digibob

Recently someone at work was going through some Coke Zero which I think has been around for years but maybe just recently had a formula and/or can design change.  I don't drink soft drinks for the most part and rarely ever a "diet" soda because I think they taste icky.  I prefer zero calorie seltzer water — water with bubbles.  I did drink too much Coca-Cola back when I was young.  Anyway, this person tells me it tastes like regular Coke.  Um, actually 1)  It doesn't and  2) it is not only zero calories and tastes like artificial sweetener tastes it's also zero caffeine.  Why bother? 

digibob

Usually unrelated...  

1.  How are you? (it's really none of your business)
2. Quick question.  (the question might be quick, but the answer is always complicated)

digibob

Where I live and work we have loads of intersections with really heavy vehicle traffic, but without traffic lights.  I'm talking intersections in which you need to cross 3 or more extremely unforgiving lanes to make a left turn.  It's not a four way stop.  It's definitely not a "take your turn" situation.  You are pulling out of a busy shopping center onto a parkway that has traffic going 60+MPH regardless of the posted speed limit.  So, I need to know if you are bound and determined to do this, what is going through your mind?  I personally easily give up on anything I see as too much of a challenge and end up turning right and can usually get where I'm going.  I might travel a slight distance further, but I've saved a ton of time and stress.  Determined left turner, are you not aware there is more than one way to get there?  Or is it the challenge that makes you feel so alive inside once you are successful?  I feel like the concept of turning left at these intersections was created long before there were 7 billion+ people on the planet.  Back in the early 70s (I was 9-10 years old) my mother put me behind the wheel of her station wagon to free up her drinking hand — we could drive for miles without seeing another vehicle...it was a different time.  

digibob

While the events of this week as it relates to women's reproductive healthcare did not come as a surprise, it is nonetheless disheartening. You should have been on high alert leading up to the leak, but if you weren't now maybe you are painfully aware. Rest assured, like Covid, the right is not done with you. They will continue to chip away at your rights and will not be satisfied until what we consider democracy is completely gone. What's next? Maybe your marriage will no longer be recognized. The US Capitol terrorist attack on 1/6/21 was a run through rehearsal. In addition, an effort has continuously been made prior to and since the attempted coup to suppress particular voters across the nation from voting. Regardless of whether everyone who should be able to vote could vote, unless they win the upcoming elections results will not be accepted and in the meantime they have installed the people in the positions of power they need to overturn election results. Some people continue to scream and blame "ANTIFA" for the woes of the country. FY in your eye — antifa is the abbreviation for anti-fascist. I am anti-fascist — contrary to popular belief not all anti-fascists are violent. I don't condone violence, but when a fascist is the victim of anti-fascists I do give the victims what they historically give us — "thoughts and prayers." The opposite of antifa I presume means embracing fascism. Any middle ground identity is their ally — not mine. No, we can't just all get along. Your silence will not protect anyone including yourself.

digibob

When I order ice tea at any restaurant I always ask “was it made today?” If they hesitate or look confused change the order to another beverage. It came to my attention a couple of years ago there are people who don’t believe it needs to be placed in a refrigerator or disposed of at the end of the day.

digibob

So, it's a break that lasted over 10 years, but less than 11.  A few things happened.  And I may need another break from one of those things.  

I revisited an activity I started, but dropped in the 1990s — American Contra Dancing.  The reason I dropped it in the 90s may be the reason I'm considering dropping it now — people suck (me included).  

The pandemic forced me and everyone to pause it March 2020.  I've participated in two contra dances since March 2020 during what I call the vaccine honeymoon period -- Spring/Summer 2021.  While I enjoyed the moment of both of those instances, I also felt regret afterward.  Contra dance is way too intimate for a pandemic even if you think for a moment the pandemic is over or about to be over and obviously it was/is not over.    

I became so immersed in contra dance the 20teens that I became interested in calling dances.  I went to workshops and would meet with other callers and calling aspirants like myself monthly.  I even wrote (mostly stole — it's a rampant not necessarily frowned upon practice in the industry) a dance that doesn't work, but someone made the mistake of verifying it did work on one of the contra dance databases — it was not me, I did not do it.