More Lamentations 2023

Lamentations

After another night of sleep deprivation, the day was destined to be horrific. However, that was not the outcome, thank Molech. The fast food joint in town shut down its free wireless network, which should have been irksome. Just “water off a duck’s back.” Instead, a great haircut was acquired at the Institute of Hair Design.

After the usual workout at the gym, despondency somehow came to the forefront. The thought of dining at Panda Express® again was just not appealing. The eatery has gone downhill in the last few weeks. So, already being on the Waikiki bus, the trip was made back to the cheesy tourist trap.

The decision was made to engage in an early evening outing to Ala Moana Center. The bus ride with all of the tourists and Filipino laborers was actually tolerable. Upon arrival at the mall, a walking tour of the Makai Market food court ensued. Obviously, no new surprises … marginal food at exorbitant prices. So, there was only one choice … prime rib from Lahaina Chicken. Unlike last week, the prime rib was excellent, true restaurant quality. The meal was delicious.

After dinner, a mild shopping spree was in order at Target® and Longs®. Of course, all discounts were exploited. More dental products were procured using the Healthy Benefits+® card. So, total expenditures didn’t amount to much. There was some temptation to purchase another pint of ice cream for dessert, but that was quickly abandoned. Instead, two bananas and a bar of dark chocolate candy sufficed. Unfortunately, a couple of packs of generic organic granola were procured since the new favorite was out of stock. Yeah, the granola was extremely substandard.

Overall, a nice evening outing. Even the bus ride back to Waikiki was okay. The goal is to ease in more evening outings. Misanthropy has, of course, been at the heart of the problem. Being in proximity and unwittingly interacting with essentially stupid people is just not conducive to personal mental health. However, with so little time left (i.e., mortality), no rationale can justify sequestration in the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki. Only increased exposure to the “elements” can effectively suppress the “inner monk,” even if the latter is just an evening outing to the International Marketplace.

By the same token, only those same evening outings are going to gradually suppress the “inner miser.” Resistance to impulse purchases (sans superfluous “stuff”) must be suppressed within reason. As stated previously in Notes, the life savings must be spent.

Addendum: The evening outings currently end before 8pm, unlike the “good ol’ days before the “super-duper corona” plan-demic. Back then, the “witching hour” was 10pm at the earliest.

Lamentations 2023

Wailing Wall

Lamenting at the wailing wall, a new pastime! Well, that’s not true. Personal lamentations at the wailing wall have spanned for decades. A brief evening outing was made to the ABC Store in lieu of the International Marketplace. A small, expensive can of Guinness® stout was procured to aid in the subsequent evening lamentations in the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki.

First up, the Visible+ cellphone plan has really ramped up the inner miser. A concerted effort has been made to insure that daily data usage does not exceed one gigabyte in order to insure that the 50 GB of allocated prioritized data is not exceeded before the month expiry. How stupid is that? After the 50 GB is consumed, then data is deprioritized just like the basic plan, the plan that evidently was sufficient for several years.

In addition to the aforementioned stupidity, a concerted effort has been made to view all of the daily acceptable Web content using various free wireless networks earlier in the day. Thus, later in the evening, there is nothing to peruse on the Net except the acceptable news sites for updates. Even alternative streaming media is no longer viewed to curb data usage. Then, there has been some consideration of reverting to the old Visible basic plan. Why waste an additional $10 per month? Yeah, the whole situation is a “clown show.”

Next up, the new “super-duper corona” plan-demic is “just around the corner.” Apparently, face mask mandates are popping up at various universities in empire. The Fascists are attempting to ease in all of the mandates and, perhaps, throw in a few “lockdowns” for good measure. A quick check of Steve Kirsch’s Substack “blog” has confirmed the latter. The rank-and-file peons here in Hawai’i are already one step ahead in general stupidity. More and more of the fools are donning face masks by the day. For interested parties, the entire “super-duper corona” fiasco in Hawai’i was chronicled in Notes.

There are many other concerns, too numerous to delineate upon in Notes. However, the common theme appears to be death, or the short time remaining before death. Currently, the last of the “good years” are coming to a close and the “twilight years” will be at the forefront. Peers of the same age (68 years) and older do not look good. They are all out of shape, fat, flabby, with skeletal deformations and asymmetric posture … some of them can barely walk. And, these are gym members!

The predominant concern is to stretch out the “good years” as long as possible. Thus, the gym regimen has been strictly maintained. The secondary concern is still the miserly ways. The life savings needs to be depleted. When is that going to “sink in”?

Notes Music Break

Hypnotic Progressions — Haymarket Mix

Frugality 2023

Sleepless nights. Dysthymia. The “existential vacuum.” The “cranky” mood. There was no desire to dine at Panda Express® either. The personal situation is rapidly degenerating. Thus, the immediate solution called for a forced evening outing to Ala Moana Center late this afternoon.

A prime rib takeout dinner was procured at Lahaina Chicken in the Makai Market food court. A nice table was found to sit and enjoy the dinner, a reminder of the old days prior to the “super-duper corona” plan-demic. The prime rib certainly wasn’t high quality. Nonetheless, spending $20 on the latter “without batting an eyelash” was the ulterior motive.

Shopping at Target®, although unnecessary, was the next phase of “therapy.” A couple of packages of organic granola was procured for no apparent need, along with a banana and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s® Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream for dessert. The ice cream was on sale for $4 (in Waikiki, it is priced at over $10). The whole pint of ice cream, all 1,003 calories, was consumed. Needless to say, there was some dizziness experienced subsequently due to the glycemic overload.

Obviously, sitting down would not have been a good idea. So, an excursion was made to Longs®. More dental supplies were purchased with the Healthy Benefits+® card. So, no personal outlay was made.

The evening outing actually did nothing to cure the miserly ways. The spending spree was an actually “non-starter” because of the discounts and credits. Oh well. However, the outing was somewhat successful in offsetting the mindset of sequestration in the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki.

Addendum: Mood and disposition have been extremely bad as some of the leading figures in the opposition are signaling that the Fascists will possibly stage another plan-demic in a month or so.

Miscellany: The switch to the costlier Visible+ plan has been somewhat mind-boggling. So far, the data usage this month has been less than 1GB per day, the lowest usage ever. On the other hand, the reliance on free wireless networks is increasing.

Visible+

After too much miserly deliberation, the switch was made to the Visible+ premium cellular plan from the basic one. About $3 was prorated for the current billing cycle which ends in three days. The monthly rate with the loyalty discount is $35 (normally $45) with taxes and fees included. Of course, if dissatisfied, a switch can be made to the basic plan next month. So, the “gnashing of teeth” was unnecessary.

As expected, there was not much improvement in download speeds in the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki. There’s just too much congestion in the towers. Visible+ supposedly has no deprioritization below 50GB of data. Of course, Verizon (parent of Visible) in Hawai’i is third-world. Only DSS 5G is available on Band 66 with no C-Band or mm-wave coming in the immediate future. Pathetic.

An evening outing to the International Marketplace preceded the momentous Visible+ occasion. Incidentally, the free wireless network there is “top notch.” It’s fast and has negligible drain on the iPhone battery. The basic Visible plan is actually okay when deployed in the latter vicinity. Tower congestion must be minimal.

On a side note, the Ka-Block! content blocker has been deprecated and replaced exclusively with BlockBear in the iPhone Safari browser. Ka-Block! has not been updated for well over a year. BlockBear has not been updated in four years, but the block lists appear to be updated just by opening the “app.”

The desequestration of the iPhone 14 Pro continues. In addition, many of the on-board “apps” will soon be allowed cellular data access. Of course, when the device is not in use, airplane mode is enabled. This is the kind of fun that only an old codger can enjoy. Sheesh!

Addendum: There is also heavy reliance on the free wireless network at the fast food joint in town and at the gym. The download speeds for the fast food joint wireless network are extremely fast especially for iOS updates.

Miscellany: A small, expensive can of Guinness® stout was procured at the ABC Store to extend the occasion.

Admissions Day 2023

Admissions Day … another no-holiday holiday in Hawai’i … marks the acceptance of the islands into empire many, many moons ago. The entire sordid history, including the overthrow of the indigenous kingdom, was discussed in the old “blog,” so there’s no need to go on.

The routine remains the same, the primary focus of which is the daily workout at the gym. There’s just no telling when the “good years” are going to come to a close, but that time has got to be nearing. Everyone, acquaintance or otherwise, in this age group looks worn out, fatigued, overweight, and flabby with assorted skeletal deformations and asymmetric posture. Only one individual has refrained from letting himself go.

Nevertheless, the time is going to come when all efforts fail. The body will begin breaking down rapidly. From all indications, that point of no return will be circa 70 years of age, less than two years from now. Currently, the physique is nearly exactly the same as it was over 20 years ago. All that can be done for now is to “soldier on.”

Dysthymia, of course, is the real opposing force. The “existential vacuum” encompassing the senior citizen life-style causes complete demoralization. Senior citizens are simply waiting to die. And, so many of them are in such bad shape that their wait isn’t going to be too long.

On a side note, the iPhone 14 Pro is being released from sequestration. All of the intentionally disabled features (e.g., location services) are being restored. No one is tracking the foolish old codger owner. No one knows who he is, and no one cares. No one even knows the old fool’s phone number or e-mail address. Sheesh!

Then, there was the long diatribe about the pathetic iPhone 14 Pro battery health over the last two Notes posts. Who cares? The ridiculous part is that the iPhone 14 Pro is going to be replaced within three months anyway. What a maroon!

What should really be a priority is defeating the miserly ways. Most of the life savings needs to be spent within the next five years. Only a token amount of money must continue to be saved. The latter will be “stolen” by the healthcare industry anyway when geriatric health issues pop up. As stated many moons ago in the old “blog,” the goal is be flat broke when physical decrepitude is prominent, and subsequently become a ward of the state. Baha! Ha! Ha! Haaa!

Of course, senior citizens have nothing to spend money on … well, aside from lots of cheap booze. Many senior citizens love to go on those ridiculous luxury cruises. What a waste! Aside from the latter and former, there’s nothing else. Old codgers don’t need to spend money on accoutrements in a vain attempt to “hook up” with young hotties. Well, suggestions are always welcome.

Nihilism 2023

Dysthymia has set in (probably permanently), obviously due to a combination of issues including the “twilight years,” the persistent miserly ways, the “existential vacuum,” and general malaise. The topic has been discussed ad nauseum in Notes, so there’s no desire to regurgitate the tiresome rhetoric. Nothing has changed.

Lahaina Mau’i - Aftermath

The situation on the island of Mau’i, specifically the Lahaina area, is evidently dire. News on this island is limited to the same kind of propaganda being disseminated globally. Only people who are in touch with survivors know some semblance of truth. Outside of that small circle, there is now all kinds of nonsense like climate change was the cause, or a climate “weapon” was involved, or arson as a precursor to a mass “land grab” by filthy predators. Only the “land grab” tidbit is actually based on some facts.

Edward Dowd, who resides on that island, has not revealed much. Larry Johnson has stated on his “blog” that he received information from a very reliable source (connected to the local emergency services). Supposedly, the casualty figures may creep up into the thousands. Yeah, there are still that many people unaccounted for.

At the other extreme, Waikiki is booming. Lots of idiotic tourists running around acting like they own the place. There’s also been a surge in Japanese tourists, many of whom are assholic like their empire counterparts. Obviously, the mRNA bioweapon was not as effective as originally assumed. Can’t the Fascists get anything right?

On a side note, the iPhone 14 Pro line has recently made the news … in a bad way. Apparently, battery health for a large numbers of owners has dropped significantly in less than a year. Some people are reporting figures as low as 88 percent. The personal iPhone 14 Pro is down to 95% but battery life appears to have shortened. The battery drains quite fast now during the day, even with all services disabled.

There were hundreds of comments in the various articles covering the battery health fiasco. What could be ascertained is that the iPhone battery health data is bogus. Personal experience also confirms the latter (i.e., iPhone 12). It is supposedly based on full charge cycles, but what most people are reporting seems to negate that premise.

The only way to really know what’s going on with the iPhone battery is to download a shortcut to the Shortcuts “app” from this article and carefully follow the instructions. Doing so led to a very unpleasant discovery. Even though the iPhone 14 Pro only racked up 133 full charge cycles (which correlates to the 95% battery health), the actual battery health (read: capacity) is down to 90%! Incidentally, at 80% battery health (500 full charge cycles), the iPhone may/will become unusable.

What caused this drastic battery degradation? The only possible explanation is the two recent occurrences of the camera”app” being opened inadvertently via the lockscreen. The device was unwittingly placed in the gym bag for an extended period. Upon later discovery, the iPhone was extremely hot. That’s what killed the battery. And, that is probably what happened to many other people, too. Of course, a shortcut was created to solve that problem, as mentioned previously in Notes. Too little, too late. Is the iPhone 14 Pro really a $1,100 “piece of shit”?

Well, the Summer season is nearly over and nothing has been accomplished. No attempt has been made to schedule any medical, dental, or optical appointments with the Waikiki Health Center. Heck, face masks may still be required. Evening outings have been sparse. Too much time is being spent is the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki. Yeah, nihilism and dysthymia go hand-in-hand.

Miscellany: Notes has adopted reusable titles in the quest to return to basics. These are the “twilight years” and the goal is to wind down Notes.

More Banality 2023

The world-war-by-proxy in Ukraine continues to be of interest. Aside from the approved list of Net sources, other sources of information are sporadically perused including Moon of Alabama, Paul Craig Roberts, Larry Johnson amongst others. Sometimes the reader comments are perused. In the past few months, many of those “armchair generals” have become impatient with the Russian “incremental” offensive strategy, although they themselves are irrelevant. However, “heavyweights” like Paul Craig Roberts have always criticized the strategy, warning that a world war would be the only possible outcome. Now, even Colonel Doug Macgregor is making similar statements.

No one in the collective “West” (or outside of Russia) has any business deciding what’s best for Russia. There is no doubt that President Putin, Defense Minister Shoigu, the General Staff, et al. have “gamed” all of the options. They know all of the possible outcomes. So, what if Vladimir Putin has decided that a (possibly thermonuclear) world war is the best and only option for Russia? Surely, the Russian leadership is aware that the megalomaniacal Fascists in the “West” will never stop their pursuit of the total destruction of Russia. President Putin himself offered an ominous hint when he asked, “What is the world without Russia?”

Lahaina Mau’i - Aftermath

Locally, the big news is that nearly the entire historical township of Lahaina on the island of Mau’i has been destroyed by wildfires raging even at this moment. Lahaina was once the capital of the indigenous Kingdom of Hawai’i and is most notable as a former whaling village. Nearly all of the structures were constructed of wood. News accounts are ubiquitous at this point in time, so there is no need to rehash the details. Edward Dowd, by the way, resides in Wailea (there are wildfires in that area as well). He has not updated his Gettr feed as of this post.

Face masks are making a dramatic comeback in Hawai’i. Could the new “Eris” strain of  “super-duper corona” be the cause of the hysteria? Yes, the whole face mask bullshit is both tiring and banal.

The situation at the mausoleum in the “old folks home” in Waikiki is … well, extremely boring. The mausoleum is officially an “existential vacuum.” There are now intrusive thoughts about finding another rental residence (using the additional financial reserves) instead procuring some kind of foolish grandiose automobile. Maybe the idea of the homeless motorhome should be revisited, eh?

On a side note, the crappy iPhone lockscreen has two toggles for the camera and the flashlight, both of which are easily activated. Twice now, the camera was unwittingly opened and the device placed in the gym bag. The iPhone becomes extremely hot and depletes the battery rapidly all within a few minutes. And, the battery health goes down, too. Needless to say, the face of stone nearly cracked.

There are only two remedies … disable the camera “app” using Screen Time or create a Shortcut Automation. So, the latter was created in which opening the camera “app” immediately enables the lockscreen. So, pressing the camera toggle on the lockscreen only locks the screen again. The camera “app” itself never opens. So banal!

Addendum: Edward Dowd has updated his Gettr feed. The opposition will not be silenced!

Notes Music Break

Hypnotic Progressions — Sugar Maple Mix

Banality 2023

Baby!

The total expenses (not including rent for the mausoleum at the “old folks home” in Waikiki) came to $680 and some change. Monthly spending actually decreased. The miserly ways have indeed fully exploited all available discounts. Mind boggling! Of course, there’s really nothing to spend money on. Everything is junk.

The new iPhone 15 Pro will most likely be acquired later this year, even though the price is predicted to increase. One of the posters in the Macrumors forums stated in a recent poll that he is purchasing the device because “I’m an old man and I need to spend my money before I croak.” Well, yeah.

The possible switch to the Visible+ plan is an on-going internal debate. The offer to switch and receive the $10 per month discount will expire soon. The basic Visible plan is sufficient, but there is heavy deprioritization in Waikiki. Visible+ allegedly is not downgraded for the first 50 GB of data, but that is only if the cell towers are not completely congested. So, the switch may be made for one month. If the data speeds remain poor, then a switch to the basic plan will be in order (as per the miserly ways). Why not just remain on Visible+?

A couple of interesting conversations were overheard. This morning, while sitting outside and enjoying coffee time, a sixty-ish woman profusely thanked the property’s security guard for saving her life. She mentioned something about low blood pressure. The assumption is that she collapsed and was aided by the security guard, no doubt ending up in the hospital.

At the gym, one of the senior citizen members came into the locker room and told his buddy that he was recently discharged from the hospital. He apparently was at home when he suddenly felt dizzy and collapsed. The doctors noted that he had low blood pressure and “afribrillation.” He probably meant atrial fibrillation. So, he’s on medication now, probably beta blockers.

Of course, that could also explain what happened to Chuck. Three people, all in the same week, suffering from some kind of heart disorder that put them all in the hospital. Lots of “coincidences” these days, eh? What’s going on? (feigned bewilderment)

Miscellany: There were a couple of outings to the International Marketplace, one being this evening. The ambient temperature was very warm, to say the least, which necessitated the acquisition of a big-ass can of cerveza from the Waikiki Market to quench the thirst. Yes, the Guinness®-only rule was broken, only because the Waikiki Market does not stock the latter.

Mortal Danger

Upon arrival at the gym on Friday morning, assistant manager Jerry, provided an update on Chuck. At that point in time, Chuck was considered to be in critical condition. Paperwork providing a personal account of the incident also had to be filed.

On Saturday, Jerry said that Chuck was still in critical condition. Chuck apparently suffered a major cardiac event, even though there were no signs on Thursday that he experienced a heart attack.

The situation for Chuck apparently worsened, according to what Jerry described on Sunday. Chuck was intubated, which means that he had to be put into a drug-induced comatose state. Essentially, he is on life support. That’s a really bad sign. “Keep him in your thoughts,” Jerry added. Personal speculation is that Chuck may be a victim of those white fibrous obstructions (first revealed by embalmer Richard Hirschman), obviously not good.

Incidentally, Chuck does not have a history of heart disease or clotting disorders. Yeah, senior citizens love to share the entire gory details of their medical history, much to the chagrin of the listener. Chuck is a good guy. He did not deserve what was happening to him.

There’s no way to discuss this issue as a “vaccine” injury with anyone here. Over 81% of the local population is fully “vaccinated.” They are true believers, and any discussion would bring down the “wrath of god.” So, all discussion is resigned to feigned bewilderment.

Unbelievable as this may seem, Chuck made a miraculous recovery this week, apparently without surgery. He is no longer on life support, and he will be released from the hospital in a few days. No further details are available yet.

Miscellany: The colon cancer (fecal occult) screening sample was mailed a week ago. Checking on-line yesterday, the test was shown to be negative.