Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
When all else fails – learn something new. Butterflies. I downloaded a “Beginners Guide to DC Area Butterflies”. Took the camera (L1 with cheap Oly macro lens) out today in quest of butterflies. Not a real easy job – here in my concrete neighborhood.
And while we are ignoring my forebodings about the economy, my sinus issues, and the upcoming Beck/Palin circus – how about a shot from last night.
What ever happens is what I planned. Actually that failed photo isn’t too shabby.
Got spooked about the stock market this afternoon. Sold some stuff. Actually, sold everything that does pay nice hefty dividends. The market is just looking too dicey near term. things should have settled out by late September. Then I can buy some non-dividend paying stock. If the market doesn’t have a big time correction – well, then I just took profits “too early”. Worse things can happen.
Nice cool cloudy today. Went butterfly hunting. Found the gray hairstreak.
Made some progress on the Japan image culling project. Down to 1,662.
Spent too much time thinking about the economy today. I think that Carlton and I will be OK. After all, we don’t have that long to go. 20 years max. We’ll survive deflation better than inflation. Our biggest risk would be massive defaults in the bond market. If I were middle aged, I would be very worried. And, if I were young – I’d come up with Plan B. Maybe, select a nice 25 acres of land and learn how to be self sufficient. In my youth, we figured that the right 10 acres could support you nicely.
While I am at it, why don’t we worry about that great right wing boogieman, an EMP or my favorite worst case – a solar storm like the one in the late summer of 1859. Make a Faraday cage. But, what would you do with what you saved?
Guess what? No progress in organizing/culling the Japan Trip photographs.
Living dangerously tonight – we are going to have eggs for dinner.
Got a new Ikea catalog yesterday. It made me happy. Happy that I was NOT in the market for furniture. With luck – I’ll not be in the market for furniture anytime soon. Buying furniture does not make me happy. I still use the desk that I got when I was 10 years old. It was used then. Somehow or the other my Dad got it – it was actually a dressing table from the “officers” furniture stash. I guess it was some sort of midnight acquisition.
Much in the financial news about how regular folk just ain’t acquiring stuff like they used to. Hence, the markets are not doing as well as we investor folk might like. Is this really a bad thing? I think not. Maybe people will learn that 3 more tee-shirts for $10 does not improve the quality of life on the planet.
About teeth and winding life down. I am not ready for death. I’ll be pissed as hell when the time comes. I am sure there will be things left on my to do list for life. But I hope the things left are “want to do” not “should do” or “must do”. Statistically I have 10 or 15 years left. But, nobody is promised tomorrow – so, the “should do” and “must do” lists – need to be kept clean.
Haven’t made any progress culling photos.
Carlton came home from the dentist today with a huge dental “to do” list. It isn’t the money that it will cost. It is the pain. I was feeling sorry for myself needing one tooth pulled. Carlton needs to have two teeth pulled. How much do you invest in teeth as you wind your life down?
Today’s image starting count: 1,725
1830 hours – I have worked all day on this – how can I be down to 1,711. Not doing too very good.
1935 hours – 1,689 is the count now.
Having been out of the loop, I did not know until this morning that S. Palin is scheduled to give a speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28 – the 47th anniversary of MLK’s “I have a dream…”. I have a nightmare.
I am setting out on a hour of serious culling of my Japanese images. Current count 2196. Will report back at 9:45 with an updated count. For now the objective is to stay on task. Updated count 2124. Not a lot of progress …
Today is the ever controversial “Feast of the Assumption”. I guess it isn’t controversial to the faithful – but those of us who enjoy a good debate – in 1950, Pius 12, said:
By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.
The pope just announced that it happened. Therefore it did. Sort of like that other outrage of the 1950’s – the addition of under God to the pledge of allegiance. Theology aside, today is the Feast of the Assumption.
About noon – I hear the Star Spangled Banner being sung. Was something going on at Arlington Cemetery? When the wind is right we can hear the bugle calls from Arlington. Maybe we could hear singing too? Nope it is coming from across the street. Our Bolivian population is celebrating the Feast of the Assumption.
They also had lots of manly testosterone on display.
One wonders what this has to do with the Virgin Mary.
PS – they had food too. And a raffle for a flat screen TV.
PSS – In Arlington, we like our immigrants – legal or not.
Got the old theme back. And, I backed it up to my computer. But, I haven’t made much progress “doing something” with the photos from Japan. I still have 2,233 of them. Which might be more than I started with.
I cooked my weekly “meal from real ingredients” today. Once a week, I like to cook a meal using only “real” food. Nothing boxed, bagged, frozen, canned, from the deli or otherwise pre-cooked. Today it was “tuna salad”. Spinach, red and yellow tomatoes, and grilled yellow fin tuna. I did cheat and add sour dough bread from the farm market. And I have some leftover grilled tuna. Life is good.
Did the Republican candidate for governor of Colorado really say that bike lanes are an evil UN plot? Or was that just an Eastern Establishment Press spin???
I think that all the expenses are in from the Japan trip. $14,787.01. About 40% for transportation, 40% for hotels, and 20% for everything else.
Thank you MomIda for financing the trip from the otherside. MomIda is most likely spinning in her grave – can you do that if you were cremated? MomIda, like Carlton, never spent money. I am reminded of a friend of mine – she says she wants to live long enough to spend all the money that her late husband refused to spend.
I don’t like this template very much – have to recreate the one that I killed right before going to Japan. I replaced the template it didn’t like very much with this one that I like less. Now, that is what we call progress.
OK, I am starting to get the old theme back… Almost all good again.
Trying to “do something with” my photos from Japan. You may recall that in May I finished “doing something with” the pictures I took in Alaska 10 years ago. Well, ten years from now, I may be too senile to “do something with” these images. So, I’d best “so something” sooner rather than later.
Nothing will be done with this KitKat truck picture. Who would have expected to find a truck full of KitKat Bars in exciting downtown Ishinomaki. Check out Breaktown.com
Notes to self: