Saturday, June 12, 2010

Droplets

Big storm. Much rain. Socket in the garden has a loose cover. Socket gets power from same line as the garage. Line has a breaker on it. Guess what happened to power in the garage? The input box for the Verizon internet, tv, and phone resides in the garage. Guess whether that connectivity is working? Hint: There is now a long thick orange power cable running from said box into a socket in another room.

Daughter's taking a 'Japanese painting course'. Really likes it. Wants to get an 'ink stone and brush'. Uh, okay. They're about $25. Uh, what? But I figured I would wait and save my money until I get back from France. Good idea. Reduces the odds of actually remembering to get this to, oh, one out of three.

Just watched Doctor Who for the first time in decades. Nobody else could make marauding statues plausible. Quantum lock, you see. Beat that with a stick, Star Trek.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVE The Doctor. The new one is fantastic! The previous one was, too. :-)

Word to the wise: get a lightning surge protector. An electrician should be able to connect it fairly cheaply; it goes by the breaker box. (I've heard the latest one takes up two breakers; no rewiring necessary! But I haven't seen it, so I can't say.)

I'd also suggest getting an electrician to rewire the garage onto its own breaker. And put out one of those good outlet strips for the electronics. (The one we have for the TV has lightning protection built in; it was about $70.) It took me about 1/2 an hour to wire up out house-wide lightning protector; I'd read about well pumps being prone to lightning, so I figured it was best to spend the money. (Our well is about 20ft from the house.)

I take a belt-and-braces approach to this: two forms of surge protection might be enough. With water and GFIs, I use one: otherwise the protection systems fight each other.

It might seem strange, but I've noticed that the storms are a little more violent in the last couple of years! A bit more lightning, a bit more intense in the middle. Maybe it's my lack of experience in this area?

Cerulean Bill said...

The garage IS on its own breaker. Now I kind of wish the garden was, as well.

Can you actually use the word 'electrician' and 'fairly cheaply' in the same sentence without choking?

We've got the computer stuff on a surge protector; the TV is....I think. I know a power bar ISN'T a surge protector, which is what I think we have.

Rose said...

France! Lucky!
Off-topic. Email: roseytsp@yahoo.com

I normally have a conversation with the client before a photo shoot about what to wear. I'm pretty easygoing as I want to the person to be represented as to who they are. But I often sway them away from "logo" t-shirts and busy patterns or all-white. Since I tend to shoot in natural light, on location; if they came to me in something really busy, I would try to find a background to complement it (plain, un-busy - but NOT green grass!) or a really extreme outfit, jacket, etc - maybe a very "urban" background to blend the outfit in. And there is always moving in close for a close up shot! :)

Stay away from grass as much as possible as it tend to a reflect green hue back onto the face - especially midday.

Luckily, I work mainly with children and the parents like to change outfits, if something doesn't work the next one probably will and the parent won't know the difference. (although there are those who are committed to some gawd-awful outfit that Aunt Ruth hand made...)

Hope that helps!

Cerulean Bill said...

Reminds me of a conversation we had with a guy who did our portrait. We came out to talk wearing sweats, but showed up for the shoot in suits. My, he said, surprised, you clean up well....I'm going to have to take a different kind of photograph.

What sparked the thought was seeing a photographers site with samples wherein the clinet had a somewhat wrinkled suit. Not badly, about as good as most normal people look, but -- I would assume -- not the way people THINK of themselves. I would want a photographer to help me not only look my best, but push the envelope as to what that 'best' is. Brad Pitt? No. His stunt double? Well.....

Unknown said...

Electrician and "fairly cheap" are relative. :-)

And oops - I got confused. Sorry!

Love the redesign!