eureka!

 

I have just figured out how to copy a picture from my phone to my laptop to this blog.  I'm not sure if I did it 'right' but at least I did it. I'm not sure why I ended up with two copies but two is better than none, right?  I wanted to share this picture because of the reactions I received when I texted it to my brother and son yesterday.  It mysteriously appeared across the river from my apartment two mornings ago.  It must have gone up over night because it wasn't there the day before.  My west coast brother's reaction was that it was obviously an alien spacecraft while my son theorized that it is most likely a fungus that grows in very hot humid weather.  All of this leads to the fact that today is SCUD Day.  Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama Day.  I think you must agree that my family does a good job of savoring the comic.  

a deep mystery

 Have you heard it?  Neither have I.  Have you felt it?  Neither have I.  Have you seen it?  Neither have I, but for many months now MamaJo has been working away, 24 hours a day, and today her work is done.  MamaJo, the huge drill that has been working beneath our city has finished a tunnel that runs almost five miles from the north east area of the city to the south west.  Digging her way in places from 100 to 220 feet deep, she has moved 14 million tons of material to create a tunnel that will help carry away millions of gallons of sewer water and prevent it from flowing into the rivers.  Even though MamaJo's job is done, sewage won't actually flow through that big tunnel until lesser sewer lines can be connected to it.  The estimate that I heard is that the whole system will be fully functioning in 2023.  You may be wondering why I'm bothering to write about this.  Well, I've been intrigued by this whole idea since the project started in 2018.  In fact, at an unexpected layover in Dallas (I don't even remember what trip I was on) I had a chance to talk with a gentleman who was waiting for the flight to Fort Wayne to work on the deep drilling project.  It sounded exciting then and I've been interested in it ever since.  Hooray for MamaJo!

virtual hugs

 Today is "Take your Webmaster to Lunch Day."  It's also "Virtually Hug your Virtual Assistant Day."  Since I don't have my own website I don't think I technically have a Webmaster.  However my children and grandchildren have all helped me with computer / cell phone / tablet related problems from time to time.  Perhaps they are my 'tech masters'  What would we do in this day and age without our speedy communication devices?  During the pandemic we have all learned to live virtually. Virtual hugs were all we had.  Perhaps if I virtually hugged my laptop more often it wouldn't pretend not to recognize me.  Virtual relationships are tricky.  

facing it

 It's kind of a sad thing when someone doesn't recognize you.  Goodness knows there have been times when I've forgotten someone's name or face and times when someone I haven't seen for a while doesn't recognize me.  In situations like that we generally smile, maybe laugh, admit we have forgotten, remind each other of the forgotten name, and get on with life.  I don't feel insulted in situations like this but I must admit I do find it off putting when my own computer doesn't recognize me.  I mean I open my laptop almost every day, turn it on, and wait while it recognizes my face and gives me a cheery little hello (in print of course).  But this evening when I turned it on it acted like it had never seen me before.  I mean, it's been a day and a half but still.  It impudently asked me for my PIN number.  What PIN number?  I have never used a PIN number to turn it on since I've had this laptop.  So now, after following lots of prompts, I have a new PIN number.  Will I remember it when I need it, maybe two years from now?  I shall write it down of course, but will I remember where I wrote it?  Time will tell I guess.

Too many fireworks???

 This evening two friends and I sat on my balcony for about three hours watching fireworks.  Lots and lots of fireworks all around the skyline.  Like me you may be wondering "Wait, what special day is this that warrants fireworks?"  Tomorrow, of course, is July 4, Independence Day and an obvious reason for fireworks, but today?  And for that matter, yesterday and the day before?  Ah, but I did a little research, with the help of my west coast brother, and discovered that today is International Cherry Pit Spitting Day.  Worthy of fireworks?  I'll leave it to you to decide.

zippy little sports cars

Today is Drive your Corvette to Work Day.  I would be delighted to drive my Corvette to work, if I had a Corvette, if I had a job, although I really do like being retired.  Once upon a time I drove my 1961 Corvair to work, before and after I rolled it over, for more than five years.  It was a fun little car (little for that time) and I did enjoy driving it, but it probably didn't compare to driving a Corvette.  The closest I've come to driving a Corvette was the summer when a friend and I took a trip out west driving her bright red 1967 Mustang.  It was a fun car to drive and could really zip along on the interstate.  That was the same car I got my first speeding ticket in, after being caught in a speed trap somewhere in Illinois on our way home from that trip.  it was also the first, and only, time that I had to appear in traffic court.  Since we were from out of state we had to go straight to court, along with about twenty other hapless drivers, and pay our fine on the spot.  It was a good thing we were on our way home because by the time we pooled all of our cash to pay the fine, $83.00, we didn't even have enough with us for gas.  The time in court did have it's humorous moment though.  The man in front of me in line tried to convince the judge that he hadn't been speeding.  Remember we had been caught in a speed trap (a police car on either side of a slight rise so the second car was out of sight).  The first policeman was using the radar gun, the second waving everyone over.  The man in front of me tried to convince the judge that he had only speeded up a little on the downhill slope.  I laughed to myself because I recognized him as the driver who had passed me on the uphill slope.  The judge did not buy his story.  I'm pretty sure he had heard that one before.

Special days

Everyone knows that July 4 is Independence Day but did you know that today, July 1, is International Joke Day.  In honor of the day I'll share a joke that I heard at a recent exercise class.  We usually get a little break about half way through the hour for a drink of water and a humorous joke or riddle.  Actually, this is a riddle, which should count, right?  There was no moon, the streetlights were out in this rough part of town, he had no flashlight, but the policeman was still able to see well enough to catch the fleeing thief.  How could he do it?   I know, it's a groaner, right?  It's not International Good Joke Day.