Mandalorian S3E6: A Corny Good Time

Chapter 22 of The Mandalorian, "Guns For Hire", is a corny but good episode. Unlike earlier episodes in Season 3 which I ridiculed for being corny in a bad way— mostly for laughably bad plot writing— this one is plotted well with just a bit of lighthearted, knowing humor to keep it amusing. I was laughing with the writing rather than laughing at it.

In S3E6 Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze visit her former followers and persuade them to unite with The Armorer's covert. This is the mission The Armorer charged Bo-Katan with at the end of the previous episode. In the vein of epic space-western I've described before, they find what they seek but it takes a bit of an adventure to clinch it.

Bo-Katan's former gang are camped on a newly wealthy planet on the outer rim of the galaxy. They're working there as mercenaries; their protection has made the planet successful as a trade hub. The planet has actually become wealthy to an excess. The people live in opulence to the point of indolence. Their leaders are charmingly played by Rizzo and Jack Black as smitten lovers in gaudy outfits.

Like a good space-western this episode features both talking and shooting. Lizzo, "The Duchess" (of a democracy?), tasks the pair with sleuthing a murder-mystery before she'll grant them leave to meet their erstwhile allies. Mando and Bo-Katan play off each other with their different approaches. Mando is happy to find answers through violence. Bo-Katan admonishes him multiple times to let her lead with her diplomacy. Then Mando surprises her by winning a favor from a group of reluctant aliens by demonstrating his understanding & respect for their style of communication. And Bo-Katan surprises him by shooting someone.

In the end the two win the support of the Mandalorian cohort on the planet. You pretty much knew that was going to be the ending from the setup. The episode was about the crooked path— the plot challenge of the week— they had to navigate to get there.

Going Bald, part 2

Yesterday I wrote about going bald. To be clear, I don't mean "going" as in, "I'm shaving my head tomorrow." I'm talking about the normal, natural condition of gradual hair loss that's been playing out for, at this point, a few decades.

Anyway, after posting that blog entry yesterday I saw a feature about going bald in my newsfeed this morning. It's "The art of growing bald gracefully", posted on CNN.com. My guy response was, "Oh, great, I post a blog about baldness and now all the advertising spyware that's on major websites chooses to show me articles like this." But a quick click through to the article shows it was published today. So, yes, it's genuinely in CNN.com's feed, it's not something they dug up and fed to me because they (or their advertising platform) are able spy on my web browsing.

The author of this article, Oscar Holland, has gone through a situation similar to mine, though he's farther along it than I am. He proposed that there are "three important dates" in every balding man's life:

There are three important days in every bald(ing) man's life: The day you realize you're losing your hair, the day you realize you should shave off what remains, and the day you finally do. Growing bald gracefully is about reducing the gap between these milestones as far as possible.

I agree. I actually came to the same conclusion back in my mid 20s when I first noticed the creeping hairline and the strands of hair left in my hairbrush every morning. I resolved even then that I would age gracefully, not vainly. As I asserted in yesterday's blog, I would not comb my last three strands of hair sideways over the top of my head. I'd shave it all off first.

Thankfully it's not yet time to shave. Per the 3 days Holland describes, I'm still between #1 and #2. I've had a much longer run from #1 to #2 than I expected. My hair still looks good from the front. But at the same time I know that day #2 is closer than ever before. Day #3, when I choose to be completely bald, will not follow far behind.

Another Two Tires Replaced

This afternoon I spent 90 minutes sitting at the tire shop to get two tires on our convertible replaced. Just four months after our last visit to the tire shop, here we are again. Two more tires have fallen victim to the pothole riddled roads in the SF Bay Area.

This car's tires are fairly prone to damage from potholes because they're run-flats. By design they remain driveable after minor damage. But the stiffer sidewalls that are part of that design are more susceptible to damage from hitting bumps too hard. And when there's damage on the sidewall it's (a) dangerous and (b) basically unfixable. The tires have to be replaced.

For years we've been buying tires at America's Tire. They're convenient because they have a shop a 10 minute drive away. But the big reason we buy from them is they offer a road-hazard insurance policy. For an extra 15% (roughly) of the cost of a new tire they'll repair or replace it for free. And they're a nationwide chain, so we can get warranty service even if we've driven hundreds of miles from home.

It's not hard to do the math on this. Paying 15% means I'm betting on roughly 1-in-7 odds of a tire needing to be replaced due to damage before old age. With these pothole allergic run-flats and the crumbling state of California roads, it's a bet I'll place. I figure my odds are at least 1-in-3... for a 7-to-1 payoff. See, insurance really is like gambling! And already one of the two tires I bought just four months ago is being replaced today, so I'm beating the house.