Tag: C’est La Vie

October 2024 – Quote of the Month

“Some days you think you can’t go on because the only thing waiting for you is more despair. Some days you don’t want to go on because it’s easier to give up than to get hurt again.” ~ Marieke Nijkamp; This Is Where It Ends

August 2024 – Quote of the Month

“Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.” ~ Herodotus, The Histories

Winnr

Combing through photos and I came across this, from a July 3rd, 2010 fair game. The strangest things amuse me.

Booptart Dreams

The other day, I took a nap and had a very vivid dream. Upon waking up, I used my phone’s voice to text to write down what I’d just been dreaming. Here-in follows that transcription with minor clean-up for clarity and ease of understanding: Thursday, April 25. I just woke up. I’m using voice to …

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January 2024 – Quote of the Month

“The human race is a monotonous affair. Most people spend the greatest part of their time working in order to live, and what little freedom remains so fills them with fear that they seek out any and every means to be rid of it.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther

Waiting on a Sunny Day

I’ve been fighting a flu here at year’s end. So this last post of 2023 is a quickie. 2023 was a, ‘challenging’ year (to put it mildly). And the sallow, grey, late fall and winter light has been draining. I took this photo at a local fair, July 3, 2010. I chose this image, not …

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June 2023 – Quote of the Month

“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.” ~ Charlie Chaplin

Chris Rocked

There are so many serious concerns in the world. Right now, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I feel we’re probably as close to the brink of World War III as we have been since the cold war. Maybe closer. But as is often the case, the more serious the issue, the more depleting it …

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Arbitrary Amazon Parcel Packaging

Amazon is a huge company that puts in an amazing amount of effort and intelligence to make for great online shopping experiences. But the capricious nature of Amazon’s packing frequently amazes me. A recent case in point: one order of coffee (about $20 value) and an order of two external hard drives (about $500 value). …

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April 2021 – Quote of the Month

“We are no longer happy so soon as we wish to be happier.” ~ Walter Savage Landor

March 2021 – Quote of the Month

“Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Five Feet Nine Inches

My better half and I know, or at least highly suspect that among most of our friends, we’re the considered the crazy germaphobes. Visiting Home Depot tonight, we saw a woman pushing her cart around without a mask. (In spite of the BIG sign on the store front that says masks are mandatory.) We grumbled …

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Faith, Hand-washing, Compost Trespassing and Milk Drinking

Some more sights from a neighborhood walk I did in mid April. Again: I wonder at people’s thought processes. This is a decently maintained property. (Although the garage looks a bit nicer than the house, interestingly enough.) There is an interesting combination of earnestness and humor.

Yard Adornments

In pursuit of some level of exercise, I have occasion to walk local neighborhoods. There are little, implied stories in the neighborhood yards. I’m rather found of yard kitsch. There is a story here, if only we can read it. Here is one such story: This is the front yard of a house. The lawn …

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Exposed Exposé

Watching news on YouTube yesterday, I was amused by a little detail I noticed in the background of a video of Alex Ward, a VOX staff writer, as he was giving a report to CBS News. In the video, Mr. Ward is well besuited as he outlines the latest speculation on Jong-un’s health from his …

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In Gear Against the Gloom

Ah! February 29th: the rarest of blog days. Kind of makes me wish I was born on February 29th, then I’d be four times as young. Since September of last year (2019), I’ve been getting out, doing a lot of walking and hiking. And this last weekend, we did an overnight backpack trip. (I’ve done …

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January 2020 – Quote of the Month

“We’re only immortal for a limited time.” ~Neil Peart

Single Rubber Glove

I started to write an entry on the state of news and the world of politics but I felt the life force draining from my body, so I’ve shelved that. Let’s just say: it’s bad and we’re all doomed and leave it at that for now. However, in a matter that somehow feels vaguely like …

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Catalog

I have 104,403 photos in my photo library catalog. That is the majority, but it isn’t all of them. Invariably, there are a few thousand floating in folders that have not yet been imported. I often ask myself, what good do all of these photographs do? What will become of all of my efforts to …

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Stoned

Real Stones - Do not Eat

In February of this year, I visited the local Science Center and was amused by this dispenser, set out-side of the gift shop. Above the dispenser was a sign that these were ‘gems from around the world‘. Clearly, something had happened because the original signage for the dispenser was supplemented after it had gone to …

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Safety is No Accident

Spotted on the streets of Pittsburgh. I have no words.

March 2019 – Quote of the Month

“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

January 2019 – Quote of the Month

“How do I confront aging? With a wonder and a terror. Yeah, I’ll say that. Wonder and terror.” ~Keanu Reeves

Penny-ante

J. C. Penney's dressing room pincushion

I shop a lot with Amazon. A lot. – With few exceptions, I go to Amazon for 95% of my non-perishable purchases. But for some things, I still like to have an in-person experience. These things include: TVs and monitors (for first hand viewing of image quality), audio gear (hearing is believing), furniture  and vehicles …

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September 2018 – Quote of the Month

“Oh, life is like that. Sometimes, at the height of our revelries, when our joy is at its zenith, when all is most right with the world, the most unthinkable disasters descend upon us.” ~ Ralphie (Narrator) A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

Insect Screens Will Not Stop Children from Falling Out of Windows

Insect screens will not stop children from falling out of windows. Keep children away from open windows.

I love product warnings about obvious things and I wonder if they’ve ever stopped a single injury. I figure if you’re not smart enough to figure it out on your own, you’re probably not smart enough to heed a warning. – Assuming you’re able to read in the first place. Of course, the reality is that …

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And the Award for Most Wasteful Packaging Goes To…

Wasteful Amazon packaging for climbing slings.

The chain we use to hang our hammock has gotten tight as the trees have grown. I decided to replace them with webbing. So, along with a number of other items, I ordered two climbing slings at the same time. I received a few boxes including one each for the webbing slings.  It was actually …

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Dismembered Drawings

Dismembered eyeball drawing

I’ve been doing some significant reorganization which has required combing through lots of stuff I haven’t looked at for ages. Among some of the containers I found old drawings. Here are two that I did – probably when I was in eighth grade. I’m pretty sure that the drawings that I did then would not …

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February 2018 – Quote of the Month

“The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.” ~Oscar Wilde

Nobody Puts Baby in a Box

Sterilite container with lid inside

Doing some more organizing around the house which means more bins and labels! I have to say, this warning label has saved me from a lot of embarrassing situations… Seriously though: every hospital should have to show this label to every parent of a newborn before allowing the parents to take the baby home. The …

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Fluffy Pillow or ET Arms

contour-pillow-use-illustrations

Shopping at a local Sears Outlet, my eye was caught by a comfy looking pillow. Looking closer, I see that the manufacturer was kind enough to provide an illustrated guide on how to use the pillow. Looking closer yet, I noticed the girl with the E.T. Arms. Ouuuuch… (PS. * Yes: I know, the pillow …

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Roger, Roger. What’s our vector, Victor?

This is Your Captain Speaking… You’re at the airport. You go through extensive “security”. You board the multi million dollar jet that must function flawlessly under extremes of speed, temperature and altitude so that you, your fellow travelers and countless people on the ground are not injured. You sit back in your seat in this …

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Computer Weary

Upgrades Can Be Downgrading I’ve been burned out on computers for several weeks now. During the new year I added a new printer that acted like a virus and really messed my system for awhile. Since I had to fix many printer related problems I took the opportunity to upgrade my system from 8.6 to …

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