New Car Smell

I broke down and got a new car about a week ago. My 12-year-old Volkswagen had served me well, but it was time for a change. The last straw was when the radio went out last month and it cost me around $1,000 to get it replaced. Every little thing with that car ended up costing me a lot of money. Last December, my driver's side door decided to stop working and I was forced to climb over the passenger's side seat just to get into the driver's seat. I also had to wait several weeks for the parts to come in to repair the door. That repair job cost me more than $800. It just didn't make sense to keep putting money into an old car, so I got a new one, a Nissan, my first Japanese car. (Coming from a Detroiter whose father worked for Ford, that's a huge thing!) It's hard to try and find a sedan under $30K these days, but I did. I even looked into getting another used car (since my VW was three years old when I bought it), but the used cars out there now have so many miles on them that it didn't seem worth it to spend money on something with 30K miles or more on it for around the same price as a new car. 

I like my Nissan but, God, the new car smell in it is horrible. It's like breathing straight chemicals. I know the offgassing and weird smells will dissipate after time, but I'm trying to hurry the process along by keeping a cup of baking soda in the cup holder, using an air freshener, and driving with the windows open. In my older age, I just can't take heavy smells like that. I had a new doormat that had a rubber backing that I had to remove because I couldn't stand the smell. I also hate the smell of incense and heavy perfumes. I bought some Gold Bond spray powder to use this summer and ended up throwing it out after one use because I couldn't stand the scent. 

I haven't had a new car since 1999 and I don't recall if that one had a weird smell. If it did, I'm sure I was able to handle it because I was a lot younger back then and able to put up with a lot more than I can now. 

Wham!

I watched the Wham documentary on Netflix last weekend and really enjoyed it. As someone who was a teenager when Wham came out and loved George Michael when he was in the band, I loved hearing about how he and Andrew Ridgeley met and their rise to fame. Wham's music, for me, was largely happy music that came about at a time in my life when I was young and didn't have a lot of worries. And the 80s were a different time. There was no internet, no 24-hour distractions, and kids could be kids. Not that things were all sunshine and roses, but there certainly wasn't the burden that kids today have with such an information overload from their phones, computers, TVs, etc. 

Aside from the interviews and the Wham backstory featured in the documentary, I was happy to hear some Wham songs I hadn't heard in a long time. Everyone tends to mention "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" when Wham's music is mentioned (and I love that song), but they other great songs too. "I'm Your Man" is a personal favorite of mine that came up in the documentary and I had totally forgotten about this song. It's so great. I highly reommend checking out the video you YouTube (linked below). George threw down on that song! It came about shortly before Wham broke up, but it's wonderful. After watching the Wham documentary, I also watched a documentary on George Michael on Prime last weekend. Oy vey! What a downer that one was. It's a shame that George Michael seemed to have such an unhappy life and his downfall was awful. He was only 53 when he died. So talented and, yet, so unhappy. What a shame. I should have watched the Wham documentary again that was largely upbeat and put me in a good place mentally.

Sinking

I don't know why I even bother watching the news or reading it online. Pretty much every story seems to be a tale of gloom and doom. But I want to know what's going on in the world, so I watch and read. Right now, the media seems to be consumed with the Hollywood writers' and actors' strikes. I honestly had forgotten the writers were still on strike until the actors went out and I realized the late-night shows have been off the air for months. No Colbert, Meyers, Fallon, Kimmel. Not that I watched any of these shows regularly, but I'd often watch clips from them on YouTube. I do hope an agreement is reached soon for the writers especially. They've been walking the picket lines for months now and I'm sure many of them are being squeezed hard economically. All writers certainly aren't making big money. Still, I understand the pushback from folks who aren't a part of the Hollywood community who don't give two shits about writers and actors going on strike. When you're out here grinding on your own day job just trying to keep your own head above water with your mortgage/rent, groceries, gas, utilities, etc. and prices just keep rising, it's hard to feel sympathy for someone who works in the land of make-believe. Maybe these Hollywood studios and media companies should stop paying millions of dollars to some of these movie stars and media moguls and distribute more of those funds to the people who aren't in the limelight or the face of the business. 

Back in the day, a huge star like Tom Cruise or Harrison Ford would mean instant box office success. But those days are over. Not to say Cruise can't still put asses in the theater seats, but the way people view movies has changed. Why go and sit in a theater with a bunch of strangers when you could watch the same film in the privacy of your own home with access to your own snacks and your own bathroom? The last time I went to a movie theater, I found the entire experience to be a disappoinment and the movie wasn't great either. It's time for Hollywood to face the reality that peoples' viewing habits have changed and we may never go back to the way things used to be. If the only movies that make big money in theaters now are super hero and kids' movies (and even those aren't making bank the way they used to), then maybe it's time for the industry to scale down and stop paying actors millions or dollars to star in the next awful movie. Is Hollywood a sinking ship at this point? I have no idea but, perhaps more importantly, does anyone really care?

Escape from New York

I'm back from a brief visit to New York this holiday weekend. I had not been in the Big Apple since February of 2020, BC: Before Covid. Things have certainly changed since then. I noticed a huge amount of homeless people in the Chelsea area where I stayed in Midtown. It was really sad to see so many folks sleeping on the street and panhandling for cash. You could smell the dispair. The air (that was hot and muggy during my stay) consistently smelled like a combination of urine, cigarillo smoke, subway funk, and BO. Ugh. But, New York always manages to bounce back from the edge of dispair and I have no doubt that it'll bounce back again after this too. Still, it kind of broke my heart to see the city so broken itself.

This isn't a gloom and doom post though. I did have a great time during my visit seeing friends and doing something I never did when I actually worked in New York City and lived in Brooklyn. I went to the Brooklyn Bridge.  I took the 6 train down to the bridge Sunday morning and walked to the base for some pictures. That was enough for me. And it was more crowded than I expected for a Sunday morning. I also went to the World Trade Center mall and bought a nice pair of shoes I'd seen online at Sam Edelman. I don't know when I'll get back to New York, but I'll make sure it's a little cooler the next time I visit. Going there in hot and muggy July wasn't the greatest time to visit. In my old age, I can't take the heat and humidity.

Float On (or Not)

I'm glad to have a three-day weekend (thanks Juneteenth) because this week was stressful for me. My day job took a lot out of me this week. A lot of ups and downs. I decided to try and alleviate some of the stress from the week by going to a float center. I've been wanting to try floating for a while and finally did it today. Things didn't go well! I could not relax enough to enjoy it. First, because I'm claustrophobic, I had to leave the doors open on the float pod. Fine. Then, the lights went out (or were on a motion detector) and that freaked me out, so I requested that the lights be left on. Then I couldn't find a comfortable position. Then I was too hot. Finally, after about 20 minutes or so, I gave up. I knew there was no way I was going to stay it that hot pod for an hour. Maybe some folks find that relaxing, but I'm not one of them. Well, I tried. I'll stick to getting massages if I want a relaxing spa visit. 

In other news, I'm sticking with the German classes I've been taking. It's a difficult language to learn, but I have lowered expectations for myself. I'm not trying to be fluent. I just want to be able to read some things and understand what I'm reading and speak enough to get by if I do get the chance to travel to Germany next year. The book we have to use for our class is awful. It's totally in German and has no pronunciation. I've had to supplement that with other sources like German for Dummies (that's quite helpful). 

Guten Nacht!

Happy Pride Month

Delayed greetings, but Happy Pride Month! Reading and watching the news (as I do), there are a lot of reasons to be concerned over the, shall we say, temperature around the country involving gay rights, transgender folks, etc. Just when you think things are moving forward, idiots try to force the country to move two steps back. Why can't people mind their own business and let people live their lives? I don't know. 

I was in Louisville, Kentucky last year during pride month during a road trip to Alabama and the visitor's center gave me this jaunty beer koozie shown below. Thanks, Louisville! The story I've been working on (seeminly forever) takes place in Louisville and it features two characters from my last story, Ray's Friend, that also takes place in Louisville. I found Louisville totally fascinating while I was there. I really need to get back there and check out more the of city. 

Huntsville Rocks!

I'm back from a trip to visit family in Alabama and my sister and I spent last weekend in Huntsville. What a great place! Neither of us had ever been there, but we had a great time visting the Space Center (see photo below) and the art museum. We also enjoyed tasty $8 margaritas and live music at The Camp and equally great tacos (and more margaritas) at Taco Mama. Huntsville is the kind of city in Alabama that I'd actually consider living in. It didn't seem to be filled with hard-core MAGA folks. I'm sure those folks are there, but I feel like you've got a fighting chance of largely avoiding them while you're there.