What have I got that’s newsworthy today? Um, this is me we are talking about, remember? Well, there is this:
San Miguel Zero is back in stock all over town. Hooray!
As if Trump wasn’t enough, now the leftards are trying to say JRR Tolkien was a racist who demonized “people of color.” Um, Orcs aren’t people. And actually, if you read the books, you’d know that most of Sauron’s minions were redeemed after the dark lord’s demise. Anyway, the link above totally destroys the idiotic narrative and redeems the honor of my favorite author.
The Subic Bay Hash is celebrating its 32nd Anniversary tomorrow. Hopefully, this rain is gone by then. As a prelude, there will be a Hash barhop this evening, starting at five p.m. Of course, I’ll be there to support my Mother Hash and welcome our out-of-town visitors.
And now for the old news about yesterday. We did our weekly Decay Dance. Due to the conflict with today’s barhop, I conducted the Hideaway feeding a day early. Afterward, I dined with Swan at John’s place. Then we stopped by Red Bar and Jumpin’ Jacks before heading home. Yeah, exciting stuff, I know.
Swan asked the woman raking the leaves into piles why she even bothered. The woman responded that mosquitoes live among the leaves, so they burn the leaves to kill the biters. I guess when I see smoke in the air from now on, I’ll say that at least it is better than dengue.
There were two incidents of a kid trying to sneak a second bag of goodies by hiding the first handout. That irked Swan, but she didn’t let it ruin the overall experience.
And that’s the way it was. Speaking of which, it’s my birthday in the August 2014 LTG archives, the year I turned 59. Here’s what I was feeling back then:
I’ve gotten older but I can’t say I’m all that much wiser. No great insights as I enter the last year of my fifties. Truth is, I’m feeling a little melancholy. It’s not just that with each passing year mortality looms ever larger, it’s more that what once were limitless possibilities and opportunities have been reduced to an uncomfortable understanding that this is what I’ve become, and it is all that I will ever be.
Those feelings have been amplified significantly at 70 years old. I lost a lot over the intervening eleven years…a wife I loved dearly, my American life, including a paid-for house, and I’ve become estranged from my family. So, the endgame I thought about back then was nothing compared to the reality of what my life has become. But I’ll keep holding on to what I have; it’s way better than the alternative.
For today’s YouTube video, you can’t go wrong with the Filipina Pea, especially when she is responding to questions from her viewers. Enjoy her unique insights:
The jokes are on me:
Sometimes I think I might be portraying my life as an endless, meaningless grind. From the drivel I post here, that might appear to be the case. The reality for me is that I’m elderly now, and dreams die before we do. But keeping things in perspective, I’m living the dream in my retirement community. I’ve got similar oldsters who enjoy getting together for a hike, and plenty of places to go in the evening for socializing and liquid refreshments. And, of course, I’ve found a wonderful woman to share it all with, who genuinely wants to take care of me in my dotage. I am blessed.
You’ll get a 100% if you try, try again. As it says on the site:
How to use the quiz as a learning tool:
1. Finish the quiz, look at your score/grade, then hit the “show incorrect answers” button.
2. Review your answers. Ask yourself what might’ve gone wrong. Each question is reflective of a rule or principle taught in the relevant BOE (Bad Online English) units.
3. Hit “Download PDF snapshot” so you have a copy of your quiz answers + which questions you got wrong. For whatever ChatGPT-ish reason, the PDF gives you both a plain-text rendering of your quiz plus a screen-capture-style image of your quiz. Print and/or save.
4. Look over the relevant units (each quiz’s title contains the names of the relevant units) and try to find the principle underlying the question you got wrong. Study and re-study that principle.
5. Take the quiz again. It ought to be at least a little different this time. If not, hit “refresh” on your browser. There should ideally be different questions, in a different order, but they’ll be about the same topics.
6. Repeat this process until you start getting “A+”es. Then move on to the next quiz (whenever that one comes out).
7. Don’t cheat. This quiz, despite being designed to minimize cheating, is fallible like all quizzes and tests. It can be gamed. But why would you game the quiz? What purpose would it serve except to promote the lie that you got good at the relevant topics when, in reality, you’re still making the same dumb mistakes because you didn’t internalize the rule?
8. Instead of cheating, get good. For some of you, this will be easy. For others, it’ll be harder. But you’re under no pressure to tell anyone anything about your progress unless you’re infinitely proud of your most recent score or compulsively confessional even when you fail.
As always, nice photos. Happy Anniversary.
Kevin, yeah, but trying is easier said than done. Honestly, I take the tests primarily as a measure of where I am. I don’t expect to get better. Still, if I can get a “C,” I’ll take it.