Friday, September 30, 2016

Bonnie and Clyde Death Car Somewhere in Nevada

Somewhere in no man's land we found ourselves in a dumpy casino to find a restroom! Inside this dump was the "original" Bonnie and Clyde death car riddled with bullet holes. Clyde's shirt was also on display. It's sort of a museum with some of their artifacts and old newspaper clippings. A very odd place and we came upon it totally by accident. I couldn't wait to leave! 










Thursday, September 29, 2016

Rocky Mountains Colorado

There are so many variations in the landscape I think I took a million photos. The Rocky Mountains in Colorado are breathtaking and spooky at the same time. I'm glad we drove through them and we will most likely never do it again. It's a long way from Washington DC. Everything looks so very different here. And not one bear, cougar, or moose crossed our path!





Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Ike's House in Abilene Kansas

We saw his farm and home in Gettysburg with visiting friends from Milwaukee in the spring. Today we visited Eisenhower's boyhood home in Abeline Kansas. The town is very small and the home is surrounded by a museum and library. We didn't go on the tour - just stopped by to say hello. It's quite breezy in this part of the country. I can only imagine it in the dead of the winter. Things are very different in small town USA compared to DC. 





Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Replacing Cole Haan With Tumi

My old Cole Haan purse was looking quite beat up. I've had it for about fifteen years. It was very functional but very heavy. It's been on many trips with me. I particularly like the space on the side for water bottles, phone, or umbrella. So I started looking for something that could replace it - light, closes completely, shoulder, cross body, compartments to organize, stylish. I've always had large purses because I put so much junk in it. I don't like backpacks. So it was looking like a large tote would be the solution. I saw some nice options on the Internet and we headed out to the mall to see what it would boil down to. I found a beautiful leather bag at Coach, but it was slouchy and unstructured. It had great features. But I found another bag at Tumi that probably would work better for a working person - but I retired a few months ago. The Tumi was very structured, had a shoulder and wrist carry handles, and about the same size as my old bag. It was a very difficult decision but the Tumi was on sale and the Coach bag was not. I also liked the five year warranty and it would be good for any kind of travel. So my husband helped me decide and we went with a black Tumi. The grey and green were also nice but dirt is a problem. And for the first time in ages I had it monogrammed with my artwork artist initials - LIT. So I've been trying it out and like it so far. I need to really break it in. It's still quite heavy especially when I load it up with two iPads. But the slot for the phone is great. Now I'm hoping this one lasts as long as the previous bag. I also hope it goes well with my LLBean wardrobe. 






Monday, September 26, 2016

HD Night Vision Glasses

My eyes are terrible. I can't see the side of a barn without my glasses. Sometimes I can see things up close without them depending on the light. One thing for sure is at night things are really difficult to see beyond the halo of headlights. I wore contacts since I was 16, but switched over to glasses about 15 years ago because my eyes were always so dry. But I could always see better with contacts. Every once in awhile I need to drive at night so I decided I should try a pair of HD night vision glasses that wraparound my existing glasses. Of course I was skeptical but they only cost ten dollars. I tried them on the other evening and they surprisingly helped. Everything is clearer with a yellow tone rather than bright blinding lights. One of these days I know I will probably need cataract surgery, but we are not at that point yet. I told my husband he should try them out too. I'm not sure he ever will, but I'm keeping a pair in the car from now on just in case. 



Sunday, September 25, 2016

Library Of Congress National Book Festival

We have been going to the National Book Festival since we moved to DC. But this is the first time I went as a retiree rather than an employee. It used to be held on the National Mall. For the last few years it has been housed at the Convention Center. We used to attend in the early afternoon. We now prefer the quieter time of the later evening. So after dinner we drove over hoping to find a parking space up close and personal like we did last year. It's a little too far to walk both ways. It took a bit of driving around, but we did get a spot just a block away right in front of the entrance. This year we had to pass through a security checkpoint, which almost made us late to the 7 PM presentation in the ballroom. But we did make it, and sat through two programs we wanted to see - because they were scheduled at the time we preferred, and the subjects were interesting. It was nice to use the downloaded app on my iPhone to quickly review the schedules, authors, and topics. One program was about Jefferson and the other about the Salem witches. Both of them were in the same room so we didn't have to run over to another location. There still was a lot of activity even at this hour, and of course, I had to pick up the 2016 red festival bag. My husband didn't say this evening how he would miss the city of we ever left here. But I know he was thinking just that. 










Saturday, September 24, 2016

Scaffolding and Copper Rain Gutters

It was supposed to take two to three days. Of course, nothing ever is finished on time around here. The building needed new rain gutters and it's a difficult thing to maneuver when they are located above the fifth floor. And of course, our tiny patio garden sits right below where the scaffolding had to be erected. The pounding and hammering started early one morning and lasted most of the day - just to get the platform set up. The actual work didn't take nearly as long, but the unfortunate part is that they started the pounding and hammering at seven in the morning. That's fine if you get up for work. But since I retired this year, I don't get up much earlier than 8:30. Of course, it also rained for the first time in three months which delayed the project. Luckily for everyone, the new copper gutters were completely installed by yesterday - two weeks after it started. Then the process of dismantling the structure started, which involved flying debris in to our garden below. But all in all, it really went quite well, and the workers picked up after themselves and really didn't damage anything. I'm sure they are used to working in such unusual circumstances. We're just glad this issue was finally addressed. The sad thing is it will start all over again when the roof repairs begin.