A Good Little Outting

A week ago Thursday, we took our little daytrip to Athens. Yesterday, also Thursday, we thought to take another little trip. Afterall, it would, apparently, be the only non-blistering-hot day for the next two weeks.

But (and isn't there always a but in life), it was so cool and cloudy and so not-nice, that we were dissuaded. 

We did, however, take a very short drive to a cottagy area not far outside of town, Sue remembered seeing a very dilapidating cottage and thought that it would make a nice subject for a photoshoot.

I had a b&w result in mind when I took the photo.

After I also later fiddled with the original colour version, I decided, for awhile at least, that I liked it even more than the b&w.

Then, I decided that I really did like the b&w better, and then . . .

Well, you get the idea. I can't choose, or at least my choice keeps changing.

It wasn't a big outing, but it was a good outing.

Cloaked

I have no recollection of doing it, but I am old, and, perhaps, my memory isn't what it what was. Whatever the case, I have, somehow and apparently, donned my invisibility cloak. I have written about my invisibility problem more than once, but throughout my life, I have managed to get lost from plain view.

This time it has to do with catheters and the obtaining of such devices.

After I was shown how to apply an intermittent, self-care catheter, I was discharged from the roster immediately and forthwith. 

On the discharge occasion, I did tell the nurse that were were having trouble sourcing them. She assured us that she was about to see a long-standing, catheter-using client on that very day. She would note his supplier and get back to us.

Meanwhile, she had left us with the two-week supply of freebies, and then we were also able to purchase some at a local IDA pharmacy.

It was going well . . . until it wasn't.

Suddenly, I was finding it harder to insert the catheter. Then, once inserted, it was becoming more aggravating going in and out. It was also sometimes leaking around the outside rather than all fluid running through the tube. Fortunately, I was still able to direct the discharge into the commode, but the situation wasn't quite right.

Is this TMI for you poor souls? If you've made it this far, rest assured that the rest isn't quite so personal.

When I explained my difficulties to Sue, she discovered that we had run out of the original devices that we had been given and were now using the ones that we had purchased from the pharmacy. Clearly, they were not working as well as the others for me.

We began looking around for another supplier, but I soon became aware that I had, somehow, once again, cloaked myself in invisibility.

1. The nurse never called back with a supplier link. After the two week supply was gone, I was left on my own to. somehow, get on with the rest of my invisible life. 
   
   
2. I did call the nursing agency for assistance and left a message. I wasn't looking for much, maybe a phone call and a link. My invisibility cloak held firm; they did not call back. I guess a discharge is a discharge is a discharge and picking up a phoine would violate protocol in some way.
   
   
3. We found two suppliers online. They both indicated on their websites that they would send us a few free trial catheters. This seemed good to us because we did want to make sure that we would get ones that worked for me before we were to purchase them in bulk. Keep in mind that we did not beg for free trial catheters; the offer was displayed on their websites for all to see.
   
   
4. I filled out a questionnaire for one of the sites. When I was done, a notice came up that they would call me. That was three days ago. The only ringing has been in my tinnitus-plagued ears.
   
   
5. Sue telephoned the other supplier. She talked to a nice lady for a considerable time. They promised to  Fed Ex several types of catheters for me to try. It's three days later. Fed Ex must have lost the Ex part.
   
   
6. We drove into Smiths Falls to visit what we knew from previous experience was a good and helpful medical supplier. The mall had changed but their signs were up. We walked around the building looking for the door. We did not find the door. After some enquiries at an adjacent shop, we were told that they were out of business.
   
   
7. But they also told us that there was a new supplier in downtown Smiths Falls. We drove to the store but discovered that they did not have any catheters in stock.  Their Perth outlet did have some — expensive but available. Now get this. The road from there to Perth was closed. We drove home.

Shauna has been able to source some via her work at the seniors residence. She has ordered a box of 50. We are not sure when they will be delivered. Sha and the kids will be away on vacay next week, but we will drive to Perth to pick them up if they don't get shipped by the end of this week.

Meanwhile, I have many of the nasty catheters left, and Sha has also been able to lay her hands on a few others. They are a smaller diameter than what I am supposed to use, but they are an option.

I am not sure why I so easily and often become the invisible man. I am over 6' tall, or at least I was, although I have probably shrunk a little. I also am was not altogether displeasing in appearance. On the other hand, I have never been a boisterous type of dude, so maybe that is the explanation.

Unwise

It was a bit synchronistic to come across this poster on social media, for I had just been contemplating mugs and glasses.

When I was very young, my grandfather as a gardener and groundskeeper worked on an estate. He was into his 70s, but we would visit him there once a year on a Sunday afternoon.

I remember being offered a drink of water and was asked, "Do you want it in a mug or glass?"

At the age of 5, I didn't know what a mug was. Instead of asking, I chose glass.

I have probably have done something similar a few more times over the years: not asked a question when I should have.

It's the way my brain works . . . or doesn't, as the case may be.

Apparently, I can be very unwise.

The Sun and Moon Conundrum

Danica's photo of the rising moon and setting sun caused some perplexity. Before I get to that, however, I did decide to adjust her photo. It's not that one should normally be so bold as to edit others' photos, but she is my granddaughter, and I did want to see what Adobe's AI would do with it.

This is the original photo as she sent it via Messenger. The horizon isn't quite straight and the boat detracts from the photo.

In my the edited version, below, I have slightly adjusted the horizon line. That is a common edit, but I have also asked AI to remove the boat, and it did it very well. I think it is a much better image.

Now, onto the puzzle of the rising moon and setting sun appearing together. If the sun sets in the west and the moon rises in the east, how could they appear in the same photo. People wanted to know, and some deduced that both orbs must have been setting. But they weren't. I have correlated the time of the photo (~8:30) with the lunar and solar times last weekend, and they match. 

There are two more pieces of evidence. We also have Danica's photo of the risen moon 45 minutes later. The sun had set, and the moon had risen higher.

The next and final bit of evidence comes from Danica's friend's dad who was supervising the weekend at the cottage. Danica reported that he was very excited, saying that this alignment only occurred once a year.

Case closed: it had been a rising moon and setting sun that Danica saw and photographed.

Now, how do we explain this? Well, I can't really, for the mathematics of this astronomical phenomenon are beyond this poor man's capability, or at least beyond what he is willing to research.

That said, I do have some thoughts.

We all know that both the sun and moon rise in the east and set in the west, so it does seem a bit mind-blowing to see the the rising moon and setting sun at the horizon in the same photo. However, the reality is that they rise toward the east and toward the west. Neither is directly east or west, and neither always rises in the very same sky position.

For example, the sun rises in a very different place and at a very different time in July than it does in January. Meanwhile, the moon also constantly changes both its time and position as it orbits an earth that is spinning below. The full moon, in this case, rises and falls in a different place and at a different time in July than it did in June and than it will do in August.

In summary: the photo and the surrounding facts indicate that the juxtaposition did occur, but that is about all that this poor blogger can offer towards an explanation. I leave it up to those of keener intellect to dig for a deeper elucidation if they so choose.

What a wonderful sighting for Danica! It is one that she will quite probably never witness again, for she would have to be in the right place at the very right time in those few fleeting moments.

More from Athens

I would like to return us to Athens, for I have a few more photos to share. You have already seen murals and the fine old post office, but here is the other fine, old building.

I didn't get very close to it, but I could see that it now contains the police station and public washrooms, and I might assume some municipal functions.

Main Street looked typical a villages of this size with angled parking and older buildings with not-so-pretty storefronts at street level.

I decided to add those ↑ two photos since I have them, but I am really dropping this post in order to show the next two photos that appeal to me in some way.

This ↑ is a close-up of the poor, abused door that we see from across the road in the earlier photo. I like it as a photo subject but am glad that it is not my front door. I think it should find a resting place at Rideau Antiques with the hundred or so doors that are already languishing there.

I have already shown the ↓ mural in the previous post last week, but the adjacent property appealed to me. Right on Main Street, it was likely the home of a prominent citizen when it was advantageous to reside close to the town centre. I would think that it would still be considered to be a prime property.

Where shall Johnny and Susie go next? I can tell you that it will not be very far away.

On the Lake

Danica (granddaughter) is at a lakeside cottage this weekend. Look at this picture of the moon rising and the sun setting at the same level in the sky. I don't think I've seen anything  like it.

This blue hour one is pretty good too.

Rideau Antiques Revisited

It has been 7 years since we visited Rideau Antiques, and while I had no great desire to return, we were already out and about, and Sue thought that she could work it into her daily photo theme. She was to take a photo involving her on a thrift shop, or something like that. While Rideau Antiques isn't your typical thrift shop, I think it qualifies. So let us get that photo out of the way and then move on to post more photos of the establishment, for it is a very unique place. (Rideau is pronounced something like REEdough.)

This is the shot.

But this one shows the whole entranceway more fully.

Are you beginning to get the idea? This was one route from the parking area to the front door.

This is the other way round to the door (in the distance).

I took one shot inside from near the door before beating a hasty retreat, for it was hot in there and I had squeezed my way through it those seven years ago.

It's all like that, inside and out. Here is a photo from the front steps. Last time we visited, there was stuff in the barn across the road. We didn't check it out this time.

Sue composed a few composites, one outside and one inside.

But even these photos somehow fail to give the full scope, for it is a little mind-boggling to actually behold.

Believe it or not, it is organized. The proprietor knows where everything is. For example, there is a whole section of old doors, and there are many more than what I am showing here in these two photos.

I like the above door photos, and I also like the next (and also final) two as well. One could go on taking pictures here, but these will have to do for now, for we were on a trip and this was just one stop. Perhaps I should go back and photograph to my heart's content.