Post a good thing that happened in your life today

Betty LaRue · December 22, 2023

When I was growing up, along about Feb-March, people burned the dead burmuda grass off their yards. It allowed the new grass to grow unhindered from the roots & seemed act as a fertilizer. The burned areas were always greener than unburned areas.

Fast forward. I’m an adult with kids, living in a nearby town that has “no burn” laws. I thought I could sneakily get by with it in the back yard by burning a little circle at a time, putting it out with a hose, doing it again.

A gust of wind hit. A firey whoosh like the speed of light. My hose wasn’t long enough for the neighbor’s yard. It didn’t end well. Ask the fire department.
No buildings were lost, but the neighbor’s garage had blackened grass a foot away. And the alley was now weed-free for a long stretch. The firemen didn’t turn me in after seeing me tremble like my parts might fly off. I guess they took pity.

NYCat · December 22, 2023

Oh Betty. I grew up in California and I'd never, ever be able to bring myself to burn anything outdoors. A Polish friend of mine was driving in California and was pulled over by the cops. He couldn't figure out what he had been doing wrong. He had thrown a lit cigarette out the window. BIG BIG problem with the fires we get in the West. He was mortified.

Paulette

Bryan · December 23, 2023

Thankfully my allotment fire passed without incident. I remained on the scene until the flames had died away, and today I was able to collect the potash to be mixed with garden compost and horse manure for application to the soil. Here everything is wet, there is minimal danger of a wildfire.

But let me move on to the mysterious case of the gold wedding ring. Today I spent time weeding my own plot, and just before I was about to leave the scene, noticed a bright metal object on the soil. It turned out to be a gold wedding ring. Now I have dug up all kinds of rubbish over the years, but never anything of value, so this was very much a first. I have lost two wedding rings, one I lost twice. The first disappeared while sailing on the north sea, so gone for good. The second I lost while gardening at home. Years later I found it, only to lose it again, I presume while cleaning out gutters, and it has remained lost.

Back to the found ring, could a miracle have occurred, and was this my lost ring? I tried it on and it was far too big. While the ring was found on my plot, it was near to the adjacent garden, so I mailed my neighbour to ask if he had lost a ring. Almost immediately the phone rang and he confirmed that he had lost his wedding ring and was able to describe it in detail, a perfect match. He scurried round to our house to pick it up, and was clearly overjoyed to be reunited with it. His wife of many years had passed away a few months ago and this was one of only a few objects he had that she had given him. As he said, it was the perfect Xmas gift.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Bryan

Cecile Marion · December 23, 2023

Such a nice thing to have happened, Bryan.

Mr Standfast · December 23, 2023

One in a million Bryan. 😀

Steve Hyde · December 23, 2023

8 hours ago, Bryan said:

Thankfully my allotment fire passed without incident. I remained on the scene until the flames had died away, and today I was able to collect the potash to be mixed with garden compost and horse manure for application to the soil. Here everything is wet, there is minimal danger of a wildfire.

But let me move on to the mysterious case of the gold wedding ring. Today I spent time weeding my own plot, and just before I was about to leave the scene, noticed a bright metal object on the soil. It turned out to be a gold wedding ring. Now I have dug up all kinds of rubbish over the years, but never anything of value, so this was very much a first. I have lost two wedding rings, one I lost twice. The first disappeared while sailing on the north sea, so gone for good. The second I lost while gardening at home. Years later I found it, only to lose it again, I presume while cleaning out gutters, and it has remained lost.

Back to the found ring, could a miracle have occurred, and was this my lost ring? I tried it on and it was far too big. While the ring was found on my plot, it was near to the adjacent garden, so I mailed my neighbour to ask if he had lost a ring. Almost immediately the phone rang and he confirmed that he had lost his wedding ring and was able to describe it in detail, a perfect match. He scurried round to our house to pick it up, and was clearly overjoyed to be reunited with it. His wife of many years had passed away a few months ago and this was one of only a few objects he had that she had given him. As he said, it was the perfect Xmas gift.

Good for you Brian, you deserve some good Karma for being so kind.

I haven’t had any Karma so far for my good deed this week. I saw a guy drop two £20 notes, from his pocket, in the High St on Thursday. He didn’t notice them falling out but I told him as the wind caught them and blew them up the road. He went running after them and luckily got them back. He was really grateful and it was nice to spread some festive cheer.

My bad Karma. Our main oven stopped working yesterday. It trips the electric as soon as you turn the temp control knob. It’s Christmas dinner in the Air Fryer for us this year.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Steve Hyde

Allan Bell · December 23, 2023

1 hour ago, Steve Hyde said:

Good for you Brian, you deserve some good Karma for being so kind.

I didn’t for my good deed this week. I saw a guy drop two £20 notes, from his pocket, in the High St on Thursday. He didn’t notice them falling out but I told him as the wind caught them and blew them up the road. He went running after them and luckily got them back. He was really grateful and it was nice to spread some festive cheer.

My bad Karma. Our main oven stopped working yesterday. It trips the electric as soon as you turn the temp control knob. It’s Christmas dinner in the Air Fryer for us this year.

If I lived round the corner you could have used my oven.

Allan

Michael Ventura · December 23, 2023

7 hours ago, Bryan said:

Thankfully my allotment fire passed without incident. I remained on the scene until the flames had died away, and today I was able to collect the potash to be mixed with garden compost and horse manure for application to the soil. Here everything is wet, there is minimal danger of a wildfire.

But let me move on to the mysterious case of the gold wedding ring. Today I spent time weeding my own plot, and just before I was about to leave the scene, noticed a bright metal object on the soil. It turned out to be a gold wedding ring. Now I have dug up all kinds of rubbish over the years, but never anything of value, so this was very much a first. I have lost two wedding rings, one I lost twice. The first disappeared while sailing on the north sea, so gone for good. The second I lost while gardening at home. Years later I found it, only to lose it again, I presume while cleaning out gutters, and it has remained lost.

Back to the found ring, could a miracle have occurred, and was this my lost ring? I tried it on and it was far too big. While the ring was found on my plot, it was near to the adjacent garden, so I mailed my neighbour to ask if he had lost a ring. Almost immediately the phone rang and he confirmed that he had lost his wedding ring and was able to describe it in detail, a perfect match. He scurried round to our house to pick it up, and was clearly overjoyed to be reunited with it. His wife of many years had passed away a few months ago and this was one of only a few objects he had that she had given him. As he said, it was the perfect Xmas gift.

So great Bryan! A win for everyone! What a gift to the neighbour!

Steve Hyde · December 23, 2023

1 hour ago, Allan Bell said:

If I lived round the corner you could have used my oven.

Allan

Thank you Allan. We’ll be ok. It’s only two of us here for dinner this year. We have one of those dual compartment Air Fryers and my wife normally uses it to cook a roast for us these days. She might just have to get creative with the turkey crown she wants to cook. The oven only really gets used for baking. The worst part of yesterday was there was a half baked cheese cake in the oven when it stopped working.

Edited December 23, 2023 by Steve Hyde

Betty LaRue · December 23, 2023

10 hours ago, Bryan said:

Thankfully my allotment fire passed without incident. I remained on the scene until the flames had died away, and today I was able to collect the potash to be mixed with garden compost and horse manure for application to the soil. Here everything is wet, there is minimal danger of a wildfire.

But let me move on to the mysterious case of the gold wedding ring. Today I spent time weeding my own plot, and just before I was about to leave the scene, noticed a bright metal object on the soil. It turned out to be a gold wedding ring. Now I have dug up all kinds of rubbish over the years, but never anything of value, so this was very much a first. I have lost two wedding rings, one I lost twice. The first disappeared while sailing on the north sea, so gone for good. The second I lost while gardening at home. Years later I found it, only to lose it again, I presume while cleaning out gutters, and it has remained lost.

Back to the found ring, could a miracle have occurred, and was this my lost ring? I tried it on and it was far too big. While the ring was found on my plot, it was near to the adjacent garden, so I mailed my neighbour to ask if he had lost a ring. Almost immediately the phone rang and he confirmed that he had lost his wedding ring and was able to describe it in detail, a perfect match. He scurried round to our house to pick it up, and was clearly overjoyed to be reunited with it. His wife of many years had passed away a few months ago and this was one of only a few objects he had that she had given him. As he said, it was the perfect Xmas gift.

What a wonderful Christmas story, Bryan. Your act thrilled someone beyond words.

geogphotos · December 23, 2023

48 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

What a wonderful Christmas story, Bryan. Your act thrilled someone beyond words.

Yes, and now Bryan knows who has been stealing his vegetables 😁

Bryan · December 24, 2023

This happened some while ago but worth reporting now I think. Way back in December 2010 I took some photos of the local lighthouse at Souter.

Recently I decided to reprocess one of them to be uploaded to a POD site. When checking the image at 100% pixels, looking for dust bugs etc, I spotted what looks like the tail of a whale in the sea, along with the signs of the wake up to that location. While I've spotted dolphins and seals in these parts I've never seen a whale in the North Sea., although I know that they are very occasionally reported. I didn't notice it at the time, but it's clearly there on the photo !

I've uploaded a photo from Facebook, not sure if you will be able to see it.

413840028_10232408101889152_990065571157

Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg · December 27, 2023

wifey & I published in same National Geographic supplement !!

my mangrove aerial 2nd photo down;

her Key West kayakers next to last photo;

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/slideshow/partner-content-10-ways-to-celebrate-life-in-the-florida-keys

if anyone can figure out date of publishing...

just discovered it so it could be long ago...

thanks in advance

this evidences a belief I'm gaining that how good

a photographer one is, is secondary to how good

an editor of photographs one is...

~50% of my images are keepers;

~12% of me wifey's images are keepers;

but our curated keepers are equal in salability...

Edited December 27, 2023 by Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg

IKuzmin · December 27, 2023

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said:

if anyone can figure out date of publishing...

just discovered it so it could be long ago...

What I see in the beginning of HTML suggests the last week:

Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg · December 28, 2023

20 hours ago, IKuzmin said:

What I see in the beginning of HTML suggests the last week:

release-12-19-2023.4/client/natgeo/css/

thanks mate

you're my newest "best online chum* of the week"

*not to be confused with antonym chump

IKuzmin · December 28, 2023

1 hour ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said:

you're my newest "best online chum* of the week"

You are welcome.

And if you have not bought a laptop and still want a Lenovo, there is a good seasonal sale at B&H.

Obviously, other brands too, I just selected Lenovo with reasonable configs.

Although I want to re-iterate that I never recommend a laptop for image editing.

John Richmond · December 28, 2023

First time this has happened to me. Just seen one of my images in use on a Gardeners World Winter Special BBC TV programme. This one:

pale-blue-flowers-of-the-spring-bulb-mus

Muscari armenaicum 'Valerie Finnis', taken in my own garden and uploaded in 2014.

I've had TV sales before but never actually seen a usage so this one's a bit special.

Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg · December 29, 2023

22 hours ago, IKuzmin said:

...if you have not bought a laptop and still want a Lenovo, there is a good seasonal sale at B&H.

thanks mate, link leads to all 16";

I use 13" because any larger often do not fit into hotel security boxes;

also, fading of issues with me current P40 Yoga + very recent travel

caused me to forget buying in 2023 -- now its too late but there's 2024;

I'd have to re-educate myself on Lenovo most powerful 13" offerings &

whether they can easily handle new Adobe DeNoise (noise elimination)...

IKuzmin · December 29, 2023

4 hours ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said:

thanks mate, link leads to all 16";

I use 13" because any larger often do not fit into hotel security boxes

Good luck. I've never seen 13" Windows laptops equipped with strong GPU which would handle AI applications, including the ACR or Lightroom denoise modules, at suitable speed. That was the point in my selection, I was not looking at screen size but at GPU and RAM (and along the lines such machines are usually equipped with reasonable CPU). This is all about compromises and balances, i.e. portability vs productivity. Therefore, even the laptops on my list would be slower than desktops of the same/similar config. But, for comparison, in a small and otherwise fast 13" Dell XPS without dedicated GPU the ACR denoise works on a 20 Mp image during ~20 min.

Some brands make 13" laptops with dedicated GPU but seems it's neither Lenovo, nor Dell. Look at this. But I do not know how fast they are, all things considered.

There are more 14" with dedicated GPU. Perhaps 14" Mac can do even better, I do not know...

Edited December 29, 2023 by IKuzmin

Bryan · December 30, 2023

The weather is continuing miserable, but I've found things to do. Building another bird box using scraps of timber from the garage, fixing a broken connection to the speakers from our kitchen radio, and then there was the portable radio.

I like to listen to this radio when having a bath using its Bluetooth feature and my mobile phone. Yesterday it developed a fault and would only play from Bluetooth very quietly. The instructions are pretty poor, but, by trial and error, I was able to perform a factory reset, and that cured the problem. Will it last, only time will tell.

Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg · December 30, 2023

7 hours ago, IKuzmin said:

There are more 14" with dedicated GPU.

My mistake.

My Lenovo P40 Yoga = 14" screen !!
So I'd replace with 14" but no larger...

NYCat · December 31, 2023

I am having a very happy NYC day today. Truthfully, there was some activity on the block around the corner with the drug dealers but they were all GONE when I came home this afternoon. All three of my buses came over to the curb and kneeled so I didn't have to step up. The Hispanic guy in the bodega didn't have any change but he is trusting me to give extra when I come in tomorrow. I'm not crazy about his salsa music but it was cheerful to hear. There was a one-legged black guy in a wheelchair on a bus who was having a great conversation with his companion. Didn't seem likely to spend any time feeling like a victim. He was having fun. I saw two young English Bulldogs on the way home and they always make me smile. A delivery guy at our door was not succeeding in reaching a tenant for delivery so I let him in so he could leave the package by the mailboxes. He was very black and had an African accent. I really enjoy the mix of cultures here and would miss it if I moved somewhere safer. We are usually really good to each other.

Paulette

Bryan · December 31, 2023

1 hour ago, NYCat said:

I really enjoy the mix of cultures here and would miss it if I moved somewhere safer. We are usually really good to each other.

Good to hear that you had a good day after your earlier problems !

Speaking of culture mix, in this area people are predominantly white Anglo Saxon types, but, unusually, possibly uniquely, we had an African lady living to one side of us and an Indian family on the other. Our younger son was great mates with the African lady's boy and now, decades later, they are still in touch - we found out that he had taken on the role of Santa at his local children's hospital this year. The Indians are still with us, hopefully for good, as they are great neighbours and cook a fine curry !

spacecadet · December 31, 2023

Rex, the Beautiful Daughter's last goldfish, died recently aged about 20, years after she'd moved out and before she could get him moved to her now big enough house. So the fishtank and a very heavy engineer's drawing board have just successfully Freecycled locally. The success rate is quite high but no-one wanted the VHS cassettes.

So I now have a bit more space in the garage for jobs such as replacing the ABS pump, but not that, as I've just done it. So the MoT-failing yellow light that appeared in France has now gone.

Next up for removal, some really bad naive art by a family member and some crates of awful collectible knick-knacks. I confidently predict that they will not Freecycle.

I think the wind-up gramophone cabinet may be used by the grandtwins for hiding for a bit.

Edited December 31, 2023 by spacecadet

spacecadet · December 31, 2023

On 23/12/2023 at 10:09, Steve Hyde said:

Our main oven stopped working yesterday. It trips the electric as soon as you turn the temp control knob.

A tricky fix as they really don't want you to get inside those things, for good reason. It suggests some sort of short. If it's old, decision time.

Post a good thing that happened in your life today

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