WiR 20241118 – Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet
It rained this week. It may have rained earlier, but this was the first meaningful rain of the season, not only because it had a bit of hail in it, but we got the first snow on the mountains this year on 11/16. This is always a big milestone for me, since while the harbingers of winter comes in fits and starts, snow on the mountains officially inaugurates the winter (re: the rainy) season for me. It might get warmer on occasion, but I’m not going to be running the AC for another 5 or 6 months.
This is also a great time of year, because we’re in that in-between period where we don’t have to run the AC but we don’t have to run the heat either. No HVAC = Big savings on the power bill. I’ll hold out on starting the heat for as long as possible. Hopefully I can make it to Christmas or after, but we’ll see. As soon as that unit starts, all I see are dollar bills shooting out of the place at a rate like they have at the bank.
I also hit upon a decorating idea for my garage. I hung flags in the hobby area that mean something to me — USAF flag, California state flag, and a Jolly Roger to add some color and visual interest on the walls. I liked it so much, I’m expanding the idea out to the rest of the garage. I’m going to decorate the bare walls with flags from everywhere we’ve lived so far. I just hope there’s enough space to fit everything. Most flags are either 3′ x 5′ or 12″ x 18″ so figuring out how to get everything to fit is going to be a bit of a challenge.
I also say the first green shoot of life from one of the onions I planted in my raised bed. I previously planted some radishes, but none of them turned out. I think I planted them too late and the heat likely killed them off, but I bought some onion bulbs that are season appropriate and I’m hoping for good things.
Finally, in a bit of sad news, I went to Barnes & Noble recently because they had a 50% off sale on Criterion Collection movies and when I went in I found out why — they’re getting rid of their physical media. They’re keeping their CDs and LPs, but they’ve moved out nearly all of their Blu-Rays and DVDs and filled the area with board games, puzzles, and Funco Pops.
The funny thing is that I was all in at abandoning physical media and going full digital, but as the rights holders to many of these movies and TV shows have proclaimed their allegiance to onerous practices to increase shareholder value, I swang back hard to buying physical CDs and Blue-Rays again (and ripping them myself) just as brick-and-mortar stores chose to get out of the game.
I have no one but myself to blame, but it’s still sad to see the end of this era. I grew up with VHS tapes, then (very briefly) LaserDisc, DVD, and finally Blu-Ray in all its various varieties. That’s 40 years and it’s kind of sad to see an era ending. It’s not just the physical media itself, it’s the end of an era where you felt like you owned the thing you possessed and could do whatever you wanted with it. I could sell or give it to someone else. Or I could just keep it and it would always be there. Warner Brothers couldn’t break into my house and take my Batman tape away so I couldn’t watch it anymore.
But those days have slipped away into the remembered past and will soon be gone for good.
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👍 💙🐈
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