Blankbaby

eBay Tip

Thanks to my children's current obsession with wooden Thomas the Tank Engine trains I've become reacquainted with the wonder that is eBay.

When I was in college I was rather poor. Now, I didn't have trouble feeding myself, nor did I have to worry about where I was sleeping, but beyond that I didn't have a lot of "spending cash." I did, however, have a workstudy job that paid me pretty well given how much work I actually did (I worked in the library and they really just needed me to sit at the desk in case someone wanted to check out something. Occasionally I'd have to shelve books, which was more work but also fun!).

The workstudy job gave me a bit of extra money that I probably should have saved, but then I found out about eBay. eBay was my gateway to buying a ridiculous amount of Star Trek The Customizable Card Game cards. So many cards (and I do still have them all!).

In my defense, I actually had people to play the game with in college so it wasn't a complete waste of money.

After that card game phase ended my eBaying urge lay dormant for many years. Then Lego started selling random minifig collections and it awakened the beast. I soon had to have a complete collection of these minifigs. After several collections I realized I didn't really need to have any more minifigs, and more importantly, I didn't want to have any more minifigs!

Thus ended my minifig phase.

It is too early to tell if I'm entering a "starship" phase, but the image above features a model of the USS Excelsior which I almost bought on eBay. I say it there, bid on it, and then was out bid.

Speaking of wastes of money, I felt that familiar urge to raise my bid, but before I did I thought, "Why don't I see how much a new one of these costs." Turns out, a new one cost less than the one I was bidding on, so I just bought it and it showed up the next day.

That's the tip: when eBaying, make sure you aren't foolishly overpaying for something.

Mind-blowing, I know.

Checked up

The list of things I'd need for an unplanned overnight hospital stay wasn't as long as you might think.

As I was packing my bag I got it down to:

• Laptop


• iPad (though this is a luxury that could be skipped)


• Kindle


• Phone


• Chargers for all of the above


• Long cables for all of the above

And that's it! I figured the hospital would have my medication so I wouldn't need to bring mine, and I'd be wearing a gown so no need for a change of clothes! Toiletries are also provided, so I could travel very light!

Why would I even thinking about this as I packed my bag for work last Friday? Earlier in the week I realized I wanted to try to get "VIP" status in the Wellness program the University I work for runs and which I participate in. Some folks I work with think this is just a way for the University to gain access to more information about their employees so they can... do something nefarious. I think it is just a cheap way for them to project the idea that they might care about the staff a bit. Either way, if you get enough points you can trade them in for Amazon gift cards, which means I can fund book purchases. Therefore, I participate (plus all of my doctors work for the University associated health system, so I don't think I'm telling anyone anything they don't already know!).

Anyway, one of the things you have to do in order to get VIP status - a status which, I should mention, I know not what it imparts but which I want more than anything in the world - is a biometric screening.

The University used to hold these screenings every year. You'd go into a room that usually held sullen studying students and walk to various tables where people in white coats would take your blood pressure, check your blood sugar, and your cholesterol. They'd write all those numbers down for you and then explain what they meant. Sometimes there'd be a little delicious treat as well.

Thanks to the pandemic the University hasn't had one for a couple of years, but you can either go to a clinic and have it done OR do it at home. What a world!

I started the process of ordering an at home kit. At the very beginning of the process you're asked a couple of things: weight, height, that sort of thing. They also ask you for your blood pressure.

We have a blood pressure machine, so I looked for it (Marisa found it, in the place she told me to look but where I was unable to find it. She double-checked the same place, and lo, there it was) and slapped it on my arm.

After displaying several increasingly frustrating error codes it finally gave me a blood pressure reading. I would soon be on my way to being a wellness VIP!

According to the machine my blood pressure was so high that I shouldn't be able to see and I should take off the cuff and go directly to the emergency room.

This was mildly concerning considering my family history is full of obituaries that include the phrase "massive heart attack."

I felt fine. Clear vision, no pounding headaches, nothing.

I took a moment and calmed myself. Then I took another reading.

It was high but not super double dangerously high. I decided that I probably didn't need to go to the emergency room, but that I could consult with Dr. Google.

That wasn't a great idea, to be honest. I spent another couple of days being frustrated with my blood pressure cuff's ability to take my blood pressure at all after those two readings. It would just display a wide variety of error messages.

And at this point I was now afraid that I didn't think I was experiencing any symptoms because I had been experiencing them for so long that I no longer knew they were symptoms.

The only way to clear this up was to schedule a checkup (which I was overdue for anyway) and see what they said. I figured I'd have to wait a while but when I opened the online scheduling options I found an appointment for the next day at 7am.

7am is very early for almost anything, but I do love getting the first appointment of the day. That way I know I can avoid most delays and get in and out quickly.

I snapped up the appointment. I also assumed that I would go to the appointment and be told that I had to head to the emergency room (I'm an optimist!). Given that thinking, I did the only reasonable thing and packed a bag for an extended hospital stay (the contents of which you already know).

I went to sleep ready to wake up, shower, and be in the waiting room of the doctors' office before anyone else in the house was awake.

And that's what I did! In fact, I was there at 6:45am, 10 minutes before ANYONE else showed up to the office. This includes the front desk person... so I was sitting in a dark waiting room. Which, of course, lead me to think I had the date and time wrong so I checked about 14 times before the front desk person arrived, settled in, and checked me in.

I didn't end up in the emergency room. Turns out my blood pressure is fine. I do have high cholesterol, though, so I'm eating egg whites for breakfast now which is... exciting.

And the great thing about my hospital bag? It also makes for a good "go to work" bag. That's where I headed after my appointment which is slightly preferable to the emergency room.

The most Scott McNulty thing ever

While looking for something I lost (a power cord) for a gadget I own and yet don't need (a fancy hardware video switcher) I found a Star Trek ornamnet that I forgot I had purchased (and didn't put on the Star Trek tree this year!).

That's not a dinosaur!

The chorus of this song is on constant repeat in my head. Of course, I don't recall any of the actual facts in the song.

Running on vacation isn’t as much fun as you might think.

We’re spending the week “down the Shore” as they say in Philadelphia, and I’m happy to report that based on people’s behaviors the pandemic is over! Hurrah! Good job, everyone.

Now, I haven’t been in many shops because, as you know, the global pandemic is still raging and I live with two unvaccinated children (I don’t know why they are anti-vaxxers. They keep telling that they are doing their own research and will get vaccinated when they feel like the facts line up. I counter with: 1. You don’t have a computer with which to do research. 2. You can’t read. At this point they usually break something to distract me), however, I have been shocked by the lack of masking in the ones I have ventured into.

I suppose I got spoiled living in a big old blue city (though really, this isn’t political). This does make me appreciate how good Philadelphians, in general, are about masking. I am still baffled by the folks who don’t seem to know that the mask needs to cover your nose, but that’s a different subject entirely.

Whilst here I am continuing to run 4 times a week. As you may know, the pandemic took my already meager supply of interest in exercising and pooped all over it. I bought a bike and signed up with Peloton in hopes that would magically make me want to exercise. It didn’t, though it did show that I like stationary biking even less than I like running.

So, I’ve been running again, and continue to run on vacation. I find, and many other people in a variety of areas concur, that consistency is key. I’m not a great runner, but I am a regular runner.

One of my internal goals has been to always run faster than a 10 minute mile no matter how far I’m running. I’m not sure where I got this idea from; it might stem from high school gym class. You see, I wasn’t a very fit high schooler. I exercised far less than I do now, and I was a very, very poor runner. In fact, over the course of those 4 years of high school I only ran 3 times a year.

How do I know this? Because each year we had to run a timed mile in gym class. If you ran it slower than 15 minutes (I think that was the target, might have been 12), you had to run it again (on another day). In order to “train” for this run we… you guessed it.. ran a little over a mile once earlier in the week of the timed run.

Therefore, I would run about 3 miles a year and always feel bad about myself. Thanks, gym class!

Last night I went for a 4 mile run (I know!) and it wasn’t very good. I know what you’re thinking, “when is a run good?” And I feel you! But this run just plain sucked. The first mile I just barely made it under the 10 minute pace, but the remaining 3 all took more longer than 10 minutes each. Not by a lot, but still!

Given that I’ve been running a lot lately I was a little bummed about this performance until I thought to check the weather. Turns out I was running during an evening with 95% humidity. No wonder it sucked so much, and after learning that I was amazed that I did as well as I did!

I suppose the moral of this story is don’t go on vacation with 2 2 year old toddlers.

This sums up our President

From 2020 Election Live Updates: Biden Agrees to Virtual Debate - The New York Times, this quote got me:

‘It’s not a heavy steroid,’ Mr. Trump said of the heavy steroid he’s been taking, dexamethasone.

1939

Our washer/dryer combo was out of commission for a couple of weeks, and so I had to make the trek 10 flights up to use the laundry room at the top of our building. This meant that I was in search of quarters on a regular basis. And I found treasure in a glass tiki head (I keep my change in a glass tiki head. Don't you?)!

A 1939 quarter! It isn't worth much since it is in very rough shape (and not from the SF mint), but it is worth more than $.25, so into the washing machine it didn't go

And in light of my last post, it makes me feel a little better about the world in general that this 81 year old coin has made it to my desk somehow.

Oh, right. Loot Crate is a thing.

A couple of years ago Loot Crate announced they were doing Star Trek “mission crates.” If you ordered a year of the crates (6 boxes of Star Trek related stuff) you would get a discount on a year of CBS All Access as a bonus.

I signed up on 8/23/17 and the first crate (according to my email) was shipped almost a year later. Turns out, Loot Crate had a lot of trouble creating these things. And while they included some fun t-shirts it was mostly crap I didn’t need. I got a few more of the crates and cancelled my subscription.

Then I forgot this thing ever existed. And forgot that I had paid for a year of crates (though I had paid for them 2 years ago). Forgotten about them until yesterday when the 3 remaining crates arrived on the same day. I was supposed to get them, according to the names of the crates, in July, Sept, and Nov of... 2018.

Better late than never, I suppose. The only wrinkle is that the fine folks at Loot Crate didn’t tell me these were coming. They just showed up. Why is that a problem? Each box includes a t-shirt, which is good. But I selected my size 2 years ago when I was much heavier so I went with XXL. I’m an XL now, and these fancy shirts (and I do quite like them) are way too big. Bummer.

I’ve reached out to Loot Crate support, so I’m hoping I can exchange them for a smaller size. Though the response of “we are working on our shipping process so these late deliveries don’t happen again” that I got doesn’t make me think Loot Crate is great at actually reading the email folks send them (and that lots of people are contacting them about these very late boxes randomly showing up now!).

CELEBRATE ME... with an odd assortment of gifts

Just the other day I was at dinner with some friends and I was trying to recall how long I'd worked at Penn. I couldn't remember (since I can hardly remember anything) so I did what anyone would: I looked at my LinkedIn profile.

Turns out I could have waited a few hours because I received an email telling I was celebrating 15 years at the University. Hurrah! And, more importantly, I get a gift in recognition of my service.

Not only do I get a gift, but I can pick one out from... well, a very strange assortment of things.

Now, I'm not complaining because I appreciate the token of appreciation and I am very happy that I can pick something rather than getting a picture frame or something. I'm just struggling to find a theme with options that include:

A grill.

A grippy thing to put your phone in... for gaming?

An umbrella, which in and of itself isn't odd but it isn't a Penn branded umbrella which I find odd.

A glass(?) bowl. This one looks pretty nice, actually, but I don't think I'm in need of a bowl.

A telescope! This is the one that I am most tempted to get, however, I don't really have any place to keep it and I'm pretty sure I would never actually use it.

And my favorite time: the 1.5 gallon beverage dispenser. I should get it and fill it with champagne to CELEBRATE ME!

The Dumbest Timeline

Kanye West and Trump White House meeting covers topics including mental health and 'male energy' - The Washington Post:

The pair then posed for photos and West, who did not cast a vote in the 2016 presidential election but has been a vocal supporter of Trump, hugged the president.

Life has an impact

View this post on Instagram

@foodinjars told me I should doodle more.

A post shared by Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) on Sep 17, 2018 at 8:14pm PDT

New TNG DVD Artwork

As I was looking for the Amazon link to the episode discussed in this week's Random Trek (listen to it, it is a fun time!) I noticed the snazzy new artwork for the TNG DVDs.

I say, kudos to you DVD art maker person.

I'm on Mastodon

And sharing fabulous things (see above).

My profile is here, but I don't think you should sign up unless you're a nerd/geek. It isn't quite all there just yet.

TV Theme Songs

I wasn't able to join in the fun on the Incomparable's TV Theme Song draft podcast (mostly because I forgot to RSVP for it), so I thought I'd share mine here, because why not!

Here we go:

1. Golden Girls

When you say TV theme song, this is the song that pops into my head. I also enjoy a song that can be read dramatically, so bonus points for that.

2. Mr. Belvedere

Streaks on the china? Never met them before!

I watched way too much Mr. Belvedere and I really like the theme song.

3. 30 Rock

No lyrics, because they are for losers. This theme song is bouncy and fun... plus Marisa had a little dance she would do when it played on the TV. So cute!

Lightning Round. Action 6 News

I am not a native Philadelphian, but 6 ABC News has the best news theme song ever. When I found out it even had words I was floored. And tempted to move closer to your world.

I miss writing

As readers of this blog may have noticed, I didn't blog a whole lot last year (or the year before). And as the even smaller number of people who track my tech book writing have noticed... I haven't written a book in a very long time!

Don't get me wrong, I still write a lot but the vast majority of my writing is for ye olde day job. I seem to have fallen out of the habit of writing for pleasure.

I was reminded of this fact by two related things. I decided to switch RSS readers from NetNewsWire (which I've been using forever) to Evergreen (which the original developer of NNW is working on). I did this for a couple of reasons:

• I get the sense that NNW isn't really the top priority for the company who currently owns it.
• The only reason to use NNW is for syncing across devices, and that just doesn't work well (nor does the NNW iOS app, which is a shame).
• While Evergreen is very early in its development, I know Brent is going to keep on making it better and better... and his vision of what an RSS reader should be pretty much matches my own.

Moving my feeds into Evergreen gave me the opportunity to go through and do some feed pruning. I was clicking along happily until I came to my "Philadelphia" folder.

I discovered that most of the blogs in that folder have long been abandoned and I re-read this blog post Marisa wrote awhile ago bemoaning the lack of personal blogging in general.

Therefore, I'm really going to try and write stuff here (and maybe in other places, though I really doubt anyone is interested in paying me to write anything at this point).

I think the first thing I'll write is a post about why I abandoned my Apple Watch and embraced the Fitbit life. I'm sure everyone is dying to know!

My 2017 by the numbers

Yesterday I got it into my head to create a list of numbers representing my 2017. The list of numbers is fairly random, but it was fun to compile.

Here we go:

• 5,016,653 steps taken as tracked by two Fibit devices (the One and the Ionic)
• 2,503.4 miles walked/ran
• 4,482 floors of stairs climbs
• 1,452,961 calories expended
• 215 work outs as tracked by my Apple Watch and then the Ionic
• 91 pounds lost (thanks, Weight Watchers!)
• 77 books read
• 32 books by women
• 28,781 pages all told
• 6 pieces of Stickley furniture (none at full retail, and 5 ridiculously cheap!)
• 59 podcasts hosted (spread out over Random Trek, Total Party Kill, and Vulcan Hello)

It is good to be the Danish Queen

It would seem that the Prince Consort of Denmark isn't happy. For 50 years he wanted to be the King Consort, but the Danes said, "hard pass."

And so, the Prince Consort has decided he won't be buried with the Queen.

All of that is mildly interesting, but the most badass thing was only casually mentioned: the Queen is going to be buried in a crystal sarcophagus resting on three elephant head pillars in Roskilde Cathedral (the traditional resting place of Danish royalty).

That's a pretty strong Queen move.

You can see more pictures on the artist's website.

When I die I've always assumed I would be cremated but that was before I knew about the crystal sarcophagus option.

Self Portrait

Medium: Dry erase marker on glass.

You kinda get the feeling he doesn't want to be President

Donald Trump is being sworn in as president today. Some people are happy. Some people are not. Some people are just confused. I think Trump himself has realized that Presidents don't just appear on TV and lie about stuff, like oh... there never having been a concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial:

Later, he laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery and attended his Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert, saying that one had never been held there before even though many similar events have taken place in front of the iconic seated statue of the 16th president.

In fact, you have to govern! And that means figuring out who is going to do what. I can't imagine the amount of work that goes into a Presidential Transition, and it seems neither can Mr. Trump:

Since his election on Nov. 8, Mr. Trump has had little interest in the minutiae of his transition, saying it was “bad karma” to get too involved, according to a person who spoke with him at the time. At one point, he wanted to halt the planning altogether, out of superstition, the person said.

His lack of understanding of the task at hand, and his clear lack of intellectual curiosity are the things that really worry me about a Trump presidency. I feel like he'll be governing from his seat of his pants and that's no good.

I will say, however, that while I disagree with the VAST majority of Trump's goals... I do like a few of his promises (which he won't do). I'm all for spending money to:

• Modernize our nuclear arsenal - To make it safer, and with an eye towards reduction (though I think Trumps wants more nukes). I watched Command and Control the other day on PBS and it scared the pants off me. At least I'll rest easy with Rick Perry at the helm of the Department of Energy. Oh, wait, I won't. Sigh.
• Infrastructure - We need to spend a lot of money to fix/replace bridges, highways, and roads across America (in both rural and urban places). And that'll even get people to work!

That's about all I agree with, though I wouldn't mind a better version of the ACA... I'm not sure the Republicans will deliver on that.

Open office plans - awful

Apple is building a fancy new HQ (they do have all the money in the world, so why not?). This Bloomberg article offers up this:

The new building features open floor plans and few traditional offices. While some of Apple’s senior vice presidents are expected to see their offices move over to the new campus -- less than a five minute drive from the current headquarters -- management must be at a vice president level or above to get a formal office, one of the people said. Previous plans included office space for senior directors, who report to vice presidents.

Man, open offices suck. And this comes from someone who works in an open office at the moment. It is difficult to concentrate, I feel like I have to leave to have any phone conversations (work or personal!), and cubicles just feel like pens for people.

Not a fan.

During my time at Comcast I had an office, and it was wonderful. I miss few things about working at Comcast, but that office tops the list.

What? You want to see the whole list? OK:

• My office.
• The 3 minute walk to work.
• Free cable.
• The vanilla cupcakes at Ralph's (the cafeteria).
• Bonuses.

Trump Supporters should read this article

I'm sure they will think it is bunk because it is from the New York Times, but it is really shocking. How Donald Trump Bankrupted His Atlantic City Casinos, but Still Earned Millions:

‘Trump crawled his way to the top on the back of little guys, one of them being my father,’ said Ms. Rosser, who runs Triad today. ‘He had no regard for thousands of men and women who worked on those projects. He says he’ll make America great again, but his past shows the complete opposite of that.’

I side with... Hillary

I took the quiz at ISideWith.com and found out that Hillary is for me (which I knew already). I am mostly surprised that I agree with Trump on 9% of the issues. Seems high.

I used to consider myself a Republican, though really a Rockefeller Republican which is now being a Democrat.

Why did I even consider myself a Republican? Well, I'm fiscally conservative (generally I don't think anyone should spend more than they have, and that State and Local folks probably have a better understanding of where the funds should go) and socially liberal (I don't think the government has any business telling people what to do with their bodies, who they should marry, and other things along those lines).

I have no idea who Jill Stein is, but it would seem I agree with her a lot too. And I'm not surprised to find that I agree with about a third of Gary Johnson's views. Libertarian platforms always seem like ALMOST a good idea to me, but then you get to the point where they want to abolish the Department of Education and they lose me.

Anyway, the big thing to remember is this: Donald Trump should not be president.

Wrong on the iPhone 8 years ago, twice!

For some reason this tweet of mine from 8 years ago is making the rounds of a few folks on Twitter:

seriously doubts there will be an Apple phone.

— Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) January 7, 2007

I was totally wrong, and oddly enough I tweeted that out shortly before I left Philly for the Macworld during which Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone:

has just settled into his hotel room for Macworld (I'm at the Downtown Marriott).

— Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) January 8, 2007

And I was wrong again about the iPhone:

thinks the iPhone is very cool.. but is not sure if he will buy one.

— Scott McNulty (@blankbaby) January 10, 2007

Ok, technically I've bought way more than one iPhone since then so I suppose it is correct.

Also, anyone else remember when you would tweet in the form of the answer to the question, "What are you doing?"

Lobster Scott

I'm old

So much gray hair. So much handsomeness.