IMRAN™: In My Humble Opinion: January 2025

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

First Snowfall of 2025 at Long Island, New York Home on the First Monday of the New Year - IMRAN™

What was meant to be a quick New Year's Eve trip to New York City turned into an extended stay, and boy, was it worth it! Instead of heading back to sunny Florida on January 2nd or 3rd, I found myself still in New York on January 6th, the first Monday of the new year. And guess what? It was snowing! Light, fluffy snowflakes gently blanketed my beloved Long Island home, marking the first snowfall of 2025. It was a lovely winter scene, a continuation of a great start to the new year I was blessed with.

Ironically, as I share this photo from my home on Tampa Bay, parts of Florida and the southern United States are experiencing shockingly cold winter weather, with some areas even getting slammed by piles of snow! I can only shudder to think how cold it must be in New York right now. Even as a lifelong New Yorker, I found myself putting on a jacket to walk the dog here in Apollo Beach, Florida, which didn't get as cold as other parts of the state.

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #HeronPointe #GreatSouthBay #snow #weather #NewYear #winter #January #travel #HomeSweetHome #autobiography

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Tokyo, We Have An Addiction - IMRAN™

#food #Japanese #IMRAN #photography #bokeh #sushi #sashimi #fish #cooking #puns #humor #wordplay #home #dining #style #foodie

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Apollo Beach Boardwalk Beautiful Blue Bird - IMRAN™

A beautiful, almost blue-looking, Green Heron was casually walking on the boardwalk of the Symphony Isles Yacht Club Marina in late December 2024, when my neighbor and I were there. It was a mild, beautiful early Saturday morning in Apollo Beach.

I captured the heron’s beautiful sheen, even though the morning sun was at the wrong angle. The population of these birds is said to have declined by about 50% in the last half-century or so.

#IMRAN, #Florida, #TampaBay, #ApolloBeach, #birds #GreenHeron #weekend #nature #morning #winter #marina #boardwalk

Sky Sharks, Meet Sharknado! Tech Innovation From Nikon! - IMRAN™

This news item caught my attention today. Even though I had not (and would not) see the movies Sky Sharks or Sharknado, the movie references came to mind immediately.

"Nikon unveils sharkskin-inspired riblet technology for aviation and power" ( https://lnkd.in/ebTXK9qW ). It basically is a biomimetic technology which mimics the amazing surface structure of shark skin. Nikon’s proprietary laser processing creates riblets which are artificial microstructures which resemble the fine scales on a shark’s skin. The materials have many applications from aviation to power generation.

#IMRAN #Nikon #sharks #puns #moviereferences #materialsengineering #biometrics #innovation #news #aviation Nikon

Monday, January 13, 2025

What A Combo! How About “Hospital, ER, Trauma & Burn Unit Exit 161”? - IMRAN™

I saw the sign. What a combination! Where there’s “smoke(s)” {as in cigarettes}, there is fire… or at least an abundant supply of matchsticks and lighters to start one. How convenient that the next offering on the signboard is fireworks.

But wait! There’s more. If you really want to blow yourself up, along with anyone else nearby, we’ll also include a gas station nearby on the same sign. LOL.

This was on I-95 heading south in North Carolina. During my long two-day 1250-mile drive from my Long Island home back to Apollo Beach, Florida on Christmas Day and next, I saw and missed taking a picture of a sign just like this one a few miles earlier.

Since there were still several exits to go, I was pretty sure that there would be at least one more sign like that one. It gave me time to pick up the smart-glasses that were sitting on the console of the vehicle. I put them on.

When I saw this next sign showing up in the distance, I slowed down enough to be take a few pictures hands-free. It’s hard to be sure how accurate the framing of a picture from a pair of smart-glasses is going to be. As a precaution, I took three pictures from different distances. This was the one that shows the words most clearly.

Only in jest, it made me wonder. Should there be another sign that says “Hospital, ER, Trauma & Burn Unit Exit 161”!

#IMRAN #humor #travel #USA #signs #weird #bizarre #funny #roadtrip #driving #SmartGlasses #highway #NorthCarolina #DarkHumor #Christmas

Sunday, January 12, 2025

FL GSD K2 Relaxing In Autumn Leaves Chewing Old Lost Ball He Found Near NY Home Tennis Court - IMRAN™

🐕 🎾 🍂 🍁 🥶

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #HeronPointe #GreatSouthBay #GSD #GermanShepherdDogs #dogs #autumn #gratitude #HomeSweetHome #K2

Deadly Unsurvivable Christmas Day One-Car Fatal Accident Near JFK - IMRAN™

One look while approaching and passing the scene, and you can tell this was unsurvivable. It was a one-car high-speed crash into a tree. Bad on any day, the fatal accident occurred around noon on Christmas Day, 2024.

I was on my way to Florida on the Belt Parkway near New York’s JFK Airport. I captured the tragic scene hands-free with my smart glasses as traffic slowly moved past. I think this may have been an Audi A4.

Let’s always be grateful for being alive. Let’s make every minute and hour, every day and week, every month and year of our lives meaningful and lived to the fullest. Amen.

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #JFK #Queens #accident #death #living #cars #ChristmasDay #Christmas #tragedy #inspiration #gratitude

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Dramatic Deluge Whipping Winds Rushing Rain Sunday Surreal Seaside Sunset - IMRAN™

This was the last Sunday sunset of 2024. And it was magical.

Yes, my GSD K2 just HAD to go for a walk in this rain. It was a typical surreal random thunderstorm and torrential rain occurrence. Did you see the video earlier?

The colors of the sky — with sunset across the horizon and layers of an aerial river gushing past my blessed home — are so beautiful. I’m so grateful for everything.

#IMRAN, #Florida, #TampaBay, #ApolloBeach, #Sunset #sky #clouds #rain #weather #weekend #wordplay #gratitude #lifestyle

Thursday, January 09, 2025

Oh Dear, Deer! - IMRAN™

They’re cute but they’re pests now. In my 30 years having this blessed home in Long Island in New York, the handful of fearful deer hiding in the phragmites have turned into marauding herds that have destroyed all our neighborhood flower beds. Even these little ones are least bothered by my being 10 feet from them next to my downstairs rear deck.

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #HeronPointe #GreatSouthBay #deer #nature #animals #winter #wildlife

Sunday, January 05, 2025

Some Cold Days I Just Want A Chicken Fajita Omelette - IMRAN™

I am not a breakfast person. But sometimes I just want a hearty, hot, cheesy, meaty, zesty omelette. New Year’s Day was a cold windy one at my East Patchogue, New York home.

After running some errands (spending money at stores like Lowe’s that were open to appreciate them) I felt the need to have a chicken fajita omelette.

That is primarily the thing that makes me drive to an IHOP, for example to Brandon, FL (because there wasn’t one close to Apollo Beach. There hadn’t one in Patchogue for ages so I decided to go to the only nearby option in Ronkonkoma.

To ensure they were open on New Year, I asked my Copilot to call the nearest IHOP. It was about 6:30 pm (on New Year’s Day as I mentioned). As the person answered the call with the usual IHOP greeting and said they were open, I almost missed something.

I asked, “Did you say IHOP Patchogue? Is this a new location?”

He said, yes, they had just opened at Thanksgiving.

So, I was happy to drive to this new place literally a mile from where I had made the call from. Brand new. Clean. Bright. Spacious. Cheerful servers.

Usual decent omelette and freshly squeezed orange juice (although the $7 price was a surprise). They weren’t even listed in Yelp yet, so that was my addition to their database too.

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #GreatSouthBay #IHOP #breakfast #food #HungryMan #winter #restaurant #omelette

Saturday, January 04, 2025

No Sleep All-Nighter Dawn New Year’s Eve Selfie Heading Go New York New Year’s - IMRAN™

All my life I have been a late night person. When it gets very late at night, and I have to be awake very early the next morning, I find it easier to just keep going for a full 36 hours.

Having to do this after a long 2-day drive from New York to Florida, then having to head back there for a dawn flight on New Year’s Eve Day made it a little tougher.

But, eternally grateful to the Almighty, I managed to get New York City on New Year’s Eve. It marked the start of my 36th Happy New Year as a grateful American.

How do you handle all-nighter situations?

#IMRAN, #Florida, #TampaBay, #ApolloBeach, #NewYearsEve #NewYear #gratitude #autobiography

Friday, January 03, 2025

D&D: Facebook AI Wants To Be Dumber Than Dumb Apple “Intelligence” - IMRAN™

I know ChatGPT & Copilot are not perfect. No AI is. Yet. But some are worse than others.

As if to prove it is dumber than so-called Apple Intelligence branding (see earlier post for examples I posted), here’s Facebook’s “AI” trying to be “clever” and “helpful”.

It thinks years mentioned in a comment are phone numbers — just because there’s a hyphen in there.

That’s Just-Plain-Dumb & Dumber-By-The-Number. 😂

#IMRAN #humor #technology #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Facebook #Apple #numbers #IMHO

Wednesday, January 01, 2025

Happy NewYear! Stunning 1/1/2025 Sunset At Blessed Long Island New York Home - IMRAN™

#IMRAN #NewYork #LongIsland #EastPatchogue #HeronPointe #GreatSouthBay #Sunset #sky #clouds #winter #nature #gratitude #lifestyle #HomeSweetHome #HappyNewYear

I ❤️ NY! Manhattan, Empire State Building, UN, NYC On NYE On 37 Years Anniversary Of Xmas 1987 Arrival - IMRAN™

Manhattan — my forever American hometown since I first arrived in autumn 1987. I had then visited Canada, and returned for Christmas & New Year winter holidays shopping 37 years ago.

Marking that new chapter in my life, I flew into NYC on NYE December 31, 2024 to kickoff 2025. My personal symbols, the twin towers of the original World Trade Center are long gone. But the Empire State Building, midtown, and other landmarks — captured through the window of a Delta flight from TPA to LGA — have been my home for nearly 4 decades.

#IMRAN #NYC #NewYork #NewYorkCity #Manhattan #EmpireState #UnitedNations #river #landmarks #history #memories #flying #travel #autobiography #architecture #HappyNewYear #winter