We are temporarily back in Michigan, and after two "warm" day, I am currently looking out the window at about an inch of fresh snow on the ground, and everything else!
Sunday, April 14, 2019
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Death of the Legend
I have many friends in Andalucia, which I consider to be my second home, though I joke often that España hates me, and for that I cannot reside in Spain as I once did.
Throughout my military career and my current life, I have seen things in the many international locations I have traveled to, thanks to the military. Based on many of these previous experiences, it has shaped my current manner of seeing things and how one should act/react.
I have a very good, intelligent and long-time friend who lives in Sevilla, España. Of course he is an (excellent) photographer, and is very technical in everything he does and know. Just a few days ago, he wrote me to tell me how Obama is visiting Spain, and how excited he is/was of possibly seeing him!
Of course, he's a celebrity!!
Well, I know now the truth of his visit, being the special keynote speaker at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) being held in historic and beautiful Sevilla.
My friend writes of how this happened, and how that happened, and hoping he could get a snap of the ex-US president.
Yea right. Little does he know of los americanos!
The going price for a snapshot with Obama was 20,000€ OR the lower price of 5,000€ to dine with him!
Surely, Obama was NOT there for a mini-vacation, nor to please anyone. He spoke and that was about it.
My friend writes of how it would have been so easy for Obama when departing/entering the plane upon arrival and departure, to pause at the top of the stairs leading to the plane entrance, turn around, and wave to the adoring public waiting hours for a glimpse of the ex-president. Did he do that?
NO.
I am reminded of a pre-port visit orientation aboard one of my many naval ships on which I served, and the Commanding Officer told everyone that WE are ambassadors of our ship. We represent the United States Navy. We each are ambassadors of our country, the United States of America. We are showing others - no matter where we go - that we are Americans and we represent everyone who calls the U.S.A. home. Granted, many other sailors forgot that soon after departing the ship and drank their few hours of off-ship liberty away in a bar, or doing other things that got them thrown in jail.
This is however, what I think of still when I hear of such visits such as this visit to Sevilla by Obama a few days ago.
My friend writes how he was so excited to finally see this great man named Obama, and after his very short visit, based on what he personally saw, his whole outlook of Obama "has changed completely". He could have stopped to talk to people, shake a few hands. He could have looked to the crowds and waved, maybe even smile.
It doesn't cost a thing to be human.
This occasion reminds me of Michele Obama's visit to the Costa de Sol in 2010. The spanish news was all over their visit too, and aired a few interviews of the hundreds of people who stood for hours at the many places they were sighted, hoping for a bit of luck in seeing her. Towards the end of her visit, the people waiting were not happy. Michelle went to the beach which was closed off. Michele and her daughter did not once look at the people. Not one smile did the crowds see, nor one wave.
Hmmmm, things sound very much like this present situation!
Tom Cruise returned to Sevilla after the filming and release of their movie 'Knight & Day'. In the plaza in front of Sevilla's grand Catherdal, he roared up the street on a motorcycle, stopped in the closed-off plaza, got off the motorcycle and walked to the waiting crowds of people waiting there. He smiled that Cruise smile, shook hands, and the people were delighted! They talked of how Tom Cruise was so friendly and kind!
What a HUGE difference between Cruise and the Obamas.
Obama, on the other hand, is NOT an ambassador of the United States. To the spaniards, it seems he came only for the money and speaking at the conference. He was not there to please anyone, not to show his (lack of) charisma, and certainly not to delight the crowds who waited to see him.
This is the difference between a person with two faces: one a private face, not to be confused with their public face, which are not ever mixed. Tom Cruise was much more a true ambassador of all Americans than the Obamas, and it doesn't take a degree nor a title to see that.
Shame on you, Obama!! It doesn't cost a thing to be human, but apparently, there are some "americanos" who know nothing of being truly "human". The Obamas are NOT representative of the people of the United States, and hopefully others will see them solely as ambassadors of how they really are.....
Throughout my military career and my current life, I have seen things in the many international locations I have traveled to, thanks to the military. Based on many of these previous experiences, it has shaped my current manner of seeing things and how one should act/react.
I have a very good, intelligent and long-time friend who lives in Sevilla, España. Of course he is an (excellent) photographer, and is very technical in everything he does and know. Just a few days ago, he wrote me to tell me how Obama is visiting Spain, and how excited he is/was of possibly seeing him!
Of course, he's a celebrity!!
Well, I know now the truth of his visit, being the special keynote speaker at the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) being held in historic and beautiful Sevilla.
My friend writes of how this happened, and how that happened, and hoping he could get a snap of the ex-US president.
Yea right. Little does he know of los americanos!
The going price for a snapshot with Obama was 20,000€ OR the lower price of 5,000€ to dine with him!
Surely, Obama was NOT there for a mini-vacation, nor to please anyone. He spoke and that was about it.
My friend writes of how it would have been so easy for Obama when departing/entering the plane upon arrival and departure, to pause at the top of the stairs leading to the plane entrance, turn around, and wave to the adoring public waiting hours for a glimpse of the ex-president. Did he do that?
NO.
I am reminded of a pre-port visit orientation aboard one of my many naval ships on which I served, and the Commanding Officer told everyone that WE are ambassadors of our ship. We represent the United States Navy. We each are ambassadors of our country, the United States of America. We are showing others - no matter where we go - that we are Americans and we represent everyone who calls the U.S.A. home. Granted, many other sailors forgot that soon after departing the ship and drank their few hours of off-ship liberty away in a bar, or doing other things that got them thrown in jail.
This is however, what I think of still when I hear of such visits such as this visit to Sevilla by Obama a few days ago.
My friend writes how he was so excited to finally see this great man named Obama, and after his very short visit, based on what he personally saw, his whole outlook of Obama "has changed completely". He could have stopped to talk to people, shake a few hands. He could have looked to the crowds and waved, maybe even smile.
It doesn't cost a thing to be human.
This occasion reminds me of Michele Obama's visit to the Costa de Sol in 2010. The spanish news was all over their visit too, and aired a few interviews of the hundreds of people who stood for hours at the many places they were sighted, hoping for a bit of luck in seeing her. Towards the end of her visit, the people waiting were not happy. Michelle went to the beach which was closed off. Michele and her daughter did not once look at the people. Not one smile did the crowds see, nor one wave.
Hmmmm, things sound very much like this present situation!
Tom Cruise returned to Sevilla after the filming and release of their movie 'Knight & Day'. In the plaza in front of Sevilla's grand Catherdal, he roared up the street on a motorcycle, stopped in the closed-off plaza, got off the motorcycle and walked to the waiting crowds of people waiting there. He smiled that Cruise smile, shook hands, and the people were delighted! They talked of how Tom Cruise was so friendly and kind!
What a HUGE difference between Cruise and the Obamas.
Obama, on the other hand, is NOT an ambassador of the United States. To the spaniards, it seems he came only for the money and speaking at the conference. He was not there to please anyone, not to show his (lack of) charisma, and certainly not to delight the crowds who waited to see him.
This is the difference between a person with two faces: one a private face, not to be confused with their public face, which are not ever mixed. Tom Cruise was much more a true ambassador of all Americans than the Obamas, and it doesn't take a degree nor a title to see that.
Shame on you, Obama!! It doesn't cost a thing to be human, but apparently, there are some "americanos" who know nothing of being truly "human". The Obamas are NOT representative of the people of the United States, and hopefully others will see them solely as ambassadors of how they really are.....
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Winter (aGain) and Thoughts of Samsung devices
Well, it's the last day of March and even after a week of daytime sunny days with highs in the 50s but still with a chill factor of up to 20 degrees LESS, Mother Nature has again whipped up her cape last night and this morning to bring more whiteness to our area. Looking out the window minutes ago, the snow is still falling. Though the heat of the streets is still enough to keep the road surface black, the parked cars and trees are covered in yet another thick white coat!
Images are turned sideways and though I rotate the image to its correct aspect, it will still NOT display correctly.
Samsung and other apps do not function correctly or not at all.
Sheila and I are still snapping our pictures, and even now are wondering where we will go later to capture the beauty of this yet-again winter scene. It seems 95% of the ice in the Niagara River is gone, though there are still little icebergs floating towards the Falls every minute, it's not the more than half ice-filled river it was just weeks ago.
On the other hand, I am still struggling in using my Samsung SSG S5 though I am not touting loudly of its image sharpness and usefulness as I did in the past. It has been almost a year since being advised by email by a Samsung rep that my S5 will no longer be updated, and almost immediately after that news, my S5 use has been a daily nightmare!!
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| A recent Niagara River scene, complete with ice on the water (bottom of pix). Yes, it was cold and very breezy! |
I turn on bluetooth to transfer files between my S5 and other laptops and devices, and the bluetooth turns itself off numerous times.
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| I see this error a LOT of times every DAY. Thanks Samsung! |
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| Of course it's only right that even stupid samsung apps are dying left and right too! |
Error messages pop up almost nonstop. Just to have this S5 even work, I must either turn off and enter the recovery mode, or restart it many times a day, or both!! There are many times when these options must be repeated several times within a few minutes!!
Even the Samsung S5 camera refuses to behave. As you can imagine since I am a photographer, I use my S5 camera many times in a single hour, and many times more in any 24 hour period. It is not the fun, sharp and listening camera it was before, and nor are the results the greatest any longer. It is, as are the rest of this S5's functions and reliability, a disappointing shadow of what it once was just months before.
The list continues on and on, plus it is growing by the week! I can seriously understand why devices cannot be updated until it breaks, but to have a piece of crap that I paid a very pretty amount of my money to have, and now it's useful for practically nothing, and might as well be used as a fishing line weight, and should be utterly illegal and a crime to sell!! The first app on this S5 was the phone, and it still does not work correctly if at all!
What if everything we owned just ceased to function properly as when it was purchased. Granted that most products on the market shouldn't be allowed to be sold anyway, but to have something so important and such a valuable and important piece of everyday life, shouldn't be crap and a nightmare to continue owning is an insult to the buying public, and should be an embarrassment to the very company that designed such planned obsolete equipment is a slap to the face of the company CEO, its workers and the public.
This is my third Samsung smartphone, and it is going to be the very last Samsung I will buy. I am seriously considering buying a flip phone instead.
Now will Samsung care should they read this post? No, they will probably not care at all because I am just one individual who is not happy. But if this nightmare with my S5 is happening to me, then it is surely happening to you and others also. When I think of the millions of Samsung phones being used throughout the world, I am thinking there are millions of Samsung users out there suffering through this thoughtless planned obsolescence!!
I personally challenge all manufacturers of any type of electronic device, to build a product to function to the best of its ability, and that Samsung CEO and employees should ensure its operation long after updates are no longer provided, and ensure their equipment continues to function well after its first day of no longer being updated, and to continue functioning well as it should, well past a decade of not being updated!!
As a company THEY should be embarrassed and ashamed of manufacturing such a piece of crap that had been a joy and pride to use previously, but is now just a personal reminder to never again buy Samsung!
My next smartphone will NOT be a samsung!!
My next smartphone will NOT be a samsung!!
Monday, March 4, 2019
I think Winter is still here......
Yes, we were just out again in our hopes of getting a decent sunset today were nice and fruitful. Not the blazing summer end of daylight we are used to seeing in San Francisco, or even the more fiery atardeces we have seen in the Bay of Cadiz, southern Spain in the past, but after two months of below freezing temperatures HERE, and on/off snow storms, we are happy with what we can see. Of course, it was cold and that stiff wind didn't help at all. It was 14°f/-10°c with a colder windchill factor of -2°f/-19°c with 16 mph winds blowing straight into our faces from the west, right off the slow moving waters of the upper Niagara River, and over the other half of the river which still has a frozen ice-cap after all these weeks!
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| Our sunset of 4 March on the Upper Niagara |
Where do you go or do when Winter's last freezing breath is still blowing hard? It doesn't matter the weather nor temperatures, we still head out!!
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| Snow falls near Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, as seen from downstream on the Niagara River |
Next weekend is the time change for Daylight Saving already!! Where did the time go?
Monday, February 25, 2019
All Things Must Come DOWN eventually (watch out)
It's been another few days and nights of snow and howling winds again, we are still alive and safe.... well almost. Last night the wind howled throughout the day. Branches of all sizes and weights were falling down, several of a substantial size fell quite close to our camper minivan, so I moved it to a spot where hopefully, the winds wouldn't bring down anymore bits and pieces of nearby trees. Not even an hour later, a HUGE branch fell with a loud THUD outside our window. I looked out the window to see that huge tree on the ground where our minivan sat previously!
I dashed outside into the winds and cold to see this branch measuring at least 3ft at its widest and about 40ft long lying across the roadway, and its end lying right next to a neighbor's car. I moved out a few smaller branches that fell off, tossing those by the side of the road. Things like this never happened where I used to be in San Francisco. But apparently, this stuff happens a lot in many parts of the world during snow and windstorms!
Eventually it was cut up into manageable pieces and pushed to the side of the street, as snow began to fall. Soon the road was white with the wind blowing waves of snow..... it was a poetic but sad fact of life in snowy areas that I know little of, not really living in snow-affected areas 87% of my life.
The weather though, has remained the same as it has been for some months: a few days of snow, enough to paint everything white again, then a few days of warm sunlight to melt the snow a bit, just enough to give one a slippery walk on the streets the next day! Plus it's been freezing or below for most of these past months, with perhaps less than 10 days of 40° degrees or above!
On the other hand, we have been enjoying some really tasty ice cream over the last few months. We gave up the real stuff for a low-fat version that is so creamy and tasty!! However, at another store, we found the "same" low-fat taste and flavor, but after we recently looked at the ingredients trying to find out WHY this low-fat version is so creamy, and what we discovered is incredible, and has changed our mind about where we'll be buying it in the future!
At one store, we are buying a big gallon tub for a very reasonable price, but sometimes it isn't available so we go to another store. At the other store, we checked the ingredients and saw "propylene glycol".
It's been approved by the FDA and not considered to be a threat to humans, but again, the FDA approved use of Opioid use also, and everyone knows how that is working out! This is what we discovered online: "Propylene glycol is a synthetic organic compound with the chemical formula C₃H₈O₂. It is a viscous, colorless liquid which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. Chemically it is classed as a diol (an alcohol containing two hydroxyl groups in its molecule) and is miscible (This term is most applied to liquids, but can also apply to solids and gases. An example is water and ethanol, are "miscible" because they mix in all proportions) with a broad range of solvents, including water, acetone, and chloroform".
Really?!!?
The FDA states it's an additive that is "generally recognized as safe" for use in food. Really???
So, we are returning to our original store and NOT buying it at the other store any longer. If you want to know where we were buying the "propylene glycol" version of the "creamy" ice cream, just email me and I'll tell you. We'll kindly do without it, thank you!!
If you and yours are in a weather-affected area, please stay safe and warm!
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| Screen-capture of our local CBS station WIVB showing yesterday's top wind gusts. WoW! |
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| All fall down! |
The weather though, has remained the same as it has been for some months: a few days of snow, enough to paint everything white again, then a few days of warm sunlight to melt the snow a bit, just enough to give one a slippery walk on the streets the next day! Plus it's been freezing or below for most of these past months, with perhaps less than 10 days of 40° degrees or above!
 |
| That gloss on the snow is frozen ice ~ very slippery! |
At one store, we are buying a big gallon tub for a very reasonable price, but sometimes it isn't available so we go to another store. At the other store, we checked the ingredients and saw "propylene glycol".
 |
| What is that? |
It's been approved by the FDA and not considered to be a threat to humans, but again, the FDA approved use of Opioid use also, and everyone knows how that is working out! This is what we discovered online: "Propylene glycol is a synthetic organic compound with the chemical formula C₃H₈O₂. It is a viscous, colorless liquid which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. Chemically it is classed as a diol (an alcohol containing two hydroxyl groups in its molecule) and is miscible (This term is most applied to liquids, but can also apply to solids and gases. An example is water and ethanol, are "miscible" because they mix in all proportions) with a broad range of solvents, including water, acetone, and chloroform".
Really?!!?
The FDA states it's an additive that is "generally recognized as safe" for use in food. Really???
So, we are returning to our original store and NOT buying it at the other store any longer. If you want to know where we were buying the "propylene glycol" version of the "creamy" ice cream, just email me and I'll tell you. We'll kindly do without it, thank you!!
If you and yours are in a weather-affected area, please stay safe and warm!
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