Thu Aug 1 = After breakfast, with the perfect morning shade, I did my blog and then went to the nearby Columbia, MO Anytime Fitness for a legs workout and a new fan:
- I then headed west to Kansas City, MO and spent several hours at the Irene Ruiz Library there. What a cheery place. Of course I got one of the librarians as a new fan:
- I got to The Bird Theater in about an hour before they opened the doors. It was a congenial group. The Improv started a little after 7:30. I participated, but was not on the lever of all the experienced participants.
- The Gong Show is first Thursday of every month for their open mic - my first gong show. There are three judges, each with a gong which they hit if they don't like what the comedian is doing. If a comedian makes it for the full four minutes without being gonged by all three judges, they are rated by the judges.
- I was gogned by one of the judges when I said, "I've got T-shirts." I think he wanted to retract the gong when I continued with, "All profits go to Alzheimer's research... if I remember." However a judge can't un-gong. I went the entire 4 minutes and got about an average rating of 19.
- After the show, the room's booker approached me and wants to book me. I gave him a tour poster and my card, but failed to get his name down.
- After the show I headed toward Wichita, KS and spent the night at the Overland Park, KS Anytime Fitness with the good morning shade of a tree.
- Got to bed at 12:30 for 9 hours of sleep
Fri Aug 2 = At the Anytime Fitness I did an arms workout shower and got a trainer and manager as my latest fans:
- Then on to meet with Brent Peterson, the guy through wghich I bought my hearing aids. It took over an hour, but now we have all my concerns addressed: new performance profiles for a hearing test he performed, reducing the length of the speaker leads for my ears, understanding of the use of the "domes" and connecting to the app on my phone, "My Phonak."
- I got giddy being able to now use the Phonak modes such as Automatic, Restarant, Music and TV, control the volumes with my phone and take advantage of some of the health and fitness tracking - 8,090 steps!
- Then on to the Emporia, KS Municipal Airport, where I used their flight planning area as my office from about 5:30pm until late. I saw no one until I was leaving and visited with Ty Prant, working on the night-vision lighting for the instrument panel of a medevac helicopter, who became my latest friend.
- After getting 3 gallons of gas, I got to bed at 12:26 for 8:59 hours of sleep at the Emporia Walmart with pretty good morning shade.
Sat Aug 3 = In the Walmart parking lot I met an interesting guy, but not until after observing his fancy dog. Evently he had left the engine running to keep the dog cool, with the windows rolled down about half way. No wonder, he had a black car. In my book, a black car is not a sign of intelligence.
- While the dog was hanging his head out of the semi-opened passenger window, he stepped on the window-down switch and the window went down all the way. The dog looked around some, then jumped out of the car.
- Eventually the owner returned and, armed with a pink dogie leash, initiated a "Catch Me If You Can" game with the dog.
- I got acquainted with the man. He gave credit for everything to God... except for the dog, which he credited to his wife. John became my latest fan:
- Next was driving to Wichita, KS for for gas at Costco. It turns out it was a nickel more expensive per gallon than at Emporia.
- Then to Wichita's Walter Library for a few minutes until I phoned the VFW post for my hotel information and then phoned the hotel and found my room was ready. Thanks to the VFW post for putting me up for the night - too hot for my van.
- Another first for me: People have always laughed the hundreds of times when I have joked about all the holes in their pants. A librarian did not, but said, "I don't think your comment about my attire is appropriate." If you're not offending someone, you're not accomplishing anything - inspired by Mario (Louism #256).
- Then to the hotel where I took breakfast things from my van up to the room, took a nap and then headed to the VFW Post.
- It was just about a perfect last-of-tour show with the audience of 40. They laughed a lot, and appreciated it all.
- A lady bought two shirts and I got three new fans there: Cleon who was a big help in packing up my stuff (first pic) and 97 year-old Marcella - amazing with still all her hair and all her witts (third pic):
- After everything was packed up I hung around the post and visited a little.
- Got to bed in the Best Western Airport hotel at 12:07 for 8:45 hours of sleep
Sun Aug 4 = I added a record to About Lou today: Longest day driving in recent history with 10 hours on the road for 575 miles from Wichita, KS to Edgewood, NM on Aug 4th, 2024.
- I ate two meals on the way and took two naps.
- At the Edgewood, NM Walmart I got some new fans even before I went inside:
- Got to bed at midnight for 9:02 hours of sleep
Mon Aug 5 = This morning, along with a little Walmart grocery shopping, I got the first twin fans for my Fans web page:
- Then I hit the road and arrived at
Anne's
My daughter, Roby her husband and their two daughters, Ren and Brooke, who live in Flagstaff, AZ
house about 4:30 pm.
- After supper Robby and I went flying in his Mooney M-20J. We had fun flying over Oak Creek Canyon at about 9K'. With a little coaching from Robby I did most of the flying - except for the landing, which his insurance says he must do. Here's the plane and my view turning on the final approach at the Flagstaff Airport.
- Back at the house, Ren and I had an excellent visit. She will be going to college for drama in Maryland.
- They let me park in their garage for a perfect night of quiet and morning shade.
- Got to bed at 11:03 for 8:42 hours of sleep
Tue Aug 6 = I fixed breakfast in my van, then went inside to eat it while visiting with
Anne
My daughter, Roby her husband and their two daughters, Ren and Brooke, who live in Flagstaff, AZ
.
- After breakfast Robby showed me a lot of data that his software collects about his plane and its flights and flights of planes of the same make and model. It was certainly impressive and interesting. It included things like:
Hours of operation
Power settings used
Manafold pressures
Airspeeds
Altitudes of operation
Also his iPad showed the ground track for our entire flight yesterday. During the flight the same iPad was mounted on the instrument panel in front of me, receiving GPS data and, essentially, becoming a mini-glas cockpit
- Before heading south and before saying my "Good Bye's" I took a nap.
- On the way home in Phoenix I stopped by Winco Foods for my semi-monthly grocery shopping and, due to inflation and neecing about everything, spent the most yet on groceries ($93!). Not realizing that I already had frozen vegetables at home in the freezer, I boght more. I now have four pounds of peas, five pounds of green beans and 10 punds of mixed vegetables.
- The electricity didn't go off once while I was gone, althogh I had prepared for that eventuality. A couple of slight slip ups when I left home four months ago was leaving the ceiling light on in my lab and failing to turn off my "computer" switch. That meant my printer (in sleep mode), modem and powered hub stayed on the entire four months.
- It was nice to get home with my two extra big computer screens, my CPAP and Alexia.
- Got to bed at 11:42 for 8:56 hours of sleep
Wed Aug 7 = I did two stints on my elliptical today, gradually increasing the intensity to my "normal." One in the morning and one after I
sunned
I lay in the sun for 10 minutes on my back and 10 minutes on my stomach at solar noon when the sun rays are maximized for the skin's production of vitamin D
.
- This afternoon, after two days, I finally got Cox to activate my Internet from its Seasonal Hold.
- Not saying it was a good use of my time, but I studied the papameters for my Fingertip Pulse Oximeter. The main thing I wanted was to understand the PI (Perfusion Index), which measures the strength of your pulse. Normal average is 1.4. I am at 7.1 :)
- I projected my budget through Sep.
- After supper I had a nice visit with Jami, my neighbor, and picked up the mail she had collected for me while I was gone.
- After the video segment on my comedy shows it gets a little awkward so I got my Neumi video player fixed so the last video ends with a black screen and no sound so I don't have to go through a series of menus to put up the black JPG at the end of my TV setment - almost. An orange progress bar stays on the screen.
- It was late by the time I went to LA Fitness for a heavy legs workout,
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
,
and shower.
- Got to bed at midnight for 9 hours of sleep
- According to Google, during July a visited 167 places (150 new) and 61 cities (43 new):
Thu Aug 8 = It was complicated so I spent most of the day arranging to get my finger prints taken tomorrow, as a volunteer who is helping the elderly under the auspices of
.
The process involved three agencies whose websites did not exactly speak the same language.
- When I got drowsy at my computer I moved all the T-shirts from my Merch Box to the warehouse (the west end of my couch) where they will be easily accessible for replenishing my ShirtCase.
- Of course I also took my daily afternoon nap.
- This evening I fired up 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. Its 32-bit operating system with a x64-based processor is tight, with only 2gb RAM and a 32gb SSD hard drive, but the 128gb micro SD card helps.
because my Dymo label maker will not work with my
Mac
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
and made 40 tickets for Thursday's show.
- I also I made a poster for the Thu Aug 15, 2024; 7:30pm;
Stand Up Live; 50 W Jefferson St, #200; Phoenix, AZ 85003 show
(For FREE ADMISSION, before 7:00, tell the box office that you are there to see Arizona Lou), which which I converted to 8-up microposters. I could not print them out because my MackBook and printer are not talking to each other.
- About 11pm I went to Anytime Fitness for a heavy arms workout and a new fan:
- Got to bed at 11:58 for 8:44 hours of sleep
Fri Aug 9 = After breakfast I scooted off to Albertson's for blueberries, UPS for finger prints, Esporta Fitness for a heavy torso workout and a new fan:
- Psyllium husks from swansonvitamins.com is by far the best deal with only 99¢ for shipping so I ordered 6 pounds.
- I started experiencing some pain in my right scapula area.
- Mounside Fitness in downtown Phoenix was my target for a light legs workout. I didn't get any new there fans, but did leave 5 tickets for them to pass out for Thursday's show.
- After Mountainside, I moved my van to Level P3 of the East CityScape underground parking area because the West side was all full, including where I had been parked.
- At Stand Up Live (where I wa an member of the audience) before the show I got three new fans:
It was a fun show with an opener from Australia. Headliner, Matt McCusker was good.
- After the show, I learned to stop taking the stairs because it makes finding my van very difficult. They make it much easier when you take the elevator. So much for good exercise in these situations. Chad helped me locate my van and also became my latest fan:
- Got to bed at 11:59 8:35 hours of sleep
Sat Aug 10 = It took most of the morning to get my FCC licence renewed. I couldn't pay the $35 fee until I registered with CORES (COmmission REgistration System). What a bureaucracy.
- Planning for my next trip, I ordered a 90° 110v power cord for my van's refrigerator - pricy at $38.92 including tax and shippiing, but it will releave my
from powering the refrigerator while the engine is running. It was hard to find a cord with both pluggs angled 90° in the correct direction.
- I spent much of the rest of the day with my Brother LASER printer, which has not worked using the USB cable since I returned home. After a bunch of online research and a video I got it "hooked" up wirelessly to my
Mac
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
.
The closest I got to printing was a notice on my Mac that the printer was paused.
- I also copied some files from my USB C/A drive to an old USB A drive, hoping the old one will work at Office Max. Their self-service printers don't seem to work with the more modern USB drives.
- To my email list, this evening I added 14 fans from six states since my last additions on July 25th.
- Then I got busy with Mail Chimp, switched to my Phoenix audience of 467 and sent out emails announcing:
Thu Aug 15, 2024; 7:30pm;
Stand Up Live; 50 W Jefferson St, #200; Phoenix, AZ 85003
For FREE ADMISSION, before 7:00, tell the box office that you are there to see Arizona Lou
Park underneath, in the CityScape Parking Garage, and they will validate your stub for 3 hours of free parking.
- Got to bed at 11:36 for 9 hours of sleep
Sun Aug 11 = At noon I put in for Stir Crazy's open mic on Wednesday, but I was not chosen. Supposedly their computer choses the participants..
- There is something that I need to put more effort into. I find that I avoid things that may not have a positive outcome. This afternoon I finally phoned Lance, my landscaper, about the new plants I had put in before I left home, that are now brown crispy critters. One of his guys had set the drip system to water only on Fridays. Of course that was not enough water to keep the plants going. I guess he thought the plants would be watered every day.
- Lance and I had an amazing two-hour visit while I cleaned my van's little Engle refrigerator and fixed and ate supper. He is going to replace the three plants that died.
- This evening's trip started with the nearby Walgreen to print some microposters from my thumb drive that Office Max self-service printers do not recognize. The copies at Walgreens are a little more expensive, but they are of good quality and Walgreen is closer to home.
- Second stop was Home Depot for a flush valve gasket for my hall toilet.
- Next was Planet Fitness for a light arms workout and two new fans.
- Next was Bashas for their Romaine lettuce on sale - about the freshest I have ever seen in a grocery store.
- I then stopped by the Desert Financial Credit Union to deposit some cash from my T-shirt sales into Arizona Federal CU.
- Back at home I download the statement and balanced my checking account... on the second try. The first try I had an eroneus formula in a spreadsheet cell and did not notice that my APS bill was $16 less than expected.
- Due to the Olympic Games, Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show is not on, so I am watching a little of the Games and some of the Tonight Show monologues that were recorded while I was gone on tour.
- Got to bed at 11:59 for 9:01 hours of sleep
Mon Aug 12 = It took me all morning to notice a missing QR code on my Press Kit web page for my Delmarva Live TV appearance on July 13, 2022 and then add the code; and then to corrected the link and QR code for my Tempe Improv appearance on November 10,2022. All this was in preparation for when I then put in for Stir Crazy's Funniest Person in the Universe comedy contest.
- This afternoon, I finally got my printer going. Resetting it did the trick. Since it was not a factory reset, my page count and statistics were still in it's memory.
- MailChimp emailed me a report and none of the 447 emails bounced or unsubscribed. That means my email list is really clean.
- This evening I drove to the Desert Ridge Mountainside Fitness for a light arms workout and two new fans.
- It was getting late, but on the way home I ran my van through my favorite automatic carwash, about a mile from my house.
- Got to bed at 11:20 for 9 hours of sleep
Tue Aug 13 = This morning Lance, my landscaper, came over with three Myoporum to replace the dead ones. His crew arrived later and put them in the ground. Thank you, Lance!
- I showed them how to press the three buttons to change the days interval between waterings. That is all I want them to do with my drip timer. While I was on tour they thought they changed it to drip every day but instead changed it to drip every Friday. Thus the dead plants.
- After that came lunch, a little web work and a 10-minute nap while icing my right scapula. I have begun alternately heating and icing it once or twice a day.
- Then off to Mountainside Fitness for a quick
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
,
shower and four new fans:
No time to "fix" my hair so I just brushed up a little quiff and headed to the appointment with my PCP for my annual physical.
- At the Doctor's, Estrallia, the doctor's assistant, took my vitals - all good.
- On the way home I stopped by Dollar Tree for a pack of two CR2032s, the 32 St & Bell LA Fitness for a brief light torso workout and Walgreens where I immediately decided that I was not going to pay $16 for a hair/scalp scrubber.
- Back at home I did the June/July AARP Magazine's crossword and other puzles - sort of.
- Got to bed at 11:52 for 8:50 hours of sleep
Wed Aug 14 = I gave myself a 45% chance of success, but if sucessful I'd save a lot of work fixing the leak on a joint of the feed line from my timer to the drip lines. The project started by going to Home Depot to decide what to do and to buy a Pipe Repair Kit.
- In the pics you can see the system (above ground because it is Phoenix), the orange ring around the joint where the leak is, the repair kit I used and my ugly repair:
- My repair looks pretty sad, but it worked - mostly! The big leake is now a small leak and only occurs when the system is dripping. I should have kept my eyes closed because I noticed another slow drip from a joint in the copper supply line. Another project for another day.
- This evening I tackled a huge project, the voice notes I had left to myself over the past month on my Sony ICD-PX370 Voice Recorder, focusing on comedy. I got 93 notes deleted and now have a lot more comedy bits to work on.
- Although I had my gym bag by the door I did not make it to the gym. That's OK because I did a lot with comedy notes and writing.
- Got to bed at 12:50 for 8:23 hours of sleep
Thu Aug 15 = I awakwned early this morning with a phone call and my phone is supposed to be on "Do not disturb" when it's face down. The call was from Johs Boyle about his doing social media for me. I immediately took off my "Friend" hat and put on my "Businessman" hat. I had been waiting over two wekks for Josh to get back to me.
- Later, I finalized my routine for
Stand Up Live this evening: mostly my Yoga set, which I had never done at SUL before.
- I
sunned
I lay in the sun for 10 minutes on my back and 10 minutes on my stomach at solar noon when the sun rays are maximized for the skin's production of vitamin D
.
- Today's trip was going to be a little over six hours. This is what it looked like:
Leave
Drive
Arrive
For
At location
3:15
:45
4:00
:45
Cindy & George for :45 min.
4:45
:45
5:30
:50
Mountainside Fitness, Downtown
6:20
:10
6:30
3hr
Stand Up Live
9:30
:30
10:00
--
Rockwood (home)
- I headed out about 15 minutes late and was on the eastbound 101 when I decided to give
George
my younger brother who live in east Mesa, Arizona with Cindy,
his wife (who had a masive stroke in 2022)
a phone call to let him know I would be a little late. That's when I realized I had left my phone home. I had to go back for it and that put me a half hour late, which had sort of a domino effect.
- After a good visit with George & Cindy, I headed to downtown Phoenix. The Citiscape parking was $40 for a special event. When I explained I was going to Stand Up Live, the charge was reduced to $5/hour after the first three hours with validation by the downtown EōS Fitness.
- The end of the domino effect was at the gym. I had only enough time to check in and change shoes.
- Stand Up Live had a good show with an audience of only 83, but it was fun. For my five minutes I exceeded my comedy goal with 7.7 laughs per minute and people laughing 32% of the time. My percent would have been better if I had paused a little longer for some of the laughs.
One of the door staff became my latest fan:
- Got to bed at 11:56 for 9 hours of sleep
Fri Aug 16 = Hopefully you will be able to do what I did this morning: I completed a USPS survey about their Informed Delivery program, suggesting that the program tell when a package (or mail) has been delivered. It would be a big help, as I'm 82 years old and it would eliminate unnecessary trips to the mailbox. Let's get them to add that valuable feature. So if you are asked to complete the survey, let 'em know.
- On this afternoon's trip, between LA Fitness for a workout and four new fans
and Office Max to return non-functional metalic markers, I drove by one of three stores that I have heard about and wanted to check out.
Those three stores are:
Burlington (like Goodwill, only new stuff)
Ross Dress For Less (like Burlington but maybe slightly more expensive and smaller selection except in clothing)
T.J. Max
Five Below
- This one was Berlington. It knocked my sox off - like a Goodwill but only with NEW stuff. Speaking of sox, I bought a pack of men's black Polo ankle sox to wear and make my sandals more comfortable. I have been wearing women's black ankle sox that are stretchy, but a little too tight, from Walmart because that is all I could find.
- Fleet monernization to a vehicle that needs to be dependable for 20 years is being conducted by the USPS. The NGDV (Next Generation Delivery Vehicle) is being built by Oshkosh Defense, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I believe they are being short sided for not making most of them electric, especially with the extreme stop-and-go driving.
I posted this message about Sunday's open mic in Mesa on three Facebook Groups:
Sat Aug 17 = Twenty-four minutes is what it took me to do the monthly pay off of my six credit cards. That's an average of six minutes each, including double checking the rewards on one of the cards. Of course I had already checked the balances due, using the paper statements.
- This afternoon I activated Number Lock for my Googe fi account so criminals will not be able to hijack my phone to get two-factor codes when trying to sign into my accounts.
- FedEx delivered, of course in the wrong place, my order of six pounds of raw psyllium husks. I guess Swanson figured I was old because they included fliers touting an electric scooter, hearing aids, a computer built for seniors and a Home Lift. Of course they gave all their hype, but essentially no details.
- I worked on some new new comedy material about the "old people" fliers that Swanson put in the box with the psyllium.
- I almost didn't go to a gym since it was getting late, but I went anyway, to the Cave Creek Rd EōS Fitness, had a good arms workout and got a new fan. Didn't get the pic he tried to email to me.
- Got to bed at 11:23 for 9 hours of sleep
Sun Aug 18 = This morning I watched a video of comedian Gary Gullman on stage. The creative twists of his comedy are as good as those in his book that I am reading, Missfit: Growing Up Awkward in the '80s but not negative like his book.
- I think I have come up with an effective way to plan my days' trips. It uses Google Maps (with their "Details" feature) and is made more efficient with my Goodwill calculator's time calculation feature.
For example, in the image below:
1:31pm I leave home
0:18 minutes to drive to T.J. Max
0:50 minutes staying there
2:39pm Leave
0:02 minutes to drive to Mountainside Fitness
etc.
- In Mesa, Andre Bryant, the owner, producer and host for the slotted open mic at
The Neighborhood Comedy Theatre ran a good show and became a fan:
His support for my Alzheimer's merch was outstanding. It was a fun show for all nine of us and I sold three T-shirts.
- As you can see in the above itinerary, I stopped by the Gilbert Winco, an excellent store because, unlike my Seventh Avenue Winco, they have fat-free cottage cheese and a peanut butter grinding machine with dry roasted peanuts (not just honey roasted).
- Not on the itinerary, I also stopped by a Basha's and a Fry's Food Store for broccoli and grapes, respectively - on sale, of course.
- Got to bed at 12:19 for 8:56 hours of sleep
Mon Aug 19 = Forgetting important things can be a plague. I can handle it if it inconveniences me, but hate it when it inconveniences someone else. This morning I got so busy following up on yesterday and planning today and forgot that I was the transportation for Marsha under the auspices of
,
and she had made special arrangements for her appointment. I won't blame Duet if they put me on their list of unreliable volunteers.
-
FCP
Final Cut ProX the fancy video-editing software I got for my MacBook Pro from Apple in Sept, 2023
never seems to work for me. Today I spent a lot of my time importing files from Thursday's New Faces show and then hit a brick wall trying to get FCP to switch between angles (different cameras).
- The first stop on this evening's little trip was my nearby Albertson's for yogurt, bananas on sale and two new fans:
- Last stop was the Anytime Fitness in the same shopping center for a light legs workout and a new fan:
- Back home, before going to bed, I hand watered my new myoporums for the last time, so they have been watered every day with the bi-daily automatic drips for one week since Lance put them in.
- Got to bed at 12:50 for 9:03 hours of sleep
Tue Aug 20 = Today's trip schedule was tight, but I got it all done, gone from home for over seven hours
- At 12:30pm I headed out to my Moon Valley LA Fitness for a
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
,
shower, a very quick light arms workout and a new fan:
- Next stop was my audiologist and ENT. My audiologist, Dr. Kevin Kristalovich was phenomenally helpful and informative and told me about Phonak's new AI hearing aids.
- Next on the trip was on south to meet up with Josh Boyle to give hime some video files which he will split up into reels and to give him access to my social media accounts to post the reels. We accomplished it all in 1.5 hours.
- On the way north I stopped by the N 7th St Anytime Fitness for a light fast torso workout, to put together my shopping list with my computer which list I will access with my phone, and a new fan:
- Then on up to Winco Foods for my semi-monthly groceries and a new fan:
- Got to bed at 11:47 for 8:13 hours of sleep, needing to get up early tomorrow morning for a dental appointment.
Wed Aug 21 = This morning I had 45 minutes to do my elliptical, fix and eat breakfast and leave for my dental appointment at Desert Smiles. They have a brand new office with all new equipment, the same distance from my house, but across the corner and on the ground floor. Aamanda was my hyginest and Dr. Jonathan Robles my dentist.
- Out in the parking lot I struck up a conversation with a guy driving a little cute Fiat, who became a fan:
- Back home I got my comedy routine for tonight planned - a couple days later than ideal.
- After fixing my bagged supper to eat on the way, I took off a little after 4pm for Dollar Tree where I found a round plastic container 3.7" diameter x 1.25" high in which to stow my spare hearing aid parts.
- Next stop was the Arrowhead Mountainside Fitness in Glendale, AZ for most of a heavy legs workout and three new fans:
- Next stop was the EōS Fitness in Peoria, AZ for the rest of the legs workout, to finish off my
Frosty
The The 9oz chocolate/cinnamon protein treat, that I mix up six at a time, which is my weekly reward for doing a heavy legs workout
and to get two new fans:
This is the first time I visited a single-level EōS Fitness. I noticed that their equipment was not as well maintained as that at the Mountside Fitness.
- Then to the Westgate Entertainment Distric and the
Stir Crazy Comedy Club. We had a great crowd as usual. For my three minutes, I did Living With Cranks as a Kid, Body Farm, and Going as Fast as I Can. I sold three T-shirts and got a donation for Alzheimer's.
- Here is the list, the comedians and three new fans:
- Got to bed at 11:29 9 hours of sleep
Thu Aug 22 = I looked all over (on various hard drives) and couldn't find the set of videos I made at the Panorama City, CA show in early March. It was a good one and I was hoping to produce it. produce. My second choice will lmight be a show I did in Pensacola, FL for AMVETS Post 292.
- Today I scored 19 on
The Booking Game
a game I devised to score when I work on booking comedy shows
(first time "playing" since my tour), contacting some veterans' post in CA for possible Feb shows next year.
- Also I sent an email to the CEO of Viking Cruise Lines, about a year younger than me :)
- Just before bedtime I went to Anytime Fitness for a slow heavy arms workout.
- Got to bed at 12:13 for 8:57 hours of sleep
Fri Aug 23 = Today I mostly wrestled wtth
FCP
Final Cut ProX the fancy video-editing software I got for my MacBook Pro from Apple in Sept, 2023
.
I read more instructions and watch some more instructional videos, still trying to "multicam" my appearance on the 15th at Stand Up Live in downtown Phoenix. FCP is neither working the way I expect nor the way they say it would.
- Today's trip was across the street to pick up my junk mail.
- No wonder I'm so healthy. You should eat 20 different types of plants, vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds and legumes. That helps your weight control, reduces Alzheimer's risk, boosts longevity and improves happiness, according to the May '24 AARP Bulliten (I'm catching up on reading from my tour). Every odd meal day I get at least 19 types and every even meal day I get at least 22 types, Our Menu (on Smart Stuff) covers 29 types every two days.
- Varmints had the run of the house for four months while I was on tour. Although there was no food left out, a few cockroaches evidently had a party, for the first time, when I was gone on tour. While I was gone they left some feces and I saw about five since I returned two and a half weeks ago. This evening I swept the feces off the kitchen counter onto the floor and cleaned the counter. Then I had Roomba vacuum the kitchen floor. Roomba seemed to vacuum all the "stuff" up and deposit it into its disposal bag. I hope the roach bait I put out does the job. Before I leave on tour next year, I'll put out some party food for the roaches.
- Got to bed at 11:37 for 9 hours of sleep
Sat Aug 24 = I need help! I hit two brick walls with
FCP
Final Cut ProX the fancy video-editing software I got for my MacBook Pro from Apple in Sept, 2023
.
I found no classes at ASU or PVCC and found no local tutors for FCP, so reached out to my Social Media Guru, Josh Boyle who uses FCP. While I was waiting for him to call me, I stumbled upon a workaround that allowed me to produce a quality video from the six video and audio files from my appearance on the 15th.
- Before supper I conducted my trip to LA Fitness for a heavy torso workout and five new fans:
- I got the new video uploaded to YouTube:
My YouTube description was a lot shorter and hopefully better, thanks to ChactGPT's AI (artificial intelligence). Here's the result:
Get ready to laugh till you drop! In his 1,570th appearance, Arizona Lou, the 82-year-old comedy dynamo, takes the stage at Stand Up Live Comedy Club in Phoenix. With jokes about aging, yoga, and T-shirts, Lou had the audience cracking up 32% of the timeÑaveraging 7.7 laughs per minute! Watch from every angle as this living legend delivers punchlines with his signature voice. Recorded with five cameras and top-notch audio, this is six minutes of pure Arizona Lou gold!
- Here, similar to my previous descriptions, is what I gave ChatGPT:
Can you take five minutes of laughter? This is Arizona Lou's 1,570th appearance, August 15, 2024 . The crowd enjoyed LouÕs joking about being 82 years old , yoga, T-shirts and his weak voice. They laughed 32% of the time and 7.7 times per minute at the Stand Up Live Comedy Club in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.
CAMERAS:
#1 Zoomed in on the comedian from the back of the room, Sony HDR-CX405 camcorder.
#2 Wide angle of the stage with the house camcorder.
#3 Zoomed in on a portion of the audience from stage right, Sony HDR-CX405 camcorder
#4 Wide angle of the comedian from stage right, Sony HDR-CX405 camcorder
#5 Zoomed in on a portion of the audience from stage left, Sony HDR-CX405 camcorder
AUDIO:
The comedianÕs audio was from a Sony ICD-UX560 high resolution stereo recorder worn by the comedian as a body mic
EDITING was done with Final Cut Pro on a MacBook Pro computer by Louis Self
- Thanks to doing all that I got to bed late, at 12:05 for 9 hours of sleep.
Sun Aug 25 = This morning I didn't have a whole lot of energy for my elliptical so didn't push myself beyond 48 RPM with a resistance of #12 which got me 157 vertical feet (equal to a 15-story building) in 2 minutes for a pulse of 140.
- In the "paperwork" department, on my computer, I projected by budget through October.
- In the physical peperwork department I reorganized the past appearances folder in a file drawer so it is pleted at the bottom and added another folder for early my appearances.
- After lunch I fixed supper to eat on the 31-mile drive way down south to
The Whining Pig Ahwatukee on Ray Rd, still in Phoenix.
- Two things I have been wanting to do: freeze a bunch of grapes that I bought on sale and Call
Harold and Bernadette
my EX-brother-in-law and his wife
to catch up. What a perfect combined use of time! Bernadette and I hade a good visit.
- Down in Ahawatukee in the shopping center west of The Whining Pig is a Mountainside Fitness. Another perfect combination. After getting these four new fans at Mountainside, there wasn't enough time for a workout so I did a poo, washed up a little and headed east to The Whining Pig.
We had a good show. For my seven minutes I did some new stuff about being old with cranks and Alzheimer's. I sold two T-shirts and got two new fans:
- My new approach for most open mics here in phoenix is not to get the audience (mostly of comedians) to laugh but to try new material every time. That will give me practice writing/developing new stuff and figuring out ways to remember a new set. After each open mic I'll listen to my recording and note any jokes that got a laugh and repeat them at the next open mic.
- Got to bed at 11:35 for 9:13 hours of sleep
Mon Aug 26 = What I learned this morning going to my doctor's office for a blood test: Don't take my computer any more. There was no time to do anything with it, I had to cart it around so I wasted my time before I left home by ejecting the backup hard drive and disconnecting the computer. When I returned I wasted more time plugging up the computer and configuring the external screens. If there had been a delay at the doctor's I could have read Mark Twain on my phone.
- My Optometrist appointment was this afternoon down south in uptown Phoenix at a new location, near an EōS Fitness so I stopped by EōS for a quick
poster trim
weekly trimming of my beard, eye brows and little quiff so I match my poster photos
and shower.
- Then on to the optometrist who found my eyes stable. On the way home I stopped by a Fry's Food & Drug where I found that taking the Bausch & Lomb vitamins he recommended would cost me about $480 per year. Since I get all the vitimes, but not in the megadoses, in my healthy diet and because my eyes have been stable for years, I decided to not help make Bausch & Lomb rich. I did buy 30 OCuSOFT eye-lid scrubs for $.45 each. They will be more of a convenience item for me. Also the doctor instructed me in the most effective way to use the scrubs.
- Around the middle of the day my left hearing aid lost all sound, including streaming, ambient sounds and the "turn-on" tone, although the MyPhonak app on my phone shows it as still connected.
- This evening I worked on my Album 2.
The album's "Firehouse" video was missing most of its sound so I replaced it with my latest "Stand Up Live" Yoga performance, needing to delete Cozzy's to not run out of storage space on the album
The URL link to my website was outdated and lead to a soccer page so I updated it to "https://arizonalou.com/index.html"
The House of Madness audio file will not play on my mac, but will on my PC. so I need to re-do the file
In the process I found that a URL for the Mac is simply eight lines of HTML, which I learned to modify to suit
- Got to bed at 11:36 for 9:05 hours of sleep
Tue Aug 27 = One small change in my diet, starting this morning, is to reduce my daily prunes from four to three. Three should still keep my digestive system going but reduce my caloric intake a little, being at 132.4 lb and aiming for 130 lb.
- It was not on my to-do list but I spent some time this morning collecting records for the cost basis of my land on 151st Avenue: expenses connected with the private water well.
- My expense of insurance was softened a little with a dividend check for about $350 from Amica Mutual. That's between 20 and 30 percent return of what I paid in premiums.
- I
sunned
I lay in the sun for 10 minutes on my back and 10 minutes on my stomach at solar noon when the sun rays are maximized for the skin's production of vitamin D
- This afternoon I went to the Desert Ridge Mountainside Fitness for a light torso workout and a new fan:
- On the way home I stopped by a CVS to get one of their 3' receipts and a rubber scalp scrubber.
- Album 2 needed more attention. The .mov file I produced with
FCPX
Final Cut Pro X the fancy video-editing software I got from Apple in Sept, 2023 for my MacBook Pro computer
.
does not play on Windows computers. With the help of an online video I figured out how to export a video as an MP4, which is playable on both Mac and Windows machines. Good for me.
- Got to bed at 11:42 for 9 hours of sleep
Wed Aug 28 = Today, still working on my albums, I re-did the Beverly House of Madness MP3 file using
FCP
Final Cut ProX the fancy video-editing software I got for my MacBook Pro from Apple in Sept, 2023
.
so it works on the Mac as well as a PC.
- I spent a lot of time on hearing aids; trying to get mine to work and researching the latest Phonak Audeo Sphere Infinio 90 by Sonova with AI.
- Right now my hearing aids are mostly useless, being almost inaudible.
- Late, I went to LA Fitness for a heavy legs workout.
- Got to bed at 11:32 for 9:05 hours of sleep
Thu Aug 29 = Before fixing lunch I went to Basha's for green grapes on sale and to Anytime Fitness for a heavy arms workout.
- Since Monday I have been having fits with my hearing aids. It turns out the problem was that the earwax filters in the speakers were plugged... with ear wax and I was trying to use the filters for the old speakers. Now the aids work and I'm a happy camper.
- This afternoon I added two local open mics to my comedy schedule:
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
I learned a lot tonight: to copy, rename, move, delete, and open files and folders - even on external drives. Now to figure how to make a script for it and I will be able to automate the updating of my albums. At the same time I am learning Linux and forstalling Alzheimer's.
- Got to bed at 11:49 for 9:01 hours of sleep
Fri Aug 30 = This morning I left exactely on time,
under the auspices of
,
to pick up Arlette to take her to her doctor's appointment in Scottsdale.
- After dropping her off back at her house, on the way home I stopped by Anytime Fitness for a heavy arms workout, Albertsons' Osco Drug Store to find that I would not be able to get COVID/Flu vaccines until after lunch time, UPS to weigh the kite I have boxed to send to NC and Costco Gas for a fill up.
- Back at home it was past time for a late lunch.
- Less than half as cheap as USP and USPS to ship a 13-pound kite from here in Phoenix to the east coast was Pirate Ship (pirateship.com). Good to know for future references.
- This evening I wrestled with the terminal mode on my
Mac
the MacBook Pro I got in May 2023, with an m2 Max processor 64GB of memory and a 2TB SSD hard drive
,
hopefully able use it to automate the updating of my albums. I got a clickable desktop icon for performing functions but it was not cooperating. Instead of performing the functions in the file it would open the file in my BBEdit app.
- Got to bed at 11:25 for 8:49 hours of sleep
Sat Aug 31 = AARP says you need at least 800 IU per day of Vitamin D. My 20 minutes "Arizona's noon-day bakini sun" every four days gives me about 15k IU which averages about 3,700 IU per day. The only thing is, when I am on tour, I don't keep up that sun schedule, but still get some sun.
- This morning I checked the comedians appearing at the seven local comedy clubs and bought tickets for "Landry" at a 7pm Stir Crazy show in Glendale.
- It took me the ret of the morning and half the afternoon to add my newly recorded Yoga routine from Stand Up Live here on my Press Kit web page.
- I was so focused on learnning Linux today, I never got around to a gym. I did have a good sense of accomplishment.
- Tonight's show was excellent with a sold-out crowd. All three comedians did crowd work - especially "Landry." He never pushed it too far but the crowd loved it. Being from Canada, he certainly knews a lot about what was going on in the US. "Landry" and the feature, Carlos Anthony, became my 1,782nd and 1,7783rd fans:
- Got to bed at 11:40 for 9 hours of sleep
- According to Google, during August I visited 25 cities (7 new) and 86 places (46 new):
