Mike Experiences The Internet

Category: Life Stuff

  • 01282026 – Learning from multiple disappointing things

    01282026 – Learning from multiple disappointing things

    An email is shown, letting the recipient know they did not move forward in the admissions process for a watchmaking program.

    I received this email yesterday morning around the time of this post. I was really hoping that I would receive a different version of this email, one that would say that I had been accepted … but the reality is this. After reading this email, I wrote the administrative assistant a really nice thank you note. I was taught to do this many years ago when I was in college, as part of one of my classes (which specialized in mock interviews).

    I also had a learning experience about a recent major purchase that I made. I recently financed a car (!!), and just a few days in; it started to have issues. We still had about a week to bring it back in; but then Winter Storm Fern hit. I was barely able to get out yesterday to return the car to the dealership, and all is well on that front.

    It is very hard to not give up when things are like this, and I feel that in the context of the last few months that I’m very close to doing just that.

    I just hope that things get better soon, because I’m tired of being sad and angry at everything (and everyone).

  • 01182026 – The Year of Movement

    This is an official photo of the very first 5K Mike ever walked, the very last Heroes Run 5K in Shreveport, Louisiana. The photo was taken in October 2023, and appears with implied permission from BGC Racing, Inc.

    In my last post, I mused about adoption of a yearly theme; but decided against naming it there because of a pending decision. Fast forward a couple of days (during which I came up with my yearly schedule of 5K events), and I came up with movement as the yearly theme for 2026.

    It ties in perfectly between the admissions process, my progression as a walker/runner; and in general because we seem to be on the go all the time. But it does lean more on the walking/running side of things. After spending the last couple of years walking and running local and area events, for 2026 I am planning to travel to two events, one regional; and one national. Travel will be subject of course, to money and to Abby’s whims.

  • Blog Post – 01152026

    “Birthdays are supposed to be a fun time, why aren’t you having fun?”

    My birthday is tomorrow. It used to be that I would look forward to my birthday every year for a myriad of reasons, but given the current and previous state of things; I just view it as another day.

    I know I shouldn’t feel this way about it … yet I do.

    On another note, I am going to work on a yearly theme for the remainder of this week (and hopefully have something by next week).

  • Planning Ahead

    Usually around Thanksgiving (or shortly thereafter), I tend to look at the next and see what I want to do, event wise. 2026 is no exception here … but it is.

    There are some very real things that could happen (getting into the watchmaking school at Rolex et al), but I have to prepare as if the preceding isn’t going to happen, and that I must continue to forge a path of my own; with Abby at my side. My 2025 bingo card didn’t have cancer diagnosis on it at all!

    There is one gaming tournament I’d like to go to, but it would take multiple months (and a act of god) to save up for in it’s various components. Doing that would also take away any money that would need to be used for moving from our small town apartment, to a big city apartment.

  • Of Traditions And Such

    It’s Thanksgiving week, and the past couple of years; it’s been normal with a singular exception … that being the local Turkey Trot.

    If you are reading this, are overseas (I know I have some British and Canadian readers); and thinking … wtf is this Turkey Trot nonsense? Allow me to explain.

    A Turkey Trot is a themed 5 kilometer (3.1ish miles) walk or run, and is held on Thanksgiving morning; usually before 0800 local time. It’s been my tradition the last couple of years to walk the race, but this year I will have my grandson joining me.

    We might be last, but we will always be first.

  • The Problem with Meanness

    “Why do you have to be so mean sometimes?” – Abby

    It was when my wife uttered this quote after our car stalled in traffic coming home from a recent appointment that it finally set in. I was being mean for the sake of being mean, and didn’t care who it was directed at. For all intents and purposes, I reached my breaking point that afternoon. Needless to say, she was crying because of how mad and frustrated I got; and afterwards I apologized for a very long time and told her how I felt. How I felt her getting cancer was my fault, and no one was to blame but me for her health situation; our car having issues; barely getting by.

    I didn’t have any real outlet to destress, get my frustration and rage out. At the time, my Windows PC had a issue with a dead monitor (as explained in this recent post) and only recently, did I receive a replacement monitor that allowed it to work again. After returning from the football game mentioned here, I initially was going to spend a hour assembling the monitor, and plugging in the necessary functioning cables for it to work. One hour turned into two hours, and so on and so forth. Next thing I knew, it was 3:30am and I had reinstalled Windows and started to reload everything I used on a daily basis. Needless to say, I have my main outlet for expression back; and it literally couldn’t have come at a better time.

  • The AI Conundrum

    “A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God.” – Alan Perlis

    As a precursor to today’s entry, I will be discussing Artificial Intelligence to a large extent and its uses to help map out what my wife is going through regarding her cancer diagnosis. If you are decidedly against AI in its current form, stop reading here.

    Commenting will be turned off for this entry as well.

    In my attempts to further understand what she is going through regarding her diagnosis, I’ve leaned on using AI to interpret her test results, from her initial screening to the present.

    Now that we know what chemotherapy drugs she will be on, along with her schedule for treatment; I am able to try to understand (in plain and somewhat simple English) what her lab results are; and notes from the oncology team that’s treating her. AI has also been helpful in understanding what modifications will need to be made to things like what she eats; things that she may need for work. It has additionally been helpful to me, for planning times when I need to step away from the role of caretaker and enjoy life, and you know not going insane.

    I know that I will eventually need to find some kind of part-time job that will help with things that my Social Security benefits may not pick up, and with a little bit of luck; some spending money too. That will come with time I suppose.

  • The Reliability Complex

    I had written an entire post yesterday in regards to the fighting game community, and had linked a video by a good friend (who just so happens to be a very good YouTube content creator). That post went into the garbage this morning; and this post is taking it’s place.

    When you buy a new or used vehicle, you buy one for a variety of reasons; but mostly it’s what fits your unique situation. But a lot of said focus is specifically towards reliability. When you buy a traditional vehicle (not a electric one), there’s a certain percentage of the vehicle’s price that’s paid over it’s lifespan to fix broken things that happen. That’s not to say that electric vehicles are any better.

    We had a friend of my daughter’s visit this week, and part of the reason he came was to look at, and subsequently work on both our cars. Despite being from two completely different manufacturers, they both exhibited the exact same problem. Both are older vehicles, with above average mileage on each. He was able to get my daughter’s car fixed no problem (at least that’s my understanding anyway), and he worked on our car last night, but it still had the same symptoms; and they manifested in a even worse way.

    Today started with my grandchildren missing the bus for the second time in as many weeks. I was able to get my grandson Ju to school just fine, but had to come back and pick up my oldest granddaughter to take her to school. And the car broke down at least a dozen times, to the point where I had to let her out on a side street and she ended up walking to school. I felt so ashamed, and I knew she was disappointed in me. So I hobbled the car back home, and here I am; writing this. I feel that in light of everything recent (the cancer diagnosis, money troubles; and now transportation issues); that I should back away.

  • Routines Are Hard

    After remarking in yesterday’s post about what my daily routine currently is, and how it most likely will change in a couple weeks when the missus starts radiation and chemotherapy treatment. I decided to dig a little deeper about how my routines have evolved over our many years together being married, while taking our three dogs out for their morning potty break.

    When we first met in 2007, we really didn’t have any routines together outside of going to each other’s houses (I was living at home with my mum, she was living at home with her dad), and spending time together. Over the years, our daily routines changed in the context of spending as much time together as possible, to going to college every day for classes; going to work at multiple jobs in both our cases; to spending time with our daughter and grandkids. Now our routines will once more have a invocation of seismic proportions once more, once we know the treatment schedule and settle into it.

    For both our sakes, I hope that this upcoming round of treatments is the only one we have to do for the foreseeable future.