OK, So I am "Old School"

OK, so I freely admit that I am "Old School." I do some things the "old" way.  Like paying my bills. I love using my fountain pen to write checks.  I love to mail the checks as well, and yes, I know it costs me $.82 for each to mail.  I love writing addresses on the envelopes when necessary, and I really love using postage stamps.  Guilty as charged!  I am eccentric sometimes.  I get that.  So here's the story:  A good friend of ours sent a check to a charity and their bank called and asked her to come down to verify a check because it was of high value.  She was shocked to see that someone had "kited" her check and increased the value by some thousands of dollars!  Fortunately the bank caught it.  So I am aware that crooks can do that.  I use a fountain pen and I have read about special archival inks.  So I wondered if one of my checks, if stolen could have been increased in value - "kited."  I took two checks, used a roller ball, and then my fountain pen with Parker Quink black ink, and then used a ballpoint. After I let the inks dry for an hour I put some acetone in a small dish and "washed" one of the checks, as it is called.  I read somewhere that acetone had been used for such a thing.  The GREAT news is that acetone would not touch the rollerball, or my fountain pen ink.  But look at the ballpoint - I was shocked!  That ink was almost completely gone.  Notice the area circled in red where you can see that some of the ink of the check was dissolved (the check was not completely immersed in acetone).  Bottom line I am safe with my checks written with my fountain pen or the rollerball pens I have around!  I can continue to be "old school" when it comes to paying my 3 or 4 bills each month!  This is fascinating, isn't it?

 

Finally! Back on the Bike!

Finally!  I am back on the bike!  I have been so busy with painting that I have not done a bike ride for 5 1/2 weeks!  And I felt it today when I went for a nice ride.  I keep an eye on my pulse rate when riding, using my Apple watch.  Normally my pulse rate runs about 115 going up the hills.  In the summer when the days are close to 80 degrees (I don't ride if it is warmer than 80) I work really hard to keep my pulse at 110 or below so that I don't get overheated.  Today, going up some of my long hills my pulse was 128.  I am in good shape so that rate is OK, but it shows that I have lost some fitness in the 5 1/2 weeks I have not been on the bike.  It was a joy to ride today with a temperature of 68 and blue sky and sunshine and not much wind.  And my painting is done as well!  Oh happy day.  Oh, I wanted to have some kind of photo of me riding for the blog but the only thing I could think of was to use my iPhone, holding it in one hand while slowly riding and then photographing my shadow.  This worked out OK and thankfully I did not drop my phone!

 

Just Clouds

I hate to give away family secrets, but here goes.  We have gotten into the habit of perhaps twice a month driving down to Wendy's to get their little chicken sandwich!  We first had these in Los Angeles when visiting the girls.  I will tell you that the BEST sandwich was the Spicy Chicken Sandwich!  Wow!  But it is twice the size and twice the calories, so we just get the Crispy Chicken Sandwich and bring it home to eat.  When walking back to the car after getting our sandwiches I noticed these Cirrus clouds in the western sky.  This is a subtle photograph, as opposed to being dramatic, as some of my cloud photographs have been.  But I love all the subtle shapes overlaying other shapes.  There is something so beautiful about Cirrus clouds and I cannot not photograph them.  Please click on the image to see it larger - there is much to see in this.

 

That's a Lot of Paint!

Every time I used up all the paint in a can I just put it on the floor of the basement and opened a new one.  I would use the old one to fill up halfway to take up the ladder and paint from.  When I was all done I realized that my basement was full of paint cans!  I started stacking a few together and then it hit me, this would make a great photo.  So I took them all outside today and stacked them on the picnic table and here you are!  Each gallon of paint was $67.50!  When I first painted the house after we bought it in 1970, I think a gallon of paint was less than $20.

 

Pick Your Favorite Ghosts (picture)

I was driving by this house the other day, early in the day, and saw some ghosts hanging from the trees in the front yard.  The light was too bright, though, so I made myself a note to come by late in the day, and so I did that today.  I love these ghosts!  They are the ones that you make by blowing up a balloon and then draping it with an old sheet and then adding eyes. Very cool.  So it was fun to photograph two of the three and try and find the best shot.  But you will have to tell me your favorite, because after shooting about 30 exposures it was really hard to narrow it down.  I chose these three images.  I like this close in image because it is more dramatic than the other two, below.

Maybe up close and more dramatic is not the best way to present these two ghosts.  So I backed away some and gave more a sense of the surroundings, and this is a nice photo.

So here is one that is in-between really close and further back.  So your job is cut out for you to decide which one you like best.  Thanks for the help!  Please let me know.  Thanks!

 

Cracks

I have been painting rather than out taking photographs.  I found this image in a folder marked "Possible Blog," and checked to see if I had used it before.  And I think I have not posted this before.  This is a home in Sea Cliff that was made from a garage kind of building and it is really nice inside.  Some years ago they had a sale of "stuff" and I went and was surprised how nice it was inside.  Anyhow I forgot what brought me to this side of the house, on a side street, even though the front of the house is on a main road.  I was taken by the pattern of the cracks that have been filled with some material to seal the cracks before the building was painted.  I was just fascinated by the pattern of the cracks.

 

I Was So Scared!

I went to the hardware store for yet another gallon of white paint for the house.  I am nearing the end of painting at long last!  As I came out the front door I turned left and at the next door on the building, which it turns out, is part of the hardware store and sells outdoor furniture and other seasonal things, had this woman on display in the doorway!  I nearly had the life scared out of me because of this scary woman! Oh my heart!  Whew!  It took my pulse rate a few minutes to get back to normal!  Actually I was once again desperate for a blog shot so I set the can of paint down on the sidewalk and grabbed my iPhone and took this "just in case!"  Good thing I did, huh?