AI generated image, but pretty close to what was actually received.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The man is articulate, respectable, well-spoken, and knows how to carry and handle himself during a friendly interview and a hostile debate. I almost wish he was running for President now, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be the nominee in 2028.
Do yourself a favor and listen to the actual debates and speeches. Put the TikTok down.
A line of cars using the 12th Street “protected” bike lane at 3rd Avenue in Manhattan as a left-turn bay
For some of these people, I wonder if they just didn’t know. There is an NYU dorm on this block and there was a lot of traffic being caused by people dropping off their kids who are about to start Fall Semester. I imagine a lot of them are from Upstate or Central New York and maybe don’t understand the significance of bike lanes. I get into this place sometimes, mentally, where I just assume that other people know things that I take for granted because they’re common.
Maybe they were all playing follow the leader, with the “leader” being a TLC vehicle driver who should have known better. I hope he enjoys the ticket he’s going to get from the 311 report I filed.
Also, shout out to the guy who was making a statement by sitting on his Citibike in the bike lane, blocking the cars.
Summer Streets is an event in New York City where stretches of road are closed down from 7 AM to 3 PM to regular vehicle traffic and are opened up to pedestrians and cyclists for recreational use. It started out on just a small stretch of 4th Avenue, but year after year more roads and longer stretches of road are made available for Summer Streets use.
I almost missed it this year, but my wife reminded me about it when she went out riding last weekend and accidentally rode into the Summer Streets route and wound up riding the length of Manhattan down to and over the Brooklyn Bridge. This current weekend was the last weekend for Summer Streets in Manhattan so I made sure to get out there, even if only for a little while, to enjoy having the whole road open to ride around on.
Whole road is kind of an overstatement, though. There were so many people out there on bicycles and walking and running that it was actually a bit crowded. It was still a lot of fun, though, and made me wish that Summer Streets took place every Saturday from 6 AM to 7 PM all Spring, Summer, and Fall long.
I do have one more chance for Summer Streets next weekend, but it will be here in the Bronx on Grand Concourse. I’ve done a few organized runs up and down the route that has been selected for use, so it won’t be a new area for me, but I’m going to do it anyway because it’s rare to have a long run of space to use for cycling in such a dense urban area. I’m grateful for the greenways and bike paths in parks here in the city.
That being said, it’s kind of exciting to ride up and down blocks in Lower Manhattan. There’s a lot to look at and experience when you’re out riding on your bike and it’s not as dangerous as it used to be if you stay on the side roads or in the bike lanes on major avenues.
We finished up our Manhattan Summer Streets ride with a trip to Chinatown to have a late lunch / early dinner at Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles on Doyers Street. It’s a great place and if you haven’t been, I highly recommend it.
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