dr_phil_physics (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dr_phil_physics) wrote2013-02-02 03:59 pm
dr_phil_physics) wrote2013-02-02 03:59 pm
Entry tags:
The Sun Shines On The White Snows
Saturday Afternoon
Snow day on Thursday for WMU, then lake effect snow bands all the way through Saturday afternoon in places. The sudden cool off and then frigid freeze after Wednesday night plus snow put down a nice layer of ice on the roads. Friday's commute in the morning was slow and cold at 11°F in Allendale. At times speeds on the highways was down to 25-30mph and 40mph on the freeways. This wasn't helped by the fact that there was bright sun south of Grand Rapids and many people thought they should be able to drive faster.
Coming home on Friday, my gauge is to check the reflection of headlights off the road surface in my rearview mirror -- quite glazed, actually. So I probably annoyed some people with my caution. (grin) By Lake Michigan Drive, the lake effect was creating vast clouds of airborne snow with every passing cars. Maintaining sight of the edges of the roads was not easy.
By 3:30pm Saturday, though, there was brilliant blue sky to the north, so I threw my cheap old 12mm f8 Sigma Fisheye on the D1, set it to f11 and took a quick shot through the sliding glass door. Followed by a couple of pictures with the 35-70mm lens at 35mm. I can tell that I am getting comfortable working with the Nikon digital SLRs, because I've regained my form of holding a camera and getting interesting shots without benefit of looking through the finder (double-grin) -- the part of the sliding door without the screen is behind a table and with the snows and cold, there's a good chance the sliding screen door wouldn't open if I tried it.
Boosted the contrast and darkened the shot to show the deep blue of the sky. The old fisheye isn't very sharp, so brightening it for detail didn't seem worth the trouble. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
View north out the deck showing the thick frosting on the trees. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Second shot looking northeast. I liked the look of the fluffy ridge of snow that hadn't yet blown off the railing. And even without using the finder, that ridge fits perfectly in the curve of the trees. Sometimes I amaze myself. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Meanwhile The Inevitable Rises
Beginning of last week gas was $3.38.9/gal for regular. I had a 50¢ and a 10¢/gal coupon for the Family Fare grocery gas station, so even with buying midgrade I was able to get gas under three bucks for once. Too often when I've had big coupons the price jumped so I end up paying what I would've before the increase. By afternoon the price had jumped 20¢/gal. And by Friday, it was up another dime to $3.68.9/gal, then $3.75.9/gal by the time I got home.
With the higher prices and the biting cold wind, I really resent standing there waiting for gas pumps to ask questions and think about the reply. Enter your ZIP code. Do you want a Car Wash? Do you want a receipt? Come on, it's not like you've never asked those questions before, you silly computers, and have to decide what to do with the NO and YES inputs.
The Neighbor
The guy across the road from us got a new toy -- a four-wheel ATV with a blade. He saw Mrs. Dr. Phil working the snow scoop during the first snow storm last week and he knows I'm walking with a cane these days. So when he runs up and down his longer driveway, he's been zipping up and down our 250 foot driveway and clearing off the daily accumulation. It's really nice of him. We got a $25 gas station gift car for him last weekend, since he didn't want anything for it. Right now I think he's really enjoying his new toy.
On Wednesday when I was hooking up the recycling bin with the garbage can inside to tow it back from the road, I noticed that there was several pieces of slag from the driveway in the square opening of the Blazer's Class III receiver hitch. That was odd until I realized that when I backed out in the morning I'd crunched up against the snow bank from the plowing -- presumably there were driveway stones picked up in the plowing. (four-wheel-drive-grin)
Dr. Phil
Snow day on Thursday for WMU, then lake effect snow bands all the way through Saturday afternoon in places. The sudden cool off and then frigid freeze after Wednesday night plus snow put down a nice layer of ice on the roads. Friday's commute in the morning was slow and cold at 11°F in Allendale. At times speeds on the highways was down to 25-30mph and 40mph on the freeways. This wasn't helped by the fact that there was bright sun south of Grand Rapids and many people thought they should be able to drive faster.
Coming home on Friday, my gauge is to check the reflection of headlights off the road surface in my rearview mirror -- quite glazed, actually. So I probably annoyed some people with my caution. (grin) By Lake Michigan Drive, the lake effect was creating vast clouds of airborne snow with every passing cars. Maintaining sight of the edges of the roads was not easy.
By 3:30pm Saturday, though, there was brilliant blue sky to the north, so I threw my cheap old 12mm f8 Sigma Fisheye on the D1, set it to f11 and took a quick shot through the sliding glass door. Followed by a couple of pictures with the 35-70mm lens at 35mm. I can tell that I am getting comfortable working with the Nikon digital SLRs, because I've regained my form of holding a camera and getting interesting shots without benefit of looking through the finder (double-grin) -- the part of the sliding door without the screen is behind a table and with the snows and cold, there's a good chance the sliding screen door wouldn't open if I tried it.
Boosted the contrast and darkened the shot to show the deep blue of the sky. The old fisheye isn't very sharp, so brightening it for detail didn't seem worth the trouble. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
View north out the deck showing the thick frosting on the trees. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Second shot looking northeast. I liked the look of the fluffy ridge of snow that hadn't yet blown off the railing. And even without using the finder, that ridge fits perfectly in the curve of the trees. Sometimes I amaze myself. (Click on photo for larger.)
©2013 Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon (All Rights Reserved)
Meanwhile The Inevitable Rises
Beginning of last week gas was $3.38.9/gal for regular. I had a 50¢ and a 10¢/gal coupon for the Family Fare grocery gas station, so even with buying midgrade I was able to get gas under three bucks for once. Too often when I've had big coupons the price jumped so I end up paying what I would've before the increase. By afternoon the price had jumped 20¢/gal. And by Friday, it was up another dime to $3.68.9/gal, then $3.75.9/gal by the time I got home.
With the higher prices and the biting cold wind, I really resent standing there waiting for gas pumps to ask questions and think about the reply. Enter your ZIP code. Do you want a Car Wash? Do you want a receipt? Come on, it's not like you've never asked those questions before, you silly computers, and have to decide what to do with the NO and YES inputs.
The Neighbor
The guy across the road from us got a new toy -- a four-wheel ATV with a blade. He saw Mrs. Dr. Phil working the snow scoop during the first snow storm last week and he knows I'm walking with a cane these days. So when he runs up and down his longer driveway, he's been zipping up and down our 250 foot driveway and clearing off the daily accumulation. It's really nice of him. We got a $25 gas station gift car for him last weekend, since he didn't want anything for it. Right now I think he's really enjoying his new toy.
On Wednesday when I was hooking up the recycling bin with the garbage can inside to tow it back from the road, I noticed that there was several pieces of slag from the driveway in the square opening of the Blazer's Class III receiver hitch. That was odd until I realized that when I backed out in the morning I'd crunched up against the snow bank from the plowing -- presumably there were driveway stones picked up in the plowing. (four-wheel-drive-grin)
Dr. Phil