Mindful

You really can’t fill your mind to the full level. There’s always room for more knowledge. Now, I’ve certainly become overwhelmed too often. The chaos of nature sometimes comes at us too fast. Now maybe my memory of being overwhelmed is a bit flaky but it seems I’m more prone to being overwhelmed as I age.

Being mindful is a great condition to be in. If the opposite is being mindless, then a mindless condition/action might have a deadly outcome.

I have enjoyed learning and still want to learn more. My last post was about the notion of boring. Boring is so very subjective. I’m certainly biased but I find my posts very interesting and I consider a few to be educational. Oh no I used that boring word, “educational”.

I’m becoming self-taught on various branches of physics such as cosmology by reading books such as Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s “Astrophysics for People in a Hurry”. At the end of the chapter 7 titled, “The Cosmos on the Table” he describes the names of some chemicals as sesquipedalian. I had to look that one up. The word sesquipedalian is sesquipedalian. It’s a self-referential word.

Now that I overused my new word of the week, I’ll move on.

On a trip this past spring I came across a strange sign in a small Texas panhandle town. It was too interesting to skip taking a picture so here’s the sign.

What happens at 34 or 36 seconds?

I spent more than 5 minutes looking around trying to figure out the purpose of this sign. You might notice the railroad tracks in the background so I assume it has some connection to freight operations on the railroad. Why does it state such an odd specific time? Would 1 minute be too long? When do I start timing? Do I need to carry a stopwatch? Please provide your guesses in the comment section below. I’m mindful but clueless about this sign.

 

Oh be quick or take your time. It doesn't matter to me.

class insecta

It started last summer, I had never noticed it before then. Now again this summer.

smart butterfly works crosswords

I have a new friend. We are not in the same class. Actually after I looked it up, I found that I'm in a different phylum. My summer friend is of the arthropod phylum. A very unlikely friend. Also, it's been a long long time since I was in biology class.

butterfly earrings

He's a Red Admiral. I was in US Air Force but I know an admiral is equivalent to a general. I've been looking up Red Admiral traits on the internet.

Here's a few of his traits:

• The males are territorial and many times can be found in the same location day to day. This why I believe the gender is male. (of course who knows what he identifies as)
• migrating range from Canada to Mexico (well traveled)
• considered to be people-friendly butterflies that will approach and perch on human beings.

I'm a butterfly perch

Last summer we noticed this butterfly visiting our deck on multiple days. One day it landed on my shoulder and our daughter snapped a picture. It has returned again this summer. Of course knowing that butterfly's lives are measured in weeks not years, this must be a descendant.

This summer one of his visits happened while the grandkids were here. They had fun with him. He landed on two of them. He's a good entertainer.

his relative from last year

Interactions like this start me wondering about the animal, asking myself, what's it thinking, does it even think. What would be like to be one?

Adolescence and getting through puberty is a difficult emotional time. But imagine the trauma of metamorphosis? You're an overeating vegetarian caterpillar, then enclosed in this shell like thing and then come out with fancy wings. That's a lot of change to handle.

Butterfly - buttercup - close enough - here's a song from a favorite movie, "There's Something About Mary".


 

How are your insect relationships going? Please comment below.

a sign of the times

my dog can't read

no not that sign

Proofreading spelling grammar = good sign

wonderful things to see if you look up

ignore this, the post is so slow you probably stopped already

Wow, I didn't realize I've collected way too many sign pictures over the years. 

What was I going to post? Oh yeah, that big hit game I've never played, Pokemon Go (oh I'm not going to bother to figure out how to put that accent sign on top of the 'e' in Pokemon. I don't even know what it means anyway)

Maybe collecting pokemons is more rewarding than my odd sign pictures collection (I snapped the first and fourth pictures on trips) but I don't think so.

I got my sign picture taking from my mom

From the old-guy-who-put-quarters-into-a-machine to play video games long ago, I say don't do it. You'll get addicted to it and waste too much of your time. Life really can be short, especially if you run into a tree, sideswipe a cop car or cause who knows what type of accident playing with this augmented reality.

Jumping on the bandwagon probably is a phrase too old for the Pokemon Go players to use but I believe that communal feeling is a big driver in attracting new players. They are all doing it and yes past generations have flocked to other "they-are-all-doing-it" things too. This past month the Pokemon Go circus came to town. Actually to towns all over. It doesn’t call itself a circus but I suspect many people might call its players clowns. An unbelievable horde have jumped on the Pokemon Go bandwagon. (I don’t think it even comes with a band or any music either)

From what I've learned from video clips and news reports describing it, I believe the game is non-violent and promotes some outdoor activity. I also heard Angry Birds promoted physics. (I have actually played angry birds a few times. Fun but I couldn't figure out what was addicting about it.) Who knows? Now the birds will be getting even more angry.

Each of us have different views of the world around us which is a good thing. Often I wonder if my view is too tilted because things don’t always look all that straight to me. The first odd thing I noticed about this Pokemon Go craze was all the fake news stories on FB. It’s getting so bad I’m going to start calling it FakeBook.

The Daily Beast posted this interesting story about “the Pokemon Crime Wave”. Taken from the Daily Beast article:

"...But 10,000 people shared that first story on Facebook. More than 64,000 shared the last one. And the Pokémon highway accident? Three hundred eighty-four thousand shares on Facebook in a couple of days.
And none of them are real.
CartelPress is just one part of the Pokésteria. "

FakeBook members love to reshare shocking news without ever reading past the headline.

Now there have been a few real accidents related to Pokemon Go. But more importantly IMHO, is the increase in malware Pokemon related apps. Hackers, are like sharks smelling blood in the water.

Even an electronic store I’ve been know to visit for a gadget or two jump on the bandwagon with a promotion of portable battery smartphone chargers for your Pokemon Go adventures.

I found this next example funny. Funny because I thought back to my own dating days (going steady, wearing someone’s ring, cruising were common activities back then) and thinking if I had suggested a Poke Date to a girl I probably would have felt the slap before I heard the rejection.

So a Chicago startup dating service jumped on the bandwagon too. They are offering Poke Dates. Here’s a story on that one.

photobombing

Don't you agree photobombing the best type of bombing?

big eyes but I'm not little red riding hood

While I make no claims on anything other than maybe those extra fries you have on your plate, I do hope some of my humor lightens your day.   The news can sure bring us down too often.

Here's a funny take on the dangers of selfie sticks.  Oh, I heard of a great idea for selfie sticks and now I want one.  Use a selfie stick to stop people from taking selfies (just don't hit hard).





Instead of the selfie, focus on the odd and funny things you see around you (like old men trying to steal your fries).  I noticed this sign the other day.  Now don't you agree it's much better than a selfie of some old guy like me?

 

old age sign

First off, what the hell is “old age”?

You will not find a precise definition. We all have varying degrees of health and attitude. (also some might cheat with better drugs)

a road less traveled

This end of year holiday season found me recently meeting a half a dozen former co-workers for beers one evening. I am the second oldest one of this exclusive group.

Here’s my possible sign of age. We met at a local sports bar. Not one of those big chains. Also it was not a “breastaurant” (did you know there is a wikipedia page for this term?). The place had good beer and food. My problem was the noise. I didn’t expecting the quiet of a fancy restaurant but a level less than busy commuter train station or floor of a sheet metal factory would have been nice. I must also point out that I’m not a sports nut. If a Chicago team gets into a championship I’ll pay attention, otherwise you better have free tickets or great deal to attract my attention. Fair weather fan is not a bad term.

My question - is finding noise a nuisance during a get-together a sign of old age?

Carrying on conversations even across the table was stressful and difficult. Forget yelling down to the end of the table - no way.

I have heard that background noise is known to become a greater problem for older people.

On the bathroom scale of problems this is really nothing but a small annoyance. It’s a small first world suburban guy problem. Good thing I don’t need to be able to hear you all the way over here. Just reading your comments will work fine.

(not really related - so you know how one thing leads to another and another on the vast internet? Breastaurant lead me to this comedy clip from Amy Schumer)

sign

I don’t think my latest idea will be as popular as creating a online harass/flirt name like Carlos Danger. (My preferred choice would be Liam Lips. I tried the name generator and sorta like its offering for me, Cesar Trouble. It reminds me of problem salads.) However at the same time this idea is not as career/image damaging as a potentially scandalous online name.

What’s your sign?

Here’s the idea: If you were a street/road sign which one would you be?

(signs came from Manual of Traffic Signs web site)

I can’t decide. Here’s my top five:

• Exit Only 
• Falling Rocks 
• Be Prepared To Stop 
• Rest Area Next Right 
• Road Closed Ahead

signs you are reading this

What you need a sign? 

How much would you pay for a guidance app for the rest of your life’s path?

Too often the spam email subject line reads 10 signs of blah blah blah. Typically the number of signs offered is between 3 and 10. I have yet to see the 37 signs of you are reading too much spam. (I suspect posting about “signs” might be a sign of that) People avoid a large number of signs to read, so 7 is good number of signs. 

Everyone is selective. You will read the 7 signs you are chaetophobic but you will tell the officer standing outside your car window that you never read the speed limit sign.

Of course I employed google searching for more information on signs. You know how google offers you suggestions to fill out your search words? Here’s a little time waster for you to try (how many signs would you need to determine you are wasting time). In the search box start with “signs of a”, then “signs of b” and proceed through the alphabet. You will find plenty of suggestions for every letter. Signs of the zodiac is a sign you reached the end. 

“Signs of q” had an interesting list of suggestions. Have you ever heard of a quarterlife crisis? Midlife is well known to be full of crisis. Midlife probably offers more than 10 signs of crisis. C’mon a quarterlife crisis? Really? Do we need a special name for each phase of everyday living? 

I was married with one child when I stumbled through my mid twenties. Sure a crisis could come at you whatever your age. But naming a crisis based just on your age is different. Life is a series of events. A bad event could be called a crisis but not every broken nail, nothing-to-do weekend, or bad date is a crisis.

Usually the "top some number" signs are offered.  How about the bottom two signs you don’t know Jack? 

1. You read these two signs. 

2. You want more signs. 

Does our world have too many mamby pamby lands?





another circus 

forgetful friday fragments

I’m not sure if I’ll get these Friday fragments posted early for this Friday. I might forget. 

Don’t you forget to pay Mrs. 4444’s blog a visit.   I forget her exact title but something like Princess of the Fragment I think.

Some of my fragmented thoughts have been forgotten. I know I had more earlier in the week but I was unable to make note of them. 

We all forget things. At times we even pretend to forget things like the deadline for the science project. Here’s a funny skit by Brian Regan about forgetting that.

Traveling by road offers some unique sign names to read and wonder about. 

I’m not the only one who has enjoyed spotting the Bat Cave sign on I-26. I’ve seen the sign on the internet and in emails. We turn off on the Bat Cave exit this last trip. Found a farm stand with a variety of apples and canned goods (should be called jarring?). I bought some FROG jam. Very tasty. It has Fig, Raspberry, Orange and Ginger in it.

I’ve always enjoyed trying out new gadget features. The other day I noticed Google voice had a software gadget/script for offering a voicemail service for your website. I tried it out on my last blog post. Go ahead call me.

Did you hear about the latest candidates for best parents of the year award? Their first outing with their 3-week-old baby was to a corn maze. (BTW - Mrs. 4444 has a corn field story involving a chicken)  They get lost and call 911 to be rescued. The police used the K-9 unit to find them. Good corn maze. Bad parents.  Bad children of corn joke.

We attended a wedding last weekend.  It was fun but since the connection was my wife's office, I didn't find it as fun as a relative's wedding.  Don't you relax more around family vs. mostly unknown people?

I noticed one young lady at the table using the word random so often she could be mistaken for a statistician except she wasn't talking about statistics or math.  Her use of the word reminded me of how one of our daughters started overusing the word whatever many years ago.

That's it for my fragments - whatever.

sign sign everywhere a sign

Can't you read the sign?






Always good to find a diner sign!
We had good food and service here.







Other times I've noticed some strange signs. The wording in this 'warning sign' below seems too passive to me. Maybe they could shorten it to "Rattlesnakes Bite".




















Some cause me to wonder the reasoning or meaning for the sign?

I stumbled onto this very interesting blog (OneStonedCrow) by a photographer in Namibia. Very interesting pictures and I suggest you give him a visit.

Back to the signs - I have no idea of the meaning of this sign from the OneStonedCrow's photo collection:




I'm a terrible speller but since I know that, I check my spelling. Here's another one from Africa. Someone didn't check their spelling on this one.

nature calls on the road

If you have ever traveled the road to Hana, you may have noticed this sign. It's one of the world's most beautiful roads but that unspoiled scenery is mostly unpopulated which means very limited facilities. It was a very welcomed stop for my wife who needed to use the facilities more than me. The facilities were simple - just porta-potties/johnny on the spot/outhouses - whatever your favorite name is for these plastic wonders.

I could have used a sign like this to post for the kids in their bathroom when they were young.

Sometimes nature needs to reminds to appreciate simple things like toilet paper.

(Click picture for a closer look)
Here's how it reads:

These
Restrooms
are here for
Your
Comfort
Paid for by this
Establishment
Please do not grumble
and be thankful that
its here!
Customers Only

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