Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 7

After only one week since the previous post in this series, we have a new post in this series. On May 18, 1985, “Don't You (Forget About Me)” (video up top) by by the Scottish rock band Simple Minds reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”. Like last week’s song, this one was also on a movie soundtrack, this one for the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club—this time, it's a movie I actually saw and liked. This song was released on February 20, 1985, shortly after the movie opened. The song would be the band’s biggest hit, and their only Number One, in the USA.

I remember both the movie and the song from 1985, though I may have seen the movie on cable. At that same time, I was watching a lot of MTV, and that’s where I saw the music video (which was directed by Daniel Kleinman). I liked both at the time, but the song has been more enduring for me: I’m not sure when I last saw the movie—or even if I ever watched it again—but I’ve heard the song a lot over the past 40 years. That’s not unusual, of course, and pop music usually has been a more enduring part of my life than pop movies have been.

The only Simple Minds album I bought was their 1985 album Once Upon a Time, which featured the single “Alive And Kicking”, which I quite liked. It was their next single after “Don't You (Forget About Me)”. While their first US hit wasn’t on the original Once Upon a Time album, it was included in a deluxe version in 2015. I left that 1985 album behind when I moved to New Zealand, but I actually don’t remember listening to the album all that much as time went on. However, I still sometimes hear “Don't You (Forget About Me)” on the radio.

“Don't You (Forget About Me)” ultimately reached Number 6 in Australia, Number One and Canada (Platinum), Number 3 in New Zealand (4x Platinum), Number 7 in the UK (Silver), and Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and on their “Mainstream Rock” chart, and also reached Number One on the USA’s Cash Box “Top 100 Singles” chart. The song was not certified in the USA.

Complete chart information for the soundtrack album for The Breakfast Club wasn’t included in the Wikipedia article, however, it does mention that it hit Number 17 on the “Billboard 200” chart.

This series will return next week—wait, what? Three weeks in a row?!! Yes. The series continues on May 25 with the next Number One from 1985.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4 – March 30, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 5 – April 13, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 6 – May 11, 2025

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 6

Another month, and new a new Number One. On May 11, 1985, “Crazy for You” (video up top) by American singer Madonna reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”. The song was from the soundtrack of the 1985 movie Vision Quest—a movie I never saw and had absolutely no memory of until I read the linked Wikipedia article. The song, which I definitely remember, was released on March 2, 1985. It was written by John Bettis and Jon Lind, and produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez. I was already very familiar with Bettis because he worked with Richard Carpenter on many songs for the Carpenters.

It’s hard to remember forty years later, but at teh time Madonna recorded this song she was better known for uptempo songs and her label was reluctant to release this song as a single. The relented, and the song became a hit.

I liked many of Madonna’s songs in those days—and lots of her songs since—and this song is one I also liked. While I don’t remember the movie tie-in at all, I certainly heard the song on the radio at the time. As the 1980s continued, I heard her on the radio a lot, and I liked a lot of them. And yet, I never bought a Madonna album or ordinary single, though I did buy the 12-inch single of “Like A Prayer”—at least I think I did, because if I really did, I no longer have it. When I moved to New Zealand, Nigel had the CD version of The Immaculate Collection, Madonna’s 1990 greatest hits collection. I still have that CD, but haven’t bought anything in the years since. This is sort of thing is actually quite common for me.

“Crazy for You” reached Number One in Australia and Canada, Number 2 in New Zealand, Number 2 in the UK (Gold), and Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”, as well as Number 2 on their “Adult Contemporary”, and reached Number 2 on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart, and Number One on the USA’s Radio & Records “CHR & Pop Charts”. The song was certified Gold in the USA.

The soundtrack album for Vision Quest reached Number 46 in Australia, Number 42 in Canada, in New Zealand (Platinum), and Number 11 on the “Billboard 200” (3x Platinum), as well as Number 30 on the Cash Box “Top 100 Albums”. It was certified Platinum in the USA. The album didn’t chart in New Zealand or the UK.

This series will return next week, on May 18 with the next Number One from 1985. Is that another song I liked?

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4 – March 30, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 5 – April 13, 2025

More peanut butter trials

There are two ongoing food sagas in my life: The search for decent pizza, and for peanut butter I like (not together…). I still have no real solution to the pizza issue, apart from maybe experimenting making them myself—maybe. It turns out, thought, that peanut butter keeps presenting challenges for me, even if they’re sometimes self-selected. It happens.

This time, my peanut butter search was about trying a different variety of the brand I use, but it was an experiment, nevertheless. Maybe not a wise one?

First, though, a recap. Back in 2018, I talked about my search for a peanut butter, and, at the time sodium content was a major consideration, so I eventually settled on “Pic’s No Salt Added Peanut Butter” (I purchased all brands mentioned in this post myself at normal retail prices; this post is not sponsored). After Nigel died, I decided I liked the brand he liked, “Woolworth’s Select American Style Peanut Butter”, which I also mentioned in that 2018 post. This was not to last.

It turned out that Countdown (now called Woolworths) discontinued the peanut butter Nigel liked, and in 2023 I wrote about searching for a replacement. I briefly tried an American brand I used to eat when I was a kid groing up in the USA, but 30-odd years later, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the weird additives in it. So, I ended up adopting the regular version of Pic’s peanut butter (which has salt added).

A few months later, in April 2024, I tried the large size of the Pic’s peanut butter so it would last longer, but that, too, was problematic. As I said in an Update Post at the very end of last year:

The jar lasted much longer than the ordinary (small) jar I’d been buying, but it lasted a bit too long—months, I think. The problem was that by the end, the peanut butter at the bottom of the jar was too hard to spread, probably because I didn’t properly stir it when I opened it. At any rate, that wasn’t what I wanted, so I’ve gone back to the small jar I’d been using.

And now this saga is up tp date. So: I was in the supermarket recently, and I noticed the squeeze bottle of Pic’s (photo above), and I was intrigued. I thought that maybe I could shake the bottle to re-mix the oil into it, meaning I could keep it at room temperature, which would make it easier to spread. The first time I opened the bottle and removed the seal, I immediately noticed that there was a peanut butter plug at the bottle mouth—because it had separated. So, the first thing I had to do was manually stir the contents, just like always, before squirting some out.

The oil separates at room temperature.

Since then, I’ve tried shaking the bottle and it seems to work as I expected, but it’s a little odd to have squiggles of peanut butter on my bread, Still, I just spread that with a knife and it was like “normal”. So, maybe its a good choice? Yeah, well…

I was hesitant to buy it because the bottle may be recycled (I’m sceptical about that, a subject in itself), but the red top to the bottle absolutely is not. The jar I normally buy is clear glass (and desirable for recycling), and the lid is metal (which may not be recycled—part of that subject in itself again…). However, the jars are also useful for reuse, and I quite like the black star on the red lid), so I’ve re-purposed several into small storage jars, as I have with so many others (hmmm, that, too, is a subject in itself—why am I making more work for myself?!).

This experiment had mixed result. The bottle seems to work as expected, and since I spread the peanut butter, anyway, the squiggle business isn’t bad. Actually, the fact it’s easy to spread is a very good thing. It’s the waste—specifically the fact the top isn’t recyclable—that bothers me.

I guess it’ll come down to whether, all things considered, I think it’s good value for money. At the moment, the ordinary price per 100g is the same for both options, and the squeezy bottle holds a bit more. However, I only buy peanut butter when it’s on special because Pic’s is probably a “premium” brand, and so, more expensive per 100g than mass-produced brands. I don’t know if the squeezy bottle will be on special as the jar version often is.

I have a few more servings to go before I get through the bottle, so my final decision is some while away yet, but if I was to bet, it would be that I’ll go back the glass jar. I guess I’ll have ot make more work for myself: Another Update post.

Trendsetting declarations?

This is becoming a trend: Voters in countries in the Commonwealth are rejecting the USA’s titulr president and his hard-right authoritarian politics. Will this spread? We can certianly hope so.

This past Saturday, Australians went to the polls in parliamentary elections, and the delivered a resounding defeat to the countries MAGA-aligned conservatives. Just as Canada recently did, the Australian conservative leader also lost his own seat in Parliament. Well done, Australia, well done.

Australia’s re-elected government is under the Australian Labor Party (ALP) headed by Prime Minister Anthony Abanese (his surname is pronounced “all-ban-EE-zee”). The leader of The Coalition was Peter Dutton who tried to use the US Republican’s culture war antics, along with a bizarre on expanding nuclear energy (critics suggested it was to promote uranium mining in Australia, and also to distract from conservatives’ fixation on coal, which is also mined in Australia).

The Albanese government wasn’t overwhelmingly popular late last year, then in January everything changed as the US regime bedded in. In the last couple weeks before the election, it looked like the ALP would be re-elected, but the polls were quite close, and it looked like maybe the best Albanese could hope for was to form a minority government (this happens when no party has an absolute majority in Parliament and is able to form government with the support of minor parties). In the end, the ALP increased its majority.

The conservative Liberal Party (which is in coalition with the largely rural National Party, and together they’re usually called “The Coalition”) was the target because of their rhetoric aping the US regime’s leader, leading to the ALP branding him “DOGE-y Dutton”. He wasn’t the only MAGA-aligned Australian, of course. The AP News article linked to above noted:

Trumpet of Patriots, a minor party inspired by Trump policies with an advertising budget funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer that eclipsed the major parties, attracted only 2% of the vote.

Once again, mining rears its head (many of Austrlia’s ultra rich are connected to mining). At any rate, it’s always pleasing to see oligarchs waste some of their obscene wealth in a failed campaign to buy an election, much as Elon failed to buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. Seeing the oligarchs fail utterly is always satisfying to the those of us who love and embrace democracy.1

New Zealand’s next general election is next year, and we have two very different minor parties aligned with the US Republican regime: One is lef by an octogenarian apes the Republican leader’s culture war bullshit. His party is introducing a bill to delcare there are only two genders, after campaogning in the eletion to require restaurants, bars, etc., to verify that the gender of patrons using matched the toilets the toilets they planned to use. How, precisely, business were to do that was never stated, leading to mockery about them requiring genital inspections.

The other hard-rightwing mmisor party os led my a much younger mad who wants to implement the same far-right fascistic agenda being advocated by the working behind the scenes of the USA’s current regime, in part because that particular minory party leader was part of an international organisation promoting leoliberal (sometimes call neoconservative) policies, such as, promoting the interests of corporations and the ultra rich, against poor and working people, and in favour of using the power of the state to control behaviour they don’t approve of (though in this case, not religiously based). They also want to privatise pretty much all government functions, in much the same way the USA’s “Doge” is trying to give core US government functions to cororations. That guy is about to become Deputy Prime Minister under the coalition agreement the three parties entered into to form government,

It’s around a year and a half-ish, and there’s no way yo know what shape politics here or in the US will be in. Will New Zealand join its fellow Commonwealth nations and reject the dovose and negative politics of the USA? No idea at this point, but you can be sure I’ll be talking about it—next year. Right now, I am proud to celebrate with both Australia and Canada.

Behind my ‘Weekend Diversion’ posts

It’s Sunday, and that often means a “Weekend Diversion” post about pop music, though the next one isn’t until next week. However, one of the important resources for those posts had a significant anniversary this week, and that’s definitely worth noting.

This past Friday, May 2, the official New Zealand music chart turned 50. The very first song to be listed at Number One was “Yesterday was Just the Beginning of My Life” by Mark Williams (it’s available to watch on NZ On Screen, however, that may not be viewable in all countries, at least not without using a VPN). I never heard the song until I came to New Zealand, and even then it was kind of by accident: 20 years after it went to Number One, it wasn’t exactly cool anymore. It didn’t chart in any other country.

Because the official chart is so (relatively) young, it charts, so to speak, a LOT of New Zealand pop culture history as it happened. For example, it documents the first single entirely in Te reo Māori, “Poi E”, which I talked about way back in 2010. The Aotearoa Music Charts site has published a a “50 Iconic Chart Moments” infographic, which provides insight into part of NZ’s pop culture history over the past 50 years—even without being eve vaguely familiar with the songs.

The official NZ music chart provides the local context for my “Weekend Diversion” music posts, and that’s incredibly valuable to me—and interesting, too. Like all bloggers, I have many, many resources to refer to when writing my posts, but this one has been very important. And acknowledging its 50th birthday on the day of the week on which I often celebrate pop music seems to me to be utterly appropriate. Happy Birthday, NZ Music Chart! And happy NZ Music Month, too.

Another month and beginning

So, it’s a new month, huh? It is, and it’s a good opportunity to reset. In fact, that’s somthing I’ve always done, but I haven’t really talked about it. Until now.

A lot of people look at New Year’s Day as a time to reset, but the focus on one day means that if goals aren’t met or plans don’t happen it’s easy to give up or forget about whatever changes we wanted to make. I’ve talked about how I looked at New Year as a good opportunity for a reset, and I’ve also talked about how I looked at my birthday as another opportunity—sort of my personal New Year. However, there’s far more to it: I’ve always looked at the first of every month as another chance for a reset.

This requires some more explanation: I see New Year (or my birthday…) as a chance for an annual reset, a chance to set goals and make plans for the year. The reset on the first of every other month is actually a chance to refine rather than starting again. On the first of the month, I look at my annual goals/plans and adjust as needed to better accomplish what I want to do—or not. I’m not (obviously?) obsessed with progressing every goal or achieving every plan; I just want to keep moving forward, as I perceive that.

This brings me to this First of May 2025: What’s the reset here? Well, everything, to be honest. Or, nothing. It’s complicated.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been looking at my drafts folder and also things I posted to my personal Facebook that I never shared here. Next, I also looked at my list of blog topics for the year. Together, these provide a whole bunch of things to talk about, some of which I already have scheduled, or else things I want to talk about, including something from last year. On top of that is completely new stuff that I’d like to talk about here, or things I know will probably come up (like New Zealand’s local government elections later this year).

The thing is, while the first of the month gives me an opportunity to reset and start again, there are no guarantees any of the things I mentioned will actually get published, except for most of the posts I’ve got on my 2025 schedule—probably, because none of those posts are actually written yet.

Even so, a new month means new opportunities, both to do new things and to do old things better. I have no idea how this story will turn out, of course, but worst case scenario, June 1 is yet another opportunity. Onward!

For what ails ye

Tonight made chicken noodle soup for my dinner (photo at left). It’s something I’ve made several times in recent years, and often for a similar reason: I had things I needed to use up (like increasingly elderly celery). Yet as I was making it, I was thinking about how chicken soup is often a “go to” when someone has a cold or feels “off”. I wished that it could cure other ills, too.

It’s no secret (since I’ve talked about it in several posts…) that I haven’t had a great run over the past 18 months or so. Things aren’t any worse, but there not exactly much better, either. On the whole, it’s sort of static. That means that this aren’t bad or god—they just are.

I know that there’s no magic to change things, unless time itself counts as magic (and I think it kind of does). But maybe persistence can do what magic can’t. And that’s where time comes into it, since waiting it out seems to be the best option at the moment.

Still, chicken soup couldn’t hurt. It was really nice, too, and sometimes that’s what matters most.

This post was ready to go—until I couldn't open Photoshop on my MacBookPro. A lot of work and time didn't resolve the issue, so I had to use GIMP, which I don't really know, and all of that that tool more than two hours after I finished writing this post. Add it to the list, I guess.

Unsolved mowing conundrum

Last Friday, I mowed the front lawn and did the edges. That happened after many delays caused by lots of rainy weather over the past few weeks. I once again (still?) think it all underscores that it’s getting closer to the time for a change.

The rain delays let the “lawn” grow thick, and it was a lot of hard work to push through it, especially because I had to be careful to avoid stalling the mower—over and over again. By the time I was done, the mower battery was drained, and so was I (I also had to change the line trimmer’s battery, but I had backups; I only have one battery for the mower).

It was quite hard work physically, though arguably not as bad as before I started my daily walks. Even so, I think it’s time to give up mowing the front lawn and hire a service to take over. As I’ve said before, I’ve resisted because I need the exercise, and also because my battery-powered mower is recharged on solar power (so is my line trimmer). The mowing services all use petrol-powered machines.

One the one hand, switching from clean and green mowing to polluting fossil-fuel driven machines feels like defeat, like I’m abandoning my values—in fact that’s the main reason behind my stubbornness on this. On the other hand, I absolutely don’t enjoy mowing the front lawn, so why should I keep doing it?

For now, I’ll still do the back lawn for all the reasons I’ve mowed the lawn up to now. Also, the back is flat and the “lawn” is much less thick than out front, both of which make it much easier to do. I wouldn’t say I “love” mowing the back lawn, but I also don’t mind doing it.

The next day, in fact, I mowed the back lawn, which was even more overgrown (and it took less time to get that way). It isn’t unusual for the back lawn to grow faster than the front, but, even so, it’s easier to mow than the front is. However, Saturday was supposed to be rainy, so I skipped doing the edges along the fence up on the bank, along the side of the yard. I did manage to get the whole back lawn mowed—an area roughly twice as big as out front—without draining the battery.

There’s one more aspect to this adventure: I fixed a problem.

The last couple times I used the line trimmer, the line cut off on one side the bump head, meaning it stopped feeding line. This started happening after a few years of it working completely nomally—the line would completely run out, leaving the bump head empty. I thought I might have to replace the bump head (which isn’t inexepensive, but not horrible). However, I decided to take some [name brand] spray silcone lubricant into the holes the line feeds though. That seemed to work, and the line trimmer worked completely normally. If it starts breaking off again, I should be able to do this again.

Mowing out front was hard, the back less so, and I also managed to fix (at least temporarily…) my line trimmer. It was a variued adventure this time. Now, nearly a week later, I still think that it’s a question of when not if, I hire a service to take care of the front lawn, but I still have no idea when that will actually happen. I guess it many be a surprise to me, too.

The photo is of the tree on my street, the one I can see through the front window when I’m sitting in my chair. Not surprisingly, there were a few leaves I ground up while mowing. That, I’ll admit, was very satisfying.

My brain’s morning intrusion

There have been many mornings when I woke up thinking about something. The subject could be anything, such as, thoughts about a project I’m working on (or merely planning), something in the news I’ve been thinking about, or even about a memory, often a complicated one. The latter is what I woke up to a couple mornings ago.

These morning ruminations are a little weird, even to me. They’re not extensions of a dream, as far as I’m ever aware, but instead it’s almost as if my thinking brain was bored with my sleeping brain and decided to just start mulling over something. Then rest of my brain groggily becomes aware of the ruckus in my head and starts to stir, bringing me with it. I realise that anthropomorphising all this only makes it weirder, and it’s probably not even remotely close to what’s really happening, but imagining the scenario at least gives me a way to perceive why this happens.

So, I recently woke up to my brain thinking about the ASVAB tests the boys in my high school class we’re required to take in 1975 or 76 (I’m not sure which). The test was actually called “Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery”, but I only ever heard it mentioned by its initials—ASVAB—which was pronounced as a word, “ASS-vab”. As far as I know, this was just the way people said it, and the first syllable wasn’t said that way out of spite, at least, not by me. Perhaps it should’ve been.

Wikipedia describes the test well:

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multiple choice test, administered by the United States Military Entrance Processing Command, used to determine qualification for enlistment in the United States Armed Forces. It is often offered to U.S. high school students when they are in the 10th, 11th and 12th grade, though anyone eligible for enlistment may take it.

They go on to say that all branches of the armed forces adopted it in 1976, and that was probably for a good reason: Registration for the US military’s draft ended on April 1, 1975, and didn’t resume until 1980. Young men born between March 29, 1957 and December 31, 1959 were not required to register for the draft. I’m one of those folks who never had to register for the draft.

All of that is the essence of why I was so bitter about having to take the test—it was never about military service for those who chose it, but, rather, about the irrational, immoral, and unjustifiable compulsion and the discrimination. Yeah, that last part was huge for me.

Prior to its suspension in 1975, young women turning 18 were not required to register for the draft. I thought that was indefensible: Why should only young men be (possibly?) denied their freedom and liberty? In those days, most folks in Congress were old white men (well, actually, most of them still are…), and they didn’t think “young ladies” were capable of or suitable for military service, especially combat. It turned out that barring women from combat positions also made it impossible for them to attain higher rank. How convenient for “certain people”…

That same idiotic prejudice extended to the ASVAB: In my high school, only boys took the test, and it was mandatory. As I recall, we were threatened with suspension if we didn’t take the test. I hated and resented the entire experience, and from that moment until I graduated I considered the school administration and Board as adversaries for that reason alone (there were later other reasons, it turned out, because—surprise!—I’ve always chafed at authoritarianism).

Eventually the ASVAB became optional for young women to take, too, probably as a result of their growing emancipation—and the military establishment’s need for recruits. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter stupidly reinstated registration for the draft after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, which was one of his biggest mistakes, in my opinion at the time—and ever since. The new registration still excluded young women (of course?), but it also was retroactive: Anyone born on or after January 1, 1960 had to register, not just those turning 18 on the date of the presidential order or later, as most folks would’ve expected. At the time, I thought that was immoral and unconscionable (it’s easy to be judgemental in one’s teens and early 20s). Back then, I also thought it was because the military needed cannon fodder, but in the end Carter didn’t send soldiers to Afghanistan, but, worse, in some ways, the USA’s covert actions helped encourage the eventual rise of the Taliban—and the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the USA. “Unintended consequences” with an exclamation point.

By the mid-1970s, I knew I’d never be part of the military. Actually, one of my earliest memories is of a live draw for the draft lottery, and seeing them draw my birthdate. It sent a chill through me, even though I was probably less than half the registration age at the time. Around 1970, my family and I went on vacation that included Ontario. There, we happend across a Lutheran College (it was either there or another school where I first saw cricket being played—foreshadowing of my eventual adult life?). I thought when I turned 18 I’d chose that college—in Canada—so I could escape the draft. I was around 9 at the time, so I give myself a lot of slack on that reasoning.

When registration for the draft ended (briefly), I was ecstatic: I wouldn’t even have to entertain military service. Let alone ways to avoid it. On some level, perhaps basic and elemental, I understood that I’d never be safe in the military because I was gay, even though I was very deeply closeted at the time. But all of that was about me alon: I never thought badly of anyone who chose military service, I just knew on a fundamental and existential level that it wasn’t right for me.

My morning thoughts in this care were about literally all of that, and as such things often are, it was like an aural blog post. This written version is nothing like by brain’s original intrusion into my morning, not the least because, perhaps against appearances, this post is much less strident than that morning thinking session was. If that morning thinking—lecturing?—was a YouTube video, even I would’ve skipped ahead. But it made me wonder about things I wasn’t sure about—the ASVAB itself, the draft, even how long registration for the draft was (rightfully…) suspended. I ended up learing things, and that’s always a good thing.

Yeah, but, ya know, I really could do without waking up to mMy brain making morning intrusions.

Necessary change is coming

Today, US Senator Dick Durnin (D-Illinois), who is also the Democratic Whip in the US Senate, announced he won’t seek re-election next year. I think Senator Durbin has made the right choice. He said, “in my heart I know it’s time to pass the torch,” and I think he’s right. I voted for Senator Durbin all five times, but he’s right: It’s time for a new generation to take the lead.

To be transparent, of course I’ll vote for whoever the Democratic nominee is—assuming I’m still allowed to vote next year (the Republicans’ “SAVE Act”, as written, will probably end up taking away my right to vote). Even so, in my past, I did once vote for a Republican for Senator from Illinois, Charles H. Percy, way back in 1978, the first Federal election I was old enough to vote in. By 1984, I’d been pushed out of the Republican Party by Reagan’s takeover and the party’s lurch to the Right (which is ironic these days because Reaganism would be called “socialism” or “Marxism” by today’s Republicans). So, in 1984, I voted for Senator Paul Simon, and Simon, in turn, was succeeded by Durbin. I talked more about Senator Percy in a 2011 post when he died. And one of the things I praised in that post was that “he pushed for repatriation of the Panama Canal back to Panama”, which underscores how awful the modern US Republican Party has become—and why there’s no why, no how, I coule ever even imagine voting for a Republican for any office.

Senator Durbin did a LOT of good over his career, something many others will point out in great detail. But: He also earned outrage form the Democratic base for his vote for the Continuing Resolution that funded the current White House regime’s criminal acts, something that Senate Minotry Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also was widely criticised for. He, however, has not announced his retirement (his current term as Senator expires in 2028, when he’ll be 77).

So, what happens now? There will, of course, be a scramble among Democratic politicians in Illinois to rise to the top of the heap of potential successors. The Chicago Sun-Time has reported on the leading contenders, most of whom I don’t know anything about [Tip o’ the Hat to Roger Green for the link]. However, in general I’m not keen on any US Representative running for Senate (or any other office) if that would turn the seat into a competitive election. I firmly believe that no incumbent Democratic US Representative should run for another office if doing so could risk losing the seat to Republicans. Saving the republic and preserving, protecting, and defending the Constitution is far more important than any politician’s personal ambitions. IMHO.

There’s a lot of pressure on Democratic politicians in Congress to either stand up or stand down. Senator Dick Durbin has chosen the latter, and I completely support his decision and acknowledge the courage it must’ve taken to step aside from a job he clearly loves. Sometimes the most difficult decision is the best one.

The photo above is a cropped version of Senator Durbin's official portrait from 2020, which is in the Public Domain. It's available from Wikimedia Commons.

The weird holiday weekend

Today is Easter Monday, a public holiday in New Zealand, and the conclusion of a four-day holiday weekend. It’s also the weirdest holiday weekend. Still.

I wasn’t originally going to say anything about it this year, especially because I pretty much said all I wanted to in a post on Easter Monday last year, especially my criticism of the wacky and very confusing trading ban rules (most shops are supposed to be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, even though Easter isn’t a public holiday, and no TV ads can be broadcast on either of those days, or Christmas Day, not until after noon on Anzac Day and every Sunday. There’s since been an update to to something I said in that post last year, especially about the ad bans. I wrote:

The current broadcasting minister, a former TV show host of dubious ability as a minister, has blandly promised a re-write of the [Broadcasting] Act (written way before the Internet or streaming services were a thing), but given the chaos under our current three-ring circus coalition government, I doubt it’ll actually happen. I think that ending the ad bans ought to be done as quickly as possible: They make absolutely no sense, deny NZ broadcasters revenue that foreigners still get, and has nothing whatsoever to do with New Zealand workers and days off.

The first update is that the Media Minister I wrote about was sacked only a few weeks after my post (apparently I’m very influential…). Then, in December of last year, her replacement as Media Minister announced that the government would introduce legislation to allow TV advertising on Sundays and public holidays, because the ad bans don’t apply to streaming services (like YouTube) or to radio, meaning broadcast TV is losing money that other media providers can still get. The Minister told RNZ in the linked article,"Traditional media outlets are operating in an extremely difficult environment and as the government, we must ensure regulatory settings are enabling the best chance of success." Indeed. He also said it “could generate approximately $6 million for the industry” which doesn’t sound like much to me. Even so, I think that’s absolutely the right thing to do—though the government hasn’t yet actually passed the bill.

I still think the trading bans should be removed from Good Friday and Easter, not the least because New Zealand is now majority “no religion”, but mostly because those holidays don’t have the same sort of traditions like family gatherings that Christmas Day does (the other all-day holiday with a trading ban, plus Anzac Day morning has a trading ban, too). So I’m fine with keeping the ban on trading Christmas Day, but the trading bans on Good Friday and Easter Sunday seem silly to me. At the very least, the TV advertising bans should be ended, and maybe they finally soon will be.

Not just about bread

I don’t often share food photos any more (and clearly not much of anything else, for that matter…), because it’s all so trivial. Yesterday, though, I decided to share a photo (at right) of my trivial lunch to my personal Facebook. In this case, at least, there were reasons.

I made two poached eggs severed on a wedge of homemade (bread machine) wholemeal bread, and topped it with freshly ground salt and pepper and yum-yum sauce (Japanese mayonnaise), which I use on poached eggs because hollandaise sauce is too much work, tbh (I usually just use S&P). All of that is very ordinary, but the bread is the real reason I shared the meal (I make poached eggs most weekends).

I was never satisfied with the ordinary breadmaker bread I used to make, so much so that I even considered getting rid of my breadmaker. However, among my local supermarkets, my local Woolworths doesn’t stock my preferred brand/variety of commercial bread (just the brand’s gluten-free variety),and while the nearby New World does stock it, it sells out quickly. I don’t like the in-store bakery department breads at either chain.

This is an issue for me because the commercial bread I’ve been buying instead of my preferred brand sometimes gives me indigestion, and the ordinary breadmaker bread sometimes did, too (my preferred brand never did, but maybe that’s just because it’s so hard to get that over the past year or two I haven’t had it often enough to find out?). It’s early days for the wholemeal bread experiment, but so far it’s been fine. On the other hand, I’m out of practice cutting it (it makes a tall loaf), and have cut a wedge-shaped slice twice in a row, which isn’t ideal. If I tolerate this bread, I may try using the breadmaker to knead the dough, etc., and then finish it off in bread pans in the oven (to get better sized and shaped loaves). I do hope this works, though.

Occasional indigestion from bread wasn’t the only reason that I stopped posting food photos, though—there were several reasons. First, the same sort of ennui that’s kept me from cretive pursuits like blogging and podcasting, has also left me unspired to cook anything new or different, and so, there hasn’t been anything ne to share. Another reason, though, was eggs.

Prices for all food items when up in the Covid-related economic challenges and supply chain distruptions, and the massive spike in inflation when all the restrictions ended. Eggs were among the things with higher prices, of course, but we also had a fire at a major egg farm that killed thousands of hens, and egg prices shot up. However, egg prices in New Zealand eventually stabilised and have been stable for many, many, many months—despite even bird flu at a South Island farm. All of which means I can have eggs whenever I want, and at reasonable proces. However, I’m aware of how expensive eggs in the USA have become (another all-time record retail price was set just recently). It felt kind like bragging to share photos of my egg means (possibly the most common I’ve share over the past few years).

Eggs also get at another reason I’ve backed off posting things like food photos: All that sort of thing seems so utterly banal and trivial given the slide into fascism in the country of my birth. I’ve shared some things I find funny or interesting, but have deliberately avoided most things that touch even lightly on politics in the land of my birth—mostly, because I have shared expressly, and even sharply, political things to Reels (via Instagram).

It’s fair to say that there’s no reason I should avoid posting about things I’m doing, even if it’s only lunch, but with the world in such dire shape, it’s at least understandable. On the other hand, maybe the distraction of a freshly-made meal or a shopping excursion (or whatever) can help make the bad times just a little more tolerable, even if only for a moment or two. Maybe.

At any rate, I never would’ve guessed that finding a tolerable bread would be so difficult, but, as I often say, I’ve learned that growing older is a never-ending series of aches and pains in places I never knew could have them, and suddenly finding I don’t always tolerate some food I’ve had all or most of my life. C’est la vie, apparently. But all of that is still better than the awfulness all around the world, and maybe that makes celebrating everyday life that much more important.

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 5

On April 13, 1985, a charity single reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”: “We Are the World” (video up top) by supergroup “USA for Africa”. The song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie and produced by Quincy Jones, became one of the fastest selling singles in history at the time, and would be at the top of the “Hot 100” for four weeks. The song was included on the featured the album also named We Are the World.

The song was inspired by the previous year’s charity single “Do They Know It's Christmas?”, which was the subject of my post ”Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 20: Seasonal songs” on December 29 of last year. Harry Belafonte had the idea for an American charity single, and the rest is history.

I had mixed feelings about the song at the time. Just as with “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, I appreciated that famous people are often in the best position to raise money for charitable causes, and I absolutely supported that. However, the song itself didn’t grab me, even though the chorus was catchy (at the time I felt it was catchy in an annoying way). So, I never bought the single or the album. On the other hand, I thought the lyrics weren’t as lame as for “Do They Know It’s Christmas”, even though I liked that song better. I think the biggest reason for the difference in my reaction to the two songs 40 years ago us that “Do They Know It’s Christmas” was first, which made it feel fresh, and perhaps that made “We Are the World” feel like a bit of a retread for me. I was much choosier in what I liked back then, and arguably much harsher in my opinions about pop songs.

I have one particular purely personal memory of the song. A friend and I were discussing it, and he said that it was “ruined” when Brice Springsteen first started singing his part. While neither of us were fans of his, unlike my friend, I quite liked a lot of his songs. The vocal I disliked was Bob Dylan’s first section. Over the next forty years, I eventually liked most of Springsteen’s work, and even bought some of his music, making me not exactly a fan, but certainly “fan adjacent”. However, that wasn’t the case with Dylan’s music. I’ve said many times that my pop music tastes have constantly changed, broadened, and mellowed over the course of my life, but I never said my taste became all-inclusive. Somethings really don’t change.

“We Are the World” (the song) reached Number One in Australia, Canada (3x Platinum), New Zealand (Platinum), the UK (Silver), and also on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100”, as well as on their “Adult Contemporary”, “Hot Dance/Disco 12 Inch Singles Sales”, and “Hot Black Singles” charts (that last chart name sounds more like an 0900 number from those days…). It was also Number 27 on the Billboard “Mainstream Rock” chart, and reached Number One on the Cash Box “Top Singles” chart. The song was certified 4x Platinum in the USA.

The album We Are the World reached Number 6 in Australia, Number 6 in New Zealand (Platinum), Number 31 the UK, as well as Number One on the “Billboard 200” (3x Platinum). It didn’t chart in Canada.

This series will return May 11 with the next Number One from 1985.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4 – March 30, 2025

Another friend is gone

This morning when I checked Facebook I learned that Tom, a friend I met through podcasting back when I first started, had died during the night my time, while I was asleep. That sort of thing has happened many times over the years, but this time I knew it was coming because we’d been told his cancer journey was nearing its end—but knowing that a loss is coming never makes it any easier, of course.

I met Tom through podcasting, and listened to his podcast, “Ramble Redhead”, that featured interviews of folks who were part of or connected to the LGBTQ+ community. In 2007 he asked to interview me after I started my podcast for that reason (surprisingly, moving to the other side of the globe for love isn’t all that common…). His was the second podcast I was on, after Paul Armstrong’s ArcherRadio. We lost Paul last year.

Tom was also the first podcaster I met in real life, way back in December 2007 when I was in Chicago to tie up a few loose ends. Tom and his partner at the time drove from Indiana to the far Northside of Chicago, where I was staying, so we could meet, have lunch, and hang out. It was an awesome—and unbelievably cold—day. The photo was taken on Northalsted across from the LGBT+ community centre that didn’t exist the last time I’d been in Chicago.

After that, we were often both on Paul’s ArcherRadio group shows, and frequently caught up online, especially on Facebook. He and I were also part of the Pride 48 Network of LGBT and LGBT-friendly podcasts, and we both participated in the live streaming events. Nigel and I always hoped to attend the in-person streaming events, but never got the chance, and so, Nigel never got the chance to meet Tom in real life. However, when I was in Chicago in 2007, we rang Nigel so Tom could say hello, and he spoke with Nigel like they were old friends, even though they’d never spoken before. That was just Tom. A few years later, they were both on shows with me (my own live shows, I think? It was a long time ago…).

Tom was one of the kindest people I’ve ever met, radiating positivity and support for others. As the years passed, we didn’t chat online as much as we once did, but even so I could tell how happy he was when he met and married his husband, Roger. Just as I understood what Tom was feeling then, I also understand what Roger will be going through now, and that, too, breaks my heart.

Tom was loved and admired by so many people, especially in the Pride 48 family. He used to end his podcast episodes by saying, “Just remember, a crazy redhead in Indiana loves you.” For so very many people, it was definitely mutual.

Farewell, my friend.

The photo up top is from a January 2008 blog post about my trip to the USA I mentioned above. This post is a revised version of what I posted to my personal Facebook page.

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 4­

Yet another new pop song reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” on March 30, 1985: “One More Night” (video up top) by English singer, drummer, songwriter (etc.) Phil Collins. It was the first US single (and second UK single) from Collins' third studio album No Jacket Required. It was his second Number One song the first was “Against All Odds”, which was the subject of Weekend Diversion: 1984, Part 5 on April 21 of last year).

Something I didn’t say about Collins last year was that I first became familiar with him when he was lead singer for English rock band Genesis. specifically their 1978 album ...And Then There Were Three.... I had that album and aslo it’s follow-up album, 1980’s Duke. As far as I can remember, I never bought another Genesis album, nor any Phil Collins album. That doesn’t necessarily mean that I actively disliked any of the music from either in those eras, thought I also didn’t necessarily like it all, either. The early-to-mid 1980s was one of the periods in which my musical tastes were changing the most, as I’ve mentioned before, and that meant that I didn’t always like bands or artists I once did. That’s just part of life, I think.

All that said, I actually kind of liked this song: It had a pleasant sound, and sometimes that’s enough. While it wasn’t a favourite song, I thought it was okay. Sometimes that’s enough for me, too.

“One More Night” reached Number 2 in Australia, Number One in Canada, Number 5 in New Zealand (Gold), Number 4 in the UK (Silver), and Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and their “Adult Contemporary” charts. It was also Number 4 on the Billboard “Mainstream Rock” chart. The song was certified Gold in the USA.

The album No Jacket Required reached Number One in Australia (Platinum), Canada (Diamond), New Zealand (Platinum), the UK (6x Platinum) as well as Number One on the Billboard 200” (12x Platinum).

This series will return April 13 with the next Number One from 1985.

Footnote: Back on schedule! But I still wrote this on Sunday, the day I published it, and did so only after I fixed the messed up links in Part 3. The journey continues.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3 – March 12, 2025

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 418 is now available

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 418, “Podcasting for 18 years”, is now available from the podcast website. There, you can listen, download or subscribe to the podcast episode, along with any other episode. The site is not “https”, so you may need to tell your browser to let you through, anyway.

The five most recent episodes of the podcast are listed on the sidebar on the right side of this blog.

Podcasting for 18 years

Eighteen years ago today, I posted the first episode of my AmeriNZ Podcast. Today, as is usually the case, Facebook served up a “Memory”, and one of them was a post for my 15th podcast anniversary in 2022, something that I turned into a blog post. Everything from that post is still true. However, what I haven’t made clear enough, I think, is how much Nigel was my muse—and so much more.

Nigel first encouraged me to start a blog in 2004 or 2005 (I finally did in 2006), and then he encouraged me to start a podcast (they were audio-only at the time). He then bought me all kinds of equipment—an XLR microphone, mixer, studio headphones, and gave me very useful feedback after I was on Paul Armstrong’s “ArcherRadio” podcast for the first time a couple days after I posted my first episode.

A little while later, Nigel and I were shopping for audio mixers for him (he tried several…), he got a microphone, headphones, and monitor speakers. At the time, he was interested in recording and mixing music, but the only song he actually seriously worked on was a vocal by our niece.

That, then, led to two different Internet radio shows, the first alternating with Daniel Brewer, and the second was on his own Internet radio channel. Our friend Brian (who I originally met through podcasting) also had a show on Nigel’s station. I still have recordings of some of our shows on Nigel’s channel.

Things changed, Nigel’s job got busier, we shifted to South Auckland—then it all ended when he did.

I’ve struggled with podcasting and blogging ever since, and it’s pretty common for me to think about formally quitting both. Even so, I persist for some reason—mainly because whatever appealed to me about them at the beginning is still there, though more low key than it was.

I have no idea whether I’ll attempt to continue either, let alone both, or if they might evolve. But I know for sure that Nigel would still be encouraging me to do what feels right to me, and probably quietly proud that I’m still doing what he encouraged me to do so long ago, however imperfectly I’m currently doing it.

In keeping with my tradition, I’ll post a new episode this evening my time [the episode is now uploaded].

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 3

A new pop song reached Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” on March 9, 1985: “Can't Fight This Feeling” (video up top) by American rock band REO Speedwagon. It was the second single from their 1984 album, Wheels Are Turnin'. It was the group’s second, and last, Number One. The song would be at the top spot for three weeks.

The song was written by lead singer Kevin Cronin, who began writing it around a decade earlier, and was based on a what was at the time his unrequited feeling for a woman who was dating a friend. In an interview with “the Professor of Rock” posted on YouTube last year, Cronin talked about one line in the song lyrics that he “caught so much crap for”WATCH/LISTEN to the short on YouTube:

It's time to bring this ship into the shore
And throw away the oars, forever

I can certainly see why he “caught so much crap”. The phrasing is clunky, but pedants at Genius Lyrics, linked above, pointed out that boats have oars, not ships, but that’s kind of beside the point for me and many others: It’s just kinda lame. Having said that, I’ve never written song in my life, so what do I know?

Clunky phrasing aside, I actually kind of liked the song. It was one of those soaring rock ballads from the time, and it was pleasant enough to listen to, though I never bought the song or album. I did, however, buy their 1980 album Hi Infidelity, which I also re-bought in digital form here in New Zealand. I was first introduced to them by my flatmate when I was at university when their 1978 album You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish, and I associate that album with good times. It probably helped that the band was largely formed in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois when the founders were at the University of Illinois—even though students at all the other state universities, including mine, tended to express at least mock hatred of U of I.

In 1985, my taste in pop music was still expanding, but still included “adult contemporary” (a much less cringe name than the old “easy listening”) music/artists I’d listened to since the very early 1970s, but by the 80s I was listening to rock music, synth pop, and dance music. Maybe this song shows of the process of how my pop music tastes changed, because the song was also Number 3 on the Billboard “Adult Contemporary” chart. At any rate, it turned out that this gradual expansion has never stopped, and even today I can appreciate—and even like—all sorts of pop music, including contemporary songs that my age peers can’t stand. I take that as being a good a thing, but I don’t think I’d be as aware of this lifetime of changes to my tastes if I hadn’t done these series of posts. I think that, too, is a good thing.

“Can't Fight This Feeling” reached Number 2 in Australia, Number 2 in Canada (Gold), Number 33 in New Zealand, and Number 16 in the UK (Gold). It was also Number One on the USA’s Billboard “Hot 100” and Number 3 on their “Adult Contemporary” charts. It was also Number One on Cash Box and Radio & Records (R&R)The song was also certified Gold in the USA.

The album Wheels Are Turnin' reached Number 54 in Australia, 13 in Canada (Platinum), and Number 7 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” (2x Platinum). The album didn’t chart in New Zealand or the UK.

This series will return March 30 with the next Number One from 1985.

Footnote: Obviously, I didn’t get this post published on schedule this past Sunday. Because I didn’t write this post in advance—and I seldom do—I was still working on it that day, and intended to finish it that evening. Instead, I fell asleep watching TV, and couldn’t rouse myself enough to finish the post, something that’s happened before, though not usually with posts I intended for a specific day. Still, this “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series is now up-to-date, and it’s also a new addition to my informal “Midweek Diversion” series of posts—maybe I’ll make tag for this and the other posts….

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1985” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 1 – February 2, 2025
Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 2 – February 16, 2025

I’ve been walking, yes indeed

Today is the start of a new month, following the first complete calendar month in which I did a walking workout every single day. Naturally, I put all the data into a spreadsheet to allow me track my progress and because, spreadsheets. I use them for all sorts of things.

February was a good month overall, especially my goal at this point is still to build up stamina, and I think I’m doing that. I thought I’d share some stats from this February—something I may do again at the end of March, at the end of the quarter, but if I do any updates after that, it’ll probably only be at the end of each quarter.

In February, my walking workouts covered a total of 52.68 kilometres (35.219319 miles), compared to 46.36 kilometres (28.806768 miles) in January. My average pace on my workouts over the month was 14:04 per kilometre, compared to 13:09 in January.

I had an average daily total daily of 7141 steps per day in February, which includes all my steps, not just those from the walking workouts (the workouts don’t track steps for some reason). The average total distance I covered each day in February was 5.78 kilometres (3.591525 miles), again, that’s total distance walked, not just from workouts; I only know my distance from workouts alone because of my spreadsheet. The totals in January were pretty similar, however, the difference between this year and last is significant: In February 2024, I had a daily average of 3,953 total steps per day and an average total distance of 3.36 kilometres (2.23694 miles) per day. February was my worst month in 2024 (after that month, my overall totals were much better.

All of those are just numbers, and honestly probably of interest to me alone. So I decided to have a bit of fun: The map up shows the towns in a 50 kilometre radius of Hamilton [SOURCE]. It’s not necessarily possible to easily walk to some of those towns, and certainly not by me, but it’s kind of interesting to see how far 50 kilometres really is. As a bonus, several places I’ve talked about at one point or another—like Cambridge, Raglan, Huntly, and Matamata—are all within that circle, and others that I’ve talked about, and that had roles in my past life, like Paeroa, Thames, Pukekohe, Waiuku, Clarks Beach, and Te Kuiti are all visible.

The thing about these stats, and even the map, is that looking at the data visually on a spreadsheet (or even on that map) somehow keeps me committed to the plan. Some of it’s probably that I’m competitive with myself, and I constantly want to do better than I’ve done in the past. I want to try to tap into that self-competitiveness to get some other things done, too, because maybe it’ll work for other plans and goals, too? I know some people get more stuff done when they make things like chores into a game, and, in a sense, that’s what I’ve been doing.

Still, February is my only full calendar month of daily walks so far (plus most of January, of course), so it’s a bit early to take a victory lap. I want this to be a lifestyle change, and not just a temporary obsession. Creating opportunities for me to compete with myself—including my making a spreadsheet with my data—may do exactly that.

My car is fit

My car is fitter than I am, if for no other reason than that it’s certified fit. Getting to that point consumed a chunk of my day yesterday, and yet, it was better than in previous years. It may also have suggested a way forward for next year.

Most vehicles used on the road (including trailers) are required to get a safety inspection, and a "Warrant of Fitness" (usually called a WOF or a Warrant) is the version for cars (there are different versions for different vehicles). It has to be done every year for most cars. The inspection involves inspectors looking for rust in the car’s body, whether the brakes are good, whether the wheels rotate freely, whether the indicators (“turn signals” in Americanese) work, whether the seatbelts all lock (or whatever it’s called…), and even whether the horn works. They also look in the boot (“trunk” in Americanese) to see if there’s a spare tire, and to make sure the metal at the bottom isn’t rusting through (that happened to my previous car, and it failed it’s inspection because of it).

I went to a testng company called VTNZ, because of reasons I'll get to, and the first thing I needed to do was check-in at reception (about which more in a bit). After I was done with that, I went and sat in my car until the inspector was ready for my car. All up, the whole thing was over roughly 1:40 after I arrived, which is actually faster than it’s been in the past. Of that, around 10 minutes was waiting to pay (and it felt like an hour…), and 40 minutes was the test itself (all of which I know because I took notes to ease the boredom). The rest of the time was spent waiting in my car for its turn to be checked, but it’s air conditioned, has a radio, was a good spot for my selfie (above), and that also gave me a chance to charge my phone.

The guy who did the test was VERY nice—they aren’t always—and they had the air conditioning on in the waiting/reception area, where I waited, so I was pleasantly cool.

I think I’ve said before (here or on my personal Facebook) that the most annoying thing about the whole process is how ultra slow the check-in process is, mainly because of slow computer systems. Still, I suppose it’s nice to see that VTNZ found a use for antique CP/M computers, WordStar, and SuperCalc…

I had little choice but to go to VTNZ because I forgot my warrant expired yesterday, so I didn’t have a lot of options. VTNZ recently began accepting bookings for these tests, though I couldn’t do that because it was last minute. There was a guy in front of me who’d booked a test, and he had to go through the same check-in process as everyone else, so at first I thought it wasn’t a big improvement. However, it turned out he was gone well before my car was tested, so it definitely seems like a good option for next year.

After I was done, I went to Woolworths (supermarket) on the way home “to pick up a few things” (yeah, right…), and I went a more direct route avoiding Te Rapa (the main North/South road in my part of Kirikiroroa-Hamilton) and a very busy roundabout. It was so much faster! So, all joking aside, it was a much better experience this year than the past two. I take that as a win.

I think safety inspections are important, though Im not sure that every year is necessary for relatively new cars. However, I continue to be appalled that New Zealand doesn’t do tailpipe emissions testing (or decibel tests for tailpipe noise, especially for motorcycles…).

Still, I do think these inspections are both necessary and important. I do think the whole think could be improved (especially by VTNZ—it’s 2025: Computers should not run so slowly). The important thing is I got my warrant done on time. Another year sorted!

The Warrant of Fitness testing cost me $85 (around US$47), plus an additional $1.70 fee because I used payWave (contactless payment). Using payWave is much faster than swiping a card and entering a PIN, and getting to that point had already taken too long, in my opinion.

My Dad would be 109

This week had my father’s109th Birthday. I remembered to blog about it, even thought I didn’t have time to follow through, only because I decided to get organised: Almost a year ago, I wrote a post in which I talked about setting up a list of certain posts I wanted to be sure to write and publish. When I set up this year’s list, this post was on that list.

Life has been unusual for quite awhile now, and I continue to fins it difficult to find the time to actually get blog posts and podcast episodes done. Nevertheless, I’m getting to this in my dad’s birthday week, which right now, is a huge win.

I’ve been thinking about my dad a lot lately, because of what I’m going through now, a few years older than he ever managed to reach. I’ve talked about how my single biggest challenge emotionally and existentially about aging is that I have NO idea what to expect. My Mom and Dad both died younger than I am now, so I don’t know how they would’ve been as they aged.

My father’s siblings all lived to be old, though with the health problems of old age, and my grandfather was a nonagenarian. My mother’s parents died relatively young, but her uncle had good innings. So, because I have few examples to turn to, I don’t know if I’ll have mobility problems, cognitive decline, or any of the other things I worry about.

Which brings me back to my Dad. I remember when he was in his 50s how he couldn’t walk far at all. There were a lot of reasons for that, but he was certainly unfit, too. Over my life, I’ve seen several older people slowly decline, and watching them made me wonder how avoidable (generally speaking) loss of mobility and flexibility is.

All of that made me realise that I have some agency here: If I get fitter now, it’s bound to at least help me as I age, and maybe age-related decline might not be too bad. At the very least, it will probably (?) improve the quality of my life now because I’ll be better able to do physical things better.

As I said in my blog post about my walking, I already find it easier to get up off the floor, and even my knees seem more reliable. So, yay, I guess. And, in a roundabout kind of way, my Dad was one of my main inspirations.

Still, I often wonder what my Dad would’ve been like in old age, though I know he’d almost definitely be gone now regardless, and his too-early death left me with no example to look to in order to guess what my own old age might be like. However, there’s also everything that came before his death that’s helped build the foundation on which modern me is still being built, and that’s an important thing. As I said in my 2021 post about my Dad’s birthday:

Mainly, though, I’m grateful for the base he and my mother gave me, the framework to build the me I would eventually become. I get some of the credit for that, of course, as do other family and my friends (and, again, especially Nigel…), but the fact remains that he and my mother laid the foundation on which I would one day build me. Open eyed, aware, and certain that I may be, I nevertheless acknowledge where I come from, and my Dad was an important part of that.

All of which remains true, but it would be handy to have an inkling of what I might be facing over the next 20 (or so?) years I may have left.

Nevertheless, as always, thanks, Dad. And Happy Birthday!

Previously:
My Dad would be 108 (2024)
My Dad would be 105 (2021)
My dad would be 100 (2016)

Related:
Sunday Quiet (2009) – What Sundays were like when I was a kid
Like father, like son (2009) – A reflective post about sons imitating their dads and the freedom my dad gave me
Easter (2009) – Where I talk about my dad’s stage management
Good Friday Flashback (2011) – More about his stage management, with a photo
Arthur Answers Again, Part Two – Religion questions (2013) – I talk about being a preacher’s kid
AAA-14 Answer 7 – Loss and memes (2014) – I talk about the death of my parents
New Year’s Eve 2014 – In which I talk about one of my favourite memories of my dad

I’m going to live

I can remember the precise moment I realised that I’m not going to die. I was walking down the hallway that connects all the bedrooms to the living areas, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a painting a friend of ours painted and gave to us for our Civil Union. Our friend died from motor neurone disease in the year before Nigel died, and as I paused to look at the painting, I thought about how she was gone and Nigel was gone, and then it hit me: I’d spent all of my time since Nigel died expecting that I could die at virtually any moment, but clearly that was no more likely for me than for many others. I realised that if I wasn’t about to die, then I’d better focus on the business of not merely living, but having a good life. That, in turn, meant redoubling my efforts to have a good aging.

That was the moment everything changed.

I’d been thinking about what government officials like to call “ageing in place”, that is, growing old in our own homes, with support services gradually added as we need them, all designed to help us live long, healthy lives in our own homes, without having to go into care until/unless it’s truly necessary. Seeing the painting that day later helped me focus on what I needed to do.

I chose my house because it’s one storey (no steps), and after I moved in I installed the solar power system so that it could help keep my power bills as low as possible so that I’d have more money to pay for living, not merely existing. I have further plans to upgrade this house to make it even better for me (and, to be honest, for the eventual resale, in case I need or want to sell it, even if that’s not until well in the future).

However, there was more to this planning than merely making my house elderly-me friendly, there’s all the time between now and then, too. So, I decided to work on myself to try and keep mobility and flexibility as I age. This led to my biggest work on myself, probably ever.

Last December, I started walking two or three times a week. Then, on Monday, January 6, I began walking every single day, which means that this past week was my seventh consecutive week of this daily routine. There have been positive results, some subjective, but at at least one that’s clearly measurable.

Before talking about what I did and why, it’s important, if obvious, to note that this is about my personal journey in health and aging, and shouldn’t be taken as advice. I will say, however, that any exercise is better than none, but how much is enough—or too much—will vary from person to person. It’s a good idea, especially for us older folks, to talk to our doctor before starting any exercise programme—but I didn’t do that, even though I absolutely should have.

That out of the way, here’s what I did and why.

My Apple Watch tracks minutes of exercise (the green ring), movement (the red ring, and an estimate of kilojoules/calories burned), and whether I stand for at least 5 minutes every hour fir 12 hours per day (the light blue ring). My progress throughout the day is tacked on those rings, and the goal is to close all three rings every day (there’s an example at left, from February 21, 2023). My Apple Watch’s week is from Monday through Sunday (I have no idea why or if that can be changed, and I frankly don’t care), and that’s why my daily walking routine began on a Monday.

My routine was to walk two kilometres (1.24274 miles) every weekday, and one kilometre (0.621371 miles) on Saturday and Sunday. On weekends, I actually walk a bit farther than one kilometre per day because, generally speaking, my watch requires a “workout” to be at least 15 minutes to register it as a workout, and since my average pace for one kilometre is faster than that, I keep walking until I pass 15 minutes. I also end up walking a bit more than two kilometres on weekdays, too, mostly because I can.

My Apple Watch also sends me rewards badges, first for each ring on my watch as I close them, then another when I close all three rings, plus badges for a perfect week (closing the ring every day), and a perfect month (closing them every day of a month). There are additional monthly challenges, and there was one more I never got: Doing seven workouts over that Monday-Sunday week (the watch can track many different kinds of workouts, including both indoor and outdoor walks). Getting those badges every day and week is a surprisingly strong motivator for me.

For some reason I assumed that the workout challenge was to do workouts on all seven days of a week, but this week I suddenly realised that it’s actually seven workouts total, not per day. So, this week I experimented with doing two shorter walks on both Wednesday and Friday of this week, each walk a bit more than a kilometre. This meant that I did seven walking workouts on Monday to Friday, and, as I suspected, I got my reward badge on Friday (the image at the top of this post). That means I could’ve taken the weekend off from walking if I wanted to (I didn’t, but in the future I may use one of the two days as a “rest day”).

I first felt my walks affecting my calves, then my thighs, and finally my hip flexor muscles, all of which felt stronger. Over time, I noticed my balance had improved, that I was easily able to stand on one foot. My knees seem more reliable, and even my lower back doesn’t get sore like it used to, and I also noticed that it had become somewhat easier for me to get up off the floor (like after I scrub the shower floor). Gaining flexibility and greater balance is precisely what I was trying to achieve, but all of that’s entirely subjective. Fortunately, there’s now an objective improvement.

I’ve been getting annual blood tests for years, and I have a spreadsheet with the results dating back to 2011 (though there’s a five year gap between those first results and the next ones, probably because I lost the forms for some years’ results. Nevertheless, one of the consistent things has been that my HDL (“good cholesterol”) has always been too low. It’s supposed to be greater than 1.00 mmol/L (“millimoles per litre”), however, mine has never reached that. My worst (lowest) reading was 0.64, and my best was 0.90. Last year’s result was 0.88, but my most recent blood drawn on February 5 showed my HDL was at a new high of 0.92—the best reading ever, as far as I know. I’d always been told I needed to exercise more since it’s the only way to significantly improve the HDL level, and my new result came after I’d been doing daily walks for around a month, and doing walking workouts at least some days for roughly six weeks. If I keep walking/exercising, I may eventually finally pass 1.00 mmol/L.

In summary, my legs feel stronger, my balance and flexibility has improved, and I’ve raised my HDL levels, all of which gives me an incentive to continue (that and getting those Apple Watch badges…). However, I haven’t noticeably lost any weight, but that wasn’t goal at this point; that will come over time. This is a process, of course, and I still have a long way to go.

I have a cross-trainer (also called an elliptical) in the garage, but I don’t yet feel anywhere near fit enough to use it—although, it’s been way too hot in the garage to use it, anyway. The elliptical also helps with upper-body work, though I have other plans to help with that, too—after I take off my training wheels, so to speak. My plan is to slowly build my strength and stamina, then add more and different routines to target different areas, all with the same goal of strengthening the muscles associated with balance, stability on my feet, and even pain avoidance (lower back, for example). I want to be as mobile as possible for as long as possible, and I’m the only one who can do anything to help make that happen.

It’s still early days for all of this, but I definitely feel better, stronger, and more flexible, to varying degrees, and that’s more than enough incentive for me to keep going. All I really want is to have the best life I can have, regardless of how many or few years may be ahead of me. I finally understand that I’m not going to die, after all, not right now, and that it’s up to me if I want to be able to live whatever life I still have to the fullest. I think I’m well on the way to making sure that happens, one step at a time.

A deliberate absence

I haven’t been blogging much so far this year—I know that will come as a huge surprise. There are many reasons for that, but this has been a mostly intended time away. This post is about why that’s been the case.

The story begins, really, last year. I said that was a challenging year for me, and it definitely was, for all the reasons I blogged about. However, there was also the death of a friend I never talked about here, for a lot of reasons, but partly because my friend’s death happened shortly before what would have been Nigel’s 60th birthday, and about a month before the fifth anniversary of his death. I was already dealing with a lot.

At the same time, I was dreading the outcome of the US election because I had a feeling it would be a disaster. Then, like so many people, I was profoundly—and badly—affected when the USA’s election disaster actually happened. All that year, I felt like I was watching the land of my birth committing slow-motion suicide, even as I fervently hoped voters would come to their fucking senses. I managed to hold back my dread of the disaster as well as I could, but that denial couldn’t last forever.

All of that was followed by this year starting out badly with technological problems I wrote about on January 2. That, combined with the USA’s upcoming coronation of the convicted felon, should’ve warned me that this year could be bad, too, but there was more.

Late last year, certainly by Christmas, I was aware that my sister-in-law, Carolyn, was beginning what would be her final battle, leading ultimately to her death. At first, just as with the US elections, I tried to ignore what I I knew was going to happen, but reality again conquered my attempt at optimism.

I didn’t talk about the US elections in part because I couldn’t pretend that my fears were unjustified. However, it wasn’t my place to talk about my sister-in-law’s health battle while she was still waging it, and then I didn’t post anything about her death until after her immediate family did. After that, it was normal blogging issues: I wanted to include a photo of her with my post, and didn’t find the one I used until late Saturday when I was looking through my photos.

What all of these stories have in common is that I found them personally challenging for a lot of reasons. The tech problems were challenging mostly because they’re still not actually solved, just a little bit better. The disaster caused by the US election results is ongoing, and getting worse, of course, and I’m still working my way through all that. The death of my friend was hard, but it also happened at time when I just didn’t have the emotional space to talk about it. That, and especially the death of my sister-in-law, were also difficult for me because they brought up the trauma of Nigel’s death and my emotions around that. I tried as best as I could to keep everything in perspective, to compartmentalise when necessary, and I often succeeded. Still, it was nevertheless six months of waves of emotion washing over me.

All that said, it was absolutely NOT unrelentingly bad: I had fun during those six months, even if sometimes it was despite everything, and I achieved some things that made me feel happy, accomplished, proud, etc. It was, in other words, a period of time with good as well as bad—pretty much like every other time in one’s life.

Nevertheless, for a lot of that time I simply didn’t have the mental or physical energy to blog or podcast, nor the ability to say why that was. Because of all that turmoil, I missed out on blogging about things that I very much wanted to talk about, completely non-political things, of course, things that were personally important to me (like anniversaries). I may talk about most of those things in one one post (kind of like my old “Internet wading” posts). I also have other topics leftover from last year that I still want to talk about, including some that have reached their own first anniversary in the past couple months (whether I mentioned them at the time last year or not). On top of that are some very good things I’ve been up to starting back in December, and that topic, too, deserves my full attention.

The thing is, though, that because I don’t know when things will get better, I also don’t know when I may have a shot at being even slightly more productive—in everything/anything, actually. I guess we’ll find out together.