PolarLava::Blog

8/7/08
And here we are one month shy of four years of using this camera…and I'm here to report that it died this past weekend.  It's not completely dead, but certainly unusable.  It appears that the sensor is shot as it's massively overexposing any picture you attempt to take.  Of course I discovered this out of town, outdoors and at a family reunion this past weekend.  :(  So new camera is definitely on the horizon.  Likely a Canon S5 IS which it the updated 8MP, 12x zoom version of the S1 IS which I've very much have enjoyed.  Another option would be a Canon A650 IS which is a 12MP, 6x zoom.  From doing some research the A650 has a little better picture quality, but I'm having a hard time giving up the zoom range of the S series.  We will see.

A most exciting treat arrived on my doorstep yesterday as my parents bought me a Canon PowerShot S1 IS digital camera for my birthday.  Or as I told them when I called to thank them, my "birthmas" as this should easily cover Christmas as well as my birthday for me.  I've been longing for a digital camera for a good 3 years now, but simply haven't had the cash available for such luxuries.  And a few months ago I found this gem and have been lusting after it ever since.  My best hope was that a new higher mega-pixel version would come out and force the price down.

The reason I desired this camera was the 10x optical zoom.  Most digital cameras are only 3x because you can't take handheld photos beyond that because of image blurring due to camera shake.  But with this one you can because its got this really cool image stabilization feature.  And based on some of the reviews I read (here and here), all of them give this camera very high marks.  So here it is:



And the backside…



That's all the good happy news.  Now the bad stuff…  …more

So forty years ago today I made my initial appearance in the world.  And since then I've seen some good and bad times, although I can't really say I've ever really experienced anything awful in my life.  Hopefully I will be just as fortunate in the future.  I guess this also makes me middle aged now, but I don't consider it to be the middle of my ages.  For me that will be at least 50 as my goal is to be a centenarian. Although it may turn out that I was wrong by as much as 60 years!  I'm trying to avoid that though, by taking care of myself and not doing too many obviously stupid and dangerous things…although today's bike ride might fit in that category!  For the most part I don't feel 40, and I agree with most people as they say that I don't look 40 and God knows, I certainly don't act it! So cheers to me and here's to another 60 years or so.

9/14/04
I had my "birthday party" (Mary Lou & the girls) on Sunday evening.  A very low-key event, but I did get a copy of The Matrix.  This is quite exciting as I've actually never seen this movie although I have wanted to for a long time!  Now if I can find 136 minutes when I won't fall asleep!

Well, time seems to fly with the little ones.  Particularly when they start school at 3!  Olivia had her first day of Pre-K3 at St. Amelia yesterday.  Dad was unable to be there for the big drop-off, but mom said she was a bit concerned that mom was leaving her there.  But both mom and daughter parted ways without shedding any tears.  And upon completion of her first day, Miss Olivia was quite happy with her time there.  Thus begins her lengthy education process, even if it is only 3 hours, 3 days a week for now.

Dear ol' dad on the other hand never even went to kindergarten because they didn't start that program where he went to school until the year he started first grade.  How about that…seems my education is lacking on the front and the back-end!

Well, according to a recent traffic study, traffic is getting worse not just in big cities, but also in small and medium sized cities.  But there are some exceptions…Pittsburgh, Cleveland and my locale, Buffalo have actually gotten better.  That's because these areas have economies that have remained in the dumps for the past decade.  My work experiences over the bulk of that time can certainly attest to that!  I like my 20 minute commute, but I'd give it up to see some quality jobs come to the area.  If they do, it will be a slow painful process as all of the political factions will need to make sure they and their people are getting their cut.  Nothing like living in the most unionized area of the country.

Well, we had our 2004 SFFL draft this weekend.  I picked from the #4 position this year and I'm happy with my drafted team.  Leading the THRAK charge this year are running backs Ahman Green (GB), Domanick Davis (HOU) and quarterback Michael Vick (ATL).  I'm sure everyone else also feels they have a winner at this point.  Time and injuries will tell the real story.  Here's to the mighty THRAK returning to the top of the heap, in this our 10th anniversary season!