Sunday Stealing Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Sunday Stealing: every corner

assault weapons ban

Once again, Sunday Stealing is purloining “all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. ” First, I should note per Chuck, that today is 4/21/2024. Spelled backwards, it’s 4202/12/4, and this phenomenon works through the 29th. But it’s only true in those weird MM/DD/YYYY places.

1. What was the best toy you ever owned?

Johnny Seven OMA (One-Man Army). It made an appearance on Law and Order: Criminal Intent. “Detective Robert Goren finds one in a toy store, and demonstrates all seven firing modes (Episode: Collective, June 2006.) When my friends and I were at Binghamton (NY) Central High School, probably in the spring of 1970, we made an antiwar video. I no longer recall the plot, as it were, though I remember bringing my toy gun to the proceedings.

2. When in your life have you felt the loneliest?

1977

3. What is your strongest emotion

Melancholy. When I get sad, it devolves to melancholy. And when I get angry, I’m generally mortified and sink into melancholy.

4. When were you the most disappointed in yourself?

Oh, we don’t have time for that. Let’s say it’s difficult to pick just one.

5. Which law would you most like to change?

“In 1994, Congress passed the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, commonly referred to as the Assault Weapons Ban. This law prohibited the manufacture or sale for civilian use of certain semi-automatic weapons and magazines that could accommodate 10 rounds or more.¹ Notably, Congress authorized the legislation for 10 years. When Congress did not renew it in 2004, the Act expired.” I want it back.

Hate is such an unpleasant word

6. Who is the person you have hated the most in your lifetime?

It was a coworker who took glee in making other people’s life difficult. They are a cockroach.

7. What has disappointed you the most?

The tremendous potential of access to the Internet has been distorted by lies and fakes.

8. What’s the best possible attitude toward death?

It’s inevitable, so try to make the most out of life. (Easier said than done.)

9. What’s been the longest day in your life?

July 4, 2023.

10. What is the biggest coincidence in your life?

I went to what turned out to be a massive (100,000+ people) antiwar demonstration in New York City on February 15, 2003 against the impending war in Iraq, one of many actions across the globe. As I took a bus from Albany, I was shocked to run into my friend from New Paltz and their child.

11. What’s the oldest you’d like to live?

148. I mean, what the heck. I’d see a new century. Realistically, I have no idea.

12. Who is the most amazing woman you know personally?

A 95-year-old woman in my church who reads scripture during service and is active in a book club. She’s also a very good hugger.

Running for office

13. What was your best experience in school?

When I was in high school, candidates for student government offices had to get someone else to give their nominating speech. I gave one for one of my oldest friends, who I had known since kindergarten. It was, by all accounts, a rip-roaring address. And they were elecred secretary.

After that year, they let the candidates give their own speeches. I ran for student government president, but my speech was not nearly as good as the one I’d given the year before. I still won, though.

14. What’s the most meaningful compliment you’ve ever received?

A friend of mine calls me Mister Music because I know a fair amount about music from the second half of the 20th century.

15. What is the most you’ve spent on something really stupid?

It was a prototype of a different type of air conditioner thst woul be more energy-efficient but much more portable. I backed a Kickstarter in 2016 to the tune of $300. The last update was in 2022 when they were complaining of global supply chain issues.

Sunday Stealing: How Far Will You Go?

naturalization

This week’s Sunday Stealing was provided by How Far Will You Go?

1. What have you been the most ignorant about in your life?

Cars. Specifically, a class of boxy vehicles looks virtually identical to me. They’re made by Toyota, Jeep, Chevy, et al. Many of them, including ours, are white, but I have no idea which one belongs to us until I look at the license plate.

2. What in the world would you most like to see protected?

Water. Plastics in our oceans, lakes, and rivers are distressing, especially microplastics.

3. How do you waste the biggest chunk of time each day or week?

I’m fretting about all the things I haven’t gotten done. A friend said we should have lunch if I get bored. I’m seldom bored, though I’m sometimes overwhelmed with a never-ending list of projects.

4. Who is the scariest person you’ve ever known?

I’m hard-pressed to come up with an answer. When I was in second grade, some sixth-grade bullies were scary, but I didn’t KNOW them.

5. What was the job you enjoyed the least?

This is tricky. Back in 2005, I wrote about a box factory. But I was there for only two weeks. It may have been being a customer service representative for Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, which I did for 13 months before quitting without a job to go to.

6. What thing about your family are you the most proud of?

I had three great-great-grandfathers who fought in the American Civil War: James Archer, Samuel Patterson, and Daniel Williams. All of them survived the war when the disease was more likely to kill a soldier than gunfire. James did get sick but recovered.

Power To The People

7. What kind of power do you want most?

The power to allow others to discern BS.

8. What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

Jendy, Judy, and Broome nagged me to go to library school.

9. What’s the thing you know the most about?

The difference between US and UK Beatles albums

10. When were you most moved by a ceremony?

I like naturalization ceremonies. One of my co-workers, Jinshui, experienced one in 2005. On a hot July 4, 2023, over two dozen folks were sworn In during an outdoor ceremony. Most of the participants were well-dressed but looked very uncomfortable.

11. What is the best gift you ever gave to someone?

When I was younger and less sore, I helped people move at least 70 times. I was also pretty good at packing vehicles.

12. What is the cruelest thing you’ve ever suffered?

It was work-related but not either of the previously mentioned jobs. It was my last job involving one particularly evil alleged human being.

13. What’s the single nastiest thing you’ve ever done to someone?

I was not present for something I should have been present for, although, to be fair, I didn’t fully understand the ramifications at the time.

14. What problem do you think is most common among friends your age?

Aches and/or pains, especially the joints.

15. What is the strongest craving you get?

I was in CVS this weekend and did not buy a mini York Peppermint Patties bag, but I was tempted.

Sunday Stealing: earthquake!

Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning

Before I get into Sunday Stealing, here are some headlines. The U.S. Geological Survey noted an earthquake at about 10:23 a.m. Friday, with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8, centered near Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, about 45 miles west of New York City and 50 miles north of Philadelphia. Sitting at my desk at home in Albany, NY, I suddenly felt queasy. Then the window began to rattle, off and on, for about 30 seconds. My wife didn’t feel it at work, but her coworker did.

On August 23, 2011, I was at my work desk at Corporate (frickin’) Woods. I also felt nauseous when the 5.8 earthquake hit Virginia. As a map on the page notes, “East Coast earthquakes travel much farther than West Coast earthquakes of similar magnitude.”

The Statue of Liberty was struck by lightning on Wednesday, and a photographer caught the image.

There will be a total eclipse over a big chunk of the United States tomorrow (Monday). Here are two reasons why this eclipse is so dangerous. Answering your eclipse questions.

Some folks believe the convergence of the earthquake and eclipse is an apocalyptic sign, even though the eclipse was forecast decades ago.

1. Name a TV series show or shows in which you have seen every episode at least twice:

The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), I Love Lucy (1951-1957), and The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), all of which I have on DVD. Two have connections to my hometown of Binghamton, NY.

2. Name a show or shows you can’t or would not miss:

CBS Sunday Morning, a magazine of the air. I’ve been watching it regularly since 1979. This is why I had a VCR and now have a DVR.

TV actors

3. Name an actor or actors that would make you more inclined to watch a show:

I don’t think that is a primary criterion. If the story is interesting, then I’ll try to see it. That said, I saw Bob Newhart on three different series. I’ve also seen Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, James Garner, Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, Raymond Burr, June Lockhart, and William Shatner in at least two different series.

4. Name an actor or actors who would make you less likely to watch a show:

There’s a whole crop of 21st-century actors I don’t know well enough to ascertain whether I like them. Television has become so diffused with streaming and other platforms.

5. You’re having a lovely dinner party for friends and family. What will you serve for appetizers, main course, and dessert?

I’m having it catered because I don’t have “lovely dinner parties.” The rules are that I need to find foods for people who are vegans, vegetarians, have allergies to nuts, peanuts, dairy, gluten, and/or eat kosher or halal. My daughter falls into three of those categories.

6. Snowstorm! You’ve got house guests, and you’re all stuck inside for the night. What do you prepare for dinner? Will you watch a movie? Which one?

All things being equal, it should involve eggs. If we have a movie, the choice will be by consensus. That said, I have a bunch of Mel Brooks movies. Maybe Young Frankenstein (1974). “Pardon me, boy, is this the Transylvania station?” “Ya ya.”

7. We are going to New York City for the weekend. Where do you want to go?

I’d see a Broadway play. BTW, I highly recommend the Museum Of Broadway.

Night school

8. You are going to night school. They offer courses in writing short stories, painting, piano or guitar lessons, simple home repairs, baking, and gardening. Which do you pick (or make up one of your own) and why?

Simple home repairs because I suck at simple home repairs.

9. Have you ever been to a Drive Theater? Would you like to see Drive-In Theaters make a comeback?

I went to drive-ins a lot growing up. They ARE making a comeback.

10. Should towns provide community entertainment like bands in the park, fireworks on the 4th, and community picnics, or is the cost just too much?

Our city has plays in the park, concerts on the plaza, a Tulip Festival, and other events that give the place its identity.

11. What would you change about your town if you had the power?

During the Women’s March Madness basketball tournament taking place at the arena downtown recently, “ESPN commentator Rebecca Lobo remarked about Albany… While discussing the family of Caitlin Clark and their plans while staying in the host city for the latest round of the women’s NCAA tournament at the MVP Arena, Lobo stated, ‘And by the way, good luck finding something to do in Albany.'”

This generated a great debate about what to do in downtown Albany in the winter. While the area has plenty of attractions throughout the year, and there are things to do in the metro area, the downtown, which was in trouble before the pandemic, is not necessarily… robust. It WAS Easter weekend.

Grocery shopping

12. How often do you find yourself shopping for groceries?

My wife goes shopping once a week using the car. I pick up stuff we run out of twice a week, walking with my trusty cart.

13. Do you have a favorite nighttime snack?

Spoon-Sized Shredded Wheat.

14. Do you buy in bulk, and what kinds of tips do you have to save money on grocery shopping?

I was a vigorous coupon clipper in college and for years after, going to two stores for the best price. But I don’t do that anymore. The only things we get in bulk are paper products (napkins, paper towels, toilet paper) and canned cat food.

15. Let’s have a picnic in the park. What foods are we packing, and will we cook anything there, or is it all prepared ahead of time?

There must be deviled eggs. My preference is cold chicken and potato salad. Beyond that, I don’t much care. But no anchovies.

Sunday Stealing: after the vernal equinox

Asking Superman

The first Sunday Stealing after the vernal equinox is another WTIT: The Blog presentation.

1. If you could witness any event from history, what would it be?

The end of World War II in 1945. I’ve seen/read enough science fiction to want to make sure I don’t muck up history.

2. What do you think about conspiracy theories?

Most of them have no basis, and some are utterly absurd. So those that I consider plausible, such as JFK’s assassination, make me really uncomfortable.

3. Do you like cartoons? Do you have /had a favorite one?

I have always loved cartoons. Popeye got to eat spinach. When I was five and a half, I remember having a bloody nose so severe that I was admitted to the hospital; it was great because I got to see the Hanna-Barbera cartoons such as Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear. Later, I watched The Flinstones and the Jetsons, then the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner stable. For a few years, I watched The Simpsons. If I had to pick one, it’d be Rocky and Bullwinkle. And this doesn’t even touch on print cartoons such as Doonesbury, Nancy, and many more.

4. What did you most dislike in school times?

In grade school, the teachers checked our fingernails to ensure they were clean. Mine were rarely clean. They might have been when I left the house, but not by the time they were checked. At the time, I thought it was stupid. In retrospect, it was stupid.

Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream

5. What sounds are, in your opinion, relaxing? The sound of the sea? Traffic? Vacuum cleaner? Combine harvester on the field? Some kind of music? Birds singing?

White noise, vacuum cleaner.

6. What was the last thing you read?

Today’s newspaper.

7. What is one thing that has stumped you so hard you won’t ever forget it?

When I was eleven, give or take, I was walking down the street when something cracked the lens of my glasses. What WAS that? Nothing hit me, such as a pellet from a BB gun. My eye was unharmed.

8. What are you interested in that most people aren’t?

The US Secretaries of State who became President: Jefferson was Secretary of State under Washington, Madison under Jefferson, Monroe under Madison, JQ Adams under Monroe, Van Buren under Jackson, Buchanan under Polk, and H. Clinton under Obama—wait, that last one didn’t happen.

9. What’s something you really resent paying for?

I think the American method of tipping is weird, and I wish the workers were better paid. I’d rather pay more for the service.

10. If you could choose a different time period and place to be born, when and where would it be?

I have no magical “better time” in mind. I think of technological and medical advances that I appreciate.

Man of Steel

11. What’s one question you would ask Superman?

Why don’t you end the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, et al?

12. What’s your favorite smell? What’s your least favorite smell?

I love lilacs. I hate rotten eggs.

13. How do you feel about cars becoming fully autonomous and having no steering wheel, breaks, or accelerators?

I’m in favor of the idea. The technology is not there yet.

14. What are your favorite books and authors?

I have a whole bunch of Marvel Masterworks, many from the 1960s. So Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Stan Lee. (I’ve answered this question a few times, and I’m trying to give a new response.)

15. Have you had a reading or palm reading done?

Probably, but it was not anything I put any stock into.

Sunday Stealing: The Promise

cringeworthy

Today’s Sunday Stealing I called The Promise because I happened to be listening to a song called The Promise by Tracy Chapman when I started this post.

1. What ONE thing would you change about your life? How would your life be different?

The absence of pain in my knees, especially in my left one, and my feet. Maybe I would go for a walk with my wife sometimes. As it is, I walk to get from Point A to Point B, not for leisure or exercise. And if by necessity I walk too much, I am miserable for a couple of hours.

2. What is the hardest thing you have ever done? Why was it hard for you? What did you learn?

I don’t know about EVER, but since I hate confrontation, one I had this year with someone was utterly out of necessity. The situation was eating me up and making me cranky.

3. Write about the most glorious moment in your life so far.

IDK. Maybe winning on JEOPARDY!

4. Write about a moment you felt brave.

I wasn’t feeling brave; I was feeling panicked. A toddler wandered between two cars, and I snatched them up. I would have felt awful if something had happened to the kid. So, at the moment, I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I, too, could have been hit by a car.

5. What made you happy today?

Writing this blog post. It’s my second today after having written only two others all week.

6. What did you dislike most about growing up?

I got poor grades in handwriting and art in elementary school. Although I was reasonably good at academic tasks then, it was rather deflating.

I grew up in a house numbered 5

7. Write about five activities you love the most and why you love them.

Singing in choir soothes my soul. Listening to recorded music soothes my soul. I like to help people figure out stuff, from bus schedules to what governmental agency they should contact, because I like to be helpful. Writing my blog allows me to offload stuff in my head. Reading the newspaper because, while I get my news other ways, it’s the method that imprints the best for me.

8. Do you have an embarrassing moment that still makes you cringe?

Yes, several, actually. But I’m not going to write about it here. It’s less out of a sense of embarrassment. It’s more because dredging them up will force me to relive them, and what’s the point of that? They already have a space in my brain and I needn’t make it toxic for me.

9. What has been your best trip so far?

Barbados, May 1999 honeymoon. It was beautiful at an all-inclusive resort. And I won it by coming in second on JEOPARDY!

10. What traits (physical or personal) do people notice when they meet you for the first time?

I have no strong sense of how others perceive me. It often depends on the situation. If I’m at church or introducing a speaker at the library, I can be warm, friendly, and informative. But if I’m in an uncomfortable situation, I can be shy and quiet and hang around the room’s edges.

I still call it Twitter because X is stupid

11. Is social media a blessing or a curse?

Yes, undoubtedly. I initially got on Facebook to track my niece Rebecca Jade’s musical adventures. Subsequently, I’ve met many folks online, including those I used to know IRL and those I’ve never met. But, beyond the stupid and intentionally deceitful, there’s a lot of “How can you think THAT?” It’s especially true about things of little consequence to them, such as who was snubbed at the Oscars or whether Taylor Swift is any good.

12. What is your greatest hope for your future? What steps can you take to make it happen?

I still have a foolish notion that democracy can work in the United States. To that end, I always vote and encourage others to do so as well, even those folks whose politics I disagree with.

13. What did you struggle most with today?

Waking up. The change to Daylight Saving Time sucketh.

14. Name the biggest priority in your life right now

I want to return to the genealogical research I haven’t touched in 2024.

Fingers on my left hand

15. What are five things you wish others knew about you?

I’m inclined towards melancholia. Since I have at least 3K albums, I don’t have to always listen to the Beatles, even though I’m a boomer. I’m extraordinarily bad with names; everyone should wear nametags. When I get a notice that the Uber that’s picking me up is a white whatever make and model, I have no idea what that vehicle looks like except that it’s white. Increasingly, I need a lot more illumination.