Call Me Camera Crazy

These photos of a dreadful rat in our backyard convinced me I could catch things quickly with a DSLR (if you can stomach it, click on photo for a closer look!). Aside from not really thinking it would be useful, I was afraid that things would pass me by while I tried to set up the camera. Usually in the spring we are plagued with at least one rat in the backyard--fortunately they only come out around sundown. That's both good and bad, it can quickly spoil the mood while having a candlit dinner by the pool. Bruce is concerned about rat poison--he's always thinking of ways Baxter might get hurt.

I decided to go to Colonial Photo and Hobby after calling them and finding out they were competitive with their prices. They've been in Orlando for over 50 years, one of the few remaining businesses from my childhood. I was surprised at the number of people in the store as I went there around 2 in the afternoon; apparently their customer service must draw repeat customers. I had a nice young man for a salesperson, he was very helpful, didn't try to convince me to buy more than I need. I bought the NikonD60 with two vibration reduction lenses, two UV filters, and a polarizing filter. The price came in about what I was expecting. I now have a person I can call about the camera if the need arises, something that Costco doesn't offer.

While in the store I held both the Canon Rebel XTI, and the Nikon. Because I'd had two weeks practice with the Nikon it already felt good in my hands which convinced me it was the camera for me. After a lengthy discussion with Matt on Monday, the conclusion was that both cameras will give you great pictures, however if it doesn't feel comfortable it won't be as pleasurable. As you are well aware by now I listen to my eldest son, usually following his sound advice. The cool thing about the camera purchase is that I bought it with some of the money I've earned from taking pictures. We shall see if the camera pays for itself in the next few months.

Speaking of which I made my first invoice today to send to the assisted living facility using a template on my iMac word processing program, Pages. The more I use it the more comfortable I've become, it is very intuitive with seamless integration of my photos.

That brings up yesterday's project. Lately I've woken up more frequently at night than I'd like. Normally I don't look at the clock but after lying there thinking about stuff I got up. You would not believe some of the things I did at 2 in the morning, one of which is to gather any garbage around the house putting the bag by the door to take out in the morning. As well I noticed the moon which was way cool. I got the tripod out and set up in the front yard. Poor Baxter thought I was crazy! Lastly, I remembered how to burn the DVDs of the photos and began that project. Eventually I went back to bed. Now I'm a tired girl, as is Mr. Bruce; he's fast asleep on the couch after returning home from a business trip. He got up at a ridiculous hour this morning so who can blame him? I'm just happy he's home.

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Listening to: Blur - Crazy Beat
via FoxyTunes

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Listening to: Ray Charles & Van Morrison - Crazy Love
via FoxyTunes

I'd Really Nothing Better to Do

Graceful Exit
Regular readers will know that I've had my struggles with my iMac. Today was one of those days. Really it started yesterday, but I didn't call until this afternoon. Somehow my computer did not recognize me, thus making tasks extra difficult. It only took a 2 1/2 hour consultation with three different guys before I was back in business. When the second guy said he was handing me off to someone else and the wait would be an additional forty minutes I was incredulous. Thank goodness for speaker phones!

For a good part of that holding time I made this wonderful orange juice from a tree in Lisa's yard. I can hardly wait until tomorrow morning to have my first fresh squeezed orange juice of the season. I've had some from a grove store, but the best is when you do it yourself. I squeezed all she gave me which made a bit over a gallon of the good stuff. I wish you were here Matt to share it!

Hurray! Michelle got her first gig from the pictures. Orlando is second in the nation for conventions for those of you unfamiliar with our city. She will be at one of the booths for the annual Homebuilders Show. This is typically one of the largest of the year; a super way to start. The mood may not be like last years what with the dreadful real estate downturn but I'm sure it will still be good.


Now that I've got my computer sorted out, my new pictures are up in my gallery. I have been handing out business cards with that gallery on them and I was not all that happy with what I had on there. I spent a bunch of my day yesterday finding new stuff. Speaking of cards, one of the benefits of doing the market is finding out info from other vendors. My new friend, Brandee told me about a website that prints cards for cheap. Turns out they are in the UK, but it was still very reasonable. They had easy templates that you could customize; if I could do it, anyone can. They arrived today and they turned out very nice. That is one task Bruce no longer has to do. He is super busy with work--nothing unusual there--but my stuff is requiring more of his time than he can afford. So there you go.

Re: today's article. Something to think about regardless of how unpleasant it may be. Our children take note please.

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Now playing: The Bees - Stand
via FoxyTunes

Amazing is All I Can Say!

Maybe I've been through the learning curve, I don't know, but this time the transfer of data was amazingly quick. What's more, the photos transferred over as the folders I'd had in Picasa. I was able to easily delete all the photos that were edited originals . In fact, the whole process is completed and it's only 11:30 in the morning. All my music (3,500 songs) and photos( 4,500). I'm listening to Basement Jaxx as I type this. Only one hurdle left -- to figure out how to upload a picture to this blog. For some reason I couldn't open the iPhoto folder. Pictures will be forthcoming when I unravel this mystery. I lied, I still don't have Firefox although I've done pretty well on my own. Matthew was not available for a global computer consulatation as he was out with friends after work. Our man in London.

As I've mentioned previously flickr is a puzzling "place." Last evening around 7, I posted the photo of the new computer; as I type this it has been viewed 306 times! My most popular pretty picture has been viewed only about 350 times. It's always the crazy ones that get viewed alot. Interestingly enough, I posted a photo of the shuttle in the sky from our street. This time I was able to get the actual shuttle (albeit small) as opposed to just the aftermath. 19 views. I suppose it goes to show you what people are really interested in. Something tangible that makes their life easier today--not in the future.

Assume the Sale

Doesn't every girl struggle with this?

Last night I met with Mr. Roger about printing my photos. He's the man I told you about who stopped by my booth at the market. It turns out he started four years ago doing just what I'm doing. He now has five printers, ability to print on canvas, a trailer, and a big truck. He had invaluable advice including how to go about taking credit cards. We have been taking baby steps, however, he's given us ideas about larger ones. Give him the credit for the title of this post--a new motto for me.

I'm writing the last blog entry on this computer. Apple came out with a better iMac yesterday, which I will be getting. I've just returned from the store only to learn that if I return this 12 day old computer I will receive a new one with a larger monitor, more hard drive, and $100 back. It's an offer to good to be true. Unfortunately, that means I'll be starting over loading my photos and music. In the long run, I'm sure it will be worth it.

I slept well last night and hopefully things will be good today. Thanks for your concern.

Jesters

I don't exactly know what I'm doing wrong with this blog, but I've now posted two photos without text. When I start typing it comes up bold, and underlined; even when I click that off , it comes back. At any rate, here we are on Sunday night. These little fellows were at the market today--I'm not entirely sure what a person does with them, but they are kinda cute nonetheless.

I'm doing my best not to be discouraged as I'm told when the weather cools the market will become livelier--that is, with paying customers. I was almost skunked again today until after lunch. To make a long story short, some folks came to get one of my downtown bar sign pictures because apparently their daughter/granddaughter saw it a week or so ago and wanted it mightily. Her grandparents bought it for her for a graduation present, unbeknownst to her. She brought her family to the booth about 30 minutes later looking for the picture to show them. If you can imagine, she was crestfallen when it was not there. She will have a happy surprise come Saturday. That sort of thing makes the market worth it. As well it encourages me that even if they don't buy something today--they may just be waiting until the time is right.

Tomorrow is the big day--Jonathan, and Alissa, start their drive to Chicago. Wow--I can hardly believe the date has arrived as I'm sure they can't either. They are super excited; the mother in me is trying desperately not to be too worried. Allissa's phone interview went well and she is scheduled for a face to face interview on Thursday. That is happy news.

The iMac and I are getting along pretty well for just getting acquainted. Thank God for Matt--without him getting me to a starting point I would still be in trouble. Bruce was a dollas always, taking down my old computer and getting the new one on my desk, complete with speakers, and a sub-woofer (it's a guy thing). I spent a bunch more time yesterday sorting pictures--I am struggling with a way to organize them, but give me a bit, and I may just figure it out.

Stepping Into the Unknown

Indeed that is what I was doing. If you can imagine, it took me all day to load my pictures and music on the new computer. Of course it was because I didn't know what I was doing, but they are on there now. I had burned the pictures onto DVDs as I may have mentioned. Apparently, what that meant was that every photo I've taken in the last six months was on there, including all the originals that had been edited, so there were doubles on lots of them. All total it was about 5,000!!! For the first three discs I went back and sent the ones I didn't want into the trash, emptied it, but then I got weary of that and just continued the transfer.

I thought I had finally got the hang of it and that I was putting them into some sort of order. Not so. I was making albums when I probably should have been making folders. Consequently they are mostly in order of how I took them. One thing about that is that I think I can see some progression in my skills. As most of you know I've only been at this stuff since Christmas. I had always liked taking pictures yet never experimented because of cost. Camera Crazy was born when I got my "baby camera."

On the other hand, the music transfer was quick and easy. I downloaded (is that the right term?) 4,000 songs in no time at all. Literally, I worked on the photos for probably 12 hours.

Posting of photos to this site may be crazy until I sort things out.

When Carol and Hank were visiting they fell in love with darling Baxter--really, everyone who meets him does. They are visiting a breeder today in California to see about getting a Yorkie. You may not know how we acquired Baxter and that he is our first dog. He really belongs to Bill and Leanne--we only became his foster parents a little over a year ago. At any rate, C & H have only ever had cats. I think they will like having a dog; I know we certainly have. Of course, we did not have to do all the puppy work. BTW--David and Victoria Beckham live on Carol's street in Beverly Hills. She tells me the papparazi are swarming.

Morning Sun

Here is the new quilt with the morning sun streaming through the blinds. It's really a perfect match for our furnishings and the paint color of the room. The dust ruffle is still a work in progress. It's very challenging to find dust ruffles these day--maybe because of platform beds. I like having storage space under my bed, thank you very much.

I'm typing this on my brand new iMac. Let me tell you, I believe I'm already in love. The keyboard is super nice. Here's the most incredible part about this whole thing. Matt, of course, suggested I look at one. I was immediately amazed at the no cord business. I looked a few days ago and today Bruce said--just go get it. Well, he didn't have to tell me twice. I had a super nice young man as a salesman--Tom. That was my dad's name. At any rate, I was nervous about learning something new but I decided to give it a shot. Of course I knew that Matt could help me if I was in a pinch. I didn't know just how much. When I arrived home I sent him an e-mail in London--fortunately it wasn't too late at the time. He got right back with me and get this--he took control of my computer from London and loaded all my essentials, including this! It was so fun watching the screen change from this to that.

I spent a good part of yesterday burning all my pictures on DVDs so that I could put them on some new computer. My old one was running as slow as molasses. Bruce was appalled and wondered why I was putting up with it. Well--no longer. I'm so excited.

One thing though, there was about the biggest thunder and lightening storm happening during the final portion of my conversation with Matt. We had ended the meeting session on the computer when the storm starting picking up. It sounded like gun shots from the sky. Really spectacular. Unfortunately it kicked off the power and with that my beautiful new computer went dark.

Happily, it is back on now.

Thank God Bruce is safe. He was flying home from Ohio while the storm was lashing. Apparently he was in a small plane and drinks were flying; he went flying up himself and his head hit the ceiling of the plane. My poor baby. They diverted the plane to Tampa so now he won't be home till I'm not even sure. He called from there and said it was possibly the worst flight he's been on. As you can imagine he's been on plenty. He's worked for Darden for 15 years in November and traveled most every week all these years. He is amazing about it--he never lets the travel complications get to him. Fortunately Matthew has inherited that gene and just goes with the flow.