The Kitties Prepare for the Start of Their Day

The kitties sleep in various parts of the house, but in the morning they both assemble just outside the bathroom door.  They know that's where we will be, eventually, before heading downstairs to feed them.  I did the first picture with just the kitty in the foreground, and it was only just OK.  Fortunately the other kitty came in to the scene, and jumped up on the windowsill to check the world outside her window, which made a much more interesting photograph.

"Mister, what's inside a hard drive?"

"Go away kid, don't bother me!"  JUST KIDDING!  I would NEVER say that to anyone!  I love telling people what I know about stuff.  Sometimes they don't even have to ask...   :-)  Another day of throwing stuff out, and I came across a box of old hard drives.  I have heard stories of people buying a box of old hard drives, and hooking them up and retrieving other people's data left on the drive.  So to prevent anyone being able to read the drive, I took the top off the drive, and then bashed the platter with a hammer.  It does seem like a shame to destroy something so beautiful.  The platter is the large gold-colored thing that looks like a record.  The thing that looks like a record player arm is the read-write head that puts data on the drive and reads it back.  In case you are curious what is under the drive, I have included a photo of the underside of the drive as well.  All those chips on the circuit board electronics control the movement of the actuator and the rotation of the disk, and perform reads and writes on demand from the disk controller.  A really complicated process we all take for granted.

Unfinished Business

So I am cleaning up and throwing stuff out.  I came across this box, with a Heathkit ET-3100 Electronic Design Experimenter in it.  In mint condition.  Unused.  I am a licensed Amateur Radio Operator, and back in 1979 when I was studying for the exams I had to take, I bought this, with some instruction books, in order to learn electronics.  I would read the lesson, on transistors, for instance, and then use the parts in the little plastic box to construct a circuit and then operate it and take measurements.  Hands on learning.  Only thing is, I had a really tough time understanding some of the concepts.  So I put the box away.  I have always meant to get back to it, and I always knew it was up there on the shelf.  So today was the day of reckoning - I had to admit that I am never going to get back to it.  Ever.  So into the trash it went.  It is hard to admit defeat and that I will never learn electronics.

It's About The Flowers...

This is my friend Mike who lives in Virginia.  We two go way back - to 1960 and our starting out as freshmen studying photography at Rochester Institute of Technology.  We were also on the varsity fencing team together.  So all these years later, we still keep in touch by using FaceTime on our Macs.  We probably talk once a month or so, and we cover all kinds of topics.  He is a sailor and I used to be, so there is that, in addition to photography, of course.  We were talking and suddenly I noticed the sunflowers appearing to be growing out of the top of the computer, and I thought: "Now THERE'S a shot!

Fireworks From The Median

We wanted to watch fireworks when we were in Wallingford, in Connecticut.  We could have all walked about a mile up the road to the hill top and been very close to them, or we could have taken our chairs out to the little triangular green where the road forks.  It was not a long walk, and we got a decent view of the fireworks from the green.  This is a different looking landscape for fireworks, for me, with the house and telephone pole.  A interesting change of pace.

The Midnight Train

Liz and Sarah went to  the city yesterday to see a Broadway play, and then they met a friend for coffee, and then had dinner.  Long, wonderful day in the city, and a late-night train home.  So I went to the train station to pick them up and give them a ride home.  The station has a nice feel to it late at night, with no one else around.  I photographed that, and then continued to shoot as the train arrived.  This is my favorite because I love the shiny reflections on the side of the cars - they remind me of lightning bolts.

Liz & Karen

I was taking pictures of all the goings-on at our July 4th party, and I saw Liz watching some of the family being photographed by my sister Karen.  It's funny, but even though we are all a bit over-the-top about family photos, we laugh at ourselves for doing that.  And obviously Liz thought it was funny too.  I really love this portrait of Liz.  I think it captures an essence of her.