Vision of the Future from 1962

Seattle built a monorail for the 1962 World's Fair, it was touted as the future of mass transit.  It rides quietly on a rail, above the street, moving easily from Macy's to the Space Needle.  Plans included extending the line to the airport and beyond.  Sadly the system never grew beyond the original rail, in fact one of the stations was modified making it much less practical.  

Disney uses a monorail at both us Parks and I understand there is one at a University that was built with federal dollars as a demonstration project.  

Why no more monorails? 

Don't Leave Home Without It!

I was thinking of my top five list of things that I take with me when I travel, things that add comfort and convenience to life on the road. 

1: 10 foot long charging cords for my phone and tablet. Increasingly there are outlets where you need them, but not always, go online and order extra long cables, carry more than one charger.  

2: Travel toiletries kit, I keep this seperate and packed all of the time. I use full size things like tubes of toothpaste and keep duplicates so the kit always packed and ready to go.  I keep a mini kit, in the messenger bag that I carry all of the time, all I have to do it top off a couple of medications in that mini-kit and I am ready to roll. 

3: Passport, and backup ID.  One rainy night in Atlanta after  I missed the last flight home, I misplaced my driver license in the bottom of my briefcase. Having my passport as a back-up allowed me to get home the next morning.  I found my divers license the next day when I dumped my briefcase out. 

4: Extra cash and a back-up credit card.  I keep a travel wallet with cash and a credit card in it. The first time I was in London my ex- had a pocket picked.  I discovered the next day that the London Zoo does not take American Express, fortunately I had a back-up card.  (I keep Euros on hand, ready to travel at a moments notice.) 

5: My Kindle and a tablet (I-Pad.) I read when I am flying, it passess the time and enriches the mind.  With my Kindle I can take a dozen books in the space of less than one paperback.  My I-Pad has become indispensable when I travel, I have a keyboard case so it doubles as a travel computer.  

In addition if I am renting a car, I take a GPS unit, you can try to use your phone, but a dedicated GPS unit is much more useful. 

What do you not leave home without? 

Seattle - Towers and Glass

Nothing screams Seattle like the Space Needle, built for the 1962 Worlds Fair, the space needle continues to draw crowds.  In the shadow of the space needle is Chihuly Glass Garden, an massive installation both indoors and out, of modern American art glass.  I was unsure I would have time, and admission was $32, but we had a couple of free hours. It was worth every penny and every minute.  

Would you ride to the top of the Space Needle? 

The Way We Were Wednesday - the first time I met the CIA

The year after I finished high school, I took the classes and passed the test and earned a real estate license in Florida.  I started out in the office, of a friend of the family.  I shared a large office with a view of the water with John. John was old enough to be my grandfather.  Over a few weeks I got to know him.  He was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, his parents were German Jews who had immigrated between World War I and World War II.  He grew up speaking German at home, and English at school and in the community.  

He was in the Army Air-Corp in World War II.  When the war ended and he was getting close to discharge, he was asked to have dinner one evening.  Dinner was with a table full of Generals.  They wanted to know if he would take on a special assignment, leveraging his fluency in German. For the next decade he lived in Germany and traded in the underground economy, the black market, with Uncle Sam's money.  

After the war his employer shifted, and in the early 1960's he found himself working out of CIA headquarters in Langley.  His specialty was advance work for Presidential security.  His first visits to the Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach, were advance surveillance for President Kennedys' visits.  No one, not even his wife and kids knew who his employer was.  One day in the mid-70s, he arrived at the office, scanned his building access card and the gate didn't open.  He walked over to security and had the guard scan the card.  The guard said, "Congratulations John, the President accepted your retirement last night."  His response was, what!  To which the guard said, "someone will be out with a box with your personal effects, your pension started today."  

Finally he could tell his wife who he had worked for.  He never knew what he did or didn't do, to be suddenly "retired."  When I shared an office with him, he still had not told his kids what he had done for a living.  

Later that year, John's wife had a health problem, and they decided to move back to northern Virginia, where he thought the medical care was better.  

He is not the only CIA officer I have met over the years, but he was the first.  I bet they have a file on me.  

Do they have a file on you? 

Pecker Patrol

My one and only first cousin, worked for a contractor on the Space Shuttle project.  For the first couple of years he was assigned to security, later moving onto access control as the "count man."(I had to make sure I spelled that right.) 

When he was on security, if they had a shuttle on the launch pad, like the one above (great photo - I took this from the approach to the beach at Playalinda) he would be sent out to the launch pad for "pecker patrol."  The big red fuel tank was covered in spray foam, and woodpeckers, birds that peck into trees for bugs, would peck into the foam.  Foam falling off led to a disaster, and the engineers were aware of this weakness long before the disaster.  The woodpeckers were a protected species, and besides you don't want to be shooting guns near the spacecraft. So security would be stationed on the launch tower around the shuttle, with airhorns and binoculars and charged with scaring the birds away, pecker patrol. 

Later he was the count-man.  When technicians work on a spacecraft, before they enter the area, they count everything the person has with them, tools, supplies, even keys and change.  When you come back out, they count everything again.  Any differences must be accounted for.  This prevents things being left behind, or souvenirs being taken (NASA closely controls space hardware, they will get a court order and seize anything, especially flown hardware, that was taken without permission.)  Early on, there were issues with tools being left behind, or souvenirs being left in the spacecraft to be retrieved after the flight.  Astronauts were allowed a limited quantity of personal baggage, flags and coins flown in space by astronauts are sought after collectables.   

Would you list "pecker patrol" on as the profession on your tax return? 

Warning- Political Post

I recently posted this on Facebook:


From a former co-worker I received the following two comments:
Do you know why I will vote for him ... because he is not a SOCIALIST, and our economy is booming, and we have some of the lowest unemployment numbers on record - no matter what race you are!

In other words, she is willing to trade ethics and standards for a few dollars, she is morally bankrupt. 

And ... David ... if you investigated all the Democrats who want to be President and who have been President ... I assure you will find major character flaws and more then likely CRIMES!

Interesting technique, it worked for Hitler, when backed in a corner accuse the other guy of even worse.  

Maybe it is time to see if the WWII bunkers are still dry inside.  

Sunday Five - Random Questions

No theme this week, random questions;

1: Your favorite wild animal? 
2: Your favorite farm animal? 
3: Have you ever watched a chicken hatch? 
4: Do you wear a watch on a daily basis? 
5: Where in world was I, when I took the selfie above? 

My answers: 
1: Your favorite wild animal?  Bears! 
2: Your favorite farm animal? Sheep 
3: Have you ever watched a chicken hatch? Yes 
4: Do you wear a watch on a daily basis? Yes 
5: Where in world was I, when I took the selfie above? If I told you that, you'd all know - hint it was taken in 2017. 

Your answers in the comments please, 

Have You Missed Me?

I hope you didn't notice, I have been away for a couple of weeks.  I thought about posting that I was taking a couple of weeks off from posting, but I am in my 4th year of posting at least once per-day.  I didn't want to break the streak.  I had a four day weekend for independence day and I wrote and scheduled all the way through the end of the month. At one point I was scheduled 27 days in advance. I can reschedule if something interesting comes up, but I knew at least one posting a day was set and ready to go on autopilot.   

Where have I been?  Seattle for work, then the Boeing Factory tour, then west into the Olympic peninsula, west to the Pacific, a slow drive down the coast, then east to Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainer, east across the mountain, back west across the mountains to Seattle, then home.  Ten different hotels, 1350 miles in a rented SUV, lots of adventure to get lost in.  I will start writing about it soon.  

Did you notice I was gone? 

Flashback

One nice thing about taking lots of photos, is I can bring up the photo file on my computer, scroll randomly back and relive the adventures of the past.  I have had a good life, been lots of places, seen lots of good things, met lots of interesting places, smelled the smells, heard the sounds, felt the sun and rain in a lot of places, tasted the cuisine of places new and old.  And scrolling back through the pictures brings it back to me in a flash. 

Athens was amazing.  Looking back at 2,000-3,000 years of human history.  Greece was intimidating, the language is impenetrable,  but Athens was easy.  There is a great train line from the airport into the city center.  The city center is very walkable.  Language was seldom an issue, most of the people speak multiple languages - at least enough to get by.  Athens has been hosting foreigners since the beginning of time,  they know how to do it.  I'd go back in a heartbeat.  

Where would you go back to in a heartbeat? 

What happened to Supersonic Travel

I remember the promise of supersonic flight.  When Boeing designed the 747, they put the flight deck on an upper level so that that the nose could be hinged open to load freight.  The expectation was that supersonic airliners would replace the 747 on long haul flights within a few years, and the 747 would live out it's lifespan as a freighter.  The Concord proved to be expensive to operate, too few were built to recover the engineering costs.  Boeing's request that Congress underwrite engineering costs on an American SST, was denied, the mock up was sold off for scrap and lived out it's life in a hanger in Kissimmee Florida. The Russian SST, had engineering issues, and the same high operating costs and was taken out of service after a few short years.  

Demand on long haul flights was for cheaper seats.  And that is what we have.  Smaller planes, with two engines because they cost less to build and maintain, smaller seats, but lower prices.  

There are periodic reports of people trying to design a supersonic business jet, something that could morph into a small supersonic airliner.  But none has made past prototype and testing.  

What killed supersonic travel?  A lack of development funding and a demand for cheaper seats on longer flight.  We could do it, but it would be expensive.  

If you could go from New York to Paris in 3 hours, would you?  

The Way We Were Wednesday - Same place 60 years apart

My mother took the slide at the top, in the 1950s, undoubtedly with my father giving directions and grimacing that she wasn't doing it right (sorry the scan is reversed.) The bottom image I took at the same place in early June of this year - some 60 years later.  The original tunnel is now the maintenance tunnel between the two new tunnels on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.  As we were approaching the tunnel, I remembered scanning Dad's slide and thought I should take an updated picture. 

Do you ever let an old photo, inspire you take a new photo. 

I'm Not From Around Here

Ah, young people, using a phone app to summon a stranger to give them a ride is normal (Uber) but hailing a taxi is not.  I don't use taxis often, but feel fairly comfortable flagging one down when I want one.  Taxis somehow became a topic of conversation at a dinner party recently.  One of the college students, said, well what do you do if someone else grabs the taxi you thought was yours?  Easy, ask the driver to call for a second car, or simply flag down the next taxi.  

All of this triggered a flashback for me, of one time when I was the person jumping the taxi line.  It has been a long day.  I had left Amsterdam early in the morning, taking the train to the airport, flying from Amsterdam to Paris, to connect to a flight to Rennes, on my way to Mt St Michelle.  In Paris they loaded us on buses, drove around the terminal a couple of times, then dumped us back at the terminal, announcing that the flight had been cancelled. An hour of standing in line, and Air France offered me a seat on the TGV - high speed train to Rennes.  I would arrive several hours behind schedule, but I would be there that night.  The challenge was that I would be at the train station, and my rental car reservation was at the airport.  I contacted the rental car company and couldn't make a change, no cars available at the train station and the airport rental car office closed about 30 minutes after the train was scheduled to arrive.  Close, but doable.  

Then I saw the mass of people waiting for a taxi, and the slow dribble of taxis arriving.  Someone hesitated, I pushed past them, tossed my bag in the taxi, plopped in the seat, while they stood there looking confused, I told the driver I needed to be at the airport in a hurry, he floored it.  I arrived with just a couple of minutes to spare, the lady at the rental car counter was as helpful as could be and even said, I kept you a nice car, lots of room and easy to drive. 

I arrived at Mt St Michelle just before mid-night, the picture above was the view from the bathroom window in my hotel room, moments before the lights on the abbey were turned off for the night.  

I am sorry to have been rude to my fellow travelers that night in Rennes, please forgive me.  I will remember this and forgive a fellow traveler in the future.  

   

Am I the Only One

Am I the only one who finds some of the wording strange? 

1: How am I going to know what rooms have been issued a D permit?
2: If this is a status offense, why say "may be guilty?" 
3: Is there a form of incarceration that is not actual? 

The Sunday Five - Explain this One To Me?

I wonder:
1: What made her fall? 
2: Is she drunk, dead, or just tired? 
3: Are her legs cold? 
4: How long will she lay there before someone helps her?
5: Who do you report this to? 

My answers:
1: What made her fall? I think she fell off her shoes. 
2: Is she drunk, dead, or just tired? While she was here, a nap sounded like a good idea. 
3: Are her legs cold? Not under those lights. 
4: How long will she lay there before someone helps her? Until someone really cares. 
5: Who do you report this to? It would be a very strange 911 call.  

Your answers (and be silly and creative please) in the comments. 

Hmm? I don't think so

I am looking at materials for a bathroom remodel.  Jay keeps suggesting a tile with this optical illusion of depth, and I keep looking at something a bit calmer.  Something a bit more like this: 

Should I go all dark grey, or the multi-shade blend? 

Along for the Ride

Did I pick the route, or am I just along for the ride?  Life is about choices, about deciding what I want to do. Not making a choice, generally is a choice to let others decide where I am going, what I am doing.  If I chose to do nothing, that should be a conscious choice, there are times when doing nothing is the most important thing to do.  In our overshedules, overplanned lives we need down time, even if we have to plan for it and schedule it.  

At times I find it best to pick the train, or plane, settle into the seat, watch the world go by, leaving others in charge of the details.  At times I just want to go along for the ride.  

Are you in charge, or along for the ride today? 

South Bend, Indiana

The hotel we stayed at in South Bend in June was right downtown, across the street from the River.  There was some kind of a summer festival going on that weekend, the river was illuminated, there were fireworks.  Pretty town, nice people.  

There is something fascinating about water flowing over a dam.  The rush of the water, the rapids, the sense of speed and power.  There was a ship captain in my family tree, I have always been drawn to water and boats.  

Morning Views

Relaxing in western Washington State. Planned aimless wandering.  Lots of moments that take your breath away. 

The Way We Were Wednesday - United Nations

Before I was born, my parents took my oldest brother to New York city.  There are a handful of color slides from that trip that have survived.  While they were there, they took a tour of the United Nations building, here is a somewhat dark, handheld image of the General Assembly Room, from the 1950s.  A moment frozen in time.  

Fins

The glory of 1960's American design, was the tail fin.  Representative of the jet age, and space exploration, an expression of enthusiasm and style.  If only the engineering and construction of that era matched the design, it would be the golden era of American design.  

Monday Moaning

Five Things I like: 

1. Seeing new things, and old things in new ways.
2. Reading, books bring the world to me, help me learn and understand. 
3. Bright people, people who can see both sides of an issue, people who can think outside of the box.
4. Photographs, I like taking photos, I like seeing them, they offer a glimpse into the world captured in time. 
5. The adventure, seeing new places, meeting new people, enjoying new sensations.  

That do you like? 

Sunday Five Fast Food Culture

I can remember when, you ordered at the counter at McDonalds and took it back to your car to eat, before McDonalds had indoor dining rooms.  Hence this weeks Sunday Five, fast food. 

1: When was the last time you ate at McDonalds? 
2: If McDonalds was the only choice, what would you order? 
3: Have eaten at McDonalds in another country, and if so, how was it different from home? 
4: Do you think that the McDonalds concept has passed its time? 
5: Who makes the best fast food? 

My answers: 
1: When was the last time you ate at McDonalds? Early June, on a road trip. 
2: If McDonalds was the only choice, what would you order? Quarter Pounder with Cheese, fries and a coke zero. 
3: Have eaten at McDonalds in another country, and if so, how was it different from home?  In England during the mad-cow episode I had a McPink - made with pork, in Normandy in France - they served beer and wine.  
4: Do you think that the McDonalds concept has passed its time? I think it has, and I am not convinced that their efforts to evolve are going to work in the long term. 
5: Who makes the best fast food? Hmm, I think Wendy's makes the best burger, but their service system is slow and management has been political in ways that make me want to avoid them. 

Please share your answers in the comments.

Houston, Tranquility Base here, The Eagle Has Landed

I was not quite 11 years old when Armstrong and Collins landed on the moon, July 20, 1969 - 50 years ago today.  I grew up with manned space flight in the background.  I remember the moment of the landing - my mother called me in from playing in the front yard to watch to the descent to the moon. And later, very late that night, "One small step for a Man, one giant leap for mankind." I was allowed to stay up and watch it on TV, far past my bedtime. My parents had bought their first color TV that summer, ordered just what they wanted, and it hadn't come in.  A couple of days before the moon landing the Philco Dealer, delivered a loaner, as I recall a 24 inch console in a huge piece of furniture.  We had color TV to watch the gray and white of the moon.  His kindness, earned Al, I don't remember his last name, my parents appliance business as long as they lived in Michigan.  

Do you remember where you were when the Eagle landed? 

Rare Political Commentary

A former co-worker posted a comment on Facebook asking how I could have such a negative view of the current President.  I didn't respond to her.  There are others who from time to time question my comments or postings about "he who must not be named."  

I find it hard to believe that self described conservatives can support a man who is an admitted serial adulterer. A man who cheated on his wife while she was pregnant.  A man who tells lies.  A man who makes degrading comments about women based on their looks. A draft dodger. A braggart, whose insecurity drives him to boast that his is always the biggest and the best.  A man who lacks moral fiber. His senseless tweets.  

Those are the reasons I detest the man.   

The weather in DC was terrible on July 4th,  I told Jay that if "he who shall not be named" was struck by lightning, I'd convert to Catholicism.  Oh well, even God does not want to deal with American politics.  

Remember there is an election coming up, and not a minute to soon.  

Random Wisdom - From the most unlikely place

Reading can seriously damage ignorance! 

Summer Drinking Tip: When someone declines an alcoholic beverage, don't ask why, offer an alternative and move on. 

There is always something to be thankful for. 

(Other than that, how was the theater Mrs. Lincoln?) 

I don't have an attitude problem, I have a problem smiling at bullshit. 

Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love.

It's quite possible, things will turn out far better than you imagine. 

Where did I find this, scattered and hidden among the hate, and garbage, and marketing, on Facebook. Random wisdom hiding in plain sight.   

The Way We Were Wednesday - My Kodachrome

The kid in the red hat, to match his red hair, is my oldest brother.  I don't know who the child in the blue is, likely one of Great-Uncle John's sons.  This is a scan of a Kodachrome slide, taken in the early 1950s.  Kodachrome was an amazing technology, the color dyes were added in the processing, not in embedded in the film.  The result was amazingly stable color.  The later Ektachrome had the color dyes in the film - a system that has proven to not have the same archival life.  Kodak is bringing back Ektachrome, the last Kodachrome processing machine was shut down a few years ago, without that key machine the process will not work. We will never get our Kodachrome back.  Only time will tell if we will be able to open our digital images in 60 years, or how well they will age.  

The darkening around the edges of the image was caused by the lens on the camera.  In bright light, the image edges distorted resulting the dark shadow around the edges.  Shortly after this was taken my father bought a much better Argus C3, and passed this camera onto his sister Edith (it is probably still in the house in Florida.)

Anyone humming a tune?  

Custom Wheel Wells

Customizers often expand the wheel openings on cars and trucks to accommodate oversized wheels and tires.  This pick-up truck in Ohio, is a prime example of expanded wheel openings, except this one is a product of rust acting on poor design and construction.  

Remains of the Past

I love seeing the remains of old signs, painted on brick walls of buildings.  The kind that were painted 100-years ago, that have faded over the years, so only a ghost of the past remains.  The modern printed on plastic signs, will be done the moment the lease is up, no ghost to be see 100 years from now.  A loss for future generations.  

Sunday Five - A Day at the Beach

Growing up my family only went to the beach a handful of times. Part of that was living in Michigan, though we were only 40 miles from the beaches of Lake Huron (Unsalted and Shark Free.)  It is the peak of summer, so the Sunday Five is about a day at the beach. 

1: Do you prefer a sunny day or overcast day at the beach? 
2: Sandy shore or rocky coast? 
3: Being alone, or having a nice crowd? 
4: Do you go to the beach and then sit in the shade? 
5: Do you enjoy long walks, or sitting and watching the waves and the people? 

My answers: 
1: Do you prefer a sunny day or overcast day at the beach? This has changed for me over the years, overcase and warm. 
2: Sandy shore or rocky coast? Rocky coasts intrigue me. 
3: Being alone, or having a nice crowd? Leave me alone! 
4: Do you go to the beach and then sit in the shade? No, in the sun if there is sun. 
5: Do you enjoy long walks, or sitting and watching the waves and the people?  Long walks. 

Your answers in the comments please. 

Off the Beaten Path Style

We have an upcoming trip, you'll hear about it when we are back.  We are going off the beaten path, taking the back roads, staying in small towns and out of the way places.  It is planned, aimless wandering.  We will see, hear, smell, feel and taste things we have never experienced before.  I have rented an SUV, that will go pretty much anyplace we want to go, the hotels are all booked in perfect succession, carefully planned so that the longest day of travel is only about 125 miles, with lots of time for diversions, side trips, and unexpected stops to take in the awe and wonder of the countryside.  

A friend of mine takes organized tours, with someone else planning out every stop, from hotels, to meals, to shopping, to scenic vistas in advance.  That style works well for her.  I can't imagine not being able to see something and thinking, oh let's stop and see what that is, and having someone else drive on by because it was not on the official itinerary.    

What is your travel style?  

Iconic Shape

The TranAmerica tower in San Francisco, The Hancock Building in Chicago, The Empire State Building, The Pickle in London, iconic buildings that people recognize based on their shape.  Not every city has one, and I see them as different than monuments, like the Eiffel Tower, or the Washington Monument.  

Should every city have an Iconic building? 

Mid-Year Update

It is July already, time flies.  Time for an update. 

Much less travel this year, only 7 trips in the first six months. 28 hotel nights. I have trip coming up soon with a couple of weeks of hotel nights- part work, larger part pleasure, and a two city trip the end of August that will be 5 nights.  I will close the year with about 40 hotel nights.  

I have read 32 books, I am easily on pace for one a week for the year.  

We are getting started on some major updates to the condo, we have hired a contractor to replace Jay's bathroom, to henceforth be known as the Potty Palace. For what it is costing it better be a Palace when we are finished.  As much as paid for the last new car I bought.  When his is done, my bathroom needs updating, then the real challenge the kitchen needs replacing.  That may cost as much as my first house did.  When I look at appliances I end up projecting near $10,000 just on those.  No wonder my father put off the kitchen replacement - my mother died waiting.  

My brother-in-law is having a rough year.  He is having a kidney removed - overall he is not having fun.  

I have started an unofficial retirement countdown,  49 months and a few days left to go.

How is your year going?   

The Way We Were Wednesday - Great Aunt Edith

My paternal grandmothers, aunt on her father's side, my great aunt Edith. She had come to the USA from England sometime before World War II.  At first she lived with my grandparents in the Detroit area.  She landed a job as a housekeeper for the Firestone family.  She was live in staff, and traveled with them from home to home as part of their personal staff.  The summer my aunt Edith was born she was at a lake house near Chicago, my father was sent to spend a month with her, playing with the children and grandchildren in the Firestone family.  During World War II, cousin Sally was sent from London to the states for safety, Sally lived with my grandparents, she was sort of my father second sister.  

Sometime after the war, Edith and Sally moved to Miami with Uncle Bob, whom I never met.  Bob died of alcoholism after a few short years, but Edith and Sally stayed in Miami.  They were big characters, neither ever married. They were big hearted and kind.  Edith told me in England she worked in a woolen mill and she was always the last one in the door as the bell rang at the start of the work day, and the first one out the door at the end of the day, her philosophy was walk to work, and run away from it.  

In later life, in ill health the two of them moved to Michigan City, Indiana to live with another cousin.  We kind of lost track, I know they both died there. I understand Edith was cremated and her ashes scattered on the Atlantic, she said that way in time, parts of her would drift home to England on the tides, slowly, very slowly. 

Neat car, an early 60's Mercury, with the "Breezeway" window in the back, it rolled down into the trunk. 

Stay Cool

It has been a long hot summer here in the mid-Atlantic region, and it is only early July.  I deal with the heat, kind of like I deal with the cold, I stay inside with the climate control on.   How hot has it been, when I drive the convertible with the top down, I run the air conditioning.  

Getting wet is always an idea on a hot day.  When I was about 8 my father put an above ground pool in the backyard on the farm, a few years later we had a two acre pond dug in a swampy corner of the big wooded area - and the pool went onto a new home.  I have never owned a pool, when we were house shopping in Lexington, the REALTOR pulled up in front of one, I was thrilled, Jay vetoed the idea without getting out of the car.  The Condo has pools, I should go float around more often.  

I don't recall fountains like the one above when I was a child.  My mother would have been horrified that my clothes would get wet, and I would then sit on the seats in the car.  Mothers have changed, cars, like hot summers, are temporary things to be enjoyed.  

How's the weather around you? 

Fashion Mistakes

While Mitchell frequently shows us the colorful mixtures of patterns in Spain, here in DC the fashion blunders are often more subtle.  Summer students show up with a closet full of $500 suits bought specifically to make them look the part in DC, but forget the socks.  Sockless would work better, than the low cut ankle socks.  Summer students from cooler climates are often seen melting in summer in the swamp.  Apparently law students are still being advised to buy wingtips, or captoes, or 1.5 inch black heels.  Shoes that are uncomfortable to walk in, in a city with a lot of walking. 

Oh how rude of me, of all people, to point out the fashion mistake.  Should I try to be better? 

Sunday Five - In a Pickle

My grandmother stopped making dill pickles before I was around, my mother never did.  My mother was afraid of anything fermented, or yeasted.  The bubbles and changing smells made her afraid that something was wrong and she was going to make someone sick. Last summer I read a book on fermented foods, pickling and such, and decided to try my hand at it.  Hence this weeks Sunday five - In a Pickle.

1: Have you ever made a simple dill pickle? 
2: Do you like sauerkraut? 
3: Did you grow up around people who canned food? 
4: What is your favorite pickle? 
5: What is your favorite fruit jelly or jam? 

My answers: 
1: Have you ever made a simple dill pickle? See above- it is surprisingly simple and they are so good. 
2: Do you like sauerkraut? I like it cold, made a batch last fall. 
3: Did you grow up around people who canned food? One of my grandmother's did, I helped her a lot. 
4: What is your favorite pickle? All of them, sour dills, bread-and-butter, sweet jerkins. 
5: What is your favorite fruit jelly or jam? Red Raspberry. 

Your answers in the comments, please. 

Amazed At Where I Have Come

Let's face it, I was born a country bumpkin, with solid working class roots.  My grandmother had a collection of records of classical music, no one in my family quite understood what the two of us heard in it.  It enthralled me, as a child I dreamed of someday hearing live classical music - of conducting.  There was a problem with conducting and that is printed music is a bunch of random dots on graph paper in my weird brain.  Oh well.  

When given the chance I escaped the farm. Enjoying classical music on public radio, but not seizing the opportunity to watch it live, until this year.  

In January we went to the Kennedy Center, the son of a friend of ours had a Opera premiere at the Kennedy Center.  A few weeks later we went back to hear the National Symphony Orchestra, then a Russian Folk Group, and then the NSO again.  We have tickets for a harpsichord program in a few months. So here I am, stage right, 2nd balcony all the way to the front, literally over the end of the stage.  It was amazing. A very, very long way from the farm.  

Someone asked me recently about live concerts, thinking popular music.  There is only one of those in my history, Kiss in the Jacksonville Coliseum in 1976, if it going to be once in a lifetime make it worthwhile.  And more recently an all Mozart program by the NSO. 

What was the last live music show you saw? 

Glad I Grew Up Around Airplanes

I had lunch with as college student the other day.  He lives in the mid-west and is spending the semester interning in DC.  He took the train from Chicago to DC, almost 20 hours - you can drive it in 10.  He got to talking and said last summer he took the train to Phoenix, 25 nonstop hours in coach.  I asked if he had traveled much, and the answer was not really.  He has family in Florida and had driven back and forth to Florida several times.  I asked about flying and he turned pale.  He is terrified of heights, and flying.  At 21 years of age, he has never flown.  He may never.

I know a couple of my regular readers don't fly, and I understand, but being comfortable flying opens so many opportunities.  Being able to quickly go from place to place, has made it possible to see so much of the country and a little bit of the rest of the world.  In large part I am comfortable flying, because I grew up around it.  In little planes.  

I missed my chance to fly supersonic.  In a last ditch effort to find something in common with my first spouse, we went to Europe, twice, in one year.  We talked about going a third time, British Airways was offering short Concord flights, out of London, over the Atlantic, over the speed of sound, have a glass of champagne and back on the ground at Heathrow- the flight was only like 30 minutes for something silly like 200 GPB. Another man came into the picture (spouse had an affair) and we broke up before that trip could happen.  And now it likely never will.  

I will take a hot-air-balloon trip one day.  I tried in Florida in March but the weather was crappy and the flight cancelled - twice.  

What are glad you started to do early in life? 



   

UNHAPPY 4TH OF JULY by LADY BUNNY Thank You http://mistressmaddie.blogspot.com/

The Way We Were Thursday this week: Independence Day!

Treason Day, as my great-grandmother once referred to it, was never the same after my father's sister Edith married Dick.  Uncle Dick had a house on a nice lake about 30 miles north of Detroit. And the house on the lake became the venue for summer holidays, like the 4th of July.  He bought a house on a lake, because he had a boat.  He had a boat because his mother's next-door neighbor had a boat she didn't know what to do with, so he bought it.  His mother's neighbor had a boat she didn't know what to do with, because she won it on the "Price is Right" in the very early 1960's. So really our Independence Day holidays were celebrated on a lake, because Dick's mother's neighbor won a boat on a television game show.  Dick's entire life was a long series of complicated cause and effect stories.  He was a colorful character and a master storyteller, and could spin a tale like few I have ever met.  

My mother was an only child, my father only had the one sibling.  But I lucked out in the Aunt and Uncle department.  Edith and Dick were fun and interesting.  They enjoyed life.  If you had a couple of hours he could tell you about the time they drove a motorhome from Florida to the Arctic Circle and back with seven adults, and aged cat and a 90 pound dog (the cat died fat and happy on the way home.) The two of them made in quality, what we lacked in quantity.  

Oh, that is me, in the front row, the expression on my sister's face is priceless.  

Happy Independence Day! 

EV One

This is one of only a handful of EV1s in existence.  The EV1 was the first modern rechargeable electric car by a major American manufacturer. Electric cars had been sold in the early days of the automobile, but the unlimited range of internal combustion rapidly took over the market.  General Motors built these, they "sold" them by lease only in California.  When the leases were up, they demanded that they be returned, and sent almost all of them to the shredder.  GM said it was an experiment, a large scale test concept.  A handful remained in private hands, hidden by the lessees who paid a penalty for failure to return the car, rather than surrender them back to GM. Some owners literally locked them away in garages to hide them tow trucks that GM paid to retrieve them at the end of the lease period. It is unclear is this one was selected for a museum by GM, or one of the ones that people refused to surrender - a hidden asset.   

When will we all own an electric car? 

Fairport Harbor Light

A few days ago I posted about climbing a lighthouse, and Spo asked about the lens, here it is. 

The back half is open.  Reminds me of the basic optics experiments in middle school.  

I have long been fascinated by shipping, I'd love to live someplace with a view of an active harbor.  There is a website where you can see global ship traffic. https://www.marinetraffic.com. I sometimes spend an hour seeing what is happening around the world of the seas.  Everyman needs a hobby.  At one time I read all of the FAA incident and accident reports.  

What weird website do you visit? 

Bikes

Bikes are a bit of an obsession of mine, I am down to only three of them, though I don't ride much anymore.  I remember having a hard time learning to balance, rolling too slowly down the gentle slope of the gravel driveway on the farm, pushing the bike back up the hill.  My father didn't believe in training wheels, besides he said, "they are hard to put on and next week you'll want me to take them off." I learned on a tiny, 20 inch Schwinn.  The following summer my birthday gift was a full size Schwinn Typhoon bike, big fat tires, coaster brakes, I still own it (I would part with it, if someone wants to buy it.) I have a Trek 1200 aluminum racing bike, a keepsake from my Triathlon period. It is terrifyingly fast, and oh so fun.  And a modern hybrid street bike.  I'd like a electrically assisted bike. 

The wood wheeled bike above was built by two brothers in Ohio in the early 1900's.  Reportedly they were pretty good bike builders, though their real passion was tinkering and daydreaming.  The little experiment they built in the back room did eventually take off, literally - Orville and Wilbur Wright were their names.  

An interesting piece of trivia, the Wrights never owned the building the cycle shop was in. Henry Ford bought it from their landlord, had it disassembled, moved and reassembled in Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. 

Do you own a bike?