Shine!

At our hotel on Nashville I was once again presented with soap and other toiletries that were saying something to me (see "Read"). This time instead of trying to tell me what to do with the products, the soaps and shampoos were offering to bring out my best. As you can see from the photo, they promised to make me shine!

Now I use an average amount of toiletry products, but I am not overly concerned about them enhancing my looks. I pretty much take Popeye's attitude as to my appearance: "I yam what I yam!" Even though my body wash proudly proclaims that it is "Maintenance For Your Mansuit", I don't really fuss over what my skin looks like when comparing one cleaning product over another. And, no, I don't walk around referring to my body as my "mansuit". If I ever do, someone please slap me.

Since I was on vacation and feeling adventurous I decided to use the hotel's products exclusively instead of what I had packed for the trip. I used the soap, shampoo, and conditioner during my first shower there, and then stepped back to see the results. While I'm not sure if the products lived up to their promise, my hair did feel silky smooth. I attributed that to the conditioner. The picture to the right was taken shortly after said shower.

So what do you think? Do I shine?







Important Legaleze: The forehead of this blogger is hereby exempted from all comments regarding shine, shininess, brightness, blinding, and all similar language. Failure to comply with this notice will make the violator subject to penalties that may include listening to the author reading his complete thirteen-volume collection of haiku devoted to belly-button lint.

You have been warned!

Lost Photos

I just returned from a vacation in Tennessee and while I had a great time overall, something very bad happened on this trip. Our digital camera was stolen, along with all of the pictures I had taken up to that point.

It took me a couple of days to (mostly) get over the pain and anguish of losing the camera itself, but I've had more lingering problems living with the fact that the pictures I took have no doubt been deleted by the camera's new owner. Since I no longer have the photos, I thought I would remember here some that stand out in my mind.

While in Knoxville we visited Volunteer Landing and took a stroll along the Tennessee river. At one point The Daughter had stopped and was looking out at the river. Without her knowledge I took two pictures of her staring at the water. She had a calm and serious expression that I rarely see. I felt they had the potential of being special pictures, and was looking forward to seeing them on a larger screen then the one my camera had.

I was just getting ready to enter the men's room there at the Landing when The Wife excitedly called me over to the women's room. She told me there was this hand dryer that I just had to check out. When I saw it I asked her if she actually read my blog, as it was my old friend the Xtreme 4000 hand dryer as described in Adventures in Bathroom Remodeling. Safely in the men's room I took a picture of the dryer blowing a deep depression into the side of my arm that I was intending to use in a follow up post. The Wife later agreed that it could blow the skin off a zombie, but once again there were none handy for an actual test.

We visited my father and his significant other in Knoxville and had a great time with them. They moved down there from Michigan last year and this was the first time we'd seen them since August. It will be another year before we see them again. I took a nice photo of them standing on their front porch.

Across the street from our hotel there was a Honda dealership owned by former NASCAR great Rusty Wallace. So of course I had to drive through the lot and snap a pic of the side of the building bearing Rusty's name. We even had to endure strange looks from a salesman who wondered why I was driving around the dealership.

We visited a couple of the tourist destinations in the Knoxville area including the Blount Mansion. This was the house of William Blount, the first govoner of the state of Tennessee. I took many photographs in the various buildings that made up the grounds. One I especially liked was the shot of the Star Spangled Banner, an early version of the American flag that had 15 stars and 15 stripes (one for each state in the union at that time) that was displayed in Blount's office. It was this version of the flag that Francis Scott Key saw when he wrote his famous poem.

I took quite a few pictures as has been my wont since I got the digital camera. After all, it doesn't cost anything to take them. I don't always know why I take them, but if I have the camera in my hand I usually find a reason to take a picture. This experience has made me realize that I am doing more than just taking random photos, I am documenting my life.

Every now and then the image of one of the pictures I took on this trip will pop into my mind, only to be followed with the sad knowledge that it is gone forever. I still have the memories of the experiences, but this person stole my record of those few days. And while none of the pictures could be considered important in any way, I still miss them.

I guess it's time to shop for a new camera.

Hey, you! Out of the pool!

We're having a great time here at the Quality Inn in Tennessee. As you can see they have a nice large pool for us to use.


Too bad only one of us is supposed to use the pool at a time. I guess the rest of us were supposed to stand around and be ready to throw the life ring at them if they got in trouble.


Don't tell hotel management, but we lived on the wild side and had three people in the pool at one time. Man, it was crowded.