Helluva storm

It was really coming down here in Dexter when I left work last night. The storm drains in the lower parking lot were erupting water about 2 feet high in a rapidly flowing foot-deep area, and there was a little hail too. There was at least one tree in Dexter this morning on my way in that had been toppled at the roots, and lots of branches down.

We lost power sometime before I got home, probably around 5PM, and it didn't come back on until 1AM. I ran the generator for a couple of hours around 9-11 to cool the fridge back down again, and so that we could wash up for bed and flush the toilets, etc.

I was actually driving my car yesterday, since it was the last day of T's robotics camp, and I took him in, then wanted to go and watch the bots, take him home, then come back to work. Just as well I guess; I enjoy riding in the rain, but that was really something else.

Waterfalls and cameras

Finally got around to ordering a set of neutral density filters, in time for the UP trip. I just can't get the cotton candy waterfalls without em! OK, cotton candy waterfall photos are cliche as hell but I still like it.

I love ebay and DealExtreme for random photo stuff like this; ND2,4, and 8 filters for $30 shipped. The trick is to find (A) GLASS filters instead of plastic, and (B) a US shipper, given that the trip is in just a few weeks and sometimes HK shippers take a month.

What I REALLY am going to want for waterfall photos will have to wait a year or three; a 10-22mm zoom lens. I used Mike's at the wedding and it's very nice for indoor shots of people, and I bet would be great for waterfalls too; I can NEVER go as wide as I want at a waterfall, and going pano doesn't work that well either, though it's OK. Sigma, Tamron and Canon all make decent lenses in this range.

A man who inspires others to action

OK, a certain individual on the GT list prompted me a year back to create my first GMail filter to "mark as read" so I wouldn't see most of his stuff (unless someone responded to it).

Now he's inspired me to change that filter to a straight "delete". I have everything from the GT list going back many years and don't like the idea of creating a hole in the collection, but it occurred to me that he's never said anything useful, and I doubt that any response to anything he's said has ever been anything useful, either.

"So long as you're not afraid to die, it's OK"

Let's NOT do this at Berzerker.

Book finished

The Sorceress by Michael Scott

Read the dead tree edition; how odd for me.