The Ritual

The makings for my morning ritual. Shot with Fujifilm X-E4 and a Voigtländer 27mm f/2 at f/2.8 using the HP5+ film simulation. SOOC.

Every morning, my day starts with a mug of Joe (or cup of coffee for non-aficionados). There is a ritual associated with my coffee and the tools (most of them) are displayed in the image. The tools comprise a kettle to heat water, a scale and cup to weigh beans, a press, a hand grinder, and a mug to receive the goodness from the press.

My process is:

  1. Fill the kettle with cold water while allowing hot water to flow to the faucet to warm the press and mug.
  2. Place a new paper filter into the filter ring.
  3. Weigh the beans.
  4. Moisten the beans with a fingertip dipped into the warming water of the mug.
  5. Grind the beans in my hand grinder.
  6. Empty the press of warming water and place the coffee into the press.
  7. Pour hot water into the press.
  8. Stir the mixture to wet all of the grounds.
  9. Place the filter ring onto the press.
  10. Set a timer for four minutes.
  11. At the appointed time (or a little after), invert the press onto the mug and press out the newly extracted coffee.
  12. Add some cream to the coffee and top off the mug with hot water.
  13. Utter the required assent (Ahhh…).
  14. Enjoy!

I have been using an Aeropress for a number of years now. It is easy to use and cleans up far more easily than a regular press. It has another positive characteristics — it is nearly indestructible. (Hat tip to DiL.) I generally use the inverted approach instead of placing it filter ring down on top of the mug. I think I get a better brew that way.

My current grinder is a Knock Aergrind with stainless steel burrs. It is a precise grinder that can grind very fine if desired.

My current scale is a Hario I bought from The Evil Empire. (Amazon…)

With the Peet’s dark roast, I am using about 15gm of beans to make 300ml of coffee. I am currently running 200ºF water (the boiling point at my elevation is about 205F) and four minutes for extraction. This gives me a nice rich dark roast that is very tasty with a bit of heavy cream.

I am grateful for coffee. It adds quite a bit to my life. Life is good.

Sunny Girl

The Sun shone this afternoon, so I opened the curtains in the workroom. She found a sunny spot and snoozed. Captured with the Fujifilm X-E4 and the Voigtländer 27mm f/2 at f/4 using the in-camera Reggie’s Portra 400 film simulation.

We are having a few sunny days after the wintry weekend. I do not mind the cold when the Sun is shining and it was shining yesterday afternoon.

One of the things I love about my apartment is the afternoon winter Sun on the side of my place. It warms my workroom and bedroom nicely and makes for a warm and sleepy afternoon. One of my favorite things is a winter afternoon nap with The Girl. So, I had one yesterday.

She also gave me a lovely portrait, looking over her shoulder at me with the Sun on her. I made the capture with the Fujifilm X-E4 and a Voigtländer 27mm f/2 at f/4. I used the in-camera Reggie’s Portra 400 film simulation and made a slight adjustment to exposure with Snapseed in my iPhone.

It was a good day. Life is good.

The Girl

I caught this capture of Sera snoozing under my worktable. Capture made with Fujifilm X-E4 and Voigtländer 27mm f/2 at f/2.8 using Reggie’s Portra 400 film simulation.

The Girl is recovering from knee surgery. She ruptured her CCL (ACL in humans) on Thanksgiving Day in an encounter with a coyote. Although I did not see the animal, that is the only likely possibility given the nature of her wounds and that I saw no humans or heard no ruckus that would have accompanied a domestic canine encounter.

The vet at the emergency clinic in Reno indicated that she either had a broken leg or a ruptured CCL. Based on my observation from a couple of days earlier, I believed her to have soft tissue damage.

A subsequent visit and workup with her regular vet confirmed the diagnosis. The treatment is a surgical repair. The complication came from which procedure to use.

The traditional approach is to tie the joint together with grafted tissue and suture material and then allow scar tissue to reinforce the repair. The alternative is to cut the bone and reset the tibia plateau angle. That seems awful to me, so I elected for the simpler, less invasive approach.

So now we wait. She is moving around the house and starting to put her toe down and sometimes a little weight on the affected foot. She is recovering.

Now I am taking care of her and praying for a full recovery. I will have to manage her differently, I think. She has now had two rattlesnake and one coyote encounter. None went well. She is just one of those individuals who finds trouble. So, she will not be permitted to range out like she has. I also will not want her stressing that knee for months. I want it it have plenty of time for recovery.

She will need exercise and plenty of it. But her days or running out more far from me and getting into trouble are over, so I hope.

I am grateful for her. Life is good.

One-Armed Bandit

A one-armed bandit, found at the Red Hut Diner in Carson City, Nevada. Shot with Fuji X-E2 and Fujinon 35mm f/2 at f/2.8. Black and white from an in-camera conversion to the Fujifilm Acros film simulation.

As I have written many times, Wife used to tell me “You have a different way of looking at the world…” Long ago I bought a new Argus-Cosina 35mm SLR with the usual fast Nifty-Fifty. Carrying that camera, and reading Foothorap’s book, taught me to see. I had little money, but I had time and the little encouragement from the book (and some solid examples). So I taught myself to look.

After a couple of years paying for processing, a friend taught me to develop my film and I had access to the University club darkroom. Film was not too expensive, so I shot a lot of black and white, processed it, and even printed some frames. I rolled a lot of reusable canisters using bulk film and a daylight loader.

Now, 50-yeas later, I am still looking at the world. Like most of us, I always have a camera at hand — my iPhone. Most of the time I have a real camera at hand, likely the Fujifilm X100V but many times the Fujifilm X-T5.

A couple of Saturdays ago I decided to get breakfast (actually brunch) at the Red Hut. I carried the Fujifilm X-E2, a tiny little camera that matches the Fujinon f/2 lenses well to make a small kit. So I made a few images with the little X-E2 while waiting for my food.

One that I liked better than most was this old slot machine. I am confident it was current technology probably 50-years ago. Now it is a relic, but an interesting relic.

Life is good.

Olympus OM-3

This morning I enjoyed a nice mug of Joe and admired the new-to-me Olympus OM-3. Capture with iPhone 13 Pro Max, SOOC.

It has been a day. The weather turned more wintry last night and I woke to a gray day. I made my first mug of the day using my Aeropress and some Peet’s whole bean dark roast. I sat down at the computer to contemplate the day and enjoy my coffee and noticed the new-to-me Olympus OM-3 sitting on my desk. I decided to make an image to celebrate the arrival of one of my grail cameras.

The OM-3 did not sell in large numbers. It has a mechanical shutter, which I think is highly desirable. It has a sophisticated spot metering system that it shares with the OM-4 (electronic shutter) that is very powerful. The camera will average multiple spot readings to produce a proper exposure. There is a bit of a learning curve, but not bad. I have already figured it out.

My sample has some brassing on the edges and a bit of paint loss on the back. Although these cameras are collectible, my sample is user grade and I will use it.

I have a G.Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 lens in my inventory and I affixed that lens to the body. I ran about a half roll of 36-exposure film through it yesterday and need to finish off the roll. I checked the meter with my Minolta spot meter and the camera’s meter is within a half-stop of the Minolta. That is good enough. After I use it for a while I might send it in for a CLA. I might also replace the light seals.

I have a few Olympus lenses in my inventory. Many of the Olympus lenses are very good and the system is very small. I mean diminutive in stature; not a weak system.

It will be fun to put this camera through its paces. I just want some good light.

Yesterday I noticed that my Microsoft Office 365 installation needed to be updated (on my Mac). So I permitted the updater to do the work. On starting Word, I was greeted with “Welcome to Copilot” and I nearly shat myself. I have no desire to permit any AI on my computers, especially Microsoft’s. This seems like an open door to the software scraping my systems for data to feed the AI monster. NO THANK YOU!

And that is not just a “No!” it is a “Hell No!”

I think this might be the last straw. Big Tech seems to be invading everything now and I want nothing to do with it. In texting with my son and my grandson today, I realize that it is highly unlikely that I will either be able to completely limit my exposure nor completely disconnect from the grid. But, I can take some steps to make me a harder target such that the ‘bots will tackle the easier targets instead of me.

In installed LibreOffice on my Mac this afternoon. After working with it some, I can decide if I can eliminate the Microsoft virus from my Mac. It is bad enough that Apple is asking me to turn on their AI. (I said no.) It also means that I am looking at Linux again as a possible refuge or at least a minimization of my exposure.

So I will set up a Linux computer and start doing some testing. I wonder what photography post-processing applications I can get running under Linux. I guess I will find out.

At The Red Hut

Linda working the floor. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and a Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 wide open.

A few days ago I was at the Red Hut Diner in south Carson City for breakfast. I had The Usual and it was quite good. This lady is one of my favorite servers ever. She is so outgoing and so fun. She also makes a good image.

It was a good day. I am grateful. Life is good!

Oranges

The orange display at the local Raley’s. Shot with Fuji X100V at f/4 using the Kodachrome 64 film simulation SOOC.

Work has been keeping me busy the last few weeks, enough so that I have not posted much. I just have not had the energy to put together an image or radio outing and the words.

Yesterday I just *had* to get out and buy some groceries. So, after walkies, I completed my grocery list, grabbed the X100V (slung over my shoulder), and drove down to the local Raley’s store. When I walked into the store, the late afternoon sun shown on the Navel Orange display at the entry. That warm light cried for some Kodachrome 64. I sure wish they made that film stock, what a classic look.

But, I have a simulation stored in one of the custom slots of the X100V. A quick trip into the Q-Menu retrieved the settings and I made the capture.

Then I went on through the store to fill my order and go home.

It was a good day. Life is good.

Remainders: 11 January 2025

  • Vintage Watch Services is a Swiss watchmaker who does restoration of vintage wrist watches. His YouTube channel is a deep dive into the restoration process and is fascinating.
  • QLog looks to be a solid amateur radio logging software that runs under Linus and other operating systems. I am confident that I will end up with a Linux box again, probably as my main computer.
  • This brace from Animal Ortho Care has potential for helping with Sera’s recovery. She ruptured the ACL/CCL of her left knee on Thanksgiving Day. She will have surgery soon.

Cloudy Mt. McLellan

I need to get my geography straight. I do not know if this is McLellan or Scott. In any event, nn walkies, I noticed the between the sky and Mt. McLellan. I made the capture with the Fujifilm X-T5 and the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 macro lens at f/8. The capture is traight out of camera with Reggie’s HP5 film simulation.

Here is another capture from a couple of days ago. I really like the rendering of the HP-5 film simulation. Shot with Fuji X-T5 and the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 Macro lens.

Slide Mountain

On walkies, I noticed the clouds over Slide Mountain. I made the capture with the Fujifilm X-T5 and the Fujinon 60mm f/2.4 macro lens at f/8. Later I noticed the fascinating blob of shadow low center. The capture is traight out of camera with Reggie’s HP5 film simulation.

The Girl and I got out of the house about noon yesterday. I worked/puttered much of the morning, never really wanting to make breakfast. Then I decided I needed biscuits and gravy. So I took care of her needs and we headed over to The Red Hut so I could have The Usual (biscuits & gravy and eggs).

We then headed out to Silver Saddle Ranch for a hike. The sky was partly cloudy and I liked the contrast of sky and clouds. I noticed some clouds crawling over the Sierra Ridge and how they hung on Slide Mountain. There was also a bit of snow from the last storm. So, I paused to make a couple of captures.

I like this one. The blob of shadow catches the eye.

The Girl is managing her energy, but just barely. Once she gets through the surgery, it will become more difficult for her as she feels better. It will be alright, though. We will manage.

Despite her faults, she is a good companion. I am grateful. Life is good.