Spring 2015 May 28 Thursday

69 degrees this morning.  Started walk, stopped due to thunder and lightning 

Looked at weather this morning, seemed like rain was a long way off.  Started walk and realized he lighting and thunder weren’t that far!  

Memories of people who had gotten struck by lightning went through my mind and I decided walking wasn’t all that important this morning!  

I miss my walk, but not to the point of stupidity!  

Enjoyable cook-out last night with Aliene’s brothers/sister and spouses.  The opportunity doesn’t happen often, and it is always enjoyable.  

While we generally have an excellent leasing agent, it will be nice to “own” our home again and feel more like we can make changes and just have, as someone mentioned, a sense of “ownership”.  if we want an outlet changed we can do it, if we want to hang a picture we can do so without worrying about nail holes etc.  

While I realize lease agreements are written for the worst possible case, there are so many arbitrary provisions, I’m not sure if I would ever sign a lease again.  There is a lot of potential for abuse.  

I think it has the same general concept as airlines, banks, credit cards,  hotels, auto dealers,, car rentals, etc., in that they buyer/renter seems to be considered “fair game” for as many nuisance/hidden/extreme and unbelievable fees as they can load on, especially “got you” nuisance fees that they either hide or don’t mention, or are so arbitrary that they just figure you won’t go to court to fight the obviously illegal and nuisance fees due to the cost of fighting them.

Had a series of dreams, one dream:

Dreamed I was in a meeting. Not sure of purpose (perhaps like a lot of meetings!)

There was a person (a man) trying to get volunteers for some future projects (again, project unknown.)  He was mentioning how busy he was and how important the meetings were.

As part of this, a family (literally a family with small children) was being hired for something.  They were told to leave the room and then everyone celebrated when they came back  in since  they got the appointment or whatever it was.

The setting reminds me of a barn on the farm of a friend of mine when I was a child (in fact my first fiend), Larry Slater.

Very strong and vivid dream, move vivid than the shadowily dreams I occasionally have.

I thought it was for real when I first woke up.

Lately, I have wakened from my naps long before the alarm goes off.  

(later in day)

Dreamed in Theatre, not sure what movie or even if it was “live”.   Aliene was there.

For some reason there was a real complicated procedure to get into the upper lobby of the theatre.  I tried several times.

When I made it to the top there was a table with a variety of food for sale before you went into the theatre.

Theatre was based on a theatre in Russell, Kansas near  where I went to high school (Dorrance,  Kansas)

 No clear idea as to reason for anything in the dream.

Today (Thursday) and Friday are going to be busy at work, preparing for moving etc.  (he house has to be in “show” condition even while moving, whatever “show” condition is

Busy “field” day both days also.

That’s it for now, Thursday, May 28, 2015.

Spring 2015 May 27 Wednesday (Rabbits, Pink Elephants and Insults)

Spring 201 May 27 Wednesday  (Rabbit, Pink Elephants and Insults)

67 degrees this  morning 44:16 minute walk.

Rabbits, lots of rabbits during my morning walk.  

I rarely see a loose dog or cat in this neighborhood (I think I was only surprised by a loose dog one time, I don’t recall ever seeing a loose cat).  I guess that is one reason there are so many rabbits.

I see them throughout the walk, but they seem to be bunched together lately, I saw ten at one time yesterday more and several groups of four this morning.  

There have been  rabbits in this addition ever since we moved here (I really mentioning that instead of deer, I now see rabbits).

The dog we had went I was a kid would love it here, he loved to chase rabbits.  I don’t recall if he ever caught one, although I’m sure he did.

I do remember that the birds were dive-bomb the cats (we started with one cat and probably ended up with 50), and occasionally would get caught by the cat.  

Seems gross now, but that was just part of life on a farm.

On my Flickr project, I currently have 804 (and counting) photos to upload.

However, I have this suspicion that the uploading program skipped about 15,000 photos,but I’ll see when it finishes.

I took a look at it and it is truly amazing how it categorizes the photos.  

However, as with the TV cable company, technology seems to promise much more than it can deliver.  Much of it is “vaper ware” as they used to say.  

The cable tv system is full of bugs.  Somehow they always promise more than they can deliver, charge you for what they promise an then get by without actually delivering what they promised, but continue to charge for the promises

If that makes any sense.  I know what they are doing, it is hard to explain it.

Sun actually  was out yesterday and it got up to at least the high 70’s, maybe low 80’s.  It was nice, although near use there was thunderstorms nd tornado warnings.  

And of course the ever present earthquakes that the politicians, oil companies etc. ignore like the big pink elephant sitting in the room and tromping around the house that no one talks about or even acknowledges. 

I took a break from writing this to look up the phrase “Pink elephant”.  Apparently it isn’t that old of a phrase, and the term “elephant” or “white elephant”  is also used.  

It can describe the obvious (something large that no one wants to discuss because it is a problem), something that is discussed, but not acknowledged. It also can refer to something impossible to miss, but also impossible to find.  

Anyway, it is intreating to follow through on the origin of words and phrases and see how they change. 

One thing I like about being around children and younger people is to hear how language evolves.  I have to admit, sometimes I don’t like it, but I figure  that is their language  

Reminds me the New York Times had a story about someone who makes a subtle insult. I don’t recall the term, I believe it was “shade”.   I thought, if the other person doesn’t care or even realize an insult has been made, does it really matter? 

Or was that an insult?

That’s it for today, Wednesday, May 27, 2015.

Spring 2015 May 26 Tuesday

56  degrees this morning. 45:26 minute  walk

I wonder if summer will ever arrive?  55 degrees on May 26?  I remember one summer where summer really never arrived, although I remember one summer that basically arrived in February.  

It may balance out, but it isn’t any fun in the “negative” period of the balancing!  

Thinking doubt the watch I wear to time myself.  That battery has lasted at least ten years that I can track it.  I think it was around a $2.00 watch that I got to wear when I swim.  It is amazing that it has lasted so long.  

Returning to work after a three-day holiday is always a little strange.  I kind of get in the groove of the weekend and then the holiday, although it is good to get back into the work routine also.  

I think what is rather strange is that, unlike in the past, I do no work (as in job work) over the weekend,  I have been working on moving etc, but that is different.  In the past I would probably work at least 20 hours over the weekend on paperwork, preparing for meetings etc.  

We did order a refrigerator yesterday, since our current house has a refrigerator (that goes with the house) in it and we sold ours with the Lakeland house.  

The rain continues, although it was a relatively light rain  The sun actually came out for a little bit today, before it clouded up again.  

“The Innovators” by Walter Isaacson, has really been a good “listen”.  I was surprised at how much of our current technology is the way it is due to chance.  

Without much of a change, we could be using “dumb” terminals connected to a central computer, which I think would have not provided for a lot of innovative inventions we have now.

I think it also points out the problem with allowing too much control by patents etc.  I think some of the computer complaint now spend more on lawsuits on “patent trolls” than they do on research.

Obviously, innovation needs some protection to encourage innovation, but too much is too much. 

Actually, many of the important milestone of innovation resulted form free-flowing ideas that were buildit on.

I always wonder about the 14 to 18 year old kids who spent hours on working on computer problems and projects, including literally spending all day and night working on computers.  

While I admire them, I can’t imagine doing that when I was that  age, which is probably one reason I’m not rick and/or famous, which isn’t all bad.  Everyone to their own life.

Working on getting my pictures uploaded to Flickr.  I currently have about 10,000 pictures uploaded and 20,000 to go.  The major problem is keeping the computer on, it try to “sleep”, which stops the uploading process, even though I changed the settings to “never sleep”.   

The battery on my laptop normally lasts all day, but with the uploading, it eats the battery up fast.

We are in the nuts and bolts of moving now.  I have been going through papers now, trying to throw away any papers I don’t need, as well as getting ride of any knick-knacks I have that I don’t absolutely need. 

Ah yes, “the bird”.  I actually have not seen “the bird” for several weeks now.  I think they have given up, although I am puzzled by how often my car ends up with bird poop on it since the “bird battle” started earlier this year. 

Not that I really believe that the birds are targeting my car, but….. strange things happen!

At this time, there are 22,232 photos to be uploaded.  I wonder how it knows how many photos are left?

That’s it for now, Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Spring 2015 May 25 Monday (Memorial Day 2015)

66 degrees this morning  45:58 minutes walk

Heavy rain again yesterday.  This is really getting out of hand!  There is water all over the place.  Fortunately, our addition is relativity well drained, although the detention ponds are full.

Memorial Day. I remember when I was a kid, we went to Soldier, Kansas every Memorial Day, usually taking “the parallel” road.

The Parallel was called that because it was literally one of the earth’s “parallel’s”. I used to think if I followed the road,I wold go around he world.  I guess literally that was true, but….  operationally, it may have posed some problems.  I need to look up which parallel it was.

We went to Soldier to the cemetery and then the local residents of Soldier, Kansas made a wonderful lunch.  They still do this, and they did this when both my Dad and Mom were buried in the cemetery.  

I was always amazed a small city like Soldier (literally probably has no more than 500 residents) could get so well organized and do this for years (at least 70 years that I am aware of).  I guess it develops in their municipal and area DNA, but it is really a wonderful service.  

Anyway, I would also walk outside and listen to the “Indianapolis 500”.  Why I was intrigued by it, I don’t know.

Of course that was also normally the start of Summer vacation also  Since my Dad and Mom were both teachers (although at different times sometimes), it was especially significant.  

Yesterday I bit the bullet and started saving my photos to Flickr.  They have some new software which makes it easier to upload.

All 33,000+photos.  I started at around 6:00 p.m. last night and they are still being uploaded. 

i didn’t realize the computer would go to sleep and stop uploading, so I set it to never go to sleep. Hopefully it will help me get everything organized.  The speed of uploading varies widely, but I think is is around a 1,000 photos per hour.

It will really be nice because I can access my entire photo library from any computer, iPad or cellphone  and it is fairly simple  

I saw a bunch of my China pictures and realize it has been a year since we returned.  Since I took a lot of pictures, I am still organizing.

It looks like with Flickr, I can make notes on them easily, which will really make it nice. ‘

I am going to set up an account for Aliene.  That way she can get ride of that annoying message from Apple that she “doesn’t have adequate storage for backup” or something like that.  I hate to think it but it seems like a gimmick so Apple can extort a few extra dollars, so I ignore the messages, knowing that I am going to take the pictures off of there.  (I back up her iPhone to iTunes).

I am sure I will make some major deletions to pictures.  I need to do with my pictures like I do with my clothes and books and just pick my favorites.

What will be nice is that Aliene can upload all of here family (and our) pictures to Flickr after she scans them, so they will be available to anyone in our families who want to look at them.  I’ll do the same for a bunch of photos my mother gave me, so they are preserved like she wanted them preserved.  

Going to be buying a refrigerator (the house we lease has the refrigerator in it, so we need to purchase one) and some other things, as the move unfolds.  

That’s it for now, hopefully a dry, sunny, Monday, May 25, 2015.

Spring 2015 May 24 Sunday

61 degrees this morning  Rain, no walk this morning

Major storms again, as the rain continues, along with tornado’s also returning to the area..

May of 2015 now had the record of must rainfall of any May and also any month.  Almost every rain now causes flooding, I assume due to the saturated soil and poor drainage planning by the City.

No response to our comments on the storm drainage problems in our new area.  Yesterday we took some items over and a builder had even made matters worse by throwing a bunch of dirt on the street.  I wonder where these people came from and why the city doesn’t enforce the drainage rules.  

I am sure the builders and developers are crying about how “they an’t do anything because of the rain”, but it is their poor developing and building practices that created the problems in the first place.

Of course as appears to be the rule in this city, the residents come last.

                

The Post Office here is the worst we have ever seen.  In our current neighborhood, we continuously receive the mail for our neighbors, our neighbors receive the mail for us etc.  There are many complaints of missed important mail.

All the post office says is “put it back and the carriers will realize their mistakes”, but that simply doesn’t happen.

In our new area, we got the the same address, different Street.  The house doesn’t have a Post Office Box yet, so apparently the carrier decided to dump it on us.  They also refused to pick up the mall when we put it back.

We are taking the mail to the Postmaster, although I doubt if we will get much concern.  We didn’t want to get the carriers in trouble, but apparently this is flat negligence, not even errors or laziness.

Apparently more rain coming in today (rain this morning was light at least). 

Hate to complain so much, but the continued deference shown violations by builders, developers and businesses and the continued negligence of the post office is starting to get rather wearing.  An occasional mistake is understandable, but this appears to be just SOP for the Post Office and city.

I am really basically a positive person, but….

Another dream, this one somehow reminded me of something that actually happened or at least came close to happening.  I tried to remember the name of the street in the dream but couldn’t.  I believe the setting of the dream is Denver, although I’m not sure.  

Straight forward dream I was driving around an area, not sure what I was looking for.

It wasn’t a residential area, it was an industrial area, with many vacant buildings.

I drove to an area and thought how this was my favorite and maybe I would buy one of the buildings.   (This is not  literal reality here, I never even thought of investing in an industrial building. May represent something else.)

there were other people and cars etc. in the dream, but I basically ignored them and didn’t recognize anyone..

I drove through an area and started speeding up the car when my alarm went off.

The buildings were all basically vacant, except that I saw trucks.

In one episode I remember,l a truck was blocking the road and blocking me from going to a house.  It was one of those “u shaped’ drive ways.

That’s it for now, Sunday, May 24, 2015.

Spring 2015 May 23 Saturday (Organizing, T-Shirts & Hats, Summer)

59 degrees this morning. 46:31 minute walk

It hardly feels like Spring out there and definitely not Summer!  I thought at least Spring weather was finally here for good, but….

Currently they are forecasting rain throughout the weekend. 

I wanted more work and I have it!  Due to a colleague resigning, I am covering  that area.  It has really been interesting and it definitely makes the day go fast!  

The new accounts are really interesting because they involve some areas I haven’t worked before and a different type of business person.  I never  realized the variety before both in businesses and the type of persons who are involved in businesses.

I am going to have to find the time to read (or at least use as a reference) by Marie Kondo, “The life-changing magic of tidying up” (the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing”.  A friend recommended it an the sections she has mentioned make sense!

I mentioned several weeks ago about how much easier it is to “select” something to save and not “select something” to throw away.  In a way (based on the section I readI) has the same concept except she describes it as (this is an interpretation) “if it gives you joy, keep it”.  

Something I haven’t looked at or used for 13, or in some cases, almost 27 years (or more) isn't really worth hauling around. with some minor exceptions for personal mementos.

I decided I need to select the top 100 t shirts and hats and give away the rest, after taking pictures of the “event” items or any item that brings back memories.  

What I find myself doing is wearing the ones I DON”T like, hoping to wear them out, which means I would never wear the ones I do like!  Actually, usually what happens is I wear the ones I really really like in public and wear the ones I wouldn’t wear in public around the house and the other than the top ten and bottom ten, they never get worn.  

Actually the hats do tend to wear out faster than the t-shirts.  The t-shirts seems to be made of iron, I have had maybe two or three t-shirts rip or tear or get holes.

I actually originally started collecting t-shirts and hats with the idea that I would wear them for exercise.  Then “smart” shirts came out, that wicked out moisture etc., and so much for wearing t-shirts for exercise!  

The “smart” shirts feel so much better, even if you just slightly sweat that I never wear regular t-shirts for any time of exercise that I sweat at all.

My major problem with t-shirts, hats etc. is that it is true that “someday’” I may well use them.

I am finding the true meaning of the concept that “possessions can own me”, instead of “me owning possessions”  

School is out here.  I can remember when I was out for “summer” and usually after a brief period, I couldn’t wait to get back to school.  I usually read my text books over the summer for the net school year, or at least on the subject.

When in college, I went to Denver and worked in a Samsonite factory.  It certainly make a difference in my life, as I experiences factory work, a wide variety of  people, places and experiences.                i

That’s it for now, Saturday, May 23, 2015

Spring 2015 May 22 Friday

55 degrees this morning (Rain coming in, no walk)

Friday before a three day weekend!

Memorial Day, I believe, is as “early” as it can be, since the last day of May is on a Sunday.  I like Holidays, even more than vacation days etc.  

Moving continues.  As always when I move, I have this desire to live a minimalist lifestyle.  Which is fine until you have to actually live it, or at least realize what you have to get rid of to do the things preventing you from doing so! 

I figure I can start by really concentrating on getting rid of items I don’t use.  

It seems there are several thoughts preventing me from getting rid of stuff. 

“I’ll need it someday”.  This is a powerful concept, especially since it can be true.  I saved clothes for years on the thought “I’ll lose weight someday”, and the clothes finally fit!  (I quickly got  rid of the big clothes since I decided the reverse-I’d gain weight again and eventually fit them again, wasn’t going to happen!)

However, when I think of the “carrying costs” of having something for years you can’t use when you can buy something brand new that you absolutely need (such as a new size of clothes) it may not be worth it, plus buying something new keeps your clothes (or whatever) up to date and kind of rewards.

Still, even though it may not be reasonable, “I’ll need it some day” is a powerful reason for keeping stuff around.

The next is the “Round Tuit”, since as “i’ll get around to it”.  Of course, this includes books, magazines, gadgets, and is the reason you see trees growing through old cars! 

Of course, another one is “its’ still good”.  That is a tough one.  I have a ten year old iMac that still operates great and really could be used for some tasks.  But…it is obsolete for most programs.

Anyway, I’ll keep analyzing my motivators for keeping items, so I can continue “downsizing”.

A really weird dream yesterday morning during  my “after walk nap”

Dreamed I was having a Toastmasters meeting in my house (seemed like the first Harrah house).

Aliene was around and I was having a problem organizing,  for some reasons socks all over the house.  

We were meeting in a little room and didn’t have many persons attending. 

I got a call the “the Team” was coming to the meeting.

For some reason I went to my room to get dressed (not sure why).  I was in the position again of not having any clothes except my wrap around and a t-shirt.

The “Team” came to the meeting, a bunch of extremely  tall (7’ and up) of men and women in white uniforms, like the coast card or dress navy.

That is when I really noticed the socks around the house.

They walked through the house and to the meeting.

Next, for some reason I was walking down the middle of a street in some city.  It was raining really hard and the water was running high  though the street.

Suddenly it came up to my neck and I had to start swimming.  I was worried about being late to the TM Meting. 

Next I was in the house, wandering around doing odd jobs, trying to dress for the Toastmasters meeting.

Suddenly I realized the Toastmasters meeting with the “Team” was going on in a room, they had just closed the door when the meeting started and I hadn’t realized it

I was trying to decide whether to go in when the alarm went off.  It was one of those dreams where I feel like it is real and it talks a couple of moments to realize it was just a dream.

A very vivid, seemed to be long dream.  A lot of variety and very disconnected.  Absolutely no idea what it means or what all the very stonrg symbols meeans.

Toastmasters once was very important to my life (in a different way than it is now), I’m not sure what the tall men and women in white uniforms.  the water and flooding of the street is also  a puzzle, as are the socks around the house and the continual dreams about not having any clothes.  

That’s it for today, Friday, May 22, 2015

Spring 2015 May 21 Thursday (Weather, "Natural", Exercise)

53 degrees this morning. 46:10 minutes walking.

Cool this morning.  I am glad I didn’t store all my cold/chilly weather garments!  I definitely needed them this morning.  

Nature seems to be playing a joke on us this year.

The rain continues.  I think this month is expected, or is the heaviest monthly rain on record.  It rained Tuesday evening and some Wednesday.  Fortunately for us, the worst we’ve experience is a lawn so wet we couldn’t  mow it for awhile and just by luck caught the one day it has been dry for the past three weeks.

A lot of the area has had floods, plus tornadoes, high winds etc.  Much of the flooding is due to the poor planning of storm drainage facilities in this City.  I am sure the  cost of repairing the damage was much  higher than proper drainage planning, especially since the developers should pay for the increased drainage problems.  

Work has become even more interesting.  I have been getting a lot more variety of accounts etc.  and am now working some in the downtown area.  Many of the accounts involve researching in a way that is almost like solving a puzzle.

Actually, I never enjoyed solving puzzles that much, but I really enjoy this.  The day goes fast.  I enjoy both the research and also the “field work” which involves actually meeting with the accounts and trying to resolve the problem or problems.  

What is “Natural”.  I recently read an article about this and it was very thought provoking. (Actually I read it this morning during the time I usually walk.) 

I won’t summarize the article here, but it was interesting when someone says “natural”  (especially someone trying to sell me something they say is “natural”, I may think of some questions as to what they consider “natural”.  

The move will change my exercise routine, like it or not.  Since I exercise so much in my neighborhood, the patterns will change.  

The fact I live about 2 miles from a major YMCA will help but I am used to exercising at times when the Y normally isn’t open (they open at 5:00 a.m. on weekdays, which I may be able to incorporate into my routine).  

I really enjoy my current routine, but am looking forward to the change also.  No matter what, I will continue to include at least a 30 minute walk in my routine, the sit-ups and weight lifting.   Of course, I really want to increase my bike riding, which in this city is really difficult due to the lack of decent places to ride and the failure to establish and enforce storm water regulations etc. , which leaves dangerous areas on the streets.

Actually, the YMCA has some decent bike paths, although it could get boring.  However, I can’t be too picky.  I’m not sure if I really want to pack up the bike every morning and drive just so I can ride, but I go up there to ride several mornings a week and in the neighborhood the other days.  

Since I ride early in the morning, traffic is a lot less etc.

We donated another two boxes of books and a box of music CD’s to the library, so they are officially gone.  

I think I have accepted the fact that things have changed, and I no longer have any reason to keep my cassette tapes (!), CD’s or even most of my books.  Now, my big hangup is hats, t-shirts and the “bags” (or briefcases, satchels etc.) I got at conferences or accumulated through the years when I bought packages of notebooks and pads etc, plus other accumulated stuff I will use “some day”.   Oddly enough, I am using many of the pads, pens, etc. in my work, although I have enough to last a lifetime, even if I was a lot younger. 

That’s it for now, Thursday, May 21, 2015

Spring 2015 May 20 Wednesday

63 degrees this morning, No walk, rain.

One thing I learned about moving, is that U-Haul (at least for us) makes the best boxes and the cheapest boxes.  It probably depends on what the purpose is, but the U-Haul boxes have handles (that is inserts you can put your and in if you don’t need to carry it by the bottom), and they are a lot lighter and more sturdy.

Some of there more technical boxes (china boxes for long moves etc.) may be expensive,  but I expect they were be expensive anyplace.  

I remain amazed at the lack of planning in this city, it is like they are back in the sixties, or maybe more prehistoric than that.  There is absolutely no connectively in commercial parking lots even, and their stormwater enforcement is pathetic to say the least.

The dirt in some places is like dye, so if you get your clothes dirty you may as well throw them away.

Meanwhile, the developers and builders continue  merrily going along, no silt fence, letting mud go out into the street.  It is just amazing it is almost  gross negligence.  

Of course, developers, contractors, builders and commercial business seem to run this city for their own benefit.  I’m not saying they shouldn’t be encouraged, but the rules still need be enforced.  The residents just don’t to seem to be important to them.

While I”m on the “expressing my opinion” phase, I also need to mention why in the world does Sirius XM have dj’s on their music stations.  

While moving stuff last night I tried to listen to three music channels and finally just turned it off in disgust when every channel had a dj chattering about something completely unrelated to the music or anything else. 

This isn’t a matter of age, I have always disliked chattering disk jockeys who don’t seem to understand that i listen for the music and i could care less what they think or say.

I really thought XM radio wouldn’t have dj ’s, much less one on every channel.  Years ago, I bought my first car cassette player so I don’t have to listen to dj ’s, and I may just start listening to my iPod in the car and cancel XM.  

Of course there is always one or two channels you like and that would be difficult to be without, but I am going to consider canceling it and using the money to get some decent music without having to listen to chatter.

At work, I have some additional territory at work, covering for a person who resigned.  It is always fun to have new territory, and what I really like is I have enough to keep me busy.  I definitely have a wide variety.

Just wanted to note a dream I hadn’t noted yet.  I don’t really make any attempt to interpret my dreams, it probably wouldn’t be correct anyway.  However, I am  reviewing the general trend of my dreams and I am picking up some interesting threads.  

Of course, I remember only  a smidgen of my dreams.

Dream  5 18 15

In dream driving on road, watching for a truck, somehow associated with my work.

Not sure who else was in the car.  Didn’t really know who else was with me

Was trying to track down where going.  At one point several ruts through a forest, but decided not the big truck I was looking for.

There was a traffic circle and heavy forests, but no indication as to where I was.

That’s it for now, Wednesday, May 20, 2015