Sucking along on the road less traveled

09/26/2009 10:51:10 AM · #426

If your into southern rock, here is a photo of the Marshall Tucker Band, and some weird guy..:)

09/26/2009 11:00:10 AM · #427

Originally posted by kashi:

Originally posted by raish:
I'm sub 3 in the nude...

I didn't even notice you taking my photo . . . I'm sorry.

Magnificent. Only here could the subject of sneak nude photography apologise to the photographer...

I had a bad week or two, maybe, although there are usually two sides etc...

I broke a finger - boo. That leaves (checks Wikipedia) something in the order of 205 bones I did't break. Hurray?

This fella

fell off something or got run over or kicked, I don't know. There's a fair bit of damage to one of his legs. It isn't a fracture, but it hurts to walk on it and the logic is roughly: operations are expensive without any guarantee of success and for a top cat in the neighbourhood it's all or nothing. Time will tell, but the outlook isn't promising.

The mother-in-law died a few weeks ago. She was old and so it goes, so no crowd noises needed there. I've had the use of her car for a short while and now that's pretty much died on me - boo. I'm getting a new van on Monday though - hurray.

I dropped my camera on the unforgiving asphalt on Thursday - slap bang on the corner of the skylight filter on the 18-200 VR lens. Boo. Pictures taken before

and after

the disaster show that things still work, but I was unable to zoom and the little bit with buttons on (VR on/off, VR normal/active, focus M/A) flew off and left Snowden's secret disgorgement of electronic entrails flailing around. Boo hoo hoo.
I gave the lens up for dead with that much damage and mistreatment, but of course I had to fiddle with it when I got it home (just wait til I get you home). I found a couple of bits that looked like those old printer leads, with a number of wires in them but laid out flat rather than with a circular cross-section. These ones were only a couple of milimeters wide, though. With the aid of some seriously agricultural-looking and sharp-nosed pliers I man-handled them into what looked like receptive holes. I then gathered some brute force and ignorance to get the little-bit-with-buttons back on. Used a few hyphens, too. I could see that the zoom function was jammed because the whole barrel was just knocked askew, so I got some serious reserves of brutality out and wrenched it back into shape. You can feel and hear both the zoom and autofocus functions now, but it seems they actually work. Bit of a hurray, then. One other thing - a problem with that lens is that if you're pointing it up or down, it wil zoom under its own weight. Not any more it doesn't. Heh. Hurray.

That's about it for my tales of woe, except that I don't know if I'm coming or going. Boo.

Hang on, no, that was the other guy, he's going. Hurray.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

09/26/2009 12:08:15 PM · #428

Peter, pad that finger well, as you already know the injured is magnetically attracted to hard objects.
Scientists study rats for some god awful reason, and yet it is cats with the most regenerative capabilities known to man.
Although not asked for, sincere condolences go forth to your family..
New car smell is a good smell.
Tools, manhandling and brute force are words not often used in relation to delicate lenses.

I look above and see redundant responses to your ills, I apologize. I think a afternoon well spent with the Moody Blues are in order, so that I might again wax poetic..

poser

Canon EOS-60D

09/26/2009 12:17:47 PM · #429

Peter, today might be a good day just to sit and do nothing. Hopefully things will be better.

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

09/26/2009 12:26:21 PM · #430

Originally posted by poser:

Peter, today might be a good day just to sit and do nothing. Hopefully things will be better.

Maybe better yet play the lottery, you must have some good karma coming your way..

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

09/26/2009 12:49:33 PM · #431

Geesh, Peter... Have you considered writing professionally? Jejejeâ�¢ Maybe try your hand at some "modern" poetry? Meanwhile, I am STILL gfeeling the aftereffects of a broken pinkie finger 9 months later, you never know how much you use it until it doesn't work right anymore...

R.

09/26/2009 01:07:08 PM · #432

I thought of typing professionally, but I keep missing the p on account of the armoured pinky.

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/26/2009 01:14:19 PM · #433

Originally posted by alans_world:

... yet it is cats with the most regenerative capabilities known to man.

Ah, I vote for starfish -- cut of an arm and not only will the starfish grow a new one, but the arm can grow a new starfish. Lack of knowledge of this phenomenon eventually led to the obliteration of the San Francisco Bay oyster industry.

Hope your finger gets better soon!

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/26/2009 05:01:09 PM · #434

Peter, I am so sorry to hear all of the sad/painful things happening in your life right now. Very sorry for your cat in particular, though when I was a child one of our cats got hit and they were able to mend her leg. Sending healing energy. Hang in there. ((HUGS)) Susan, Druli and Lily

Photologist

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

09/26/2009 05:08:25 PM · #435

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Starfish? Oysters? What is the commonality?

09/26/2009 06:06:13 PM · #436

Originally posted by AperturePriority:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
Ah, I vote for starfish -- cut of an arm and not only will the starfish grow a new one, but the arm can grow a new starfish. Lack of knowledge of this phenomenon eventually led to the obliteration of the San Francisco Bay oyster industry.

Starfish? Oysters? What is the commonality?

Starfish eat oysters. Nobody realized that starfish could regenerate so well, and they pry open oysters (I think anyway) and slurp em down with a shot of hot sauce and lemon juice. Mmmm...getting hungry...!

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

09/26/2009 06:24:09 PM · #437

I think the starfish's secret is not the oysters, but the tequila they slurp down with the lemon juice.

Thank you all for the kind words, not least those about doing nothing for a while. I have a free week now, so... The mother-in-law wasn't a tired and overworked housewife and neither am I and nor's the cat. I'm planning to drive the wraith of her old car down to where she lived and park it up in the garage (the family's retained the house) on Friday, whereupon we should chug out to sea/fjord and spread her ashes. That way I get to drink plenty and I'll not be driving home. Neat how it all rounds out.

So, it's only a week in my case, but as the tired housewife's gravestone says (and this is true):
Don't mourn for me now
Don't mourn for me never
I'm gwine to do nothing
For ever and ever...

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

09/26/2009 07:00:36 PM · #438

Sorry for everything! (particularly the cat). Luckily this week's over, never to be repeated! So how did you break the finger?

09/26/2009 07:12:45 PM · #439

You know those huge great exercise balls that you're supposed to roll around on or whatever? I decided to play catch with one. I'm smart like that. It didn't really snap a bone in two, so much as chip a piece off the knuckle end of the smallest bone, when the ball hit the end of the finger straight on. I'm so smart. 8 weeks of awkward and an X-ray to check on armistice day.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

09/26/2009 07:26:32 PM · #440

You broke your finger catching a stability ball? Well I guess if thrown with enough force...

May as well put said ball to work for you, use it to tone your tummy while your finger heals. Put it on a level surface, sit on it, keep your back straight, lift your feet off the ground, now stay that way for 1/2 hr. Even better if floor uneven, like it was in my apartment (now that I own a house with mostly level floors not half so much fun). Enjoy and let's see that six-pack by Armistice Day!

Whoops getting dark out, must go find Lily....

colorcarnival

Olympus 45mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko Digital

09/26/2009 07:40:45 PM · #441

Peter - sorry to hear that you have had a crazy couple of weeks. My condolences to you and your family on your MIL's passing.

I hope that things get better soon! Sounds like you are staying sane in spite of all that has happened :)

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/26/2009 08:31:37 PM · #442

Originally posted by snaffles:

Originally posted by AperturePriority:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
Ah, I vote for starfish -- cut of an arm and not only will the starfish grow a new one, but the arm can grow a new starfish. Lack of knowledge of this phenomenon eventually led to the obliteration of the San Francisco Bay oyster industry.

Starfish? Oysters? What is the commonality?

Starfish eat oysters. Nobody realized that starfish could regenerate so well, and they pry open oysters (I think anyway) and slurp em down with a shot of hot sauce and lemon juice. Mmmm...getting hungry...!

Pretty close -- the starfish everts its "stomach" and surrounds the prey with digestive juices.

The oyster fishermen tried to wipe out the competition by hauling in as many starfish as they could and hacking them to pieces. Unfortunately, they then dumped all the pieces back into the Bay ...

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

09/26/2009 08:41:53 PM · #443

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by snaffles:

Originally posted by AperturePriority:

Originally posted by GeneralE:
Ah, I vote for starfish -- cut of an arm and not only will the starfish grow a new one, but the arm can grow a new starfish. Lack of knowledge of this phenomenon eventually led to the obliteration of the San Francisco Bay oyster industry.

Starfish? Oysters? What is the commonality?

Starfish eat oysters. Nobody realized that starfish could regenerate so well, and they pry open oysters (I think anyway) and slurp em down with a shot of hot sauce and lemon juice. Mmmm...getting hungry...!

Pretty close -- the starfish everts its "stomach" and surrounds the prey with digestive juices.

The oyster fishermen tried to wipe out the competition by hauling in as many starfish as they could and hacking them to pieces. Unfortunately, they then dumped all the pieces back into the Bay ...

that's what you get when you mess with mother nature!

vawendy

Sony Alpha 1

Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS

09/26/2009 08:42:33 PM · #444

Originally posted by raish:

ouch! I agree with snaffles -- take it out on the ball!

Photologist

Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

09/26/2009 08:56:35 PM · #445

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Ohhhh! Now I get the connection between starfish and oysters. The starfish were eating the oysters, pissing off the oystermen; the oystermen captured tons of starfish, chopping them up like a Waste Management boss from New Jersey, throwing them back out to sea, only to have the starfish comeback ten-fold with a vengence!

Wow! Who would've thought that I could take in a great biology lesson from a topic called, "Sucking along on the road less traveled"!! :D

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/26/2009 09:02:11 PM · #446

Originally posted by AperturePriority:

Wow! Who would've thought that I could take in a great biology lesson from a topic called, "Sucking along on the road less traveled"!! :D

Remember that the starfish pry open the oysters using thousands of little suckers on their arms -- there is a fairly direct connection here ... no one sucks more than a starfish serving dinner.

09/26/2009 10:46:03 PM · #447

Fascinating...but how do starfish keep digestive juices confined in open sea? And so are starfish like the Mafia hitmen of the Bay?

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/26/2009 10:55:42 PM · #448

Wikipedia explanation of starfish (sea star) digestion here.

09/26/2009 11:02:58 PM · #449

You should change your name to ProfessorIE, LOL