life in the old lane

In two months, it will be November and I will be safely back home in Kona. Time to start thinking about what camera gear to take.

In two months the election will almost be over. Except I don’t think this mess will be over for a long time. Not within my lifetime. Even if I live a really long time. May you live in interesting times.

Note to Carlton: You wouldn’t believe how the country has gone to hell since you did your celestial change of address. You are not missing anything. You got outta Dodge just in time.

According to Facebook, the granddaughter made it to Africa. She did one of those “checked in” things. The one where the map shows up. Well on her map there is nothing except the little red “here I am people” thing. Don’t think that would be my kind of place.

Speaking of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg recently said: “There is an elegance to writing code that I miss. The code always does what you want — and people don’t.” That is so true. My starter husband would say that I spent all day talking to computers that did exactly what I told them to do and then came home and expected him to respond in the same manner.

Went back to work as planned today. Don’t think I had my A-Game. But, they get what they pay for.

Wish I had my camera time. Saw a Coors Light delivery truck today. (I was on the bus) The truck was painted up all nice and patriotic. It had jet fighters and a tank or two. And said “Coors Light Supports Our Troops”. Well, IMHO, Coors Light is about the world’s sorriest excuse for beer. If they want to “Support Our Troops” – couldn’t they find a better beer?

For no apparent reason – The Republican Candidate went to Mexico today. I hoped they would keep him. But, they sent him back to torment us some more.

And, why I am not a person on faith. Michele Bachmann – Donald Trump’s Evangelical Advisor – says that God “raised up” Donald Trump to be The Republican Candidate. Come on now, does anybody really think that there is some sort of divine being behind our current political circular firing squad? If there is a divine being behind this – they dropped the ball.

May you live in interesting times.

Decided I over processed the rose. Try this one

Ok, this is my last day of “mini vacation”. Back to the office tomorrow. Gee, I didn’t even check my work email or login to see if the system was working. Guess I am not a very devoted worker bee.

Had a nice, for me at least, visit with the young people. I hope they come back sometime. Sometime before I start drooling in my beer. As Pres. Clinton put it so nicely, …more yesterdays than tomorrows…

And, a most impressive bee is he. At least I hope it is a he. Because males don’t bite.

Just got a message – the grandkid and her “in a relationship with” person are heading this way from the ZOO. Hope this works out OK, because goodness knows I have wrecked more than my share of family relationships. I’ll do my very bestest. Which will either be good enough or it will not.

Went to the senior exercise class. It was OK. I wouldn’t pay for it – but it is bundled into my monthly fee. Speaking of monthly fees. Going up 3.25% next year. That isn’t outrageous. And they promised to improve the internet.

Time to go down and set in the lobby and wait for my guests. That is what us old people do.

Still shooting with the wonderful old Leica glass. I really didn’t go out to take pictures. I was just carrying my camera around. With the Leica glass – that passes for weight training at my age.

And, what’s this with No Work Til Wednesday. Well, I just noticed that the Asylum’s annual budget meeting is tomorrow morning. Now, Carlton would come back from the dead – just bust right out of that little black box he is in – if I miss that meeting. We both agreed that the most important things that are said at such presentations are the things that are not said. And, you can not figure out what wasn’t said from transcripts, notes, or copies of Powerpoint Presentations. So, I must go to the meeting to hear what they don’t say. And, I can not go to the office late – because the granddaughter and her “in a relationship with” are coming to visit. And stay here in the Asylum, until Tuesday.

So, I could actually go to one of the Asylum exercise classes before the meeting tomorrow. We’ll see about that.

A couple of weeks ago, the breakfast cook couldn’t figure out how to make french toast. Today the same cook seemed to be completely baffled by pancakes. He must have left something out. The pancakes looked OK, but when people tried to eat them they sort of disintegrated into sawdust like crumbs. I ordered poached eggs and got hard boiled eggs. I like hard boiled eggs ok – so I just ate them and watched the theater as order after order went back to the kitchen for a do over. (It wasn’t just pancakes that were going back.) Running a short order breakfast grill is an art – but it ain’t rocket science. Tomorrow, I’ll check and so who is behind the grill. If it is the same guy as today – I’ll get oatmeal!

 

 

Sort of a do nothing day. I need one (or two) of them from time to time.

Major accomplishment – I force marched myself far enough to knock out 10,000 steps on the fitbit. Since it has been so hot – I have slacked off on my insane quest for 10,000 steps a day. That might have something to do with the incredible shrinking jeans problem?

The jeans problem notwithstanding it is time for my annual wardrobe assessment. I looked at my clothes. Are these little dresses too short? Most likely. Am I going to give them up. Most likely NOT. And what about my no-color scheme. Most everything is black, khaki, or denim. Any chance that is going to change? Nope.

If I tried harder, I could dress like my cohorts here at the Asylum. I know where they shop. I am sure I would look better. But, I wouldn’t look like me. Of course, I don’t look like me anymore anyhow.

So, no radical changes to the wardrobe this winter. Assuming the diet is a success

Cross words at the Asylum this evening. An old man rolled his walker into the elevator to block the door so as to hold the elevator. The lady he was holding the elevator for also had a walker. She couldn’t get on the elevator because the guy was holding the elevator with this walker. Heated words are exchanged. I called for another elevator.

Only 8PM, but I am getting a little sleepy. That’s OK.

I am pretty fond of the “large” milkweed bug. It doesn’t bite – unless you happen to be a milkweed plant. It is slow and easy to sneak up on. And, when it shows up in great number – it means that the dog days of summer are coming to an end. And, it is orange and black – reminding us that Halloween (and my annual migration to Hawai’i) is coming soon.

I have a really mind numbingly boring job at work. Scanning all 3,200+ of our employee files. I would love to have the job done before I head out to Hawai’i. I can scan about 50 files and then my brain turns to complete mush. I can do about 10 files per hour. Some are as few as 6 or 7 pages. Others are 200+ pages. So, I might go in and knock out another 50 this weekend. Depends on the weather. And, what else I decide to do.

I listen to music while I do this boring job. I alternate between The Dead and Slack Key. With the occasional detour to Bob Marley. But The Dead is the best for this mind sucking job.

What was I doing on August 26, 2001 – well – go back and see And remember bandwidth, browsers, everything was different then. I coded the pages in HTML – no WordPress then. BTW, Carlton and I were in Skagway, Alaska.

 

 

Remember, earlier in the week, I wondered why Google thinks that I need to see adverts for “Plus Size Spanx” and why Facebook thinks I need to join a gastric bypass group. Well today I got a hint. Google is way ahead of me.

Last night I wanted to see how a certain sweater would look with my “good” jeans. They would not zip. Not even close.

The scale a the office confirmed the bad news.

After work – I went shopping for bigger jeans. I bagged that idea after trying on 8 or 9 pair of jeans. It will be easier to just diet the 5 extra pounds away.

 

Still walking around with the cheap slow long lens.

Checked my 11 square foot garden — nothing else has been removed. Seriously, who would steal a tarragon plant from a little old lady?

Well, I have spent the last 6 months trying to “fit in” here at the asylum. Just what? It didn’t work. I don’t fit in. But, I never fitted in anywhere anytime anyhow. So, why would I start fitting in after 73 years of not fitting in. I don’t need to fit in.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not unhappy. I have no regrets about moving in here. But, I don’t have to fit in. Play Bingo. Do puzzles. Take art classes. Study wines. Enjoy opera. Singalong.

I have made friends here. This is good. But, I have not joined any committees, clubs, groups or classes. This is normal for me and it is good too.

 

Played around with the long and slow lens this afternoon.

This flying creature looks like its wings were shrunk in the laundry.

I was robbed. Sometime between Friday afternoon and this afternoon – someone stole my tarragon plant. Just dug it right out of my garden – leaving only a hole. All the other plants remained. A bird, squirrel or raccoon would not have done this. It had to be a human. Tarragon is hard enough to grow without herbnappers making off it. Next year – I’ll plant tarragon next to the bee and wasp attracting mint. I put it next to the rosemary this year – thinking the rosemary might protect it from the cold. But cold was not the enemy. (I know it was here on Friday afternoon because I put some in the omelet I made for lunch.)

 

When I came up to the Old Bat Cave after lunch – there was a lot of smoke in DC or Maryland. But, nothing on the evening news – so I guess it was trivial.

The long slow cheap glass was on the camera – so – when it was time to go look for bugs, I decided to use that lens.

And, a building.

Lunch companions told me about an interesting museum next door to the Chihuly Garden and Glass. The EMP Museum. A Paul Allen project. My time in Seattle is now all booked up.

I don’t usually plan things that far in advance.

Great news. The oldest granddaughter and her “in a relationship with” are brave enough to spend a night here in the asylum before she heads off to Africa. In the grand scheme of things – A Night At The Asylum isn’t all that big a deal with compared to Africa.  This happens next Monday.

 

Why does Facebook think I need to see this particular ad? Spanx??? Plus Size Spanx?? Facebook also thinks I would like to join a Gastric ByPass group.

Took a few bug photos today. I shot them in RAW and JPG. But, I continue to find no particular value for me to shoot RAW. Easier to expose it correctly and just go with the JPG. However – my camera only shoots the extreme ISOs in RAW. I was shooting ISO 2000 today. Just for giggles.

OK – the trip:

I am taking the Orange/Northern route. I’ll have some time – 4 or 5 hours in Chicago – if everything is on time. And about 28 hours in Seattle. I’ll get a hotel in Seattle. Catch some ZZZs in a non-moving bed. Soak in the tub. If the weather is anywhere close to OK – I’ll check out Chihuly Garden and Glass. One of the conveniently located hotels has a deal – and the room with tickets to Chihuly is cheaper than a room without tickets. I get two tickets – so, I could go during the day and then return after dusk. Wonder when sundown is on Oct 29? Let’s see if Siri knows. Well, Siri was on the other side of the room. But, Hey Google said the sun sets at 5:56 in Seattle on Oct 29.

The world sure has changed. Wasn’t all that long ago, you would have to do your own google search to find out when the sun was scheduled to set. Heck, not long before that you would have to look it up on some arcane chart. If you could find the chart. Maybe it was at the library. Now, just point mouth toward Shamu the Phone and say “When will the sun set on October 29th in Seattle?” Does this free our brains to do more “useful” things? Or are our brains just atrophying?

Oct 29 – I guess that Seattle could make it to the World Series. This could adversely impact my hotel plans. So, I’ll lock up a room sooner not later. Or I could ask Google about the World Series chances of the Mariners.

A last one from today’s fun with photos. Trying to get a little 1950’s Japanese horror movie action going here.