Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[Allan Bell]

12 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

Sometimes there is fine line between good and bad 😅

 

 

GOOD

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

BAD

 

Found it. 

 

Allan

 

[Rebecca Ore]

On 05/08/2023 at 19:49, Betty LaRue said:

It was what I called a cicada killer (must look it up) & they can be nasty. A very large flying/stinging insect like a wasp, only thicker & meaner, a wasp on steroids, that build their nests in the ground

 

That was what I saw, in the air, with the cidada in her feet.   The wasps that hunt tarantulas also have neuroleptic venom.  The creature they're carrying and burying is put in the tunnel with the wasp's eggs.   The venom paralyzes but doesn't kill so the baby wasps have fresh food to eat until pupating.  

 

Thank the Disney channel back before digital for this information given to an impressionable child about wasps that hunted tarantulas.   Be glad they don't work in colonies.

[NYCat]

My TV is fine tonight. 
 

Paulette

[gvallee]

We won a cruise! Not a luxury boat cruise but a jumping crocodile cruise. We went to several in the past but what is amazing is how it happened.

 

We were camped on our own in a free camp not too far from the road, waiting to go to the nearby wetlands for sunrise tomorrow morning. We were minding our own business, actually enjoying a glass of wine or two. This minibus came and parked next to us. The guy was the croc cruise guide on the nearby river. He wanted to know about our rare 4x4 Coaster for his business but had no time to talk right now. He invited us to a free cruise to chat afterwards! Life is funny. One might try very hard to make something happen and it never materialises, and then this... 

[Allan Bell]

7 hours ago, gvallee said:

We won a cruise! Not a luxury boat cruise but a jumping crocodile cruise. We went to several in the past but what is amazing is how it happened.

 

We were camped on our own in a free camp not too far from the road, waiting to go to the nearby wetlands for sunrise tomorrow morning. We were minding our own business, actually enjoying a glass of wine or two. This minibus came and parked next to us. The guy was the croc cruise guide on the nearby river. He wanted to know about our rare 4x4 Coaster for his business but had no time to talk right now. He invited us to a free cruise to chat afterwards! Life is funny. One might try very hard to make something happen and it never materialises, and then this... 

 

 

Careful they may have run out of croc food.

 

Allan

 

[Mr Standfast]

On 09/08/2023 at 11:43, Allan Bell said:

 

 

GOOD

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

BAD

 

Found it. 

 

Allan

 

Was it in the peg basket?

[Rebecca Ore]

Got some of the gear sold to one person in La Concordia who has Sony cameras and who now wants the rest of what's for sale.  I pulled selling the tripod and head and substituted the Bellingham camera bag.    The umbrella and a Manfrotto monopod only good for studio use are also in the next batch.  Luis took the first batch of gear in a taxi to La Concordia and came back by cab to here, so he got his 15% commission plus mileage.  Safer to do that.   I'm going to get a food scale and probably do some other shopping.  Luis made the argument that I'm no longer taking photos, so I should just sell what I'm not using, but I've blown in and out of photography over the decades, so don't want to sell the tripod and head, the heavy duty light stand, or one of the Manfrotto super clamps or the the flashes.   Guy who's buying didn't seem interested in the macro stage, so I'm probably going to keep that, too, along with the three reflectors.   The photo student didn't buy anything, just argued with Luis over the prices with "But I'm a  poor student." 

 

I've got two other smaller camera bags but mostly put the a6000 in a lumbar pouch when I do go out with it.   The Bellingham is fancy but a bit heavy. 

 

Life and times.  Next month's trip to Managua for residency renewal is covered.   I can still take pictures.   

 

Looking back, buying a good tripod and head, the 24mm E lens, and the 30mm macro lens were good purchases.  The Batis 18m wasn't useful particularly for me.  55mm FE, good lens, but duplicated almost by the manual focus Yashinon 50mm f/1.7.    If I were back in the US, I might be tempted to get an m-42 screw mount film camera of some kind.  Film and chemicals here are hard to come by.   I'll see how both photographing and writing go. 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Rebecca Ore
just a minor change

[Betty LaRue]

I found a cookie recipe I must try one of these days. It calls for the usual flour, sugar, eggs, etc, but special ingredients are a box of banana pudding mix, (dry), mini chocolate chips & 10 slices of cooked American style bacon, crumbled. The bacon makes it intriguing to me.

I had a bacon & tomato sandwich for lunch today. Love me some bacon.

[Allan Bell]

14 hours ago, Mr Standfast said:

Was it in the peg basket?

 

No it was in the garden trug.

 

Allan

 

[NYCat]

7 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I found a cookie recipe I must try one of these days. It calls for the usual flour, sugar, eggs, etc, but special ingredients are a box of banana pudding mix, (dry), mini chocolate chips & 10 slices of cooked American style bacon, crumbled. The bacon makes it intriguing to me.

I had a bacon & tomato sandwich for lunch today. Love me some bacon.

 

Archway used to have some holiday cookies called Ruth's Cashew Supremes. They were only available November and December and I always snatched them up. The mixture of sweet and savory was wonderful. The recipe you found sounds very intriguing as that sort of mixture.

 

Paulette

[Mr Standfast]

5 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

No it was in the garden trug.

 

Allan

 

Understandable.

[NYCat]

As I was walking down Fifth Ave. today after feeding a cat the First Presbyterian Church started playing their bells, bells, bells, bells. Such a lovely sound.

 

Paulette

[Dave Richards]

Possibly a good thing. It’s only taken 9 years but I’ve eventually managed to add my mugshot to my port avatar. I hate being photographed but felt it better not to remain ‘anonymous’ any longer. Hope it doesn’t send too many of you screaming in terror to the bathroom!!

Edited August 15, 2023 by Dave Richards
added text

[Ed Rooney]

 

The fabulous new new newest M&S opened in Liverpool One shopping centre this morning. I got there for the opening at 9 AM and was given a golden ticket for a £20 discount. The best part? The Foodhall is huge and the store is just a 6-minute walk from my front door. 😀

[NYCat]

I happened to call my friend Dennis yesterday right after he had baked brownies and he brought some to me today. He likes to play with cookie recipes and these are fabulous. It turns out his partner isn’t a cookie person and likes baked things that have fruit. Any ideas?

 

Paulette

Edited August 15, 2023 by NYCat

[wiskerke]

4 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

The fabulous new new newest M&S opened in Liverpool One shopping centre this morning. I got there for the opening at 9 AM and was given a golden ticket for a £20 discount. The best part? The Foodhall is huge and the store is just a 6-minute walk from my front door. 😀

Wow!

And before spending it you did take a picture of your hand holding that ticket. Maybe even going through the door of that store or going through the aisles. For some well-deserved double dipping. 😁

 

wim

[Rebecca Ore]

Luis sold the rest of the gear to a third prospective buyer in a city about an hour away.   He was later getting back than I'd expected, but apparently, they put everything together (C-stand, rectangular soft box, and the other goodies).  The guy was quite happy.  It's sort of bittersweet for me, but if I had to leave in a hurry and wanted to take the gear with me, the cost of doing that would have been substantial, and a sale during a national emergency would probably get me less than I got.   I still have the macro stage and the other heavy duty light stand (not another C stand).   Guy was very happy with what he got, as he should be.  Luis sold my lighting umbrella along with the other stuff, but that isn't a big expense.   Didn't let the circular reflectors go. 

 

A make up artist that another person suggested as a possible buyer would probably be better served with led lights rather than a flash since I didn't get the impression she was a photographer, rather someone who wanted to document her work.   Constant light would work better for that, I think.   I can't work for Nicaraguans in Nicaragua, so not the job for me.

 

If I license enough photos to pay for another AD200, I'll probably spring for the pro version (finances depending).  That's just a very handy light to have both on a stand or in hand.  Bigger flashes, probably not.   I have a small Nissin flash that fits well on the a6000.  I'd have to buy another radio controller for Godox, but those are not that expensive.

 

Need to take photos of my landlord's new coffee shop, which is quite close. 

 

My cat is not eating the new basil species (not the Italian variety), so I've asked Luis to pick up two more plants so I can rotate harvesting a few leaves from any given plant.  Belle the Cat loves pepper seedlings, so mheh.  

 

 

 

 

 

[gvallee]

I am excited about our new adventure project: in the next few days, we are going to drive through remote areas, 650 kms of rough dirt road in the Outback. We'll find corrugation and bulldust but apparently it is a scenic drive.

We have stocked up on water (220 litres) and filled up our extended range fuel tank. It normally gives us an 800 km range, it will be less in 4x4 with aircon. Still undecided whether to take an extra fuel jerrycan. Once we rejoin the bitumen, there is a small town for refuelling.

Communications wise, we are now relying on Elon Musk. We have cancelled our satellite phone in favour of Starlink. We also have an emergency personal beacon (EPIRB).

Foodwise, it is a bit tricky as the road winds in and out in between two States, one of them has a fruit and vegs quarantine policy. There are very heavy fines for taking those across the border, this is to protect local crops. We won't see a decent shop for about 1,000 kms.

Let the adventure begin!

 

 

Edited August 15, 2023 by gvallee

[Betty LaRue]

6 hours ago, NYCat said:

I happened to call my friend Dennis yesterday right after he had baked brownies and he brought some to me today. He likes to play with cookie recipes and these are fabulous. It turns out his partner isn’t a cookie person and likes baked things that have fruit. Any ideas?

 

Paulette

Fried pies….but they’re not baked. I make apple & apricot.

If you don’t want to make pastry, I’ll bet they’d work with bought puff pastry. Get dried apricots or apples if you can find them. Simmer dried fruit in water to cover until they get soft, reduce liquid while stirring until thick. Add sugar to taste. With apples, I add cinnamon & a bit of nutmeg, and half brown sugar to white.

Place a spoonful or two of fruit on the middle of a round of puff pastry, fold over & seal & make turnovers to bake. Google recipes.

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, gvallee said:

I am excited about our new adventure project: in the next few days, we are going to drive through remote areas, 650 kms of rough dirt road in the Outback. We'll find corrugation and bulldust but apparently it is a scenic drive.

We have stocked up on water (220 litres) and filled up our extended range fuel tank. It normally gives us an 800 km range, it will be less in 4x4 with aircon. Still undecided whether to take an extra fuel jerrycan. Once we rejoin the bitumen, there is a small town for refuelling.

Communications wise, we are now relying on Elon Musk. We have cancelled our satellite phone in favour of Starlink. We also have an emergency personal beacon (EPIRB).

Foodwise, it is a bit tricky as the road winds in and out in between two States, one of them has a fruit and vegs quarantine policy. There are very heavy fines for taking those across the border, this is to protect local crops. We won't see a decent shop for about 1,000 kms.

Let the adventure begin!

 

 

Good luck to you both on your travels, Gen. May the road fairies watch over you & keep you safe from breakdowns & crocodiles. 😉

[gvallee]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

Good luck to you both on your travels, Gen. May the road fairies watch over you & keep you safe from breakdowns & crocodiles. 😉

 

Thank you Betty. Breakdown more likely. We have a whistling noise somewhere in the engine when we accelerate. We took it to two excellent truck  garages which we have used in the past. They did all sorts of tests including exhaust pressure test, gauge test. They found nothing wrong. It's been going on for a while, in fact right after we picked up the vehicle from a garage after servicing, so we are very suspicious. More so that they had trouble with changing oil and filters.

 

It doesn't seem to cause any problems so we can't do anything else but carrying on. I don't want to think about the tow bill should we break down on that road. We would have to remortgage our house if we had one...

 

[Betty LaRue]

12 minutes ago, gvallee said:

 

Thank you Betty. Breakdown more likely. We have a whistling noise somewhere in the engine when we accelerate. We took it to two excellent truck  garages which we have used in the past. They did all sorts of tests including exhaust pressure test, gauge test. They found nothing wrong. It's been going on for a while, in fact right after we picked up the vehicle from a garage after servicing, so we are very suspicious. More so that they had trouble with changing oil and filters.

 

It doesn't seem to cause any problems so we can't do anything else but carrying on. I don't want to think about the tow bill should we break down on that road. We would have to remortgage our house if we had one...

 

Don’t allow that horrible thought stay in your mind!
I’ll say, though you have more guts than I. When our steps on our RV quit working, I hated it. Then something mechanical went wrong on the way home, & we spent hours & $500 getting it fixed. Then when we parked it in a paid RV fenced yard for the winter, vandals broke a window, climbed in, stole electronics, put out cigarettes on the carpet….and generally trashed it, color me done. Sold by spring.

[Bryan]

On 15/08/2023 at 17:56, Ed Rooney said:

 

The fabulous new new newest M&S opened in Liverpool One shopping centre this morning. I got there for the opening at 9 AM and was given a golden ticket for a £20 discount. The best part? The Foodhall is huge and the store is just a 6-minute walk from my front door. 😀

 

Congrats on that windfall ! Something to spend some of it on perhaps. I'm a fan of the M&S tomato and basil soup found in their cafes. Not the cheapest, but very tasty ! 

[Bryan]

On 16/08/2023 at 04:30, Betty LaRue said:

Don’t allow that horrible thought stay in your mind!
I’ll say, though you have more guts than I. When our steps on our RV quit working, I hated it. Then something mechanical went wrong on the way home, & we spent hours & $500 getting it fixed. Then when we parked it in a paid RV fenced yard for the winter, vandals broke a window, climbed in, stole electronics, put out cigarettes on the carpet….and generally trashed it, color me done. Sold by spring.

What a sad ending !   We sold our caravan a couple of years ago, not sure if I still regret it, but, rather like me, it was showing its age and would have required work. 

[Ed Rooney]

1 hour ago, Bryan said:

 

Congrats on that windfall ! Something to spend some of it on perhaps. I'm a fan of the M&S tomato and basil soup found in their cafes. Not the cheapest, but very tasty ! 

 

 

 

This is the M&S fresh tomato and basil that I take home and add a swirl of olive oil. That's the Italian way. The cafe in the new store is almost an afterthought, tiny and pointless.

Edited August 17, 2023 by Ed Rooney