The EYES Have It

During the later part of his life, Claude Monet developed cataracts in his eyes which prevented him from seeing colors clearly. The painter tried various treatments to no avail. In 1923, at the age of 82, he opted to have the lens of his left eye completely removed. Judging by the paintings he produced after the procedure, it may have enabled him to see ultraviolet light. The two paintings you are looking at are from Claude Monet’s 1922-1924 series The House Seen From the Rose Garden. The red and yellow version is painted as seen through his left eye, limited to the wavelengths allowed by his cataract. The painting on the right is deep blue and violet, as seen through an eye with no lens.

Did I show you this before?

We came up on a valley just outside of Ridgway, CO, this fall and I liked the look of this fence at the end of the road.

Just like I did in yesterday's photos, I decided to see if zooming into the scene would help its composition. I think that it did.

OK, but which is this landscape framing better than the first one above? I like the fence and road better, but I miss the colors of the first image. While I like this one, I guess I still have to rank it #3.

Do you like this parking sign? Does it worry you that a surgeon can be in and out in 5 minutes?

Not really much to say today. So, go ahead and quit reading now. Anything that I write after the prior sentence isn't really worth your time. So, let's get our Tuesday on.

Pandiculation and The Master of Space and Time

Today's entry from the Bad Jokes and Puns calendar:
Mary Poppins got a job as a restaurant reviewer for the local paper. At her first gig, she ordered cauliflower with cheese and a side of scrambled eggs, which she reviewed thusly: “Super cauliflower-cheese but eggs were quite atrocious.”

The alarm goes off and your eyes open. What's the first thing you do? If you're like me, you have a good stretch. This instinctual action is called pandiculation, and it does wonders for rebooting your body. You can learn more about it here.

Have you ever heard of "The Master of Space and Time"? If a person could manipulate both of those, surely they would never die, right? Well, that turned out not to be true. Leon Russell passed away in his sleep on Sunday at the age of 74. I first heard of him in college from a roommate, Jim Morris, and have been a fan ever since. His most famous song was "A Song For You." By the way, from the research I have done, his nickname of "The Master of Space and Time" came from a line in that famous song that reads "I love you in a place where there’s no space or time...." RIP, Leon.

I took a series of three photos of this scene, each one at a different zoom level. I was not sure which one would best capture the best feel of the colors surrounding the huge rock in the center. Which one do you prefer? Probably, the closest focus is the most effective for me.

I found these two related photos and snickered at the similarity of how we each react in these situations.

This is clever.

We returned from a weekend out of town last night. More on that in days to come. For today, though, I've shared enough. We are just a couple of weeks away from Thanksgiving, so let's all focus on those things for which we should be thankful. I know that we should think about this all the time, as it says in Ephesians 5, "Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Veteran's Day and Random Stuff

It's is Veteran's Day. Be sure and let a vet know that you appreciate their service. However, it is not a holiday, so off to work I go.

Did everyone else wake up in Bizarroland on Wednesday morning?

Today's 365 Stupidest Things Ever Said entry:
The Saints are going to have to do a complete 360 to get back into this game.
football announcer Chris Myers

Check this photo out. Did anyone else think of saying "I'm gonna put the hammer down"?

Pine cones after a rain.

Yes, I still have a job. Why? Did you doubt me? Still, I am a contractor, so no vacation days, holidays, I have forced time off around the holidays with no pay. Still, I really like my team, the work is interesting, and I know God is in control.

I don't know how they did this, but I like it.

This is not what I thought this sign meant. How about you?

It is Friday, people. Let's all have a great weekend and come back refreshed on Monday.

We Have a New President, And It's Not the First Female President

I will admit that I am very surprised at the results of the presidential election yesterday. I have made no secret of the fact that I am not a fan of either candidate. I know that pundits had said Donald Trump had a strong chance of winning, but in my heart of hearts, I did not believe it. I really thought that Hillary Clinton would win. It turns out that they were right and I was wrong. In preparation for whoever won, I did find an article listing Five Things the Bible Says About Governments. Of course, the first is Romans 13:1 saying "There is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God."

Regardless of who is president, I still have a responsibility to share information with you on this blog. Since last night was choir practice, and the election results were on when I got home, I didn't have much time to seek content. However, I did have these few things queued up to share.

As I mature (that sounds so much better than get older), I find that everything must be written on a To-Do list or I forget about it. You can imagine my pleasure at finding an article offering a way to write a good to-do list. You might find some helpful tips here, too.

I came across an excerpt from a book about how McDonald's got started. You will certainly enjoy reading this article.

Here are some facts about The Simpsons from analyzing data about the episodes. For example, who has spoken the most words over all the seasons? Other than their house, what location(s) are in the most episodes? Go check out other facts.

Will It Be Trump or Clinton?

Over this past weekend, most states transitioned off of Daylight Savings Time. It was first implemented in Germany a little over 100 years ago, and became the law in the US in 1918. You can learn more about its history here.

It is finally election day. Have you ever wondered why the elephant and donkey are the symbols of the two major parties? This article has the answer.

When I get on an elevator, especially if I am alone, I almost always press the Close Door button. Don't you? Well, read this and press the button no more. Those close door buttons that you frantically push don’t actually do anything. They’re placebo buttons. It wasn’t always so. The close door button lived a happy existence until 1990, when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed into law. One clause clearly states elevator owners must ensure people with disabilities have adequate time to make it into an elevator—hard to follow if impatient people can control the doors. Some older elevators may still have the close door functionality, since ADA compliance is only required when a building is built or an elevator is upgraded. The average life of an elevator is about 25 years, so older models are quickly becoming extinct. Of course, the “American” Disabilities Act is only law in America; when in Rome, close the doors as quickly as you want. As we learned in Curio #394, placebo buttons are all around us. Most crosswalk buttons don’t do anything, or just change the color of the WALK sign but don’t make it come any faster. And many building thermostats are minimally functional, or not operational at all. Placebo buttons are meant to give us the “illusion of control.” That’s the psychological state where we tend to overestimate how much we affect things. Which got me thinking: maybe we only know about the poorly designed placebo buttons, and there are lots more really effective instances in our lives which we haven’t discovered yet? Actually, maybe it’s better that way.

Take a look at this next photo. What catches my eye about it is the zigzag pattern woven through the lines of the mountains and the trees.

I like the sun reflecting off the gold in this next one. And sometimes, I even like seeing the white trunks of the aspen down below a crown of gold.

Here's  a business name pulled from the dark side.

Don't forget to vote. That way, if your choice wins, you can say, "At least it wasn't the other candidate" and if they lose, you can say "I voted for the other candidate." Either way, though, I think we all lose. Sorry. That's just my opinion. Enjoy your Tuesday.

Negativity? Campaign Ads and Worst Prez and Greater Mistakes

It turns out that backwards running is a real sport. No, I don't expect it in the Olympics anytime soon but that doesn't mean there are not some skilled competitors. And there is an International Retro Running World Championship. And there is a Guinness record for a backward mile. You can read the guy's story here.

Only two more days of election ads. Aren't you ready for all this negativity to go away? No, let's says the negative ads will be gone, but there could still be some negativity around since it seems we have two less-than-ideal candidates, one of which will be our president for at least four years. All we can do is pray, people. PRAY!

Speaking of elections, who would you say is the worst president ever? Nixon because of Watergate? Grant because of graft and corruption? Mo Rocca makes the case for James Buchanan. Seems logical.

How many unique ways can you come up with to use the IKEA Ribba Picture Shelves? This article lists 20 ways. Some of them seem clever. Full disclosure: I do have some in my house, and I use them as... picture shelves.

One day, we were driving up a trail near Ouray, Colorado, and we came across a nice little pond with some cool reflections of the mountains behind it. Here is one of the shots we caught while the water was semi-smooth. I also captured some drone footage over this pond. No negativity here, right?

This next photo makes me smile, but not for the reason you might expect. It is a nice shot, although the water surface is not quite as smooth. No, it reminds me a discussion I had with Preacher Bro. I said I liked those cat-o-nine-tails and he teased me, claiming they were called cat-tails. It turns out we were both right.

Realistic life goal time. OK, this might imply a little negativity, but in  funny way.

Guide to life in Sticky Notes.

I think I may have overloaded you with too much stuff today, not al of which was negative. Let's go have a Magnificent Monday and come back together another day.

Sweet, Sweet Studies

One of the onboarding tasks at work that is expected to help me know my team better is to hold a 1:1 meeting with each, both those in my building and those in Texas. One of my teammates has her own band and has toured with the 1970s group Sister Sledge (who sang We Are Family). Another teammate is from Romania, so I was able to say Good Morning to him in Romanian.

One day in Ouray, we were driving up this road...

and came across this scene. The photo may not be the best, but I like it because the mountain peak was perfectly framed and appears directly above the road, which leads your eye into the shot.

This shot appealed to me because of the way the light was breaking through the clouds, right on the peak.

I like this. It's true, right?

Here's a tattoo everyone want should.

While I am waiting for my first work assignment, I am going through some self-study training courses. I think that this is a great way for me to motivate myself to keep reading.

I don't find anything else for today, and it's almost time for work anyway. Y'all have a great weekend and enjoy your families.

Just Words Today

After 108 years, the Chicago Cubs have again won US baseball's honor, the World Series. We watched some of the games, and had to watch the end of last night's pivotal game 7. We do not watch baseball at all during the regular season, but something about the World Series captivates us. It's kind of like watching the Super Bowl even though may not care about either of the teams playing. Anyway, congrats to the Cubbies.

As we usually do on Wednesday nights during the Survivor season, we went over to the folks' house and watched with them. I won't spoil it in case you haven't watched yet, but there was a very surprising and tense blindside when it came to the vote. Nuff said.

OK, my first day at a new job is now behind me. I met all of the team here in my building, and the other half, including my boss, are all in Texas. I don't have an assignment yet, but my boss expects to assign one by the end of the week.

Since I wasn't home last night, I don't have time right now to look for things to share. After all, I am a working dude now. So, I will just thank you for being loyal readers and for being patient with me when I don't have time to post or when I share an abbreviated blog post like today.

Go out and make it a Thrilling Thursday.

Starting a New Job, But No Regerts About Leaving My Old One

Good morning, everyone. I have a few minutes before I leave for my new job. Yes, God worked everything out and I have a two-month contract with American Airlines starting today. Now, I am a contractor, so I do not get the perqs (perqs is short for perquisites) that a full-time employee (FTE) gets, but I do get a paycheck and that's pretty important.

It's a good thing I have never gotten a tattoo with any of my former employers, since jobs are not forever, while tattoos are. Check out this guy's tat. I bet he wishes he hadn't gotten it, or at least not from this tattoo artist.

Do you think this person has any regerts for getting their tattoo?

I worked on some sheetrock with Dad yesterday afternoon, and had Chorale practice last night, so I did not have time to work on the blog last night. Since I need to leave in five minutes, this is all you get for today. However, you can praise the Lord for answered prayers along with me as I leave for work. Have a Wonderful Wednesday.

No to Candy, No to Cake, Yes to Mountains

It looks like I will start a new job on Wednesday. I completed all the final paperwork today, so I don't see any roadblocks right now. I'll share more once I actually start work, so be patient for a couple more days.

I did not give out candy last night. Just as planned, I turned off the porch light before it was even dark. No one even rang the bell. Maybe I should have allowed them to come by and been ready with treats like this guy.

If you did give out candy, have you ever wondered how much it would take to kill you? Me neither, but someone did. Read this article to find the formula.

If you look East from the town square of Ridgway, Colorado, you can see the San Juan Mountains and the distinctive outline of Courthouse Mountain, which can be seen in the climactic gun battle of the original True Grit with John Wayne. It has sort of a flat top and is to the left of the center of the photo. You can also see the Fall colors.

If you look to the West from the town square, you can see this building currently labeled as the Fire Department. I don't think it is used as a fire department building anymore, but it can be seen in True Grit. I did not find anything about what signage it showed in the movie.

While looking for more True Grit trivia, I came across a page listing True Grit, Then and Now. It shows a few more things we should go see next time we are up in the area. If you are heading up, let me know. Maybe I will meet you there.

Here's another of those cakes where the decorator took the request too literally.

That is enough information for one day. I don't want to overload you when you are still recovering from your candy hangover. I'll be back soon.