Spur of the Moment

Chris with the Sign in the Theater
July 23, 2018

The rains have returned to the region and are drowning out any idea of outdoor activities.

I had experienced a long day at work, getting home much later than normal, and after a fantastic dinner that Chris had prepared I knew that it was going to be another evening in the house. I surprised Chris and suggested that we go to a movie.

She was elated and we headed off to see Mama Mia!: Here we go again!

It was not so much which movie as it was any movie. And I stumbled onto a great deal. Monday was senior night at the movies. For $16.75, we both attended the movie. That is not each, but both!

Parking was easy, traffic was light, the theater was empty, and the rains did not bother us while we were watching the movie. It was a win all the way around.

Yes, I like Mama Mia! and I enjoyed the movie. Will it win an academy award? Probably not, but it was fun and took my mind off the ever pervasive rain for a couple of hours.

We are going to remember senior night at the movies. Both of us attended the showing for the price of one regular adult ticket!

On to Tuesday, and more rain!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - July 23, 2018

View from Four Friends Vineyard
Williamsport, PA
July 22, 2018

1. The month is cruising along. This is the fourth of five July Mondays this year. 

2. Chris and I took a relaxed approach to the drive from Upstate NY back to home yesterday. We stopped at a winery which had a magnificent view and we also stopped to enjoy lunch rather than eat while driving. It took longer but we enjoyed the drive a bit more

Mom and I on the Back Deck
From Radio Flyer
July 21, 2018

3. Although we frequently make the trip along U.S. Route 15 south of Williamsport, we had not stopped at one particular vineyard advertised from the road. Yesterday we changed that and stopped at Four Friends Vineyard. It was a nice respite from the drive and we enjoyed a stunning view along with some very drinkable wines.

Bluebird
July 21, 2018

4. I enjoyed flying Radio Flyer over the weekend and took some very nice images. I am hoping to begin to take some flights into the gorges of Ithaca next time I visit. 

5. If the contractors are replacing Federal employees, is the size of the Federal Government really shrinking?

6. I was able to snap a quick image of a Bluebird on a weather vane on Saturday. I am glad it posed for a brief second.

7. On this day in 1976, members of the American Legion arrive in Philadelphia to celebrate the bicentennial of U.S. independence. Soon after, many began suffering from a mysterious form of pneumonia. Their ailment would come to be known as Legionnaires’ disease.

8. It looks as if it is going to be a rainy week out there. Total rainfall totals are expected to be 6-12 inches. Ugh!



Headlines

Trump Threatens Iran on Twitter, Warning of Dire ‘Consequences’ - The New York Times

Donald Trump Has Endangered Species in His Sights - The New York Times

While federal employment shrinks in D.C., government contractors are on a hiring spree - The Washington Post

Mexican League Umpires Suspended After Making Terrible Check Swing Call - CNN

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

"For all Americans, we want to open more and more paths of opportunity in education and expanding scientific literacy and fostering new technologies and, through new technology, new jobs for the future; and building a fair, free, and growing world economy that gives hope and opportunity to all Americans, all mankind."

Remarks at a White House Meeting With Members of the Council for a Black Economic Agenda, February 24, 1987

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Beautiful Day

I spent most of yesterday at my parents in Danby, NY.

Radio Flyer spent a few minutes touring the area and I snapped this image looking North. Cayuga Lake is just visible on the horizon and the blue sky was welcome.

It was another great July day. This July has seen one great day after another. Although today has seen some much needed rain, the days remain the stuff that great memories are made from.

I was happy to help mom and Dad with a few chores around their house yesterday. It is too bad that the drive to see them eats up the better part of the day.

I am going to be very unhappy when July slips away next week. It has been a month to remember.

— Bob Doan, writing from Williamsport, PA

Danby Sunset

It was a beautiful sunset last evening. It was a work of art to be admired as the colors deepened.

I enjoy the blending of the ending of the day colors.

I just stood there and admired the work.

I will keep a piece of this sunset in my mind for a long time.

— Bob Doan, writing from Danby, NY

I'm Heading to Work, Why?

I had a moment yesterday.

The Sky from the Instrument Console in Cat
July 19, 2018

I was in Cat, my Jaguar convertible, with the top down heading to work on I-95 after playing racquetball at the club. It was early, about 7:01 AM, and the day was beautiful. The sky was crystal clear, the humidity was low, the temperatures were cool. It was going to be an idyllic July day.

And I was heading to work and spend the day in a building with no windows!

Traffic was slow and so I snapped a selfie of the sky and the top of my windshield so that I could remember the day and the moment.

In Bob's perfect world I would be on a beach somewhere enjoying the sounds of the ocean lapping against the sand and watching the pelicans formation fly along the beach in search of breakfast. It is July and that is what I normally do for most of the month of July--but not, sadly, this year. We are waiting to vacation until late-August.

Why do I feel that I am missing valuable beach time?

I'm not really missing any beach time, but the blue sky was calling to me yesterday as the traffic was creeping along I-95.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Broken Glass

Broken Sliding Door Glass

Sometimes I wonder what happens around the house while I am away at work.

Broken Sliding Door Glass form the Outside

Last evening, I came home after a challenging day to face broken sliding door glass!

Yup, Broken, completely. 

Chris was home most of the day.

She was watching two of the grandsons and a friend. 

How do these things happen? Inquiring minds want to know.

Victims of circumstance? The inner pane is intact and the outer pane is totally fractured but not, as of yet, displaced. Chris taped it to provide some additional support until the broken glass can be repaired or the door itself replaced.

Ugh! Summer fun?

I think not.

Now I am looking for a glass replacement/repair establishment. If it is not one thing, it is another.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Pick Up Stix

I remember playing a game, during my youth, called Pick up Stix. 

Yes, the name was intriguingly misspelled! 

I remember that, although I wasn't sure until I found the image on the internet to confirm it. 

I remember the cardboard tube that held the sticks used in the game and how the challenge was finding and retrieving sticks that had been put down in a bundle without moving any other stick.

It was a simple game in theory, but hard to complete.

Spaghetti on the Floor

Last evening, I had the opportunity to play the game for real. Chris and I were making a new dish with pasta and I was in charge of cooking the spaghetti. I had no problem getting the water boiling, but during the intervening time before adding the spaghetti I was helping Chris prepare the remainder of the dish. 

I forgot that the box of spaghetti was already open and picked up the closed end to open it, whereupon all of the spaghetti fell out and onto the floor.

The scene was funny in its simplicity and mess on the floor. 

Chris was not amused, but, hey, it happens. Fortunately we had an unopened box of spaghetti in the pantry and so there was no need for an emergency run to the store for more.

I find it is almost more fun to laugh at myself than to laugh with someone else. 

And I was immediately reminded of the game Pick up Stix. 

In the end, the pasta dish was awesome, even after the short delay to clean the kitchen floor.

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

The Break

It is mid-July and we have arrived at MLB's All-Star Break!

The big game is tonight and it likely will be the last game that Manny Machado plays wearing Orioles colors. A trade to Philadelphia seems almost certain within the next few hours.

The Orioles have managed to crawl out of the cellar. They are no longer the worst team in baseball, by virtue of their recent 4-4 homestead they have become the second worst team in baseball by .005 percentage points. 

It is possible, but not likely, that the  Orioles (28-69, .289) will win 30 games before accumulating 70 losses. They remain on track to lose 115 games this season and it will likely get worse as the fire sale gets underway. 

The Orioles are chasing the 1962 Mets (40-120, .250) for the most losses in baseball's modern era (since 1900). The worst team of all time are the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134, .130). I think that record is safe.

It is sad that this season, which began with so much promise and a win has devolved into wondering if the O's will set a modern era record for the most losses and trying to divine which three or four starters may return next season. 

I'm not sure I want to learn the names of another all new lineup. The abysmally poor season has sapped my interest in baseball.

Can I get a refund on my partial-plan season tickets?

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Monday Musings - July 16, 2018

Geese on Hole 1 at Eisenhower
July 15, 2018

1. Unbelievably, July is half over already. It seems like the month started just yesterday.

Radio Flyer over Piney Orchard
July 14, 2018

2. Yesterday was a beautiful golf morning. I played my best round of the year. I also enjoyed the wildlife on the golf course as well.

3. I flew Radio Flyer in Nicole's neighborhood on Friday and obtained some very nice images of the houses. I enjoy flying in different neighborhoods, but I am mapping out a more complicated path for Radio Flyer in my own area.

4. Found an interesting lizard Odenton the other day. It apparently is an Eastern Fence Lizard--I was impressed, I had not seen a real lizard in the area before.

5. Congrats to the French for winning the World Cup! And on the day after Bastille Day! What a great French weekend. Vive la France and drink some French wine to celebrate.

Eastern Fence Lizard
July 14, 2018

Finnegan with a Flower

6. In other sports news, the Orioles, mystically, took a series from the Texas Rangers over the weekend winning two of the three games. That lowered their expected losses for the season from 117 to 115!

7. It is time for baseball's All Star break! At least the O's won't lose the next three days.

8. Sometimes animals do the cutest things. Finnegan and Makayla sat in a flower bed the other evening. It created some unique images.

9. Planning a cruise with 8 other people is a lot like herding cats.

10. On this day in 1945, at 5:29:45 a.m., the Manhattan Project comes to an explosive end as the first atom bomb is successfully tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico. (from History.com)


11. When all is lost, ask the I.R.S. - they'll find something. Douglas Horton 


HEADLINES

Just Sitting Down With Trump, Putin Comes Out Ahead - The New York Times

France caps a frenetic and fabulous World Cup by blazing past Croatia for the title - The Washington Post

China's economy slows just as the trade fight begins - CNN

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

"There can be no freedom without order, and there is no order without virtue...Yet how often this simple truth, the importance of this belief in basic values, is overlooked in a society of high technology and mass communication and bewildering, everyday events."

Remarks at the Centennial Meeting of the Supreme Council of the Knights of Columbus in Hartford, Connecticut, August 3, 1982

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

Another Perfect Pool Day

Lucas Backstroke
July 14, 2018

The weather continues to be unbelievably awesome and each new day brings another pool opportunity. 

Yesterday revolved around pool time.

Lucas Freestyle
July 14, 2018

In the morning it was off to another swim meet with Lucas swimming. It was fun to watch his competitive spirit in the pool. He swims freestyle and backstroke. He also swam as the anchor for the relay team.

It was an early and fun morning.

The afternoon revolved around lounging on a floatie in the pool enjoying the relatively low humidity and the sunshine.

It was a perfect July Saturday. 

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD