My fitness centers computers went down and staff could not “swipe” us in to workout. They put out a form to sign. A paper form. Most workouters (sic) take as little as possible into the gyms for security reasons. Reading glasses are not needed, so I had to ask the clerk to sign me in to the dimly lit facility. It was not embarrassing.

A recent report says the Shingles vaccination has helped maintain heart health in a large study of those who received the vaccine. It motivated me to get the shot. Vaccines are wonderful things, unless you’re the small percent who might be allergic to the contents. I think of the shots as a civic duty. Ai says about 2% of Americans suffer from the peanut allergy. Of all the shots Ai was asked about the reported rate of allergic reactions was never over 1%. Note the word “reported”. When analyzing any medical issue in your life you are unique, but anecdotal stories are not research, even if they are true. Yes, those of us who never suffer allergic reactions are lucky to not be in that “less than 1%. Besides, much like the weight loss drugs, boner pills, and now shingles shots, there are often surprise, positive side effects.

I set up an online appointment for the shot and arrived at the shot site 5 minutes early. They didn’t give me the 60-second shot until 23 minutes after my original shot time. * Why? It doesn’t matter, really, if only they’d tell you about it. I sat with another retired man whose appointment was late. We didn’t really mind but as you sit there and minutes drag on you wonder, when? And then you wonder “why can’t anyone say something?” as well as “why bother making appointments?” The shot-giver gave me the scoop on how to just drop in and get a quick shot in the future, without waiting or appointment. No, no sharing secrets.

As much as I might pretend, coming to grips with a chronological age has still not happened. It’s safe to say at every age all of us never know what we really look like to someone else, especially if we say we don’t care. But what should a 29-year-old look like? A 39-year-old? A 59-year-old? A 73-year-old? It was never a “waste time on it” thing until lately, when the age of those in the vicinity creates curiosity. It doesn’t help that no one has ever said you look good/bad for any age, ever, so why wonder about it, now? As long as I never look like that guy, over there…

The CEO of IBM says 65% of American jobs will be lost to Ai in the next few years. Artists, sports players, waiters, hospitality staff, will probably all be safe “Who wants to watch robots play baseball?” A news story shortly after the CEO showed a robot butler already for sale in the United States. It took the robot 5 minutes to place one glass in the dishwasher.

The robot’s price was $20,000. See? This is where income inequality really hurts us. Imagine how long it would take a $200 Robot to put a glass in the dishwasher. No word, yet, on how many rich people have purchased the Robot. Note: all through these paragraphs there is a small “r” robot and a capital “R” Robot. Anyone see more Proper and Pro Noun Wars in our future?

There was going to be an update on the progress scientists are making with Quantum Entanglement in communications and computing. The applications and breakthroughs are happening by the second, so just look it up for yourselves, and marvel at the sub-atomic world.

The area I live in has been “droned” for several years. If you don’t know what that means, get on You Tube, search for “drone views of My City” and watch what happens. There is something inspiring about seeing life from above, a reminder, maybe of how small and insignificant we really are? Nope. A reminder of how beautiful the world can be…most of the time. And if you’re lucky.

Any Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fans? Google a 2011 Venice, California High School charity concert with David Crosby and a variety of musicians including the school’s choirs and bands. It is the best live concert performance this writer has ever seen…on tape **…on YouTube. I am a CSNY fan, so…

*Too much math? If a man arrives 5 minutes early…

**When will we replace “on tape” with something current” “On-Digital”?