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You want fries with that? No? Too bad.
Mar. 20th, 2022 01:49 amRecently, I got a used VCR for $5 at Goodwill. I haven't tried it out yet. It might actually work! They also had a 8mm camcorder. I passed on that because I already have a Hi8 camcorder that still works, has more features, and I can still get batteries for it. Basically, it would have been a potato compared to mine. While I was there, I met a gentleman who was on the hunt for old photography equipment and he scored an old instant camera.
At an antique mall/flea market, I found an old camera as well. No model number, just the name "Argus". I never heard of Argus until I spotted this camera. A quick bit of mashing of keys on the laptop reveals that I found the C3 model. It was very popular during its time, from the 1940s to the mid 60s. Boxy, utilitarian, completely mechanical, mercilessly analog. The simple construction and mass production (2 million made) meant that many of them survived the decades, so they weren't particularly rare or valuable. Maybe this one can take good pictures, maybe it's a potato until it gets worked on. I found it interesting enough to take a $40 chance on. More keyboard mashing revealed $40 was a fair price, neither a steal nor a ripoff.
When it's time for me to develop my own film, I'm going to be scientific about it and use a test roll. That is, I'll use my 10QD (film) and my T3i (digital) to take pictures of the same subject, with the same settings as much as possible. Same lens too? It's an option, they can both use EF lenses. I've already had pictures from the 10QD developed and they look great, so I know that's not a potato. So if the pictures come out looking like something from a horror movie compared to the digital equivalent, then I'll know I did something wrong.
Gonna look into getting a dashcam for Miharu. Her rear-view mirror is one of those fancy auto-dimming ones, so there's a wire bundle that goes to that, and someone made a specialty wire harness adapter that goes inline with the connector, tapping into the 12V to make 5V for an included USB port. Not like I can just pull panels out of the way to run wire like I can on Ai or Nozomi; airbags are all over the place getting in the way. As with any electronic gadget of substantial cost, I must do a lot of research, to narrow down to cameras with good recording capability and to avoid any potatoes.
Nozomi passed state inspection! For a car almost 17 years old and a couple tanks of gas away from 300k miles, she didn't get flagged for anything. Miharu will be due a couple months from now but with only 20k miles, I don't think she'll need anything, unless someone shoves a potato in the tailpipe at the last minute or something. Ai is the one who always has me at no less than half-pucker when it's that time of year. I do what repairs I can for her, but I'm always afraid that there'll be something I missed or didn't consider as a problem. She's worth it though.
Last weekend we got a couple inches of snow, so I did a bit of shoveling. I put the bare minimum of effort into it because I knew the weather was going to get a lot warmer. A day after the temperatures jumped up, I get home from work to find one last pile of icy snow, making its final stand near the curb. It moved when I gave it a nudge with my foot. It broke apart when I gave it more aggressive nudges. I then proceeded to kick potato-sized chunks of it into the yard. It felt good to do that, in a "kicking out winter" way. It was more a symbolic act; I don't think that pile would have lasted another full day if I left it alone. Maybe we'll get another flurry or two but nothing to get the shovel out for.
Five years ago almost to the day I had just gotten home from my first trip to Japan. I liked it enough to go back again in 2018. I wish I went in 2019 as well, but I'm also glad I was able to go at all. Another trip there is not going to happen this year. Maybe in 2023 and maybe that's for the best. In order to make the 14-hour flight more tolerable and be able to do all the walking and standing that Tokyo requires, I need to get some muscle back and lose some pounds I picked up from being a couch potato.
Since I'm not going to let my vacation time go to waste, I've decided that my summer road trip is still on. Tentatively. I've calculated that the extra cost in fuel won't be much more than originally planned. Also, PA has unnecessarily high gas prices anyway; almost everywhere else seems to be cheaper. Just by going into Maryland, the price is about 40 to 50 cents less. Anyway, I have an idea on where I'll go for my trip. Here's a hint for one area I plan to be going through: Potatoes.
At an antique mall/flea market, I found an old camera as well. No model number, just the name "Argus". I never heard of Argus until I spotted this camera. A quick bit of mashing of keys on the laptop reveals that I found the C3 model. It was very popular during its time, from the 1940s to the mid 60s. Boxy, utilitarian, completely mechanical, mercilessly analog. The simple construction and mass production (2 million made) meant that many of them survived the decades, so they weren't particularly rare or valuable. Maybe this one can take good pictures, maybe it's a potato until it gets worked on. I found it interesting enough to take a $40 chance on. More keyboard mashing revealed $40 was a fair price, neither a steal nor a ripoff.
When it's time for me to develop my own film, I'm going to be scientific about it and use a test roll. That is, I'll use my 10QD (film) and my T3i (digital) to take pictures of the same subject, with the same settings as much as possible. Same lens too? It's an option, they can both use EF lenses. I've already had pictures from the 10QD developed and they look great, so I know that's not a potato. So if the pictures come out looking like something from a horror movie compared to the digital equivalent, then I'll know I did something wrong.
Gonna look into getting a dashcam for Miharu. Her rear-view mirror is one of those fancy auto-dimming ones, so there's a wire bundle that goes to that, and someone made a specialty wire harness adapter that goes inline with the connector, tapping into the 12V to make 5V for an included USB port. Not like I can just pull panels out of the way to run wire like I can on Ai or Nozomi; airbags are all over the place getting in the way. As with any electronic gadget of substantial cost, I must do a lot of research, to narrow down to cameras with good recording capability and to avoid any potatoes.
Nozomi passed state inspection! For a car almost 17 years old and a couple tanks of gas away from 300k miles, she didn't get flagged for anything. Miharu will be due a couple months from now but with only 20k miles, I don't think she'll need anything, unless someone shoves a potato in the tailpipe at the last minute or something. Ai is the one who always has me at no less than half-pucker when it's that time of year. I do what repairs I can for her, but I'm always afraid that there'll be something I missed or didn't consider as a problem. She's worth it though.
Last weekend we got a couple inches of snow, so I did a bit of shoveling. I put the bare minimum of effort into it because I knew the weather was going to get a lot warmer. A day after the temperatures jumped up, I get home from work to find one last pile of icy snow, making its final stand near the curb. It moved when I gave it a nudge with my foot. It broke apart when I gave it more aggressive nudges. I then proceeded to kick potato-sized chunks of it into the yard. It felt good to do that, in a "kicking out winter" way. It was more a symbolic act; I don't think that pile would have lasted another full day if I left it alone. Maybe we'll get another flurry or two but nothing to get the shovel out for.
Five years ago almost to the day I had just gotten home from my first trip to Japan. I liked it enough to go back again in 2018. I wish I went in 2019 as well, but I'm also glad I was able to go at all. Another trip there is not going to happen this year. Maybe in 2023 and maybe that's for the best. In order to make the 14-hour flight more tolerable and be able to do all the walking and standing that Tokyo requires, I need to get some muscle back and lose some pounds I picked up from being a couch potato.
Since I'm not going to let my vacation time go to waste, I've decided that my summer road trip is still on. Tentatively. I've calculated that the extra cost in fuel won't be much more than originally planned. Also, PA has unnecessarily high gas prices anyway; almost everywhere else seems to be cheaper. Just by going into Maryland, the price is about 40 to 50 cents less. Anyway, I have an idea on where I'll go for my trip. Here's a hint for one area I plan to be going through: Potatoes.
