garmin drivesmart 76 (because i don't do smartphone navigation)
There was a very brief period of time when I tried using navigation on the phone. Twice. The first time I tried it, I could barely read the screen due to sun glare. The second time, the phone overheated from Florida sun in less than 10 minutes and shut down. I went back to using a Garmin and stayed there.
And that brings me to one of Garmin's current offerings, the DriveSmart 76.
Over 20 years ago, I said to myself that one day I'm going to watch It's a Wonderful Life. I finally did.
Yeah, that movie. The one everybody has seen at least 10 or 20 times if not more. The one where many make it a tradition to watch every year. It was not until December 2024 at the time I write this that I finally saw it. Yeah, I'm not kidding. I never saw the movie as a kid nor as a young adult. It took until middle age before I finally watched this.
As I've said before, I am a card guy. Most people don't give much thought to cards, but I do because it takes actual effort to buy one, sign it and send or give it to the recipient in person.
Two types of cards rule above all others for showing off.
The Casio that gets the lion's share of wear on my wrist these days is the W735 model. It's chunky but not ginormous, very legible, unbelievably good night light and can handle life (meaning it can take a knock).
There are, however, a few models I want but totally don't need whatsoever. Even though I get along very well with the W735H, there are a few Casios I want for no other reason than just to have them.
It is sometimes amazing that all it takes to save some guitars is just a new set of strings and nothing else.
Below is a photo of a $7 miniature First Act acoustic guitar bought at a thrift store. Yes, it was really just 7 bucks. The guitar had these awful strings on it and the high-E string was missing.
It used to be that if you wanted a package of small bandages that were about the size of an adult index finger, you could find it at any pharmacy. No problem. Yeah, good luck finding that now. If you don't very specifically know the dimensions and the name of what this bandage type is, you'll never find it.
But I know what the name and dimensions are. And now you will, too.
I was in a Walgreen's recently and bought something that was too good to pass up.
This is a computer thing, and it's honestly something I didn't think I'd be buying again, but there it was...
I drive an older car with with no screen in it (unless you count the gas gauge which is a tiny LCD panel), and given I've been using Garmin GPSes for almost 20 years, that's the only screen I use in the car.
If I weren't using a Garmin DriveSmart 66 for navigation however, the alternative is actually not a bad idea at all...
I've been to a good number of restaurants over the years, but I am one of those people who sincerely believes eating out was better in the '90s. Early-to-mid '90s, specifically.
I used to think this was all in my head, thinking yeah, I'm older now, so of course I'll say eating out was better in the past. I don't think that way anymore.
Part of the reason I'm thinking of getting a Telecaster again is because it's a guitar that agrees with me. I can work with a Tele even if it has really ratty sounding pickups in it.
But then there's the Jackson Monarkh. I actually have played one of these and do genuinely like the guitar, but can't get one. Why?
