Hello everybody and welcome back to My Weekly Flickr.
It’s been a fairly schizophrenic week for weather as the weather gods have alternated between spring like weather and fall like weather. It was warm enough to walk around without a jacket one day and then cold enough to need the winter coat another day. I just got back from my final walk of the day and there is no doubt it is winter today, the temperature never rose much above 30 degrees and the winds have been blowing at 20 mph. Not a good day for long walks.
As I mentioned last week I drove down to the Jersey shore on Saturday for a visit with friends. About two thirds of the way down I lost the clutch on my car. When I say I lost the clutch I mean that the clutch pedal went down to the floor and didn't come back up which prevented me from changing gears. I lifted the clutch manually and put the car in second gear, then started it up and pulled back onto the highway and was able to get into higher gear and proceed to my destination. The Parkway wasn’t a problem but the last 8 miles are through towns and that was certainly an adventure.
When it happened I pulled over to the side of the road, the car stalled and the Check Engine light came on. I sat there for a minute being forlorn and debating what to do. I figured I had two options, turn back or keep going. I decided to keep going for three reasons. I really wanted to visit with my friend, I didn’t want to come home with a cake and a tray of cookies and I wanted to find a garage to see if the car could be jury rigged to work better until I got home and could take it to my mechanic. I didn’t use my cellphone but I was glad I had it.
I managed to get to my destination and my friend and I walked over to a nearby garage that was unable to help me but who were very nice and called another one a mile away who agreed to look at it if I could drive it over. I was able to do so, albeit haltingly, and their mechanic checked it out and then took it for a ride. When he got back he told me that he just pumped the pedal up and down and it came back to life so we drove back to my friend’s house where we spent the afternoon together but agreed I should leave while there was still light. I left around 4:30 PM and got home without further problem just before it started to pour. I consider myself very lucky, just finding a garage that was open on a Saturday, especially after Noon, was remarkable.
On Tuesday I brought the car into my mechanic and was told that the rubber seals had hardened forcing air into the line causing the problem. He said it would cost $410 to replace the two cylinders and he wasn't sure either of them needed to be replaced. The only way to find out would be to disassemble everything and he didn't want me to spend the money as he felt the car would be fine now that the seals had softened again. I also consider myself lucky to have such an honest and reliable mechanic right in my neighborhood. So I'm going to continue driving it to see if the problem reoccurs. If it does I should be able to just pump the clutch pedal and be able to continue driving but if it does happen again I will spend the money to have the seals replaced.
I’m finally finished with my dentist, but not completely done with doctors. On my final visit my dentist pointed out that I had white spots on my tongue, something she noticed back in 2010 according to her records. I went to an oral surgeon then and he suggested monitoring it. Apparently they can come and go as she’s checked my tongue each time I’ve visited over the years so this time she suggested I revisit an oral surgeon which I did. The doctor said he didn’t think it was anything but the only way to be sure would be a biopsy so I agreed and he took the sample. I go back next Tuesday for the results and a follow up visit. But I’m annoyed at myself as when I made the appointment I was going to ask if the doctor accepted Medicare but didn’t as I wasn’t sure Medicare would cover it as they don’t cover dental. But I was very dismayed to discover when I arrived at the office that they had opted out of Medicare which means I can’t be reimbursed at all. It was a very large amount so you may imagine how annoyed I was. I see that in the future, no matter what it’s for, if I have to see a doctor I’ll have to find out beforehand if they accept Medicare. I was asked if taking the sample was painful and I said that was easy, the only pain was the large extraction from my wallet.
I walked up to the Frick Monday morning and was very surprised when I got there and was told it was closed. I guess I knew it wasn’t open on Mondays but I definitely forgot. And I have to laugh as I decided to walk up to 79th for the exercise and then walk back down to the Frick. So when I couldn’t get in, I had to walk back up to 81st to visit the Met. I saw a very nice exhibit of a rather obscure artist, Hercules Segers, a 17th Century Dutch etcher and painter, who was well regarded by his peers, Rembrandt collected his work. This is a rave review from the WSJ.
https://tinyurl.com/j38sj28 I enjoyed the exhibit but I commented in emails to friends that some of them were so small and obscured that they were hard for me to see owing to my poor vision. But the ones I could make out were very good, especially the larger landscapes and ruins. Unlike the Seurat exhibit which didn't illustrate most of it on the website, the Segers was fully represented with all the objects illustrated in addition to an informative video and a bunch of comparison graphics which showed the different stages of certain etchings. It was very nice to see the Rembrandt superimposed over the Segers so you could roll back and forth to see the changes.
Unlike the Seurat exhibit the Met showed all the illustrations on the website which you can see at this link,
https://tinyurl.com/jlx6hea This is another link that shows a few of the prints in detail and comparison. As I mentioned, this one shows how Rembrandt took the engraving plate for Tobias and the Angel, which he purchased, and altered it to become his etching, The Flight into Egypt. Rembrandt owned a number of Seger’s works.
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/hercules-segers/segers-closer-look This is a link to the Overview page with the 3:50 video discussing the artist which I found interesting.
http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2017/hercules-segers On Friday I went back to the Frick and finally got to see the JMW Turner exhibit, Turner’s Modern and Ancient Ports: Passages through Time. The Frick owns a number of Turner paintings and the exhibit is built around two of the them, Harbor of Dieppe of 1825 and Cologne, The Arrival of a Packet-Boat: Evening of 1826. These are complemented by three paintings from the Tate and one from a private collection. The paintings are, of course, brilliant but the stars of the show are two dozen of his watercolors which are really special. This is a link to the Overview webpage
http://www.frick.org/exhibitions/turner This is a link to all the objects in the exhibit, with the oil paintings listed first.
http://www.frick.org/exhibitions/turner/checklist I especially enjoyed these watercolors.
Shields, on the River Tyne – A wonderful full moon shining down on men loading coal on the boat.
https://tinyurl.com/jjfqc9jDover Castle from the Sea, 1822 – There’s a lot going on here, the white cliffs of Dover, the boats in the sea with the churning waves and the backdrop of what appears to be a castle. It’s hard to see but if you enlarge the frame you can see the men in the boat off to the left are engaged in an animated discussion.
https://tinyurl.com/zj4snut Scarborough – A lady in the foreground glancing back at her dog, I always enjoy seeing animals represented in paintings.
https://tinyurl.com/zum2b6u Definitely check out all of the items, enlarging each one as it’s a really special show with items from private collections which won’t often be exhibited. This is a link to a review of the exhibit from the Bergen Record which has illustrations,
https://tinyurl.com/hj6aztkA very worthy week for art.
And now some art of a different sort, let’s visit the Flickrs.
Andy G.
Violetta 001
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138292951@N06/32320990671/aIMG_5420
https://www.flickr.com/photos/the-girl_within/5739489602/IMG_3580_pp
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mariab74/31697267853/ First Event 2017 - Marlborough, MA.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniewardlow98/31759138414/Green Lady @ The Green Lady
https://www.flickr.com/photos/misskellie/29895280586/No... I'm NOT a sissy (I just like PINK!)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gentv2000/31442880134/BB look
https://www.flickr.com/photos/75757976@N06/16188798273/P1012680
https://www.flickr.com/photos/alicccia/15499364593/Studio Grandbois,Shinkiba
https://www.flickr.com/photos/129106849@N08/32345528712/Forced into satin & frills
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125838995@N04/14579297035/
Betty's Pub 20.1
Topic: It may be 45 degrees but this is definitely the Winter Flickr! (Read 11739 times)
