Flowers

 

While I'm under the weather...simple pleasures to share.

Old shots

 

The drafting tables

Some of this post has been posted before several years ago. But I was reminded of drafting tables for Sepia Saturday this week. 

When the man in the floral shirt had a first baby (well, his wife did) he passed out cigars to all the draftspersons.

I'm on the far left, not smoking the smelly thing, but holding it for the picture.

The other woman in the photo with long hair, had just graduated with a degree in Architecture from one of the Florida universities. I had had 3 years of liberal arts college and 2 children and a divorce by that time.  Little did I realize I'd be going to the U of FL myself in another 8 years myself!

The drafting room of an architectural and engineering firm had mainly men working in it. Stephanie got her position by getting a degree.  How did I get mine?

A year after my divorce I was a secretary in a cable TV firm...which in 1971 meant that cables were just being run between phone poles for the first time in Tampa. There were some electrical engineers who worked on drafting tables, and I was sitting at an IBM Selectric typewriter, wanting to find a way up in my career, which seemed destined to include typing.  Then I decided to apply for an apprenticeship for an electrical engineering draftsman at another firm.  I got the job...after all, I knew the symbols, could draw since I had been an art major.

After a few months of this, I decided if I could apprentice for the electrical draftsperson, why not an architectural one? So I did, and went to another company and got an architectural drafting job.  I did it for a few months, then wanted a better position, which is how I ended up 3 years at the firm seen in the photo. I moved up while working there, by starting to draw plans for landscape design and for interior finishes. The firm worked on commercial projects, like banks, post offices, and schools. Some government contracts required landscape designs...which were easy enough to draw. I used a book about plants that would grow in Florida. I knew very little otherwise.  I was told it didn't matter, because the contractors would replace my design with whatever they had on hand anyway. And the firm I worked for got a drawing that looked almost as good as one a real landscape architect would have made...much cheaper by me!

And for interior finishes, I used all the samples that were sent for flooring, and Formica finishes for bathrooms, and floor tiles, and paint samples and carpet samples, to build little dioramas, so we could show a bank (for instance) what a color scheme for the boardroom might look like. My favorite was doing a board room for the top floor of a 36 floor building that still stands in Tampa.  When it was built it was the tallest building. I never found out if they used my presentation choices or not.  It didn't really matter.  I got a business card with my name on it saying Architectural Interior Designer. We also got a contract to renovate the Tampa stadium and locker rooms...so I again had some interior choices put together for it. That stadium got demolished and a bigger one built years ago.

Then I quit.  I wanted to take a summer off with my 2 boys and travel in my camper van (my only means of transportation). I had proved I could do many things, and had a gas credit card...so we traveled all over the country camping, and then we settled in another city. I started as a temp secretary first...then worked my way up in different jobs.

I didn't return to drafting.  But one of my temp jobs was at the new school of architecture in that city.  I unfortunately couldn't consider becoming a student yet because there were course requirements that would mean "pulling an all-nighter" and I knew as a single mom I wouldn't be able to do that.

So that's how I ended up as an apprentice that became a draftsperson that became an Architectural Interior Designer. 

I learned later, after I finished three degrees in college, that they prepared people for more than just a skilled trade. In the meantime I also knew that training on the job (apprenticeships) are excellent ways for intelligent people to accomplish a lot. One of my sons took that route to become a licensed electrician, while another one got his BS in Electrical Engineering and a MA in business administration.

All of us use computers now in our work, and recreation. So our desks no longer look like drafting tables, as our Sepia Saturday photo shows below.

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week!

Today's quote (in memory of Thich Nhat Hanh)

Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.
Earth will be safe
when we feel in us enough safety.

—Thich Nhat Hanh

Get outside my box

 I've been dealing with the "blahs" lately.

I know what will help me. But somehow it's like being in quicksand, and I just can't push myself to move in the right way...so I feel stuck here. Not that I'm going down in quicksand. Just that I'm not doing anything I could to feel better, to accomplish something that will give me satisfaction.

Food is way too much in my thoughts these days. I noticed I now receive a half dozen, maybe a dozen newsletters about food in my emails. Geese, I don't want to follow recipes. I want quick and delicious stuff, so have a few things in the freezer that I can nuke, or some leftovers of soup and veggies that I can also mix together in different ways to provide tasty meals. And then what?

Watch more TV or Netflix or something?

I want it to be warm enough that I can walk around my favorite lake. I want to see the first promise of spring. But nope...I'm here still, not patiently waiting for the end of winter!

These nice blooming bushes have been taken out by the lake.

I'm scrolling through some photos of where I like to walk...if only.

OK, you're quite tired of my groaning and moaning about wanting to be somewhere and somewhen that isn't here and now.

The other way out of the "Blahs" is for something to get worse, and yesterday it did. So now I'm taking more drugs to get rid of an infected salivary gland, in my mouth, neck and face. I'll come back from this and hopefully won't be feeling anything this bad again.

Thanks for listening.

Today's quote: 

Compassion springs from the heart, as pure, refreshing water, healing the wounds of life.

THICH NHAT HANH

It's all in the family

 One of my sons has given me a membership on his Netflix account...so I can watch whatever they offer.

I started watching some old NCIS shows...you might say I'm binge watching them. It used to be only one or two shows each evening. They are much nicer than the old shows on TV, which have a zillion commercials.

So my son texted me that he wants to close his Netflix account and get another streaming account, which he'd share with me. I asked him to wait a couple of days so I could finish these NCIS shows.

So I'm now binge watching as long as I can...

As long as Abby is on the series at least. I used to love that character, and then she quit. The whole series has changed drastically, being broadcast later in the evening. So I very seldom watch the newer shows.

Today's quote:

There is a rumor going around that I have found God. I think this is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist. -Terry Pratchett, novelist (28 Apr 1948-2015)

Let's appreciate the beauty we have

 

The big Kalanchoe

Leaves in foreground belong to this flower (propped up by giraffe head), Leaves seen in midground are from plant with bright pink/purple flowers.

This pot has the orchids with the most blooms...the yellow variegated ones...with purple centers and spots on the petals.

The same plant, here showing how she's branched out for possibly more blooms but none are open yet. All the buds on the main branch have opened. They are touching each other this year. I haven't fertilized these plants, but do give them a bit of a drink every other day because they're near the heat which dries things out.

Last Friday with snow on the roofs still. Perhaps some ice on roads. I'm appreciating my flowers.

Today's quote:

There is a beauty in discovery. There is mathematics in music, a kinship of science and poetry in the description of nature, and exquisite form in a molecule. Attempts to place different disciplines in different camps are revealed as artificial in the face of the unity of knowledge. All literate men are sustained by the philosopher, the historian, the political analyst, the economist, the scientist, the poet, the artisan and the musician.

 -Glenn T. Seaborg, scientist, Nobel laureate (19 Apr 1912-1999)

Two photos

 

New York City 1917

What do these two photos have to do with each other?

The first is my favorite ale. I have a couple of cans of it left. I do prefer bottles, but can't find them usually, and this is my first caned experience. Still pretty nice.

Second photo is my feelings having lived through about a week of cabin fever. No not quite. I had two days inside, then 2 days of carefully going out on short outings, and then another day inside. Who am I to complain? I had electricity keeping me warm. I had water flowing in the pipes. But I feel the blahs.

Last night my internet cut off. It was at my bedtime, but I checked several devices, even getting out of bed and being chilly to do so. I had to calm my blood pressure down as I imagined talking in the morning on the phone to the cable company. No way was I about to begin that conversation before bedtime. I wished to sleep.

So I did. And in the morning I found everything connected again. Sigh. 

I avoided one of those monumental phone calls with pressing a dozen buttons for this service or another on various menus. 

And my blood pressure was good too!

So why do I have the blahs?

They usually wait till February. I know some of my friends use sunlight lamps to avoid SAD...seasonal affective disorder. Is this it?

Not much sunlight this week. I'd better make sure to take my vitamin D. And perhaps have an ale with my lunch! I wonder what that will be...

Among my "going to sleep thoughts" I considered having a life without any internet services. No TV would mainly mean missing the local news...most national and international are on line...woops, I'd miss those too.

And I'd miss Jeopardy. I've been thrilled with the incredible knowledge and skill of the trans woman who's won so much lately.

If I had no internet, I could still use my phone. So I could text people. And I could call them. My laptop could be carried to the several wi-fi hot spots in town...the library and the Dripolator. If I could get there depending on road conditions of course. I'm grateful to still have my car!

And no internet would mean no blogs. I read other's blogs in the morning, then sometime during the day I will gather some photos and post a new one myself. Nice bookends, and of course sometimes answer comments. My old iPad doesn't carry blogger. I don't think my phone does either. No way I would type on that little keypad daily. Oh well, I'm so glad to be here now.

I think I will continue my gratitude with a great big sigh of thanks to having the internet. 

Today's quote:

Life is a gift that is given and will be taken. How we choose to spend our time here is our gift to life. It is our way of saying "thank you life" for the gift.

IMUETINYAN UGIAGBE

Memories of snow

 

Back in 2011...a friend and I drove then walked around in the snow. I had another little Toyota and apparently could drive on slightly snowy roads...without much thought as to whether I could stop at the end of my drive, or drive all the way to where she lived up Little Rainbow Mountain.

She took this photo of me, but since then has died. So when I see it I think of her. And how I'd take her places in her last year to see and enjoy things. She gave me her own playful spirit, which I don't seem to keep much of these days eleven years later.

I wrote this on Thursday last week. The snow had somewhat melted or been shoveled in many places. It rained for a couple of hours, but was above freezing, so I carefully drove away from my hilly apartment. It's much steeper than the hill where I lived in 2011. I was glad the road had been plowed.

But as soon as the rain let up, the temperature went below freezing, and isn't due to warm again for at least 48 hours. So now I'm homebound again with black ice on many slopes. 

Any more old snow photos I can share?

A nicely cleared road looking down to the lake. Dec. 11, 2018

Patterns of ice and snow melting on the windshield.

One photo you may have seen before, of snow on the mountains  (known as the black mountains) looking over Lake Tomahawk. Dec. 22, 2018 (may have been when I saved the photo, but I think it's the date I took it.)

And How to Reuse N95, KN95 and Other Disposable Masks...

an interesting read.

Today's Quote:

When we accept that we always exist in a state of grace, we are able to live our lives more graciously.

Another winter day

 

Yes there are blooms coming on the side stalk too!

Good morning to you!

And you out there too!

Today's quote:

When we experience our own desire for transformation, we are feeling the universe evolving through us.

BARBARA MARX HUBBARD

Rewind from the past - part two

 I've posted a few of the old photos that I recently started scanning, on Three Family Trees blog. But I like sharing a few of them here too!

For my Canadian blogging friends, I must share our trip to the Montreal World's Fair of 1967. (Corrected date, it was a typo, glad to have readers who comment and correct me!)

My husband and I drove with his brother and brother's partner and camped on an island in the St. Laurence Waterway. Big ships were passing by all night! But here we are getting breakfast ready! My back is turned (in white and yellow dress) and Rick is raising the spatula, while Claudette is paying attention to something or another.

Here there are three of us working, well, the two women are...and Rick is watching. That isn't a white bird by his elbow but a place where another photo stuck to this one in the album...but I did want to keep this photo anyway. My hubby was taking photos, but I think soon joined us. We had a lot of walking to do that day!

A birdseye view of the World's Fair, giving a sense of the scale of it.

Here I'm looking toward the pavilion from Mauritius, which is where Claudette is from. Rick met her when he worked there before returning to the states.

Rick was an architect in MA. We all enjoyed seeing Habitat.

The weather varied from when I wore my sweater in the morning, until this jump into a fountain in the afternoon!

I don't know if we went back and collapsed at the tent, or drove home to CT that night. Maybe my ex-husband will remember, or his brother. They are older than I am, so who knows if they have better memories! Rick married another woman a few years later, so Claudette isn't available to ask.

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week.

Today's quote:

It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence. 

-William Kingdon Clifford, mathematician and philosopher (4 May 1845-1879)

Sun through the trees

 I'm in the mood for sky photos - as inspired by another blogger, Robin Andrea.

I was in the parking lot of my doctor's office, and rolled down the window (this time! I'm learning) since I wasn't really getting any warmer yet, and thought to myself, "Let's go inside and wait, they are heated already while the car is cold."

I had to wait for a car to pass on US Highway 70, and then it was pretty, with the sun reflecting off the railroad tracks.

When I went inside I waited a while behind a man who had been in the hospital and needed a follow up appointment. Then after I checked in for my appointment, another woman came in, gave her symptoms when she was screened for covid, but was out of breath the whole time. The nurse picked up on that and asked if she was always out of breath, and she said yes this morning. Then she mentioned she had chest pain this morning.

She was called right back to be weighed, blood pressure taken, and given an EKG...the nurse hurried the machine into her exam room, then called the Dr. He conferred a minute and recommended that she go to ER immediately. By then I was also back in the exam room area, waiting to be shown in my room. When I had talked with the Dr. about my condition (hands cramping) he gave me advice, then I came out in the hallway which was blocked by a gurney and the woman was getting on it with EMT's caring for her.

My nurse showed me through the office way around to the front exit, while the EMT's had gone out the backway to the ambulance. I made my next appointment and mentioned that when I'd gone to ER once and said I had chest pains, they also had taken me immediately to get treated. I said I understood completely that care givers worked immediately to treat heart conditions. I hadn't been given that diagnosis for hours, but eventually it resulted in my having a stent put on an artery on my heart.

OK, now you're caught up with everything that happened until I sat down here again with coffee and toasted blueberry pancakes! I hope you have a good day!

Joining Skywatch Friday this week.

Today's quote:

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. -Annie Dillard, author (b. 30 Apr 1945)

A picture is worth...

 ...a thousand words...right? This post has been postponed so I could share some of the storm with you on the Monday after Izzy (that's the name weather people gave it.)

The blinds are down (partially, what I could reach) and just opened, and the curtains pulled back. Last night all were closed to keep us (me and plants) warmer....and elec. bill a bit lower!

The old computer in foreground is the one with ability to talk to the old Epson printer, the only one which can scan photos. The old album on the right, has many family photos which stuck together (living in FL humidity for many years). I'm scanning those that can be saved and will share them with my ex - who's preparing an album for the grown kids. I will just keep mine as digital files, but he wants to publish his on paper.

I reached a stopping point after 45 minutes yesterday, and was about going bonkers with all the things each photo required...like changing the names of each from numbers to descriptions and dates if I could figure them out.

I had to get up and place each photo in the scanner, then sit down to do all the computer stuff. Maybe today I'll figure out how to use my desk chair, with rollers and swivels! Why didn't I think of that before?

Today's quote:

A new word is like a fresh seed sown on the ground of the discussion. 

-Ludwig Wittgenstein, philosopher (26 Apr 1889-1951)

Day after Izzy

 Only those who were affected by the recent snow through TN, NC, VA and probably a few more states going north, will have heard it called IZZY. Or perhaps it got it's name back in AK or AL...where it rained and blew. Or maybe some of it became the tornadoes in mid-so-FL. 

So here on Tues we watched many dripping places, while white stayed there in sunshine. I also watched our maintenance man and his snowblower. That was the proper way to get walks cleared down to the icy level created by the original sidewalk salt which was spread on Fri. When snow started it kept sidewalks nice and wet.

Now they probably have some ice, but that good old sun was due to warm things to 43 in the afternoon. And then plummet back down to 25 F at night. Probably see many black ice surfaces out there.

My friends warn me not to go out, but I'm wishing to see the pretty places before they're all gone. I may have missed my chance though. 

8 am, Tues. Jan 18, 2022.

10 am Tues Jan 18, 2022. Front porch.

10:30 am the other side (south) of my apartment.

12:30 pm, showing what snowblower has been able to do.

I finally got into snow boots (they still fit!) and wound my muffler around my face and neck, and all the other cold weather gear. Put my mailbox key in one pocket, and the phone in the other. The carried my broom with me, across the treacherous driveway...remembering to try to step on snow so there'd be some traction...rather than ice. Yes, it's out there and not giving any surface.

That part of driveway was a combination of snow, water and slush...it was hard to find good places to walk, but I was slow and used my broom as my walking stick.

Where the sun had a chance to hit the snow, it had dried the pavement off. That's my car on far left, which is surrounded by virgin snow. It doesn't have much left on the outside, so I decided not to try to get inside it.

People have gone through this snow as far as the garbage cans...but my car is over by those steps. Nobody went this way yet, though I did see a man shoveling those steps. Then he went back the other way, rather than coming down to this stretch.

I swept a bit of ice and snow off the platform where the office/laundry room and mail boxes ae located. Here in the foreground is another snow shovel and the gas can for the snow blower. I just wanted you to see how much snow is un-cleared on that porch area.

I'm glad I ventured out this far, and no further. I broomed off more snow on my porch and steps. But they will probably have ice on them tonight. My apartment is the second one on the left in this shot. It's had as much sun as it's going to get on that side for today.

Nope, not driving out there today. We'll see how the roads look tomorrow...

Most important, dry out the boots that just had to go through ice water!

And chop veggies for my beef-less stew tonight! I cut the chunks of fake beef in half, then cooked them with all the spicy veggies first...and seasoning. Hoping the fake beef would be more palatable. Actually I think the whole stew would have been delicious without it! Not going to put any in from now on. It still has no flavor and is a strange texture...kind of like chunks of cardboard. But my extra effort with seasoning gave me a delicious broth. And I blenderized a cup or so of the veggies for a thickener. So it doesn't have any corn starch or flour to thicken it. I came out with a good stew for tonight's dinner, and 2 and a half quarts left over. Nice to have choices when it's time to eat again!

Red sky in the morning...

 sailor take warning.

This was dawn on the 13th of Joyous...aka January.

The white reflections are from my blinds which I just opened to the early morning light a bit after 7.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

We had clouds and dampness all day Thurs. There's due to be rain/sleet/snow in the mountains to the west of us, along the Tennessee/North Carolina border. That's sooner than our snow will come. We're being forecast 6-8 inches on Sunday.

But the weatherman has consistently over-forecast for the last I-don't-know-how-long. So I'll be happy with 2 inches, and hope someone plows or scatters sand/salt so I can drive around and take pictures. No matter how much, I now live on a steep hill, so I have more trouble getting out to drive on the better-travelled streets. We shall see...

You know I'll share.

ADDENDUM Tues morning...just a bit of color around a snowy peak!

Sharing with Tuesday's Treasures, though they have the wrong email somehow! I couldn't correct it either.

Today's quote:

Not thinking critically, I assumed that the "successful" prayers were proof that God answers prayer while the failures were proof that there was something wrong with me.

 -Dan Barker, former preacher, musician (b. 1949)

Snow storm Izzy

 This storm had so much hooplah before it arrived. That's because they wanted everyone to be ready. And we all know that weather people forecast things which mother nature usually brings about in her own good time. I guess that way weather people can get their trucks and  cameras in position where they think the storm will hit.

One of the more famous weather people flew into Asheville earlier in the week. We then knew it was going to be an event worth televising. (Note, Jim Cantore was indeed in Asheville talking about our local snow on the national weather channel!)

Living with it is a bit different.

We have more than enough provisions. We have charged our phones, arranged our snow gear (I haven't worn those boots for 2 years) and then wait. And wait and wait.

Good thing it's due to start (I wrote this Sat. night) in the midnight hour. And so I will check out the window whenever I wake up to visit the bathroom. I've been disappointed most of last year. 2018 was the last good snow here...so that's more than 2 years.

Earlier there was a notification of a terrible wreck (their description) on I-40. But no precipitation has fallen at all, so it must have been caused by something else. I'll find out about that maybe later in the news, but there's likely to be a lot more coming. So I'm signing off for now...

At 7 am it wasn't beginning to be light as it usually is. 

At 7:10 this morning it was still night out. 

7:20 am - still as dark as midnight. We're surrounded by cloud/fog. There's maybe 5 inches over everything, but I don't see it falling. There aren't many branches with anything on them, though I don't see a bit of wind to knock snow off them. Kind of strange. But maybe because its so dark. Yesterday this was full light time.

Finally it's getting light outside!

At 8:15 very tiny snow flakes still coming down with a little southerly wind. Nobody is out there!

The front porch...

Still coming down pretty heavy at 9 am. (I used this for my header for a while). 

All day long there were either flurries or sleet for a while mixed with snow. 

And nobody noticed how deep it was in Black Mountain, at least on the local weather. That's ok with me. Our parking lot, our sidewalks, and our porches and steps are covered with snow. The little bits of salt that were sprinkled all over the sidewalks and steps kept them wet enough for the first snow falling hours (which I saw when I woke up around 4 am.)

By dinnertime (6:30pm) I could see over the building down the hill from me, as far as the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly building. But it didn't look as though Blue Ridge Rd had been plowed. I saw a couple of pick ups go down it during the day, but nobody tried to go up that steep hill while I was watching.

In the lower photo you can't see the tracks of the women who walked from the office building in the afternoon.  I saw them carrying a snow shovel and a broom. I guess they had ideas of clearing off their walkway. It didn't happen. And snow continued to fall off and on until the sun went down.

I think Monday will come and not much will have changed. I know that the next forecast is for winds with high gusts. I do hope we don't lose electricity. It's darn cold out there...never got above freezing all day Sunday.

I hope the rest of my friends who received some of Izzy had no problems from it.

Today's quote:

A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking. -Jerry Seinfeld, comedian (b. 29 Apr 1954)