Blog Archive 2015 Nov
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Sun Nov 1 = Today I ordered a second Arizona Lou Comedy T-shirt as a test - the largest available: 4-X large. We'll see if this one arrives in a more timely manner.
- I have started putting a lot of effort into developing an Electronic Press Kit for my comedy.
- Through Google Voice this afternoon I phoned my daughter, Anne, at home in Germany. We had a good visit. She has been busy (what else is new?).
Mon Nov 2 = I ordered a white Casio Men's W-735H-8A2VCF Vibration Alarm Digital Watch from Amazon to use as a count-down timer during my comedy sets. When the watch arrives I'll return the black one (W735H-1AV) I got for $2.40 less at Walmart with their
site-to-storeservice.
I'm disgusted at them anyway, since they had the wrong pick-up times and I ended up driving almost 20 miles to pick up their watch.
- I had to make a series of phone calls to Casio to find that there is essentially no difference between the W735H-
1AV, the W735H-
2AV and the W-735H-
8A2VCF except maybe the color or the region where they're sold. Why didn't you explain that on your website, Casio??
- Speaking of technology, It is like the rapture (at least close to it) to get what I am typing. For over 14 months I have had to spend about a third of my time correcting errors induced by my horrible Sony
- Vaio
- Sony Vaio Duo 11 computer with 11.6" touch screen, Windows 10, 8gb memory and 256gb SSD
laptop keyboard - the worst ever. It randomly doubles or omits letters as you're typing along. Nothing seemed to prevent it.
- Today I received my new Anker 2.4GHz wireless keyboard mouse combination ($28 with shipping). I have been really impressed with the keyboard's heavy weight, compact size, thinness non-skid feet and quality... with full-sized keys. Of course I now get what I type. Both the keyboard and mouse communicate to the computer through a single .25" USB dongle. The keyboard even sits perfectly on top of my hated Sony keyboard. No more being booed for three minutes or the Dominican Re-Pubic (missing the K and the L respectively. Oh yes, other than the keyboard I love my Vaio, especially for its sleekness and superior connectivity.
- I am keeping my
COMEDIC nose to the grindstone for my EPK and the
7300 RdSea Funeral xli understand soap anemometer routine I plan to use at The Rec Room tomorrow evening.
Tue Nov 3 = Today I revised, printed out and practiced my routine for tonight at The Rec Room. On the way there this evening, I stopped by and got a turkey baster at Ace Hardware for the bulb for the battery hygrometer I bought at Goodwill on Saturday for half price. I also stopped by the 43rd Ave & Bell 24-Hour Fitness for a quick, heavy arms workout.
- The Rec Room went well, considering it was a typical open mic (mostly non-responsive audience). I successfully
talked to the bar
so they weren't as loud during my set. Learning to deal with that was the main reason I went there.
- On the way home I bought a couple things at Winco Foods. I got to bed way late and
winter
is here. I got out the heat lamp for my master toilet and, for the first time this season, had a second sheet - over my feet.
Wed Nov 4 = Most of the day was spent arranging and updating the future appearances on my website, my calendar, and the appearances list I pass out - also making tickets for my Tempe Improv appearance later this month. The FUTURE COMEDY APPEARANCES for Arizona Lou, now reads:
Tue Nov 3, 2015; 8:00pm;
The Rec Room Sports Grill; 3549 W Thunderbird Rd; Phoenix, AZ 85053
Thu Nov 5, 2015; 9:00pm;
Chop and Wok ; 10425 N Scottsdale Rd; Scottsdale, AZ 85253
Sun Nov 8, 2015; 6:00pm;
3rd St Theater; Phoenix Center for the Arts; 1202 North 3rd Street; Phoenix AZ
Thu Nov 19, 2015; 8:00pm;
Tempe Improv;
930 E University Dr; Tempe, AZ 85281
For free admission, photograph ticket or check in at the box office by 7:30 with code Arizona Lou
Sun Dec 6, 2015; 6:30pm;
Catalina Sports Bar and Grill;
2939 N 16th St; Phoenix, AZ 85016
*Wed Dec 9, 2015; 8:00pm;
Tempe Improv;
930 E University Dr; Tempe, AZ 85281
For free admission, check in at the box office by 7:30 with code Arizona Lou
- This evening I bought some staples at Fry's Food Store's 10% off 1st Wednesday of the month sale and did a heavy torso workout at LA Fitness, Moon Valley.
- Ed Karsten, K9EDK, a ham radio operator and friend with an insatiable sense of humor died this afternoon after several years fighting pancreatic cancer.
Fortunately, he was in in hospice care at the last.
Thu Nov 5 = I manually bought some shares of the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX). I had taken my contributions off automatic for November and December so I could time them with the expected lows due to congress' lack of responsibility with our debt ceiling and funding the government.
- I updated and printed my appearance slips and made the first batch of 20 tickets for my appearance at The Tempe Improv on the 19th.
Fri Nov 6 = My light grey Casio Men's W-735H-8A2VCF Vibration Alarm Digital Watch arrived this morning by USPS from Amazon. It cost a little more than the one from Walmart, but I like the color better. Also I am disgusted at Walmart's
Site-To-Store.
- Late this morning I spent a leisurely couple hours at LA Fitness, Moon Valley, sitting in the hot tub working my hand for rehab, showering, sauna, doing a light legs workout, visiting with friends and doing a little publicity for my comedy appearances.
- This evening I went to The Tempe Improv to see
Arsenio Hall. He had the full house (even the balcony) rocking; a true professional. My friend and local comedian Jill Bryant did an excellent job opening for him.
Sat Nov 7 = I seem to chose the wrong
but firsts. I am ready to start something on my schedule... but first (maybe it should be
butt first
)... maybe look something up on the Internet, start a
little
project or something. The more important, scheduled activity gets put off until late, maybe gets rushed or puts other things, like stopping by a gym on the way to a comedy appearance, off. Of course there is a place for
but firsts. If something is important to do every day, you probably want to get it done first thing.
- Rogellio, my landscaper, left me a voice mail that he will be here tomorrow morning between 8 and 8:30, so I went to Moon Valley Nursery and bought four five-gallon dwarf myoporums, returning the black Casio watch to Walmart on the way. Walmart didn't communicate very well, giving me four stories for how to return the watch.
- This evening
- Harold
- Harold Dean Hayes, my techie X brother-in-law
came over for a tech visit. His thing now is adapting an old 100-300mm Pentax zoom lens to a
Sun Nov 8 = I cancelled my trip 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
and got up early for the landscaper to plant my dwarf myoporums and trim my shrubs. He never showed up, did not call or answer my two voice mails or my text message. Bummer!
- I spent much of the day working on my EPK (Electronic Press Kit) and preparing for comedy tonight in the Third Street Theater at the Phoenix Center for the arts. The crowd there didn't laugh a lot, but I DID get positive comments after the show. "Remember, Lou," I must tell myself, "have fun!" Barry Neal says being interesting always beats being funny.
Mon Nov 9 = Rogellio, my landscaper, finally phoned around 10 this morning, saying his truck quit working and for me to get someone else. My plants are still sitting on the driveway, needing to be planted.
- I spent quite a bit of time working on the smiling image and reconfiguring some of the
files and formatting the
- EPK
- Electronic Press Kit for my stand-up comedy
I am working on.
- I also did my monthly Blog rollover in a record 12:58 minutes ; )
- This evening I ventured out to Bashas for grapes on sale and broccoli, Dollar Tree for toilet cleaner and Fitness 1 for a light arms workout.
Tue Nov 10 = This morning I had Jose Villa come over to plant four 5-gallon myoporums and trim all my shrubs which really need trimming. It took him, his helper and my $80 an hour to get the job done. Thanks, Jose and Cecilia, who does his scheduling!
- Most of the rest of the day I got my
- EPK
- Electronic Press Kit for my stand-up comedy
up to its final formatting, which included creating a video chart with seven videos and finalized my smiling media image.
- I felt terrible after taking a bunch of time on the phone with
- GoDaddy
- my website hosting company
trying to figure out why my EPK page was not uploading correctly to the Internet, only to find out that I failed to update one of my
- SSI
- Server-Side Include (a separate file that is inserted into a web page as it is loading)
files, Duh! Thank you for your time and patience, Ross and Katie of GoDaddy!
Wed Nov 11 = This evening I drove the 40 miles down to Chandler and Gangplank. David and Marco, there helped me get started with my first 3-D printing experience: a padlock that I did not have time to finish. I got the keys and mechanism made, but there was not time to make the back plate base or the front cover.
Thu Nov 12 = This morning I had the last physical therapy session for my hand with Jeff Eaton. This afternoon I added links from my Home and Comedy web pages to pictures of my hand. then headed down to Gangplank to finish printing the padlock.
While the front and back plates were printing I went to a near-by 24-Hour fitness for a heavy legs workout, and, at Gangplank, finished shortening the first four videos on my not-yet-published
- EPK
- Electronic Press Kit for my stand-up comedy
web page with Windows Movie maker. Then I had to modify the EPK page to accept those videos.
- Meanwhile back with the padlock, it is going to need some modifications before it really functions. For one thing, the latch pin is not long enough. I had enlarged everything to 120%. I reprinted the latch pin at 130.33%, so with a little filing, it should work. However the rest of the spring pin needs a little tweaking.
Fri Nov 13 = This afternoon I paid off (as always) three of my credit cards.
- This evening I drove down to the Tempe Improv to see Bryan Callen. He was fantastic with his animated comedy. I also passed out a lot of my Appearance Slips and tickets for Thursday's show at The Improv. Where better to find people interested in comedy than before and after a comedy show?
Sat Nov 14 = This morning I finally got my HP Office Jet 100 to print out... with the refilled cartridge. Shame on you, HP for making it so difficult!
-This afternoon I removed the sunscreens from four windows, as I do every fall, so my house can accumulate more solar heat during the days. It also makes the house brighter, which I like.
- This afternoon, from Walmart.com, I ordered a 6 x 12 x 12" clear vinyl tote bag, designed to hold knitting and quilting projects. I'll use it to tote my Arizona Lou T-Shirts around.
- Late this afternoon I drove to JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort for the KFNN Financial Fest. I arrived when they were tearing down. Many of the people working there were interested in my comedy. Hopefully I'll see some of them on Thursday at The Tempe Improv. Stops by Ace Hardware for padlock screws, AJ's for bananas and The Codfather for our weekly Hamfeast rounded out the trip.
- Back home, I worked on this website, my 3-D printed padlock cover and made more tickets for Thursday.
Sun Nov 15 = Today's trip was a long one, lasting until after dark and leaving a trail of Improv tickets and comedy-schedule slips. This morning I went to the First Baptist Church of Mesa (my first time at their new store-front location) with
- George & Cindy
- younger brother and his wife who live in Mesa, Arizona
,
then to Kim (their daughter) & Andy's for Isaac's second birthday party. I put on a 6.5 minute comedy show about hurting my hand for them. Then to the Signal Bute and Baseline LA Fitness in Mesa for a heavy arms workout.
- Tonight I registered for the San Diego Comedy Festival, that is going to be from January 25 to 31. Seeing me and other comedians might be fun if you are looking for an excuse to go to San Diego and if you like comedy.
- I decided NOT to do comedy at the Hidden House on Tuesday and, instead, put more effort in preparing for Thursday's five minutes at the Tempe Improv.
- I also traced and started sawing out the basic shape for the acrylic cover for my 3-D printed padlock.
Mon Nov 16 = This morning I scurried around, made my shopping list and took Denise shopping
under the auspices of
- Duet
- The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
at Winco and to Target for her to pick up a prescription.
- I finished sawing out the acrylic cover for my 3-D printed padlock.
- Of course I worked some on my comedy. Today was a prime time for inviting people to my Thursday comedy appearance so, of course, I gave out tickets for the show and passed out lots of my schedule slips.
- I'm mad at HP and my Office Jet 100 printer. I thought I had solved the problem, some way for its refusing to use refilled ink cartridges. Then the black (which is typically the only color I use) started smearing and doubling lines. Fortunately, I had enough schedule slips preprinted so I was not in a bind. I saved $2 by getting a genuine HP cartridge at Target. Still expensive at $29, (HP 94 C8765WN, supposedly good for480 pages). I paid for the cartridge online and picked it up at my nearby Target on the way to LA Fitness less than two hours later. The Target experience was so much easier, smother and more customer-friendly than Walmart's Site-To-Store.
- I reset my digital drip controller for Mon & Fri at 9:09am for four hours. That will give my new myoporum the needed four gallons of water twice a week throughout the winter, according to Christina at Moon Valley Nursery where I bought the plants on the 7th.
Tue Nov 17 = I phoned my friend, Bryan Ricci, who is doing comedy in New Jersey as an opener.
- HP is bad, the way they way they have Office Jet 100 portable printer rigged so you can't refill your ink cartridges. It is not working now, even with brand new HP ink cartridges. Two trips to Target to get two new HP black ink cartridge and the printer recognizes neither one. The printer will not reset the counter and will not do a factory reset. All it does is blink the power and right cartridge lights and print a black diagnostic sheet, which is of no help. I had to go to a FedEx Office to print out more schedule slips.
- This afternoon and evening I tweaked my DR/Hand routine for tomorrow night's show, washed my van, ordered and picked up a Black & Decker electric Knife at Walmart for cutting the 3x13x16" foam I bought at Fabric Depot for my carry-on back pack, bought bread at 99-Cent Only, did a light fast legs workout at LA Fitness and bought a couple of things at Winco Foods.
Wed Nov 18 = Some people in healthcare don't know what's going on. I phoned my doctor's office to schedule my annual physical. Corina said this year's physical had to be a year and a day after the previous one, which makes no sense due to date creep and is wrong. I spent time on the phone with United Healthcare to find out that the 2015 physical can be any time during the year (plan year = calendar year in my case). I hate wasting my time because of ignorant people that are paid to know stuff.
- I hand watered my new myoporum and washed my van, making good use of my Karcher vacuum squeegee to finish off the windows.
Thu Nov 19 = Today I practiced for tonight at The Tempe Improv.
- While I had the Karcher vacuum squeegee out from the van windows yesterday, I washed the four windows, inside and out, from which I had removed the sunscreens Saturday. The windows look almost non-existent... except the one pain I missed on the outside.
- Good show at the Tempe Improv. It was their Third Annual Turkey Contest. Big, standing room crowd (without using the balcony) of a little over 300 - my second largest yet. The winner of the turkey and the $100 obviously had more guests there than anyone else. Good for her. I did my Dominican Republic Stand-up Paddle Boarding Hand Injury routine. It was fun, getting about as many oohs and ahhs. and groans as I did laughs. Good crowd and good comedians. That performance brings up my total audience count to 7,216.
- I pass out tickets to people who say they will come to the show. I had printed out 150 tickets, had 11 left over after passing out 139 of them, had 13 guests come to the show which is 9.4%. Better than average for me.
Fri Nov 20 = Today I figured some financial stuff, tweaked some things on my website and lay in the sun for 20 minutes. This evening I had a light, fast arms workout at Fitness 1, where I met gray-haired Paul... just a young guy... probably in his middle sixties.
Sat Nov 21 = Big 10-hour trip down south today. To Gangplank at 2:00 to print out, on their MakerBot, a new and 10% larger latch pin for my plastic padlock; to a Dollar Tree for dental floss, to a gym for a light fast torso workout; probably take a nap in my van; to the Black Bear Diner at 6:30 for our Saturday night hamfeast; to Comedy Night at Queen's Pizzeria at 8:00; back home around 11:30.
Sun Nov 22 = I laid out an ambitious schedule for today, alternating sedentary and active jobs, and completed about half. One of the first things was researching a portable printer and whether to fix or replace my horrible HP Office Jet 100. This project ended up consuming most of the morning. Conclusion, in the spring go for the Epson WorkForce WF-100 Portable Printer. It is smaller, has more features than the HP and is more expensive. The ink for it will cost more unless I can refill the cartridges, which are smaller than the HP's.
- Glory Be! I now have a working B&W printer. After sitting around over a year, my Canon iP4820 came alive after I unplugged and removed it from my
- Vaio
- Sony Vaio Duo 11 computer with 11.6" touch screen, Windows 10, 8gb memory and 256gb SSD
then plugged it back in. The Vaio re-installed the driver and the printer worked on the first try. Now I have a fast featureful printer as opposed to the temperamental HP Office Jet 100 portable printer which I will try to ignore and let collect dust.
- I decided I need a notebook computer stand to use with my
- Vaio
- Sony Vaio Duo 11 computer with 11.6" touch screen, Windows 10, 8gb memory and 256gb SSD
,
which is a pleasure to use folded into the notebook configuration with the Anker external wireless keyboard and mouse. Right now the Vaio is propped up on a box. The finalists were Fellows, iRiser and Cosmos. I ordered the lighter, more compact Cosmos. It also happened to be the cheapest of the three and, according to the reviews, the least durable. I'll just have to treat it gently. It should be a good addition for the office in my van on my road trips.
- This evening I went to LA Fitness for an abbreviated, light, fast torso workout and researched some possible venues for comedy in the Dominican Republic.
Mon Nov 23 = At 7:35 this morning my CPAP machine humidifier ran out of water because I forgot to refill it last night, so I got up, exercycled, ate breakfast and uploaded a revised OTHER VIDEOS to my website. Then back to bed to finish getting the rest of the sleep for the night. I had not been sleeping too well, worrying about how to straighten out the medical billing mess between Honor Health, United Healthcare and the Arizona State Retirement System.
- After I got up for good for the day, I worked on things left over from yesterday's list and had a light, fast arms workout at Fitness 1.
Tue Nov 24 = Had a sore throat when I got up in the middle of the night to pee this morning, so did a deep gargle/sinus flush with salt water before going back to bed.
- Containered
breakfast at 10am this morning after my blood test after my annual physical and flu shot, after driving to the doctor's, after fixing it after getting up this morning. It was good to see Anita (my former nurse) and visit with Rhonda (the referral lady). We try and keep in touch. On the way back home I stopped by Walgreens for my once-in-a-lifetime Shingles shot.
- I lay in the sun for 20 minutes at solar noon, had lunch and caught up on this blog. This afternoon the 6 x 12 x 12" clear vinyl tote bag (designed to hold knitting and quilting projects) arrived by USPS at my front door (not the BACK door as per the address) from BIC Warehouse in Brooklyn, NY. I'll use the bag for my Arizona Lou T-Shirts.
- This evening I drove the 13 miles over to the Hideaway West Bar & Grill. I probably should have been in bed nursing my sore throat, but I wanted to support Gary and Donna Brockway and their Comedy Club Connection show. Needless to say I did not stay for much of the show or take the mic - especially considering no one was there specifically to see me. On the way home I pushed my limits a little more by stopping by a Dollar Tree for trays and Winco Foods for a bunch of vegetables for Thanksgiving dinner at the Yurkanin's (my niece and the Hays clan).
- More saltwater gargling at bedtime and Wednesday morning.
Wed Nov 25 = Today I nursed my sore throat by taking a long afternoon nap, finalized my comedy routine for tomorrow, sprayed the weeds with Roundup and hand watered my new myoporum.
- I phoned Elizabeth Banta, Executive Director of
- Duet
- The organization I support and through which I take non-driving seniors shopping and to their doctors' appointments
to work out some details for the refrigerator magnets, flags and magnetic car signs that I am funding. Duet: Partners in Health & Aging. What an excellent organization!
- This evening I held my breath and then cut up my super fancy and neat airline personal item backpack and started carving the $16 gray foam padding I bought at the Fabric Depot on the 17th. When I finish, I should have well-organized stowage and transportation for my camera, Rode microphone, small, spindly tripod,
- Vaio
- Sony Vaio Duo 11 computer with 11.6" touch screen, Windows 10, 8gb memory and 256gb SSD
with its power supply, an Anker external keyboard and mouse. Maybe even some other things if I can figure how to fit them in... and make the TSA happy on my flights. The electric knife I bought also on the 17th came in handy, although I discovered it does not cut exactly straight along its entire blade. As a result I have a slice dividing the foam lid
for my Vaio.
Thu Nov 26 = HAPPY THANKSGIVING, US! This morning I fixed two fancy, colorful vegetable trays and headed down to East Mesa for the Hays Family Thanksgiving. I realized that I had left my cell phone at home after driving six miles. Figuring I could do without the phone, I barged on to east Mesa, to arrive at the wrong house - their OLD address, with no way to contact anyone. So, I drove back home (the round trip was 80 miles) to get my act together and get their NEW address. I finally got there, two hours late, but the food and good company were worth the extra driving. Also my 3-D printed padlock and my thermographic camera created a lot of interest. Also I put on a comedy show... the one about almost losing three of my fingers in the Dominican Republic.
- This evening I finished planning the layout for the rest of the items for my airline travel trifold pack pack.
- Near bedtime I had a sharp pain and possible lump on my right knee cap. Of course I immediately started worrying about whether to do squats in the future, when to schedule a doctors' appointment etc. I iced it at bedtime and again in the middle of the night. By morning the pain was hardly noticeable. Yea for icing!
Fri Nov 27 = My knee was pretty much back to normal today. I'll ice it again tonight at bedtime, just for good measure.
- One of the best cell phone Bluetooth headsets, especially for the price, is the Plantronics M55. This I found out as a result of some online research. It is comfortable, has good clarity, good noise cancelling, Voice commands to answer/ignore calls, music streaming, plus a power-saving mode. The battery lasts for about 11 hours of talk time. I am thinking of it as Christmas gifts.
- Today UPS (who can't read my address to Leave package at BACK door
) left my Christmas gift at the FRONT door from
- Cindy
- my younger brother George's wife
,
a really cool notebook/laptop computer stand that folds up and fits into a 1.5 x 7.5" pouch. Now it cradles my
- Vaio
- Sony Vaio Duo 11 computer with 11.6" touch screen, Windows 10, 8gb memory and 256gb SSD
instead of its being propped up on little cardboard boxes.
- I finished my airline travel trifold pack pack project today (pictures coming). The middle compartment now holds
- Vaio
- Sony Vaio Duo 11 computer with 11.6" touch screen, Windows 10, 8gb memory and 256gb SSD
- power supply for the Vaio with its low-voltage cord
- cord for the power supply
- Anker wireless keyboard
- Anker wireless mouse
- Panasonic camera
- Rode shotgun microphone
- 20 foot mic extension cord
- cold shoe flash swivel
- micro tripod, 4"
- 9-section mini tripod (10" collapsed)
- This evening I thoroughly vacuumed the house.
Sat Nov 28 = HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ME! I mostly relaxed today, riding my exercycle extra time, laying in the sun at solar noon, and getting some MakerBot images ready for my TECHNOLOGY page and more hand pictures ready for my hand injury section.
- This evening I went to our Saturday Night Hamfeast - mostly because it was close by. On the way I stopped by Fitness 1 for light workouts: Short, Fast Legs and Regular Fast Arms.
Sun Nov 29 = Still nursing a cold with a sinus headache, I can't believe I stayed inside all day, well almost. I read my Kindle in the back yard for a few minutes while I got a little sun. All this does not mean I got no exercise. I rode my exercycle as usual (pretty fast for two minutes). The rest of the day I organized some photos and videos for the TRIPS web page of my website.
- This evening I resewed the pen compartment on my cargo pants, after putting up with the barely functional compartment for several months. While I was at it, I started the process of modifying a pair of Speedos to fit me better.
- I was lucky. Several days ago I did everything but the last resolving step on my checking account. Today it balanced - first try! It took me only 9 minutes. :)
Mon Nov 30 = This morning I made my shopping list and took it to Winco Foods along with Denise
(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 home I went to the Moon Valley LA Fitness for my light, fast torso workout. Got home about 2pm for lunch, which was OK because I had my Engle refrigerator in the van set to 31 degrees. That way while I'm in the gym my frozen stuff stays frozen and my refrigerator stuff stays... refrigerator temperature.
- Typical of me; since I felt much better with my cold, I probably overdid it today, so had a somewhat miserable night with some coughing etc. I just hope I can do my Safety comedy routine tomorrow night at Dos Gringos in Tempe.
