#inktober – Page 17 – My Photo Blog

Follow the yellow brick road – 24 October 2017

Posted on October 24, 2017October 25, 2017 by Zogman

Today we went to Ikea, where you have to follow the ‘yellow brick road’ round the store, except …

Actually, the yellow brick road with the arrows painted on the floor has been modernised, updated and illuminated. Now its a light that projects an arrow on the floor. How enterprising. I found it less intimidating. I could stand under the projector and the arrow disappeared. That meant I was free to go wherever I pleased, without being condemned to go where the arrow pointed, because I was controlling the arrow!! Excellent. We just browsed the ground floor of the store because we were looking for a floor lamp. We didn’t find one that Scamp liked. I got a frame for the pastel picture and tonight I cut a mat and framed it. It’s hanging behind me now, but it’s a bit dark in this corner and I think I might move it.

When we came out of Ikea at Braehead, Scamp wanted to go for a cup of coffee, so me being a bit flash, typed Costa into the satnav and sure enough it showed all the nearby Costas. Off we went following the directions. Only, it took us down a filter lane at a roundabout, then promptly changed its mind and decided we should have gone straight ahead. Worse still, the filter lane became the slip road on to the motorway, taking us back into Glasgow. After much swearing and harrumphing by me, we settled on going to the Costa at Robroyston instead. Much easier to navigate. Possibly the worst part of the whole escapade was that I KNEW where the Costa was, I was just following the sat nav to see if it knew an alternative route. I’ll be more circumspect when taking its instructions in future.

Back home I started looking for a website where I’d used a Java powered page that worked out optimal rebates for a picture mat. That’s the edge bits round the aperture that you see the picture through. I found the references to the page, but apparently the page itself has disappeared. Every link gave an error 404 (not found). Gave up eventually and took some useful information from a picture framers forum, then started to write my own program in Excel. Mine only uses metric sizes, although I did see one written for Excel where you could put in sizes down to 1/16th inch accuracy. I’m still not sure how the writer managed to code the conversion to decimal inches and then back again to fractions for the output. Too much work. I remember working out sizes of bolt groups for steelwork using feet and inches and being so relived when we went over to the metric system. Anyway, I got it working and it produces a decent mat.

After the mammoth calculations in Excel, I went out to St Mo’s to clear my head and try to get some photos. It had been a decidedly wet drive in through Glasgow in the morning, and a dry and bright drive home, but by the time I went out for a walk it was just our usual dull. Today’s photo I liked because of the twists and turns in the dried weed, but the ISO was 1000!

Yes, I did open the box. I’m sure you knew I would Hazy. Like I said in the description of the sketch on Flickr:

*I opened the box, and inside was a thin slab of black glass with a silver rim. Amazingly this slab of glass can bring me pictures from all around the world and allow me to speak to people thousands of miles away. I call it black magic!*

When I look back on it, it’s been a busy day. Most days are now we’re retired. When did we ever have the time to work, or to put it another way, what did we have to give up to allow us to work?

Tomorrow the weather should be better than today. We may go out and take pieces!

iPhone Day? – 23 October 2017

Posted on October 23, 2017October 24, 2017 by Zogman

Well, today should be iPhone day, but then, so should last Monday and look what happened there … and since!

It’s usual when you have a parcel being delivered by DPD to get a text or an email giving you a one hour time slot. Today, nothing. I waited until after eleven and checked on the DPD site and found that my parcel would be delivered between 6.00am and 10pm today. By my reckoning that’s slightly more than an hour. However, at least it did say ‘today’. Later I phoned the depot and got a voice message to the effect that it would be delivered between 5.20pm and 6.20pm today. A bit more helpful, but nothing in writing and as I’ve found, that’s what you need these days. I’ll wait, not patiently, but I’ll wait.

Other than that, I didn’t do much today. Installed a ‘free’ version of Acronis on the Linx just as Windows 10 decided it wanted to install updates and restart. That’s another computer whose access to the internet I need to restrict. This is becoming an epidemic. Operating systems that seem to think they own the computer. They didn’t pay for the computer, I did. It’s getting to the stage that the only OS worth installing is going to be Linux. At least for now, you are in control of updates.

Drove to The Fort to try to get a white gel pen. Fred phoned me while I was there to see if I was up for a coffee. I told him I wasn’t, but he did point me in the general direction of some cheap artists paint. Found the white gel pens, but at £3 a shot, declined the offer. Just to cheer myself up, on the way back I switched from Eco mode to Sport and zoomed past some traffic! It goes like stink in Sport mode, but I did manage to stay within the speed limit … just.

By the time I got back the Gems were packing up, so for once that was good timing. Salsa tonight and we have to try to remember last week’s moves. Off to try that now.

Well, the phone did arrive and it became today’s Inktober sketch, that is, its box did. “Take the money or open the box?” That was a line from an old TV show starring Michael Miles if I’m not mistaken. This box contains my new iPhone SE. I’ve had so much trouble getting it from Vodafone that I’m not sure now if I want to stay with them. So, do I take the money, ie cancel my contract? Or do I open the box and in so doing accept the contract? I think I’ll sleep on it tonight. I’ve waited over a week now for the resolution, so another day won’t matter.

Salsa tonight was much less stressful than last week, mainly because we took some time in the afternoon for a quick practise and that paid back a hundredfold when we came to dance the moves in class.

Today’s photo is of the last of the roses and the last of the sweetpeas. The rose is Alec’s Red which still grows strongly in the front garden, despite being over 40 years old.

Tomorrow we follow the yellow brick road through IKEA. Scamp is looking for a new lamp and I’m looking for a large frame for my pastel painting. Oh yes, and some Swedish Meatballs too.

Fixin’, Walkin’ and Dancin’ – 22 October 2017

Posted on October 22, 2017October 23, 2017 by Zogman

Last night the bulb in the oven gave up the ghost. Today we were heading to Glasgow to get a new one in that emporium of all things, The Barras.

After a fairly lazy start, well, it is Sunday even if we are retired, we drove to Glasgow and parked at The Green. Walked over to The Barras and specifically Pearsons. That’s the shop that has every electrical fitment and attachment you could think of, and a few that you couldn’t. Walked out with the bulb for £1.40. Certainly the best value shop in town as far as electrical goods go. After our purchase, we had a walk around The Green before heading for our lunch at the People’s Palace.

When we got home, fitting the bulb was a scoosh (ie, very simple), but the oven wouldn’t work now. Panicked for a bit before Scamp read the instruction book and found that you had to set the time on the clock or the oven wouldn’t work. Why? Who knows. Set the clock and the oven worked. Do they actually expect people to read instruction books?

Panic over, I grabbed an hour to walk along the canal to get some photos to augment the couple I had taken this morning at The Green. Then it was time to have dinner and get ready for Salsa at La Rambla in Paisley.

I don’t know if it was the dismal day or because we were a bit late, but there weren’t many Salseros there tonight. We did however dance a bit and got the new moves ironed out after a while.

Tonight’s sketch was done from photos, not from life, but it still counts.

Watched the travesty of Ferrari forcing Verstappen off the podium at Austin after a stunning drive from the young Dutch guy. Really, F1 you need to get your act together.

Tomorrow is Monday and that means Gems and Salsa with anything else we need to fit in around them.

Stirling – 21 October 2017

Posted on October 21, 2017 by Zogman

After a particularly lazy start we drove to Stirling. It had been a fairly bright morning, but as I stepped out of the front door, the first drops of rain fell.

That’s the way it continued all day. Lunch was in the poshed-up Indian Cottage. Well, it’s now got cloth table covers and cloth napkins, but the food, thankfully, was just the same. There were a few additional items on the menu, but we are creatures of habit and pick the same selection every time. Prices increased to cover these additions, of course. Still, the lunch was good and Scamp asked for a ‘well-done’ naan bread and that’s exactly what we got.

Wandered round the depressing Thistle Centre, now partly closed off for some reason not disclosed at present. Had a look in Waterstones, but their prices are undercut by Tesco, not to mention Amazon, but at least you can browse and see what’s available and that’s why I occasionally buy a book or two there.

Cafe Nero was our next stop for a coffee and a chance to watch the world go by, or at least Stirling go past the window for half an hour. While we were sitting I got this sketch done. I realise it’s quite light and not very detailed, but I like it for that alone. Next, Waitrose for more ‘messages’ before the drive home.

There was just enough light when we got home for me to do a recce of St Mo’s for a photo opportunity. The only thing worth shooting was a spider building its web, so that would have to do.

Attempted to repair some of the rips and tears in my old jeans with the sewing machine tonight, but I think to be realistic I need one of those embroidery feet. It’s like a normal foot, but it does embroidery. I’m sorry if you don’t understand, but you really have to be a machinist to fully comprehend the details of this skill. In other words, I haven’t a clue.

Tomorrow? No idea. Suggestions on a postcard please.

Finally – 20 October 2017

Posted on October 20, 2017October 21, 2017 by Zogman

Up and out fairly early this morning. It was light and blue sky was beginning to show and it was before 10am which is pretty good for me.

Wandered over to St Mo’s wearing my old corduroy trousers which, being brown, don’t show that they are clabbered in muck! I’d put the Sigma 105mm macro lens on the Nikon, not expecting to see any deer because they’d start grazing around daybreak when I’d still be snoring. Just entered the pine woods when I spotted movement at the bottom of the hill. At first I thought it was a young deer, then I realised it was quite a large fox. It was so intent on jumping around, presumably hunting field mice an other rodents, it didn’t notice me and this gave me time to change to the Tamron 300. I fired off ten shots hoping one of them would turn out before it heard/smelled/saw me. That gave me time to concentrate and get a better shot. I got three more shots before he/she was off, striding away out away from the trees. A couple of seconds later I caught a glimpse of his/her brush just visible behind an old stone wall going in the other direction. Now it could have been a different fox, but the one I photographed was quite large and therefore probably quite old and sly. Fly as a weasel … or a fox! I guess it was the same one, loping off in one direction and then running back the opposite way to put me off the scent. Whatever, those were the last shots I was going to get of a fox this morning. I just hoped the Tamron had performed.

Didn’t see anything else of much note all along the walk through the deciduous trees, although I did see some interestingly shaped fungi. The fungi reminded me of some of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s architectural roof details. Could that be where he got his ideas from? Very Art Nouveau. The rest are just macro shots of bits of plants. I like them, but I don’t expect anyone else to.

In the afternoon Scamp decided to finally take the secateurs to the sweetpea plants that she’d lovingly grown from seed. They had provided posy after posy of flowers to brighten and scent the livingroom. The front garden will look quite bare now that they are gone. That gave us a reason to go out this afternoon to take some garden waste to the dump. Of course we should be putting it in the Brown recycling bin, but only when the cooncil decides that it can afford to buy some for us! Hell may freeze over …

Scamp was getting fired up to go to her Witches Disco Party tonight when I got an email from DPD to say that the phone would be delivered on Monday. While I was making my dinner tonight, after Scamp had left, I also got a text from the Vogons to say that someone would phone in the next half hour. Really, the Vogons must be strapped for cash, I could hardly make out a word the poor girl was saying. What it amounted to was that she was “Very, very, very, sorry”. There were probably a few more ‘verys’ there, but she did explain a few things and I did keep her on the phone for about 20 minutes before I finally acceded to her request to close the complaint. Hells Bells, the Vogons had kept me waiting for a week for my phone. I could keep her waiting for 20 minutes. That said, she was as good as her word and sent me a text later with confirmation that the phone would be delivered on Monday. She also confirmed that it was a new handset, not a second hand one as I suspected it might be. You have to be careful dealing with Vogons, as I’ve found out.

Dinner tonight was an Ostrich Sirloin Steak. I’m not sure I’ll have one again. It was a bit tough and not all that tasty. Bear in mind, though, that I was doing deals with the Vogons while I was eating it.

Tonight’s sketch is of a bottle and glass of St Peter’s Plum Porter (an alliterative stout). Very nice it tasted too.

Tomorrow? Well, it depends when Scamp arrives home and what state she’s in au matin!

Falkirk and Satnavs – 19 October 2017

Posted on October 19, 2017 by Zogman

Yesterday I said we’d go to Falkirk today and that’s what we did.

We started out going to Torwood Garden Centre for a quick lunch. The car park was almost completely full. It didn’t look as if we were getting lunch here today. That’s what happens when the kids are off school for the October Week and mum & dad are working. Kids get dumped on the grandparents and since the weather is bad, where will we go? Let’s go to the garden centre for lunch. It seemed that all the grannies and grandpas in the area were there with a million weans. The noise in the restaurant was unbearable so we left. Maybe next week when the little darlings are back in ~~prison~~ school.

Switched on the satnav and told it to take us to Falkirk. (Torwood is half way between Falkirk and Stirling.) It took us by the most direct route and got us there much quicker that I could have done. Went to Morrisons and spent the GNP of a small country on food. Then Scamp wanted one-last-try to get a cheap and cheerful costume for tomorrow night. We drove to the Party Shop. I didn’t need the satnav for that. I knew where I was going. Finally we got the costume in this gigantic barn of a shop. More like a warehouse than a shop.

Decided the motorway at Haggs would be congestion city at the time we were leaving, just before 4pm, so decided to go the backroad through Slamannan and the satnav reminded me of the right route to take through Falkirk. I don’t know if it was a quicker road, I doubt it, but it was much more interesting than growling my way through yet another traffic jam.

The weather was bad today. Lots of different varieties of rain, but all of them wet and all of them falling from a leaden sky. Much like yesterday, but wetter. I did try to go out and get some photos, but decided it was not going to happen. That’s why it’s another Weemen shot. It might be the start of a short series, we’ll see.

My sketch for today is a nod to a former colleague Jim Belky. He is a brilliant cartoonist and has a really sharp wit. This is almost a copy of a self portrait he did for me one day. It looks like him and I’ve seen that expression many times. Thanks Jim. As you will see. The Vogon battle goes on. They still claim they don’t know when the phone will be available. Really? You expect me to believe that? “Aye Right!” as Jim would say!

Heard this when Tom Hanks was being interviewed on TV tonight. The question was “… and what about Trump”

Hanks “We’ve had fools who were presidents and we’ve had good people who were presidents.”
Interviewer “So what is Trump?”
Hanks “Well, let’s say he’s not brilliant.”

Tomorrow? Depends on the weather.

Glasgow in the Rain – 18 October 2017

Posted on October 18, 2017October 19, 2017 by Zogman

Now, I like Glasgow. It has beautiful architecture, some fairly decent shops and a good Cafe Nero, but Glasgow in the rain is like any other city in the rain – dismal.

I imagine that’s what the picture at the top shows. Its description on Flickr said “It’s Scotland. We specialize in gloomy.” It was my PoD. I’ve become a lot less invasive with my editing since I got the iMac. Up until last week I was applying the techniques from the French bloke Serge Ramelli. They work well, but give a rather false look and everyone looks the same or similar. Since I got the iMac I’ve been experimenting with a much simpler and less extreme group of settings and I like that better than Mr Ramelli’s technicolor marvels.

Photography aside, we went to Glasgow to get a party wig for Scamp who is going to said party on Friday. It’s to be standard Halloween fare for the ‘Witches’. Lots of drink, lots of food and a good laugh. Luckily it’s girls only, so I am spared the excesses. Also luckily it’s someone else’s turn to drive, so I have Friday night off. We did eventually find a wig. Nothing very special, but at least we got one. Not in Glasgow, though. Everything there was overpriced and tacky. I had forgotten how many pop-up shops appear like toadstools around autumn. Each shop selling the same tat for the same price. Is there a cartel running here simply to fleece the unwary at Halloween. I know these same shops will disappear overnight on the 1st of November, then pop up again on the 2nd November disguised as jolly Xmas shops.

Spent the afternoon writing an email complaint to Vodies. Maybe that should be Vogons, because “Resistance is Useless” (Not ‘Futile’ – that was Star-trek.) Then set about cataloguing my photo collection using Lightroom. So far I’ve got from 2000 to 2004. A little bit at a time is the way to do it.

Salsa tonight was interesting for a while, but the 7.30 class was boring because it has shrunk again to about six couples, three of whom are ‘advanced’ helpers. Not at all good. It’s due to close in three weeks.

Today’s sketch is the phone. Not nearly my best and yesterday’s (done this afternoon!) was little better. Must try harder.

Tomorrow? Maybe Falkirk.

Ophelia & Vodafone. Double Trouble – 17 October 2017

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Zogman

Ophelia arrived early in the morning. I woke just after 4am with the wind howling around the roof. After I had a plate of cereal I went back to bed and slept until my alarm woke me at 8.30. It was however a fitful sleep.

I think, because I’d broken my sleep, it was a long time before I woke properly. Once I was fully compos mentis I phoned customer support at Vodafone to find out what had happened to my new phone. Hmm, that’s an hour of my life I won’t get back. What a total waste of time. The first guy I spoke too at least sounded apologetic and passed me on to the customer care team. That’s where the help ended. Lots of ‘sorrys’, but no shift on the script that there are no iPhone SEs anywhere. Apple don’t even have them, she said. I asked to speak to a supervisor. She said ok and put me on hold while she went for a fag. Then she came back, did some more ‘sorrys’. Again I asked to speak to a supervisor. Again she put me on hold for a while then came back and said the supervisor had agreed with her that there were no iPhone SEs anywhere in any of the shops. “None at all in the whole of the UK”, I asked. “Yes” she said. I asked her why Tesco had them in stock. Her reply shocked me. She said “Where?” She did have an Indian accent. Did that mean she was working in a far east call centre? I thought everyone in the UK knew where Tesco was. I tried a third time to get to speak to a supervisor and she said that all the supervisors were in a meeting and couldn’t be contacted. It’s not until you go start writing this down you notice things. If the supervisors were in a meeting, how did she manage to speak to one? I hate being lied to. I especially hate being lied to badly. I gave up.

When I came off the phone, I phoned the Apple shop, just to see if there was a smidgin of truth in her lies. “Did the Apple store have Iphone SEs.” “Yes.” came the answer “Both sizes and all colours.” Maybe they are keeping them because Vodafone haven’t paid their last bill.

After lunch I phoned a different Vodafone line. Have you heard the expression “A dog with a bone”? In Scotland we have our own version “A dug wi’ a burst ba’.” That’s me. This time I told the automated system that I wanted to leave the Vodies and almost laughed at the sad automated voice. All this bloke wanted to do was repeatedly try to convince me that an iPhone 6 was a better deal. Thanks to Hazy, I was forewarned and I cut the call short.

I went out for a walk to clear my head and get a few shots to make a PoD. I liked two of the images and that’s what is on the top of the page. The mono shot became PoD.

Back home I had one final phone call to make and it wasn’t to Vodafone it was to Trading Standards. I told them the sorry tale of my missing iPhoneSE and the woeful customer service at Vodafone. They gave me concise instructions on how to complain and who to complain to. If the phone is not in my hands this week I will type out that letter and post it Registered Post. After my Indian experience today, even if I have the phone in my hot little hand, I may send the letter anyway.

Dinner tonight was Simple Fish Stew. Thankfully Tesco (you have heard of Tesco haven’t you) had some simple fish!

Too frazzled for a sketch tonight, anyway I need to make up my sleep-time Ophelia stole away during the night.

Tomorrow? Weather permitting we may go out for a spin somewhere nice.

Blowing up a storm – 16 October 2017

Posted on October 16, 2017October 16, 2017 by Zogman

This was a strange day. So dull when I woke I thought I’d woken in the middle of the night. It wasn’t until I looked at my watch I found out it was almost 8.30.

It didn’t get much lighter for the rest of the day. I was going to say “for the morning” but really the rest of the day was just as dull. What did happen around midday was the sky turned a dirty yellow/orange colour. Almost a sick, jaundiced looking colour. Later I found that the sky over Britain was this colour because of Storm Ophelia which was dragging up Sahara sand with debris from forest fires in Portugal and Spain playing a part. It wasn’t until much later in the afternoon that the sky cleared and normal white clouds returned. Then the clouds parted and blue sky appeared. For a very short time the sun even shone. That was when I took the PoD which is, of course the sweetpeas and the rose in the tumbler . Scamp was being my ‘studio helper’, holding the A2 sheet of white backing paper. I liked the detail that was rendered and the fact that the white flowers were just slightly lighter than the background and stood away from it.

I also used the ‘brighter’ light to complete today’s sketch which is a Self Portrait. I think it’s a fair likeness although my eye is too large. The scruffy beard and all the dark lines on my face are fairly accurate. In the morning I finished yesterday’s Inktober sketch. Or to be more exact, I drew yesterday’s sketch. It’s an old cow bell. It was my dad’s and he got if from his sister who was in Malaya back before WW2. I’ve always liked it and today was its time to shine, although I didn’t do it justice. I thought it would be an easy thing to draw, just a sphere with some bits cut out. It’s not that easy at all. I have to learn to treat subjects much more carefully. Look and examine before putting pen or pencil to paper.

Driving in to Glasgow tonight was ‘interesting’ with the winds associated with ex-Hurricane Ophelia battering us on the motorway. Coming home was not quite so bad for some reason, but we don’t get the worst of the winds until the early hours of the morning. Poor Ireland has been battered all day. Salsa itself was good tonight. Much better than last week and at the end, Jamie G offered to demonstrate the three moves we did tonight for us to video them. That’s a great idea. Scamp was the model and I think she did very well, although she wasn’t impressed.

Well, no communication from Vodafone today despite being told by Omkar yesterday that: “You would get the confirmation tomorrow.” I can quote that because Vodie sent me the transcript of our conversation. I like evidence when I’m formulating my complaint!

No plans for tomorrow. We’ll see what the wind is like.

Today I became a Windows Hater – 14 October 2017

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Zogman

The day started well. The wee tickle in the back of my throat had gone. Partly this was due to me taking a fairly big slug of Benylin and partly due to me taking an extra dose of vitamin C tablets with some honey, both just before I went to bed. I don’t know if the Benylin helped with the cough, but it did certainly get me to sleep double quick and I had the longest and best sleep I’ve had in weeks.

That was the good news. The weather outside was grim. When I woke it was light and there was just the hint of some sun, but that gradually faded to the usual grey. We couldn’t decide what to do and I think we were both waiting for the weather to improve. It didn’t and as we had nowhere we needed to be and nothing we needed to do, we went out of a run to that awkwardly named Chatelherault. Thank goodness for Ctrl V. Scamp chose the top route this time and I suggested we walk to the Green Bridge. It’s many, many years since I’ve been to the Green Bridge at Maryhoses. Unfortunately, we hadn’t brought the walking poles with us and the path down the hill to the river was really steep and slippery with muck. Scamp decided she wasn’t going to risk it and I agreed, so we walked back along the path to Chatelherault and had coffee and a pineapple cake (pure indulgence) for our efforts.

I got a couple of photos at Chatelherault and then we came home.

I’ve got a 2TB desktop HD. It’s got two partitions (Don’t worry. Not too much technospeak) Tonight I planned to use the PC to copy files from one partition to the other to free up space to make a backup drive for the iMac. I set the PC to copy the 300GB of photos (copies, of course). It reported that it would take about 4 hours. That was ok, I used a program that would allow ‘unattended copying’. To do that you just specify what to do on certain occasions and the program does the rest. No problem then? After about two hours I went to check how it was progressing, only to find that Windows 10 had installed an update and restarted the machine, halting the copying and switching off the drive in the process. The upshot is that the drive is now unreadable. I read so many tirades on the net about Windows being unmanageable these days since Windows 10 has taken over, but until tonight I didn’t really believe them. I do now. The iMac may have cost a lot of money and I know that Apple too has its flaws, but tonight’s escapade was pure vandalism by a company that expects us to trust them. I am now a fully paid up Windows Hater.

Tonight’s sketch is of riverside apartments beside the River Clyde at Glasgow Green. It was done from a photo, but that’s ok by me. It’s done and on time.

I’m going to bed now to prevent me from having another rant about Windows fuckin’ Updates.