Next to TV there is no greater time killer than the computer. Unlike TV, however, with the computer you can almost feel like you're doing something worthwhile..Afterall it WAS the focal point of your job (when you had one) and was a highly functional piece of equipment. It's hard to imagine how anyone gets by without a computer..There are those - of all ages - who brag that they don't know shit about computers. They say it with pride. This is the same crowd who don't use ATMs. My favorite computer time (saver) is on-line banking. I've almost forgotten how to write a check..and e-mail? I can barely remember the last time I wrote a letter, put it in an envelope and put a stamp on it.. What the hell is a stamp? and how much do they cost.
One positive part of leaving the workplace is eliminating the need for about 20 passwords. Everything had a PIN. The level of paranoia was uncalled for. And at work you have to change them every 30 days or 45 days. And you couldn't recycle some of these until after 10 times. There are far fewer passwords on the home front. It's a much friendlier feel. At work if you had to call the help desk (always at 8 am) you frequently got somebody from another planet. My department all used Macs in a company with 40,000 PCs. When the tech support person heard the problem he took you through all sort of anti-Mac maneuvers. CTRL, ALT, DEL. It always made the problem worse but you had to go through it just to satisfy their process. Sometimes I didn't do what they told me and I just lied and said "oops, that didn't work". Mac users, I've found, are much more capable of solving their own problems. We rarely had to call tech support, but when we did it was the main topic of conversation of the day. In a real meltdown we'd call outside help or if you're lucky (like me) you have a former Apple employee in the family.. He keeps all of us on line and in line..
Friday, February 27, 2009
Amazing????
I've noticed, now that I have the time, that one of the most overused words is "amazing". Take a listen to see if I may be right. It's the "go to" word for anyone who has no better way of explaining something superior, surprising, interesting or great. I was watching one of those House Hunter episodes and the woman used the word amazing at least 25 times in that half hour to describe a house's features.. "What an amazing deck"
When I hear that word I think of one of my favorite childhood entertainers - The Amazing Randy... Now, this guy WAS amazing and deserved the moniker. He was the original cool magician. Now they have this reality show - the Amazing Race...Is it really amazing? It should be called the 'annoying foreigners at the airport and arguing on national TV' race. It's hardly amazing. What amazes me is how they recruit people for this show. Maybe most of them are unemployed or they got rejected by Survivor..Amazing!!
When I hear that word I think of one of my favorite childhood entertainers - The Amazing Randy... Now, this guy WAS amazing and deserved the moniker. He was the original cool magician. Now they have this reality show - the Amazing Race...Is it really amazing? It should be called the 'annoying foreigners at the airport and arguing on national TV' race. It's hardly amazing. What amazes me is how they recruit people for this show. Maybe most of them are unemployed or they got rejected by Survivor..Amazing!!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wonderful day in the neighborhood
There is a distinct difference in the feel of the neighborhood when one is around Monday through Friday during the day. Usually I only see it on weekends and weeknights. There are a few folks who are "retired" and seem to have the nicest lawns and shrubs. They usually have little designs on their mailboxes so I guess I now fall into that category - I better get to Home Depot. There is the occasional dog walker, town maintenance truck and of course the day's highlight - the mailman.
This is a rather rural area with minimal traffic, so a car going down the street is worth watching. I've actually started to notice the different engine sounds so I can guess with bizarre accuracy which vehicle it is before it passes my window. This has not impressed my wife - so far. Ha, if she only knew this was the germ of an idea for a game show.
This is a rather rural area with minimal traffic, so a car going down the street is worth watching. I've actually started to notice the different engine sounds so I can guess with bizarre accuracy which vehicle it is before it passes my window. This has not impressed my wife - so far. Ha, if she only knew this was the germ of an idea for a game show.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Dow Down
There are people following the stock market fluctuations who have no idea how it works and why it's a mess. It's a daily pasttime now. You cringe when you see the "red" numbers and wonder if we are all going to be living in cardboard boxes like in Slumdog Millionaire. Everyone is looking for some comfort. The President's speech offered some hope. It was impressive. I need to buy a newspaper today. That should kill 20 minutes..
I miss my NY Times..As informed as I try to be, I think my main interest was the NYT crossword puzzle.. It was always easy on Mondays giving you a false sense of accomplishment and prepared for the challenging work week.."hey, I'm going to kick some ass today..I did the puzzle in 12 minutes." By Friday the degree of difficulty had increased significantly and that 12-minute task was now an all-day affair. Today is a Wednesday so I'll go get the paper, give the puzzle a shot and only feel mildly stupid.
I miss my NY Times..As informed as I try to be, I think my main interest was the NYT crossword puzzle.. It was always easy on Mondays giving you a false sense of accomplishment and prepared for the challenging work week.."hey, I'm going to kick some ass today..I did the puzzle in 12 minutes." By Friday the degree of difficulty had increased significantly and that 12-minute task was now an all-day affair. Today is a Wednesday so I'll go get the paper, give the puzzle a shot and only feel mildly stupid.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
February Madness
Is there anything good about February? In the northeast it's the worst weather month. Football is over, baseball hasn't really started except for steriod news. Even the normally entertaining sports talk shows are concentrating on hockey and basketball. One just hopes for a baseball spring training game to show up on some cable channel at 3:30 pm Sunday. Well, at least I hope for that.
My memories of February are consistent.. I misspelled it on a test and got humiliated (probably because I was a junior in high school). I once spent 17 days in the hospital in February of 1987...I can recall watching the snow fall while I fiddled with my IV tubes. My mother had a theory that most bad things happened in February (she would have been 80 today IF she were alive). So what's to look forward to? March is no picnic with this "in like a lion, out like a lamb" crap.. March is an improvement but it's really just a transition period to get into more normal times.
So I wonder what the unemployment numbers will look like in March. I know five people who just filed so I will have to watch the news to see if they tallied that..
Finally the February ice has gone from my driveway. Good and bad. Good because now I can walk to my mailbox without golf shoes - Bad because the 300 lbs of salt I used over the winter has created what looks like a relief map of Afghanistan...
My memories of February are consistent.. I misspelled it on a test and got humiliated (probably because I was a junior in high school). I once spent 17 days in the hospital in February of 1987...I can recall watching the snow fall while I fiddled with my IV tubes. My mother had a theory that most bad things happened in February (she would have been 80 today IF she were alive). So what's to look forward to? March is no picnic with this "in like a lion, out like a lamb" crap.. March is an improvement but it's really just a transition period to get into more normal times.
So I wonder what the unemployment numbers will look like in March. I know five people who just filed so I will have to watch the news to see if they tallied that..
Finally the February ice has gone from my driveway. Good and bad. Good because now I can walk to my mailbox without golf shoes - Bad because the 300 lbs of salt I used over the winter has created what looks like a relief map of Afghanistan...
Monday, February 23, 2009
Let's file for benefits!!!
What is the ultimate time killer while not working? How about filing for unemployment benefits. With relatively good computer skills, this took me one full hour (almost the same time it took using Turbo Tax to file fed and state returns). I had to be careful to interpret their questions as they intended.. Still not sure if I did. They do not ask for your email address so you have to check the standard snail mail box everyday for their communications, however, they do offer direct deposit which is what I opted for <---- bad grammar but I are leaving it in...
So, with no alarm clock set I figured I could stay up and watch the whole Oscar telecast..I'm no media critic (or maybe I am) but much of that show left me bored - Hugh Jackman??. I saw most of the nominated films so I had interest..With all that I fell asleep about 10:15 right after some film editing award. I missed the whole Slumdog hooplah and had to search out morning news shows for highlights. I felt good about that and would have enjoyed seeing all the actors when they were not covered with fecal matter.
So, with no alarm clock set I figured I could stay up and watch the whole Oscar telecast..I'm no media critic (or maybe I am) but much of that show left me bored - Hugh Jackman??. I saw most of the nominated films so I had interest..With all that I fell asleep about 10:15 right after some film editing award. I missed the whole Slumdog hooplah and had to search out morning news shows for highlights. I felt good about that and would have enjoyed seeing all the actors when they were not covered with fecal matter.
Friday, February 20, 2009
The Gym - standard time killer?
How cliche is it for a downsizer to want to get back into shape?? What the hell IS shape anyway?.. I think I was in SHAPE when I finished 14 weeks of Navy boot camp in 1970. They said they were getting us ready for WAR (huh, what is it good for? absolutely nothing). I was stationed in Newport, Rhode Island.. it was never attacked. Then again, I later went to the Persian Gulf and, well, you know what a mess that was. Damn good thing I had no love handles.
So, I joined a local health club which I felt was a very positive move. I've been a member at two other gyms over the years.. One was very formal where they measured your fat indexes, blood pressure, pulse and overall progress constantly. I've never been thrilled with such a process. Too many numbers can only be negative for me. This place was in my office building so there were times I'd leave my work day and have to report to my warm-up station to get my blood pressure taken.. This sucked. If your BP was not at a certain level you could NOT start your program. My BP had (and has) a tendency to run high - a fun family trait shared by my deceased parents and living siblings. We often compare stories of how we talk to our doctors who seemed alarmed at our unsettling readings. My sister, a recent downsized victim, says her BP has returned to normal after stopping work. I wonder if I can make the same claim. More on that issue in the medical edition.
So off I go most days to this local health club. I keep it to weekdays since I assume nights and weekends are more crowded. I guess I'm right. The crowd I see on these weekdays are mostly women, mostly younger than me and a sprinkling of some older guys who look like they are torn between unemployed and/or retired. I haven't made any friends so I don't really know. Then again it's not likely that I'd go there to chat. I just spent 30 years riding a commuter train and never talked to a soul. And I'm not anti-social.. I just don't usually give a shit about what most people have to say. I gotta work on that now that I have time on my hands. I can feel myself becoming more tolerant. I need to.
My workout has been very light compared to previous gym experiences. I do about 30 minutes of weights, some cardio on the bike and a few times a week I swim. Ahhhhhh, swimming. Something I am actually good at having grown up near the water. The only problem here is there are only 4 lanes which accommodate 2 swimmers per (I was told). So the first day as I shyly (is that a word?) entered an occupied lane and waited for the female swimmer to reach the wall. I was going to see if I was OK to share. So lucky me I ran into some pissed off, frustrated 85-year old who swam right into me and read me the riot act on pool protocol. The fact that she had a very thick accent (German, Swiss, Latvian) made it even scarier. She accused me of not following the rules but worst of all her rants was that ALL YOU MEN are the same..Yikes.. I had no snappy response and just moved over to another occupied lane where the swimmer was far more tolerant, however, I felt like the stupid new guy who needed to learn his damn lesson. It's been a few weeks and I've settled into some degree of comfort..
Stay tuned for progress reports. I may even check my blood pressure.
So, I joined a local health club which I felt was a very positive move. I've been a member at two other gyms over the years.. One was very formal where they measured your fat indexes, blood pressure, pulse and overall progress constantly. I've never been thrilled with such a process. Too many numbers can only be negative for me. This place was in my office building so there were times I'd leave my work day and have to report to my warm-up station to get my blood pressure taken.. This sucked. If your BP was not at a certain level you could NOT start your program. My BP had (and has) a tendency to run high - a fun family trait shared by my deceased parents and living siblings. We often compare stories of how we talk to our doctors who seemed alarmed at our unsettling readings. My sister, a recent downsized victim, says her BP has returned to normal after stopping work. I wonder if I can make the same claim. More on that issue in the medical edition.
So off I go most days to this local health club. I keep it to weekdays since I assume nights and weekends are more crowded. I guess I'm right. The crowd I see on these weekdays are mostly women, mostly younger than me and a sprinkling of some older guys who look like they are torn between unemployed and/or retired. I haven't made any friends so I don't really know. Then again it's not likely that I'd go there to chat. I just spent 30 years riding a commuter train and never talked to a soul. And I'm not anti-social.. I just don't usually give a shit about what most people have to say. I gotta work on that now that I have time on my hands. I can feel myself becoming more tolerant. I need to.
My workout has been very light compared to previous gym experiences. I do about 30 minutes of weights, some cardio on the bike and a few times a week I swim. Ahhhhhh, swimming. Something I am actually good at having grown up near the water. The only problem here is there are only 4 lanes which accommodate 2 swimmers per (I was told). So the first day as I shyly (is that a word?) entered an occupied lane and waited for the female swimmer to reach the wall. I was going to see if I was OK to share. So lucky me I ran into some pissed off, frustrated 85-year old who swam right into me and read me the riot act on pool protocol. The fact that she had a very thick accent (German, Swiss, Latvian) made it even scarier. She accused me of not following the rules but worst of all her rants was that ALL YOU MEN are the same..Yikes.. I had no snappy response and just moved over to another occupied lane where the swimmer was far more tolerant, however, I felt like the stupid new guy who needed to learn his damn lesson. It's been a few weeks and I've settled into some degree of comfort..
Stay tuned for progress reports. I may even check my blood pressure.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Why This??
After recently getting "Let Go" from a job I had for 15 years AND not too anxious to get back into that groove - commuting 50 miles daily to NYC - I thought I'd try putting down some thoughts. I found I had time on my hands - thus the Time Killer blog.. So for those past 15 years and another similar job before that adding up to a total of 31 years I wasn't doing what I wanted.. And, what is that??? mmmm, I dunno but I thought I'd dust off my journalism degree to see if I actually learned anything in those four years back in the mid-70s. The easiest way to do that, I guess, is to clog up a blog and see if I have anything to say..
I'm not sure how to approach this or how often I'd make an entry but so far in these past two weeks I've had the time (to kill)...Those Monday through Friday hours formerly spent in the "office' taking care of mind numbing issues is now my own time. I think the first thing I've learned is TV is not an option. Where did these daytime shows come from? OK, news is important I guess but how many hours can one spend listening to the Today show paint the doom and gloom picture. Every negative issues seems to apply to me - the economy, unemployment, scary health issues (I'm 58). Of course there is the endless host laughter and chatter - always out of place right after they report about a missing girl in rural Florida. And, with four hours to fill (or maybe three if you don't count Kathy Lee Gifford) they are always rushing through each segement.. Some poor rube flipping shrimps on a BBQ and trying not to have them slip through the grill..
When I was a kid it was all game shows and soap operas on TV. Only got to see them when I was home sick so it was usually in a feverish haze..you know the daytime drill was almost over when Merv Griffin or Mike Douglas would show up and my mom would sit down after a day's chores were done. So now, what do we have besides the news..OK there ARE a few game shows (on the game show channel).. I've already mentioned Jeopardy.. I'm sure we all do well in our living rooms and would just panic if we tried the game for real. I think I could do OK on Wheel of Fortune.. I'd ask why the HELL they still need Vanna White to turn letters.. There's just no point!! There are many re-runs.. My favorites are Seinfeld (Jerry went to my high school), Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Curb Your Enthusiasm... I guess All in The Family too.. Once a year it's fun to watch the Honeymooners.. Hellllo Ballllllllllll...
But back to daytime --- where the HELL do they get the people to "perform" on Jerry Springer and Maury Povich. Isn't Maury's wife - Connie Chung - a legitimate journalist. Does SHE watch his show or just run out of the room. I always wonder what takes place before these shows. Are there prep sessions from producers ?---- " ok there's an extra $500 IF you punch your boyfriend in the face and then rip his new girlfriend's shirt off".."AND, be sure to mix it up with the studio audience.. keep yelling and pointing..and don't worry we will bleep every third word".."OHH, and take your dentures out.."..
So, daytime TV is not a good option.. Night time could be a little better.. tons of reality TV.. some of it really not too bad as long as it doesn't involve taking off your shirt, getting on a scale or bungee jumping off the side of a 400 foot high dam..Some of the production quality - as in Survivor and Idol are quite good. Really not bad for Time Killing..
Haven't figured out too many of these CSI cop type shows.. I just can't get into them and boy there are quite a few.. The Office and 30 Rock are pretty good for TK and who could have EVER predicted that Family Guy would come along and eclipse the Simpsons...Seth McFarland is really the best..
I need to make some decisions on how to handle this blog..To be honest I want to get back into a writing schedule. Most of my writing experience - besides lame work emails - are personal emails and some newspaper feature writing.. So in my quest to Kill Time I'll post here as often as I can (not that I have pressing issues to prevent that)..bioya
I'm not sure how to approach this or how often I'd make an entry but so far in these past two weeks I've had the time (to kill)...Those Monday through Friday hours formerly spent in the "office' taking care of mind numbing issues is now my own time. I think the first thing I've learned is TV is not an option. Where did these daytime shows come from? OK, news is important I guess but how many hours can one spend listening to the Today show paint the doom and gloom picture. Every negative issues seems to apply to me - the economy, unemployment, scary health issues (I'm 58). Of course there is the endless host laughter and chatter - always out of place right after they report about a missing girl in rural Florida. And, with four hours to fill (or maybe three if you don't count Kathy Lee Gifford) they are always rushing through each segement.. Some poor rube flipping shrimps on a BBQ and trying not to have them slip through the grill..
When I was a kid it was all game shows and soap operas on TV. Only got to see them when I was home sick so it was usually in a feverish haze..you know the daytime drill was almost over when Merv Griffin or Mike Douglas would show up and my mom would sit down after a day's chores were done. So now, what do we have besides the news..OK there ARE a few game shows (on the game show channel).. I've already mentioned Jeopardy.. I'm sure we all do well in our living rooms and would just panic if we tried the game for real. I think I could do OK on Wheel of Fortune.. I'd ask why the HELL they still need Vanna White to turn letters.. There's just no point!! There are many re-runs.. My favorites are Seinfeld (Jerry went to my high school), Everybody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, Curb Your Enthusiasm... I guess All in The Family too.. Once a year it's fun to watch the Honeymooners.. Hellllo Ballllllllllll...
But back to daytime --- where the HELL do they get the people to "perform" on Jerry Springer and Maury Povich. Isn't Maury's wife - Connie Chung - a legitimate journalist. Does SHE watch his show or just run out of the room. I always wonder what takes place before these shows. Are there prep sessions from producers ?---- " ok there's an extra $500 IF you punch your boyfriend in the face and then rip his new girlfriend's shirt off".."AND, be sure to mix it up with the studio audience.. keep yelling and pointing..and don't worry we will bleep every third word".."OHH, and take your dentures out.."..
So, daytime TV is not a good option.. Night time could be a little better.. tons of reality TV.. some of it really not too bad as long as it doesn't involve taking off your shirt, getting on a scale or bungee jumping off the side of a 400 foot high dam..Some of the production quality - as in Survivor and Idol are quite good. Really not bad for Time Killing..
Haven't figured out too many of these CSI cop type shows.. I just can't get into them and boy there are quite a few.. The Office and 30 Rock are pretty good for TK and who could have EVER predicted that Family Guy would come along and eclipse the Simpsons...Seth McFarland is really the best..
I need to make some decisions on how to handle this blog..To be honest I want to get back into a writing schedule. Most of my writing experience - besides lame work emails - are personal emails and some newspaper feature writing.. So in my quest to Kill Time I'll post here as often as I can (not that I have pressing issues to prevent that)..bioya
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
bioya
Welcome to my blog..I'm not sure but I think it's going to be generally funny, cynical and educational.. I'd like to continue but I'm watching Jeopardy right now....
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