Quiet...........ahhhhhhhhhhh

Emily and Chuck are both working and it is quiet.  There were a few rolls of thunder and a scattering of raindrops; then a huge boom that sent the cats scattering like duckpins in a bowling alley.   It was so loud that it even made me jump.

Work was uneventful today.  I did gyne.  That is important if you are female.   I had a student today too.   He was from Ghana; his accent is British.   He has lived in the USA for 7 years.   He said in Ghana it is always hot.   He doesn't like the cold and doesn't like it too hot.  I told him the ideal place for him would be Virginia or North Carolina.   He did a good job.  His wife is still in Florida, because he could not sell the house.  He has about one and a half year to go.  It must be difficult to live away from your family and I would imagine it would be hard to move to another country, learn another language and know that you were going to live there forever.

But we all know the streets in America are paved with gold.   Honestly, life is what you make it.   You can be a success or a failure; it is all up to the individual.

I am glad tomorrow is Friday and the end of my week.  Just three days next week and then I am off to Philadelphia.   Tomorrow is not too busy and that suites me just fine.

My sister is in CA.  She is in Mariposa County; that is where the wildfires are.  It is close to Yosemite National Park.  I texted my niece and she said so far all was good.  Shawnna said she would take pictures and I could post them here.

The second week is going to be a trip thru the Napa Valley and they have a rental near Reyes National Seashore.   She will come home when I am in Philadelphia.  I can't wait to see the pictures..........

 

 

Wednesday

Today was a noneventful day.   I am on Chucks laptop.  Typing on it that is,   He is at work.   Did you ever notice.......When something goes wrong with my things it is because I DID SOMETHING WRONG.......When somethings goes wrong with something of his.....IT WAS AN ACCIDENT.......i THINK THE WOMEN CAN RELATE TO THAT.

Only five days of working before I can go to Philadelphia.  It will probably be 100 F and 100% humidity that week.   I am still looking at things to do, and I am looking forward to the visit.   It is about a five hour drive from one end of PA to the other. 

I am sort of tired today and think I will end with a picture.

Bless his heart

Chuck, bless his heart, has given me permission to use his laptop.  

I checked on my package tracker, and my laptop has been delivered to it destination in Texas.  Now it will be seven to ten business days until the repair is done.  So at a minimum I will not have the computer when I go to Philadelphia.   And, I wanted to download my pictures each day.    I will be bummer for sure.

Today was orthopedic day.   Nothing to serious but it took all day.  That group has ten patients on the ortho floor who have had fractured hip surgery.   I wondered if there was a senior citizen hit squad out there knocking down the seniors??   Tomorrow are cataracts......

I do not like the set up of these keys.   The shift keys are not identifiable by feel......makes it hard to type.

Guess that is all for today.....I have run out of thoughts.  And the address of all the other journals are lost to me for now.  I need to have something to do to amuse myself.   I read two more books.  Well, actually I started two and only read one.

????

I was, somehow, under the impression that AOL stored the favorites on their site.    I went to peruse my new favorite list and what I had saved are not there.   Guess they are lost forever.   All the links to other journals and my geneaology sites are gone.  

I did not click the link to only save them on the computer.  Maybe they will reappear when I reload them on my laptop.

Easter at the Phipps.

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Sunday

I started this yesterday and the computer somehow d/ced the internet and all was lost.    So, I gave up for yesterday.   My notebook should arrive in TX tomorrow.  They said 7 to 10 days to fix it.   Then the slow trek home.  

UPS added a $10 surcharge for fuel.... I, like may others, wish there was someone who I could add for my increased cost too  Our gas, energy and food costs have all risen and we have to bear the brunt and get others tacked on to ours.    The price of gas has gone down but I haven't noticed any decrease at the gas stations.    Guess that will happen tomorrow.

Emily and I are going to the THE DARK KNIGHT today.  One of the docs at work saw it and said something gets blown up every 5 minutes.  He didn't like it. It remains to be seen.

I have read three books since the computer left.  WINTER STUDY by Nevada Barr, which is the typical Anna Pigeon mystery adventure. 

  BLACK FLIES, by Shannon Burke.    This is written by an EMT and after the first three chapters it was the same scenerios only with different names.   I got tired of listening to how the EMTs are the only ones who can save lives.  I didn't finish it.

GARDEN SPELL, by Sarah Addison Allen.   This was a delightful easy read.  It put me in mind of PRACTICAL MAGIC  by Alice Hoffman.    In Garden Spell the gist of the story revolves around Waverly sisters and each of them have a special  magical talent, and it revolves around the house and garden.  It is a chick book.  This book is rated PG

THE LAST OF HER KIND by Sigrid Nunez.   This starts about two women who start college c.1968 and the first  is Ann who comes from a well to do background and Georgette who is dirt poor.   Ann has angst because of the wealth and becomes a fanatic or "changing the US and the class inequality."  Georgette is trying to find what to do with her life."   The books was well written.  I was in school at the same time; but, I was just to busy with getting an educationand my family had no money that I just could not relate with Ann.  By the end of the book I felt that Ann was just a fool who never learned any thing about living.

 

GRRRRRRRRRRR

I know I spend a lot of rants about my computer.   But this time it is not my fault.............It has crashed.................I got the blue screen of death..................I called tech support..........They were very helpful....The computer is going to Texas.....................It will be gone two to three weeks.................All I can say is  I am so damned glad I have an external hard drive and I have been diligently backing up my stuff.   I actually have 10G of music and thousands of pictures and documents from my ancestry research.    Not only on my hard drive but the pictures and documents are on a flash drive also.....AND ENGLISH WAS DENISES NATIVE LANGUAGE.  BLESS US AND SAVE US........I REACHED COMPUTER SERVICE NIRVANA WHEN I TALKED TO HER.

Word to the wise:

ALWAYS, NO MATTER HOW BORING AND TIME CONSUMING, BACK UP YOU STUFF.

I will not be able to add new pictures, but can recycle the old ones that are on AOL.   

Right now I am on an elderly (5 to 8 year old)  desktop.   But the sucker is still working.......................  

 

 

Tuesday

Something is wrong.   I feel out of sorts.   I haven't been keeping up with anyone's journal.  I really do not feel like writing in mine.    I think it is the weather, I just do not like hot weather; I feel cranky and drained.   I really do not know a solution to that.   We are on the home stretch of July. 

Chuck has one more day off and I have been working since Monday.  I was off last week and so was he.  I really didn't get to do any thing restful. 

I have only been back two days and I feel like it is two weeks. Maybe I should quit writing for the day and go to bed. 

I worked in the GI Lab today.  Spent the whole day doing colons and gastric scopes.   Did 13 cases in 9  hours; I am exhausted and seriously considering taking a shower and going to bed.   Fiddle dee dee, tomorrow is another day.

Boo Hoo, that sad child above is me.  When I was little my parents were building a house.  I guess I was of no help, they tied me in the play pen.  You can see the rope on the side of the containment vessel.    CYS would have a field day with that one today.   It is funny, but what they said was discipline in yesteryears today would be considered child abuse.  Guess they thought I was funny enough to take the picture of me in my misery.   BOO HOO

That is an appropriate picture for my sour mood; or did the photo make me sad?

 

Rainy Sunday

The sound of raindrops; I haven't heard them for awhile.   The heat was 88 and the humidity probably about 98%.   It was beastly outside.   The rain started a few hours ago, and Chuck and I were on the back deck, covered with an awning, and listened to the sound of rain.    The temperature had dropped about 20 degrees and the coolness was refreshing.

We usually go out to eat on Sundays;  The Gateway Grill,    Chucks favorite.  I think that is because they Blue Moon on draft.  Emily will join us after her day at work, selling jewelry.

Her Micro class is 2/5 done.  They have both class and lab the same day.   Chuck is off till Thursday and I am back to work tomorrow.  They have a call in voice mail that you can listen to your assignments; I think that if you don't like it you can call off.  LOL  LOL   Tomorrow I am doing blephroplastys   That is the procedure where you have your eyelids done, they take up the slack.  The guy I am working with is such a perfectionist that they will look great and also take all day for two procedures.  Hopefully it will be a stress free day for me. 

Gateway Grill - A Wood Fired Grill and Restaurant    Click here to the left.

That miserable looking female is me.   The one with the ugly hair.  Somewhere in 1962 my grandmother, bless her heart, decided that I needed a permanent.   I did not ask for this permanent, and my mother told her I didn't want the permanent, Gertrude thought my mom was lying.  I HATED THAT PERMANENT.   I was 15 and it was the most traumatic thing to happen in my life.  Not only had I started a new school, I looked hideous, and to top that off I had swimming and the hair looks worse after it got wet.   It was revolting; and I NEVER, EVER, got a perm again.    Another note, it was  the sixties and the beehive and all those other big hair dos were in.   In retrospect it probably didn't look any worse than any of those ugly dos.   I hope they NEVER make a comeback.

 

 

And that's the truth

"I never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe."
Leo Rosten

And that's the truth......and I want to ask...."Do you know how stupid you sound ???"

 

Claudia

 

 

Second time I have started this

 

 

This was taken somewhere in the late 60's.   I probably was in Nursing School at the time.  The rest were in grade or high school.   I am the oldest of the six.  I guess you could say I was in charge of the sandbox.  

Today we went to Home Depot and bought a gas grill.  We had looked at Lowes and this had been on the agenda all week.  The grills were on sale.  Guess they will be getting the fall things in soon; can snow blower be far behind?????   After looking this week we got to the point of "just buy the damn thing." 

It took Chuck three hours to put it together.  It was about 90F and and humidity about the same.   After the construction of the grill I cooked steak, mushrooms and baked potato.  Served with a Beringer White Zinfandel.  Tasted good.  Just two more day off and I go back to work. 

The mirco class is going well at this point in time.  She is 2/5's of the way done.  She has to write a paper and they have a test every Thursday, as well as turn in their lab projects.   She also has a CPR class on August 18th.  

I downloaded the HP photo editing program.   It wasn't what I needed.  There are a lot of programs out there.   I just have to find my fit. I like the "watercolor" feature and HP didn't have it. What was I thinking !!!! I did find a Corel program.  You can download and use it for 15 days to see if you like.   I may do that.

Here is my mom and I, I guess I am about 4.  I remember this day because we went to Frick Park (in Pittsburgh) and we would feed the squirrels.  The thing that stands out in my mind of that day is that my father teased the squirrel and got bitten on his thumb.  That was my first lesson of things not to do.

 

 

 

 

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Success

 

This is a picture of my sisters c.1962,    They were on vacation at Cape Hatteras National Seashore and on the ferry boat ride.  I did manage to get some of the snapshots open.  I had to click and drag and put them in the AOL pictures album.     I am wondering if the inability to download pictures has something to do with the picture in a folder, maybe I have to move it to a file ????

On this vacation it was a shake down cruise, and I have a few more to add.   This was the first time to the ocean.  I had elected to stay at my grandmothers.  I was a teenager and we all know what they are like.  Sleeping in a tent, sitting under an awing to eat, and getting bitten by mosquitos was not my idea of a fun time.   It still isn't I like an air conditioned house with a pool when I go to the shore.

Here is the car loaded and the tent behind assembled some state park in PA.  Down below is the tent at the beach, Oregon Inlet NC.   We looks like a traveling band of nomads.   I guess we had a lot of fun, but none of us would do that now.  We rent a house and live in style.  Can you just imagine what kids would say today if they were told of the accommodations !!!!!

I am extremely irked.   I have just tried to down a photo or two and my computer tells me it can not be downloaded.  GRRRRRRRRRRRR....    I have been downloading pictures from this damn computer for three years, and why, today does it decide not to work ???????

I had edited my all about me space earlier today and added a picture of Chuck and Claudia and it worked fine about two hours ago....

Another VISTA annoyance I am  sure.

Today was day three of my so called vacation;  to me it is a week where I do not have to go to work.     

On the north side of the house, up high, and close to a large pine tree, the gutters are covered with algae.  Chuck pointed it out, I had no reason to peruse the north side of the house.   There is six feet between my property line and the side of the house.

Well this week was the week Chuck decided it was time to clean the gutter.   He got some Green solution (don't know what it name is but it included the work Green in the title) The problem is the gutters are all up high and you need an ladder to do the work.   In the front, the gutters are about 30 feet  from the driveway.  (I will look for a picture and if the computer is in the mood I will post it)   On the north side it is a slope and I held the ladder so he could do the cleaning.   Just a spray and a scrubbing with a cloth then a rinse and it was clean.   TA DA.

That algae will grow in places that never see the sun.   Tomorrow he is going to attempt to go one the roof and on the same side of the family room, scrape off the moss and spray it some other cleaner that you leave on for 5 minutes and then squirt off.   I think he should tie himself to the chimney for that maneuver.   He is taking Plavix and I do not want him to hit his head and have a cerebral bleed.   That would ruin the week.

 

Scanning Family Photos

 

Here is a picture of my mother and her parents c 1926.   The man is my grandfather Willi Schridde, Anna Bartels Schridde and my mother Gerda Schridde.   I do not know if it was taken in PA or Germany.

They came to this country in 1926 but the picture of my mom seems to be at around the age of 2. 

My sister and I spent the whole afternoon scanning, editing and adding pictures to my files.  I want to put them on CDs and give them to my sibs.   I am lost to nuances of putting individual pictures in a file.   I have been clicking and dragging.   There must be an easier way.    I tried to start one folder and then put the pictures in one folder but I couldn't seem to do that.  

Next I have to put them on my external hard drive.   If Picasa has them on an external album they should be there too.

It is always a technical challenge for me to get where I want to to go with files and folders.

Invidious

Word of the Day Invidious  (adjective) Pronunciation:  [in-'vi-di-ês] Definition: (1) Offensive, insulting, causing ill-will; (2) envious. Usage: Here is another word we have confused with a similar one that sounds a bit the same, "envious." Although the two words share the same origin, their meanings should not overlap. Envy is envy and invidiousness should be invidiousness. The adverb is "invidiously" and the noun, the expectable "invidiousness." Suggested Usage: Anyone who insults or offends you is invidious, "Miss Givens is an invidious presence that creates far too much tension in the office." However, invidiousness is not restricted to people: "Before Civil Rights legislation of the 60s and 70s, the US was home to many invidious laws discriminating against minority groups." Etymology: From Latin invidiosus "envious, hostile" from invidia "envy." "Envy" itself comes from the same Latin word butvia French envier "to envy." "Invidia" is a noun from the Latin verb invideo, literally, "I do not look at," but meaning "to be prejudiced against, to envy." This verb is based on the prefix in- "not" + videre "to see," similar to Russian nenavist (not looking at) "hatred." In fact, Russian videt' "to see" comes from the same root as Latin "videre." The original root was *weid- and, as we have seen a few times before, words beginning on [w] often end up with "gu" in French, so we are not surprised that French "guide" comes from the same root. In Celtic we see it in "druid," which originated from dru "tree" (whose root—if you'll pardon the pun—we discussed recently in connection with "dendrochronology") + wid "see(r)."   –Dr. Language, YourDictionary.com

New Yorker magazine was invidious in its "satire" of the Obamas on its cover this week.

 

 

Waiting for dinner

Just sitting here and wondering what is going on that I should write about today.    I am contemplating the state of the country, and it is not very good.  

Karl Marx had said something to the effect: 

 Each civilization has within itself the seeds of its own destruction.    

 I would quote it but I do not know if that is an  exact quote.

But, I digress......I think, we in the United States are there now.  Each day the news is more grim and depressing.  The rich are getting richer and the poor are poorer and the middle class are paying thru their collective noses to support the rest.  How long can we go on with the escalating cost of oil???  I would not be surprised to see riots over food and fuel.

 The mortage mess and the increasing debt by people with their credit cards.     I read about the lenders, loaning money to people who did not have a chance in hell of meeting their obligations on their mortgages.  They really should have known better.   It was all magical thinking.

 I had wondered for the longest time how were people buying those McMansions, there could not be that many people making that much money, and I was right, there are not. 

Where has gone the common sense, buy what you can afford?  Save up before you buy, never charge things that depreciate....For many the bubble has already burst....How can people afford to save for their retirement when they can not afford to live today?  

 The defined benefit pension plan has gone the way of the Dodo.  Now it is 401K's and save your own. I read articles on how 75% of the BabyBoomer can not afford to retire.  The collective they think the "government" will bail us out,   THE GOVERNMENT IS US, WE THE PEOPLE.    And we are trillions in debt and that legacy will fall to our children, grandchildren, and the great grandchildren.  

Our children will never know the way of life we knew as we grew up.   They will be saddled with expenses from outrageous college costs.   How will they ever be able to afford decent housing when their college loans amount to the equivalent of a house payment?   

What can we do about it?   I really don't know.  To quote the retired cartoon POGO. "We have met the enemy and he is us."

 

 

Yesterday Emily and I saw the best movie.   It was a Pixar film, and it was absolutely great.   No sex, drugs or violence.  This is great for kids or adults.    Get a kid and take one with you, it is a must see.

WALL-E : Official Site 

To Think

"To think is to say no."
Emile Chartier

To me I think this says:  When a guy asks you "how about it???"  a woman can say "I'll think about it."    That is the equivalent of NO

"One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things."
John Burroughs

Don't sweat the small stuff and go with the flow.

Sunday

'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have' - Thomas Jefferson

I really like Thomas Jefferson....  Someone asked me one time;   if I could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would I choose??      I chose Thomas Jefferson.

I would really like to know what they meant when they set up the foundations of this nation and what would they think when the would see it today.       

My thoughts would be that they would probably be  to see how the constitution has been interpreted.  I really do not think that when they decided for freedom of speech me porno movies.

The most common answer when asked the above question was "Jesus."

Friday Morning

I love mornings; especially when I am home by myself.  I can just sit and read.   Or type in the journal.   It was rather coolish this morning (58 F) so I opened the windows and have a nice breeze wafting thru the house.

Emily said her Micro test was a non event.  He just asked questions relating to the end of chapter reviews.  She complained that after she had studied hard too.  I told her she may get to use some of that info she studied so don't think it was a waste of time.

What to do today.   I have started the laundry.  When we were first married we (as most everyone) had to lug the basket to the laundromat.   The only good thing about the laundromat is you can use all the washers you need and two dryers and get all the things done is a short period of time.   Also, you can do a large quilt there too.

   Getting the washer and dryer was one of the big thrills after we bought our house.   My friend Ruth told me how her daughter was so ecstatic when she got her w/d.   I remember that well.  My last washer purchase was a Sears brand that is a front loader.  I noticed a decrease in the water usage, but the Municipal Authority keeps decreasing the amount of water you can use for the basic fee.   I am curious now.  My water and trash collection costs me about $180 quarterly, what does everyone's else costs?   

I also got the low usage fluorescent light bulbs and the usage went down but the cost is rising with the deregulation.  Has any cost gone down with deregulation of anything?????

This picture is one of an old mill; it has been converted into a craft/antique store.  It is located in Volant PA.  My sisters and I are planning a trip there this summer.  It is on PA RT. 208 and if you go west your will come to the town of New Wilmington PA.   There is also shopping there, and a delightful campus of Westminster College.   PA is filled with small liberal art colleges.    

Volant Village Shops    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emilys Micro class

Emily has completed the first week of Microbiology.  She has a test today, on the first three chapters.  When I came home at 11 PM she was making notes on index cards. 

There are 16 people in her class; she said that not all of them were incoming freshman.   Some were older than her, some were her same age and a few younger.  I asked if there were any guys and she said only one and he had his eyebrows pierced.  She wanted to know why anyone would do that and make them selves look like an idiot.   I DO NOT KNOW    She speculated what his patient would think when it was time to care for them.....PROBABLY THINK HE LOOKED LIKE AN IDIOT...  would be my guess.

She said he sat in the back and talked to two blonds all throughout class.  I told her they would be gone at half time.  To study Nursing is a lot of hard work.  There is a high attrition rate because most people blow off  Micro and A&P and you need to really study.  I asked when the start to "save lives" and she didn't know. 

Yesterday was not bad considering I was there for 16 hours.   I had a light room and did breaks and lunches on my down time.  We were finished at 6:30 PM and then waited for some emergency that never materialized. 

Chuck told me earlier this year that he was going to take the same weeks off as me.  (Pounds head on table and groans.)  I think I will make him a list of things to do.   I have a few items in mind.    One of the things I want to do is scan old pictures and slides...I have to call my sister and she what her schedule is like.   She is a school nurse and has off the summers.     It is only a half time position.  After working at that job she could write a book.

Actually, long ago my husband worked for a MAJOR company who built nuclear power plants.  We lived in Korea and Yugoslavia.   I have a lot of pictures from Asia and Europe that I want to scan.

I digress, when I lived in Korea I found a job on a US Army base as a school nurse.  It was funny I went to the US Army School with one of the other expatriates as she was signing her children up for class.   The principal asked me if he could do anything for me.  I said "No, not unless you need a nurse."  He said "As a matter of fact, I do"   That was the easiest job I ever found.  It was also half time.  The biggest thing was checking immunizations and listening to the kids who came when the wanted to get out of class.   The biggest perk of that job was I got to use the US Mail system.   In a lot of countries the mail is censored, and things have a way of disappearing and making their way onto the Black Market.

I must admit that I utilized the black market myself but that is a story for another day..............

 

 

Tuesday

My feet hurt and I am too tired to write.  I am working 16 hours tomorrow and then off for about 10 days.  Good thing too, I can tell when it is time I need a vacation because I hate everyone at work.    I think nurses ought to get sabbaticals.   I know each and everyone of them would sign up in  no time flat.

 

This is the last of the fireworks adventure.  This was a non telephoto shot.    Yesterday Chuck and Emily were both at work and I did what I do best.............nothing.   Well, I cleaned two bathrooms, but that is far from exciting.  

I am back to work tomorrow.....I am doing general surgery, I know the first the a cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal)  It is amazing that there is an infinite supply of GB's to be removed.    General surger is my favorite. I have a Grad Student in Anesthesia tomorrow.  That means they have to do all the set up work.   They are really doing well, I have to make sure they learn everything correctly.  I may come in some day as an emergency and they will be giving my anesthesia. 

The ironic thing is that they pay thousands per semester for "clinical fee"  I would like to know exactly who is the recipient of this money.....None of the anesthetist who work there are getting any extra money for being a "clinical instructor."  It is something that needs to be done for the sake of future people having surgery.....

 

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Picture of Johnstown.

Google Image Result for http://www.robertpence.com/johnstown_pa_06/20061020_368_johnstown.jpg

Saturday

This is the same view as below, but with the telephoto shot and one lonely firework.  I was just too dark to see my camera buttons.    Guess I should not have waited till the time of the display to try to figure out what to do.

Yesterday Emily and I drove to Johnstown.  On the way the music director call and said the concert would be indoors.  That was a good thing, when we got to the higher elevation, it was raining.  Parking was a problem but I found a spot and spent 5 minutes trying to back up and still be within the confines of the lines.   I saw some of the cars have a camera in rear and you can observe the back of the car when you put the car in reverse.  I am extremely interested in that feature.

The concert was good.  They played all the usual patriotic favorites.   They played indoors because the rain would ruin expensive musical instruments....They had the pyrotechnics but we decided we really didn't need to see them and we started for home. 

 The road out of the valley is a two lane country road thru the Conemaugh Gorge.  It is dark, isolate and straight up the mountain.    I guess the drive is about 15 minutes.  The fog was coming in and heavy in some areas.  It was the kind of drive that you would expect in horror movies when some malevolent creature would come out of the mist.  EKKKKKKKKKKKKK.  That did not happen. 

 I must say that on this route (PA 403) there were reflective indicators on both side of the road, and a sturdy guide rail on the raving side.  The lines in the middle were freshly painted and bright.  Even with the fog you could easily see your location on the road surface.  It has the potential for a disastrous occurrence.  The rain was pouring of misting off and on.  I was glad to arrive home safely.

http://www.scrip.pa-conservation.org/natural.htm   Gorge Information...I will google pictures at a later time.

Morning of the 4th.

Last evening I went to my friends house for a 4th of July celebration.  Even though it was the 3rd.  That is when the town across the river had their fireworks and she was working today so she did the 3rd.    She lives on a bluff overlooking the Allegheny River.  They have five acres, it is really a $1,000,000 view. 

 This is a test shot. I took at twilight....I was playing with the settings.  I found that I need a tripod, I didn't have one with me so I substituted the railing of her deck.    I tried a long exposure, that didn't work because there was still some movement.  What I needed was a tripod and a remote or a cable cord to press; I had neither of these.  So this shot I did while resting the camera on the railing and setting it for "no flash"   It worked well, but the problem with the HP is that after the shot the settings need to be reset.  I wish they had a feature to keep the setting till I go back and reset them.  The other problem is that this was taken at twilight and after the sun went down and the fireworks started I could no longer see the buttons to go into the bowels of the cameras computer and set them with each shot.   Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

4th of July

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Benjamin Franklin

 

 

Rainy day picnic

I had off today.  The morning was nice and now it is raining.  I am suppose to go to a friends picnic this late afternoon.   She lives atop the Allegheny River and can see the town of Tarentum which is across the river.  They have their fireworks display this evening.    My contribution will be a Blueberry Pound Cake.  I actually made two, and I will give one to Chuck to take to work tomorrow.   They always have food to celebrate what ever holiday and every brings something into work on the Holiday, which ever one it is.  

I checked the weather map and it looks like rain, rain, rain.....Guess I will wear shoes and an anorak.....

I had off today and Emily and I went to the Penn State Book Store and got her Microbiology text book and lab manual...she starts Micro on Monday.....Then we went and ordered her uniforms. The uniforms the student wear now are colored scrubs.  Hers are a Forest Green.  She looks really good in that shade.  When I went eons ago, we had 100% cotton and they starched the damn things.    The uniforms would stand up by themselves.   At that time none of the hospitals had A/C and you can just imagine how hot and scratchy they were.   Now you would be hard to find a hospital without it.   The only place that had A/C was the OR, maybe that was the lure for me.......an air conditioned work place.....

 Most of what she needs for Nursing School is done.  We found out from the uniform store woman that there are about 100 students in her class.    They are now going on rotation to a lot of hospital sites so their experience will be good.   One of them is a Level 1 Trauma Center and their they have clinical in the ER and ICU...This hospital has a plethora of ICUs.

I had off today and also tomorrow and the weekend.  So, that is four days in a row.   Point to ponder,  Why does a  persons day off go faster than days at work?????

Bears

Bears Spotted In Plum, Westmoreland Backyards - News- msnbc.com

I read about others having all kinds of critters in their yards, but this takes the cake.    The link above is close to where I live.  This is 15 minutes out of the City of Pittsburgh; we have bears.     I haven't seen them myself but I am  glad I have inside cats, and no outside dogs.  Actually I do not have a dog at all.   I like dogs but it wouldn't be fair to a dog to have to live with the cats (meow) when we are all at work all day.....I will keep my eye open for the bears.  I have the camera charged and ready to go. 

Today was a rather slow day at work.  I did eyelids.   Actually it was quite interesting.  The first man had Bells Palsy.    He could not close his eye, he had this problem for two years.   the opthomologist inserted a tiny (1.5 gm. gold weight inside the upper eyelid.  The little bit of weight would hold his eyelid down so he could close his eye.  The doctor also took up the slack in the outside corner so his eye would not droop.   It looked very nice when he was done.  I guess it is true that a person learns something new every day.

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