Being thankful, Day #17

Today, i am going to share how i am thankful for my Tilley.  I know, this is a little silly, but today is the last day of the Fall soccer season for me and my family, and i am sort of known for wearing "The Hat".  Maybe it was in the military i grew used to wearing a hat, but i have found that hats are extremely handy.  A brim is great to keep the sun out of your eyes, or from getting a sunburn on my neck.  The problem with baseball style hats is that the brim is only partially useful, it can only point in one direction at time so if you want to use it for both the next and eyes, you have to keep flipping it back and forth.  I have a similar problem with the sun visor in my car, but i digress. Hats are also really useful to keeping one warm in the winter, and cool in the summer.  It also has a huge feature that an eyeglass wearer like me really needs, a cover to keep the glasses without spots in the rain.I am not sure my Beloved gets it though.    I wear the hat, pretty much any time we are going to be outside for more than a few minutes.  So, i wear it anytime i am at one of our children's soccer games.

I bought it when she went in to the hospital for gallbladder incident. I had been on the fence for a while, especially because Tilley Hats can be a tad pricey compared to the hats more easily available, but i assure you they are well worth the difference.  I first heard about Tilley when i was at Hershey Park, but a woman who owned one.  The hats are guaranteed for manufacturing defects for life, and insured for loss for up to two years.  If you lose your treasured possession in the first two years after your purchase - for any reason - you can purchase another at half the cost.

I purchased the LTM06 AirFlo design and have never regretted it.  In the winter it keeps my head warm (even with the air flow vents), in the summer it keeps me very cool - and when i really need a boost - i stash ice in the pocket and let it melt (another trick i learned in the Army), the all around brim keeps the sun (and rain) out of my eyes and off of my neck and ears.  I love my Tilley. If it gets sweaty and dirty, i just hand wash it and let it air dry. I told my Beloved, "we've been married twenty years, but you are just going to have to get used to it".   Because the hat plays.

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Am i white with black stripes, or am i black with white stripes?

First, i apologize for not being  as diligent in writing for my blog of late.  To be honest i think there are times when i just do it for the comments, or some form of acknowledgement of what i do, when the truth is... i don't really reach all that many people.  That's OK.  I just need to learn to get back to writing for why i got in to blogging in the first place, and that was to write for myself, to work out various thoughts, etc.

I really like my Tilley hat, an LTM6 Airflo.  I love hats in general, and i have lost count as to how many hats i have at home.  I try not to buy them (them and bags, like backpacks, etc.), but... my beloved once told me that i didn't need any hats, but i HAD to have one... i just wanted one she liked.  I searched, and searched but i could not find one she wouldn't make some sort of comment on.  Then i saw a Tlley on someone's head while at Hershey Park and i knew that would be my last "had to have" hat.   I hate to say this... but i didn't buy it until my beloved went into the hospital for her gallbladder that i called Tilley's up and ordered my hat.  It's been over two years now... and she still makes the occasional comment, but i tell her, "oh, that hat plays".  In the end, she knows that it is not going to go away, and i have not bought a new hat since.  Tilley has an excellent customer satisfaction policy, and they make a quality product.  I recently thought i lost my hat, and i searched for it for a few weeks.  Finally i call Tilley's back up and it was within the 2 year 'lost warranty'.  I was able to replace my hat for 50% off the listed price.  Then i found my hat... so i sold it to a friend for the price i bought it for.  However, if there are ever any manufacturer defects - EVER - they replace it for free.  This hat is light, keeps the sun out of my eyes, keeps the rain off of my glasses, it is water resistant, it breaths to help me keep the head cool in summer and just enough in to keep it warm in winter.  I wear this hat practically everywhere, i REALLY like this hat.

I finally made the "pilgrimage" to the lair of the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium.  A friend of the wife of an old Army buddy lives in Charlotte and are PSL owners with season tickets.  The game was on Christmas Eve, and they were going out of town to spend time with family during the holidays.  Having never seen a live game there, i jumped at the chance.  Originally it was just going to be me and a friend but he wisely decided not to go when his wife said, "your choice" hahaha.  In the end i took my whole family on a mini-vacation.  It was over a 7 hour trip each way.  We drove down on Thursday night (arriving at 0300... ouch), and i then went to the stadium to take an all too brief tour.  That afternoon we relaxed at the pool and then went to a dinner featured in Guy Fieri's show, 'Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives".  The food was pretty good, but the desserts were fantastic!  Saturday DS1 and i went to the game.  Now, let me say, i prefer to watch the game on TV.  I like the commentary, i enjoy the replays and i really enjoy being able to see the plays "closer up", but there is something to be said for going to the occasional game to be seen live.  The crowd, the food (even though a second mortgage is often needed just for lunch), the sites and sounds.  I won't use the word magical, but it is a little special.  The game was very enjoyable, especially for a Panthers fan - they won 48-16, i was able to see Cam Newton break Payton Manning's Rookie season passing record (on a 7 yard out to Brandon LaFell), the franchise record for a passing TD from scrimmage (91 yards, also to LaFell), and a 49 yard run for a TD where Cam Newton pulled a defender the last 8 yards.  It was a good day all around.  After we then made the trek home on Christmas Day.  I had a great time. 

I read a really good article in the NY Times online recently.  I originally read it via The Autism Society of America on Facebook.  It was titled Navigating Love and Autism (1).  I have been married for over 19 years now, to an incredible woman.  Like any marriage she drives me nuts at times, but i also know that i have no clue as to what i would do if she was not in my life on a daily basis.  It was not until DS2 was diagnosed with Asperger's, and all that my beloved did to better his life and learn about what would be best for him, that she got a better glimpse into her husband.  It took me a little longer.  This article was good for me, to see - at least a little bit - what she goes through when she interacts with me.  I try and change.  I try and do things the "normal" way... and yet it is a constant struggle. I have to consciously think about offering someone a drink when then come to my home, to look people in the eye when talking to them, to not interrupt someone to make a correction or to change the subject off of something i don't find interesting - or to even just "make conversation", to ask questions in a conversation and many, many more things.  It was a good article because it challenged me to look outside of myself. Something my beloved helps me with every day.  But i was also discouraged by it.  I just don't "get" so many things.  Despite my best efforts i get flabbergasted at being asked a question.  She will often ask me, "what do you mean"?  Despite my best efforts... i cannot fathom what i meant beyond what i actually said.  I fail her in so many ways... i fail to show her comfort, to consider her feelings (or the feelings of others), and so many other ways... it actually bothers me.  For thirty plus years i was the normal one... everyone else was wrong.  Then... i learned... i was the "odd" one.  I was the one that the Sesame Street Characters sung about way back when.

There are still times when i feel like, "why don't 'you' people get it!?!  It is so obvious!"  In any event... i encourage those who want some insight into the Autistic world, this is a very good article. 

 

(1) By AMY HARMON, Published: December 26, 2011

Ramblings of the Geek kind...

Although my life  is not nearly as interesting as most (if not all) of the Tilly Hat testimonials, i really like my Tilly hat.    My beloved is not as enamored with it as i am, but after over 15 years of trying to find a hat that we both liked i had given up.  We were at Hershey Park and the sun was brutal.  I had tried several other full brim hats but the only thing she seemed to concede to was traditional baseball style hats, but i got tired of repositioning it every time i moved in relation to the sun.  Well, just about the time i was getting increasingly frustrated with my ball cap i saw a woman with a really nice hat, so i asked her where she had gotten it.  That was when i was first introduced to Tilley hats.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and i am exploring Tilley's website, and i order my hat.  Me beloved just smiles and shakes her head.  I've told her, "Oh, the hat plays!" Fast forward to this past Friday, and we are back at our favorite amusement park (that we can afford, and travel to relatively easily), Hershey Park.  The heat was incredible.  We had just gotten there and walked to where we usually start our visit (out towards the Fahrenheit), i was just sitting there waiting for THUMPER, and the sweat was just dripping off of me.  Eventually i couldn't take the heat anymore... i took the ice from my cup of ice water and filled the map pocket.  This created a cool "pocket" (no pun intended) that kept the head cool, with both the slowly melting ice and evaporating water really kept my noggin cool, which in turn kept the rest of me cool.

There is something about the smell of a computer room.  The A/C and the unique smell of warm electronic equipment "humming" along in a constant struggle to maintain a cool temperature, the vibration of the various fan motors stirring the air to sustain this conflict.  Even walking on an elevated floor knowing that probably literally miles of cable all snake between various points to allow every computer in the building to not only interact with the other computers, but the various servers.  And not just "in house", but with other offices not just several miles, but states, and even other continents via the WWW.  I think my affinity for such things, and the fact my mind can (sort of) picture data flows and how it interacts with configurations and hardware, is why i really enjoy the Matrix and Tron movies.  I think it is also why i like shows like Johnny Mnemonic and Max Headroom, even though i have NEVER played, games like Cyber Punk and Shadowrun.

Speaking of TRON, i am getting geek giddy over TRON: Legacy due out in December. This movie has been literally decades in the making.  TRON: Legacy, in its current form, was first presented to Disney by way of a "Concept Trailer" which was then shared at the San Diego Comic-Con in 2008.  Once Disney saw the reaction from the fan base there they agreed to finance the project.

So, then however movie making companies, like Disney, go forward writing and filming began to take place.  Then at last years Comic Con Disney really stepped up their 'viral marketing campaign'.  Several Encom marketing press conferences, a new trailer for the movie, and several other web pages.  To be honest i have lost track of them all, but it has been impressive.  The New York Time recently wrote an article on the changing dynamics that studios have to go through to market movies and even TV shows.

Disney even kept up the fanbase, and the movie marketplace, gently fed with rumor and pictures, and other eye candy.  I know my friends on facebook are beginning to get concerned about my apparent obsession with this movie.  I know it is just a movie, and even when finished will not be near in epic in scope like the Lord of the Rings movies, but this may be the first 3D movie i ever see in theaters.  I am already planning on having a "guys night" planned.  perhaps catching the movie on Saturday afternoon and we all head out for steaks afterward.

I am really enjoying the visuals and the sneak peaks that have been put out for this movie.  I think Disney will have a success with this movie... but only time will tell.  I even enjoy the geek toys like the keyboard and mouse set up, as well as several of the toys being planned.

There is still a part of me that does not understand why God made me this way.  I struggle to make friends IRL.  I think i have more cyber friends than i do flesh and blood ones.  I don't get a lot of social cues - but i have learned a lot and have come a long way since High School (fellow Aspies out there take heart).  I struggle to maintain eye contact, or even to sit still when agitated for any reason (makes having 'intense' discussions with my Beloved very difficult).  I have trouble remaining focused on any one thing, even during prayer.  And yet, the way God has made me... i can literally visualize data streams and how they flow.  Sometimes down to the packet header level.  At times, i have been called to break it all the way down to the bit level.  I also do not seem to have too much difficulty putting the various pieces together from throughout the Bible.  While i am far from perfect, i am enjoying who i am.  A person who likes to wear hats, who enjoys sitting at the feet of God, who enjoys the Cyberpunk and Post Apocalyptic genres, who loves his Beloved bride, and all of the "packaging" i continue to struggle with in order to be conformed into the image of my Savior, Jesus Christ (Rom 8:26-30). 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. [1] Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. (Psalm 139:14, ESV)

Last night my Beloved came home from THUMPER's last basketball game of the summer and saw me watching the original TRON movie.  She then proceeded to ask me, "would you please stop telling people on Facebook that you like this movie!"  I told her, i can't do it.  "I am who i am, and i can't be anything else." She will just have to take me as i am, Tilley hat wearin', TRON watchin' socially flawed person that i am.  Because God has seen me as i am, taken the initiative to reach out to me, and has been slowly working to transform me into the image of His Son... and with the exception of these things possibly being an idol in my life, i do not think it matters in the overall scheme of things.

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