Steve Jobs good advice!

If you have seen this before, it's even better the second time.  Enjoy!

Letting off steam

I received this in my email and I pretty much agree with everything.  I don't know who wrote it:

I’m sick of COVID-19  

I’m sick of black vs. white.

I’m sick of Democrats vs. Republicans. Liberals vs. Conservatives.

I’m sick of gay vs. straight.

I’m REALLY sick of the media.

I’m sick of the language being used and plastered all over the media.

I’m sick of no one being allowed to think what they want & feel what they do without offending someone.

I am sick of the people who are out there jumping on the bandwagon to protest just to cause mass confusion and more hatred and to riot, loot, and destroy.

I am sick of blaming the world for the sins of a few.

I’m sick of people who think that a 500 yr-old history is our fault... it’s history... get over it!!

We’re one race—the human race. We All Matter!!

You want to support President Trump? You do it! It’s your choice.

You want to support Biden? Fine... also your choice!

Same for Trudeau, MacKay and O'TOOLE.

You want to believe in God? Okay, believe in God.

You want to believe in magical creatures that fly around & sprinkle fairy dust to make life better? Awesome... you do it!!

BUT how about being mature enough to be able to deal with the fact that everyone doesn’t have the same exact mind-set as you. Having our own minds is what makes us all individuals and beautiful. If you can’t handle that fact....I’m sorry!!

I don’t have to agree with everything you believe in however you will still be my friend.

So be a decent human being. Love one another, be kind, be humble, be thankful, help a stranger and do a good deed!

The only thing I would add is President Trump STOP the bullying and name calling.  

My biggest beef is WHY IS EVERYTHING BREAKING NEWS.  Breaking news used to mean something, now it's breaking news all day long.  Same story you told 10 hours ago.

Red Hat

I joined the Friskie Fillies Red Hat group on April 15, 2013.  I'm not good with dates, but on our way home from the 25th Anniversary Friskie Frillies Red Hat lunch, we heard about the horrific bombing at the Boston Marathon.  For seven years, I've really enjoyed "lunching" with these ladies.  

In 1988 at the Bayshore Inn a group of ladies met.  This is when Red Hat groups in BC were started.  We were one of the first groups in Vancouver.  My cousin-in-law Patricia was at the Bayshore and was a founding member of the Friskie Fillies.  She asked me if I wanted to join and that's how I got involved.  We've gone for seven years.  During COVID everything has been cancelled but they have a social distancing tea organized for next month, the last one was cancelled and I'm wondering if this one will happen.  It's not lack of interest, but too many of the ladies are high risk and don't want to take the chance.   Many of the ladies have been in for 25 years!

Paula lent me the book on how Red Hat got started.  Readers digest version - ladies wanted to go out for lunch.  Wearing red and purple isn't a good combination, but when you are over 50, you don't care.  So they made red and purple the colours.  During your birthday month you wear a purple hat and red clothing.  The rest of the year it's a red hat and purple clothes.  They prefer you shop at charity shops and get them really cheap.  Great concept, wonderful ladies.  Should someone under 50 want to join, the colour is pink and you start wearing red when you turn 50.  There is no meeting, agenda or charity work.  It's just lunch and friendship.

In 1998 our American Red Hatters decided to tell everyone who was a Red Hat member they needed to join the Society.  The Friskie Fillies rejected this, but our Queen joined.   If you don't carry a Red Hat membership, you cannot go to Red Hat organized functions.  I joined three years ago so I could go to the functions.  There were few in our area and the prices of the conventions and cruises are so inflated, I wouldn't even think about attending.  It's become a money making corporate entity.  

My Surrey Group, The Red Hat Tomatoes is a "Society based group".  You must belong to the society to attend a lunch.  I joined the society three years ago when I joined The Red Hat Tomatoes.  The group meets in Surrey and the ladies are lovely.  On Thursday we had another social distancing meet at the park very close to my home.  We all took a vote and only two members decided to continue with their membership in the society.  It's US$ 30.00 a year and all any of us get out of it is a lot of annoying marketing emails.

We are no longer a Red Hat group.  Starting next month, we will get together as friends and each of us will take our turn organizing it.  It will be your turn to organize in your birthday month.  There are two of us with December birthdays, so I took November.

I look forward to many more lunches with "friends"!

Things that make me laugh

 

More gorgeous photography

 

This is what the Dark Hedges of Northern Ireland look like.

This is what the pyramids look like from Cairo street.

This is what the border of the United States and Canada looks like.

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This is what two hours worth of lightning on one pic looks like.

This is what an Osiria Rose looks like.

This is what the turquoise ice formations on Lake Baikal, Russia look like 

I will add to this, as it is the largest fresh water lake in the world by volume not area. It has a maximum depth of 5,354 FT with average depth of 2,442 Ft, with surface area of 12,248 square miles

This is how Mt. Fuji cuts through the clouds.

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This is what a snail drinking from a bubble looks like.

This is what Ice Canyon, Greenland looks like.

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This is what sunset looks like from space.

This is what an illegally-taken picture from one of the Greta Giza Pyramids looks like.

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Yesterday

 Yesterday, I woke up to this email from Cunard Cruises:

Dear Mrs Fisher, we hope this email finds you and your loved ones well. Throughout this year, we've been making important decisions to protect the wellbeing of our guests and crew, due to the emerging threat of Covid-19. In March, we paused all operations across our fleet, and are currently reviewing every aspect of the Cunard experience. We will only resume sailing when it is safe to do so, when we have the approval and accreditation for our enhanced health protocols and when our guests can travel freely to the destinations we visit. As it stands, we feel it wouldn't be sensible to start sailing again and we are extending our pause in operations through to March 25 2021 for Queen Elizabeth, April 18 2021 for Queen Mary 2 and May 16 2021 for Queen Victoria. In addition, with Queen Elizabeth having returned to the UK during the pause, and with ongoing uncertainty over the re-opening of ports and countries on her intended routes next year, it is sadly not practical to continue as planned. We have therefore made the difficult decision to cancel Queen Elizabeth's voyages due to depart between March 26 2021 and December 13 2021. Unfortunately, this means that your voyage has been cancelled, and we are very sorry for the disappointment this may cause. The cancelled sailings in and around Australia, Japan and Alaska will be replaced with a programme of shorter duration European holidays ranging from three to 14 nights. Queen Elizabeth will be returning to Australia at the end of 2021 and Japan in spring 2022. We're also excited to announce that we'll be putting new itineraries on sale for all ships through to the end of 2022, later this year. This will include Queen Elizabeth visiting Alaska and Australia once again.

Mt. Rushmore bus trip in May 2020, cancelled

Alaska Cruise in July 2020, cancelled

South Africa in September 2020, postponed to September 2021

Australia to Hong Kong cruise, February 2021 looking very doubtful

Now Alaska 2021 is cancelled

Dreger Family reunion, August 2021 if at all possible in Edmonton.  Let's hope this goes ahead!

Oh well, we have our health!  

I planned on going to Costco early as it's not busy.  My day got much better!

I thought I won the lottery!   I've looked for these at every supermarket and drug store since March and haven't found any!  Cheryl gave me some in March and she's now out and I want to pay her back.  They were not where they usually keep the cleaning supplies.  When I got to the cashier the lady in front of me put them on the belt!   I said "where did you find those", she pointed right behind me and they were right by the chocolate bars in front of the cashiers.  It was limit one and they were almost all gone!  

I needed gas at Costco but I was so excited about my Lysol wipes (I really need a life), I drove out of the parking lot.  On my way home, my check engine light came on and the D on my automatic transmission was flashing green.  At least it was green and not red!  

I put the groceries away and took my car to White Rock Honda.  They were so busy they were lined up outside!  Everyone was social distancing and everyone had on masks!  Kim my favorite Service Center lady said it could be a sensor.  She couldn't say when it would be fixed but I told her just to keep it until they could get it done.  We have no plans anyway.  They have a shuttle vehicle that drives you home.  At 5 PM my car was fixed.  It was a sensor, auto transmission flush, and a bunch of other things.  Oh well that $658.00 was only going on a cruise that won't happen and with all the money we are saving staying home, no problem.  Car runs fine and I still love my Honda Pilot!

The Vancouver Canucks played a good hockey game!  They are now 1 - 1 in the Stanley Cup playoffs with the Las Vegas Golden Knights.  The Golden Knights are a new team and it's great to see them doing so well.  The Canucks were founded in 1945 and joined the NHL in 1970.  They have never won a Stanley Cup.  The Las Vegas Golden Nuggets joined the NHL in 2017 and are a great hockey team!

Today we are having the neighbours over for social distancing, back yard wine and cheese!  I am so looking forward to it!

Beautiful photography

 

The end of Australia

This is what it looks like when a praying mantis takes on a bird.

This is called cross sea. A cross sea is a sea state with two wave systems traveling at oblique angles.

This is what an eight-ton Orca jumping 20 feet out of the water looks like

This is what a bubble looks like mid-pop.

5

This is what Wiltshire, England looks like.

This is what the Seattle skyline looks like.

This is what a sunset looks like from above the clouds.

This is a volcano in Ethiopia that burns bright blue.

This is what lions look like in the rain.

This is what a tree farm looks like.

This is what a huge rhododendron tree looks like.

This is how massive Tokyo is.

This is what a rainstorm over the city of Denver looks like.

This is a process called guttation. The plant is expelling water due to a positive root pressure.

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This is what a Russian Red Fox looks like.

This is what the clovers that cover the floor of the California Redwood Forest look like.

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This is what Jupiter looks like from the bottom.

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This is what a castle on an island in Ireland looks like.

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This is what Venice looks like from above.

Kellyanne and George Conway

 

I follow US politics as I find it very interesting.  I don't blog about my beliefs, but I am deeply troubled about what's transpired in the last 24 hours.  George and Kellyanne were married in 2001.  They have four children and live in Washington, DC.   They lived in Trump Tower from 2001 to 2008 and became friends with Donald Trump.  When he was running for President, Donald hired Kellyanne as a Senior Advisor and she's held a few high profile jobs at the White House.  She is frequently interviewed on various US news shows.  She is a devoted Trump supporter.

George is a very successful lawyer earning his degree from Yale Law School.  I follow both of them on Twitter.  George is a Republican but he is no longer a Trump supporter.  He is very outspoken about his beliefs and a founder of Project Lincoln, a "Republicans Against Trump" group.  For sometime, I've wondered what dinner is like at their house.  They have four teenage children.  

Yesterday took a nasty turn.  Their daughter, Claudia, 15 is so upset her mother is speaking at the Republican National Convention, she wants emancipation from her family.

Raising teens today is not an easy task.  Both parents have taken drastic action to heal their family.  Kellyanne will leave her job at the White House at the end of the week.  George is stepping away from Twitter and Project Lincoln to spend time and repair his family.  I hope they work with Claudia and the other children to mend their differences.

Politics can be ugly, but when it divides a family, it's tragic!  I wish them all the best and hopefully they stay away from the press and privately reconcile their family.  

Donald is probably thinking if he doesn't get elected, this would be a good reality show!

Popeye the Sailor Man really existed, who knew?

His real name was Frank "Rocky" Fiegel. He was born in 1868 in Poland. He was a retired sailor contracted by Wiebusch's tavern in the city of Chester, Illinois, to clean and maintain order. He had a reputation to be always involved in fighting, so he had a deformed eye ("Pop-eye"). He always smoked his pipe, so he spoke only with one side of his mouth. He loved to be around children. There is no accounting of his imaginary adventures which boasts about the exploits of his physical strength, ensuring he never lost a fight. The author of Popeye, Elzie Crisler Segar, born in Chester, met Frank when where the young man was to listen to their stories and years later honored him with the character Popeye the Sailor Man. Olive Oil also existed, she was Dora Paskel, owner of a grocery store in Chester. She is also described to dress just like Olive Oil. Segar kept in touch with Frank and had always helped him with money. Frank and Popeye also carried some inherent features like courage, chivalry and virility.

Time for more Quarantine jokes