revjim.net

September 21st, 2006:

building things

Sep 21st, 2006
by Jim Reverend.
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Jess helped me work out a plan for syncing all 5 portable flashes in the “Myschievia Portrait Studio”:http://revjim.net/2006/09/15/myschievia-portrait-studio/. All of the cabling will use household extension cords and electrical outlet splitters, an idea I stole from “Strobist”:http://strobist.com/ (“Part 1″:http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/04/lighting-101-build-pro-synch-cord-pt-1.html, “Part 2″:http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/04/lighting-101-build-pro-pc-cord-pt-2.html, and “Splitters”:http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/05/adding-and-synching-second-strobe.html). This really cuts down on costs and makes it dead simple to buy/find replacement parts when needed. So, all I have to buy is parts to make adapters for my wireless trigger receivers and each light source I intend to use. Well, that and make sure I don’t accidentally plug any of the household extension cords I’m using into an AC outlet. I’m thinking I’ll either buy only one color of cable that I don’t use for anything else or I’ll wrap the plugs in red electrical tape as a warning.

The problem with building these adapters is that I can’t find a source for one of the connectors I need. I can buy the exact cable I need pre-made for $6, but it’s sold out in every place I’ve managed to find it except one, where it costs $24. So instead, I bought 6 cables at $6 each that have only one end that I need. I intend to cut the cables in half and attach my own connector to the other side.

I ordered the $40 in parts that I need from the online camera store. I still have to get $30 or so in parts from the hardware store, and another $5 or so in parts from the electronics store. This, along with the stuff I bought on eBay last week should cover most of my equipment needs. Now I just have to deal with studio construction and camp setup. We’re getting there though. I’m thinking that, since I have, essentially, unlimited space, I may as well build a nice big studio. 20′x20′ with curtains on the sides would be ideal, but that may be more than I can fabricate in the remaining two weeks.

Speaking of camp setup, I’m still waiting for suggestions for silly, fun, or interesting options to put on my menu of photography services at the Myschievia Portrait Studio. Jowling was suggested, which is a great idea. I think though, to be true to my roots, I’ll call it an Ooglie instead, since that’s what it was called when Kim introduced me to them several years ago.

the long way

Sep 21st, 2006
by Jim Reverend.
1 comment

Yesterday, I fully intended to work from home. Unfortunately, my intentions do not always line up with reality.

I got up just after 5:00am, jumped in the shower, made some coffee and was “at work” by 5:45. I only had one meeting — a conference call — scheduled for the day. I can do conference calls from home, but, I was pretty sure it would be cancelled anyway. So I started work: sending emails, building report, performing reviews, etc.

At 6:45 the message came in that the meeting was cancelled. I jumped over to my calendar to move the meeting and that’s when I saw that I had forgotten about another meeting: a face-to-face with my boss and his boss at 10:30. I can’t do a face-to-face from home. I’m pretty good, but I’m not that good. Depressed, upset, and knowing what lay in wait, I changed clothes quickly and was on the road by 7am, an hour later than usual.

My trip into civilization requires me to pass through small towns on small roads. These small roads run pretty smoothly most of the time. But, as soon as the number of people on them exceeds a certain threshold, the timing on all of the lights becomes problematic and traffic nearly stops. By delaying my departure by one hour, I increased my commute from 40 minutes to 90 minutes.

What really confuses me is the attitude some people take when making this bumper-to-bumper to commute. The roads are packed from 6:30am until 9:30am everyday. So as long as you’ve made the trip even once, it should be no surprise to you. Additionally, for a large portion of it there’s only one lane in each direction and the cars continue on for miles. So passing people or tailgating in an attempt to get ahead or get people to speed up really serves no purpose.

The lady behind me had an utter lack of understanding of this principle. She would race up on my ass every time traffic would move as if riding closer to me would make the cars in front of me go faster.

There’s one light where everyone going straight gets into a long line on the shoulder because the center lane is left only at the light. This lady considered this an opportunity. Instead of lining up like everyone else, she raced forward and then, one she got to the light, stopped with her blinker on. Now she’s holding up traffic turning left and expecting someone to let her “cut” in line. She started out directly behind me and, when I got to the light, the car in front of me let her in. In other words, all of her frustration and trouble earned her a two space advance. Big deal.

Once a second lane was added she started weaving and dodging through the already sardine packed cars. 10 miles down the road at the big intersection where traffic finally lets up, I could still see her, her constantly tapping breaks a dead give away.

Silly lady.