October Rising

This had to be the warmest October I've ever experienced in New York.

It reached 75 degrees fahrenheit in the middle of October.

Global warming, while bad for the environment sure makes for one comfortable October day.

October ended up being the highlight of my year.

I ended up shooting with a model which I haven't been able to find one to work with for two years now.

Its a sign that this pandemic is taken less seriously now.

Anyway the shoot went great. 

All in all I took some wonderful photos of this beautiful woman & got almost exactly what I was looking for in the photos.

The day before the shoot though someone stole a bicycle out of my garage & left another bicycle in its place. I searched around the house and inside to see if anyone was still rummaging about. No one was to be found. I called some friends letting them know what happened & everyone said to report it to the police. So I reported it. The police came with 4 cars & it sounded like they knew who this guy was. That they'd been looking for him for 5 days or so. "Whats that saying? No honor amongst thieves?" I said. "If he wanted to make a trade, he should've asked first." 

I took a photo of the bicycle the would be thief left behind. 

It actually seemed like the better bicycle that would fit me better then that tiny BMX bike I paid $40 from my friend for.   

In the end I told the police to take it because they could use it as evidence. 

And he or she could come back looking for it anyway. 

I'm not trying to lure back the same thief twice.

It seems they also stole a video card I bought off a website right from my front door a few weeks before.

My brother aggravated as he usually is still insisting that we sell the house.

I don't want to sell. 

We collectively paid off the house together so that we could keep it indefinitely for as long as we could afford it together.

When he tried to force the issue earlier in the year it cost him and me a small fortune just for him to be proven wrong.

Anyway on the 22nd I went out to New Jersey for the Exxxotica Expo. 

It was great!

I had a really good time, two of my friends were supposed to come along for the adventure but one had something work related to do, the other couldn't coordinate with me about picking her up, she seemed confused & non-committal anyway. 

I didn't get to meet all the stars I wanted to meet, but I did get to meet some really beautiful people. 

I took photos wherever I could. 

Talking to some of the stars gave me some insight into that industry. 

It was a really interesting event & I am already planning to go again next year.

I ended up leaving early to beat the traffic going out, it was going to be total chaos trying to get out of the parking lot. I also had an hour and a half drive home. Being tired already it was necessary to leave. Though I wish I had more energy to stay longer. 

I felt really at home there like despite my extreme nerdiness I wasn't judged for it. 

If anything it almost felt like it was an encouraging factor to all those I met. 

I also saw Dune just before I was to attend the Exxxotica Expo. 

I saw it in 3D which made it pop off the screen. (Though there was a bit of a dark tint from the 3D glasses) 

The theater was virtually empty, no more then four other people came to see Dune that Friday.

I liked it, it had that 80s vibe that carried over somewhat from the original. 

I saw a few references to other scifi movies or so it seemed.

They did a really good job of not overdoing the 3D modelling and graphics, I could barely tell it was graphics. The level of realism was so well done that you wouldn't think about it at all. 

It deserves a second watch, I actually nodded out for a good 15 minutes during the beginning because I woke up insanely early that morning to be ready to drive out to New Jersey. 

Which is no fault of the film only mine.

My car's driver side window decided to jam so now that had to be repaired too.

Its always something with the Chevy Cruze this year.

First I had the air intake valve go bad, which GM covered because it was recalled.

Then the molding on the passenger side came off. $500

Then the AC fan issue had to be addressed. $200

The tires needed to be replaced. $500

Now they tell me my shocks need to be replaced too. $1000?

Whatever goes bad next on the Chevy Cruze, I just hope its not an engine component. 

It has nearly 70k miles on it now. 

100k miles is borderline breakdown for engine components for any car.

A head gasket could go, a crack in the engine block, another valve issue, who knows? 

But I won't sell the car, not for anything. 

If anything I'll continue to put more money into this car, either until its undriveable or however unlikely it is totalled in an accident. 

The car is almost ten years old now so it doesn't have certain features that more current cars have.

But I like it just the way it is.

It was originally my dad's car, & I had to convince my brother to give it to me four years ago. 

In other news the market has rebounded after September lows.

I've been watching all of my shares casually drop into the red. 

I panicked a bit but didn't sell anything that I didn't see any opportunity to gain on. 

You don't want to end up buying high and selling low. 

Only one stock I did that for because I saw it leap & I knew it wouldn't go beyond that share price in the short term. 

They are going to tax the shit out of me next year. Not looking forward to that. So I have to consider selling off shares in order to meet next year's taxes. 

I have a significant amount of shares of Microvision. 

A company that received a lot of attention this year for their Lidar technology.

Earlier last month I contacted their business development team about a consumer electronics product I had an idea for. 

I heard nothing back from them. 

The disappointment made me consider selling it.  

But Microvision is a long hold for me. 

I expect Microvision will make billions on its Lidar technology amongst other technologies they have invented or took part in. 

I feel the stock is undervalued it should really be between $50-$100 a share. 

The stock dipped a bit which actually kinda hurt to watch, but I'm still faithful in Microvision's technology & its vision for the future. 

So keep your Microvision shares because eventually it will be a household name that everyone knows. 

I'm very excited for what Microvision can do, not just in the automotive field, but in consumer electronics later on. They have technology related to Augmented Reality, and optical technology that I have a great interest in. They may even have involvement in Time Travel technology components later on. (Though that is something to be held with extreme speculation)

Overall October was the month of the year.

It was a really exciting month, only one thing fell through and that was the Ministry/Frontline Assembly/KMFDM show being cancelled. I was refunded for the show to my surprise.

I started going to an art class too, every Wednesday which has been a great therapeutic benefit. 

October ends with a few disappointments but not without these wonderful memories to be cherished. 

Happy Halloween!