Saturday, August 5, 2023

Strong Decaf

Yesterday I ran out of regular coffee.  Well, it wasn't actually regular.  It was half-caf.  I was shopping a few weeks or months ago and while looking through the options, I saw this blue container labeled half-caf.  I decided to buy it.

For months before that I had been on the mild roast.  But for a long time, for many years, I had been on the strong roast.  What's it called?  Oh, dark roast.  And for a long while, too, I had been making like four scoops per brew.  And then I cut down to three.  Then two.  And then one.  I can't remember the exact intervals though, but I just gradually cut down over the years.  So until yesterday I was on one scoop of half-caf roast.

I had been considering restocking it, but I kinda forgot.  But I did have an almost full container of decaf in the cupboard.  I keep it there in case I felt like drinking coffee at night.  It rarely happens, but sometimes if I couldn't sleep or something and felt like it.  But also, a few days ago, I read somewhere that decaf isn't totally caffeine free.  That there is still some caffeine in there.  So I decided to give it a shot and see how I do.  

So today, I made a strong decaf.  I put two big scoops of it in the coffee maker and that is all I had for the day.  I figured if I started to feel bad, I can buy a regular cup outside somewhere.

But actually, I felt fine.  I felt okay.  So I think I will keep it up.  Hopefully I can finally not be dependent on caffeine again.  Let's see how it goes.

Monday, May 30, 2022

My Neighbor Xavier

I never thought of myself as someone who would live in a gated community, but I ended up doing it.  Mainly, I have a lot of trouble sleeping, and it's nice that the neighborhood is pretty quiet.  Everywhere else I have lived, there always seems to be some jackass blasting music out of their car at 3 in the morning.  Also, in our last place, there was a church right next to us, and you could hear and feel the drums on Sundays, and sometimes all night on certain occasions.

So now we're on a private street.  Not a lot of cars around, except for those who are lost who don't understand what a "No Outlet" sign means.  The kids play outside almost everyday.  And they have made friends with other kids in the community.

One of those friends is Xavier, maybe a year or two older than Dusty, who is 6, but they get along really well.  On the rare moments that we are inside, Xavier comes to our door and knocks or rings the doorbell. Then he asks, "Can Dusty come out and play?"  It's so cute.  I'm so glad my kids can have that.

And sometimes Dusty goes over to Xavier's house and asks him to play.  There are a couple of other kids who hang out with them.  It's just really nice that they get to do that.

Xavier's mom tells him what time he needs to be home.  So when they are playing by our house, he comes up to me once in a while and asks what time it is.  Usually 8 o'clock is when he has to go.  And then he'll say goodbye and leave.  Sometimes Dusty walks him home, which is just a block away.

Sunday, May 29, 2022

My Neighbor Foxhound

Yesterday morning, I sat down on a chair on my driveway, tying my shoes before going for my run.  There was this loud, ceaseless "beep, beep, beep" sound.  I looked up towards the street perpendicular to mine.  It was a moving truck backing up.  Pretty normal noise, but the volume was unnecessarily and extraordinarily loud.  After just a few seconds it did stop, and it felt like such a relief.

And then I was able to take in more of the situation.  One of my neighbors was moving out.  I was not close with them.  But I had gotten used to them.  As annoying as they could be sometimes.

I think it was the first full week of working from home during the pandemic in March, 2020, when I went for some outside time with my kids in the mornings.  We would be having a nice time, playing hockey or some other sports when we would just hear some loud child calling out somewhere.  We would look but couldn't see where it was coming from.

Eventually we figured it out.  It was our neighbor's kid, standing on the porch, calling out to another neighbor friend, probably on a porch or looking out their window from somewhere we couldn't see.  Anyways, the previous days, he or she must have been calling out from inside the porch door.  

The calling out didn't really bother me much.  It was kind of nice, I guess.  They get to see their friends from their houses, even though they couldn't play together.  But my kids found them annoying.

But what did bother me about the Foxhounds is that sometimes they would just let the kids play on the street unsupervised.  I get that we are in a gated community, but there are still cars around.  And visitors and delivery drivers do speed through the narrow streets despite the 15mph limit posted everywhere.  Sometimes the adults would be chatting away with their adult friends while the kids are just roaming around in the middle of the road.

But it's their life, I guess.  And with them moving away, they did survive, after all.  So far.

What else?  They had Christmas lights on the tree in the front of their house.  It would go on around Thanksgiving.  It stayed on until around Valentine's Day of 2021.  Or maybe even later.  We did the same.  I think our tree stayed up until Easter.  And so did the lights on our decks.

But yeah, they are moving away.  I don't know why I feel a little melancholy about it.  I don't even know them.  Nor frankly, do I really care about them.  It's just change, you know?  I guess I just like things to stay the way they are as much as possible.

During those stay at home days of the pandemic, I definitely got to know the neighbors a lot more.  There were many to whom I would always wave.  Nowadays, we barely look at each other.  There were some who would stop by and chat for a few.  Now they just move.  

And then there were some who just disappeared.  There was a family who would always walk by in the afternoons.  Sometimes I would see the little boy and girl, maybe six and eight, running through the street by themselves.  And I'm thinking, are they here alone?  But then trailing behind them would be the dad and mom and their black dog.  

One time the dad asked why we have Devils and Capitals gear.  I explained that the Devils were our team, but the Capitals were my kid's team.  I'm not sure he quite understood it.  But o-welles.  I was hoping that by the time fall came around, I would give them the info to join hockey.  But by then, they had disappeared.  They stopped coming around.  And I didn't see them anymore.

Obviously they moved.  And I know that we weren't close.  But it's still kinda sad that we didn't get to say goodbye and good luck.

There was actually this guy who did say something.  He was in his early twenties.  He used to walk by our street as my older kid Rusty would be doing his hockey drills.  We would say hello to each other and keep walking.  One day Rusty and his little brother Dusty were playing in the rain, and the guy came walking by and said, "It's just water."  It was a sudden rain and other neighbors had run away quickly to escape the downpour.

One day, we were outside again, me and my boys, and this car stops suddenly in front of our house.  The guy gets out and approaches me.  He said he was moving and he said good luck.  I said good luck to him, too.  And then he said that he always noticed me out playing with my kids and that I was a good dad and he just wanted to tell me that.  And he said he hoped he could be the same one day.  So that was nice.  And that was the most we ever talked.

There were a bunch of others, too, who have gone.  They would wave when they walk by our street.  And sometimes when my boys and I would skate or bike around the neighborhood, we would recognize them and wave.  As we go our way, my boys and I would say to each other, "Ah, so that's where they live".  

Maybe one day, we'll be on vacation or something somewhere and bump into an old neighbor and we would say, "Ah, so that's where they live now!"

Saturday, May 28, 2022

My Neighbor Baldwin

I have a lot of regrets in my life.  One of them was back when I was in college.  I woke up one morning, looked out the window and saw a couple of ambulances in front of our street.  Eventually I found out that our next door neighbor had died.  And I regret not knowing about it, what the situation was, and if I could have helped.

Generally, I regret not offering to do more.  She wasn't that old.  She was in her fifties, maybe sixties.  But she had had a hip injury.  And there were complications.  At times during the day, you could hear the machine that would lift her wheel chair up or down the stairs.  But it wasn't too loud or annoying or anything.

What was loud or annoying though?  My drum kit.  I was in my early twenties, and I decided I wanted to learn and play the drums.  So I bought a set and practiced in our basement.  I bought it with my own money.  It would have been quieter to get an electronic one, but I couldn't afford it.  So I banged away, and yes, the neighbors on either side could hear it.  And feel it.

Eventually, I tried to limit it to like an hour.  Around 5 to 6 in the afternoon or something like that.  I can't remember specifically.  But still, it must have been annoying.  The neighbors on the other side had tenants renting their basement.  I noticed every time I would practice, they would go out.  I didn't put it together until later.  They were Filipinos, too nice to complain.  One time the owner came and knocked on my window.  He said he could hear me, all with a smile and everything.  He didn't seem too bothered, but I realize now that he was really trying to complain about it.  But just too nice.

Peggy's sister wasn't that nice about it though.  The Baldwins.  Both were named Peggy, for some reason.  Actually Margaret.  Which I didn't get.  When we first moved and they introduced themselves, she said her sister's name was Margaret, but we could call her Peg.  And that was her name also.

Anyways, one night I was practicing with my band and she knocked on the basement door and asked us to practice more quietly.  We obliged.  And she wasn't hostile or anything.  Just direct.  And honestly, I appreciated it.  At that age, my judgement of situations wasn't always the best.  And since no one was complaining, I assumed everything was all right.  So it was good to know that they were bothered.

But yeah, I wish now I offered to help more.  I only did so one time, and that is because she called.  I can't remember exactly now, but I think something had fallen off her clothesline onto the yard.  Or was it something with the clothesline itself?  But I came over and helped.  That was it.  We lived there for about five to six years.  I always meant to reach out, but was always preoccupied with other things.

And then one day she was dead.

One small thing I would do, every time it snowed, I would clear her steps.  There was an old broken down car that was always on her driveway.  The idea was that with it parked in front, it would seem like someone was home, to discourage break-ins, I guess.  I never cleared out the snow on it.  It seemed a bit much.  I probably should have taken the time to do so.  But at that age, I was just thinking, that car isn't going anywhere.

Her sister Peggy did thank me for clearing the steps but she also asked not to dump snow onto the car.  That was when she explained why they had it there on the driveway.  After she died, the car also just disappeared one day.  And then once in a while I would see a blue Jeep liberty in the space.  It was the new owner's.  He never introduced himself.  He was doing stuff to fix up the place, and it pissed me off because I the smell of paint would seep into our place.

We moved out soon after that.  I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to the neighborhood friends.  Eventually one of them told me he knocked on the basement door and the new tenants opened it.  And that was when he found out I had moved.

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Queue Tips: Royale With Cheese

In "Casino Royale" there's a scene where this lady is sitting in the shower, fully clothed, with the water running.  Do people actually do that?  Have people actually done that?  That must really signify that she is really troubled or something.  And then James Bond comes in and joins her.  Like, let's just sit together on the shower floor and talk.

Anyways, I don't remember the rest of it.

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Queue Tips: Spy Another Way

I was doing the laundry last week, but I forgot all about it.  It's still in the washing machine.  I guess I'll dry another day.  

In the beginning of "Die Another Day", the bad guys have James Bond at gunpoint.  The head bad guy tells them, "Kill the spy".  Instead of just shooting him then and there, they grab him and lead him elsewhere.  Is there a standard killing place for them?  Because they moved in unison in the same direction.  Like they knew exactly where to take him.

Anyway - spoiler alert - they end up not killing him.  He lives to die another day, apparently.  And the head bad guy himself is actually killed a few minutes later.  And then the head bad guy's dad and his army have Bond at gunpoint again.  And they don't shoot him again.  So he lives to die yet another day.

Sunday was a nice day.  I went to the park with my boys.  After a while, it started to get chilly.  So of course, we went to get ice cream.  The nearest place was McDonald's.  So we went.  And then I was like, you know what, it's been over a decade since I've had a Big Mac.  Screw it, I'll order one.  So I did.  And then the kids wanted McNuggets.  So I got about a dozen.  It tasted like cardboard.  I don't know why I did it, but I probably will never eat there again.  I guess I was thinking I would diet another day.

There was a scene where James Bond tries to shoot someone and finds out his gun isn't loaded.  So this guy who shoots people all the time and is very good with gadgets didn't realize his gun wasn't loaded when he carried it in the morning.  I mean, I would expect there to be a weight difference.

It really is amazing that they can keep churning these things, and they keep making money.  The theme song to this film really hurts the ears, and I don't think I can watch it again because of that.  I could tell you this film was worth watching, but I guess I will lie another day.


Tuesday, March 15, 2022

Queue Tips: I think I've had enough.

You might have noticed I haven't post here for a while.  I think I may finally have had enough of these James Bond films.

The theme song to "The World Is Not Enough" reminds me of "Superstar" by The Carpenters.  I think that latter song kind of fits with the James Bond films, actually.

In this movie, apparently a speed boat can drive through land.  I mean, if a gondola can do it, right?

Anyways, the bad guy reminds me of the guy who stars in "Monk".  Was that him?  Let me googalize it.  No.  That was Tony Shalhoub.  Imagine if Tony Shalhoub was in this film?  What would that be like?

There is also a character named Electra.  What if Carmen Electra played her?  I don't even know who that is or what she does, but wouldn't it be something?