Photo of the Day

My goal: To take one photo per day in 2017 and upload it to this album. I hope the photos presented here will be interesting, informative, and give some insight into my life. I make no guarantees. I can be as boring as the next person, and my...

[tkphotog]

(365/365):  Time’s up

It’s appropriate that. for the last image in my Photo of the Day series of 2017, we’d have something from that famed BBC series about time travel, Doctor Who.  

My very talented sister-in-law made this dish towel for us as a Christmas gift.  I seriously want to display it, it is so delightful.  (There are two other equally-as-delightful towels in the set, mind you, but this one fits the theme of the day exceptionally well.)  

365 days in a row was a long haul.  There was only one missed day, caused by unreliable Internet at the hotel where I stayed overnight while traveling, and I had the image ready to post as soon as I was able.  There were a couple of days when I just had nothing exceptional to photograph — although I’m very proud of myself for only posting a few self-portraits over the course of the year.  Finally, there were some of the exceptional photos, the ones where I nailed it.  Those were rarer than I would like.  Overall, though, I’m pleased with how this project went.  Thanks to everybody who’s followed along.  

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(364/365) December 30:  The benefits of being Funny Uncle Travis

I got to spend some quality time with my niece and nephew today.  We did our family Christmas dinner and gift exchange tonight down in Connecticut, and without my husband around to distract them, I got the kids all to myself!  

Some lessons I learned tonight:   1.  Behind a door is a great hiding place when playing hide-and-seek! 2.  While some people pay substantial sums of money to have small people walk up and down their backs, children will do it for free. 3.  Some three-year-olds have mastered sitting on laps.  Some six-year-olds bounce around and fall off immediately, then blame you.

It’s not easy being Funny Uncle Travis, but somebody’s got to do it.  

[tkphotog]

(363/365) December 29:  A Beetle's Ass.

Isn’t this festive?  Aside from working overnight, getting my snow tires put on my car was my sole accomplishment today.  This is the view from the waiting area.

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(362/365) December 28:  My day in one image

I used to say that there are far worse things than too much gainful employment, but as I approach my 17th hour straight at work, I’m reconsidering this philosophy.

There was a pretty sunset in Boston tonight, with vibrant colors behind the Christian Science Church.  I didn’t get to see it directly, though, but only from the window at work.  Because of coworkers who called in sick, I got too little sleep and came in seven hours early to cover the shift before mine, as well as my own.  Because of circumstances beyond anybody’s control, I’m tied to the desk for a third shift overnight — that’s 24 hours, for those of you keeping count.  

Thus, this — my day in one image — stuck at work.  

[tkphotog]

(361/365) December 27:  Out of the closet.

I’ve never been fashion forward.  My tendency to dress in a certain way, however, seemed to be on display today as I did laundry today.  Here you see seven Oxford shirts — five in white, one gray, one pink — fresh from the dryer and ready to go up to my closet.  

The Oxford shirt is common, perhaps even ubiquitous..  It’s unpretentious.  It’s even a little boring.  But it’s also magical — you can seldom go wrong in choosing to wear one.  It’s flexible.  It’s wash and wear.   It’s a safe choice.  Which is probably why I have so many of the things.  

[tkphotog]

(360/365) December 26:  The art of the well-written note.

One of the things I like about my job is that I have a reason to keep a few boxes of thank you cards, in various sizes and forms, around.  Especially during the holiday season, the opportunity to write a thank you note to a resident comes around more often.  

I’m probably giving away secrets I shouldn’t be, but I have different cards for different people.  There are a couple of residents who delight in humor, some residents who are more elegant, and some who get a simple and direct thank you card.  If I’m going to write more, they get a larger card, whereas the more pro forma notes go on the smaller cards.  

Writing a good thank you note is a balancing act between kindness and sincerity.  There are a few people I sincerely do not like, so I have to push more kind and less honesty in those notes.  For the folks I do like, sincerity and kindness go hand-in-hand.  A little humor is fine, so long as the recipient will appreciate it.   Also, never start off with “Thank you for the (fill in the blank).”  It’s self-limiting.  

Pragmatically, another advantage of taking the time to write thank-you notes is that the recipient will remember who did it.  In a service position, like being the concierge at Fawlty Towers West, this is fundamental.  Residents like it when you have your shit together and have the good manners to say “thank you” for their generosity.  

And this is why I keep boxes and boxes of notes in my file drawer — so I’m always prepared to do the right and gracious thing.  

[tkphotog]

(359/365) December 25th:  The Christmas Rush

As you can see from this photo, it’s been very busy this holiday here at Fawlty Towers West.  

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(358/365) December 24:  Method to my madness.

I wrapped most of the presents for Christmas tonight, even though we’re not doing our gift exchange until next Saturday.  This is an accomplishment for me — I’m not fond of wrapping presents, so I tend to put it off.  

I have a system with my gift wrapping:  Each person gets their own wrapping paper.  This both appeals to my inner Virgo, and takes into account the necessity to transport presents in the car, where gift tags can and will go missing.  This way, even if the tag disappears, I’m able to relabel it without having to resort to guesswork.  

Since I have to work tomorrow, this was my last opportunity to do this without having to rush.  It also gave me something to do that’s Christmas-related, since I’ll be working tomorrow — the life of the geographic bachelor.  

[tkphotog]

(357/365) December 23:  Worse than snow.

We had freezing rain overnight last night.  It’s caused by a layer of warm air over a ground layer of cold air, meaning that instead of snow, rain falls, then freezes in the colder air, coating surfaces with a layer of ice.  It can be pretty, but it’s dangerous — the stuff is slicker than owl shit, which makes driving an adventure.  It’s also heavy, which means a tree that sheds a limb can take out a power line.  This is the kind of thing I hate worse than snow.

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(356/365) December 22: Reindeer games

This is, I’m told, a jar of reindeer.  It’s a homemade treat that the granddaughter of one of my favorite residents made for me, involving peppermint Hershey’s Kisses, mini pretzels, and M&M Candies.  They’re nicely presented and surprisingly tasty treats, and the best part — of course — is that somebody cared enough to share it with me.  

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(355/365) December 21:  Christmas Pup

This is Tucker, one of the puppy dogs who lives here at Fawlty Towers West.  His humans insist that he loves his Christmas scarf, but I’m not convinced he isn’t just humoring them.  He’s has the classic Black Lab desire to please people, even if he does fall a teensy bit short of the breed’s usual reputation for being smart.  Regardless, he is the epitome of a good dog.  :-)  

[tkphotog]

(354/365) December 20:  A pretty last day of autumn

I believe these are what the painter and television personality Bob Ross would describe as “happy little clouds.”  

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(353/365) December 19:  Different perspectives

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve enjoyed looking down on the world from high off the ground.  Tonight, I had the opportunity to go 15 stories up; there was no way I was passing up the opportunity to bring along my camera.  

So this street scene, from 10 pm at night in Boston’s Back Bay, is brought to you by a childlike sense of wonderment and the good sense to seize an opportunity.

[tkphotog]

(352/365) December 18:  There’s more where this came from.

With the holidays approaching, the door attendants at work have had their hands full trying to keep up with the influx of goodies, presents, things, and stuff ordered by our residents.  That row of boxes along the left represent the majority of the deliveries this afternoon, with a few stragglers out of frame to the right.  The post-holiday lull is always something of a relief to the entire staff.  (It’s also nice to have the loading dock back.)

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(351/365) December 17:  Photog bear

This was a surprise Christmas present from my good friend Riz.  She says this little fellow reminds her of me for some reason — I can’t imagine why.  :-)  

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(350/365) December 16

The neighbors decided to take their Christmas cheer outside.  It was fun watching the kids “helping” their dad put this together.  

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(349/365) December 15:  Bobo

It may look like this geriatric pooch is being coddled and pampered, not having to actually walk on his walks.  Bobo, however, was born with a congenital malformation of one of his shoulder joints — basically, it means one of his front legs is useless for support and sort of in his way — and since the age of 16 or so, he has some trouble getting around for long distances.  He’s fortunate to have humans who work hard to accommodate his mobility issues.

Despite this, I’m told that he rules the roost at home, where he’s outlived a couple of golden retrievers and a german shepherd mix, and currently has a large golden retriever puppy to keep in line.  I suppose it doesn’t hurt that the humans kowtow to him as well.