Uncommon Goods Replacement Product

My sister just moved to Florida after spending forty plus years in the DC area. It was bittersweet because even though we didn’t see each other that often, it was nice to know she was nearby. So we wanted to get her a small housewarming gift. I like the items you can find on Uncommon Goods. A small rainbow maker caught my eye. You hang it on a window that gets a lot of sun and the tiny solar panel makes the crystal move - creating a rainbow effect. So I had one sent to her. It arrived in good time - but after several days it didn’t seem to work. I read that some of the items may be defective. So I suppose this could have been one of them. Otherwise the reviews were simply glowing. So I got on the website and found my purchase. Then I followed the directions to report a defective item. Without even having to spend a lot of time explaining, a replacement order was established without even having to send back the original item. The order was received last week and I am hoping that it works this time. It certainly can’t be that there isn’t enough sun in Florida. If this one doesn’t work I guess I’ll ask for a refund. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen because it was the perfect small gift. 

52Frames Line From a Song Photo Challenge

The subject for the 52Frames photo challenge this week was “line from a song.” A few of my favorites came to mind immediately. The first was “I’m looking through you” by the Beatles. Another was “Here comes the sun” by the Beatles. And the last was “Time Carousel” by Arthur, Hurley and Gottlieb. Who were they? It was a group I heard while a student in college in the pub by the student union. There was just something about it that stuck with me. That one would be an image of the carousel on the National Mall. I’ve taken so many photos of that carousel and have never used one of them for the photo challenge. While we were in town we walked over to the US Botanic garden to see the orchid show. Next to the building is a park with a winding path with a stream and small pond nearby. I asked my husband to walk on the path. I took a photo of him walking away from me and then another image of the same scene without him. Later on I would merge the two images in to one and make him become transparent. Turning the photo in to black and white evened out the tones and it looked interesting. I tried that process with a couple of different backdrops. The last photos were taken in the neighborhood park as the sun was shining overhead. But rather then take a straight shot the panorama option was used to create a different landscape. In the end the transparent husband was selected. He liked the way it turned out and so did I. So the carousel will have to wait again. 

New Teeth, Haircut, IPad, Earbuds, and iPhone Battery

It was a good week last week for my husband. After six months of fooling around with dental implant preparation, the four front lower teeth were FINALLY done. He’s had single tooth implants before, but they were not in visible places. But for these he needed to have bone grafts, then a cosmetic partial made that didn’t last very long, and a lot of visits to prepare for, then implant the metal bases, and wait for the healing. It’s so wonderful to see he has all of his teeth now! Then he got a haircut. We needed to go to the Apple Store to see if his iPad needed a battery replacement. Since the iPad isn’t like an iPhone, it was near the lower per cent that would require an iPad replacement. Plus his iPad was discharging quickly and was acting up. It was a replacement device that we got exchanged when my mom’s stopped working three years ago. Along with that he just got my old iPhone 8 Plus because his iPhone 6 Plus died. We had never changed batteries on any of our iPhones. And I’m really sorry we didn’t attend to his sooner so we would have a replacement backup. So at the Apple Store his phone needed a new battery and we decided it was time for a replacement iPad. So we exchanged his old one for a similar model and got twenty dollars off because we have a grandson in college. Because there are no longer slots for the old earbuds, he needed to get wireless earbuds so he could listen to his material in the iPad. So last week was a big week for my husband - almost too much going on at once. With every new apple device comes a learning curve and personal setups that take time. But it was all worth it. Let’s hope everything stays in working order - teeth, earbuds, iPhone and iPad. But he will still need to get his hair cut. 

SlideScan

Last month we had a 1990 VHS tape transferred to digital format. I was going to take in some old slides to have cleaned and also transferred to digital format. But before I did I checked the internet to see if I could do this at home. I found the SlideScan app that had pretty good reviews. We used to have “home slide night” when we were kids. My dad was in to photography and I wish I had saved his 35mm camera. Over time I found a variety of gadgets to view the slides and also had several hard copy prints made of my favorites. But now everything is digital and I wanted to have the last sixty or so images stored on my iPad and in the cloud. So I purchased the one month $9.99 option and went to work. You basically hold the slide up to a backlight on the iPad, then use the app while holding the photo button for three seconds. It then scans the image and better defines it. A face enhancer can also be applied. The results are actually quite good depending on the original slide and quality of the image. One interesting option is to create a video out of the image - and I tried that with my dad’s photo. It actually comes to life with head movement and blinking eyes. You only get one chance and then it’s $4.99 for additional images. I’m just sorry I didn’t keep all of the slides of our family history. When my mom passed away three years ago we went through all of these things. My brother and sister kept some of the albums. I took photos of a lot of the pictures. At least I still have some of these treasures including birthday parties, proms, Christmas, the first step on the moon tv broadcast, family trips - including Washington DC and the World’s fair, my grandpa, our old house in New England… my parents did everything they could to provide for us and gave us a comfortable home. It’s really obvious when you look at these pictures. 

Smithsonian American Indian Museum

We haven’t visited the Smithsonian American Indian Museum for many years. We have been there at least three times - with our friends from the Midwest, my cousin from New England, and on our own when we first moved to Capitol Hill. Now it’s been open for about twenty years and a renovation is taking place. So a lot of the museum was not available to see because of it when we went there yesterday. I was looking for some photo ops for my weekly photo challenge. We had already been to the botanic garden and were on our way back to the Smithsonian castle where we were parked. It was supposed to have been a very warm day, but it wasn’t. So we decided to stop in to get out of the cold until the sun came out and the temperature warmed up. One of the most interesting aspects of the museum is the architecture itself. It is nothing like any of the other buildings on the National mall. Inside is a huge dome with a skylight that lights up the large round surface below it - with rainbows hitting the white walls. I missed not seeing the textiles that I remember from previous visits. The head dresses, art, shirts, baskets and other items showcase a history that is unfortunately not well known to many. We have walked by this place so many times and stop by the pond out front and the fountains that are usually running most of the year. It’s in a perfect location across the street from the Capitol reflecting pond. I’m glad we stopped in. 

Roosevelt Island

It sits in the middle of the urban jungle - between Arlington and DC. Theodore Roosevelt island is an interesting and unexpected place to visit just across the river from the Kennedy Center and Georgetown on one side, and downtown Arlington on the other. It’s a tricky turnoff coming from our northern Virginia direction. You need to drive all the way down to Arlington Memorial Bridge, then circle back on to the GW Parkway - making sure you don’t miss the exit and not crash in to the merging cars quickly coming from DC. We like to visit every so many months to see how things change from season to season. And during the week it is much easier to park and navigate. Things still looked quite like winter last week. It was a bit overcast and cool. But the Potomac river was quite calm and the reflections of the surroundings were lovely. We usually take the same route - across the bridge and all the way around the perimeter - crossing over the planks - many recently repaired - around the bog like setting. The ducks always seem to find places to nest there. It seems odd to view the Kennedy Center from the natural environment. It was a rather sparse day for visitors which I don’t mind. We came upon our first daffodil blossoms right by the pedestrian bridge. Then we made the last bit of walk over to the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial statue. Not having made quite the two mile trek we like to take we walked a bit further along the GW walkway that eventually takes you all the way to Mount Vernon. Maybe one of these days we will start the walk there and see how far we get.