Monday Moods: The Art of Living

One thing that really surprised me in Phoenix was the amount of art. Public art in the tram stations, along the streets, sidewalks and in the parks.  Murals, there are more murals in a square mile of downtown Phoenix than in all of Alexandria, Virginia. 

I visited two great art museums in Phoenix,  the Heard and the Phoenix Art Museum (art if their middle name - they sell a T-shirt with that on it.) I commented to someone from New York that Washington DC has one of the worlds greatest collections of museums that are free of charge. I was careful to word that because New York has some of the world's greatest museums, but they charge to enter. 

Art reflects the human experience.  Seeing it, feeling, it experiencing art brings meaning to our lives.  I have described myself as artistically handicapped, I struggle with create art that represents reality. 

Learning to paint, even paint badly, I learned more about color, how colors blend, how colors relate to one another, than I have from any other experience in my life.  If you have never painted, try it. 

In college I took a silver casting and construction class.  I needed an art credit, and knew the professor who was teaching and knew that he was kind with those of us who struggle.  One of the projects was a hollow construction.  You start with a sheet of flat metal, form it into a shape, solder the seams, add a top and bottom, solder and finish the seams.  My first attempt ended in disaster as I tried to rush the process and it flew off the polishing wheel and smashed into the floor. My second attempt was 1/2 inch by 1 inch, and took me about 30 hours of work to finish.  I was just looking at it, it is not perfect, but pretty good. And in creating I learned that I am capable of concentrating on the details, for long periods of time. I learned about patience, in an art class.  I should go back to metal work again, I enjoyed it. 

The photo on top, can you see me? The sculpture is huge, probably three stories tall. 

No guarantees of sanity, but try to create something this week.  

 

Sunday Five: Super Bowl Sunday

1: Will you be watching the Super Bowl today? 

2: Which is more exciting the game, or the advertising? 

3: Have you attended a professional football game? 

4: What teams are playing today? 

5: Where is the game being played? 

My Answers: 

1: Will you be watching the Super Bowl today? In my own distracted sort of a way. 

2: Which is more exciting the game, or the advertising? The advertising, it is the super bowl of advertising. 

3: Have you attended a professional football game? Nope

4: What teams are playing today?  I do know, do you. 

5: Where is the game being played?  I do know, I have been there. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

 

The Saturday Morning post: 50 States in 52 weeks: Colorado

My first visit to Colorado was as a teenager on a 4-H exchange program, I spent a week one summer on a 2,000 acre farm east of Colorado Springs. I spent a couple of hours farming in a massive four wheel drive tractor, in a 200 acre wheat field. Despite not having a driver's license, I drove a truck back the ranch house, my first time driving on a public road.  

I have been back to Colorado several times since for various conferences and meetings.  One trip we rented a car and drove into the mountains to have lunch at the Breckenridge Ski Resort. The car was tiny and under-powered, I think a long horn sheep passed me on the way up one of the mountain passes. One my latest trip to Colorado I flew in early and rented a car for a road trip to Wyoming and Idaho, checking the last two states off of my list of all 50.  

The eastern half of Colorado is flat hard plains. The western half of the state is the Rocky Mountains with 12,000 foot peaks.  I need to go back, I want to ride the Durango to Silverton railway near the southern border of the state.

Funky Friday: Driverless Cars

Everyone I mentioned the driverless taxi to, thought I was crazy to try it. I thought I would be crazy not to try it.  

The cars are operated by Waymo, you download an app on your phone.  I did that before I left home.  The app didn't let me set up an account, until I was in the service area, currently Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.  You enter credit card information in your profile.  

When you are ready to travel, you open the app, and tell it where you want to go.  The search function quicky populated destinations.  You click on where you want to go.  And it tells you the nearest location where the car can get out of traffic to safely pick you up, when it will be there, how long it will take to get to your destination and how much the charge will be.  If the schedule does not fit your needs, the app will offer alternatives.  When you are happy, you click book ride.  You can follow the car on a map as it drives to you. When it arrives you click on the app to unlock the doors (the door handles pop-out for you to open the door.) You get in, buckle your seatbelt, the car won't start moving until you do. And press start ride on the display screen in the front or back of the car.  Up to four people can ride, three in the back, and one in the passenger seat in the front.  The car won't move if you sit in the driver's seat.  

The Museum I was returning from was about 2 miles from the hotel I was staying in.  I walked about half of that, it was about 80 degrees (f) and very dry.  I decided I had walked enough and I had promised myself I would try the autonomous taxi.  The app couldn't been easier to use, the car took about 8 minutes to arrive where I was.  I was a little confused on the pick up location, and walked a block in the wrong direction, then looked at the map and realized the pick up was across the street from where I had started out. I was in an unfamiliar location and it was my first time using the service.  When the car pulled up, I clicked the unlock doors button on my phone and climbed in the back seat.  The car will wait up to two minutes for you.  I buckled the seat belt and clicked start ride on the display screen between the seats.  The ride was gentle. The radars on the car tracked the cars around me, and pedestrians. While waiting at a traffic light the door of the truck next to me opened and a person got out and walked across traffic to the sidewalk.  I watched all of that on the radar screen. The car slowed or changed course for traffic and pedestrians around us. The screen updates with time remaining to destination. When the car stopped in front of the hotel, the doors unlocked. It was the best taxi ride of the trip. 

I realize that as I get older there will come a time when I will, or at least should, stop driving.  I sincerely hope that a service like this is available when that time comes. I mentored a law student a few years ago that do to physical limitations will never drive a traditional car.  When we talked about autonomous cars, she said she couldn't wait. A car like this would give her freedom she has never known.  The greatest need for transportation is in rural areas.  If the tech-bros currently in government want to impress us, quit interrupting the function of government and engineer autonomous cars in America's heartland. 

Thinking about autonomous cars from a purely engineering point of view, to be as safe as possible every car needs to be connected to a network that tracks movement.  I talked with a guy on an airline flight one evening who was on his way home from a job interview.  He was working on sensors for self driving cars, and they were entering the decision phase of if the choice is hitting the baby stroller or the wheelchair and there is no other option, what do you do. He was thinking about changing jobs so he didn't have to think about that programing choice. 

I enjoyed the ride, I will do this again, I hope this service comes to DC soon. 

The Thursday Ramble: The Simple Life

A few days ago Cro did a post about life on an Edwardian Farm, what a lot of people dream of as the Simple Life. There was a time when I dreamed about 10 acres in the country, with pigs and chickens and ducks, and a garden that would feed half the county. If I win the PowerBall lottery, I just might do that, and hire younger stronger backs to do all of the work.  Over the years I have come to realize that my body is no longer capable of the kind of work that is required to lead that kind of a simple life. It is a wonderful, a self sufficient idyllic dream, but the reality is there is too much titanium holding my spine together to do that. 

My mother's parents grew up on farms, farming with horses and mules. My sister has my mother's childhood oil lamp, they didn't have electricity and running water in the house until she was a teenager. Her mother baked bread twice a week until they were forced by health to retire from the farm in the early 1960's.  

How can I live "the simple life"? 

I shop and keep raw ingredients in the house.  

From time to time, I bake bread, I should do that more often and buy less from the store.  

I can bake cakes, and pies, and cookies. I should buy less, and make more. 

I make fresh pickles in the summer when the ingredients are in the local market.  The pickles I make need to be stored in the refrigerator. I am limited in how many I can make.  Over the past couple of years, more of the vendors at the market have pickling cucumbers, the last summer there even some gherkins (tiny pickling cucumbers.) 

Last summer I canned 6 pints of pickled beets.  I bought golden beets from an organic farmer at the market, peeled and cut them up, roasted them, prepared the sweet pickling solution and processed them in a boiling water bath.  

Veggies are expensive at my local farmers market, next summer I should drive an hour out into the countryside for tomatoes, home made tomato sauce is wonderful and processes in a boiling water bath.  

I can minimize my intake of processed foods.  I actually enjoy cooking.  We keep a well stocked pantry and refrigerator.  

I can check books out of my local library, real print books are a joy to read. About 75% of books sold in the United States last year, were print books. (I sat in on a book publishing board last week.) 

Most of my letters are electronic, I enjoy new fashioned letter writing. Try it and surprise people.  I still send physical cards for holidays, birthdays and other events.  At our age, we buy sympathy cards by the dozen. 

This is a simpler life, in a modern world.  I don't have to go back to plowing with a mule, to enjoy fresh vegetables prepared in my kitchen. I don't raise chickens, but I try to buy field raised eggs where the birds have had the best life possible.   

My World of Wonders, aka the Wednesday Ws.

What took my breath away? The Saturday morning sunrise view from my hotel room in Phoenix. Wow! 

Who have I seen? My Sweet Bear, a bunch of old lawyer friends, Doc Spo, Someone, and Sharon from Phoenix Daily Photo. 

What have I seen? A spectacular flight across the country, including spotting Cincinnati and St Louis from the air. The Phoenix Museum of Art, the Heard Museum of Art, and downtown Phoenix. 

What made me both angry and brought tears to my eyes? The air crash in my hometown. This one will take a while to process. 

What was disappointing? Eggs Benedict at the Sheraton in downtown Phoenix. It was done with thinly sliced ham, that was both overly salty and there was too much of it. The eggs were slightly over cooked. I always look forward to a great breakfast when I travel, and this was disappointing. 

What was the sage advice of the trip? Two things, "DEI is important," and "don't rush." 

When is the next adventure? April.

What have I been thinking? I talked with a couple of people who could retire and continue to work.  I saw the joy and sense of pride they have in their work.  If work brings you joy, do it as long as you can. 

When did I touch the future? Returning from lunch and a museum on Sunday afternoon, I summoned a Waymo autonomous taxi for the last mile of the ride back to the hotel.  It was comfortable, felt safe, smooth, quiet - except for the sound of the dozen radars spinning around the car. The radars on the car, display on screens you can see.  With luck the video will work.

 

What was the best thing I tasted this week?  A pear martini at a restaurant named Fez in Phoenix.  For my European readers, encourage your bartenders to learn how to make a great martini. 

HoW was Phoenix? I have a deep affection for the high desert landscape.  I was surprised by how smoggy the Valley of the Sun has become. Mountains in the distance that were clearly visible in my fathers photos from the 1960s are rarely visible today. 

What art? I was surprised by how much art there is in Phoenix, murals, public art, and nice museums. 

How was the trip home? We boarded, we sat, we got off, and before we were all off, they announced that we would be getting back on. A quick check under the hood to see what was leaking and we were off across the country with a nice tailwind.  We arrived about 90 minutes behind schedule. 

What is the brightest idea I have heard this week? When HWSNBN sends a plane load of deportees to say Mexico, Mexico should not allow the plane to return until they have filled every seat with United States citizens who are in Mexico illegally, or who have committed a crime there.  Millions of United States citizens are living in Mexico, (and thousands in Costa Rica, and Panama.)  Many of them crossed the border on vacation and simply stayed.  It is fairly easy to rent a home, the weather is warm, the cost of living lower, in many cases much lower than in the USA.  Thousands of college students cross the border, get drunk or stoned and commit crimes and end up in jail.  Send them all home.  HWSNBN is ranting about Mexico and Canada not doing enough to stop illegals from crossing the border.  I have driven across the border into Canada, and walked across the border into Mexico, the US didn't care when I left the country.  They made no note of it, didn't ask for my passport, didn't care.  When passing out of the European Union, they record my passage, because they enforce limits on how long a non-citizen can stay. The airlines, ferry operators, or train companies check because if I am refused entry I am there problem, but the US does not check my passport when I fly out of the USA.  He is trying to shift the burden for a secure border to other countries in a way the United States does not enforce on people leaving our country. 

Travel Tuesday: Meetings in The City

I had a couple of meetings in the City, as in Washington DC a month ago, and thought I would take you along for the ride. 

Bundled up on my way in DC, King Street in Alexandria a couple of stops from home. 

Lots of open seats at 9:30 on a Monday morning

A little ice on the Potomac River

A line to get into the White House on the waning days of the Biden Administration 

My office was in this building for a few years, around the right side, at the top of the colonnade. 

The EPA is on one side, the IRS on the other. 

Skating in the National Gallery Sculpture Garden 

Presidents are temporary 

The Willard Hotel, waiting in the lobby to talk with politicians and policy makers living in the hotel, is the origin of the American term, lobbying. 

 

Monday Mood: Thoughts on Traveling Alone

I have done a lot of solo travel over the past 30 years. The two of us had work related travel, and conferences that the other often couldn't or would have no reason to want to go along on. I have also done a fair amount of solo leisure travel.  Doc Spo and Someone have plans for a week in Palm Springs, but dear elder dog Harper is too frail to board, so it looks like Spo will be traveling to Palm Springs solo, with Someone staying home with the dog.  Over drinks Friday evening Spo asked about traveling alone. 

For work related travel, traveling solo was often the only way to go. Many of my trips were business only, in and out without much time to think or see anything. 

There were also longer solo trips that were not work. As long as my parents were alive I went to Florida two or more times per year, at least half of those trips were solo.  Several times when Sweet Bear went to a conference at Oxford, I went elsewhere. I have very fond memories of a week in Normandy while he was at Oxford. The week I turned 60, Sweet Bear had classes to teach, I booked a week in the Detroit area visiting family and seeing sights I had never seen. A year after my parents died, I went to Florida alone for a few days to see theme parks and family. 

With no one else to set the agenda, when you travel alone you need to set the agenda. Have things you want to see or do, and a way to get there and do it, or you will end up sitting in a hotel room wondering why hotel cable TV is so terrible.  Plan ahead for getting around, do you need a car, is there good public transit, are things within walking distance? I always check ahead to see if there are bloggers in the area. I have made some wonderful friends by reaching out and offering to meet for a couple of hours. 

Traveling alone is different. There is no one else to solve your problems, no one will need your help.  No one else will keep you on schedule, you don't have anyone else to keep on schedule (and things like airline flights don't wait for anyone.) You have to decide where to eat, you can eat wherever you want.  

Not everyone enjoys solo travel. Plan it and try it. If you enjoy it, keep doing it. Not having someone to travel with, is no reason to stay home. 

There is usually a point in a solo trip, when I wish I was not alone, when I am ready to head for home. As you read this on Monday, I am homeward bound. 

 
 

The Sunday Five: Precious Adornments

1: Do you wear jewelry every day? 

2: What is your favorite piece of jewelry?  

3: What should we do with jewelry we own and don't wear? 

4: Has anyone given you a special piece of jewelry, and if so describe it? 

5: Are you more of a gold person or a silver person? 

My answers: 

1: Do you wear jewelry every day? No, my wedding ring is on my house keys. 

2: What is your favorite piece of jewelry?  A silver bracelet that I bought in Florida a few years ago. 

3: What should we do with jewelry we don't wear? Take it out and adore it from time to time. 

4: Has anyone given you a special piece of jewelry, and if so describe it? I have an enamel pendant watch that my grandmother received as a gift in 1913, and she passed onto me with I was in my early 20's. I should give it to one of my nephews.  

5: Are you more of a gold person or a silver person?  I like gold, but I own more silver than gold. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning post: 50 States in 52 weeks: California

California is one of several states that a contract to do training for AARP took me to for the first time.  The first training I did for AARP was in Sacramento, I arranged a couple of extra days, rented a car and drove into San Francisco. The city is easily love at first sight.  Driving in across the Golden Gate Bridge, China Town, Castro Street, around the embarcadaro, riding the cable cars. 

I have taken every opportunity I could to return to California, going back to San Francisco, Hollywood, Huntington Beach, San Diego, back to Sacramento. I spoke at a conference in Folsom (near the prison but not at it.)  One of my favorite trips, I spoke at a conference in San Francisco, rented a car and drove down the coast to Pebble Beach and back, taking the old slow road right along the coast. I have also been to the California side of Lake Tahoe (the smoke free side, Nevada allowed smoking in public places.) 

It is an amazing place.  If I won the lottery, I would consider living there.  It can be rather expensive.  

 

Friday Post: In My Neighborhood

Most of you will have read that there was a tragic air crash Wednesday evening at Reagan National Airport, near Washington DC. An American Airlines commuter jet on final approach to the airport collided with an Army helicopter. There were no survivors, if the manifest is correct 67 people died in the accident. 

I had flown out of that airport, on American Airlines about 10:30 AM that day. National Airport (DCA) is my home airport. It is in my neighborhood, I live about 5 miles south of the airport, on the same side of the Potomac River as the airport. Over the past 16 years I have flown in and out of that airport well over 100 times. 

The video clearly shows what happened, the helicopter flew into the passenger jet. It will take time to sort out why it happened. Where the aircraft off course, did the controllers make a mistake, did the two not see one another? At this point there are many questions and few answers. Almost always it is an accumulation of several small errors, that result in an accident like this. 

I snapped the photo above as we were taking off on Wednesday, the marina is the Washington Sailing Marina at Dangerfield Island (not really an island.) The major news stations were reporting from those docks Wednesday night.  

How does this make me feel about flying? It happens, but it is rare.  This was the first major fatal crash in the United States in 16 years. The most dangerous part of the trip, is getting to and from the airport.  Thousands of flights carry millions of passengers every week.  I will keep flying.  Even when tragedy strikes in my neighborhood.  

I fly home to DCA on Monday afternoon. 

On Thursday afternoon I posted the following to Fakebook, as I have been urged to do, speak up when things are clearly wrong. 

Racist, Sexist, Ableist, Trump shows his true colors.

There was a terrible and tragic aviation accident in my neighborhood Wednesday night, when an American Airlines flight and an Army helicopter collided in mid-air, killing all 67 people on the two aircraft. At this point no one knows for sure what caused this accident. Experience tells us that it was probably a combination of failures and mistakes at the same time. 

Before the bodies have all been recovered, Trump is insisting that the accident was the result of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts (DEI.) His statements are inherently racist, sexist and ableist. In essence he is claiming that no qualified woman, person of color, or person with a disability is capable of learning how to do the job, and do it to a very high standard. This shows a degree of prejudice that is wrong and out of touch with reality. Maybe he means that standards have been compromised, if standards have been, that is a failure of standards not a failure caused by DEI. Committed, dedicated, qualified candidates come in all colors, shapes, sizes, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities, or ethnic origins. Trumps’ statements are offensive and wrong. 

I included ableist in my rant.  The work of an air traffic controller does not require the person to be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (the focus of the investigation is on air traffic  control and the flight crews.) Air Traffic control requires the person to be able to coordinate and manage many moving planes at the same time.  A person with a physical disability may be even more suited to spending 8 hours a day focusing on radar screens, than a runner whose body needs to move to stay comfortable. We condemn far to many bright people to Social Security Disability because they can’t find a job, not because they can’t do the job. DEI should fill jobs with people who can do that job, based on abilities. 

Thursday Ramble: Books

I am off to a reading pace that may result in a record number of books read again this year.  For most of the 15 years I worked in DC, I read on the subway train in and out of the city, an hour plus each day, a book a week on average. Now that I am retired I read in the evenings, and sometimes in the afternoon.  I read on planes, and trains when I travel.  I am looking forward to reading as I slowly cross the Atlantic later this year. (We are taking another slow boat to Europe.) 

I didn't grow up in a house of book lovers. My parents read the daily Detroit News newspaper, but seldom read books.  My father had some technical manuals for flying, he would study those, and as soon as he had mastered the material and passed the test, the books would disappear. I don't know if he gave them away, or threw them away, but they were gone.  I can't recall my mother ever buying a book, or going to the library when I was growing up.  There were very few books in the house.  My mother's rant was that books were expensive and took up space, and space was tight. They raised 4 children in about 900 sq. ft. (less than 100 sq. meters.). Growing up I received a few books as gifts, and bought a handful from the scholastic book fair, but was told that I needed to find someplace for them. One spring my mother tossed all of the children's' books with the explanation that we had outgrown them.  My grandmother would occasionally take me to the local library, I remember reading everything they had by Jack London one summer. 

I was in high school when I first started spending time in Walden Books bookstore in the Miracle City Mall in Titusville, where my family was starting to spend winters.  The first couple of winters buying books was against a protest of what are you going to do with those when we go home, as we were renting a condo on a seasonal basis, then they bought the house in Florida. 

I started working in Orlando in 1980, and built my first house in the fall of 1982. About that time a large bookstore opened on Colonial Drive backed up to Orlando Executive Airport, and I discovered the joys of books.  I started reading for fun, and collecting books. 

In about 1986 I started at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. And discovered Park Avenue Books, just up the street from the college.  I was smitten.  I fell into a pattern of finding a topic that interested me, and reading everything I could get my hands on. The staff there would notice what I was buying, and say, come back in a couple of weeks and I will have something special for you. They new how to feed my addiction.  I was saddened when their lease was up, the landlord wanted to double the rent and they closed.  

There are three books that were assigned reading in high school and college that struck a chord with me.  Walden, I have read it a dozen times. Zorba the Greek, I have read it probably five times, I prefer the movie.  Cross Creek, I have read it several times, the last time I found it profoundly racist, and doubt that I will read it again, though it does contain amazing prose about the climate and landscape of central Florida.   

My love of books continued when we moved to Lexington.  During law school, I really didn't have time for pleasure reading, I would stack books up and binge read during winter break and over the summers. There was a good independent bookstore in town, and several used book dealers. 

For 15 years I was almost exclusively a Kindle E-book reader.  E-books were a little cheaper (you are only buying the right to read them, not the book) and required no storage space. 

When we sold the house in Lexington and consolidated into the condo, we had a problem with books, we were consolidating from 2,800 sq. ft to 1,100 sq ft. We gave away a few thousand books. Today I have to force myself to part with a few books each year, to add new keepers to the collection.  I am in my second year of a love affair with my local library.  In the lobby of the high rise we live in there is a study, with a bookcase in it, where residents leave books they want to part with, and pick up books they would like to read. The last time I took down 5 books, and came back with 1 (The Piano Shop on The Left Bank, by Thad Carhart - one of the best books I have read this year.)  

My World of Wonders, aka The Wednesday Ws, the end of January Already

Where have I been this week? The bank, the liquor store, the library, Aldi, the gym, the pool, out for a walk, 

Where am I headed? The airport, and Phoenix for a few days.  

What have I been thinking about?  I have posted a couple of political posts to Fakebook, one on immigration and one on the end of telework and the return of paid snow days. The idiocy of HWSNBN. 

Who have I talked with?  My Sweet Bear, the gang at Water Aerobics. 

What went well?  Sweet Bear went to water aerobics with me and did very well. 

What have I been watching?  YouTube - I have a group of content producer I follow. The Barrett-Jackson the Scottsdale Auction was on - I was able to attend a day of that a couple of years ago, Gold Rush - we are getting down to the end of the season, and the Jeopardy Tournament - the two of us call out the questions. 

What surprised me? An incorrect, correctly spelled word, in a book published by a university press.  The reference was to the parking brake in a car, and it was spelled "break." Spell Check won't catch that one, a good editor would, YP would point that out in a comment.  

What have I been up to in the kitchen?  I baked another new bread, a baguette recipe from Paul Hollywood's "100 Breads."  It turned out really well for a first try.  I didn't mix the salt into the flour well enough, resulting in some salty spots.  I won't feature the recipe on a Friday because it lacks measurements for how much water to use, it instructs you to use enough warm water to form a "batter" and later enough to form a "firm dough." If you are comfortable with baking this is not hard to do, if you are looking for a chemistry formula, it is not. Maybe I will make it a few times, and keep track of how much I use, and then instruct to add more water or flour to achieve the desired product. (Is a dough a mixture or a solution?) 

Was I nasty this week? Only once, I submitted a comment on the blog of an orange Nero supporter, that made me feel good, and feel guilty at the same time.  My grandmother's voice echoes in my mind, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything." 

What am I working on? I have a short article to finish for a March 10 due date. It really only needs a couple of edits and read throughs.  Late last summer I started work on a book on legal and ethical issues in end of life.  I started it in a very formal academic style. I have been thinking about it, the text needs to tell stories, stories of the people I have helped and learned from over the past 30 years.  It is a human subject and it needs a human voice.  I should get back to work on it. 

What felt so wonderful?  Monday afternoon I drifted off to a nap, and woke up about an hour later, with that wonderful I had a nice nap feeling. 

Travel Tuesday: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

From the upper lobby of the Concert Hall, looking out to the River 

My Daily Selfie 

It is rare to see that much ice on the Potomac River.

The Reach, better in color or black and white? 

The Grand Foyer at the KC. 

The night before a pickup truck had an accident and went off the side of the next bridge downriver, the Memorial Bridge.  The two people in the truck died from exposure  to the freezing water (one was not found until the next day when the truck was craned out of the river.) 

Warming up for the performance

This was probably 20 minutes before curtain time, most of those seats filled in. 

Sweetie Bear looking dashing. 

The Georgetown bend in the Potomac River covered in ice. 

 

Moody Monday: I Didn't Think Mother Nature Would Take Me Seriously When I Said "When Hell Freezes Over"

 Four years ago I may have said that He Who Shall Not Be Named (HWSNBN) would return to Washington DC when hell freezes over. I really didn't think that mother nature would take me seriously.  In case you haven't heard North America has been enduring a bit of a cold snap, including 8-10 inches of snow from New Orleans to the Gulf Coast of Florida - that is the coast along the Gulf of Mexico - no matter what HWSNBN declares.  It has been for a a couple hundred years, one #%^$&@&@ can't change that.  

It may be cruel but I had a hearty laugh at accumulating snow in Florida, Walt Disney World had 2-3 inches of snow (not Disneyland - that is in California.) 

Here in DC area, it has been cold, 14 degrees F the other morning, several days significantly below freezing.  We had one meaningful snow, 5-6 inches (less than Pensacola Florida) and a few minor snows.  The cold has been the worst of the weather.  It is the dead of winter. We get a few days like this almost every winter.  

When I lived in Florida tourists would complain about near freezing weather in January or February, and would point out to them that it was the middle of winter. In central Florida there was good news and bad news about the summer weather.  The good news was that a typical summer day was a low of around 80 degrees F and a high in the low 90s F with humidity matching the temperature. It very seldom was warmer than 95 degrees. The bad news was the weather was like that from early May, until mid November most years.  And now it has frozen over. 

As an old television commercial warned us, "It is not good to fool mother nature!" She appears to feel about the same as I do about the reappearance of HWSNBN and Melanoma aka the Ice Princess - or whatever her name is. 

HWSNBN was apparently upset that Michelle Obama declined to attend the inauguration. HWSNBN spent 9 years questioning her husbands birthplace, and criticising her looks, and their every move.  Bravo for Michelle saying "when hell freezes over."  

HWSNBN has issued a bunch of executive orders on immigration.  It is important to remember, that his friends in Congress killed a carefully negotiated bipartisan immigration reform bill at his request, so he could campaign on the issue. He delayed action on updating our outdated and insufficient immigration system, so he would have an issue to campaign on. He created a "problem." The law is still outdated and in need to reform. He is evil incarnate. And the "Press" largely failed to point out his creating this "problem" and only focused on his actions. 

So how is my mental health? I am not stressing, but not rolling over and playing dead.  Carefully, I am speaking up to point out the hypocrisy. 

P.S. Welcome back to snow days!  HWSNBN has ordered the end of telework for federal workers. With telework government employees didn't get a paid day off because of bad weather, like snowstorms, the workforce went to unscheduled telework.  As long as your work could be done remotely you were expected to put in a full days work.  With the end of telework, offices will close, and people will get the day off with full pay and benefits once again. Snow Days are returning.  I never worked for the federal government, but like many private employers in the Washington DC area, my office followed the feds, if OPM  - the Office of Personnel and Management - said unscheduled telework, we worked. Now my former office will return to Snow Days along with thousands of federal employees .  😃 He really does not think these thing through.   

     

Sunday Five: Winter Weather

1.  Does it snow where you live? 
2.  Can you ice skate? 
3.  Do you prefer a warm fireplace, or a warm sunny beach? 
4.  How would you describe the building on the horizon in this photo? 
5.  How many national capitals have you visited? 

My answers: 

1. Does it snow where you live? Not much and not often. 
2.  Can you ice skate? Nope. 
3.  Do you prefer a warm fireplace, or a warm sunny beach?  Tough one, we are really not beach people. 
4.  How would you describe the building on the horizon in this photo?  Dysfunctional government at its best. 
5.  How many national capitals have you visited?  DC, Paris, London, Rome, Athens, Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin; 9 - more than I thought before I made a list. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning post: 50 States in 52 weeks: Arkansas

 I don't have a photo from Arkansas. The first time I was there, was passing through on the trips to Arizona as a child.  We went south and across Oklahoma and north Texas, into New Mexico and then into Arizona on those trips. 

The next time I was there was to present a training for AARP at a legal aid program in Little Rock.  I am not sure of the date, it was post Clinton, they were starting on Bill's Presidential Library when we were there.  It was after 2000 and before 2005 when I started recording the hotels I have stayed in. 

While we lived in Lexington Kentucky, we drove down to Memphis Tennessee to see one of the first US exhibits of items recovered from the Titanic, on the trip back from there, we drove north, crossed the Mississippi river and drove through a sliver of Arkansas.  

I am glad I have been there, and I see little reason to return. Well there is an art museum, funded with Walmart billions. 

Freestyle Friday: 100 Tips to Slightly Improve Your Travel Experience: #35 What To Do When The Flight Is Cancelled

Flights are seldom cancelled, but it happens.  Delayed flights can result in missed connections. To put it simply, poo happens sometimes when you are traveling.  Not often, but it does happen.  

Tip #1: Don't panic, it won't help things. I have panicked, in the end, the options will still be the same.  

Tip#2: Be polite, be nice, be very-very nice to the airline staff.  A delayed flight causes them extra work, a cancelled flight makes them wonder why they didn't stick with the job at 7-11.  Wait in line, and when it is your turn smile and say, what are my best options.  Kindness will get you more than being angry or frustrated with the only people who can help you. 

Tip #3: Use the airlines app while you are standing in line, the computer will try to reschedule you, if there are options the app may offer you a choice. 

Tip #4: Call the airline's customer service number while you are standing in line. 

Tip #5: If you are stuck overnight, it has happened to me a couple of times, politely ask the airline agents for help finding a hotel.  Airlines have standing room blocks at local hotels for airline staff to stay in. Hotels will show sold out, when they are holding rooms for potential airline personnel to stay in.  Sometimes you will even get the airlines wholesale rate at the hotel.  If you can afford to travel, and extra hotel night won't break you.  If the overnight delay is the airline's fault (an emergency landing with smoke streaming out of one of the engines) the airline will probably pay for the hotel. If it is weather related, you are going to pay. Be nice about it. Don't be a martyr by insisting your only option is to sleep in the airport.  

Tip #6: Don't panic, it will all work out. 

Once you have worked out the alternate or delayed travel arrangements, sort out your plans.  Call ahead to let people know what the change in plans are. It happens, not often, but it happens. 

If you have travel planned and the weather forecast is ugly, call the airline.  I was headed to Florida from DC one fall.  There was a hurricane moving up the east coast, it was north of Florida, south of DC. I was scheduled to fly the next day, when the weather was going to be terrible.  I called the airline and asked if they could change my reservation to fly that evening. I pointed out that by tomorrow they would probably be cancelling the flight. I was put on hold, and when the agent came back I was told, "thank you, what a great idea, I have a seat on the 7 PM flight tonight, you will be in Orlando before 9:15. Flights from DC were cancelled for two days, it took a week to sort out the mess.  

 

The Thursday Ramble: Death of a Small Town

A couple of weeks ago the heart of my home town died. I was raised on a farm, about four miles south-west of the small town of North Branch, Michigan.  At its peak, North Branch had maybe 2,000 residents, the township had probably 10,000 residents and for 150 years, at the heart of town was the Daniel Orr and Sons Hardware store. The store closed permanently on January 11, 2025. 

Orr's was an old fashioned hardware store.  Operated and mostly staffed by members of the family. It was the kind of place you could go to ask how to fix, or build almost anything and they would gladly help you.  If you needed one special bolt, or three brass screws you could buy them there.  If you needed 20 bolts, they would tell you if it was cheaper to buy a box of 25 or just the 20 you needed. Many of the farmers had open credit accounts there, payable when the milk check, or the grain check came in.  Having been in business for decades, they had an amazing stock of unusual items that farmers, homeowners, or hobbyists might want. I went there many times as a kid and teenager for help with one project or another.  It is where I picked out the Sir Charles Gold paint for my bedroom that my father hated so much. 

Orr's was also the place you went for a hunting or fishing license, or fishing equipment and for years a new gun. My grandfather's prized Browning 16 gauge was bought there. He had a Browning 12 gauge and was complaining about how heavy it was, the 16 gauge was about 2 pounds lighter. My oldest brother ended up with both of those.** One night about 40 years ago, a guy broke into the store and held the police at bay for several hours with guns from the case.  They stopped selling guns sometime after that.  

When I was growing up, two brothers ran the store and a brother-in-law ran the local lumber company.  The son of one of the brothers was a year ahead of me in school.  Bill took over from his father and uncle and ran the store for decades. He died a couple of years ago.  One of the daughters was in my class.  Cindy taught science in the local schools. (She is on the far left in the photo below.) 

The closure cuts the heart out of a small town.  

 The remaining Orr family members. 

* Try as I may, I was unable to locate photos of my home town in Michigan. These are borrowed from a high school classmate, Cindy Orr Mitchell https://www.facebook.com/cindy.mitchell.1000

** About 20 years ago, I bought myself a Browning Gold 12 gauge.  It filled a hole left when all of grandfathers shotguns went to my oldest brother. I have no use for it, I should sell it.