May 30, 2015badfish

2 Good Reasons for Everything: On the Way to Where?

Antique Iranian Travel Chest
Antique Iranian Travel Chest

THERE IS ONE THING I DON’T LIKE about living in a modern, high-rise apartment in the Middle East. No—there are two things. One thing is that in some of these apartments, there are no windows that actually open. You breathe re-circulated refrigerated air every single minute you are home. They say it’s fresh air, but you know they say lots of things. Luckily my apartment has one window in the bedroom that opens, so I can at least let in some fresh air in the mornings before the temperature roars into the high 90’s F (low 40’s C) or the simoom roils into a sandstorm so thick you can’t see two feet in front of you…if one, you’re stupid or unlucky enough to be outside in the thing. Or two, stupid or unlucky enough to leave your window open when the sand starts obliterating a normal day (been there).

Simoom outside, time to stay inside
Simoom outside, zero vision, good time to stay inside

The second thing I don’t like about living in high-rise apartments is that because you can’t open the windows, and because you’re so high up you can’t walk outside and wash your own windows yourself, you must wait until the guys who wash windows make it to your place, which here where I am, may be once every three months. Or not. This is especially bothersome to me, for two reasons. One, because I want clean windows: what’s the sense of paying the price to live in a place with a view like this—the ocean and islands beyond, a vista all the way to the horizon—when all you see is dust and crud on your windows. Two, I am the kind of person who hates relying on others to do things, for two reasons. One, you cannot depend on others doing things the way you want, nor when you want. And two, I may be something of a control freak about certain things, not every thing, but some things, for a couple reasons. One, I need to have some things done a certain way. And two, I need to have things done when I need to have things done. Not everything. I’m not a total control freak. But don’t fall in love with me: I’m hard to live with—ask anyone who has. Don’t be surprised when you google “Living with Badfish” and find no fan club. Hell, some times, I find it hard to live with myself. Why do we do this to ourselves. Or wait…am I the only one who does this to himself?

Window washers on a good day
Window washers on a good day

When the guys who wash your windows finally do show up, they appear out of nowhere, like superheroes flying in to save your day. No really, it feels just like that for two reasons: one, because by the time they get there, the wind, the sand, and the humidity have encrusted a patina of muck on your windows so thick, you really can’t see out well, let alone take photos through them. And two because, the window washers literally drop from the sky, as though flying. They dangle some 40 floors off the ground in a harness, with feet dangling, and water and soap spilling into thin air below from buckets hanging by rope beside them. It’s not a job for sissies, or people with acrophobia (or an IQ above 30).

Window washers in a tub
Window washers in a tub, notice the muck on lower window

When the washers have finished washing your windows, you feel like thanking them profusely, as though they had made your day in some spectacular way—which they have. Who would think that at some point in your life, having your windows washed would become an act of divine grace? And afford you the pleasure of being so grateful for something? And please don’t read any sarcasm, nor insincerity, into that line. This is serious quality-of-life shit we’re talking here.

Window washers on their tethers: hi-ho,hi-ho
Window washers on their tethers: hi-ho,hi-ho

So….you might ask, where is all this psychological babble going? Just where are we on our way to? Nowhere, really. Something else is going somewhere. Last week, the window washers showed up. But this time, they were riding in a metal cart tethered to steel wires attached to the roof of the building. First time I’d seen that. Maybe the harnesses were too dangerous? Duh. It takes them almost a week to go all the way around my building and wash all the windows. Sometimes, by the time they’ve gone all the way around, the first windows they washed need washing again—that is, if the wind has kicked up, and the humidity seeped into the air, and the sand has mixed itself into a fine paste on your glass. But not this time.

Leather chair, Iranian Chest, and Sands of the desert
Leather chair, Iranian Chest, and sands of various deserts in jars

This time, the air is clear. The winds are calm. The humidity is normal for an island in an ocean. So I’m sitting in my leather easy chair, feet propped on the antique Iranian travel chest that I use as a coffee table, and sipping my first coffee of the day: Starbucks Sumatra, a fairly dark roast (I only drink Starbucks because I read somewhere online—and if it’s online, it must be true—that Starbucks puts extra caffeine in their beans, and why else are we drinking this stuff?). I take a sip, and glance out the window. That’s when I see the backhoes.

The beginning of new land
The beginning of new land
The next phase of new land
The next phase of new land
The latest phase of new land
The latest phase of new land

Two of them. They seem to be building something in the ocean. It is interesting for two reasons: firstly, because they seem to be reclaiming the ocean, transforming it into land. You’ve probably all heard about the islands that the city of Dubai built in the Arabian Gulf? The Dutch created the technique; because Holland land lies so low (much of it sits below sea level), they needed to find a way to protect their land from an ocean that didn’t give two twits about Holland’s land and would just as soon flood it as not. Well, 21 floors below my apartment, two yellow backhoes are on their way to doing something just like that here. And secondly, because whoever is driving those backhoes…they are very, very good at it. There is not the slightest hesitation in their movements, no faltering at all. There is a fluid grace in their motion, almost like watching a heavy-metal Swan Lake.

Just what is this going to be?
Just what is this going to be?

I’ve been watching the progress a few days now. The project is not finished. It started with their building one sprout of land, mostly rock. Then, they created another sprout of land maybe 100 meters away from the first. Now they are filling in some of the ocean in between these two sprouts of land. They are on their way to building something out of nothing. It seems like some sort of cove being built in a very strange place to build a cove—beside a bridge leading off the island. Maybe they’re building a “key” like in the Florida Keys? Or not. A fishing spot? A yacht harbor? A swimming beach? Where this is going, I’m not at all certain. We’re not quite there, yet.

You can find other Daily Post Photo Challenge photos here:   On the Way

You can find other Photo Rehab Photos here:  PHOTO REHAB

122 comments

  1. I’m getting your notifications since I followed you again the other day. Just have to observe that reading the first part of this post was like a visual diagrammed sentence! 😀 What with all the ones and twos in there.

    I did NOT sense any sarcasm in your window comments. I would feel totally smothered living in those conditions. I showed his lordship the pictures. He found the ones of the backhoe extremely interesting. You’ll have to be sure to post what it turns into.

    Glad to be back in touch. Don’t check my subscription page often so just thought you and Donna had been quiet lately… I know better now. I will keep an eye on it. Thanks for the nudge.

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    • Calen…good to know you’re hooked up again. Who knows what happens in cyberspace. Yeah…clean windows is something I’m kinda anal about, in my house, on my car, anywhere. This is the 21st century, we should be able to see out a window.

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  3. Great post! You are great at writing in an interesting and amusing flow. I really recognize myself in a somewhat controlfreak. And Heavy Metal Swan Lake must be the best frase/simile I heard in a very long time.

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    • Lena, thanks. I’m so glad you found it interesting and amusing, and the flow! I know…heavy metal Swan Lake, how do you suppose I came up with that? But really, the machines are almost like a ballet, so…

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    • Catherine, that’s wonderful coming from you, thanks. Yeah, that chest is a very cool piece, one of my favorites. And yes, I’ve collected quite a few cool things in my travels.

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    • Sue, thanks so much. And yeah, dirty windows…what’s up with that? Next place I get is going to have a balcony, so I can keep the windows clean all the time, and…not have to shoot photos through them.

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    • I never thought of it as quite a disorder, but OK, OCD and snarkey probably fits! And yeah, first time I sat in that chair and felt the silky smooth leather, I thought…whoa, I want this chair. So I bought it.

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  9. A wonderful read Badfish. Had me smiling all the way through. Two things – first your apartment looks beautiful. Beautiful enough that and woman would want to live there without changing a thing. And second those window washers are AWESOME! What a job. Oh, and third, there are several lovely photos in this lot, but the photo of the outside of the building with the awesome window washers behaving like Spidey is truly awesome.
    Keep us posted on what they’re building into the sea.
    Alison

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    • Thanks so much Alison. But I’m wondering just what you mean about a “woman would want to live there without changing a thing”? Are you saying it looks effeminate, or that it’s so cool, she wouldn’t feel the need to move my pool table out of the living room? When they finish what they’ve started in the ocean, I’ll let you know! I like the washers on the blue tower, too. I like that you can see where they’ve cleaned and where they haven’t yet.

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      • I mean the “so cool” part. Most single men live in man caves 🙂
        I don’t believe you have a pool table in the living room 🙂
        I also really like the two shots of the window washers from the inside. You have a great eye badass.
        A.

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        • Right…no pool table in the living room. But it could happen! Yeah, I’m not a man-cave kinda guy. Lighting on the washers was a bear. I need to Photoshop the second one, that is too dark to show the water jars well.

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          • I see what you mean by the water jars, but it’s not bad. Lightroom would easy fix that – less brightness on the window, and more on the jars. I love the lighting of the first one.
            A.

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          • LR is where you start. In LR you can do all the basics – take back the brightness, bring light to the shadows, alter the exposure, alter the blacks and whites, enhance (or decrease) clarity, vibrance and saturation (you can also alter the saturation of each colour separately), add sharpness, adjust luminance (noise), crop, get rid of those nasty purple lines that appear at the edges of things in very bright light, flip the picture from left to right or vice versa and a whole bunch of other stuff.

            Photoshop is for more advanced things like cloning out distracting background stuff, and working in layers which is essentially to change just one part of the photo without it affecting any other part – I often use it to brighten the eyes. And a whole bunch of other things that I don’t know. I barely know the tip of the iceberg of PS, and not much more in LR. LR and PS come as a package. If you buy PS from Adobe LR comes with it. LR is also a library of your photos.

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  11. Well, Badfish, I have to admit it: your blog is officially my number 1 favourite blog to read. You never fail to provoke thought, give laughs, connect a lot of very disparate things together into one amusing flow….and to top it off, the comments are always just as amusing and interesting.

    I guess I’ve joined the BFB fanclub. ( BFB = badfish blog)

    🙂

    oh and yeah – i hear you about expat life, tall buildings with windows that don’t able, and losing control of the things one wants to have, like being able to enjoy that fantastic view because you cant clean the windows yourself. i guess expat life does teach you patience.

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    • Debbie, you know on the jackets of some books, they have comments by famous writers…well,when I have a jacket (but first I’ll need the dang book, so don’t be holding your breath!) I’d like to use this as a blurb. I am honored you feel that way. You’ve made my day, really. But I might suggest that you…well, get a life, dude.

      And I hesitate to say anything against a BFB fanclub member (especially since there is only one)…but expat living has not taught me patience in the least. If anything, the opposite. Maybe I’m just getting old?

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          • I just got my fix!!! OMB! It’s been TOO long. It always is. But that’s what happens when a person becomes addicted to something/one. You spoil us, with your intricacies! Okay, me, at any rate. I have said this before… but always bears repeating. I get lost in your words. In your musings, the way you muse. I could do a study of how you write, and present your world to us, and that could turn into a thesis. I’d be the first person doing a thesis on a blogger, maybe. Could be a some such and other prize in it.

            So, let me get to the nitty gritty. Lately I’ve been listening to these songs, by Michael Franti. And he does this count off, “one, two.” and gets into the song, with a wham bam, thank you ma’am speed, sort of like West Side Story’s “In, out, let’s get cracking.” Usually you get the 1, 2, 3, 4 count from some folks, in some songs… SO, I making a connection here on the One, Two… No reason, other than, it is what it is. But I loved, every ‘For one, that has a sub-one and two, before you get to “The second thing.” You’re a catacombs, mysterious tunnels in which we find ourselves, One) in the woven words of your journey, and Two) a similar quality in ourselves. Now how COOL is that! It’s highly musical.

            So I have to ask, because, well, you’ve got these massive windows on the world, right? And, yes I know you’re 50 million miles up, practically on the “stairway to heaven.” Do you have shades? Drapes, that, one) would keep the morning sun out, because how could a person sleep with that kind of light filtering in, through clean OR dirty window? and two) provide a modicum of privacy, should you so want it?

            I think it’s probably a good thing to not have windows that open, up that high. Just because. Though, yes, I remember that one does open, and that on some occasions, you might have left it open during, accidentally, I’m sure, the simoom? Or did I misunderstand?

            Which, by the way, I have to comment on that picture which shows the view outside during the Simoom. WOW, really, because, you captured an alternate universe. Did you see that? One where you were probably standing looking out from an inner wormhole at the weather outside.

            Seriously, an exquisite picture because of the ghosted flash (not implying one was used) back images from inside the apartment. NICE effect.

            And those window washers, I’ve heard they have trained in the Bond School of High Acrobatics, or maybe by the Flying Wallendas. No, not a job for sissies, OR acrophobics.

            So, which is your window. You didn’t mark it with an X or anything so we can say, Badfish sleeps there.

            Oh, and which deserts are the sands from? Inquiring minds want to know.

            Oh, and those backhoes… can you hear them all the way up there? Hope you have soundproof windows.

            Staying tuned, one) so I find out what is being built right outside, 40 floors down. And two) because you da man….

            Thank you Debbie for the shoutout

            Peace out!

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          • Michael Franti is on my YouTube, some bongo player going berzerk in a good way. Never heard of him before (pretty cool, I like the message, interestingly raspy voice). I thank you so much for getting lost in my head because coming from a head like yours…that’s quite a feat. Your comment feels like you got inside the badfish mind and out-badfished Badfish…intricate, you say. I suppose if anyone could write a thesis on the inner workings of a mind, it would have to be you. Your prize could be free coffee for life at the Badfish Cafe…soon to open in a blog near you.

            Shades: only in the bedroom, blackout the light, but usually I keep one or both open…I get up before the sun every day (between 4:00-5:30). I have shades on two windows in my home office because the sun rises and hits me in the eyes when sitting at my desk during winter, but not summer because then, the sun rises much higher (and further north, is it?), and enters my windows at a different angle. No need for shades at this height/angle. And I’m not proud. If someone wants to use binoculars and watch me type in my skivvies, fine by me.

            And you got it right…leave a window open during a simoom, you got grit in your bed and your bath and your butt and your teeth, for weeks.And right, no flash in the simoom photo. I used an iPad…of all things!

            And…actually, that blue building is not my building. It’s a neighboring building. I have never shot the washers outside my building. Too lazy. Sue me. You can find my building here: https://badfish2.wordpress.com/2015/03/21/photo-101-five-in-one-again-color-architecture-motion-scale-landscape/

            I can’t hear the backhoes from my place, but I can hear Harleys, and souped-up Maseratis racing Bentleys. Sometimes see dolphins cavorting in the shallow water.

            You are going to have to—thanks to Debbie—create a badge for the Badfish Cafe where the Badfish Marlins/Groupers/Guppies hang, dude!

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        • Hahaha!! Sure, you can join. Maybe we can call you guys Badfish Guppies. Or starfish, or sunfish, or stingrays, or pilotfish. Or Groupers! And we can make a badge to stick on your sites!!

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          • aah… now why is it, when i come here to reply to the repiles, there is a new item on aussie network, about these incredible WAlking Fish ( in a lab in townsville).. and guess what.. they walk on LAND….. and get eaten by barramundi and birds… and are spreading to the torres straight…

            Climbing Perch – they can play “fish out of water” for 6 days – AND they “walk on water’… yep, that’s it.

            Badfish? Bad fish indeed. apartently its a “northern invader” in queensland.

            oh , yeah.

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          • Now those perch are truly BAD fish out of water. Nothing new on the planet, de ja vu all over again. Life starting again.

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          • now for the real reply….. i got lost there with the Bad Fish, Climbing Perch ( i swear, its REAL, it was just on TV!)…

            i was gonna say, welcome back FimNora, and sorry about the double M mistake before… you have been missed here on BFB….. 🙂

            and BF – or should i say – CP aka Climbing Perch :0 – “guppies” .. I mean really…

            that means you would .. um… EAT US… being a badfish and all..

            can’t we be like… marlins or something???

            pretty please? :0

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          • OK…you can be a charter member, too. Maybe you guys are Goodfish. Or, Goldfish. Or, Really Badfish. Or, The Sisterhood of Badfish. Or, Badfish and Chips. Or…just what?

            We could create one of those badges where we nominate people to join, but only one nomination at a time, and only those worthy, and only those with really weird minds.

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          • This thread is getting so long but somewhere along the way I saw a comment about all the differing potential names for the badfish groupies….groupers…marlins…

            But you hit the nail on the head somewhere up there BF, Badfish and Chips!

            love it! We can be Chippies. And we hang out at the Badfish Cafe.

            jeez at ths rate we’ll need a whole new blog to hang out on…the Badfish and Chips Blog.
            BFCB if ya into acronyms. …. just make sure you hire windowcleaners for the cafe, okay?

            ☺

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          • Anonymous, Hahahaha!! I know, I think we should publish these threads as a book…they are more fun than the dang blog post!! You are officially a member!! And I think I like your vote, also…Badfish and Chips has a kinda ring to it, all hanging out at the Badfish Cafe. I love it!

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      • lol…. okay then… maybe you can use the quotes in the digital equivalent on your blog.. ya know.. get a groovy new widget or gadget or whatever they call them ( okay okay, i know they are gadgets, i did bloggin 101, okay 🙂 )

        and have your favourite BFB raves on the front page…. “our readers say…”

        of course, since you have suggested it, mine has to be first with pride of place…..:)

        and as for the patience thing, i must say… I try to remind myself its about learning patience, but I to, am growing older ( apparently, I try to hide from that fact as much as I can) and sadly, patience can be not forthcoming… often…. my “no window cleaners” equivalent is the winter coal-burning pollution. we have had some beautiful clear days and the lake in front of my windows is lovely and clear – but on the “no window cleaners” /pollution days.. you’re lucky to see anything… sigh. and i simply have no patience with the pollution

        the Lake in front of my windows, just to throw some Oriental Charm into the BFB, is called….

        ta da.. … Golden Chicken Lake. ( Jin Ji Hu).

        Why? Never been able to find out!

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        • Jin Ji Hu…gotta love it. I bet there’s a good story there. “Our Readers Say”…I love it. And OK, yours is first!! And I have never had patience, don’t expect I ever will, at this stage of the game. Patience is highly over rated, I’m thinking. Not sure if sandy muck is worse than coal or not?? Coal is icky.

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        • badfish, i dropped by for some fish and chips, ( pass the salt and vinegar please) .. and noticed.. well… that Anonymous up there…. that was me, posting from my tablet.

          I admit it! I’ll put it out there! It was me, apparently anonymously, who suggested we go with Badfish and Chips.

          But dang it dude, I’m serious! I truly reckon you should start, a new blog, called Badfish and Chips, a kind of ‘the best of badfish comments” kinda thing, put the best of the commentaries there, and invite the commentators to make guest posts.

          or just make it a kind of guppie/groupers/marlins/whatevery kind of new bloggie thing.

          got it? 🙂

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          • Debbie. You DEVIL!! But how does one post anonymously? I wondered who that could be! And I admit: I love the idea…Badfish and Chips. That’s funny. Hold the vinegar on mine. And I love the idea…but seriously, I have precious little time for one blog. Two…I’d have to quit my job. Well, now, wait a minute. I guess that is an option. Who wants to work, and eat, and have shelter when you could be blogging all day? It is an option.

            I do love your idea of posting the comments. We’ve had some funny parlays here! Maybe I could try one post like that, see what it looks like (before creating a whole new blog)? Could be fun. But then…that’s a lot of work, dude!

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          • Badfish, i’m replying to your post below, because there’s no reply button below your reply.
            thus, I’ll have to reply to your reply but it will appear before your reply. got it?

            ….. now, as for the anonymous thing…. perhaps i didnt make it clear… i DIDNT DO IT ON PURPOSE!!!! truly and really! i tried to respond to your post from my tablet, but i wasnt signed in to my wordpress account ( and last time i changed my password cause i couldnt remember what it was for that reason.. posting on tablets…. all hell broke loose….) but i thought that

            a) it hadnt gone through

            or

            b) the wordpress gremlins thought it was me cause i had to go thru the signing ones email thing….

            as for the no time thing, perhaps you could hire a retired blogger, like curtis from journey of a blogevist who lives in mayotte and has just admitted to being retired….. 🙂

            anyhow, over and out from this Chippie 🙂

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          • Oh! Ha! I thought it was cool that you did it on purpose! Now…it’s those pesky gremlins! But I think your post is in the right place…by default. Don’t know why things are set up the way they are. We’ll see what’s what with BFAC or BFC!!

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  12. You come from OCD…remember the jelly goes on the 2nd shelf on the fridge door? Not to fret, neither of us seem to have “bad” OCD; just moderate….LOL And I’ve learned that I can leave someone’s shoes on the livingroom floor for days, if I want to….and it doesn’t cause rapid heartbeat, yelling frenzy or built up tension…yeah, for getting older, I guess!!??
    But, I must have all my ones, fives, tens, twentys all facing the same direction and right side up in my cash drawer….and I appreciate my CD’s in alpha order….LOL I love clean windows, also, brother dearest. Control Freak….hmmm Thanks to our Mama and probably hers before her.

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    • I just recently had to look up OCD…didn’t know what it meant. I’m not over-the-line OCD, I just like things to be where I like things to be and to have them be there when I go to get them. That’s a sickness?.. I don’t think so, dang it. When I travel, I put my money in an order where I can see what denomination a bill is, but otherwise here or in the States, I just have the bills separated by denomination in any direction. But nobody’s shoes are hanging out in my living room for days, dude.

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  13. Loved the post and the comments. I was going to do the one and two thing in my reply, but several others beat me to it. But really, I love seeing your collection of travel goodies and would positively die under those window-washing (or lack thereof) conditions. I also somehow missed from reading previous posts that you lived in the Middle East!

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    • Lex, thanks…and yeah, I’m liking reading and writing comments almost as much as writing the blog. People are so fun sometimes. And I really never mentioned where I lived before. I also teach English composition, should be grading final exams right now.

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  15. hey badfish – I like that chest – the close up and the “in the setting” view. also like the other goodies you gave us a glimpse of –
    okay… so now I know why “some” starbuck’s coffee gives me the shakes – (my hubs loves the sumatra as well)
    you really live in a cool place – and I liked the way you integrated the window washers and the personal – like this “I take a sip, and glance out the window. That’s when I see…”
    and side note – I have seen a few shows on what is “beneath a city” but I cannot recall the name of them right now – but I saw a special on the “palm-tree” of man-made strips and they noted the sand storms – and so reading this complemented that background – but gave it the personal feel – and yeah, I can imagine how hard it is to wait on the windows to get done.

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  16. Well, badfish, I see we have a lot in common: I have traveled, lived abroad in at least one exotic place and am somewhat fanatical about control of where and when in an overtly if not clinically ocd way. Love the collection of items in this pictures. I guess the future is reclaimed land? Japan should be doing this too. Interesting blog that I will look forward to reading and learning from and getting a good caffeine-propelled laugh from in the process. 😀

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    • Beth…Welcome to the party! Thanks for visiting and commenting. What exotic place did you live? Yeah…Japan. Why haven’t they thought of this?

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  17. This is amazing, for two reasons: one – I love how you’ve always got two reasons, two – I was eating breakfast and swallowing a bite when I came to the point of looking at the muck on the window and I successfully swallowed my spoonful.

    🙂

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  19. fascinating info…love the pics of the guys on the side of the building…weak knees here just looking at them. re the back-hoes…once I was paired with a Korean engineer as “conversation partner” at university. we did not speak a common language,, but through drawings he communicated to me that his company was reclaiming land by filling in spaces between land and islands along the Korean coast. I recognized what he was saying because my husband and I watched the Corps of Engineers construct a park from dredgings from a harbor on Lake Erie about thirty years ago. Small world……just goes to show every scrap of information fits together eventually. 😃. also I had some knowledge of Cleveland’s construction of their Lakefront Airport via reclaimed land.

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    • GRAD…how interesting that you have experience with reclaiming land! And yeah, I would not want to be tethered to the top of that building! Thanks for visiting again.

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      • as secretary of our city zoning and planning boards for years, and other such work, I learned a lot of extraneous information which has later had application.

        ha ha the weak knees I mentioned are from imagining being hanging on a building 20-some stories up…yikes..I panic on a ladder….although the guys are pretty hunky at that

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  23. That was very interesting to read about those window washers! I never thought of a building you wouldn’t be able to open up your own windows – nevertheless wash them^^ Very interesting thought… 😉 Also the photograph with the sandstorm outside is very impressive. I guess if you haven’t seen it yourself it’s difficult to imagine. And besides – your ever-going-two-reasons made me think of this one here:

    There are only two things to worry about: either you’re sick, or you’re healthy.
    If you’re healthy, you have nothing to worry about.
    If you’re sick, you have two things to worry about: either you’ll get better, or you’ll die.
    If you get better, you have nothing to worry about.
    If you die, you have two things to worry about: either you’ll go to heaven, or you’ll go to hell.
    If you go to heaven, you have nothing to worry about.
    If you go to hell, you’ll be so busy shaking hands with all your friends that you’ll forget to worry about 😀

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    • Ha! Love that ditty! And yeah…who would think anyone would build a building with no windows that open? Let alone live in one. And that sandstorm is 21 stories up at that point! Gruesome.

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  24. This post is so neat dear Badfish … It seems you live in high-rise apartments indeed… I would be so scared if I had to wash window like those guys… I mean : That’s so high!!!!… I wouldn’t mind at all letting someone else do it for me…. I could easily pass on that one… 😀
    The photographs are awesome…. Thanks for sharing and best wishes to you. Aquileana ⭐

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    • Aquileana, thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it. And yeah, you don’t want to be washing no windows at that height!! Let someone else do that…just often, please!

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  25. Ditto to all the comments above! I love the photos … there is an elegance to your ‘stuff’ that is really appealing. I particularly like your little jars of sand from various deserts. Not only do they appear to be different colours, but also different textures. That’s a pretty cool souvenir 🙂
    … but now that I think of it, a little challenging to cross international borders with.

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    • Joanne, thanks! An “elegance” to my “stuff”…that’s a cool way to say it! And right, carrying sand in your carry-on is a little idiotic. And they are different colors and textures, fun to look at. thanks again!

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    • Well, right. Who wants no windows…a couple inches would be fine, nobody wants to fall out at 40 floors up. I never liked the idea of high-rise apts, but the view is cool.

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  27. First of all, I totally relate to not depend on anyone to do what you want. There is a saying from my mother tongue that says:” If you want something well done, do yourself.” I admit that “well done” is a very personal concept, hence the best is to not blame others if they do not fulfill your own expectations.
    But it is annoying because not always you can do everything yourself. Washing the windows is surely nit for you IQ, otherwise you would be blogging about that. Or not!
    Your photos are great. Your house photos are serene and speak a lot about your personality.
    Although you say you’re difficult to live with. Well, Again another very personal concept. What is difficult?
    I had imagined that the Dutch were the builders of this new land. No surprise, as they are the pros in this area. Lets u know what they built there.
    I have lived many years in front of the Ocean in a city with high humidity. Clean windows wasn’t a common view…At least you can still open your bedroom windows. But 40C in the morning feels like hell already. How can you stand to spend the day inside?
    Cool photos of the different deserts’ sand!
    Cheers! I am off to google “Badfish”.

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    • Yup, I think that saying might be a universal saying…if you want something done “right,” do it yourself. Expectations…this is a terrible word, sometimes gets you in trouble, or at least, unsatisfied.
      Glad you like the photos, coming from the Queen of All Kinds of Photos, it’s quite a compliment. And get this, I’m learning how to take compliments!!! So thanks for helping with that little complication.

      The Dutch–they have been a powerful force in the world for a long time, but nobody seems to remember that.
      I warned you about Googling “Badfish.” Hope you have no “expectations.”

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  29. Wonderful photos. Nice to get a peek into your space. I too am a (recovering) control freak, but I would gladly let others wash my windows in a high-rise. Your building and apartment are gorgeous.

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  30. What a fabulous post. Love the way you take us and plop us into a very specific time (which I remember well) 🙂 I had a similar thing for Diamond T-shirts. They were wonderful and soft, but disappeared before the public use of the internet, so no trace of them can be found these days. I didn’t keep mine because they would no longer fit me. 😉

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    • Thanks much for visiting and commenting. I had/have the same experience with shoes. They keep changing the designs. I’m very easy on clothes, so have some really old stuff…some, that looks almost new.

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  32. FINALLY had a few moments to dedicate to jumping over to see what you’ve been up to lately, with time to leave an appreciative comment.

    #1 Thanks for following ADDandSoMuchMore
    #2 Love the name of your blog, your gravitar and the beautiful photos peppered through-out your articles
    #3 Love your writing style, your observations, and the way your mind works even more
    #4 Am NOW one of your followers too!

    I’ll be back!
    xx,
    mgh
    (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
    – ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
    “It takes a village to transform a world!”

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    • Madelyn, thanks so much for setting some time aside to visit! And make such thoughtful comments. You might like the way my mind works because I once read an article about ADD and I had every single one of the symptoms! I love your blog, too.

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      • RE: all the symptoms – me too – from back when there weren’t articles to read. The landmark “Out of a Darkness” in the NY Times was the first – at a time when it was thought that ADD went away in puberty (by all but the scientists & researchers, who knew better), so no therapist I went to – for a decade! – EVER suggested it to me (tho’ they suggested everything else!).

        I carried Frank Wolkenberg’s first-person in my wallet for YEARS. It allowed me to know, for the first time, what was “wrong” with me. (The Cliff Notes of a longer, cooler story – lol)

        Thanks for the nice words about my blog.
        xx,
        mgh

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        • I never did anything about it, never read books. I just let people believe me totally weird. And carried a notepad and made notes of things to do and when.

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          • Yeah – I did that too, in public. I made fun of my “quirks” and oopses before anybody else had a chance to.

            Behind the scenes, however, they were alarming, not funny. Understanding WHY went a long way toward helping me be a bit less – ahem – quirky. 🙂
            xx,
            mgh

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          • Quirky is good, Madelyn ~ the best of us are that!

            Without quirky, we’d all be the same robotic clones, heaven forbid.

            BTW BF, this post is sooooo long.. i had to scroll for a year and a half to find the comment I was looking for to reply to…. but i did make the effort 🙂

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          • Long…I know. I don’t quite know how it got to be so long, it was only two weeks of rain. And then a few comments on different realities. My hand gets tired of scrolling…

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  33. Thanks for the follow. Nice vignette with your leather chair, chest, and the colorful sand in jars. My hat is off to those who clean those windows! That would be sad to have such a wonderful view, but unable to enjoy it. It will be interesting to see what they’re building out there.

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  36. Boy, am I ever late to this party, almost a whole YEAR, but it’s taking me a while to go back and read all your old posts. All the comments here are great and have covered, in cute and creative ways, everything you wrote. So mine will sound off the wall but I love your clever selfies inserted (accidentally?) in many of your posts. I’m collecting them for a coffee table book for your Fan Club members. (smiley face with a wink here…dang, I need to get me some of them emoticons!)

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    • Well, you are “fashionably late” but welcome. Glass of bubbly?
      You read ALL my old posts? My advice is…you might need to get a life!! I just got a notice that my last post was my 100th. I thought that was cool.
      I also just took a photo of me where my shadow sits against a stone wall…you might like it.

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      • Yes to bubbly. Haven’t read ALL of them yet, just catching up…a little at a time. I think I have already done way more than 100 but then some are little inane quickies…not beautiful precis such as yours. (I looked that word up!)
        And where might one view this silhouette of such a famous FISH??

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