NYC Journal

The black camera is a Leotax T2L which was a serious competitor of the Leica IIIG. Rangefinder is excellent and the viewfinder is better than any Leica Barnack besides the IIIG. Mine is sporting a 2.1cm Nikkor O on a home-hacked Novoflex Nikon- M39 adapter. Viewfinder is a pristine Canon 19mm finder. This is one of my very favorite cameras with one of my very favorite lenses, very similar to a Super Angulon 21mm f/3.4. The T2L also has a standard winder lever, not a knob, total game changer for a Barnack copy.
The chrome camera is a Leotax K with a 5cm f/2 Chiyoko Super Rokkor. The Super Rokkor is supposedly a Heliar variant. This camera was purchased without a leatherette covering looking ugly and with a 5cm f/3.5 collapsible Konishiroku Hexar. All for $15 USD. I overhauled the camera and lens then covered it with a panel of vinyl MB Tex from my old Mercedes Benz.
I've been walking around with this pair of cameras for a few days lately, getting back to shooting a little like I used to. I prefer carrying two bodies, one with a 50mm, the other with a 21mm or other non-retrofocal wide which exhibits little or no distortion (the Nikkor O 2.1cm lens is such an optic.)
I also have the combat veteran Leica M4 with a dual range Summicron, this pair I took to Iraq in 2004-2005, and I'm slowly trying to do a soft retirement for the camera.
I have way too many cameras, come to think of it. But these little Leotax are what I prefer for long walks lately.
Phil
 
My bowel problems are common with radiation treatment.

I need to add some other laxatives and use Gas-X. Seems like these symptoms crept up on me.

Today was my 20th treatment out of the 39 total. My doctor said a few more weeks. I have to lay off the fruit and vegetables.

Cal
 
Phil_F_NM said:
I also have the combat veteran Leica M4 with a dual range Summicron, this pair I took to Iraq in 2004-2005, and I'm slowly trying to do a soft retirement for the camera.
I have way too many cameras, come to think of it. But these little Leotax are what I prefer for long walks lately.
Phil
Click to expand...
That M4 is a treasure. As of soft retirement, you mean to keep it in use for just some occasions?
I've mostly moved from 35mm; wished that Leica had made a Medium Format RF. Have noticed that it's not much Leica locally over here, Sweden of course is Hasselblad land. And may I be burnt at a stake for not being a Leica believer?? 😆

I've let GAS hit a bit this summer; with inflation Cameras are actually good assets but I am actually getting small big bang for the buck things. Leicas, Hasselblads, Mamiya M's and such have been going for ludicrous prices.

But the cameras that have been alongside life just have that sentimental value, like your M4.
Probably will send my Fuji 6x9 for a service during winter and am considering to send my now jammed for a decade OM-1 for a service locally when I am back home. 2015 was 10 years ago, was it already a decade since Cal's death march LIC to Brooklyn? Strange to think, my photo journey began with an OM-1 that I haven't shot for a decade, yet it still feels very much present as my camera.
As much as electronic cameras have the time ticking reputation, my two mechanical SLRs (OM1 and Pentax MX) jammed over these years. I guess just a rogue spring or mechanism that jumped out where it should be, but still.

As a 90s kid, been getting the whizbang modern AF machines which are great for easy shooting but lack the classic elegance. If I take another fall trip, I might be forced to pack light but am still considering to take Medium format along...
 
The laxatives finally kicked in. Had a bit of a rough night because I was in and out of bed between 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM doing bowel movements. I weighed myself after I lost the bloat and came in at 152.6 pounds.

Let’s see if I have to go yet again. Already lost about 3 pounds.

Of course holding a full bladder is more difficult if you need to poop. My morning definitely is more relaxed not having the pressure of a poop deadline to get ready and prepped for radiation treatment. Also the bloating is gone.

The irony here is that fresh fruit, vegetables, and fiber are bad for you if undergoing radiation treatment.

Cal
 
Cal, this reminds me of the difference between accuracy and precision, which knowing your technical background you can appreciate. I have one of those digital bathroom scales, they all seem to be made in “East Asia” and use the same or similar weight sensors. Anywho, I’ve weighed myself before and after a healthy BM and haven’t seen a fraction of a gram’s difference. The scale supposedly resolves to 0.1 gm, but I doubt it. What I need are one of those classic sliding -weight scales.
 
Joe,

I am a bit OCD so I weigh myself several times to hone the accuracy.

This CVS scale seems to catch the peak. There is an envelope of time for the reading to be taken, so if you jump on the scale and the interval times out pretty much a false reading.

For greater accuracy I try to apply my weight smoothly and will use a chair for support to dampen the spike.

Anyways I performed a test to see repeatability in my method. Also single readings I never trust pretty much I like to see the same number 3 times.

I also have a hand luggage scale from CVS that I use to weigh my bikes. Error can be up to half a pound.

For photography I have calibrated brass weights, and a triple beam balance. At my hospital they were demo’ing research labs, and pretty much helped myself to expensive real deal lab equipment. I even have a small glove box to use to mix powdered developers. I have all this glassware from Fisher Scientific…

Cal
 
With no pressure on my bladder from my bowels holding a full bladder was less fraught.

The technologists were happy to see I was fully evacuated, but I still had some gas. I will be doing the max dose of Gas-X which is 4 tablets a day.

So basically I ate healthy for the first month, meaning grains, fiber, with lots of fruit and vegetables, which is no good for radiation treatment because of the bowel irregularities that are a side effect. Now I have to eat no fresh foods that have fiber. No more steel cut oats loaded with fruit. No more grilled corn or zucchini.

I have to learn to eat unhealthy less nutritious foods for less than a month. I can do that.

Today I arrived with a nearly full bladder over 300 ml. Around 350 ml is my max, so I did with permission a partial release. At the end of my treatment they usually check me ultrasonically to see if I still have a full bladder, but today they already knew because they can see it in the CT scan and they know I have remarkable bladder control.

Today I think I will start doing “burpees,” which are a squat thrust combined with a push up. Pretty much strength training that utilizes big muscle groups.

In the future I can use my 30 pound dumbbells and do a dumbbell overhead press to go full blown animal. The nice thing about this is no gym required and pretty much you can get ultra-fit by just doing max sets every day. I’m talking brutal strength and fitness.

I feel like after last nights evacuation I turned the corner. I’m over halfway through the radiation treatment which consumes my days, and pretty much I am in recovery mode.

In one night I officially went into skinny-bitch mode. One thing to note is that these over the counter laxatives can lead to an addiction of sorts. For less than 4 weeks I have to take them, but I think on Fridays and Saturdays I will not use them. I think it is smart to somewhat limit their use. Also know they are kinda costly.

Right now I have enough stockpiled to get me through August, and then I will be done.

Cal
 
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) denoted a slowdown, and this is what took down the indexes and made them turn red. Seems to me though that the indexes are mucho resilient when they really should not be.

Should I use the B-word (Bubble). I’m under the opinion that the economy is clearly slowing down, inflation is rising, and employment is not so great. Remember Trump fired the head of the LBS for reporting a bad number and the previous two month’s labor reports were revised lower.

Slowdown, slowdown, and more slowdown, but the markets still are in nosebleed territory and are making higher highs. What I am saying is that the markets are not reflecting the economy. As I say, “The numbers don’t lie.”

Seems like a Carlos Castenada book title: “A Separate Reality.” This book was about mind expansion using psychedelic drugs like magic mushrooms and Pee-YOTE-EE.

The prediction from CitiBank of gold hitting $3.5K within the next three months I believe. Something is going to give.

Unfortunately both inflation and deflation can happen at the same time. By definition deflation is an oversupply, meanwhile inflation translates in to higher prices. At a certain point higher prices kills demand which in turn feeds deflation.

The money has to come from somewhere, and tariffs are a tax. Someone has to pay this new tax. So we have price increases as well as less demand.

Don’t forget the high debt levels in households and governments…

Paying this new tax (tariffs) will be costly. I think already this has costs some jobs…

BTW a family member who was a gamer/coder recently got AI’ed, meaning has lost their job and was replaced by a machine. There is a very long list of jobs where AI will replace humans.

My friend Mike the Skinny Hipster use to be a fashion photographer, but that job is gone. They say that live models will get replaced by AI generated images.

A commercial photographer I met at a recent meet-up lost his job he says to Covid and the Pandemic, but that job was getting phased out too. Doom-doom-doom…

Then look at the jobs that AI can’t replace: the trades like plumber; roofers, landscapers…

Do you see the future yet?

Cal
 
I forgot to mention how all the pre-tariff stockpiling has hidden and slowed down the effects of tariffs on the economy. This stockpiling is a Calzone like manover that involves hoarding.

This delays the future price increases that someone has to pay once this supply dwindles. The time for hoarding is over…

No tortilla (AI changed tortilla to tortilla) anymore, and these tariffs have become real and hardened. Spell tortilla. I wonder if ZI can’t use the word tortilla? A tortilla be comes tortilla…
Will this hoarding become a liability? Will this hoarding become a major loss that will be possibly unloaded? Will this smart decision become a huge mistake if there is a collapse?

BTW I think/believe a big collapse is a good possibility. Shall I repeat the term “Greater Depression?”

Don’t believe the overuse of the term “resilience” in the market headlines. When the shoe drops many will be crushed like ants.

Cal
 
Bought a house no one loved because the last time it was remodeled was 1975. The remodeling performed in 1975 basically was a Home Cheap special don in a hack way.

Pretty much all of the hack was undone and a kitchen, a powder room and the upstairs bath were kinda not only remodeled, but to an extent overhauled. This was not a cheap job, took a lot of time, and a lot of money.

Pretty much today I think the cost of doing what we did would translate into being priced out.

Not so easy to remodel a home. It seems the wealthy still can afford this, but at this point the average Joe is priced out. No room for luxury for many.

The American dream destroyed by tariffs.

Cal

Post Script: tortilla
 
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