Good morning. Hello. How are you? #858
Trump anticipation, RIP Napier Collyns, Trigger Point Injections, Apple Stores are a hell to be avoided at all costs, Dance Party updates, a month without drinking
Good morning. Hello. Happy Trump indictment day. I have so many meetings today. I am sd. I will not be able to drop everything and immediately read the entire indictment like I would like to, even though this will inevitably give me a sense of disappointment at the small stakes of the whole thing even as I revel in the happiness that someone, somewhere, is finally holding this man to task for some of his crimes even if they are on the more inconsequential end of things. I suppose at this point we can all say with confidence that if Trump had never bothered to pay off Stormy Daniels or that other woman, and they had come out right before the election and said “I had an affair with Donald Trump and here are the letters and photos to prove it,” and he had just said “yep that happened” instead of paying out a bunch of money, he would still be president. This is a crime he totally did not need to commit. None of his supporters would have cared in the least that he slept with a porn star while his wife was at home with their newborn son.
But I do hope we get to see a mug shot and I hope it’s just terrible. The mug shot is a wild card here.
My friend Napier Collyns passed away. He had a very interesting life. He was 95. Hadn’t heard from him in the last few years so I figured he was slowing down. Used to see him with some regularity out in San Francisco at the Global Business Network, the consultancy he founded with Stewart Brand and several others. Earlier in life Napier was part of the team that developed scenario planning at Royal Dutch Shell. He was a kind man, incredibly smart, always enjoyed talking with him. I hadn’t talked to him in several years, but I think of him often. I will miss him.
I have a dead Homepod Mini and Apple is making my life miserable getting it repaired. Apple has a page on their site to start the repair process on a homepod mini, and it clearly says right on the site “send in your homepod for repair.” Yet it is completely impossible to actually do this on the site, they only direct you to Apple Stores, and my Apple store is a) too far away and b) an intolerable hell hole. It does say I can get my non-warranty bricked Homepod mini fixed for $60 at an Apple Store, though, which is not great, but cheaper than the $99 they cost.
So I decide to chat with their little chat service, which is utterly tedious and takes an hour because they can’t speak English well and make a ton of typos and keep asking me to do things I just told them I already did and there’s a massive communication barrier and they’re basically just copy and pasting from a manual but whatever, I get through it and they eventually agree with me that the thing is bricked and ask whether I’d like to take it in to an Apple store to get it fixed or — success! — send it in. I feel very smug that I have gotten around this obstacle and say I would like to take it in and they so no problem and then inform me that the repair will be: “94.60$” (sic).
So I tell them that is $4.40 less than new and not worth it and I point out the repair is onluy $60 at an Apple Store and they just say “okay no problem have a nice day!”
Alas.
Am I the only one who absolutely dreads going to the Apple Store? I can think of no retail establishment I would like to visit less than an Apple Store. I cannot stand those places.
Those trigger point injections I had in my neck worked a wonder and the entire left side of my neck — formerly the worst side — is now mostly pain free and it is utterly disorienting. It’s awesome. It has, however, made me realize how bad the rest of my neck is. But I mean, if these injections keep working over the next two or three visits, I think can, I can actually see a path forward where my neck doesn’t hurt all the time? This is a dizzying, insane thought, as my neck has hurt for twenty years or so. I also kind of wonder if it’s not better enough that a massage therapist might be able to improve things at this point. Historically it’s been useless but now? Now it seems… plausible?
Anyway if you have persistent muscular pain and insurance I highly recommend finding some pain center that does trigger point injections the whole thing is bordering on magic.
Daddy Jane dance party was pretty good last night. Spent a lot of it on Hot Chip. She was sort of indifferent. Liked them okay but not tons. We did some London Grammar which was pretty but too slow for her. We did Sinead’s “Emperor’s New Clothes” which she liked, Cranberries “Zombie” which she was sorta apathetic about but liked Delores’ hair. Then we did T’Pau “Heart and Soul” which is such a jam but she didn’t like the video but she liked the chorus. Then back to her happy place with “Shake it Off” and “You need to Calm Down.” I tried to work “22” into the mix if we’re gonna do Taylor she has other dance hits but nope, no luck. Oh wait that’s a lie she liked “Me” which, gawd, okay. Not exactly my Taylor jam. I tried to show her “All too Well” during sad people music time but she was not having it, she was too busy teaching her plushies a Spanish class.
She’s still keeping Emma up until 11 or so, which is somewhat concerning, but also I am kinda jealous and I totally wish I could stay up that late with our daughter but I have stupid work in the morning. We told her she has to stop when our visitor comes tomorrow night, so we’ll see if that works, I doubt it.
Also it occurs to me I just went a month without drinking. Well, I had two glasses of rose, one, when we visited a friend. It made me sleepy. Other than that, I went a month and a day without really thinking about it. Fake cocktails rule. On the flip side, it is stupid fake cocktails are as expensive as the real thing, so unlike other times I’ve stopped drinking, this time is not particularly saving me any money, which is sad. But I’m enjoying it and I guess I’ll just keep doing it for a while. It really is stunning how completely fake beer and cocktails are scratching that itch.
Club mix for you today. I barely remember any of these because I’ve been working on it for like four months but today is the day I finish it. There is a new Chemical Brothers, thank you Chris George for letting me knoe about this. I find that to be good news. Been thinking Jane needs to know about the Chemical Brothers. Woulda been great if they did a piece with Selena.