We're Number One - COVID 19 Deaths

If you're walking 'round think'n that the world owes you something 'cause you're here 
You goin' out the world backwards like you did when you first come here yeah 
Keep talkin' bout the president, won't stop air pollution 
Put your hand on your mouth when you cough, that'll help the solution 
Oh, you cuss around women and you don't even know their names, no 
Then you're dumb enough to think that'll make you a big ol' man... 

--Luther Thomas Ingram and Mack Rice,
second verse of "Respect Yourself", released in 1971, as sung by the Staple Singers.

source: Wikipedia

Statistics change rapidly, so by the time you're reading this, the numbers will have changed. I'm not a journalist, but a very concerned American.

As of this writing, the United States is number 1 with over 55,000 deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is 26.7% of ALL official deaths worldwide.

ONE IN FOUR DEATHS WORLDWIDE ARE FROM THE UNITED STATES.

I am thoroughly fed up with the bullshit from the White House. TIME TO PUT UP OR SHUT UP.

To the doctors, nurses, therapists, and all essential personnel working tirelessly for what seems like an eternity, THANK YOU.

Michael Bloom and the Blues Prophecy

source: michaelbloom.com

Music lovers, take notice of this emerging blues singer-songwriter Michael Bloom.
Webpage: https://michaelbloom.com/

Me - I've been listening for the past few weeks his Tuesday and Thursday Blues Break from his Facebook page, Michael Bloom and the Blues Prophecy.

Admittedly, I didn't stumble on to Michael's music page as I have with other music I find on YouTube. Michael's wife Lisa Arthur is one of my closest friends. We've been friends for more than 40 years.

Here's a clip from Michael's last Blues Break performance. Hope you'll take a few minutes to watch and listen:

NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts - Taylor Swift

source: Variety
Taylor Swift, NPR Tiny Desk Concert
October 28, 2019

As we go into our second month of shelter-in-place, I've grown weary of what's been offered on cable TV, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.

I've resorted to watching YouTube music videos. A lot of them.

Repeatedly. 

I don't have the attention span to binge watch "must see TV" yet I can watch David Byrne's February 29, 2020 appearance on Saturday Night Live with his American Utopia group sing "Once In A Lifetime" 6 times in a row. And watch it again a week later. The same for George Michael's "Freedom '90" MTV Unplugged performance.

But that's what music does. Especially live, in an intimate setting. Real vocals that soar with emotion.

Yesterday, I found an NPR Tiny Desk Concert from October 28, 2019 featuring megastar singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. And after seeing her performance, I have gained tremendous respect for her. I will never ever refer to her a singer without including songwriter.

It was Taylor and 2 instruments, an acoustic guitar and piano. Nothing else.
We need to see more performances like this.

For Taylor's 4 song set list on Tiny Desk:

1. The Man
2. Lover
3. Death by a Thousand Cuts
4. All Too Well

The last one, All Too Well, totally gutted me. I have since played that song 5 times in the past 48 hours. 

if you find her Grammy performance of "All Too Well", don't bother. 

It's The Tiny Desk performance that you have to see.

Rockstar Rockhoppers at the Shedd Aquarium

Wellington, a Rockhopper penguin
source: Today Show

Since the shelter-in-place for most of the country, Shedd Aquarium in Chicago was one among many places closed.

Closed, but the aquarium still has visitors. Millions of them, online. Shedd Aquarium decided to feature a few of their residents wandering in and around the aquarium and exhibits.

The most popular residents there are 3 Rockhopper penguins named Wellington, Edward and Annie. Edward is Wellington's son from one of his offspring. Annie and Edward are a mated pair.

To see videos of them at the aquarium is an adorable sight of cuteness. They've brought joy and comfort to so many of us that have been cooped us during quarantine. I follow Shedd Aquarium on Twitter and Facebook. They also can be found on Instagram as well.

Here's video of their most recent field trip (make sure you have the volume on):

Nasal spray vs Neti Pot, 2020

source: Rhinocort.com

Better late than never.

Twelve years ago (see February 16, 2008 entry), I first wrote about transitioning to a neti pot exclusively rather than using nasal spray and allergy pills.

Three days later, I failed. Unable to wean myself off either drug. (see February 21, 2008 entry). I dropped Rhinocort for Nasonex, then switched to an OTC brand called Nasocort. I switched back to Rhinocort about 3 years ago, when it became available over-the-counter.

Price point is much more reasonable now. In 2008, Rhinocort put me out $50/month. As an OTC, I can get it for about $17 to $18/month at Target and Amazon. For pills, I went to Clartin, then Zyrtec, and then to a generic version of Sudafed.

After a conference visit with a nurse practitioner 2 weeks ago, she strongly advised I go off Sudafed and go back to using Claritin or Zyrtec (both now available over-the-counter).

And to use a neti pot.

source: EarthHero

I still have the ceramic one I bought in 2008 (exactly like the one in the photo). The plastic travel version didn't work as well, mostly because the spout wasn't comfortable for my nostrils.

I have since purchased a new plastic travel sized nasal irrigation bottle. For me, it still doesn't work as well as the ceramic pot, but I'm willing to sacrifice convenience over comfort for a few days.

Over the past 2 weeks, it's been a routine of neti wash once or twice daily, then a Zyrtec pill and sprays of Rhinocort.

This past weekend, neti wash only, twice a day. Until this morning. Hard sneezes and small mountain of wadded tissues in the compost bucket forced my hand into a Zyrtec pill.

The sneezing hasn't completely stopped, but it isn't as hard or frequent. I am determined to continue the neti pot usage for the next month or two. I like the way my sinuses feel after the nasal rinse. And more importantly, I would really like to reduce my reliance on Rhinocort and Zyrtec.

In Memory of Vincent Chin: Why Calling it Chinese Virus Bothers Me

source: NBC News

I bet many of you have no idea who Vincent Chin is.

I bring this up because if we don't recognize why we're so sensitive about the term "Chinese virus", perhaps hearing about Vincent's tragic end might help you understand.

In short, 2 white autoworkers blamed Vincent Chin for the increased presence of Japanese auto manufacturers in the United States.*
(*taken from NBC News)

Vincent Chin was Chinese American. Not Japanese. A fight ensued. Vincent died of head injuries from the fight a few days later.

PBS's POV and NBC News have several YouTube videos on Vincent Chin, who died in June 1982. He was out with friends celebrating his upcoming wedding. Instead, his wedding became his funeral.

Here's a short NBC News clip that provides a brief, but very informative clip about Vincent Chin's story.

Gone Viral

COVID-19
source: Live Science

As the spread of COVID-19 forces us inside, normal life as we knew it is on hiatus for the time being.

Any public gathering of 50 or more has been closed or cancelled such as bars and nightclubs. Restaurants are limited to takeout and delivery only.

It's going to be a tough run for restaurants. With no dining on premises permitted, lack of business may or will force them to close or shut down completely. The small Korean owned deli in my building closed on Friday and won't open again until Tuesday due to lack of business. As a child of restaurant operators, I am showing my support by ordering takeout as often as I can.

Shopping, tourist destinations, commuter traffic is next to non-existent.

My Monday and Wednesday night bowling leagues are cancelled for the remainder of the month. Many offices have instructed staff to work from home.

The most significant changes for me since the state of emergency:
incessant hand washing, TV/OnDemand viewing and a nauseating overexposure of panicked grocery shoppers hoarding food, hand sanitizer and toilet paper.

Cover your sneezes and coughs in your elbow or crook of your arm.
Stay hydrated. Go out only when you have to until the viral numbers flatten out.
And as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus of the Hill Street precinct ended with each roll call, "Let's be careful out there".

Recap February 14, 2020 to March 8, 2020

Why I was MIA for the past month:

February 14 -18: President's Day Weekend in Napa to celebrate Sherman's and Kat's 5th Wedding Anniversary.

Private tour, Inglenook, Rutherford CA

Kat's family came in Thursday afternoon before the holiday. They stayed with me for the night before we headed to Napa. 

When we got to Napa, 26 people came in from 3 states: New York, Ohio and California. The majority of the guests stayed in the former 9-bedroom private residence of the winery owner (No Airbnb here).

It was hectic and chill at the same time, if that makes any sense. Our first night at dinner kicked off with a formal family photo session, then a lovely dinner and moving speech from Sherman that brought me to tears. We had so much fun that we'll likely be there again to celebrate Sherman's 60th birthday next year.

As soon as Sherman and Kat texted me they made it back home to New York, they told me they would begin plans for my 60th birthday. We decided to celebrate in Columbus. I'll fly out to Cleveland to meet everyone and visit Mom's sisters for the day. Drive to Columbus for the rest of the trip. Activities will likely include a visit to the zoo, perhaps some bowling, a cookout at Cindy's, and the birthday dinner.

February 22 - 23: Asian American Bowling Association Chinese (Lunar) New Year Bowling Tournament at 4th Street Bowl, San Jose.

Bowled 3 squads. Last squad on Saturday, 2 squads on Sunday. Best series was my Saturday squad (see photo). Overall, I didn't do too badly. But likely not enough to cash out this year.

It was on my drive home from San Jose that my tire pressure monitor warning light came on again for the third time in two weeks, the last two in the same day.

I have at minimum, a tire leak. When I last brought my car in for service, the adviser mentioned I'd likely need new tires on my next visit. 

Realized the tires were almost 3 years old. I likely hastened their demise because I didn't rotate them regularly as the warranty requires. Time to order replacements. Ordered another set of Michelins online at Costco. Because it wasn't safe to drive with a flat tire, I decided to arrange for a rental car. Two days later, I hailed 2 Lyft rides - one to get to work, the other to pick up the rental. 

February 29 - March 1: Overtime Saturday.

In the 6 years I've been with this company, I've never worked on a Saturday. Overtime was always discouraged, even if there was a ton of work to do. When my boss gave us the option to work that Saturday, I jumped on it. Not so much because I'd have a fatter paycheck. Mostly because I'd be less buried in work on Monday.

March 7 - 8: Tire installation day. 9 am appointment with a 12 pm deadline to return the rental. I was the first customer taken with an appointment. Saw the car put into the bay at 9:18 am. Got some shopping in. Car was finished by 10:45 am. Drove home. Jumped immediately in the rental to return it. Made it by 11:15. Hailed an Uber ride (use my $15 monthly AmEx credit). Got home shortly after 12 pm.

Big sigh of relief. I sat in the recliner aimlessly surfing on this laptop for 2.5 hours. Then spent the rest of the day doing laundry, stuffing my face and watching TV.

After a call this afternoon from my boss, I am instructed to work from home tomorrow. I get a little extra sleep to catch up from the daylight savings time change, but I'll be somewhat limited in what I can do. 

Master Bedroom by Lani

I returned to living solo in May 2019 (see December 30, 2019 entry).

Start: November 2019

My former roommate occupied the master bedroom. It remained empty for 6 months. I began furnishing the room shortly after Thanksgiving. By President's Day Weekend in 2 weeks, it should be finished.

Ghostbed Luxe
queen mattress

I'd spend hours on end obsessing with intricate, meticulous details on what I wanted for the room.

• Curtains (shower and windows) must have grommet tops. I hate curtain rings. Window curtains have to be blackout style. I want the option to sleep in weekends without sun in my face.
• NO innerspring mattress or mattress that requires a foundation frame.
• Bedding that is gender neutral with warm, subtle, muted colors that won't clash with the curtains already in the room. NO bed skirt, no more than two pillow shams. NO floral, paisley, plaid or checkered patterns.
• Light blocking shade for the skylight in the vanity between the bathroom and bedroom. This, by far, took the longest to find the right size. 

Here's the end result:

Finish: February 2020

Once I installed the shade for the skylight, I spent this past weekend sleeping in the room. It feels tranquil, spacious yet cozy.

Family will stay in the room at the start of the President's Day weekend.

There's still a few final furnishings I'd like to put in. I really like how it's all turned out. So much so that I'll eventually move into the room full time.

Lunar New Year 2020 - Year of the Rat

source: Vectorstock
Year of the Rat

Happy Lunar New Year 2020.

I was born in the Year of the Rat. The Year of the Rat comes every 12 years.

Let's just say I'll have passed my zodiac animal more than 4 times.

Or you can hear The Daily Show's
Ronny Chieng explain hilariously the true meaning of Chinese New Year to Chinese people from his Netflix special, "Asian Comedian Destroys America"

Enjoy.

Tommy Jones's Perfect Day - 2020 PBA Hall of Fame Classic

Tommy Jones, Kimberly Pressler

What a way to kick off the new PBA season.

It started off with a live broadcast of the PBA Hall of Fame Classic. San Francisco native Darren Tang came into the stepladder as the number 1 seed.

One of the newest inductees into the PBA Hall of Fame was the number 2 seed, Tommy Jones. He defeated Chris Barnes in an ugly game, 190-169 to advance to the final match.

And what a final.

Like mom Oksana Kovalova's first TV match to watch daughter Dasha bowl a 300 last August, Tommy's mom Linda's first TV match was to see her son bowl a perfect game.

The 300 game comes in TJ's 20th professional season, his 20th PBA title in the year 2020.

Way to go, TJ.

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice Documentary

source: imdb.com

At dinner last night, my friend Gwyn recommended I watch CNN's documentary "Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice."

If you're under the age of 40 and don't know who she is, watch this documentary. You'll see how many music legends admired her work and why.

Eagles founders Glenn Frey and Don Henley got their start as musicians for Ms. Ronstadt.

Her career covered vast and varied genres: pop, rock, country, Latin and light opera.

And then you'll realize how strong and beautiful her voice was. Due to a degenerative brain condition, Linda retired from singing in 2011.

Ms. Ronstadt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

Here's a video clip of my all-time favorite Linda Ronstadt song, "You're No Good."



At her induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a medley of her songs were sung by the biggest legends in contemporary American music: Glenn Frey, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks and Carrie Underwood. With longtime guitarist Waddy Wachtel. The last song from the women was also featured in the documentary.

Decade in Review: 2010 - 2019

I close 2019 and the decade with my personal lows and highs from 2010 to 2019.

2010 started out wonderfully. I had a great job, a reconnected friendship in 2009 that evolved into a relationship. Pretty terrific start at age 50.

Not so fast.

By 2011, the boyfriend part of the relationship ended. Six months into a 3 1/2 year unemployment phase which made the best time in my life go to its worst. The great job in 2010 wasn't so great anymore. I was assigned a new boss and my job duties changed. So I quit.

My spirits got lifted in 2012 when the San Francisco Giants showed their perseverance and resilience in overcoming elimination in 2 post season matches versus the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals. They go to the World Series and sweep the heavily favored Detroit Tigers. It is their second World Series title in 2 years.

In November 2013, my Dad passed away. He had been in and out of the hospital for nearly a year. I’m still unemployed and must consider moving out of San Francisco. Less than 3 weeks after my return from New York for his funeral, my situation began to improve. A company recruiter contacted me on Christmas Eve regarding a job opening I applied to a day earlier on craigslist. I am tendered an offer in January 2014. Next month will be my sixth anniversary.

Flyers offer letter, January 2014

In 2015, 2 big events took place: a wedding, and a funeral.
Sherman and Kat got married in May. Mom passed away Labor Day weekend. It was the same day I made plans to have lunch with the old friend/former boyfriend. This is the last picture I have of Mom. The photo was taken with her sister Sue and Sherman on August 8.

Sherman, Mom (L), Aunt Sue (R)

New Year's Day 2016, I trade in my 2004 BMW 325i for a pre-owned 2012 328i. This is my third blue colored BMW 3-series. In a stick shift, of course.

On to 2017. I bowl for the first and only time (so far?), an officially sanctioned 600 series. I end the season with the highest women's average on my Wednesday night league. It is also my first trip to Europe, a family trip to Rome, then a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Spain and France.

For 2018, I attended my 40th high school reunion in August. In November, Sherman and Kat give birth to an extraordinary, adorably handsome baby boy.

I end the decade with a return to living solo again in May 2019. I lived with a roommate since October 2014. Along with his girlfriend almost half the time from 2016 to 2019. In June, I drive to Los Angeles to reconnect with Mom's cousin Jack's family at their reunion. It had been 45+ years since I last saw them. Best part was to see pictures of Mom's childhood home in China.

In November, we celebrate golden child's (nephew) first birthday with a family cruise to Mexico, Honduras and Belize.

Have a safe and wonderful New Year. Upward and onward to 60.

Black Friday Delivery Issues

Update on my big ticket Black Friday purchases. I am 0 for 2.

Big ticket item 1: Dining table from Hoot Judkins. Got delivered yesterday. Looks great. I can start using it.
Issue: gear that expands the table is broken. They didn't give me a date as to when they'll come back to fix it. My guess it won't be until after the holidays.

Big ticket item 2: Floyd queen platform bed. Finally pulled it out of the box this past week. I hoped with Ronnie helping out with home repairs yesterday that he could help me assemble the bed. I noticed one of the boxes I got was labeled "headboard".

I didn't order a headboard.

Issue: Steel legs and straps that were supposed to come in a separate box didn't come in. The above picture of the headboard along with 2 other photos of the shipment were emailed to Floyd Home Customer Service yesterday.

Hopefully this will be an afterthought by the time family comes for President's Day weekend.

Law & Order Marathon on WE Network

source: YouTube

Thanks to a Facebook status post from my childhood friend/ex-neighbor Beth, she posted an update of a Law & Order marathon of all 456 episodes on the WE Network.

My favorite detective duo was a short-lived one (less than 2 seasons) Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) and Mike Logan (Chris Noth).

The beginning of the episode always started with the discovery of a human body that died of unnatural causes. A friend of mine who once worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Sacramento said L & O was pretty close to how crimes are actually handled.

Steven Zirnkilton is the person who narrates the introduction.

In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.



He's also done voice over promos when L & O was in syndication on TNT.

Black Friday 2019 aka Support Your Local Businesses

My Black Friday, 2019.
I began the day online shopping. Returned to an old e-commerce retailer that started in 1977. It's also where I began my first full-time job in San Francisco. If you know me well or follow my blog, you already know this company.

The Sharper Image.

The visit to my former employer began after seeing too many pictures of myself from our cruise vacation last week. I noticed the spare tire in my mid-section in too many photos. Time to tone up. Bowling does a great job on my lower body strength, but need toning upper body and waist. No gym. Low impact. Something I can do at home.

Decided to get a portable rower.

source: Sharper Image
portable rowing machine

Compact, sturdy, simple, low impact. I can do it while watching TV.  Point, scan, and click. Done.

All that browsing made me hungry. Time for lunch.

My original Thanksgiving plans fell through due to a family emergency of the friend who was hosting dinner. Instead of turkey, it was takeout Thai, Lindt chocolates, bowling practice, and lots of catching up on TV I missed while on vacation. Hunger and withdrawal symptoms of no turkey were setting in. Need turkey now.

Jump in the car and head to Redwood City to my favorite place for carved turkey, Harry's Hofbrau. Locally owned. Harry's formerly had locations in Foster City/San Mateo and San Jose. When I worked in Foster City from 1999 to 2007, I must have visited that location at least once a month. Always got turkey. Either as a carved sandwich with dipped wheat roll, turkey dinner, or A La King style (cream sauce with rice).

When I got to the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised to see a line and hear almost everyone order a turkey dinner or sandwich. The day after Thanksgiving. Realized many in line were probably in the same situation. They craved for carved turkey. I opted for the Turkey A La King. Happy tummy.

Now, off to another locally owned business in Redwood City, Hoot Judkins Furniture. Opened in 1962, it is one of the few remaining family and locally owned furniture stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’ve been an admirer of their dining furniture for several years. It started not long after I sold my dining set when I moved out of the Outer Sunset house I rented from Kevin from 2011 to 2014.

HJ’s way of doing business is very retro. All furniture is real wood. No particle board or veneer. Sales staff don't work on commission. No high pressure sales tactics. They know buyers are going to make expensive purchases, so giving people like me time to decide is more likely to result in a sale.

I left the store 2 hours later as the soon-to-be owner of a new dining table and chairs that I'll get in about 4 to 6 weeks. As part of the Black Friday special, they paid my sales tax. It'll be well worth the wait. My dining table has a butterfly leaf that opens with a built in gear that requires little to no effort to expand the table. The chairs have reinforcements between the legs.

source: Hoot Judkins

You can buy a similar table and chairs for about the same price on Wayfair or Overstock. And you'll get it within 2 weeks. But you'll get it in boxes and delivered curbside. I'll get mine delivered inside and fully assembled.

My small contribution to small businesses. With outstanding service and value to boot.

My Transportation Experiences on Vacation

source: Norweigan Cruise Lines

My last vacation for 2019 ended yesterday. It was a 7-day cruise (see above picture) with family and longtime friend Stan to celebrate our nephew's first birthday. We stopped at the same ports not in the same order as Norweigan did.

Despite being eaten alive with insect bites on my legs and arms, the time went too fast. From Miami, we traveled to Costa Maya (Mexico), Harvest Caye (Belize), Roatán Bay Islands (Honduras), and Cozumel (Mexico).

Cindy and Stan got to spend time with the little guy on visits they made to New York in the past 2 months. I was worried he'd be terrified of me since my last visit was in February for Chinese New Year.

Turns out I had nothing to worry about. He smiled and/or laughed almost every time we made eye contact. I could get him to laugh hard whenever I made funny noises. As the youngest passenger, he was probably the most popular person on the cruise aboard the Oceania Insignia.

source: Getty Images

To get to our cruise, I flew non-stop from San Francisco to Miami on American Airlines. I haven't flown on AA in at least 15 years. Like United, I'll do whatever I can to avoid flying with them. As they offered multiple non-stops from San Francisco to Miami, I ended up booking with them. After this trip, my experience only reinforced why I don't fly with them.

AMERICAN AIRLINES SUCKS.

From San Francisco, I went to a kiosk to do a bag drop for a single piece of luggage. The $30 charge is typical of most airlines, so this didn't bother me.
What bothered me was the surly attitude from several service employees.

When I got to the bag drop area, I proceeded to the counter after the passenger before me in line headed to the boarding gate. The counter person then immediately scolded me about coming too soon. He told me next time I should wait until I'm announced.

After the flight took off from SFO, the attendants came around to serve beverages and snacks. I was wearing my earphones watching a movie so I wasn't exactly paying attention to what was being offered. So when the flight attendant got to my row, I asked what was available. He snapped in front of me a packet of biscuits in one hand, then in the other hand with the same snappy attitude, a small bag of pretzels.

On the return flight back, I noticed the newer looking seats. Found out as I was sitting down, there was no viewing screen (learned today it's been this way for newer AA planes since 2017). We were told to download the AA app from one's phone and look for AAinflight as the wi-fi name. I connected to the wi-fi but tried without success to get to the entertainment.  I missed the part about entering aainflight.com in the web browser.

Kind of hard to do when everyone is repeatedly reminded to board a FULL plane to meet an on-time departure. My seat assignment was in the LAST row, 33C.

So I ended up watching no movies, painfully slow wi-fi access and charged $10.99 for it. The constant browser search spinning drained my phone's battery quite quickly. I couldn't charge the phone because the jack to plug in the charger already had the earphones. We received one lousy beverage and food cart service for a 6-hour flight.

AA may have saved plane weight and labor and maintenance costs. I'm all for cost-cutting. But not at the expense of customers. Namely this one.

source: YouTube

To get to and from the airports, I used ride sharing apps.
Up until this month, my ride sharing app was exclusively Lyft. When I upgraded to American Express Platinum in August, I added Uber to take advantage of the $15/month credit.

As a passenger, I found Lyft to be faster and cheaper than Uber in San Francisco. I found Uber much more responsive in Miami. I used Uber from the airport to the hotel, and from the hotel to the Port of Miami.

The biggest highlights of the vacation:

• bonding time with nephew
• unlimited availability of char-grilled steak and lobster tail at the dinner buffet
• ziplining in Roatán

I'm not yet ready to go back to work tomorrow. But it will be less painful as it'll be a short work week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Switch to Toric Contact Lenses

L: Dailies AquaComfort Plus (Toric)
R: Dailies (Classic) 

I first began wearing contact lenses a few months before I turned 16. My dad didn't want me to get them. He thought I was too young to handle wearing them. I told him with as much sports that I played, I'd break eyeglasses. Plus, with my flat nose bridge, I fog up lenses constantly. Dad couldn't put up much of an argument.

Diagnosed with astigmatism, the optometrist recommended hard lenses. I wore blue tinted ones (easier to see when putting them in). I then moved to gas permeable hard lenses until 2002 or so, when allergies constantly left deposits on my lenses making them uncomfortable to wear.

From there, I moved to daily disposables, Alcon's Focus Dailies.
So much better. No weekly cleaning. No worries about replacing lost lenses. Every day, a new pair of fresh, clean lenses to wear.

I picked up a 2-week sample of a new type of daily disposable lenses, Toric Dailies AquaComfort Plus. Toric lenses are specially designed for astigmatism. Which I've had most of my life and only has gotten worse over time.

Wore the new toric lenses for the first time today. With a stronger prescription, I can definitely see a difference. Comfort level is good. Biggest differences between standard disposables and torics:

• Thicker lens
• Insertion of lenses are in a specific position
• Higher cost due to more details required for the prescription

Whether or not this will be a long-term solution remains to be, ahem, seen.

Lots of Gray in the Gig Economy

Three days ago, I shared on LinkedIn New York Times writer Patricia Cohen's article "Lots of Job Hunting, but No Job". Ms. Cohen has been with the New York Times since 1997.

Laura Ward is the woman pictured in the article. Ms. Ward has been unable to find permanent full-time employment for the past 3.5 years.

Sounds awfully familiar.

I resigned willingly from my job in June 2010. I didn't return to full-time work until January 2014 (see February 6, 2014 entry). I probably applied to 200 different jobs.

Before 2010, it never took me more than 6 months to find a new employer.

During my job hunting phase, I told everyone I knew I was looking for a job. Managed to get a few referrals from friends and former colleagues that led nowhere. Secured promising phone interviews every 2 to 3 months. A handful of those made it to a second interview. If I really got lucky, my third interview would result in a face-to-face. Got about 6 of those in the 3.5 year span I was looking. A few of them were notably large well-known companies such as VISA, BART, and Dignity Health.

But no offers. Many rejection emails, sometimes a rejection phone call.
Most times, absolutely, positively nothing.

Here are my top 3 reasons why I didn't get the job:

1. Lacked the qualifications
2. Wasn't a cultural fit (too old)
3. Overqualified (too experienced)

My sister was laid off her job after 27 years in 2017. She finally returned to work to her former employer in another division. She's among thousands of others that were/are unable to find a full-time permanent job that pays a livable wage.

As of this writing, Ms. Cohen's article shared on LinkedIn has been viewed over 80,000 times in 3 days. That's 41% of my total views on this 13-year old blog.

Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) - California

Due to weather forecasts of high winds with low humidity, Pacific Gas and Electric (PGE) imposed a massive power shutdown in the San Francisco Bay Area.

My neighbors to the north in Marin County and many down south in San Mateo County had their power shutoff around 8:20 pm last night. Approximately 1 in 6 San Francisco Bay Area residents are without power.

Power is not expected to come back until at least tomorrow morning. Therefore, no bowling practice this morning. And who knows if I'll bowl league tomorrow. Bel Mateo also had their power out.

I was lucky. San Francisco County was not affected. Neither was my office at the Oyster Point Marina in South San Francisco.

The high winds containing ash, pollen and other particles is wreaking havoc with my sinuses. Lots of sneezing with a runny nose.

Welcome to a new week.