%20usually%20adjust%20quickly%20but%20this%20year%20it%20felt%20like%20the%20foggy%20brain%20lasted%20all%20week." target="_blank">threw me through a loop</a>. <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/03/happy-spring-equinox.html" target="_blank">Spring arrived</a> though the weather didn't feel like it. We were visited by British friends and <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/03/waves-and-waves-of-cranes.html" target="_blank">we spent a few days catching up and birding</a>.</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>April:</b> We started to <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/04/#:~:text=On%20Monday%20I,to%20Roncesvalles%2C%20Spain." target="_blank">prepare for the Camino de Santiago</a> in earnest this month. We <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/04/#:~:text=On%20Saturday%20we%20celebrated%20Easter%20at%20the%20Wife%27s%20Niece%27s%20new%20home.%C2%A0%20Their%20home%20has%20a%20lot%20of%20space%20%2D%20a%20good%20house%20for%20a%20family%20to%20grow%20into.%0A%0AToday%20we%20celebrated%20Easter%20again%20at%20my%20Mom%27s%20place.%C2%A0%20More%20good%20food.%20More%20good%20conversation.%C2%A0%20I%20am%20now%20officially%20full%20of%20ham." target="_blank">celebrated Easter</a> twice. <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/04/#:~:text=The%20MoH%20and,when%20we%20visit." target="_blank">We had visitors.</a> Our roof was <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/04/#:~:text=The%20roofers%20came,paint%20the%20ceilings." target="_blank">fixed ... then broken</a>. A crossed the <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/04/x-miles.html" target="_blank">10,000 miles hiked</a> line. I filled out my <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/04/#:~:text=I%20filled%20out%20my%20application%20for%20my%20Government%20Annuity%20(part%20of%20my%20retirement%20benefits).%C2%A0%20I%20will%20be%20mailing%20it%20this%20week%20so%20that%20we%20will%20start%20getting%20monthly%20checks%20in%20August%20(the%20month%20after%20I%20turn%20sixty).%C2%A0%20It%20will%20be%20nice%20to%20get%20some%20regular%20income%20even%20if%20it%20won%27t%20be%20that%20much." target="_blank">pension application</a>. </span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>May:</b> The <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/05/#:~:text=To%20my%20surprise,two%20weeks%20ago." target="_blank">hole in our ceiling</a> was finally fixed. My <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/05/#:~:text=I%20had%20my,direction.%C2%A0%20Yay%20me!" target="_blank">blood sugar numbers</a> got better. <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/05/camino-2023-onward-to-santiago-de.html" target="_blank">The Wife's Camino started.</a> Another <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/05/happy-twelfth-caminoversary.html" target="_blank">Caminoversary</a> was marked as we walked the Camino. We ended the month cutting our Camino short and returning from Burgos (with a stop in Santiago de Compostela).</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>June:</b> I began documenting the Wife's Camino on Homer's travels. Life was interrupted when my <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/06/#:~:text=On%20Monday%20Mom,become%20an%20optimist)." target="_blank">Mom broke her arm</a>. We spent a lot of the months navigating the American healthcare system. Yay.</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>July:</b> I finished documenting the Wife's Camino. Mom continued to heal with visits from physical and occupational therapists. I turned <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/07/what-are-you-trying-to-tell-me.html" target="_blank">sixty years old</a>. Some medical issues appeared resulting in tests and expensive medical bills. We attended the <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/07/#:~:text=This%20weekend%20we,totally%20my%20fault)." target="_blank">Wife's family reunion</a> which was fun.</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>August:</b> <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/08/#:~:text=I%20mentioned%20the,on%20the%20itinerary." target="_blank">Fall travel was finalized.</a> <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/08/#:~:text=Mom%27s%20visit%20to%20the%20bone%20doctor%20this%20week%20went%20very%20well.%C2%A0%20He%20lifted%20all%20restrictions%20on%20using%20her%20broken%20arm.%C2%A0%20%C2%A0Now%20it%27s%20the%20physical/occupational%20therapist%27s%20turn%20to%20get%20her%20arm%20working%20better." target="_blank">Mom got better.</a> We had some <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/08/#:~:text=This%20coming%20week%20will%20be%20a%20hard%20one.%C2%A0%20We%20are%20experiencing%20a%20five%20to%20six%20day%20heat%20wave%20with%20heat%20indexes%20over%20100%E2%84%89%20(38%E2%84%83).%C2%A0%20Not%20sure%20it%20would%20be%20wise%20for%20me%20to%20walk%20in%20this%20weather." target="_blank">really hot weather</a> this month. I got my <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/08/#:~:text=I%20got%20my%20root%20canal%20on%20Monday.%C2%A0%20I%20really%20like%20the%20endodontist.%C2%A0%20I%20felt%20no%20pain%20the%20entire%20time.%C2%A0%20The%20tooth%20sensitivity%20is%20gone.%C2%A0%20I%20only%20had%20some%20aching%20in%20my%20gums%20which%20has%20since%20faded%20away.%C2%A0%20This%20week%20I%20will%20go%20to%20my%20regular%20dentist%20to%20get%20a%20crown%20over%20the%20tooth%20to%20finish%20it%20up." target="_blank">third root canal</a> which was painless.</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>September:</b> My <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/09/#:~:text=My%20first%20retirement%20annuity%20payment%20(i.e.%20government%20pension)%20was%20deposited%20on%20Friday.%C2%A0%20It%27s%20nice%20to%20have%20some%20steady%2C%20though%20modest%2C%20income%20again." target="_blank">retirement annuity</a> started this month. When I retired, September 2023 felt so far in the future. Now I just feel old. I got fed up with <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/09/#:~:text=Tomorrow%20is%20September,to%20see%20it." target="_blank">9/11 remembrances</a>. We went to <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/09/rome-2023-why-were-going-what-we-will.html" target="_blank">Rome</a> to celebrate an ordination at the Vatican ... and to play tourist (<a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/search/label/Rome" target="_blank">actually documented in early October</a>). My phone was stolen on our first day in Rome. My <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/09/goodbye-to-my-favorite-uncle.html" target="_blank">Uncle Jimmy passed away</a> before we went to Rome. He was a good, kind man.</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>October:</b> <a href="Happy Happy Birthday Birthday!!" target="_blank">The Wife celebrated a birthday</a>. We traveled to southeast asia first visiting <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/search/label/Thailand" target="_blank">Thailand</a>.</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>November:</b> Our southeast asia travels continued with <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/search/label/Vietnam" target="_blank">Vietnam</a> and <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/search/label/Cambodia" target="_blank">Cambodia</a>. I felt sick and <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/11/#:~:text=I%20hope%20all,I%20will%20know." target="_blank">missed Thanksgiving</a>.</span></li><li style="background-color: white; border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b>December:</b> <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/12/#:~:text=Since%20I%20felt,hanging%20over%20me%20..." target="_blank">We put up the Christmas decorations</a>. <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/12/health-update.html" target="_blank">I had surgery</a> on my kidney, bladder, and prostate. My surgery pretty much dominated the entire month of December. By the end of the month I was well on the way to mending. We spent <a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/12/#:~:text=We%20are%20spending,our%20fingers%20crossed.%20%F0%9F%A4%9E" target="_blank">Christmas</a> at my Mom's home.</span></li><li style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: white;">Hiking:</b><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span><span style="background-color: white;">I started the year off strong as I prepared to do the Camino with the Wife. My hiking suffered in the second half of the year when our trips to Rome and Southeast Asia and my surgery stopped me in my track</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span>s. </span><span>In the end I managed to hike 675.8 miles (1,087.6 km) over 90 hikes. This distance ranks in fifth place since I started keeping track. The number of hikes I did ranks in third place. Not a bad showing considering I really didn't hike much in the Fall.</span></span></span></span></li><li style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: white;">Books:</b><span style="background-color: white;"><span> I set a goal to read twenty books this year and, unlike last year, met my goal.</span><span> I'd hoped I would exceed my goal this year but a slow slog through a non-fiction book derailed my plans even though I managed to read while we were traveling.</span><span> </span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2023?ref=yyib21_sa" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Here are my Goodreads Stats for 2023.</a></span></span></li><li style="border: none; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: white;">Concerts, Shows & Music :</b><span style="background-color: white;"> After returning to live music in 2022, I went to no live music in 2023. I really tried but the shows were during times we were traveling, the ticket cost was too high, or something else got in the way. I really wanted to go to the new venue, the <a href="https://steelhouseomaha.com/" target="_blank">Steelhouse</a>, but never found the right act at the right time for the right price. I was hoping to see <a href="https://www.lizphairofficial.com/" target="_blank">Liz Phair</a> in December but it was on the day after my surgery so nope. We do have a couple concerts coming next year that we've bought tickets for so live music will return soon. <br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br />I did listen to a lot of music this year - mostly on long airplane trips during our travels. Here is my <a href="https://open.spotify.com/wrapped/share/share-cbc0d4e4290f40c99e328d5101b50a1c-1080x1920?lang=en&destination=datastories&si=Y2JmZjVlZTUtZWI1NC00NjZmLWEyNzEtYzUwMDA3MDQ0NWI3" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Spotify 2023 Wrapped</a> if you want to explore what the shuffle button did music-wise this year.</span></span></li></ul><ul style="color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px; line-height: 1.4; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;"><li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I posted 119 times this year. Not quite as many as 2022 but good enough. I was concerned about posting about travel in the fall when there was so little time between trips but I managed.</span></li></ul><div style="color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;">What will 2024 bring</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span>? </span><span>We will be going back to Spain to continue the Wife's Camino in June. We will be visiting our British friends sometime in the fall. We are considering a shorter trip sometime in the Spring but nothing has been nailed down yet. The key to 2023, just like 2022 and most other years, is to be flexible and accept what comes our way.<br /><br />One last thing. 2024 is an election year here in America. Heaven help us. </span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Josefin Slab"; font-size: 20px;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: #990000;">Here's to a Happy, Prosperous, and Healthy New Year for all. May you all</span><span style="color: #990000;"> find happiness in 2024.</span></b></span></div></div></div></div>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-7889143049266271912023-12-30T17:00:00.014-06:002023-12-30T17:00:00.126-06:00Weekly Ephemera #78<p>My Weekly Ephemera post is coming out a day early to make room for my annual Homer's Travels roundup.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It appears all my health issues are behind me. I would say I am close to 98% healed. I'm also happy to say that none of the possible post-surgery side effects have appeared.</li><li>I restarted walking this week. I kept things relatively short so I could feel how my body was feeling. I felt fine so I walked three times for a total of 10.26 miles (16.5 km).</li><li>The Wife and I packed up all the Christmas decorations. The number of boxes has mysteriously increased to the point that it all won't fit in the cubby where we store our Christmas decorations. With the tree down the living room is much brighter (the tree half covers the living room's main window). With the holiday season rapidly coming to an end we are all ready to enter the new year.</li><li>It's a hard time for podcasters right now. One of the podcasts I listen to, <a href="https://www.relay.fm/rocket" target="_blank">Rocket</a>, closed their doors this week after a nine year run. I'd only been listening to it for the past six months or so but I will miss the geek conversation between the hosts Brianna Wu, Christina Warren, and Simone de Rochefort.</li></ul><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-8630697965001856672023-12-29T07:00:00.004-06:002023-12-29T07:00:00.131-06:00Book: Martha Wells' "System Collapse"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxaNki5as5lXt_wORFcuVxQbnYSpZhDuEQ1hYUlGm2CywEFIdI9n7hLEA_9SBOUuIXgNSoRnPp-zohy9ahWZR7zKnH0YbHCUkwTQwQfPQEpJquX2I12UZ-wJMnz8h7BhBnR760tV1ZDl9Y5b36Vgjrz4XAKEBh3UVPUsoGgsXL7UhsDfGQ7P3j9D10Wxf/s675/System%20Collapse.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="413" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxaNki5as5lXt_wORFcuVxQbnYSpZhDuEQ1hYUlGm2CywEFIdI9n7hLEA_9SBOUuIXgNSoRnPp-zohy9ahWZR7zKnH0YbHCUkwTQwQfPQEpJquX2I12UZ-wJMnz8h7BhBnR760tV1ZDl9Y5b36Vgjrz4XAKEBh3UVPUsoGgsXL7UhsDfGQ7P3j9D10Wxf/w153-h249/System%20Collapse.png" width="153" /></a></div>My last book of the year, meeting my goal of twenty books for 2023, was the latest Murderbot Diaries book and the second full length novel of the series. Martha Wells' "<a href="https://amzn.to/47dnM13" target="_blank">System Collapse</a>", is a direct sequel to the other full length Murderbot novel, "<a href="https://www.homerstravels.com/2023/12/book-martha-wells-network-effect.html" target="_blank">Network Effect</a>" (book five of seven).<p></p><p>The book is a good Murderbot book but I have found, after reading the last four books back to back, that there is a lot of repetition. The books, except for books five and seven, seem to be written so they are somewhat stand alone so information provided in earlier books is sometimes repeated in later books over and over again. So, does this repetition ruin the books? Not really. I guess I would suggest you space the books out more than I did so that the repetition is less noticeable.</p><p>If you are planning to read this series, I think the proper order would be 1-2-3-4-6-5-7. Book six is not related to book five or seven which are related to each other.</p><p>I gave this book four stars out of five on Goodreads because, like this entire series, the books are entertaining enough to keep me reading.</p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-24822331256423046842023-12-28T17:00:00.001-06:002023-12-28T17:00:00.138-06:00Book: Martha Wells' "Fugitive Telemetry"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdlr8YtkRINDIPU0Na0jVrpm2u9sZI4ZkPpo3xhsfIO1TKiR3wR1Z0fNa0FcVPs5YqFZxldCbfov851CzInWQynCkZZWncNWCCZuHnvx19HFFAo25Fh6-PFAQ4GJ-0TVg8DSPExqyXqX2QOJ7E7TthTKdXf5FhFsTRuWxqCo5hIHnbP8C4UngaWdCEu6e/s672/Fugitive%20Telemetry.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="418" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwdlr8YtkRINDIPU0Na0jVrpm2u9sZI4ZkPpo3xhsfIO1TKiR3wR1Z0fNa0FcVPs5YqFZxldCbfov851CzInWQynCkZZWncNWCCZuHnvx19HFFAo25Fh6-PFAQ4GJ-0TVg8DSPExqyXqX2QOJ7E7TthTKdXf5FhFsTRuWxqCo5hIHnbP8C4UngaWdCEu6e/w165-h265/Fugitive%20Telemetry.png" width="165" /></a></div>Continuing the Murderbot Diaries series the next book I read was Martha Wells' "<a href="https://amzn.to/47b01H2" target="_blank">Fugitive Telemetry</a>". Book six of the series returns to the shorter novella format.<div><br /></div><div>This is a perfectly good Murderbot book with a more mystery feel to it. Murderbot investigates a murder on a station. It had a slightly different feel than other books in the series like the Author was trying something a little different.</div><div><br /></div><div>I gave this book four stars out of five on Goodreads. it's an easy read to fill in the gaps between harder reads and it is entertaining.</div>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-88252254121951158852023-12-25T07:00:00.001-06:002023-12-25T07:00:00.131-06:00Have A Very Merry Christmas Everyone!<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfYoLIbs1x0D7RfVO-RMHRoYZ2eJRf1QctJDw9LyrSr1AX2WLu_O7miPZeHljWHtMXCb3X1RbvTaR0kjhw0dC-QnHoX0TNq5G30pmM7ZZPhYxnZu6CEYtl7mtosrYeThIYWVQw4B41tFwnqLy27nw5rV4N-VXGcqJszFYRWYAIgyuCiOCTLpvXETI3UA4/s834/Merry%20Christmas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="834" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfYoLIbs1x0D7RfVO-RMHRoYZ2eJRf1QctJDw9LyrSr1AX2WLu_O7miPZeHljWHtMXCb3X1RbvTaR0kjhw0dC-QnHoX0TNq5G30pmM7ZZPhYxnZu6CEYtl7mtosrYeThIYWVQw4B41tFwnqLy27nw5rV4N-VXGcqJszFYRWYAIgyuCiOCTLpvXETI3UA4/w640-h366/Merry%20Christmas.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-14383112670972634492023-12-24T17:00:00.083-06:002023-12-24T17:00:00.140-06:00Weekly Ephemera #77<p></p><div><b>I hope everyone is having a joyous Christmas Eve!</b></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We are spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at my Mom's house. Instead of a white Christmas we are having a moist Christmas Eve. We've had around a half inch of rain on a fairly warm Sunday. It's something like 20℉ warmer than normal which is a lot. The rain may turn to snow tonight so we may have a white Christmas Day so keeping our fingers crossed. 🤞</li><li>Last Tuesday I had my stent removed. It was a quicker procedure than I expected which is always a good thing. I am now done with doctors until I get an ultrasound in February (a kidney stone follow up) and a doctor's follow up in April.</li><li>I got a new front pocket wallet. My old one, which I probably have had for decades, was starting to wear out. The new one isn't quite the same, and will never be as good as my old one, but it will be fine once it breaks in. It has taken me years to replace my old wallet and I think it took so long because of my attachment.</li><li>This week I watched "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodies_(2023_TV_series)" target="_blank">Bodies</a>" on Netflix. It was an interesting mystery/sci fi series. Definitely on the twisted spectrum. Also watched "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_the_World_Behind_(film)" target="_blank">Leave the World Behind</a>". While it wasn't great it was good and very thought provoking considering what is happening in the world around us.</li><li>Next week, after Christmas, I am hoping to start walking again. I will naturally start slow to see how my body reacts. I'm not quite healed yet from my surgery. Fingers crossed.</li></ul><p></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-593970477444543007.post-50230260864969578392023-12-21T21:27:00.004-06:002023-12-21T21:27:00.130-06:00Happy Shortest Day Of The Year (Winter Solstice) ... Let The Lengthening Of The Daylight Begin<p> The Winter Solstice has arrived. The shortest day and longest night are behind us until next winter.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Griffy; font-size: x-large;">Enjoy the lengthening of the <span style="background-color: white; color: #ffd966;">daylight</span> everyone!</span></b></p>Bruce H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00180515178920053080noreply@blogger.com0