The Heater/AC Saga

I have some stuff to catch up on, and it all seems to tie in together, but I’m going to try separating them out.  Let’s start with the first one.

When I got home from work Thursday almost two weeks ago, I quickly realized my heater wasn’t working.  It was only 69 in the condo, and I had it set to increase from 68 to 72 about an hour before I’d gotten home.  So the next day, I called a heater/AC company.  They suggested a couple of things they tried on Friday night, but it didn’t do any good.  They came out first thing Saturday morning, and within a few minutes determined that my compressor had gone out.  Honestly, that explains why my unit was taking so long to heat or cool my condo.  There were some days I wondered if it would ever turn off, so I knew it was coming.

The price was a shock.  However, since the compressor was half the cost of replacing the entire unit, I decided to go with that.  After all, the unit is probably original to my unit, so close to 35 years old.  They were able to come out and replace it on Tuesday.

However, as part of this upgrade, I wanted to upgrade my thermostat to one I can control remotely.  I found one I thought looked good, but it was cheaper from Amazon, significantly cheaper.  So I ordered it from them, thinking that I would be able to figure out how to install it myself.

Spoiler alert: I couldn’t.

My old one was battery powered, and my new ones needs to be connected to power.  I got that figured out, but I still didn’t quite have all the wires connected right.  Part of that is because I was trying to hook things up for the wrong kind of unit.  Anyway, I got things the way I thought they should be, turned the power back on to the unit, and I heard a hum from a transformer in the ceiling.  After some texts with the guy who installed the unit, his boss, the owner of the company, came out Sunday after church.  Yes, I had one of the wires wrong, but he also thought the thermostat itself might be defective.  So I ordered a replacement, and it has arrived.  Now, I just need to get them to come out to install it for me.

It’s going to cost me a bit more than if I had told them to buy me one and install it when they were already out on Tuesday.  I should know better than to try to do something like that myself.  It’s just not my gift.  However, I do feel better knowing it might not have been my incompetence causing the issues with the new thermostat.

Thoughts on the News

I know, I know.  Everybody and their brother has been offering their thoughts on the Special Counsel’s report and what it means.  And since everybody has done it, that means I need to jump on the bandwagon, too, right?  Actually, there are some things I think need to be said.  I’m seeing some of them be said, but I want a chance to put my thoughts down.  And since this is my blog, I get to do just that.

First of all, I’m going to cheat and link up to this article.  It shows a timeline going back to 2016 on how this entire mess started.  And make no mistake about it, this is a mess.  And it is a mess of political making.  Like Trump or not, this article makes a compelling case that the special counsel of the last two years was a shame from the very beginning.  Honestly, the article goes further than I think we can realistically go yet, but it makes a compelling case that we need more investigations and we need indictments, just not of President Trump or anyone associated with his administration, but people in the government who were working to undermine if not overthrow him.

Now, I can already hear some of you.  “But Mark, this came from the Federalist.  It’s a conservative site, so it can’t be trusted.”  HOGWASH!!!!!  I’m sorry, but this very argument is one of the reasons I am making this blog post.  Over the past few days, I’ve seen people attacking CNN for not spinning the results that Mueller found that there was no collusion.  Those are the facts.  I’m sorry you don’t like them, and I’m sorry you didn’t expect them.  But that is because the media was lying to you for the past two years during the investigation.  Yes, lying.  They’d come on with breathless reports saying that there was  bombshell, and implying if not outright stating that the walls were closing in and we’d see proof of collusion against Trump any day now.  And it all turned out to be a lie.  Yet, these people I’ve seen are only willing to trust the very news organizations who have been lying to them.  Something is very wrong here.

This goes back to the desire that we have right now to only get news that conforms to our biases.  So if you are only getting your news from MSNBC or CNN, then you are getting only half the story at best.  I’ve been saying for over a year that people were going to be very upset when the special counsel came back and found no evidence of collusion.  And I was right.  If the rest of the stuff in that article is follow up on and people are arrested and jailed (as it looks like they should if this is right), then there will be more people shocked because they know nothing about this.  Why not?  Because they are going to news sources that are actively trying to cover this up and focus on things that make Trump look bad, whether they are true or not.

That isn’t healthy for any country.  Or for anyone period.

We have a serious problem with the news in our country right now.  If you aren’t outraged by how they are spinning the news and burying stories they don’t want you to hear, then either you agree with them, or you aren’t doing enough to stay informed on what is truly happening.  We need journalists.  Real journalists.  We don’t have them, however, at least on a national level.  Instead, we have spinners for the Democrats.  Defend them however you want, but I don’t think you can after what we have witnessed over the last two years.

Now here’s the thing.  I do believe that Russia tried to interfere with the 2016 election.  There is plenty of evidence that they were placing ads and using bots to stir up trouble.  They wanted us fighting with each other.  Exactly like we’ve done for the last two plus years.  So, we’ve given them what they wanted.  Heck, we probably gave them much more than they ever thought they’d get.  And the news media, who has been screaming the loudest about Russian influence, has been doing exactly what Russia wanted us to be doing.

Then there are the conspiracy theorists.  I know, I know, that’s rich after the article I linked earlier, right?  Some of the comments I’ve seen on Twitter have been eye rolling.  And they’ve been coming from journalists.  Yes, I want the entire report released, but the fact that is hasn’t been released yet isn’t a sign of a cover up.  It’s a sign that it has to be handled correctly – you know, legally.  There are things that have to be redacted for national security reasons.  And everyone knows that.  But they are conveniently forgetting that and using it to spin that the summary we got from the AG on Sunday is a lie.

This part of things is reminding me of the birthers.  Remember them?  Back during President Obama’s first term, there was all kind of talk about how he wasn’t really a natural born US citizen, so he wasn’t eligible to be President.  Proof?  He wouldn’t release his birth certificate.  And then, when he did release it in 2012, the talk didn’t die down.  It got worse, with people trying to prove it was fake.  Meanwhile, I was over here rolling my eyes thinking to myself, give it a rest people.

I’m doing the same thing now and people twist themselves into pretzels trying to figure out how they can still prove that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election.  This just plays into the charges that this has always been a witch hunt.

And yes, I used that term on purpose.  I’ve seen people saying that the Mueller investigation wasn’t a witch hunt because of the indictments that were handed down.  That’s all well and good, but let’s look at them.  Almost all of them were for Russians who did try to interfere in the 2016 election.  As I said, I believe it happened.  This doesn’t prove that Trump had anything to do with it, however, which was the entire argument we were hearing, however.

The ones that actually harmed American citizens?  None of them were related to the actual investigation.  Now, I’m someone who believes in pretty black and white right and wrong.  And people should be punished for breaking the law.  But being punished for crimes you committed over a decade ago?  That doesn’t mean the investigation was correct or there was anything to the charges.  Instead, it means that someone committed a crime a long time ago and almost got away with it.  And I think a good case can be made that some of the people who were arrested for lying were actually either entrapped or got a date or two wrong and misspoke.  Honestly, I feel sorry for them because they were trying to cooperate and yet are still being punished for it.

So yes, this was a witch hunt.  Still don’t think innocent people can get caught up in hysteria?  Let’s look at the original witch hunt, the Salem Witch Trials.  Do you think that any innocent people got arrested, tried, and executed during that sad chapter in history?  I’d bet all of them were innocent.  Want something closer to the present?  How about the McCarthy hearings.  Surely, innocent people got brought in and had their reputations ruined during that.  At least, that’s what I’ve always been told.

You don’t have to like President Trump.  There is much about him I don’t like.  But he is our President right now.  And the fact that he didn’t collude with Russia and isn’t a Russian agent should be good news that all Americans should be able to celebrate.  And the fact that the outcome isn’t want the media has been predicting for years should give you pause the next time they say anything – anything at all.

Winter League Tournament

It’s been almost two weeks since the winter league tournament.  I should probably talk about it.

We did…okay.  We went 2-2 on the day, to finish a little lower than we were ranked going in.  And both of the games we won were very close.  I’m not sure why since we easily beat both teams when we played them in the regular season.

I could tell my teammates were very frustrated by how we did.  I think they really expected to finish the day better than that.  But it is where we are, and, honestly, I think a good reflection of where we are as a team.  And I say that as someone who knows my abilities or lack thereof.

It was a cool day.  While it didn’t rain (it had rained hard earlier in the week), it was definitely cloudy.  I only put sunscreen on once, which was a mistake.  I should have gone back for another round since I had a bit of sunburn.  It wasn’t too bad, but it was definitely noticeable.

Anyway, I did stick around through finals, and I was cold.  I’m so glad it is now spring.  Oh wait, it’s cold and rainy out again.  (Gorgeous this weekend, but it’s cold again now.)

And I went to the party afterwards.  Not too many from the team went, but I put in my appearance and talked to some of my friends from the greater LA Frisbee community as well.

Spring beach league starts up this coming weekend, so don’t worry, I’ll have more ultimate to talk about along with a few other things, hopefully.  I need to do some regular posts in the next week or two to catch up.

Final Two Games

We’ve played our final two regular season games of winter league over the last couple of weeks.  And the results were mixed.

The first game was our only rematch of the season.  It was a team we’d won against in the past, and we won again, but by an even bigger margin.  They had a sub the first time we played them, and she made a huge difference.  Even though we beat them horribly, they seemed to have fun.  We certainly did, but everyone was smiling as we walked to our cars afterwards.

Unfortunately, our game this week wasn’t quite so much fun.  Yes, there is the fact that we lost 13-15 after leading most of the game.  That is always frustrating.  But it got really chippy with some very questionable calls.  Some of the calls were legitimate, just not things that most of my teammates are used to being called on.  I was okay with those.  But some of the calls were definitely questionable.  And, as usually seems to happen, all the calls went to help the other team.  Yes, the fact that they won doesn’t surprise me, but I still put an asterisk next to their win because of how it happened.  I felt they took advantage of the calls.

The end of season tournament is tomorrow.  We are low enough that we won’t have a shot to win, which isn’t a surprise given the level of play the top teams have.  But hopefully it will be a lot of fun.  Overall, we are currently 5-3 for the regular season, much much higher than I’m used to for an ultimate Frisbee team these days. 

A Second Loss

We had our second loss of the season Monday night.  I wasn’t at all surprised when I saw who the other team was.  I’ve played with a couple of them in the past during summer league, and I know how fast they are.  Additionally, we were missing our three fastest/most athletic guys.

But we put on a good fight.  We were down 4-8 at half time, but we kept it competitive.  It was 10-15 at the end of the game, which means we stayed with them for the most part in the second half.  I’m rather proud of that.

For my part, I wasn’t really an active part of the game.  I went in on two defense points, and we were scored on both times.  My guy scored one of them, but I had chased him all around the end zone first.  The one offensive point I was in, we scored, but we did it quickly so I never had a chance to touch the disc.

A Loss and Another Win

We’ve had two more ultimate Frisbee games for winter league.  We lost the first one, but it was a close game.  It was 15-12.  Or maybe 15-13.  I’ve played with some of the people on the team we lost to, and I know they can play well.  I was actually surprised we were able to hang on and make it as close as we did.  Their women played without any subs all game, but our ladies weren’t able to tire them out.

I actually missed our game this last Monday.  I was feeling like I was coming down with a cold, so I decided to stay home.  After all, we’ve been getting lots of rain, and it was supposed to be raining and in the 40’s.  Of course, by the time game time rolled around, I was feeling better.  Honestly, I’m still feeling just slightly off, so it is a very mild cold.  Anyway, we won that game.  And it wasn’t even close – 15-4.  I’d love to know how that happened since, at least on paper, they should be the much better team.  But I’m not complaining.

That brings our season record to 4-1.  And that is double the wins from my men’s beach and summer league teams in 2018 combined!  Not complaining about that either.

Winter League So Far

I’m back to playing ultimate Frisbee Winter League this year.  I’m playing with the friends I play pick up with here in town.  And here’s the shocker.  So far, after three games, we are 3-0!

Yes, you read that right.  The person who complains about losing all the team is on an undefeated team!  We are one of only two teams that are 3-0 right now.  Okay, so we’ve been playing teams that are filled with more inexperienced players, but that means they are about our level.  I expect, once we run through those teams, we’ll start playing harder teams and start to lose.  But we are currently 3-0.

To be put that perspective, that gives us more wins already this season than my spring beach and summer league teams had last year.  Combined.

I actually missed our first game because it was the night before my recent medical tests, and I had to be home doing some prep for them.  I’ve made the other two games, however.

The second game was in the middle of a week of heavy rain.  Since we play on turf these days, that didn’t cancel the games.  And, while I was prepared for it to pour, we got a break in the rain while we played, which was nice.  The team we played that night was very inexperienced.  We beat them handily, 15-4.  I played more than I normally would in this game, and I got the disc several times.  I did turn it over once, but I also caught the game winning score.

Our game last week was much closer.  It was 15-12.  While I played several points, I only was thrown the disc once.  Fortunately, I caught it and successfully passed it on, which gives me perfect stats for the week!

As I said, I suspect our games will start to get harder from here on out, but for now I am very happy.  It will be interesting to see if the team starts sniping at each other more as the losses pile up.  I sure hope not.

Health Update

It’s been a while since I gave you an update on my health.  There’s a good reason for that.

I’m still healthy!!!

I’ve been feeling fine, and earlier this month, I had my one year follow up tests.  Yes, it's been a year since I had the surgery for my colon cancer.  They found nothing to be concerned about at all.  My colon looks completely healthy.  Naturally, that was a huge relief for me.

I’m still playing ultimate Frisbee and running.  Did a 5K last weekend and am signed up for two mud runs with June, with hopefully more to come.

Naturally, I’m praising God for this.  It still seems surreal to me at times that this all happened.

Straight No Chaser in Concert

I have been a fan of Straight No Chaser for years, but I hadn't made it to a concert.  When I saw they were going to be down in Hollywood at the end of the month, I debated long and hard about going.  I tried to get some friends to go, but since it was the Friday after Christmas, they were all busy.  Finally, I decided heck with it and got a ticket.

I'm so glad I did.

Yes, I was up in the cheap seats, so I didn't have the best view, but I still had a ton of fun.  It's obvious they enjoy what they do, and they had us laughing much of the time.  And the songs were wonderful.  Then again, that's no surprise since I love their CD's so much.  Honestly, I could have sat there for twice as long.  And maybe they would have gotten to all the songs I wish they had done.

And yes, their version of "12 Days" was their first encore.  And they changed it up a little, which had the audience in stitches.

After the concert, I joined the line of people who wanted autographs.  I was surprised the line to get autographs wasn't longer, honestly.  It took a while for them to come out, but once they did, the line moved quickly.  It helped that no one was allowed to take pictures, of course.  Still, it was fun.  I was glad I had brought their most recently CD with me for them to sign.

The concert was in Hollywood, so I did something I rare do and spent a little time as a tourist beforehand.  After all, I was half a block from Groman's Chinese Theater, and across the street from the El Capitan.  I enjoyed that quite a bit, too.

The only downside was how cold it was that night, and I was spending time outside.  I suspect that might have been the final straw in coming down with a mild cold, too.

A Merry Christmas

Well, I have a few things to catch up on around here, don't I?

Yes, I went home for Christmas last month.  And I had a wonderful time, which is no surprise.  Unfortunately, my friends in Fresno were sick, so I didn't get to see them, but that was the only disappointment.

I drove up on Saturday and back on Wednesday.  I certainly wasn't lonely on either stretch of the trip, although traffic was pretty good.  It seems like the traffic south was worse both times, but it was horrible when I was going north.  I'm very thankful for that.

And I got time with my family.  I saw my parents the most since I stayed with them, but I did get time with my brother and his family.

The highlight for me was getting to give my niece almost all of the Trixie Belden books she didn't have yet.  He had books 1-6, and I was able to give her all but two of 7-34.  That was thanks to my Trixie friends, who really came through when I asked if anyone had extras.  I was overwhelmed with the response and so thankful.