I turn 34 this year, so I'll probably start shrinking soon

These are amazing!

Got a 14mm f/2.8 lens to replace my old, fully manual 8mm fisheye with a recently heavily scratched front element. I liked the fisheye but it just wasn't a good lens on my full frame camera. The 14mm is still manual focus but at least the camera can control the aperture.

So, here's a face of my ugly photo.


14mm Closeness Test by Alex Glanville, on Flickr

So when working on Escheron my desktop looks something like this....

http://i.imgur.com/9DRYqhw.png

Forum member stickybutton drew a photo of me recently, it just came in the mail today!

That's cute and very candid she got more skill than me too~

That's a lot of stuff. You should post a picture of your physical desktop too, if it's anything like when I've visited. You keep a lot of projects in progress there too.

That's actually really sweet, not to mention well-done. Nice work, sticky.

As requested my actual desk. You can see on the monitors my excessive IRC addiction. After that there is only 3 projects going on right now.


@Kerm There are so many windows because ... CutScenes ...
E:SoR - Seen on the Right monitor in this case and the 2 calculators. One for actual math and one for testing the app on hardware.

My Plants - Getting the garden started.

Reproduction Snes Games - Hard to see but there is a snes cartridge and a some PCBs which are for a reproduction project.

http://i.imgur.com/2fiZsim.jpg

Sadly not as much as I would like, But work has been taking its toll lately...

Certain Cemetech members have an interest in trains, so I thought it would be a good idea to document my trip here. If the post is too long, it can also be found on my site. I didn't bring a real camera, but here is my attempt:

Normally, I would fly back from college for the summer - but this time I decided to do something a little different. I have taken the Amtrak Cascades from Vancouver, WA to Seattle before, but I had not gone on a long distance train trip. In my case, it would have been faster and very slightly less expensive to fly from Phoenix, AZ to Portland, OR; however, I had time to spare and the extra $10 turned out to be well worth it. Additionally, Amtrak allows passengers to take a much larger amount of baggage for free than the airlines do: two 50 pound carry-on items, two personal items, and two 50 pound checked bags. This superior baggage policy allowed me to bring by belongings home for free.

I began the trip by taking the Amtrak Thruway Bus (really a ten-passenger van operated by Arizona Shuttle) from Phoenix to Flagstaff, AZ, where the Southwest Chief stops on its way from Chicago to Los Angeles.



After arriving at the Flagstaff train station, I was greeted by a friendly station attendant who checked my large bag. Flagstaff's early economy was bolstered by its location on the transcontinental railroad, and it still enjoys a large number of freight trains passing through. Additionally, there was live music in the Flagstaff Visitor Center, which is located in one half of the train station.



By the time I boarded the Southwest Chief, it was dark outside and I was unable to take any pictures of much interest. However, I was surprised by the smooth ride at 90 mph which allowed me to comfortably finish writing a paper. We arrived at Needles, the first stop in California at approximately 12:40 AM, and I fell asleep shortly thereafter.

When I awoke nearly four hours later, it was raining lightly as we made our way through San Bernardino. During this part of the trip, I was able to see many Metrolink commuter trains and a dumpster with "NASA" written on the side. We arrived on time at Los Angeles, where I waited for approximately two hours for the Coast Starlight, which was being readied for its run to Seattle.



After boarding, I promptly made my way to the observation car where I spent the majority of the trip. The best scenery began as the train made its way through the Santa Susana Mountains and along the Southern California coast.



Passing through Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Trails & Rails guides pointed out several rocket launch sites, an underground missile silo and the California Men's Colony.



In addition to the vast expanse of agricultural land, we passed through an active oil field which provided an interesting contrast to the natural scenery.



The Salinas rail yard contained an old locomotive and several vintage train cars.



After leaving Oakland, I was able to sleep until the morning when we moved through the Siskiyou into Oregon. The observation car provided unobstructed views across Upper Klamath Lake and down the mountain slopes into dense fog.



Logged areas provided a line of sight into the distance.



Passing through Oregon City, I was able to see across the top of Willamette Falls to the Willamette Falls Dam and the now-defunct Blue Heron paper mill. This dam initially provided electricity for Portland in 1889, and is still used to this day.



At approximately 3:30 PM, the train arrived in Portland and waited for operators to close the lower deck of the Steel Bridge before pulling into Portland Union Station. The Steel Bridge is considered to be one of the most multimodal bridges in the world, as it carries cars, buses, and light rail on the top deck, and bicycle, pedestrian, and rail traffic on the lower deck.



From here, the train crossed two more rail bridges and the Columbia River, before arriving at my final destination of Vancouver, Washington. Crossing the Columbia River Railroad Bridge took longer than expected because two barges needed to pass through before the swing span could be closed.



Taking the train was a very worthwhile experience, and I would suggest it if you have the opportunity. If you can sleep in a relatively comfortable reclining seat with a leg rest, and bring along some snacks, the train is also reasonably priced.

This is relevant to my interests. What was your longest stint on the train? LA to Seattle? My only concern with taking a train for my next vacation is the time spent between my stops. It's vastly cheaper but I don't know if the time it takes is worth it; my longest ride would be roughly 48 hours.

I guess it comes down to whether or not you consider the train a part of the vacation or just a means of transport. I'd really like to take the train between my destinations but I'm having trouble seeing my time on the rails as part of my vacation. It'd probably be easier to justify the train if I had company for my trip but that won't be the case.

So, what I'm trying to get at is this: Was the train trip your vacation or the means between your destinations and incorporated into your vacation?

In my case, I would have to say that the train trip was part of my vacation. I did not take the Coast Starlight all the way up to Seattle, only to Portland. That part of the trip was approximately 31 hours, and the entire trip took about 48 hours. With the exception of the Acela Express (and possibly Auto Train - since you can take your car), Amtrak long distance trains are probably too slow to be considered only as transportation if you are on a tight schedule. If you get an Amtrak Rail Pass, you can visit many destinations for a very reasonable price.

Portland sucks.

_MG_8620 by Nikky, on Flickr

Monument Valley, UT

I approve

That's beautiful AHelper!

Related.


And geographically similar.

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Also Taronga Zoo is literally Jurassic Park.

Cassowary.


Electric fences.


Signs for the ferry.

This looks like it was photoshopped.

I find this picture funny, though. Nice!

A nerd desktop. EOS 1100d + 18-55 + x0.45 adapter

Being nerd in highschool with my lab coat and graphing calculator. (Also to help the teachers in the lab, but mostly for being nerd)


1100d (rebel T3) + 24-105 STM + Tripod+ RAWtherapee in linux