New York February NYC Meet-Up/ Ninth Annual Camera Beauty Contest

[Calzone]

**Gear Alert**
I picked up my first Leica in years, a R4S for a price of, wait for it $24.95! Anybody have a lens they
could bring to the next meet so I could try it out. The camera does work LED's and all so this looks
promising.

Bob,

I have my 50 Lux-R "E60." I modded it and retrograded it from ROM to 3-cam so I could use this on my 1975 SL2-MOT.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Definitely "they're". I didn't go through high school in this country, so I can know.

Christian,

I grew up on Long Island, and somehow I graduated without really attending high school. My friend's younger sister would forge me letters petending to be my mother, so in 11th grade I would hang out in the park and get high.

High school was so boring I almost dropped out. In class I read classic novels sitting in the class just for attendance. Some teachers thought this was rude, but I reminded them that I'm not disrupting the class, and threatened to go that route if not left alone.

Some teachers were cool with me. Mr. Shafto was really respectful and recognized that I learned chemistry on my own by reading the supplied text. One time I asked him for a make-up for a mid-term because I wanted to hitch hike to Florida for the Mid-Winter break with my friend Richie.

"I'll just give you a 95, and you don't have to take the mid-term," he said.

How cool is that. I was a smart kid who was not motivated or challenged who became bored. U.S. education has mucho repetition, and does not teach people how to think. Pretty much school was a place to learn how to be dumb.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

639K followers.

Today "Maggie" has a shoot, and tomorrow she will be flying to L.A. for another shoot. Saturday will be a make-up class she has to teach since she will be away Thursday.

Yesterday two couriers came by to retrieve clothing that was lent out for NYC Fashion Week. Two more garment bags have to be picked up. By March 1st a News Letter will be released to meet a deadline.

Oh I forgot the book proposal that she is writing. She already has a great literary agent.

Friday I learned that my friend John died of a heart attack at the age of 53. John I have know for about 20 years, and I would run into him when our "water package" needed a new "mixed bed ionization tank" a few times each year. John was a big man, but not really overweight, but he had diabetes.

I read some fitness article and this fireman from Brooklyn mentions that he is into fitness not only because of his work, but also because half of firemen die of heart attacks.

In conversation with "Maggie" I mention this fireman, and Maggie explained all the stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol become conditioned responses and can lead to destroying one's body.

This realization became relevant where Maggie mentioned that the stress in her life has taken its toll and aged her considerably. Boy am I glad she said what I couldn't without a fight.

The past 4 1/2 years have not been easy, and surely is not sustainable. Stress is a killer, and I'm glad she realizes that before its too late. About two years ago I suggested retiring from Fordham.

Call me a lazy slacker, but as long as I'm moving forward and doing something positive working towards a goal I can feel satisfied. Did 4 one mile intervals on the Elyptical with the last tenth mile maxing out my heart rate; cut some rejected prints into spine stock for my "Book of Proofs;" worked on my bikes; got my inventories organized and visited my Public Storage; retrieved the bent fork that needs to be straightened; spotted some prints...

The three day weekend gave me the time to do lots of little things that are all productive and relaxing at the same time. I'm in no rush and I hate deadlines.

The steel IBIS is being built as a 2x1 speed. The 3x1 won't work because the 20 tooth does not allow clearance with the front deraileur because it is too small. To do a 3x1 I have to increase the chainring size for clearance. Weighs slightly less than 21.5 pounds without a chain (figure add on about 10 ounces).

Instead of going tubeless I installed pink latex tubes that have the similar benefits of tubeless in low rolling resistance, low weight, and allows running lower tire pressures for traction and shock absorbsion. I use 700cc tubes made for wider cyclocross tires that are clinchers because mountain bike sizes are no longer available. Don't tell everyone but the undersized skinny latex tubes work fine. Back in the day using latex tubes and undersizing was the racer's edge.

The bad is that latex tubes bleed air and have to be pumped up before every ride. No big deal because any serious rider does this anyways.

Used the 42/32 tooth spyderless "Duo" chainring/spyder for 63" and 48" gears. Pretty much a hammer bike with slightly longer cranks (180mm) on a ultra short mountain bike with a 39 inch wheelbase, short chainstays, and a tall 12 inch bottom bracket height.

This bike mirrors my build that is optimized for accelleration, climbing and agility. The downhills though get a bit sketchy and are a bit exciting. The bike is a bit like me: not the most stable. LOL.

The pile of dampers for my 7800 remain as a put off project. It made no sense to tackle this job under the stress of NYC Fashion Week.

Also after doing a studio shoot of "Maggie" I used the white backdrop I had set up to photograph some of my bikes as objects. The shots are impressive. "I love it."

Cal

 

[Range-rover]

Bob,

I have my 50 Lux-R "E60." I modded it and retrograded it from ROM to 3-cam so I could use this on my 1975 SL2-MOT.

Cal

I'll bring the camera, I had to clean out the shutter button it was
sticking a bit, it's working better.

 

[Range-rover]

639K followers.

Today "Maggie" has a shoot, and tomorrow she will be flying to L.A. for another shoot. Saturday will be a make-up class she has to teach since she will be away Thursday.

Yesterday two couriers came by to retrieve clothing that was lent out for NYC Fashion Week. Two more garment bags have to be picked up. By March 1st a News Letter will be released to meet a deadline.

Oh I forgot the book proposal that she is writing. She already has a great literary agent.

Friday I learned that my friend John died of a heart attack at the age of 53. John I have know for about 20 years, and I would run into him when our "water package" needed a new "mixed bed ionization tank" a few times each year. John was a big man, but not really overweight, but he had diabetes.

I read some fitness article and this fireman from Brooklyn mentions that he is into fitness not only because of his work, but also because half of firemen die of heart attacks.

In conversation with "Maggie" I mention this fireman, and Maggie explained all the stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol become conditioned responses and can lead to destroying one's body.

This realization became relevant where Maggie mentioned that the stress in her life has taken its toll and aged her considerably. Boy am I glad she said what I couldn't without a fight.

The past 4 1/2 years have not been easy, and surely is not sustainable. Stress is a killer, and I'm glad she realizes that before its too late. About two years ago I suggested retiring from Fordham.

Call me a lazy slacker, but as long as I'm moving forward and doing something positive working towards a goal I can feel satisfied. Did 4 one mile intervals on the Elyptical with the last tenth mile maxing out my heart rate; cut some rejected prints into spine stock for my "Book of Proofs;" worked on my bikes; got my inventories organized and visited my Public Storage; retrieved the bent fork that needs to be straightened; spotted some prints...

The three day weekend gave me the time to do lots of little things that are all productive and relaxing at the same time. I'm in no rush and I hate deadlines.

The steel IBIS is being built as a 2x1 speed. The 3x1 won't work because the 20 tooth does not allow clearance with the front deraileur because it is too small. To do a 3x1 I have to increase the chainring size for clearance. Weighs slightly less than 21.5 pounds without a chain (figure add on about 10 ounces).

Instead of going tubeless I installed pink latex tubes that have the similar benefits of tubeless in low rolling resistance, low weight, and allows running lower tire pressures for traction and shock absorbsion. I use 700cc tubes made for wider cyclocross tires that are clinchers because mountain bike sizes are no longer available. Don't tell everyone but the undersized skinny latex tubes work fine. Back in the day using latex tubes and undersizing was the racer's edge.

The bad is that latex tubes bleed air and have to be pumped up before every ride. No big deal because any serious rider does this anyways.

Used the 42/32 tooth spyderless "Duo" chainring/spyder for 63" and 48" gears. Pretty much a hammer bike with slightly longer cranks (180mm) on a ultra short mountain bike with a 39 inch wheelbase, short chainstays, and a tall 12 inch bottom bracket height.

This bike mirrors my build that is optimized for accelleration, climbing and agility. The downhills though get a bit sketchy and are a bit exciting. The bike is a bit like me: not the most stable. LOL.

The pile of dampers for my 7800 remain as a put off project. It made no sense to tackle this job under the stress of NYC Fashion Week.

Also after doing a studio shoot of "Maggie" I used the white backdrop I had set up to photograph some of my bikes as objects. The shots are impressive. "I love it."

Cal

Sorry to hear about your friend Cal.

 

[Dan]

Post some bike porn

 

[MrBern]

Sunday is coming up!
Didnt hear about Jim's crew. Sounds good.
I hope to bring a friend.
An Art Director I used to work with. We were going thru some boxes as she moved out of her apt of 20 years. Came across her college camera gear from the 70s. I'll see if I can get her to bring the old Voigtlander along.


Actually that reminds me, I should dig thru my junk & decide what to bring along.


BTW hope Fashion month is going ok for you. RIP Karl Lagerfeld.
-Bern

Bernard,

I got a PM from Jim from Philly. Seems like he might bring a crew from Philly.

Looks like another flash mob. Back at the Harlem Public, whe it was a brand new bar we had a flash mob of about 50 camera geeks. How cool was that.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Post some bike porn

Saul,

I'll have to figure out a solution. We can't post pictures on this thread.

I have a stash of XTR 11 speed, and I also have a stash of 9 speed Dura Ace. The pile is a bit obscene. Pretty much I loaded up the truck. LOL.

My shots look like pin-up calender shots. When I do my blog later this year I'm going to do episodes of "This Old Bike," where I kinda riff off the PBS show "This Old House."

I think later today I'll be ordering a 104 BCD spyder because I can get a 43 tooth BMX chainring for 3/16 inch chain from Profile Racing. It gives me a perfect chain length for a 43-16=63.156" gear. Currently I have a 46-17=63.59" gear.

I figure when I get a new wheel built I will do a Dura-Ace 1x9 using a Dura-Ace 11-21 cassette with the 43 tooth. Then I'll have a bike that is convertable from a 63 gear inch single speed to an urban 1x9.

Since I have modular spyders I can also create a 3x9 for off road using 42/32/20 with a Dura-Ace 12-23 for cross country.

Some of the stuff I have is no longer available. Schwable discontinued the 24x1.5 Kojak, Paul Components discontinued this single brake lever that controls two sets of brakes, the Answer Pinnacle Pro 24 inch BMX rims are also discontinued.

I have limited edition red anodized Paul Component brakes that are also no longer available. Funny thing is that when I bought the Ti IBIS these parts were newly available. Kinda makes me think of divine intervention because this is beyond luck.

Just securing the Ti IBIS was a bit of a miracle. I was bored at work and did a search on EBAY for the most obscure thing I could think of: "IBIS Mountain Trials." Not only does this bike date back to the 1980's it was a boutique bike back in the day, and the auction for the Ti IBIS came up. The auction would close later that same day.

The next day I was destroyed by disapointment because I then realized that I needed the Ti IBIS to live, but later that day or perhaps a day later I was contacted by the seller and offered a "Second Chance Bid" if I still wanted the bike with a BIN of my previous highest bid. Evidently the highest bidder was a deadbeat.

So I never knew that IBIS made a Ti version of this bike. The quick radical handling makes other bikes feel lame and slow once you get us to the twitchy/violent geometry. When I did my data mining I discovered that I owned the first one ever made that was a show bike, and when I contacted Scot Nichole I learned that it is probable that I might have the only one.

Kinda funny is that the rear brake, the front fork, and the cranks are basically parts originally designed for a tandem, yet my handlebars and rear wheel were originally BMX parts.

I have this trick Paul Component GoPro stem mount to run a bike cam. The new MEPS Giro helmet has a GoPro mount so I also intend to run a rider cam when I secure a second GoPro.

The Steel IBIS I had gotten refinished in a flourescent orange powder coat about 25-30 years ago. Since then some of the powder coat has blistered and surface rust has now created this wonderful finish that resembles the "spatter coating" they performed in the 80's on boutique bikes. This bike has a very cool "patina" like a brassed black paint camera.

Mike the Skinny Hipster has a stable of high end track bikes, and his apartment (he lives right above me) is set up like a bike shop with a bike stand an digital bike scale set up in his living room.

He does not care for the "Mike the Skinny Hipster" knickname, so I endear him with another name: "Mike the Wack Job."

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Sorry to hear about your friend Cal.

Bob,

John was a great guy. Real easy going, personable, and humble.

I will miss him.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Sorry about John's passing Cal, the 50s are young age nowadays.

+1 for Bike shots! I've more photos than I'd like to admit (film, where each frame is $) using the bike as a subject on the landscape. My not-yet bike buddy said he went to replace the Bottom Bracket on his bike, so I'll probably have a victim for an environmental portrait sometime in spring.
Even though I haven't yet seen his bike, bearings worn in 2 years seems a scant lifetime. His is an entry level bike I haven't seen yet though. The good stuff is still good! Did forensics and turns out I have the 1st gen XT V-brakes on my commuter. They have a parallelogram that keeps the shoes in optimal position, and despite reading their reputed squealing I guess a former owner took care of it. I really like their braking power, except when rims get wet...


I wasn't really interested in bikes themselves until I began to use one for some commuting, Rather recently I got nerdy about the more technical part of bikes.

It's a hobby that complements nicely with photography, by riding to locations. The expense can be up there to photography, but it can be much cheaper (second hand, decade+ old MTBs are cheap). Much harder to move and hoard bikes though!

Ended up watching a short video on the IBIS Ti Mojo, where basically they say how much improved are current bikes are

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=l8BsnI_iAGQ

Had a chuckle because he says the 71 degree headset angle and 75 deg seat angle are old school... My 2015 XC 29er is just a degree slacker in both dimensions. The more things change?

The bike industry literally reinvented the wheel. I'm wondering how long it may take to pitch back the virtues of 26".

My dad got offered a scant $500 (trading in with purchase of another bike) for a high end 4 year old carbon 27.5" hardtail. "No market for it" the dealers say, and the listing we put up had no interest. It's a Small size, but I gotta try it again on my next visit.

 

[Calzone]

Sorry about John's passing Cal, the 50s are young age nowadays.

+1 for Bike shots! I've more photos than I'd like to admit (film, where each frame is $) using the bike as a subject on the landscape. My not-yet bike buddy said he went to replace the Bottom Bracket on his bike, so I'll probably have a victim for an environmental portrait sometime in spring.
Even though I haven't yet seen his bike, bearings worn in 2 years seems a scant lifetime. His is an entry level bike I haven't seen yet though. The good stuff is still good! Did forensics and turns out I have the 1st gen XT V-brakes on my commuter. They have a parallelogram that keeps the shoes in optimal position, and despite reading their reputed squealing I guess a former owner took care of it. I really like their braking power, except when rims get wet...


I wasn't really interested in bikes themselves until I began to use one for some commuting, Rather recently I got nerdy about the more technical part of bikes.

It's a hobby that complements nicely with photography, by riding to locations. The expense can be up there to photography, but it can be much cheaper (second hand, decade+ old MTBs are cheap). Much harder to move and hoard bikes though!

Ended up watching a short video on the IBIS Ti Mojo, where basically they say how much improved are current bikes are

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=l8BsnI_iAGQ

Had a chuckle because he says the 71 degree headset angle and 75 deg seat angle are old school... My 2015 XC 29er is just a degree slacker in both dimensions. The more things change?

The bike industry literally reinvented the wheel. I'm wondering how long it may take to pitch back the virtues of 26".

My dad got offered a scant $500 (trading in with purchase of another bike) for a high end 4 year old carbon 27.5" hardtail. "No market for it" the dealers say, and the listing we put up had no interest. It's a Small size, but I gotta try it again on my next visit.

Jorde,

For some reason I kill headset bearings, but since I upgraded to Chris King headsets with sealed bearings pretty much I'm done and have a headset in each bike that will last the rest of my lifetime. I have a King heasets on the steel IBIS that dates back to the 80's.

I also have not experenced bottom bracket failures with any of the high end sealed bearing BB I have purchased. On all my bikes I have ti spindles to save weight (about half the weight of steel).

If you go to the Rodriguez Tandem site there is information on why he chooses not to use V-brakes on his high-end tandems: basically the pads are thin and become a cronic maintenance issue.

In the clip you posted there is a close-up of the front brakes. Take note that the arms are at a right angle to the pads. This is basically a design lifted from Tandems for increased leverage.

The bad is that they are not so low profile. They look like the front "Paul Component's" canti's I use on the front of my IBIS's. Originally on the Ti IBIS I ran these right angle canti's front and rear, but they are a bit too much on the rear and encourage skids. I de-rated to a lower profile Paul Component canti for the rear and recycled the right angle canti to the steel IBIS.

So canti's can have the same stopping power of discs. If you understand leverage and how it becomes a force multiplier than it can be understood that wheels that use disc brakes have to be built both heavier and stronger.

This is compounded also by increased wheel diameter. Fact is bigger diameter wheels have to be built stronger, and smaller wheels are inherently stronger. For equal strength the smaller wheel is considerably lighter, and the use of disc brakes requires overbuilding to handle the transfere of leverage of the wheel diameter via the spokes to the hub.

On a rim brake there is no lever effect, well only a very short lever of the tires profile diameter. Lighter wheels and smaller tires have less of a flywheel effect and take less energy to spool up to speed.

In the video you will notice that the Ti Mojo is a fun bike that the rider seems to throw around. The bike promotes not sitting in the saddle and spinning. In a way the rider is more active and moves around the cockpit more than if he were riding say a full suspension 29'er.

I can tell that the footage was shot out west. The trails are more open and faster out there. Here in the Northeast it is less flowing downhills, less open, and more short steep technical and rocky. Pretty much the riding requires more torque, is slower speed, and is less about catching air and doing drop offs.

I'm talking real "single track" that is basically narrow hiking trails. The wide handlebars that are the rage on 29'ers today would be a liability weaving through the trails. Back in the day bar-ends were "tree hooks," and narrow handlebars of 20-21 inches were required for real "single track."

If you heard the term "road rash" you would understand the term "bark-burn" where we would have scabs from brushing trees on our shoulders. You had to "countersteer" to even get the narrow bars through some closely spaced trees.

The laws of physics say it requires less energy to move a lighter object. Today's bike are not so light and are heavier because of bigger tires, wheels and suspension.

I would think that the Ti Mojo, which is the same bike as my Ti Mountain Trials, except my Mountain Trials has a 24 inch rear wheel and a shorter wheelbase, rigged with a modern 1x11 and a suspension fork is likely a 22 pound bike.

A full suspension with big wheels and chubby tires are great for high speed descents, drops, and more open riding, but under some conditions the added weight and the advantages are not worth it.

The modern bikes are built for a different speed envelope and their handling at slower speeds to me would be like riding a stationary bike while watching TV. I find it amusing seeing fat tire bikes and full suspension bikes in NYC. Why?

BTW the Ti Mojo had the "Handjob" (an investment cast piece of brass og a hand as a rear cable guide) that makes the Ti Mojo "Pre V-brake" meaning before 1995. That Ti Mojo is 25 years old. Mike bike has the same labels and stickers.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Jorde or Saul,

If I had your e-mail I could send you JPEG's of three of my bikes. Sadly for the fourth bike shots I have to visit my Public Storage.

Pretty much "Bike Boner" porn.

You can't post shots on this thread, but you are welcomed to post a thread: "Bike Boner Porn" or "Calzone's Bike Boner Porn." For some reason the local club thread prohibits posting of shots.

Cal

 

[DennisM]

Feb '19 Meetup

Feb '19 Meetup

Just to confirm, the Feb Meetup is at The Rochard at 1:00 or thereabouts on Sunday the 24th? Thanks.


Dennis

 

[Calzone]

Just to confirm, the Feb Meetup is at The Rochard at 1:00 or thereabouts on Sunday the 24th? Thanks.


Dennis

Dennis,

I should be there around noon to reserve our space. Could likely be a bit of a flash mob. At on Meet-Up the "Jersey Boys" showed up at Harlem Public and there was close to 50 camera nerds at that one.

New Jersey folks came close to or outnumbered the New Yorkers.

Cal

 

[Dan]

Jorde or Saul,

If I had your e-mail I could send you JPEG's of three of my bikes. Sadly for the fourth bike shots I have to visit my Public Storage.

Pretty much "Bike Boner" porn.

You can't post shots on this thread, but you are welcomed to post a thread: "Bike Boner Porn" or "Calzone's Bike Boner Porn." For some reason the local club thread prohibits posting of shots.

Cal

Cal,

PM'd you w/email

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

PM'd you w/email

Saul,

Thanks for the favor.

Calzone's Bike Boner Thread will be coming.

I'll JPEG some shots I did during NYC Fashion Week when I set up the white backdrop for shooting "Maggie" in clothing she had been lent by designers.

Took the opportunity to shoot three out of four bikes I had on hand.

Two of the bikes are works in progress. I had the steel IBIS rigged as a full blown trials bike with a Middleburn Pro Trials guard and only 30 inch gear, but take notice of the XTR front derailier and the loaded triple spyder.

The Ti Basso (rebranded Litespeed) is missing front brakes (magnesium Graftons). Currently this fork is being shipped to Philly where Phil will undo the off centering of the wheel between the blades that was likely due to a very far/high bike pole-vault by a rather big rider. I think likely a "Clydesdale."

The Ti Basso oddly could also be a one-off. It originlly was a show bike for a trade show in Anaheim California by a distributor I knew and rode with. I pretty much got a "steal-deal" on a ti bike when they first were created. There was only Merlin and Litespeed back then.

I fatigued a weld on the head tube and was expecting a brand new replacement frame, but instead they rebuilt my front triangle, but with oversized tubing. The first iteration the bike had a unique noodle ride quality like riding a light bike made of spring steel that dampened quickly in one oscilation. For me it was like having a full suspension bike because it flexed so much.

The oversized tubing stiffened everything up. Feels more like a stiff steel bike, only lighter.

The Ti IBIS Mountain Trials is really more like a Ti Mojo except with a 24 inch rear wheel, shorter chainstays, and shorter wheelbase. It has tapered chainstays like a steel bike and the tubing is internally butted which is a very-very big deal.

Ti Mojo's are still considered the Pinnacle of titanium bikes. Not many for sale because they are keepers. Not so good as a downhill bike because of the aggressive handling. Even with a 26 inch wheel the wheelbase is still only 41 1/2 inches (short) and on downhills this gets mighty exciting. LOL.

Expect high entertainment factor.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Intersting to note that although I own two IBIS Mountain Trials bikes that the geometry is different.

The front fork I had Steve Potts (a living legend) custom build me an IBIS Type II fork reproduction. Understand that when I first bought the Ti IBIS off of EBAY that it pretty much was set up as a single speed for playing "Bike Polo."

So the fork I spec'ed out was right off an IBIS pamplet that displayed the geometry. When I finally got and installed the fork I took notice that there is a difference in the Wheel base between the steel and Ti IBIS's of one inch. I suspect that the difference is the more slack head tube angle is 71 degrees on the Ti IBIS where on the steel IBIS it is 72 degrees.

The steel IBIS Mountain Trials has a 39 inch wheelbase; the Ti IBIS Mountain Trials has a 40 inch wheelbase; and an IBIS Ti Mojo has a 41 1/2 inch wheelbase which is still considered short. The one inch difference between the two bikes is very dramatic.

Some of my friends say that the steel IBIS is "unridable." LOL. Kind of a suicide bike, but that is my style. Trials riding is generally slow speed and very technical.

In the end the added inch tames the ride in a good way. The Ti IBIS is more my cross country bike, and the steel IBIS more my single track bike.

The Ti Basso with a 42 inch wheelbase is more of an enduro bike (downhill) but still marginally a short wheelbase.

Know that the IBIS's also have a tall 12 inch bottom bracket height so the center of gravity is about 1/2 an inch taller then most mountain bikes. The high CG and twitchy steering along with the short wheelbase un-nerves some people. LOL. Not the most stable.

On the Ti IBIS I use a single brake lever that works/controls both the front and rear brakes at the same time. This I did to avoid hitting the "eject" button while doing high speeds. Hitting the front brake alone in some kind of emergency could end very badly.

So what is the hype? Short chainstays and short wheelbase promote acceleration, climbing, and a certain style of riding some call "hammering" that involves standing for using upper body strength and your full body.

My friends also say that I'm "squirelly" meaning the bike travels side to side a lot and there is a certain violence and sliding in my turns.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Saul,

You have JPEG's.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

In the news and in the media is this hype about this luxury carry on luggage given as a thank you present for attending Princess Meghan's NYC baby shower.

The brand s called "Away" and looked so familiar, so this morning I look into a closet and I see the same "Away" carry on luggage that was gifted to "Maggie" about two years ago.

They mentioned that this bag has a cell phone/USB backup power connection, but the media and the news are clueless that the TSA pretty much will confiscate the Lithium battery if the bag is not a carry on. The battery can be removed easily if the bag has to be checked in.

Recently she was sent a free Leica Sofit. Cheap *******s only sent two packs of film. In the box also was a new IPAD.

Wednesday Cyberdoorman had a flower arrangement for Maggie. Instead of flying back from L.A. Friday my jet setting gal caught an earlier flight and came home last night. I learned who sent the flowers. Funny thing is that the card said "Happy Birthday" even though Maggie's birthday is in June.

Also know that in all my life I never-ever bought a woman flowers. I'm not that kind of guy. LOL.

BTW Leica Camera is one of Maggie's followers.

Cal

 

[Prest_400]

Definitely open up a bike thread! Also, once you retire, stay around in some form or proceed with the blog idea.

All the bike talk had me taking the bike out in the fields here. We're having an abnormal surge of temp up to 50F this weekend on Scandinavia. Definitely climate change shows with some strange variability.