Droning and Droning On

Fun Disney World fact: Most of the buildings on Main Street were built using 'forced perspective. which was used in most multi-story buildings in the park. The first floors are built to regular size, but the additional floor facades are built to 5/8 and 1/2 scale, giving the illusion that the building is taller than it actually is.

No pie? That makes me sad.

Plan Ahea
d

"What? Somebody brought a drone?"

"Well, I heard that one was buzzing around near here, but I haven't seen it yet."

"What's that noise? A giant fly buzzing around my head?"

"I didn't hear anything."

"Oh, that's cool."

I found both of my daily calendar entries to be clever today. First, the Bad Jokes and Puns one.
9-1-1 dispatcher: Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?
Man on the line: Please send the fire department—my house is on fire!
Dispatcher: How should we get there?
Man: Don't you still have those big red trucks?

And next, the Stupidest Things Ever Said entry. Today, I am including the calendars heading. I don't usually do that, but it helps set up the oddly-phrased newspaper column:
ON MOUNTAIN LIONS, EXCESSIVELY BUREAUCRATIC
LOS ANGELES—A mountain lion suspected of killing at least two suburban dogs was shot to death after a state warden spotted it taking a report near the scene of the latest attack.
from the San Bernardino County Sun

I think I will end today's post with an inspirational message I came across last week. It is from Joe Sabah, a consultant and motivational speaker (I don't know the name, but maybe some of you are big fans). He said "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

OK, Friday is busting out around me, and I am going to join in. Have a Fabulous Friday, a Wonderful Weekend, and I will be back next week.

Coffee, Cats, and Cascade Falls

Today is National Coffee Day. If you are a coffee drinker, I know there are some deals and/or free coffees available. Check with your favorite purveyor and see what offers they have.

It's cooler weather (that's relative in the desert Southwest, of course), but it means that trees are starting to change color. However, the timing of Fall colors differs depending on where you live. Luckily, this article gives you an idea of when the peak colors will be in each region of the US of A. This is a photo (not mine) of Walden Pond in the Fall.

I had to do a double-take to figure this one out. I'm sure you got it deciphered quicker than I did.

Here's part of our crew playing a customized version of Monopoly at the reunion. I did notice that the Jail square seems to have been altered to be a slight on one of the family members, namely Yours Truly. Hmm. That's OK. It was a clever gift for dad by Ex-NZ Accountant and her better half.

This was supposed to be a nice evening photo of the waterfall you can vaguely see behind this youngster's head. However, it was photobombed by these two yahoos and you can't even see the waterfall. OK, you caught me. It is not one of my photos and it was probably always a selfie-style shot that happened to have the waterfall behind it.

I think this shot should be entitled, "Exploring". I wonder if there would be ominous music in the background if this were in a movie since he is heading off towards an old, abandoned house? I really like the photo, though.

I had to reboot my computer twice this morning to get it to respond correctly. That ate up a lot of my blog-building time. So, we will end today's post earlier than usual. By that, I mean with less content. It is not any earlier on the clock since I have already reached my allotted time for blogging. I'll be back tomorrow, though, with more fun stuff.

Banana Costumes, Curvy Sinks, and Abandoned Parks

Look at this photo. Now, go back and look again more closely. Notice anything odd about one of them? Sneaky cat.

Halloween is coming, people. I found some ideas if you are still deciding about your costume. Jason from Halloween, the movie?

You could use this idea to dress up like the Terminator.

A banana?

I was not thinking of reworking my bathroom until I saw this sink. OK, I am not actually thinking of it. It's a bit too weird.

How about one of these? Are you getting inspired yet?

"We don't know how it happened, but apparently, these rocks ended up looking stacked as a result of nature. We are going to stay and protect them."

If he hadn't had that ice pick, he would have slid all the way off the ice. Oh wait, he's on the ground. OK, how about this? No one should begin the treacherous climb up a glacier without testing their ice pick first. More believable? Maybe he just walked up and saw this pick sticking out of the ice and is pulling it out like Arthur pulled the sword from the stone?

The family that photobombs together stays together. Or maybe they just can't sit or stand up straight long enough for the photographer? Since they were leaning right, can we suppose they must be Republicans?

From today's Bad Jokes and Puns calendar comes a pretty bad one. It is clever and almost funny.
Reporter: Coach, you put a lot of trust in your team's new star player, but when he dropped the ball at the last minute, it cost you the championship. How do you feel about the defeat?
Coach: Well, that's the way the rookie fumbles.

Dreamland. Doesn't that sound like a place you would want to live? Maybe not this one, which is an abandoned amusement park in Japan obviously patterned after early Disneyland (which makes sense since this was created in 1961). At this link, you can see a bunch of photos from a dude that slipped into the park recently.

Admit it. Most or all of you reading this post today have cable TV, don't you? I saw an article that finds 82% of us have cable TV. Even with prices rising, we find a way to keep our cable. I know. Me, too. Now, for me, one of the major draws is the DVRs. However, I do like me some cooking shows, and some zombies, and some people fighting over the Iron Throne.

My next topic is... nothing. I am out of time for blogging. You are probably out of time for reading anyway. Thanks for taking a few minutes and seeing what crazy things I am sharing each day. It's Wednesday. It's Hump Day. It's Survivor night. That's a great pick-me-up for the middle of the week. See you, but not if I see you first. Well, that didn't work, but you know what I mean.

Running and Jumping, but Not Debating

I am not saying my wife would do this, but I am not saying that she wouldn't.

My confusion does not stem from the woman on the ground imitating what the sign says she should do. It comes from whatever the sign even meant. What was it?

Here's a realistic life goal that I could get behind.

Let's not talk about the presidential debate last night. Well, you can talk about it, but I am not going to mention it in today's post. I am not going to say that the media today is buzzing and the consensus so far is that Clinton won. I didn't watch it. Did you? Did it change the way you feel about either candidate? Exactly.

Who's going to Disney World soon? Well, certainly not me. For those who are, though, I found an interesting fact about the Epcot ride This Island Earth. "When Disney makes updates to its parks, the old parts and machinery aren’t always thrown out, and instead are sometimes repurposed elsewhere on the property. One of the most interesting examples of this involves The Hall of Presidents attraction, which has been in operation in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom since 1971, but has needed numerous updates throughout its 45-year history. Consequently, some of the old “robot” presidents have been moved to other roles on other rides — specifically Epcot’s Spaceship Earth. President James Buchanan now plays Johannes Gutenberg, while Andrew Jackson is one of his assistants. Additionally, President Taft is an Egyptian priest, Teddy Roosevelt is a Roman senator, Zachary Taylor is a centurion, John Adams is a monk, John Tyler is a Turk, Franklin Pierce is a scholar, and Dwight D. Eisenhower is a mandolin player."

Clearly, these guys missed the memo that the stairs there on their right side are a much easier way to go uphill towards the house.

Instead, it seems that the stairwell is actually a parkour-type obstacle to be jumped over rather than climbed.

"Well, if our daddies can do it, so can we."

I am fairly certain that this was the youngest parkourer (is that a word?).

And that's a wrap, folks. Take 24 and come back tomorrow.

Dogs and Cats. Blogging Together. Mass Hysteria.

I don't know if this is real or not, but I found it funny.

I am certain this one is real, and I found it funny, too. It reminded me of Tom and Jerry.

And this one was cute.

For today's 365 Stupidest Things calendar:
PEOPLE THINK ALIENS MAY BE MORE SMARTER THAN US
headline, Associated Press article

The vice president under which our team works is from Australia. Brisbane, maybe? Anyway, I bring this up because I found an article talking about the fact that the continent moves about 2.7 inches northward every year, and ti has somewhat of a clockwise rotation. The story mentioned that, since 1994, it has moved 4.9 feet. Just an interesting fact, you say? Au contraire. Think of what that does to GPS. What if an airport landing strip move some 5 feet from where the airplane expected it? What happens if a self-driving car were to suddenly be shifted by 5 feet? Apparently, North America moves about 1 inch per year. I don't know about the US, but Australia will officially adjust their GPS at the end of the year.

Did I mention that an artificial intelligence has written a pop song in the style of The Beatles? I don't think so, but if you've seen this, you can skip over it. The song is called "Daddy's Car". The article calls it "a catchy, sunny tune reminiscent of The Beatles." To me, it sounded a bit more like Paul McCartney's stuff after The Beatles. BTW, the AI wrote the music. A person actually penned the words and harmonies.

Ah, yes, 1973. What happened that year? One thing was that Johnny Cash released a movie called 'Gospel Road'. He and family recorded an album of gospel songs and this movie used those songs to tell the story of Jesus. One of the songs that I have heard was 'I See Men as Trees Walking.' I thought of that because today's devotional is from Mark 8:22-26. In that passage, a man is at first partially healed and says he can see a little and men look like tress walking.

Ah, yea, 2016. What happened that year? We had the first family reunion for my folks and their kids. One day, a few of us went to eat at Tacos del Gnar in Ridgway. It is right across the street from the park you saw a few days ago.

It was an interesting, eclectic spot with some pretty good food.

"What? Can't a guy just take his girl out for dinner and bowling?" This is GRAND#3 playing bowling on a phone while his cousin looks on.

Seeing him reminds me that we had a good time when the GRANDS spent Saturday night. The girls and I went to the drone park. He and I went to McDonald's for lunch. We started the day together at a celebration ceremony for daughter-in-love's grandfather, Gale. It was a great service. Our visit ended Sunday morning when we joined SS and family at their church. It was a good weekend.

One thing we did not do was eat in the restaurant at True Grit. We did have a meal catered by them, but with 42 of us, we could not all fit into their restaurant space.

OK, working time. At least I found a few things to share before ending today's post. I'll be back soon.

Does This Post Pass the Sniff Test?

Lasagna. Baked Potatoes. Cinnamon Rolls. Granola. Smells good, right? What do all of those foods have in common? They can all be cooked in a slow cooker. Check out these, and more, ideas in the article.

I work on the eighth floor of our building. I often look out and see birds flying above or below my floor. Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. Now I can easily look down from my floor when there is a wall and window in front of me. It is not nearly so easy when it it open or maybe just a low wall in place. There have been times when MBH or my dad have captured a photo for me because I could not get close enough to the edge. Here is my question about heights. Can a bird fly so high that it gets scared? Or because they can spread their wings and coast downwards, is the relative height immaterial to them?

Time for some Photoshop magic. Here is the stock photo.

And here is what the dude who inserts himself into the photos did this time. Notice that he even made it so that his nose was bent a little to add realism to the alteration. Do you think she passed the sniff test?

A new 'Read the Small Print' photo. Yes, it does have a 'For Worst Results' section. This would NOT pass any sniff test.

Here's a business name idea that doesn't really work for me. Not that it is offensive; just that it is weird.

In the center of Ridgway, CO, is a nice little park , Hartwell Park, with a playground area and open space often used for Farmer's Markets and celebrations. On one of the days this summer when no formal plans were made for the reunion, a few of us went up to this park and had a nice time with each other and our families. Here, you can see some of us whooping it up and enjoying nature.

After being browbeaten for not smiling, we put on some fake smiles and let the photographer take a second shot.

Did those smiles not look real to you? Well, apparently, they did not seem genuine enough, so we felt we needed to laugh uproariously to make it appear we enjoyed each other's company. Is that better?

Here is a view of Hartwell Park from outside of the park. You can see some of the booths for the Farmer's Market that day.

As a prayer request, please remember daughter-in-love and her family as we celebrate her grandfather's home-going tomorrow morning. I know that they (well, all of us) will miss him greatly, but he is in Heaven now and celebrating more than we can imagine. We will see him again one day.

Did you realize that it is Friday? If not, you are likely retired. If you did, then you have probably already performed your weekly 'It's Friday' dance in expectation of having a couple of days off from your daily routine. See you next week.

Doggie Stilts? Ms Sherlock Holmes? Penguins on Acid?

I thought this was totally silly and funny.

This is something I did not know because I don't watch Fox News.

I liked the quote in today's 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said calendar:
Giving debt relief to people that really need it, that’s what foreclosure is.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon

One of the outcomes of our family reunion this summer was a surprisingly passionate appeal to family that we raise the next generation with the values instilled in us by our own family. I voiced this request in a couple of videos captured during the trip and included in the DVD of the reunion that Dad released afterward. What brought this to mind? The passing of daughter-in-love's grandfather earlier this week made me think about the legacy he left behind. It is not just about him. Of course, I can see his legacy in his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids. I experienced it in the music that he and his wife would share in church services. I was part of it directly in my hundreds of encounters with him over the years. This has made me consider what my legacy will be. I hope it makes you consider what yours will be. I hope my legacy includes strong spiritual lives in my kids and grandkids. I hope they see me sharing the resources God blessed me with to impact the lives of those around me including the importance of tithing. I pray it even includes the importance of vacation for a chance for our kids and grandkids to see their father and grandfather in situations away from the pressures and restrictions of our daily lives. Hopefully, Gale's family is remembering those same things about him.

Speaking of daughter-in-love, here she is in a Sherlock Holmes-ish pose. No, I don't remember what she is using as a pipe.

Here is a shot of Architect Bro watching me take his photo through binoculars. You can also see that a nephew spotted me taking the photo and assumed a totally natural pose.

And now, Preacher Bro watched me take his photo while taking a photo of me taking a photo. Did you get lost in that sentence? I know that I did.

Before we go, let's see a lovely example from the Nailed IT! file:

Someone came by and talked to me for a while just now, eating up some of the time I normally devote to y'all. That means I am out of time for blogging. No time to talk about the 33rd season of Survivor, or the presidential campaign and my excitement for both candidates, or why 'Everything's Alright' from Jesus Christ Superstar has been stuck in my mind for 2 days.I don't even have time to tell you about others things for which I have no time. OK, let's wrap it up. I will be back soon. Hopefully, you'll be back as well.