“At 7:30 am I arrive from cataract surgery. At 8:15 they are done. The prep takes longer than the 7 minute operation where they put a suck out my old lens, put in a new one perfectly matched to my site — like a little internal contact lens — to give me 20/20 vision.” [Halley’s Comment]
Why we take photographs
“Whatever else I’ve learned from going through boxes of old photographs, it’s clear to me now why people take pictures of people. It isn’t just to capture moments, to record history, to make art, or just to fool around, though it’s all those things and more. It’s to tell stories.”
— Doc Searls
Barb’s new Lexus
Barb’s Camry died (after ten years) so it was off to St. Louis to shop for a new one this weekend. I spent two very comfortable hours in the waiting area of the Lexus dealership while Barb talked herself into buying an RX330. Hard to call something this nice a sport utility vehicle. I confess to being pretty impressed with the Lexus “experience.” A greeter met us when we arrived and introduced Barb to her “sales and leasing consultant.” Apparently, you don’t have to sell the Lexus. The consultant is there to “assist you with your purchase.”
Lots of nice touches. If you have a breakdown on the road, Lexus sends out a flat-bed truck (“…we don’t tow”), puts you up in a hotel and provides you with a loaner. I watched the switchboard operator for a couple of hours. When she paged someone from the parts department, they arrived as quickly as they could. If they tagged on “…for a customer” to the page, the person arrived immediately. Just lots of little things like that. The dealership provided lunch for all employees. So, we started with a Tercel, then a Corolla, a Camry, 4 Runner and now, a Lexus. Well over a million miles in Toyota’s.
Two years.
I started working out with a trainer two years ago this month. My greatest extravagance and one with which I’m still a little uncomfortable. The lady is a sadist and quite willing to keep me doing crunches until I’m making pathetic little whimpering noises. But I’ve never felt better. I’m still a scrawny, middle-aged white guy but after 35 years at 155 pounds (6 feet), I’ve gained ten pounds of muscle mass. I view all this as my best investment. I’ll be able to do 100 push-ups while waiting for the OATS bus.
Photo Story
I really like this little add-on for Windows XP. Drop in a bunch of photos…put them in the order you want…add narration for any/all/none…lay some music under…and Photo Story squeezes it all down to a .wmv file that can be emailed. And my favorite part is the “Ken Burns” effect. Appears you’re panning or zooming the still images. Earlier this year a group from work toured Dallas Cowboys Stadium (or whatever the call it) and I took a wad of pictures. I did this little piece (2 minutes) in about half an hour. You’ll need latest version of Media Player to view (it’s a little over 2 meg). Part of the XP Digital Plus! package ($20)