When I retired in 1997 I very specifically took off my watch and put it in the top drawer if my tall boy. I had been controlled by clocks and bells from 1957 to 1997. I'd had enough of going by the clock. Each period I had to watch the clock to make sure that I would complete my lesson.
I also wore the watch when I was out of school for weekends and summer vacations.
I was like most people and got used to wearing a watch.
I was given a gold watch for retirement. I don't know where it is!
Since 1997 I've worn the watch on some trips.
Now this particular watch is a 1986 model. It's been through a few batteries. It's also had the time set many times for daylight saving time. Like many adults I could not set the time. When my son was still at home he set the watch. After he left some kid at school would set my watch.
After retirement , for many years I would set day light saving time and I had to learn to do it myself.
Now the other day the micro manager looked in the drawer and discovered the watch wasn't running and the battery was dead! Now for the Micro Manager , this watch could not be left in peace. Hurry out and find a battery. Replace that battery Red.
So I did replace the battery!!! Now I was nuts to try it because I can't really see such small pieces like screws and my fingers are too stiff and awkward to hold tiny screws. Somehow I got the battery changed.
It was a crazy thing to try.
Enlarge the photos to see what I was dealing with. Can you see any screws in the second shot? There are screws. I took them out and got them back in.
I found another mural which is quite different than the musician mural. This mural was a high school art project.
They have a theme and then laid it out nicely and did a super job of the painting.
They did a good job of showing street scenes from different times in our history.
As most of you know I like wall murals. I enjoy seeing good quality wall murals. There are many styles and the topics are endless. Each artist has his/her own style. The beauty is that the art is very visible in the community. It's seen! Many artists produce things and they are not seen or appreciated .
The mural I'm showing today took a long time to complete. The local paper did a couple of stories while the work was in progress. I didn't take a good look at it until the other day. With this one you have to get out of the car to have a good look. You see much more when you walk up to it. However, to photograph this mural you have to back up against a wall. What I ended up doing is taking photos of each section.
Of course the wall belongs to a pub/restaurant that puts on shows.
So this mural is not only in a difficult position to photograph but it could have been in more vivid color and sharper detail.
When the Micro Manager and I come home in the car, I let her out first and she goes to unlock the door. It also takes her a while to get shoes off etc. so that there's room for me to get in the entrance. I usually poke around the yard for a few minutes. There's always something to do in a couple of minutes. I can also check my plants. How many new tomatoes do I have today?
Yesterday we came home and I picked weeds in the garden. All of a sudden I heard the blue box lid being opened. The blue box is on the outside of the garden fence. I could see somebody. They dug out the papers and were looking through my papers. I didn't want to open the gate and say, "Get the hell out of here." But I did want to see who was at the garbage cans. This bum must be a good reader. Is the bum using the paper to find a job? Is the bum a news junky.
It was taking a long time. I waited and got impatient and went in the house.
I looked out the back window, but I couldn't see enough to recognize if it was male or female.
I watched for about 15 min. and then the bum gathered up all the paper and neatly put it back in the blue box. I thought that this was a fairly neat bum to put things back.
When the bum walked away, I could see that it was the Micro Manager. She had been looking for an article in a paper that had been thrown out.
Should I throw the bum out???
Last evening I went out to take photos related to summer stoltice. No, I wasn't overly anxious and wanted to jump the gun on photos. The weather forecast was the better last evening.
So at 9:30 I packed the camera and got on the bike and went to a high spot about three Km from the house. All photos are from 9:40 to 10:00 PM.
I tried to show our long day where the sun set at 9:58 PM and rises at 5:14 AM For many people it's hard to visualize broad daylight at 10:00 PM. At midnight we still see light in the sky
View of a senior's residence to the east.
North side of a house
The sun has not quite set.
Somebody else is out bike riding. I met a woman pushing a stroller
Across the street at 10:00 PM
An out of focus photo of my street at 10:00PM
Here's a photo of my dad from 1936-37. It's before he was married and he had just started farming on his own. He's a rather cheerful handsome looking dude.
Here's Dad in 2002 at his 90th birthday. His Parkinson's was quite advanced by that time but he still appreciated his birthday and said that he never thought he would grow to be 90 years old.
Here's the last picture I have with Dad. He was 92-93 and Parkinson's was well advanced.
I can't help but notice the long slow deterioration in health.
He raised 4 sons . We were a challenge. At the 90th birthday party some of the biggest issues were mentioned with humor. A certain motorcycle purchase was a sore spot.
However, the great sadness for him being a Dad was to not be able to raise his only daughter. She died at age 11 and he never was able to come to terms with her loss.
We've heard Trump's outrageous, illogical, truth bending, incorrect and unfounded comments many times. They do far more harm than good for all concerned.
Trump made one of his wild comments this week after the G 7 conference. The conference was held in Canada and since I'm a Canadian I was interested in the conference more than usual. Since I'm Canadian, I was offended by Trump's comments.
The G 7 conferences are tightly controlled and very precise as to what happens. Everybody takes the same step. All the details are looked after behind the scenes.
The host chairman is the leader of the host country. In this case the chairman was Prime Minister Trudeau.
Trump got antsy and decided he had to leave for the North Korean summit but before leaving he had signed what was agreed to at the conference.
A few hours into Trump's Asian flight he flew into a rage and called Justin Trudeau, weak, a liar and back stabber! Trump claimed that he had not agreed to anything in the conference final statement which he had signed.
Where did that come from?
The comments as well as being wrong were most inappropriate. It's okay to have those ideas. However, expressing those opinions is wreckless and isn't going to do any good.
The comments tell us more about Trump than about problems at the G 7 Summit.
Could somebody shut this guy up. We don't need to hear such outrageous lunacy anymore.
Our small city has a few murals. As with all murals some are good some are bad and a lot are in between.
I have been looking at one of these murals for five years or more. I can see it from a parking lot that I use when I wait for the micro manager to do some business. Usually I forget to take my camera. Sometimes it's too cold or wet or poor light! What a long list of poor excuses. When I'm in this parking lot I'm parked illegally to some extent. The parking lot is provided by the business so it wouldn't be cool to park and then walk away to take photos.
Well, the other day I did get my act together.
This mural is rather small and is at the end of an alley. It's kind of roughly done but you are drawn to the rather wild expression.
Now I thought there might be another mural two or three doors up the alley so I continued. Yes there was another mural on the back of an old hotel that has been remodeled to provide housing to homeless who qualify. This mural had a much more complex idea.
On my way back from photographing the second mural I found a third mural that was on a wall beside the first one. You can see the first mural on the right.Again it is rather simple.
So here you are. I got three murals in one day.
The area has a large homeless population as some of their friends have accommodation so there is visiting.
I know there are more murals in the city. I just have to find them and get over all my weak excuses.
No I haven't turned eighty!
In my last post I told how a colleague old 55 years ago contacted me. The contact was a surprise and she went through a few major parts of her life. Sadly she had lost here husband. She listed her three sons.
I made a short reply and told her I had a daughter and son who are 46 and 48. I also added, "I have a wife who's eighty!" When I wrote that it suddenly hit me. Well I didn't know what to think or should I be more honest and say that I tried to deny or ignore this milestone.
We noted the Micro Manager's eightieth birth date very quietly. The Micro Manager had been fretting over the number for some time. Me? Well, whatever happens , happens.
However,the other day when I jokingly referred to my wife's age, it hit me. Wow, this is getting old. I have an eighty year old wife.
As with most things that hit me , I soon forget. But then I suddenly realized
that I've become very elderly. I can think of the elderly people from the time when I was a boy. Eighty year olds seemed like another species. I wonder if they thought like I do that being eighty ain't bad. I still think of myself as a younger person even thought the number says something else. Eighty year olds to a young boy looked as if they constantly sat in a chair. I seem to keep moving all day. Or do others see me differently?
Realistically I know I'm elderly. I don't dwell on it. I keep going and try to be active in life. Yesterday I lead my bird Saturday morning watching group.
Last week somebody got a photo of me that I was unaware of. I like the photo.
The other day I got a Face book message from my neighbor down the street. It said to go to Messenger to read the message.
I had never used messenger. I don't know what messenger is. I was surprised to see it listed on the left side of my Face Book page.
So as told I went to messenger. I found the message but what else I found blew my mind. I found messages that I'd never seen before. Some of them were four years old. However, most of the messages I had seen and read.
Now one message really caught my attention. The message was from 2014. It was from a young woman I'd taught with in a small town. We both left this small town in 1963 . Yes, 1963 . 55 years ago. So some how she had tracked me down and left a message. She must have wondered what is wrong with this guy that I didn't reply
So I sent a message to her. I just wanted to see if she was still here. Five minutes later she had answered me. Then I had to tell her the story of why I hadn't answered her message.
Now this is where the tune up comes in. What is messenger? How do I use messenger? What other programs should I be aware of?
I'm going to have to confer with some young friends to get tuned up on some of the things I should be using.
There are some interesting blog locations. People can post cloud photos in one area. Skies! Signs. the list goes on.
I've never participated in one of these locations. I haven't stopped to find out how they work.
I do have a sign I like. I'm not sure how old this sign is but it was here in 1969 when I moved here.
Alpha is a plant that produces condensed milk.
