Efficient in Google Photos

Efficient is the New York Times’ Word of the Day. Inspired by this, I searched my Google Photos for “efficient” and let the algorithm surprise me. The results sparked some interesting memories and reflections. If you try this, share your finds with #WordoftheDayEfficient.

Here are some highlights from my search:

Stacking pennies is efficient? Maybe for counting?

I took this photo because I wanted to see how many pennies I could grab at once from a bucket. I filled up a trash can with pennies. Then I grabbed the pennies with one hand. To count the pennies, I stacked them up.

I grabbed 245 pennies—a world record. Captured on YouTube in 2007.

A plant growing from a concrete crack has to be very efficient. Minimal resources, yet able to grow. This was taken at the median planters on Michigan Avenue across from Tribune Tower in Chicago.

Clocks force us to be efficient. This was the clock in my kitchen when I lived in Chicago.

I previously had an art project where I left word bubbles on parking meters. The bubble said, “Your time here is limited. Where are you going?” These particular word bubbles have Yoda quotes.

I placed these quotes on top of Joe Girardi baseball cards. They were used in a blog post about how Joe Girardi looks like Yoda.

Keeping your X-Acto blades organized is very efficient.

Tribune Publishing moved out of Tribune Tower into the Prudential Building. We were there for about 2.5 years until the 2020 pandemic.

This is a room off the cafe area. A little casual room. I guess it can be efficient. It was a nice room to hang out in. I love how the couch on the left shows butt prints from the previous sitter.

The light at the end of the tunnel is efficient? I would say that’s the end of life. In reality, this is a giant corrugated pipe at Woody’s Orchard in Plano, IL. They made this pipe into a slide. Efficient in using an everyday object as a slide? Google would really know this is a slide, though. I suppose, in general, these corrugated pipes are efficient at moving water around.

I had a lot of photos of the gas pump. I suppose there might be fuel-efficient cars. I refused to include those in my album, because I don’t view cars as efficient in life. Yes, literally cars can be efficient with our time. But I don’t see them as efficient in living. Our lives would be much better if we had more public transit everywhere.

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