Cleaning the oven

While baking the turkey last Friday, I spilled a ton of grease in the oven. Fortunately the oven has a self-clean mode where it heats up and burns up everything inside. There's a little vent on top where the smoke comes out.

A little drop

I took the dog for a walk in the park again today. We did the red trail, which is about six miles long. I let him run without the leash (mainly because he chewed the thing into two pieces). Sometimes I wonder what goes through his head. He sniffs everything, and then urinates on every prominent tree he passes. He pees only a few drops at a time, spreading his urine over the maximum number of trees possible.

We passed by a waterfall. I got close and got this picture of a single drop of water falling.

Day after Thanksgiving

I went to the store today and found an irresistable deal. A 23 pound turkey for only 30 cents a pound. That's less than $7.00 for something that will feed me for at least a week. It's in the oven as I write this. Smells delicious. In the future, my Thanksgiving dinner will be held exactly one day late - when the turkeys go on sale.

On the roof today, the sun was setting in one direction, and the full moon was rising in the other direction.

My Bear

I took Bear for a walk in the park today - a three hour walk. He pulls me up the hills, and also down. A good way to spend Thanksgiving.

He's seven years old now. Time flies. I still remember how he chewed up every hose and extension cord in the house as a puppy. And how he got run over by a car. And how we found him that night, wimpering under a bush. And how we drove him to Knoxville that night so he could get his broken hip pinned back together.

Pictures after the storm

A month ago, I bought a giant sack of potatoes for only three bucks on sale. I ate five of them, leaving about 20 that were getting moldy. Really moldy. I was shoving them down the disposal as fast as I could when one jammed, the disposal ground (har har...) to a halt, and smoke started coming from under the sink. So tonight I'll be bolting in a new one. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

It rained hard for a few hours today, but after the storm was over, I lugged the camera + tripod to the roof and got off a few shots.




A tree at MBA.

Top of telephone pole across the street.

Walk in the park

Today was beautiful, so I went to walk the trails in Percy Warner park, just a few miles from my condo, camera in hand. It's getting to be peak leaf season. Click on picture for full resolution.

Night shot from the condo

Just playing around with the camera. 20 sec. ASA 200. F 11. 18 mm lens.

Neurological exam and a sunset

We learned how to do neurological examinations today. The doctor forgot her ophthalmoscope, so she asked if anyone in the class could lend her one. I waved mine in the air, and brought it down to her.

Apparently this also meant that I was volunteering to be the demonstration subject. So for the next hour and a half, I was poked and prodded in front of the class.

Follow my finger with your eyes. Close your eyes really tightly. Smile as big as you can. Stick out your tongue. Wiggle your tongue back and forth. Say ahhhhh. Do you feel this pin as I poke different parts of your body? Shrug your shoulders. Wow, you have great muscle tone. You must work out. (Class laughs) This is how you check reflexes. You have beautiful reflexes. (more laughter) Now walk over there and come back. See how beautiful that turn is, class? A perfectly normal walk. (I consciously tried not to bounce as I tend to do.) And it went on...

If you're good at it, you can do a full neurological exam in under five minutes, briskly moving from one test to another. It's amazing to see the neurologists do it like brushing their teeth. Almost without the need for conscious thought.

I drove back home in the evening, and went to the roof of the condo to get some shots of the sunset. Click for bigger pictures.

IM UPDATE:

PF: she's was sooo into you

PF: i guess she's doesn't get to evaluate young guys much

PF: it was cracking us all up

james37027: all I wanted to do was lend her my ophthalmoscope

PF: she's like, "james, you're so toned. i can picture you working out..."

james37027: hahaha

PF: hahahah.so good.

PF: she was playing doctor with you

PF: mmm, his deltoids are so defined

james37027: ha

PF: well for better or worse she made all the girls in the class wonder what your arms felt like.

james37027: really...?

PF: we were talking about it after class

james37027: they are pretty ripped, I must say

PF: good to know. keep it up. as much as girls don't admit it, we love that stuff

Ride today

Today was beautiful. Mid 60's and sunny. I had lunch with Alan, and then went for a ride with C.

C. is my new riding buddy. She is a former runner who has discovered the low-impact wonderfullness of bicycles (three knee surgeries later at the age of 23).

She is now incredibly fast. Like really incredible. Especially up hills. She simply dances on the pedals, all 120 pounds of her. And on a steep uphill, I'm working really hard to stay with her. If I really try hard, I can still pull ahead, but this is damn impressive, especially for someone only riding for a few months.

I can still make up huge distances on her down hills, where she still has the habit of braking to keep from going too fast, and my 205 pounds pulls me down quicker.

Today we meant to do only 30 miles, but I got us lost, so we did close to 40.

Condo Association Meeting

A few weeks ago we had our annual condo homeowner's association meeting.

I arrived neatly dressed, since I was the youngest one there by about 25 years and wanted to appear not too unlike the residents. Scott, the association president, called the meeting to order.

A brief word on Scott. He lives directly below me. Occasionally he will go out on his balcony and smoke, and if I have my window open, I can smell it. He started a computer company in the early 90's, made a TON of money, and then retired before the age of 40. Now he does a lot of charity work. He is on the board of directors of several organizations in Nashville, including Nashville CARES (raises money for AIDS), as well as a charity for the homeless and an organization that helps people suffering from substance abuse. That's all I know about so far.

When "new business" was brought up, my neighbor Kevin proposed allowing pets in the building. Apparently we are only one of two condos in Nashville that do not allow pets, and allowing pets will add approximately 20% to the value of a condo.

This proposal caused the "old timers" of the building to go ballistic. And not in a nice way. Scott, to his credit, maintained order.

Man: "Wait! This is crap! Think that....."
Scott: "As association president, I will determine the order of who speaks. Please wait until I call on you."

BS story from old woman: "My friend lives at a condo that allows pets. This woman had a dog, and when she got on the elevator with the dog, the dog's leash got caught in the door. The dog's head got pulled off, and there was blood everywhere! Is that what we want here?"

Man: "Kevin just wants to get this passed so he can sell his place and leave us in piles of dog poop!"

And so it went on.

I stated my desire to allow pets, and even tried to force the measure to a vote, but Kevin (wisely) decided to withdraw the proposal in the face of such ardent opposition. Maybe next year...

My proposal to change the lights to compact fluorescents was warmly received, helped no doubt by the significant amount of money that the association would save per year. So now at least some of the lights will be changed to fluorescents.