Post a bad thing that happened in your life today

[Allan Bell]

32 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Wow, Mark -- ISO1600 is as high as I go. 

 

Ian, I shot in the low light interior of the Liverpool Cathedral awhile ago -- no tripod, everything handheld. They all passed QC. I'm gonna wait till after the holidays before shooting inside the Catholic Cathedral. The Anglicans have a bar in that church. I wonder what the Catholics have? Hmm. For an agnostic, I spend a lot of time in church.

 

 

 

The Anglicans go to church to get drunk?  Don't know what the Catholics would have.

 

I am Agnostic too. Show me the concrete proof.

 

Allan

 

 

 

[spacecadet]

4 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

Show me the concrete proof.

100 proof🍷?🤩

The Catholic cathedral is the one made of concrete

[Phil Crean]

33 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

The Anglicans go to church to get drunk?  Don't know what the Catholics would have.

 

I am Agnostic too. Show me the concrete proof.

 

Allan

 

 

 

According to Catholicism, Jesus had wine running in his veins 🍷🤣

 

Phil

[gvallee]

3 hours to go to 2022.

We are house sitting for a few weeks, taking care of 13 chooks, a novel experience for us. 12 hens and a rooster. I must say that the rooster is having a good time... Today was our second day. Yesterday went swimmingly. Tonight, time to lock up the chooks. Heading towards the coop, we noticed a very large red kangaroo intently looking at us. Chooks are lined up on their perch in the coop. One, two, three.... TWELVE! Oh no! Counting again, one, two, three... TWELVE! My heart sank. Did the roo get one? Will I have to call the owners on New Year's Eve with the bad news? They did mention a fox and a wild cat. We look everywhere. It's a massive property on a steep slope in woodland. I thought no, I will count a third time. That's when a tiny head poked in between the lined up birds. Phew!!! I don't think I'd be a good farmer.

[meanderingemu]

17 minutes ago, gvallee said:

3 hours to go to 2022.

We are house sitting for a few weeks, taking care of 13 chooks, a novel experience for us. 12 hens and a rooster. I must say that the rooster is having a good time... Today was our second day. Yesterday went swimmingly. Tonight, time to lock up the chooks. Heading towards the coop, we noticed a very large red kangaroo intently looking at us. Chooks are lined up on their perch in the coop. One, two, three.... TWELVE! Oh no! Counting again, one, two, three... TWELVE! My heart sank. Did the roo get one? Will I have to call the owners on New Year's Eve with the bad news? They did mention a fox and a wild cat. We look everywhere. It's a massive property on a steep slope in woodland. I thought no, I will count a third time. That's when a tiny head poked in between the lined up birds. Phew!!! I don't think I'd be a good farmer.

 

 

I remember house sitting for friends.  Started with 9 ducklings, not one made it to their return one month later.  They didn't care one way or another, but it was really traumatising to see the number dwindle daily. 

[gvallee]

1 minute ago, meanderingemu said:

 

 

I remember house sitting for friends.  Started with 9 ducklings, not one made it to their return one month later.  They didn't care one way or another, but it was really traumatising to see the number dwindle daily. 

 

What happened to them ? The chooks' owners do care, there's a sign on the coop 'Glenda's girls'. 

Next house sitting will be 16 chooks, 1 cat, 2 fish. We're drowning in eggs!!

[sb photos]

2 hours ago, spacecadet said:

I've said this before, but I downsize everything at ISO3200 to 3250 long side. With the usual light NR of course.

3200 is my limit (Sony A58) but you probably have newer sensors.

When I shoot at ISO 2500 I get crisp sharp images when down sized to 4000 pixels on the long side. When shooting higher at ISO 6400 I Reduce to 3000 pixels. Using D750’s. Last time I did the latter was photographing a march in London’s Oxford Street at night, needed to stop movement.

[Michael Ventura]

Gen, your story reminds me of when I was in my mid twenties, I used to "farm" sit for this wealthy couple who lived in a rural-suburb of DC called Potomac.  She was a photographer and he was an advertising exec.  They had a Jack Russel terrier and and a cat....that was my primary purpose to being there, but also had a tennis court and swimming pool and that was the primary purpose of me wanting to be there.  The farm part was that they had 6 or 7 horses and had a live-in horse hand who lived in a separate house on the property and cared for the horses.  Well another benefit for staying there was I got to go riding when I wanted to, on nearby trails.  I always went with Susan, the horse hand, and I got pretty good at tacking and saddling the horse I rode.  One day Susan wasn't home and I had a friend over.  I thought I could do this on my own, had done it many times before with Susan.  My friend and I take off for the trails and we got out to an open field, probably a couple miles from the barns, when suddenly my horse decided it was done with me.  I had no control, the reins were useless and this large, and I mean large, white horse took off like it was a free bird.  It ran straight for a large hedge and I though for sure it was going to jump it when it took a sudden right turn and threw me into the hedge.  fortunately I was fine but shaking with shattered nerves.  My friend and his horse stayed calm thru it all.  I got hold of my horse's reins and got it to calm down and we started to walk back home.  We were a ways away so I worked up the nerve to get back on and and some how kept it on a walk all the way back to the barns.  When we got back, I noticed blood running down the left rear leg of my horse and I thought, oh shit what have I done.  Susan was back home and I knocked on her door to tell what happened and she called a vet to come and patch up the leg, luckily just a minor cut, no serious injury.  I was given a scolding by Susan, she told me that I had put on the wrong bridle on my horse and it knew that it had a fool on its back.  I never rode again without Susan and I confessed to the home owners what had happened, when they returned.  The good news was that the dog and cat stayed in decent health and I still keep in touch with them (the couple), though they have retired to coastal North Carolina.

Edited December 31, 2021 by Michael Ventura

[BobD]

2 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Wow, Mark -- ISO1600 is as high as I go. 

 

 

 

I go as high as ISO6400 indoors.

I use a technique of rapidly shooting 5-7 frames (must be handheld), importing as layers in photoshop, align layers and then reduce the opacity of each layer.

So bottom layer 100%, next layer 75%, then 50% and so on depending on the amount of layers.

Final image looks like 200-400 ISO.

[meanderingemu]

1 hour ago, gvallee said:

 

What happened to them ? The chooks' owners do care, there's a sign on the coop 'Glenda's girls'. 

Next house sitting will be 16 chooks, 1 cat, 2 fish. We're drowning in eggs!!

 

All taken away.  From history, preying birds and eels likely culprits. One drowning, and  the saddest one was when it gone down to three I tried to protect them keeping them in an enclosed area and one trying to escape got tangled up in mess wire fencing.  as i said, my friends had quite a few that survived the prior brood so they didn't mind, i was way more traumatised by it....  at least all the adult animals i was taking care of were happy, and likely overfed 🙂 

[NYCat]

2 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

Gen, your story reminds me of when I was in my mid twenties, I used to "farm" sit for this wealthy couple who lived in a rural-suburb of DC called Potomac.  She was a photographer and he was an advertising exec.  They had a Jack Russel terrier and and a cat....that was my primary purpose to being there, but also had a tennis court and swimming pool and that was the primary purpose of me wanting to be there.  The farm part was that they had 6 or 7 horses and had a live-in horse hand who lived in a separate house on the property and cared for the horses.  Well another benefit for staying there was I got to go riding when I wanted to, on nearby trails.  I always went with Susan, the horse hand, and I got pretty good at tacking and saddling the horse I rode.  One day Susan wasn't home and I had a friend over.  I thought I could do this on own, had done it many times before with Susan.  My friend and I take off for the trails and we got out to an open field, probably a couple miles from the barns, when suddenly my horse decided it was done with me.  I had no control, the reins were useless and this large, and I mean large, white horse took off like it was a free bird.  It ran straight for a large hedge and I though for sure it was going to jump it when it took a sudden right turn and threw me into the hedge.  fortunately I was fine but shaking with shattered nerves.  My friend and his horse stayed calm thru it all.  I got hold of my horse's reins and got it to calm down and we started to walk back home.  We were a ways away so I worked up the nerve to get back on and and some how kept it on a walk all the way back to the barns.  When we got back, I noticed blood running down the left rear leg of my horse and I thought, oh shit what have I done.  Susan was back home and I knocked on her door to tell what happened and she called a vet to come and patch up the leg, luckily just a minor cut, no serious injury.  I was given a scolding by Susan, she told me that I had put on the wrong bridle on my horse and it knew that it had a fool on its back.  I never rode again without Susan and I confessed to the home owners what had happened, when they returned.  The good news was that the dog and cat stayed in decent health and I still keep in touch with them, though they have retired to coastal North Carolina.

 

I learned when I was a Camp Fire Girl that horses know who is on them and how experienced they are. I had gotten tired of being on ones that didn't want to move so I said I was experienced. Well I was, but only on slow horses. So this time I was having to hold her back but managed reasonably well. Then the next day one of the really experienced camp counselors had that horse and she was trying to buck her off. I was very appreciative of how kind that horse had been when I was on her.

 

Paulette

 

[Ed Rooney]

 

I may have posted this horse memoir before, Paulette. ???

 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5101306814306038233/7390612940035216196

 

 

[Allan Bell]

31 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

I may have posted this horse memoir before, Paulette. ???

 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5101306814306038233/7390612940035216196

 

 

 

Your link takes me to the start up page for a new blogger?

 

Allan

 

[NYCat]

1 hour ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

I may have posted this horse memoir before, Paulette. ???

 

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5101306814306038233/7390612940035216196

 

 

 

I seem to remember you were riding horses into that wild place called Prospect Park.. Sadly, I don't remember the details.

 

Paulette

[Ed Rooney]

 

Is there a problem? It's my blog from Mulberry Street. Hmm. All this updating so things work better? Or not work at all.

 

Tonight at Midnight I shall break my daily fast and have a double brandy. Let's hope 2022 turns out to be a better year. 

 

Bon Anno!

 

Edo

 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Ed Rooney

[Michael Ventura]

On the order of bad things, I have been looking for a new assistant to work with me on my shoots in 2022.  My son got a real job in the field he has been studying and this friend of my daughter's has decided to move on.  So I put the word out that I was looking for someone.  I got a call from this 19 yr old girl who seemed very eager to work in photography before starting college.  We talked for about a half hour and she seemed like a good prospect but then I asked a question that I should have asked right from the start, "Are you vaccinated?"  She said no.  I was seriously surprised, as this area has a vaccination rate of 95% or better of people who are eligible.  I had to ask her why and she simply said that she doesn't trust it and feels she young and healthy enough to not worry.  I didn't want to get into any kind of argument so I left it there and just told that I could not work with her and she said she understood. I did get a lot of responses from my online ad so I will have to start making calls and next time my first question will be about being vaccinated. 

Edited December 31, 2021 by Michael Ventura

[Ed Rooney]

 

That's very upsetting, Michael. Upsetting in a number of ways. 🤨

[Betty LaRue]

My experience with horses started when I was 5 or 6 and watched a cousin ride his new pony. He was 5 and selfish. He wouldn’t allow any other kinfolk kids ride it. I hung on the fence with a longing, sad heart. Then when I lived on the farm for awhile when I was 8, I rode a barrel and pretended it was a horse. Then talked my stepfather into putting me on a milk cow’s back…you know that story, that didn’t end well.

Finally, married with three kids, I got my horse, then Bob got one so we could ride together. Both were unbroken, so two absolutely green people broke them with advice from an old horseman friend.

We bought bought 10 acres with water, electricity and a horse barn and bought more horses, including a pony for our youngest. We bred our first two mares, and got a strawberry roan filly and a line-backed Dun, both beautiful.

One thing we knew. When we rode our horses down the country dirt roads, the ride away from our land was great. The second we turned around to go home, we fought the horses all the way back to the barn.  If we’d given them their heads, we’d have been on stretched out running-like-the-wind horses.

Another lesson learned. When you saddle a horse up, it often will expand its belly when you tighten the cinch. Then, as we found out, riding down the road, they let the air out and if the horse makes a sharp turn, you find you and the saddle slip off to the horse’s side and you’re lucky to not fall off.

The answer to that is, as you’re getting ready to tighten the cinch, punch an elbow into the horse’s side. It’s like the horse goes “oof “ and you quickly cinch up.

I loved every minute, and every lesson learned.

[Jill Morgan]

18 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

My experience with horses started when I was 5 or 6 and watched a cousin ride his new pony. He was 5 and selfish. He wouldn’t allow any other kinfolk kids ride it. I hung on the fence with a longing, sad heart. Then when I lived on the farm for awhile when I was 8, I rode a barrel and pretended it was a horse. Then talked my stepfather into putting me on a milk cow’s back…you know that story, that didn’t end well.

Finally, married with three kids, I got my horse, then Bob got one so we could ride together. Both were unbroken, so two absolutely green people broke them with advice from an old horseman friend.

We bought bought 10 acres with water, electricity and a horse barn and bought more horses, including a pony for our youngest. We bred our first two mares, and got a strawberry roan filly and a line-backed Dun, both beautiful.

One thing we knew. When we rode our horses down the country dirt roads, the ride away from our land was great. The second we turned around to go home, we fought the horses all the way back to the barn.  If we’d given them their heads, we’d have been on stretched out running-like-the-wind horses.

Another lesson learned. When you saddle a horse up, it often will expand its belly when you tighten the cinch. Then, as we found out, riding down the road, they let the air out and if the horse makes a sharp turn, you find you and the saddle slip off to the horse’s side and you’re lucky to not fall off.

The answer to that is, as you’re getting ready to tighten the cinch, punch an elbow into the horse’s side. It’s like the horse goes “oof “ and you quickly cinch up.

I loved every minute, and every lesson learned.

 

I spent most of my adult life around horses.  When I was 17, my parents gave me money to go and buy a horse as a Christmas present.  I bought Rennie and he was wonderful.  After a few years, he hurt his shoulder where I had him boarded, so I didn't ride him for a few months.  When the vet said he was sound to ride, I walked him around and he was perfect.
 

Put on the tack and headed on out.  All of a sudden he began to limp and I swore and turned him back.  When I turned him around, the limp was gone and he picked up the pace.  The big faker.  He had figured out that when he was limping, I didn't ride him.  But in his excitement that he had fooled me, he forgot to limp on the way back to the barn.

 

I also worked for some people who bread Arabians.  They had a beautiful grey stallion named Joey.  The owner had a brother that used to like to come and ride Joey.  Trouble was, the brother was extremely heavy.  One day the brother came and suddenly Joey was walking on 3 legs.  And he stayed on 3 legs for the full weekend when the brother was there.  As soon as he left, Joey was back on 4 legs again.  He would do this every time the brother visited and of course he caught on.  Never tried to ride him again as he said "If he hates me riding him that much that he won't put a leg down for 2 or 3 days, he deserves to be left alone."

 

Jill

Edited December 31, 2021 by Jill Morgan

[John Mitchell]

2 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

On the order of bad things, I have been looking for a new assistant to work with me on my shoots in 2022.  My son got a real job in the field he has been studying and this friend of my daughter's has decided to move on.  So I put the word out that I was looking for someone.  I got a call from this 19 yr old girl who seemed very eager to work in photography before starting college.  We talked for about a half hour and she seemed like a good prospect but then I asked a question that I should have asked right from the start, "Are you vaccinated?"  She said no.  I was seriously surprised, as this area has a vaccination rate of 95% or better of people who are eligible.  I had to ask her why and she simply said that she doesn't trust it and feels she young and healthy enough to not worry.  I didn't want to get into any kind of argument so I left it there and just told that I could not work with her and she said she understood. I did get a lot of responses from my online ad so I will have to start making calls and next time my first question will be about being vaccinated. 

 

You did the right thing IMO. I've become something of a vaccine fascist. We're lucky to be living in rich countries where the vaccines -- even if they aren't perfect -- are readily available.

[Betty LaRue]

28 minutes ago, Jill Morgan said:

 

I spent most of my adult life around horses.  When I was 17, my parents gave me money to go and buy a horse as a Christmas present.  I bought Rennie and he was wonderful.  After a few years, he hurt his shoulder where I had him boarded, so I didn't ride him for a few months.  When the vet said he was sound to ride, I walked him around and he was perfect.
 

Put on the tack and headed on out.  All of a sudden he began to limp and I swore and turned him back.  When I turned him around, the limp was gone and he picked up the pace.  The big faker.  He had figured out that when he was limping, I didn't ride him.  But in his excitement that he had fooled me, he forgot to limp on the way back to the barn.

 

I also worked for some people who bread Arabians.  They had a beautiful grey stallion named Joey.  The owner had a brother that used to like to come and ride Joey.  Trouble was, the brother was extremely heavy.  One day the brother came and suddenly Joey was walking on 3 legs.  And he stayed on 3 legs for the full weekend when the brother was there.  As soon as he left, Joey was back on 4 legs again.  He would do this every time the brother visited and of course he caught on.  Never tried to ride him again as he said "If he hates me riding him that much that he won't put a leg down for 2 or 3 days, he deserves to be left alone."

 

Jill

Horses are very intelligent.
The two mares we bought at the beginning…my husband’s mare, Cricket, was mean to my horse’s filly from the time she was born. Brandy was an independent little filly who often wandered away from her mom, Torchy. One day Cricket caught my filly, Brandy, away from Torchy. She bit her and kicked her. Mom Torchy saw it. She begin ambling toward Cricket, grazing grass, very slowly. Cricket watched Torchy come her way and nervously began prancing.

Torchy kept her head down, snipping grass but slowly herding Cricket into a corner of a barbed-wire fence. Once Torchy got Cricket where she wanted her, she turned and kicked the you know what out of her.

I began screaming,(Stop her, stop her) because Cricket was trying to bust through the barbed wire to get away. My husband said, “Leave them alone. Cricket has it coming.” Cricket only had some minor scratches to her chest, so ok there. But Torch delivered a high butt kick that shaved all the hair off the top of Cricket’s butt. It was summer, and Cricket, who was black in the winter, turned a bronze color on her body in the summer when she lost her winter coat. The hair grew back black in the kick-scrape, and she wore that for months, standing out clearly from the bronze.

Torchy did the same thing to a neighbor’s dog that was chasing my filly and biting at her legs. She fooled the dog with the same grazing amble until she got close enough for a side kick, only a glancing blow since the dog jumped at the last second. It still rolled the dog for several yards and sent it yipping back home. I’m sure it was sore for awhile. The dog was lucky it survived. If the kick had landed on its head, it wouldn’t have lived to bite another baby horse.

The fact that I observed these things when we got off work and were only around our horses evenings and weekends make me wonder what all went on when we weren’t there.

My horse, Torchy, was not only a great mom, a protective mom, she allowed Cricket’s horse colt to nurse her also. She was Earth Mother. She (14 hands)stood a hand below Cricket, (15 hands) a beautiful blood sorrel who took no guff off anything but was loving to me and trusted me because I never lied to her.

[Michael Ventura]

46 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

 

You did the right thing IMO. I've become something of a vaccine fascist. We're lucky to be living in rich countries where the vaccines -- even if they aren't perfect -- are readily available.

 

I was tempted to tell her that my daughter, who is not that much older than she is, has had to watch way too many people die, with no family beside them, from the Coronavirus.  Most of those people died before the vaccines were available.  But now the ones getting hospitalized and dying are almost all unvaccinated and by choice.  And I was also going to tell her that my ex-wife (we still get along quite well) is a career U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employee and works in the Department of Compliance....in other words she works with the pharmaceutical companies to make sure they are in compliance with the government rules and regulations.  In other words, she is pretty clued in on the vaccines and what they go through to be approved.

 

I did not tell her any of that since I am sure she would just chalk it up to another lecture from an old person.

[Bryan]

On 31/12/2021 at 22:59, Michael Ventura said:

 

I was tempted to tell her that my daughter, who is not that much older than she is, has had to watch way too many people die, with no family beside them, from the Coronavirus.  Most of those people died before the vaccines were available.  But now the ones getting hospitalized and dying are almost all unvaccinated and by choice.  And I was also going to tell her that my ex-wife (we still get along quite well) is a career U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) employee and works in the Department of Compliance....in other words she works with the pharmaceutical companies to make sure they are in compliance with the government rules and regulations.  In other words, she is pretty clued in on the vaccines and what they go through to be approved.

 

I did not tell her any of that since I am sure she would just chalk it up to another lecture from an old person.

 

Our neighbour works at a local hospital, and there the story is the same, the unvaccinated occupying the critical care beds, occupying resources that could be used to treat other long term and serious problems.  I can't understand these people.

[Allan Bell]

12 minutes ago, Bryan said:

 

Our neighbour works at a local hospital, and there the story is the same, the unvaccinated occupying the critical care beds, occupying resources that could be used to treat other long term and serious problems.  I can't understand these people.

 

I know I am going to be hammered saying this.

 

People who have been offered the covid vaccine and refused to have it should not be allowed treatment for covid infection in the NHS hospitals.

 

Allan

 

[aphperspective]

11 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I know I am going to be hammered saying this.

 

People who have been offered the covid vaccine and refused to have it should not be allowed treatment for covid infection in the NHS hospitals.

 

Allan

 

Well at least offer them a tent out in the car park, sleeping bag optional. (For a small fee).🙄