Duncan's Blog

I am old school. I say it with pride. I learned things back in the day that seemed to work (well) back in the day. Sometimes there are things from 'back in the day' that still are tried-and-true and still hold water in today's world. So, by now, you are probably wondering, "WTH is he writing about?"
From time to time, I come to work wearing a jacket with shirt and tie. I might also be wearing polished wingtip shoes. So? My normal daily attire is an ensemble of scrub tops and bottoms. On the rare occasion when I play big boy dress up, it is usually to present a case to an executive leader in my capacity as union steward. It's a small gesture, but it's noticed.
When I communicate with people THESE DAYS, I like to do it by phone. For communication that needs to be somewhat longer or more involved, I might send an email. Yes, I still do write letters that get sent with stamps and I often make sure to send post cards when I am travelling away from home.
I dislike text messaging. I use it if I am meeting someone, and I encounter changes in plan or obstacles that might require adjustments be made. The message would be brief. I prefer to speak, but I note that there are folks who don't pick up their phones and I am then forced to leave a voicemail.
The text message thing could be sent to a computer or to a phone. Back in the day when I used the Internet Relay Chat, I learned of command called 'PING' which would make contact by sending an electronic message, as a text message.
"I'm at the cemetery. I'll ping you the address."
I call them short emails. I refuse to distinguish MESSAGE from MESSENGER on my phone. One of them sends email from my cell phone number to your cell phone number. The other sends email from my
F A C E B O O K account to your F A C E B O O K. (In case you were wondering why I wrote
F-a-C-E-B-O-O-K with spaces, it's because if you write the name out, it will be obliterated with asterisks). Anyway, I received flak from someone because I was using the computer's email account (gmail or something similar) and I was sending my email to both the person's email account and to his/__/their/her cell phone number. The person didn't like it. To which I replied, "TFB!" (Yes, strong language!). "If you weren't so damned lazy and would pick up the phone and talk, you wouldn't have to get my messages from here and there or on this and that. But NOOOO! You have to send these silly, abbreviated, emails via phone which winds up taking longer to send because I have to re-read everything for spelling and grammar."
I don't like being a slave to technology.
The only short mail that I still employ are picture post cards. They make people smile. The only shorter correspondence I know of that makes people smile is cash money or a check in a sealed envelope.
Anyway, these days I opt out of using the cell phone for anything other than phone calls, picture taking, and calculating my car mileage.

I look at credit karma every day. It's what I do. It's how I roll. And today--my perfect credit score notwithstanding--I was informed that my credit score had lowered because during the month my credit card balance went from $0 to $2100.
I am taking a credit card challenge. You know... use this card for a month and we will give you a reward of blah-blah-blah. Most of the cards I have come with some bonus value additive. The card will be paid in full with one payment before the month is over. So why should my score be affected by this? It's because these stupid assessments are made as a snapshot in time... sort of like your EKG printout while your heart is doing its thing. In the moment there could be a bleep that isn't usually there the rest of the time. You just hit an unlucky draw.
I don't give too much thought to the perfect credit comment. I have valid / active cards that are filed away in a wooden index card box. They were opened for a special in a store or something similar. Discover, MC, Visa... I never cancel them. Someone once said closing accounts can negatively impact your credit. How on earth can a plastic card that's never been used and has a $5K limit cause my score any adverse action if I decide to shut it down.
<SHRUG>
That's why my life never went into the fields of finance.

I live an old-fashioned life(style) with the marked exception of my tender. I pay for most everything with a credit card. Cash only comes out when I tip. The tip is usually a straight 20% which gets rounded up or down to the nearest dollar.
My union president used to like to give gift cards to the CHEESECAKE FACTORY during the holiday season. After one or two times, I had asked her to stop. She asked why. I told her that the restaurant was very expensive and even with the card credit (which was GREATLY appreciated) I would still have to pull money from my wallet (or card holder) and pay the balance of a(n) hefty tab. So, she opted to offer me gift cards from LUCILLE'S BBQ. Last night I took a friend to the restaurant. We shared an appetizer (breaded and fried cauliflower) and had an entree. We had to ask for the complementary biscuits.
The meal--without beverage other than iced tap water--came to nearly $95. I tipped with cash.
Were it not for the generosity of the card(s), I would never find myself in such a place. The food was rich and the sauces were infused with sweeteners that exceed my normal consumption limits. I had learned a long time ago that dressings and gravies and sauces can be wiped up with a fork and then the fork can be used to eat whatever morsel had been spiked upon it. This works well for salad dressing, ketchup, duck sauce...
I was glad to be able to share a meal with a dear friend. We each had leftovers that were more than ample for another meal or two. Unfortunately, the food seems to have a high fat content, and I am just not resonating with that level of lipids flowing through my gastrointestinal system.
Guess I've grown to like my own home cookin'

Family Friendly Italian Restaurant – The Old Spaghetti Factory

Not sure if you're familiar with the establishment. Many of them have closed, but I do like the one in Duarte, CA (not far from CARMAX). It is down-home Italian cooking with no surprises and nothing fancy. I go there for monthly dinner meet-ups with my local WITCH AND PAGAN Network. The food seems to be enjoyed by most of the diners and the waitress agrees to offer up separate checks by request.
If you've never been, I'd recommend it as a place to dine.
If you are curious about the local WITCH AND PAGAN Network, feel free to send me a PRIVATE message here

I wish for one, but I wouldn't actually make such a wish. I'm somewhere between 40-50 pounds overweight and the diet and exercise combination just aren't working. For one thing, I don't feel like doing anything more strenuous than walking. And walking in the cold isn't my bag.
So, why not walk on a treadmill in a gym/fitness center?
Because any sort of physical activity around people I know isn't my bag either.

Spring is approaching and there will be scant few reasons for not taking in more physical activity. I like to walk (generally on flat surfaces with a very low grade). Still I do think of something that could make me not want to eat. Folks say that water intake should increase. That's not a problem as I welcome filtered water and have no problems with the kidneys. If anything, it's the bladder that causes problems with water intake. But that's for another day and time.
Maybe I need inspiration. I'll meditate on it