Monday, August 25, 2014

Some Sunday Thoughts (Concluding on Monday)

I began writing this post last night but fell asleep before I finished, so am finishing up tonight.  They were all Sunday thoughts, just some were written on Monday. :)
After doing some laundry yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, a couple pairs of pants, a blouse, and a sweater were hung over the door to air dry.  When I went to bed last night, the clothes were still a bit damp so they were left hanging overnight.  I woke up to them this morning in a pile on the floor of my closet.  At first, I was surprised to see them there.  I was certain they were left hanging, and they didn't grow legs and walk there.  Then I stared remembering a dream I had in the night.  Someone was staying over in my guest room, so I needed to close my bedroom door.  In my sleep, I must have taken them down and thrown them in the closet because they were blocking the door from being closed.  Funny thing is, I do kind of remember starting to hang them in the closet but could tell they were still a bit wet and didn't want them hanging with the other clothes.  So my solution...throw them on the floor.  This dream might be an indication of the kind of housekeeper I would be if it were socially acceptable.
While unpacking my classroom again a few weeks ago, I came upon a box of VHS tapes.  They are so outdated, even in an outdated classroom.  We've got enough technology these days that at least DVDs can be used.  However, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in that box of good, educational videos that I hated to get rid of, even though I hadn't used one in years.  Earlier last year, I called a photo/printing/copy store who advertised converting VHS to computer files, but the price was astronomical - about $30 per 2 hours of video.  There are over 40 tapes in the box with anywhere from 2-6 hours of video.  Having someone else do the job was cost prohibitive.  After some research, I bought a couple of AV cables that plugged into a VCR (I took the one from school which had finally beed removed this summer) and then into the computer.  Other than being time consuming, it's so easy.  I can store the computer files on a disc or a flash drive and that takes up so much less space than those bulky VHS tapes.  I've processed 15-20 hours of video so far.  Only A LOT more to go, but at least it's saving me some money and space after all is said and done.  I'm not sure what I'll do with them after the conversion.  Maybe give them to someone else to hoard for no reason.

This summer a couple of new dramas aired on some of the cable networks.  If a new show is playing on a network that isn't one of the Big Three and isn't SciFi, I'll usually check it out, at least for a show or two.  The content is always a bit more original, intelligent, and edgier than the shows on basic cable.  I DVRd them this summer, but never took the time to watch them.  While the VHS converting above is quite easy, most of the videos I'm converting are 30 minute kids' programming.  Not really enough time to delve into another project as I didn't want to get side tracked and forget to stop the recording after each show.  So I sat on the floor of the office, VCR connected to the computer, while I watched a couple of episodes of the new shows on the DVR.  All three shows were semi-entertaining and have some potential, but something else struck me about them.  All three shows also portrayed one of more characters using cocaine.  WHAT!?!?!  Is that still a thing?  Back in the 80s and early 90s cocaine use/abuse was often the subject of television and movies, but I can't remember the last time I saw it in entertainment or even heard about someone using coke in the news.  The first show I saw, an unhappily married couple/parents took a some hits in a bar.   I didn't think much of it as these characters slept walk through their marriage and were very depressing.  Well, that's not true, I did think about it and was surprised that the drug use was even necessary.  In the very next show I watched, a PR Rep went to her ex-boyfriends house where she stole a packet of cocaine and snorted it in the bathroom.  And in the third show, a disgraced doctor had to medically revive his one-night-stand after a night of cocaine debauchery.  Drugs aren't my thing, so maybe I'm out of the loop on the current drug of choice (I thought it was meth!), but I have been under the impression that cocaine had lost its coolness with the cancelation of Miami Vice.   So I ask again...Is this still a thing?
After yesterday's earthquake up in Napa those in California are probably a little on edge, thinking about the Big One and if/when it will hit us.  Twice today I was stopped at a light underneath a long, wide freeway overpass.  Those always stress me out after an earthquake because if it fell on my car, I'd be crushed.  I digress though.  I was also surprised at the small bit of relief I had that there were no fatalities and that overall the building structures kept it together.  After the 1994 quake in Northridge and the 1989 quake in San Francisco, California really worked hard on preparing our structures for a big earthquake. Standards are high, and it seems as if they are adhered to.  Although yesterday's earthquake was not quite as strong as the ones in '89 and '94, it was still a 6.0 which is big.  I take some comfort in knowing that the earthquake measures that have been taken might have (and hopefully will) make a difference in our safety even if that Big One does hit.

8 comments:

  1. Hard to know with sleepwalking, if it's a new thing. Are you craving something, or did you eat something before going to bed that didn't sit well. Uneasy about something, albeit subconsciously. Earthquakes ?.

    I'd not heard anything about drugs one way or another. But it does seem to be a bit tidal. A few year ago I was reading about heroin making a resurrection. But there the truth is it never went away. At least, in Europe's inner cities there's always been a cohort of addicts who are in and out of treatment. What seems to be reported more here is the issues around methadone. Frankly though, there is little point in bitchin about prescribed treatments for a vicious addiction, anymore than there is in jailing addicts for using as if they have any degree of control. I would bury those that run the organisations in max security prisons for they are preying upon their fellow citizens in 'the' most vicious way.
    I'm struck all the same given the death of Robin Williams. One of his saying went, 'Coke is gods way of saying you are earning too much'.

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    1. Ha! No not the first time I've slept walked and it won't be the last. Sometimes I remember them, sometimes I don't. I didn't remember this one until I saw the pile of clothes and then bits and pieces came back to me. I could tell you some GOOD sleepwalking and talking stories. :)
      Yah, the drug "war" in this country is a joke. We have more people in prison than anywhere else and most of them are there because of drugs. There are people in jail for being caught with too much pot serving the same amount of time as those who murdered someone due to "three strikes". Now that the government contracts the prisons out as a business, the more incarcerated the better! It's very sad. Those who are addicts need to be treated as such, not as criminals.
      Good quote, and what a shame isn't it. He (in particular) had everything and the drugs became more important...over and over again.

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  2. cocaine has been all over the news here in nj.. not sure what is going on but there were more than a few drug busts, more than a few deaths.. things really started to heat up after Phillip Seymour Hoffman

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  3. Really!?!?
    That speedball concoction he took was something wasn't it. I don't have any concept of that sounding like a good thing to do. I saw his last film "A Most Wanted Man" a couple of weeks ago. Another loss for the entertainment industry. He was really good in it.

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  4. Well, you probably won't get the valet job at Downton Abbey, will you? ;-)

    Did you check Costco for VHS conversion? I did one there a while back, but I have a pile of them to do. Mine are videos of my older daughters when they were wee ones, and I would like to preserve them. I can't DIY unless I buy a VCR, which might be cost effective given how many I've got. Hmmm.

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    1. Yah, no, that wouldn't be a good job for me!
      I didn't try costco. After the photo place wanted an arm and a leg, I just didn't think anywhere else would be better. Even half the price was too costly for that many videos. I had the darn connecting device for over a year because I didn't have a VCR anymore either. Luckily, in the case, that schools are so outdated that the VCRs were just removed this summer, I snagged one for the project. It won't be fast, but it will get done!! :)

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  5. When I do a dump of all my browsers I use your blog as my datum point. Putting the name in and I can follow into my own. Yours is about the third down in the search results usually. Last time it launched back to one of your earlier posts and a lovely story about returning from Hawaii.

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    1. :)
      Even though it's been over two years since I've since spending Christmas at my house, I'll be headed to HI again this winter. My mom has to have eye surgery and since my break is tied to the holiday, I'll be there to take her. It's very pretty, but doesn't feel like Christmas...which is just around the corner by the way!!!

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