Week 13: Why Apple?

I’m electronically spoiled.  I’ll admit that.  And my first vacation of this year is coming up soon.  Where will I go?  What will I do?  Well, instead of taking a trip somewhere I decided to spend my vacation money on an iPad.  And not just an iPad, but an iPad Pro!  Before I get into that, let’s go back a bit…

Seven years ago or so I saw that Apple was coming out with a second iPad that had a camera.  Actually, it had a front and back camera.  I didn’t have an iPad, but I did have an iPod.  It was a tiny little toy that I was enjoying and I thought getting a larger version of that might be really fun!  My little iPod didn’t have a camera and so a new iPad with a camera might be great!

And so I preordered an iPad 2.  This was the newest thing coming out and would be fantastic!  I had to wait a bit after release day for my iPad 2 because I was having my name engraved on it.  No problem, sometimes anticipation is better than the real event!  And so I waited and waited…

Finally my iPad arrived via FedEx.  I opened the box and was thrilled with it!  I learned to watch videos, check my email, and do quite a few other things with it.  Using my iPad got to be a daily thing.  But it was just the beginning back in 2010.

I was trying to use Facebook, but at first the Facebook app really didn’t work.  Years later that was fixed, but back then I couldn’t really do much with it.  And to tell the truth, Facebook was just getting going, too.  So that wasn’t as much a big deal.  But as time went on, I did find myself using this new toy every day.

As things are now, I wake up and check the news on my iPad.  I’ll also look at Facebook.  I order things from Amazon. I do all kinds of things.  It’s starting to slow down, though.  Suddenly my iPad is getting a bit frustrating sometimes.  Things are taking longer and longer to load.  My poor friend is just getting outdated.

And so I thought maybe instead of going on some fancy trip that would only last me one fleeting week, if that, maybe I should spend my vacation money on a new iPad?  I could check the Apple app on my iPad 2 and see what they have.

That didn’t quite work out because now for the Apple app to work on an iPad or iPhone you now need at least iOS 10.0.  My poor little iPad 2 won’t update beyond iOS 9 something!  Damn!  So I just looked up the Apple store online and luckily that worked.  They now have something called an iPad Pro.  There is a version that is 12.9 inches.  That’s huge!  Well actually just three inches or so bigger than my iPad 2.  But huge always seems to be good.  I want huge now!

Instead of impulse buying though, I figured I’d do a little research.  There is also a regular 9.7 inch iPad Pro.  That’s the same size as my iPad 2, but why get a regular sized one when I can have huge?  Huge seemed better until I looked a bit closer.

The 9.7 iPad Pro has a better camera and can film in 46K.  I have no idea what 46K is, but maybe I need that instead of huge?  Actually I do know that 46K is some kind of resolution that people would only be able to see if they had a 46K television, or computer screen, or whatever, but what the hell, right?  Maybe I need 46K instead of huge? (There's a bit more to it than just 46K, but it's fun to just make fun of that!)

Now I have to look closer.  Huge graphics or 46K?  I finally decided that I want the better camera.  I don’t understand why the huge one doesn’t come with the better camera.  If it’s bigger, why can’t you be putting the better stuff into it?  Come on, Apple!  And so I made my decision, I would get an iPad Pro 9.7.  They do offer free engraving, but you have to wait longer to get the iPad while it’s engraved in some obscure Chinese city, or Timbuktu, or where ever.  I can be patient.  I think I need my name on the new iPad Pro.  And so I ordered it.  Now my new iPad Pro will be my vacation toy.  I’ll have to take some 46K video and see where I can upload it. 

The new iPad will be here in about a week.  Actually not here, but at an Apple store and I’ll go pick it up from there.  That way I don’t have to wait all day for a FedEx guy. 

So why Apple instead of a vacation somewhere?  Because I want faster, updated, and 46K!  *chuckle*  And I’ll be able to take my new toy along for the next vacation I save up for.  Vacation videos in 46K!  I like the sound of that!

Until the new iPad Pro comes, keep asking why!   

Week 12: Too much violence

     Not much of a blog this week.  I think there's been too much violence for me to think about.  A guy here in Las Vegas shot two people on a bus, someone shot a bunch of people in a club in Ohio, and some idiots tried to rob the Bellagio hotel here with sledge hammers.  The getaway car wouldn't start and when they tried to just run away the police caught one guy.  I'm sure the other two will be picked up soon.

     So that's why no major writing this week.  I wonder if I'll even survive 52 weeks this year.

Week 11: Why doesn't my brother like Wendy's?

Why doesn’t my brother like Wendy’s?  I don’t know.  I can’t ever remember eating there myself and mentioned that I was going to stop there for dinner tonight.  Why not try the place out?  My brother warned me not to go there!  He said it was horrible!  He doesn’t like Wendy’s at all.  Why not, though?  Is their food bad?  He didn’t say that.  He just said he didn’t like the place.

https://www.wendys.com/

Now I guess on some fishing trips with our father he’s always had to stop there and get Dear ol’ Dad some Wendy’s chili.  Is this why he doesn’t like the place?  I guess my dad loves the chili!  So why not try the place out for myself.

I figured I’d try eating there especially because I refuse to let anyone else tell me what I like, or don’t like!  Now don’t suggest I go to McDonald’s, I don’t like that place.  I haven’t eaten at a McDonald’s in years and think the food there is pretty nasty!  Bleaugh!  But other burger places have been pretty good.

I really like Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers.  I’ve eaten there a few times and their French fries are fantastic!  Instead of going to Freddy’s though, I thought I’d try someplace new.  Maybe Wendy’s would be just as good, if not better?  Worth a shot in my opinion!  If you’re curious, here’s the link to Freddy’s:

http://freddysusa.com/

One of the other places I like is In N Out Burger.  I know that’s a West Coast kind of thing.  Their burgers are fantastic!  The fries there are good too, but still not as good as Freddy’s.

http://www.in-n-out.com/

Anyway, it was off to Wendy’s for me!  I wasn’t after chili like my dad likes, I wanted a burger and fries!  The burgers at Wendy’s are supposed to be fresh and not frozen.  So are they tasty being fresh?  I was ready to find out!

Once I got there, a friendly cashier guy greeted me.  Looking up at the menu I found something called the Bacconator!  That sounded good!  Kind of like a Terminator, but with bacon!  I ordered a Bacconator meal so I would get to try the fries and also get a drink.  I received a large cup and made my way over to where I could get my drink.  It was just one machine.  Looking it over, it had a touch screen and you could select from a huge amount of drinks!  Very efficient and fun!  I selected something called “Dave’s Cherry Cream Soda”.  It was quite delicious!  And just as I finished filling up my drink, my food was ready!  Very quick service!

And so here is what I got with my meal (minus the drink).

I’m quite happy to say the Bacconator was VERY GOOD!  I was quite pleased with my meal!  I have no clue why my brother doesn’t like the place!  Pick your own drink, get fantastic food, what’s not to like?  And so I will be going back to Wendy’s again in the future with or without my brother.  Maybe Dad will come along and get some chili?  Either way, I did like the place.  The fries weren’t as good as Freddy’s, but the Bacconator definitely was great! 

Why do you eat where you eat?  Question what people say and until next week, keep questioning everything!

Week 10: Why do people drive like this?

Why do people insist on being rude on the roadways?  On Friday night I wanted to treat myself to a burger at a place called In-N-Out Burger.  I drove over there and while waiting to turn into the drive-thru some girl drove around me and cut in front of me in line!  Who does this kind of thing?  I wonder if this is a Las Vegas thing because people are pretty rude here!

Why are there so many car wrecks here?  Probably because people don’t seem to think they’ll cause a wreck no matter how they drive.  Everyone else should watch out for them, right?  This theory makes absolutely no sense at all!  I remember watching a news story a few years ago where a reporter rode along with a highway patrol officer who was writing citations for speeding drivers.  One lady was pulled over going over one hundred miles an hour!  The reporter asked her if she was afraid of an accident and the lady snorted and said, “I haven’t been in an accident yet, so obviously I won’t be in one!”  I wonder how long that theory held up for her?

And it’s not just idiots in cars here, people riding motorcycles are dying left and right here!  I see them out on the road occasionally.  You’d think they would be really cautious with the way people drive here, but most aren’t!  A lot of these idiots drive like they’re some kind of stunt driver.  They go over the speed limit, cut in between cars, drive on the side of the road to pass cars, and run red lights.  And do they survive this kind of stuff?  Hell no they don’t!

Motorcyclist Dies

How about that?  The guy was speeding and ran a red light before he slammed into a truck.  It’s insanity on the roads here.  And I always hear people saying that no matter where you live, the drivers are worse there.  What is wrong with people?  Especially here in Las Vegas we have the news filled with car accidents and people dying or getting injured.

Ambulance Crash

You aren’t even safe in an ambulance here!  Either the ambulance hit someone else, or someone slammed into the ambulance!  I’m guessing someone slammed into the ambulance because most people here won’t even pull over when they hear a siren!

Man dies after driving the wrong way on the freeway

This guy was driving the wrong way on the freeway.  Imagine being the lady who drives one hundred miles an hour and seeing some idiot coming straight at you also doing a hundred.  What do you think goes through your head…besides the windshield?

Enough news links.  It’s just insane to me how people drive today.  Every day I see people who seem to be trying to cause a wreck.  A lot of times here in Las Vegas after a wreck the driver will just get out of their car and run away.  Then the police arrive and decide they don’t know who was driving.  Now who pays for the damage to your lovely Mazda?

People are just stupid and don’t seem to think they can be hurt driving erratically.  I’m sure writing STOP IT here won’t change a thing though.  Let’s hope I’m not killed by some idiot driving the wrong way before next week so I can ask why about something else.

Week 9: Why do we answer these questions?

Ok, it’s week 9 of 2017 and this week I’m wondering about personal questions.  Like a lot of people, I enjoy Facebook and seeing all the things my Facebook friends post.  I get to see photos and read people’s thoughts, it’s fun!  Sometimes people decide they want their Facebook friends to know them better and so they post these question and answer things.  Those can be lovely, except…

Exceptfor a lot of them that are yes or no, or one word answer things.  What the hell do I learn about a person from one word? 

Do you prefer milk or water?
Do you like winter or summer?
Is your car big or small?

What the hell are questions like this supposed to tell me about my online friends?  Oh, they like milk, summer, and drive a huge car?  I don’t care about that!  Can you imagine taking a Facebook friend to lunch in person and asking them questions like that?

“So Max, do you prefer blondes or brunettes?”

I wouldn’t mind filling out a question and answer thing, but I can’t just do one word answers.  As a writer I think I need at least a paragraph to answer just about anything you ask me!  And so here’s my own question and answer thing complete with answers!  Feel free to tell me about yourselves, too!

What kind of car do you drive?

Laugh if you want, but at the moment I drive a SMART car.  They look like this:

As a matter of fact, this looks just about exactly like my car!  My car is black, only has two seats, and suits me just fine!  I get a bit over 40 miles per gallon and fill the car up with gas every two weeks.  People will tell me they’re afraid to drive in a car this small, but it’s built around a roll cage like a race car.  I’m probably safer than you are.  Check out some of the SMART car crash tests on YouTube.  For now though, let’s move on.

What kind of pizza do you like?

Pizza, now there’s a topic!  I like to buy pizza at a place called Papa Murphy’s.  They make the pizza, but don’t cook it.  I then take it home and pile other toppings on the pizza that I buy at the store and then cook it myself.  The other toppings I usually get are chopped ham, sliced mushrooms, green bell pepper, and jalapenos.  Obviously I love both meet and vegetables on my pizza.  I also love stuffed pizzas!  Actually, I’m a huge fan of Italian food in general!

Have you ever been to Europe?

Absolutely!  I spent two years stationed at San Vito De Normani Air Station from 1986 to 1988 while in the US Air Force.  I wasn’t especially happy there during that time, but I did my duty and was eventually sent home.  I did the rest of my military service in Texas.  I loved Texas, it was a wonderful place to be stationed!

Let’s get into some deep dark secrets!  This “What do you like” crap isn’t cutting it!  *chuckle*

Do you have crushes on any of your Facebook friends?

I had to ask myself this, didn’t I?  Ok, the answer to this is yes.  I do have crushes on one or two people.  Am I going to tell you who they are?  Of course not!  Most of them are girls I’ve met in person, though.  And I have a bit in common with each of them.  Some are writers, and some just women from my past.  I’m not one of those idiot stalkers who is going to be sending them notes or disgusting photos.  Why do idiots on Facebook think this will make decent women like them?  Ugh, horrible subject to bring up!

How many of your Facebook friends have you met in person?

This is a tough one to answer.  I’m not really sure.  I went to a writer’s conference a few years back and met a group of female writers. Several of my friends are from back in my military days, so obviously I’ve met them in person.  Meeting other people in person doesn’t mean I really know them, though.  “Hi, I’m Robert from Facebook!”  I shake hands and we move on with life.  *chuckle*  A few people that I know personally are pretty good friends though, even if I don’t see them in person anymore.  Maybe I should get out more?  Wouldn’t it be fun to go on a quest to meet in person every single friend on Facebook?  I have friends from all over the world!  Neat travel idea if I ever win a lottery.

Have you unfriended many people on Facebook?

Another tough one.  Yes.  Sometimes people get too annoying.  Too much political crap, or too many abused animal photos.  Some people I unfriended because I said I didn’t want any more game requests and people kept insisting on sending them to me!  I warned people!  They didn’t care and now they’re gone!  I like pleasant, happy friends who don’t shove politics or religion at me.  (This actually goes for in person friends, too.  *chuckle*)

Ok, I think that’s enough of the lovely “get to know me” questions for now.  If you have more questions, leave me a comment and I’ll answer them.  No “what color is your underwear” questions or personal things like that!  Keep things civil, please!  I’d rather avoid unfriending more people!

And yes, question everything!  If you want to answer questions from me, just say so!  I’ve obviously got a huge amount of weeks left to ask questions this year!  Keep asking why!

Week 8: Why is this a thing?

What the hell is going in with the world now?  There are some things that I’m seeing that I don’t even understand.  Things that I just look at and wonder to myself why it’s a thing.  Why is it even here?  Take for example the Magic Mountains.  No, I’m not talking about the fantastic theme park in California, I’m talking about this:

What the hell is this?  Who the hell does this kind of thing?  This is about 45 miles outside of Las Vegas I think.  I thought about driving out to see it in person this week, but then began wondering why the hell I would make a 90 mile round trip to the middle of nowhere just to see some painted rocks.  Someone apparently had too much time on their hands.

I had no idea this was even here until I saw it on YouTube.  A guy named Justin Scarred drove out there and did a video with the painted rocks.  He’s into bizarre things like that.  Please, feel free to watch his trip:

Justin Scarred

This was not my only surprise this week.  I love video games and I came across a video game where you play as a 911 emergency dispatcher.  Now while I don’t dispatch for 911, I do dispatch for a casino/hotel for a living.  While the job does have amusing moments, I never thought it would become a video game!

Is this something I would possibly want?  Dispatch all night and then come home to dispatch some more in a video game?  Why the hell is this a thing?  If you watch a video of the game, you receive phone calls from people calling for help.  Ok, send the police.  Now another emergency, send more police.  Ok, now you’re out of police units and you get a call for another fight.  Now what?  Bleagh!  I get enough of this shit at work!

This isn’t even the beginning.  You can buy a video game where you play as a bus driver.  Join the excitement as you drive a bus around town and pick up and drop off people!

There is a game called Papers Please where you work in a border booth checking passports.  You can be a video truck driver! How about driving trains?  Yes, all those things are video games!  We’ve now come to the point where we’re not only spray painting rocks florescent colors out in the middle of the desert, we’re also making video games for mundane jobs in the world!  What the hell’s next, a janitor video game?

This one is called Viscera Cleanup Detail.  You play as a janitor cleaning up after some horror movie thing.  Let’s simulate picking up body pieces and mopping up blood!  What a fantastic game idea!  I have no words for this.  All I can do is ask why.  Why? Why? Why?

Until next week, keep asking why with me.  Question everything.

Week 7: Why are my taxes such an annoyance?

Lovely, it’s tax time here in the US.  Everyone should be receiving their W-2 tax forms and it’s time to file for a refund.  Or if you’re really unlucky, it’s time to pay.  I had to pay one year after I had actually had a fairly decent year for book sales.  That would be because no one seems to take any taxes out of book royalties and so you have to tell the government how much you made at the end of the year and then pay tax on the amount you made.  Fantastic.

Now years ago what I had to do was to go down to the library or somewhere else that had them, and get whatever tax form I needed.  Then I would fill my form out by hand and mail it in to the IRS.  That’s the Internal Revenue Service for anyone who didn’t know.  I don’t mind the IRS as they’ve actually helped me once.

Years ago I was fired from a job after working there for a couple years.  It was a bad place and getting fired was probably one of the better things that could have happened to me.  Anyway, when it came time to file my taxes that year the company didn’t bother to send me a W-2 form for me to file with.  I called the company and they told me they didn’t care if I received my form or not.  So I called the IRS and told them the company refused to mail me a W-2.  The nice IRS guy had me estimate how much I had made that year and then they sent me a W-2 with that estimate on it that I could file with.  Someone also obviously went down to the company and had a little chat with them because within a few days I did then receive the actual W-2 from the company.  So I was quite happy to be helped out.

That was back when I was still getting the form and doing things by hand before mailing it in to the IRS.  Things are different now.  We now live in the age of electronics!  I can just file my taxes online!  That makes everything quick and easy, right?  Right?  WRONGO!

All of a sudden my email is full of these tax companies wanting me to do my taxes with their program online.  Of course they charge to use the program.  The forms at the library were always free and I’m sure they still are, but I don’t want to do everything by hand.  That takes time and I have to do the math myself.  This is the age of electronics, so my computer should be doing this stuff for me!

I looked in to a few of the tax programs and they all want to charge you for every little thing now.  I don’t feel I should have to pay for every little thing, though!  I need help from the IRS!  So I go to IRS.com.  And there’s a program that will allow me to do my taxes for free!  Halleluiah! I get to work on that.  All I need to do is plug in the numbers from the forms I have and it will figure everything out for me.  Very cool!  I don’t need to worry about paying the IRS this year as I was only paid a total of $69 in royalties this year.  Yes, very sad, but I’m not disappointed.  That’s still $69 more than I would have made if I hadn’t bothered writing the books.  And these are old books that have been out for a while, too. 

So I get my taxes all figured out and the IRS owes me a fair amount!  Very good, I get a tax return!  Hooray!  Now I’m faced with two options, I can file online, or I can print the forms the program has filled out for me and mail them in.  I don’t want to mail anything.  Why use a stamp when I can just file electronically?  I’ll tell you why, because it costs $45 to file electronically!  What the hell?  It was supposed to be the free IRS software!  After pouting about this for a bit, I finally figure who cares about $45, just file electronically and then I’ll be sure my taxes don’t get lost in the mail somewhere.  And then there is another problem.

Now before it will let me file electronically I have to find some number.  The software sends me to this web site, but I still can’t figure out what number I’m looking for!  What the hell?  I have to log in, but can’t log in!  Now I need a password!  Now I need the 84 digit code that has 28 capitals and three random phrases from some movie I’ve never seen!  What the hell is all this?  I just want to file my taxes!

It took me a little bit of time and was quite a pain in the behind, but I finally figured out what number I needed.  After paying my $45 up front, I was then allowed to file electronically.  What a pain in the ass!  Why is something that’s supposed to be so simple so complicated now?

I still haven’t received my tax return yet.  I’m sure it’s “in the mail”.  I opted for direct deposit instead of just having them send me a check that I’m sure would have been needlessly complicated to cash anywhere now.

I’m not sure why this was such a pain especially when it should have been easier than just doing everything by hand.  I’m probably just bitter about the $45 electronic filing fee.  That seems like an awful lot just to send a file!

At least I’m finished with taxes until next year.  I really feel for my friends in the UK who I’ve heard are taxed way more than I am!  Ok, I’m done asking why for this week.  But please, everyone keep on asking why!