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 |  An attempt at creating a daily blog. |
| I'm hoping I can turn this into a daily repository of random and not so random musings of my daily activities. Perhaps it will gel into a common thread that I may be able to work towards creating something interesting. |
| Getting a late start.... Breakfast this morning and then I spent most of the day scanning slides for my friend. I finally finished, over a thousand slides total, most from back in the mid-90s. And a mix of subjects, a lot of nature with snow, fast water and some just landscape, then a bunch of boudoir. This guy got started with his own studio and was doing a lot of weddings, then a young lady asked about boudoir...he had no experience but she was willing to work with him as a model and it didn't take long for him to become the "go to" guy for boudoir. Subsequently, he was able to get out of the wedding end of the business. But, that was many years ago...now he's trying to learn all that he has forgotten and he has a penchant for old buildings...around here, those are extremely rare. The weather people were hyping all week how terribly hot it was going to be today...and much like their doom and gloom snow forecasts, it didn't come to pass. The high temperature and the heat index were both 10 degrees lower than they had forecast. Imagine that, the weather people were wrong again. Now that I am complete with the slide scanning, I've decided to focus on getting my extremely cluttered room back into some semblance of order. That will be a massive undertaking but, it needs to be done. And I should have some time to go out with my camera. I have some assignments I need to do for one of the online courses I'm taking. Hopefully I can get those knocked out in the coming week. My wife is going on vacation to Ireland towards the end of the week and I need a backlit photo of her...so far the sun hasn't really been cooperating and the Canadian smoke hasn't helped any either. Currently our air is the cleanest it has been in a while and it looks like the sun might cooperate tonight. I'd like to get that shot done with. I received a book a few days ago which is a better guide to my camera. These latest cameras are extremely complex and I am amazed at how much computing power is in them, and fast. However, that also comes with an extremely steep learning curve. Of course, the downloadable manual does have all the information in it but, it has to be one of the most disorganized guides there is. The book is in more of a logical order and the index doesn't have you playing hopscotch going from one section to another. Meanwhile, I am still watching this series on Netflix but I think it may be coming to an end. I hope so, I'm finally getting wore out with the same theme episode after episode...the only redeeming feature is there are many "hooks" that have been put in place and they are finally starting to come together. Maybe I will finish it tonight. Finishing the slides and the series could be a double whammy. I think that is it for today. While I was scanning the last of the slides I managed to contact a guy in Ireland on my ham radio. That was a first. Meanwhile, I need to go take a quick look at the sun, still an hour before it sets but I can see if it is going to cooperate for me. Tim |
| TGIF! A common expression which I have found to be of little value since retirement. The days all seem to blend from one to the next. After I started going to breakfast with friends twice a week, it's pretty much a blur of days broken up by a day out and it seems to make the time pass even faster. Time is a strange concept....the week that seemed to last forever while working at a job now seems to just be a blur. Not many days ago it was New year's Day, now it is almost August (as fast at the time seems to fly, it may be August by the time I finish typing this paragraph). It was hot and muggy this morning, our air quality still leaves a bit to be desired so I decided to give my lungs another day of rest from the heavy breathing that goes with my bicycling. Tomorrow is breakfast day again so that will be another day off. My bronchitis appears to have finally ran it's course and I'm glad of that. I'm down to 160 slides to yet be scanned for my friend, the total will be over a thousand when I'm complete. Considering it takes about an hour for my process to scan 16 slides, that's many hours I've devoted to the project. Once done, I do have some prints taken way back in the late 70's from when I was stationed in Guam. Many pictures of sunsets and storm clouds taken with an inexpensive "point and shoot" camera using 110 film. I sure wish I had the equipment and knowledge back then that I have now but it is what it is. Several of the photos I'm quite happy with and would like to scan and post them on social media. I have plenty of packages of prints taken from over the years. Many are from my early days with an SLR. Unfortunately, I was always in "auto" mode because I didn't understand the manual settings. In reality, it has only been in the past year that I have learned all about the aperture/shutter/iso triangle involved in capturing an image. When I was still shooting film, ISO was determined by the film you had, now with the digital age upon us, that is an additional control one has...or can be confused by if you don't understand the relationships involved. I do tend to shoot with "auto" ISO much of the time. This allows me to control dept of field with the aperture and stopping action (for moving objects) with shutter speed while letting the camera decide how much amplification of light. It is amazing at how much computing power is in the current models of cameras and how fast it all works. Time to go now, more slides to be done and I need to move the sprinkler on the grass. No appreciable rain and the grass is crying for moisture. I hope you all have a good day! Tim |
| And it is yet another hot and humid day in North Carolina.... I had my Thursday morning breakfast with some friends...and the guy I'm doing all the scanning of slides for bought us all breakfast. He was supposed to buy me a piece of cake and he though it would look bad so he bought breakfast for everybody. I did get a piece of chocolate cake though but I can't say I was overly impressed with it. And I really didn't need the additional calories but the thought is what counts. Tomorrow I'll hit the bike again and see how far I can get. It appears the bronchitis is on the way out, finally. This has been going on since the end of April. I went to the beach for a few days with my friend and I got the sickest I've been in over 20 years. I rarely get sick any more and this was one heck of a serious cold. Then apparently it turned into bronchitis....hopefully I am done with that. I noticed yesterday that there is apparently a piece of flashing coming off my roof so I had to call a roofer today and now I'm waiting to hear from him. He came out and repaired a few loose tiles for me in the past and didn't charge. (boy is that rare). |
| I took a handful of days off and felt guilty the whole time. Running out of my meds wasn't exactly fun, I was able to adapt but it always messes me up for days. My bronchitis was being a bear to deal with so I took off several days from riding the bicycle. Finally I was able to get out this morning again but I only went 5 miles. My lungs appear to have taken a beating so I did as much as I felt was doable and keeping my heart rate down within normal guidelines. Tomorrow is breakfast day so I'll have another day off. My hundred mile goal for the month isn't reachable at this point but I'm not going to get overly concerned. I'm at 65 miles for the month and I should be able to get near 80. After having not ridden for several years, I'm good with that amount. It is hotter than heck today. My weather station was reporting 98 degrees and the heat index was around 105. I'm not sure how accurate it is but it seems to track with a few other sensors that I have. The air quality had gotten pretty good for a few days but then it got smokey again. With the bronchitis issue I wish the air was cleaner but, it will more than likely be weeks or longer before it cleans up again. I'm writing this in the afternoon, normally I do it first thing but, today I had to take the younger collie in for grooming and her vet checkup. She's all pretty nowWith th and healthy as a horse. I did make an appointment for her older sister to cross over the rainbow bridge at the end of next week. My wife will be gone to Ireland so I'll take care of it while she is gone. The dog has some type of spinal issue and her back legs are extremely weak and the vet said there wasn't anything that could be done. I hate to put her down but her quality of life isn't what I would want to experience. She's not in pain but struggles to get out the door to do her business. She helped me through some rough times many years ago. For the first time, I'll have cremation done and I am looking for a nice urn to place her ashes and have a photo of her from when she was able to be up and running around. She is too heavy for me to lift so my son will come over to place her into the car. I'm hoping he will come in with me, she always favored him. I'm not sure why but she always got excited when he came home from being in the Army. I recently saw a nice article about how the animal goes into a strange place with strangers and the owners never wish to be in attendance...I won't do that to her. It won't be easy but it's the right thing to do. I'm still scanning slides for my friend. I have 140 to go and he has an additional 80 that he'll bring to breakfast tomorrow. Then that project will be done with. Another friend had also asked about getting a bunch of negatives scanned in case she wanted to have some prints done. I'm not sure how interested she really is. I asked her to set up a time with the other friend and she could use his small scanner to take a look but it is very small so I wanted to have her scan them to a memory card, then we could plug it into the computer so she can see them in a larger view. So far she hasn't done anything so, I'm not expecting any action any time soon. I think that is it for today. I started watching a series on Netflix and I feel it is has been very well written. There are a lot of small twists and turns that keep me intrigued. I'm paying attention in the even I ever want to craft something for a fiction possibility. With that, I'm done! Tim |
| Hah, I didn't sleep well Thursday night. I ran out of one of my meds which I was unprepared for. The pharmacy reported the doctor didn't approve. I called the doc yesterday first thing...but it never did get called in so I'm stuck for the weekend. Last time I got stuck on a weekend, I never went back to the doctor, opting to change. I'll have to see where the disconnect is. I've been with this doctor for a long time....but have been disenchanted lately. Time will tell. My friend took the binders of his slides that I've been scanning, went through and culled out the ones he wasn't interested in. The count went from over 2 thousand to only 400...but, then he found 2 thousand more. So, I'm now back to scanning more today. It's not as hot today but I'm caught up on the yard work, at least for a day or two. Sitting inside scanning in the air conditioning is okay with me. An added benefit is I can also be doing this blog while doing the scanning. Rudimentary multi-tasking. I go to breakfast with a few friends on Saturday mornings but almost didn't make it today. At 6 this morning it was just daylight, the sun wasn't up. No wind and a good temperature....I almost got back out of the truck and hopped on the bicycle. I've taken a few days off, this supposed case of bronchitis and the uncontrolled fits of coughing, I figured I'd give my lungs a rest for a few days. 4 days of rest, tomorrow is going to be a 10 mile day. I'm already looking at my route, there will be no way to shortcut it. If the body wants to say stop, it isn't going to happen unless I want to lay down in middle of the road. Of course, I might just collapse on the spot but I'll push the button on my monitor and they'll summon the medics (at least in theory). 20 slides down, this next page isn't filled...so I'll have 2 of 21 done in about an hour. I'll have to see if I can do three pages. Since this page isn't filled, it means a few over 50 slides....and about 390 to go. I think I'll be able to stay out of trouble for a little bit. Until next time... Tim |
| Golly Gee Whiz! Here I am, yet again! I woke up too early once again. Not many years back I was sleeping way too much and having major stability issues. My hands shook so bad it was a struggle to dial my phone. I had done a bit of research (Dr. Google as they call it) and found that a few of the medications I was on could be causing the issues. I had fallen in my yard more than once and was unable to get up. I couldn't even get on all fours and crawl, I'd just topple over. My muscles were like limp rags. I asked my doc about it, he sat back in his chair, said ''Possibly'' and that was the extent of his interest. I stopped the meds, stopped the doc and have never felt better. So now I'm into the older age and less sleep requirements. Since I restarted my bike riding (once I was able to balance again) I've been monitoring my heart rate. Way back in my early 20s while in the Navy and stationed in guam, I started running. I was never a serious runner but 25 miles a week or so. I managed to get my heart rate down into the 50s. Of course, over the years and a more sedentary life style it had built back up into the 70s. I did manage to focus on it and at night I was able to get down into the mid-60s. With only a few weeks of serious bike riding, I was down into the 50s and last night I was down into the mid-40s. Better than I expected and now it looks like with regular living I hover in the low 70 to upper 60 range. My oldest brother had a pacemaker put in years ago. He's always been somewhat active but nothing really strenuous. Plus somehow he became diabetic and his weight is higher than it should be. My other brother just had stints put in and I'm not sure he has any fat on his bones, he always tended to be on the skinny side. I had both a physical therapist and a cardio specialist tell me that once the heart has become efficient, it never forgets. If you neglect it for years and then start getting back into shape, the heart remembers and can quickly adapt. I'm hoping that is the case. My mother always had excellent results for her EKGs and was told she had a very healthy heart. I won't claim that I eat an ideal diet. I'm not a finicky eater. Cold weenies in a cold bun with mustard is quite satisfactory for me. But, I don't eat garbage food on a regular basis. I might have fast food 4 or 5 times a year. Even prepared meals are not common fare. I guess as long as I feel I'm eating somewhat healthy and the doc is happy, I'm satisfied. Meanwhile, ''Me and My Camera'' is still spinning around in my brain. It may come out in a poetic form, it is still gelling in the brain. I hope everyone has a good day, I plan on it! Tim |
Being lazy today. Humidity is high, temperature is high and the air is filled with smoke and my bronchitis is giving me heck so I'm taking today off from the bike. I am still aiming for over a hundred miles this month (starting from none last month) and have pedalled over 60 so far. It is the wrong time of year for the temperature and humidity to be dropping, but I hope the smoke clears out. I'm scanning more slides for a good friend. He has around a thousand, most from mid-90s and he did not have a way of scanning them; so somehow I decided to be a good guy and scan them. It takes me an hour to do 16 slides (I scan at a high resolution) but it does give me time to think. Of course, I get distracted thinking and then I don't pay attention and I don't keep up the 16/hour rate. No hurry though. I'm still tossing the "Me and My Camera" around in my mind...I was thinking perhaps a short poetry type thing....but I know nothing about poetry (and not much about writing). As with the slides, no hurry. It gives me more to think about the idea and more opportunity to find words. While here typing and scanning, I am also listening to one of the local ham radio nets. They have a group and the idea generated years ago for the soldiers heading in for physical training in the morning at Ft. Bragg...they refer to it as "PT" so the net is called the PT net. Somehow, that also became a term for Possum Trot (it must be a southern thing) so it is called the Possum Trot net or PT net for short. They normally have 30 or more people check in on their drives in or for the many of us that are retired, we wake up early and get on...just a short exchange of good morning wishes. I seem to have too many distractions this morning and I think I'll have to cut this one short. The act of writing but not of thinking about it. Stay tuned for tomorrow! Tim |
| Hello boys and girls! It's a smokey day here in North Carolina. I reduced my morning bike ride back to 6 miles today. I'm trying to get to 10 mile rides and I was close on Friday but it was too much, I could only eke out 9.66 miles and it took a long time to recover...so, I'll cut back for a week. I still have over 60 miles of riding this month with 6 hours on the saddle. I'm hanging just over 10 miles an hour for my average speed and hope to work that up to 12. I also want to make individual rides last an hour but, I'm running out of possible routes without having to spend too much time on main roads. Some drivers are extremely courteous and shift to the other lane to pass but some barely make an effort to move over. I have to be careful I don't swerve a bit or I'll get smacked hard...and very few slow down. It would not be good. I've got an idea in mind for a more dedicated topic to write about..."Me and my camera" and that could cover adventures of picture taking (quite adventurous, right?) but I'm toying with it to see what I can develop it into. Maybe it will work, maybe not, all I can do is try. I'm doing some reading about writing, a few books that were recommended in an online course I'm taking. In my opinion, the books suck! Big words, long complicated sentences and my brain gets lost. Rather than being "how to" books, they seem to be "how to fail" themed. I keep hoping for enlightenment but I'm ready to throw in the towel. I seem to find more encouragement on this site. I did get a copy of "Elements of Style" on Kindle and am skimming through it. It seems to be a very good reference for things forgotten or that I never knew. I also grabbed "On Writing Well", much like a follow on to the Elements book. Both are old mainstays and I try to absorb as much as I can. I got them on Kindle because they are easier to read for me. I had what they termed a "mini-stroke" a few years back and it impacted my optic nerves. I lost vision in both eyes pretty much below a horizontal line going through the pupils. It really sucks but I could have easily woken up blind. I could easily sit back and whine and snivel but I can still pass the vision test to drive (not that I drive much these days) and I'm able to find most things to read are available in electronic form to put on my computer. All in all, I could find plenty of things to complain about, old age isn't playing nice but I'm able to get up each day and get done what is needed. Not a lot of frills but I'm able to pedal my bike around...bottom line, LIFE IS GOOD! Tim |
| This is day number three of my writing journey. I can't say it is new since I have tried many times over the years. This is the best start ever though. Today I skipped the bike ride, I really overdid it yesterday and it took a long time to recover. Mu pulse rate had skyrocketed into dangerous levels, part of which I attribute to the medication they gave me for my chronic cough. I don't agree with their diagnosis of bronchitis, I have none of the classic systems and the medication, prednisone, really doesn't seem to have any indication as to being a valid treatment. Like penicillin of the old days, I think prednisone is now the medication of favor for anything that they don't really know what it is. My wife had an unusual condition years ago and spent a lot of time in the hospital. It started as a rash but became a shortness of breath and extreme weakness. Unfortunately, the doctors jumped on the shortness of breath as a main issue and she saw a pulmonary specialist for way too long. They put her on high doses of prednisone and that induced diabetes so she was having to do the insulin shots. Finally, she was referred to a rheumatologist. The new doctor came in to the hospital room at the first meeting and took all of five minutes to come up with the correct diagnosis. She said she only saw cases of it every 4 or 5 years. It took several months to find the medication to cure the problem but all turned out for the best. Next month will be interesting, my wife is going to Ireland. Her ancestors on her father's side were Irish. She did considerable research for genealogy, even writing to Parish Priests in Ireland for information. Her cousin and her husband were going to Ireland last year and invited her along. She went and had a great time but she was out of shape and there was a considerable amount of walking involved. They were part of a tour group and loaded up a tour bus every morning to go visit a different area. This time, same tour leader but different areas. And she already has her eyes on a tour to even more different areas next year. And she started working out 5 days a week. I'm sure she'll enjoy this trip more than the last. She's already stocking the freezer up with frozen meals for me. I don't mind cooking but I hate cleaning up the mess. Something I can mix up in a frying pan or pop in the oven or microwave works out well. I'm not a finicky eater, a cold hot dog or a simple sandwich and I'm good. Tomatoes are ripe now and I grew up on tomato sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches...I could alternate those for a week and be perfectly content. Toss in a pizza now and then (2 days of meals) and I'm good. She'll be gone over 2 weeks so it will be me and the dogs. We have 3 dogs, 2 collies (never again, they bark way too much) and my son's Belgian Malinois. My son is a firefighter and works at a part time position so he puts in all the hours he can so it's not really conducive for him to have his dog since he's gone so much. Between his working, daily gym workout (he's a body builder) and jujitsu classes, he's a busy boy. His dog is quite content to be here but you can see the look in her eyes when he leaves that she wants to go with...sad to see. In any case, I think this is a wrap for today. I now cheat though. I looked over my initial post the other day and saw so many errors that I now run the text through a grammar/spell checker before I submit. I'm learning to pay more attention but fat fingers, keys that don't always get punched hard enough (I have plenty more excuses), I'd like to get it all right to start (like in my camera, getting the image right in the viewfinder and not relying on post processing). I hope all have a good day, I'm planning on it! |
And once again, I am sitting down and putting pen to paper...actually, putting keys to screen (is that like electrons, photons, anyone? I woke up early again but decided to stay in bed. I had extreme balance issues several years ago and had to give up bicycling. I had asked my doc if certain medications (I'd done some research on the internet) might be causing my issues. My hands shook so bad I had issues trying to dial a phone. The doc sits back, thinks a minute, then tells me "Maybe" and that was the extent of his interest. I stopped taking the meds the next day and have never gone back to see him. Slowly, things improved. I had traded in my bicycle several years ago and purchased an adult tricycle. Those things are setup for short people. I had to buy an extension kit to raise the seat up. The downside of this is it raises the center of balance and it becomes top heavy (especially if you're overweight like I am) and can easily be tipped over. I also didn't get much of a workout with it. In my younger days, I was a walking fool. 10 miles or more was nothing to me, drunk or sober. (Navy days). Now, I get bored walking and after a few days my hips begin to complain. My balance has improved so I had been thinking about trying a bicycle again. Late last month I decided to give one a try. I stopped in at a bike shop that I hadn't been in for a long time and talked to the clerk and explained my dilemma. He wasn't real excited about letting me try a bike that I might well fall with and scratch it up. Fortunately, the owner was there and after some fast talking, he let me try one. I pedaled around the parking lot without issue. That afternoon I came in and purchased a nice bicycle. I've been riding 5 days a week since (the weather has been cooperating but the past few rides it has been hot and humid (reminds me of the days I was stationed in Guam and used to run for lunch). I'm working toward doing a 10 mile ride. I prefer to stay off the main roads as people in cars whizzing by at high speeds are a bit unnerving. I'm in an area that has been building up over the years so I'm able to ride through several subdivisions with less than 3 miles on the road. I also go early in the morning, trying to avoid the beginning of the commute hours for those that work. Today I managed to do 9.66 miles (I have an app on my phone to track route and pertinent data). I had hoped to do 10 today but I ran out of gas. I could barely get into the house after I parked the bike. Considering when I woke up I had decided to not ride today, I'm satisfied. Stay tuned for another day of my life tomorrow! I've also rekindled my interest in photograhy and I dabble with ham radio. I also have some very nice electronics test equipment, perhaps when the weather gets cold again, I'll get over to the test bench. No telling what I might have for a topic tomorrow! |
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It is nice to see someone here with similar background interests. I too like to ride my adult tricycle, spent time on Guam Island in 1968, and held a ham radio license. I was known as The Stork because I was an RN in surgery in charge of the OB/GYN Department. Hubby was known as The Bodyman{/] because he repaired and painted car bodies, and my son was known as 10 Speed. What better way to describe a teenage boy. 