Neither rain nor sleet nor snow (except on Tuesday)
I’m a little behind on my NewsGator so just saw today the news about the Postal Service wanting to go to five-day mail delivery instead of six due to loss of revenue last year, rising costs, the economy, etc. Oh my! Being able to send and receive mail six days a week was something I never considered as a luxury or as optional but when you stop and think about it, I guess it is.
I don’t do much outgoing mail anymore — Christmas cards, maybe one bill a month, subscription renewals. Even birthday party invitations I usually do by email or evite these days. But I still depend on incoming mail, especially for my Netflix movies! I of course still get bills in the mail (I’ve refused to sign up for bills by email because the stack of bills on the counter remind me to pay them where as an inbox full of emails is not as assertive as real, live paper.) I receive occasional correspondence in the mail — just a received a greeting card yesterday, in fact. Those things could probably wait a day. Yet I’m still bothered by the impact this may have on my Netflix movies. (Makes me sound so selfish and petty, I know.)
But it’s the big picture that is blowing my mind. Not about the economy but just about the future. The postal service has been hurting for years (it’s the reason we’ve had a price increase every year since 2006) due to less correspondence, more people paying bills online, etc. But it never, ever occurred to me they might cut a delivery day. Newspapers are doing the same thing, some having weekend editions instead of separate editions for Saturday and Sunday, or cutting out a day in the week. I just have this flash-forward of telling my grandchildren some day “I remember when the mail was delivered six days a week,” or worse, “I remember when we had mail.”
Trivia: Up until 1912 the mail was delivered seven days a week but was discontinued for religions reasons. Source: wikipedia
Talking With My Hands
Writing can be hard work, even for a writer, but especially for a writer who talks with their hands. (Although in some way the written word is talking with your hands because you’re typing … hmm … that’s kinda deep.) What I mean is, if you’re the kind of person who uses their hands to explain things through gestures and motions to help people “see” what you’re saying, when you only have words that becomes much more complicated.
At work we are writing science topics for students and I find it so challenging for many reasons, one of those being because I typically talk with my hands. So when I sit down to explain something — like yesterday, trying to write how Pluto orbits the sun at a certain angle and distance and is sometimes closer to the sun than Neptune, etc. — it’s difficult to make it make sense, because if I could explain it in person I would use my hands (and probably an orrery).
But that’s also one of the things that makes writing fun. Most of the time writing comes so easy to me, and if it was always easy I think I’d get bored with it. So the fact that I’m challenged to convey in only words what would be much easier with hand gestures or models is not necessarily a bad thing, just an observation about my writing process.
Gigapan Leaves Me Speechless
Every now and then the segmented areas of my life cross paths like a kindergartner’s Venn diagram, and when it happens it’s just cool. Today, it’s NASA and photography (and a little bit of my news side).
I got a NASA News email today about a NASA spin-off technology called “Gigapan” that creates these unbelievably cool panoramic photos by piecing together thousands of high-quality photos into one large image. What’s so neat is that you see this image that seems like its from so far away, yet you can zoom in to see incredible details. The technology was created for and is used on the NASA rovers on Mars. Today’s release, though, specifically talks about the use of the Gigapan technology by photographer David Bergman at last week’s inauguration.
So I checked it out and it’s wayyy cool. Cooler than words can express (and that’s pretty cool considering I’m a writer and a lover of words!)
The original image
Now the zoomed in image of Obama.
Look back at the original photo and you’ll see a tiny red arrow above where Obama is. That’s how “zoomed in” this thing gets. Is that not cool?
This comparison doesn’t do it justice so go to the photo on the Gigapan site and check it out. On the Gigapan site you can also do “snapshots” where you “capture” a certain zoomed in image and can save and comment on it (for example, people who were there have zoomed in on themselves and saved that image with an explanation like “me and my son,” etc.) People have also zoomed in and “captured” celebrities like P. Diddy, Denzel, all the political people involved, even some guy playing a game on his cell phone. Very cool! Highly recommend taking it for a spin.
“You’re Gonna Miss This”
I cry everytime I hear this song (Trace Adkins’ “You’re Gonna Miss This”). I first heard it on Celebrity Apprentice; Trace Adkins was one of the contestants and sang it live at the finale. I think it gets to me so much because I can relate to every part — missing the carefree days of high school, then the days when it was just “us,” and now trying to cherish my own children’s childhoods — even the tears and the tantrums and the frustrating parts — because yeah, someday I’ll miss that too when they’re grown and moved on.
While shopping just before Christmas we sat next to a dad and his two grown sons in the crowded mall food court. The boys were kinda restless and noisy and not listening to us, as usual, and I was growing a little impatient. The dad said to his sons loud enough as if intended for us to hear, “When are you going to give us some grandkids like these guys so we can buy some toys at Christmas?” We talked just a bit — small talk — and they got up to leave. The dad came over to us as his grown sons walked away and said his sons now live across the country — one in Texas and the other in California, if I recall — and for us to enjoy our children while they are young and at home with us, that he misses that age and the security of having his children close, especially when one of his sons was on the streets of Baghdad earlier last year.
We hear it all the time to enjoy what you have while you have it, but how many of us keep looking to the next thing and don’t stop to appreciate the present?
Restaurant Management
I’ve never been a restaurant manager but I would think it’s a position that a little common sense would come in handy. I once went to a Taco Bell and at the drive-thru window ordered several hard-shell tacos only to be told they were out of hard-shells and could only serve soft-shells. Hmmm? Last time I checked they sold Taco Bell brand hard shells at the grocery store. I might have sent my employees to every grocery store in town to buy taco shells before I turned business away.
Similarly, on Sunday, my little family of four tried to eat after church at Chili’s. It’s not a place we normally go after church, but their chipotle chicken fingers were calling my name. Upon pulling into the parking lot we saw a family go in and come right back out. Another couple did the same thing as we were walking in. We walked in baffled because the restaurant seemed to have many empty tables and only one small family waiting to be seated. The polite hostess asked how many. “Four,” I replied. “It’s going to be about 45 minutes,” she said. “Why 45 minutes?” I kindly asked, “it appears you have a quite a few empty tables.” She responded that their credit card system was down and effecting all of their computers and they were not able to ring up orders. Note: I used to work at a restaurant where the cashier rung up the orders via a computer that sent the orders to a computer in the kitchen, so I imagine she’s trying to tell me is that the computers are not letting them input orders to send to the kitchen.
Hello? Ever heard of paper and pen and walking the order to the kitchen? So I said to the nice hostess, “So you have tables and you have food you just don’t have a way to take orders?” With a very apologetic tone, she answered “yes.” Perhaps I’m missing some part of the picture, but based on what I know so far, I would not send hungry people away from my restaurant because of a computer problem such as this, especially if you’re estimating only 45 minutes to get it fixed. I would sit people down, offer them a complimentary appetizer, take their order without the use of a computer and cook them some food! If the problem was so extensive that computers are used to control the ovens and grills and I can’t cook food, that’s a slightly different story. If my menu had items that did not require cooking, I’d offer those items and do the best I could to keep people until the problem could be fixed. Considering that we have another Chili’s across town, I might offer to give a manager’s coupon for a free appetizer if you go to that location.
In any case I would put a sign on the door explaining the problem, saving potential customers the hassle of coming inside and wasting more time, and saving the nice little hostess from having to explain the problem over and over and answer questions from people, like me, who can get a little upset when you tell them they can’t have their chipotle chicken.
The State of Cartoons
After being home with a 5-year-old the last two days — Tuesday while Finn was sick and today while I was sick and he was still recovering — I’m in disbelief at what is allowed to pass as a good cartoon these days. Finn likes what he calls “CNN” because it says “CN” on the corner of the screen. It’s Cartoon Network. They play such silly things with animation that I’m not really all that impressed with. They’re just overly silly and non-sensical. Nick Jr. is a tad better, but still a little out there.
My fav is Disney Channel. I love their morning line-up — Little Einsteins, Higglytown Heroes, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Handy Manny to name a few — and they make sense. They’re just enough educational to satisfy me but not too much that the boys find it boring. But more than that, they have plots. They have interesting, lovable characters. These other shows are just annoying. What ever happened to story lines like were in the Smurfs, He-man, She-ra, Heathcliff, Shirt Tales, Jem, and so on, with protagonists and antagonists and problems to solve? Is it my perspective as the adult that has changed or have cartoons really changed?
The Land of Limestone
The family made the 6-hour drive to Bedford, Indiana, this past weekend for a visit with friends. Bedford is the county seat of Lawrence County, Indiana, which hails itself as the Limestone Capital of the World. Indiana limestone has been used to construct famous buildings like the Empire State Building, the Tribune Tower in Chicago, the Pentagon and the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. Also, 35 state capitol buildings are made of Indiana limestone.
I had the privilege of working for the Bedford newspaper for a few years and makings some really good friends up there. We went back for a visit for the first time in six years this past weekend and while there went on a limestone tour. It’s better to go on the limestone tour in summer because the quarries are open and working. In winter it is too cold so we weren’t able to see the quarries while we were there. But I took a few nice pictures of the Otis Park Band Shell — made of Indiana limestone — and purchased a few limestone souvenirs at the gift shop.
Some pictures from the tour:
The Otis Park Band Shell was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project built in 1938.
The top quote is by Martin Luther: “Music is the art of the prophets, the only art that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.”
The second quote is from the poem The Queen’s Wake by James Hogg, also known as The Ettrick Shepherd: “Of all the arts beneath the heaven that man has found, or God has given, none draws the soul so sweet away as music’s melting, mystic lay.”
A cool trivia fact: There is a law in Bedford that a certain number of concerts have to be held at the band shell each year. I’m thinking it was 2, maybe 3.
Limestone Country
We’re spending the long weekend in Bedford, Indiana — the Limestone Capital of the World. I used to work at the Bedford newspaper and came up to visit some friends, hopefully let the boys see some snow and just see again this place that I left 6 years ago.
I first came to Bedford 10 years ago this month when Hubby interviewed for a job that ultimately led to us moving here for 4 years. We actually stayed at this very hotel. Strange how things come full circle like that.
Today we did a mini limestone tour. I tested out my new camera on the tour and took what looks like some pretty cool photos that I’ll post later.
Tonight we’re going to hang out at my friend’s place and tomorrow may go snow tubing. There’s a 70% chance of snow for tonight so hopefully we’ll see some of the white stuff!
