Throwback Blog: Curses Are Meant To Be Broken

Blogger's Note: Throwback blogs are blogs from my past. I start posting past blogs reflecting what I wrote. It's like my "A Second Look" blogs for which I give myself feedback.

Today's throwback blog is titled Curses Are Meant To Be Broken written on Nov 5, 2010. I used Major League Baseball teams as examples curses were broken. The San Francisco Giants won two more World Series in 2012 and 2014. The Chiago Cubs won the 2016 World Series. The Cleveland Guardians, formerly the Cleveland Indians, continue waiting.

Here are recent first time franchise championships. I don't know their local franchise histories. I believe local fans say there were curses. The Texas Rangers won the 2023 World Series. The Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Finals. The Florida Panthers won the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals.

The title is self-explanatory. Curses are meant to be broken. However, it's unfortunate some people can't or don't break their curses for reasons beyond their control. Blame life.

The last time the Chicago Cubs won the World Series was in 1908, a span of 102 years which is the longest time a team hasn’t won. The second longest is the Cleveland Indians at 62 years. The third longest was the San Francisco Giants at 56 years. The key word is was.

The Giants won the 2010 World Series defeating the Texas Rangers four games to one. The win is the first time in San Francisco franchise history. The torture is over, and that includes torture Giants fans experienced during the last six weeks of the season. Edgar Renteria’s three run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the 7th inning is the Giants most memorable homerun in San Francisco Giants history. The championship is for the Willie Mays, Will Clark, and Barry Bonds eras. The win erases all the Giants curses. Here are some of curses I lived through:

*1987 NLCS. Candy Maldonado’s misplayed fly ball in Game 6 and Jose Oquendo hitting a homerun in Game 7 off Atlee Hammaker against the St. Louis Cardinals. Oquendo hit one homerun in the regular season.

*1989 World Series. Loma Prieta earthquake and the Oakland A’s swept.

*2002 World Series. Anaheim Angels’ Scott Spiezo’s three run go-ahead homerun against Felix Rodriguez in Game 6.

*2003 NLDS. J.T. Snow thrown out at the plate on the last play of the series against the Florida Marlins in Game 5.

Curses are meant to be broken. If you’re in a bad streak of sales, dates, homework and tests scores, interviews for a job, burning cooked dinners, or buying bad goods, don’t worry about it. Don’t give up! Curses are meant to be broken.

Side note: The Boston Red Sox’s broke their curse in 2004.

George Costanza Is A Winner Today

Seinfeld fans know George Costanza is a loser. There were episodes George was unemployed and lived with his parents. George was a loser yesterday. Maybe George is a winner today. I speculate. There may be a growing trend adults question their price of freedom. The adults are thinking again the cost of independence. The prices to pay for living on their own are increasing such as rent or mortgage, gas, groceries, bare necessities, leisure, clothing, and maintaining relationships. Dead-end careers. Underpaid jobs. A weak relationship. Dragged-down friends. Too much stress. Little sleep. Worsening health. A solution is quit the job, say good-bye to friends, sell everything, and move back home. The chances living a happier life is increased living with the parents. There are fewer people. People drama is reduced. Minimize eating processed foods; for example, restaurant prices are increasing. There are more hours to sleep. Learn something new.

Don't take your parents for granted. Do your share maintaining the residence. There is a new way of being a winner.

Update On A Past Blog

I blogged Homeless Encampment Eviction Day Real Story on Mar 23, 2024 for which I linked a KTVU Fox 2 News reported on a homeless encampment eviction in Oakland, CA Eviction day for Oakland's Wood Street homeless encampment aired on Apr 10, 2023. I posted 24 YouTube comments and opinions.

There is another story missed from the 24 comments and opinions. The parents and/or the families of the homeless. Abusive parents, alcoholic parents, violent grandparents, mental instability parents, criminal parents, incest, siblings bullying, and more. No loving upbring while the homeless were children and teenagers. Childhood trauma without intervention resulted in drug abuse and homelessness.

There are some homeless who are former military experiencing mental problems and PTSD. It's unfortunate these homeless military didn't have family support or slipped through the cracks needing treatment.

Is forcing institutional rehabilitation a top solution? The involuntary homeless needing treatment must be told to get treatment to recover. The result is some of these involuntary homeless actually recovered. Tough question. Tough solution. Multiple opinions.

Generation Alpha May Be The Last Generation To Shop In Malls

Today's blog is an update on a past blog.

Update On A Past Blog

The biggest mall in San Francisco is closing due to sales decreasing and lower number of shoppers. The COVID-19 global pandemic, employees working at home, and inflation are factors, too. Popular stores such as Nordstrom, Banana Republic, Whole Foods, LuluLemon, Disney, Macy's, The North Face, J. Crew, and Old Navy announced in summer 2023 they leave the Westfield San Francisco Centre. The Century San Francisco 9 movie theater owned by Cinemark closed in Jun 2023. However, the mall stays open for new businesses renamed to Emporium Centre San Francisco at a later date. I wrote two blogs on malls. The first blog is SOMT: Fast Times At Ridgemont High written on Jan 20, 2018 and SOMT: A Few Malls Still Exists Today written on Mar 24, 2018. SOMT stands for Sign Of My Times, an occasional blog sharing my thoughts how time changes life from when I was young to today. The malls are a people get-together magnet. People gather to socialize.

I remember a conversation with a group of friends back in my college years. It was a Friday night. We were bored. There was a suggestion we go to the mall. One disagreed admirably. He didn't believe in going to the mall to hang out. My opinion on malls is unchanged. Malls are a great place for gatherings. People are present. Human interaction. Face to face socializing. People spend money for the local economy.

Unfortunately, online commerce is another reason malls close. The generation alpha people born from 2013 to present may be the malls' final customers. There are people still shopping at malls at all ages; in particular, generation alpha's grandparents representing the baby boomer generation. The best malls remain. Winning malls stay open. Losing malls close.

On The Outside Of Unemployment

Most unemployed people job search daily. There's nothing else important. Today's blog explains what a good unemployed person does outside job searching. If applicable, then today's blog also highlights what a good unemployed person does outside job training, going back to college, or enrolling in specialized vocational training. I'm on the spotlight as an example.

I'm like George Costanza from Seinfeld. I'm unemployed. I live with my parents. A difference is George doesn't cook, clean, and complete household errands. I cook, clean, and complete household errands. I take care of myself exercising, reading books, being calm, minimizing expenses, and sleeping well. I self job train learning new skills and reviewing existing skills. I write blogs. I minimize eating processed foods.

Know The Real Reality

TV, movies, and video games are the lowest priority. Any entertainment with a screen is the lowest priority. Entertainment as a leisure activity is valid. Priorities are priorities. Responsibilities are responsibilities. There is no excuse a son or a daughter lives like a homeless bum under their parent's roof.

What the unemployed people do personally inside and outside matter more than working on finding employment. Anyone can cook, clean, and complete household errands. Anyone can be nice. People want to see the unemployed continue living even if life moves slowly. Life moves forward. Be stronger. Be smarter. Be wiser. Get motivated. Actions speak louder than words.

I want people to know I try honestly. I do the best I can. I do something. I do anything. All mistakes corrected. All accomplishments improved. Innovate infinitely.

No money needed to be a nobody. No money to pay for nothing. The absolute minimum for the unemployed outside of unemployment is don't be a jerk or a bitch.

Accutane Day 5,607

New freckles or life marks appear on my face. Life marks is a common slang. They're hard to see in the quick on-the-fly selfie. Some existing bumps or brown colored scars are growing in size. The bumps are prominent on both sides of my face between the ears and eyes. I hate them. I live with them in the meantime. I want treatment. I wait for full medical coverage. There must be new treatments today compared to 2009. I hope the new treatments reduce pimples and blackheads for which they still appear.

I use Burt's Bee lip balm when I jog outside. I don't remember the last time I applied facial cream to my face after the Accutane Day 4,336 blog written on Jan 2, 2021.

I like my egg shaped face today compared to the rounder face in Mar 2009. I look better smile or no smile.

Playing Riichi Mahjong With Dice

I dreamed last night I played Riichi Mahjong. Most of my tiles consisted of dice like in Monopoly or casino craps. Illogical and inaccurate. We played in my house. My mom watched the game.

The dice was the dots or pinzu tiles. The hand began. I made tempai or one tile away from winning on my second draw. My hand consisted of the following explained in melds: 1,2,3; 1,2,3; 6,6,6; 6,6 for the pair; and 2,4 for which I needed a 3 to win 2,3,4. The 6,6,6 were the mahjong tiles.

I declared riichi or I told the players I'm ready to win with my 14th tile. The player on my left was OCD. She adjusted my dice to be faced consistently in one direction. The player on my right looked at my dice facing one direction. He was guessing my winning tile or tiles. I made a mistake on the 2,4 for which I needed a 3 to win. I should have set up the dice from 2,4 to 2,3 for which I needed either a 1 or a 4 to win for a 1,2,3 or 2,3,4; in other words, I could win with two numbers 1 or 4 instead of one number 3. The player on my right discarded a 3. I won my hand.

Another friend appeared out of thin air. He scored my hand. Dora was 3 dots or pinzu. Ura dora was 1 dots or pinzu. My score was riichi, ippatsu, chinitsu, ipeiko, dora 3, and ura dora 2. Total score is 1+1+6+1+3+2=14. I earned a 13+ yakuman 32,000 points which is the highest score possible. He disappeared after scoring my hand.

A One And A Half Inch Paint Brush Is Useful

My dad is a self-trained handyman. His handyman skills include woodworking, electrical, plumbing, painting, and automotive. He assisted a family friend for interior painting. They supplied painting equipment for each other. My dad and his friend used a 1.5 inch painting brush for the first time in their lives. I asked a question after he told me the story, "You should have purchased the 1.5 inch decades ago." My dad said he had no need.

There is irony from a hardware technology point of view. My dad kept serial port cables, parallel port cables, USB-A cables, keyboards with the keyboard jack, mouses with the mouse jack, power cables, stereo cables, and landline phone cables. My dad was in no position to say he had no need for a 1.5 inch paint brush.

Everyone relates to the above story. There is always an open pouch for a new object in the toolbelts. The arsenal stocking up on something new is infinite. Upgrades, replacements, and strengthening never stops. There are exceptions such as duct tape. Sometimes the old school is still valid today. It's a judgment call.

Equipment, Knowledge Or Training, And Personnel

A standard formula for success is the proper equipment, correct knowledge or good training, and personnel behaving as a team. A trained person can substitute personnel behaving as a team if the situation is a single person. For instance, I self-trained with a new desktop PC, finalized job training schedules, and choosing the correct technology skills to train from Jan 2020 to Mar 2024. The end result was a Self Job Training Graduation Analytics Research Technology on Apr 19, 2024. An obvious example is developing children in a family. The parents provide the equipment such as clothes, books, and meals. The children are taught the ABCs and 123s by a good teacher. The children's personnel are their parents providing guidance and nurturing.

A personal belief is never stop innovating--innovate infinitely. Innovate infinitely applies to tools, accessories, equipment, and supplies.

Crossing The Line To Become An Adult

It's like crossing the finish line in a race. The race is over. The race is finished. The race is successful. A person becomes a true adult crossing the adult line. All puzzle pieces fit together. The dots connecting backwards are connected. The patterns are established. The adult makes the connections. No stupidity. Full understanding. Circles are fully drawn.

Adult Continues Work After The Race

There are more races to cross the finish line. Professionalism is practiced daily. Responsibilities never ends. Never take maturity for granted. Always seek new adventures. Continue experiencing new experiences. Always sharpen the saw. Never stop innovating. Innovate infinitely.

Update On A Past Blog

The blog I Have An Answer To When Is An Adult An Adult written on Jan 6, 2021 answer is 50 years old. I'm lucky I became an adult at age 45. I crossed the line five years earlier. I incorrectly wrote, "I'm four years ahead." The correct sentence is, "I'm five years ahead." The correction applies to Grading My Past Years On A Curve written on July 17, 2022. I incorrectly wrote, "I achieved an adult is an adult four years ahead." The correct sentence is "I achieved an adult is an adult five years ahead."

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog May 2024

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. Don't flirt with COVID-19. The May month was the fastest of the year. Normal life is coming back slowly.

Wed May 1. The Center For Disease Control (CDC) reported weekly hospitalizations reached the lowest levels since the pandemic started. The most recent data was 5,615 people hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide. The highest was 150,000 people hospitalized in early 2022 during the omicron variant. Hospitals no longer need to report respiratory illnesses starting on Apr 30, 2024. Officials use other data sources such as wastewater readings, laboratory tests, and emergency departments.

22.6% of adults and 14% of children received the latest COVID-19 vaccine. Adults 65 years or older are recommended to receive an additional dose of the latest COVID-19 vaccine due to their increased risk. Deaths declined from an average of 25,000 weekly deaths during the delta variant to an average of 231 weekly deaths in 2024.

Fri May 3. There are two FLiRT variants. The KP.2 represented 25% of cases and the KP.1.1 represented 7.5% of cases. The JN.1 represented 22% of cases. The FLiRT variants are part of the omicron variant.

Tue May 7. Went to AAA and Stevens Creek Toyota for car errands.

Wed May 8. AstraZeneca withdrew its vaccine Vaxzevria due to a plethora of updated vaccines and lower demand for its vaccine. More than 3 billion doses administered worldwide beginning in the United Kingdom on Jan 4, 2021. No revenue generated from Vaxzevria since Apr 2023. A reason was the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines being more effective. AstraZeneca withdrew marketing authorizations within Europe because Vaxzevria is no longer manufactured.

Fri May 9. Novavax signed a co-exclusive licensing agreement with Sanofi SA for COVID-19 and flu-COVID-19 combination vaccines. Novavax receives from $500 million up to $1.2 billion in payments for development regulatory and distribution. Sanofi sells Novavax's adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine and pay R&D, regulatory, and commercial expenses starting in 2025. Novavax receives at least 10% royalty payments from its sales. Sanofi develops and commercializes the novel flu-COVID-19 combination vaccine containing a Sanofi flu vaccine.

Sat May 11. Celebrated Mother's Day.

Mon May 13. The KP.2 variant was the dominant COVID-19 strain at an estimated 28.2% of cases according to the CDC. JN.1 was 15.7%. JN.1.7 was 13.3%.

Fri May 17. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time. Powell tested positive for the first time on Jan 2023.

Tue May 21. The State Of CA reported no deaths due to COVID-19 on Tue Apr 2, 2024. It was the first day of zero COVID-19 deaths since Mar 18, 2020. CA shut down on Tue Mar 17, 2020. Tue Jan 12, 2021 was the deadliest day with 718 deaths. The average daily deaths was four in Apr 2024. 107,000 total CA residents died.

Sat May 25. Shopped at Costco.

Tue May 28. The FLiRT subvariants KP.2, KP.3, and KP1.1 are the dominant strains overtaking JN.1. FLiRT accounted for 50.4% of the nation's infections. It was 20% in Apr 2024. FLiRT doesn't appear to be more severe. The current vaccine is expected to provide good protection.

Wed May 29. Ran errands at the bank, Target, REI, Nob Hill, and Big 5 Sporting Goods.