August 2022 Monthly Entry
It's been pretty warm up here for the past few weeks and we surprisingly got one night of rain last week. Temperatures are anywhere from 25-32C on average. It doesn't bother my sleep much at night. Currently it's been a little cooler as there have been clouds coming in.
This Saturday I will be going to a small handful of places around the United States. Here are the dates and agenda:
August 13-15 in Alton, IL: Flying to St. Louis, but revisiting Daddy Jeff in Alton.
August 15-16 in Oakton, VA: Flying to Dulles Airport, going to see Pat again where we will share a hotel room. On the 16th, he is going to drive me up to Harrisburg, PA to visit his mother and for me to be picked up by Daddy Eric.
August 16-19 in White Haven, PA: Visiting and staying with Daddy Eric, not sure what he has planned for my visit.
August 19-21 in Fort Lauderdale, FL: Flying from Wilkes-Barre to Florida. Staying at the Courtyard by Marriott downtown. I will be visiting Stompers Boots and the Ramrod leather bar.
August 21-22 in St. Petersburg, FL: I'll be taking an Amtrak train to Tampa. Staying at the Comfort Inn & Suites Northeast Gateway in St. Petersburg and visiting a leatherbear friend.
August 22-23 in Myrtle Beach, SC: Flying from Tampa to Myrtle Beach. Staying at the Red Roof Inn Myrtle Beach Hotel and visiting another leatherbear friend - one I was supposed to meet back in 2017 in DC.
August 23-26 in Madison/New Glarus, WI: Flying from Myrtle Beach to Milwaukee. Going to spend a few hours with a fellow BLUF bear before taking a bus down to Madison. Going to spend a few nights with my leather family in New Glarus.
August 26-30 in San Jose, CA: Flying from Madison to San Jose. It is both the Knights Gathering (hosted by the Fresno Chapter) and San Jose Pride weekend. We are staying at the Hyatt House San Jose Airport. I fly back to Vancouver on Tuesday the 30th.
I'm not sure how many parts my writing about the trip will be broken down into when I get back. The final stop in San Jose will obviously be its own entry as it involves the Knights. But I am super excited to see friends again and meet some new ones! I return to work on September 1st, giving me one free day to relax beforehand.
Seaforth took a total of two weeks to clean and scrub after my last month's entry. Working with Gloria and Rosie for the majority of Seaforth wasn't bad, even if I was the only (homosexual) male there LOL! By the end of Seaforth, Gloria then took her vacation time. Rosie and I were sent to Cameron to start cleaning her school. Mark from last year returned as he lives almost next door to the school. He once again provided us with classic rock tunes from (mostly) the 1970's. We had a couple more people working with us as we had to get that entire school done in a week - including the six or seven portables! We were almost done by Friday the 29th, but Rosie and another female custodian were about to start their vacation time off. I had to return the following Tuesday after my trip to San Francisco to help finish off the hallways and pick up outside garbage all around the property. After that, I spent the rest of the week at Sperling. At least half of the classrooms were done when I arrived as they must have worked on them the week prior. This week was my final 3 shifts at Armstrong before vacation time.
I had the follow up phone call with my doctor last month. Virtually everything he said about my test results was confirmed by my younger sister earlier. For my genetically high cholesterol, he called my nearest Shopper's Drug Mart to have 3 months worth of Rosuvastatin prepared for me. I take one tablet daily and I usually have it around midnight. The full benefits of it usually takes about 4 weeks to kick in but I haven't noticed any side effects. As for my blood sugars, it is very high and will have to try to have less carbs and more fibre in my diet. All of this had been upsetting to me. I know people who drink sugary drinks like water every day, have poorer diets, and aren't as active as I am (though I need to improve that also) and I'm the one in the pre-diabetes stage? It feels likes an injustice. I am trying to limit some of the carbs and sugars in my diet and spread out the naughty stuff. I will probably get another blood test this fall and see if anything has changed.
During my Air Canada flight to San Francisco, I watched the 1968 sci-fi classic 2001: A Space Odyssey that was based on the first book of a series by Arthur C. Clarke. It was funny watching this film and knowing of the callbacks and parodies from The Simpsons, The Nostalgia Critic webseries, South Park, and so on. They honestly didn't ruin the experience and if anything, their funny parodies was a love letter to this film. And that is what this film is: an experience. I was pleasantly surprised by the then-accurate scientific research and future predictions of space travel. The film's basis of human evolution from the primates at the beginning of the film to a kind of evolution at the very end. The special effects, especially the zero-gravity effects, were spectacular! I couldn't believe that this was possible in the late-1960s but it makes me more appreciate these earlier films that didn't utilize a single computer to pull any of it off. The musical score was of classic works from Richard Strauss, Gyorgy Ligeti, Johann Strauss II, and Aram Khachaturian. Doing some minor research, it helped to know some of the answers from director Stanley Kubric on what parts of the film mean or symbolize. I do like the open interpretation of the plot and themes. Kubric and others didn't give all the answers but truly let the audience make their own conclusions. The monoliths that we see are alien in origin and it seems when a species touches them, they evolve in some way. This may explain why the weaker apes at the beginning were able to use weapons to overpower the stronger apes after they touched the monolith. When David makes contact with one at the climax, it may be that he also made contact with an alien species that we cannot see or hear. He begins to age until passing, becoming this fetus and perhaps, as someone who is a more evolved human, it is unknown if he returns to Earth in this strange form. And of course, the film's look at AI in the glory of HAL 9000. I honestly thought this was going to be the film's main focus - an AI that goes rogue and kills everyone. While it is the most popular part of the film, it lasts maybe just under half the runtime. The killings aren't violent or anything. I think what makes HAL somewhat disturbing is the lack of emotion in its voice by the late-Canadian actor Douglas Rain. Some argue that HAL did in fact malfunction and to keep the whole monolith thing a secret as per orders, felt that the crew must be silenced. I am aware of the 1984 film sequel 2010: The Year We Make Contact and may check that out someday even though Kubric had no involvement.
Tuesday night as I was cleaning and conditioning some of my leathers, I was watching Kung-Fu Panda 3 on Netflix. It has been over six years since I last saw it in theatres. It's still a great CGI movie and do enjoy the art direction and vibrant colours though it can be a little corny and predictable. My original quick review from February 2016 is here.
I've made little progress in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End but I should have the game done in September. I probably won't play and beat Mega Man V until sometime after my US trip. The only show I worked on since last month's entry was Star Trek: Enterprise but it's likely I'll have that done by fall season.
Last Movie: Spider-Man: No Way Home (Theatrical), Kung-Fu Panda 3 (Netflix)
Last Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - The Screwtape Letters
Last Game: Mega Man IV (3DS Virtual Console - GB)
Current Book: The C.S. Lewis Signature Classics - Miracles
Current Games: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (PS4) & Mega Man V (3DS Virtual Console - GB)