Thematic Photographic - Straight Lines

Ok, I'm a little late with this one (oops).

Not done these for a little too long actually ! It's a meme from Carmi Levy's excellent blog (linky) and the post for (erm) last week's Thematic Photographic is here at this link.

I rarely get good ideas for joining in with the Thematic Photographic but I was feeling wobbly in the sun at the bus stop this morning and a rare idea popped into a head that's usually still waking up at this point.

Straight lines ?

All the straight lines !

It was hot enough this morning that it was genuinely uncomfortable standing on the sunny side of the stop, I was having to lean up against the wall in the shade. But it was fairly ok on the bus and when I was walking from stop to work, that was ok too. Bit nasty on the bus on the way home though. Hopefully they'll allow me into the car park again soon because ... air con.

Air con is cool. Erm. Lovely. Sorry about the really bad pun.

Anyway ... Straight lines ! Lots in the wall, many in the bus shelter structure and the road is kinda straight too. Plus there's those shadows. There are straight lines everywhere we look. And ... a bonus ! Early Suzanne Vega song and didn't she start well ?

Yeah. It's gotten hot here and it's going to get warmer too. Nowhere near as dangerously hot as in places like Pakistan are suffering at the moment but still warmer than we're accustomed to here. I'm feeling it in slightly ill feelings when I eat and in gathering lightheadedness. I can deal with the light headed bit by drinking more cold things. And I'm highly likely at some point to raid the Costa that's sprung up just outside our work for an iced mocha.

But tonight it was ... let's just grab a little quote from what was appearing on Facebook tonight.

The Harvester waitresses are starting to recognise me ...
What could this mean ?

Uhoh. In my defence, one of them used to work where I do and was one of the canteen mob. They're a good mob down there and they know me fairly well from me legging it down there just before they close.

The sundae is coming ... THE SUNDAE IS COMING ...
Yes. The heat may be affecting me.

Yep. It's not about the shopping. It's about that sundae. I just happened to have a load of empty cupboards that needed stuff putting in them.

And 8 Mini Cornettos came away from the supermarket with me too. Oops.

Oh well.

One last pic before I put my head into an ice helmet. This one's from a conversation that was happening at work and I've been looking for an excuse to spring it on you :

I shall remember that the next time a Hot Lady comes up to me and asks for help. (And that "hot" is in no way a comment on her appearance, although she possessed that beauty that all women have. She was just looking for where the cold water is after being in a baking meeting room - honest).

Hope you're not too hot where you are. Warmth is good but we do like it to be a comfortable level of warm.

PS Shoutout to a little lady who I've thought of as a little-big sis for 15 years ... Feel better soon little lady !

Thematic Exposition - In The Pink

This post has two parents ... Or sources of inspiration for it.

The first is Mr Carmi Levy's Thematic Photographic series, the latest is In The Pink. Here's mine ! I've only really got one Pink themed picture and people who have been here for a while will know what it is.

But ... there's another inspiration, Twitter has taken me to numerous people, one of whom is the wonderful Nika Harper aka Nikasaur. Here's a link to her Youtube channel where she posts Wordplay challenges. I thought - I can do one of those ! My problem is a lack of creative inspiration. I'm very definitely an engineer type who Does Things. Sometimes I do them in an unorthodox fashion but it's usually in response to a task. Thinking up the task is another thing entirely.

However - I thought I could tell the story of the Pink Hat. Hopefully it fits the theme of Exposition !

There it is - the infamous Pink Hat. And the Smiling Person beneath just happens to be ... me ! On to the story :

There was a boy who was not quite a boy any more. Years had taken their toll. Friends had moved on. Situations had evolved. People and their teams came and went. But the boy could always remember being young through sheer joy of Running. That's running very fast. And he could run, fast enough that the wind whistled through his ears.

The boy's usual excuse for running very fast was that a cricket match just happened to be breaking out at the same time.

However, the boy knew that his time when he could run very fast was coming to a close. The years were drawing on. Injuries were comparing notes and conspiring to make him slow. But the boy thought he could give something back.

But how ? He could run very fast but not for very long. He knew that typically, giving something back through running meant running a long way, which wasn't his strength. Cricket was his game, because cricket rewarded that warp speed running but also allowed a chance to recover.

And then he thought of the Pink Hat. Wherever he could, he would wear gear with a Pink theme. And that took some finding ! Eventually, he found the Pink Hat of legend. But why Pink ? Because of the Rose.

The Rose joined the boy's team quite late. She was part of another group who were added to the boy's team. She was perfect. She was tall but not stretched. She had an easy elegance and an understated beauty. She had a little smile that positively glowed. She was a genuinely nice, lovely person. And it was all taken from her by the ravages of breast cancer. Although the boy didn't let anyone see, he was devastated inside. How could someone so amazing be lost so young ?

And so he chose to wear Pink, not so much for raising funds. He didn't feel comfortable asking people for money. But definitely for awareness. Whenever anyone would mention the Pink Hat during or after a game, the boy would tell them about the Rose.

Sometimes there were tears. Sometimes the boy was combative in defending his Pink Hat. But everyone who saw it knew the reason for it. And so the boy achieved his objective of making people aware of that cruel illness and they took away a memory of that impossibly perfect Rose.

And it inspired the boy too. Whereas he would have acceded to the whims of a body which was struggling to run quicker than the wind, he continued to play. He only played 8 games that year but helped his teams to many wins, all in honour of the Rose.

The boy hasn't played much since that last year. But the boy, who struggles to show how sad he can be, was glad for a chance to show his feelings through the Pink Hat. And he's remembering now, the lady with the little smile framed by blonde hair typically drawn back in office friendly tails.

And that's what he'd like you to do. To remember. Remembering everybody who is lost is too much. However. Remember those close. We have all lost people like that. Remember them at their best. As I remember the Rose. As I remember my grandfather who was lost to prostate cancer. As I remember my nan.

Remember.

The End !

(back to blog mode)

Gosh writing that has awoken some feels. I can feel a tear or two choking up inside. But I can also remember that wonderful face of The Rose as she caught my Grin and answered with that little smile of her own. I think it made her feel welcome in the team her group had been parachuted into. They felt rather isolated at first having been mashed into one of the most integrated and tight knit teams around. I hope my Grins made things easier for them.

Thematic Photographic - Technological

Had an old blog-friend visit today and drop in a comment. Hello Carmi ! Carmi is a technology journalist who combines humour with a huge amount of intelligence in his writing. I've neglected his blog for way too long. And here's a link.

Saying that though, while I've been keeping posting random things here I've not been visiting other people very much lately. I think the blogging fraternity has moved on to things like Twitter and Facebook. They're one way of getting random thoughts out there but they're both a little too constricted in what they allow you to post. (in terms of characters per post) That said, I much prefer Facebook over Twitter, whereas Twitter is a cesspit of idiots, Facebook can be fairly tightly controlled. I only have 61 FB friends (it could be more but a few people declined friend requests) and only they can see what I post.

Wait ... thematic photographic is supposed to have pictures ! Here we go :

Yep - it's the car again ... But ... it's the most technological thing I own so bear with me !

So - what's it got that would make a caveman go URRHHH ? before getting the club out ?

Drive by wire. Every control input talks to a computer. I think even the steering talks to a computer before turning the wheels.
Hybrid powertrain. This is where the technology goes nuts. Throttle and brake go to a computer that divvies up the effort wanted between 2 motor generators and an engine. It's not as advanced as what we've just seen hit the race track in Formula 1 but it has parts of that. And ... the real magic is that, to the uninitiated driver, they can't tell any difference. Hit the throttle, it'll go quick. Hit the brake*, it'll slow down.

*Drive by wire brake is actually one of the criticisms I have - in the CT braking was smooth and progressive, in the IS a lot of the braking effort happens at the top of the pedal. It can make slow speed driving a bit choppy and it can be difficult to smoothly slow to a stop at traffic lights.

A beltless engine ... most engines have lots of belts that keep things like oil going round the engine to lubricate it and water to cool it. In this one, the oil pump and the water pump operate on their own and the alternator is ... something else. I think there is one belt, that'd be the cambelt.

Running at up to 50 (and a bit) mph ... without the engine on. The only time we'd have seen that 10 years ago is if we were playing daft games going down hills. And even then ... no engine in a conventional car means minimal brakes (real bad) and no power steering (manageable but still bad).

Not one but two displays and satnav. Jury's out really between built in and separate satnav. You can easily programme a separate satnav from outside the car. But ... it's less integrated. If I had to pay, I don't think I'd get an inbuilt satnav. But ... the free satnav offer was one reason I jumped to make the change.

Reversing camera - as you can see from the picture, it really helps with parking. (Lol - take a peek at how well/badly I've aligned the car to the parking bay lines!)

Smart entry - there's a radio in the key that tells the car when I'm near. To open it, I grab the door handle, to lock it I put my finger in a little indentation on the handle.

Radio - I think the only transistors in my first car were in the radio and there weren't many in that. I think it had the luxury of a tape deck ... This one has all sorts of options for playing Stuff - cd, usb, bluetooth, FM, MW, DAB, aux ... and I may have missed a few there. No need now for an FM retransmitter to link iPod to car stereo.

I think there's more too but I think my brain is reaching shutdown. There's potential for a run ashore in Bristol tomorrow night but I think I may have to pass after today and yesterday. (Plus I'm still not particularly right - head's better but I'm making way too much acid for comfort).

One more pic before I go :

That is so true for what tends to appear here !

Thematic Photographic 46 - Round

This one's another inspired by Carmi Levy's Thematic Photographic, with a little help from peeking at Sweetly's pics over at Gaze Sweetly :-)

Ok ! It's wires !

But in the right hands, it's also a Secret Weapon. Or rather, the one on the left is. The one on the right is being retired in favour of something more appropriate (the new one has more plugs)

I spent a little more money yesterday on :

Surge protector for my internet bits, laptop & speakers.
New router
Big Long Wire

The new router (a Linksys Wifi-G model) is the third Linksys item I've acquired and I've been pretty impressed with what I've seen from Linksys so far. The new gadget has slotted in with no trouble whatsoever. Even my desktop with its dodgy wifi card can see it 100% reliably ! Incredible !

And the Big Long Wire means I can play Warcraft with no lag/latency coming in due to that dodgy wifi card. Although the "roundness" of that cable means I'm having to cover it with the plank to reduce it's chance of tripwiring me into a plaster cast.

PS The other end of that wire is hidden under the sofa ... When gaming, I'll have the cable running across the floor, underneath the plank. When doing other things, it'll be coiled up and hidden beside the sofa.