Wed Sep 1 = During the night I experienced some right shoulder pain when I would lift it up and some popping, so I iced it and, this morning did a mild exercycle ride without using the arm handles.
- Today I felt pretty good about life and things in spite of having low energy.
- Today's trip started out at Fry's, a Kroger store, taking advantage of their monthly 10% senior discount. Shame on them! They have discontinued their Hebrew National 97% Fat Free beef Franks. Then...
- At LA Fitness I did my
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
, took a shower, did a short slow heavy legs (medium-weight chest due to my shoulder) workout. For more immediate protein and a reward I drove back home to have a protein frosty, which I had left in the freezer.
- Then back out to Winco where I did my big semi-monthly grocery shopping and on to Albertson's where I bought 10 packs of Hebrew National 97% Fat Free beef Franks with only 1 gram of fat.
- A package with six blender buddies arrived today. Good, but not good that one was cracked. Here comes another project :(
- I still felt pretty good about life this evening when I picked up my mail and read a letter from a collection company about a medical debt that Honor Health sent to collections... for $15. I checked on My Chart portal and it showed a balance of zero.
- Starting at 3:50 this afternoon within eight hours I had three visual anomalies. Before Tuesday, when I had - This evening I finished the
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
module I was working on and took the quiz... got 100%. That's too good. I'll have to shape up, quit waisting my time and start taking fewer notes.
- Got to bed at 10:27
Thu Sep 2 = I question whether I am smart or whether it was worth the $158, but my big project, which took up most of the day, was to finish up and put in the mail the claim form to APS for my spoiled freezer food due to the power outage while I was gone on my tour. Had to find receipts and all sorts of things.
- Both Larry Biller, my landscaper, and Dianne, his wife, came over to look at my yard and get some money. They were also on their way to the nearby Anytime Fitness.
- At solar noon I lay in the sun, rode my exercycle (with the arm handles as usual) then took a nap.
- With the APS claim, I did not have time to do anything on my
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
or to go to the gym.
- I am going to seriously try getting to bed and getting up at the same time each day. I'll see if it gives me more energy, which I need. I tried to get in bed before 10:00. Didn't make it but got pretty close.
- Got to bed at 10:06 :)
one, I hadn't had one for about a month or so.
Fri Sep 3 = This morning I spent some time exploring some of Duet's services and adding these links to my Smart Stuff web page: offers resources, many of them virtual, for Family Caregivers, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and others.
- I also tracked the information sent from various doctors to my flight surgeon, Dr Burr Ross.
- To, hopefully, get a refund of $4, I sent in a request for the one out of six blender buddy jars that arrived broken, including these pictures of the package and the jar.
- Now I have confused myself. The WHR charts show me as at risk while the BMI
chart shows me healthy. We'll see what the doctor says at my physical next week.
- Got to bed at 10:05
Sat Sep 4 = Instead of going to church this weekend, at noon I met
George & Cindy
my younger brother and his wife who live in Mesa, Arizona and have a mountain place in Christopher Creek
at a Chic Fil-A in Tempe. We had a nice visit.
- I had accidentally forgotten to bring my CB Live show tickets to give to people I meet, so went to a nearby Office Max and made 80 more, printing from the thumb drive I carry in my pocket.
- Each of us performers this afternoon at the Urban Beans open mic had an audience of three - the other performers. No, wonder it was about 103° F for the show out on the patio.
- Brian the host of the open mic, books a number of shows. He booked me for Sat Sep 25, 2021; 5:30pm; Phoenix Has Talent; Urban Beans, 3508 N 7th Street; Phoenix, Arizona 85014
- This evening it only took me three minutes to send out the fourth email. The first email took about a half hour. That means I am getting better at streamlining the process. The emails are to see if some veterans posts in Mississippi and Tennessee would like to have me back next year for another show. I had already put the posts' information in my Bookings database.
- I am tired of being tired all the time, so have decided to get to bed on time and get up at the same time each morning in time to go through this routine before my Sangean radio automatically turns on the news at 8:00.
pee
shave
brush my hair
put on deodorant
record my night's sleep
ride my exercycle, fast for two minutes
record the ride
be in the kitchen, ready for the news at 8:00 when my radio turns on
- Got to bed at 10:13 with my alarm set for 7:50am
Sun Sep 5 = Earnhardt Kia has become Ken Garff Kia so, naturally wanting to know everything, I spent time researching Tex Earnhardt (no relation to Dale Earnhardt). What an inspiring story. At 16, he started pumping gas at his dad's gas station, got a Ford dealership at 21 and eventually worked up to owning to 23 dealerships, representing 17 brands, with locations in the Phoenix and Las Vegas metro areas. He tried to treat people right, and That aint no bull. Years ago, I had the privilege of meeting Tex.
- Arizona, as is North Carolina, is a one-party state when it comes to recording conversations.
If there is an expectation of privacy, according to FEDERAL law, you must get consent to record by:
getting verbal or written consent prior to the recording being made
playing a verbal notification before the conversation begins
repeatedly beeping an audible tone at steady intervals
- About three weeks ago I took down the kiteboarding picture at the head of my bed, thinking that would be a good place for my 5-foot poster. Re-hanging the picture after deciding to put the poster in my hallway did not go well, with the nail in the drywall. This morning I got the picture up, using the same nail, some Plasti-Tak and the hinge feature I discovered on the hanger on the back of the picture.
- Not having Cox Internet here at home when they said I would, I used 7.7 GB of data, mostly tethered to my phone the last billing month which ended today. That cost me a pretty penny on my phone bill. Thanks, Cox! Tomorrow I'll go to the Cox Store and see if they can compensate me for it.
Mon Sep 6 = Today I updated my Garmin Nuvi 2589LMT GPS because it is having some problems. The update did not help. I am still getting, "This feature is not available for United States in American English" when I try to use voice command to Find Address, Places, Intersections and Cities.
- It sure felt good killing two birds with one stone. I vacuumed while going over my full stand up comedy show sequence. It's good practice, remembering the sequence with a mild distraction.
- Getting into Anytime Fitness this evening took some time. With my slow fob, it took me about three minutes hovering over their sensor, and they have said the fob is OK. When I finally got in, I did a short fast light arms workout.
- Got to bed at 10:00 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
- This evening I drove up to Desert Ridge to mingle and pass out a couple of my show tickets for CB Live there. Then on to Mountainside Fitness to poo, shower and trim my toe nails (which I am now doing deeper into the cuticle like the lady did at my pedicure in North Gulfport, MS in May) and do a short fast light arms workout.
- Got to bed at 9:51 :) with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Tue Sep 7 = Not was all good news today. The good news was when I phoned my 95-year old cousin, Herald in Colorado Springs, who is doing amazingly well with his stage four esophageal cancer and the related chemotherapy. In addition he is the primary caregiver for his wife, Naomi who is slowly recovering from a stroke. They have good family support. Herald appreciated it when I told him about which offers some online services for caregivers.
- Not so good was the word from the Cox store. A guy there, said they could not credit me for the the $60 extra it cost me for data on my phone due to Cox not giving me Internet for ten days.
- After a
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
and a bath, I got to Dr Lamb, my dermatologist, an hour ahead of time, in case he could take me earlier than scheduled, because following him, I have an appointment with my PCP Doctor for my annual physical. Dr Lamb was right on time so while waiting, I got my monthly blog rollover done, which is always a big project for me.
- I got away in time to do a short light fast torso workout at the little nearby Optum gym - my first visit there in about two years.
- My PCP appointment went well, discussing a few minor getting-old concerns.
- Got to bed at 10:04 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Wed Sep 8 = The richest in the US at the end of 2020 were Amazon founder & Blue Origin Jeff Bezos ($182 billion), Tesla founder & SpaceX Elon Musk ($147 billion), Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ($110 billion, and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg,(105 billion).
- Rod Pyle, a space expert on the Leo Laporte Show was saying, off the air in the podcast, how his new Eight Sleep mattress has changed the way he sleeps and was well worth the $3000. The mattress monitors the room temperature, humidity and weather forecast and heats or cools accordingly as it analyzes your movements and your sleep.
- My evening project, in anticipation of Cox's fiber installation tomorrow, was to analyze the strength of my Wi-Fi signal at 22 locations in and around the house with a) the router fastened to the back of the return on my desk and where I have always had it and b) with the router inside up over the office window as an alternate location.
As you can see, I used my push broom in making the test. The signal strengths were essentially the same.
- Got to bed at 9:57 :) with my daily alarm set for 7:48. I woke up early at 7:32 to pee. Since it was nearly time to get up anyway, I stayed up (after two pees during the night). I know you wanted to know all that!
Thu Sep 9 = Dustin, the Cox tech arrived a little after eight this morning. He said that I could use either a Cat5 or Cat6 Ethernet cable, although it wasn't an issue because he put in a cat6 cable for me.
- The Design A Shirt website did not seem very easy to use for designing a custom zipper sweatshirt with printing on both the front and the back.
- This afternoon I took an almost two-hour nap, trying to prepare for getting to bed late tonight.
- Heading to Gilbert, AZ for comedy this evening included a stop at Mountainside Fitness for a short heavy slow arms workout.
- At JP's Comedy Club in Gilbert I was #9 on the list and did 6:57 of OBX & Yoga for my seven minute set.
- Got to bed at 12:36am
Fri Sep 10 = Research on a cherry pitter stemmed from buying a bunch of cherries on sale. I decided that using an upside down funnel and chopstick was better than buying a new kitchen gadget.
- I wore my Booker's hat for a while today and did a short heavy slow torso workout at my nearby Planet Fitness.
- This evening I updated my fan email list and uploaded to Mail Chimp, the 508 emails I now have for the Phoenix area.
- For the
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
I finished the Security Related Special Use Airspace section and passed with 87%.
- Got to bed at 10:07 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Sat Sep 11 = After breakfast this morning I got myself in gear and sent out 508 emails via Mail Chimp to my Phoenix area fans about my appearance in these two shows later this month:
- Sat Sep 25, 2021; 5:30pm; Phoenix Has Talent 3; Urban Beans, 3508 N 7th Street; Phoenix, Arizona 85014 (FREE show out on the patio)
- Wed Sep 29, 2021; 8:00pm;
CB Live; Desert Ridge (21001 N. Tatum Blvd); Phoenix, AZ 85050
FREE, if before 7:30, you show the ticket (below) to the box office or say you're there to see Arizona Lou for the 8pm show.
- I did an additional series of speed tests (below) comparing my new fiber optic Internet with the old Coaxial Cable Internet. The speed is a little disappointing, especially the upload speed, which is what I use to put up my YouTube videos.
Internet Speed Tests, all tests used Cox Basic plan (up to 25 Mbps download & up to 3 Mbps upload) grouped by:
Coaxial cable, then with
Fiber on WiFi (always 5G), then with
Ethernet, then
Tethered to a cell phone
Internet Speed Tests: with
XPS
Dell XPS-13 laptop computer with 13.3" touch screen, 60WHr Integrated Battery, Windows 10, Intel 7th Generation Core i7 CPU, 16gb memory and 1TB SSD
on WiFi with my old
Netgear 6220 Router USING Cox 25gbs COAXIAL CABLE Service
Internet Speed Tests: with my old Netgear 6220 Router plugged into an
Ethernet/USB adapter, plugged into a
3.0 USB hub, plugged into a
2.0 USB hub, plugged into the
Right USB port of my
XPS
Dell XPS-13 laptop computer with 13.3" touch screen, 60WHr Integrated Battery, Windows 10, Intel 7th Generation Core i7 CPU, 16gb memory and 1TB SSD
Internet Speed Tests: with my old Netgear 6220 Router plugged into an
Ethernet/USB adapter, plugged into a
3.0 USB hub, plugged into the
Right USB port of my
XPS
Dell XPS-13 laptop computer with 13.3" touch screen, 60WHr Integrated Battery, Windows 10, Intel 7th Generation Core i7 CPU, 16gb memory and 1TB SSD
Bottom Line, using the Cox Starter 25 Plan of up to 25 Mbps upload and up to 3 Mbps download:
Fiber optic is about the same speed as coaxial cable.
Cox's Panormic PW7 Router is slightly faster than my Netgear 6220 Router, but definately not worth its $144 yearly rent.
The fastest internet is Eathernet hard wire adapted to my
XPS
Dell XPS-13 laptop computer with 13.3" touch screen, 60WHr Integrated Battery, Windows 10, Intel 7th Generation Core i7 CPU, 16gb memory and 1TB SSD
's 3.0 USB port (over Netgear 6220 WiFi by about 26% downloading and 253% uploading)
My tethered cell phone is only about 4% slower than my Netgear 6220 WiFi
- It turns out that their new WiFi router is a little faster than my old Netgear 6220, as you can see from the speed tests below, so I switched to theirs, but it took me about a half hour chatting with Cox to get instructions for the router which they left me... without the instructions.
- The Cox situation is getting a little messy with their inability to give me Internet in a timely manner (nothing between Aug 6th - 19th) and now charging me $50 per month when I signed up for their $30 per month plan. Straightening it all out will be on my To-Do list for Monday.
- The last few days I have been attacked by some invisible insects. Maybe they were let into the house when Cox installed my fiber optic Internet.
- Got to bed at 9:57 :) with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Sun Sep 12 = Today was mostly booking and website work. On sale, I also bought some grapes at 75¢ and bananas at 39¢ a pound and went to a gym.
- I phoned Alaska for their suggestions of what to wear on my Alaskan Adventure
- Here is where Google tracked me during August:
- Got to bed at 10:09 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Mon Sep 13 = Mail Chimp report: Saturday I sent emails out to 508 email addresses announcing the shows I am going to be in later this month. By Sunday, 9 of those email addresses (2%) were either no good or unsubscribed, leaving 491 on my local Phoenix email list. Forty-four of the emails were opened and one person clicked on one of the links in the email.
- I phoned Cox because they seem to be gouging me. Bottom line, Millie tried to explain why they couldn't honor the $29.99 rate and now have me at about $44 per month if I return the Panoramic WiFi Gateway router that they gave me as part of the fiber package deal. That router would add $12/month in rent.
- So I removed their Panoramic WiFi Gateway and reconfigured everything back to my old faithful Netgear WiFi router.
- This afternoon's trip included stops at Fry's for grapes on sale, Famous Footwear to look for warm zipper boots for Alaska, Fitness One for light arms and Albertson's for bananas on sale and cash for my
Dahlia
my Phoenix rental house located on Dahlia Drive
landscaper.
- This evening I made and organized publicity poster files for my Alaska tour.
- Got to bed at 10:07 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Tue Sep 14 = I made two trips today. This morning I was looking for boots at the Desert Thrift Shop (my first time there) where I bought a pair of Velcro sneakers to replace my worn-out mail shoes. Then across the street to Fabric Depot where I bought a half yard of orange foam quilting material to make a pouch for my new chasing goLEDgo sign.
- At solar noon I lay in the sun then did my daily short, high-speed, exercycle ride.
- This afternoon's trip was to The Cox Store to return the router they gave me so they could charge me $144 a year rent. Then I stopped by LA Fitness for fast torso workout.
- This evening was sort of wasted completing the Internet Speed Test Chart (above for Sep 11).
Bottom Line, using the Cox Starter 25 Plan of up to 25 Mbps upload and up to 3 Mbps download:
Fiber optic is about the same speed as coaxial cable.
Cox's Panoramic PW7 Router is slightly faster than my Netgear 6220 Router, but definitely not worth its $144 yearly rent.
My fastest Internet is Ethernet hard-wire adapted (with an Ethernet-to-USB adapter I ordered from Amazon on Monday) to my
XPS
Dell XPS-13 laptop computer with 13.3" touch screen, 60WHr Integrated Battery, Windows 10, Intel 7th Generation Core i7 CPU, 16gb memory and 1TB SSD
's 3.0 USB port, 26% faster downloading and 253% faster uploading than my Netgear 6220's WiFi.
My tethered cell phone is only about 4% slower than my Netgear 6220 WiFi
- Got to bed at 10:11 with my daily alarm set for 7:48, with no insect bites for a change.
Wed Sep 15 = After breakfast I took care of my email and worked on the
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
for about an hour. I also tweaked my Internet Speed Test heading information to make it more useful.
- Today's big trip included planning to look in seven Good Will Stores for warm boots for Alaska in November. I bought a pretty good pair for $8 at Goodwill #2, then exchanged that pair for the almost perfect pair of snow boots I found for $13 at Goodwill #4.
- Was VERY DROWSY this evening.
- For over a month since returning from tour I have gotten serious about JUGGLING - not much better. Recently I have alternated practice sessions throwing the balls higher (giving me more time to catch the balls) and lower (easier to throw them accurately).
- Got to bed at 10:04 :) with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Thu Sep 16 = Two big projects this morning, one sitting in my office chair and the other up and around. Sitting was working on the online
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
- The other project was, using the orange quilted material I bought Tuesday, making these custom pouches for my new colored lgLEDgo sign.
- The Improve Mania Comedy club in Chandler messed up my schedule tonight. They pushed back the open mic from 7:00 with a Smack Down show. I watched some of the show but drove 1.3 miles down to Planet Fitness to nap in my van and do two minutes of fast elliptical for some cardio. Back at Improv Mania, I didn't take the stage until 11pm :(
- In the T-Shirt department, I sold two special order T-shirts. Karl ordered a Hanes Cool Dri Performance Tee in navy and Hector G ordered a USA Rainbow Port & Company tie-died shirt.
- Got to bed at 12:34am :(
Fri Sep 17 = Continuing with today, every morning I spending on the
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
. It is as much work as several college credits with 20 modules, each with a number of lessons and quizzes along the way. I think the FAA decided to include EVERYTHING in the FIRC.
- This afternoon I measured my two different Sunpak Tripods. Compared to the Sunpak 5858D (top in photo), the TraveLite Pro (bottom in photo) is smaller collapsed (14.5" vs 23"), taller at maximum (by maybe 8" at appx 66" vs 58.5") sturdier, as in my simulated wind tests, a little slower to set up and heavier (2.75 lb vs 1.93 lb). For flying, it fits in my personal carry-on item, unlike the 5858D and has a hold-down hook.
- I didn't have time to go to Mountainside Fitness before they closed so went to my nearby Anytime Fitness for a short heavy slow arms workout.
- Got to bed at 10:17 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Sat Sep 18 = Today was BATTERY day.
o After 2 yr 1 mo 9 days, for my Dyson AM07 fan's IR remote control, I replaced the BATTERY (CR2032) due to reduced remote control range. I used the fan mostly from Aug through Oct each year: 3.05v for the old battery and 3.30v for the new battery.
o The battery in my precision Cen-Tech PS500 93543 scale went dead: two new AAAs.
o The kitchen Syantek RF Remote Control for various plug-ins around the house range has decreased. Since the remote is powered by a somewhat expensive 12v 23A battery, I just slapped the battery around a little and the remote range is back to OK
o A sealed zip-lock bag has somewhat inflated with a Panasonic DMCFZ150 camera battery that I had in it for about five months. My guess is that it may be some sort of nasty gas of a fluoride sort from the lithium-ion battery
- Did a short heavy slow torso workout at Planet Fitness.
- Got to bed at 9:49 :) with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Sun Sep 19 = Before starting the
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
this morning I wasted an hour because I felt I just had to get rid of Libra Office's stupid automatic dash conversion and the bothersome, invasive pop-up typing suggestions that keep interrupting the typing on my computer. Research and experimentation got rid of them... for LibraOffice, my word processor, but pop-up typing suggestions are still a pain with Notepad++, my text editor.
- I ran across Small Business Radio Show hosted by Barry Moltz. He has some interesting things to say, but not enough to start listening to his podcasts regularly. I did listen to the first part of his podcast #645, How to Fear Less and Sell More with a guest, Tom Stern. I got a future Louism from Tom.
- I sent out digital publicity kits for approval by the five venues for my Alaska 2021 tour.
- Got to bed at 10:01 :) with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Mon Sep 20 = This morning I got up, got dressed, got out of the house and got a fasting blood test at Honor Health, Cave Creek Rd.
- Back home, finishing up breakfast, I got a phone call that the physical therapist for whom I had an appointment for an initial visit tomorrow had an opening this afternoon, so I took it. At the appointment Dan Cooper, PT,DPT, and I mostly discussed a slight right shoulder pain and some of my related gym workouts.
- Today I ordered a physical publicity kit to be sent to the Elk's Lodge #2868 in Anchorage, Alaska for my show there.
- I spent much of the rest of the day working on my online
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
, interspersed with meals and short JUGGLING sessions.
- Got to bed at 9:58 :) with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Tue Sep 21 = After breakfast I did a quick
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
, put my Remington F5-5800 shaver on charge, took a quick bath and buzzed off to see Dr Joseph Ferris, my gastroenterologists about my occasional slight difficulty swallowing. He set me up for an endoscopic procedure next month.
- After the appointment, on the way home, I scoped out the hospital across 27th Ave, where I will be entering and where to park in the shade of a tree the morning of the procedure.
- Back at home, every two
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
sessions I got up and did something more active like:
cleaning up from this morning's bath
putting away the clippers etc. from this morning's rushed poster trim
doing a little JUGGLING practice
riding my exercycle
doing a light muscle exercise in my home gym
- Here is an interesting graph from the FIRC about the way airplanes fly.
- This afternoon I had an educational PT (physical therapy) session with Peer A Himler, PT Ortho. He gave me some good ideas to use when I have shoulder or knee pain.
- Got to bed at 10:20 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Wed Sep 22 = FIRC
- At 10am I met Martin, my
Dahlia
my Phoenix rental house located on Dahlia Drive
landscaper to discuss the irrigation system etc.
- At solar noon, I lay in the sun with my feet toward the west.
- Every spare minute this week is working on the
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
.
- Before leaving for
El Charro Hipster I followed up with phone calls to Alaska on the emails I sent a couple of days ago. One of the venues said my show was canceled because they are only doing music for 2021. That may be what they already told me, but I was so eager to make people laugh that I had scheduled them, put it on my calendar, my website and made a publicity kit for their show.
- After a pec-punishing session at LA Fitness, I arrived At El Charro Hipster a little before six to sign up for the 7:00 show and was #37 on the list. Before the show I had to drive back home to get the comedy clipboard and computer that I forgot in my rush leaving. I had about a half hour to get my website updated before the show started. It started at 7:00 and I went up 2.5 hours later, at 9:22pm. I was surprised that I did not get drowsy during the show.
- Got to bed at 11:44, had one pee before being awoken by the Sangean ATS-909 radio in my kitchen because I forgot to turn the volume all the way down before bedtime.
Thu Sep 23 = More
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
for most of the day.
- The physical publicity kit that I ordered Monday through Office Depot was delivered today in Anchorage, Alaska. What service! Today I ordered a physical publicity kit sent out to Chugiak, Alaska (right).
- This evening I pounded my quads, hams, tibia and glutes at LA Fitness.
- Got to bed at 10:01 :) and got up, before my 7:48 alarm, at 7:40 after three pees :(
Fri Sep 24 = Today I worked on my
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
, sent some emails to my Alaska venues and pounded my biceps, triceps and forearms at Mountainside Fitness.
- Got to bed at 10:06 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Sat Sep 25 = I had to restart my
XPS
Dell XPS-13 laptop computer with 13.3" touch screen, 60WHr Integrated Battery, Windows 10, Intel 7th Generation Core i7 CPU, 16gb memory and 1TB SSD
three times to get the Bluetooth mouse to work and to get the touchpad to work properly.
- I headed out early to stop by Esporta Fitness and pound my neck, thighs and abs. Then on to the show.
- This evening's big show was at 5:30pm is Phoenix Has Talent 3 at Urban Beans, 3508 N 7th Street; Phoenix, Arizona 85014
We had a fun show, produced by Brian Flesher. Performers, all comedians, were:
1. Saskia Bee (the host)
2. Edward Darkslade (bought a T-Shirt after the show)
3. Nick Leidl
4. Camela Kiernan
5. Arizona Lou
6. Raymond Ellis
This show was all stand up comedy. We each got ten minutes on the PG-13 variety show.
Andy Cheung and Vincent Jamal were booked but, unfortunately, did not make it due to a freeway shutdown and a graveyard.
- Got to bed at 10:12 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
Sun Sep 26 = Reading the interesting and thorough therapist's report by Peter Himler from my 9/21/21 visit, he mentioned my FHP, which I found with a little research, is Forward Head Posture. This I have noticed in my comedy show videos. Starting today, I am going to try to correct it, realizing that to effect a change can take six months or so.
- With that goal in mind, sleeping, I will adjust the squishy pillow I custom made so it gives more support to my neck, thus emulating some of the cervical pillows as if they were made specifically for the shape of my head.
- I took about a half hour nap this afternoon after getting super drowsy at my computer.
- Got to bed at 10:07 with my reconfigured pillow and daily alarm set for 7:48
Mon Sep 27 = This morning I sent out, by MailChimp, reminder emails to 498 subscribers for this Wed Sep 29, 2021; 8:00pm;
CB Live; Desert Ridge (21001 N. Tatum Blvd); Phoenix, AZ 85050. FREE, if before 7:30, you show this ticket to the box office or say you're there to see Arizona Lou for the 8pm show.
- This afternoon I went to Fitness 1 to pound my delt and calf muscles.
- I gave Larry Biller a phone call, just to visit. He is my landscaper but I also consider him a friend. There was no shortage of conversation because both he and his wife love to talk.
- Getting my old, gigantic, power tower/dip stand out of the bedroom took some doing. I had to remove one of the lat arms, lay it down and slide it out lake a sled.
- FedEx dropped the XMark MX-4443.1 dip stand at my front door, instead of the back door, as directed, where it would be safer.
- This new, smaller, dip stand has one of the best instruction and parts packing I've ever seen. As proof, here is their their packaging and hardware card:
- Much of the evening I had a headache, in sort of in the neck area. It might be related to the new pillow arrangement, which I used last night and for my 20 minute nap today. Or it could be because I am coming down with a sore throat.
- Got to bed at 10:05 with my old pillow arrangement. I got up to pee only 1.5 times. I am taking it easy, with a slight sore throat, so gargled with saltwater each pee instead juggling.
Tue Sep 28 = Today I got everything submitted for my completed
FIRC
Flight Instructor Refresher Course I have to take every two years to renew my CFI license
through IACRA (FAA) and AOPA for renewal of my CFI certificate. What a job. It took a month to do the FIRC and get all the documentation gathered and submitted.
- The rest of the day I took it easy, took a nap and didn't exercycle or go to a gym. By evening my sore throat was noticeably better.
- I scheduled a Pfizer booster shot in October.
- Got to bed at 10:13 with the slight sore throat using my regular pillow configuration.
Wed Sep 29 = This morning I awoke with slight headache and a slight lingering slight sore throat.
- After answering a thousand questions, I was scheduled for a PCV COVID-19 10:40am test, at the recommendation of
George's
younger brother who lives in Mesa, Arizona and has a mountain place up in Christopher Creek
. (I'll get the negative result back by email tomorrow).
- Taking it easy, I did no exercycle today, but did run across the PVCC west parking lot twice, going into the college and back, before I found that the COVID testing was was an in-car deal in the north parking lot. It would have been nice for them to include that bit of information in their instructions.
- I did cut my hairs (haircut), almost two months since last time.
- I projected my budget through November - still financially solvent by then.
- An absolutely enthusiastic crowd of 150 showed up for tonight's 8:00 comedy show at CB Live's New Faces show. It was fantastic. To fit into the allotted five minutes, I did a slightly abbreviated version of my Maui routine. After the show I got a number of complements, was told, "You brought down the house," sold six T-Shirts, one album and video recording of one of the comedian's sets, raising $57 for
:)
- We had Reece Muniz as our host and this short but excellent lineup of 13 comedians:
- Got to bed at 11:24
Thu Sep 30 = This morning was for T-Shirts: I got them all inventoried and decided how many I needed of each size. Ordering became complicated with several one-of-a-kind special order items and one of deep royal blue on my end, and Design A Shirt's inability to get two of the shirts/sizes in navy. The order is on hold until Monday, Oct 4th.
- I never worked harder or longer on a six-minute video. CB Live had sent me a link to the House Video of Wednesday's show. I cold play it but DropBox would not let me download it. Plan B:
- Cyberlink Screen Recorder with which I was not very familiar. Time for a little screen-recorder education. By watching some YouTube and reading some instructions I was able to get an MP4 of my segment.
- Audio was the next challenge. Since I was in the green room last night during the time, the body mic I was wearing for me and the audience did not pick up my introduction well, but the house recording did, so I re-learned using Cyberlink PowerDirector's keyframes for audio to fade between the house audio and that from my body mic. I attached the resulting audio track to the house video.
- Next, the videos from camera #3 and #4 were too dark, so I had to adjust their exposure, post-processing. This meant re-producing both of them to new files.
- Next was using video from five cameras: my four plus the house video. That involved picking two segments for my camera #4 and multi-camming them with my Camera #2... and re-producing that to another MP4 file.
- Now for the final video, via PowerDirector's multi-cam function, combining the four video tracks, synchronized by their respective audio tracks and using the audio from the House video in the final result. Re-produced the result.
- That was OK, but the audio was contently but slightly ahead of the video. So I reviewed my notes to detach the audio from the video and adjust the audio about a tenth of a second later, re-attach the audio with the video, adjust the first and last of the clip to eliminate the video without sound and the sound without video, and then re-produce it to the final MP4 file, which I uploaded to YouTube (see the video for yesterday).
- My
XPS
Dell XPS-13 laptop computer with 13.3" touch screen, 60WHr Integrated Battery, Windows 10, Intel 7th Generation Core i7 CPU, 16gb memory and 1TB SSD
had to grind away for a while every time PowerDirector produced a file, so I used that time to fix meals and assemble my new dip stand and make my shopping list for tomorrow.
- Why all those details? So I will remember what I did to make it easier for me next time.
- Got to bed at 10:15 with my daily alarm set for 7:48
offers resources, many of them virtual, for Family Caregivers, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and others.
Thu Sep 23 = More 
