Indy Home Book » Just for Fun

Traveling

Richard — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:43:25 +0000

Most of the time I stay firmly anchored near home base where I live and work. But lately I’ve been traveling some. I went to Pittsburgh on a quick trip on a personal errand, and then a few days later, drove to Michigan for a few days of R & R. The image above was taken just before the flight attendant announced that all mobile phones must be turned off, to which I complied just after taking this photo with it. The shot below was taken somewhere in central Michigan. One of those idyllic days with deep-blue sky, some big puffy clouds, and open road. No other cars anywhere at that moment so I snapped a quick one.

I realize full well that I’ve been lackadaisical about writing posts for IHB lately. I miss doing so when it happens because to me it’s just pure fun…but I’ve been really busy between this and that. Business activity has been greater than normal plus I’ve been traveling some. There is no way I could have done everything had not been for the wireless communication networks there are now. I always have all my files with me in a digital form and access to any and all resources I ever need. You never know what will happen and have to take care of anything that comes up. As a sole proprietor, the buck stops here. These days, “here” can be just about anywhere though.

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Driving the Business

Whatever I Feel Like Day

Richard — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:54:02 +0000

Today is Father’s Day and so I figure I get to do just about anything I want since indeed, I’m a father. It’s similar to when it’s your birthday or something. I decided a few days ago not to host an Open House or take any real estate appointments today…so I had the day off. And so, what did I do with my special day when I could do whatever I feel like? Well, I got up early like always and saw my acoustic guitar sitting there, so I played with it for a while, which was fun. Then I opened a nice Fathers Day card from my son and daughter-in-law that I received in the mail a couple days ago and saved for today. Soon after, I ground and brewed some of my favorite coffee and had one of the giant blueberry muffins I made. Then while it was still cool outside, I gathered up my painting gear to work on a small house painting job for a while that needed doing. Picked up some potting soil at the store. Watered the section of the yard where I planted some grass recently. Then finally took to relaxing on the deck in the chaise lounge. It’s so hot today that I decided to take a break from the sun to visit with everyone here through IHB and post a favorite photo. The bear is part of one of the elaborate light posts/statues that adorns Monument Circle. Thought he had a lot of personality.

So, a little of this and a little of that. It’s been a good day so far. And later, dinner with my family and maybe watch a rented movie afterwards. What more can a man ask for.

Hope all of you and especially the Fathers are enjoying yourselves today too.

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Water Canvas

Sent from my HTC EVO

Richard — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:45:19 +0000

For someone who likes to stay abreast of technology, I was overdue for an upgrade on mobile phones…so long in fact, that I had been operating without a contract with my mobile carrier for years. It had been over seven years since purchasing my last one, which at the time was one of the best Smartphones that ran Windows Mobile. I’ve patiently watched as iPhones broke the mold with touch screens and faster processors. And I’ve endured as more and more emails I received ended with “Sent from my Blackberry”. Part of the reason I waited is my old phone had a lot of features and was so reliable…and also I could see that there were more changes on the horizon worth waiting for with Android phones and next generation iPhones and Windows Mobile. With technology, I’ve learned to get the best there is at the time because in the end it saves money. You’re happier with it and keep it longer.

Ultimately, Android capabilities now are so astonishing, and the incentive to be able to use the features they offered, finally convinced me to move forward. As a Realtor and web publisher, I need communication and the ability to receive and send documents, graphics and information wherever I am. It’s got a pretty good camera too. The photo above of the Indy skyline is taken with the phone camera when I was at the top of the Monument in the Observation Room yesterday. Instead of taking the elevator, the 34 flights of stairs to the top sounded like fun and I tried out the camera for the first time there. And I suppose, from now on, mobile email that’s sent from it will end with the phone’s default signature, the title of this post.

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Grilling Saga

Richard — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 15:44:21 +0000

As a long-time user and current owner of a Weber grill, I was more than interested in it’s namesake restaurant when it opened here a few years ago. I bought my first Weber about 35 years ago, and finally, after years of faithful service, rolled it out to the street on trash day last year. Sadly it had been on it’s last legs for the last 2 years…but I couldn’t part with ‘Ol Blackie. It had helped me prepare thousands of meals over the years and was like part of the family. But it was finally time.

My neighbor had a Weber that was 7-8 years old that they literally never used. It was an exact clone of mine in design. They kept it stored inside the garage and it still looked like it had just come new out of the box. Having witnessed the final demise of Blackie, they gave theirs to me, knowing that it would be well-utilized and cared for. So…Blackie lives on, in spirit. The universe is still in alignment.

I’ve heard good reviews about the Weber Grill restaurant. But I smile every time I go by there. I’m thinking…it seems like it’s totally backwards to go inside to eat something grilled. Isn’t that the whole point of having a grill?…cooking outside…on your own. It’s the connection with our ancestors, our heritage, who for hundreds of years, while this country of ours was being shaped, cooked over an open campfire. Grilling outside…one of the last bastions of true Americana.

My favorite thing from the grill? I can’t decide between these two. Grilled Salmon fillets…and grilled Quesadillas.

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Barrel Roll

Curious Mix

Richard — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:45:13 +0000

Motor sports activities all over the country are starting to pick up now with the warmer weather, including our own Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s an expensive sport if you are a participant, and teams live or die because of their support from sponsors. So some interesting alliances are formed with sponsors who want the racing crowd to notice them. It might just be me but some sponsors seem appropriate to be linked with auto racing like automobile companies, auto-parts or tire manufacturers…while others seem like odd combinations. Cars and drivers show up with decals and emblems on them with everything from laundry detergent to candy bars on them.

I’ve been saving this photo. I guess it just struck me as a funny. Inside Lucas Oil Stadium is this neon sign near the concession area. The Lucas Oil/racing connection seemed OK, but somehow it made me visualize a driver with a glass of bourbon on the rocks weaving back and forth down the straightaway at 240mph.

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Sleeping Beauty

Hoops Unlimited

Richard — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 17:34:30 +0000

As tournament play unfolds now on our television screens and newspapers, I can’t help but think about the talk we’ve seen and heard lately about expanding the current 64 team field to 96 for the NCAA Basketball tournament. Since the NCAA national headquarters is here in Indianapolis, it’s local news, and so we get the full discussion in the sports section every day. It’s pretty transparent that a move like that would be mostly to gain more revenue rather than improve the tournament.

If they really want to expand the field and increase revenue, then why not include all 347 Division One teams? I’m sure there’s a way to adjust the brackets so the math would work. Maybe top seeds could have bye weeks? Lowest seeds would play a couple more games than they would now to reach the final four. A true national champion. Just think what the size of the brackets would be. And talk about increasing revenue…With a huge number of slots available, winning the office pool would be really lucrative then.

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Good Fortune

Richard — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:54:30 +0000

A few months ago, someone I know sent an email to me with this picture and instructions to pass it on to everyone I know. The ‘ol chain letter idea gone digital. The image is supposed to be of a Money Goddess…and supposedly the more people I forwarded it to, the more successful I’d be in receiving great riches afterwards. Let’s say I believed it…or even if I just wanted to pass it along as harmless fun, on anything like this, I’m suspicious that someone might have embedded some sort of virus or invisible program code in the email that will harvest addresses from me and everyone it’s sent to and then send them to someone someplace. As you can see I’ve become quite cynical and paranoid about spam. But I liked the picture…she’s kind of cute and colorful huh?…and so I copied the image and saved it. (I did pass the image file through the virus scanner 5 times first though just to be safe!) Instead of forwarding the email and picture, I printed it and have her on my bulletin board watching over my daily operations. I figure, what can it hurt? If it doesn’t work, then I’m no worse off than before…and if it does work, well, that would be good…right? With tax time coming up soon and heading out of the slower winter months, I thought we all could use a little more positive financial energy. So, I have decided to share it with everyone I could afterall. Don’t worry though, no Trojan Horse viruses or address gleaners added.

May this bring you good fortune…and may your bank account overfloweth.

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Colts Plan for Next Season

Richard — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 01:14:26 +0000

No one will argue that in order to win the Superbowl, the whole team, and especially all your best players, have got to be healthy. And, having home field all through the playoffs can be a huge advantage. Seeing as how the strategy of resting and protecting the starters, even at the cost of giving away a chance at the perfect season, seemed appealing to those calling the shots this last season, then I’ve got a plan I think they will love.

You have to remember that Indy is hosting the Superbowl in two years in January 2012. I think they should consider putting into motion a plan to rest the starters all through next season. Don’t play them at all. Oh, maybe a few series here and there possibly, but nothing too dangerous. Just imagine how healthy and hungry they will be then for the following season in 2011, where they could play for home field advantage all through the playoffs and including the 2012 Superbowl itself.

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Recycling Fun

Richard — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:29:22 +0000

When recycling first began around here years and years ago, I remember going to a local collection area where you could bring your recyclable items and they would actually pay you the going rate per pound for what you brought. That kind of arrangement disappeared, probably because there wasn’t enough profit in it for them. But collection bins like in this photo began to appear in different locations throughout the community, and even though I wasn’t getting paid any more, I started using ones close to me, as recycling was the right thing to do. Now you can get personal recycling containers provided by the waste collection company that are a little larger than the normal size garbage can. More and more people seem to be getting those and you see them out on the street every other week where they are collected on the normal “trash day”. That service costs about four or five dollars a month, which isn’t a whole lot for the convenience of just wheeling the container to the street. For some reason though, I’ve been resistant to the idea of paying someone else to make money off of my recycling efforts. It’s not the money…it’s more the principle of the thing. So I take recyclable items every week or two when I’m going in the direction of the collection bin anyway. Efficient use of gasoline I figure. The two containers I have fit perfectly side-by-side in my trunk when closed. I’ve been happy with this arrangement for years. The other day though, I was lifting the container to dump it in the opening, and it was wet from the snow…and it actually slipped OUT of my hands and fell inside the bin! The collection bin had just been emptied and my container landed on the bottom and bounced really far away from the opening, way out of reach. Great…just great!! Even if I wanted to jump inside the filthy bin after it, I wasn’t positive I could get out of the thing afterwards. I actually thought about it, but I had good clothes on too so I couldn’t try that. I studied it and fussed a while as I couldn’t see any way I could reach it. I did NOT want to leave it there inside but felt there was no choice. Then, out of the blue, some sort of instinctive, creative powers took over. I pulled out my jumper cables from the spare tire well where I keep them. I thought I might be able to make a combination lasso/fishing apparatus out of them? The handles of the metal clamps angle backwards from the ends of the cables to resemble sort of a hook. After several tosses, I managed to snare the edge of my container…and carefully, slowly, pulled it closer toward the opening. Then, I grabbed the car jack crank handle which is a little over two feet long and has a small hook on the end that inserts into the jack when you want to turn it. The jack handle was JUST long enough to reach and hook the lip of the container and pull it up to the opening…where I grabbed it myself. Gotcha! Catastrophy avoided. I had a good laugh to myself about it as I drove away, and mentally celebrated the creative use of what I had available. Another one of life’s little victories. Of course I forgot about how stupid it was to drop it in the first place.

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Walking

We’ll See

Richard — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:01:18 +0000

So the Superbowl is today and everyone has their angle figured by now. They are rooting for the Saints because of this… Or they are for the Colts because of that. Of course some are even making predictions about the outcome…and even point spreads! Yeah, Uh Huh. Like they can actually see into the future? Some people have been die-hard Colts or Saints fans for years and there is no question about who they are pulling for. That I can understand. What is really funny to me though are the people that are rooting not so much FOR one team, but against the other one. Nice! And what’s really odd to me are people that choose their allegiance based on reasons that don’t have anything to do with being a sports fan. Their choice being based on what is more fair or politically correct. That just kills me. Most of it is good natured fun though and makes it more interesting I guess.

With all the noise going, and all the predictions especially, it reminds me of this great exchange in the movie, Charlie Wilsons War. The character named Gust in the movie is talking to Charlie about a old Chinese tale. Gust says “There’s a little boy, and on his 14th birthday he gets a horse… and everybody in the village says, “How wonderful. The boy got a horse”. And the Zen Master says, “We’ll see”. Two years later, the boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, “How terrible”. And the Zen Master says, “We’ll see”. Then, a war breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight… except the boy who can’t because his leg’s all messed up, and everybody in the village says, “How wonderful”. And then Charlie who now gets where this is going says, “Now the Zen Master says, We’ll see”.

So here’s a prediction I’ve been hearing a lot…”The Colts Are Going to Win the Superbowl!!”

I’m definitely not a Zen Master… Uh, not even an Zen Apprentice. But just like Charlie, I think you understand where I’m going with this.

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