Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Experimenting
I think the secret is not to look through the viewfinder but to turn on the screen and use it to frame up the photo.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Monsoon
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Burger Madness
These pictures are fuzzily out of focus.
I don't know why.
Could be the amount of alcohol in the photographer.
Could be a cheap camera.
But . . . here it is.
First of all . . . a half moon.
Then . . . the grill. Hamburgers. Onions.
A closer picture of the onions.
Buns . . . toasting on the upper grill.
O.K. The final picture wasn't taken. Your photographer with his face full of grilled hamburger and onions and cheese on a toasted bun.
Eat your heart out.
I did.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
A lazy weekend
SWMBO did grill a chicken stuffed with lemons, and some thick slices of sweet potato for dinner the other night. Delicious. (The sweet potatoes weren't inside the chicken, they were alongside it.)
Other than that, our marking of our national holiday was quiet.
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The BRD went to a luau costume party Friday evening. And the (World's Oldest) rodeo in Prescott Saturday night. (She says she didn't want to go and told her man that next year he could go with his buddies.)
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And they went to Phoenix today to watch Randy Johnson finally win his 289th career baseball game in a 3 to 2 squeaker. Randy gave up a home run on his second pitch of the game but after that he was spectacular. Once again the bullpen nearly gave it away but they managed to hang on.
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I've been doing a lot of reading lately. Finished Jeffrey Deaver's exciting "Stone Monkey" yesterday. I've now started on "Audition" by Barbara Walters. A couple more libary books are in the house but SWMBO is reading them simultaneously: "Mission Accomplished: How We Won the War in Iraq" by Christopher Cerf and Victor Navasky, and "Late Nights On Air" by Elizabeth Hay.
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I went to my cardiologist the other day for an echocardiogram as they continue to watch my heart. There was a new woman doing the test and we were talking about my atrial fibrillation. I told her I had never had any symptoms or felt anything. She said, repeatedly, that she would have thought I would have felt a fluttering in my chest. After the third time she said that, I replied "No, the only fluttering I've felt there was when I looked into your eyes." She laughed and told me I had made her day.
I'm finding I can get away with remarks like that more and more as I get older. Guess they just don't take me seriously any more.
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I have done something I never thought I would do: I have set up a MySpace page. But wait! It was prompted by a conversation I had with my grandson, the Army man, last weekend. I asked him to give me an e-mail address that I would actually get a response from. He's on his fourth tour in Iraq now and I'd like to stay in touch. He said that was probably the best one since he gets about 500 spam e-mails a day on his other ones.
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This sounds like a letter home from college. About the only thing I haven't said is "Please Send Money!"
So.
Please Send Money!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Rush-ing toward mediocrity
It is further noted that Limbaugh vehemently opposed John McCain during the primary season as not conservative enough. McCain won the Republican presidential nomination fairly early and easily.
So much for Limbaugh's influence.
But as Tom Taylor, said to be news editor of something called Radio-Info.com said, speaking of Limbaugh and his syndicator, "both sides have made a lot of money for each other."
What a country!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Family reunion
Well, with one grandson headed back to Iraq with the Army for the fifth time, his twin sister getting ready to join the Navy, daughter living now in Oregon, the other granddaughter in Colorado . . . it may be a long time, if not the last time, that we'll all be together.
We had a good time though we were exhausted when we got home (7-1/2 hours of driving each way) and a great fun but tiring day Sunday. I played croquet for the first time in many decades. I didn't win.
Best of all, we avoided all the 4th of July traffic.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
And then there's more . . .
These come from the Rajah.
Murphy's Lesser Known Laws
1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
2. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
3. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.
4. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
5. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.
6. If you lined up all the cars in the world end to end, someone would be stupid enough to try to pass them, five or six at a time, on a hill, in the fog.
7. The things that come to those who wait will be the scraggly junk left by those who got there first.
8. The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.
9. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
10. When you go into court, you are putting yourself into the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.
Laws
THE LAWS OF ULTIMATE REALITY
Law of Mechanical Repair
After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you'll have to pee.
Law of Gravity
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.
Law of Probability
The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
Law of Random Numbers
If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal and someone always answers.
Law of the Alibi
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.
Variation Law
If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).
Law of the Bath
When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.
Law of Close Encounters
The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
Law of the Result
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.
Law of Biomechanics
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.
Law of the Theater
At any event, the people whose seats are farthest from the aisle arrive last.
The Starbucks Law
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.
Murphy's Law of Lockers
If there are only two people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.
Law of Physical Surfaces
The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor covering are directly correlated to the newness and cost of the carpet/rug.
Law of Logical Argument
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
Brown's Law of Physical Appearance
If the shoe fits, it's ugly.
Oliver's Law of Public Speaking
A closed mouth gathers no feet.
Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy
As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.
Doctors' Law
If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better. Don't make an appointment and you'll stay sick.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Blog for your mental health!
I read an interesting column in Newsweek today about the mental health benefits of blogging. You can read it here. But watch out for the last two sentences.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Cooooooool Water!
The BRD has a couple more - Noel, the nasty oldest of the bunch who loves to bully all the others; Emma, the tiny but very solid white cat who tends to chase Smoke off the patio; and Sheba, the roaming small black and white cat who seems cowed by all of the rest.
We also have a small fountain on the front patio and the cats can't seem to resist it. For instance, Smoke, contemplating that bubbler as he balances on the rim.
He finally manages to get his weight adjusted and bends down to drink and drink and drink.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
A hurting Tiger
What struck me was that Tiger has been rated the number one player in the world for 500 weeks! That's nearly ten years!
Well, while it will be a loss for golf fans, some of the other players on the tour will finally have a chance and Tiger will be able to spend more time with his wife, Elin, and his one-year-old daughter, Sam
Get well soon, Tiger.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The Human High-Light Reel
He's arguably the greatest golfer that has ever lived and he's only 31, I think. He has years to go to add to his records.
Today at the final hole of the U.S. Open golf tournament, he barely sunk a 12 foot putt to force a playoff for the championship tomorrow.
Rocco Mediate had finished just ahead of Tiger and was watching on a television set. He simply turned around and said "Unbelievable. But I knew he'd make it."
SWMBO and I were watching and she said afterward "I didn't think he'd make it."
I said, "You just can't ever bet against Tiger in a crucial moment."
The field might have been hopeful that someone could beat Tiger this time because he was obviously still recovering from a third surgery on his left knee. He grimaced at times and limped at times.
And he didn't play very well.
But he's still Tiger.
Tomorrow, he and Mediate will go head to head in an 18 hole playoff.
Don't bet against Tiger.
Update:
It took 18 holes of a playoff and one hole of sudden death but once again Tiger proved he is the best. He won the U.S. Open (again). His 14th major golf tournament win is 4 behind the record established by Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus won his 18th at the age of 46. Tiger is 32. (Correction from the 31 listed yesterday)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Update: VICTORY!
After 5 weeks and one day I can report that I have finally won.
Last Friday (after two more somewhat snotty e-mails to the publisher and the president of the company) I received a call from a deeply apologetic Manager of Customer Care. She told me she was going to take care of this. Today, I got a full refund of the overcharges to my account.
She said it was a system failure.
I say when all else fails it helps to complain to the top guys.
(By the way, that's Sir Winston Churchill flashing the V for Victory sign. He was my 15th cousin.)