Author: Steve

 

Or not.

 

My world birding alter ego has recently been to:

 

Spain for the Eurasian Spoonbill

Czech Republic, Hawfinch

Germany, Eurasian Blackbird

Canada, Pine Siskin

Montana, Great Gray Owl

Panama, Crimson-backed Tanager

Japan, Eurasian Nuthatch

Caribbean Netherlands, Venezuelan Troupial

United Kingdom, Eurasian Magpie

Finland, Eurasian Blue Tit

Netherlands, Great Tit

Australia, Rainbow Lorikeet

Israel, House Sparrow

Latvia, White-tailed Eagle

Brazil, Saffron Finch

..and South Africa for the Hadada Ibis

 

Altogether 57 species in 16 countries.

 

The world map of countries for our digital birding looks like this:

 

I get around.

 

And I’ve changed technique for capturing images.  I started out taking photographs of the screen when I saw a bird I wanted a picture of.  They looked like I was photographing through a window screen, so they weren’t very clear:

 

 

Now I capture moments digitally with screen grabs:

 

Eurasian Nuthatch, Japan.

 

Oriental Tit, Varied Tit, Japan.

 

European Robin and Green Finches, Czech Republic.

 

Green Finch, Czech Republic.

 

Hawfinch, Austria.

 

They come out a little clearer.

 

 

Remember the cactus and succulent garden Judy planted a few years ago; succulents trailing all over it?

 

Well, Jesse left the cactus alone but thought the succulents were salad.  She managed to munch them down to just a few remaining plants for Judy to save.  Here they are, repurposed into a different pot, outside the fence, where the mad muncher can’t get to them.

 

 

Much as this pandemic and lockdown suck, one part of our professional life may come out the better for it.

 

I’ve been at odds with the accounting profession since 2010, about working directly with clients digitally.  We could do digital audits of organizations in remote places, using video conference apps for our face to face conversations and any observations we need to make.  In the last couple years there has been some progress in this direction at the national level, but our state, Colorado, has been terrible.  We’re stymied by the Peer Review process which refuses to consider a video call as a face-to-face meeting.  We’re threatened with failure to meet professional standards, if we dare to disobey, which could be a death-blow to our practice.

 

In 2010, brain surgeons were doing telemedicine consultations with remote patients to determine if they had brain injuries that warranted being evacuated to a major hospital in Denver.  What?  A videoconference is good enough technology for brain surgeons, but not yet ready for accounting!?!?  Okay.  I’ve been hot about this for ten years.

 

Well, in the last two months, things have changed.  We, as a firm, are no longer alone.  Now every CPA firm in Colorado, and the country, has to choose between not working at all, or working remotely (digitally).  We have not gotten any direct acknowledgement from the state that now it’s really okay to use videoconferencing, but we are all being encouraged to keep our businesses open, while keeping everyone safe, by practicing social distancing and avoiding direct client contact.  We have embraced the concept, and I think the genie is out of the bottle now.  We are all working digitally.  Whenever this darn pandemic actually ends (I think it will take years), I don’t foresee the state telling every firm to now stop the new way of doing business, which apparently is now in compliance with professional standards, and go back to the old way of doing things.

 

So maybe, finally, we can take advantage of the technology that has been here all along.

 

 

There is a Yellow-headed Blackbird in our park.  It hangs out by a feeder about five houses away from ours, and as far as I know, it has never been to our feeders.

 

 

 

These are low-light evening photographs, but this bird looks good in any light!

 

 

There are still more physical therapist visits left on the prescription from the surgeon, and our medical coverage allows for more, but this last visit, the PT did some measurements and testing, and declared that Judy had satisfied all the requirements for recovery.  She’s done.  The PT said if she came back any more it would be malpractice.  There isn’t any more she needs to do.

 

As slow and painful as the recovery process seemed to us sometimes, she, the PT, said she had never seen a knee replacement go as well as this. A lot of credit to Judy for being so determined and persistent, but we’ll share some of the credit with the surgeon for doing such a fine job.  An outcome this good starts with the work of the surgeon.

 

So at seven weeks post-surgery, Judy graduated.  With honors.