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Arizona Lou

Blog Archive 2024 Nov

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Fri Nov 1 = This morning I uploaded the audio files from Tuesday's comedy at Bullshooters. James Wennlune there asked if I would like to be interviewed for a podcast. Of course I said, "Yes!" I think I would have been a better interviewee if I had inquired as to the nature of the interview. The title of the podcast is Date Life Live.
- I finished my election research online. Among other things I listened to debates by the candidates for the Arizona Attorney General and for the Maricopa County Sheriff. While those debates were running I ran to the kitchen to prepare five pounds of grapes, put them in three plastic bags and then into the freezer. Now I'll have grapes when they are not on sale.
- After lunch I took Cindy to her doctor's appointment under the auspices of
Duet
The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
. On the way back to her house we stopped by a Dollar Tree for a greeting card for
Anne
My daughter who lives in Flagstaff with Roby her husband, and their daughter Brooke
. and plastic spoons for Cindy. How delightful! She also became a new fan:
Fan(s) with Lou
- After droppng her off at her house I went to LA Fitness for a heavy torso workout and a visit with my frind, Tim DePriest at his Power Station.
- Then on to Safeway to find they were out of both raspberries and blueberries, both of which were on sale. I got home, drove into the garage and backed right back out because I had forgotten to go to Albertsons to buy the raspberries and blueberries. All Albertsons had were blueberries, but that, along with a raincheck will get me by. I also got a new fan there:
Fan(s) with Lou
- This evening I caught up with
Duet
The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
some, by logging 10 volunteer services I provided; mostly for transportation and "shopping with."
- Got to bed about 10:32 for about 9 hours of sleep

Sat Nov 2 = This morning I got my Past Comedy Appearances updated and the audio uploaded from Tuesday at Bull Shooters on West Peoria Ave.
- Today's big event was the Arizona Authors Association Literary Awards Banquet. I was invited because
Anne
My daughter who lives in Flagstaff with Roby her husband, and their daughter Brooke
. was one of the finalists.
- I had my act together enough before leaving to do a few things like taking a nap before getting dressed for the occasion. I also got my van all loaded and set so had about 10 minutes to sit on the couch to relax and read Raspberry Pi for Kids (A "For-Dummies" book).
book
- The awards banquet included some of the most talented writers in Arizona. What a group!
- Anne got second place in the "Unpublished Novel" category for her The Canon of Katrina Quinn
- Here is the program, the proud father and happy daughter and my latest fan.
Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou
- After the program I drove out to Dear Valley Airport to get a new fan at Cutter Aviation and to see Anne and Robby off to Flagstaff in their slick Mooney airplane.
Fan(s) with Lou Mooney airplane
- On the way home I stopped by Safeway for some raspberries (not the Pi version) and a new fan in the parking lot.
Fan(s) with Lou
- This evening after looking up comedy clubs in San Antonio and Austin TX, I found emails addresses for nine of them and added them to my States by Regions spreadsheet.
- Got to bed at 12:33 for 9 hours of sleep

Sun Nov 3 = Today I finished reading the things that interested me in Raspberry Pi for Kids (A "For-Dummies" book). This gave me an introduction to the Raspberry Pi and some of the things it can do.
Raspberry Pi
- This afternoon I learned the basics of MIT's Scratch, simple and entertaining, that teaches kids basic computer logic as they arrange blocks in a stack to make their sprites do things. It can run on the Raspberry Pi.
- Python interests me. It is a widely used computer programming language that even runs on the Raspberry Pi. I don't want to confuse myself by learning two languages at once so will put Python on the shelf and focus on PHP, which is an open source server-side scripting language used to create dynamic Web pages that can be embedded in the HTML code of a website.
- Since I was out of frozen mixed vegetables, for supper I decided to eat a can of clam chowder from my pantry.
- I had sort of a bum trip this evening. I drove to Esporta Fitness and did not remember that they close early on Sunday until I got there and saw the dark gym. Then I forgot to stop across the street at Fry's and buy frozen mixed vegetables and bananas on my way to Anytime Fitness for a light legs workout and a new fan:
Fan(s) with Lou
Anytime Fitness is next door to Albertson's where, if I were thinking, could have bought the frozen mixed vegetables and bananas.
- Back home, I ordered a Raspberry Pi 5 and stuff from adafruit.com and a high yield toner 5-pack for my Brother printer.
- Got to bed at 12:11 for 9 hours of sleep

Mon Nov 4 = 100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guise to the Afterlife by Ken Jennings shows an interesting angle of "Heaven Inc." from Miracle Workers TV show:
God checked out long ago. ah4 ei6e on w 3hi64 foufn in ahie unr45ehi56 wnr pwjwmw ho66ome wll rwy... He only got one planet in our solar system to work, most of it is too hot or frozen all the time, and he forgot to finish the middle so it's just full of fire. His family definitely doesn't understand why He gave His creations free will. Rookie mistake!
- For the last few days my house has been energy neutral with no heat and no AC, so while the rest of the country switched from daylight savings time, I switched to winter mode by removing four south and west-facing sunscreens to let in more heat from the sun. - This evening, using
FCP
Final Cut ProX the fancy video-editing software I bought from Apple Sept 9th, 2023 for my MacBook Pro
's multicam feature, I combined all five video angles from my 10/22/24 appearance at Jicky Jacks. The challenge was people walking in front of all the cameras and also a noisy visiting in the background. My use of FCP was the smoothest yet   :)
- I did a light arms workout here in my home gym:
gym
- Before bedtime I looked up 11 comedy clubs in Dallas and sent emails to six; three through their websites.
- Got to bed at 11:49 for 9 hours of sleep

Tue Nov 5 = My PCP gave me another referray to a neurologist since the neurologist for the previous referral was scheduled out to April. This morning I made an appoint to neurologist for Thursday and canceled the April appointment.
- Broken websiite: Most of the images were broken on my Van Life web page. For some strange reason the entire folder of "Van" images had dissappeared. It didn't take long to upload all 209 files from my computer, but leaves me wondering how it happened. Maybe I accidently erased those files??
- Today's
FCP
Final Cut ProX the fancy video-editing software I bought from Apple Sept 9th, 2023 for my MacBook Pro
multicam feature, project was adjusting the switch points of the camera angles in the video I made yesterday from my 10/22/24 appearance at Jicky Jacks.
- This afternoon I took a 30 minute nap. I also made my online shopping list but did not have time to do the shopping, or even time to drive up to the Desert Ridge Mountainside Fitness for a
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
, so I drove 1/2 mile to Anytime Fitness for a
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
, shower and a light torso workout and a new fan:.
Fan(s) with Lou
- Next door at Albertson's I bought yogurt on sale and got a rain check for their Vanilla Light.
- From there I went south about 3/4 of a mile to Brigett's Last Laugh where I met Garret Swartz the producer/host for their open mic. I was the first to sign up so took slot four. Before the show I got these two new fans:
Fan(s) with Lou
- For my five minute set I did the Old Guy Alzheimer's routine that I frequently do at my initial appearance anywhere. Most of the audience was comedian friends of mine who have heard that set so they didn't find it particularly funny. The four who were not comedians laughed some.
- Got to bed at 11:58 for 9 hours of sleep

Wed Nov 6 = I felt like an old man and looked like one too because for the past week, at my doctor's suggestion, I wore compression socks up to my knees to see if it aleviated some nighttime leg cramps and wrestless leg syndrome. During the week I had no leg cramps and only slightly slight wrestless legs. Now I will spend one week without the compression socks and see if there is a difference.
- After breakfast I started uploading my Jicky Jacks (JJs) appearance to YouGube.
- Next on the list was to take Roger to his VA medical appointment under the auspsis of
Duet
The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
. It was a long drive down to the 32nd St VA office so we had plenty of time to visit.
- After dropping him off I was driving right by the Cave Creek Rd Eōs Fitness. Although I hadn't had my nap and was pretty tired, I stopped in for a heavy legs workout. I'm glad I did not put off the gym. I also got these three new fans:
Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou
- After supper and the much-needed nap, I did my semi-monthly Winco grocery shopping. This time, Roger didn't go.
- Back at home, I got all my Winco purchases put away and got my website, including this blog, updated at 11:08 pm. Then
- got to bed at 11:45 for 9 hours of sleep

Thu Nov 7 = I wish I had started earlier, but it is what it is. Two of the three LED indirect lighting floodlights in the kitchen have quit working. They were about four years old so are no longer under warranty. I decided it would be nice to replace them before Stacie, my niese, comes over with her three boys and daughter, so I researched and ordered replacemnt lights. Unfortunately the new lights are not expected to arrive until two days Stacie. I'm planning on giving the kids the Rapsberry Pi that should arrive in plenty of time for their visit.
- This morning I spent a few minutes practicing drawing a clock face (which they frequently do to check for Alzheimer's), but by drawing an I at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 places, which I eventually filled in to make a Roman Numeral clock. You've got to have a little fun along the way. It turns out that this afternoon they handed me a tablet for the test - no clock. It was an interesting and challenging timed test. I got a standard score of 96 out of 200, with 100 being the mean for my age.
- This afternoon I saw Islam Abujubara, my new neurologist to see if my somewhat troublesome memory is early stage dementia or Alzheimer's. He said that my waning memory probably was normal age related, but to make sure he ordered a fasting blood test and some imaging.
- On the way home I went by the North 7th St Anytime Fitness that has the best equipment of any other in the valley. I did a heavy arms workout and got four new fans:
Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou
- Twice today I got to the point that I was falling asleep so took two naps, one if the afternoon and a second one early in the evening.
- Louism # 322: Don't spend so much time managing, that you fail to fulfill the roll of CEO: looking at the big picture - Barry Moltz. This is what I would like to tell one of my business friends, and also remember for myself.
breakfast
- Got to bed at 11:14 for 9 hours of sleep

Fri Nov 8 = This mornig I I hot-footed it to LabCorp for the fasting blood test. The waiting room was full! They are using more technology to be efficient with check-in kiosks so it didn't take but about 45 minutes for my blood draw... and two new fans:
Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou
- On the way home I stopped by the 32 St & Bell LA Fitness for a heavy torso workout and two new fans:
Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou
- Next it was across the street to pick up my prescription of 81mg aspirin which my neurologist wants me to take daily.
- Two interesting things: 1) I had an unopened container of 60 of the aspirins that had expired 13 years ago and asked the pharmacy tech if they would be OK to take. She said if they smelled like vinegar they were no good. I opened the container and smelled vinegar! 2) What a ripoff! The coated 81mg aspirin tablets that the doctor prescribed cost 30¢ each. The Kroger store brand off the shelf were 2¢ each.
- This afternoon I got word that I would be at one of my favorite comedy clubs on Wednesday, so got into gear. With MailChimp, to my Fan Email List I added 10 more emails which gave me 37 new email addresses to import into MailChimp for a grand total of 519 recipients for the email I composed and sent out.
- I also made 30 tickets for the show and added to my website:
Wed Nov 13, 2024; 7:30pm; Desert Ridge Improv; 21001 N Tatum Blvd; Phoenix, AZ 85050 (18+ WITH ID)
          For FREE ADMISSION, before 7:00, tell the box office that you are there to see Arizona Lou or show this ticket on your phone.
ticket
- Got to bed at 11:58 for 9 hours of sleep

Sat Nov 9 = I fixed it! It was pretty simple after reading the instructions, but took some time. My Brother HL- L3270CDW color LASER printer has been leaving some magenta (red) blotches on the middle of pages printed in color. The toner cartridge was leaking toner, definitely not overfilled at 40%. I moved the HEAVY printer to the kitchen island. After putting protective paper around I removed all five cartridge units and the belt unit, which was sporting a little magenta dust in the middle. I also noticed a little yellow dust in the machine.
- I shook the yellow and maginta cartridges until no more toner was comming out, vacuumed the yellow and maginta cartridges and gently wiped the magenta toner off of the belt.
- Now the printer works as good as new and I didn't have to replace any of the toner cartridges prematurely. Five new high-capacity cartridges are standing by for when needed. - Beating up the hard disk drive from my old Toshiba laptop into the shape of the letter "L" in a vice with a dead blow hammer was a quick way to destroy all the data on the drive and prepare it for recycling. After the deed, when shaken, the glass fragments of the disks rattled. Some of them fell out, as you can see in the picture.
hard drive
- After an early supper I drove about 12 miles out of the way to deliver three old laptops (eeePC, HP & the Toshiba) to the Best Buy Outlet store at Tatum and Cactus for recycling.
- Then at the Desert Ridge Mountainside Fitness I did a light legs workout and got six new fans:
Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou
- Then at 6:30, across Tatum to The Desert Ridge Improv to buy tickets for 8:30, their late show. I took a nearly hour-long nap in my van to get ahead on a short night's sleep.
- By now there was a long line of people outside for the 8:30 show. I got two of them as new fans and then, inside before the show, got six more
Fan(s) with Lou Fan(s) with Lou

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