Expect the Extraordinary

My eye doctor's office is the most amazing place in NJ. Maybe the entire East Coast.

He likes to collect things. That's like saying Bill Gates has some money. Or World Peace would be nice.

This is the waiting room.

Facing the other way.

A detail.

Zooming out a bit. In case you can't tell, this is one of the waiting room chairs.

When I sit down, I sit on the very edge of the chair. Though mostly I walk around looking.


At first when I started coming here years ago, there was only an amazing rock collection. Smaller pieces were in display cases like the one in this picture, and larger pieces were laid out on the floor where you probably wouldn't trip over them.

Maybe the seashell collection dates back to that time too.

And possibly the feather collection.

Over the years the collection has grown. And grown.

This is the entrance.

In case you were wondering, he is an excellent eye doctor. And very nice guy.

He showed me some interesting photos that will be in the next (8th) edition of his book, the Manual for Eye Examination and Diagnosis. Nice shots of some ophthalmic side effects of a few common medications.

In addition to an eye exam, he does a blood pressure screening.

Wouldn't you like your doctor to be as thorough as this guy clearly is?

And as for the eye exam, Can you see the Kewpie doll in the red dress? Now close your other eye...

Sunset on the NJ Turnpike

Taken February 11th, 2011

Between Exit 9 and Exit 8A






Taken October 24th, 2010

Meadowlands

Newark Newark Airport
Lindin Power Plant

The Moot, Investigative Blogger

As some of you who follow this blog may know, sometimes I take a walk in Rahway River Park in the morning before work. In fact I have a separate blog just for posting photos taken there.

Turns out the county is replacing the dam by the scenic wooden bridge on the pond.

The whole area has been blocked off.

But, camera in hand, I ducked under the barricade, walked over to the construction crew, and asked for the boss. I introduced myself and got permission to come in anytime to take pictures of the work in progress, for the blog.

Check it out. rahwayriverpark.blogspot .

Maybe I’ll start wearing the Mammoth Cave hard hat.

How would my life have turned out differently? Part ll

While I am at it, I wonder what my life would have been like had I not been saddled with the horrible name of Lillian, and been called something cool like Lisa or Lynn.

Lillian was an old ladies name. Everyone, and they would all let me know when we were introduced, had a grandmother, great aunt, or other elderly relative named Lillian.

I didn't meet another Lillian who wasn't at least 60 years older than me for a long, long time.

Even when I started calling myself Lill, people would say, is that, like, short for Lillian?

My childhood was definitely affected negatively by that name. For example, remember Romper Room? Remember the magic mirror? "I see Debbie, I see Susan..." A Lillian was NEVER spotted, and you can’t imagine how traumatic that was for me.

How would my life have turned out differently? Part l

Going thru old photos today.

Came across this photo of me from my kindergarten class picture. A very rare Pre Glasses photo.




Here is a more typical childhood photo. These hideous eye glass frames came in two colors, pastel blue and pastel pink.



There were sparkles embedded in the plastic at the ends. This did not improve anything. No other glasses were available for girls at that time.

It didn't matter which color you chose. The glasses were absolutely disfiguring in either color.



So I just can't help wondering what life would have been like for me had I not needed glasses by 2nd grade.

Or if contact lenses had been invented that were suitable for little kids in 1962. Or even if more kids needed glasses before 6th grade.

Wearing glasses like that as a little kid was the equivalent of wearing a sign on my back saying, "I Am Really Weird", or "Best Avoid This Person In Case She Is Contagious", or just plain, "Kick Me."

I finally got wire frame glasses in high school, and they were somewhat of an improvement over the cat's eye, as anything would have been, but they were no great shakes either.

People my age say things like "no great shakes".

I got contact lenses when I was 18. No more dork!!! Another benefit, no more getting glasses knocked off while playing basketball!!!

Even Bob says it is a good thing I was wearing contacts by the time we met.

In case you are interested in history, here is the rest of the kindergarten picture. Yes, that is what kids in PS 189 looked like back when dinosaurs roamed the earth! Pretty funny, eh?

For All Those of You Who Make Fun of My Eating Habits

Mechanically Separated Chicken, from Fooducate, via Early Onset of Night

The following article is taken from http://www.huffingtonpost.com Thanks, Lenny, for the link.

The photo above has been extensively passed around today, and for good reason: it's a peak into the rarely-seen world of mechanically separated meat, or Advanced Meat Recovery (AMR).

Fooducate writes:

Someone figured out in the 1960s that meat processors can eek out a few more percent of profit from chickens, turkeys, pigs, and cows by scraping the bones 100% clean of meat. This is done by machines, not humans, by passing bones leftover after the initial cutting through a high pressure sieve. The paste you see in the picture above is the result.
Michael Kindt continues:

There's more: because it's crawling with bacteria, it will be washed with ammonia, soaked in it, actually. Then, because it tastes gross, it will be reflavored artificially. Then, because it is weirdly pink, it will be dyed with artificial color.

But, hey, at least it tastes good, right?

The resulting paste goes on to become the main ingredient in many of America's favorite mass-produced and processed meat-like foods and snacks: bologna, hot dogs, salami, pepperoni, Slim Jim-like jerkys, and of course the ever-polarizing Chicken McNugget, where the paste from the photo above was likely destined.

How did I miss this one?

Now added to the rest of my collection.

I'm Starting To Get Concerned About Anti Psychotics

I've Moved