NYC Journal

[Calzone]

I called my home owner’s insurance company today to see if by chance we had any coverage for the sewer pipe repair. Evidently we have $20k coverage for utilities with a $500.00 deductible.

The repair to have our sewer line sleeved was $7K.

Again what a stroke of luck. We should be contacted by an insurance adjuster, and we already have the documentation for the problem, and of course the bill.

The custom ordered Santa Cruz Model “F” is turning out to be like a RS5 of guitars. Right now it is like a new car that has to be broken in and driven at all speeds. It has not yet hit its potential, but I can tell it will be a brutally great guitar. Today I played it for about 3 hours straight, and it opened up a lot and became a different beast.

If I had not ordered this guitar when I did I would have gotten priced out. Again I am a lucky guy. This guitar has mucho “you suck factor.”

Out of love I removed the plastic pedals on the grandson’s red tricycle. I glued up some scraps of wood to make a thicker pedal that I will cut to size and drill out tomorrow. The grandson is only 15 months old, he loves the bike, and with these platform pedals he should be able to pedal his 1977 vintage tricycle that cost $12.99 back then.

I browned the last three pounds of ground beef for the layer of meat.

I’m such a lazy-slacker. Pretty much just goofed off today and had some relaxing fun.

I’m ruined. A hard day’s work will likely kill me. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

The pull-up bar is really great for stretching out the back an neck muscles. I notice a huge difference in my posture also. I figure this helps offset the bad effects of siting too much, and also guitar slouch.

I had to use some of my hair gel to create more friction to bond the padded grips to the bar. They would rotate. This is an old bicycle grip trick.

Today I will fry 5 pounds of red onions and stink up the house. A pretty good test for the Dyson air purifier. Friday will be the layering so I’ll pull out the cooked and prepare ingredients from our freezer to defrost.

”Maggie” has a gig at Parsons in NYC today. I can continue breaking in the new Model “F” more today, work on the Yo Eddy shifters, replace cables and housing, and perhaps do a field test. I also want to cut down the blocks I made and drill the hole for the spindle to make the grandson’s tricycle rideable.

For me this is a busy day. LOL.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

“Maggie’s” official book launch is on March 12th at the New York Public Library.

The formally lame publicist is now on the ball, and there is a tall list of all these promotions, interviews, and podcasts.

Sometime in January Maggie will have to spend three days in a recording studio for the audiobook.

Today’s event was a Thesis Panel for the Master’s program at Parsons. Kinda set up like Project Runway where students work is openly critiqued and Maggie was kinda a guest judge on a panel of 4 people.

I cut up 5 pounds of red onions and stank up the house. It took 2 1/2 hours to carmalize them in a huge sauté pan. Meanwhile I simmered the sauce and added 4 more containers.

While this was cooking I plugged in 6 electric guitars into the Victoria Regal as a sound check. Unlike my other amps all six sound great. With my other amps not all guitars are a match made in heaven, some are great and others not so favored. The Victoria does all of them well. This was an interesting experiment, and I learned a lot.

The Victoria emulates a vintage Fender amp very well. The build quality is aircraft Mil-Spec quality for reliability and durability. Kinda overbuilt.

Many Fender amps have no midrange control, pretty much the midrange is set by a fixed resistor, and you kinda dial in the bass and treble to balance the tone. On the Victoria the knobs go to 12. I ended up boosting the bass to 9, and the treble to 10. The sound was well balance, and this amp does well with dynamics and articulation.

Know that I can get great tone without effects. BTW effects tend to compress dynamics and you kinda loose touch sensitivity with more signal processing via effects.

The Victoria is great because I left the volume set at 4 and it was not overly loud. The 15 inch speaker is pretty awesome.

One of my Tele’s has a body made of Korina, and a solid Rosewood neck. The pickups are low output Fender Custom Shop 49 No Caster pickups that tend to be bright, but the body and neck promote the mids and bottom end. This guitar plugged into the Victoria has the “Woof” of a Fender Stratocaster. Very cool.

Think of the tone of Jimi Hendricks playing “The Wind Cries Mary.” The Woof is the neck pickup. A woody sound of sorts rich in midrange.

I still might change out the neck pickup on my carved top Tele just to experiment. I have on hand a pickup that may be better, or maybe not.

Maggie was thinking about her mother when she was 70. Her mom at that age was already on a slide/decline, and she would not be able to negotiate taking a train and heading into NYC by herself. That slide has not happened yet…

The pull-up bar certainly is cutting my abs. My torso is tightening up big time. I did 6-6 and then 5. Also the stretching my back and neck is a big benefit.

Tomorrow I will layer the Lasagna. The sauce and sausage now reside in the utility turkey tray, and I think I have enough room for the pasta, cheese, and the layer of ground beef. I might have some extra sauce, but that is not a bad thing.

I didn’t get to work on the tricycle or Yo Eddy. Oh-well. Still a great day. It feels great to relax and take my time. My life may be boring, but I’m not bored at all.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I’m still processing an inspiring hangover from yesterday’s Victoria amp field trial. I think an evolution will occur with some tone mods via some pickup changes on two guitars will happen. Basically move to higher output pickups for added output and thicker sound that is less trebly.

I play Tele’s and they are inherently bright guitars that are very articulate. Pretty much I have a bit of too much of a good thing and want to add some diversity. Also kinda learned the good, the bad, and the ugly. Well not that the two Tele’s are bad, but I think they could get enhanced further into being dream guitars that are more unique and stand out more with a bit more personality and character.

Kinda like owning more than one camera or bike or car. Perhaps like being like a dog and having more than one girlfriend at the same time.

The $50.00 pull up bar from Dick’s Sporting Goods has some very serious health benefits. We all suffer from sitting too much, and even just hanging does wonders for my back and neck. I also notice that I stand more like a model with perfect posture, and I see how my core has tightened up and become more cut and defined.

Doing 3-4 sets of a few pull-ups only takes a few moments out of my day, and is so easy to do. All the research indicates and shows that strength training has a huge health benefit to counter natural aging. Pretty much this pull-up bar and pushups do a lot for maintaining upper body strength. Add in a few dumbbells and perhaps a kettle bell and you don’t really need much more of a gym.

Anyways, I think the best $50.00 I ever spent is already paying dividends. Really no reason not to do pull-ups every day.

Yesterday we had snow flurries in my part of Peekskill. Nothing stuck, but it seems that December now has cold settling in. I report this because now the Dyson air purifier/humidifier is struggling to maintain even a 40% humidity level. Any humidity level increase to avoid respitory dryness and irritation is good, but the ideal 50% is not being met. Oh-well.

I think I need to either set up an aquarium, or get some large vessel to hold a body of water that I can use an aquarium bubbling system to increase humidity levels. Anyways a research experiment of sorts. I have two Swiss made high end ultrasonic humidifiers in my basement left over from our Madhattan luxury apartment. We had forced hot air heating, and pretty much it killed my sinuses and dried my skin.

The amount of maintenance on the ultrasonic humidifiers was high, and pretty much a white film would coat the surrounding area, a residual deposit of minerals like calcium made a mess. The Dyson uses forced air and a fan to increase humidity levels, and I love that it leaves no deposits. Pretty much the ultrasonic humidifiers caused pollution.

Know that for my digital printing that a 50% humidity level needed to be maintained to prevent head and nozzle clogging/drying on my 3880 and 7800 Jersey Barrier. The Dyson Humidifier has legs for when I build out my attic digital studio. Also guitars, especially acoustic guitars require humidity controls to avois drying out and cracking known as ”checking.”

I kinda have a boring life, but somehow it is mighty fulfilling. I have no problem filling the time and not wasting my life. So little stress to me is kinda like really living, and I wonder about all the decades I wasted just working a day-job. In a ways I kinda wish at the hospital where I worked if they rudely laid me off if the extra year of retiring at the age of 61 instead of 62 would just mean I would be further along in my life of relaxing, little or no stress, and the added benefit of quality of life. Oh-well, some remorse on wasting part of my life on B.S.

I don’t disregard the wonder of quality of life. Anyways this is my prime objective: quality of life and sustaining it. Pretty much there was no bonus once they discontinued adding money to my pension, and in a way’s that last year of employment was kinda like working for free when I didn’t really benefit or have to. The evil long commute kinda aged me…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

The lasagna has been layered and will now be baked for 4 hours.

They say pasta is best when served as leftovers and reheated. In the past we have never had the time to cook in advance and pretty much it required 4 hours of baking.

Although not made in a deep monster turkey tray I did my best to add density as much as possible, and I actually compressed each layer as I built it. Some structural engineering was involved to fit everything.

“Maggie” made it a point that the blending of ingredients is the idea with Italian food, unlike Chinese food where each ingredient remains an element. I soaked each piece of lasagna in my sauce to advance this principle, and I even painted the Rig-GOT-Ta into the sauce to assist in the blending.

I bought a house brand of Mott-ZER-Ella to save money over the brand Polly-O. I’m glad I did because it grated easier. To be healthy, I boiled off the fat from the sausage before grilling them. I also used a colander to drain all the fat and grease from the ground beef. To top that off I also used part skim cheeses.

The deadly part of this tray of lasagna is the density. I packed in all that meat and cheese as dense as possible to try and make it like an anti-tank round tipped with depleted uranium. I would say the tray weighs in at 45 pounds and it is filled to the brim.

The extra utility tray I used to double up the tray structurally. Pretty much one tray alone was never designed to carry the payload I created.

I rest pretty assured that this version will be the most deadly. The ER might get busy as an entire family both young and old will need stents after this pre-Christmas dinner. What a way to die. The 4 hour bake surely make a lethal difference. I started the convection oven at ten to twelve and it is now 12:20. The oven set at 400 degrees “F” has likely been up to temperature for maybe 15 minutes and the house is already filled with aroma.

I had some leftover lasagna noodles, so I rolled them into logs after covering them with sauce. I’ll grill some more sausages and use the lasagna coated in sauce to kinda make a sausage spring roll. I will think of our friend MFM when we eat them. LOL.

An E-mail from our agent informed us that the client is not ready due to product issues. My feeling is that this gig is a dead horse, but maybe if the sentiment is true it will just happen later next year. I paid enough taxes this year so that actually would be great for me.

Pretty much mad-money say for a new roof on the house in the bank, or perhaps a new engine and drivetrain on my 1966 C-10; or some other perhaps luxury item like partial funds for an Audi RS5.

Oh-well.

On the Maggie front the publisher is looking into getting a local recording studio to create the audiobook. This makes it EZ-PZ because taking the train into NYC is no bargain and consumes time.

Maggie also has some interview scheduled for next week.

Off to my next crazy project.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Today I remembered the name of the hostile black man confronting our friend John in Harlem the day of the Trevor Martin verdict: Orlando.

The shirt with the Phasor said, “Don’t Phase Me Bro.” Verified by the E-mailed picture of my home made business card that is basically a small print.

Cal

 

[MrFujicaman]

You truly suck Cal.....

 

[Calzone]

MFM,

All the best for you and your family on the holidays.

Know I will be thinking of you over the holidays.

I know I’m a big tease. LOL

The house still smells of baked lasagna.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Seems that half of the ingredients made a 45 pound tray, and the other half of ingredients is either in the fridge (cheeses) or the freezer (meat and sauce). Pretty much I can create easily in a morning a complete second tray that weighs another 45 pounds. Basically I made enough to create 90 pounds of lasagna.

A bit crazy. Nobody else would ever do what I do, but I guess I like being bold and over the top to stand out. “The world is full of mediocrity,” I say, and why would I want to be “extra-medium?”

Then for some reason Shop Rite had everything I needed on sale. I love saving money, so when I have the opportunity I get greedy and load up the truck.

”Maggie” thinks rather than bring the second lasagna as a Christmas greeting that we should keep it. That’s the Christmas spirit. LOL.

Hmmm…

Then it kinda makes sense to have a party ready made in the freezer. We could make mini-portions for ourselves, and still have a twenty pounder say for a house party. We also expect for our lives to get a bit busy and frantic with the book launch this spring and perhaps a book tour. Then there might be some modeling gig, and then when the house gets presentable perhaps a house party.

So Phil pointed out, put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.

So things have evolved to making modular portions for emergency use, convenience, and to cover future surprises. I need to buy two boxes of lasagna, smaller foil trays, and some additional sauce for topping.

It may be selfish, it may not be the Christmas spirit that was originally intended, but it best serves our own needs the best. It kinda makes sense to take care of ourselves and build out a resource.

I know this is not really a Christmas story, I don’t feel like the Grinch, but I can say, “Bah-Hum-bug” when I go out and buy th supplies I need today.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Our house is small, and so is our kitchen, refrigerator, and freezer.

”Maggie” mentioned perhaps getting a freezer for the basement. Hmmm…

Anyways the small 4-burner Bertazzoni gas range is so nice an asset to cook on, and I have to say experiencing a propane fueled stove at another house sucked mucho. Propane is a low BTU fuel, and it does not get so hot, so even boiling water takes a long time. The Bertazzoni has this dual burner especially made for huge pasta pots that at this point I can’t live without.

In my book the price of luxury is worth the price. Another example is the electrically heated leather seats in the Audi A4. Now I’m spoiled…

The Bertazzoni dishwasher is silent when running. It ends up again being worth the price of admission. Work actually becomes fun because I have great tools as assets. I have no regrets on spending the extra money.

The RS5 might be too big a car at a mid-size. I’m kinda well fitted for an A4 size that is a compact. A S4 perhaps is all I need. Anyways just saying I can also even moderate a dream car to be practical. Not everything has to be deluxe, I realize that I’m spoiled already… I don’t think Audi makes a RS4. Also Maggie at 5’2” is small, and you already know I’m a skinny bitch. Seems like a bigger car would be a waste.

In my surrounding area they don’t have natural gas lines or sewers. I’m really glad we do. The price we pay is smaller property and an urban vibe which is not a bad thing, especially since we live on the outskirts of the city of 25K people. Surely we have a bunker of sorts with a world class medical facility nearby (a New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital network).

I can’t really think of a better location that supplies all the infrastructure we are now spoiled by, unless we pay mucho high taxes that are insane. Having a second complete building lot, a two car garage, and a corner lot on a dead end with only one next-door neighbor are pretty much the ideals that have mucho “you such factor.”

I forgot that we are not in the Peekskill school district which because is an immigrant community does not have the highest rating. We are in a school district that was funded by the Indian Point Nuclear.Power Plant, that is now being decommissioned, that is among the top 100 school districts in New York.

We found our special place… Location-location-location they say is the most important factor when buying a house.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Another episode of “I was just minding my business” is occurring later today at a book launch for a friend of “Maggie’s” who is a writer and dear friend.

The event is at a rather famous writer’s home in Brooklyn, and certainly we will be surrounded by mucho writers, many of them the big-big time.

The writer and owner of the home pretty much has won pretty much every award. She actually set up a foundation to encourage and support underrepresented writers and set up a non-profit retreat.

Christine, Maggie’s writer friend having the book launch, is on the board of this non-profit, and suggests I should apply.

They say that knowing insiders and networking is a good part of success. Seems like that is being given, and pretty much I’m getting swept into another place and being welcomed into a strange place. I didn’t plan this, and yet I feel I’m getting snookered into becoming a writer.

Just another part of the ground swell I predicted and mentioned in earlier posts in this thread. I thought I was retired and could relax.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

The Audi RS4 is not imported into the U.S. My dream car. Too bad. Oh-well.

Anyways a wet-dream…

Cal

 

[Particular]

The Audi RS4 is not imported into the U.S. My dream car. Too bad. Oh-well.

Anyways a wet-dream…

Cal

Cal,
My dropshipping nephew now drives I believe an RS6. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
On Thursday I was at an event/exhibition opening. The accompanying blurb quoted JG. Ballard proclaiming cars to be 'over'. It was in the garage of some massive obscure event space building, across the street from one of the big recycling companies in Maspeth or East-Williamsburg. They had a bunch of cars mostly missing wheels that were creatively repurposed for fun and entertainment. The great innovation was a mercedes that was a functioning sauna.

 

[Calzone]

Devil Christian,

The difference is the size of the chassis. A “6” is bigger than a “5” anfd both are bigger than the “4.”

Surprisingly the price difference between the cars is kinda minimal. Perhaps the Europeans think of Americans as “bloated” and not so many skinny bitches like me.

Right now it seems the RS5, a midsized chassis, would be the dream car. Don’t tell “Maggie” but I would want the competition package.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Last night’s hours party in Park Slope was an intimate event of only 20 people. I kinda felt honored to have been invited by Christine, who is from Washington D.C., to be held as an insider.

Many of the guests were members of the board of a non-profit foundation that holds retreats supporting writers of color in Brewster.

Brewster is where we go to ride the Empire State Trailway, the section called the Great Swamp, close to the Connecticut border.

How could I not feel like an insider?

Our host the famous writer, National Book Award winner, Guigenheim Fellow, MacArther Genius Grant Recipriant, and too long a list that seems to include every award ever given, had a lovely brownstone that dated back to 1878. She said that it took about a decade to remodel in stages. So much original detail was retained. The rooftop deck allowed view of the downtown Brooklyn skyline. They bought the brownstone 21 years ago.

Anyways what a home.

I met a man named Andre who is a film maker, but he somehow is a radio host on WNYC that has a 6:00 PM slot on Sunday’s to talk politics that is part of NPR and broadcast nationally.

A big highlight of the night was forming a big circle and kinda having the opportunity to introduce yourself and mention how you knew Christine.

My turn was after “Maggie.” I kinda introduced myself as Maggie’s on-TOUR- ROG. This brought out a laugh, and then I ask why would anyone want to be a writer, because it is a tough job, hard work, and the world is not so kind.

Then there is the fraught publishing industry and all the gatekeeping…

Then I mentioned how difficult it is to be the partner of a writer, how I would get more than my fill of writer difficulties, and somhow intuitively and telepathically when I’m maxed out and can’t take it anymore, Christine would call and kinda rescue me.

Maggie jumped in and on the few occasions Christine did not rescue me, that when I hit my limit I would say, “Call Christine.”

Anyways I kinda acknowledged how many times Christine rescued and saved me, and I told it in a funny and amusing way. Then Maggie “outed” me and revealed that I too am a writer and that I have a MFA.

So now I’m kinda an insider, and I have been outed. Should I mention I’m not really under the radar anymore. Also know that the “She-Shack” I built as a gift for Maggie’s 70th birthday was brought up several times by others.

It turned out a handful were from the Washington D.C. area, one woman writer was from California, and like I said it was intimate. It ended up being a really late night for us.

As we speak I warming up the lasagna at 350 degrees for a feast later today. Looking forward to seeing the grandkids. As I finish writing this the oven has been on for an hour and 15 minutes, and the house is smelling up with the rich taste of lasagna.

When I cooked and baked the lasagna the first time on Friday I set the oven at 400 degrees. It is a convection oven so the heating is regulated to be even without any hot spots. Now there is no reason to cook, just really going to take perhaps 3 hours at 350 to just heat up thoroughly. I predict because of the dual two stage cooking that the mix of meat, sauce and pasta will unify. My worries that it might get a bit dry though.

I’ll find out later this afternoon. I used gallons of sauce though…

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I think I killed the humidifier section on my Dyson. Pretty much the water is not being consumed. I think/believe the water pump is dead.

On the Yo Eddy the rear tire’s side knobs make the tire with its slight amount of runout rub the chain stays ever so slightly. Basically these tires are a DHF version that is 2.5 inches wide and ever so slightly are too wide. There is a DHR version of the Maxxis Minion that is slightly narrower and slightly lighter in weight. I will have to order one.

The now spare Maxxis Minion DHF I will recycle to my steel IBIS Mountain Trials that currently has a Schwable Rocket Ron that has a 2.35 inch width. On this bike is a narrow rim so the girth of the wide tire is somewhat constricted, and the front tire looks smaller in cross section than my rear tire which utilizes a wider rim. To compensate I’ll use an even wider tire as compensation to achieve a better balance.

A win-win and a clever recycling that yields positive results. In the end I will have two very technical mountain bikes for Blue Mountain.

So regardless of a failure I still move forward.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I’m no body builder. In less than a month I’ll be 66.

Now I can do 70 pushups in a set. Yesterday I did two sets of these. I might have been able to do a third set yesterday, but maybe not. So what if the third set was only 65. These are sloppy, quick jerky pushups that are done as fast as I can to kinda shock and jolt my heart rate. In other words like an interval that is a max out.

Pretty much I’m expending all the locally stored glycogen in my arms, and the loss of strength is really just the depletion of all this locally stored energy. At the end of the set I stop because of the lactic acid buildup from anaerobic threshold. I’m kinda training my body to store more glycogen, but also teaching and training my body to recover and clear the lactic acid.

Long intervals of rest to recover. Know that these intervals deplete energy stored and have the effect of burning more calories and secondarily speed up my metabolism. These calories add up…

I pretty much can do 7 pull-ups, then 6, then 6 again. This is an incremental increase, but the results in the mirror indicate a more cut torso, and it is kinda dramatic. Don’t know how much the securing the grips with my hair/spackle gel makes/or made it easier.

I definitely feel a stronger more solid core, and mucho better posture. Because I’m a skinny bitch I think the results are more profound and as well as the improvement. The results are steady because I do these strength exercises every day because they take so little time out of my day.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

I learned yesterday that my compression and density experiment was not the way to go. Pretty much I should of initially made the lasagna more soupy to accommodate the sauce soaking in. The effect was mucho meat and mucho cheese, but too little space for the sauce.

Oh-well. And now I have the opportunity to regress when I process the second batch of ingredients.

Daycare now seems like a part-time job. We have the now 16 month old grandson, but he is the size of a two year old and is already starting the behaviors of a toddler in his terrible twos. He is very advanced.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

History was made when Israel used a F-35 to track and kill an incoming cruise missle. Pretty much a display where the small profile and signature as well as the ground hovering capabilities that once made it very hard to defend against can be now neutralized.

These small targets, flying fast at low altitudes against the noise and clutter of the landscape are now kinda easily tracked and can be shot down. They pretty much are not invisible.

The idea of Top Gun and having air superiority is a huge/major advantage. The pretty recent studies that suggested a missile barrage by China could overwhelm defenses in the western pacific now have to be rewritten. Without stand-off capabilities a barrage could be neutralized if enough F-35 are available and flying.

One logistic problem is that the F-35’s stealth relies on weapons being stored internally, and this limits the amount of payloads and amount of weapons it can carry, but know that the F-35 has fire controls that can launch missiles from other aircraft like F-16’s and F-15’s.

Then there is a version of the F-15 called the “EX” that has a 30K pound payload capacity that is basically utilized as a flying missile platform that can be utilized as a “pickup truck” to make up for the limited payloads of the F-35.

The technology exists to kinda counter any Chinese aggression, but then and now it is a numbers game to have enough F-35’s and now F-15 EX to have enough firepower to take out any threat.

Know that the F-35 is widely distributed to NATO allies, Japan, and other allies.

Anyways, I connected the dots, and I see how the response has come up with a mighty clever way to neutralize a threat. A new arms race and Cold War exists. I just hope we can build out what we need to get the job done.

Cal

 

[JoeV]

I don’t think the version of the F35 sold to Israel is the “B” variant with VTOL, it’s more like a USAF “A” variant with Israel specific mods. But your point is well made regarding being a “game changer” especially if “loyal wingman” missiles carrying drone trucks are networked together.