Blog de Dave

Looks like I lost track of time again. No big surprise there.

I actually got out of bed early this morning. Decided to go to the Greenbelt and head upstream this time, instead of downstream, like I usually go. If you can consider a dry creekbed as any kind of stream. And what would a tale about stumbling up a rocky, dry creekbed be without the obligatory Zen rock picture?

And believe me...I did a lot of stumbling. I don't normally stick to the trail when the creek's dry (as it's been since September of last year), so I don't get run over by the mountain bikers. It was a perfect day for 'em to be out, too. Them, and the joggers and dog-walkers.

Well...duty calls...gotta run a disc full of pictures over to the Jewelry Lady's house. Might get another sandwich outta this again...
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I am NOT leaving the house again. Not until after the New Year. Ever. Except to go to work. Or the grocery store. Or the Greenbelt, or some other place in the woods. Or maybe Whataburger.
I'd been doing a bit of printing...some of the Christmas pictures of my landlady, and needed some more paper and cartridges. That, and make a liquor run. I get the booze alright, and head to Circuit City. Sunset Valley, in their infinite wisdom saw fit to stand about in the middle of Brodie to direct traffic. I'm like, dudes, the lights are working. So, after only a minor delay, I find out CC has the cartridges, but no paper. Off to Best Buy, which is just across the highway. Think everyone was finished with their shopping? Hell, no. The parking lot was packed, but I lucked out and found a spot in like five minutes. Took longer to get checked out, but I got what I needed. Got back just in time to run off a couple of 8x10s for my landlady's daughter.

Just got an email... I thought I wasn't going anywhere...looks like it's off to the Capitol for more pictures. They have the Christmas tree up, and the Jewelry Lady wants some taken therre. I was thinking about going there anyway, so I'll kill two possums with one stick.

Barton Creek, Drought of '08

...and I'm gladder I'm done. Shooting people is the most god-awful bore! Not that it didn't go well, it's just I'd rather be in the woods. Ugh. I don't see how folks can make a living at it. But, at least it's done with, except for the post-processing and burning them all to a disc. And printing up a dozen or so hard copies.

My AC adapter came in today, too. Works like a charm, much unlike the pinche lights I've got. Nothing that can't be fixed, I reckon, and not like I'll be doing a lot of studio work, anyway. If I can on;y find an SB-28DX at a decent (read: cheap) price.

I should have gone to the store this morning instead of sluffing my time away. Looks like it's chili and tortillas for lunch tonight. Pfft. I've had worse. At least I won't go hungry. And speaking of time...it's time I hit the showers. Where does the time go?

The battery for my D1x has been on the charger since like 1pm yesterday, going through the refresh cycle (it's on its third time now) to get it conditioned and fully charged. I'd pulled it off when I crawled out of bed this morning, just out of curiosity, and had a blank LCD when I locked it in. I was like "now what?" But I noticed it connected if I didn't fully latch it. OK...I can fix that. I just swapped the end caps out with the dead Nikon battery. Problem solved. Fired off a few practice rounds, and stuck the battery back on the charger for one mo' time. I'm debating whether or not to drop another 70 bucks for an AC adapter, but I don't do studio stuff, so I think I'll go to Cici's Pizza instead...

I've got three camera bags. One's a nice little Lowepro EX160 that's my main runnin' around bag. The other two are crappy junker bags I'd gotten with film cameras I'd bought off Ebay. Good for storage, but I wouldn't be seen in public with 'em. So, with all the stuff I've been collecting in the last couple of months, I figured it was time I got something useful. Something I could tote all my stuff (or the biggest part of it, anyway) and my laptop, plus maybe a change of clothes and some munchies (never go out in the woods without munchies). I decided on a backpack, one that would hold (al least) two bodies and as many lenses, with a padded compartment for my Toshiba L305-S5891 15.4" laptop, and enough extra space for more stuff. What I got was a Kata 467 from Precision Camera. Paid a little more than if I'd gone online, but, hey, stay local, you know?

Another Friday, another payday, and time for another cup of coffee, and maybe a bowl of dry Cheerios...Oh, and before this gets taken off the net forever...
Stuff like this usually doesn't have a very long shelf life. Enjoy!

...oh, come on...make up your mind.

Radio Weather Guy said the sun was gonna shine today. I can't really call him a liar, though, because it did come out a while ago, for about five minutes. Then it clouded back up again. And now, it's sunny again. Oh, well...landlady's gone to an art exhibit, anyway. Our neighbor's gone some of her work being shown, and she was supposed to have been back by now. I went out scouting around for a decent place to shoot, and ran across Dinoland...
...over by the Zilker Botanical Gardens. Found this spot that's pretty well protected from the wind, but there's an awful lot of clutter (read: people) in and out of the place. Little Stacy Park wasn't too terribly bad, but I don't think she's gonna want to have a picture done in a dry creekbed. Dinoland makes you stay on the trails, though. Now where's the sport in that?

Whatever. Anyway...I revived the battery for my D1x just enough to get a half-dozen or so shots fired off. Sweet...big ol' brick that it is. Ran on through Irfanview to pull up the EXIF info (because nearly all my other apps are too old to display that stuff, except for Photobase), and found it's got the 5.01 firmware version, then verified that through the menu. That means it's had the buffer upgrade as well.

Change of plans...we're gonna head to Dinoland while the gettin's good. I just hope the clutter's cleared out...
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There was quite a crowd at Dinoland this afternoon...but, it wasn't too windy, wasn't too cool, with intermittent sun. That little 24-70 zoom worked out pretty nice, too. The Shnauzer even seemed to be having a good time, nutting up at kids only a couple of times. He doesn't like (most) little people, for some reason. But, a good time was had by all. Everybody and their cousin was there taking pictures, too. The landlady said we needed to come back during spring, seeing as this place is part of the Botanical Gardens or something. I may just have to do that.

Good thing I've got another battery coming for my D1x...the old one has given up the ghost. Refreshing does no good, but at least I got enough out of it to know the camera works. Well, what's another week? Then again, I could run by Batteries Plus and pick up another for 40 bucks, and have a spare (from what I've read about the D-series, that might not be a bad idea). That's $15 more than the one that's coming...one of these days I'll learn to quit being such a tightwad. But I doubt it.

...and I still haven't thought of anything to post. It's been one of those days. Well, if you get as bored as I am, check out my pics at Panoramio. Just some stuff I've seen here and there.

UPS says my charger will be delivered tomorrow (while I'm at work, more than likely), so it's off to town in the morning to get a CF card (seeing as I'm too impatient to wait for the one I ordered to come in). I've also got a 28-70 f3.5-4.5 macro lens coming (this week, hopefully) that's going on my D80 (the 18-200 VR will find a new home on my D1x). And groceries...I even got a week's worth of food last night! Of course it was just frozen TV dinners, Rice Crispies (HEB's store brand, anyway), some cheesey shell macaroni stuff, whole-bean coffee, and French vanilla creamer. Yeah, 'bout a week's worth.

So, now...the sandman's beating me upside the head...I reckon I better take the hint and hit the sack. Gee, I'm glad I don't work banker's hours...
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...goddammit, I hate this time of year.

My charger's supposed to be in today. Impatient wretch that I am, I look up 2 gig CF cards, and find one at Office Max for like 15 bucks. Only like a five-minute drive from the house. So, I tool down there, and stand around for about 15 minutes while the "manager" chats up some chick. There's only like ten people in the whole store...counting employees. Playboy doesn't even acknowledge my existence (I mean, so what I'm in sweats and slippers? That's what I always wear when I go to town.), so I leave and go a few doors down to Circuit City. I figure, hey...they're broke, so maybe I can get a good deal. Wrong...they're broke, but they want to squeeze every penny they can out of what they're selling. $60 for a $15 card? No way. OK. I figure I'll give Office Max another chance. I go back and stand around while Jethro's still chatting up the babe. I find some poor shlub hanging stuff on a rack, and ask if anyone's working today. He asks (in a broken English/Eastern European accent) what I want, and grabs some kid in another part of the store. I tell the kid about the card I found on the website, and he asks if I have the page to the magazine I found it on. This makes the tumor I'm developing swell to twice its size, and I just say, "Just check if you have it in stock...it's not on the rack." He kinda mills about for a few seconds, then tells me only the manager can look it up, because he doesn't know how. I told him I'd just hit up the competition. Which didn't do any good, either. Wally World had the same card I was looking for, but $10 higher. So...looks like I'll have to be patient and wait for UPS. At least I won't have to leave the house that way.

I hate traffic, too. And it's only gonna get worse. I've seen it backed up from the Barton Square Mall entrance to South Lamar. I won't be leaving the house after tomorrow, except to go to work. If I need groceries, I'll get 'em after I get off at 11pm. If I do go anywhere, it'll be out in the woods.