This was my weekend to work. I was able to keep busy so the time at the office was well spent but leaves me with little to write about. Mom is back home from hospital and doing very well. She doesn't believe in this blogging stuff so I leave out any details. The little photo show looks nice at the library. Few comments except kind words from staff there. The new pictures are pretty and I won't stop shooting lovely nature scenes, but the gritty old B&W stuff from the '70s, well, those are art. Digging out those old photos really stirred me up, reminding me of days long passed as a youth involved in an artistic community. {sigh} I've got to recapture some of that feeling and take an old approach with my new work though I'll not quit the nature scene. For now, though, back to the weekly grind… at least it pays the bills!
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Please pardon this "group reply" to the kind comments from fellow Voxers: I spotted the leaf (previous post) in our parking lot yesterday –all those perfect beads of rain, the leaf so dramatically floating over black asphalt– and photographed it. I was so compelled to capture the image after glancing at that leaf that I walked through the rain to my office, retrieved my camera, and went back out in the damp to shoot. It felt like a sad image. This morning I learned my mother had a very serious medical problem; I posted the picture because it illustrated how I was feeling. It is beautiful and it is sad. Mom, by the way, though hospitalized, is doing very well and is constantly on my mind. Spike, after I shot the faded yellow leaf I walked about 20 feet over to a tree and photographed a red leaf wet by the same rains. Not really done for you but, what the heck!
I spent several morning and midday hours Sunday (Nov. 30) at mother-in-law's house setting her up for broadcast digital television (DTV). She is resistant to signing up for cable television service but enjoys watching football and the news. Since her TVs are not equipped with digital tuners, we procured two DTV converter boxes for her through the government coupon program.
We looked at several models in several stores but settled on the one offered by our local Radio Shack. I hardly even opened the box before installation day but learned we'd made the right choice. My own mother's DTV box works just fine but has no volume control on the remote control — she must use two remote controls to operate her television! Fortunately she has satellite service so the DTV box is, for her, strictly for backup when weather or mishap stops the signal reaching her from orbit. The "Digital Stream" DTV remote does have television volume control on the remote. We set the boxes aside waiting for the right time to actually install them.
So we decided to spend this cold and rainy Sunday morning setting up the DTV converters for Mom-in-Law. I also hoped the boxes would finally give her clear TV pictures — an upgrade to her faint fuzzy analog reception. Up in the attic, near the peak of the roof I discovered, to my disappointment, the existing flat antenna wire had been strung many long years ago. There was no clear path to pull new coaxial cable between the attic, where the antenna was to go, and the living room. So I mounted the new digital antenna to a rafter, strung coax to a point where someone in the past had attached a matching transformer to the flat wire, and connected it up. In the living room, the reverse was done: connected new coax to the transformer that someone had connected to the flat wire down there. Then, with a minimum of fuss, I connected up the converter to the antenna, the TV to the converter, powered everything up, and scanned for channels. The main channels were displayed better on the old TV than they had been seen in years… maybe ever! One of the local channels is disappointingly weak and suffers from what I call "digital stuttering," but, in all, it's way better than before.
In the kitchen it was much easier: connected the converter box to the rabbit ears, the TV to the box, scanned and, because that TV is newer, was rewarded with even better picture quality.
So now she's got better TV quality and her TVs will keep working after the big national digital change-over coming in February. We still think mom-in-law would get more out of cable but that's her choice. It was a lot of fun doing something nice for her by spending Sunday morning in the attic!
We spent Saturday doing mostly practical things: grocery shopping, gardening (She), a thorough cleaning of my car (me… finally). Then, as the skies grew hazy with a layer of thin clouds, I headed off to the Observatory for a scheduled open house and public stargazing session — it was national Astronomy Day.
Saturday evening the clouds gave the Moon –even through the telescope– a hazy look. Yes, we could see detail, beautiful detail, in our views of Luna but the overall effect was one of looking through a thin blanket of fog. As the Moon sank behind our neighboring line of trees and the skies grew darker, I turned the big telescope to Saturn — one of the few identifiable objects in the sky. It was beautiful! First we looked at the Ring World at 100X and it was good, though tiny. Next we saw the planet at 133X and it was still very good. Finally I bumped the power up to 266X and the view was glorious! We could see hints of color in the planetary body, glimpses of cloud banding, and the ring shadow across the face of that world more than 800 million miles distant. We also observed the planet's shadow falling across the rings as they passed behind that globe so far away. More than one visitor, on realizing what they were seeing, was awestruck. Over the evening we hosted 23 visitors of all ages and looked at Saturn again and again. It was a good night and perhaps my best-ever observations of Saturn.
Sunday was Mother's Day so, sleeping in a bit after a long night, we headed west and into a couple of hours of rainy driving. It was wet, chilly, and miserable but a fairly easy drive to see Mom and my sister with her family. All three of use kids brought or sent flowers: two planters and a corsage. Lots of flowers! Mom is doing great after her surgery, physical therapy, and balancing out of blood chemistry. My oldest nephew is excitedly preparing to move into a house he and his parents took from "delapitude" to coziness. We spent a pleasant afternoon catching up, had a pizza dinner –little work for anyone– and headed east, homebound.
This morning's email brought an update from Cincinnati regarding Howie, the cat. It seems he was picked up from the vet Saturday and moved into his foster home. After the expected adjustments there, he seemed to calm down and enjoyed being petted and spoken to. He didn't like being picked up, however, according to his hostess. I wouldn't be too worried just yet about him being anti-social… after all, he got put in a cage, neutered, then locked in a strange house all within about 48 hours! I'm not sure I'd want a stranger holding me, either!
I spent Saturday night at the observatory… it was our local observance of the Saturn Observation Campaign's Saturn Observation Night. The ringed planet was very near opposition and, after a partly-cloudy day, we were treated to a chilly but clear night. Saturn shown like a yellow diamond in the east and was, as always, a crowd-pleaser in the eyepiece. Seeing was fairly good (not excellent) and we could spot four moons, see the space between the inside of the rings and the limbs of the planet, and got regular glimpses of banding in the planetary atmosphere. In all 33 people of a wide range of ages visited the observatory and looked through the telescope. Most didn't stick around; after seeing Saturn they took off for home — probably because it was a cold 28 degrees in the dome. Many also were treated to views of the Orion Nebula and eight late-comers climbed high on a ladder to see the rising, waning gibbous Moon.
Sweetie and I woke Sunday to a strange smell in the air. I thought it was Her hand, smelly from working with garlic the night before. No, it wasn't that! We searched the house for the source of the acrid, garlic-vinegar stench but to no avail: not the trash bag, not the garbage disposer, not the cat box, not anything we could find. It occurred to me that it might be the solenoid actuator on the heat pump's humidifier overheating and failing. I shut off the humidifier and we opened the house briefly to air the place out. There's still a hint of the odor here but it's tolerable now. This may be a mystery stink for a while… at least until we have the heat pump looked at for routine service.
My Mom has spinal surgery tomorrow. I'll be headed over there to greet her in recovery. It's not a particularly high-risk procedure but that sort of thing is always a worry!
It was her idea, to hear her tell it… get a cellular phone and stop all of the add-on charges the local telephone company puts on her monthly bill "because they can." She also wanted to be able to call her kids on a regular basis –we're all toll calls– both to keep in touch and to let us know she's alright. So, with the help of her kids, my 80-year-old mom now has a spiffy new Verizon Coupe cell phone as a Christmas gift. Voice quality was excellent when she called me as a test. She's supposed to carry the phone with her at all times so that she can summon help if needed whether she's using the snow thrower, mowing the lawn, or gardening — she may be older but she's not frail! We all hope it works out well during the 38-day trial period and, if it does, she'll have the landline disconnected and the phone number she has had for decades will belong to the Coupe.
July 4 is my birthday. Instead of having a party or some such thing, I decided to pay my mother a visit. It had been a long, long time since I'd seen her and we had a splendid time. She's 80 years old but bright, active, and fully independent — enviable conditions for that age. Two of her three kids (the boys) live some distance away so she sees us rarely. Our sister lives much closer. We chatted for the longest time and shared lunch and dinner before I headed back home –it's a 2 1/2-hour drive– for the night. I have got to visit more often! Back at home we watched the big Cleveland fireworks display on TV. It was very impressive on TV but it's really not at all the same experience as seeing it with your own eyes. Now I want to go to a fireworks show!
My lovely Indian neighbor, Leela, learned that it was my birthday and left a greeting card taped to our door. In part it read, "I am glad you are my neighbors — just like finding a small stream of water in a dry neighborhood." Between visiting Mom and that thought from Leela, it was a happy birthday.
I'd worried about Tasha because she threw up three times in one day but she seems fine. No more puking except for a tiny fur ball and that doesn't count since fur balls aren't what worry me. They're merely gross! And Missy, though yowling excessively the morning after her vet visit, has returned to her normal habits. All is well, then, at home.
I've been dissatisfied with my personal M.D. for a while and July 3rd's appointment pretty much sealed the deal… I'm moving on! Not only could his staff tech not draw blood for testing but for no stated reason, the doc ordered a thallium stress test. As I understand it, a thallium stress test is only indicated where cardiac disease is suspected and he gave me no reason to believe my heart has any problems. There has to be a very good reason for me to allow myself to be injected with a radioactive substance and Dr. D. didn't give me any reason at all. So I see a new practice August 3 and hope for better treatment.
PhotonStopper 