Friday, December 30, 2011

No Rose Parade For Me In 2012


Did a bit of research and I'm glad for it. There is no MetroLink Monday for Orange County. As for Amtrack their first train From Irvine, CA to LA doesn't get in early enough. the parade will be over or almost over by the time I would have reached Pasadena.

So it's TV or something else. The problem is the no MetroLink business. Anything I would like to do involves the train.

Have to do more research. I don't know about that. I'm already getting a headache from all this what if's.

Happy New Year everyone!

Original contents copyright 2011 by John S. Krill and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

The New Year Is Upon Us

Beats me what they're looking at. Can't see a thing myself because of the Sun. Maybe someone is drowning? Well all I can say to that is good luck folks.

I talk about celebrating the New Year at LagunaBeat and I'll save you the trip. Here's what I said, kinda'.

Beacuse New Years Eve is Saturday and nobady counts Saturday as a real day means Friday IS the real News Years Eve.

Taking that a step further that makes Sunday a non-New Years Day. There is no Rose Parade on Sunday. Isn't  that proof enough that Sunday is a non-day? So that makes Monday the REAL first day of the year.

To sum up: Friday is the last day of the year and Monday is the first day of the new year.

Three days of celebrating the new year - Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

And I'm still going to the Rose Parade. Taking the train all the way. That would be Monday the first day of the year.

Original contents copyright 2011 by John S. Krill and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas


Original contents copyright 2011 by John S. Krill and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

MOEN I Love You!

We had our kitchen sink faucet break. The lever that controls the amount of water and the temperature broke. It's just a small piece of metal that keeps the lever in place.

You could still turn on the water but if you weren't careful the lever would fall off.

I took some photos of the faucet and went online to MOEN and there in plain site on the front page was Customer Support. After a couple of clicks I had a page where I could leave a message about the faucet and up to three photos. Even though it wanted the part number of the faucet they said you could put in a dummy number if you couldn't find the number or it it wasn't where they said it should be.

In the comment section I explained the problem with the faucet and also told them the part number wasn't where they said it should be. I also explained I couldn't remember when we bought the faucet.

That was at 7:30AM PST. By 9:41AM they had e-mailed me that they were sending replacement parts but because of the holidays they couldn't get them to us by the first Tuesday of January 2012.

I'm still in disbelief by MOEN's prompt response.

All I can say is: I LOVE YOU MOEN

Original contents copyright 2011 by John S. Krill and/or the by lined author. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I Really Want To Take The Camera Everywhere

I carry the camera everywhere. That camera is currently a Nikon D5100. I love it.

But when I'm with friends I would really like a smaller camera to carry around. Something I can put in a small camera bag when we're inside or eating, etc.

I'm not going to give up the camera just because I'm out with friends. They know me and they know I'm a photographer and they seem to like the idea there is someone in the group that actually knows how to take photos.

They also know that when we're out walking about somewhere that much of my attention is on the place and not them. Sometimes I think they assign someone to watch out for John. He just may walk off and get lost. I'm not lost I just can't find anyone.

So if I could carry a smaller camera that would make me look less the official photographer and more a part of the group that would be great. Everyone knows I'm not going to leave the camera at home or hide the camera in a bag. So it needs to be kinda' small like a point-and-shoot but have the characteristics of a larger DSLR. Recently there have been a whole new group of small, high quality cameras come on the market.

They all have interchange lenses, good quality sensors, eye-level viewfinders, and no reflex mirrors to direct the image to the viewfinder. What you now see in the viewfinder is a very small LCD screen. Just getting rid of the reflex viewfinder system reduces the size, weight, and cost of the camera. It also brings the camera into the 21st century.

For a round-up of the current crop of mirror-less cameras check out this link to DPReview. Remember that some of these mirror-less cameras have no eye-level viewfinder. I require an eye-level viewfinder so this narrows the field quite a bit. In 2012 I expect to see many more eye-level viewfinder mirrorless cameras come on the market.

So what camera has caught the attention of this photographer? That would be the Nikon 1 V1. Not an inexpensive camera. $900.00 list. Discounted price $850.00. I payed less than that for my Nikon D5100. If I want one I'm going to have to start saving right now. Well really in January 2012. Who saves in any December?

I'm also hoping that Nikon fixes some of the more troubling aspects of the camera. For an interesting field test and review go over to Brad Hill's web site and examine his test and review of the Nikon 1 V1. It's an-going test and more will come early next year. What I find interesting is his "MUST" list for a walk-around camera.

I like his idea of calling it a Walk-Around camera. So that's what it will be. My next camera will be my Walk-Around camera. And currently that's the Nikon 1 V1 and I'm hoping that in six months when I get one some of the bugs will be fixed. Again read Brad Hill's review of the Nikon 1 V1.

About the photo: It was taken at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA. Take the kids there. It's an interesting hotel and it's all decked out for Christmas.

Original contents copyright 2011 by John S. Krill and/or the by lined author. All Rights Reserved.