December 26th, 2021

Hiya,

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  Around here, that means giant pink insulation Christmas trees.

Saw a clip of O-45 where he claims he won the war on Christmas during his tenure.  He added that everyone now loves Christmas...Christians, Jews, Muslims.  I'll add the Asian religions to that too.  What a knob that guy is and I blow a gasket whenever I hear someone praise him by saying things like, small business owners loved his tax cuts.  The absolute best thing I could say about anyone that votes GOP these days is that they are willfully ignorant.  And they are gonna take charge of stuff in this next election...you just know it.  Step up your resistance people.  Call them out when you can and make them have consequences.  I have suggestions.

One thing I loved in the old holiday times were getting the year in review letters from some people about their families.  Always wanted to write up a parody version but realized some dopes would think it true and didn't want to embarrass the kids.  Now, people just blurt their shit out on the toilet in a constant stream, and a few of us still post blogs, but this year was one of a significance for our clan and yours truly and thought I would put down some of the bigger events in print to document it.

2021 saw:

- Mom passed in January.  Think about her a lot and miss our chats.  A lot of my friends moms/dads passed away this year too.  We used to go to a lot of friend's weddings, then it was our kids b-day parties, now we commiserate on our mutual losses.  What's next?  I'd like to think it'll be sharing pix of our grandkids, so will go with that.  And that is by no means a hint to my children.  

- Lost two beloved kids to mental illness this year too.  Seems like forever since our baseball guy took himself off the field, yet think about him in some way every time I go out for practice.  Another dear friend's son, who we've known since he was in diapers, lost his battle with his demons recently.  I try to find words and they are never there.  

- Betty and I bought a new house (and car) sight unseen and they are major steps in the next part of our journey.  Together...for better and for worse my dear.

- I got two new knees that will change every step I take for the rest of my life.

- Both kids graduated (with distinction!) and moved onto the next phase of their lives.  So far so good.  And they both seem like caring and thoughtful humans.  If you know me in the least, am loathe to use the word pride...but I am so fucking proud of both of them.  Really.

That is some major shit. 

Okey dokey...how about some Taiwan road work?

In our neighborhood the last few weeks are parked these little pink trucks with vials on the roof.  

Mobile botox.  I get you want to appear younger and the look good/feel good thing but I smell underregulated and under trained practitioners injecting some weird shit into your face.  Cute trucks though.  

Digging through my saved Taiwan News articles from the summer, will share some today dealing with transportation.

This one has video of a 'horrific' scooter accident.  It isn't one of those articles that is written in the goofy get my thesaurus style, but the video is brutal.  No one was seriously hurt but there were a few broken bones.  Hesitate to point it out, but a woman blew through the red light.

In other scooter news, heard about this before I saw it as people were mighty impressed.  A family of 6 on a scooter!  Is nice to see them all with helmets on, and am stunned that the fine for the infraction, which is possible for any more than two on a scooter, ranges from US$9 to US$18.  Other than the video of the sextet, I enjoyed the shared community comments, and many were about how these folks should be celebrated for having so many kids.  Taiwan has the lowest birthrate in the world and there is a low key but prevalent campaign for people to get busy.  

Will stay on the roads to finish the local news section for this week.  Surveillance cameras caught a dude getting out of his car in one of Taiwan's long ass tunnels in the middle of the night and doing some dance moves.  I think it is adorable, but of course it is on surveillance cameras cause everything is covered by cameras in this place, which is why I publicly urinate a lot less in this country.  It is also noted in this article that the fines for failing to follow signs is US$33 to US$66,  The true mystery here is, what kind of music is this guy listening to that would compel him to dance in a tunnel?  I get that the acoustics are probably pretty cool in there, but these people's taste in music is rat shit, and certainly undanceable.  

The James Webb Space Telescope launched last night.  Watched cause I'm a huge astronomy nerd.  Watch tons of videos about all that stuff, and one of my go-to podcasts for sleepy time is called Astronomy Cast where a an astrophysicist and a science journalist will take on a topic weekly.  They've been doing it for 12 years so it is almost endless.  Not sure when or why this became a thing I love, but was reading a guy I like on a sports website that does a weekly mailbag column, and the question was what was the greater human achievement; the development of penicillin or man landing on the moon.  The author went with the moon landing and the last paragraph of his explanation put words as to why I think I love space stuff so much. 

More importantly, it represents both the ambition of mankind and its ability to fulfill that ambition. It’s very easy to get bogged down in Earth’s bullshit. I know. I have Twitter and everyone there is constantly giving each other reasons to feel like absolute shit about everything, all the time. I fucking hate it. Meanwhile, this is potentially the greatest—and only?—intelligent civilization in the history of the universe. You can think, you can see, and you can dream. And what better use is there for all of those faculties than reaching out across space and time and SUCCEEDING? People go to church for comfort, to remember that there are things beyond themselves and beyond the grasp of everyday living. I think about space in the same way. It takes me out of the day and sends me somewhere else, and I’m forever grateful for that.

Not much to report on knee rehab.  No unusual setbacks, just dealing with throbbing pain that gets a bit less each day.  I think it is about the same as last time, maybe a skosh better,  but too early to tell.    Supposed to get off the walker on Wednesday when I have my follow up doctor visit, which will be nice cause then I can start going out.  He let me start driving at two weeks the first go around, and that was on the right knee, which I still find absolutely insane yet I got in the car that afternoon.  

Am definitely taking it slower this time, which means that I have more time for watching stuff.  The show I have adopted is The Expanse and am all in.  A show about humanity 300 years in the future with Earth, Mars and the asteroid belt population (called Belters) vying for dominance. Am a couple of seasons in and it is well paced and is evolving in a way that it is keeping me guessing.  During the day, it is either NFL, or whatever I can find on ESPN+, which is usually women's league cricket from New Zealand.  Very calm and pastoral.  And the announcers accents are so cute...New Zealanders have the most pleasant of the English accents in my opinion.  On Thursday, watched a spirited match between the Canterbury Magicians v The Northern Brave Women, and it was a warm day.  The crowds are not huge, maybe a hundred or two surrounding the oval, but they were selling ice cream, and for the better part of 3 hours, the announcers would see a shot of someone eating an ice cream cone and then comment on their method of eating it.  One guy licks around the edge, another is a biter, then a kid is licking their arm cause it dripped down it, and finally, the announcers got their own cones and had a lengthy discussion about how tasty they were on a warm afternoon.  I think I fell asleep for a good hour or so of it...great viewing.

December 19th, 2021

Hey there,

100% knee talk today.  

Made it through.  Not gonna say I wasn't nervous, what with them digging into my body in such a violent fashion, but certainly more confident than the first go around.  Surgery was on a Tuesday and it is Sunday today.

Checking in on Monday afternoon went pretty much the same as last time.  Blood pressure, chest x-rays and an EKG (complete with the stickers to adhere the nodes to my hairy chest that were painful to rip off and in the room with the cot under their winter coats).  There was one new wrinkle in the pre-op checklist with the nurse this time. Should preface this with the fact that the nurse was kinda cute.  She went through all the items, like do I have a family history of hypertension, how much do I smoke, blah blah, but this lady seemed to focus in on my alcohol consumption.  Betty had to translate my intake of booze, which isn't really regular.  I'll have one with dinner many nights, and will toss 2-3 back if we are out at a party or something, but something got lost in the translation cause it came back to me via Betty as her saying that 'sometimes when people drink a lot, they get delirious after anesthesia and to prevent them from hurting themselves, she may have to tie me down.'  Oh really...  She then asked if I had any questions,  and I said in my best sexy voice, you know the one, "does that cost extra?"  I made Betty translate it to her and got zero response, so either the joke didn't land, or she is a professional dominatrix.  Little tip to the kiddies out there, every nurse is a sadist to some degree.

I got a new hospital helper this time.  At hospitals here, you have to have someone in the room with you at all times cause the nurses don't have the same responsibilities as they do in the States and there is no way Betty nor I want her in there taking care of business.  We liked the last gal from the first knee OK, but she is choosing not to be vaccinated and can't come into the hospital.  I don't know her situation and she may have a true issue with the vaccines, but good riddance to the anti-vaxxer.  In retrospect, she was nice to have around, but really was a lump.  

The hospital sourced a helper and then called back saying that with my size, they were gonna get a dude instead.  Makes sense.  These folks have no qualms in pointing out my size.  The doctor said he is inserting longer posts down the femur to support my weight.  I appreciate all of that, including the honesty.

The new guy was local and speaks no English, but he is well versed in what this orthopedic hospital does and how people recover from this type of surgery, so way better.  And he knows all the secret spots...even took me out in the wheelchair for a puff the afternoon after the surgery.  Dudes name is Bear.  Love it.

A poop paragraph here.  That evening after the surgery, I wasn't expecting to poop cause anesthesia is constipating, but I had to go.  Bear gets the wheelchair that has the poop hole and bucket in it and I take one.  It felt pretty big but got a look at it after I got up, and it was the biggest load I have ever created, and I would never kid about the size of my load.  It was as big as a large ear of corn.  I feel bad that Bear had to deal with that monster, but nurses are simply the best kind of humans...in addition to being sadists.

The first night is completely brutal.  Pain pain pain.  I took all the meds they gave me and supplemented with the oxycodone that I had squirreled away, but still ruthless.  Not 'tie me up I've been a bad boy' ruthless, but close.

The next morning, the nurse came in and asked if I wanted to go home that day if the doctor approved.  Absolutely.  He came in around 11am and said I was good to go.  I went home on day 3 last time, so figure day two was that much better,  He is not too chatty but seemed extra happy with his work this time.  He said this knee was in way worse condition than the first knee as there was a lot more trauma and bone degeneration.  The right one was far less stable and way more painful for years and would have guessed otherwise, but dude knows his knees.

Then he told me of the unusual problem he had this time with some existing metal.  Here is what it looked like pre-op.

There are a couple of pieces of metal in there from a previous ACL replacement.  The one on the top was not a problem, but the one on the bottom was in the way of the replacement part stem.  The screws are part of me now and could not be removed, so he had to drill a piece of them away using a diamond saw.  I asked him if he had to use a hammer of some kind and he said he did.  I thought I was hallucinating, but must have sorta woken up during the procedure and heard metal on metal hammering.  It sounded like a movie where miners are going at a wall of copper ore with a pick-axe.  In retrospect,..Fucking-A.  

Hard to see the screws protrusion if you don't know where to look, but he said it was all good in the end.  The procedure took at least twice as long because of the extra work.  Remember looking at the clock before the lights went out and it was 8:20, and think I recall seeing it as 10:52 on the way out.  It took 45 minutes the last time.  He said it was physically hard to do, but that he was strong and made me feel his bicep.  It was impressive.  Dude is gonna be a grandfather in a few weeks.  

Last thing he said was that my knee bones are small.  Something about my patella measuring 29 when it should be at least 33.  Probably is a contributing factor in all the problems I have had over the years.  Here is what half-assed internet research said. 

Patella height ranges from 22 to 38 mm with mean 31.33 

So I have the patella size of a demure Asian lady?  That explains a lot.  Thanks genetics.

OK...scar picture time.  They took off the bandage the day after the surgery and here it is.

Not too gory.  This time, they sold me some compression socks.  Not socks really, just covers the ankle to the bottom of the knee, so whatever you call those.  Leggings?  They look pretty cool...kinda like Lebron James.  Supposed to wear them for 4-6 weeks. We pay in cash and the total out the door, including all the surgery/parts and hospital stay was NT$144,000, which is $5,179 bucks.  Expect to get that back minus deductible from our US health insurance, who has to be delighted at the cost of the bill, so it'll be about US$1,200 for the pair.  Amazing.

So intake was Monday, surgery was Tuesday AM, and I got to go home on Wednesday.  Since one of the knees as been repaired, pushing off to get up after sitting down has been easier.  Bear came home with us and stayed till Friday.  I do not claim to be an expert in grading physical therapists, nor am I alone in thinking I have a decent bullshit detector, but I do have a decent amount of experience with PT's and my BS detector is pretty damn good.  I think that now that I have quite a bit of cobalt in me, that I am receiving signals from the beyond at a much higher frequency.  Here is what 56 years of experience has taught me about PT.  It is an effin' scam and the practitioners are failures at real work.  That is harsh as there are people that really invest in learning and adapting, but for the most part, these people learn a few exercises and then belch them out to their patients without taking into account anything about their situations.  They all love that electro-pulse thing and strap that on ya for 15 minutes, then ice you down for another 15 and call it a day.  That electro thing is borderline useful at best and you know it.  People just like it cause they don't have to do anything but can say they went to PT.     Betty is going to a place here for a shoulder thing that has been bugging her for months and she says they stick her in a machine and it pulls on her arm.  I think the most egregious example I ever saw was when my mom was getting up there in age and her mobility and strength was starting to decline.  Might have even been after her head injury.  Anyway, she gets a guy recommended to her and she likes his energy and attitude.  Sadly, having a great attitude doesn't translate into having brains.  Or common sense.  This guy straps my 80-something year old mom into a rowing machine of all things and her back is tweaked for months.  I know I wrote that up at the time, but it pisses me off still.  That dude was really a sweet guy and he came by my mom's room when she was recovering from stuff just to give her some company so feel bad about slamming him, but that's my mom.  

Have a few more examples but my anecdotes really aren't fair.  There are some true heroes in the industry that work with people that are truly disabled and do the Lord's work.  The reason all this came back into focus was just how good Bear was and that the others pale in comparison.  He obviously has experience with my particular recovery as he knows the right exercises and stretching and can explain why they are important.  I was worried about bruising I had last time but he said it was not only normal, but a good thing.  Little things like that.  

Swelling and blood flow are a real issue and concern, but he had plans for that.  First some light massage first couple of days, but then he did this move that got translated to me as releasing my bad chi.  I lay down and he puts his shin on my upper thigh, where the most swelling is, and puts his entire body weight on it.  For a long time..at least a minute but felt like longer cause it hurt bad.  He'd roll it around a bit for max pain, but after he was done, I could feel a release of pressure in the leg and what I would call endorphins all over.  He said that this isn't an every day process, and only needed to be done a few times and came back to do that only a couple times after he was done staying with us.  We insisted on paying for these return visits and he said that he could not accept payment cause doing so is the right thing to do.  He did add that it has to be done between the hours of 11a and noon, or at 11p and midnight cause of something to do with the Earths' axis, so that seemed a bit mystic to me but am I gonna argue?  Have seen enough in my time to never scoff at this eastern medicine stuff.  The thing he said that convinced me that this guy knew his stuff was when he was talking to Betty and asked if my prostate was OK as he felt I wasn't peeing enough and getting enough water.  My prostate has been OK so far according to my doctor, but he was totally right in that I have not been taking in enough liquids.  I monitor the color of my urine closely (you should too) and it has been dark yellow the last few days, which is a clear sign of not getting enough water.  Don't think many would argue that being well hydrated is a positive and especially during a time of intense recovery, and that he picked up on that told me all I needed to know.  One other thing he said was after looking at my ear lobe and said that I had wrinkles in them, which could indicate heart issues.  Maybe its cause I love too much, or possibly that I eat a lot of crap and smoke/drink.  Not a huge mystery for Colombo to discern, but still.  

He also added that I was fortunate to have this knee doctor as his opinion was that he is in the top 5 in all of Asia.  Fortunate indeed.  It has been exactly 5 days since surgery and I already feel great.  Still a ton of pain and aggravation at not being able to do anything, but way better than at the same stage as last time, which can be attributed to having a good doctor, wise helper, knowing what to do (like early ingestion of prune juice), and perhaps most importantly...what not to do.  A common question I get asked about having new knees is if I'm gonna start running.  For one, you obviously don't know me at all.  Jogging across a street when the walk light is blinking red would be the ultimate for that.  It's been 20 years since I could move properly, so just learning how to walk with my head up, and not scanning the ground looking for a crack in the sidewalk that would send me crashing to the ground is gonna be a process.  Since I've spent a ton of time on the knee this week, here is a brief history of my leg issues.

1984, in separate incidents, I broke my left heel jumping down some stairs in front of my dorm and blew out my left ACL after an uncontested layup playing basketball.  The ankle never healed properly and I did nothing with the ACL for 15 years.  Those two things kept getting worse and since I was favoring the right leg, it started to show cracks, probably due to my abnormally petite knee bones.  Finally went in to see a doctor about it and they were skeptical, but took a picture of the knee and sure enough, said that a new ACL was needed.  Did that surgery, but the recovery aggravated the ankle to the point that the knee guy took a picture of it.  Will never forget him coming back into the room after the x-ray and asked, "were you in a serious car accident?"  This has to be late '90's if memory serves.  The foot doctor says he has to reconstruct and fuse the ankle bone, taking some marrow from my hip to do so.  That was a major surgery and have a good 18 inches of scars to prove it.  All during these years, the cartilage in both knees had been compromised and had several (4-6?)  procedures to "clean it up" to the point that both knees were now bone on bone.  In 2008, after our best softball season where we lofted the comically large trophy, I went to the knee doc again and he said that my playing days were over and that I needed new knees, but that I had to suck it up till my 50's cause if you replace them too early, they wear out and the next set lasts half as long.  So here I am, solidly on the down slope of my mid-50's and this will be the first time in 36 years where I will be somewhat normal.  I really don't know what that means but am excited to find out.  Not looking for any sympathy cause it is what it is and I did it to myself, just thought it might shut up anyone that thinks or says I am a whiner.  Every step I've taken in at least 20 years has had some amount of pain.

Here is my goal for the end of 2022.  Last weekend, was at the park where a bunch of baseball fields are to coach some kids, and on an adjacent field was our cousin's husband Lucas playing on his over 50 baseball team.  He said they can always use dudes and that I would be welcome to come out with them, so getting out there, playing some third base and running out a base hit is the goal and will be working towards that in 2022.  

12/12/2021

Hey there,  

Know I have said this before, but the level the locals go to with the mask wearing is extraordinary.  Amazed every day that I do not see a single person walking around without it covering their nose and mouth properly.  On the track I go to exercise on, some people will take them down, but about half keep them on while running laps.  And there hasn't been a single locally transmitted case reported in over 30 days.  If the States went one day without a case, there would be a tickertape parade.  I know it is like comparing an apple to an orchard full of apple trees, but still.

Haven't mentioned the kids much lately.  I don't bring them up in conversation out of the blue for two reasons.  First, they are both in good spots in their lives and don't want to jinx it.  Second, some folks are not as lucky and theirs are going through tough times and you never want to be that person bragging on your kids to people that don't care or that you may make feel bad, so I only offer updates should people ask after them.  If you are here, I assume you are curious, so here goes.  

The Boy seems to be in a decent space.  Last I heard he had a special friend, enjoys his j-o-b, and dog sat for his cousin (my sister's kid) a couple of weeks back.  The dog survived.  I didn't want to say anything but the last time that an Imbro dog sat for a Post, the dog didn't survive the night.

Babydoll seems to be thriving in her first year. Last I heard, she has a special friend, and samples all the offerings that a big university has, like basketball games and lawn lighting ceremonies.  She attended the Freshman, excuse me...First Year Formal and here is a shot of her and her girlfriends before they headed out.  

Made me happy that she was the only one to not wear tennis shoes.  Must be all that Nordstrom DNA.  And Betty said she was the best looking of the bunch.  I didn't include the photo with the special friend out of respect for her privacy (and that the nature of relationships at this age could mean that  they may be kaput in the near future and don't want to record that).

She joined some dance production at the school and enjoyed it so much she is considering minoring in it.  As we dance aficionados say...merde.

Wish we could have gone.  The Boy drove up to represent us.

One more brag.  Last Spring, the kiddies graduated from their respective High School and College.  We saw The Boy's diploma and while it is hard to see in this photo due to the flash light on that part, it reads his degree was with "Highest Distinction" 

Thought that was quite impressive.  It happens that he was visiting Seattle with a college buddy that also graduated in the same school, and his degree also came with Highest Distinction.  May have read the dictionary wrong or just had been a bad student, but can there be multiple highest's?  

When we got back to Taipei, the school had us pick up an award for Babydoll that she didn't receive in person as the end of school was shut down due to covid.  Hers was for Academic Distinction.

I goof on the schools these days cause it feels that everyone gets an A and they grade on these curves that'd make Hef sit up and take notice, but upon research, is not a gimme.  I tried to bait The Boy into making a joke that B-dolls wasn't Highest, but he took the high road and said he didn't get the same in High School and that B-doll is a better student than he was.  If I'm ever baiting you into saying something awful, the high road is the only way to win the game.

Regardless, they are both quite intelligent and obviously get that from their mother, and just hope that they do something good for the universe.  As Eleventh Dream Day would sing, Two Smart Cookies.

I go in on Monday for knee replacement surgery.  Old lefty will be shiny and new come Tuesday afternoon.  Went to get my pre-op pedicure yesterday so I'd look presentable to the nursing staff.  Pushed it out far longer than normal to maximize the time they'd be clean post-op, and my toenails were so long that it'd make a lemur envious.  I'd share a photo, but know there is at least one foot fetishist on copy.

Feel better prepared this time as I re-read Know What To Expect When Your Expecting a New Knee, which I wrote..  Think that I'll be able to move better during recovery as I have a good knee to balance on/push off from.  And in anticipation of round two, hoarded all of the kids meds they had leftover from previous medical procedures.  They had some good stuff and experimented with them during quarantine to know which ones did what.  Wish me a speedy recovery.  

Finally, over the summer, saved a bunch of local news articles with the intention of sharing them with you at a later date.  Haven't found the time or whatever to do so in earnest, but will leave you today with my favorite.  

Black Friday fight at the Costco.

To entice you to click on that link, two guys had a disagreement over the queue for the after Thanksgiving (which they don't celebrate here) sale of Herbal Essence shampoo.  This article has everything, a blow by blow description that would make Bert Sugar blush, dudes in flip flops using rudimentary kung-fu kicks on each other, Costco...  And the whole thing wraps up with the actual video, including the knockout blow.  Mangia!

December 5th, 2021

Hey there,

Always think at the beginning of the week that I have nothing to share, and something always comes up.  This week, Babydoll made an admission that I knew was coming but didn't think she would admit at such a young age.  She went to Boston over the T-giving break to see a friend who got tickets to see a show.  Pink Sweats at some little club.  She'd only been to a couple of shows and they were at big venues for things like Ariana Grande.  She said that she now understands why I love to go to shows cause the tickets were only 30 bucks and she stood right up the front...and loved it.  I was beaming with delight that she arrived at this conclusion.  When I said that you should listen to what your old man says instead of rolling eyes/scoffing, she said that doing those things were her responsibility as a child, and I can see her point.  Maybe next year I can coax her into attending one of the Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows with me.  I would certainly have gone to see Pink Sweats with her, although that might have embarrassed her into catatonia.  It would be a joy to share concert etiquette with her

Another unrelated related thing this week was that I  attended a talk by a cross cultural consultant.  It was billed as East-West intercultural communications, and it was perfectly fine.  Her spin was that on one end of the spectrum in countries like America and Australia, people speak in low context and state concisely what they want and mean, whereas in societies like Asia, the speak in high context with much nuance and the listener having to infer meanings rather than having it spelled out.  In Thai, they don't have the word 'no', but rather yes and not yes. That kind of thing. This comes from the West being derived from the Socratic method and eastern thought being more Tao.  I've been around this topic since my study abroad when I was seventeen and have heard the same talk dozens of different ways, and it is good to hear the differences in cultures called out cause some folks are new to the game and need to hear it, but for old timers like me, find it more annoying cause the bottom line is simple.  When you are in a new culture or an environment different than yours for the first time, your outlook has to be that the things you experience are not weird, but different.  

I was 17 years old and there was a group of 30 of us exchange students about to spend a year in Australia.  On the bus that took us from the airport to the school where were to have a day of orientation, one of the exchange group leaders said those words and they ring in my ears whenever I go somewhere new.  This got me thinking about all the snippets of things I have heard throughout the years that have rang true and have become part of my outlook and life philosophy that I lean on almost every waking minute.  How to act at a show or in a new country....or at work, school, around the dinner table, etc. 

So I decided to make a list of those things.  I blasted out the below in 25 minutes pomodoro style and intend to put these in a list and polish/add to it for a few months/rest of my life.  Consider me a prospector.  I have panned the river of life and separated out a few nuggets, put them in a sack, loaded it onto my burro and am delivering them to you.  I do not profess myself as a philosopher nor claim any of these as original.  Many of them are from song lyrics (none from Bob Dylan).  I welcome your thoughts and input.

- Always say a person's name before saying what you have to say, they will pay attention that way

- Stand in front of someone when they fail.  Stand behind them when they succeed

- Kids should always be taught to refer to adults as Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr./Professor/Coach and then their last name

- Never ask a child/anyone a nebulous question unless you want a 'fine' as an answer.  Never 'how was school today', but rather, 'what did they talk about in history class' or 'why did you choose that color in your drawing'.

- Always give a choice of two things rather than leaving it up to the child/anyone.  Never, what do you want for dinner/time for bed.  Rather, do you want pasta or chicken/do you want to brush your teeth before or after you watch some before bed videos/TV,  This works for adults just as well.  Giving people power to choose from choices that are beneficial to you both gives them power.

- Obey the laws of Maximum Capacity.  When two lanes merge into one, don't merge early but go to the end of the lane and zipper into one line.

- Related to the above, always allow the one/one zipper to occur...don't drive up the person's ass in front of you to cut off the natural order.

- Don't litter.  It is OK to pee outside if you really gotta go and there is no bathroom

- Ask for help when you struggle.  Asking for help, from a teacher/mental health professional/etc., is not an admission of personal failure.  

- Related...waiting to the last minute to do an assignment/project will ensure that it is not your best.

- Related...do your best and move your ass

- Being the person that is chronically late is never cute.

- If someone is being shitty to you, consider that they may be having a bad day or have some stuff going on in their life and give them another chance

- However, there are times when you have to cut people out of your life.  Think about it long and hard before you do as it is never an easy decision or a pleasant thing to do, but the alternative is worse if you determine it to be the right thing.

- You must try something 11 times before you are allowed to say you hate it.

- Never say "I am proud of you" unless you created the person out of clay or from the rib of a man.  You are taking ownership and credit for their accomplishment.

- When you are wrong, say it.

- 'Thoughts and prayers' is empty bullshit.  Always.

- Saying you are not a racist automatically makes you a racist.  Everyone has some racism in them and you should always be looking for ways to get it out of your system.  It is easy to go online and support a (fill in the blank) business.  

- Extremism is always bad.  Big business will never look out for you/big government will always become corrupt.  Start from the middle and work your way out.

- Take a nap.  Every day if you can.  1 hour is the most efficient.

- Take a walk.  Every day if you can.  

- Tell a friend when they wear something stupid/listen to a friend when they tell you you're wearing something stupid.  Your girlfriend/wife should not be considered a friend in this instance.

- If you want a tattoo, write down what you want and wait one year before you get it.  If you still want it, knock yourself out.  Just please don't get it on your face.

- Speed them up when they go to slow, and slow them down when they go too fast.

- Be patient with old people.  Also, they know stuff.

- The kids of today are not (fill in the blank).  You were likely worse in your day.  And they often have good takes on life, so listen to them too.  Except for their music...that stuff is garbage.

- Protect kids from making big mistakes and let them make all the little ones.  What they wear to school is rarely a big mistake.  

- Once your kid hits 20 years old, your work is done.  

- If you wear dress shirts, wear an undershirt.  Pit stains are for life.

- Sometimes, a person's wiring is messed up and you should call an electrician.

- Never argue with improving the view.

Imbro/Post/dogs

Stairs are Imbros mortal enemy

Distintion, highest

Friends basketball pants

Stay fresh cheese bags

November 28th, 2021

Hiya,

Went to the knee doc this week and am scheduled for replacement on December 14th.  Fingers crossed it'll go as well as round one.  Will have to dig up my recap to remember what to expect when your expecting (a new knee)

Something I remembered about the States after seeing it in a crowd shot at a football game this week...dudes are wearing dresses.  I saw it more than a bunch in Seattle, mainly in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, but also at some rock and roll shows too.  And it doesn't seem like it was just on a dare cause they the dresses they were choosing fit them.  I'd say that I saw as many guys wearing dresses as I did ladies some nights.  It is jarring to see someone wearing a dress from the back, and then you get up close and it is a dude with a finely manicured 3 day growth.  I get the shock value, and perhaps they are more comfortable, but you can put this old man in the thumbs down category.  To be fair, too many members of my age/race cohort continue to wear cargo shorts

Something I have noticed in Taiwan these last two weeks in my neighborhood is there is a pack of bony white chicks new to town.  Our neighborhood has the international schools so there is a high concentration of foreigners here.  I see these white chicks pushing their strollers or doing yoga together in the park and have yet to figure out what the deal is.  A couple years ago, there was an influx of older Dutch ladies (and men, but as a stay at home dad, see mostly the women) roaming about and learned that there was a big wind power project starting and the Dutch were the ones brought in for their expertise.  I seem to be the only one noticing all the new young women in town (I know), and have not got to the bottom of this yet, but I will not rest until I do.

We had Thanksgiving at our place this year.  Other than the first year we were here, we have always gone away for the long weekend to some beachy place for a few days. It was nice to spend it at home with friends.  Forgot how to make mashed potatoes but they are surprisingly easy and really should make them more often cause they were effin' delicious.  Made my mom's macaroni and cheese, which has always been a staple of our family's Thanksgiving dinner table.  I heard some take by a football player this week where he was getting angry that mac-n-cheese is now part of every T-giving table, and was a topic by the talking heads to discuss in detail, but it has always been a part of mine and of all the other dishes on the table, it is the one that I look forward to the most.  Mom's recipe is incredibly easy, but the resulting goodness is universally loved.  Here is a picture of the recipe written in her distinctive cursive and it brings back all the good memories of her for me.

It is best with the extra sharp Cracker Barrel cheese, but if you can't find that brand, make sure it is extra sharp as that is the key.  And I always like it better when the sprinkle of breadcrumbs is generous.  Both The Boy and I suggest using Italian bread crumbs as it pushes it over the top.  You are welcome in advance.

Our table was a lovely collection of people and as we are in an international community, had an global flavor with representatives from New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and The Philippines.  We had the lady that cleans our place stay over that night to help with things, and while she was uncomfortable sitting at the table, I would have been more uncomfortable if she didn't and it was a pleasure to have her sit down with us.  It is what the pilgrims would have done with the Indians before they sent them back into the kitchen to clean up our mess.  

Now that we have residences in Seattle and Taipei, a project that I am slowly working on is editing my clothes and household items.  There will come a day when we depart this place and want that container going back to the States to be lean as we don't have a ton of space in Seattle to handle two apartments worth of accumulated crap.  This week, took aim at the pants part of my closet.  I had dress slacks from the Nordstrom days in there that were well worn before we moved.  Since I don't see me wearing dress pants regularly ever again, they got to go in the donation box.  There were some fat pants hanging and if I ever get that fat again, I will not forgive myself, and some skinny pants there is no chance of ever getting closed again.  I was able to cut my inventory by at least half and feel good about doing that.  What occurred to me in this process is that my pants are like a basketball team.  You have your starting 5 and a couple of high rotation bench guys.  Then there is the rest of the bench that only get playing time in special situations or blowouts.  

Then occurred to me that a better analogy is that your friends are like a basketball team (I had a lot of pants to try on so there was time for my mind to wander).  For me, I have my starting 5 and 2-3 heavy rotation players.  Ones that I always think of first when looking to make dinner plans or party guestlists.  Then there are those that have special skills, like going to music shows or talking about obscure sports.  And there are a few at the end of the bench that are being developed to be future stars, and a couple of old timers that are hanging on cause they have a history with the team and bloated contracts that cannot be dealt. I have outright released a couple in the past that played a lot of minutes for conduct detrimental to the team, and recently had to bench one of my starters from the opening line-up for some outrageous decisions to send a message.  This analogy is a work in progress, but I hope I am somewhere on your team.

There has been a lot of baseball activities for yours truly.  Hanging with the kids is so great as they provide endless entertainment.  We were in the batting cage the other night and while picking up the baseballs, I ask them if they have mid-term exams this week.  One kid said his are next week and then added that if he failed every single one of them, he'd still have a 3.3 GPA.  I wouldn't blink if that was a kid in Seattle public school, but for this place, it was stunning to hear as there is a ton of pressure on these kids to get 4.0s.  Not just from their parents, but from the other kids...I didn't have to push mine hardly at all cause they got enough peer pressure to keep them in line.  During our batting cage conversation, one kid offered that the highest possible is a 4.8 and that some kids are lobbying for it to go up to 5 something.  The 3.3 kid replied that 3.3 is a good GPA for an athlete and couldn't resist telling him that 'you're a baseball player, not an athlete.'

The one sad thing about baseball is that they don't call me Coach Imbro.  It is the one thing that I have always wanted to be called in life and think at this point that I would deserve it.  Have coached forever.  Obviously a ton of baseball.  I coached a very successful soccer team for several years and have even had stints coaching volleyball, basketball and badminton.  Have coached both boys and girls.  Odds are that I've been the coach of one of your kids at some point.  I was even the coach of our beer league softball team for a decade and know that I not only coached the parent, but the son as well.  You would think that after all of these years spent coaching, the dedication of molding minds and developing skills, the sweat and blood I have poured out in the arena that people...someone...anyone would call me Coach Imbro.

But you fuck one goat...

November 21st, 2021

Hey there,

Have been out a week and it feels like a month.  Is hard to think about the quarantine days in any cohesive or linear way.  Have talked to a bunch of folks this week that all went through it and we all have similar recollections.  As one could guess, many were families with kids and most of them had adjoining rooms, so there was someone else there and you could go from one room to another, which sounded OK.  One guy said he was in a room with just his 10 year old kid and it was worse than I could imagine...and was imagining that to be pretty bad.  

The one through line in all of the quarantine tales was that around the 7 day mark, people almost lost it.  In various ways...like they were gonna make a run for it, or like me, they hit the bottle in an unhealthy way.

This has been a great week that feels more so due to the freedom and seeing folks I hadn't in 6 months.  There will come a time when we leave this dump for good and there are some nouns that I will never forget .

Here is one I will absolutely not miss though...Effin' year round mosquitos.  There was a good month and a half where they got frozen out in Seattle and my body was bite free.  Already have them from behind my ear to the top of the feet, and as I am typing this in the office on Sunday morning, one is circling me like it's a shark and I'm a wounded sea otter.  

Not a surprise though.  The locals get all freaked out about a cold snap when it 'dips' into the 60's, and most days have been in the upper 70's with today looking like it is gonna hit 90...so ideal mosquito breeding weather.  Have to powder up before going out to keep the globes dry.  Watched a Dimitri Martin stand-up special and he was saying that calling them balls was misguided.  You hit and kick balls.  He suggested they should call them something like mints or lozenges and from now on, will refer to them as such.  Flip-flops are accepted in all major retail outlets and our windows are open all day and night.  Even had to turn a fan on one evening as it was a bit uncomfortable to sleep.  Yin/Yang my friends.  

After 6 months away, not sure why I was expecting the place to be much different.  Covid is really under control currently.  They post numbers everyday and there are usually 5-10 'imported'  cases, ones where people in quarantine from other countries test positive, and only a handful of 'local' ones total.   Of those, there is detailed tracing information about them.   After quarantine, one must self-monitor their health for 7 days, which seems weird cause I self monitor my health 24/7, but it is an official 7 days where the government is keeping an eye on you.  They text me at precisely 9am every morning asking to rate my health from 1-3, with 1 being all clear.  If you don't reply immediately, they text you every 15 minutes asking the same.  If after an hour you don't reply, they will call and if you don't answer, the cops will be sent out.  I have replied within the hour time frame, but have also received two phone calls from the local police (in English) asking me if I feel OK.   I took my home PCR test they issued at the airport yesterday (21 days after arrival) and was very negative.

They sent me a text asking about that result too.  

In every business you enter, you must scan a QR code onto your phone and send a text to the Man so they can alert you if you have come into a place where someone that had it was.  What is almost jarring to see is the mask wearing.  They wear them in businesses for sure, but literally everywhere else all the time.  Walking on the streets at any hour, I have yet to see a single person not only not wearing one, but never with it sliding under their nose.  Not once.  And a lot of folks wear eyeglasses and they have somehow figured out how to not have them fog up.

It appears that all of the places I like to frequent have made it through their covid times and are still open.  My friends at the coffee and vegetable stands were happy to see me but I was happier to see them still in business although they all say that it was a tough summer.  

Would be remiss if I didn't mention the roads.  The dopes are still doing dopey things, but does it feel like a little less?  Has it been microscopically less with each passing season, but so little that it is hard to perceive?  Have seen some traffic reconfigurations that have been done recently in areas that I have been tilting windmills against for years.  Betty says that the cops have been cracking down on a couple of the more egregious habits they have.  Driving habits is one of the three pillars of my gripes against this place.

Betty told me she was driving here now and was excited to see her in action.  She picked me up from the hotel at midnight and drove home.  Roads were quite empty so didn't see her navigate through swarms of scooters.  On the drive she told me a story.

One day she is coming home from work and to get to the lane our apartment garage entrance is on, you needed to cross a busy street.  4 lanes of traffic to be exact...I can show you.

You can get into the middle as the merdian is big enough to fit a car without bleeding into oncoming traffic, but at an angle as it isn't quite a car length wide.  It is also long enough to fit three cars at an angle.  Typically, the turn our way is busier so if we are first to the space, will take the middle space to go left as many cars make a U-turn there and that is better from the first spot of three.  The third space is for cars to make a U-turn going the other way as their is no left turn there as it is a school.

Betty relates that she is in the middle space to go left waiting for oncoming traffic to clear, and when it does, a car is in that first spot and cuts her off going into our lane in a way where she almost hit them.  This car then turns into our garage and it also happens to be the car in the parking spot next to us.

The car is driven by the driver of the people who live on floor 13 and he drops off his passengers at the elevator before parking.  Betty eyeballs the floor they go to, takes the elevator to 13 and knocks on the door.  I don't know the tone she used, but from experience can guess it wasn't gentle, and tells them that if she sees their driver do shit like that again, she is gonna report them to the cops/building/God only knows who. 

The cutoff move this guy made is typical for here and it (and all the other moves like it) drive me insane and have always railed on them for it.  I will lay on the horn for sure, and scream a blue streak if I get the chance, but road raging to a persons apartment is next level.  The good thing is that she now has a better appreciation of the way things are from the drivers perspective and can relate to my frustrations and anger in a way that escaped her previously.

Last thing that I've noticed about being back is that people are concerned about China taking action militarily.  It has always been part of the conversation, but as something far off in the distance.  This week, almost every conversation past small talk has touched on the topic...like what is the timeline to leave the country, or the escape plan if things get hot.  I know that the situation is making it through the normal media BS as so many people in the States asked me before I left why we would be going back at all.  Daily life goes on, but that it enters into my mind regularly is something new and it sucks.  If you are not clear on what the deal is, John Oliver did a piece on it a few weeks ago that I feel does a great job of explaining the situation and would direct you to see that if you want to know more.

That's that.  I was hoping that by the end of this entry that I would have killed that mosquito and could show you its carcass, but it has eluded me.

November 13th, 2021 Q15

Hey there,

Q15.  Today Is The Day

A song by my beloved Yo La Tengo performed on the late great John McEnroe show.  Two great tastes.

Britney Spears and I were both freed on the same day.  Coincidence?

Officially, it is tomorrow.  Betty is gonna pick me up at midnight, which is the earliest possible moment.  I would have been perfectly happy sleeping and getting picked up Sunday AM, but it was her call to come down with less traffic.  Betty drives here now.  I saw her drive one time in all the years we've been in Taipei and it was not a pleasant experience.  Cannot wait to see her in action.  She is a good driver and if I had some constructive criticism, she tailgates a bit too much for my taste.  I learned over the summer that I can extend my parking superpower bubble to another if I put my mind to it.  Looking forward to seeing how she deals with the drivers here.  She has defended them in the past and was noticeably critical of the American lunkhead equivalents this summer when she drove there so it'll be an interesting look inside her mind.

Started putting stuff into bags, packing up, etc. in anticipation of tonight's departure, and in every meal bag they put in a drink.  I have little interest in beverages other than water (still), milk, coffee, red wine and whisky.  It is a rare day when I drink something other than these 5 things and never touched any of the juice boxes.  Figure someone would love them later as they are all on sale at the 7-11 so have been collecting them.  Here is the haul.

It has been nice to have a balcony, and the first few days I left the door open to get fresh air in the room, but saw a couple of Taiwan's massive cucarachas patrolling the perimeter, and the lady upstairs says she hears a rat climbing on the roof above her, so ended my open door policy.  I noticed coming back inside yesterday that this room has an odor.  B.O. for sure...not terrible as I haven't sweated hardly at all, but just musty old Gomez smell.  Some of these quarantine rooms don't even have a window that opens and can't imagine what they must smell like at the end of the fortnight.  Betty's was like that, so I can imagine a little bit.  

Physically, feel OK.  My calves hurt when I wake up and am looking forward to going for a nice walk tomorrow.  Maybe will make a pot of sauce to eat next week.  What I won't be doing tomorrow is writing in this space.  Do want to try a weekly thing and will see how the schedule shakes out.  Hoping there is  a ton of baseball...start on Monday with a 3.5hr practice and am looking forward to seeing the fellas.  At this age, they can sprout so fast...height, facial hair, voice changes.  

Well I did it...posted every day.  I will avoid ever doing this quarantine thing again if possible. Seriously, I don't know how all y'all did it for a year.  Know it wasn't as confining as this two week stretch, but that you didn't see people socially for over a year still boggles my mind.  I enjoyed hearing all of your tales from that time and how you occupied it...teaching yourselves to cook, learning to work from home, all of it.  You amaze me.  Like to think I could have done it just as well, but after these two weeks, I just don't know.

November 12th, 2021 Q14

Hiya,

Q14 

As I type this, have 40 hours left before release, assuming my test comes back negative of course.  What happens if it doesn't is a mystery, but it is not gonna be good.  I will get mentioned in the local paper as imported case # whatever it is at this time (there were 10 imported cases today and the current total is 16,586  

What I do know is that if I have to look at the slop they bring 3 times a day much longer, I am gonna lose it.  Breakfast is usually OK, but I am mad at lunch and dinner before they ring the bell, and then am just disgusted to the point I sometimes don't even open the box.  I then go for a bowl of granola or a few spoonfulls of peanut butter.  So it has been 13 days times 3 meals a day, which is 39 doorbell rings, and there has been exactly one offering where I would voluntarily eat it on the outside.  Sorry...I know I'm a picky asshole, but the next wet meat I wanna see is after my next shower (or after using the lady button on the toilet).

Breaking news...lunch just came and had to share what the chicken(?) looked like.

Purposely blew that photo up so you could see how it glistens.  What made this one particularly unappetizing was that you can see the bumps on the skin.  It's like the feathers were freshly plucked, then boiled and served over rice.  Probably healthy and you'll live a long time if you eat your foul (misspelling intended) this way, but is it a life worth living?  After getting this, called Betty to have her order me up something nice for my last night here.  She found the Korean chicken place delivers and so some of the spicy stuff is about an hour away.  

One quick nice family moment to share.  B-doll joined a dance team at UVA this first semester and this weekend is their performances.  She's been stressing a bit cause she has a lot going on the first semester, what with tailgate parties, frat parties, Vietnamese Student Association parties, and this required a lot of rehearsal time, but she made it through to the end.  I offered that she must be in good shape and she says that she is a work out monster and immediately showed me her guns.  

I haven't missed a performance of hers and was sad to not be able to go, and they don't even have a way for us to live stream, but the Boy picked up the family mantle and drove up to watch opening night.  He missed her high school career and it was his first time going to any dance thing.  He was as confused as I was my first time, but was a good soldier and brought flowers.  Awwwwww.

One more thing...have heard through various grapevines that they both have special friends.  I don't know much more than that and it isn't right that I share here, but am happy they seem to be happy.  

Allrighty...a couple of US in review items.

Immediately, noticed that traffic was nearly non-existent.  Everyone kept saying that it is gonna change next blah-ba-de-blah when people go back to work.  Whether it be the rise of Delta and people not going back to work or them doing so from home, it never happened.  

Of the cars that were out and about, there is a new color that is sweeping the showroom floors.  It is a soft blue, like a sky.  Am sure they have clever names for it, but there were a lot of them.  Mostly Subaru, but there were Hyundais and Toyotas, etc.  This seems to be a PNW preference for now cause I didn't see them anywhere else, but it is one of those weird things that come out of nowhere and takes over.  Like poke.  I like them...great color.  I seem to be the only person to notice this as whenever I ranted/raved about it, no one had a clue

What I didn't like was the adoption of a thing they do in Taiwan that drives me insane.  Cars at a traffic light with no blinker on, then when the light turns green, that is when they immediately put the turning left light on.  If you want a sign of the inevitable deterioration of US society, that is it.  Are you just out of it or is there some reasoning for not indicating your intentions in advance.  Please tell if it is the latter cause I am willing to listen.

Inflation is a thing these days.  I'm not interested in economics much but it doesn't take a ton of thought to understand that so much has gone on that it makes total sense.  The first sticker shock we felt was going out to eat...all the prices were 1/3 to 1/2 as much more expensive.  I could not help but think back to a trip we took to Australia about 5 years ago.  Had the exact same sticker shock when eating out there and asked what was up to some locals.  They replied, somewhat condescendingly after hearing my accent or at least it felt that way, that "we pay our service workers a living wage here" and that it was based on a minimum wage that made that so.  Seemed absolutely reasonable at the time and those words echoed in my head all summer as I read stories about people not wanting to work for shit pay.  There is a lot going on in the economy, but that is one area where I am totally on the side of raising the minimum wage. 

OK...following up yesterday's question as to the extra money for the car repair.  I gave it all back to the guy...via Venmo of course.  I certainly could have kept it without any guilt as I had to take time to get two estimates and was without the vehicle for a week.  The reason I returned it was the dude was extremely easy to deal with and gave the money for the repair to us early without hesitation or hassle.  I was leaning this way at dinner when I asked the crowd, and it was an interesting hearing the rationale for keeping/giving the money back.  Then I mentioned that I thought giving it back was just good karma and that set off a discussion about karma as one of the participants said that there is no such thing.  It got a bit weird and dark but I'm gonna stick with doing things that bring good karma.  It has certainly worked well for me so far.  

November 11th, 2021 Q13

Hey there,

Q13

Today is when they came to take the pre-release Covid test.  It costs NT$500 (about US$15) that you pay at the time it's administered.  They call you down from the room when the bus comes, and it is a proper city bus converted into a mobile testing facility.  They park in front of the hotel and you walk out to it.  

This is the first time I've seen the area in daylight (my room faces away from the street and is just ugly rooftops) and am on a busy street.  Lots of folks walking and such, and as soon as I walk out the door, the people parted like the Red Sea before Moses.  The look of horror as the unclean white boy wearing hotel slippers was just beautiful.   For the PCR test they have here, they take a swab about the length of a chopstick with an end like a little bottle brush and stick it up your nose until I could feel it at the back of my throat.  The dude gives it a little twirl and that's it.  Directly back to my plush cell. 

It is hard to remember what happened the previous 12 days.  Watched all the football games and that is the only time that being cooped up is good..  We have Hulu and they show hockey and have been watching Kraken games.  I wish I was feeling something for them...maybe by watching all the games I will come to love them.  No doubt that they look fantastic in their uniforms.  

Someone recommended Money Heist as a quarantine watch and I enjoyed the first 7 episodes or so.  Thought it was a one season bank heist show, but it is 5 seasons.  At episode 8 in season 1, things happened that were strange, and then what the characters did started to piss me off.  The women in this show are so stupid that it hurts.  That it is Spanish and obviously written by macho men is obvious.  Problem is that I cant quit something in the middle no matter how dumb it is or how angry I get at the show.  I still watch NCIS the day it comes out and it is season 18 or something.

I spend some time each day on this space, watch some sports and then read.  I know...am as surprised as you.  I brought two books.  Started 'The Birth Of Loud' on the plane and knocked it out by day 2.  It is the history of the electric guitar told via the lives of Les Paul and Leo Fender.  Well told and if you love the electric guitar half as much as me, it is a good read.

The other book I brought was purchased with quarantine in mind.

'Isaac Asimov's Guide To The Bible'  Asimov is having a bit of a renaissance lately as they have started to make his Foundation series of books into a show.  I love those Foundation books so much and have read them all at  least 4 times over the years and will probably do it again.  Read most of his other sci-fi stuff and have dove deep into interviews where he talks about religion and rationality...here is a good one with Tom Snyder for instance.

In that clip he talks about science in 1988 in a way that is eerily relevant in today's discourse.  Had heard about this bible book and that it is a historical analysis of the Old and New Testaments.  What was going on in Egypt's recorded history during the time the Jews were there and how they match up for instance.   Chose this book cause I enjoy history and Asimov.  And it is 1300 pages long, so figure I could read 100 pages a day and that would get me to the other side.

Have met my reading goals so far and should finish it tomorrow.  Is it good?  It is dry, which makes for perfect pre-afternoon nap fodder.  Lots of smiting in the first half, a lot of debate on circumcision in part II.   I don't think you read this for excitement, and I thought he would be more scathing in his views of the bible, but it does put biblical times into context of the wider world at the time and makes a lot of what goes on in the bible understandable.  At 1300 pages, have taken a lot away that will probably come out in conversations, and a ton of things to think about.  Way too much to even start dissecting it at this point, but wanted to share a quarantine time killer for posterity. 

The hotel gave me a little gift last night.

It came in my dinner bag and thought it was chocolate at first, but it is a mini Lego horse

Well it isn't official Lego, but their Made in China counterpart.  The pieces are so small that I am not even gonna try to put it together.  Not only are the pieces a classic choking hazard, but are probably filled with lead paint so if you survive swallowing them, you'll be poisoned.

During States-time, I kept a running list of things that I could share here some day.  It got pretty long and have been taking chunks out the last couple of weeks.  The one thing left was a list of observances about how things in the States have changed, and I managed to delete it yesterday.  Not sure how to recover it and will probably just spit things out as the come back into focus, which is getting harder with each passing year.  I will share one event today that was a fun ethics exercise.  

One afternoon, B-doll asks me to drop her and a friend off at the Goodwill Outlet.  First of all, thought all Goodwills were outlets but learned so much about the second hand game from the girls this summer.  The Goodwill Outlet is just that...stuff that doesn't make the cut at a regular Goodwill goes to this place where they sell clothes by the pound.  I popped in to see what was what later in the summer and it is a trip.  Big bins of all manner of clothes and could not imagine rifling through any of them.  Went home and showered just from being in there but did see packs of girls dressed exactly like B-doll going through the bins and can see the attraction for them.  They can get all manner of funky clothes for pennies.  I also learned from Babydoll that there is a high end Goodwill, which is located on Capitol Hill.  Went with her there one day and it is that...nicer things that are displayed like a boutique store.  

Anyhoo, drop the girls off and a guy pulls out of a parking space where I am doing so and dings the bumper of our car.  It doesn't look bad, but we exchange info, take pictures, etc.  The driver looks like a high school kid and turns out he was.  By the time the girls get home from the Goodwill, they know where this kid goes to school, what sports team he is on, and probably more.  Later that night, get a text from the kid's dad and I tell him that we can play it out whichever way works best for us.  I go out and get two estimates at places Mercedes uses, and one comes back significantly less than the other.  I tell the dad about these estimates, he prefers to handle it outside of insurance and almost immediately sends me the estimated cost in full via Venmo.  I forget the exact cost, but it is close to $1,300.

I make an appointment to get the repairs done (two months later as everything in the States takes two months minimum).  I drop the car off on a Monday and it is done on Friday.  They don't have loaner cars and the way the week shook out, was able to take care of all my errands and activities via Metro or someone giving me a ride.

The repair place that we chose gave two estimates.  One for $1,300 that included new parts, and another that was less if the damage that could not be seen was minor and they could simply repair it.  It wasn't too serious and the repairs came out exactly $200 less than what I was given by the dad via Venmo.

The ethics question is...what to do with the extra $200?  That night was at dinner with some friends and there were 6 of us total and I posed this question.  I got 5 different answers ranging from keep it all, give different percentages back, to give it all back.  What would you have done?  Will tell you what I did tomorrow.  

Until then...stay hydrated my friends.

November 10th, 2021 Q12

Hey there,

Q12

I know it seems like I am two days away (it is currently Wednesday morning), but I don't get freed until Sunday .  It can be 12:01am on Sunday, but somehow, have four more days in here.  Math isn't my strong suit and who am I to argue math with Asians?

One thing I am gonna have to work on is how I eat.  They deliver food at exactly the same times, and if it is two minutes past that time, am looking through the peephole.  Not that I am ever excited about what the meal is, cause I can only stomach parts of it sometimes, it is just that it was so easy to be trained like a dog that it is dinnertime.  The other thing is that I eat the food like a dog...pouncing on it and swallowing it with barely chewing.  Not a great way to eat and need to make a conscious effort to slow it dowwwwwwwwn..

The other day, a friend of mine sent me a link to a podcast that had his son as a guest who was promoting his own upcoming podcast.  This was the first time I used the word meta correctly. I like this kid and so spent some time listening to it.  He is quite likeable, but every time he started a sentence, it began with "Ummm".  I would normally let it go, but since I like him, thought that he needed to hear it cause it makes you sound dumb.  Just like "like", which is more of a girl thing.  Of course it is a device the brain uses to allow it time to collect what you want to say, but is something to get out of your speech pattern should you be speaking in public.

I use "fuckin'" in a similar way.  Look at that fuckin' guy or, the employees at the fuckin' mailbox are fuckin' idiots.  Something to work on cause it is unneeded.  One of the things about going to multiple Yo La Tengo shows in a town is that you start to recognize people from the day before.  There are usually a couple points in a Yo La Tengo show where the music will stop so they can collect their thoughts, get a drink, maybe say 'Hello Cleveland', and in Portland, there is a guy (there is always this guy) that yells stuff.  He did it at every opportunity and I know it was the same guy cause we are close to each other.  Each time he yells things like 'we love you' or 'you're awesome', he adds fuckin' to it.  Fuckin' love you!.  I turned to him the second night and asked, 'do you have to say fuckin' every time?'  Yes, I am that guy.

Moving on.  This summer I had a weird realization about myself.  Betty left for Taiwan early in September and my flight back was for late October.  Got to thinking about it and there was not a single time I was really alone in a living environment for more than a night.  Of course as a child with parents, always then had roommates in college and with people after that.  Then along comes marriage and baby in a baby carriage.  Betty traveled a ton, but there was always a kid in the house.  Now was going to be in the condo solo for almost two months (and now this 14 day quarantine).  Pretty weird I thought and started to share this with others and got a bunch of tilted heads.  No one ever said they experienced the same.  Thoughts of 'What if I choked on a meatball or something?', started coming to mind.  

I don't think I did poorly, but not having another heartbeat in the place was strange.  When I wanted to share a thought or get a second opinion or try out one of my 'little comments', there wasn't someone there to roll their eyes.  I missed those eye rolls.  It only took about 24 hours before I turned into late stage Hef and exist in a robe where the belt was more decorative than functional.  Eating alone was the worst time, probably the saddest.  Had to make an extra effort to get out to see people and that helped.  As you could tell from yesterday, went to a bunch of shows, but went to more than a few of them alone cause my taste doesn't sync up too closely with others, and my friends are getting old...not geriatric, but they aren't going to too many late night shows anymore.

One thing that did fill the void was baseball.  A buddy of mine coaches youth baseball and he had a team of 9 year olds that I got to pitch in to help for a few weeks.  Anyone that likes sports usually has one they consider superior to all others, and there is really no wrong answer to the question as to which is your favorite.  Except rugby of course...that shit is for Neanderthals. Let me make a partial case for being a baseball fan.

My buddy ToCo is a trip.  He still pitches in over 50 leagues, chain smokes, and enjoys picking weeds cause it helps his grip.  He coaches a club team and starts when they are 8 and keeps them into Middle School.  I get out there and it is a bunch of squirrely 9 year olds, all head cases, and they are pure joy.  And they can pitch...never seen anything like it.  8 of the 12 can get up and throw strikes, which we can't get at the HS level here in TW, and they all want the ball.  We're in a couple of tournaments and win a lot of games.  Just miss out on the finals of one of them by run differential, and win the whole shebang  at the year end tournament.  It has been since forever since I got to hold a big ass trophy.

The other coach in the photo above is ToCo's son, who is one of The Boy's best friends and who we met in Little League and have remained friends since.  That kid plays college ball at NYU and has it bad for baseball.  If I look back on my parenting accomplishments, instilling a love of baseball in the Boy is one of my finer moments.  The place he lives in Durham is across the street from the Durham Bulls stadium and he says he goes all the time.  

You can argue about what sport is better to play, but I defy you to argue that there is a better sport from a lifestyle perspective.  Skill wise, all sports demand practice and all that and they all have merit.  What no other sport has is the dugout.  If you've spent time in one, you know.  It is a sanctuary where no one not on the team is allowed in and so there is a freedom there where things can be said and done .  Jokes, practical jokes, cheering, fights, commiseration in defeat and joy in victory.  I had a good long conversation with one kid about the best dumplings to get in town.  Another kid walks up to me, opens his mouth and mumbles he has 15 pieces of bubble gum in there.  Other team sports have benches and stuff, but not like baseball where every team I have ever been a part of has been unique and wonderful, sometimes awful, but always entertaining.  Am sitting in my spot in the dugout one game and hear the kids talking behind me.  One of them says to the other two, "Did you know that Coach ToCo smokes?  My dad saw him smoking the other day." and then another kid interjects, "Why do you care?"  

I mentioned these kids are all head cases right?  Hard for me to recall a player I've ever been on a team with that wasn't a goofball in some way and am certain they feel similarly about me, but on this team there is a kid that is way out there.  Kid couldn't do anything put pitch and he had a couple of big moments along the way, but mental in a non-harmful way.  At the end of the last tournament where we won, we had a post game chat where everyone was thanked and all, and at the very end of it all as we are breaking up, this kid comes up and gives me a giant hug and walks away.  Choked me up good.

Baseball is also unique in that it is everyday.  Am talking about MLB now.  It has been a soundtrack of my life ever since I can remember.  I remember listening to Dodger games on my little clock radio throughout my childhood.  Vinny, Jerry Doggett, Ross Porter for the Dodgers, and Dick Enberg for the Angels.  Every day/night.  Whenever I was lucky to get to a game as a kid, it was a magical experience in some way.  I don't remember sitting with my dad for three hours uninterrupted in any other setting.  Go to any other sport and you are engaged in yelling and music and all that and you are forced to engage throughout.  With baseball, it is so slow that there is plenty of time to really get into a conversation.  Tell me another sport where that is the case.  

I try to catch a few games every summer and with a lot of travel the last decade, seeing new stadiums was a goal, but this year, had plenty of time to spend getting to know the Mariners.  Now....the Mariners have been awful for years.  They haven't been to the playoffs since 2001, the longest playoff drought in professional sports by a decade.  Mariner fans are justifiably skeptical at this point and attendance is way off.  The good thing about that is that there are always good seats available and they have a lot of "value game" specials with tickets as cheap as 10 bucks.  We went a lot this summer, got 10 dollar seats and basically sat wherever we wanted.  If you are a kid sneaking into the good seats, they bust you fast, but for a couple of old timers like us, we had the run of the joint.  We'd sit in about the same spot every time...in line with 3rd base about 10-20 rows up.  So the bus costs $2.75 and ticket is 10 bucks.  Grab a reggae dog before the game and you have a full entertainment experience for 20 bucks.  

There are some stalls outside the stadium that sell dogs and stuff, but we always go to Al's as they pump hard core reggae all the time.

I get a spicy Polish with cream cheese and jalapenos

I went a bunch with ToCo and many with another buddy who is currently between jobs.  And I went a couple of times alone and that was OK too.  One game we are sitting there and it is late in a tight game, and there is a 20-something lady in a group behind us that is scream swearing up a storm.  This lady was a virtuoso with the curse words.  In front of us are a group of boys, 10ish, and at one point one of them turns around and yells at the lady "There are kids here".  She's loaded and undeterred, and as the M's are working on the last couple outs, she gets up and delivers my favorite line of the season,  In full throat she screams..."Strike this pussy OUT!"  

Another game we are watching these two ladies getting drunker and drunker and moving around our section, and then they sit down next to us.  Talking to sloppy drunk ladies is the best and she has one of those clear plastic tote bags that are allowed into baseball games, and there are a 1/2 dozen airplane bottles of tequila clearly visible in it.  We ask how she got those into the game, and the sloppy drunk lady grabs her big sloppy breasts and says, "right here buddy".  

Went to a couple of games against the Red Sox and saw my first in the stands brawl.  Red Sox fans are the worst and we had a contest as to who could identify the douchy-est.  The easy winner was the hoodie wearing scraggily beard (the kind a guy grows when he can't grow a real beard) wearing a Curt Schilling jersey.  As for the brawl, was just too far away to hear what was said, but the Sox fan wearing a t-shirt a size too small amazingly didn't throw the first punch...it was the fleece wearing Seattle hippie dude that landed one right on  Boston bro's kisser.  Nice.  You see videos of these kinda brawls at football games all the time and the best part are the nasty women these brawlers have along with them trying to land haymakers.  This was no exception and the skanky Red Sox broad whiffed on a swing  and went flabby ass over saggy tit into the row in front her and came up covered in peanut shells.  .  Bonus entertainment for my 20 dollars.

And the Mariners were good.  They were in the wild card chase till the last day and towards the end, more people kept  showing up.  This is hard to explain, but at the top of the left field bleachers was a guy, a bit tubby, that would wear weird pajamas and dance between every inning waving two big heads of broccoli.  

The last weekend of the season, the Mariners were at home and it was becoming a thing in town and we wisely bought tix to the final homestand.  Those last three games sold out and that hadn't happened in a couple decades.  So fun and heartening to see the fans come out for the team.  

I could go on forever about baseball and hope to.  You know there is baseball in heaven as there is that story from the bible where God and Satan challenge each other to a baseball game, and God says his team is gonna win cause all the best players are in heaven and the Devil says that he will win cause he has all the umpires.    Have a few days more stuck here, but on Monday I get to go out to practice.  It pains me when I see articles about how baseball is dying.  That it is only for old fogies like me and is too slow for the kids.  Well kids are idiots...we need to listen to them now?  But not all of them.  As much as those takes on baseball's imminent demise are hard to hear, watching the 9 year olds this summer, or hearing an old friend of mine talk about how his 12 year old sleeps with his glove, or watching the love of the game these kids here in Taiwan have for it, I know there is hope for humanity.