That’s Bella playing with what looks like a Big Bird stuffed animal.
Bella is thought to be a boxer breed of dog. Maybe she wants to be a “bird” dog.
Might Be A Bird Dog
June 2nd, 2020A Little Logging Going On
June 1st, 2020
There seems to be some sort of logging operation on farmland near us.
I’ve Been Saved!
May 27th, 2020
The top picture was taken during a cruising event months ago. The bottom picture same image after having been enhanced by Adobe Photoshop. The driver was in shade of her car with the sun coming through the window. The grass was dull with the image being overall a little hazy.
After seeing the comparisons you can see, I’ve been saved again by Photoshop 🙂
Bingo, I’m the man!
May 22nd, 2020
With this COVID-19 thing going on, I’m not having problems finding fun projects at home while I “shelter.”
Months ago Dave, a friend who has helped me make a few other projects, gave me a inexpensive little music amplifier. OK, it was cheap being under a dollar. I wanted to build a magic wand for a set of grandchildren. Once completed it was suppose to flash lights and make sounds. The amplifier was needed to make louder sounds.
Then COVID-19 happened and our wood shop was closed down for health and safety reasons. My project was placed onto hold.
Since then my wife has needed a set of speakers for her desktop computer. She practices her exercise routines and needed a bigger sound than what comes out of her computer. Amazon.com sells what she needed for under $30 dollars in many cases. I decided save money and make what she needed using a tiny amplifier like Dave gave me.
Just before the wood shop was closed down I had ordered 5 similar items for about 8 bucks off Amazon.com. Each had an on/off /volume control switch. Since the project wasn’t going forward they had been sitting in garage for months.
I had everything needed so a new project was born.
After assembling wires and electronic parts the unit was tested. It worked and the only thing else needed was a case. After seeing what creative things some other makers have done I decided to use an old pill bottle to house everything. It worked out great, almost.
My testing had use a battery to power the unit. For some reason my USB powered unit didn’t work on Margo’s computer. So that meant it needed troubleshooting, and had to be pulled out of pill bottle. Once removed I noticed a wire wasn’t soldered correctly. OK, that gets fixed and it’s still not working. Troubleshooting again shows I destroyed the amplifier because the power polarity from USB cable was wrong. Out of the pill bottle comes everything again. Another new amplifier replaces the burnout one, everything goes back into pill case and BINGO, I’m the man! It works, finally.
Now for $25 bucks I could have avoided all the hassle and Amazon.dot would have dropped off computer speakers at my front door. But I had other plans.
For the cost of two amplifiers laying around in the garage, approx. $3. Everything else like the speakers, USB cable, tools and solder I already had around the house. Total time about 2 hours with all my mistakes. And let’s not forget a little frustration.
But it’s something I made myself and it’s one of a kind. It ain’t pretty but it sure does work.
To all the makers out there I give thanks to them as the inspiration to build something.
- That’s a GF1002 amp bottom center. The amp didn’t come with a knob and one can be seen protruding out bottom of pill bottle. Also out of the top of bottle can seen a USB power cable, two wires leading to stereo speakers, and a stereo input cable.
Watch The Magic
May 11th, 2020Nanu is name used by grandchildren for their grandmother.
That electric knife has been on a cabinet shelf unused for at least 10 years. It’s finally getting much use as Margo in using a bread machine which also hasn’t been used for at least 10 years.
Some positive things can happen even during a pandemic.
A Makeover
April 30th, 2020
The town of Bridgeville DE has a water tower which is now getting a makeover. OK, it’s only a new paint job.
ZOOM!
April 23rd, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic saw the surge of people using an online conferencing application called ZOOM. In 2019, it put Skype in a corner somewhere.
My spouse and her religious organization used ZOOM to conduct meeting, studies and other social things restricted by medical guidelines.
Zoom To The Doctor’s Office
April 18th, 2020
First, as you can tell, I didn’t spend a lot of time lighting this shot.
Since I’m on the Beebe Patient Portal, I received a text message about a new service. It seems I can call my doctor should the need arise during the COVID-19 crisis.
It’s my guess they’re using ZOOM, Microsoft Teams, Google Meetings or some other video teleconferencing software.
Should I need to see my primary care physician I’ll give her a call.
What Did The Old Folks Do?
April 14th, 2020
This is a period in time where many citizens around the world have serious concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. Years from now, hopefully, we can all look back at the things we did to mitigate the spread of this coronavirus. Things like social distancing, stay at home orders, shortages of toilet paper, conflicting advice from medical experts, searches for a vaccine, large numbers of deaths, working from home, and so many more memories will come to mind.
The human spirit is hard to defeat.
We ain’t goin’ let no virus take us out!
Through it all, many of us will keep up our spirits, even in these trying times.
A friend of mine and his wife came up short finding face masks so instead dug their our fly masks from an Australian trip to the Outback. They decided to take a “selfie” so when the great grand children ask their parents, “What did the old folks do during the pandemic”, the above image would be left behind.
F/8 And Be There!
April 9th, 2020
This was one of those “F/8 and be there” moments. Earlier in the morning I had seen this truck crossing a bridge uses for much smaller golf carts, while looking out my second floor window. So in the afternoon when I saw the same truck putting down some chemicals on the golf course, I figured it would cross that same bridge.
Shortly, the camera and I were waiting for the expected crossing. Since I love shooting my camera in manual mode, I set the aperture to f/8 and shutter around 1/800 a sec. at ASA 400.
I was set at f/8 and there to make the picture.