I managed to accomplish more with this than I expected. Normally I would just run to the next sector and get mowed down on the way there.
Fun game. It has some serious flaws that I hope get worked out.
Government shutdown and the MWR – Fort Hamilton
With the government shutdown stretching into its third week, government employees on a bi-weekly pay schedule received their last paycheck this past Thursday. It was an abbreviated paycheck as well, for only 56 hours instead of a regular 80 hours, because 24 hours of the pay period were in the new fiscal year. Active duty service members received their check on the 15th because of money being diverted from other programs, but there’s no guarantee that there will be more money available on the 1st to cover the next military pay check. Essentially, money is getting short and its time to start cinching our belts.
Federal Credit Unions like USAA and Navy Federal CU have 0% interest loan programs to help cover people’s expenses until they receive their next deposit from DFAS. However, I’ve heard some people saying that they’ve been denied these loans. Apparently, credit scores are being taken into consideration, so some people, and probably those most likely to need assistance, as lower enlisted and younger federal employees generally have lower credit scores, won’t be able to take advantage of these loans. So, there’s still a gap that needs to be filled to keep bills paid and keep food on the table.
The MWR and the chapel on Fort Hamilton (and those who support them) have stepped in to help fill that gap. This past week, the MWR and chapel distributed household goods and groceries to military families and select federal employees who are in an excepted status. Items distributed by the MWR included toilet paper, paper towels, tooth brushes, toothpaste, bars of soap, laundry detergent, frozen pizza, frozen vegetables, frozen chicken nuggets, frozen hash browns, and canned vegetables. Items distributed by the chapel included bags of potatoes, apples, rice, carrots, and onions.
Next week, another program called Blue Star Families will be distributing food to military families and select excepted federal employees, sponsored by Amazon, HelloFresh, and the New York City Department of Veterans Services.
It’s amazing that so many people and organizations are stepping up and making resources available to military service members and excepted federal employees in the Fort Hamilton community. Their efforts are greatly appreciated and go a long way towards easing the burden created by the government shutdown.
Short update
I haven’t really posted much or regularly for quite a while and I think it’s not so much for lack of interest, but lack of time and that spark of creativity. Working full time, long commutes, and trying to do errands and fulfill other responsibilities on the weekends is time consuming and draining and it doesn’t do much for creativity. Plus, the last five years or so have been pretty tough with family members and pets passing away. I feel like I’ve spent more time distracting myself than engaging with anything creative or meaningful. I haven’t even gone to the museum in what feels like and probably is years.
This has been an especially weird year for me. I barely did any reading this year, instead turning to podcasts and watching the news. I became obsessed with watching every press briefing, watching Congressional proceedings, and then listening to podcasters talk about the same things that I’d just watched or listened to myself.
As the year wore on, I started to find myself wanting to disengage, so I put away the political podcasts and turned off the news and eased myself back into reading again with Brandon Sanderson’s Skyward series. I wound up rolling through all of those books in about two weeks. It sparked my interest. I guess it sparked joy. I moved right on to Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi, which is the start of another series that I’m currently devouring. It’s also scifi, but it’s a different tone and flavor from Skyward. More mature I guess. The tone of it is like watching old war movies from the 70s.
I spent a lot of the last few years trying to read books for education, personal enrichment, and growth. I burned out on those genres. I realized that when I forced myself to finish Kokoro by Beth Kempton. It wasn’t the right book at the right time for me, even though I think it was overall not a bad read. I’m going to spend the rest of the year glutting on scifi and fantasy books to scratch that itch that got me interested in reading in the first place when I was a teenager. Then I’ll flirt with the heavier stuff again. I guess I just want to stop pushing so hard at things that are serious and try to enjoy life too.
I dumped Threads. The site is being overrun by bots and trash posts that are more attention seeking than informative. Beyond that, it’s a cesspool that was bringing out the worst in me. I’d read a few posts by people talking about how social media was making them feel. Enraged essentially. And I knew intellectually that algorithms on social media platforms are designed to push for engagement, and what’s better at getting people to engage than something that pisses them off? I don’t need that. I’m getting older. I don’t want to waste my time arguing pointless arguments on the internet with people that don’t mean anything to me. I’d rather do things I enjoy and look at things I enjoy. So now I’m down to Facebook (for family), Instagram (for the LOLs), and Reddit (for topic based engagement).
Flipping through Reddit, I noticed that a lot of posts from the Apple page are people joyously announcing that they bought a new Apple device. It feels like they’re buying the device more to feel a sense of inclusion in something rather than because they appreciate the device for what it is. Like people have a desperate desire to feel a sense of belonging and place. I feel like it’s a need that people used to fill with religion, but religion doesn’t do a good job of meeting people’s spiritual needs anymore. Not Western religion anyway, perhaps because of the insistence on faith over reason and perhaps because of the movement that tried to push the idea of biblical inerrancy in the US, rather than recognzing the Bible for what it is: a collection of stories by various authors at various times and places trying to explain the unexplainable. I’ve spent a good amount of time reading about different religions and all of them have flaws, but I thnk it’s important that people are able to committ to something that acknowledges that there is something greater than themselves, something that can provide meaning and context to our lives. I’m still searching and thinking.
Summer is basically on its way out the door. I missed most of it. I spent most of my weekends this summer at home recuperating from the work week. I wanted to go out and ride my bike more this summer. I just couldn’t muster up the will to do it, even though I knew it would be fun. I don’t know what that’s about. Just fatigue I guess? Or maybe I need to work more at prioritizing what I enjoy. Maybe I’ll find a way to work it into my schedule so that I can make a habit of it, for exercise purposes. Even when it gets cold. I have some cold weather workout clothes, if they still fit!
I got a promotion and a few raises this year at work so that’s pretty good, and worth noting. I actually enjoy going to this job. I don’t dread waking up to go to work. That’s winning. The pay is almost up to what I feel like it should be to do what I do, and in a few years I’ll be comfortable there too.
All in all, 2025 has been pretty good to me, especially in light of the last 5 years. I feel like I’m starting to come out of a rut. I’m also excited for Fall and hoping the end of 2025 has that cheerful spirit that seems to have been lacking lately.
A few thoughts on the new season of Andor
It was intresting to me that Disney released three episodes up front, but I think it might have been symbolic of the three storylines that were being told, and it seemed like Cassian’s storyline was unnecessarly drawn out to fit into the 3×3 structure they created. His whole ‘adventure’ on the planet was sort of amusing, but mostly annoying, and doesn’t seem to have added anything to the overall storyline. Maybe I’m wrong and those guys will show up again later on and do something meaningful, but from the way they were portrayed, I really doubt it.
What was more interesting was the three layers of the rebellion they portrayed. First, you have Cassian and Bix, representing the foot soldiers and common people. Second, you have Mon and Luthen, representing the wealthy patrons of the rebellion. Third, you get Dedra and Syril, though that story seems to be mostly about Dedra at this point, representing the complexities of working for the government. There also seems to be an emphasis on class/economic differences, contrasting the struggle on the ground with the ‘struggle’ represented by Tay’s threat at the rave/wedding celebration.
The first three episodes jumped back and forth between Cassian’s, Mon’s, and Dedra’s storylines so you walk away not having seen as much as you think you might have. There were a few things that jumped out at me though. Bix’s encounter with the Imperial inspector was intense. I wonder if this storyline was inserted as a way of alluding to current politics in the US. I don’t recall any previous references to people being on other planets in the Federation/Empire ‘illegally’, or any mention of work visas. It’s been a while since I saw the movies, so maybe I’m wrong, but there seemed to be an effort to equate Bix’s situation with that of illegals in the United States, but it seems like a reach to suggest that illegals are being sexually assaulted prior to deportation. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, though. Another thing I wondered was, is Syril’s mother supposed to be the Jewish mother caricature? And finally, that floating party ball was really banging.
Overall, the show seems to be off to a really good start. I’m enjoying it more than The Last of Us season 2 so far, though I was glad to see the final scene of season 2 episode 2. That dude is getting annoying.
The new toilet paper
2020 was toilet paper; now it’s the same again but with eggs.
Right before the prices shot up, I bought a dozen free range organic eggs for $8 on sale, I think at H-Mart in Little Ferry, NJ. A week ago, I went to the commissary on Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn and all they had left was the generic store brand, not organic, not free range, for $6.94 a dozen. Three days ago, I went to the commissary, and they had no eggs at all, just a sign telling customers that by order of the base commander they could only buy two dozen per person.
I get that lots of chickens have been killed because of bird flu, but given how much the government lied to us over the last four years, I wonder if the bird flu is even real and the chickens were killed in some weird push to get people to eat vegetarian. More Green New Scam nonsense. The beef prices have shot up to double what they were before 2020. Now they’re going for the chickens and eggs. Next they’ll be after our pork. Then we’ll just be eating beans and bugs, I guess. Isn’t that the conspiracy theory that’s been floating around for a few years? Instead of croutons, we’ll have toasted roaches.
Anyway, it’s Valentine’s Day, and Moet & Chandon champagne is a lot stronger than I expected.
Actual experience with NYC’s congestion relief zone tolls, a pro and a major con
If anyone is wondering how it’s going now that it’s implemented, I thought I’d leave a few thoughts here.
I drive to work daily. I live in the central Bronx and work in south Brooklyn by the Verrazzano Bridge. My commute takes me down the Westside Highway into the HLC Tunnel or down the FDR and across the Brooklyn Bridge, then down 278. So, I don’t go into the CRZ daily, but the change in traffic patterns affects me because I use the same roads for a leg of my trip as people who do.
The implementation of the toll has been both good and bad for me, but more good than bad, if I can get a billing issue fixed.
Pro:
Improved Commute Times
Initially, traffic was heavily reduced to the point that I was getting from the central Bronx to the Verrazzano in about 45 minutes. After about a week, traffic evened back out as people figured out new commutes and/or decided what they could no longer afford in order to get to work every day.
My commute time to work is about the same as it was before. I leave my residence in the Bronx around 7:20 AM and it takes me about an hour to get to my place of employment in south Brooklyn. Some days it’s 50 minutes and some days it’s 70 minutes, bust it’s usually about 57 minutes. That is consistent. The return trip is where I’m seeing massive gains. It used to take me an hour and a half to two hours to get home most days. Now, my trip home is about 50 minutes to 70 minutes.
I’m saving time on my way home mostly because of reduced traffic going into the Hugh L Carey tunnel that connects Brooklyn to the southern tip of Manhattan. Without traffic backing up onto 278, I can either roll through the tunnel quite rapidly or continue up to 278 to the Brooklyn Bridge, continuing my trip north on either the West Side Highway or the FDR.
Basically, I’m saving about three and a half to four hours a week on my commute times. That’s a huge bonus for me because it gives me more time in the evenings to relax by myself or with my wife before jumping into the regular routine of getting ready for the next day.
Con:
False positives on toll cameras
The biggest issue I’m facing right now is being incorrectly billed for trips into the CRZ that I didn’t make.
Despite my staying outside of he CRZ on my daily commutes, I noticed on my EZPass billing that I was being charged the CRZ $9.00 toll every single day. Why? I followed the rules. I didn’t want to be tolled so I didn’t go into the toll zone. Not that I have any reason to leave the highways on my daily commute anyway. Was someone spoofing my plate?
Nope. Turns out that EZPass is incorrectly billing anyone who uses the HLC the CRZ Zone Toll automatically, no matter if you turn onto the West Side Highway and continue out of the congestion zone or not. As soon as you exit the tunnel, they’re tolling you for both the tunnel and the CRZ.
This isn’t supposed to happen. The West Side Highway and the HLC Tunnel are excluded roadways. The only time you should encounter the CRZ toll in relation to the HLC Tunnel is if you exit the tunnel and turn onto Trinity Place, which is a local road with a right exit just before you hit the West Side Highway.
I had a long conversation about this with an EZPass employee who at first was trying to tell me, based on information from her supervisor, that using the HLC makes you subject to the CRZ Toll. I had to point out that the plan as presented by the city and on the 311 website says otherwise. She wound up putting in a ticket for me to have the charges removed from my account, but it could take up to 21 business days for me to see whether or not that happens.
EZPass is illegally tolling people who are following the rules and they don’t even seem to be aware in general that moving from the excluded HLC to the excluded West Side Highway is supposed to be congestion relief zone toll-free.
How was this flaw overlooked during their supposed testing phase? And why would EZPass employees not have an understanding of how tolls are supposed to be applied in relation to the Congestion Relief Plan? Do I have to call back every month to dispute charges? Or will this get fixed? We’re only 21 days into this new program, but these seem like pretty big flaws.
Summary
I was very opposed to the CRZ toll when I first heard about it. It wasn’t until about a month before it was implemented that I realized that it would probably make my commute faster since I have to travel past Lower Manhattan. If I had to pay $9 when I occasionally visited my mother or went shopping in Lower Manhattan, I was ok with that. And I’m still ok with that, as long as EZPass stops billing me for not going into the CRZ.
Why I voted for Trump
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a political ad this uplifting before. Or that I’ve ever seen an uplifting political ad. This ad makes you feel good. It promotes the idea of leaving behind the fringe lunacy of online political discourse and coming back to a middle ground that advocates for something better, something normal, something genuine. And something that makes sense for the country as a whole.
Thinking about Kamala’s campaign and how she constantly lied, from outright lies like working at McDonald’s to how she changed her accent depending on her audience, to her non-answers about any question other than if she came from a middle-class family, the difference between Kamala and Trump is crystal clear. I couldn’t even tell you what Kamala stood for because she didn’t know what she stood for, and she wasted over $1bn USD letting us know it. The only things that stood out about her campaign to me is her horrible irritating cackle, how Beyonce snubbed her, and her saying she wouldn’t change a thing regarding Biden’s presidency, which tells me that four years of Kamala would be another four years of Biden’s disastrous policies.
Trump is what you see is what you get and, despite the lunatic ravings of the far left, what you get is a guy that wants to get the US back on track by securing our border, improving the economy, and by no longer pandering to far-left ideologies when it flies in the face of common sense. He can carry a conversation, make decisive decisions, isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, respects American traditions, and has charisma.
We need the return to normalcy that Biden promised but never delivered. We need the government to work for the majority of Americans and to create a narrative that unites people, instead of promoting the divisiveness of identity politics. We need a President that recognizes all Americans as people united by common ideals and goals, instead of one that would promote the interests of one group over another based-on race, sex, or ambiguous gender identity politics. And we need a President that will govern based on the will of the majority instead of the crazed rantings of the very loud minority.
I voted for Donald Trump because I believe that the United States is a country that can and should be proud of itself, despite its flaws. I believe that the United States is a country that should work on behalf of its citizens, instead of crushing citizens to take care of the rest of the world. I believe the United States is a place of opportunity and could be a place of prosperity again, if we refuse to let the Democratic establishment tear it down.
I want a secure border instead of an open border so my family will be safer. I want prices to go back down so I can afford to put away money for the future. I want housing to be affordable. I want a strong military that doesn’t have to be used because we’re respected in the world. I want common sense laws, rules, and regulations where criminals aren’t hailed as heroes and victims are helped instead of being prosecuted. I want the rights of women to be respected and to not have their accomplishments taken away by men in cosplay. I want children to be allowed to be children without having their parents manipulate them into making life altering and debilitating medical choices.
Trump was the obvious choice. I voted for Donald Trump, and I’m glad he won.
A view of the Verrazzano Bridge and Staten Island at sunset
This is a really nice spot to sit and relax on Fort Hamilton, despite the cars going by on the highway below. There’s fresh air and you can actually smell trees, the grass, and the soil. That alone is a nice change from most of New York. If I lived anywhere nearby, I’d spend more time there just to relax. Another bonus is that because it’s in a controlled access area, you don’t have to worry about the regular parade of New York City lunatics walking up on you when you’re just trying to unwind.
The body of water shown in the image above and video below is The Narrows on the right and Lower New York Bay on the left. The bridge is the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and is the only crossing between Staten Island and the rest of New York City. There are other bridges that go to the island, but they leave you in New Jersey. Alternatively, there’s a ferry service that takes you to the Financial District in Manhattan, but it’s time consuming. The lack of fast access is one of the reasons Staten Island is so underpopulated compared to the other four boroughs of New York City and, as a result, the island’s culture more closely resembles that of rural New York and New Jersey.
View this on YouTube and set the quality to 4K:
I decided to create this video using a new TODI 63″ Phone Tripod (Amazon affiliate link) that I picked up. I like how compact and portable the tripod is. The way it folds up, I can keep it in my backpack, meaning I can take it with me on walks around the city and pull it out when I see something interesting. My only concern about it was that it was a little wobbly in the strong, constant breezes coming off the ocean on The Bluff, but it didn’t tip over. It just made me a little nervous. I kind of wish there were flat, protruding feet on the bottom that I could stand on to anchor it better. For what it is and costs, though, it worked very well and the iPhone’s software was able to compensate for the slight wobbling so I wound up with a great video.
Personal reminder to live in the present
Enjoying the sun and warmth while it’s still here
Hopefully this isn’t the last warm weekend we’ll see, but everyone was out enjoying the sun like it was. It was pretty warm if you stayed out of the shade. It was a great day for walking, cycling, and seeing the sites.
We took a ride around the park, avoiding the top bit of the loop with that ridiculously steep hill, and took a few minutes to appreciate the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir before heading home. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon.
I picked up a tripod for my iPhone to record with, but I haven’t found the right time or place to use it yet. Maybe next weekend.
Bradley's Old Fashioned Weblog 