Author Archives: momdude

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About momdude

Space cadet | Family dude | Photographer | Music lover | Traveler | Science fiction fan | Hugo Award nominee | Writer | 5x NASA Social participant | KC Chiefs fan | LA Kings fan | Senior Director of Finance & Administration for ALS Network | Member & former staff Finance Officer at the Commemorative Air Force SoCal Wing | Hard core left-wing liberal | Looking for whatever other shenanigans I can get into
April 6, 2022 · 23:45

Working Class Rose

Looking at some of the other roses that have been blooming in the last week, many are to me the equivalent of beautiful actresses or models. They’re the epitome of beauty and grace, hovering on the edge of perfection. They’re like the champion dogs at Westminster, meeting the standard established for “roses.”

This one didn’t give me that vibe.

The vibe I got from this rose is “working class.” This is the rose that isn’t going to be spending any time on a pedestal, being admired for “perfection.” But for all of that it’s no less beautiful, no less aromatic, no less stunning in its subtle colors and enormous ball of petals.

This is a “Rosie the Riveter” of roses (yes, I did that on purpose), getting the rose job done and getting it done well, without worrying about any extra effort on useless style points. It’s big, it’s brash, and it will kick your ass (and cut your fingers) if you don’t give it the respect and admiration it deserves. This rose didn’t come from Beverly Hills where the beautiful people lounge, it comes from Philly and has a nine to five job and the attitude to go along with it.

I love this rose!

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Filed under Uncategorized

April 5, 2022 · 22:34

Pretty Pink Rose

Unlike its neighbor, this pink rose has a deep, vibrant color, and is still just opening, so it’s not full of dirt, debris, and “bee stuff.”

This picture is off-center, but I really liked it that way. The pink contrasts well with the greens.

The wind was blowing a ton when I took these, and especially on these macro shots, focus and composition are a crap shoot.

The photographer’s greatest friend these days is the digital camera! Memory storage is dirt cheap, where film was expensive as hell. If it’s windy, shoot 50-60 pictures, find the two or three that are in focus.

Why rely on skill when you can use statistics?

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Filed under Flowers, Photography

April 4, 2022 · 23:45

Edge Of The World

Fog rolled in last night, this morning it was cool, misty, and for all you could tell from the back yard we were at the top of a 100,000′ cliff

Which would actually be pretty cool! The opportunities for hang gliding would be excellent!

I haven’t quite worked out how I would get back up from the bottom, but that’s just engineering, not world building.

See you in the thermals!

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Filed under Photography, Weather

April 3, 2022 · 22:50

It Was, Of Course…

Part of my daily breakfast is a hard boiled egg, so every Sunday night I prepare six of them using this handy, dandy hard boiled egg maker that my wonderful daughter got for me a few years back.

Sometimes, not often, but sometimes an egg will crack a little and a bit of the cooked egg will spill out.

Tonight there was a “CRACK!!” like a rifle shot that could be heard across the room, with this result.

It was, of course…

An EGGPLOSION!!

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Filed under Curiosities, Paul, Photography

April 2, 2022 · 23:01

Dirty Pink Roses

These are very open, the better to let in the bees!

I also love the tiniest bit of yellow tinge, and the gradation of the pink color near the edges, fading to white.

Deep inside, the iPhone 13 camera grabs details of the rose’s sex organs. Pistils FTW!

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Filed under Flowers, Photography

April 1, 2022 · 23:04

Blood Red Rose

I fortunately rarely see blood in any quantities other than a finger prick for a blood test, so I’m not 100% that descriptor is accurate, but it just rolls off the tongue so well.

Come to think of it, I do see blood in larger quantities, but only in a bag, usually connected to a tube running to a needle in my arm. Not the same shade when seen through that plastic.

At least it’s not, as the 1st grade joke goes, a “brose,” i.e., a rose with a “b” in it!

OF COURSE I’m making “dad” jokes. I’m a dad! It’s right there in the job description!

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Filed under Flowers, Photography

March 31, 2022 · 23:15

Just Dandy!

Normally I have my phone set up with the “Silence Unknown Callers” option turned on. It does a marvelous job of letting through anyone in my contacts list or anyone who I’ve called, while sending spam calls straight to voice mail. Anyone who is not a spammer has the option of leaving me a message and if it’s important I’ll get back to them. (Spammers who leave a voice mail are just slow learners.)

But today I was expecting a work call from someone who wouldn’t be in my contacts list yet and who would probably be calling from a number I wouldn’t recognize, so I had that feature off. And of course, that’s when the spam call came in.

I was in a good mood, so when the semi-cheerful voice clicked in and asked how I was, I didn’t suggest any anatomically impossible sexual acts, I just said, “I’m just dandy!”

Friends – I’m here to tell you that I’ve stumbled on an amazingly fun and entertaining way of screwing with the heads and wasting the time of these folks!

They’ve learned some English, but they don’t know any colloquialisms! No jargon! No aphorisms!

“You’re sandy?” was the response I got.

“No, DANDY! In fact, I’m FINE and dandy!”

“You’re bendy? I don’t understand.”

“Oh, my poor sweet child, they taught you English words, but they didn’t teach you how to speak English! D – A – N – D – Y, ‘dandy!'”

“Mandy?”

“Tell you what, call me back and give me your spammer phishing spiel when you figure out what a ‘colloquialism’ is and how to spell it!”

Just think of what I could do with a heavy Southern accent! Or a New England accent where I say “wicked” or “wicked bad!” with every line of bullshit served.

I’m telling you, we could have their heads exploding at the other end of the line, like a bad remake of “Scanners!”

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Filed under Farce, Freakin' Idiots!

March 30, 2022 · 23:12

What’s Wrong With These Pictures?

Something I’ve mentioned in the past is having a secondary monitor or two on my home office computer setup and liking live webcam feeds running on them when I’m not using them. Hummingbirds, jellyfish, volcanoes, Venice, whatever.

Lately I’ve been watching a LOT of feeds from Virtual Railfan cameras, set up in train stations and train museums all over the country and just watching the freight trains and Amtrak passing by. For example, tonight:

(Image from Virtual Railfan)

My favorite site, Fort Madison, Iowa. LOTS of trains, plus the swing bridge over the Mississippi River. Plus the river, and wildlife, and birds.

(Image from Virtual Railfan)

Kearney, Nebraska. Lots of long, fast freight trains passing through every day.

(Image from Virtual Railfan)

Quincy, Illinois. I actually spent a lot of time in Quincy as a kid, my parents had good friends there from college and we would go visit them a couple times a year.

All of these images were captured tonight, either just before or just after midnight local time. Essentially, all on March 31st.

What’s wrong with these pictures?

The end of March. Places in the part of the country where I grew up. And it never, EVER was snowing heavily at the end of March.

Meanwhile, it was 70°F above normal in Antarctica this week.

Meanwhile, there were brush fires this week in Colorado and California, where we now have 12-month fire seasons.

Meanwhile, there were massive tornado outbreaks across the south, Texas and New Orleans, last week, months earlier than normal.

Good thing that climate change is all fake, huh?! Otherwise we might just be in some deep shit!

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Filed under Entertainment, Weather

March 29, 2022 · 23:31

Thinking About The Brothers K Tonight

Busy, as always, sometimes busier than busy, and at times by habit, skill (unlikely), or necessity, I get into that groove and just start grinding through things that need to get done ASAP. As noted before at times here, it’s akin in many ways to running, especially long distances such as a marathon. I truly wish I could invoke that mental state at will, but that’s another discussion.

When “in the groove” some part of my mind tends to wander while the more basic part is getting the job done. As Crash Davis said to Ebby Calvin ‘Nuke’ LaLoosh, “Don’t think – it can only hurt the ball club.” (Totally irrelevant side note – is anyone keeping track of how many times I’ve quoted that and linked to this clip?)

Tonight my thoughts turned to juggling. Juggling in turn took my thoughts to The Flying Karamazov Brothers, who I think are truly astonishing and who I first saw (I think) doing the halftime entertainment at the Westercon masquerade in 1979. (Maybe 1980?) That in turn made me wonder – are they still around?

THEY ARE!

Not doing much touring (it’s almost like there’s been a raging pandemic that’s seriously restricted travel and in-person gatherings for the last couple of years), but they do have at least one upcoming show scheduled for June and with luck they’ll be out touring soon.

Simple advice – watch their videos online, be entertained, learn to love them, and if you ever get a chance to see them live, take it!

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Filed under Entertainment, Fandom

March 28, 2022 · 22:17

March Rain Aftermath

The squirrels again came out on the soggy side this morning.

They seemed less than thrilled about it. Californians, on the other hand, loved it.

It rarely rains in LA in March, but we’re grateful for it, especially this year, which is quickly turning into the third (fourth? fifth?) drought year in a row.

Meanwhile, our two regular soggy squirrels brought friends.

I was told there was a fourth out there as well, but I never saw all four together. Plus, there was lots of running around, chasing, hopping, up the tree, down the tree, and so on. Lots of that springtime, barely concealed squirrel lust stuff. For all I know there were six or seven of them in a regular squirrel bacchanalia and in 38 to 46 days we’ll be hip deep in little squirrels.

Whatever.

In between all of the other shenanigans they were cleaning out the bird food that had been thrown out, so I threw out a couple of handfuls of the bigger, “critter” food for them. Gotta keep your strength up…

It’s raining again, even though it’s the tail end of the storm and expected to stop soon. We’ll take what we can get and ignore the opinions of the squirrels. I mean, really, they have brains that are only theeeeeeeeeeeeeese  🤏🏻 big.

You know – like politicians. (Ba-DOM-dom!! 🥁 I’ll be here all week! Tip your waitress!)

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Filed under Critters, Photography, Weather