Dumping Grounds

I know some of you thought I would not actually buy the thing, I talked about it too much… but I did. And WOW is it cool.

The only negative criticism I have seen anywhere on the internet about this camera seems to revolve around, �??It’s not a Canon 20D�?�

Well, Duh. A 20D is about $600 more, and is target at the low end professional market, where as the Digital Rebel XT (350D) is targeted at the high end consumer level. The 350D is also smaller and lighter, so much so that some has proclaimed it a problem, but the size fits my hand fine, and if I were to take it backpacking, yes, every ounce counts.

I don’t have a nice lens yet, but I was still somewhat impressed by what I could get accomplished with the el-cheapo kit lens.

Here’s a few examples:

This is the VERY first shot I ever took, and is presented ONLY for historical reasons.

And continuing my recent trend of Moon shots… not terribly impressive, but considering that I was only using a 55mm lens (not much zoom)

I know this appears to be Sasha and her three groupies, but I don’t think it is. It’s Sasha, with her groupie (Delaney) being followed by her groupies (Ellie and Precious)

Hey I’ve only had the camera for one day, so what did you expect? Variety?

I know, I know, it looks like March 24th was the busiest day in the history of the site.

My provider upgraded me (yes, it was an upgrade, so I should not complain) to another server, and well, in so doing, managed to throw away the last month or so of my entries. I had them all on my local drive (thank you, ecto), but when I reposted them, it changed all their publication dates to today. I reinstated the dates for the entries that I had them, and everything else will stay on the 24th.

In addition to the entries I planned to make today, anyway.

Speaking of which, I think I will go make them now.

Seen in an unnamed town in Florida:

Homeless (woman, I would assume) person standing on the corner with the ubiquitous cardboard sign written on with black marker.

Sign reads: FOOD or LOVE

No, I don’t know what it meant, either. But it made me shudder.

Getting ready to enter my room, Tonya and Jason entering their rooms on either side of me…

Strange woman that none of us know: Are you all here for the depositions tomorrow?

Me: Uh, no, but it sounds like a lot of fun.

All things considered, if I choose to off myself in Colorado when I am 67 yeas old (and I assure you, I have no plans to do so). I hope that someone who knew me has something better to say than â??it’s not surprising.â?

Question: If you could eliminate one memory, specific or general, completely from your mind, never to return, would you?

My answer: Yes.

Feel free to answer in comments, or on your own blog, just a little something to get you thinking.

OK, one of the great moral dilemmas facing Americans today.

Waitstaff tipping themselves.

Does this piss anyone off as much as it does me? Recently, at a pizza place (that shall remain nameless, but begins with a B- and ends with an -oston’s) that obviously encourages this of their servers (because it happens ALL time)… I handed over a $20 for a $5.90 tab and asked for change.

I received $13 in change. While that is precisely the tip I would have left this fellow, had he not ticked me off, that is beside the point. That is not accurate change. $14 would not have been accurate, either, but would not have annoyed me as much. I asked for the rest of my change, and he seemed put out.

I first noticed this trend about a year ago, when some restaurants began not giving any change other than dollar bills. It annoyed me then, and it annoys me now. But now, some staff are beginning not even to bring all the dollar bills you are entitled to.

I’m sorry, but it is not the server’s place to tip themselves. I am not a bad tipper. I reward good service. I do not reward bad service. A tip is a recognition of good service, not an entitlement. Anyone who attempts to give themselves a tip (without mentioning it, quite possibly hoping I will leave another) is going to get stiffed. End of story. I am not too bashful to ask for correct change. I don’t think I should have to specify to the waiter, â??Oh, by the way, you have done well to this point, can you bring me ALL my change, so you do not piss me off and I have to leave you no tip at all.â?

Discuss.

Arthur Miller, a titan of American theater who wrote â??Death of a Salesmanâ? and was revered as a playwright who spoke for the common man, has died. He was 89. Miller was most notable for being the last man alive to known to have had sex with Marilyn Monroe.

EDITED To make it clear that Mr. Miller and Ms. Monroe did not have sex while either was dead.

Well, you knew I would do it, as soon as I had any inkling that the night sky might possibly be clear enough to see anything.

I went out in my back yard with Delaney and the telescope tonight. Here’s a quick question and answer session:

• Did I manage to get the telescope auto tracking and doing that cool GOTO thing?

  No, I didn’t. My current theory is that I did not charge my batteries up enough, and that was causing a little Autostar weirdness.

• Did I manage to see anything?

  Yep, I found Saturn all on my own. no electronics, no computers, no assistance. I just happened to know where it was.

• Are you sure it was Saturn?

  Well, it was 20x bigger than anything else in the general area, and it had these amazing rings around it, so yes, I’m pretty sure.

• You could see the rings?

  Yep, and I could even pretty clearly see the Cassini Division in the ring system itself.

• Did you see anything else?

  Uh, no. Saturn kept me pretty entranced.

• How big was it?

  I would say maybe 1/20th of the field of view was Saturn. That was with my lowest power eyepiece. I did attach a 2x Barlow up to the eyepiece at one point, and surprise, surprise… Saturn was twice as big, although still quite clear.

• Why didn’t you try a higher power eyepiece?

  I did try. Without any tracking assistance, and realizing in the field (or the basketball court, as the case may be) how poorly I had aligned my viewfinder, I did not have any success finding anything with a higher power eyepiece. Although Saturn was PLENTY bright to attempt such a thing as soon as I have my scope better aligned.

• Did you take any pictures?

  No, I didn’t. I told you I was going to just look at first.

• How was the seeing?

  Well, Frisco is awfully light polluted, several neighbors had porch lights on, and I was still amazed at what I could see… so, if it gets better if I go someplace dark, then all the better.

• What accessory did you already decide that you need?

  You knew I would come up with something, didn’t you? An auto-focuser. Every time I touched the focuser, the image jumped around like a junebug on speed. And the focuser is not in a very convenient location. And a chair. I was just on my knees in the middle of the basketball court, and it was VERY uncomfortable (or else I would still be out there).

• Did Delaney like it?

  No, actually, I don’t think she did. I didn’t let her look.

• How can I see all this cool stuff?

  Just ask. Leave a comment. Heck, most of you who read this have my phone number. The only thing cooler than looking at this stuff would be watching someone else’s face when they see it.

This past Sunday, John Kerry appeared on Meet the Press to talk about Iraq, the election, and his plans going forward.

For the first 20 minutes of the interview, the change in the man was striking. He was giving straight answers to questions. He was not long winded, he was clear, and he had a point. He was not afraid to disagree with his patron saint, Ted Kennedy. He had tough, straight to the point comments for the President concerning Iraq. He made a lot of sense when speaking about Social Security. He spoke quite candidly about why he thought he had a lot to be proud of, in the way he ran his campaign.

In other words, he was downright presidential.

And then, Russert started to ask tough questions about specific items which had haunted Kerry in the campaign. Specifically, about being in Cambodia on Christmas Eve, 1968 (a memory that has been recounted many times as having been â??searedâ? into Mr. Kerry’s memory) and about the fact that a member of his platoon says that they weren’t in Cambodia.

Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde could not have performed a more complete transformation. Mr. Kerry was almost immediately defensive, claimed that â??Well, maybe we were on the borderâ?, and just generally started to make very little sense.

Within the next 5 minutes, he claimed that his servicemate didn’t know where they were, as it was â??not his jobâ?, Osama bin Laden cost him the presidential election, and at times just simply did not answer the question he was asked by Russert.

Where just 10 minutes before I had been thinking, â??Wow, maybe America should have voted for this guy…â? I was suddenly reminded (in amongst the whining, indecisiveness, and general waffling) why I am sincerely glad we didn’t.