< Notes...

I am struggling trying to get me stop biting the inside of my mouth. You know, like gnawing the skin inside of it. I almost got it once, but subconsciously went back at it again. It bothers me greatly. Today I am starting once more.

Update: 01 Oct 2025 @ 20:34:00

Caught myself again at it. Stop biting your mouth! (ala General Bethlehem (third comment), on “The Postman”.

Only three days on the Star of the Seas, and we all want to go back to be cruising. Oh, and certainly do not want to be at work! LOL. Oh well, it is what it is.

Rob, our crazy—his own words, not mine—ex-coworker and friend came by the office today. He talked shit about Trump, and Fanny Mae, but we truly enjoyed his visit. We love Rob!

Brought some kisses to the office, and without showing them to anyone I asked: “Does anyone wants a kiss?”. One of my cubemates was fast to reply: “Not from you!” 😂

Schwab almost gave us a heart attack, when we saw half of our account gone at the end of the trade day today. Then this “urgent” message popped:

Account balance information may be inaccurate.
“Certain online account information may be inaccurate. Please accept our apologies as our teams work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. For assistance, please call us at 800-435-4000.”

Yo, mates, come on! 🩺

Some will say the weekend starts when you close the “work shop”. I see the start of the weekend as something unimportant, but agree with the previous. The real issue is how to slow it [the weekend] down. Its end? Ah, yes, when you clock in again.

Even though Haagen-Dazs reduced their 1 pint (16oz) to 14oz in 2009—yes, 16 years ago—there is an ongoing mention of it on social media as if it just happened. Taking things like this from social media as face value, as recent “news”, and without further research, is truly bad.

While keeping my account active, I got rid of the Threads application on my mobile device, as a first step. Really tired to fine tunning notifications and still getting them, seemingly randomly, for things, or people I don’t know. Next step is to delete the account—which will also close my dormant Instagram.

Now $3,000 poorer, that double pain is behind me. To make me feel better, Mother Nature has decided to bless us with rain. She knows I love it. I only need some sleep. Soon.

Today is the “joyful” day for a non-cleaning related dental appointment. Oh, the “fun” we will have! Joy, joy, joy! 😬

Nursing homes are sad places. If the elderly has good money, their nursing homes are less sad—but sad nevertheless. For the poor and dispossessed, they can be/are a living hell. When, or if I get to that stage, I wouldn’t want to be in one. I would want to terminate instead.

I have to note that Niederegger Lubeck Classic Marzipan is—though pricey in the U.S.—super delicious. I am going to look around to see if I can find the other varieties they produce, as I would love to try them all!

Feeling the urge to buy an ortholinear keyboard. If anything else, it is the uniformity, and compactness of it, that has enticed me. The search for one starts.

“You’re in your prime earning years”, reads the ad. It continues, “Is your retirement plan account keeping up with you?”. Oh, darling, how little do you know me! You’ve been flattering me all along, telling me sweet little lies, assuring me you know me. Lies! Prime years, psst. As if!

I haven’t had this much fun on a Home Owners Association (HOA) meeting in a long while. What’s making it super amussing is that our community manager is so clueless! Like she is moving in slow motion. 😅😂 Bless her heart!

We recently replaced our very old, dilapidated, non-stick “teflon” frying pan with a ceramic one, and oh boy, let me tell you: it sure is getting the “royal” treatment! Conscientious cleaning after each use, with soft sponge, and immediate drying. It has its own spot, no other pan on top. I mean, I wish I was a new frying pan, for sure!

Showed a nephew some of what’s possible to do within Diablo IV, and he said, “I don’t think I will ever be able to learn this game”. He has never played a season, and is at paragon 152 while still having rare (yellow) items, and no paragons assigned, and no customisation of any kind. He has, pretty much, been playing blindy all along. 😂

I noted this because, as someone who has to constantly spell his surname, it makes it harder when the listener is expecting a bastardisation of something that has been accepted and adopted as a standard. Anyway, enough of it, I just had to take it off my chest. LOL.

“Do you want to see it?” – asks the Horse about “Building The Band”. “I am going to take a bath.” “Turn it off, turn it off, I want us to see it together.” – I reply while gesturing by closing my left hand, uniting all fingers tips, Italian style. “We will see it together” – replies the Horse, “… or not”. We both laugh.

Partner just announced, to my delight, that tonight we will have thinly sliced pork for dinner. It comes with rice, because, duh, rice is godly, and a mixed salad which I plan to dress with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Salivating already.

My back hurts, it is hot, and it might rain. You would ask, how are those three related? Well, the lawn is a “grown adult”, and it is not going to mow itself!

Update: 02 Oct 2025 @ 13:43:19

This “deed” is done. Lawn mowed, and just in time, as we are under the menace of rain. Let it fall!

More often than not I am so torn between serif, and sans-serif. Not even funny.

Is it a sign of age using commas? Is it a sign of age using proper capitalisation, and periods ending a sentence? Each time I interact using a text-based medium with anyone younger—with very rare exceptions—I am reminded of having grown older. 😅

Apparently using em dashes is proof that a tool (AI, for example), was used to write things instead. As someone who likes to use en dashes, em dashes, and dashes, who uses macOS/iOS, I find that simply amusing. Pff, as if!

To create these notes I use Hugo, and Markdown, so generating them is as easy as using -, --, and ---.

At the risk of being labeled a boomer—something kids already do, anyway—I have to say that the music from the 80s and 90s beats the one from the 2000s, and the 2010s, so far. It reminds me what my mum and dad used to say about the music of their time. Every generation, pretty much the same.

I wish everyone was like mum, when it comes to be on guard, and suspicious, about everything Internet. I have given her the cookie-cutter talk about Internet security, in simple terms, but I have always told her, “If you have any doubts, you can always call me, and I will come to help you.” And she sure does! At least once every couple of weeks I get such call, or message. Today was one of those days.

As a bonus I get fed as well. I am not sure if ever mentioned it, but mum’s cooking is second only to partner’s. Of course, I tell each the same. They really are both wonderful.

Today is one of those few—but they exist, as evidenced—days I feel disappointed, and despaired. Not a good feeling.

Coffee at 07:30. Three small croissants around 11:00. Chicken and sausage gumbo soup bowl at 13:30. Three small chicken quesadillas at 16:30. I have eaten way too much, I feel. No more food for me today!

What to eat tonight? During the week I only have one meal a day. Sometimes, come evening, I really don’t feel like eating anything at all. Now Fridays, ah! Fridays are something else.

Fridays are just… different, just like Saturdays and Sundays. There are no other days like those. Mondays through Thursdays, they are all the same. You could put me in a hole for a few days, and make me forget which day of the week it was, then let me out. It will take me very little to figure out, with a high level of certainty, whether it’s a weekend or not.

Anyways, I digress. Macaroni and cheese with bacon bits? Hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Update: 02 Oct 2025 @ 13:48:09

So much for macaroni and cheese with bacons bits. We—child and I—ended up having Pizza Hut (pepperoni thin and crispy). I think that the half of a pizza I ate is healthier than what I had planned. A win? 😅

Even as we are us, for our entire existence, we change. For better, or for worse, we change. I found myself disagreeing with myself, or realising I no longer think the same way, while going over some of my old blog entries. Because of that I decided to add a disclaimer to some entries that reads:

Disclaimer:
This post is an old one. Overtime, my perspectives evolve, and it may not reflect my current thinking, political affiliation, or position on the topic(s) at hand.

It is not so much that I care what a stranger may think of me because of what I wrote (which I do!), but more for myself. I will not delete the post, but the least I can do is to note that its contents may no longer apply.

I am having an “existential” dilemma here. First, I have some titles been mentioned in notes (movies, or books, or similar) between double quotes, while some others do not have it. I don’t like that inconsistency. Second, I don’t know which style to pick, and adhere to from now on—which will be the same style I will use to change others retroactively as well. Should I always use double quotes? Should I italise them instead, no double quotes?

See the silly things I drown myself with?

Twenty seven years is a long time, don’t you think? Yet I look back and wonder, where did the time go? Really! With ups and downs, but no regrets, I love you, Horsie! —Signed, “Conniving” Monkey.

I write these notes not expecting interaction. I do it for fun, more often than not to amuse myself. Yet, even as I admit that what I jot here is for my own, it is similar to writing a message in a bottle. The hope (aim?) is that someone will eventually find it, and do with it as they please. 😅😂

If I die tomorrow, or if I am dead today, know that I loved you very, very, very much. Know that my last sentient thought will be for you. Know that sadness doesn’t compare to what I feel in my last moments, not because I care about myself, but about you.

Desperately looking for advise to stop chewing the inside of my cheeks. I don’t feel anxious, nor stressed, and I have made—more than once—the conscious effort to stop biting, but I continue to do it semiconsciously. It’s bothering me quite a bit. Ugh!

Update: 02 Oct 2025 @ 16:50:20

I have successfully managed not to do this anymore, so far. During the first few days I had to put an extra effort remembering not to do it. Now my subconscious seems to have either learned, or given up. Either way is good! Phew!

I recently got a taste of it, again. A taste of walking in a walkable town, that’s. I wish I lived in a place where I could walk to places. I envy you, Claudine!

Went out walking at lunch time (just returned), and had to call it quits after the first lap. It is hot, but not as much as it is humid. It made us feel asphyxiated. So, after a long 20 seconds deliberation, Errol and I agreed for it to be a short walk today. Still, we got 3,318 steps. Not too shabby.

It is hot, so hot, and humid. Rain might come too, though sun shines right now. I want to stay indoors, but she is dragging me out! 😩 Please, send help! 😅 Also, weekend may as well be over. Dear, oh dear!

Update: 30 Nov 2025 @ 11:12:34

We had a really good time with friends that stopped by at the Cape while cruising with the “Symphony of the Seas”. Just got home, really tired of driving. I am calling it a day now, for sure.

Small Monday afternoon chat. That last one from her truly warmed my heart to a melting point. ❤️

If I were young I would say, “I want to grow old with you, Horsie!”, but I am not: I have already grown old with her!

I don’t use a CPAP machine, yet, but sleep apnea is something I suffer from, so the machine will come my way wether I like it or not. You can imagine the feeling of hope I felt when I came across the headline “Sleep apnea pill shows striking success in large clinical trial”.

“Top-line results from a large clinical trial, released this week, showed a combination of two medications in one pill stimulates muscles that keep the airway open, sharply decreasing breathing disruptions.”

The side effects, though, worry me, as the drug “also increases heart rate and diastolic blood pressure a little bit”. Yes, that emphasis I added is my worry.