{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker","title":"Tales of a Traveling Wiseguy","subtitle":"canyonwalker","author":{"name":"canyonwalker"},"link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"service.feed","type":"application\/x.atom+xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom","title":"Tales of a Traveling Wiseguy"}}],"updated":"2026-04-17T13:09:07Z","entry":[{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker:1820836","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/1820836.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=1820836"}}],"title":"Dinner, a Drink, and a Drive in Ohio","published":"2026-04-17T13:09:07Z","updated":"2026-04-17T13:09:07Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"ohio"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"dining out"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"road trip!"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"glp-1"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"food"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"booze"}}],"content":"Ohio Waterfalls Travelog #4<\/b>
Circleville, OH · Thu, 16 Apr 2026. 10pm<\/i>

After the bumpy road picking up our rental car<\/a> things smoothed out a bit. It helped that the car we got after three tries— three<\/i> tries!— was exactly the sort I wanted. Plus the next thing on our list, before even driving to our hotel for the night, was stopping for dinner. Hawk looked up places near the airport and suggested Mexican. I agreed quickly.

I've got to say, though, I did<\/i> have second thoughts about Mexican food. It's not hat I dislike Mexican food. I love it. It's that with my appetite and digestion being wonky on Ozempic<\/a> I wasn't sure if I would be able to enjoy a meal of Mexican food. I decided to stick with my 2\/3rds rule for dining out<\/a> and give it a whirl.

\"Eating

At a US Mexican restaurant figuring out 2\/3rds isn't that hard. Just don't eat the rice and beans! \ud83e\udd23 I ordered a three enchilada combo and just ate the enchiladas. They were delicious. \ud83d\ude0b Oh, and I grazed only lightly on the chips and salsa. I believe I ate exactly six<\/i> chips. I mean, when's the last time you ate exactly six chips? When's the last time you even counted<\/i>? Pringles says "Betcha can't eat just 1!" but we all know that's a euphemism because "Once you pop, you can't stop!" and you'll eat half the can. But I counted. Six<\/i> chips.

Oh, and I had a beer with dinner. "It's just one beer," I figured as I ordered it. Then they brought me a grande<\/i> without asking. \ud83d\ude33 I'm a waste-not, want-not kind of person so I drank... almost<\/i> all of it. There was a moment near the end when I felt my head swirling, like "How fast and how hard is this going to hit me on the pill?" But it's not my first time drinking booze with dinner since going on Ozempic. I figured I'd be fine. But also I pushed aside the last two swigs of beer in the stein right then and only drank water the rest of the evening.

This evening we're in Circleville. That's where our hotel for the next 4 nights is. It was an easy drive down here from the airport, about 35 miles. It's not the closest to the parks we'll be visiting the next few days but it's a reliable brand name, Holiday Inn Express, and it was cheap.

"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker:1820559","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/1820559.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=1820559"}}],"title":"A Bumpy Road to Get a Rental Car","published":"2026-04-17T02:39:43Z","updated":"2026-04-17T02:39:43Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"ohio"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"customer service"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"planes trains and automobiles"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"cars"}}],"content":"Ohio Waterfalls Travelog #3<\/b>
Near Columbus, OH · Thu, 16 Apr 2026. 7:30pm<\/i>

Sometimes the actual flying<\/i> part of flying somewhere is the least eventful part of the trip; all the drama happens either getting to the airport or leaving it. That was the case this evening after we landed in Ohio. (The flight with the nice seats<\/a> was very peaceful.) Just getting our rental car for the next week was a bumpy road, literally and figuratively.

First, getting to the rental car depot was literally a bumpy road. There's construction everywhere around the airport, and the airport's shuttle buses seem to have no springs and shocks left from it. I've had smoother rides on flat-bed tow trucks.

When we got to the depot the craziness only intensified. The Avis app directed me to the front counter instead of the garage, which I should have been able to go straight to since I'm an Avis Preferred member. The line at the counter was long. Every other car rental agency had zero<\/b> line. Avis had 8 parties in front of me. After 15 minutes of waiting I got to the front only for an agent to tell me, "Oh, you're Avis Preferred, you have to go out to the garage." So why did their app tell me otherwise?<\/i> \ud83d\ude21

Out in the garage there was another<\/i> line. Most Avis Preferred members had car assignments posted on the electronic sign. Mine said I had to see an agent. ...An agent who simply asked me which of 3 cars I wanted. Hint: They were all<\/i> bad choices.

I picked what I hoped would be the least bad choice. It was a Toyota 4Runner that was last redesigned in about 2008. Like, seriously, it was like stepping into my 2011 Nissan Xterra at home, except with stupid plastic cladding on everything, both outside and<\/i> inside. After struggling just to find a cabin light so I could see<\/i> around all the stupid cladding to disengage the parking brake I called foul and walked back to the agents— the second<\/i> set of agents I spoke to— to trade for a different car.

The next vehicle they assigned me, this time without even asking, was a Buick Envista. Or Envision. IDFK. It should be called the Buick Bifocal because, seriously, who else in the US buys a POS Buick? Plus, I'd reserved a "Mid-sized SUV", and the Buick Bifocal was pretty clearly not an SUV. I had to crouch down to get into it. Nor was it a mid-sized anything<\/i>. We couldn't even fit our 3 suitcases in the trunk. Back to the agents for Try #3.

It turns out the third time's a charm. The agent gave us two choices the third time, neither of which were among the first set of 3 choices she gave us. I picked a Hyundai Tucson over some other GM POS. The Tucson turned out to be everything I had hoped for in a "Mid-sized SUV". It's actually<\/i> mid-size— meaning big enough for all our stuff with no sweat but also not requiring Hawk to use a stepladder to enter— it looks like<\/i> an SUV, and it has modern electronics and creature comforts inside, like Apple CarPlay and heated seats. Versus stupid plastic cladding covering up where the ashtray and 8-track player used to be.

"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker:1820199","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/1820199.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=1820199"}}],"title":"New Seats on Southwest","published":"2026-04-16T20:05:15Z","updated":"2026-04-16T20:09:42Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"planes trains and automobiles"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"having nice things"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"southwest airlines"}}],"content":"Ohio Waterfalls Travelog #2<\/b>
37,000' over Arizona · Thu, 16 Apr 2026. 12:30pm<\/i>

As I boarded our connecting flight in San Diego this morning two cool things happened. First, I got my favorite seat on Southwest Airlines, an exit row aisle, without worrying about being at the front of the boarding queue.

\"New

That's because Southwest switched to assigned seats a few months ago. I was skeptical about the change ahead of time<\/a>. I've got to say the rollout is going much better than I expected. And— so far, with the benefit of elite status— I've been able to choose good seats at booking time every time.

This flight I relaxed in the boarding area— which at SAN is newly larger and modern thanks to a just-completed reservation<\/a>— until Group 1 was called to board. Then I joined the end of the Group 1 queue. Yay, more time sitting, less time standing in line.

The second cool thing about this flight involves the seats themselves. You'll notice that light blue accent on the seats.... That's a new design I encountered for the first time today. And the redesign is more than cosmetic.

\"New

Low on the seat backs, where there's long been a webbed area that can hold small items like a little water bottle, there are now two little pockets perfectly sized to hold a cell phone. This is great for when you want to put your cellphone down but not in a pocket. Perhaps because you've got it on a charger. By being perfectly sized these pockets make it less likely you'll forget your cellphone when it falls to the bottom of that bigger pocket. I know, because I once forgot my laptop there! \ud83d\ude33

\"A

The other nifty thing is also for cellphones. It's a little shelf, above the tray table, for resting your cellphone. Ribs in the rubberized pad allow you to position your phone at different angles, and oriented vertically or horizontally, for watching vide while you fly. Yay, no more having to balance my phone in my hand while watching a movie!

"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker:1819981","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/1819981.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=1819981"}}],"title":"Out at Dawn... to Ohio","published":"2026-04-16T14:14:14Z","updated":"2026-04-16T14:14:14Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"ohio"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"no rest for the wicked"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"planes trains and automobiles"}}],"content":"Ohio Waterfalls Travelog #1<\/b>
SJC Airport · Thu, 16 Apr 2026. 7:05am<\/i>

Today started early, with our alarms set for 5:45am. It was still dark when we got up. Sunrise wasn't 'til 6:32am. A bit after 6:30 we walked out the door to meet our ride to the airport. The sky was brightening but down at ground level, under the trees outside our house, it was murky. Street lights were still on. As we arrived at the airport the sun was just peeking over the mountains to our east.

What's the point of being up so early? We're flying to Columbus, Ohio today, for a waterfalls hiking trip<\/a>. From San Jose we fly to San Diego first then connect onward to Columbus, arriving there around 6:30pm local this evening. Then we'll rent a car and drive about an hour south to a hotel in a small town near a state park.
"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker:1819845","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/1819845.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=1819845"}}],"title":"Taking it Easy on Tax Day","published":"2026-04-16T03:33:06Z","updated":"2026-04-16T03:33:06Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"taking it easy"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"news media"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"money"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"pool life"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"taxes"}}],"content":"Today is Tax Day in the US, April 15. Cue the usual slew of news articles about how much people hate taxes, hate paying taxes, hate doing taxes, and hate rushing around like mad on the literal last day before the deadline to get them done. I just chuckle and scroll down past all those articles because I finished my taxes 6-8 weeks ago<\/a>. That let me spend Tax Day like this:

\"Taking

So far this year #PoolLife<\/a> (or if you're DD, #PooLife<\/a>) has been #HotTubLife<\/a>. We had summer in winter<\/a> before the pool opened for the season. And since the pool opened a few weeks ago we've been hit with a cool snap. Temperatures are below average in April so far after blowing out heat records in March. \ud83e\udd37‍\u2642\ufe0f

But, hey, back to taxes. I get mine finished early not because I'm some goody-two-shoes overachiever but because I hate having the tax bill overhang me like the sword of Damocles. Plus, this year I had a refund coming my way due to a slight mistake I made in estimated payments 6 months ago, so I wanted to get that bread asap.

Since then I've put my doing-taxes energy into planning ahead for next year's<\/i> taxes. Again, that's not because I'm some goody-two-shoes overachiever. It's simply part of sound financial planning. I stay abreast of what ny taxes will look like at this time next year and feed that information into decisions I make now about how I invest my money.

"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker:1819515","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/1819515.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=1819515"}}],"title":"Day 5 on the Pill: Dining Out","published":"2026-04-15T21:50:59Z","updated":"2026-04-15T21:50:59Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"dining out"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"glp-1"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"food"}}],"content":"Today's my Day 5 of taking Ozempic. One thing I'm glad I've been able to continue doing these first five days is dining out<\/b>.

I'm a big fan of going out to eat. I've been doing it regularly for years. I not only like the taste of restaurant food; I like getting out of the house for the change of scenery.

Before I started a GLP-1 drug (Ozempic is a GLP-1<\/a>, like many other now-common drugs for controlling blood sugar and promoting weight loss) I heard warnings from many friends that it messes with your digestion so badly you can't eat regular meals anymore. I took those warnings seriously... though I also took them with a grain of salt. I readied myself for the possibility that I'd be needing to eat such small portions for meals that it wouldn't be practical to dine out at restaurants. I worried I'd end up throwing half the food in the trash— making the already spiraling cost of dining out something I could no longer stomach (no pun intended).

I am glad to say that so far— and I understand it's only Day 5 and I'm still on the smallest dose— I have not had to abandon dining out. Oh, I'm certainly not going to all-you-can-eat buffets. And I'm not going to steakhouses renowned for their huge cuts of meat, either. What I'm finding works (so far) is The 2\/3 Solution<\/a> I started using a few days ago. I aim to order 2\/3 of what I used to order<\/b>.

Eating 2\/3 is actually pretty simple at fast food\/fast casual restaurants. I just don't order a side!<\/b> I've done this at Carl's, Jr., Burger King, and Popeye's already. Instead of ordering a combo with fries or some other side, I just order the main item— a burger or a few pieces of chicken— a la carte with a drink.

This also shifts more of what I do eat toward protein. Eating too little protein is one of the pitfalls a lot of people struggle with on GLP-1s. If you fill up on bread, potatoes, or other starches, yeah, it's hard to eat enough protein. When I skip the fries and eat the burger I make sure I get the protein I need.

"},{"id":"urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:canyonwalker:1819211","link":[{"@attributes":{"rel":"alternate","type":"text\/html","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/1819211.html"}},{"@attributes":{"rel":"self","type":"text\/xml","href":"https:\/\/canyonwalker.livejournal.com\/data\/atom\/?itemid=1819211"}}],"title":"How Ozempic Works","published":"2026-04-15T03:11:23Z","updated":"2026-04-15T21:31:13Z","category":[{"@attributes":{"term":"being sick sucks"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"glp-1"}},{"@attributes":{"term":"science"}}],"content":"I've been writing for a few days about GLP-1 medications— today is my Day 4 taking Ozempic— and writing about effects and side-effects as if my audience was already at least sorta familiar with them. That may not be far off the truth, as an increasing number of people in my age bracket are already on GLP-1s such as Ozempic or Wegovy, or have a partner who is. For everyone else, let me back up a bit and explain what these drugs are and what they do.

First, a bit of terminology. GLP-1 is short for Glucagon-like Peptide-1. It's the name of a natural hormone in the small intestine that helps manage insulin secretion, among other things. This class of medications are actually GLP-1 receptor agonists<\/i>, a technical term that means they bind to the same receptors in the body as the GLP-1 hormone. So taking a GLP-1 pill or shot is like having extra GLP-1 hormone in your body.

Taking Ozempic (or another GLP-1), which triggers the same effects as the GLP-1 hormone, does several things: