About a month ago, I posted about how I was finally cutting the cord, and moving all my serious pictures out of the Apple Photos application. It was just too constricting, and while their “Pro” app for photographers, Aperture was great, they have abandoned it. I began seriously using Adobe Bridge which was free (as in beer) and worked pretty well as a lightweight photo manager. But...
Having rejoined the working world, I am now lucky enough to be working for a company that it makes total sense to take the VTA Lightrail in to the office. I live about 1.1 miles from the Cottle station, a 20 minute walk from home. Then 50 minutes to get to Tasman station, and a 5 minute walk to the office. Since driving the 18 miles takes between 40 minutes and an hour, and the train gives me a...
Having written about my struggles as an undisciplined photographer, first outgrowing iPhoto, finding a safe harbor with Apple’s “pro” application, Aperture until they orphaned it, and then casting around for a solution. I tried Adobe Lightroom, and it was reasonable, but being geared for professionals, it was a bit overkill. A friend recommended another Adobe product...
A week or so ago, the magic icon on Netflix appeared, “New Episodes” for NCIS. Cool. Season 12 left with a cliff hangar of Agent Gibbs being shot by a child member of “The Calling” and I needed closure. So, we tucked into some binge watching of the latest season of NCIS, re-watching the final episode of season 12 to get in the groove. What a disappointment. It was a pretty...
Pretty much the saving grace of the XBoxOne is Forza Motorsports 6 (ok, the latest Doom is pretty cool too.) I splurged for my birthday, and bought the 6th version of this, and I was not disappointed. I began playing back on my old Xbox360, with Forza 2, and was hooked. The cars, the tracks, the physics were what made the game. Each major release upping the ante, making it more realistic, and...
As a long time photography hobbyist, I am in an unenviable position. My collection of images is, how should I put this, a chaotic mess. If I was a professional, I would have long ago adopted a workflow, with a definite process for handling images, sorting, grading, and culling that would have some consistency across the decades. Alas, I am a duffer, and just keep adding without any rhyme or...
As we were running out of the probiotic that we use for our greyhound (Jarodophilus brand) I needed to procure some more. When we lived in Arizona, there were several purveyors that I could go to that had it on the shelf. Not so since we moved to California. The only market that seems to have it consistently is Whole Foods. Groan. I cringe every time I have to venture a foot into that place...
The last installment of the Detailing Files focused on getting the exterior paint ready to be polished, by a very thorough washing using Dawn instead of a milder automotive specific detergent. Now that you have a clean paint surface, mostly wax free (as is evidenced by there being virtually no beading of the water in the final rinse), you can begin the restoration of the finish. This is typically...
Before you can begin a proper detailing of a car exterior, you must start with a good wash, and I don’t mean just run it through the wash at the local gas station, or even a “better” wash at a dedicated car wash franchise. The Two Bucket Wash The gold standard is something known in the detail world as a two bucket wash. This is pretty important, as it is crucial to clean without...
When I originally bought my S2000 (aka ‘Stewie’), in 2008, I became maniacal about keeping it clean and pristine. I learnt how to wash it properly to protect the paint, and keep it as good looking as long as possible. I also acquired various products, accoutrements and tools to do my own detailing. From a collection of chemicals and the like, to special cloths and buffing pads, I...