What are you doing today?

I'm noodling and hopefully will soon be planning a couple of long Amtrak photo treks for next Spring/Summer. I did a few of those in the past holding my camera lens or iPhone lens right up against the window and that worked really well. I think that could evolve into a project down the road.
 

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Citysnaps said:
I'm noodling and hopefully will soon be planning a couple of long Amtrak photo treks for next Spring/Summer. I did a few of those in the past holding my camera lens or iPhone lens right up against the window and that worked really well. I think that could evolve into a project down the road.
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I love taking the train. Always have, and have enjoyed trains on 3 continents. I wish we had more opportunities to do that here.
 
Citysnaps said:
I'm noodling and hopefully will soon be planning a couple of long Amtrak photo treks for next Spring/Summer. I did a few of those in the past holding my camera lens or iPhone lens right up against the window and that worked really well. I think that could evolve into a project down the road.
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Alli said:
I love taking the train. Always have, and have enjoyed trains on 3 continents. I wish we had more opportunities to do that here.
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We want to do this too, I've never been on a train (like a cross country type thing, been on plenty of M and L and such). We need a long trip with a booze car and a fun destination :D
 
DT said:
We want to do this too, I've never been on a train (like a cross country type thing, been on plenty of M and L and such). We need a long trip with a booze car and a fun destination :D
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We've yet to do a cross-country trip. Maybe in the future to Washington, DC. Longest trip was from the SF Bay Area to Austin, Texas. What's interesting is you see a lot of interesting stuff train riding you'd never see driving on the freeway. It's a great way to make a lot of interesting and different photographs.
 
I’m up stupid early (for me) this morning. I somehow got roped into both hostessing and being the guest speaker at today’s local women’s club meeting. What on earth possessed us to do a potato bar?! The place we meet is lacking in many things, like any kind of presentation screen. I’ve set up the presentation using Nearpod so everyone can follow along on their phones or tablets, but I worry it’s going to be too small for most of the women attending. If I ever do anything like this again it might be worth investing in a portable presentation package.
 
Citysnaps said:
We've yet to do a cross-country trip. Maybe in the future to Washington, DC. Longest trip was from the SF Bay Area to Austin, Texas. What's interesting is you see a lot of interesting stuff train riding you'd never see driving on the freeway. It's a great way to make a lot of interesting and different photographs.
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You're not kidding.

Did one less than a month ago from WV to LA. Did notice some things that were different.

For one, I thought flashing blue lights were for the exclusive use of the Police. Nope. In MO saw some wreckers with them and in NM, state DOH was using them.

Also in MO, something about I-44 that every truck must need their APU repaired on that highway because there were like 4 huge APU repair facilities. Never seen them advertised anywhere else.

In north Texas, there are a lot, and I mean a lot of windmills. And their AWL's all flashed on at exactly the same time. Hundreds of them all coming on an off at exactly the same time. Must use some sort of GPS timing.

Lane discipline. Western states have this nailed down. Unlike the eastern states where people drive where they want :mad: , out west most people tended to stay in the right lane unless they were passing.

Trains. - Yeah, we have trains, but some of these trains were miles long being pulled by 4-5 locomotives. Most were filled with containers headed east. No way we could have trains that long in the east as we have too many small towns with crossings and you couldn't have a crossing closed that long. And they were coming back to back. Clear one miles long train and 20 minutes later here comes another one.

I really didn't have time to stop and explore as it was spend 14 hours in the U-Haul, sleep and repeat. Hopefully our next trip we will be able to stop and see some things.

The CA 55mph speed limit for trucks is completely ignored. At least on I-40/I-15. Not just ignored a little, say like 65. Ignored like 80-85. Do love the 75-80/mph speed limits once you get to OK. FYI, a U-Haul gets around 7 mpg at 75 mph.
 
Herdfan said:
You're not kidding.

Did one less than a month ago from WV to LA. Did notice some things that were different.

For one, I thought flashing blue lights were for the exclusive use of the Police. Nope. In MO saw some wreckers with them and in NM, state DOH was using them.

Also in MO, something about I-44 that every truck must need their APU repaired on that highway because there were like 4 huge APU repair facilities. Never seen them advertised anywhere else.

In north Texas, there are a lot, and I mean a lot of windmills. And their AWL's all flashed on at exactly the same time. Hundreds of them all coming on an off at exactly the same time. Must use some sort of GPS timing.

Lane discipline. Western states have this nailed down. Unlike the eastern states where people drive where they want :mad: , out west most people tended to stay in the right lane unless they were passing.

Trains. - Yeah, we have trains, but some of these trains were miles long being pulled by 4-5 locomotives. Most were filled with containers headed east. No way we could have trains that long in the east as we have too many small towns with crossings and you couldn't have a crossing closed that long. And they were coming back to back. Clear one miles long train and 20 minutes later here comes another one.

I really didn't have time to stop and explore as it was spend 14 hours in the U-Haul, sleep and repeat. Hopefully our next trip we will be able to stop and see some things.

The CA 55mph speed limit for trucks is completely ignored. At least on I-40/I-15. Not just ignored a little, say like 65. Ignored like 80-85. Do love the 75-80/mph speed limits once you get to OK. FYI, a U-Haul gets around 7 mpg at 75 mph.
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On of the more interesting areas I went through on an Amtrak train was Vanderberg Air/Space Force Base on a trip down to LA. It's along the coast and huge, around 100,000 acres, with the train going through the middle. There were a lot of launch complexes there, some dating back to the '60s. Space X had a large facility there for national security launches. There's also a 15,000 foot runway. It was all kind of surreal.
 
Laundry and linen changes, in other words, standard household "admin".

Attended an online meeting (yes, about Ukraine among other matters).

Made a few phone calls.

Paid a few (household) bills, wrote a reference for my (excellent) interpreter from my recent Election Observation Mission in Bosnia, printed it, signed it, (and then had it put into a PDF format so that I can now send it on its merry way to him) and bought beer.........and yes, @Clix Pix, this beer haul does include several bottles of Trappistes Rochefort 8, (and a few bottles of Trappistes Rochefort 10, and of St Bernardus 12), but, although, until it is delivered to me, I shall not be in a position to sip, sample, and savour any of these delightful beverages.

Additional purchases included organic milk (a local store keeps it for me each week) and citrus fruit (oranges, lemons, grapefruit).
 
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Herdfan said:
Lane discipline. Western states have this nailed down. Unlike the eastern states where people drive where they want :mad: , out west most people tended to stay in the right lane unless they were passing.
Click to expand...
I was driving 80 to work one morning in NJ. Passed a guy going the speed limit (65?) who was in the left lane. A cop appeared out of nowhere - and ticketed the guy who was driving in the passing lane.
 
Met the cheesemonger for lunch, (Thai vegetable curry for me, absolutely delicious) in one of my favourite restaurants.

Ordered (and paid for) bread in the French bakery, - which they shall keep for me tomorrow - and ran into a cousin of mine, who has coffee there daily, and who was nursing a coffee; so, we had another coffee and a good chat about politics (and chatted briefly about some family stuff).

Bought woollen socks (handmade etc) from a small, local shop that stocks excellent quality products.

I also bought pasta and picked up some olive oil that had been put aside for me in the cheesemonger's.

And spent an inordinate amount of time hunting for blank CDs and CD cases, or sleeves. In vain, alas. This form of audio is barely forty years old, and depressingly, appears to be already deemed obsolete. "You're not the first, or second, or third, person who has asked me about this," sighed a lovely (middle-aged - youngsters in some shops just looked blankly at me) lady in one music shop.

Anyway, - (it has just been confirmed by phone) - it seems that my beer shall be delivered this evening.
 
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Got notified I haven't completely fallen off the calendar for some elective plumbing services that will now take place in mid-December rather than earlier in the month. Fine by me, glad I got in line back in August!

This time of year anything elective in construction, plumbing or electrical does tend to take a back seat to the rush to finish work on new houses, major renovations or the inevitable "no heat" emergency call-outs.

Anyway I had decided to get some new in-cellar shutoffs for water feeds to the kitchen, since I'm always worried about freezes to those lines in winter and they run along the north wall behind all the damn cabinets and the fridge. The existing under-sink shutoffs of course would not solve my problem if a leak were to develop along those feed lines coming from the cellar.

Well anyway at least it won't get really cold by time he comes round to make those improvements. It's not until January or so that we can get overnights as low as -20F. My approach to deterring pipe freezes along there is to leave baseboard cupboards open on cold nights to get warmed by air from the kitchen heat vents. So far so good for more than 40 years but it's still not fail-safe against a burst pipe and water damage. At least going forward I will have a way to stop water feed to there without shutting off feed at the main.
 
oh, i am having a "no heat" hvac system replaced. we have two main units in our house, one for the basement and first floor, and another for the second. we've had oodles of trouble with the second floor unit since we built the house as it was never installed properly. had to have it replaced completely a couple of years ago. but we also have a room above our garage that is my studio, and it has its own mini split system because it wasn't practical to tie it into the main system the way the house is laid out (the second floors of the garage and main house do not connect. they apparently have a life expectancy of roughly ten years. guess how old ours is? so they are here today putting a new one in...merry early christmas. :/
 
Celebrating the Rent-A-Lab's 4th birthday. She will be getting her favorite, a waffle, and for the very first time, topped with whipped cream. If it's anything like the first time I shared a bit of cheesecake, her eyes should open as big as saucers in happiness. :)
 
Rode our bikes (I went back to my cruiser) down to a restaurant that's right in our neighbor (about 10 blocks away) on the intracoastal side, solid eats (fried flounder sandwich, fresh fried oysters, chowders, greens, this awesome bread basket they serve) some excellent local brews, and a heck of a sunset view :)


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Then after it sets, we get this spectacular view :D


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Nothing solid planned, but I recommended last night that we take a walk down the Alligator Boardwalk today since it’s not hot.
 
rearranging my studio after the hvac replacement. swapped a couple of work areas and trying to get rid of clutter.
 
Got some new garlands delivered for the stairs, the old ones were coming apart, these are super nice and the lights are battery powered LEDs (also ordered a bunch of Ds, the one size we don't keep a ton of on hand), J working on those, they look great, love when the stairs get lit up :)

Listening to some community metal playlists (Spotify), went off on a tangent with SOAD , a very loud tangent hahahaha :D

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Implementing a few new code features, cleaning up a few more things, and updating some docs, soon I'll never have to worry about this application again. Yesterday we billed for line item ##, it was f****ing epic :cool:
 
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