Big Bank-Little Bank

     Tiffany taught me a game when she was in high school. Strangest game I ever played, but apparently one of her friends made it up and they played it all the time. Anyway- the game works this way. Whoever has the most money when the game starts takes the other person's money.
     I haven't played the game for years, fifteen in fact. Last Friday, unannounced I was thrown into this roulette again. When I got my statement, I realized my big bank in town paid me one penny in interest and at the same time charged me five dollars because I only had fifty dollars in the account. Talk about diminishing returns!
     Years ago, I started with a little bank that was gobbled up in succession by larger and larger banks. Apparently, big bank-little bank plays out in the world of macro economics too. 

Used Car Conversation

Saturn not pictured.
     I called today looking for a used car. The recorded conversation went as follows-

Machine: This call is being recorded.

Salesman: What are you looking for...

TQ: A Saturn Sun, two seater that Saturn made up to about 2008.

Salesman: I've never heard of that (their dealership is listed as the only place authorized to repair them in the North) We don't have any, but I can put a search out for you. How much do you want to pay?

TQ: depends on the condition, mileage, etc. I wouldn't know until I actually looked at it.

Salesman: Well, I have your phone number here. Do you have an alternative number?

TQ: No, in fact I rarely even carry my cell phone with me.

Salesman: Oh, I hear you there! Have you ever been on the internet, or gotten an email?

Editing for Everyone

     The guy standing here in this decades old photo? Well, until this morning, it wasn't clear who it was until I edited it. I've been a disciple of the old school. Point the camera, click, and take what you can get. Advancing time and Instagram call for new measures of clarity within the world stage community.
      Below is a picture of the self same guy on the same peninsula taken ten years later with the same method. This one is cropped, but not lightened. Can you tell the difference?

Down Stairs

   
    Brian posed on this stairs in the 90's. He was working up his portfolio to internet date. At the time, I had a low end camera and was just learning how to use it. So, I guess I could say that it was my first photo op. 
     A friend of mine, Eddie built the stairs out of scraps that he had in his mother-in-laws garage plus some new wood with arsenic. It was one of my first attempts to upgrade my livery, but because Eddie was trying to save me money the stairs had a short shelf life. As the project worked out, it proved to be what Joe would have called half-stepping. One of the seven deadly sins of a livery owner-operator.
     Now it has the aura of a fixture in a Nathaniel Hawthorne story frozen in time. I hope it isn't the The Fall of the House of Usher, but one with a little happier ending.
     
      
      

Suddenly in Spatial Sequence

   

Now you have before, after, and during.

I helped my neighbor clear up the brush in the water from the smaller tree. Later, he dropped off

a six pack of beer with the note, "Gezzers Rule" taking into account that both of us are 70.

Political Activist

     

     First assignment, Ben's political introduction. As I turned around entering the voting precinct, I knew I had been followed. Somehow, he had quick stepped his grandmother and was right on my heels. The disguise wasn't complete for he still had the gait of a young Frankenstein. All is on the surface if you happen to be two.
      As I filled out my paperwork to vote, the silver haired ladies focused. He was an immediate darling of the group. The first lady at the end of the table wanted to talk to him. He raced over to her and grabbed the drink sitting on her table and finished it. So much for that conversation.
      

Climbing to Zero

     This is the first January I've stayed in Michigan in three years. In previous years, I've returned to broken pipes, a shut down furnace, and various other difficulties.  I awoke this morning to a minus 22 degrees, but I had heat, light, and water in abundance.
       One of my goals has been to earn my winter merit badge. Somehow, I felt it slipping away. My re-occurring thought was, "If not now, when?" I mulled this over while I did the dishes and admired the sun shinning on the snow at a positive five degrees.
        By way of explanation, ( I love this phrase ) I wasn't sure how one went about earning a merit badge. I had a few ideas and thought as I worked them out perhaps the path would become clear. I did know that I have to stay put for the month to really begin.
        With any goal, as one gets closer, the approach-avoidance syndrome springs forward like a wrench dropping into a Luddite's grip. How can we seize up the machinery? Not to worry, there is more than enough forces available to seize up the gears.
         Like an old fashion movie, the calendar page tore by, in the wink of an eye. February found me in a better position. Native Americans used sweat lodges in pursuit of mystery goals, so perhaps this functioned as a background assistant.
         In this situation, for novelty sake, I tried a different tack, grunge. I had to stand still and not exit until I completed my goal and toughed it out. After all, we all know, to arrive at the other side of the forest, we have to walk through it. 
         Dawn's cold realization was that all of my life I had been trying to avoid winter. Well that can't be done if it blocks your path. To get to the other side of winter, I had to go through it. No detour.
         Now the month of May sheds new light, plus its warmer too. Last weekend I split wood, and now I'm carrying water from the river to the cabin. Split wood, carry water. The answer was at the Outpost the whole time. I just had to stick around long enough to stumble over it.