Attended a special screening of Spider-Man: No Way Home with the children of Variety SoCal (The Children's Charity of Southern California) where almost $8,000 was raised.

The funds from Sony, Regal, and LA County employees went to support and benefit SoCal kids for this Holiday season. I'm grateful to have been able to contribute to this.

PS: Tagged Joe because of the "Watched Spider-Man: NWH" badge :)

After 2 whole years, I went to the theater yesterday.

This was something I took for granted my entire life. 

Watching a movie on the big screen. What's the big deal?

The pandemic severely taught us what the big deal actually was.

- We were stopped at every entrance - the mall, the movies, the concessions stand, and the ticket counter to show our vaccination certificate
- We had to wear masks throughout (+ 3D glasses + my prescription glasses. You could barely see my face!)
- It was scary to step out to use the restroom because of the sheer number of people
- I waited until the very end so that I could avoid the risk of standing too close to others ((and not just for the post-credit scenes)

Until 2020, the term "taking for granted" didn't have much weightage. We used it loosely, never understanding what it actually means. The wretched pandemic ensured that this was no longer the case. 

Even though it feels like a small thing, stepping out and watching Spiderman on the big screen truly made me cherish freedom and see it in a whole new light.

P.S. Please enjoy my yearly awkward photo in front of a Christmas tree. I missed last year due to the lockdown. 

Merry Christmas! <3 

Spider Man No Way Home Private Film Premiere ❤️🎄

## Morning Polyworkians!

Well, that streak had to end some time. 437 days ago, I decided to get "serious" about writing my 750 words a day, after reading about keeping a diary of the crazy days in quarantine. While I have not written a full 750 words every day of that (my longest streak started on April 21, 2020, when I went 240 days), I have always written something, at least a couple hundred words. But yesterday, I didn't write any. Too busy at work and too tired after. But I shall start again!

I finished watching *White Tiger* on Netflix last night. The first half was pretty boring. Set in India, it featured a dirt poor kid who became a driver for a super rich family. But about halfway thru it took a dark turn and became interesting. I also watched *Parker* on Netflix, a Jason Statham / JLo movie and really enjoyed it. No *Crank* but still lots of fun. Recommend both.

Finished reading *Empire Of Pain*, about Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. Once again, in the end, money bought "innocence" and while their reputation suffered, their bank account or free time did not. And Lord, it sure should have. Evil evil people, all of them. In the worst way - totally oblivious to the pain (literally) they cause.

A brief reprieve from the salt mine, taking today off and getting Monday off for Independence Day. Super busy yesterday for Sprint kickoff, which is always a busy time. Not in a good way but what can you do? I will try not to think about it for the next 4 days,

Stay safe. Get Vaccinated! Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Watch your distance. No inspirational quote today. Just watch this Budweiser(!) video. It's great! 

https://youtu.be/Kqu57JYp9zg

## Morning Polyworkians!

Still scorching hot here in the Northeast. Yesterday we hit the mid 90s, with a feels like of 116! Still short of the Pacific Northwest but enough so it felt like a sledgehammer when you got out of your air conditioned car. And we are still having circuit problems with the bedroom AC, which is gruesome. Like I say a lot, the best thing about living in the Northeast US is we are, I think, the best prepared for a wide variety of extreme weather, because they all happen every year, from very hot to very cold, from drought to rain and snow. I hear 2/3 of the houses in the Northwest don't have AC - ouch!

Didn't play D:OS2 last night because C had Internet problems, so instead I watched *Tin Cup* with A. It's a fine movie but the trope of the boy who bugs the girl until she falls into his arm is just so creepy and needs to stop. A has become quite the golf fanatic, which is fun. Need to hit the course with her again soon. She wants neon pink golf balls, of course. Hoping to get back to Halo 3 tonight, although it would be nice to start earlier. Finishing an entire level can be a grind.

Hope to get a game in with M before we start computer games. If A want to play, we can play  a 3 player game of NEOM, a cool tile laying game. Otherwise, maybe we will give Grimslingers a try, a head to head dueling spellcaster game. Cool theme, great art. Kind of a deck builder, which isn't my favorite, but I guess we will see.

Long tedious day in the salt mine yesterday, with another one promised today and tomorrow. These Sprint kickoff weeks are a real pain, trying to get everything scheduled and make sure everyone is gainfully employed. This boss thing is still a work in progress.

Stay safe. Get Vaccinated! Watch your distance! Be a leader. Remember the lead sled dog is the only one with a decent view.

Made a fun 1-hour project to brute force my mom's Netflix PIN code, because I couldn't watch The Conjuring. 

It's a set of Python scripts that takes over the keyboard and types different codes with a fixed length, or even a date (commonly used as passwords). They can even be used in other apps than Netflix!

Pretty good movie, by the way. Was brute-forced in less than 10m, 1m30 with the date option 😎