Day 349 - I'd Call It Vintage

Our old Toastmaster. I think we got this thing as a wedding gift, and in June we'll celebrate our 15th anniversary, so I think it's about time for a new toaster. It's not like toasters are pricey, but it's just one of those things where it's always worked, so we've never bothered replacing it.

However, something that can handle four slices and bagel sizes would be nice.

Day 348 - Not Connected

Seems like I've been getting this message a lot lately, and it's quite annoying. It only lasts for a few minutes when it happens, then it comes back on. I wasn't sure at first if it was my service or my home network or my computer itself, but I discovered that when it happens, it also affects the other computer in our house, and I don't think it's a network problem, because I can still perform other network functions, just no internet, so the problem must lie with my service. This photo is from Tuesday.

Day 347 - Cold Fountain

Here are a couple of views of the "Trinity" heart sculpture in front of the Heart and Vascular Center at King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, Ky. The recent cold weather has left some interesting ice shapes in the bottom.

Day 346 - Watch

Slow photo day Sunday.

Day 345 - Swim Meet

Kenzie doing her freestyle at Beaumont YMCA in Lexington on Saturday. It was the 12 and under state YMCA championships, and she finished 5th overall in 25-yard backstroke, 6th overall in 25-yard freestyle and 7th overall in 50-yard freestyle.

Day 344 - Master Chief

Friday's shot is of James' Halo toys he has around the office.

Day 343 - Reece Likes the Gameboy

Reece discovered his sister's Gameboy Thursday night.

Day 342 - Morning Moon

A full moon shot taken at about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. There's actually more daylight than there appears to be in the photo, but to get the moon detail, I had to bring down the exposure, which turned it a nice blue to purple gradient color.

Day 341 - Window Light

I lit this toy in a dark room by sitting the camera on the floor with a five-second exposure, and using a small cheap flashlight to shine on it. I was actually just playing around, never intending this to be anything, but thought it ended up being sort of a neat effect. The window light is from an incandescent on the front porch.

Day 340 - Is this thing about over yet?

Running low on ideas Monday, and didn't have much time to go look around for a photo. This is from Lisa's glass collection.

Day 339 - Colors & Shapes

From Sunday.

Day 338 - Pool Reflection

From a swim meet at R.C. Durr YMCA in Florence, Ky., on Saturday.

Day 337 - Foosball

Friday's photo.

Day 336 - Night Sky

The night sky lit by lights from town Thursday night. Taken around 9:30 p.m. as an 8-second exposure, f2.8, ISO 200.

Day 335 - Reece at Play

Photo from Wednesday of Reece playing in the floor with his train tracks.

Day 334 - Blizzard of '08?

There was no school today in Carter County, Ky., because of the horrible amounts of snow we got, as you can see from this first photo of my street.

Once I got out on the main roads, here's how they looked, so you can clearly see why school was canceled. I mean look at that wintry mess.


...and they wonder why we're in school until mid-June every year. I know this will make me sound like a grouchy old man, but when we were younger, just the threat of snow wasn't enough to cancel school. I remember getting out and helping put chains on the school bus tires to try and make it up hills.

Now, if one flake lands on top of another, school is canceled and our kids lose their spring breaks and a chunk of their summers.

Day 333 - Speedy Ducks

We went to Gattiland Monday evening, and in between chasing Reece from game to game, I grabbed this picture of a game that's a variation of the duck pond. You have to punch the ducks as they go by on a conveyor belt. This is a slightly longer exposure, so the ducks look like they're moving much faster than they really are.

Day 332 - Two of Reece

I guess he got thirsty during his bath Sunday evening.

Day 331 - Meet Roxy

My sister got a new dog, Roxy, and she brought her over to meet Kenzie today.

Day 330 - Flowers in January

Don't see too many of these out this time of year.

Day 329 - Thursday's Mail

I got one of those "special offers" about extending my car warranty in the mail Thursday, but I just don't know if I can get it in under that deadline. I guess some people still haven't gotten around to fixing that Y2K bug.

Day 328 - Yet Another Sunset

Seems like we have some spectacular sunsets in January around here. Lots of color.

Day 327 - Welder

The escalator removal in our building continued today.

Day 326 - Trees and Clouds

This was shot with an orange filter on the camera to boost the contrast between the sky and clouds, then converted to black and white in Adobe Lightroom. This is Monday's photo.

Day 325 - Swim Meet, Day 2

Kenzie doing backstroke with some motivation by a friend. She finished the meet with several ribbons, including two fourth-place overall.

Day 324 - Lane Lines

From Saturday at Marshall University's swimming pool. We had a meet there this weekend, where Kenzie continued to improve her best times in some of her events.

Day 323 - Sunset

From the parking lot where I work on Friday evening. The building is in the lower right-hand corner.

Day 322 - Snowflakes

Snow on the roof of my car this morning.

Day 321 - The Escalator Take-Down

The building I work in has an escalator to the second floor that hasn't worked in years, so they're in the process of taking it down, which is kind of interesting to look at. I thought about posting some of these as "mystery photos," but there's probably no way anyone other than an escalator repair person would know what they were part of.

Day 320 - The Mouse Collector

A couple of years ago, my daughter's future career choice was that she was going to be a "mouse collector." She's well on her way. Here's three of the latest additions. This is Tuesday's photo.

Day 319 - Sunrise

Last day of the year. This would have been a cooler photo for Jan. 1, but it's from Monday.