myxer

I really think Red is the right color for this.  I could get it in black, but I really think red is the best color.  I mean if you are going to buy a car that says LOOK AT ME!, it shouldn't be boring.  I was surprised the dealer had them in stock, ready to drive home. You do have to be careful, first time drivers have an amazingly high rate of losing control in the first few weeks.  The recommendation is to take delivery at a safety driving course, and work with an instructor until you get a feel for it.  Acceleration is painfully abrupt, braking is immediate and violent.  It is a challenge to get in and out of.   It is a total fantasy car, after years of what I should have, or what is reasonable.  Why not? After all we are not going to live forever and we can't take it with us.  For years I thought it would be a Rolls Royce, when I was growing up I remember the first time I saw one.  The elegant flowing lines.  The n...

I watched Judge Brown, soon to be Justice Brown, exhibit amazing grace, and control while being barraged with irrelevant, racist, and insulting questions during her Senate confirmation hearing.  I had never heard of her before, after listening to 30 minutes of the hearing, she is amazing.  I wouldn't have made it through the process.  I would have told a couple of them what @$$holes they are. There are reasons I will never enter politics.   Ukraine, the world stands by while a despot bombs the country into "smoldering ruins!" We offered the President an escape route, he said "send bullets!" The world saw it coming, and stood by and waited.  Thousands of people have died, millions of lives torn apart, and the world watched.  A dark time in world history.   We recently watched the Jeopardy College Tournament, and were shocked at the sheer lack of knowledge of events that happened in the 1960's - 1990.  It was before they were born, and not...

The building on the left, was my hometown bank. Now long gone, bought, sold, merged.  There are few small town state chartered banks left. There was a dime-store next door on the right when I was a child, complete with a candy counter.   I had had a savings account in a larger bank in a nearby city, the fall I turned 15 I asked for a checking account.  The local bank said, yes if your parents approve we can do that.  They did.  I remember there was a 3-cent charge for each check - forget that and your statement wouldn't balance.   I remember the first check I wrote, to the G.B. Dupont company to rent an airplane, that my father flew, so we could go take photos of farms from the air.  I was making a few hundred dollars a year on aerial photos, and I stepped up to paying for the airtime with that first check. I should have kept that check.   The account for the first year or so did not have an account number.  The check...

  I keep finding out that I live in a place people travel to see.  Of course there are all those pretty stone monuments and buildings downtown, but out here in the burbs, people travel from far and wide to see and hear the birds, turtles, and frogs. Really the frogs?  I had no idea, the parking lot was dotted with out of state license plates, apparently there is a network of frog spotters and listeners, who share where the cacophony and spotting is best this week, and off they go for the weekend.   I have to think what would I travel to see, a meadow of sheep, a flock of majestic flightless waterfowl,  wolves, bears (two or four footed,) the sea crashing on the rocks, ships, airplanes, desert, dessert, Not frogs. 

The Rolling Stones played in Orlando sometime in the 1980's, while I was living there.  The band stayed in one of the hotels at Walt Disney World, and caused a bit of a stir.  Late at night, after the show, they chartered one of the sternwheel boats that normally run from the ticket and transportation center, aka the parking lot, across the lake to the entrance to the Magic Kingdom, to cruise around the lakes for a few hours.  There was food and drink and relaxation for the band, crew and a few invited guests.  The highlight of the night was Keith Richards with a bottle of champagne in one hand and the other on a railing, hanging off of the front of the boat signing into the wind around the lake.  I wasn't there, but I knew people who were.  

  1: Do you use reusable shopping bags?  2: When was the last time you used paper-money?  3: Are you answering this on a computer, tablet or phone?  4: Is your community recycling glass?  5: Do you still write checks?  My answers: 1: Do you use reusable shopping bags? Yes, Virginia now has a 5 cent tax on disposable shopping bags and I HATE plastic shopping bags.  2: When was the last time you used paper-money? At the farmers market The Pastry Dude was not accepting cards.  3: Are you answering this on a computer, tablet or phone? desktop computer - I am old fashioned like that.  4: Is your community recycling glass? No, the service at the condo stopped accepting glass, and actually charges us extra for glass that ends up in the recycling bins.  5: Do you still write checks?  A few, I should stop doing that.  Please share your answers in the comments. 

For those of us on the top side of the earth, it is spring. Time for a little spring cleaning.  My parents grew up with wood or coal fired heat in the winter and spring cleaning was a major need, in my mother's family they rolled up the carpets for the summer.  I am not much of a housekeeper, and Brabinger the rumba does a good job on the floors, and Sweet Bear dusts more often I would. So it is not the house, but my mind that needs a spring clean.  I moved into a supervisory position over the winter, and a new colleague started a week later.  I need to clear out the doubt about doing well. I have noticed that my concern about doing well, shows as a shadow over the joy.   I need to dust away the past.  I was the one who said, just because it is the way we always did things, does not mean that is the way we should do them today.  And I find myself looking to the ways of the past.  It has been a shut in winter of long days of working, days...

  Locally known as redbuds, these are some of the earliest bloomers here in Northern Virginia.  This was taken earlier in March, before the last snow of the year.  Crocuses and daffodils are about the only thing earlier than these beauties.  We have a few magical weeks of spring bloom, lots of plant reproduction going on out there. 

A week or so, Spo, the dear, posted that his employer asked about an updated bio for the office website. He offered answers that he would have enjoyed providing, not the official answers he felt obligated to provide for the dignity of the profession.  Inspired by that, here is what I sometimes wish my office bio included.  Name: David, but I am really like and older dog, I will respond to anything if it is said in a kind tone of voice (old dogs are the sweetest.)  How long in this profession? I am on my third profession, and I am still trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up, I will probably be dead by the time I figure that out.  How long [where you work]? 13 years, seems like I started just yesterday, at times it feels like 500 years.  Where did you go to school?  This is complicated, elementary school in Michigan, except for the wild hare move to and from Phoenix one year, middle school in Michigan and Florida, I changed schools 8 times in...

This is my grandmother's youngest sister Florence, or as she was known Flossy.  The only one of the four siblings who was born in the United States, most likely New York.  She was married to an executive with US Rubber Company, better known as Uniroyal.  Richard, or Dick as he was known was a nice guy, kind of high strung and a hopeless alcoholic.  At one point the doctors recommended a change of scene hoping that he would stay dried out.  After consultation with his bosses at Uniroyal, they sent him on a two year assignment in Scotland, a change of scene, and a change from beer (and lots of it) to Scotch Whiskey, and endless thirst for the good stuff.  A couple of years after he returned from that assignment, the company arranged for him to start drawing a pension and changed the locks on his office door.  The doctors gave up on a detox plan, and he agreed to a drinking schedule, kind of a medication plan (this was in the late 1960's ea...

I stopped recently to have my car washed and the windows done inside and out.  I had a camera with me, and didn't want to leave it in the car so I carried it with me when I went inside to pay.  The runner who drove cars from the end of the wash tunnel to where they wipe them down and clean the windows asked "are you a photographer, what do you take pictures of."  Before I finished my answer he had to say "that is great, but I have to run."   Landscapes, when I travel I try to take photos of changing landscape.  I have a student this spring who is not from this side of the earth, I was trying to explain to him how the terrain changes in just 100 miles from where he is going to college.  He has flown in and out, he does not drive.  His home country is less than 100 miles across.   Cityscapes.  There is a genre called street photography, and I probably don't fit in that.  But cities are such unique spaces.   Wildlif...

Maybe it was the original movie with Barbra and Kris, there seemed to be chemistry, certainly some of her best work (if you haven't seen it, do so when you can) or maybe it is the voice and lyrics.  This song makes it onto my top ten list.  We are starting to advise people to make lists of the music they would want to listen to, or the movies they would want to watch if they become unable to say what they want.  This one belongs on my list.  Actually almost anything by Barbara. 

I don't know why, but I have started photographing signs, stickers, notices. I kind of enjoy it. It would be helpful sometimes if people came with warning stickers, hence this weeks Sunday five: What would your warning sticker say about these: 1: Caution if you ask about ____ be prepared for a long answer.  2: Caution, this person has an inappropriate sense of humor when it comes to ______.  3: I won't understand references to _______.  4: Please don't ask me for advice on ______. 5: A mention of ____ will invoke anger.  My answers:  1: Caution if you ask about _Cameras_ be prepared for a long answer.  2: Caution, this person has an inappropriate sense of humor when it comes to _sex_____.  3: I won't understand references to _novels___.  4: Please don't ask me for advice on _the law_____. 5: A mention of _he-who-must-not-be-named___ will invoke anger.    Please share your answers in the comments.  

Reading blogs one morning recently I was reminded of several things, a nice ramble.  One night about 13 years ago, I forgot to set my alarm clock .  I had used a clock radio since my parents bought me one as a christmas gift when I was about 10 years old.  I awoke the next morning with a start, concerned that I was not alarmed to start the day. Then I realized that I was not late, just shocked by the change.  The next day, I didn't have anything early on my calendar, so I didn't set the alarm, and found that I woke up in plenty of time, and more relaxed, better rested.  Over the years I have heard motivational speakers talk about it being an "opportunity clock" trying to convince us that being unnaturally jolted awake is somehow a good way to start the day.  It isn't.  It is how we are conditioned to live.  And You can undo that.  Only rarely, maybe a couple of times a year do I set an alarm, usually because I have an unreasonably early airli...

March the 18th, two landmarks on this date, my sister's birthday, she is almost two years older than I am - welcome to Medicare.  And second as a family we twice arrived at the Grand Canyon on the the 18th of March, back in the early 1960's.   I think this is a great early family photo.  It is a little underexposed, not one that was printed or framed.  My sister is squirming a little.  It wasn't favored, but it is the earliest photo of the entire family that I have found.   Have a fabulous Friday. 

Commenting on blogs and reading you comments has reminded me of some of the adventures I have experienced.  I have been fortunate, I have traveled a lot, spent a lot of time with many very bright people, seen and done a couple of lifetimes of adventures, with a few good years left to go. Here are a few unique highlights.  Attended a tea party hosted by the archbishop of Canterbury in the rose garden at Christ Church College, Oxford.  A private after hours party in the Gateway Arch in St Louis. A construction tour of EPCOT, and a pre-opening day at EPCOT.  A private after hours party in the Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom. Flew on a Zeppelin.  Seen two Popes in St Peters Square.  Ridden in multiple steam trains.  Had a conversation with the First Lady (when Biden was Vice President.)  Driven on the Autobahn - at over 100 miles per hour legally  Been passed while driving 100 miles per hour, legally    And in the words of the bard, "Ji...

Two years ago today, I went to the office, picked up a laptop and copied of a couple of folders and came home for what I thought would be a couple of weeks of work from home isolation.  Not in my wildest imagination did I think that we would still be primarily working at home, two years later.  That I would still be in my box.   A lot has happened at the office, someone died, someone left, someone retired, two new people have joined us, I have been promoted, all without being there in person.  The way we were, the way we worked, may never be the same.  But I do hope I get more time outside of the box.  I have no idea what the story of the guy in the box above is.  I was walking near the King Street station in Alexandria one day and he is in a front yard, with a spotlight. I knew this image would come in handy someday.    

We returned from Ireland two years ago today.  Right at the start of work from home, lock down, and all of this fun.    There were a ton of posts two years ago about Ireland.  With time to reflect, it was a great trip in a weird time.  Dublin is a neat city, it is a very modern city, very welcoming.  Trinity college, St Patricks, walking along the river.  We were only in Galway a short time, the drive north from there into the countryside was spectacular.  Neat hotels, great service, nice space (traveling off season prices were low, I booked a suite in one hotel and it was wonderful to have the extra space.)  The time down south in Kilkenny and Waterford was amazing.  We stayed at a golf resort, operated by Marriott.  The room was nice, the bathroom had a heated floor, I was in love with that.  We drove along the coast for a couple of hours, with a gale blowing in and heavy surf.  It was amazing.   By the end of ...

There is something about this song, when it first came out I made fun of it, I thought it lacked elegance and beauty, "find myself a rock and roll band, that needs a helping hand" - I would mock "like the one you are in." But overtime, over decades it has grown on me.  It is a song about love.  And Rod Stewart, what an amazing long lasting talent.  

  While walking at the mall, being tracked by my phone, I stumbled across this refrigerator with an error code in it's internet connection.  I don't know as I want my refrigerator to know that much.  We looked at appliances for the kitchen the sales guy had to demonstrate a matched set that you entered the inventory of what was on hand and it would plan your menus and give you step by step directions.  I was horrified.  1: Do you have a voice activated smart device in the house?  2: What is your success level on voice activated devices?  3: Do you let technology automatically reorder or refill for you?  4: Have you ever done an online search, then been inundated with ads?  5: Do you go into incognito mode before doing searches or visiting some webpages?  My Answers: 1: Do you have a voice activated smart device in the house? There is a video Alexa box in the kitchen, and Amazon is forever suggesting cook books.   2: W...

Russia has passed a law, making it a crime to speak out, or report on anything in opposition to Putin waging WAR on Ukraine.  If you refer to it as anything other than a "special military operation" you can go to prison in Russia for 20 years.  It is a WAR, started by one side, Russia, it is beyond a human tragedy. I guess  I will never visit Russia, I just violated their "fake news law."   The USA suffered for four plus years under he who must not be named, screaming that anything he didn't like was fake news. If he had the power, and if not for the Constitution, I am sure he would have passed a law making speaking ill of him and his actions a crime.  His rants against a free press, should be seen as an act of war on the freedoms that we hold dear.  I don't always agree with the press, but criminalizing the truth, and cutting off outside information in the name of power and control is wrong.  Larry in PEI , posted a couple of weeks ago about...

  The routine things in life need not be boring.  Add some color, texture, scent.  I was disappointed recently when I was in the mall, at how much plain white boring mens' underwear was in stock. I assume it is stock because it is what people are buying.  Why?  How repressed, how boring.   Why should shoes be only brown or black?  Come on guys, shoes can have color and style.  

I am working too much.  9 and 10 hour days, meaning even if I take a day off I end up working a 40 hour week, in four days.  I am worrying more that I did before, I have a staff of five including myself to keep employed.   I am maxed out on vacation and paid personal days, I need to take about three days a month off, or lose time. We are meeting a friend in Baltimore this month and I added a day to that weekend to make it a long weekend. We are going to New York for a few days in early April.   I scheduled a week off in May. Plans for that week?  We thought about obligation trips to see family and friends, and decided what we really want, what I really need is a few days with no obligations.  We are thinking about exploring places in the northeast we have never been.  I know I could lose my membership card for this, I have never been to Provincetown. I have a couple of Mayflower ancestors (along with an estimated 35-million other Americans) a...

There weren't a lot of them, because they were utilitarian, used until they were no longer useable, but there were always pick-up trucks around when I was growing up. There was an early 1950's Ford, traded in 1965 on a red Ford, the early one I have no real memory of.  A yellow Chevy, bought used from a utility company. And the Blue Dodge.  It was the last one.  My father bought around the time my grandfather retired, my grandfather kept the red Ford, it was around for me to learn to drive in.   The Blue Dodge was fun.  It had a massive V-8, it might have been a 440. My father bought it used, no one wanted it because it had a massive engine and got lousy gas mileage. He only drove it a few thousand miles a year and didn't care about the miles per gallon.  It was a handful on the gravel and unpaved roads, if you put your foot down you needed to be prepared to correct for the slide.  About a mile and a half north of the farm, I would turn right onto...

The Washington Monument, the Empire State Building, the Capital Records Building, you see the structure, and you know the city.  Seattle has two, the Space Needle, but increasingly people see this sign, and they think of Seattle.  And it is a really nice market.  Yes it is packed with tourists, but it is also full of real vendors provisioning the kitchens of the city, and boxes of fresh fruit for the tourists (if the cherries are in season, buy them!) I have been there a few times.  It is one of those places I would like to rent an apartment within walking distance of, and spend a month cooking my way through the market.  

I have eclectic taste in music, I like a little of almost everything.  I try not to take any of it too seriously, if it soothes or excites me, I probably like it.  Like strong instrumentals, strong vocals that don't sound like tortured cats, solos, and orchestras.  These are difficult times for musicians, venues have been closed or restricted.  Streaming makes music cheap and accessible, but pays very little to the people who create it.  If you enjoy the street musician, drop in their case what you can afford, this guy was really good.  Babara has missing recording the past couple of years, so she dug through the previously unreleased recordings including this duet that was done for a television show, that finally made it onto the album released a few month ago.  I bought it on CD.  

If you want a laugh, this post was flagged for a violation of standards, for _$_ exu@l content.  Obviously the computer didn't read the post, only the title.  I have some great camera equipment, nice lenses, specialty items (I have an underwater digital camera.) Most of it is bought after agonizing over spending the money, and reminding myself that the thing that sets adults apart from children, is the price of the toys (not as poetic, but less sexist than "the men and boys".)  Once in a while I will see something and it will fall into my tolerance for an impulse buy, that is how I ended up the underwater camera, and how I ended up with the lens this image was taken with.  A Vivitar Series One, 500mm, about $100 at your favorite online retailers. 40 years ago, Vivitar was a respected name, like many the name was sold in bankruptcy and lives on, but without the legacy.  I wanted a longer lens, and Nikon does not make one for my camera, so on an impulse ...

One of my favorite "business books" is a little volume titled "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson.  It is a book about change.  And those who refuse to accept change, who insist what the world can't change, wither and die a bitter death.  I keep a stack of the book in my office, and share it with anyone who wants to read it. I reread the book every few years.  Infamously, Jay and I were trapped in Lexington in an ice storm about 15 years ago, the power was off, we were huddled around the gas fireplace in the living room and I read the book aloud one evening.   My office is undergoing change.  A new director, who has some new ideas and who is trying to free others to think new ideas.  We are largely reliant on project funding, and I use the message in the book, that if you keep going to the same sources of work that you have always gone to, and that source changes, and you don't keep looking for new sources, you will die.  Our chees...

These are part of an art installation in the Smithsonian Futures exhibition.  I would buy the gold one's from the top image, and the blue one's from the bottom image.  Aren't they fabulous? 

  The Community Center here at the Condo (for those readers not familiar, a condominium, or condo, is an apartment that a person owns, the buildings and amenities are managed by an association that the unit owners pay a fee to - in some cases a LARGE fee) is undergoing a massive renovation.  The budget was $7,000,000 and I suspect we have gone over budget.  The community center sits in a natural ravine, meaning as a result the outdoor swimming pool is at street level, the rooftop tennis courts slightly above street level and the main floor of the building is slightly below street level, hence the new ramps and steps down to the west entrance.   The interior was gutted in the remodel.  The indoor pool remained, but the ceiling over it and surrounding glass walls removed, replaced.  The bowling alley was gutted and replaced with all new equipment.  Most of the rest of the interior was reconfigured.  The convenience store was reduced i...

My first adventure in Washington DC was in the fall of 1977 or 1978.  My grandmother had never been to DC, and after my grandfather died I would drive her back and forth between the farm in Michigan and her winter home in Florida. They had bought a tiny house in a small town in Florida in about 1960 to get away from the winters in Michigan.  She wanted to see places she had never been, and we went as far east as Washington DC, and as far west as St. Louis.  It was great fun.  She was a delightful traveling companion.   We went to Mt Vernon while we were in the DC area.  Little did I know that I would someday live about half way between DC and Mt Vernon, on a hilltop surveys by the General, he had dinner with the Fairfax family a week before he died, just west of where my car is parked on this hilltop.   The house at Mt Vernon was about the same in the 1970's as it is today, the nearby outbuildings are the same, with the exception of a reconst...