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       Stardate: 20191114.1531
       Location: SBUX
       Input Device: Gemini PDA
       Audio: SBUX muzak
       Visual: Baristas, Xmas Decor
       Energy: 40% +10 coffee
       Mental: 55%
       Emotional: Tired
       
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       I am finally done with my 2 week on call shift for work!  I had
       scheduled for today and tomorrow off since I knew I would be super
       exhausted and unable to continue doing any useful work.  +5 for
       planning and +5 for self-care.  I still had to work for about 15
       minutes to turn off an alert script. -5 for reinforcing healthy 
       boundaries.  Oh well.
       
       So I took a hike through the mountains earlier and listened to the 
       ham radio channel on the network radio (zello).  Listened to a 
       cranky guy complaining about how it is not like it was.  Then again,
       when is it ever?  We don't  live in a vacuum.
       
       I guess that I do that a bit myself on occassion, especially in
       regards to the state of things with personal computing or the 
       Internet.  I wonder if that is an old guy thing.   Like once you
       start complaining about stuff now compared to, "how things used to
       be," maybe that is a sign of old man syndrome.  I don't think of 
       myself as old, but that's just me. My thinking and attitude 
       in some respects is a lot more mature than it used to be, 
       but there can also be times where I can be downright 
       immature.  Not that it is of any real importance or anything.  
       Maybe since I have a history with personal computing and the 
       Internet, I have a point of reference to make a statement 
       like, "it is not like it used to be."
       
       One of  the things I did on my hike was watch part of a 
       mountain be excavated by the big machines.  They had a whole 
       excavation outfit up there with an excavator, a big dirt/rock 
       separation contraption, a fleet of dump trucks. and a bunch 
       of other equipment.  As you can tell. I don't really know the 
       technical names of these big machines.  Good thing I brought 
       my spotting scope so I had a good time watching the 
       happenings sitting in the grass on my day off.  It would have 
       been nicer if I could hear their radios.
       
       Watching all of these big machines moving around and all the 
       work being done with the earth still facinates me.  This took 
       me back to when I was a child and I used to ride my bike over 
       to watch construction.  I would watch houses being built 
       since the neighborhood we lived in was fairly new and there 
       were still a lot of empty lots and houses being built.  
       Sometimes I would even talk to the construction workers.  One 
       time my mom, my sister, and I drove by one of these sites and 
       the workers said hi to me and remembered my name.  My mom and 
       my sister were impressed.   I miss those days when things 
       seem to be so simple.
       
       I also spent some time playing some Minecraft on the SDF 
       server and I was able to meet fellow gopher logger, tfurrows 
       on the server.  It was pretty cool.  I haven't seen him on 
       the server since I usually connect in the evenings, but since 
       I was not working today, I connected.  He mentioned some 
       places I should visit and I took note to explore those places 
       once I have set up my residence.  I joined the server a few 
       weeks ago and I'm still getting situated.  The little I have 
       explored makes me want to explore more!  There is much 
       creativity going on and it is really nice to see all of the 
       beautiful structures.  Last time I played was quite some time 
       ago and I keep coming across features that I need to learn 
       about.  
       
       Hopefully, the server doesn't get reset often and I can build 
       without people messing up my stuff.  Maybe I will also meet some of
       you on the server as well.
       
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