Best Time To Take Pictures?

Last Thursday I took pictures of my old Polaroids at 6:41 PM,why 6:41 ? Because sunset was at 7:41 PM. Now common,Stanley, you're not making sense, the reason is that:  one hour before sunset or even one hour before sunrise is when the light is all even out, no sources brighter or darker than the other.This actually however is the best time to take pictures of nature ,people at picnics outside, kids playing etc., cool weather....

...However, in my case (inside my house near a sunny north window), I use those times to take pictures of pictures with my iPad mini which yield better picture quality results than any other of my devices, but when I had transferred the taken pictures to my computer they were too big like 2000 to 3000 pixels each, and my photoshop software was unable to change the image size to 600 pixels as photoshop   gave me a program error message;  The images were simply too big.

So what am I going to do ? Well, this time I am going  line up my old Polaroids and take a video of them using my iPad mini  panning left to the right then make vidcaps  of the video, after it has being transferred to my computer. Using photoshop, sometimes the mp4 format has to be change to the wmv format  that can be done using the computer's windows movie maker.

Once the vidcaps are made I can use photoshop to crop unnecessary backgrounds and make other improvements.

There are videos of youtube that teaches people how to transfer pictures from iPad or from other sources to a computer, so I will skip that part.Of course one can use a cloud service like Google cloud which can be retrieve from any synced device. 

How did the picture of pictures turn out ? Well, not as a good quality as if one had use a picture scanner, all I can say "acceptable" 

          Click video below for Google's  free camera scanner.
         click here for Google's Camera Scanner
Oh, yes, I did get those large pixels images off my iPad..its hard drive would  have filled up in no time.
                                  ***END***

Outlets and Outlets.

You're at the doctor's office and notice that their outlets have  horizontal slots; Well, that is a 20 amp outlet connected to a 20 amp circuit.  The hospital equipment 20 amp  plugs have one vertical blade, one horizontal  blade and a ground.  The wiring used  on the circuit breaker is 12 gauge with ground.The smaller the number the bigger the wire.

In modern homes kitchens and bathrooms use 20 amps, but why are there only 15 amp outlets connected ? Well, in some states it is acceptable to use 15 amp outlets on a 20 amp circuit if there are series of them and not just one or two.

HOWEVER, NEVER INSTALL  A 20 AMP OUTLET TO A 15 AMP CIRCUIT THAT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. 15 amp circuits are use mostly for living rooms and bedrooms. The wiring use for a 15 amp circuit is 14 gauge with ground, which is smaller than the 12 gauge.The wiring in the 14 gauge wire is easy to bend. The 12 gauge wiring will be  a little harder to bend.

20 amps which handles more wattage than 15 amps are for heavy duty appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines etc.

Now can one plug in a 15 amp appliance like a tv into a 20 amp outlet ? The answer is yes;  If the answer was no, the plug wouldn't fit in the 20 amp outlet in the first place.

Always make sure all connections to the outlets stay; If the blades are expose  even 1/8 out of the outlet that could easily start a fire.

One can change the outlets without any hitch just follow the instructions that came with the outlet(s). However, wiring  a house is a different story, when done call in an expert to check your work and make sure all outlets and plugs are UL listed (United States) and/or CA listed (Canada).

Balancing An Egg On Its End

Can a person balance an egg on its end only on the season of spring equinox ?  Well, that's a myth, actually a person is able to balance an egg on its end anytime of the year. What makes it difficult to balance is the yolk inside the egg, it won't stay centered.However, it is still possible to balance a raw egg.

 To balance a raw egg use its fat end, use a rough surface (like a rug), or sprinkle salt on a smooth surface, you can also can shake the egg vigorously trying to stir the yolk and egg white inside the shell. There may be also an appliance you can buy that stirs the yolk with the white right inside the egg.

When an egg is hard boiled the yolk inside  will stay centered, meaning you can spin the egg on its end. You can even trick your friends, give them  raw eggs to spin, while you spin the hard boiled one, raw eggs will not be able to spin, hard boil eggs will, or  flat the fat end of a hard boil egg  with your fingers,then balance that egg on its end.

Breaking an egg inside your fist is nearly impossible even tough it can be done. Give your friends raw eggs to break inside their fists , while you  use a soft boiled egg and pretend to struggle like the rest, until you finally decide to apply pressure,  the white and yolk  will spill out.. (Reason for the soft boiled rather than hard boiled.)
                                    Also see my last year's April fools blog and prank of last year: How to turn a smart tv picture upside down. Don't worry it's legal and easy:
Click here for Turning A Smart TV Picture Upside Down

                                          ***END***

A Little Boy's Broken Heart

This is a true story of an amateur psychologist name Betty who lives about 15 miles west from me. 

One day at work she wanted everyone to come to some event during the weekend, and when she  had asked "Who is going?" nobody had raise their hands,so Betty had asked again, but this time angrily, hands did show up  that time,from almost everyone, except mine, I had my heart set going to the movies, and thought to myself what could she do ? Hang me by the thumbs?

Another "psychology" trick she tried to do is pretend to be a different person ,with a different personalities ,to see which "person" the co-workers  would liked best. Just because something is stated in a book doesn't make it true.

Betty probably thought raising her voice, people would do what she wanted, but all that did in reality  is to make people wish she had laryngitis.

I did see Betty once driving her car about 85 miles per hour on a country dirt road with her family and friends.I know math and would know what speed she was actually going.

When I was in Betty's small town some years ago she avoided driving down the ditch by running over a  miniature collie and killing it, just  to protect the looks of her damn car. If Betty did go down the ditch the car would still have been  drivable.

I myself would   have driven down the small ditch spearing the little kid's heart. After all, insurance probably would have covered most of it;  But that is not what is important here! 
 Because of Betty's wrong sense of priorities, a little boy's heart got broken.

Best Way To Play The Roulette Wheel.

You're at the casino playing the roulette wheel, What's the best way to play ? Just play only once then walk away regardless if you win or lose. Why ? Well, I will show you using math :)

Roulette wheels have numbers on them from 1 to 36 some have  a zero and double zero making it 38 numbers.

The odds playing the first time is either 1 out of 36 or 1 out of 38 depending on the roulette wheel. If you play just one number for $1  you will receive  $35 if you win.$2 bet $70 and up from there.

Odds of playing the roulette wheel for the first time:  
 1 out of 36 (without a double zero roulette wheel)
 1 out of 38    ( with  a double zero roulette wheel)

Now you're playing for the second time what are your odds ?
{ (1/36) x  (1/36) } or 1 out of 1296 (without a double zero roulette wheel) 
{ (1/38) x ( 1/38) } or 1 out of 1444 (with  a double zero roulette wheel)
    
Now let's play for the third time: 
{ (1/36) x (1/36) x (1/36) } or 1 out of  46,656 (without a double zero roulette wheel)
{ (1/38) x (1/38) x (1/38) } or 1 out of  54,872 (with  a double zero roulette wheel).

As you can see the more you play, the more the odds are against you !

 So, simply put, just play once and bet only on one number then see what happens then walk away.In the unlikely event you do win just take your money and walk away; Do not play more than once. 

Sure you can bet on more than one number at the same game, but the cash winnings go down.For example  if you play two numbers for $1 you will receive only $11 if you win, and down from there depending how many numbers you play in one game
.Odds are always in favor of the house.
                                ****END***

               

More On The German Twins (1963)

First off I never did have sex with Allison and Heidi our relationship was totally platonic. Of course, that does not exclude hugs and kisses. 


When the twins knock me down to the ground, or more precisely, when I allowed them to knock me down to the ground I wanted them to kiss me so badly, but even that never did happen.I  myself refrain from kissing them, I didn't want them mad at me or lose them as friends. I love them that much.I forsake the kisses for their friendship.After all, people especially females are not toys.

Their beautiful faces where only inches from my face when I was "pinned"  down. Looking into their very beautiful eyes,seeing their red ruby lips,yes they were wearing lipstick , feeling their brown wavy hair on my face and smelling their perfumes they were wearing.

In fact they got their perfume smells all over my shirt and the rest of my skin and clothing.

 After "playtime" was over I went home and placed the perfumed shirt into a big transparent plastic bag to keep as a souvenir.I would still have the perfumed shirt today, but my mom had to washed it. I wanted to open the bag occasionally, to take a whiff of the twin's perfume, before I went off to bed for dreamland ,and to dream about the German twins.

My toxic uncle Don didn't want anything to do with any Germans not even the Japanese because of WWII. In fact he told me if I keep socializing with the German girls he will cut me off from his will, but  his words were meaningless.I was in love.

When I got a job I made my own money which I would never share with my toxic uncle; MY MONEY !

 He did not even want our German twins' gift a  Fußball (Foossball)  game table inside our house, or least  he wanted it to be  in the attic.We never did get rid of it, we played it !--War is not the peoples' fault but the governments'.

Loving the German identical twins made me exercise more and even did better at my homework getting grades of A's and B's.I cannot describe how I felt in those days but I felt very well.

I heard somewhere that Hitler may still be alive using an assume name, but if he died good; No tears shed, celebrations instead; If still alive he can see his failures.

Even to this day I love the German people; They will always have a place in my heart, especially Allison and Heidi.

All races and even disabled people are welcome in Germany now. Hitler failed big time :) 

Click below for the song "Bel-Ami" sung by Belsy. Even if one does not know the German language you will still be tearing;
Belsy is that good of a singer:
 Click Here For The Song "Bel-Ami" by Belsy

                                     See also:
      How Many Identical Twins Are There In Germany?

                                                   

Invisible Ghost Causing Squeaky Stairs

An old man is sleeping and suddenly hears his stairs creaking as if a ghost or an invisible man is walking up and down the stairs.

It is not ghosts or invisible people ,it is expansion and compression causing the wood boards to creak depending on the temperature and/or weather changes. Not because some "ghost" is walking up and down the stairs.

Should one worry about creaky stairs or even floors ? No, if one does not hear the creaks it could either mean the floor boards were nailed too tight or someone fixed the creaks by putting small mental screws underneath the floors plywood.

These mental screws will also expand or compress along with the floor boards making them still safe; After all, having the floor board too tight will cause problems, like splitting into two or more pieces causing holes and weaken floors. 

My Late Brother Larry

My brother Larry died on Christmas day 2017 at the age of 74. I do not have many pictures of Larry just a few of his baby pictures, but I have memories of him which I will share.

I believe I was only 4 years old, my parents were burning leaves and I walked too close to the flames and my right leg caught on fire. 

Naturally, I was crying and screaming. Larry came out to help , drop me to the ground and  rolled me until the fire was out.

At my very young age I thought he was picking on me while I was still in pain.
It turned out that he was reading his boy Scott book that day.

One day my brother brought in an aquarium tank filled with guppies that probably was a take home class project.

Once Larry went off to school my sister and I took the guppies out of the water ,put them on a tray so they wouldn't drown.

We were very young, we didn't know anything about gills. Larry was disappointed.

My brother is the one who taught me how to play chess. It started when I had placed  chess pieces on just the black squares of a checker board.

He taught me how to set up the chess board right, how the pieces move and the rules of the game.

In a few weeks I thought he was cheating with moves such as "en passant" and "castling" but they were legit.

Below  a  very short video of  Larry in his pontoon boat  1986:

When Larry was 18 he joined the armed forces. Once the terms were up for one  he enlisted into another. The goal of course is to make money a nest egg if you will.

My mom, Mary, told him "Larry, you're going to be a very old man before your time !"

Larry replied back saying: "Yes, but I will be a very rich old man !"

Larry was on the navy ship 'Enterprise" in 1968

Self Suggestions Being Evil

Seems like there is too much violent against kids cause by kids especially teenagers. Are these sick teenagers actually playing real life video games? In my opinion I believe so.

There are music and movies with very violent themes especially violent music with lyrics like "I'm going to hurt this person", "I'm going to hurt this person" saying same sentences over and over again. without the teenagers realizing that they may be actually being hypnotize to do harm to other people, especially when they are under 17 years of age.

What's worse these teens  drink alcohol and do street drugs making them more susceptible to the  violent lyrics and maybe acting out  those violence acts in the real world.

If a parent buys a violent killing video game for the kids, at least make sure they are  at least 17 years of  age or older. I am way over the age 17 and still I will never never never play 'Grand Thief Auto"or other similar games. What's wrong with playing a game of pacman?

           Please, always check the video game rating.
Of course these statements are just my opinions but every one has the right to my opinions. :)

                      On a more positive note
They say when kids are at the age of 10, the boys and girls cannot stand each other, but not always. I liked girls when I was the age of 10, even much younger than that, I was smitten with Edie Adams when I was only 5 years old.

I do not know if it just happens naturally or if I was influence with the songs I heard   "Alvin's Harmonica"  and "Thank Heaven For Little Girls". Both songs can be played below:
                Click here for Alvin's Harmonica
                       
   click here for "Thank Heaven For Little Girls"

Doing A 360 On A Chained Swing

In the 1950's when I was a kid my mom drove me to Glen Echo Park located in Columbus,Ohio.My mom sat in one of the swings and I was in the next one to her.

There were other kids playing in the park .so I decided to show off, by doing a 360 in a swing. I kept going faster and faster until I reached 100 degrees in the air, that's when the chain disconnected from one of the supporting hooks and I had fallen down to the hard ground crying.

While I was crying two pretty girls about my age raced up to me saying "Awww!"  and started to kiss my cheeks, one of them close to my mouth. The kisses made me feel a little better, but I was still in extreme pain.

My mom drove me back home and called our family doctor.In the 1950's doctors did make house calls.I had no broken bones, prescribed pain pills and ordered bed rest.

Now I beginning to think that doing a 360 in a chained swing unaided  is impossible and is very dangerous.

But I did kept on day dreaming about the two pretty girls who kissed me , wondering if they wanted a chance to kiss me ,or was it simply because  their motherly instincts  had taken over.

Even to this day I still don't know who they were, the park was crowded.(end)

Inconvenient-Convenient

I now pay most of my bills on-line but if you're on Wi-Fi is it safe ?  The answer is yes and no. No if you're using a public wi-fi and yes if you have a private wi-fi with a secured password. If you still don't feel safe you can always have one computer with the wi-fi  disabled and connect that computer directly to a router and just use your other devices for wi-fi. Don't worry the disabled wi-fi on your computer can be re-enabled.

Beware tough  billing via email with a link attached may be dangerous. There are hackers that pose as companies that send emails with legit looking links but leads to a fake site.
 Sure legit companies also send email links to their sites but if you go to the wrong one it will be the hackers that get the money and not the legit companies.It happen to me twice.

My cable company  told me they did not received payment, and now recently I got two emails from my cable company that tells me one of those emails are fake. So to avoid this problem do not click on the links in the emails, instead go to main site in your browser and type everything in yourself  making sure you see the lock padlock and https the 's' meaning secured. I got everything settled now.

In short even you think they are legit companies in your emails still don't click on the links, use your browser and just search for your companies' name.If you know the your passwords you use to enter various company sites then there is really no need in this case to use email anyway.

Paying bills online is very convenient ,especially if you do not want to go out in -40 degree or 130 degree weather. I used to ride my bicycle in very hot weather in early morning to the insurance building to pay my bill. Not anymore, I can still pay the amount I owe just sitting in front of my air conditioner. :

I do not have a credit or debit card so how do I pay my bills? Simple really I use the online check sometimes called electronic bank transfers. All is required is:  Your bank information, the router number and account numbers of your checking/savings account and of course your company's account number, and so far there is no convenience fee using this option, either from ( my bank anyway) or companies.

On checks the routing number is on the bottom right side of the check and  your account number is just right of it. (end)