Day Forty-Seven - Various Topics

I noticed yesterday that I inadvertently had two Day Forty-Fours.  If you noticed it previously, I apologize for my faux pas.  If you did not notice it.... what he hell?  Don't you even pay attention to what you are reading?  So, to get back on track, I am skipping Day Forty-Six and going straight to Day Forty-Seven.

I had a very unsuccessful eclipse viewing yesterday afternoon.  It was pretty disappointing.  I went out a couple of times an hour beginning at about 3:50.  It was supposed to have begun at 3:45 in Texas.  I did this until after 7.  I never could tell much of anything.  I took pictures but I needed filters in order to get the eclipse.  Here is what I got with what I had.

This was around 4:30 p.m.

This one was about 5:30 p.m.

You cannot tell that there is an eclipse going on in any of the 30 pictures that I took.  But I thought these were kind of cool anyway, so I thought I would share them.  I did look at the eclipse on a piece of paper like they taught us in science when I was a kid.  So that was kind of cool.  But I would like to have documented it using my camera.

The cool thing is that I enjoyed nice entertainment while I took my pictures. The HOA for the rich neighborhood to the north of my condos was having a Memorial Day celebration at the gazebo while I was taking my photos.  They actually had a band out there with a brass, percussion and woodwind section!  I listened to such classics as Misty and The Stars and Stripes Forever while I photographed the sun.  There were people obviously from my complex sitting near our fence on the grass facing the gazebo enjoying it and even people in my parking lot dancing at one point.  I can't imagine how festive it must have been on the street in front of the gazebo!

My condos are having an HOA meeting this Tuesday night that I will be attending.  It probably won't be quite as festive.  But we are having hotdogs.  The call went out on Friday for some Orthodox Jews to offer up a kosher grill so that all attendees can enjoy the event.  I love living in such a diverse area.  I think it is really cool to drive through my neighborhood on Saturdays and see the Hasidic Jews walking to temple in all of their finery.  Meanwhile the Christmas lights each year never fail to amaze.  We all live here together and love our little neighborhood.

Prior to the hotdog cookout we are supposed to attend a townhall that the Mayor of Dallas is doing over at Campbell Green Rec Center.  I guess he is going to talk about the Cottonbelt Project which I apparently need to know more about.  I guess the railroad tracks that run parallel to my complex might be used for a new DART line.  Everyone in the neighborhood appears to be in an uproar over it.  I don't know how to feel.  While I understand that it could create noise and could bring people into the area that are a "bad element", I sort of think those people are already here due to the "projects" on McCallum.  And if it enables us to use mass transit without getting in our cars and driving 10 minutes first, is that awful?  Oh well, at the very least I know I will be entertained since I have never been to a Willow Greene HOA meeting that didn't involve near fisticuffs.

I am soooo looking forward to tonight.  It is the second episode of this season's The Bachelorette.  It's a train wreck and I LOVE IT!  For me reality TV is always better when it makes you uncomfortable to watch it and I can't imagine being more uncomfortable than this season with that stupid hick Emily.  And men just LOVE her!  I am sort of leaning toward either Ryan or Chris winning.  Although, I think Chris Harrison, the host might end up being the biggest winner of all this year.  I am starting to think that Kelly Ripa might go with him as a co-host on her show.  Especially, now that he is divorced.  He would probably be a huge hit with the stay at home mom.

I'm sorry I have no crazy cat stories today.  I only tell them as I get them.  Jingle and Shiner only give me so much material to work with each week.  And let's face it, you can't make this stuff up.  I do feel that I must tell you that I have deleted the previous book that I was working on and am now entering chapter 3 of a new one.  I think the concept on this one is much better than what I was writing before.  I can tell you, that I have never read this.  I couldn't say that about what I was writing before.  I was coming up with my own words, but I had read that concept before.

More exciting news is that I got a new computer a few weeks ago.  It has been the best thing that I have done in a long time!  My computer runs so much faster now.  It is no longer a chore to turn on the computer.  The only problem I have is that it was a display model that was discounted dramatically as a result.  So, I got no manual with it.  When it goes to "sleep", as far as I know there is no way to wake it back up.  The only thing I can do is turn off the surge protector which is basically like unplugging it and then turn it back on.  Then when it comes back up, everything is still on the screen which is kind of weird.  Right now, I am just trying to remember to always save and close everything then shut it down when I finish using it for a while.  But even with that, it is so much better than what I was dealing with before that there is no comparison.

I know, you don't have to tell me that I can get all of the operating instructions on line.  I am completely aware of this.  You may recall that I posted a blog several weeks ago discussing the fact that I still haven't figured out how to use all of the functions on my DSLR that I have had for a few years because I won't take the time to read the instruction manual.  The same would be true for this computer if I had the instruction manual.  So, what is the point in finding it on line?  It is so much easier to just sit here and whine about it.