For No REal Reason

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We love it each year when the quail lay there eggs in our spider plants on the back porch.

We wait and watch each day till the little ones are running around playing follow the leader.

However, sometimes, for unknown reasons the nest is abandoned, such was the case this week.

I carefully removed the eggs in hope a new nesting pair might adopt the same locations. The eggs were so beautiful I had to preserve this image as a reminder of potential lost and the fragility of life.

I know it is hard to believe with the price of gas, milk, bread, eggs, rice rising so quickly it slipped up on me that Dino Dung was more than doubling in price. Some would say buying dino dung, even fossilized 130 million year old dino dung was a waste of money.

But look what a good investment it would make. The estimated going price for two small pieces of dino dung was $450 and they sold for $960. Almost $1000. Who would have thought 130 million years ago it would be worth this much today?

None the less, I’m worried, with this rapid inflationary effect upon Dino Dung it doesn’t bode well for the price of food or kitty litter.

I saw this ad for Seniors with hip and knee replacement therapy needs. But the wrapped part of my sense of humor kicked in and I took the title and created this card. If you read it and someone you know comes to mind. Go ahead and copy and send it to them. I don’t mind, honest. : )

I don’t look anything like Ralphie, do I? I was looking through my first photo album as a photographer. The picture was taken in Apr. 1959 when they would print the month and year in the white fancy cut border around the photo.

Please tell me I don’t look like him.

I have the glasses and the haircut it is combed back like his.

I had the bb gun. But I never shot my eye out. I never had a pink bunny suit either. It must be those socks, that’s it.

It isn’t me, right?

I don’t know why I thought of this while eating breakfast this morning but when I did it made me chuckle. 

When I was in the 5th grade choir was “MANDITORY”  Yep everyone went to choir and I hated it.  The big Christmas program was coming up, (not sure it was Christmas, maybe another reason to sing) and we had all these special assemblies to get ready for it.

It was at one of these large gatherings in the gym that I noticed one of my best friends wasn’t there.  The next time I saw him I asked “Hey where were you during choir today?”  He said he didn’t have to go any more.  His voice was changing and they let him stay in the home room during choir practice and read or study or do homework.

So what was this voice is changing deal I inquired, he said his voice just started cracking and he couldn’t sing high notes anymore.  Holy Cow that’s all.  The next time we had choir practice guess who’s voice started to crack and suddenly was singing off key?

The teachers were very nice about it.  They apologized to me as the escorted me from the gym and said it was all very natural and I would be okay.  I was FREE, I never had to go to another rehersal.  I had no idea what this was all about, but I loved it.  I’m sorry Mrs. McClelland, but I hated choir and singing and stuff.  I faked it. : )

The popular vote is what is being reported with Hilary Clinton getting 39% and Barack Obama getting 36% and Mrs. Clinton is being called “The Comeback Kid II” The interesting thing, when it comes to the actual delegate count; they TIED. Each candidate received 9.30 delegates to the state convention being held on April 26, 2008. Check it out yourself at “The Green Papers“. It appears the media wanting more of a horse race (or backing their candidate) have made a great deal of this supposed WIN by Mrs. Clinton. She certainly seems to be basking in it.

Personally, I don’t care. It is refreshing in a way to see this happening in more than just the Real Estate industry, where I spend much of my time refuting the media with actual data analysis instead of spin.

The whole thing stinks of politicians anyway doesn’t it.

Most of us know the Chinese proverb:

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

I think a modern variation on this theme might be:

“Feed a man a fish you feed him for today. Teach him how to fish and he will wonder why you want him to work.”

I don’t know when Nikon started putting the model on the camera strap. I bought my first Nikon digital in April 2007. It was the D40 and I fell in love with it almost immediately. It only had the word “Nikon” on the strap. I still love that camera. But a week after they came out I had a D300, well I don’t sleep with it, but I take it to breakfast with me everyday. It is my version of man’s best friend and it goes almost everywhere I do. Almost!

I was in California over the holidays and traveled to the following pretty cool places for taking pictures and having fun.

1. Sea World
2. The Wild Animal Park
3. Disneyland
4. Universal Studios
5. California Adventures

This is a Nikon camera geek speaking. One of the things I enjoyed while walking around these various places was to see who was carrying a Nikon Camera and what model they were shooting. Just a couple of weeks before the trip I got a new D300 and noticed the camera strap now had the model of the camera on the strap along with the very familiar yellow Nikon.

As a side note, I decided not to take the D300 and opted for the lighter D40 choosing just a single lens to take with me each day.

I only carried my camera two days out of the five. So quite a few of those days I had no camera which is a bit like being naked for a guy that really loves to take photographs. My solace for those days was spotting those Nikon camera straps and one day I even got a look at a D300. Now is that being in love with a camera or what?

d9 Exposure Delay Mode

It is called the “Exposure Delay Mode” “ON”

A good sturdy Tripod is needed for this to work. But I’ve used it handheld as well.

Did you know that if you go into the menu d9 and set it to “ON” it will put the mirror up and wait one second before the shutter is released. In effect giving you a rock solid sharp image without a cable release.

You can do almost the same thing with some patience by putting the shutter in mirror up mode and wait 30 seconds the D300 will then snap the image.

Both of these methods have the effect of placing the mirror up and removing any shake of the camera from you pressing the shutter release button.