How to fill time in retirement

Since retirement, I have been a seasonal member at Brevard Zoo. But with the pandemic, they were close for a long time and now have strict guidelines for visitors. One new rule, you have to reserve a time for entry. They allow a lot of people each hour but to get in, you have to have the reservation. Being a member, there still is no cost for entry. Another new rule, you must wear masks in certain areas. I am use to that so no big problem. First stop was Expedition Africa. As I was entering the area I saw that the Siamang Gibbons were out. The female (in photo) was eating along the river. The male was higher on the bank, scratching his butt and waiting for the baseball game to start.. I stopped and saw the meerkats, but already having a large collection of photos, I decided to move on. As I was crossing the bridge to get to Expedition Africa, I saw that the Marabou Stork was hiding behind a palm frond. His pink gular sac seemed longer than I remember...The Latin species name is Leptoti...

 My luck of taking photographs of a SpaceX launch by going to Jetty Park has not been so good lately. I drive up there and the launch is scrubbed. I am getting lots of great photos but not of my goal. I guess I just need to be happy with the shots I do get, and any stories I may have about them to entertain myself. If you are at Port Canaveral, and specifically at Jetty Park, there is a good chance there will be birds and boats. Other "B" shots include beer, boobs, and butterflies... When waiting for a launch, one boat that is always there is the Brevard County Sheriff boat. They also protect the cruise ships but that job has not been too busy since the pandemic and the CDC has a No-Sail order, which did get extended again today... There are always fishermen at the park, some on the shore, some on the jetty, some on the fishing pier, and some in boats (or whatever you call this thing) There are legitimate fishing boats leaving the Port for a day out in the Atlantic. This  one...

This past month, I celebrated my 21st Birthday for the third time. The first time I was still in college at the University of Vermont, hoping to graduate. I had just seen some cool movies including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws and the Exorcist. Drinking began at 18 back then so when I turned the first 21, I was already experienced at the hard stuff. I mention Star Wars because on my television as I write this, Star Wars Episode 9 is playing. Yep, in my life all nine episodes were made...I did not think that would happen. The second 21st Birthday was in 1999. I was working at ENSCO, trying to update software that would fail because of the Y2K. We had some older code that stored the years as 2 digits and 99 was going to turn over to 00, sure can screw up sorting. All worked out, I fixed my time problems in time.  That was also the year that Star Wars introduced Jar Jar Binks, so I guess the world almost did end, at least for fans of that franchise. The third 21 happened after 5 yea...

 I have continued attacking my reading list as well as enjoying a few "not-on-list" books. All of these books I finished in the month of August.  I mentioned I had read last month a book called Times's Arrow by Richard Morris. A non-fiction book trying to explain the concept of time in our physical world and universe. Written in 1984, it intrigued me but I knew more had been developed in the last 36 years. So I found this book: This book was written in 2017 and includes the more recent theories and concepts about time. I took some Physics classes at the University of Vermont as an undergrad, and I did the best in applied physics but not the theory. I guess that is why I became an applied mathematician. One of the mini-courses I took (one credit class) was on Einstein's theory of Special Relativity. So I had an understanding of that math, but this book just confused me more and made me ask even more questions. I give the book a 2.5 (Good to Great) and I did enjoy it. ...

Cleaning up pictures I have collected is always fun. Each picture brings back a memory or story. Sometimes, they just make me laugh. I have always been told that laughter is the best medicine. A laugh a day keeps the doctor away. So, let us enjoy my fairly disturbed mind... The 5th Wave use to be one of my favorite comics to read. I am also somewhat of a beer drinker, my current favorite being the Blue Point Toasted Lager...so, this joke just cracks me up. And also brings back the memory of the Monty Python song  "I'm a lumberjack..." (I had used white out on the name so I could write in a name like John Pitkethly.) Not funny but a memory. I spent 34 years going to this building for work. Only the south end (left) is still standing, the rest has been torn down.  I timed my leaving ENSCO with the Air Force move to the new AFTAC building, built behind this, just North of the hangar in the photo... Not funny, but wow...this was a real photo taken at a construction site in Or...