Year: 2025

Let There Be Newer Light

I’ve wanted to update the two entry lights (front and side) for a while. Today was the day. I started my search last week. I went to Lowe’s first because it is the closest place to go look. I didn’t see anything they had on display, so I came home and went online. My first search term was “entry lighting,” and it resulted in over 27,000 choices, but it was all indoor lights.

The next search was “exterior wall lighting.” I now had a mere 6,200 to choose from. Now we’re talking. The majority were black, and I wanted something in silver. Keeping it at less than $100 each narrowed it to thirty-two choices. I ordered them, and 5 days later they arrived. The front one would have been fine, but I forgot to take into consideration that the porch door swung open past the light, and these stuck out too far. I returned those lights and resumed the search.

I then picked some nice cylinder lights, but you had to buy bulbs, and their description of what bulb it required was vague. I found a similar cylinder, but the bulbs it required were $30 apiece, so it meant 2 bulbs for 2 lights, which came to more than I wanted to spend.

Amazon to the rescue. Cheapish Chinese cylinders with built-in LEDs. Arrived yesterday and installed today. I still have to caulk them to the wall and paint the caulk, but I’m pleased with my effort.

I Wonder What Was Said

I caught a red light not far from home. A car pulled up behind me. A harried-looking mom, driving her child home from school, stopped behind me. The kid had over-the-ear headphones on, staring out the window. I see Mom look down and then back up. She turns to her child, and I see her lips move. The kid looks back at Mom and tilts her head. Mom pantomimes taking a headphone off. Her child lifts off one side.

Mom’s lips move again. Probably reiterates what she said the first time. The kid looks down, the kid looks up, and her lips move. Mom shakes her head up and down. Her child drops one side of the headphones back down. Mom looks harried again. The kid stares back out her window. The light turns green, I turn right, and they continue straight.

I wonder what was said.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned here that I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the Starfleet Academy sticker on the back window. It actually doesn’t matter what was said; that little interaction, that right there, cinches that I’ll keep it.

At The Car Wash

I just can’t help myself; if I see some kids doing a car wash to raise money for something and I’m not in a hurry, I’ll stop. Mostly to help the kids out, but also there is a small part of watching them do something they might not have ever done before.

Today, when one girl was rinsing the driver’s side of the car off, she was apologetic about getting water on the seat. I told her, “No worries, that window does leak some.” When I got in, the seat was dry. What she was seeing were the shadows of the water drops on the window…

After today’s four post offices, I now have under a hundred left to do. This also wraps up the southwest part of the state, except for those along the coast on US101.

Going Back To Post Office Hunting

And going back to Klamath Falls. I wanted to go get another Mixed Berry Smoothie Bowl, and while I was at it, I wanted to clean up the post offices between Eugene and Roseburg adjacent to I-5. Today’s catch was seven post offices; tomorrow on the way to K-Falls, I’ll grab 4 more. Two are just east of Roseburg, and the other two are south of Grants Pass.

The fourth post office in the top row is Yoncalla. When I checked it off on Google Maps, I noticed in the street view image a woman waving at the Google Maps car. Curious, I moved around in street view, and it turns out she was not alone, and I don’t think it was a woman; it was a high school-aged girl and seven of her friends. Hit this link and you’ll see trouble. The date of the photo is August 2012; that would put these ladies in their late twenties. I wonder where they are and what they are doing now?

Mississippi, Circa. 1981

The bike on the right is mine; the one on the left is not Donna’s. The best I can think is that the bike belongs to a civilian contractor friend from my work center on the Navy base. We would occasionally ride the 16 miles to work together. I think we concocted an idea to ride from Meridian to Jackson, MS, the state capital, 90 miles away along US-80. Donna was to be our support vehicle for the ride over. And also so we could put our bikes on the car rack and drive back that evening or the next day.

Or it could have been taken during a nature break on a random longer Saturday ride with him…

Tinkering With The Look

I really loved the custom gauges, but after taking several photos of them, I realized they looked too dark. So in an effort to lighten up the gauge cluster, I purchased a brushed metal gauge back piece. I also had to buy a broken 99-00 gauge cluster so that I could harvest the white needles. And because the brushed metal only fits the earlier gauges, I also needed the black gauge covering piece.

I guess if I want to get as close as I can to the inspiration image, I’m going to have to buy the polished gauge rings and the shiny needle caps. Technically, I should go back to the red needles too.