you gotta love his diet…

Bill Clinton with Z Burger owner Peter Tabibian at the Tenleytown restaurant Saturday night. (Photo - Peter Tabibian, Washington Post)
Bill Clinton with Z Burger owner Peter Tabibian at the Tenleytown restaurant Saturday night. (Photo - Peter Tabibian, Washington Post)

You may not agree with his politics, but you have to admit – that boy knows where to go for a great takeout dinner when the Mrs is working late.

Bill Clinton waiting in line for his to-go meal at Tenleytown’s Z Burger on Saturday night. Blue polo shirt with his eyeglasses clipped into the collar. Posed for photos and signed autographs during his 30-minute stay before leaving with dinner — double burger (hold the mayo), onion rings, french fries, apple pie, milkshake. – this morning’s Washington Post

ordinary urban old lady saturday

  1. Walk to the grocery with my little push cart.
  2. Take bus to farm market.
  3. Walk from farm market to Free People, Apple Store, Container Store. Look at funky clothes for much younger women. Fondle Apples. Purchase a thingie to help old folk open jars.
  4. Take subway home.
  5. Rest up after all that activity.

Why did I spend 20+ years living in a house in the ‘burbs? When the first husband walked, my friends told me to move into the city. Why didn’t I listen? Inertia, I guess.

But, the profits made from the timely sale of the house in the ‘burbs are looking sweet today.

after the storm

after the storm
after the storm

After I got stuck in the monsoon yesterday – the sun came out and we had a nice rainbow.

Pig flu is stalking around my hospital these days. But, hey, it is a hospital. We have sick people. At this instant, pig flu appears  no  worse than generic flu. That can change.

what ever happens is what I planned

stuck in the rain
stuck in the rain

Sure, I planned to take pictures of rain. Been planning that all week.

Developing a poor attitude about the volunteer  job… Been really really tempted to ask “Exactly when did your lack of planning become my emergency?”

ethics

Lightroom. I am missing my 30 day free trial. A legit copy costs $299. I could impose upon my friends and family and get an “educational” copy for far less. I could wander off into the dark parts of the internet and snag some “warez”.

But, I have moral issues with either of these approaches. I earned a nice living building software. I am enjoying a nice retirement off Carlton’s money. Money that Carlton made from renting people who wrote software. I have made investment profits from software companies.

And, I do enjoy riding around on my moral (but atheistic) high horse.

So, I will either get over wanting Lightroom or do the right thing and buy it. Because, thanks to the money I have made off software – I can afford $299.

The New Lens

carlton, working on his tan
carlton, working on his tan

The new lens arrived on schedule. It is nothing special. Basically an inexpensive prime lens. The film equivalent of a 50mm lens. Since my Panasonic body with the kit lens and battery weighs over a kilo – I was mostly after a light weight lens. And now I have one. Optically the half kilo kit lens is vastly superior. And, the 70mm macro lens is more fun. But, I think this one will be more useful.

Right now I am missing Lightroom. But, I am not missing it $300 worth. Yet.

Remembering when…

One of the first steps taken on the Moon, this is an image of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint from the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
NASA Photograph. One of the first steps taken on the Moon, this is an image of Buzz Aldrin's bootprint from the Apollo 11 mission. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Remembering when we dared to go where no man (or woman) had gone before. I watched this from the Kunia Tunnel on Red Hill on Oahu. Kunia Tunnel was supposed to be atomic bomb proof and it was TV/Radio/Shortwave proof. But, one of the electronics techs ran an amplified signal from a TV antenna on the outside. Violating all manner of security regs. But, on that day – it didn’t matter.

Look Fat?

Does this car make me look fat?
Does this car make me look fat?

Spent way too much time yesterday ripping audiobooks from the library into my iPod. I am willing to pay $10 to download a nice fat audiobook. But not a cent more. So, I check them out of the library as CD’s and stuff them into the iPod. I am happy to support the audiobook industry – but refuse to pay more than paperback rates for an audiobook.

Tomorrow my Olympus Pancake 25mm f/2.8 lens is supposed to arrive. That might quell my toy lust for a week or two. Maybe.

what’s with the younger generation?

nasa photo from July 16, 1969
NASA Photograph - Adjacent to the Kennedy Space Center thousands of spectators camped out on beaches and roads to watch the launch of Apollo 11, which launched at 9:32 a.m. Eastern on July 16, 1969.

Pardon me whilst I take an old woman’s mental trip back to the summer of 1969. Things were not all wonderful then. Our president had been killed, our boy friends, sons and husbands were being killed in the jungles of South East Asia. The evil empire had control of at least half the world. And don’t get me started about the role of women in those days.

But, we were going to moon. And had every intention of getting back alive. What have we done lately? Where is the adventure. Of course, there was the evil empire – spurring us on. Can’t we go to the moon and beyond – just to find out what there is to see? Must there be an enemy to get us to do anything except eat and hone our video gaming skills?

Now, Apollo 11 – that was real reality TV.

Step away from the computer and go to the stars,  boys and girls.

Still stuck in the summer blahs…

wall on the walk to work

Still becalmed in the middle of summer. Volunteer, lounge around the pool. Life could be worse things.

So, what’s for dinner? Jalapeno sausages, zucchini and eggplant – with maybe some quick marinara sauce.

I have noticed over the past few days that the recession is starting to change little life patterns in our urban village. I see young men in the elevator – in years past they would be taking their expensive shirts down to the laundry. Not any more. The young men must have discovered that there is a washing machine in their units.

One sees fewer Minute Maids. And dog walkers. I haven’t seen the grocery delivery van in weeks. Nor have I seen the “in home dog grooming” service recently. DIY is taking on new meaning.

street shooter

shooting the street

Another do nothing kind of a day. Volunteer, see the doctor, hang out by the pool.

Yep, the doctor gave me a boat load of “see the specialist, get more tests, come back and see me in 3 months”.  Nothing I wasn’t expecting to hear. Nothing I wanted to hear. But, no surprises.

Just ordered a new lens for the Panasonic L1. It is a brick of a camera – but, I like it. There wasn’t an L2. It was an experimental camera. An evolutionary dead end.

feets

My budget for pedicures is nil.

Absolutely nothing going on. Which is not a bad thing when you are an old person. Most of the things that “happen” when you are old are not good things.

Tomorrow, I go back and see the doctor at the clinic. She will tell me to take more drugs and get more tests. And most likely, I’ll ignore her advice. Which when you stop to think of it is pretty silly, since she has 4 years of medical school, one year as an intern and one year as a resident of experience. One would hope she knows more than I do.