The evolution IS televised

I'm having trouble sleeping tonight because I have a blog in mind and my mind keeps turning over and over so I'd better start this part of it.

There are three subjects I blog on.

Politics...you get enough of that from me on Facebook.

Sports......usually my thoughts are short enough to post on Facebook.

And television and my continuing evolution on cord-cutting.

I said goodbye to DirecTV last year. It was just too expensive and since I don't get AT&T internet where I live, and was paying Verizon for internet, phone and tablet,  it just made sense to go with streaming for my Live TV.

I tried a lot of free (and not so free) trials and the only service that wasn't affected by my internet speed was YouTube TV.  The downside was the dispute between Google and Amazon means no official YouTube TV app on Fire Stick.  I had limited success with an unsupported app I sideload but I since reconnected my Google Chromecast and it works almost flawlessly with YouTube TV.  The only real problem is occasionally my Mifi device will sometimes restart on it's own but I just wait for it to reload and it (the picture and feed) comes back.

I am also relying less and less and my Amazon Fire Stick mainly because when I reach my high speed data limit...22GB.....things won't load or stop in the middle and i get a message that i don't have enough bandwidth.

In addition i am quickly discovering new over-the-air channels. I have long been disappointed that i could not receive retro tv at 50-2 because they show classic Doctor Who nightly.  2 episodes weekdays at 8:00 PM and 4 on Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 and Sunday from 7:00-9:00. After looking up ways to improve my signal I did a re-scan for channels and BOOM! I get the channel and 3 others at 50. The bad part it I don't get great reception,  which as a teen growing up who fiddled with rabbit ears to watch Doctor Who and other shows on UNC-TV I'm somewhat used to poor reception but back in the analog days this meant a fuzzy picture. These days with digital, a bad signal is pixelated, skips and freezes making it not very enjoyable to watch. So I have ordered a new antenna with a longer range to try and see if it can be improved.

On a second re-scan I was also receiving channels at 28. My favorite is 28-6...Decades. Check out this weekday afternoon lineup

2 episodes each

2:00 The Mary Tyler Moore Show
3:00 The Bob Newhart Show
4:00 Newhart

The latter was a later series set in Vermont whose infamous finale featured Bob Newhart's character being hit in the head with a golf ball and waking up in bed with Susanne Pleshette in the character of his wife from the previous "The Bob Newhart Show". One of the funniest moments in TV history.  The trouble is if I move my antenna to try to get better reception of 50-2, it affects 28, etc. So also trying to remedy that.

I recently downloaded an app called "No Cable" which gives local TV listings plus advice on antennas.  According to one feature with an amplified indoor antenna I should also be able to receive 33 (UNC-TV) and 40 (My Network TV) and their subchannels.  So I have ordered an antenna with 140 mile range as opposed to the 50-60 mile range I have now. One thing keeping me up is I can't wait for it to arrive.  I will post now and try to get some sleep but I will come back tomorrow and post the results.

So the update is i wasted my money. The new antenna didn't pick up as many channels I finally hooked the old one back up, repositioned it a few times and finally got the 39 channels I was receiving before. All channels going in good-great and channel 50-2, etc. Was still choppy. I guess the range of the antenna isn't the issue it's just my location.  I could look into outdoor antennas but it seems like a lot of work with no guarantee.  Lesson learned.

I'm fired up! Rant on LGBT issues and trump

I'm up late watching hockey and I've been getting fired up today. If i don't get things off my chest i won't sleep, not that i will much anyway.

During the campaign, Donald trump was handed a rainbow flag with "LGBT for Trump" written across the yellow stripe.  He held it up proudly, smiling.

At the Republican national convention, he went out of his way to say in his speech "We will protect our LGBTQ citizens ". I think he added the 'Q' I'm not sure but he got applause for the line.

Now trump is instituting a ban on transgender people serving in the military.  Not because he thinks they're unfit to serve, we all know he's no judge on thar, but because Obama instituted those protections.  All trump and Republicans are interested in is undoing what the "black guy" did and upsetting liberals.

I'm still very ashamed that i did not vote for Barack Obama,  instead continuing to vote libertarian.  A big part of the reason I'm such a liberal now is because Obama made me a better person.  Now Obama is very moderate compared to my current political tendencies.

Barack was married to one woman. I don't care what conservative media or coworkers say. Michelle is a beautiful woman.  They have two beautiful daughters,  Barack has no other children.  They were called monkeys and lies spread about them in tabloids. Conservatives treated him like the anti-christ.

trump has cheated on all his wives and has children with three different women. He paid off a porn star to try to hide an affair.  And his supporters don't freaking care. They treat him like he's the second coming. I don't understand it. I never will. I hope i never do.

Biden my time til 2020, Warren it to get here sooner with a Bern-ing desire to vote for Pete's sake.

So I've been looking for the perfect opportunity to post about the 2020 presidential race, and these ridiculous allegations against Uncle Joe come out. I'm all for the #MeToo movement.  Men should treat Women better and we need to respect personal space and all that. We also know the kind of man Joe Biden is and this just doesn't match up. This is obviously a blatent attempt to discredit the democratic front runner, who hasn't even announced that he's running yet. Compared to our sexual assalter in chief whatever Uncle Joe's missteps, these are nothing. And even though I'm a progressive and Joe Biden is a centrist, i think he's our best shot to beat trump, leading by 10 points in the last polls i looked up. Joe Biden will likely not get my vote next February, however.

I supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primary, and still get fire from both the left and right because of it. My "friends" on the right think I'm a Pie in the sky dreamer and those on the left accuse me of being a party crasher. I recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America and Bernie's our guy, but I'm not planning on voting for him.

I love Elizabeth Warren especially the way she takes on the big banks. After we failed to elect our first female president in 2016, it would be great to right that wrong, but she probably won't get my vote.

My vote February 2020 will almost assuredly go to Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the openly gay mayor of South Bend, Indiana.

If you haven't heard of him, the best piece on him was done by Trevor Noah of "The Daily Show".

https://youtu.be/13OypBRrwv8

It is rumored that Joe Biden will not only announce Stacey Abrams as his running mate from the get go, but that he will run as a one-term president.  If that happens, or worst case scenario we get another four years of trump, look out for Mayor Pete in 2024.

I'm mad as hell......

I know what these federal workers are going through.  I live paycheck-to-paycheck. I had a terrible summer financially because i wasnt getting enough hours at work. I had to end my dental and vison insurance and reduce my United Way donation from $5/week to $1/week because I simply wasnt taking home enough money. I had to drop DirecTV which i was very happy with because i simply couldnt afford it anymore.  I'm very fortunate that my parents allow me to live in this house practically rent free ($25/week goes from my paycheck to an account my father uses to pay bills). I know what its like to miss a paycheck.  Donald Trump doesn't understand that.

Our "president " has never struggled to pay a bill in his life. He said in a speech defending voter ID laws (which are thinly veiled voter suppression in my opinion) that you have to show your ID to buy groceries.  I want a President whos bought their own groceries in the past 60 years.

Donald trump is holding these people hostage because hes having a temper tantrum and few Republicans have the guts to stand up to him.

A border wall would do nothing and immigrants are not the propblem anyway they are just a scapegoat.  If trump really cared about security,  he would be just as eagar to reopen the government as anyone. Our security is at risk because of this shoutdown. How anyone,  even the most staunch conservative,  can still support this idiot is beyond me.

Bye, Felicia aka 2018.

From wikipedia: In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus (/ˈdʒeɪnəs/; Latin: IANVS (Iānus), pronounced [ˈjaː.nus]) is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past.

When I went back to USC Upstate to finish my degree in 2004-2005, the teacher in my capstone course of my interdisciplinary studies degree program had us write journals based on the Roman God Janus, looking back at our past class and forward to the future. Seems like a good format to use for my end of the year blog.

Overall 2018 wasn't all that bad. I ran into some financial difficulties due to lack of hours this summer, but they have come back since the fall and Christmas and my upcoming tax refund should get me back on track.

We also didn't have as many celebrity deaths as 2017. Burt Reynolds really hurt, I shed some tears over him, and Penny Marshall was tough, but overall they didn't take nearly as many i loved as last year.

Football season ended on a sour note for my Gamecocks, and I'm trying to be more neutral towards Clemson with my immediate and extended family having so many connections to both Clemson as well as our lifetime connection to South Carolina. Alabama should win again, however.

The biggest change for me has been finally saying goodbye to DirecTV, not because I was unhappy with my service,  but because I don't get AT&T internet, I have to pay Verizon for my internet and if I'm doing that, it made more sense to go with a cheaper streaming service for my live TV. I chose YouTube TV because of all the streaming services I tried, it was the only one that doesn't buffer or skip constantly. The only real drawback is with the dispute between Amazon and Google, there's no official YouTube TV app on my Amazon fire stick. I had to download a rogue one and apart from " minimizing " every sixth or seventh time I launch the app, it works fine. The problem is solved with a reset of my fire stick.

Looking forward to 2019, I'm really excited about my alma mater USC Upstate finally starting Big South play in basketball and baseball. I decided against an ESPN+ subscription because I'd mainly be "keeping an eye" on the games on my tablet while I watched bigger schools or other events on my TV. I figured if I'm doing that it's just as easy and more cost effective just follow the scores. I'm toying with the idea of attending the basketball game against UNC-Asheville, because that's a rivalry I'm really hoping develops. I never attended a basketball game when I was a student there, and its frustrating to me that we still don't have online ticketing.

The baseball schedule just recently came out and to my delight there are two home games on Thursdays, my day off. I have a morning appointment one of those days but plenty of time to get home, watch days of our lives and head over to spartanburg. Sadly USC Upstate is once again not playing at Fluor Field.

As for my Gamecocks I've decided not to go to the Clemson game in Greenville this year. It was cold and got windy towards the end of the game which is in early March and some USC and Clemson fans were kind of jawing back and forth in the stands and it made me uncomfortable. It's also the most expensive game even moreso than Greenville Drive games. I do plan to go to the game against Furman later in March.

I have my eye on 3 Drive games, all on Sundays. One against the Columbia Fireflies, which I skipped the game I had a ticket to last year due to cold temperatures and being more interested in Monday Night RAW that night. One against the Charleston Riverdogs and one on the Sunday after my birthday against the Asheville Tourists. I think I prefer Sunday games because it's more of a family atmosphere (aka less drinking) and they are typically in the afternoon which means I don't have to bring my pills with me.

I don't really have any resolutions again this year. One of the usual suspects, losing weight and eating better, I've done big time. I was around 195 and now I'm usually between 170-180 (I weigh more at my appointments because i have my shoes on). Ive also reduced my dosage of Metformin, for type 2 diabetes, to once a day. My house needs a good cleaning as usual but I have made progress there as well. Also since Judi Buckley got me excited this year by giving me someone to vote for in my SC House district, I've gotten involved in politics and plan to stay involved. I've come to the conclusion, however, that a run for office is not in my future. Being born on the cusp of exposure between Leo and Virgo, I have some Leo the Leader in me, but he's usually brought back down to earth by my ascending Virgo. A gay, HIV+ atheist would have little chance in the upstate of SC. I've also accepted that my current living situation isn't going to change anytime soon, so I'm going to make the most of my life here and stay behind the scenes.

And even though I'm probably more "Green" than "Blue", joining the Democratic Party offically is also a goal of mine.

One week to go. Here's who im voting for in races without Democrats.

I'm having trouble sleeping tonight and we're one week away from the election. I've made no secret of the fact I plan to vote straight party Democrat for the first time (or as I joking say, gay party) but I'm not going to be foolish about it. I know many races are still unopposed republicans or have no democrat, so I'm still going through my ballot for the other races. For years I've had to write-in family and friends, fortunately this year I don't have to do it for state house, but there's still going to be cause to write-in some races.

I'll start with Comptroller General. Far be it for me to judge someone's personal life, but there was a scandal over our current Comptroller sending racey emails to a then female Candidate for Superintendent of Education, and Richard Eckstrom just won't get my vote. I'm casting a write-in vote for my father Dan Patten, Jr ; a former CPA.

Due to the Democratic candidate for Superintendent of Education being disqualified from the ballot, it's an unopposed republican, and since I'm writing in my father, I'll write in my mother, Jean Patten, a retired public school guidance counselor.

While we're on the subject of education, the ballot question this year is whether to elect our superintendent as in the past and present, or make it an appointed position. This is the one issue I disagree with our democratic candidate for Governor. Currently, if you're elected to a four year term and not doing your job, it's very hard to get rid of you. If it's appointed, however, and you're not up to snuff, the governor could get rid of you. And there should be consistency, even if it is a republican administration.

One Republican I may vote for is our Commissioner of Agriculture, Hugh Weathers. I LOVE the "Certified SC Grown" campaign, and when I was doing my research on him, I found and article from 2016 on how he supports immigration reform and he recognizes the contribution immigrants, legal and illegal, make to our states agriculture industry. It may be an election day decision, however, as there is a green party candidate, who I could find little information on. There's also a United Citizens Party candidate, but I can find no info on him.

There's a petition candidate for circuit solicitor 13, Lucas C. Marchant, who has the support of my new democratic friends.

I'm writing myself in for Auditor against Scott Case, who is responsible for passing our counties "anti-gay ordinance" in 1996. Basically an individual was upset at the Olympic committee for supporting gay rights, so they faxed an ordinance to upstate counties where the torch run was coming through in order to disrupt it. Spartanburg county council passed it, but then realized what they had done and repealed it the next day. Greenville county council then got their teeth into it, and after both sides and made their speeches for and against, Scott Case basically said " I'm tired of this taking up council time" and it passed. In case you're wondering, even though I'm not really interested in or qualified for the job, I submitted my name as a write-in candidate and a vote for me should count. (That's Daniel Patten...note the -en not -on, although I specified both should be acceptable.)

County treasurer is an unopposed republican, and my youngest sister, Caroline Wylupek has an MBA from Clemson.

There's a non partisan race for soil and water commission, and Mike Stewart is the only person I can find any info on. He's a high-rankung member of the green party here in the upstate, and he is very active on Twitter. He's a huge soccer fan and seems to follow most sports except college football, which I'm willing to overlook. The only thing I know about the other two candidates is they are the incumbents. That leaves one spot open. My first thought was my friend David Phillips, who my late friend David Morris and a bunch of us got elected as a write-in candidate one year when only one name was on the ballot, but since the rest of my family are getting write-in votes, I can't leave out my sister Katie Batson, who has a degree in science (I think biology) from the University of South Carolina.

So 5 write-ins, all family, 1 petition and one either republican or green. Every other race, Democrats get my vote.

Will the real Christians please stand up?

I went on a sort of rant earlier today about our Governor starting his press conferences with someone leading a prayer and I want to expand on my comments a bit.

People often assume because I'm gay that I was somehow raised differently. Nothing could be further from the truth. I grew up going to Sans Souci Baptist Church, I went to church camp in the summer (my high school band camp was at the same campground the week before or after so at least once I stayed a whole two weeks). I had my moments of accepting Jesus as my savior, but I realize looking back on it how set up it was with the emotional music and guilt trips. It was never specifically stated "homosexuality is wrong" but one year we did have a discussion about how its ok to tell another man you love him as long as you don't mean it "that way". I had no problem with this concept but I could tell my other male friends were uncomfortable. I had always known I was different, but I was 20 before I put the word "gay" and applied it to myself. Actually at the time I said I was bisexual, not a total lie but a lot of gay men don't want that "gay" label at first.

It was probably an even tougher decision to admit I lacked belief in a "higher power". A magical being sitting on a cloud answering prayers, people turning into pillars of salt, being thrown into lions dens and being unharmed, or magical zoo boats with animals from all over the world showing up two by two, although this would explain why unicorns no longer exist because two males probably showed up and weren't allowed on the boat as a gay couple.

Despite my lack of belief in a "creator God", I still retain the values I was raised to follow. Love they neighbor. Judge not lest ye be judged. Caring for the poor and sick. There's a facebook group and organization I follow called "The Christian Left". I've even donated to them several times. $3 (as in queer as a...) Is all I can afford now and then. They and other groups like it, give me so much hope that true Christianity is not dead.

I recently read an article shared by my local state house candidate about Nixon's southern strategy which was revised by Lee Atwater and is still keeping the republicans in charge in the south today.

Republicans have people convinced that if you don't vote for them; love guns, hate gay people and immigrants, oppose taxes and women's reproductive choices that you're some kind of Godless communist who should be shot with an AK-47...Jesus's weapon of choice.

I think it's time those of us who consider ourselves Christians and are on the left of the political spectrum started pushing back and the best way to do that is get out and vote. Learn about your candidates, not just at the federal level but state and local elections. Lets make our voices heard. The so-called "religious" right has planted deep roots particularly in the south but we can uproot them! "The Christian Left" is starting to make headway, help them out if you can. Lets reclaim The real message of Christianity!