Miscellaneous

Copying Hard Drives

Our old computer had three 80GB hard drives in it. Ever since we finally replaced it, which is more than a year ago now, I’ve been meaning to get everything off the drives from the old computer onto the new one. Immediately needed things were copied up to the server and then back down to the new machine but there was a lot of stuff that didn’t fall into the immediately needed category.

So, today I decided it would be a good thing to get done. It was quiet at home, with both of the girls out. That also meant there was no demand for the computer. So, I opened it up and one at a time I connected the old drives and copied pretty much everything onto the new machine. When I say pretty much everything, I mean pretty much everything. I still need to go through those files and throw away anything that’s not needed, which is a significant amount. Still, now when Cathy said, “I had a document on the old computer that I’d like to update,” it isn’t a problem.

You cannot really see it in this picture, thankfully, but the inside of the computer needed to be vacuumed out, which I did once I was finished copying my drives and before I closed it back up again.

Phoropter

I had an eye exam this afternoon. Not a big deal and nothing to report, really. I have the beginnings of a cataract in my left eye. Not surprising, really, since I had one in my right eye more than four years ago. That one grew quite quickly, but the thought is that it was injury related. Nothing to do about it at this point so I’ll just keep my eye on it, so to speak, and deal with it when the time comes. A cataract isn’t as scary as it was 30 or 40 years ago. The surgery is simple and quick and the recovery is relatively fast (as long as you don’t tear your retina afterwards).

The eye exam didn’t actually involve using the phoropter in this picture but I decided a picture of the slit-lamp wouldn’t be as interesting. I don’t need new glasses — my vision is basically 20/20 in both eyes. I have driving glasses but I really only wear them when I need the associated sun glasses (and I did when I left this afternoon, after having my eyes dilated). I do need reading glasses but the cheap drug-store variety work fine for that.

Snow on Boxwood

We had a little snow come down overnight. The roads were clear so there were not any changes to school, but it was quite pretty. As I left for work, I paused to take a few pictures. Snow can be hard to photograph. There isn’t a lot of texture to it, unless you get quite close. I didn’t have my tripod and I didn’t feel like lying on the snow-covered ground this morning, so I contented myself with pictures of snow on branches and on this boxwood bush by our garage.

Colored Pens

Last Tuesday I posted a picture of Sour Patch Kids which I (in my ignorance) labeled Gummy Bears. Well, I went to pick Dorothy up again this evening and naturally I took my camera with me. It’s nice being in someone else’s house, especially someone who doesn’t mind me taking pictures. This is the first picture I took this evening and the camera was set wrong for the flash so I got a one second exposure, which caused the blur. I could have gone with the “properly” exposed picture but this one is more interesting and a little abstract.

Ice Cream With Nuts and Honey

I had the last of the black-cherry ice cream this evening and I put some nuts over it. Actually, they are nuts that came in a jar filled with honey, so they are quite sweet. I’m not sure nuts and cherry ice cream is the best combination but it wasn’t bad. Next time, though, I think I’ll save the nuts for plain vanilla ice cream.

Gummy Bears

Sometimes I take pictures of things around the house just because I’m still trying to take at least one picture every day. When I do that, though, I’m never sure if those pictures are enjoyed as much as the scenery or people pictures that I post. This evening, when I was picking up Dorothy from her friend Julia’s house, Julia’s mom, Maureen said she had something for me to photograph. She said she likes the colors of those still life pictures and she brought out a jar of gummy bears. So, today’s pictures is of gummy bears, courtesy of Maureen.

Update: Dorothy told me, in a somewhat exasperated tone, that these are Sour Patch Kids, not Gummy Bears. I’ve corrected the post title.

Chicken and Cauliflower Curry

I didn’t feel very well today so didn’t get out much. I seem to have caught one of the three bugs that’s going around this winter. This is the sinus infection and it isn’t very pleasant. Dorothy and I did go out late in the day and did a bit of grocery shopping. When we got home I threw together a simple chicken and cauliflower curry. It was mild but pretty good, even if I say so myself. It also took very little work, which was the main thing.

Tail Lights

It was another of those days when I realized that I live in a place that doesn’t particularly scream for pictures to be taken. I’m in an office for most of the daylight hours. The sunrise this morning wasn’t anything like yesterday’s and it rained most of the afternoon and into the evening. It was dark as I drove home but waiting at a traffic light, I decided to take this picture of the tail lights of cars, reflecting off of the wet pavement. That’s all I’ve got.

Tracks In The Snow

There is still snow on the ground from Friday evening. It’s not enough to let me take wonderful snowy landscape photographs, though. There is a fair amount of grass showing through, particularly in the sunnier places. There were some people sledding yesterday but there was more grass on the hill than snow. Still, we take what we can get.

There is a cat in our neighborhood who comes to our kitchen door and sits looking in. Not often enough to be a real nuisance but often enough that it’s a little creepy. We haven’t seen her in a while but I’m putting my money on these being her tracks on our back patio. We also had tracks from a deer that ran across our back yard and from rabbits and squirrels. It’s a busy place, our back yard.

Snow

We had snow today, starting at about 2:00 PM and lasting until rush hour. Schools let out early, which the kids were happy about, at any rate. This is the view out of my office window at about ten minutes after four. Fairly dark already and visibility was definitely reduced. My relatively short commute was not a problem, however.

Poinsettia Leaf

I love the deep red of poinsettia leaves. I also love the little flowers, but you have to admit, it’s the leaves that you really notice. This picture is basically a picture of the color red.

Lectern Eagle’s Talons

Did you ever notice in the opening scene in Chariots of Fire, in the church, there is a lectern in the shape of an eagle? Eagle lecterns are quite common in English churches and I quite like them. What is a little less common is for there to be one in someone’s dining room. My father-in-law bought this one in the early 1980s and it’s been a fixture in the dining room ever since, so much so that we pretty much take it for granted now. Still, as I said, I quite like it and was taking pictures of little details of it today. This picture is of the eagle’s feet, obviously, which I think are marvelously carved.

Anna-Gabrielle

Our lovely friend, Erin stopped by today with three of her four equally lovely children. We were fortunate enough to be allowed to watch the three kids while Erin visited her brother and sister-in-law in the hospital along with their new-born baby, Fritz.

This is Anna-Gabrielle, the youngest of Erin’s children, and a lovely little girl she is, too (it helps to win the genetic lottery and have parents as good looking as Erin and David).

Muddy Pond

It was such a beautiful day today that I went outside for a little break from work. It was cool but the sky was clear and it was lovely. I haven’t been going out much lately, partly because of the weather but also I think I’m a little bored with the empty lot next to my office. So, I crossed the little stream and walked up to the higher ground on the other side.

There are a few small ponds up there that were filled with muddy water, which is what this picture shows. Not a great picture but it was a very nice diversion for me. I like the color of the grass and the color of the water, both in the foreground where it is a sort of milky, blue color and in the top of the picture where it’s a rich, earthy tone, reflecting the pale grass on the far bank.

Rat’s Nest

I told Dorothy this evening that I was thinking of skipping taking a picture today. It’s been over two years that I’ve been taking a picture every day and I figured I could miss one day without ruining anyone’s life. She said I should take one, that I could take a picture of her, if I wanted. I picked up my camera and took this, along with a few others, of her hair. It’s not as tangled as it might appear, actually.

So, the photo-streak continues.

Colored Pens and Pencils

Two days ago I posted a picture of colored pencils. We have a lot of colored pencils, pens and markers around the house. Dorothy does a fair amount of drawing and so they are never really put away. As I was looking for something to photograph today I saw this basket full of markers and pencils and took a few pictures of it.

Subway Lights

I was going to pick up Dorothy this evening and it was raining fairly hard. The lights of cars were reflecting in the water on the pavement but of course I couldn’t exactly get my camera out while I was driving and get it set up for pictures. So, before I got where I was going I pulled into a shopping center and took a few pictures of the shop lights reflecting off of the wet pavement. This happens to be a Subway sub shop.

Colored Pencils

I was looking around for something to photograph this evening and I saw the box of colored pencils. I didn’t want them to be just lying there in their box, so I made a little split-rail fence with them. I like the colors, even if the photo is a little blah.

Reflected Sky

Reflected Sky

Dorothy and I went for a nice walk in the neighborhood this afternoon. I carried my camera, as I usually do on walks, but didn’t take all that many photographs. It’s not like there are beautiful vistas in our corner of suburbia. The houses are nice but nothing you’re going to want to see pictures of. There are not very many flowers this time of year. Most of the plants are dormant and leafless. So, what’s left?

We’ve had a bit of rain lately and the ground is quite wet. There were puddles along our walk, sometimes in the drainage ditch (or jewie, as we call it) along the road, sometimes on the road itself. The first of these shows the blue sky through tree branches in water in the jewie, with grass on either side. The other is on the street and has the added interest of a little cloud colored by the setting sun.

Beacon of Hope

I went to pick up Dorothy from band practice this evening and there was a little fog, which made the light from the church steeple very pretty. I took a series of pictures with the camera sitting on the roof of the car, braced in various ways against the roof rack. This is the one that turned out the best, I think. I also like the sky in this picture.