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• Post #4421922

  Edible plants seen along the Slaughter Creek / Bauerle Ranch trails today. I left out dewberry, my favorite, because animals like me have already eaten their tasty raspberry fruit. #Hiking #EdiblePlants #iPhonePhotography #Plants #Austin #Texas #Nature

• Post #4354984

  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. “What’s good? Life’s good” - Lou Reed 2. Setting aside troubles to be mindful of the warm morning sun on the skin, the sound of birds in the trees, and a slightly cool breeze during a morning walk. 3. A hot cup of espresso coffee brewed from freshly ground beans sourced from fair trade growers.

• Post #4348234

  "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you." - Joseph Heller, Catch-22 My wife told me our younger son does not believe humans ever walked on the moon. My guess, based on prior conversations, is that he does believe UFOs carrying aliens from other worlds have visited Earth. I know he believes in supernatural events. His critical thinking skills are weak. I searched the internet for a quiz to assess one’s susceptibility to conspiratorial thinking and...

• Post #3974006

  My daughter bought an 18-year-old Dell Optiplex 960 with no operating system on eBay and asked me to install Linux Mint for her. I reluctantly agreed to keep the peace. But I was surprised anyone would sell such a machine with a hard drive. Well, it arrived today and the hard drive was so thoroughly wiped as to be invisible (i.e., it contains no hard drive). It also was poorly packed and arrived with the face plate broken loose, a dead cricket and a few pieces of broken plastic inside the case,...

• Post #3924283

  Eating spinach gives one superhuman strength. #CartoonCharactersRules #HashTagGames

• Post #3848171

  Automatic transmissions are now standard. #ExplainItWrongButGetItRight #HashTagGames

• Post #3606496

  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. Being a heathen, I mowed and trimmed my yard on Sunday morning with no guilt. 2. Much needed rain is in forecast tomorrow. 3. I feel pretty relaxed this morning rather than stressed, despite everything.

• Post #3425860

  Last night, shortly before I went to bed, there was a local news report about a shooting in a nearby town. This morning’s news indicates it was a police shooting, and the person shot is deceased. No other information has been released. It may turn out to be a clear case of a police officer protecting the public against a dangerous criminal. The Texas Rangers are reportedly at the scene to assist with the investigation. They may be an organization that can look at an event involving another law e...

• Post #3334520

  #3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings 1. Having written and mailed a letter yesterday morning to friends I had not communicated with in about a year, I received a letter from them that afternoon. Serendipity! 2. Calling those friends on the phone today to wish the husband a quick and full recovery from a minor stroke that he mentioned in the letter I noted above. 3. Listening to Max Richter from Sleep, a CD he sent me with his letter, while ordering for him and his wife a favorite collection of po...

• Post #3326812

  #3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings 1. Completed the lab work for my upcoming annual checkup. 2. Did some grocery shopping so there is now food in the house. 3. Wrote and mailed a letter to an old friend.

• Post #3317964

  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. Feeling relaxed after a dog walk, some yard work, and a warm shower. 2. A good cup of coffee in hand from freshly ground beans in my espresso machine. 3. Settling down on a sofa to continue reading an interesting book.

• Post #2524444

  Appreciation for Cyanobacteria (and the humble species of the Nostoc genus) “It is certainly no exaggeration to say that we owe our existence in present form to cyanobacteria.” - Kartik Aiyer, PhD, University of Aarhus Behind the Shady Hollow Community Center in southwest Austin, Texas is a concrete slab. It may be related to a water treatment facility that was decommissioned a couple decades ago. During dry weather, one can find at one end of it dark patches of crunchy stuff that most person...

• Post #2088849

  @sk76 “My Aunt Alice (Alice Ridnor) was on Broadway. She was loud, brassy, and until her last breath, had platinum blonde hair, cherry red nails, layers of face powder, and furs that smelled of mothballs. She could also walk down the street, knitting and carry on a conversation at the same time. On her piano was a signed picture from President Kennedy, a thank you for the sweater she’d knit him.” https://rajalary.blog/2011/03/

• Post #1475683

  #ThreeGoodThings #3GoodThings 1. A long morning walk with my dog that was good for me and he seemed to enjoy judging by the amount of sniffing he did. 2. A friendly smile and wave from another walker wearing a diversity shirt and her dog. She probably saw my dog’s rainbow-colored serape collar and leash, thinking it was a pride pattern which it is not, but correct anyway if she thought I am an ally or have LGBTQ+ family members and friends whom I love and respect. 3. Lots of birds and squi...

• Post #1105430

  Fifteen Texas wildflowers seen on this morning’s muddy trail hike. #iPhone #Photography #Bloomscrolling #Nature #Texas #Hiking

• Post #1003845

  I am only 20% into The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Russians apparently did a lot of waking or walking in 1880 when the book was published. I guess it was walking. But I keep seeing the word “waked” where “walked” should be. I finally did a search for “waked” on my e-reader and found 123 instances in the book. So far I have found no instances where “waked” was the correct word. I also found a mention of “course fabric” where “coarse fabric” was intended. So I think this English trans...

• Post #635009

  “THE FIRST ATTEMPT to drill through the Greenland ice sheet was made in the early nineteen-sixties at a U.S. Army outpost called Camp Century. Some fifty years later, the camp remains far and away the biggest thing ever built on—or, really, under the Greenland ice. Camp Century had a bar, a chapel, a barbershop, a movie theater, and a nuclear reactor. All were housed in a network of snow tunnels like those at EGRIP [the East Greenland Ice-Core Project], but extending for miles. The ostensible pu...

• Post #635008

  Early spring. One of these is unlike the others. #Flowers #Fungi #Nature #Spring #Photography #Austin #Texas

• Post #635007

  “Without significant rainfall, Corpus Christi is headed for a ‘water emergency’ within months and total depletion of the system next year, according to the city’s website.” #Climate #Water #Texas #Drought #CorpusChristi https://www.texastribune.org/2026/03/08/texas-corpus-christi-water-crisis/

• Post #635006

  Sandhill Cranes reportedly fly at altitudes of up to 20,000 feet. I heard some calling in Central Texas today, but low-hanging clouds made it impossible for me to see them. I heard some a year ago in similar weather conditions and also could not see them. I have never seen one. It does not help that they are mostly gray and perhaps miles above me. Shucks. The Echo Maker is the Cherokee name for Sandhill Crane and the title of a book by Richard Powers that won the National Book Award some years...

• Post #635001

  The Plunger by Stéphane Larue (Je me pardonne) #PlumbingBooksOrPlays #HashtagGames

• Post #634999

  My severely disabled daughter who has schizophrenia has long believed that she is in business as a movie maker. She now believes the U.S. government and corporations with nefarious motives are interfering with her business and life by stealing creative content and personal information. She wants a dumb phone to replace her iPhone and wants some kind of computer that is immune from AI. First she wanted an older Windows machine to replace her Macbook Air, then she decided she wants a Linux machine...

• Post #496580

  I didn’t feel like going on a hike this morning. But seeing this Rough Green Snake made it worthwhile. #Hiking #Snake #Photography #Nature #Austin #Texas

• Post #436600

  U.S. policy is egocentric, and I guess the same is true of policies in many other countries. We need global policies that advance cooperation by serving humankind and society rather than individual needs. So why am I still living here in Texas, which may be more egocentric than any other state? Get me out of here! #Global #Society #USA #Texas

• Post #436597

  Donald Trump’s State of the Union address this evening is reportedly titled, "America at 250: Strong, Prosperous, and Respected.” Which of those adjectives do you think describes the United States of America today? #Poll #Trump #USA

• Post #436596

  Several months ago, a two-thirds or larger majority of us agreed that country music is fundamentally corny. Today I ask you, is folk music (e.g., Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Richard Thompson) the same as country music? #Music #FolkMusic #CountryMusic

• Post #436594

  I once had to replace hardwood flooring in my home due to a water leak. So I bought water sensors with my home security system and placed them under sinks, next to toilets, near the clothes washer, and near the dishwasher. I just got an alarm for a water leak from the dishwasher and was worried about having to dash outside and turn off the water at the meter. But first I investigated. I found that my wife dropped an ice cube on the kitchen floor that just happened to settle right next to the wat...

• Post #436593

  My MacBook Air crapped out during an iOS upgrade* more than a year ago. I have not replaced it and don’t miss it much. It would not boot after the failed upgrade attempt and an Apple Store worker told me it needed a new motherboard. It was just 3 years old. Now when I need to use a computer, I borrow my wife’s MacBook Air. But I have seldom done that over the past year. When employed, I did need a laptop. But now that I am retired, I find that I really don’t need one. I am enjoying less screen t...

• Post #127927

  Wanna know why special needs parents don’t typically freak out? We’re too tired. #Caregiving #CompassionFatigue #Parenting