June 7--Crochet heart

[zyzyly]

I missed my "in bed by midnight" by 7 minutes last night (or this morning, I guess), and my "get up by 8" by 18 minutes, but I got a good night's sleep and was out of the house by 9 to go walking and go vote. It was a nice morning, and didn't feel like it was going to get real hot. I walked for about an hour then walked over to my polling place and cast my vote. I have voted in every election, except one, since I was eligible to vote. I consider it a privilege.



The turnout was light this morning. Only about 60 people had voted when I got there at about 10. While I was there I dropped off Malida's mail-in ballot. She had to work today. This was her first chance to vote as a US citizen, and she was excited to be able to vote for the presidential nominee.

After I voted, I took a drive out to the country for a while. My plan was to explore for the balance of the morning, then come back in the afternoon and prepare for my phone conference with my doctoral advisor tomorrow morning. She sent me an email asking to reschedule to Friday, so I rescheduled my preparation until Thursday.



I went out to Rancho Seco park. It used to be the nuclear power plant for the area, but was decommissioned a number of years ago, and is now a regional park with two giant cooling towers, surrounded by vineyards. There is a portal there, and I had big plans to capture it, then make some links. I did capture it, but one of my nemeses anticipated my actions and threw up a link to block me. "I can read your mind" she said in the chat function. There is a lot of strategy to the game, and I learn something from almost every encounter. I now know that my movements can be tracked. I love that the game is both physically and intellectually challenging. Kind of like walking chess.

During one of my walks today I noticed something hanging from a fence along one of the baseball diamonds. It was a crocheted heart, with a little message attached. The messaged indicated that I could take it, so I did. When I got home I looked at the Tumblr page to see what it was about. I expected some sort of "gotcha", but was pleasantly surprised that it is just someone out there spreading a little love in the world. It made my day.



If you want to know what the crocheted hearts are all about

Comments

[basefinder.livejournal.com]

Have you photographed those cooling towers before? Seems like they could make interesting subjects.

[neptunia67.livejournal.com]

That's a great message, and one I can take to heart this morning. Thanks for sharing it!

[thoughtsbykat.livejournal.com]

Now you know that you can be tracked during the game. Now you need to figure out how you can track them.

The crochet heart is pretty cool. The message is true, something we all need to remember.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

When I was in Germany a number of years ago, my aunt lived near a nuclear reactor. There was a bridge near her house, which for some reason had a toy Pillsbury dough boy attached to the railing. I took a picture of it, with a perspective that made it look similar in size to the nuclear reactor. Which I'm sure is how it ended up there in the first place.

I wish I knew what happened to that picture.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

Pretty much whenever I am in the area. They tend to stand out. But I like this one.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

It is so true!

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I have figured that out, and also how not to be tracked. That's what makes this game so interesting.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I would love to see that picture if you ever find it.

I didn't know that you spent time in Germany--which part?

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

It was about two weeks, in 1999. I had an aunt who lived there - she was a foreign exchange student in college, fell in love with a German man, and stayed.

We were in Bonn for a bit, where my aunt actually lived. We spent a day in Hamburg, and, I believe, Bremen. And a few other places I couldn't name.

I'm really not sure which nuclear power plant it was. It was in a relatively rural area. Very pastoral except for the cooling tower in the background. It had the stereotypical cooling tower like at Rancho Seco - I only remember one tower, but it's possible that's perspective as well. I believe it was cooled from a canal, or whatever body of water the canal ran into or out of - the canal ran directly behind the back of the cottage. There was a dike, so the cottage was actually quite a bit below the level of the water. From googling, Gundremmingen seems a likely bet, but I can't find anything to confirm it for sure.