Sat Apr 1 = This morning I recalculated all my nuts and non-nuts for the trip and found I need more pecans walnuts and oatmeal, so this evening I made a quick Winco trip, and did I make a mess: The Scottish oatmeal was caking in the dispenser and had to be shaken to get any to come out. I guess I got a little too vigorous because the dispenser fell down off the shelf from its bracket. Oatmeal spilled onto the bins below and onto the floor. Then in the spices department the plastic bag I had sealed around the neck of the powdered cinnamon container slipped out of place as I was pouring the cinnamon into the bag. Some cinnamon escaped onto the counter and onto the floor. It doesn't take much cinnamon to make a real mess.
- The best video for my 10-day "Southern California Comedy Tour was Ventura. I got excellent four-camera recordings... with one exception. About 25 times someone thoughtlessly walked in front of my primary cameras. I can't get too mad because I did it while I was being introduced. All that messed up the video.
- Producing the video today, when someone would walk in front of the primary cameras, it was necessary to switch to one of my audience cameras. One lady must have been hyperactive, getting up and of course walking in front of the camera about five times.
- In the future I'll try to elevate the cameras to above head level.
- For the first time I used the EaseUS backup program to recover an entire folder. Don't ask me how but I accidentally deleted all the audio and video recordings of all my appearances back to January 2022. The only thing not on that backup was the Ventura, CA show I produced this morning. The good news is the five source A/V files were part of those backed up.
- The water hose bib out front has been dripping even when it is turned off hard. My project this evening after dark was an attempt to fix it. Removing the stem was a major undertaking, considering that the faucet had not been taken apart for the 26 years since the house was built. It took things like penetrating oil, my breaker bar and a 13/16" spark plug socket. My assortment of faucet washers had the right one. Oh yes, the attempt was successful.
- Before going to bed I started Recuva searching for all deleted files on 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
to see if the deleted Ventura produced video could be recovered. I expect the scan to take half the night.
Sun Apr 2 = This morning I drove to Scottsdale airport and flew a Cessna 172 with a G-1000 panel. Jono Luciano, from Australia was my "instructor" and the pilot in command. He helped me with the radio some and kept me oriented. Of course the airport was too busy for touch and goes so I got in only one landing; a good one, according to Jonathan.
- On the way home I stopped by Mountainside Fitness for combined slow heavy arms and torso workouts; and for Misty, a new fan:
Misty Lemma; Mountainside Fitness; N Phoenix AZ 4/2/23
- By evening I got the passenger seat area packed for leaving on tour, with my right seat box, and in the foot area, bags of food items that I bought at Winco that are way expensive on the road, like nuts, Scottish oatmeal and my famous mixture of cinnamon/ginger/nutmeg.
- Got to bed at 11:33pm for 8:45 of sleep until I woke up without an alarm at 8:18am
- Got to bed at 11:28 for 8:20 of sleep
Mon Apr 3 = This morning I packed my van's dresser drawer. I included seven pair of white socks, all identical so won't have to pair them. Part of that job was sorting all my white crew socks and put all the non-matching ones in a box on a closet shelf.
- Also I inventoried and organized all my cargo shorts and pants and stowed them in one of the under-bed tubs. They were a combination from thrift stores and new ones; some of them with the pockets modified for my specific pocket items.
- Here's the best show of my Southern California Charity Tour. Thank you VFW Post 1649 in Ventura.
- Skip the introductions with this Press Kit version for booking agents: https://youtu.be/6EAFCG1iPlg?t=162 - I redid the production because I accidentally deleted what I did yesterday, and was unable to recover it. I just wish I had an extra hour to count the laughs. Maybe later.
- $700 per square inch was the cost of the sticker I received in the mail today. That is the license plate sticker that shows that my van registration for two more years. I have not been able to locate my current registration and wasn't sure I was going to receive the new one before leaving on tour, but ADOT pulled through with delivery in 3 days (one day to spare). I ordered it the earliest date possible on March 30th.
- Speaking of government, my 2023 income tax is being complicated by the mortgage payoff I received in January for some land I sold last year. I went through all sorts of calculations to estimate my 2023 income and tax. Then, tried to coordinate the monthly withholding with quarterly estimates (I can't escape quarterly estimates for 2023 :(
- Got to bed at 11:17 for 8:31 of sleep and an epiphany...
Tue Apr 4 = The epiphany I came up with in the middle of the night was to keep my withholding the same (because my normal income for 2023 should not change much) and pay the quarterly estimates based only on the mortgage payoff. It took me about an hour to figure and calendar it all.
- Before leaving home I I cut my hairs, all but my head, did a
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
and presoaked the bugs on the front of my van.
- Today's big trip was to:
My favorite touchless car wash
99¢ Only Store to find their AA & AAA batteries were $.50 each
King's Barber Shop for a haircut
Dollar tree to buy 16 of the batteries at $.30 each
Mountainside Fitness for my last shower in Phoenix and a brief heavy full-body workout
- Then back home to prepare things for loading my van tomorrow.
- I prepared tomorrow's breakfast and lunch tonight so tomorrow morning I can pack my van will all the food and kitchen stuff.
- I went into panic mode when I couldn't find my phone this evening. No tour without a phone. My Tile phone-finding feature did not work and I heard nothing when Alexa called the phone. I was a worried man when I went to bed.
- Got to bed at 11:01 for 8:27 of sleep
- In the middle of the night I thought of checking the pockets of the sweatshirt I wore around home most of the day. No dice. Then, in desperation, decided to try my ski jacket pockets. There the phone was! What a relief! I do not know how it happened, but the phone was in DO NOT DISTURB mode so it was silent during all my attempts to locate it.
Wed Apr 5 = Today I officially started my
Veterans Appreciation National Tour
- Using Gas Guru, I Figured my refueling stops for the next four days, considering the price of gas in:
Phoenix is $4.399
Tucson is $3799 (where I'll add 16 gallons)
Las Cruces, NM is 3.099 (where I will fill up)
El Past, TX is $3.299
- I got everything loaded in my van and got my last bit of Phoenix sun while putting up the sun screens on the south and west windows of my house.
- Finally I shut off the water heater and turned off the house water, but I forgot to set the thermostat to cool on 89° F which means the house is going to get very hot in June and July - maybe up to 105°. I didn't realize my oversight until about half way to Tucson without time to go back and reset the thermostat. My options are: 1) do nothing and let the house get hot, 2) tomorrow drive nearly six hours back home and back from Tucson and reset the thermostat or 3) phone the neighbor who has my emergency house key and have her switch the thermostat to on 89° F. For now I'll just ignore the problem because it will not be an issue for another month or two.
- Surprisingly, on this afternoon's drive to Tucson I didn't get drowsy so didn't have to eat any sunflower seeds. Visiting on the phone with
George
younger brother who lives in Mesa, Arizona
and my son, Scott helped keep me alert.
- The mixed open mic tonight at the
Sky Bar in Tucson was interesting. Chuck, the producer had everything well organized with a sign-up list that allowed the performers, mostly musicians, to choose 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Naturally I chose 15 minutes. The audience of about 16 were responsive and laughed at most of my punchlines about Alzheimer's and Yoga.
- I sold two T-shirts and got this new fan:
Mayra Carrillo; Sky Bar; Tucson AZ 4/5/23
- I spent the night in the SE Tucson Camping World parking lot with a forecast low of 39° F. I was just about perfect under three layers of comforter with a baby comforter added to my feet. The temperature inside my van got down to 51° F.
- Got to bed at 10:21 for 9:26 of sleep until my 7:47am alarm.
Thu Apr 6 = Here's Googles map of my March travels:
- I spent some time in a library today. It took a long time, but I got about 40 sheets of 8-up colored Veterans Appreciation National Tour micro posters printed. They are vivid copies and only cost $.10/page. Later sometime I'll print the B&W backs.
- Tonight's comedy was at Laffs Comedy Cafe. I think I had the best laughs of anyone there for my... three minutes. There were about 40 comedians on the show that started at 8pm.
- Headed toward Las Cruces, NM, I spent my second night in the Tucson Camping World parking lot.
- Got to bed late and got up late.
Fri Apr 7 = I made it to the Las Cruces, NM
VFW Post 6917 in time to set everything up. Before the show it would have helped if I had remembered to count to five for turning on my recording devices. I failed to turn on my main camera.
- It was a good show. I was a little rusty but no one knew. I sold one T-Shirt and got these new fans:
River Maximus Gamboa; VFW Post 6917; Las Cruces NM 4/7/23
Greg Cranmer, Greg Klatt, Brian Ravak, Rudy Saucedo; VFW Post 6917; Las Cruces, NM 4/7/23
- I had a good night in the post parking lot.
- Got to bed at 12:35am and got up at 9:35 am for nine hours of sleep
Sat Apr 8 = This morning's project was to find a male MICRO HDMI-to HDMI cable to connect my Camera #1 to the 10" monitor I use to keep in the center of the video. I checked Best Buy, Walmart and Office Max. The closest thing I found was a 3-way adapter and an HDMI cable. The combination cost about $50 :( Somewhere in California I left the exact 24" cable that I need... probably at the Moose Lodge in Escondido.
- We had a fun, fun show tonight with a responsive audience of 30... all Black. My two "A" video cameras (#1 & #2) were not getting power and their batteries did not last for the entire show, so no good videos.
- I did get these new fans:
Carl Dwyer; American Legion Post 832, El Paso, TX; 4/8/23
Ramona Moore; American Legion Post 832, El Paso, TX; 4/8/23
Ramona was my 496th fan
-
- This evening I dug the "A" cameras out for troubleshooting. I think I found that the problem was a bad USB power cable. I also developed a better way to determine if the cameras are properly powered since that part is a little funky.
- I was in my van all ready to hit the hay early, but it was a little too early so I made a big mistake. I decided to work out some details for the solar eclipse exactly one year from today. By the time I re-researched the times and places (I had previously done this) and put all the information on my calendar it was, well, late.
Here's some of the information, in case you are interested in seeing the best solar eclipse with me. The location I picked for viewing the eclipse is likely to have clear skies, the eclipse will occur when the sun is near its highest in the sky for a more dramatic effect and the totality will be for a relatively long time (maybe 4:08 minutes).
From Uvalde TX, Take Texas 83, Getty Street, North maybe 1.9 mi
Left on Texas 55, San Antonio Street, for maybe 7.2 mi
Left for a few hundred yards on county road 405, dirt road with lake to the north, on the right
- Got to bed at 1:18am for 8:42 of sleep until 8am alarm
Sun Apr 9 = HAPPY EASTER!
- I drove to Fort Stockton TX today. My next show is not until Friday so I'll have time to send out publicity kits for June's shows, book shows in Pennsylvania for July, go to some gyms and maybe find some open mics.
- At the Walmart, half way across the parking lot, there was good enough Wi-Fi in my van to update my blog and add 17 new fans from the last two days for a total so far of 496. Five hundred fans, here I come!
- RV Parky showed this Walmart as not having overnight parking, but there were about a dozen RVs there for the night and a couple of big rigs. I submitted feedback to RV Parky (my first time to give them feedback) that overnight parking was allowed and happily spent the night there in Fort Stockton
- Got to bed at 10:57 for 9:03 of sleep before my 8am alarm
Mon Apr 10 = This morning, in front of God and everybody in the Walmart parking Lot, from the back of my van I took out my big Merchandise box to replenish my ShirtCase for the shirts I sold Saturday night.
- I spent much of the day at a library in southwest Austin checking out open mics, then to a nearby Walmart, where I had Wi-Fi for the night.
- About the worst thing that could happen to me happened. 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
would not turn on. I spent the rest of the evening, past bedtime, firing up my little
The little 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
and downloading critical files for my website.
- Got to bed at 11:49 for 8:22 of sleep; OK with the 40 minute nap I took during the school's out traffic jam.
The little 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
since
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
died. I was able to updaye my website, although for now, booking and ordering publicity kits is on hold.
- I scheduled and added to my website Wed Apr 12, 2023; 7:00pm;
Opa! Lounge; 1040 S Lamar Blvd;
Austin, TX 78704. The gal I phoned remembered me from last year :)
- Back to the computer problem: Best Buy had no adapter for me to use to access the SSD from my XPS, but Phillip there found Discount Electronics way in North Austin that did. This evening I drove up there and found they had only an SSD enclosure, which I bought. It worked on their desktop computer, but not on my little Alcatel.
- Got to bed at 12:13am for 8:48 of sleep until my 9am alarm
Wed Apr 12 = No spell check now so expect to see a lot of errors. Sorry, but I'm just barely getting by with my
The little 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
.
- Best Buy's Geek Squad and I determined that there is no hope for 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
- maybe a motherboard problem.
- Tonight's comedy at the Opa lounge was interesting. I was the only comedian there, did eight minutes of mainly Yoga and failed to record my set.
- Speaking of audio, I never saw anyone make so many speaker and audio panel adjustments during a show, and I never heard any improvement, but the volume was way to loud for my ears. I did get a new fan there:
Lacsap Salocin; Opa! Lounge; Austin TX 4/12/23
- Last night I was parked in my Walmart night spot and a guy, also spending the night there came over from his SUV, suspicious that I was someone from the CIA spying on him. Tonight I saw him inside the Walmart. He was sure that the homeless people asking him for money were really CIA or FBI spies. Poor guy!
- Got to bed at the same Walmart at 11:53 for for 8:57 of sleep until I woke up at 8:50am
Thu Apr 13 = This morning at Austin's Hampton Branch Library my
The little 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
.
is not reading the SSD from 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
.
Fortunately I already have the critical files on my Alcatel.
- I paid my estimated taxes to the IRS & AZ Department of Revenue - Uhg!
- The Apple Store knocked my sox off - my first visit to one. Big, spacious with sections for the iPhone, iPad, iWatch, MackBook Computers, Desktop computers, MacMini computers and accessories. All the units were functional with easily accessible information on their screens. Probably the most impressive was the back wall screen. It WAS the wall: about 20' wide and 9' high!
- To replace my dead Dell
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
I am between a MacBook Pro 14 with an M2 Max chip, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD drive and a Dell XPS 13Plus Evo. The deal breaker for the Mac might be that it has no touch screen.
- After about a week of only doing parking lot runs I had time to go to a gym. At the Gold's Gym in S Austin, I spent about an hour doing a brief slow heavy full-body workout and finding nine new fans:
Darien Canada; Gold's Gym S Austin TX; 4/13/23
Vince Macias, Aryan Mangalore; Gold's Gym S Austin TX; 4/13/23
Nash Baines, Oliver Mann, Molly R; Gold's Gym S Austin TX; 4/13/23
Inbox
William Eason; Gold's Gym S Austin TX; 4/13/23
Kyle Bethke, Michael Conard; Gold's Gym S Austin TX; 4/13/23
- From the gym it was a very short drive to my Walmart night spot.
- Got to bed at 11:10 for 9:00 of sleep until my 8:10am alarm.
Fri Apr 14 = At the Hampton Library a major project was moving some key files (like Bookings.xls) that I backed up online from
The little 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It'sYThe Alcatel's C: drive was very tight, with only 3gb of RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
's
C: drive to its D: drive. That gives me 1% more space on C:, needed because of it's small size.
- A Moose Lodge where I scheduled a show in FL is a problem. Everyone there is seems to be impatient. My contact never gave me an alternate contact and is no longer there and nobody I talked to on the phone knew anything about the show.
- Tonight's show for the Moose Lodge #2179 in Harker Heights was a good one.
- Got to bed in the lodge parking lot at 11:47 for 8:43 of sleep
Sat Apr 15 = This morning I drove to my cousin's house in Arlington, TX and hung out with him, his wife and daughter.
- Marvin made a delicious roasted and healthy supper. He and I have a lot in common; both pilots and technology freeks.
- About 5pm I headed out to the Farmers Branch Moose Lodge. We had a good crowd of 20. Marvin and his wife, Jennifer came to my show, for a total audience count of 30.
- Two unplanned events are developing. Tomorrow, the Scarborough Renaissance Festival and then drive about 10 hours down to Brownsville to see the scheduled test launch of the Spacex Starship Monday morning, the most powerful rocket ever.
- Marvin generously offered me their guest room. I declined in order to spend the night in my own bed.
Sun Apr 16 = The Scarborough Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, Texas this morning and afternoon was great. One of the neat parts was being able to do five minutes of Renaissance Stand Up Comedy on the London Broyal Stage. The timing was perfect. I went back stage and talked to the producer when they had eight minutes until their next juggling show. They treated me like a professional and I acted like one and gave the audience of 120 exactly five minutes of laughs.
- Included in the audience were some new fans:
- Back at Marvin's house, neither of his computers that we tried could read my XPS's SSD.
- Marvin and I packed up and headed for the Brownsville TX test launch of the Spacex Starship, scheduled for 8am tomorrow morning.
- Didn't get to bed tonight, but from about 8:30pm for the next 25 hours we drove to South Padre Island and back.
Mon Apr 17 = Driving in a Tesla was a unique experience. We had to stop to recharge about four times. Of course I got some new fans:
Satya Pal; Tesla Recarge station Kingsville, TX 4/17/23 5:52 AM CT
- SpaceX was forced to call off the maiden flight of its gargantuan Starship rocket Monday when a frozen valve caused problems pressurizing the booster's first stage.
- We had omelets for breakfast at the Seaside Bar & Grill on the gulf coast and got three new fans:
230417 Tony, Henry & Mary; Seaside Bar & Grill, South Padre Island, TX 4/17/23
- On the trip Marvin and I talked and philosophized about all sorts of things. Maybe more on that later.
- We got home about 9:30pm... in time to eat a late supper, update my website and go to bed for some much-needed sleep.
- Got to bed at 12:31 for 8:57 of sleep until waking up at 9:28
Tue Apr 18 = Two big projects today that took a lot longer than they should have: The first was my monthly credit cards payoffs; The second was adding 9 fans to Fans.
- Today's trip included groceries at Kroger and a nut to replace the one that got lost from my speaker stand at an Ace Hardware.
- Got to bed at 12:29am for 9:11 of sleep until my 9:40am alarm
Wed Apr 19 = This morning I had a phone call with Dan, my cousun Marvin's son, who had switched from Windows to a Mac computer. I think I am going to get a Mac now.
- Marvin and I went to the Southlake Apple Store. There I decided on a 14" MackBook Pro.
- After that excursion Marvin and I did a walk/jog around his community lake.
- Before going to bed I ordered a loaded silver MacBook Pro m2 Max with 64GB RAM and a 2TB SSD hard drive. It is to be shipped to Fort Lauderdale, FL where I'll pick it up the day after my show in Homestead, FL.
- Got to bed at 12:02am for 8:52 of sleep
Thu Apr 20 = This morning Marvin and I watched the launch of the Starship on his giant video screen.
- I headed out a little after noon for the 3-hour drive to New Boston, TX. When I arrived at the post there were no cars outside but the door was unlocked. The bar tender and his big black dog were the only ones inside.
- It turns out that the only thing scheduled tonight was their Thursday night pool tournament. Trying to schedule the show, they seemed to never return my phone calls. Also I may have messed up on my end for the first time. Not too bad, considering I have made over 1,400 appearances.
- The post let me work away at one of the tables and I got a lot of done. I sent out four publicity kits for Florida shows, updated this blog and got these 3 new fans, who were excited to be on my website.
Alexis Jefferson & Ryder Simpson; VFW Post 5873, New Boston, TX; 4/20/23
Stephen Grider; VFW Post 5873, New Boston, TX; 4/20/23
- My Past Appearances spreadsheet is all out of date and I haven't been able to figure out why. I downloaded it to my
The little Alcatel Plus 10 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
.
The last PDF online entry is from 3/7/23 when I did a show in San Diego.
The XLS version's last entry is from 3/11/20, about 3 years ago, which I also downloaded to the Alcatel.
I guess I'll have to wait 2.5 weeks after I hopefully will be able to access 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
hard drive with my new
MacBook Pro
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
- The post let me spend the night in their parking lot. Thanks, guys!
- Got to bed at 12:06 for 9:10 of sleep
Fri Apr 21 = After an early lunch I spent the afternoon in the New Boston Library working on web and booking stuff.
- When they closed at 5pm I ate supper and went to the Anytime Fitness in town for a light full-body workout: my first workout in a week except for running across parking lots while shopping. The gym had a Jacob's Ladder which is great for coordination and cardio. Like most Anytime Fitnesses, they did not have a torso rotation machine.
- I did get these new fans. Taylor is a trainer there:
Taylor Kegley & Will Button; Anytime Fitness, New Boston, TX; 4/21/23
- Across the street was the Walmart where I spent the night. They had no bulk water refill station, after they told me they did and I disconnected my van's water system and carried in its Jerry can :(
- Got to bed at 10:42 for 9:18 of sleep
Sat Apr 22 = Today, being a driving day, after I got non-Top Tier gas at Walmart's Murphy Station, I headed east and drove in five states: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Two short naps got me to the Leeds, AL Walmart, northeast of Birmingham.
- Tomorrow it will take only two hours to get to Atlanta.
- In preparation for my new Mac, I have been making a point to not use the touchscreen on my
The little Alcatel Plus 10 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
.
- Walmart made a real mess for me. I received an email thanking me for signing up for their Walmart + although I never knowingly requested it. The email also explained that they would start automatically charging my credit card when the 30-day Free Trial was over. It took me over an hour on the web and on the phone to Hondurous and The Philippines to take care of the situation. That put me late to bed.
- Got to bed at 11:44 for 8:56 of sleep until my 8:40am alarm
Sun Apr 23 = This morning I found that the out-of-the-way place at the back of Walmart near their Auto Center also had good Internet, so I decided to spend most of the day here and plan out my time in Atlanta for four more days until my show for the Amvets in Lithia Springs, GA. I accomplished a lot but did miss the human interaction of a library
- I thoroughly researched docks for my new
MacBook Pro
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
.
I'll probably buy from a Best Buy in the Miami area.
- After four years, on Tuesday I'll be returning to
Apache XLR; in Atlanta
for my second appearance there.
- I tried to phone Cox Cable to put my Internet on seasonal hold, but their office was closed.
- Finally I found a Walmart with a water jug refill station and filled up my van's 5-gal.
- Spent the night there in the Douglasville GA Walmart.
- Got to bed at 11:24 for 8:56 of sleep
Mon Apr 24 = Today was a trying-to-recover-data day. I went to the Douglasville Best Buy and made an appointment with their Geek Squad. None of their computers recognized the hard drive from my dead
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
- Best Buy referred me to Cherry Data Recovery in Merittadata GA so I drove all the way to find out that it would take 2-5 days for them to analize the drive and another 5 days or so to do the job. By that time I will no longer be in Georgia... and that it would cost about $1,400. That meant Plan D: see if I can get my backup hard drive shipped from Phoenix.
- After that I drove down to, a library where I textd my Neighbor back in Phoenix about sending me the backup hard drive. I also confirmed what I dreaded: The backup in Phoenix will be useless without EaseUS because that's what I used to make the backups. They are not the actual files.
- After the library closed I went to a nearby Planet Fitness in Smyrna GA for two minutes on an elliptical, a medium full-body workout and some new fans:
- Then I went to the Maretta Walmart to buy some groceries and to do a little research and spend the night.
- The research: EaseUS requires a 64-bit operating system and my
The little Alcatel Plus 10 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
has a 32-bit operating system but a x64-based processor.
- Needing to prepare for tomorrow, I downloaded and installed EaseUS on the Alcatel. Tomorrow morning I'll see if it can read the backup files it created on a 5-TB drive I have here with me. Of course that put me to bed late.
- Got to bed at 11:59 for 8:46 of sleep
Tue Apr 25 = After breakfast, and an hour's nap in anticipation for being out late tonight for comedy, I spent the afternoon at the Fulton County's Northside Branch Library in Atlanta, mostly doing my Fans and Blog web pages.
- I ate a sandwich on the way to the
Apache XLR in downtown Atlanta for their mixed open mic. Most of the patrons were Black and many of them were doing some kind of hookah.
Although I had been told the show started at 8pm, it actually got started about 10:30 - definitely Black time.
- I got three new fans:
DJ Spin & Wife Vateesha
Randy Robinson, the show host
- Got to bed at 12:46 for 8:00 of sleep
Wed Apr 26 = Today at an LA Fitness I did a short elliptical and medium full-body workout,
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
and took a shower. It was good to be back in an LA Fitness.
-
This afternoon my big project at the Lithia Springs Library was to find eleven producers and such for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and to send emails out to 14 possible email addresses for them. All the emails came back, "...the address couldn't be found, or is unable to receive mail."
- This evening, after doing some shopping at the Lithia Springs Walmart, I spent my second night at a nearby Cracker Barrel.
- Got to bed at 11:16 for 8:47 of sleep until waking up to pee at 9:03
Thu Apr 27 = Since it was rainy much of the night, the five-state bug collection on the front of my van had been soaking all night, so to speak. I took advantage of the situation and spent about a half hour cleaning most of them off using only elbow grease and a little dishwash detergent.
- The
Amvets Post 118 in Lithia Springs was very supportive. Unlike last year's show, we got their video projector going so I included my video segment. It was slick as could be.
- Eddie Goolsby explained that the post usually doesn't have Thursday events so their members are not used to coming out on Thursdays. That point was proven with an audience of nine.
- In the technology department, before the show I reset the clocks on all four video cameras and two audio recorders to EDT. All the recordings went perfectly. However I ended up smelling like smoke because it is a smoking post and just about everyone there did.
- After the show, from the Lithia Springs Walmart parking lot I updated this blog and then headed across the freeway to the Cracker Barrel for the night.
- Earlier in the day I got seven new fans:
Robert Abreu; LA Fitness, Douglasville, GA; 4/26/23
Dez D; LA Fitness, Douglasville, GA; 4/26/23
Sidney Fair; LA Fitness, Douglasville, GA; 4/26/23
Marcus Adams; Maxham Rd, Austell, GA; 4/27/23
Roberto Moreles, Lisa Flinn & Terry Pavey; AMVETS Post 118; Lithia Springs, GA; 4/27/23
- Got to bed at 12:20 for 8:38 of sleep until I woke up for the day needing to pee for the fourth time :(
Fri Apr 28 = This morning, with cell phone guidance from me, my neighbor found, packed up and shipped my backup hard drive. I hope it works out because the latest version of my entire life is on that drive.
- She shipped it to the Key Largo veterans post where I will pick it up on the way to my Key West veterans show. The day after the Key West show I'll head back up to Key Biskine for a show there. Then on to Homestead, GA.
- I guess I was too ancxious to get to Fort Laurdadale to pick up my new
MacBook Pro
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
because I got a citation for speeding from a policeman in southern Georgia. I thought I had my cruise control set to keep me out of trouble.
- Tonight's destination was Melbourne FL, southeast of Orlando.
- Since tonight was my treat night, I updated my blog while eating half of a chocolate choclate cake with ice cream. At my request they gave the other half to someone else... no charge to them.
- I spent the night in their parking lot. Thanks, Cracker BarrelQ
- Got to bed at 11:37 for 9:09 of sleep
Sat Apr 29 = This morning I wasted some time that I really didn't have, researched Costco locations & considered joining Costco because Sam's Club does not have Top Tier gasoline.
- Later at the Fort Lauderdale FL Galleria Apple Store I first laid hands on my new
MacBook Pro
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
.
Apple there spent almost an hour helping orient me to the Mac technology.
- Back in my van in the parking garage while eating a late lunch, I noticed a several thousand people walking back from the beach, about .7 miles away.
- I decided getting a little sun, my first since early May, would be a good idea. I enjoyed the beach but not the walk. I did it mostly without shoes but about the last 20% with some flip flops after my feet were getting a little sore from the pavement.
- I stopped by a Publix to get some food and got a new fan:
Blake Phillips; Publix; Boca Raton, FL; 4/29/23
- Toward evening I went to a Best Buy in Fort Lauderdale for an adapter to use my USB-A devices with my new
MacBook Pro
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
's Type-C/Thunderbolt connector.
- Back in my van there was good news. My new MackBook Pro reads all my drive formats; FAT NTFS (Windows). Tomorrow I'll check the exFAT format of my albums (they read OK).
- In addition to checking the hard drives on my MacBook, on my
The little Alcatel Plus 10 10" Windows 10 computer I bought to get me by in Tobago in 2017 after my Dell laptop died. It's tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card I have in it helps.
,
I got my updated blog ready to upload to my website (Best Buy Internet did not allow FTP transfers), got the Bluetooth mouse working on the MacBook and drove up to the Deerfield Beach FL Cracker Barrel for the night
- Got to bed at 11:47 for 9 of sleep before my 8:47am alarm.
Sun Apr 30 = True to their image of being an "old country store," several roosters once again awakened me. I wish I had gotten a picture of the black mother hen and her five black babies.
- I spent much of the day at the Boca Raton Library. My big project of the afternoon was to get on The Tech Guys podcast with Mikah Sergent and Leo Laporte. It made me feel important when they preempted another caller because they were glad to hear from me. I briefly updated them on my four-country comedy travels and confessed that I moved to the DARK SIDE and replaced my dead Dell with an Apple computer. Of course they said that I have SEEN THE LIGHT. My question was about using the Apple for managing my website. They recommended BBedit as my HTML editor.
- The Apple's Safari web browser got me on with them using Zoom
- After the library closed, I visited the Delray LA Fitness for a very brief slow heavy legs workout and got a new fan:
Christopher Ryan; LA Fitness, Delray Beach FL; 4/30/23
- At a Walmart Idownloaded onto my mac, the BBeditor software to use with my website at the recommendation of Leo Laporte and Mikah Sargent.
- Got to bed at the Pompano Beach FL Cracker Barrel at 11:00 for 9:27 of sleep
