If you have not seen House of Dynamite yet on Netflix and wish to see it (I advise you don’t) you may want to skip this entry. This movie pissed me off and based on a quick online search pissed a lot of other people off. It is based on the premise that there is an incoming nuclear missile that we aren’t quite sure where it launched from. The movie builds suspense leading up to 60 seconds before impact from three different perspectives which are distinct chapters in the film. So finally the third perspective, the one of the president himself is played out you feel like finally the carrot of what is going to happen that has been dangling in front of you the entire movie will be within reach. Instead you hear what sounds like a distant boom and it goes to the credits.
You are left holding a huge bag of unanswered questions which was quickly teamed up with piles of frustration and annoyance that you just spent two hours waiting to see an outcome that was never revealed. I was legitimately angry. There have been a few movies the last couple years that have followed similar scenarios where they tease you the entire time of finding out the truth yet it is never actually revealed. I have no desire to watch movies with subjective/unclear endings. Tell me what happens, idiots.
Last night I did my first live stream in nearly a month. Monday night is not an ideal time to do so but I had a free evening so I figured I should get it in. The stream went over three hours, the longest episode in quite awhile. A very wide amount of topics were covered in that time frame, including answering the question of if I thought I was drifting away from the EUC hobby.
Barely over a year ago I bought a dwarf mulberry tree from Amazon of all places. When it arrived it was basically a twig with a few tiny leaves on it. It reminded me of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, it was sort of pathetic. I bought it shortly after my EUC accident last October where I somehow managed to escape serious injury after falling into three lanes of traffic. So I bought some dirt and a pot and planted this tiny tree with no expectations other than I would do my part to make sure it was watered regularly. Evidently that was all the tree required. Over the past year it has grown exponentially requiring me to transplant it to a bigger pot while the tree became as tall as me.
This weekend the tree took the next step in it’s growth when I removed an unattractive bush in the corner of the yard and planted the dwarf mulberry in it’s place. I repeatedly have thought about the correlation between the changes I have seen in the tree when compared to how my personal life has evolved during that time period. The change in my headspace from where I was last year at this time to present day is nearly as drastic. I hope the tree takes root and flourishes in it’s new spot. I will do my part to give it an opportunity to do so.
This weekend also marked the first time in well over a year where I played pickleball both days of the weekend. The fact that my lower body is resilient enough to allow me to do this again is encouraging. Much like the tree I need to keep doing the right things that allow me to be active like stretching and strengthening on a regular basis to insulate me from the pitfalls of being an old man.
On Friday I used my new Swing Vision set up to record our lunchtime games. The tracking of the game and the automatic cutting of dead space between points is pretty cool. I have to get more familiar with it’s functionality but so far I am a big fan.
On Friday, Halloween night I walked the neighborhood with my girlfriend and the dogs, who were in costumes. Even though we didn’t have kids with us the owners of the homes we passed seemed anxious to hand out candy to us, my girlfriend collected several pieces. On the way back to the house we walked down the other side of the road. We stopped at the last house that had people sitting in front, an older couple. The wife commented on how cute the dogs were. The husband had the candy in a container on his lap. He looked at me in an odd way and didn’t offer me candy but I assumed he would be ok if I grabbed a piece. I was wrong.
As I reached towards to bowl I asked my girlfriend if she would like a Kit Kat. The old man looks at me with a face of disgust and says “candy is for kids!” which caught me off guard. I said oh, sorry in an awkward way as I did not realize I had offended him. As we walked away my girlfriend and I laughed at how it was just my luck that the only person I approached was very strict with his candy guidelines. I thought the scenario was funny enough that I asked Sora to try to recreate it.
Unfortunately I received some pretty shocking news as well over the weekend that my old boss of nearly 15 years had passed away. She was only in her mid 60’s. She had retired in 2014. Since retirement I have not had much contact with her but the news of her passing still carried weight. Unfortunately at my age people that either were or are in your circle of reality are going to drop off with more regularity. She was a good person that came through some real struggles in her life. Rest in peace.
When I got serious about 3D printers I started buying Prusa’s. They were some of the most expensive printers in the space but they also were well known to be workhorses and easily repairable. I loved my Prusa printers, so much so that at one point I owned six or seven of them. They were the backbone of my print farm when I was printing and selling 3D EUC stands at a high rate.
Before I moved I started getting rid of printers but I did hold onto most of my Prusa printers despite a lack of use as stand sales declined. I have since given away or sold all of them except two. Last night those were sold as well. The buyer was a young kid from the Tampa area. He made the long trip because I was selling them incredibly cheap, basically 10% of what they cost new. It felt a bit weird seeing my last Prusas head up the road but the reality is I can print stands on my Bambu Lab printers as needed. There was no reason to keep the Prusa’s around.
I gave him a box of spare Prusa parts I had laying around as well. As I pulled them from the shelves in the garage it reminded me that I still need to do a secondary sweep of pretty much everything I have to assess it’s need to be under my roof. When I moved I did a massive purge. However since moving there are a number of things that have not been touched/used as well which I need to rid myself of. I think because I had space for these items I did not pay much attention to them once I got settled into the house. I am paying more attention now and will be trying to do a fresh culling of unneeded items over the next few weeks.
I bought an app and special phone mounting poll from a company named Swing Vision. I have been recording our lunch time pickleball sessions for a few weeks as my friends enjoy watching it back. The special stick allows the phone to be mounted high on the fence so the entire court is visible. It then tracks and analyzes the games and can keep score with an assist from me on my Apple watch. It even has the ability to assist on close line calls, supposedly. Today will be my first attempt to use the app to record the matches. Hopefully it goes smoothly.
This weekend I hope to take advantage of the lower temperatures that have rolled in to get some stuff done outside I have been procrastinating on. I also took several days off around Veterans Day where I can tackle a bunch of to do’s as needed.
Last night pumpkin carving occurred for the first time ever since I moved to the new house. It was the first time I was involved in pumpkin carving at all for at least 5 years if not longer. My pumpkin carving skills are still basic at best but the end result was ok. Doing this was like entering into a time machine where life was much simpler as a child. I enjoyed the process more than I thought I would. Elsa approved of the end result.
Man I feel for Jamaica and the other islands that are in the path of Hurricane Melissa, that storm is a beast. The impact previous hurricanes have had where I live was horrible enough. I can’t imagine what has happened to a place like Jamaica that has a ton of low lying structures that are not built to withstand wind like this. We have been very lucky in Florida so far this hurricane season. I am crossing my fingers that luck does not run out.
I hopped into Sora and gave it a prompt to make a video combining pickleball and electric unicycle riding. I typically give the app very minimal direction and for the most part what it comes up with is pretty damn good first try.
Last night I finished up another stand printed on the Bambu Lab H2S. I used the painting ability in the slicer to color the center of the “wheel”. I could do up to 4 different colors per stand if I wanted to. Unfortunately the sales of my stands has slowed to a trickle nowadays. All unicycles come with kickstands now so the need for a stand has been minimized but I personally think visually a wheel looks best when it’s not being used on a stand.
You know every person goes through life bouncing off obstacles that come up along the way. Some of these obstacles are placed there by others, some are of your own creation. How you deal with them varies with the situation and the type of person you are. Every individual has that imaginary line they are not willing to cross based on their own morals and principles.
I find myself surprised and/or disappointed with where that line is for some people. When I was younger it bothered me more. I have come to realize that people are ultimately responsible/accountable for how they handle situations they find themselves in whether they are self originating or not. I also now realize that placing expectations onto others behavior is the quickest way to be disappointed so I try not to do so wherever possible. Despite this effort disappointment manages to find it’s way into my mind on a regular basis. I’ll worry about managing my line, you worry about yours.
I had a pretty relaxed weekend. Stuff got accomplished but very little needed to be. I printed and assembled my first complete EUC stand on the H2S. It turned out well which negates any need I have for my two remaining Prusa printers. Based on my prior experience trying to sell used 3D printers on FB I might skip that step. Instead I may just take them to the local recycle center despite my investment in the two printers was a couple thousand dollars originally.
Saturday evening my girlfriend and I took in another beautiful sunset. The moderating temperatures have made spending time on the beach really enjoyable. The picture above was taken a few minutes after the sun dipped below the horizon. I loved the rays of color that appeared. I applied a silly cartoon filter to the picture of us, the first of any that have made it onto the internet. Unlike some of my prior relationships where my significant other was a regular guest in my social media content, that won’t be the case now and I think it might be better that way.
Sunday morning after doing a self physical assessment I determined I was in good enough condition to go play some pickleball. In total I played somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 or 8 games, losing only once. It was another fun session and I walked away feeling very happy that playing pickleball is no longer as painful as it had been for the majority of the last year. I plan to just keep doing what I have been doing to hopefully keep that as the status quo.
I listened to the Eagles/Giants game yesterday. The Birds were embarrassed by the Giants a couple weeks ago, I was hoping that would motivate them on Sunday. It appeared to do so with the team rolling to a 38-20 win. Saquon had his first big rushing day of of the season which was good to see. The Eagles are 6-2 with a big lead in their division yet I still carry very little confidence in their ability to play consistent winning football which is a weird headspace to be in. They have a BYE week coming up so they have a couple weeks to hopefully get healthy and push for a second half where they start to dominate teams instead of narrowly escape.
Ever since Cindy and I split up in 2021 I have been going through rough waters as far as relationships go. Hell if I am being honest the 2-3 years prior to that split with Cindy were no picnic either. I have been on a roller coaster that I just did not seem to be able to get off of for most of that time. I made plenty of mistakes and bad decisions during that time period that contributed to those situations.
One consistent theme has always been being mostly involved with people where there always seemed to be a large inequity of effort. I also found myself involved with individuals that were selfish, materialistic, liars, mentally unstable or needed saving in one way or another. Apparently that is my “type” based on my track record of the last 15 years or so. I don’t have the time or desire to dig into exactly why that is here but I can tell you it is a recipe for not being happy or at peace within a relationship.
Finally in 2025 I have found that peace in a relationship. When I was younger I thought there were a bunch of things needed in a partner to be happy but at the ripe age of 57 I have simplified it down to one thing. Treat that person like you would want to be treated. If they reflect that back onto you, you have a foundation to build upon. If that is missing you will never find true peace and happiness, in my opinion. I feel appreciative and fortunate nowadays. My only wish is I could have done so many years prior.
Last night I washed the Tesla. It was very dirty. It’s dark blue color looks good when clean but shows dirt very easily. I should wash it more than a once a month I suppose. This weekend has no milestone events on the calendar. I am awaiting the arrival of truly moderate weather to tackle a few outdoor projects around the house. As long as my body feels up to it I hope to get a pickleball session thrown in the mix as well.
Yesterday I got a call back from the dermatologist office about the three spots they biopsied during my exam last week. Two of the three spots were not cancer but the one on my neck came back as basal cell. This spot is actually a mole I have had for years that started to behave badly the last year or so. It’s not in a spot that will be much fun to be cut on as it’s right near the base where there is a lot of movement potentially. The surgery is scheduled for the first week of November, can’t wait.
Last night I posted two videos, one about my latest Halloween print on the H2S and another recapping my experience playing in my first pickleball tournament.
I have had access to Sora for a week or so, the app from OpenAI that allows you to make 10 second videos of just about any scenario you can imagine. I have made some pretty silly clips as you will see below. Yes this is the fun and playful side of AI. However have no disillusion about the dark side of the coin as well. Depending on the person pulling the strings AI can be harnessed for much more nefarious tasks. Hell imagine if a sitting president posted an AI video of him flying a jet while wearing a kings crown dumping feces on a crowd of people below that are protesting his actions? Oh wait……that already happened. We are doomed.
