It's Pun Time! Here we go

 Today's pun:  

#11 " What's the definition of a will? (Come on, it's a dead give away!)"

Hope to see you tomorrow, right back here! Have a good evening.

Cute, If You Don't Have To Clean Up The Litter.

I love creative people. I love creative things. In fact, it's kind of like my catalytic converter. But, as mom taught me many,many, years ago. Everything in life is a trade-off! You make the mess, you clean it up. That's not being creative...it's being responsible. But, in today's world, that word got left in the parking lot on the ground where someone else has to clean it up--generally, over time by mother nature herself.

Several months ago, I started a project that focuses on  issues like this. It started around Earth Day a couple of years ago and got put on the back burner. Kinda. Sorta. May be so. But, it didn't take much time to have the project surface again and I went tearing through the deep plastic drawer where I jot down ideals.( I'm a back of the envelope kind of guy with a more modern approach. Jotting down on the back of an envelope envelope  wasn't enough room, so I pulled the trusty pair of scissors out of the pencil holder and cut along the sides and did a reverse fold to the envelope. Voila! now, I have two complete #10-size envelopes of white space. Perfect! You run out of space, just flip it over and start page two. Problem solved. Sorta. Kinda. May be.)

New signs like this are showing up at more and more weddings on the Rock.

This sign also had a partner with just a green arrow pointing-Two for the price of one! How thoughtful if you are not the one picking them up afterwards.

This lady made my day. Creative Mind at the max with good taste! Now that's a deal at half the price and I bet she even picks up afterwards, too. I like that most of all, especially when it relates to the project that I am working on currently.

The project has now grown and gotten much bigger than I had ever anticipated. In fact, some of it has become environmental posters that are getting a lot of action of late. One of the reasons why the project has grown is because of the material. The second reason is that I do not delete any images. Period. I keep the ones that my be out of focus a bit, a lot, or totally abstract. That's the creative side to me. I can use  anyone of the "Rule of Thirds" nine blocks to make product, clip art, or what ever else can be fitted into the new software that is amazing. Sure, it takes storage but the cloud is cheap. At the moment anyway.

So, with winter coming on (like today. It's cold. I had to turn on the heat for the first time this season yesterday. I was hoping to get another 10 days out of the month. It's a game TXU and I play each month. And for the record, on the energy dashboard, I'm on the left side of the see-saw teeter-totter. That's the side that is  most efficient of like residencies. I'm no where near the pivot point, much less on the right hand side.  Any who, what better time to start pulling out the old notes and organizing into some framework for the project. So, with the cardio plumber and the cardio electrician out of the way for another six to eight months, I won't be sitting behind the laptop all that much, but should we get lucky and have some really nice days, I'll still be able to get my cardio walks in. My test numbers were so good this visit, the doc said that he will cut back on a couple of my meds. I'm crossing my fingers.

Just so I'm not rambling all over the page here, here is some shots to bring home the winning run! Speaking of baseball... I met a woman about my age who has decorated her yard with Christmas ornaments hanging from her trees on string.  It's the most creative job that I've seen yet. She," played baseball in high school and college and still have a pretty good arm," she said. Who needs a Co2 charge to shoot a string up over tree branches with an arm like that! Obviously, she doesn't. She said they guys in the neighborhood affectionately call her, "the ball lady". She has been decorating for the past 18 years like this.

Three Footers Are For The Pros

Big Wheels

36-inches of unicycle wheel

Nice and Clear and Happy has Returned to the camera.

Several weeks ago this blog pointed out that somehow (and it is still unknown how it happened) my focus just vaporized. Some days the focus was pretty good, some days it really did not exist at all. Re read of the manual did not seem to offer up any thing that worked. The bottom line was still like a clock ticking away toward a deadline and nothing seemed to work. With the spring shooting season growing more expansive with each 70-degree day, my sense of urgency was also growing.

Then, on Monday, while still shooting and uploading images before they were deleted my Nikon software would no longer take the Olympus images that had been shot. So, on to customer service at Olympus where the problem was explained and that my focus had been distorted for several weeks. The CSR suggested that my camera be upgraded with new software downloads. At that point it was worth trying anything. So the last two days, my shooting was done from the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. It seems that shooting the cable stays against a blue sky are a perfect focus target to adjust settings. Yesterday, there seemed to be some difference but there was still a problem. Last night, the evening was spent adjusting settings which could be fine tuned today. Lo and Behold!! The images were back to normal and it does now appear to be totally a software change made to the Nikon software that had been totally messing up the Olympus adjustments. After the new upgrade on  the Nikon and then the upgrade on the Olympus software, the problem was eliminated. Sometimes, it just takes a little adjustment from top to bottom, front to back, inside and out to tune-up equipment. My thoughts are just thankful that the problem has now been corrected and my old cameras that is always at my side can continue to travel with me.

Here are some  big wheels that were in focus today!

Something New for the New Year

Today  was my  first trip out in the past five days. The cold isn't good for the heart at my age. That's what I am told at any rate. It was a trip to the drug store only to find that I must go back again tomorrow for one medication that was out of stock. So, while out, it would be a chance to get lunch and make a trip around the lake for the first time in 2014.

The ceilings were very, very low lending themselves to that feeling of gloom and doom. A mist was falling just enough to keep the intermittent wipers on their highest setting.  It was almost, at times, like there was trying to be fog. In fact, a couple of landmarks at the lake had their tops covered in fog. Since fog is defined as a cloud lower than 50 feet, the credence to ceilings being low was upheld.

The old entrance to The Big Thicket had been undergoing a bit of construction that looked very much like some kind of sign, but at years end, it was not yet determined. But, today, there were several new signs-- long needed-- marking not only the Big Thicket, but the cut-off to the pump and filter buildings on the west side of the lake and a new nautical and Big Thicket route marker. In fact, they look really nice, even covered in the fine droplets of water.

Someone today was complaining on Yahoo that there was only one picture to a story they were commenting on. Someone else commented that [they]  "assume you know what the word gallery means. Did you click it on?" I realized that people still have trouble navigating on the web, so I will remind every one that you click on one of these images and it opens in a more viewable condition. Try it! It doesn't cost anything!!

Nice New Sign



Gloom and Doom Winter Day

One of the television stations were doing a piece on the re-make of the dog-park. A million-dollar redo. The bike and pedestrian bridge is blocked off at the east end and the trail is blocked off at the west parking lot entrance. That's a lot of ground being made ready for construction. The jewel of the city park system is getting her crown polished up. Looking good!!

A totally new sign that was needed. It sits at the end of the bike bridge with the back to the dog park across the water and at the foot of the Big Thicket Hill off Mockingbird.