MARCH 2019
Sunday 2019.3.31
'Tis the Season
I've been noticing lately that Google/YouTube is promoting grilling videos more often than usual. Summer will be here soon; so it seems like people's attention is more focused on the BBQ again.
A friend of mine is a grilling kind of guy. I've eaten his grilled spareribs several times. He likes to start them in the morning and let the cook over low heat all day. I'm sure I could do the same thing, maybe with his help, using my Weber grill and oak firewood. Which brings up another point.
You might remember from many blogs ago, or the video, that I constructed my own rack for holding my firewood. Constructed might not be the right word. Assembly is more accurate because all I needed to do was cut the 2x4s and fasten them into the metal bases I bought.
Someone suggested I make a canvas cover for it, to keep the wood dry. I didn't. And it rained several times this winter (and rain is forecast again for later this week). I wondered. Should I be concerned? And then I remembered that the tree trimmer's work yard where I got this wood has piles of this stuff left out in the open. Nothing is covered. So if it was good enough to use in my grill directly from his yard, the wood on my rack should be okay.
Maybe a cover would be more appropriate in areas where there is snow and people are accustomed to bringing in logs during the winter to burn in their fireplace. I'm still new at cooking over oak; so maybe those of you who know more can fill me in on some of the details.
How Are the Shirts Going?
One is done, and I've already worn it in a video (one of my Keto Vlogs). Another one is half assembled. That should be done today or tomorrow. That leaves five to go.
World News Discussion Group
We met again yesterday for our news discussion group. It was okay. One of the guys likes to read his news articles from top to bottom, three pages long. I'm patient. I bring long articles too, but I highlight the one or two talking points that sum up the entire story. Then I talk about the basis of the article and project some of what it might mean.
For example, I brought an opinion piece that claimed a Beto O'Rourke/Kamala Harris ticked would do best against Donald Trump in 2020; although, Trump was projected to win. I discussed that and then added my own opinion, believing that a Joe Biden/Beto O'Rourke ticket would be more difficult for the Republicans to beat.
We still have 20 months to go before people go to the polls again to vote for president, and a lot could happen between now and then (keep an eye on the Southern District of New York).
Dirty tricks are nothing new to elections. Both parties play at them. Another point I brought up was about the investigations proceeding in New York. The Eastern District of New York is also involved. I told the group New York is a very blue state, heavy with Democratic voters. What if the courts in New York were planning to hold onto the findings (and possible indictments) until, say October 2020, to help swing the election in favor of the Democratic candidate? They might consider it a fair tit for tat retaliation for James Comey's announcements of the FBI's investigations into Hillary Clinton's emails late in the 2016 campaign season.
I'm not interested enough to get involved in any candidate's race. Instead, I enjoy watching the circus.
Wednesday 2019.3.27
Shopping
Shirts are a problem for me. There are stores where I might find shirts, but I can't find the size I need — 17 inch neck, 35 inch sleeve — and if I find a shirt the fit is wrong. I know not to buy "trim fit" because those are better suited to young guys with a 30-inch waist. Even "regular fit" is too tight around the middle. I need "husky," but never see it.
Buying shirts for my videos is even more difficult because I want color. Most men's shirts fall into the blue/brown/green/gray range. Plaids are better, but they don't always look right in a video.
I have 30 colorful shirts for videos. They should be enough. But I wanted more. I didn't have a dark green or a true purple. So I went shopping.
I felt like I wanted a drive out of town anyway. It has been a long time since I went on a long drive. For me, a long drive is to somewhere about 50 miles away. A regular drive is somewhere I can go on my bike.
The ocean as I headed south along the coast was beautiful. There were decent waves breaking on the beaches. I need those pleasant drives occasionally to help me appreciate the beauty of California, even in my area.
There is a fabric store down in Ventura that has a good selection and reasonable prices. I came home with seven lengths of 100% cotton solid colors, including spools of thread, for about $200. Not bad. Where would I find custom tailored shirts for under $30 each, unless I traveled to Asia (and how much would that cost)?
And an even better advantage is that I have been using the same pattern, cut in rip-stop nylon, that fits perfectly. I like my shirts to be more baggy than trim.
As for the fabrics, one was particularly interesting to me. It was called "distressed muslin" and the brown one looked like crumpled brown paper bag, like the ones we used to get a grocery stores (and which are probably more recyclable than the plastic bags). I chose to cut that shirt first. Look for it in future videos.
Videos
I uploaded to new videos this morning. One was another SmoothieTube video, this one using frozen blueberries and some acai juice I had in the refrigerator. It was delicious, but because there was added sugar, it isn't keto friendly.
The other video is of the unboxing and assembly (the little assembly needed) of my new Ikan PT Elite V2 teleprompter.
Sunday 2019.3.24
Making It Better
On Thursday evening I made another pot of my Keto Clam Chowder. I made it to use up some cauliflower stems I had in the refrigerator. When I make my Cauliflower Fried Rice I save the stems for chowder. The flavor and texture is not too different from potatoes, but unlike potatoes, the stems are low in carbohydrates.
And there was a second reason. What do you think of this idea? I am planning to finish each of my Keto Diet Vlogs by mentioning one of my keto friendly recipes. Better yet, have some food ready to enjoy at the end of the video. Tell viewers the recipe is on this web site and add links to the video on my Mobile Home Gourmet channel. That way, should the keto channel become popular, it might also drive more traffic to my cooking channel.
SmoothieTube — Sort of
I shot another smoothie video this week. One store up the street had fresh blackberries on sale for $1.99 for each 6-ounce package. That's a decent price; so I bought two and used them in a smoothie made with almond milk, heavy whipping cream, and some coconut oil to make it more keto.
Then when I went to transfer the video files to my computer, I saw that I already did a Creamy Blackberry Smoothie. Oh well, I enjoyed drinking the smoothie.
Teleprompting Update
Yesterday I shot another keto vlog for my new YouTube channel: My Keto Diet — One Man's Journey. I read from the prompter and it turned out well. I look natural enough. One point I really appreciated was that I was able to keep the size of the video down to something reasonable. No wandering off topic. I edited and rehearsed the script several times. I kept the video to 10½ minutes. I'm good with that.
In the future, as I get better at working with scripts and the prompter, I will probably be able to write the scripts in less time and keep them to a desirable length. As I said I'd do, at the end of the vlog I showed my bowl of Keto Clam Chowder and talked about it briefly. In the next vlog I want to show off my Italian Deli Lettuce Wrap. (Speaking of which, this past week I purchased some of those colorful frilled toothpicks you see piercing club sandwiches in delis. I'll save those for videos.)
I'm satisfied with the video, if not thrilled with it. I need to practice more. As I get comfortable working with the prompter I'll look more natural.
And One More Thing
Yesterday, finally, I was able to attend another Pedego e-bike group ride down in the city. Several of the previous ones had to be cancelled due to rain. The morning was cloudy and cold, but it was dry. Pat, the owner of the Pedego store, was the only other one present. He wanted to ride. By keeping the ride to one hour we could get back in time for him to open his store on time. I was the one wearing a watch; so he let me lead the way.
I took him to Alice Keck Park where the turtle pond is located. He knew of the park, but he hadn't seen the pond. There were enough turtles to fascinate him. He enjoyed it. Then we rode across town to a street with a bike lane that leads down to the beach. We had enough time to ride along the beach for a while before turning around and heading back to the store. It was an excellent ride.
Wednesday 2019.3.20
Happy Spring
Spring has arrived (and so has more rain). If I understand the physics of day and night correctly, today the daytime and the nighttime will be the same length. I believe this is also the time of year when the days get longer by the most amount. I think it's two minutes.
When I was a child in grammar school in New England I learned the expression, "April showers bring May flowers." I'm sure you heard that too. It isn't April yet, but we're getting the showers. Although Southern California has been in a drought condition for several years, we're finally getting some much welcome rain.
As of this morning, we are at 135% of our normal rainfall for the season. If it didn't rain again for the remainder of the "water-year" (Sept. 1 through Aug. 31), we would remain above average for the year. The reservoir is at 76% capacity.
Food Experiment
I like grinders. That's what we called them in Connecticut where I grew up. Other names in other parts of the country are heros, hoagies, subs, and submarine sandwiches. I made a somewhat-grinder sandwich made with part of a ciabatta loaf I made.
When I was a lot younger, I could eat an entire grinder. Now I'm satisfied with a smaller sandwich.
But there's a new wrinkle. I am reducing my carbohydrates as far as possible; therefore, the bread is out. Thankfully, there is a reasonable solution — the lettuce wrap. What if I were to use all the same ingredients — lettuce, salami, provolone cheese, tomatoes, and plenty of olive oil — but wrap it in a few big leaves of Romaine lettuce?
It works. I made several this week, just to practice the wrapping. I did look on YouTube for instructions for making a lettuce wrap. It isn't exactly rocket science and I had succeeded before even looking at any videos. However, I learned one or two useful tricks.
So, armed with this knowledge and experience, I did a video. I decided to call mine an Italian Deli Lettuce Wrap. Although they're not quite as delicious as a grinder made with fresh French bread, still warm from the bakery, it is good enough to enjoy without all the carbs. You can link to the YouTube video from the recipe page.
And, in the process, I learned something valuable. I looked up Roma (Italian plum) tomatoes on calorieking.com, a food nutrition web site. Romas have hardly any carbs at all! I can certainly enjoy them without any guilt.
Teleprompting
My teleprompter arrived on Monday. I did a video of the unboxing and assembly. It turns out that I barely needed to do any assembly at all. The piece I needed, the mirror assembly, was already assembled. All I needed to do was fit the hood into place, and it attaches with magnets — no tools needed. And, as an unexpected extra benefit, the mirror assembly has a threaded hole to be used with a separate tripod.
Why a second tripod? My video camera is fitted with a quick-release base that is easily disconnected from the tripod when I need to move the camera to the office to off-load the video clips to my computer. The camera mount that came with the prompter is different. I have a good Bogan tripod I bought many years ago. It will hold a lot of weight. The prompter is fairly light without the extra camera rigging on it. And I'll use my camera without the prompter when doing cooking videos.
I shot my first vlog, twice, using the prompter. I needed to do the video again because I hadn't positioned the hood (keeps spurious light out) correctly. Part of it was visible in the frame. That's how you learn.
As for the video, I'm quite satisfied with it. I watched several instructional videos on YouTube and the one I appreciated the most said to write the script as naturally as possible, so that it doesn't sound overly formal and stilted, and practice reading it several times before shooting the video. Good advice.
Sunday 2019.3.17
The Wearin' o' the Green
Today is St. Patrick's Day. I'm not wearing green, even though someone in my family tree decided our last name is Irish, not French.
The story goes something like this: The person behind it all decided to trace the family roots. Supposedly, a great grandfather had originally spelled the last name as "View". And supposedly, a teacher in school told him the correct spelling is "Viau" and so — this part is a bit foggy — at some point he changed the spelling. View is supposedly Irish.
There might be some truth to it because my family pronounced the name the same as the word view. When I entered community college my French teacher pronounced my last name "vee-oh," like the letters V O.
When I moved to California in 1975 to attend the university here I pronounced my last name the French way. In college I even had the nickname "Seagrams," as in Seagrams V.O.
Many years ago when I was told I am Irish, not French, I responded, "I've been French for more than 50 years. I'm not going to start being Irish now."
Truthfully, I'm a lot of stuff. On my father's side of the family there are many nationalities. They're a mixture of mostly Europeans. My twin brother had his DNA analyzed and that confirmed it. On my mother's side they're all Italian.
It doesn't really matter to me what my origins are. I consider myself Californian now. As for this confused last name, it will terminate in this century. My brother and I — the only two who might have passed on the last name to offspring — both decided we didn't want children.
Step One
Step 1 is good. I'm talking about the teleprompter plans I mentioned in Wednesday's blog. The foot pedal controller arrived on Thursday. It's an AirTurn DUO.
No need for wires. It communicates with my android tablet via bluetooth. Get them paired and the AirTurn can be used to advance the scroll of the text.
I admit I was worried. What if it isn't compatible with my android prompter app? It is, and it works very well. The left pedal is like the UP arrow on your computer keyboard and the right pedal is DOWN. One tap of the right pedal and the text starts scrolling (I can set the scroll speed in the app).
That box between the two pedals is removable if I want to use it as a hand controller. I'm happy using me feet.
The android app I am using is "Simple Teleprompter" and the name describes it well. It's simple, mostly. It's totally free. No advertising or junk. A short email to AirTurn Support (answered very quickly) guided me to the little bit of customzation I needed to do.
There are basic settings that can be adjusted and between them and the settings for the DUO I got everything working the way I want. Step on the right peddle and the text starts scrolling upward. If I fall a little behind when reading, depress the right peddle again and the scroll stops. When I'm caught up, depress again and the text scrolling resumes. It doesn't require much practice to figure it out.
Step two will be the arrival, unboxing, and setup of the teleprompter. According to the tracking information, that will be here tomorrow.
Boy, When Things Go Right!
I shot another cooking video this week — Lamb Vindaloo. I was unfamiliar with the name, but it was in a Keto Instant Pot cookbook I bought at Costco. A little research revealed that vindaloo is a dish enjoyed in parts of India and it is also a popular menu item in British Indian curry house restaurants.
What went well was my use of two cameras. I've tried it before, but never did it well — using my GoPro camera for overhead shots along with my regular Sony video camera. This time I did it right, mostly. I wasn't perfect. I missed a shot, but I ended up with enough clips to assemble a complete video of the preparation and cooking.
I've been editing the video this week with plans to upload it to YouTube before today so that I could add it to the home page as an advanced viewing video. Look for Lamb Vindaloo.
Wednesday 2019.3.13
I Bit a Big Bullet This Week
With my new vlog on YouTube, My Keto Vlog: One Man's Journey, I got to thinking about teleprompters again.
In the past, I'd looked at the possibility of using a teleprompter when I do a vlog video. There are various models available, some better than others, but there was always one problem. To purchase a teleprompter capable of holding my laptop computer, which is heavy, as a prompting device I would need to spend well over $1,000, maybe twice that. It was outside my budget.
I'm earning decent revenue from my Mobile Home Gourmet channel on YouTube, but my vlogs don't bring in any money at all. Therefore, it was difficult to justify spending the big bucks. That changed recently. Two things happened.
I bought a Vitamix blender and scale, and downloaded the android app that coordinates the scale with the blender. For that I needed an android tablet. I bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab A tablet. This week I downloaded a teleprompter app that scrolls text on the screen, backward, so that it is readable in a mirror, which is the glass used in a teleprompter. The teleprompter easily holds the tablet. That's one thing.
The other thing is that I started uploading, occasionally, my SmoothieTube videos to my MobileHomeGourmet channel. With a few modifications, the videos are different enough not to be detected as duplicates on YouTube. That lets me earn a little revenue from the smoothies. It isn't much. Since I uploaded the first smoothie video on February 1st it earned only $1.89. However, with 360 videos on my Mobile Home Gourmet channel, all those little payments add up over time. And so, with keto friendly smoothies and keto friendly recipes going onto my Mobile Home Gourmet channel, I can just about twist the rationalizations around in my mind to justify a teleprompter for vlogging.
Why a Teleprompter?
I tend to ramble. I don't mean to, but ideas pop into my head as I'm talking to the camera and before I know it the video is 28 minutes long, and I was hoping to keep it under ten. I am hoping a script will keep me on topic without divertissments and the vlogs will be shorter and crisper.
I will need to practice. Maybe a lot. Talking with a teleprompter isn't natural. Rambling is. However, I watch a lot of news on TV and I see from the eye movements of the presenters that they are following a teleprompter, but they sound quite natural, as if they're just discussing the news from memory.
I also bought a bluetooth controller that sits on the floor. I can use my feet on the pedals to turn pages or forward the scroll as needed, keeping my hands free (to sip coffee — if you've seen my flogs you're familiar with that). I'm sure it will take some practice, but I should get the hang of it after a while.
Meanwhile, the foot pedal controller has already shipped, the same day! So maybe that will allow me some time to practice a little with the tablet, getting the settings done the way I need them.
I vlogged (rambled) about it.
How Much?
I'm reluctant to discuss the cost because I don't want anyone to think I need donations to help support this web site. I allow myself one big purchase per year, whether by choice or by necessity. I thought I was going to get through 2018 with only the purchase of the Vitamix and accessories, and then on December 31 my water heater failed. $1,300. That's a major expenditure.
So maybe this year the teleprompter will be the biggie. And if I get really adept at using it, I'll write scripts for My Kitchen Vlog as well. They won't earn any revenue, but they're good advertising for my Mobile Home Gourmet channel.
And Then There Was a Better Offer
I checked the B&H Photo Video web site. I should have looked there first. The price was the same, however by ordering with a case (which I wanted anyway, but did not see it on Amazon) I saved $50, and there was no California sale tax, another $50 savings. $100 in savings was too good an offer to refuse. I cancelled the Amazon order, claiming it wouldn't arrive when I needed it (Amazon takes too long to ship, unless you pay for Prime — which I think is a ripoff) and I ordered from B&H. They ship the same day, free.
Creamy Blueberry Smoothie
I was craving a smoothing again and I wanted blueberries. Thankfully, I had frozen blueberries in the freezer. And I wanted the smoothie to be keto friendly, so I added some heavy whipping cream. The flavor was delicious.
Although I poured it all into one mug in the video, I ultimately divided it in half to save some for later. It was so good, I wanted to drink the rest of it the following day. I saved it for the evening.
Sunday 2019.3.10
Happy Daylight Saving Time
Hopefully you remembered to adjust you clocks forward before going to bed last night.
This is a good time of year for food photography. When I do cooking videos I like to finish by photographing the prepared food on a plate, ready to eat. However, unless I start early in the day, I usually don't have enough sunlight for natural lighting at my dining room table. With an extra hour of sunlight in the evening I can shoot food photos the way I like.
There is usually talk around this time of year about making Daylight Saving Time permanent. It's okay for people living in the southern part of the USA. Way back during the Nixon administration the government experimented with extending DST through the winter, thinking it might save energy. (That was back when OPEC was holding back oil for higher profits.) The problem was children waiting for the school bus in the northern states. They had to stand on the side of the road in the dark. That was considered dangerous. And it didn't result in any appreciable energy saving. The experiment wasn't repeated the follow year.
Any state can opt out of DST. Hawaii and parts of Arizona remain on standard time year round. However, to opt out of standard time in favor of DST year round requires approval of the federal government. California is one of the states considering the change. Currently, law makers don't give the proposal much hope of passing.
I don't care what they do. I don't mind changing the clocks every six months (most of mine adjust automatically) and it only takes a few days to adjust to the change. Besides, I'm retired; so I don't need to get out of bed at any pre-set time in the morning. I sleep until I wake up.
Another New Vlog
At the suggestion of a fan of this web site (I wish I could find his e-mail to thank him) I started another vlog on YouTube. This one is My Keto Vlog: One Man's Journey.
I wish I had a large circle of friends on social media. I'd broadcast it. However, I tried Facebook and it didn't do me any good. I rarely go onto that site now. I probably should delete my page.
Paris-Nice Cycling Race
I searched the cable channels and there are no live broadcasts of the bicycle race, but there is one-hour coverage of the highlights each evening. For me, this eight-day race begins the season of cycling race grand tours, culminating in the Tour de France in the summer. I always enjoy the cycling races. Then I watch college football in the fall. I'm not a basketball fan. The game moves too swiftly for me to follow.
Recycling
The recycling truck did the pickup on Friday. It might not seem like a big deal, but to me it was a small milestone. As I mentioned in earlier blog entries, I've been decluttering. Besides driving a load of good usable items (some still new in the box) to the thrift store, I put a lot of stuff — plastic, metal, glass and paper— in the recycling bin. I had more than enough to fill the bin. I stood at the curb as the truck approached and placed two additional boxes in the hopper in the back. It felt good to see it carried away.
There is still more to do, but the largest part of the project is complete. Yesterday I pulled two small Igloo coolers out of the shed. Why two? I don't know why. I do know that one of them I used when buying fish at the market down in the city. With ice it kept the fish cold. I haven't bought fish there in a few years. It's too expensive. Costco sells good fish and the store is within walking distance, and it's less expensive there. So both coolers will be donated to the thrift store. I couldn't justify keeping one. And if I do need one in the future, a department store is only a few blocks down the street.
And, Finally, Another Microphone Died
Another microphone bit the dust this week. I refuse to replace it. It's a Sony and the black plastic they use to coat the wire (called a jacket) degrades over time. Every Sony I've had suffers from the same problem. I did what I could to keep the microphone functional, but this time it failed in an area I couldn't repair.
You can hear the problem in some of my videos. The sound doesn't drop out, but there is a soft static caused by the bare wires touching each other when I move. It went into the trash on Friday.
However, I kept the boom and ear piece that secure the microphone on my head. Using a lavalier (lapel) michrophone I already had, I rigged up something that works very well. It looks a little funky, but it works. And it didn't cost me any money at all.
Wednesday 2019.3.6
More News Group Stuff
One of the members of our news discussion group sent me a link to a speech by David Brooks in which he described some of the crises in America. I won't paraphrase his speech here, it was about 30 minutes in length.
He describes the problem of tribalism, similar to community, but the dark side. It creates enemies. The antidote to that is the building of communities — meeting regularly with our friends and neighbors to share conversation. Even potentially contentious subjects, like religion and politics, can be discussed harmoniously and peacefully if there is genuine love and respect in the community.
And that is the value I see in our regular meetings to discuss events in the news. We live in a coastal community, a college town, part of America's intelligentsia. So we are more like-minded than people in other communities where there is more division. I often remind my friends that we live in a bubble here. The American mentality is very different among people living between Bakersfield and Pittsburgh.
It's also not my only discussion group. Almost every Monday I meet with friends at a Chinese restaurant where we enjoy their buffet lunch and engage in lively discussions about news, politics, movies and TV shows.
Looking at Numbers
This morning I looked at the performance of my smoothie videos. Most have been watched fewer than 40 times. The average number of views for those videos is 33. Two videos did much better: 109 and 104 views each. What made the difference? The word "keto" in the title.
Initially I was concerned that the use of keto might drive some viewers away. I therefore used the word sparingly, often placing it in the description of the video, which would be picked up by Google's search engine.
Now I know otherwise. Statistics might not have been your favorite course in college (I enrolled in three of them because I liked them so much), but stats are useful. I am going to make more use of the word keto in my smoothie titles. So if you look at the following smoothie video on my SmoothieTube channel, you'll see in the click bait thumbnail image the title has been changed to "Keto Berry Smoothie".
Olive Oil
Besides making another smoothie video this week, I also shot another Kitchen Vlog video.
In my cooking videos I often say I am using "pure olive oil," which I call "cooking olive oil," and I say to reserve the extra virgin olive oil for flavoring. It's a flavoring oil, not a cooking oil. Someone asked me about the difference. I discussed it with friends over lunch and we agreed the subject would make a good Kitchen Vlog video.
Note: I didn't work keto into the title, but I could have.
More Keto
Someone else suggested I start a keto diet vlog channel on YouTube. I shot the first video, more of an introduction, yesterday. Most notable about the video: A thunderstorm was approaching as I shot the video and eventually the thunder became quite loud.
It could be a fun video to watch, but I haven't created my keto vlog channel yet. I need to do some research. I'm thinking of naming it "My Keto Diet Journey," but I need to see if that title is used elsewhere on YouTube.
And Speaking of Storms
After each storm I check the local Rainfall and Reservoir Summary. Some areas had two inches of rainfall during the previous 24 hours. Where I live, the total was 1.87 inches. We are currently at 145% of our average rainfall for this time of year. Lake Cachuma is at 66% capacity and the two reservoirs upstream from Cachuma are at 100%.
It is still raining today, although the rain is much lighter. More rain is expected this week and early into next week.
Sunday 2019.3.3
New England Weather
I grew up in Connecticut. It's a pretty place, lots of trees, but I'm glad I moved to Southern California. The weather is nicer here. It's March and I can go outside without wearing a jacket during the day. However, my raincoat and umbrella have been useful a lot lately.
The weather reminds me of New England — a few days of sunshine followed by a few days of rain, every week. It rained on Wednesday. It rained again yesterday. It's supposed to start raining again on Tuesday. Some people are complaining about the rain, but not me. I enjoy it. One of my pleasures late in life is to be warm and dry in my own home while it's raining outside.
Is this weather pattern the product of global warming? Maybe. I'll take it. Perhaps we'll come out of our drought.
Purging
During the latter half of the week I continued my purge of excess stuff in my shed. The rule I've been trying to enforce is that every two bins, whether large or small, must be combined into one bin. Whatever doesn't fit, goes.
It's been working. I loaded up my SUV with stuff — some used, some new in box — and drove it to a charity thrift store I like. The people there are always pleasant. It felt good to get it out of my home, and I'm feeling less paralyzed by the whole project. Reducing the task to only one or two bins at a time helps me not to feel overwhelmed. Meanwhile, my recycling bin is full and there is more to go.
I'm not done with the shed yet. I'll continue the purge this week, weather permitting.
Finally, Our News Group
We met again yesterday, our third meeting. Three were in attendance; one is in India for his business. It was an enjoyable discussion. We don't become overly impassioned about the news, but we are entertained by it. I think it is the enjoyment of feeling informed. And despite how depressing the news can be sometimes, we're hopeful for the future. In Jon Meacham's book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, he said there were periods when times were worse than they are now, but we recovered. We'll weather this storm too. When we come out the others side, things will be different, but they'll be better.