Month: December 2023

Remainders: 02 December 2023

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A favorite place to pause for some water. Shot with Fuji X100V 23mm f/2 at f/8 with the Reggir’s Portra film simulation.

I begin writing my remainders after the previous instance posts on Saturday evening. So each remainder is a sort of bread crumb track of my path through the Internet each week.

  • In migrating to a new Winder$ laptop, I looked at a lot of files. I came across the source for my literate programming FAQ and, in fact, a lot more that I did not expect. This includes a very nice website on Literate Programming, which I intend to revisit.
  • I am experimenting with RStudio because I use R on both of my computers. The experiment is whether it is worth the effort to use a second tool to work with the first, or should I just use the command shell that is included in R. The jury is still out on this one.
  • I also am looking at a \TeX installation on the Winder$ notebook. It looks like TeX Live is the better option. It is also the basis for my \TeX system on the MBP.
  • I ran into a wrinkle with the Winder$ laptop LaTeX install. I keep all of my custom standard macros on my Dropbox in a /texmf directory. It took me an hour to figure out how to set TEXMFHOME environmental variable to point to that directory under Winder$. This helped.
  • I have a Pentax 645 NII in my inventory. I got it out this week and it needs a little TLC. The leatherette is peeling a bit at some of the corners. A little Pliobond will fix that.
  • Nick Bedford has some thoughts on Tri-X film simulation that is interesting, but involved.
  • In a holiday saving offer from Clever Supply Co. I received a referral to another small business/maker who operates Ugmonk. I bought two of the monitor stands because I need an external monitor for my two laptop computers and I want them up on stands at eye level. This will also permit me to use the laptops’ monitors as well. I am expecting good things, especially because these units are premium price. I am done with cheap s#%(.

Daily Image: 01 December 2023 — Carson Valley and Pine Nut Mountains

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The Girl and I hiked one of my old favorite trails. On the top of a hill, this image presented itself. Captured with the Sony A7Sii, a Carl Zeiss Jena 50mm f/1.8 Pancolar at f/8, and processed with DxO Photolab 7, which I am trying.

I worked most of the morning. About 1100h, it seemed time to stop and get out for a walk. I had a couple of errands to run, so The Girl and I headed south, picked up camper parts at the RV center, then stopped by the bank to deposit a couple of checks that came in the mail. Because we were on the south side of town, I decided to hike an old favorite trail out in the Jacks Valley Wildlife Management Area.

The Girl got plenty excited as we approached the staging area. This is also the route to some of her peeps and I think she was expecting us to go visit. Nonetheless, she was happy when I parked the rig at the staging area and got her out.

The trail is clearly marked All Dogs Must Be On Leash. I do not know what wildlife is being protected by this order, but we saw none as we hiked. She was off lead, but close the entire walk. She knows when I want her close in and will obey when I tell her.

The area burned a few years ago and is still in recovery. There is not much vegetation yet, but for the sandburrs that plague The Girl’s feet. It was still a good day to be out, with a mix of sun and clouds and not too much wind.

We hiked the steep initial hill (got me really puffing), and then the long gradual climb along the utility road towards Jacks Valley Road. That is a good climb as it is not steep but steady for about a half mile. At the top, we turned the corner and headed back down past the school and across an unnamed drainage to climb another hill to the water tanks and cell tower. This equipment is located near where I used to live and I walked past it so many times with Ki. We loved to hike this area.

I paused at the top to make this image. I really liked the interplay of clouds and sky and thought it might make a nice image. I think I was right.

The trip back to the rig was uneventful, except that a trail runner come up behind me abruptly and scared the crap outta me. It was a good hour and a half hike and I was ready to be home.

What a good day. Life is good.