Ara Ara, Robzilla!

 

  When reason fails, force prevails. Even though I'm retired, I needed a little dark humor to get my Monday morning going.  My character earned that Black Eagle hat from the Weapons Expert career track. That livery is one of many that can be chosen for the GTA Online version of the Ford Raptor pickup truck, which has quickly become one of my favorite vehicles to drive in San Andreas. I've always envisioned my character's back story as ex-military, but instead of dog tags she has a diamond encrusted platinum skull on that chain around her neck. She looks quite badass!

WHAT’S ON MY MIND Taxes. I haven’t received all of my 1099 forms yet, but I discovered I made more investment income than I thought in 2023. My mutual funds surprised me with how much taxable income they generated through dividends and trades. In my mind, this justifies my decision to walk away from an employer that was killing me slowly. Alternately, that header image is me thinking about how much I'll pay in taxes this year despite being retired. I guess this will be the new normal going forward. WHAT I BOUGHT This spiralizer and slicer attachment was delivered to my front porch on Monday morning. I wanted to satisfy a certain food craving, so the Kitchen-Aid stand mixer will no longer catch dust in the corner of my kitchen counter. WHAT I ATE, PART I Zoodles, also known as spiralized zucchini noodles. I made a sauceless pasta dish a couple of times this week. The first time I made zoodles they were a soggy mess due to not drying them properly and overcooking them. The second tim

 ...Bought Kirkland Gasoline. When I named my car after High School DxD's Akeno Himejima, I knew I had to take care of her just like I did Harley, the flame red 2001 Dodge Motorsports Dodge Intrepid ES that I lovingly owned until she was rear ended by some jackass late to work from their lunch break.  Weather permitting, I get Akeno washed once a month. I'll clean the interiors as needed. I get her maintenance done on time, and early if I can. She deserves to be treated like a queen, and I refuse to let her run on bargain priced gasoline. I've always put Chevron's supreme in her tank, but now that the price is inching back to $5.50 a gallon I felt it was time to put my Costco membership to good use.  This morning, at roughly six o'clock to avoid the monstrous midday lines, I filled up her tank with $4.86 a gallon supreme gas. I have heard nothing but good things about Costco, so I'm curious to see if Akeno's gas mileage and turbo boost are similar to how she

 

WHAT’S ON MY MIND It’s racing season! The Bathurst 12 Hours endurance race is this weekend, and Supercars will take to the track at Mount Panorama next weekend. Now I have something to watch on most Friday and Saturday nights once again. WHAT I ATE You already know what I ate on Singles Awareness Day — err, Valentine’s Day, and I decided not to buy discounted chocolate candy at Vons afterward. Moving on… WHAT I BOUGHT A clear plastic container with an air tight lid. It wasn’t advertised it was made for coffee, but it’s perfect to store it. I had no choice but to buy one after I had a messy accident while opening a bag of Peet’s Big Bang. WHAT I LISTENED TO Fucking in the streets. Okay, I did not hear or see actual fucking in the streets but the Disgraceland podcast about the MC5 had it in its title. That was an interesting trip down memory lane. There was also another episode about that one time The Clash “double sold out” a Times Square venue. That pissed everyone off except for the

I'm unattached, and Terri and Torrie are no longer with me. This is the first Valentine's Day in forever that I'm truly alone, but I had Miku accompany me on a little road trip in Gran Turismo 7.  We started our journey under cloudy skies in the Gaslamp Quarter, a place Comic Cons fans know well. We made a stop at Port Campbell. If you Google that, then you already know Miku and I headed to... ...what the locals call Straya! Specifically, we visited Mount Panorama to run some practice laps. The Liquid Moly Bathurst 12 Hours endurance race is this weekend, and I'm assuming you can watch practice and the race itself for free on YouTube Thursday through Saturday. This is us exiting Hell's Corner, the first turn before we head up Mountain Straight. Any visit to Mount Panorama's race track/public roads requires posting a screenshot from Brock's Skyline, the top of the mountain, before we begin our descent. Forrest's Elbow isn't just one of the trickiest

What you're looking at is what kept me awake late last night. I was about to fall asleep when both my phone and tablet went off at around 12:40 am. They warned me about a 5.4 earthquake that I might have felt moments earlier, and I assumed it was something going on in either the Los Angeles or Borrego Springs areas. I didn't feel the earthquake, which was later downgraded to a 4.8 by seismologists, but my curiosity got the better of me. I looked online, and the southern part of the San Andreas Fault is stirring awake again. There's been an endless swarm of earthquakes south of the Salton Sea since then, which is actually good news for everyone not in the immediate area. I'd rather have a swarm of quakes telling us the earth's plates are creeping along as they should instead of one big jolt that does catastrophic damage in a large area. In other words, this is normal life in Southern California. Carry on.

That was not me in Number 14 on the list . I swear. But I can imagine that happened in the neighborhood where the ancestral home is. When I lived there during my college years, it was like existing in a different world than the one I grew up in.

  WHAT’S ON MY MIND Voting. I mailed in my ballot for Super Tuesday, but I didn’t vote for Tang Satan, Joey From Scranton, or Media Darling Nikki for that matter. In California, if you’re registered as a Non-Partisan voter you’ll receive a streamlined ballot that excludes Presidential candidates in primary elections. That’s the rules. WHAT I BOUGHT The ZiZZO bike now has front and rear USB rechargeable lights, and a German made bike lock that defies logic. Two scales say it only weighs five pounds but when it is folded up for storage it feels like a metal brick that’s twice its weight in my hand. WHAT I WILL EAT Super Bowl Sunday is upon us, and I don’t want to feel left out. I have never eaten a pizza with a crust made from ingredients normally served at Souplantation , so this will be an interesting dining experience. I may add diced roma tomatoes and parsley to it during the final stages of the cooking process to get more veggies in my system. WHAT I LISTENED TO Disgraceland. TED Ta

  Rose Wilson, aka Ravager, hanging out with her brother Joey. That one time the Teen Titan version of Ravager struck twelve on Clock King. This was hilarious when the Browns weren't winning. Dex-Starr, you're such a cutie! Uh... Huntress and Black Canary, please tell us more how you really feel about Batman. Huntress and Black Canary identify their perp. Black Canary seems to be the only woman in Birds of Prey with a dating life. Captain America with a public service announcement. I'm always down for a Clay Bennett political comic. Starfire learns how to use a smart phone for the first time. I think. Huntress, the only woman that doesn't take Batman's shit. A Super Taikyu race car from a few seasons ago. I'm assuming Shizuki was used to sell aftermarket racing parts for J's Racing. Harley Quinn in one of my all time favorite comic panels. A little Subway humor. Let's end this with something that's naughty and nice at the same time. Veronica Lodge as

Yes, Toby Keith's politics were a little problematic at times. He voted twice for Bill Clinton, but also twice for Shrub. He re-registered as an Independent after liberals told him he couldn't support war. He didn't say who he voted for in 2008 but noted Obama was doing a good job. He spat venom at both Presidential candidates in 2016, and then performed for Tang Satan out of duty to America, not a political party. I'm heartbroken that Toby lost his battle with cancer. One of his songs became my personal anthem once I reached a certain age. Even now while I'm shedding weight and becoming a shape other than round, I still feel... well, play the video and you'll understand. Rest in peace, Toby. Independents like us will always be misunderstood.

Should I build an ark?

  WHAT’S ON MY MIND Are we done yet? I thought the clinic was finished with my blood sample but another test was ordered midweek. That one yielded normal results, but at this point I don’t know if I should be relieved or freaking out. I'm officially retired! I look forward to my spam folder being less bloated going forward. As of Thursday, my insurance license expired. WHAT I ATE 2 ounces of Cheetos. Puffed crack is wack, y'all. WHAT I BOUGHT A 26 oz. Brita water bottle in translucent blue. I discovered mid week that it only takes one drop on a handful of concrete steps to crack one. WHAT I LISTENED TO Welcome To Nightvale . I canceled YouTube Music and resumed using the Amazon Music app. I forgot I had subscribed to this podcast, and I enjoyed listening to the latest episode during Friday’s workout. It was the first one I’ve streamed since two years ago, I think. I also listened to Bawdy Storytelling, an adults only podcast that's often hilarious.  WHAT I READ Whisper Me

...Rewarded Myself With Empty Calories I've done a great job with my weight loss since I received my hidden disability diagnosis, so yesterday I decided to reward myself with something I abstained from since September. Like most people, I fell for the marketing gimmick that I'd get nine cents off if I bought two one ounce bags of Cheetos when I went grocery shopping at Vons the other day. And like most people, those two bags were lucky to survive five hours in my household. These little fuckers are so addicting I had a reckoning. I realized once both of them were gone I was left wanting for more. It's then that I remembered what my problem was with my prior dietary habits.  So what do you get in a one ounce serving of Cheetos? That little bag has 160 calories, and you get 15 grams of carbohydrates, 10 grams of fat, and not much else. In comparison, let's look at a Ready-Pac salad I'll have with my lunch this afternoon... The salad gives you 270 calories, 18 grams of