Blog Archive 2014 Dec
Mon Dec 1 = Took my van to Auto Tune for a brakes check this morning. The brakes occasionally were making a little noise. Fortunately the brakes are OK.
- Ten o'clock this evening at The Turf started a long 24 hours for me. I was on stage at
Tue Dec 2 = I spoke with Brent at Moon Valley Nursery about why my myoporum don't do better. He said they were dying from getting too much water (daily waterings all last winter as suggested by Herman). Brent suggested right now twice a week with 3-5 gallons each time. Brown stuff: let it go for the rest of this year (help prevent freezing). In the spring when it starts sending a lot of growth up again I can trim back the stuff that hasn't come back. I can help it out with Moon Juice in the spring. In the summer, water it every other day. Nothing needs water every day. Moon Juice: apply twice a month to get the myoporum going, then once a month for maintenance. You can't over do that stuff. Can put 6 TBS/ gallon. Fertarlizer (Mericle Grow) can stress the plants by stimulating them to grow too fast at first. OK in the spring, though, along with Moon Juice
- This evening was the third session of the TCA Advanced comedy class. I was too tired to go to Dos Gringos after the class. This is the first appearance that I have skipped. Hopefully no one went to see me. People I invite hardly ever show up anyway.
Wed Dec 3 = This morning I flew my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
.
All five of the batteries worked well, except X (E-flite), so I came home and cycled it twice at 124mAh between 3.0 and 4.2v.
- This afternoon I had another voice thereapy session with Jill at Banner Good Sam.
- Soul, here I come. They say that confession is good for it, you know, although it can be embarasing. At the same time I demonstrated that a GPS might stand for Geiser, Plane and Stupid. I was ready to leave in pleanty of time for the Outliars Comedy class this evening, but decided to double check the route. By the time I had done that and packed up my computer for the class my leaving time was marginal. My
- GPS
- Garmin 885T with voice recognition and traffic
took me to 1900 E Apache Trail, but there appeared to be no building for that address and no one in the area knew about a comedy class. Only then, with the help of a nice lady, did I find out that I should have put in Tempe instead of Mesa! Now I had planned on enough gas to get me to the class, but NOT enough to get me out to east Mesa and back to east Tempe, so I had to hunt up a gas station and refuel. By the time I got myself straightened out and got the fuel and got to the class I was an hour late. It turns out, that was no biggie because the class was for beginning improve. The stand-up comedy classes start in January! Either I was half asleep or Dave did not make the class information clear when he told me about the classes a couple weeks ago.
Thu Dec 4 = First thing this morning I met a new
- Duet
- The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
neighbor, Nancy. I took her to a dermatologist appointment. On the way home I stopped by LA fitness for a leisurely (about as leisurely as I get, considering I am always rushing) hot tub session, shower and light torso workout.
- Just before noon, the sun came out for the first time in about three days - unusual for Phoenix - so I got about 20 minutes of sun to keep my tan going. Being more skin conscious nowadays, I have reduced my sunning to 25%, only doing it about every four days.
- My 8 new Lectron
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
batteries arrived today. I am looking foreward to trying one out because they have the best specs of any battery I have ever gotten, rated at 180mAh and 45C. The more expensive batteries, E-flite that come with the Nano, are only rated at 150mAh and 25C, which means they do not have enough power for aggressive flight like jumps to inverted, flips and rolls.
- Tonight I drove to Scottsdale to Chop and Wok to do comedy. Josh, the host, informed me that the show had been cancelled due to a special event. He said that he
tagged
me to let me know. I don't know what that means, but has something to do with Facebook. I just hope people didn't see my publicity and show up expecting to see me. Twenty-five miles and time wasted. At least I have my routine ready for my appearance there on the 11th! Brigetts Last Laugh is the only other club that has done this.
Fri Dec 5 = This evening I drove down to the Tempe Center for the Arts to see Tony Vicich, the instructor for the comedy class I am taking. There was a host with 12 minutes of material, six openers with about six minutes, a feature with 10 minutes and the headliner, Tony, with 46 minutes. I have done comedy with three of those comedians.
Sat Dec 6 = One big trip was most of today, driving to Mesa Community College for a hamfest where I bought various
daylight LED lights for the house (Mr-16s 9w=50w incandescent; 7w=40w incandescent bulb; flood 7.5w=50w PAR 20 incandescent) and for the van (dome lights), then on to the Superstitions Springs' Cheese Cake Factory to help celebrate
- George's
- younger brother who lives in Mesa with his wife and family
67th and Andy's (one of George's son-in-laws) 30th birthdays, then to
Fitness Works in east Mesa to finish up my legs and do my arms, both heavy, then to Talking Stick Casino for a nap, then on home to finish listening to NBC's night time shows from tape and vacuuming the house.
Sun Dec 7 = Last night I only got up to pee 1 1/2 times. I had a nightmare... about comedy. I was late going up for my set because I was desperately trying to find my notes, which I never found. I finally went to the microphone and started talking to the audience with no idea of what I wanted to say.
- I was pretty rusty flying my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
this morning. Probably because I didn't first fly my
- simulator
- PhoenixRC flight simulator that contains my Nano nCPX and uses my DX7s controller
before going out. I did save all inverted and aggressive flying for my last two, higher powered flight batteries. The new Lectron 180mAh, 45C battery seemed to have plenty of power.
- Before I went to LA Fitness for my heavy legs workout, I got out my little air compressor and air bottle and adjusted the pressure in all five tires on the van, which I do the first of the month. The tires were 2.5 to 3 PSI below the 33 PSI where I keep them.
- This evening I mostly tweaked comedy routines for later in the week and read some detailed and interesting
information and
a video on crimping electrical connections.
Mon Dec 8 = Helicase and comedy prep took up most of the day. I got all the wiring done for the helicase which included soldering to the switches and lots of crimping connectors. I already had all the parts laid out and color-codded wires cut to length. Next will be double checking the circuitry and beginning the testing.
- I revised and revised and practiced the Yoga routine I plan to use tomorrow night at Dos Gringos. Sure is a lot of work.
Tue Dec 9 = Got my helicase wiring tested today with everything spread out on the kitchen counter. I'm going to start using it, powered by its 1.5Ah SLA battery, as a test before I cram everything into the small compartment I'm making for the case.
- Worked hard this morning on the tweaked Yoga routine for Dos Gringos tonight, then this afternoon preparing for my 5:30 comedy class at the
- TCA
- Tempe Center for the Arts
.
My 8:00 comedy at Dos Gringos went pretty well. I forgot a few things, but was not tied to my notes too much which was a good compromise. Patrick Chandler, the host, is very supportive.
Wed Dec 10 = This morning I got an MRI of my head to see if there is a reason for my chronic, mild headaches (the eventual result was, everything is normal). I paid my two credit card bills online. Most of the rest of the day I prepared for this evening's stand-up comedy appearance at CrackUps at Toso's Bar. I did a version of my Maui routine, which I am still tweaking. It went pretty well. After a comedian's set on these open mic nights, he can say, "Help" and the audience, which is mostly comedians, gives him immediate feedback on the set he just did. Excellent!!
Thu Dec 11 = I can't believe I fouled up so completely on time today - twice - but in opposite directions. It didn't help that I got to bed late last night (actually early this morning) after doing comedy at CrackUps. After a late breakfast this morning I flew my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
,
lost track of time so had to rush directly to pick up Hannea under the auspices of
- Duet
- The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
15 minutes late and with no lunch. How embarrassing. I DID get her to her doctor just barely on time.
- Then, this evening I rushed to get gas, to the gym and then to Chop ad Wok for comedy - an hour early. You might say that, on the average, I was perfect today. I am going to have to slow down and do a little more thinking along the way!
Fri Dec 12 = Sort of in the technology department, today I caused my My Dymo DateMark electronic stamp to lock up by printing with it on an irregular surface which prevented the hammer from operating. Pressing
reset did not fix it. Taking out both the printer batteries and the clock battery did the trick. I surely like the stamp, although I don't believe it is in production any more. Also I measured my bladder capacity as a baseline for future references in case my past BPH resurfaces. How did I do? More than average.
Sat Dec 13 = The big social event this evening was the
- ARA
- Arizona Repeater Association (ham radio operators)
Christmas party and gift exchange. I guess I took a good gift (a transparent LCD alarm clock/timer) because someone stole it. I came away with a fairly large hand-held digital multimeter that has a continuity beeper. This will replace my bench meter that quit working.
Sun Dec 14 = Around noon I drove to
- George & Cindy's
- younger brother and his wife who live in Mesa, Arizona
for Stacy's graduation party - two college degrees now. What a group, what food and what fun!
- From there I drove directly to the Phoenix Center for the Arts where I bunked up in my van in their parking lot for about an hour before heading in to do comedy in the Third Street Theater. It was a good, responsive audience of 84. My Maui/SUP routine was not as polished as it could have been, but it was a lot of fun for both the audience and me. Jason gave me five minutes and I took 5:04. Pretty good - and that was without a one-minute light. Watch the video
HERE. It's also on my
Comedy web page.
Mon Dec 15 = I got out to the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
about 11 this morning (remember my new schedule) and flew my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
four batteries worth. On the way home I made a decision:
- For the last Comedy Schools class (tomorrow) I will switch from the new ideas of technology and inventions to perfecting the Maui/SUP routine. It should also enhance the possible observation at The Tempe Improv on January 8th when I plan to use the same routine.
- This afternoon I got to the doctor's office early so took a short nap before going in for a followup for the MRI from last Wednesday (everything was normal), then to Radio Shack, Harbor Freight and 24-Hour Fitness.
- I'm trying a
new approach to bedtime, after Dr Dwivedi suggested I improve my sleep hygiene by keeping regular sleeping hours. That is fine going to bed late and getting up late, due to my comedy. The only problem is when I have early-morning activities. Early, by my new definition would be before 10:30. So I am trying, even if I have no comedy, getting to bed
late.
That means planning my evening/night projects to accomplish, rather than just doing stuff on my way to bed late.
Tue Dec 16 = Most of the day I spent rewriting and preparing for tonight's comedy class. I also resolved my checking account and tried to figure out the Tempe Improv's stand-up comedy classes. Never got it done, because of conflicting information on their various web pages, a web page that is three months out of date, and because the gal who they say to call and who runs the classes does not return phone calls or answer emails :(
- This evening's trip was to our Phoenix City Cuncilman's (Jim Waring) Christmas party where I met and had a nice visit with Ricky, a little younger than me, and then on to the
- TCA
- Tempe Center for the Arts
for the 7:30 comedy class. Tony, the teacher, liked my Maui/kiteboarding/SUP topic, my energy and friendliness. He said I'm too new to do physical comedy and it doesn't serve my learning process. I'm not sure I altogether agree with that. He came up with some good suggestions, so you know what I'll be doing between now and Friday's TCA show: rewriting, tweaking and practicing. I'm looking forward to a good show!
Wed Dec 17 = Early (that's 10:30 according to my
new schedule) this morning I got my oil changed at Derrick Auto Tune. Derrick said he saw some comedy at the Catch 22 bar, near here, so I stopped by on my way home. Jeff, the owner referred me to Boomer, who does their bookings.
Thu Dec 18 = Got up 10 minutes late due to miss-setting my alarm clock last night but rushed around and got Barry, under the auspices of
- Duet
- The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
,
to his VA Medical Center appoint 30 minutes ahead of time any way. Durig the one-hour wait I found a parking place and stayed in my van, using my table, comfortable couch and the 110v inverter powered by my
LiFeMnPO battery. I got a lot done on this blog and some more of my Christmas letter written.
- This evening I got my new helicase's power box mostly completed. Had to disconnect everything, hot glue in the finished 1/8" plywood dividers and lid, reconnect everything and test it. What a tight fit! I even have the battery shock mounted.
Fri Dec 19 = I took Denise, my
- Duet
- The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
,
neighbor shopping this morning, then this evening appeared at the Tempe Center for the Arts. The video is
HERE and also under
Other Videos o Arizona Lou on my
Comedy web page. I found that the best video angle for the Studio is center front of the balcony with an external mic hanging down over the audience. My set was not as relaxed as it could have been. I tried to get too much into the five minutes, which limited my interactions with the audience. I did a modification of my Fitness, Kid, Gym rules, Maui, Shirt, SUP and Boneyard routine.
Sat Dec 20 = This morning I flew my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
.
This evening I went to the hamfeast at Three Pits Again BBQ, then, at home, made 20 more Tempe Improv tickets and a new list of upcoming appearances.
Sun Dec 21 = Today was sort of a finance day for me. I wasted most of this morning figuring the in's and out's of the consequences of a loan I made because the borrower was late on his first payment. Then, with further research, I discovered the payment is not due for another five days. Boy am I glad I didn't open my mouth prematurely!
- I spent most of this afternoon figuring the in's and out's and consequences for the lady who bought 5 acres of raw desert land from me, having not made the December payment, and it is 21 days late so far. She always makes the payment late, but seldom THIS late. It would be nice if people kept their word!
Mon Dec 22 = This morning I flew my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
.
I took my new helicase out for the first time and showed off all its features, with more features planned. The other RC guys were interested and thought it was pretty neat.
- I decided, for this evening's comedy, to switch from my planned Maui routine, similar to what I had done before and am still perfecting, to a Christmas Shopping routine, so I was busy putting ideas to paper. This evening I went to The Turf with a page of ideas but nothing specific planned. While waiting for the show to start I penciled a trigger outline and my 4:27 minute routine went reasonably well.
Tue Dec 23 = I ran out of time to fix supper before leaving for my final
- TCA
- Tempe Center for the Arts
comedy class, having to leave beore 5:00, considering traffic. It was evaluation day and Tony evaluated each of us privately for our Friday routines while Kevin O'Day conducted class for the rest of us, Kevin had us just visit, sort of, on mic - not doing any comedy routines. It was interesting and he gave me some good feedback. For my private evaluation, both Tony and I concluded that I have come a long way but need more experience.
- After the class I drove on down to Dos Gringos and did my developing Christmas Shopping routine There were only seven comedians so Patric, the host, let us take as much time as we liked. My set was 10:46 minutes and I was able to include more than with last night's five-minute time limit.
Wed Dec 24 = Today I gathered together the Christmas gifts to take over to George's tomorrow morning, made an elastic battery and tool holder for my new helicase, worked on this blog and some comedy.
Bulletin:
Standup Comedy Classes Starting the week of January 4th, 2015 in the Phoenix area.
Thu Dec 25 = Merry Christmas! Early this morning, about 7:15, I drove over to
- George & Cindy
- younger brother and his wife who live in Mesa, Arizona
's
for breakfast with them,
- Stan
- Stanley, my older brother who is a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS
and a group of their church friends. After some good visiting, good food and sharing, George, Cindy, Stan and I went over to
- Shane
- My nephew, George's son who is an engineer for a high-tech company
and Kristen's for a gift exchange with all of George's clan of about two dozen. The fun and festivities lasted until sunset. Kevin Deela, one of George's son-in-laws helped me understand Facebook a little better. Thanks, Kevin
Fri Dec 26 = This evening was my first appearance at the Firehouse Gallery in central Phoenix and my first time to do open air comedy in the WINTER! For my Old Man routine, I usually wear just a white T shirt, but tonight I wore long pants, long underwear, a T shirt, hooded sweatshirt, a warm insulated jacket and lined leather gloves. I took off the gloves and put the hood down for my set. I was cool, but never really cold. The set went well and was a lot of fun. They DID have a bonfire there and a couple of propane heaters. It was my 124th appearance and here is the video.
It is also on my Comedy web page. There was no way to position my stereo microphone above the audience so it was on the camera and picked up quite a bit of visiting by some comedians at the back. Oh, yes. They are not saying boo, but Louuuu.
- I am going to take 11 days off of doing comedy appearances and spend more time rewriting, tweaking and practicing my routines in various combinations.
Sat Dec 27 = This morning was not very successful for flying my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
.
Most of the four flights, it ran out of power. Could be the cold weather.
- Around noon I drove over to
- George's
- younger brother who lives in Mesa with his wife
to pick up
- Stan
- Stanley, my older brother who is a machinist for Eaton Corporation in Hutchinson, KS
.
We went out for dinner and then to visit our Aunt Jana in a rehab residence facility where they are helping her hopefully gain enough strength to go home with her husband, Cy.
- This evening Stan and I practiced flying the PhoenixRC simulator on my computer.
Sun Dec 28 = Toward sunset Both Stan and I flew my
- Nano
- fourth type of RC micro helicopter: Blade Nano CPx that has a tail rotor, no flybar and true collective positive and negative pitch
at the
- RC Park
- Coyote Basin Park where guys fly electric RC airplanes and an occasional helicopter - east of the 101 Pima Freeway and Cave Creek Rd in Phoenix
. However the little heli did not have much power. We ended up flying the last two batteries in the Fitness 1 aerobics room.
Mon Dec 29 = Stan and I did lots of brother stuff that included RC talk, FLIR i7, Phoenix RC Simulator, Helicase, Sleep Number bed, laundry and interesting
light graphs.
Tue Dec 30 = I did a comedy show for Stan this morning, then he mostly packed and, around noon, I drove him down to Sky Harbor Airport for his flight to San Antonio to visit his family for a couple days then on to his home in Hutchinson, KS.
Wed Dec 31 = I got my Christmas cards/letters into the mail today. I was late, but a LOT earlier than last year.
