Day 273 - Allé à France

plus three

Sorry folks, but this is going to be another short one today...I'm really quite brain-fried after a fairly draining journey.

I was awake at 5am this morning, and couldn't get back off to sleep, despite feeling very tired and really quite poorly. By 5.30 I had given up hope of getting back to sleep, so got up and started preparing for a 7am departure.

We got away fairly well - it was 7.05 as we drove out of our little car park.

We collected Jezz near Heathrow, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect...less than 30 seconds after we arrived at the long stay car park, a transit van pulled up behind us, and out popped Jezz, who had been offered a lift with all of his stuff.

We stopped to fill up with diesel, and then for the loo and a coffee on the M25, before heading down to Folkestone to the Eurotunnel in very good time.

We arrived at The Chunnel at 10.30, nicely in time for our 11.20 train...

...only to find that a train had broken down in the tunnel, and so there would be a 2.5 hour delay.

The sign above was showing the waiting times...we were booked onto train G, which wasn't even showing on the agenda, even though we'd been there for a couple of hours and our train was already over an hour late.

The 2.5 hour delay turned into a three hour delay, which was closely followed by a sat-nav nightmare, which ultimately led to us approaching Paris from an unexpected direction...the road was tight and poor, there was a lot of traffic, and constant speed bumps, and before long Anna (who was taking a stint in the back), was ready to throw up...

We ended up stuck in crazy traffic on le peripherique...and I mean, crazy!  So much aggressive, big city driving!

We eventually got to the gite in la Chapelle la Reine, at 8.30pm...it's now approaching 10pm, I'm losing my voice, and I'm very snotty!

So, some stats:

Hours sleep last night - 4
Hours journeying - 12.5
Miles driven - 400
Hours stuck at bloody Folkestone - 4
Coffee consumed - plenty
Sat-nav provoked profanities - many!

Long day, long journey...but here we are in Font!  Tomorrow is a new day, I'll ignore the lurgy as best I can...and we'll go climb some boulders!

And if my voice carries on the way it's going, the others will have an extra-peaceful day!

:-/

Day 272 - Font Minus One

re; boot

So, packing for Font!  It's nearly midnight, I've been awake since 5am, on the go since 7am, I'm full of lurgy (of course, I'm off on a climbing holiday!) and I'm very, very tired...

This is going to be a short one...

The car is half packed...all I still need to get in is a crate full of food, a cool bag full of cool food, and a small rucksack full of assorted stuff.

backspace

Then I've just gotta get a large holdall, a smallish rucksack, a longboard, and another bouldering mat in...and Jezz!

I reckon it'll be alright...

Up at 6am then, to start the long journey to Paris and beyond...

Font, here we come!

B-)

Day 271 - The News

new shoes

There are some illusory elements to this photo...but not related to the relative size of these shoes, which is accurately presented here.

Those diagonal lines on the wooden decking outside really give the impression that the photo is leaning drunkenly to the right...but it isn't!

It's just an illusion (ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, aa-ah).

(little shout out to any 80's kids there...) ;-)

The point is (yeah, there is one!) that climbing shoe sizes are a nightmare.

These two shoes are from the same manufacturer, Scarpa.  They're built for slightly different purposes - the green for comfort and the blue for speed...otherwise they're in many ways a simple variation on a style.

The green pair are Anna's day to day rock shoes (albeit a brand new pair that haven't been worn yet).  Anna has another pair of these in the same size (Euro 38) that are wearing out after a year's heavy use.  They're a little bit big for Anna, which, whilst making them comfortable, sometimes impacts performance as the foot moves within the shoe.   Anna has another identical pair in one Euro size less - 37 rather than the 38 of the one in the photo, but they're a little tight.

So Anna wanted some slightly smaller ones, and was also interested in stepping up a notch performance wise.  Consequently, in the interests of caution, we ordered the blue pair in size 37.5, figuring same make, very similar model, similar construction and materials...  

Yep, the two shoes in the photo are supposedly only half a size different, 37.5 and 38.

Whilst the 38 is slightly loose, Anna can hardly get the 37.5 on her foot...

Of course it's impossible to ever find a shop with a wide enough size range of a wide enough range of shoes from a variety of manufacturer, and more so if you're a woman...

So we always end up having to take a risk and buying on spec over the net...which usually works out ok, but sometimes, frustratingly it doesn't - and then you have all the hassle of returns to go through.  

Ah well, Font in 32 hours or so...woohoo!

Speaking of new things, I have a new job!

Somewhat momentously, I handed in my notice at work earlier this week...in 8 weeks time, I shall be changing career and going off to work for my bro' (that's my actual bro', not, like, my homes, feel me, brah-bro).  

He owns a successful and growing internet retail business, and has invited me to join him, to help grow it further.

It's a brilliant opportunity that I couldn't possibly overlook!

So these rock shoes aren't the only new things in my life at the moment...

I'm starting a new job and a new career, we're looking for a new house, and we're also itching to find a new dog (or dogs).  We've planted new trees for Jazz, and we both have new rock shoes.

I need a new phone, and this time we're taking our new camera to Font.  I'm newly debt-free, so I might even buy a new car at some point in the next few months.

One way or another, the times, they are a'changin'!

It's liberating!

B-)

Day 270 - Climbing Virgins

motley crew

For some reason this photo makes me inordinately happy (and it's not even anything to do with the brilliant photo-bombing...).

This evening Anna and I took four of my colleagues from work for an introductory climbing session.

Ranj (guess which one he is) has recently completed both the Insanity 60 Day Workout, and the Insanity Asylum 30 Day Nutters Nightmare Painfest (available free to the clinically insane) or whatever it's called, and wanted to go and do something adventurous. 

He knows I'm into climbing (I think everyone knows that by now, eh?), so publicly suggested we could go for climb.

Having polled for interest amongst quite a small team, these four reprobates raised their hands and said they'd be up for it...and this evening, they all proved good to their word!

Lisa

In the upper left of this shot you can see Lisa, high above her comfort zone, yet pushing on brilliantly.  She did really well to finish this fairly long climb, and quite a few others!

Good job, Lisa!!

Ranj

Meanwhile Ranj, desperate to push outside his own comfort zone, pointed at a long, steep climb and said, "I want a go on that!" with that slightly insane look in his eye that he has these days.

The wall he'd picked went vertically for about 8 or 9 metres, before going into a slight overhang for the last couple of metres before the top...steep ground for beginners, but he was game so I happily belayed him. 

Sure enough he found the challenge he'd been looking for, and desperately lunging for the last hold, forearms screaming, he popped off for his first fall...brilliant!   Getting straight back on the wall, even more determined now to reach the top, he soon pulled on and got it finished.

This both inspired and encouraged Aaron up the same route...here he's approaching the bit where it starts to get really steep, and showing some good form along the way...

Aaron

Quite brilliantly for a first climb, Aaron cleanly climbed this hard Grade 5 climb...his forearms are going to be having words with him about it for the next few days!

Not to be outdone, Beki hopped straight on and fought her way up to the hard section at the top...

Beki

Here you can see Beki right in the steepest part of the climb, one or two moves away from the relief of the final hold. 

As soon as the steepness of the wall goes past vertical, it becomes very, very tiring very, very quickly...much of your upper body weight is transferred from your feet (which are no longer directly beneath you) and onto your hands.

Beki found her crux (the hardest part of a climb) right up near the top, but held on determinedly, making it to the top in style.

Then we got to do some bouldering, and I was quite pleased to flash a couple of hard problems (which means to solve the problem on your first attempt).

It was a great fun evening out, lots of friendly banter and mutual support and encouragement...and I think that shows in the genuine smiles in the photo above, which prompts me to match it with a smile of my own each time I look at it...

...and not just because of the brilliant photo-bombing...

:-)

Day 269 - Ode to Jazz

RIP JazzyB

This evening, we bade farewell to our lovely old boy Jazz, with a little remembrance ceremony up in the woods he so loved.

I carved his name into a tree, just below the carving I made for his brother, late last year...we lit a candle, and crouched in the fading light, weeping as we reminisced over JazzyB, the happiest, friendliest dog you could wish to meet. 

slippery

Sprinkling some ashes (to join with his brother in nurturing this fine old tree), we told tales that reminded us how much we love and miss him...so many tales...

Anna wrote and read these lovely words, which somehow get to the heart of who Jazz was...

Ode To Jazz   By Anna, aged 34

our boys

My Jazzy boy

When I first met Jazz, I found it hard to tell him apart from his brother. I chose to distinguish them, initially, on physical characteristics. Think of stiff legs, a tucked in tail, submissive posture, noisy snuffle when playing 'hunt the treat', and you have Jazz...but also think of a dog that was so gentle, so pleased to see people and loved to demonstrate this by bringing you the oldest, smelliest slipper he could find and it'll bring a big smile to your face when you think of the real Jazz!

Jazz lived up to his name! He was the life and soul of the party, mostly because the party had lots of food and he wanted to be in the middle of it...but also 'cos he loved everybody and everybody loved Jazz, how could you not? If we took him for a walk in the woods he'd launch himself into any pond or water body he could find. Sometimes without even checking if there was any water in it first! Then he'd find a scrappy old stick and carry it all the way home, all the while being super impressed with himself.

Jazz would be happy with you, he'd be excited with you, he'd chill out with you and he'd be sad with you. Jazz loved company and he especially loved Tony. Jazz was Tony's shadow. If Tony was sat in his chair, Jazz would be lying by his feet...unless I was in the kitchen cooking dinner!

Jazz had this uncanny ability to fall asleep on anything, anywhere...quite often with his eyes open, with his head hanging off the edge of the sofa, snoring. Sometimes he did the same things whilst awake, cos who cares, right? Even Loz didn't mind as they would often curl up on the sofa side by side, tails touching.

Jazz didn't bark much, that was Bluez' job. Jazz was smart, he'd just join in when it really mattered...or otherwise barely raise an eyebrow.  "No need to move from this comfy spot just yet, is there? No, didn't think so...Bluez is onto it...I'll wait here for a bit, see how things pan out".

Sometimes Jazz would just know what you were thinking. It's like some kind of mind meld; it was surreal and I loved it!

All food was Jazz's favourite and to Jazz, all people were brilliant.  But only now do I really understand why Jazz and Tony were best mates...it's because they both live life to the same mantra:

"everything can be improved with cheese"

Thanks for being my awesome Jazzy boy.

me and jaybles

Day 268 - Bertie the Bat

lunchtime is crunch time

The batphone rang for Anna today, so of course she immediately donned cape, put her pants on the outside, and dashed off to collect little Bertie here from a local school.

He'd been stuck indoors over the weekend...they think he must have flown in through a door which had been left open late on Thursday evening...this morning he was found, tired and hungry, on the floor in the sports hall.

He's a Common Pipistrelle, and the school staff that rescued him named him Bertie.

Having found him to be quite lively and animated, and apparently none the worse for wear, Anna brought him home with a plan to release him this evening.

And so Anna ran through the usual checks...inspecting his right wing for any problems...there's no sign of damage here:

wing of bat

Similarly, all is looking good for his left wing too...

other wing of bat

...although he's not too happy about the inspection!

Concluding that all was well, it was time to feed him up for release...

dinner dinner dinner dinner...

Here's a long, unedited video of Bertie having a couple of mealworm for lunch.




His appetite was strong, as you can see, and he ate 5 or 6 of these on the trot!

As dusk approached, we headed back to the school where he was found, 15 miles away, hoping to release him around 10-20 minutes after sunset, which is the time that he would naturally be emerging for his regular evening's foraging.

When Anna took him out of his box to release him under the trees just near where he was found, he seemed oddly reluctant to go.

He was a little lethargic initially, and despite shivering strongly to warm up, he didn't look as though he would fly.  Anna put him under her arm (by which I mean, up her armpit!) for 5 minutes to see if it would help, before once more holding him up to the night to see if he'd make a break for it.

For a few moments we were concerned that we'd have to take him home with us, which would leave care issues to sort out for whilst we're away...then it seemed as though he was just going to fall back to sleep...



But happily, instead off dropping off to sleep, he dropped from Anna's out-stretched fingers, spread his wings (coincidentally, his own out-stretched fingers!), and disappeared immediately into the surrounding darkness, never to be seen again. 

Another successful rescue operation for International Bat Rescue!

Be safe, little Bertie, and try not to fly into any more buildings!

:-)

Day 267 - Dog Plants

jazzpots

We shed a few tears today, as we potted up Jazz's memorial plants in the warm, late summer sunshine.

We've been putting it off for a while, but today there were no excuses.  For my part, I think I'd been avoiding opening his lovely cardboard urn and facing the truth of his ashes...and sure enough, I find I'm still quite emotional, and I realise that I still think of him often...every day I suppose.

We're going to go up to the woods and carve his name in the tree with Bluez's, one cool evening this week...it would have been too warm for him this afternoon - he would have struggled on the long walk up the hill, so it seemed somehow inconsiderate to go today...

But we spent a melancholy half an hour pottering and potting and pondering, quietly contemplating our old boy as we sprinkled some of his ashes into these pots.

As a ritual, it works nicely...I can't look at these plants and not see Jazzy B strong and clear in my mind.

Similarly with all of our growing collection of lovely pots...they're not all specifically for Jazz or Bluez, but together they invoke (for me) a striking nostalgia for my boyz. 

dogzpotz

We have all of these in pots, but our plan is to plant some of them in the ground when we get into a home we own (or have sold our souls to the banks for).

Our lives are undergoing transformational change this year, it seems...everything has been coming undone, and the turbulence has been a little nauseating at times...so far it's mostly been a process of deconstruction, as our settled home life has slowly imploded, coincident with the loss of the dogs. 

But now things are starting to fall into place, as our plans are solidifying...the way forward is starting to emerge from the mists of uncertainty and doubt...

I guess more of that will come out over coming weeks and months, and by the time I complete this series of blog posts - everything could have changed!

Hence, having spent much of today looking backwards with fond nostalgia, and sweet, painful reminiscence, I'll now see the day out looking forward...

To a week in Font, leaving in a few days...

To a new home...

To...who knows what else?

;-)

Day 266 - Clean Getaway

shiny

Continuing the increasingly excited Font preparation, today I cleaned the car inside and out...by which of course I mean I paid someone else to clean it inside and out, whilst I had a delicious sausage and egg baguette in the charming Fat Birds Cafe.

We have an 8 hour door to door journey to get there, in a car loaded to the gunnels with climbing gear, food, bouldering mats, gadgets and people, two of whom are pretty big...so it only seemed polite to make sure that the car is clean and tidy and pleasant...at least to start with!

Anna took hers too, as it's grubby from a full seasons bat-bothering, and we went to grab a coffee whilst we waited.  But the Fat Birds Cafe turned out to have far too tempting a menu, and the service was very friendly and attentive, so we ended up having a late breakfast...and very nice it was too!

Speaking of fat birds, as I was clearing the cars out prior to taking them for a valet, Anna came out to tell me that another swallow was stuck in the house.

can you help me out?

After chasing him around upstairs for a bit, I eventually cornered him in the main bedroom, and opened all the windows.  He seemed reluctant to fly low enough to get to the open window, which was perhaps due to our presence...

certainly, which way did you come in?

After a few minutes he seemed tired to the extent that he allowed me to approach very close to take a portrait of him...

yeah, funny guy...

We decided that maybe he was a little stressed, and left him to find his way out.

When I checked again an hour later, he was gone, presumably none the worse for wear.

I love all these little episodes of unexpected encounters with the local fauna...saving mice from the cats, helping birds to overcome their inability to understand windows, finding evidence of boar and badger and fox, and the endless supply of passing bird, mammal, insect and reptile life.

Living in the countryside is such an endless delight...

Please let me never live in a city again!

:-)

Day 265 - So It Begins

get packing

I'm going to bank on the fact that nobody's listening on a Friday night, and keep this one relatively short.

This evening, I found myself starting to pack for Font...we're not even going until a week tomorrow!

The thing is, I've been gradually gathering odd bits and bobs, and they've been accumulating on my desk, to the point where I'm getting annoyed by all the junk.

There's a travel plug, some headlight deflectors, a magnetic GB Sticker...then there's a bunch of memory sticks, an assortment of camera equipment - lenses, tripods, filters, power adapters...a collection of climbing books, maps, a notepad.  

And some gaffer tape, obviously!

So I went up to the loft and found an empty crate, and started to put all these odds and ends into it...then realised that I'm packing a week early...I had already considered that the crate could go straight in the car with whatever hardware needs to come with us...laptops, ipads, kindles, the camera, and power chargers of various types...

Is it too soon to start getting excited about my holiday?  I'm so ready for it, it's not even funny...and because we so fell in love with La Foret, I'm extra-eager to be there again. 

We've been discussing our climbing goals for the trip...

Anna, showing surprising ambition, wants to have a rest day (like that'll happen).

Jezz has his 40@40@Font Challenge, which I have a side-mission to support him on. 

My own mission is to climb a Grade 6a boulder problem.   The scale goes 3, 3+, 4, 4+, 5, 5+, 6A, 6A+, 6B, 6B+, 6C, 6C+, 7A etc...last year we climbed many 3's and 4's, and two 5's and one 5+...this year I want to go one better and bag a 6A, which is a classic bouldering grade, and in some ways the gateway grade to serious bouldering in Fontainebleau. 

Don't get me wrong, my ambition is not to climb seriously, far from it.   Mostly I just want to climb boulders that are challenging but doable - and that means 3's and 4's.

But an actual Font 6A would be a nice little tick from my 50@50 Challenge list. 

Of course, Anna now wants to climb a 6A too...to be honest, I think there's far more chance of her getting up one than me...but we'll see...

The fun is in the trying...

Bring it on!

B-)

Day 264 - Feel the Forces

shoepile

At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that this is just a heap of old, identical climbing shoes...but wait!

Upon closer inspection, each shoe (or at least, each pair) has its own story...(surely you can't believe that I just randomly buy too much climbing gear for no good reason?!)...

These shoes are Scarpa Forces.  They are a beginner to intermediate all round climbing shoe, well made using high quality materials - suede uppers and vibram rubber soles. 

High performance rock shoes often feature a heavily down-turned toe, and many climbers wear them very small - up to 3 sizes smaller than their normal street shoe size...the thinking behind this is that the tighter the shoe fits, the more it's like a second skin, and the smaller the holds you can stand on...so climbers often wear shoes that require their toes to be scrunched up in the end of the shoe, allowing the application of greater force through the big toe.

Whilst this is all great in theory, in practice it hurts like a bastard!  

Hence my approach is to wear shoes of a size that means my feet are flat, my toes aren't scrunched up, and I can wear them all day without discomfort.  I figure that the occasions where the reason I'm failing on a climb is because my shoes are too loose can be counted on one hand over the year. 

The vast majority of the time, it matters not a jot...so I always choose comfort over performance. 

So this first pair of Forces I bought were generously sized at Eu46, which is around UK11, against my normal shoe size of UK10.

small forces

I picked these up in late 2011 for the bargain price of £56, against a manufacturer's RRP of £100.

However, although I really liked everything about the look, feel and quality of the shoes, and shape-wise they're a good fit, my big toes were a little squashed in the end of the shoe, and I found them very uncomfortable to wear for more than 20 minutes or so.  I think they might break in a bit better, given time, but I only wear them very occasionally now, when I'm struggling with footwork on tiny (or non-existent) holds.

Because I liked them so much, in August 2012 I bought another pair in a size Eu47, which is UK12...

old forces

These weren't such a bargain price, at £65, but they have been my favourite shoes ever since.  My toes are not squashed at all, and I can indeed wear them all day with no issues.  

Sure, they're a little big sometimes, and small holds can be a bit tricky, but I can counter that to some extent at least with good and careful foot placement.

Anyway, these shoes have been my go-to shoes ever since...I've climbed in them all over the Peak District in all weathers, on Dartmoor in the wind and rain, in Snowdonia in the snow and Anglesey in the cold, in Pembrokeshire and the Lake District in blazing sun, and of course not forgetting the hot and dry Costa Blanca, and the beautiful and atmospheric Fontainebleau. 

All of my significant outdoor adventure climbing has been done in these shoes.  By winter 2013, they'd become very worn, so I got them re-soled, intending to use them solely(!) for indoor use...but still I find they're my #1 pick, wherever I'm going and whatever sort of climbing I'm doing. 

That said, recently they've become very worn again, the soles have thinned and they're less supportive.

In Summer 2013, Scarpa announced the end of the line for this model of the Force, and I really wasn't impressed with the new version...it had turned into a dumbed down beginner's shoe, so far as I could see.   I started looking to buy a spare pair for the future.  However, I couldn't find anywhere that had the somewhat unusual size of 47 in stock.  I'd almost given up hope, when late August last year I found that Newcastle Climbing Centre had a pair in stock for £71...

So despite them apparently getting more expensive as time went on, I had to purchase them, and I've been saving them to transition to these newer ones (below), from the older ones (above).

new forces

I've worn these quite a bit now, outdoors on occasion and whilst the older ones were being resoled.   For all of this year, I've found myself saving them for Font...and now the older ones are really wearing out, I'm looking forward to moving to these.

Then, earlier this week, I noticed a post on the UK Climbing website forum:

FS Scarpa Force size 47, only worn twice.

I opened the thread to find that they'd been on sale for a couple of weeks already, with no interest, and the price had reduced from £45 plus delivery, to £40 including postage!

bonus forces

Of course I couldn't pass up this opportunity, and now I have a virtually new pair to act as standby...I'm sorted for the next couple of years at least.

may the forces be with you

Now I just have to decide how many of these are coming to Font with me...I'm thinking the three newer pairs, but maybe I'll take all of them so none are left out.

In other news, following last night's deadmau5 drama, tonight I got to stem the tide of death, a little at least.

As I made my way through to the lounge, I noticed a tiny wood mouse in a little ball at the bottom of the stairs.  Sighing and swearing under my breath at Loz, I put my bags down and went to investigate...only to find the mouse sitting up and Maisie looking at it with interest...

I put my hand down to pick the tiny thing up, and he ran into my palm, before dashing out again and rushing off into a corner. 

Of course all the skittering activity really caught Maisie's attention, and I had to shoo her away with one hand whilst trying to herd the mouse into the other. 

Luckily, the little fella ran into the slackline sack which was sitting next to the front door.  So I took him over to the hedgerow and encouraged him out, and he ran straight off into the undergrowth.

Take that Loz, you Killer Queen...

Today you lose!

B-)

Day 263 - Mobius Loop

deadmau5

Much as I love the cats, the constant death gets wearing by the time September comes around.

This is the cutest little baby mouse that was dumped unceremoniously by the back door this evening, by the Killer Queen herself. 

There was another one at the top of the stairs, by our bedroom door, so I guess this one was left out as a warning to the others...kinda like Omar's boyfriend in Season One of The Wire.

Have you seen The Wire?  Best TV show ever...in fact it's an insult to call it a TV show. 

Although set in Bodymore, Murderland (Baltimore, Maryland), it's Dickensian in its keen wit and sharp societal observation, epic in terms of both scope and drama, and packed with some of the best characters ever written...

There's Omar of course, and Bubbles, and McNulty and Bunk...Avon and Stringer Bell, Prop Joe and Cheese...Ziggy and Prez, Herc and Carver and Kima, Daniels, Rawls and Burrell...D'Angelo and Brodie and Poot and Wee-Bey and Wallace...

Not forgetting Slim Charles, Cutty, Marlo, Bunny, Carcetti, Snoop and Freamon.

Oh man, what a great show, I'm so nostalgic for it. 

Going full circle, who remembers the episode where a drunken Bunk is recounting the tale of how his wife had called him home because there was a mouse in the closet?   Bunk ended up shooting the poor little thing with his service handgun (and taking out one of his wife's shoes in the process)...

Now I think about it, that's where I got the line above from, the one about leaving it out as a warning to the others.

How odd that this post has gone on such a curiously circuitous route, only to end up folding back in on itself....from dead mouse to The Wire to The Wire to a dead mouse...it's like one of those endless mobius strips, looping in on itself into infinity.

Best not go back to the beginning and start reading again - you could be here until eternity...and whilst this blog can provide a moment's fleeting amusement now and then, there's definitely not enough substance to last you forever.

Just don't do it...

:-/

Day 262 - Reluctant Messiah

on the up

I've been wanting to get a shot of this chap for ages, and this evening I just about managed it!

I didn't get home until gone 6pm, despite having left just after 7.30 this morning, and I was tired and distracted.  But as I bimbled about saying hello to Anna and the Cats (great band name - it would be worth starting a band just to call it that!), I realised I could hear in the background, like a bee somewhere in the undergrowth, the steady drone of a little prop plane.

Just as I realised he was up there, several things happened.

Firstly, I realised I'd been vaguely on my way to change out of work clothes, and consequently I was climbing the stairs and taking my trousers off at the same time.

Then I realised that the camera had the wrong lens on, and the right lens was packed away in the accessories bag somewhere.

As these thoughts jumbled around my head, I heard the distinctive increase in pitch of the plane's engine, to an angry whine, followed by a disturbing silence...and then a few seconds later, a hack and a cough as the engine sputtered back to life...it's the aerobatics guy!!

Quickly changing (but with no time to do my trousers up), I rushed to grab the DSLR and hastily swapped lenses, before dashing out into the bright, sunlit evening.

Scanning the skies, I saw him above and ahead, circling around for another go at the loop the loop, and barrel-rolling as he went.

It's really hard to focus on something small in the sky a long way away...if you're not close, focus wise, you can't see the subject at all, and so can't aim precisely at it to focus on it.   

Catch-22!

Once you find the plane, and manage to both zoom in and focus (best done in stages), your troubles aren't over...when you take a photo, the camera tries to auto-focus - if you're not pointing the centre of the viewfinder directly at the tiny (and moving!) plane as you hit the button, the camera will zoom out wildly trying to focus on nothing...and then you've lost sight of the plane and have to start all over again... 

It's quite frustrating!

I must have looked quite a sight, stumbling around the garden with my trousers falling off, wildly pointing my camera with the full-on perv lens on at the sky!

Good job I'm too old to be bothered about that!  ;-)

Anyway, I got 3 photo's before he wandered off into the sun...here's one of him the right way up:

on the level

It's good to see him back, I haven't seen him for a while...and actually, I'm not sure if it's the usual guy, as it's a different plane...maybe he's got a new one?

Maybe he's Donald Shimoda, The Reluctant Messiah, (which is a great book that you should all make the effort to read at some point)....that would be so cool! 

In any case, it looks as though he's having fun...

Wouldn't mind a go at that myself!

B-)

Day 261 - GoogleBigs

5p, 32GB

A comment Jezz made in his blog last night provided some handy inspiration this evening, when I was tired and otherwise all out of ideas...

He mentioned macro photography, which reminded me that we have a little macro lens that I've not tried yet (it fits onto our prime 35mm fixed lens)...so I soon found myself scanning my desk for a subject.

I have these little Micro-SD memory cards knocking around as I'm gradually gathering stuff for our trip to Font...and I'm constantly amazed at how small they are, with such huge capacity.

This particular one is 32GB, and you can get them as large as 128GB...these are a rare breed, almost never spotted in the wild, but the technology is there - you can buy them on Amazon...

A 128GB card could hold 24 hours of 720p video...even the 32GB could hold 175 episodes, nearly 8 seasons of Friends. 

I think the first PC I bought, back in the early 90's, had a 128MB HDD...it was the size of a small, thick book, and weighed about a pound!

Now, one GB, (traditionally referred to as one GigaByte) is equal to 1,000 MB (MegaByte)...so this tiny card has 1,000 times the capacity, at 1/1000th of the physical size...stunning!

Around these parts (and somewhat anecdotally), my good friend Andy (erstwhile lead commentator on this blog), coined the perfect alternative word 10 years or so ago, when discussing a technical support issue with me (and simultaneously revelling in his PC-illiteracy, as he was wont to do)...I asked him something along the lines of, how big is the hard drive in that PC?, to which he replied, it's 128...erm...GoogleBigs...?  

Do you see how much sense that word makes?  If I said this MicroSD card can hold 32 GigaBytes, you'd be all, like, oh ok, awesome or whatever, I suppose...

But if I said it can take 32 GoogleBigs, you'd be all like, woah, dude, that thing is huge!  It's like totally rad', brah!

Thanks Andy, I'm still enjoying that one! :-)

Anyway then I realise that that first PC was nearly 25 years ago, and it just makes me feel old...it's not like I was a kid when I got my first PC...

Yet still I do find it absolutely remarkable how tiny these MicroSD's are (you'll have noticed me remarking upon it, mere moments ago...).

And they provide the perfect opportunity for a bit of macro action.  

For scale, I found the shiniest five pence coin in my small change receptacle, and stood it next to the memory card...I took around 30 shots, varying angles and lighting and f-stop with abandon, as I went...

Now, usually when I take multiple photo's I find myself using the first one, and feeling that I wasted all that time taking all the subsequent useless shots, and I should just go with my first instinct.

But tonight, this was the very last shot I took!  I'm fairly pleased to have worked my way towards a half decent capture.

I also learned that the camera can still focus with this combination of lenses, as close as around 3 inches (but no closer).  

I think this photo demonstrates that it has some capacity for capturing the detail of the very small...

Thanks for the reminder, Jezz!

Now I just need to find an actual, non-contrived subject!

:-)