Indubitably yours

A couple months ago, I found my creative writing groove that had been missing for a while. Ever since, I have been posting more than I had for some time. Posts both private and public. Photos edited and uploaded.

Then, all that creative momentum came to a crashing halt. That's because my photo editing software was acting up. Adobe Photoshop Elements 8, you're the defendant. How do you plead?

APE 8 includes an organizer and an editor. I had APE 4 on my old Windows XP computer and did a lot of work with it, and it worked well. APE 8 worked well on my new Windows 7 machine for a while. And then ...

And then problems started. It started refusing to open the photo editor from its organizer. It just sat there and did nothing. Even after I uninstalled, cleaned out the traces and reinstalled. Same thing.

I went online, looking for a solution to my plight. After a while, I learned two things: 1. Adobe has posted an extremely long and complex series of steps that _may_ solve the problem. 2. I am hardly alone with my problems with APE 8.

Grrr. I had to do something to get things moving. And I did. Last week, I downloaded and started playing with a Windows version of GIMP, the open-source image editor. I had briefly tried GIMP before, a few years back. Now I had a lot more incentive: I needed something to edit a batch of Maggie pictures, with mini-vacation shots in line behind them.

Obviously, I was able to figure it out well enough. Not that I'm an expert or anything. GIMP is different, but different isn't bad. I'm not afraid of learning new stuff.

Like it says at the top: Can an old dog learn some new tricks?

Oh, indubitably!

****

This is rodeo weekend here in town, and I'm going to be a busy cowpoke. Things have happened, so I am going to be covering more events than normal--mainly, taking pictures.

To recap, we only have three people who work on the news side of the newspaper. One of them is on limited hours. Then there's me and the editor.

Last week, the editor's mom died at the age of 97. She (the editor) usually covers some of the rodeo events, but that's obviously not going to happen this year. Maybe you know how it works with a small staff. It's sort of like a three-legged stool--when one leg goes out, the other two legs have to manage somehow. That's the plan for the rodeo coverage, the biggest summer event here.

So I'm getting pictures at a country music concert Friday night, a road race the following morning and the rodeo performances on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, with the new rodeo queen on Sunday. Someone else will be getting the parade pictures, fortunately. We'll manage. But it's going to be busy. Like with a two-legged stool, it's a balancing act.

****

I still have to write a report on the Wausau trip, plus photos. Many amusing ones, too. I'll get to that once I have time. But there's been too much interesting stuff to write about and not enough time to do it all justice.

Seems to me that's how it happened last summer, too; a number of events and trips I went on that I duly documented but never posted. Too busy with the rush of other stuff. Time marched on. The stories and photos fell behind and never caught up.

Another reason: I have been spending more evenings with my wife, watching movies or old TV shows we both like (on DVDs) with her. Well, you see, it's like this. First there were the Stanley Cup playoffs. They lasted about two months, every night, from early April to early June.

As soon as that ended, the World Cup started. Those games were in the morning and afternoon, but they had replays at night. Sometimes I watched them; not always.

Of course, I have been visiting close friends from time to time. I went to the poly camp with S and her GF. I'm planning to visit them again in early August--we plan to visit a nearby wildlife park/farm. I've visited N from time to time, too--about once every 4 to 6 weeks. We renewed acquaintances this week; she gave me some fresh blueberries, and my wife made blueberry pancakes on Thursday. Yum!

So I have been busy. But--except for the trips we have taken together--my wife hasn't gone anywhere or done anything. She wasn't able to visit her sisters this summer, as she did last year while I was at the poly camp. She hasn't said a word about a bus tour this fall, like last September's trip to Branson, Mo. When I asked, she said the tour company that arranged that trip hasn't been advertising anything.

In May, we went to Oshkosh, Milwaukee, Madison and Beloit. In mid July, we went to Wausau and Marshfield. Last Saturday, we went on that tour of the old copper mine near Ontonagon. We also are planning a one-day trip northwest of Green Bay, where there is an Amish community. Next weekend (our anniversary, by the way; #39), we plan to head to Wisconsin Rapids for a special festival. And, of course, the never-ending series of trips to visit my mom in Iron Mountain.

I'm concerned about her and her happiness. She enjoys sitting and watching movies with me, so if that makes her happy, I'm happy. We had hoped to visit my son near Detroit this summer, but that's obviously not going to happen. July was a busy month, and August will be just as busy. No chance to take four or five days off for a vacation. And after that, fall sports start.

Lately, a certain topic has been brewing just under the surface between us. She hinted about it the other night when we were talking. She had told me that my older son and his girlfriend are planning a visit to the Rock Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and I said I'd like to go there someday. She said something about us maybe going there "when you're not so busy."

In other words, when I start cutting back on work. When I can ease off on responsibilities at the office and with the cable office, giving me more freedom to go places. Not like a one-day trip or two-day trip to see friends. A time when we can take a real trip together.

Don't know yet. I'm 60 now. For people born in 1949 in the States, the retirement age is 66 to get full Social Security--otherwise, your benefits get scaled back. But still ... would it be worth it? Or should I hold on till December 2015? In a perfect world, I could cut back on hours a bit in a couple years. I still enjoy the work. I just don't enjoy all the hours. But is that a realistic thought? We have so few people to do the work the way it is.

Sometimes when I can't sleep at night, that's what is going through my mind. When?