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Fitbit 6: Week 48

Cold weather plus the Christmas holiday are my excuses this week, as we finish up the 41st week of the pandemic.  Things got off to a decent enough start on Sunday, as a trip out to the store to get some presents left me with nearly 4300 steps.  Monday saw a big drop-off, going all the way down to 2900 steps.  Tuesday was my first day above goal since early November, as a trip down to Guaranteed Rate Field and a brisk walk around the parking lots and Armor Square Park left me with 8600 steps.  Wednesday fell back down a bit, but still managed to surpass 5600 steps.  The weather turned colder on Thursday, leaving me with only 2200 steps.  Friday, Christmas Day, was slightly better, with over 2300 steps.  Saturday was in the same ballpark, with just over 2100 steps.

Total steps: 28,372

Daily average: 4053.1

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Book 23 (of 52) – Buzz Killer

Buzz Killer – Tom Straw

When a thief gets charged with murdering his partner, he turns to his defense lawyer for help.  When she teams up with an ex-cop-turned-journalist, she finds that this case has more entanglements than she initially bargained for.  The deeper she digs, the less it becomes about getting her client off and more about saving her own life.

Tom Straw has written quite a few novels prior to Buzz Killer, most under the pen name of Richard Castle.  Now that the show is over and (I assume) those novels have come to an end, Straw released the first work under his own name in over a decade.  While it doesn’t have the built-in appeal of the Castle tie-ins (although there is one sly nod in there somewhere), Straw does a good job of drawing the reader in and making them invest in the investigation.  I’m sure if Straw were to release another offering, especially if it featured the same characters, I’d find a way to acquire said offering.

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By The Numbers – 74

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #74.  Once again, a single player has donned #74 while playing in Chicago, debuting in 2019 for the White Sox.

Acquired from the Cubs, along with Dylan Cease, in the 2017 Jose Quintana trade, Eloy Jimenez made his major league debut for the White Sox on Opening Day 2019.  In just 2 short years, he has made a name for himself, finishing 4th in Rookie of the Year voting in 2019 and earning the Silver Slugger award for the corona virus shortened 2020 season.

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2021 Calendar

Normally, I put together a calendar every year with pictures I have taken of Angelina, Danny, and Michael throughout the year as a Christmas gift for my mom and sister.  This year, however, the pickings are very slim, due to the corona virus pandemic and not really leaving the house much since March.  Because of that, I had to re-think what this year’s calendar would look like.  What I ended up with was a new photo of each for their birthday month, with the remaining 9 months made up of a collection of photos from year’s past from a particular state.  The states that made the cut are California, DC, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Wisconsin.  As in year’s past. the calendar was produced by the good folks at Shutterfly and we will unveil each month’s photo on the first day of the month throughout 2021.

This year’s cover comes from 2019’s trip to Washington, DC, as the three kids sit on the steps of the Supreme Court Building.

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Fitbit 6: Week 47

The first week of my annual December vacation was halfway decent compared to the rest of my corona virus inspired output.  The week got off to a pretty decent start, with 6100 steps on Sunday.  Monday was slightly worse, coming in just over 4900 steps.  Tuesday saw a bit of a bounce back, with 5200 steps.  Wednesday fell back down to 4300 steps.  Thursday fell even further, down to 3500 steps.  Friday improved somewhat, going back up to 4000 steps.  Saturday ended 2 steps shy of 2900 steps.

Total steps: 31,193

Daily average: 4456.1

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Book 22 (of 52) – The Blue Nowhere

The Blue Nowhere – Jeffery Deaver

When a hacker moves beyond the world of computers and starts killing people in the real world, the California State Police Computer Crimes Division tries to fight fire with fire, getting another hacker out of prison in exchange for his help in tracking down the killer.  When it turns out that the two hackers used to hack together, the hunt becomes personal.

The first thing to know when diving into The Blue Nowhere is that it was published in 2001 so a lot of the technological aspects are wildly outdated in 2020, with dialup access and floppy disks being the most egregious examples.  Other than that, Jeffery Deaver spins a tale that probably resonates more today, with large scale hacks and identity theft being somewhat commonplace.  I’m a little surprised that Deaver never revisited these characters, as he seems to have set things up for the team to be brought back together, but maybe he felt better bringing that computing knowledge into his existing series.

 

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By The Numbers – 75

In 1929, uniform numbers appeared on the back of baseball jerseys for the first time, thanks to the Indians and the Yankees.  By 1937, numbers finally appeared across all uniforms, both home and away, across both major leagues.  Since that time, 81 distinct numbers have been worn by members of the White Sox, while the Cubs boast 76.

Today, we continue our look at those players, picking our favorite, if not the best, player to wear each uniform number for both Chicago teams with #75.  Once again, a single player has donned #75 while playing in Chicago, debuting in 2000 for the White Sox.

Yermin Mercedes appeared in 1 game for the 2020 White Sox, going hitless in his lone at bat.

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Book 21 (of 52) – Born A Crime

Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood – Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah, born in 1984 to a black mother and a white father in South Africa, was literally born a crime. His memoir tells the tale of growing up under apartheid, never fitting in because he was neither black nor white, and surviving the violence of the political system in South Africa and in his home.

Born A Crime was not exactly the book I thought it would be.  I figured it would start with Noah’s childhood in South Africa, but eventually move on to his comedy career, which led him to being named the host of The Daily Show in 2015.  Instead, the book is focused completely on his childhood and young adult years in South Africa, with the only mention of his burgeoning career coming when he has to pay the hospital bills after his mother was shot by his step-father.

I didn’t have much understanding of the ins and outs of apartheid coming in to this.  Noah paints a picture of a complex system that was more involved than what I was taught (granted, all I was taught was the apartheid was bad), keeping the ruling class in power by playing the different African tribes against each other.  It was a near miracle for Noah to have even been born, let alone to have thrived and become an international star.