Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Seems like lately we have been doing the “Covid Catch-up,” meaning getting back on track with dental and medical appointments that were neglected that were really just maintenance.
Luckily no deterioration of health or teeth happened, although I lost a level of fitness and strength I once had pre-Covid.
Training “Maggie” into lazy-slacker mode has not been easy. Pretty much giving up on work and worrying about money makes her crazy, but now she seems to be moving into a more relaxed and sustainable mode where life is rich, but not frenetic.
I’m taking a 2000IU, 250% Vitamin D3 supplement to prevent bone loss, shrinkage, and for a better immune system. Pretty much the only outcome from my medical visits.
Sadly, it seems the Robin’s nest in our Rode-A-DEN-Drums was destroyed. Don’t know if it was a Racoon or perhaps the Long Tail Weasel to blame. Some animal in my back-backyard was digging a burrow. I ended up digging out the three foot tunnel trying to see if I could hunt down the culprit and perhaps give him a dose of shovel in the head.
I kinda find it interesting how I can still go ghetto, even though I don’t have to. Must be hard wired in my brain to be aggressive… Anyways this is my tendencies…
Another nursery run today to get more perennials. The front backyard is getting close to being fully developed. Will have to stop by Home Cheapo for six ten-foot 1x3’s to build out the herb garden section.
Tomorrow we get the “Creature Junior” for a day. The eight year old has a soccer game we have to take her to.
We have a lot of wood salvaged from our demo that is not painted. Maybe I will build a fire pit. Lots of nails, and the amount approaches an almost full one-tone “Man-Bag.”
Kinda reminds me when I was a Boy Scout. BTW I was pretty much a lazy-slacker back then as a kid, I remained a “Tenderfoot” for over 2 years, never wanted to be an Eagle Scout or be competitive. I was happy just goofing off and having fun. BTW the Boy Scouts is where I first smoked the evil weed and stayed out all night.
Perhaps a lot crazy how I can write about being both hyper-aggressive and being a lazy slacker. In a ways I can get hysterical, and my friends say, “Worse than a woman.” I guess I can get really crazy when I have to. LOL.
Also kinda funny that huge bouncers mention, “I don’t want any trouble,” sensing that in a way I’m like a kinetic weapon that could be a problem. Pretty much missile verses tank. Know that in the past I was kinda jumpy, constantly moving, and was mucho hyperactive. I made people anxious just walking into a room.
It was in my early 30’s that I had to learn a new skill: I had to learn to relax; only something I never really did before; at one point I was diagnosed as Manic Depressive, but drugs did not work. Pretty much chronic anxiety and PTSD.
My friend Mike (Iron Mike) literally saved my life by getting me involved with first mountain biking, and then road riding. For about 4-5 years I was kinda like a surfer where I lived to bike, and I learned to relax. I’m not kidding that Mike and biking saved my life. I had a choice: live or die.
Cal
Luckily no deterioration of health or teeth happened, although I lost a level of fitness and strength I once had pre-Covid.
Training “Maggie” into lazy-slacker mode has not been easy. Pretty much giving up on work and worrying about money makes her crazy, but now she seems to be moving into a more relaxed and sustainable mode where life is rich, but not frenetic.
I’m taking a 2000IU, 250% Vitamin D3 supplement to prevent bone loss, shrinkage, and for a better immune system. Pretty much the only outcome from my medical visits.
Sadly, it seems the Robin’s nest in our Rode-A-DEN-Drums was destroyed. Don’t know if it was a Racoon or perhaps the Long Tail Weasel to blame. Some animal in my back-backyard was digging a burrow. I ended up digging out the three foot tunnel trying to see if I could hunt down the culprit and perhaps give him a dose of shovel in the head.
I kinda find it interesting how I can still go ghetto, even though I don’t have to. Must be hard wired in my brain to be aggressive… Anyways this is my tendencies…
Another nursery run today to get more perennials. The front backyard is getting close to being fully developed. Will have to stop by Home Cheapo for six ten-foot 1x3’s to build out the herb garden section.
Tomorrow we get the “Creature Junior” for a day. The eight year old has a soccer game we have to take her to.
We have a lot of wood salvaged from our demo that is not painted. Maybe I will build a fire pit. Lots of nails, and the amount approaches an almost full one-tone “Man-Bag.”
Kinda reminds me when I was a Boy Scout. BTW I was pretty much a lazy-slacker back then as a kid, I remained a “Tenderfoot” for over 2 years, never wanted to be an Eagle Scout or be competitive. I was happy just goofing off and having fun. BTW the Boy Scouts is where I first smoked the evil weed and stayed out all night.
Perhaps a lot crazy how I can write about being both hyper-aggressive and being a lazy slacker. In a ways I can get hysterical, and my friends say, “Worse than a woman.” I guess I can get really crazy when I have to. LOL.
Also kinda funny that huge bouncers mention, “I don’t want any trouble,” sensing that in a way I’m like a kinetic weapon that could be a problem. Pretty much missile verses tank. Know that in the past I was kinda jumpy, constantly moving, and was mucho hyperactive. I made people anxious just walking into a room.
It was in my early 30’s that I had to learn a new skill: I had to learn to relax; only something I never really did before; at one point I was diagnosed as Manic Depressive, but drugs did not work. Pretty much chronic anxiety and PTSD.
My friend Mike (Iron Mike) literally saved my life by getting me involved with first mountain biking, and then road riding. For about 4-5 years I was kinda like a surfer where I lived to bike, and I learned to relax. I’m not kidding that Mike and biking saved my life. I had a choice: live or die.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Nippon called and my M3-DS is unjammed.
Was advised that Dual-Strokes are less robust than later single strokes and to be more ginger with an old camera.
Perhaps true that later M3’s are improved cameras, but still I expect Dual Strokes to be robust.
This M3 had been sent to Leica Germany for service and had its mirror/prism resilvered. It had a fresh “L” seal. I sold it to Brian, and then bought it back. Brian never exercised the slow shutter speeds and they were sticky. I was trying to free them up by dry firing the camera, things were improving, but then I jammed the camera.
Oh-well. I got the camera back at a discounted price to account for a CLA anyways, but then Covid happened and inflation. Oh-well again.
So this time I will allow for some breaking in. BTW the shutter speed was set at 1/1000 when it jammed after being overhauled.
I have a Version 1 50 Rigid. This version features a small thin focus ring, so it is period correct for a 1954 M3-DS. John at Focal Point recounted the front element and cleaned off the haze.
I forgot to tell you that this camera I trade away for some Bruce Davidson vintage prints from the Welsh Coal Miner series, but then I got the camera back as collateral for some loan sparking deal with an art dealer who needed cash pronto for some other deal.
Then I sold it to Brian, and years later I got it back. Oh-well a third time.
Some of the features are cool like a glass pressure plate to avoid static buildup and discharge. The rear door has bearing detents to keep the door closed.
I figure the weak point on an old M3 is the mirror/prism separating. Since this one is factory fresh I figure I might not run that risk. Now the camera needs to be exercised and used all the time.
Anyways, post Covid I am very happy that I have mucho gear, because prices have gotten out of hand.
Another story is about a Leica 35/2.8 M-lens. Andre sold it to me, but I made an agreement when I sold it to John that he had to sell it back at no profit to either Andre or me as first offer of refusal. So this lens went from Andre to me, me to John, and then back to Andre.
Kinda like recycling…
Cal
Was advised that Dual-Strokes are less robust than later single strokes and to be more ginger with an old camera.
Perhaps true that later M3’s are improved cameras, but still I expect Dual Strokes to be robust.
This M3 had been sent to Leica Germany for service and had its mirror/prism resilvered. It had a fresh “L” seal. I sold it to Brian, and then bought it back. Brian never exercised the slow shutter speeds and they were sticky. I was trying to free them up by dry firing the camera, things were improving, but then I jammed the camera.
Oh-well. I got the camera back at a discounted price to account for a CLA anyways, but then Covid happened and inflation. Oh-well again.
So this time I will allow for some breaking in. BTW the shutter speed was set at 1/1000 when it jammed after being overhauled.
I have a Version 1 50 Rigid. This version features a small thin focus ring, so it is period correct for a 1954 M3-DS. John at Focal Point recounted the front element and cleaned off the haze.
I forgot to tell you that this camera I trade away for some Bruce Davidson vintage prints from the Welsh Coal Miner series, but then I got the camera back as collateral for some loan sparking deal with an art dealer who needed cash pronto for some other deal.
Then I sold it to Brian, and years later I got it back. Oh-well a third time.
Some of the features are cool like a glass pressure plate to avoid static buildup and discharge. The rear door has bearing detents to keep the door closed.
I figure the weak point on an old M3 is the mirror/prism separating. Since this one is factory fresh I figure I might not run that risk. Now the camera needs to be exercised and used all the time.
Anyways, post Covid I am very happy that I have mucho gear, because prices have gotten out of hand.
Another story is about a Leica 35/2.8 M-lens. Andre sold it to me, but I made an agreement when I sold it to John that he had to sell it back at no profit to either Andre or me as first offer of refusal. So this lens went from Andre to me, me to John, and then back to Andre.
Kinda like recycling…
Cal
Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
Joe,
My apologies, I was trying to be funny. Normally I'm a funny guy, but here at RFF my humor always seems to fall flat. Sorry if I upset the apple cart.
All the best,
Mike
Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
Yokosuka Mike
Abstract Clarity
I have a simple solution for any folks who complain about this thread.
Ready? ::RUM ROLL:::
Don't read the thread.
You're welcome.
Now back to Cal and his ramblings about bikes, guitars, home ownership, the Hudson Valley, retirement, his Audi, and of course photography and gear.
Phil Forrest
Phil, a drum roll, nice touch. Colored font, even better. Don't worry, I'll not be posting at the RFF anymore. I'm out of here. Adios, goodbye and sayonara!
It was fun but it's obvious that I don't fit in here.
All the best,
Mike
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Hey Mike,
You are welcome to join in, and I think you are taking things too far, and in a wrong way.
Pretty much the NYC Meet-Up are a group of friends.
I personally know these people, some for more than a decade. BTW Phil is from Philly, and we have cycling in common also.
Pretty much this thread as well as the NYC Meet-Up are a safe place.
Cal
robert blu
quiet photographer
Hi Mike, it is not a point to be right or wrong: we all can have different opinions and we all are free to express them! If we all had the same opinion it would be a boring place!
I like Cal’s post which keep me involved in a different world and I also like your contributions on RFF both with photos and your technical notes about the various lens, please go on posting! You are a strong contributor to our community and do not take too seriously all the comments, sometimes different languages, different cultures on the web leave place for minor misunderstandings.
With friendship, robert
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Hi Mike, I hope you stick around. You are among friends here at RFF. Sure, things get a little testy and feisty here on the forums but life is short and it's good to be around good people who share similar passions. Please keep sharing and posting.
You enjoy your photography and are generous in sharing it with us as a means of expression. I'm always amazed of other people's knowledge and world-view (including non-photographic) and always learn something and get a different viewpoint. I hope you don't leave and keep participating.
Best to you...
Ray
You enjoy your photography and are generous in sharing it with us as a means of expression. I'm always amazed of other people's knowledge and world-view (including non-photographic) and always learn something and get a different viewpoint. I hope you don't leave and keep participating.
Best to you...
Ray
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
My legs are stiff this morning from using my unmotorized push mower.
Also my upper body from excavating some lawn in the back-backyard building a flower bed for the bulbs scattered around the property so I can put them all in one place. Right now it is a bit Willy-Nilly. I recycled cobblestones that also were spread all over the property to edge the bed which is on the other side of a walkway with an existing bed.
”Maggie” has OCD tendencies and her preferred look is a formal English Garden, meanwhile I like the wild feral look.
The other day she spent mucho time moving around the patio furniture. She is kinda fussy, and her nickname “Maggie” I made up to make fun of her OCD tendencies and fussiness, as if Martha Stewart had an older sister who was OCD. Anyways she is rather particular…
Anyways it was funny to watch how Maggie repositioned some chairs several times, changing the angle, moving one perhaps an inch. Pretty cute seeing a full blown “Maggie Episode.”
Anyways I think many good photographers have OCD tendencies, well anyways I see them in myself. I print big, I like going overboard, some say re-dick-U-las, I’m a drama queen and love to be bold and loud. Anyways in my book OCD tendencies perhaps are not bad in photography.
Outside photography pretty much I am a ball of chaos, and perhaps my style is “messy” or just plain sloppy, yet when I turn up the QC I aim for perfection because I identify myself as a skilled craftsman an artist.
In a ways Maggie and I are an odd couple. Kinda funny how in my sloppy mess I can find things because in a way things are organized. I would not say I have a photographic memory, but I say I do have an odd way of processing information in my sloppy way.
I returned from Los Alamos after being on a field assignment for a year and a half. I was working on a Neutral Partical Accelerator that was a Ronald Ray-Gun Star Wars project at the National Lab. Leif a Chief Engineer in my old research group was mighty happy to see me, and the first question he had was if I knew where these small potted power supplies were stored that he needed.
I walked to a cabinet, opened the door, moved a box out of the way, and pulled out another box that held the power supplies he wanted.
EX-PZ for me, but Leif said, “I spent all of last week looking for those and couldn’t find them. Thanks. Glad you are back.”
Anyways pretty simple for me. They were where I placed them perhaps years ago. LOL.
Anyways my thinking and way of working many times annoys people. My boss at Grumman was like a Mafia Boss, even though he was Polish. He too was happy to see me back.
”After you left it took a lot longer for work to get done,” he said, and he meant it as a compliment that I not only was a highly valued worker, but also a mover and shaker. Joe did not realize that the mess/chaos I left behind probably was the reason why the work slowed down.
In the 500 acre complex I had stuff all over the place. I knew people, I had many friends, and I had all the resources of a Fortune 500 Company that was the 4th largest military contractor in the U.S. pretty much at my disposal. Although I am not a Navy SEAL I kinda operated like one, I did a lot of covert things to get my job done, I pretty much could be a thug when I needed parts if someone got in my way, but know I had a lot of leverage and power.
When I worked at Brookhaven National Labs my boss there wrote on my annual review, “Cal is like having a small army of technicians.” Kinda funny how it got a military spin. The Shop Stewart at BNL was surveillance me because of all the parts I was ordering.
I kitted out work for crews to prevent bottlenecks, and made it easy for people to concentrate on just getting the job done. My Union friends in the trades, the electricians and plumbers gave me the heads up that the Stewart was watching me carefully and was looking to file a grevience.
So again I had friends, enemies and power. I was an “operator” and given leeway, a mission, and pretty much knowingly allowed to skirt the rules like a thug.
Anyways, although I do not have any military service, I did vicariously adopt mucho military culture and thinking. I am very proud though of being partly responsible for help winning the Cold War.
The Star Wars project at Los Alamos was a crazy idea, a space based weapon to shoot down Intercontinental Ballistic Missles in their “boost” phase (before multiple warheads separate).
We cleaned up the lab for a VIP. We were told to come to work, but to hang out in the parking lot outside the gated lab. We saw two fighter planes flying in a “Loose-Duce” staggered formation, a helicopter landed on a mesa, a guy got out of the chopper and then got back in, then a second helicopter landed and Dick Cheney, the Secretary of Defense got out.
Then a week or two later the Russians were invited for a tour. At the time this made no sense at all. Pretty much this was a secrete project, but in effect it was a military parade. Pretty much because the U.S. economy was three times the size of the Soviet Union’s, our defense spending was destroying their economy.
They soon capitulated and the Cold War ended.
Cal
Also my upper body from excavating some lawn in the back-backyard building a flower bed for the bulbs scattered around the property so I can put them all in one place. Right now it is a bit Willy-Nilly. I recycled cobblestones that also were spread all over the property to edge the bed which is on the other side of a walkway with an existing bed.
”Maggie” has OCD tendencies and her preferred look is a formal English Garden, meanwhile I like the wild feral look.
The other day she spent mucho time moving around the patio furniture. She is kinda fussy, and her nickname “Maggie” I made up to make fun of her OCD tendencies and fussiness, as if Martha Stewart had an older sister who was OCD. Anyways she is rather particular…
Anyways it was funny to watch how Maggie repositioned some chairs several times, changing the angle, moving one perhaps an inch. Pretty cute seeing a full blown “Maggie Episode.”
Anyways I think many good photographers have OCD tendencies, well anyways I see them in myself. I print big, I like going overboard, some say re-dick-U-las, I’m a drama queen and love to be bold and loud. Anyways in my book OCD tendencies perhaps are not bad in photography.
Outside photography pretty much I am a ball of chaos, and perhaps my style is “messy” or just plain sloppy, yet when I turn up the QC I aim for perfection because I identify myself as a skilled craftsman an artist.
In a ways Maggie and I are an odd couple. Kinda funny how in my sloppy mess I can find things because in a way things are organized. I would not say I have a photographic memory, but I say I do have an odd way of processing information in my sloppy way.
I returned from Los Alamos after being on a field assignment for a year and a half. I was working on a Neutral Partical Accelerator that was a Ronald Ray-Gun Star Wars project at the National Lab. Leif a Chief Engineer in my old research group was mighty happy to see me, and the first question he had was if I knew where these small potted power supplies were stored that he needed.
I walked to a cabinet, opened the door, moved a box out of the way, and pulled out another box that held the power supplies he wanted.
EX-PZ for me, but Leif said, “I spent all of last week looking for those and couldn’t find them. Thanks. Glad you are back.”
Anyways pretty simple for me. They were where I placed them perhaps years ago. LOL.
Anyways my thinking and way of working many times annoys people. My boss at Grumman was like a Mafia Boss, even though he was Polish. He too was happy to see me back.
”After you left it took a lot longer for work to get done,” he said, and he meant it as a compliment that I not only was a highly valued worker, but also a mover and shaker. Joe did not realize that the mess/chaos I left behind probably was the reason why the work slowed down.
In the 500 acre complex I had stuff all over the place. I knew people, I had many friends, and I had all the resources of a Fortune 500 Company that was the 4th largest military contractor in the U.S. pretty much at my disposal. Although I am not a Navy SEAL I kinda operated like one, I did a lot of covert things to get my job done, I pretty much could be a thug when I needed parts if someone got in my way, but know I had a lot of leverage and power.
When I worked at Brookhaven National Labs my boss there wrote on my annual review, “Cal is like having a small army of technicians.” Kinda funny how it got a military spin. The Shop Stewart at BNL was surveillance me because of all the parts I was ordering.
I kitted out work for crews to prevent bottlenecks, and made it easy for people to concentrate on just getting the job done. My Union friends in the trades, the electricians and plumbers gave me the heads up that the Stewart was watching me carefully and was looking to file a grevience.
So again I had friends, enemies and power. I was an “operator” and given leeway, a mission, and pretty much knowingly allowed to skirt the rules like a thug.
Anyways, although I do not have any military service, I did vicariously adopt mucho military culture and thinking. I am very proud though of being partly responsible for help winning the Cold War.
The Star Wars project at Los Alamos was a crazy idea, a space based weapon to shoot down Intercontinental Ballistic Missles in their “boost” phase (before multiple warheads separate).
We cleaned up the lab for a VIP. We were told to come to work, but to hang out in the parking lot outside the gated lab. We saw two fighter planes flying in a “Loose-Duce” staggered formation, a helicopter landed on a mesa, a guy got out of the chopper and then got back in, then a second helicopter landed and Dick Cheney, the Secretary of Defense got out.
Then a week or two later the Russians were invited for a tour. At the time this made no sense at all. Pretty much this was a secrete project, but in effect it was a military parade. Pretty much because the U.S. economy was three times the size of the Soviet Union’s, our defense spending was destroying their economy.
They soon capitulated and the Cold War ended.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
As much as I am a lazy slacker, I also sometimes am green with envy.
One of my friends here in the NYC Meet-Up is lucky to have the genetic makeup to be a real competitive cyclist. No amount of training can make up the gift of genetic endowment. Basically this advantage one is born with. At 145 pounds at 5’10” I have the right body size and type to be a world class “climber,” but I lack the cardio vascular advantage. Some people just have the lung capacity of a race horse and the natural vascular system to have a high VO2 Max that is innate.
I have the fast twitch muscularity for speed and strength, and the one thing that I lack is the ability to sustain high BPM heart rate and huge anaerobic threshold. Pretty much a big limitation as I am built for other purposes.
Another friend from the NYC Meet-Up actually campaigned and raced a really crazy Rally car. I brag about being a crazy and skilled driver, but this experience of real racing and under rally conditions which basically is maintained full acceleration is mucho crazy and I would love to have that experience.
Audi BTW revolutionized Rally Racing with AWD cars and changed the game.
Then there is Snarky Joe’s Linhof 4x5 that is a boxed time capsule with the famed Zeus’s Planar. This really hurts and pretty much has “You suck factor.” Joe knows me well and surely bought this camera to hurt me. This is a crazy camera, and I wish I owned it.
Anyways on this thread and at the NYC Meet-Ups there are many interesting people. In a very small way I like to think that we work together to value everyone, our differences, and try to make a loving and peaceful world.
Anyways I admire my friends.
BTW “Devil Christian” is the epicenter of “Linhof Disease.”
Cal
One of my friends here in the NYC Meet-Up is lucky to have the genetic makeup to be a real competitive cyclist. No amount of training can make up the gift of genetic endowment. Basically this advantage one is born with. At 145 pounds at 5’10” I have the right body size and type to be a world class “climber,” but I lack the cardio vascular advantage. Some people just have the lung capacity of a race horse and the natural vascular system to have a high VO2 Max that is innate.
I have the fast twitch muscularity for speed and strength, and the one thing that I lack is the ability to sustain high BPM heart rate and huge anaerobic threshold. Pretty much a big limitation as I am built for other purposes.
Another friend from the NYC Meet-Up actually campaigned and raced a really crazy Rally car. I brag about being a crazy and skilled driver, but this experience of real racing and under rally conditions which basically is maintained full acceleration is mucho crazy and I would love to have that experience.
Audi BTW revolutionized Rally Racing with AWD cars and changed the game.
Then there is Snarky Joe’s Linhof 4x5 that is a boxed time capsule with the famed Zeus’s Planar. This really hurts and pretty much has “You suck factor.” Joe knows me well and surely bought this camera to hurt me. This is a crazy camera, and I wish I owned it.
Anyways on this thread and at the NYC Meet-Ups there are many interesting people. In a very small way I like to think that we work together to value everyone, our differences, and try to make a loving and peaceful world.
Anyways I admire my friends.
BTW “Devil Christian” is the epicenter of “Linhof Disease.”
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Drove to New Milford Connecticut to a Flea Market called “Elephant Trunk. Bought a garden iron bench, a wire plant stand, and a decorative basket. It was a nice haul of unique items at great prices.
Also stopped at an antique store and bought a old coffee grinder, a Shimano spin fishing reel, and a book on fly fishing.
Pulled up some Knotweed, and “Maggie” planted flowers to beautify the patio and pergola.
We had a big lunch at this Latin Fusion restaurant which was very-very good in Croton on the Hudson.
Cal
Also stopped at an antique store and bought a old coffee grinder, a Shimano spin fishing reel, and a book on fly fishing.
Pulled up some Knotweed, and “Maggie” planted flowers to beautify the patio and pergola.
We had a big lunch at this Latin Fusion restaurant which was very-very good in Croton on the Hudson.
Cal
fireblade
Vincenzo.
Enjoying your ramblings. Good read on a cold wet Monday afternoon in AUS. Anyhows, the other day i watched a youtube vid...laughed, only because i thought of you. If you were a car you would be this car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdBuwzRAEAw&ab_channel=jedrek555
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdBuwzRAEAw&ab_channel=jedrek555Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Enjoying your ramblings. Good read on a cold wet Monday afternoon in AUS. Anyhows, the other day i watched a youtube vid...laughed, only because i thought of you. If you were a car you would be this car.
FB,
Thanks for posting this.
It reminds me of the time this customer of my friend Steve, who owned a guitar shop, got to drive a 911 Turbo, wide body, Cabriolet, that was “triple-black (black top, black paint, black interior). The only thing that sucked was that George was in the passenger seat, so Steve could not test the car through its performance envelope.
I was hanging out at the shop, Steve tells me that George is expected, and mentions to me that I have to ask George to go for a ride.
When George came in and I asked, George made the mistake and threw Steve the keys, “You take Cal for a ride.”
Steve and I looked at each other and communicated, “Is this my dream come true?”
The top was down on a summer day, and we proceeded to head east on Sunrise highway. After Babylon Town Hall the traffic lights end and the highway becomes an expressway. We zoomed through the towns of Babylon, West Islip, and Bay Shore to this high speed cloverleaf.
Understand my friend Steve is one of the persons who did illegal drag racing on Hempstead Turnpike near the Nassau Collesium. He is also a big guy. I was co-pilot, and I use the term because at a certain point it is more like flying a car rather than driving. You could feel your body getting heavier from acceleration and centrifugal force.
So we did about a weeks worth of driving in about 40 minutes. I would yell out, “Shift,” when Steve hit the rev limiter. I also read out the speed and tachometer readings. In the cloverleaf in Bay Shore we figured out the right gear (third gear) to pull the turn, where we accelerated through the sweeping turn reaching 90 mph by the exit of the turn.
You can feel your body weight come close to double as we approached pulling 1-G. Steve was using all of his upper body strength to steer the car.
We did 135 mph through traffic, as if it were a video game, then I yelled to Steve, “Babylon Town Hall,” and then Steve said, “Hold on,” as he tested the ABS brakes.
Pretty much we were like a plane running out of runway, but the ABS kinda worked like thrust reversers on a Gulfstream that just touched down.
After that experience, we felt ruined, and we both said, “How can we just drive a regular car after that?”
Also know that my IBIS Mountain Trials has aggressive handling, and a hyper-short wheelbase. The handling is kinda violent, and some of my friends say it is unridable. One of my friends liked riding behind me, because like a rally car I steered with my rear, and pitched the bike sideways right to the hairy edge of almost crashing.
He found it entertaining to see me do crazy maneuvers, but like in the “Wide World Of Sports” the “agony of defeat” when I crashed. I am told that my crashes are pretty spectacular. LOL.
In college I took this Senior Seminar with this visiting professor from MIT. It was an interesting course that involved interdisciplinary thinking. Basically religion, science, and philosophy are just systems of belief.
One lesson that was taught and reinforced is that by definition “Racing” was getting as close to the edge of control as possible without crashing.
This was taught through juggling. In the very first class a bag was opened and tennis balls were thrown around the room. Pretty much the idea of juggling is about balance and control, as well as a positive mental attitude. We were taught not to use the word can’t if you could not juggle three balls, but say we are working on it.
Also terms were used like mystical point were used to describe the apex of when a tennis ball kinda hovers, not rising or falling, not accelerating. A point of balance of sorts.
So we live in a world full of mediocrity… Do you want to add more to that? Are you perhaps an outsider like me that has kinda weird, different, and unusual things happening all the time?
Also in that Senior Seminar was Joseph Campbell’s book “A Hero’s Journey” was used to define a lifestyle that was open to adventure and exploration. Eventually this journey kinda lead to one’s own identity…
Sadly, in my work environment, I worked with a lot of specialized highly trained professionals, who had a lopsided view of things that was too concentrated. Very boring and kinda rigid. Mucho glad that I am not in that environment anymore. Pretty much mucho boring, and although highly educated, these folks were not “thinkers.
Also know that there was very little appreciation for my creativity, my ways of thinking, or my form of intelligence. I more or less was looked upon as being odd. Know that this situation required lots of flexibility to cope and adapt, traits that they did not have. It was a one sided situation.
Cal
Particular
a.k.a. CNNY, disassembler
Phil,
You also forgot sewing machines! I did months of research before getting a machine that is cooler than Cal's Yuki. I settled on a Singer 301, which I consider "the Leica M3 of sewing machines". It is bare bones, heavy duty and portable, the most patented sewing machine ever.
Or perhaps it is the "Linhof Technika of sewing machines", considering that it is cast aluminum and cream colored, and produced about a decade before the first cream colored Linhofs.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Devil Christian,
I forgot about my Juki stored in the basement.
I now have the camera known as the “Devil Christian” fully operational. Had that 90mm F8.0 Super Augulon timed and cleaned.
I am working so hard. Retirement ends up being more occupied and busy. Have not had time for photography, biking, sewing…
From Jack HVAC I learned that the in between jousts mini-split air handlers are a new product. Anyways the air handlers are in place in the kitchen and dining room. The ducts will be flush with the sheet rock.
Meanwhile the compressor is still likely in a container ship off the California coast…
Jack HVAC suggested getting my attic foamed in with insulation. Also for the second floor getting a 2-3 tone unit and installing a single air handler with ductwork.
Tomorrow we get the plumbing inspection.
Today we were expecting severe weather, but it did not happen. It did rain hard around 4:00 PM. I have my “war of attrition” with the Knotweed. I ended up clearing the dead end and the rear of my neighbor’s property. I simply ripped stalks out of the ground like a savage and created brush piles of 6-7 foot stalks that often came up with roots.
Pretty much I’m encouraging marsh grass to re-establish itself in place of the thicket of knotweed. Anyways that’s is my goal.
In another 3-4 weeks I will have to go on the kill again.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
There was a research study where an Aborigine was shown a photograph of his mother, and he did not recognize her.
Hard to believe for us , but basically art too is a system of beliefs just like science, religion, and philosophy.
Lately I have been in touch with my Agent’s assistant, filling out paperwork, and replying to e-mails. I am a bit excited about my new gig, and June is not so far away.
I’m also excited about my new grandson, my new kitchen, my new bike (don’t tell Maggie), and my new guitar getting built (again don’t tell Maggie).
Then there is the new bathroom upstairs, and then finally my garage/studio/workspace.
All this is a lot to be excited about, but is it getting too be too much. Not that life is boring, but I figure I have a lot going on, and there is a lot of pent up potential. I guess I’m surprised that retirement and moving out of the city is not boring, and in fact I’m kinda very busy every day.
On the other hand, I feel more alive, and definitely more happy-happy. Also less stress, and at the same time I’m eating, resting, and taking better care of myself.
Anyways just some odd remarks about the state of mind I’m in. Pretty much a new life.
Cal
Hard to believe for us , but basically art too is a system of beliefs just like science, religion, and philosophy.
Lately I have been in touch with my Agent’s assistant, filling out paperwork, and replying to e-mails. I am a bit excited about my new gig, and June is not so far away.
I’m also excited about my new grandson, my new kitchen, my new bike (don’t tell Maggie), and my new guitar getting built (again don’t tell Maggie).
Then there is the new bathroom upstairs, and then finally my garage/studio/workspace.
All this is a lot to be excited about, but is it getting too be too much. Not that life is boring, but I figure I have a lot going on, and there is a lot of pent up potential. I guess I’m surprised that retirement and moving out of the city is not boring, and in fact I’m kinda very busy every day.
On the other hand, I feel more alive, and definitely more happy-happy. Also less stress, and at the same time I’m eating, resting, and taking better care of myself.
Anyways just some odd remarks about the state of mind I’m in. Pretty much a new life.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
I am like a farmer because the daily weather is the first thing I check when I get up. The weather in the lower Hudson Valley is very moody and a bit unpredictable. There can be surprise unscheduled heavy soaking rain like we got caught in at Creature Junior’s soccer game, but that was kinda localized. Even though not predicted, it can rain at anytime, and it is a bit like living in a rain forest.
Lots of severe storms and alerts. Yesterday we could of had hail and a tornado.
Not far away I took notice how different the forest looks further east from the Hudson Valley, less dense, and this becomes more evident when you get to Connecticut. Sunday we drove to East Milford to go the Elephant’s Trunk, the flea market.
Yesterday on our evening walk, “Maggie” took notice that a few blocks away all these bearded Irises’s were in full bloom, but only one just flowered and opened in our yard. Because we are in the lower valley we get a late spring. The cold dense air settles into my hood from further north.
In my attic the R-13 has turned into pretty much only vapor barrier. Fiberglass compresses and settles over decades. I was going to install Rock Wool for higher “R” value and to avoid the downfall of fiberglass, plus is that it is more mold resistant, but Jack HVAC said he would have foam sprayed for an even better seal and higher “R” value.
Right now there is no attic venting on the house. Not good. Condensation and mold would be promoted, but with spray foam the attic effectively would be sealed. Jack says that his son’s attic was done in an “over-spray” that potted and sealed everything.
The roofline on my Baby-Victorian is pretty complex and kinda all over the place. I don’t want to cut into the stucco to create attic vents, so my slacker’s way will likely lead into performing Jack’s suggestion and having foam sprayed.
They say 25% of your heat is lost through your roof. Would be great if this translated into 25% lees energy costs. The high fuel prices are brutally high. Had a almost $1K oil bill, and also an over $1K oil bill. Ouch-ouch and ouch.
Back in the seventies it takes several years for oil prices to moderate. I also remember about/nearly 20 years ago Premium gas was priced as today and it took a while for prices to moderate.
Jack HVAC and Nick say that the best usage of the mini-splits for longevity is to keep them running all the time. Pretty much this is what they are designed to do. They are efficient because they don’t cycle and turn on and off.
Anyways they don’t last forever, and they say it is usually the electronics that go south. Pretty much my Crown oil furnace will be for hot water and for supplemental heavy heating for the winter. It is good that the furnace will be used all year round for hot water to keep it active and ready.
One of my neighbors has these modern mini-radiators for his oil hot water. He gut Reno’s his house, but I kinda like the big old radiators for their thermal moderation and for their mass which stores the heat with an adobe like effect. Also it supports our retro look.
So looks like another mini-split for the second floor, but a single ducted air handler will get installed in the attic and ducted to the rooms. Right now there is a hatch in the bathroom upstairs for the attic, and pretty much I need to install a pull down set of stairs in the hallway to get started.
Pretty much, if I did a virtual TV show it would be “Virtual Demo: Glamping In An Old House.”
Forensics from the kitchen and bath demo indicate that the rear porch was bigger, and part of that rear porch was used to create a first floor bath (5x7). What Devil Christian calls a “kick out” from the original foundation that is a crawl space was added to include and protect the bathroom plumbing.
So my goal is to kinda finish the first floor before the second. Glamping is not fun. The demo and construction seems never ending…
Cal
Lots of severe storms and alerts. Yesterday we could of had hail and a tornado.
Not far away I took notice how different the forest looks further east from the Hudson Valley, less dense, and this becomes more evident when you get to Connecticut. Sunday we drove to East Milford to go the Elephant’s Trunk, the flea market.
Yesterday on our evening walk, “Maggie” took notice that a few blocks away all these bearded Irises’s were in full bloom, but only one just flowered and opened in our yard. Because we are in the lower valley we get a late spring. The cold dense air settles into my hood from further north.
In my attic the R-13 has turned into pretty much only vapor barrier. Fiberglass compresses and settles over decades. I was going to install Rock Wool for higher “R” value and to avoid the downfall of fiberglass, plus is that it is more mold resistant, but Jack HVAC said he would have foam sprayed for an even better seal and higher “R” value.
Right now there is no attic venting on the house. Not good. Condensation and mold would be promoted, but with spray foam the attic effectively would be sealed. Jack says that his son’s attic was done in an “over-spray” that potted and sealed everything.
The roofline on my Baby-Victorian is pretty complex and kinda all over the place. I don’t want to cut into the stucco to create attic vents, so my slacker’s way will likely lead into performing Jack’s suggestion and having foam sprayed.
They say 25% of your heat is lost through your roof. Would be great if this translated into 25% lees energy costs. The high fuel prices are brutally high. Had a almost $1K oil bill, and also an over $1K oil bill. Ouch-ouch and ouch.
Back in the seventies it takes several years for oil prices to moderate. I also remember about/nearly 20 years ago Premium gas was priced as today and it took a while for prices to moderate.
Jack HVAC and Nick say that the best usage of the mini-splits for longevity is to keep them running all the time. Pretty much this is what they are designed to do. They are efficient because they don’t cycle and turn on and off.
Anyways they don’t last forever, and they say it is usually the electronics that go south. Pretty much my Crown oil furnace will be for hot water and for supplemental heavy heating for the winter. It is good that the furnace will be used all year round for hot water to keep it active and ready.
One of my neighbors has these modern mini-radiators for his oil hot water. He gut Reno’s his house, but I kinda like the big old radiators for their thermal moderation and for their mass which stores the heat with an adobe like effect. Also it supports our retro look.
So looks like another mini-split for the second floor, but a single ducted air handler will get installed in the attic and ducted to the rooms. Right now there is a hatch in the bathroom upstairs for the attic, and pretty much I need to install a pull down set of stairs in the hallway to get started.
Pretty much, if I did a virtual TV show it would be “Virtual Demo: Glamping In An Old House.”
Forensics from the kitchen and bath demo indicate that the rear porch was bigger, and part of that rear porch was used to create a first floor bath (5x7). What Devil Christian calls a “kick out” from the original foundation that is a crawl space was added to include and protect the bathroom plumbing.
So my goal is to kinda finish the first floor before the second. Glamping is not fun. The demo and construction seems never ending…
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Looks like the bathroom upstairs will be next.
My neighbor saw a fox in his yard. I’ve seen foxes in the summer when they molt and loose their winter coats. They look scrawny, sickly, and mangy.
”Maggie” discovered some scat in the back-backyard that had fur in it. We suspect a Coyote.
I started doing my lawn trims to mulch the lawn. Pretty much frequent cutting, and no raking to thicken the lawn without fertilizer. Short grass requires less torque.
Started stripping the paint on the other side of a 5 panel door.
Another doctor’s appointment to catch up on maintenance tomorrow. Framing inspection Thursday, and maybe an insulation inspection Friday.
Today was the plumbing inspection. Kinda funny that the inspector actually did some of the plumbing in the house. To bring the bathroom up to code since it was gutted means the toilet has to be relocated a few inches. Oh-well.
So now that we have an open permit, it would be good to keep it open and sneak in the upstairs bath Reno. Pretty much we have a year from when the permit was issued. This will speed things up. Pretty much replacement of what is already existing, but we are moving the tub and toilet.
Have to rent a truck to pickup an arm-war that Maggie found that we will use as a closet in the powder room off the kitchen to store the vacuum and cleaning supplies.
Looks like I will be gifted the smallest bedroom as a workspace. Not a bad room for digital printing. Just enough room for my 24 inch EIZO, a computer, and the Jersey Barrier along with papers and inks. A bit cozy. One of the two windows has a nice view of the back-backyard and the frog ghetto with the forested hillside. The view is like somewhere in the English countryside, or some place way upstate that is mucho rural.
We are on the fence with the garage gable roof because the view with the hip roof is so nice.
I have some ideas to build out windows to replace the dated Jello-C windows on the front porch. My idea is to have either screens or windows, so the front porch remains a closed porch, but framed screens or solid glass windows will be changed with the seasons. Pretty much a reason to buy a router and router table.
Secondary use would be for my framing shop.
Another productive day.
Cal
My neighbor saw a fox in his yard. I’ve seen foxes in the summer when they molt and loose their winter coats. They look scrawny, sickly, and mangy.
”Maggie” discovered some scat in the back-backyard that had fur in it. We suspect a Coyote.
I started doing my lawn trims to mulch the lawn. Pretty much frequent cutting, and no raking to thicken the lawn without fertilizer. Short grass requires less torque.
Started stripping the paint on the other side of a 5 panel door.
Another doctor’s appointment to catch up on maintenance tomorrow. Framing inspection Thursday, and maybe an insulation inspection Friday.
Today was the plumbing inspection. Kinda funny that the inspector actually did some of the plumbing in the house. To bring the bathroom up to code since it was gutted means the toilet has to be relocated a few inches. Oh-well.
So now that we have an open permit, it would be good to keep it open and sneak in the upstairs bath Reno. Pretty much we have a year from when the permit was issued. This will speed things up. Pretty much replacement of what is already existing, but we are moving the tub and toilet.
Have to rent a truck to pickup an arm-war that Maggie found that we will use as a closet in the powder room off the kitchen to store the vacuum and cleaning supplies.
Looks like I will be gifted the smallest bedroom as a workspace. Not a bad room for digital printing. Just enough room for my 24 inch EIZO, a computer, and the Jersey Barrier along with papers and inks. A bit cozy. One of the two windows has a nice view of the back-backyard and the frog ghetto with the forested hillside. The view is like somewhere in the English countryside, or some place way upstate that is mucho rural.
We are on the fence with the garage gable roof because the view with the hip roof is so nice.
I have some ideas to build out windows to replace the dated Jello-C windows on the front porch. My idea is to have either screens or windows, so the front porch remains a closed porch, but framed screens or solid glass windows will be changed with the seasons. Pretty much a reason to buy a router and router table.
Secondary use would be for my framing shop.
Another productive day.
Cal