Just call me El Septuagenarian

Preferably with a bad fake Spanish accent. It is a title I have been working on for about 70 years and now that it has been awarded it should be used. While there are many that earned this title in the past there are also many that never achieved this title. So it seems that the title carries more weight (both literally and figurative) than say the title of The Tricenarian. When you turn 30 its no big deal I guess because the ratio of those that make it vs. those that don’t is pretty high. Of the original 100 there are as of today only 77.7 have made it this far. And I’m sure I saw that .7 guy at the grocery today. By the time the rank of Octogenarian is achieved only 57.3  will make it to that level. Something about this decade of ranking up eliminates almost as  many as all the previous decades combined. I may have stumbled upon something that science should look into.

One thing that as a septuagenarian that you have more of is an appreciation for the length of time. Of course we are all aware that time has been going on for quite a while now but it’s not until you have been through quite a lot of it that there is an understanding of how long time is  and how much can happen in a short amount of time let alone a long time. While working on scanning old pictures for the family history thing, right over there to the right on this very page, I got to thinking about my great grandfather Nixon, born 1833 died 1920. What changed in his 87 years was pretty significant. His family moved to New Mt. Pleasant in 1936 cut down some trees and built a cabin. (of course it wasn’t New Mt. Pleasant when they moved there because they were one of the first to live there) During the first half of his life the steam shovel, the self cleaning plow, repeating rifle using casings, pasteurization, all of Edison’s stuff, were invented. Railroads went from nothing to a major way to move goods and people around and across the country. Photography went from nothing to somewhat common. During the last half there was the automobile, the airplane, the telephone, electrification, and many of the first plastics, solar cells and wind turbines were developed. He lived through two wars that in themselves created new and inventive ways to kill people. The point being as he got into his eighties he must have said something to the effect of “holy crap I’ve seen a lot”.

So now as I begin my 8th decade when I look back and remember that during the last 7 decades TV has gone from 13 inch black and white showing 3 channels, in the best of weather, to the current 4K wall size bazillion of channels. Not only did seat belts get invented but they invented air bags. We’ve gone form 4 engine prop planes for long distance travel to jets that can get you anywhere in the world within 15 to 18 hours. I bought my first computer in 1982 about 30 years after the cutting edge room sized computer was put into use. Now I carry more computing power in my pocket than was in existence when I was born. The highest anyone had flown in an airplane when I was born was about 60000 feet. 19 years later we were on the moon. We have had 2 spaceships leave the solar system. All kinds of stuff has been developed in medicine ranging from drugs to control various chronic diseases to artificial limbs and organs to Greyson’s implants. Holy crap I’ve seen a lot.

I did learn one thing thinking about this. The urinal was not invented/patented until 1866. To think that humankind lived without this until then in mind boggling. Although I suppose urinals were called trees before that.

Assuming that the climate thing or the interaction of some of the batshit crazy leaders in the world today don’t do us in it would seem that the rate of technological advancement is continuing to increase and one can only imagine whats next. I won’t take time here to do that imagining  but this time it might actually finally deliver the often promised flying cars. When I reach the next rank up I’ll make a point to review the big advances in the coming 10 years that by then will be the last 10 years.

So stay tuned (they used to say that in the old days when you had to get up and walk across the room to change the channel on the TV) as it won’t be long until you can call me Ol’ Octogenarian preferably with a bad fake hillbilly accent.

Announcing “Family History” version 1.0

Over to the right you should see a section below the picture galleries with the above name. This is where I’m putting scans of some of the pictures from picture albums and scrapbooks that Mom Dad and my Aunts and Uncles had that Lori and I have now. Lori has most of them and I brought a couple home a couple years ago and finally got around to scanning, deciding how to organize, and posting. This is an ongoing project so as I add more I’ll make a note here.

Medical portal operation

About 6 years ago I made a post pondering the use of the medical internet portal of my doctor. It was this picture and I wondered why these people were so happy looking at their medical information and why they were using a big ass laptop out in the middle of a field.

Well, today I went for my 6 month visit and had a bunch of extra time waiting for the doctor in the little ‘meet with the doctor room’ and I noticed that they were promoting their web portal for all things doctor. And it brought forth many questions.

These are separated by 6 years and 400 or so miles so one can only assume that to use a patient portal you must use a big ass laptop, outside in a field or some garden thing. You must be happy and you must do it with some old person looking over your shoulder. I suppose to attract the Tennessee’ers you also should also wear a goofy hat. Tennessee also has added sharing your kidney efficiency metrics with a child, that obviously can’t read yet, and his efficiency probably is measured on the percent in the diaper.

An ill wind blew

Back in August we had to do a week long 1400 mile road trip and when we got home on Saturday we were greeted with this view.

The big tree next to the bridge lost a bunch of big branches.

Two big trees next to the back creek fell over.

The big oak tree in the back lost a limb and the tree I had my trail cam mounted on fell over. But the worst casualty was the big beech along the back fence line, it broke right at the big knot hole.

It seems that on Tuesday of that week there was a late afternoon thunderstorm and apparently it generated some really strong localized sheer winds. Our back woods seemed to be the center of the whole thing and it covered about a quarter mile square area. Our neighbor next door lost a couple trees by his pool and some limbs and the house across the road and back towards town lost a bunch of branches from the trees lining their driveway.

Mary and I spent a couple days cutting up most of the stuff in the front but we had to have the tree guys come in to do the rest. I’ll tell you one thing those mafia guys got it right when they decided to use tree chippers to get rid of bodies. Those things are amazing at how fast they can eat a tree.

When they were done we kept the leftovers to make chairs or something out of.

When my high school friend Jack was here last spring he emailed a poem back about this tree, because of the fact it had grown around the barb wire many years ago. When I sent him an email about the tree falling over I included a poem of my own. I’ll reprint it here since I’m sure it will be required reading in all Jr. High English classes very soon.

To a Beech

Twas, because all poems should start with twas, the afternoon of Tuesday

The ominous cumulonimbus signaling an ill wind could blow.

There was a stillness roaring through the woods

A sense of calm that had the inhabitants on edge

A sense of foreboding that couldn’t be absorbed by the tranquility

When in a instant it hit, the roaring gust, the upending blast.

“Holy smoke” the parson yelled

well not really

There was no smoke and there was no parson. This poem just needed dramatic dialog

The trees and branches, with no one around fell to the ground maybe making a sound.

The two at the creek sitting on the bedrock just blew over after standing for decades

And the mighty beech having absorbed the wires decades ago that tried to fence it in,

Dun fall over.

After standing for maybe a hundred or more years now is just a collection of wood laying on the ground

One can only hope that before it fell that there was some kind of tree copulation that might produce

The son of a beech

 

Walt Whitman holds nothing to me.

 

Third annual barn swallow nest de-nestification

It’s that time of year again. Every year during the week before Memorial Day the barn swallows show up and build a nest at the pop of the front porch. They then start growing birds and around the fourth of July they are grown and leave the nest. (not a metaphor abut a real event). That means it is time to clean up the mess which I have turned into a highly technical organized event. I will share the details here, for free.

 

The great blizzard of 2019

While the upper Midwest was living in another polar vortexian dystopia those of us at the Estate d’Yusmith were experiencing the blizzard of 2019 that closed all schools and, I guess, some businesses. We were cavalier enough that we didn’t make a panic run to the grocery for milk and toilet paper the night before in order to survive the onslaught of the voluminous amounts of snow. Pictured below is the view from the front door after this weather event.

Some left over items from the big global circumnavigation trip.

That’s right this trip hit both hemispheres and was completed by completely circumnavigating the globe. All the stops were: Nashville to Chicago to Toronto to Sao Paulo to Joinville to Sao Paulo to Rio Claro (by bus) back to Sao Paulo (by bus) to Joinville to Sao Paulo to Dubai to Hong Kong to Zhuhai (by bus across the new Hong Kong to Macau bridge) to Nanjing to Wuhu (by car) to Beijing (by high speed train) to Chicago to Nashville. 12 different airplanes, 3 buses, 2 trains, untold taxis, and 2 Ubers to get to and from the Nashville airport.

Leaving from the Sao Paulo bus station for Rio Claro I spotted this store.

I did not investigate what their go to product was.

Another elevator warning. It should be noted that the Chinese Government must have really issued an edict about elevator warnings as most places had them.

At the Dubai airport at 5:30 am local time we needed some food after the 10 hour flight from Brazil and before the 8 hour flight to Hong Kong. I had the eggs. For some unknown reason Mary ordered this.

If you are ever in the Dubai Airport I would recommend not eating as my egg and this sandwich with a couple drinks was maybe the 3rd or 4th most expensive meal we ate the entire time we were gone. Although I did get a shake from the Shake Shack a little later while waiting for our plane. Yes the Dubai airport has a Shake Shack for some reason.

Finally, if you are in Bejing in December or for that matter any time in the winter it is a government regulation that you must have a hot pot.So we did. At the hot pot place on the 3rd floor of the Beijing News Service Building. The pots were hot.

 

Some Wuhu interesting items. 

When we started going to Wuhu the Chery 3 wheel vehicle was maybe 10% of the vehicles on the road. Today not so much and the ones that are are somewhat worn out. 

McDonald’s is promoting a sandwich that is just plain un-American. 2 maybe all beef patties and 2 hot dogs on a hamburger bun. 

Every since the first time I was in Wuhu I’ve been trying to get a picture of these useful public information signs. On the way to the train station I had a somewhat successful result. 

Live from Brazil home of a bazillion Brazilians

I’m posting this from a hotel in Joinville, Brazil while waiting to go to a meeting later this afternoon. Joinville is a city about a one hour flight from Sao Paulo and this is the second time we have been here this trip.

We landed in Sao Paulo late afternoon and went to a hotel near the airport for the night and the next morning took a 2 hour taxi ride to travel 16 miles to get to the other airport on the other side of the city. To say Sao Paulo has a traffic problem would be somewhat understating the situation. We made the flight and arrived in Joinville for the first time late afternoon and spent the evening walking around and finally having dinner. The next day we had an early morning meeting and at the conclusion we went back to the hotel and decided we would try to get an earlier flight out than the 7pm flight we had so we headed to the airport only to be told the earlier flight was booked so we had 7 hours in the airport. To give an idea of the size of the great Joinville airport here are gates 1 and 2 as seen from the world class restaurant where you buy your food by weight. (an all you can eat fill up your plate, have it weighed, pay and enjoy)

It should be noted that gates 1 and 2 are 100% of the gates at Joinville airport. Here is the flight we had hoped to be on arriving at gate #1.

Finally after 7 hours we took our 1 hour flight back to Sao Paulo and got to the hotel  in central Sao Paulo about 9 and had a dinner and bed.

Saturday morning was Mary’s birthday so we set out to do something. In this case it involved the subway to to the big market. 3 stops, a train change and 5 more stops got us within about 8 blocks of the market. What we didn’t realize was that those 8 blocks involved some kind of major shopping area for generally cheap products and the streets were closed to autos. This was because they were filled with about a bazillion Brazilions. After fighting our way through that we get to the market that is a huge building filled with fruit, fish and meat. Mary buys about $40 worth of fruit (although I think we got taken because we were foreigners and obviously didn’t know diddly). We left there and worked our way back to the hotel and dropped off the fruit and went back out. We were 1 block off Ave Paulista which is the major street in Sao Paulo. Center of banking and all other non poor things. (maybe similar like Park Ave in New York) We walked that and of course ended up in a big shopping center. I should note our suitcases are completely full and no room for anything else. So Mary needs to buy something and of course she can’t just buy something that could easily be squeezed into the suitcase, like say, a pair of underwear, she has to buy 2 pair of steel toed  oil rigger high top work boots that would require an entire suitcase on their own. Buy this time it was late afternoon and we needed food so we search around and find an Italian place within walking distance. Their menu states all items are sized for 2 so we had a meal for four between us as well as a bottle of wine. Here is said meal partway completed.

With all that food and wine that finished our day of any activity other than passed out in the hotel.

The next day (Sunday) we were up and on our way to the modern art museum by 10am as there was a Sunday antique sale that was to take place. What we discovered was Paulista had been closed off for about 2 mile and it appeared something was going on. We got to the museum and wondered thru the antique booths and Mary seemed to zero in on blue plates that matched in color the ones she has on the top of the kitchen cabinets. see one such booth here.

The blue plates we have are Christmas Plates my Mom would buy at Christmas during the late 60’s early 70’s for Polly, Lori and I. The were made by Bing and Grindle (Grundel, Gumball, I don’t know) aka B&G. Well at one of the last stalls a lady had 2 of these plates one from 1982 and one from 1987 so Mary had to buy them. Here is the transaction taking place.

After that high level negotiation some coconut water was needed.

What we figured out was that this was a weekly event. They close the street and craft and junk sellers, artists, and food guys set up booths all along the street (remember for a couple miles) and it becomes a day long street party.

Along with that are music guys. All kinds of music people set up and play all kinds of music. I will note that I don’t have pictures of the heavy metal band and the headbangers headbanging and I bang my head because I don’t because it was a real headbanger. This whole thing is called Domingo Na Paulista (Sunday on Paulista) They did have kind of a main stage here with some singing guitar playing woman.

There were random people holding their own little marching things.

There were a few of these drum clubs throughout the day.

After spending about 8 hours on Paulista we called it a day. The next morning we were off to the bus station for a 3 hour bus ride to Rio Claro in preparation for another meeting which we had on Tuesday morning. Had lunch at the Brazilian restaurant where they serve the grilled steaks (salt and fire) on a sword and carve it off as you eat. The next morning a bus ride back to Sao Paulo, a taxi ride across town to the airport and back to Joinville landing at gate #2 and here we are.

After our meeting today we fly back to Sao Paulo to catch a fight to Dubai to then catch a flight to Hong Kong and the next step of this big trip. More to come.