Starlight

After yesterdays loss of my whole blog due to the inability of a program to save and undo I have returned to writing in a place it can be sure to back up. Pretty dumb. I am not going to pay again for a product that has that kind of kink in its process.

Tuesday was a quiet day. Got a lot of side projects done. Filed a heck of a lot of stuff too. I don't know about other gov't workers but I like to keep busy so I will find things to do if I have to wait for anything. I really like my scanner on my desk. I scan and scan. I am trying to get everything locked down electronically so I can dump the old files that I do not have to have a hard copy on. I still have a long ways to go. I had to stop for a while because I was changing computers and the process would have to be merged if I kept up. I am going to do more on the new frame tomorrow.

I keep making lists. I was trying to work at three things a day at the house. Not as a resolution as I started it up in November but it has been going on. I have run out of most things I can do indoors while its so cold outside. I have some still going plus some to finish. This is anything from dishes to washing cloths to cleaning a wall or sorting a box.. whatever will clear up or clean up a spot. I am into the clearing thing big time. I want to remove all the clutter. I did a good job in my office.  I am going to think about my list tonight and see if I can peck the parts down to smaller pieces so it is easier and displays what has been done to encourage more to be done. Huge checklist but it works.

I edited a few more shots from the ABO mission. I'll post those when I have enough done. Since it was a very stark shoot most everything is far too bland. The use of the refocusing and colorization helps save something out of the nothing. I did do some other things  to see what happened.. a slurry of them.

Chi Town Rotors.

 There are lots of windmills around to pump up water for the cattle. The hard thing is to get a shot that is novel and not just a windmill in an open field. So I got close and friendly.

 Da Blues.

 Central facing East. No color modifications. That is how the camera picked up the shade covers. I dont know why.

Dont Do It.

Crossroads in Mountainaire. Gotta find the interest.

Posting.

 This is another windmill on the Springer to Clayton road. Again. Get close. Find what peaked my interest which was the post. Very weathered, Spiked and wrapped in barbed wire.

Sun Portal.

One of the many doorways in the Abo Mission. The globes are refraction off my lens. I do not use a hood on my lens because I like those things. I may have to go back and colorize the light on the ground ( negative shadow ).

Deepening subjects on the net tonight.

Nikon is coming out with another baby step cam. Nothing solid yet on its abilities. Unless it has the same abilities of my D300 with at least double the megapix I will pass thank you.

http://gizmodo.com/this-is-nikons-new-flagship-d4s-1496143152

Taking pictures of abandoned places is great. Taking a hodgepodge of shots is a little like stretching for it. Someone need to give me a grant to go log all the lost places. Please?

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/10-creepy-abandoned-places-captured-by-photographers

I know some very good and professional officers. I also know there are bad apples in any organization. This might help with the bad ones but if they are going to abuse your rights its best to get to where there are other officers to witness. Be polite. If your breaking the law… so sad.

http://lifehacker.com/this-infographic-shows-you-how-to-answer-police-and-avo-1496295929

This was cool. Another fact I didn't know… What gets lost along the way in history. What isn't logged.

http://www.neatorama.com/2014/01/07/Before-Street-Lights-There-Were-Moonlight-Towers/

Nice that Texas is still using them. Yes.. limitations. Yes..old… Yes neat. Were we are about to go to luminous walkways ( imbedded phosphorous ) and glow strips that are recharged by the sun. We are about to lose that darkness. In some places this is just fine. But others……. We lose the night sky. I remember looking at the milky way ( sounds like a Navajo Way..The Milky Way ) when we lived in the country in England. You could lay on your back in the summer grass and just stare at it. Be illuminated by it.

Buzzing.

Well. Nothing like writing up your blog then having it erased while you watch. Novel.

Now I have to rewrite.. or really write again. 

I was talking about multiple subjects.. 

The first was about having hot coffee after a cold commute at the office.

The second was on drivers who do not use their blinkers and those that have a immediate appointment taking you back bumper off. 

Third was something about the nice way cleaning out misc stuff can make your living space and workspace much easier to live in. 

Fourth was about the photograph I posted on my facebook wallpaper. Vivid, alluring and pretty.I will post that here now along with some interesting mission ruins called Abo. and its new inhabitants.

Painted Ladies

 Tough to decide what to paint and not paint.

Abo Mission.

 One of the missions built by the incoming Spanish. Quite like the castles in England if a little more crude.

Crosswind Warbler.

  Lots of fauna in the area. I made up the name for this long beaked bird. He was very hard to spot with the walls being the same color.

Blue Throat Godzilla Iguana.

 He also was not interested that I was right in his face. I think he thinks he is another nail. I made his name up too.

Thread A Needle.

I edited this shot for wide because the hole was so captivating. Find the portal and point it out.

So much more to do of this subject. I have to revisit this area when the sky is more active. It was bleached and burned with a clear sky on this visit. Harsh as it gets.

So now since all my links and comments were deleted I have to go find them again.... Bare with me.

Found one from my lost blog.. This is good. Do not ever believe what you see on news shows or the tv in general. Everything can be faked now. Always verify.. always verify...always verify.. or your a mushroom in a dark space.

http://www.neatorama.com/2014/01/06/Dont-Believe-Everything-You-Hear/

In the part of the season we are in now it is very good to have a emergency pack in your vehicle. If youa re going on a road trip make sure you do. A lot was missed in the article but the comments section adds all thats missing. 

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-handle-the-most-common-roadside-emergencies-1495661152

I need to talk to my Mum about this. She has said that they did lots of different things to prepare for a bombing and her most vivid memory was that of the buzz bombs flying in. She said that if you could hear the engine spluttering you were safe but if you didn't hear a thing you were probably on target. The damn things were pretty much as unguided as anything. Scary to know as it would be with SCUDS. Now with GPS and extremely good maps and sat views you can hit anything with a little programming. I think my favorite Author should incorporate this in a book..  Okay.. done done done... I am going to do some edits for tomorrow along the lines of very hard to find colorizations. Have a good eve.

Many things!

What.. Monday is tomorrow and I have to be at work...when?? Okay, at least I like being there. I wonder what the biggest thing will be. What will be the strangest? Who will need what? Do we even have a budget?

The only thing I do not like is the commute. Okay... and being given bad data or insufficient data. I hate that.

Sunday turned out to be very windy so there was no ballooning at all. Oh well. I have to get both my fans serviced. The most dangerous item in your balloon flying equipment is that fan. Big blade spinning around,. Gas and all just waiting to go crazy and out of control. Well, one of my fans started leaking fuel and the others throttle is not engaging correctly. Time for a service. Nothing major but never ignore it. Ever.

Onward!

Sat this morning looking at the news. It almost all sucked. I used to avidly stare at the news and politics. When I figured out that neither side had my needs anywhere near their thoughts nor did they in the least represent me or my ideals or only in a very vague ( we will drop you like hot butter for money in the hand ) way I stopped watching every day. I look in and know whats going on but until I can vote I will see who is the least worse. There are no good choices and I think they work it out that way. I have lost faith in the system as the system keeps taking and not returning anything near what they are supposed to. Their interests are first not yours.

After slipping through that garbage I went looking at what strange and interesting things happened in the world that caught my attention.. a good few there.

THis is awesome. Very good flying, very good conditions and in a controlled location. I love tree topping in my balloon. There is nothing like dipping in and out of the tree leaves 30 feet in the air. Nowhere speedy but well worth the time. Unlike fixed wing aircraft balloons can launch and land wherever it is open to the public.

http://gizmodo.com/gyaaaah-this-dc-3-is-flying-way-too-low-1494764566

I like this next link. THis has been going on for a while. I like the idea but it would be functional at only some locals. Other we high freezing or heavy snows might be a bit rough. I would love having an underground garage instead of losing the space on the ground level for the garage.

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/24-awesome-home-hacks-gadgets-and-accessories-geeks-would-love

Talking about underground... This is a nice rendition of an underground house. I have some good ideas on this too. I think I have about ten plans for underground houses. I think the circular area is a bit limiting though.

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/incredible-look-at-podgorny-house-which-was-carved-directly-into-the-side-of-a-mountain

The last link was a toss up between the comment that regular cameras were going out because cameras on phones are great. Please.. No... Just like vinyl has not gone away nor are cameras. So.. okay I will go with the other... This is a beautiful piece of iron. Okay not iron but hay. If I could figure a way it would be usefull more than the very limited way it works now..w well I would go there.

http://gizmodo.com/griffins-powermate-knob-controller-finally-goes-wirele-1492325889

If it worked like a trackball and gimballed as you would roll a trackball I would thing that would be nice. Its bluetooth now so thats good. It looks nice. I may go look at it some more.

Ah.. so that is what I did this morning. At 11 we went over to a friends for a birthday party for their daughter. She just hit her teens. Yikes! I am so very glad I have grown children and that they are self sufficient. Mostly. I am far too old to have to deal with it anymore. I did my span from 1988 to 2012. I have wandering around but he takes little time as he is more interested in vehicles and friends than lounging around the house. Hes a good kid. But.. yeah.. time to fly... or soon. Plans... Ideas... Thoughts. Oh yes.

We played books and runs. Not a bad game at all but a bit long. It was fun.... a few shots from it....

Depending on how many are playing is how many decks you use.

Kooky process but easily understood and quickly learned.

Rory got some Lime-A-Ritas to sip. THey are tiny but tasty. 2 with the Brunch and cards over 4 hours.

Upside down instructions for the game. You need them as well as a good scorekeeper because you have to track who is on what level as well score.. fun.

Played one game. Took about two hours. Loads of laughs. I am a Spite and Malice guy but I'd play this instead. Its good that you can have any number of people and you don't play teams.

I took most all the things down in my office. Year change. I felt they were distracting. I still want to be able to see them but not just a muddle. I have talked about that before. So I took pictures of everything. My fav thing is the banners from all the past fiestas. I took some quick pics of segments as backgrounds or wallpaper but I have to go back and do it right. Its a little unclear on some. It will be fun. One below..

We try and get all the crews and Pilots to sign them at the last day or during as people are coming in and out all the time. Fiesta is 9 days. 10 days if you count Albuquerque Aloft. Plus glows at night it can be up to 14 different events or more over 10 days. It is amazing. The flying is stunning. Every year its different.

I enjoy taking people up who have not done it before. Its a rush. If the winds are working right it can be a moving experience. I remember landing in the huge field of campers and motor coaches South of the field. Landed at so speed over another balloon and into the arms of my fantastic crew... who with direction took me right between two coaches and into the field just in front. They had the whole system set and packed away as I spoke with a group of people who had come and camped out to see us fly. Its a special day in my memory. As a talker it was nice to have people who I had not bored to death already... LOL. A Rush!

Well I had better run and get my "things" ready for tomorrow. Much to do. Much to see. Much to laugh about.

Redraw... Reedit Remove my brain!

Arrrrrr...... It be one of them days.

So re- re- re-correcting the CB again. Flippen funny how things can corrupt quickly. But its all back together. I am missing only a few minor things to complete it...tie it in a bow and ship it off. A bit later but the holidays change your timing a lot. Plus some of the shots I used didn't take so I had to go back and redo those again. It was a lot of work but I really like the cover shot and background and there are some nice setups too.

After that I found another subject I like and had a few ideas to mess with. The Albuquerque Zoo is the normal place the Balloon Fiesta puts on an open day with food for the Pilots and crew of the AIBF. This year it was not and it was pretty sad. The year I did these it was pretty hot out and most of the animals were snoozing. I did find some birds I really liked and so I edited them for a few things. Color. Subject and with the budgies I found to things I really liked for a wall picture.. One blue and one green. Then all of them. It was fun and so now I wish it was summer so I could take more pictures. The will make great wallpaper and maybe a printed picture. Guess I am going to have to pay to get into the zoo to get more pics...


Tude!

 All attitude in the zoo. The full picture looks good also.


I'm blue.

 Of all the budgies in the cage he was almost the only one.


Those Eyes!

 I started doing only those looking at me but ended up doing more.


I see what your doing.

This guy always kept an eye on me... just daring me to open the cage door.. I didn't though they would look nicer if they were free.

All the frills.

Just sashaying around about. Pretty eye and frills.

Yes, that was fun. I have more but they are less interesting.

Monster interests today.... Everyone is sleeping in because of the weird holiday timing.

There are some things that are just... well... strange... This is very strange...

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/the-goofiest-skateboard-is-a-full-circle-skateboard-mad-1494230165/@caseychan

One of the most irritating thing in movies, television shows and what not.. Try to be a little better at the data.
Reminds me of War Games and their insistence that there would be an outside line into the system. Right. Sorry. I worked on the system. There was no input lines. You could control from  two consoles only. Both insanely secure.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/what-all-the-fancy-code-in-movie-computer-sequences-act-1494297200/@caseychan

I think this is stunning. I wished I was part of the family that catalogued it. I can understand not returning to it. I dont think I would have left everything there though.

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/inside-the-amazing-time-capsule-apartment-in-paris-that-s-been-untouched-for-over-70-years

This is very interesting. Its a wonder they are not considered smart. Thieves are in all species.

http://www.neatorama.com/2014/01/03/Crab-Tries-to-Steal-a-GoPro-Camera/

Cracked me up if you watch the eyes. Like.. Hay.. Someone dropped this.. Hay.. Uh Hay the house... Um.. Okay.. if its just gonna be here I think I will see if I can use it... Your loss buddy!

No ballooning tomorrow due to the winds. Gonna go to a party instead...

SOP

Yes. Its Friday and the last of the off Fridays for a while. Well it was interesting. I lost track somewhat. Not of the day but of the things needing done. Oh well. I did get propane for the balloon... Of which this blog will be about today. I also worked on other projects and helped a friend pickup and deliver a stove. With help from Mo and Jon.

So... went to get propane today. Quick and easy. I thought I would put it here so you could see what goes into it and also if you ever need to help out your Pilot and refuel for him/her you can. After I hitched the trailer up and drove to Ortega's Propane it all starts.

You should always open the windows of your truck.
If you're basket is in the back of your truck you should drop the tailgate.
If you basket is in an enclosed trailer with only one door or no venting you should pull the basket out of the trailer as much as possible.
If your basket is just in a regular trailer, open all doors and secure them.

Wait your turn and be ready to assume the position.

Remove any nylon or strikers or lighters or any other possible flammable or sparking things from the vicinity of the refueling. Stay off  your cell and shut off any radios before you get to the refueling area.

Refueling hose big toggle is the main fuel lever and the yellow one is the bleed off toggle.

 

 Wear a good pair of leather gloves that are not too tight. Or not tight at all. Propane is very cold and can burn you bad. You ARE going to be sticking your hand in raw propane so be sure you have the right gloves. We got a good pair during last years Fiesta and I have them all the time in the trailer just to propane.

Good thick non tight gloves.

 You're going to get a refueling hose from the company and you will have to use an adapter on some tanks. They can be long or short or in between. Mine is in between.

Fuel lever up and on. Yellow bleed closed.

 Attach the adapter to the end of the hose and the other end of the adapter to the tank. Make sure they thread in smoothly. You should never have to force a hose end. Make sure the line is supported and not hanging on the connection. Verify that the bleed valve is closed. These are different everywhere and if you do not know if its closed or not ask the company you're at.

 Okay.. so now you should remember this. You do these three things when refueling. You start by opening the bleed or spit valve on the top of the tank.. then the tanks main handle or knob...then open the fueling hose.

I have QSO levers to turn my tanks on and off. The gauge is in the middle and the spit or bleed valve is the gold knob by the DOWN sticker. See the fuel hose is supported by the burner bag.

Watch for the bleed or split valve to start blowing a full stream of propane. When this happens do two things. Turn off the spit  or bleed valve and the main fuel hose now. Then shut the tank off. Told you you would have to put your glove in the propane. Most bleed / spit valves will pulse fuel. When its a steady stream its time to shut down. Some people do it when its pulsing but its a choice if you are able to do two things at once.

Adapter is snugged up against the tank connector.

Once you have made sure all levers are off you can disconnect the adapter from the tank if you are going to fuel another tank. Some small amount of fuel is in the adapter so there can be a quick spurt of fuel. Gloves! If you are refueling two tanks do the same over again... Connect, open spit, open tank, open fuel line. Then shut spit and fuel line then tank at the end.

Once this is done on the last tank you can tell the service guy that your done and he will shut off the main input. Now keep the line away from your face, body or anything you do not want frozen.You then can flip or unscrew the bleed valve on the fuel line evacuating the fuel from the adapter hose. You will hear a hiss and thats the propane being removed. After that you can disconnect the fuel line from the adapter from the tank and put the adapter away. Make sure the adapter is safe as nothing is more un fun for the next person to refuel than a missing adapter.

If you're at fiesta or a rally you can just check everything once more time to make sure everything is closed and covered. Close up your trailer or shove your basket back in or jump down from your truck. Safely exit the local area before lighting anything up or turning on radios and phones. If you are at a refueling company.. get your fuel amount and go pay. Ortega's is great because they give balloonists a little discount.

Ortega's! Yay!

Ta daaaa.... You can refuel. Some balloons have multiple tanks and they may have a manifold between tanks or multiple connectors which means you can do things a little differently. Nothing major though. Lots of Pilots have specific ways they want things done. Write it down if you cant remember it. Always be safe first. Always refuel by yourself on with one other person. Be safe. Don't take shortcuts. Pay attention. In cold weather o rings in the lines and tanks can shrink and the connectors may not seat right. Be patient.

Was that not fun?

Here is what I found to look at today...

Pop-Tarts.. yum!

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/the-splooge-of-making-pop-tarts-is-so-very-hypnotic-1493379306/@caseychan

You could trade one of these on the school yard for tons of candy. Good deal.

I have mixed in my past. I have and still do edit stuff for my movies.. This is excellent and I love the program he is using to do these edits.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/edm-producer-shows-how-daft-punk-used-a-sample-to-make-1493571302/@caseychan

Ahhh design.. I love these.. but I love number 6 most. Number 5 least. I can and have done this. Many times and sometimes much better than any of these. BUt hay.. i have a day job.

http://gizmodo.com/6-jaw-dropping-superyachts-designed-by-architects-1456960233

Oh boy... There is one great instruction manual for taking selfies.. 1. Lower the phone. 2. lower. 3. a little lower. 4. put phone on table and do not take picture. Thanks.

http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/13-people-who-were-caught-mid-selfies-with-awkward-expressions

If you take pictures in a public bathroom.. someone should take your phone and deposit it in the nearest commode. If you do not lock the door when you go into a private bathroom... you are a goober.

Off to take some shots on the roof.

Can it be Jan 2nd is quietly passing by.

Perhaps not too quietly.

Izzy isn't feeling well so she is laying on my legs like a lump of potatoes.

My ankle is numb but I dare not move. You know the rule.

I spent the morning running errands and then back to the house to do more work in and around. Too darn big a mess to get all done in one day. Too many cables too. Cant believe how many cables. I stood there staring at them trying to decide what to do.. I would still be there if I had not gotten distracted by a squirrel.

I bought a used monitor off of Amazon. I was not sure how it was going to be once it got here but the price was well worth the chance. I very good price for a calibrated monitor that has amazing angles of view. Bright and big. It came, Huge box, don't know what they were thinking. But it came out fine. I noticed a little smudge on the screen but a lint free cloth and a bit of cleaner and it disappeared. So, if you wary, wanting to save some money they Amazon refurb or recondition on slightly used is great. I am going to do some editing here in a bit and see how the colors are.

Tomorrow I will try and get out of the house. It might be possible.


I love editing for wide. I really need to do stitches so I can have the full quality still.


Cracked.

 How many times I can go back and redo these.

Green Means Go.

 I love train depots or train stations.

Occluded.

 Chrome highlights with rusty patina.

 Discarded.

I do like the odd rail spike. As a rule I never remove anything ever. Now.

NO.

 Another always returned to sign. Neon just makes it better.

 Yield to Yellow.

Find something then bring it outward.

Still one in the revolver.

Love these old screens. I must do some more with this subject.

I am off to find some more. Its cool to find something inside something else.

Tonight's links fall into two categories.. one.. the dead.. and two, everything else.

They call London the city of the dead.... for good reason... read on....

http://gizmodo.com/how-corpses-helped-shape-the-london-underground-1493312117

Bomb shelters. Interesting thing from Bucky. Along the line of my thought of a use for a single 40 ft container.

http://gizmodo.com/bucky-fuller-s-long-lost-wwii-shelters-rediscovered-in-1493394939

This seems pretty logical. I have been through a few but never near enough to see lights.

http://gizmodo.com/scientists-unearth-the-truth-behind-ultra-creepy-earthq-1493360320

And you thought the dead thing only happened in London. Mexico City.. Spaniards and their horses too??

http://gizmodo.com/scientists-unearth-the-truth-behind-ultra-creepy-earthq-1493360320

Yep.. dead everywhere...

Happy evening to you... ( look if I have to have weird nightmares you can too )  hahahahahaha....

Slam into the New Year

So, How is it for you?

The latest I have stayed up in ages. I was reading in bed and then all the fireworks went off... Ten minutes after my head hit the pillow. 

No, it was not where I was all night. I was invited to two parties last night. One I had already said we were going to and one we wished I had the strength to get to. My lazy genes.

Thanks for the invites. I had a very good time meeting people I should have met earlier and as my mouth would not shut down I should apologize now for making everyones ears ring too early in the night. 

The conversation went from Kayaking on the Rio Grande to Special Needs kids to photography and vidography.. to the awesome poetic beauty that is New Mexico and its many peoples. Connections made. Friends made. Lots of flying planned. 

The connection from riding the Rio Grande in a boat to landing in it in a balloon came from this last years Fiesta. The kayaks were taking pictures of us as we came down and we were taking pictures of them. Next year ( now that we know each other so much better ) we are going to mix it up and see what happens. I will be taking a photographer up and a videographer and poet also. I cant wait. Both I think have not been up before and so that will make it fun for me to get them into the river.. float down...then go tree topping after... Tree topping? Watch this video...

http://invisibleblack.zenfolio.com/p715442282#h4afabc82  This is one that shows video from three balloons. Slow and sweet.

The new year is already looking up. Now if I can get my butt out of this chair and do something about it. 

I am going to go and find some pictures I want to print. BRB again... Here are a few of the selected so far... all polars

Back Off.

Balloon Blast.

Roundtrip.

Small Park

Cloud Master II

So many to choose from. Consider these at 20 inches by 20 inches in frame. 

I have much to do!!! So I think I will take a nap!

No.. really.. I have things to do in the computer room and garage, plus the bro is stopping by to look at a table and stand. RIght now I have my blanket on and dog on lap with keyboard laid on top of her. She doesn't care a bit. 

I have to go find some wides and colorized shots for the print file too. But for now.. Here are some links.

I hope the repeal a bunch of these very stupid laws in New York. WHat a waste of taxpayer money processing and enforcing some of these. You cant walk your walrus down 5th ave after 12pm???

http://gizmodo.com/the-complete-list-of-everything-banned-by-mayor-michael-1490476691

Youch.. Glad I stuck to cranberry juice all night..

http://gizmodo.com/the-complete-list-of-everything-banned-by-mayor-michael-1490476691

Can someone buy all this stuff for me so I can turn around and sell it at the other end of the year....

http://lifehacker.com/5973864/the-best-time-to-buy-anything-during-the-year

Sherlock Holmes.. what need to said more..

http://observationdeck.io9.com/how-the-original-sherlock-survived-the-reichenbach-fall-1492675995/@bricken

Fun City... Off I go to find more interesting and timely things.....ta ta