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Monday, September 1, 2025

Initial Impressions 2.0 Blog #84: King of the Hill, Fluffy Mushroom, Tattooed Snowman, etc.





1. I managed to binge the entire 10-episode 14th season of King of the Hill on Hulu this past weekend. All I can say is that I wish there were more episodes. I loved every second of the reboot. If you were a fan of the original run of the show, you will enjoy the new season. What’s interesting is watching King of the Hill in 2025, and knowing that it was in part created by Greg Daniels, who crafted the U.S. version of The Office, gave me a different perspective. What I mean is that I was able to spot similarities between the two shows in terms of mixing comedy and heart with character development. Watching the grown-up Bobby and Connie and their relationship gave me serious Jim and Pam vibes in the best possible way. I finished the season feeling so happy that I watched. The rumor is that a 15th season has been greenlit. Based on the ratings and reviews the show has garnered thus far, it seems a certainty we’ll get another season. I just hope that my free trial will be refreshed by then.


2. It had been a while since I had walked the expansive tidal flats at low tide on Cape Cod. It had been even longer since I did it at sunset. Luckily, a pair of friends were down on the Cape and wanted to walk the beach before heading home. The tide was low enough but there were still some treacherous spots. This came into play as I foolishly decided to keep my shoes on rather than leave them in the car. I did a good job for a little while keeping them dry. That all changed when I decided to perform a long jump to cross a small river where the tide was still going out. I managed to clear the river, which was a win, but a few minutes later, I felt my lower back locking up, so I knew I didn’t escape unscathed. After that, it was inevitable that my shoes would get soaked since I was having trouble with my back. So yeah, injured back, soaked shoes, getting older sucks, but hey, the sunset was worth it.




3. I believe I am officially at the longest my hair has ever been. It’s still strange to have gone from shaving my head every week for nearly 14 years to now having what looks like a big, fluffy mushroom on top of my head. This week will be haircut time. I will say though, that this winter I might let it go a little longer and see how far I can take it. That being said it is a distraction when my hair is now in my field of vision. It’s also a distraction when a breeze blows my hair and it brushes against my forehead, making me think I have a bug on me. The constant swatting at my face can’t be a good look. Maybe I’ll think twice about letting my hair get back to the mushroom head look.


4. In this day and age, it is a rare occurrence to see a cat outside. It is at a point that I think I see more deer than cats out on walks. So it was a shock for me to see a cat on two different walks this week. One was a black and white tuxedo cat, which scampered into some bushes before I could get a photo. The other was an orange tabby while I was on my way to a private beach. Yes, I do take walks into private neighborhoods. I don’t do any damage, plus by the time the police came I’d be long gone, so yeah. Anyway, this cat did stop and meow at me as I went by. It was as if it were warning me to get away from its beach. I don’t speak cat, but the look on its face said it all.



5. It’s amazing how when I am hungry, all common sense goes out the window. I crave terrible foods that I know are bad for me, but my mind gets overridden by my stomach. Of course, then after I eat like crap, my brain takes over again and feels regret. It is only after I’ve had the bad foods that I suddenly have the willpower and common sense. There has to be a way to reverse that. In some ways, it reminds me of when I had a drinking problem. Before and while I was drinking, my brain was seemingly offline. As soon as I finished, I’d have a deep regret and shame, and hate myself. It feels like in the last few years, I have replaced alcohol with food as my vice. It’s also kind of fresh in my mind because, as I’m writing this entry, I just had a meal filled with bad food. At some point I’ll figure out how to stop such bad eating, hopefully, but until then I can try to mitigate it with long walks to burn some extra calories.


6. Was it pure luck, or something more symbolic? I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get my first photo of a double rainbow in probably 10 years. I also got some amazing video. The pure luck side is because I happened to have been out getting a haircut and just had to drive down the street and set up shop and wait for the show. The symbolic side is the rarity of a double rainbow, plus being able to see the literal ‘end’ of the rainbow. I’m a writer so I’d like to think that it’s symbolic of upcoming career success. Maybe it’ll manifest that. Either way, I was more than happy with the time I spent watching and shooting the rainbows, even if I did get a little wet.



7. My sister Ashley bought something called an infinity cube for my little niece Sylvie to play with. It’s a fidget toy, something someone can mess around with for various reasons like nervous energy, managing stress, or improving concentration. The irony is that anytime I go over to my mother’s house, I end up using it constantly. I will just be rolling this cube around in my hands nonstop. Even when I put it down, I inevitably pick it back up. At my mom’s, I use that fidget toy maybe more than my phone. It’s something I never knew I’d enjoy. I might end up getting one for myself.


8. Right on time, the second bout of allergies has come to town. Typically, I get allergies sometime in late April or early May and then again in late August or early September. I started getting watery eyes and didn’t pay much attention but it was the congestion that caught my attention. Luckily, I had been taking allergy meds in the spring that I hadn’t finished so I am on the mend. It is funny that I have been on vacation and really enjoying relaxing and I didn’t notice the allergies until probably a few days in because I had been just relaxing. Better to have the allergies when you can just sit around than get them when you’re busy at work.


9. There are some things you can’t unsee. When stopping at the grocery store, I was ‘lucky’ enough to get to see a man who was a good 150 pounds overweight sitting at an outdoor picnic table. You know the ones that are supposed to be for sale, not for hanging out at? Anyway, the reason this was so disturbing was the fact that he had no shirt on. Yup, sitting outside of a busy supermarket with families going inside just showing off his pasty white fat body. He looked like a snowman covered in dollar-store tattoos. I think the grossed-out looks got to him, as within a minute, he was putting his shirt back on. Too late, Frosty, like I said there are some things you can’t unsee.


10. I can’t run like I used to. Part of it is injury-related, part of it is stubborn extra weight that I am constantly trying to shed. The constant reminders of my ‘glory days’ in my social media memories can be painful. That being said, I find it interesting that despite not really running much anymore, I managed to have the highest mileage total in August 2025 since July 2022. That’s more than 3 years, and nearly all from walking. I did 84.5 miles this month and 88.7 miles in July 2022. It blew my mind once I looked into it. It might not be super fast sprints, or super long distances anymore, but somehow I packed the miles on my old bones and didn’t end up with any injuries (knock on wood).

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