8/17/08 Captain Jack's Repossession Repo Cruise to PC thru TPC Part 16

[eeyorelvr10]

Wow....Roger...love the clean up job on the pictures. I'm going to have take the time to learn more about editing my pics. Those are great.


Now for some pirate fun.....run to youtube and check this out...not sure how long it's going to last once Disney gets wind of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWR-us7Y-gc

Bloopers from AWE

you can't curse in a Disney film mate

1. - What was the camera again? I need a small point and shoot as mine seems to have wandered off. I've looked and looked but its gone. I went into a store to look for an Olympus 720 but was told it was DC'd and the 770 replaced it. Does anyone know if this is true? I need a small shockproof (from 5 ft) and waterproof one and although I believe I will never go beyond 10 ft I would like the security of having up to 33 ft underwater.

Monica - thanks for much for the mid-day laugh - I think DD and I just about pee'd our pants - oooppps can I say that here?

CHERYL: Good news on the mammogram. I went for my first one last year - scared to death from hearing all kinds of horror stories. I was definitely surprised when it took less than 10 minutes but more than 2 weeks for the results. Would love to hear that they are upgraded to digital for this year. Glad to hear your still a survivor! My mom has been a cervical cancer survivor for 12 yrs. We still get nervous when she has to go and get her blood work done. So next time, just give us a head's up and we'll send lots of pixidust: your way! BTW, - sorry John - hope your B-day was fantastic.

 

[captaincrash]

Hope all our DIS folks in S. CA are doing well. I just heard that our San Diego office was closed because of the smoke! Took a little break at work to play ketchup. It was a lot easier when I was off last week. I guess I will have to take more frequent breaks during the day to drop in. It was amazing how much email I had, even with checking it from home.

Thanks for the thoughts...

As mentioned earlier - the high winds with parched conditions make for a toxic cocktail. In Arrowhead - perhaps 75-100 miles south of us they lost 128 homes. And they were saying that was GOOD. IE, they must have saved 100s of other homes under trecherous conditions. I'm just getting in and listening/watching the news. I can't realy watch the news with the kids at home because it bothers them. The friends we hung with yesterday were speaking of how thier kids could not sleep due to the high winds - and that's before the fires kicked up! Last nite my kids slept well.

It's continuious coverage on some channels out here. I recall in the past they have had neighborhoods where 400 or 600 homes were lost in some neighborhoods! Of course, you have to assume the fire fighting professionals have learned from these disasters so they can act to avoid such losses again. AND... Lake Arrowhead is NOT like our area - as they are in a forested recreational type of community. We are in an area more densely populated.

Really - you have to wonder about the high wind conditions sometimes. It's nothing to fear - unless it brings a fire storm with it. Usually, with the Sana Ana winds I get huffy about all the leaves that get blown into my yard off our surrounding trees. They don't call the main city in the region THOUSAND OAKS for nuttin'!

Thanks Andrew. Just heard on the weather report that local winds are 40-50mph. Below is a map of the area that Tom (Captaincrash) and I are in relation to the fires indicated in red.

Off the extreme edge to the right - perhaps an INCH or so OFF the right hand edge is Lake Arrowhead. A new fire just erupted in Valencia - and I watched it apear on LIVE helicopter video. ANd to watch it pop up and MOVE with the 40-50 MPH winds lends substance to my observations on the hazard this presents. Of course, no one lost any homes in Valencia - yet - and immediately after the fire erupted they had police visible from the chopper cam moving into postion. Apparently they were ready to force immediate evacuations. No fire fighting equipment was visible from the air initially (or ever) as I'm sure all local equipment is deplyed to active fires elsewhere. OK... I see fire engines moving into Valencia now. It's actually in Stevenson Ranch in Valencia.

The news telecasters are commenting how this Valencia fire was half an acre in size 30 minutes ago - and now it's traveled perhaps 2-3 miles and expanded in the shape of a cone. No homes appear to have been lost there - but it skirted a little valley like area adjoining the community. Adjoining as in touching / adjoining the homes.

Oh well... prayers and hopes for the best to any victims who are in need out here.

 

[captaincrash]

Oooo ... Look,

Only 100 more to go til the next sprint.

Unfortunately, I am fairly certain I'll not be on hand for it.

I'll be tied up most of the time this evening until late probably.

SO good luck to the gathered sprinters.

May the luckiest Wench or Swabbie sieze it!

TAKE WHAT YA CAN!
​

 

[AndyR]

Andy R
I am very interested in the Olympus underwater camera that you purchased. After all it is about the same price or cheaper than most of the housings that have been mentioned. So anyway I took the liberty to run your photos through Photo Shop to get an idea of what the potential is for this camera. I am no means an expert at this but I follow directions really well.

Wow! did you adjust the 'curves' or what? The Mrs wants to know

Andy

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Back on the UW housing topic........

On our last cruise I hauled the housings for the HD camcorder and the digital camera. The housing's themselves are not to bad, but the prep/maint work is a PITA - have to travel with spare o-rings, lube, silica gel etc.

This past cruise, we left them (the housings) at home, and I bought an Olympus Stylus 770 SW onboard the Magic. It's good for depths upto 33ft with no housing - which is plenty good for snorkeling.

Andy

1. - What was the camera again? I need a small point and shoot as mine seems to have wandered off. I've looked and looked but its gone. I went into a store to look for an Olympus 720 but was told it was DC'd and the 770 replaced it. Does anyone know if this is true? I need a small shockproof (from 5 ft) and waterproof one and although I believe I will never go beyond 10 ft I would like the security of having up to 33 ft underwater.

Laura this is the one that Andy took the pictures with.

Olympus Stylus 770 street price $349 good to 33ft

Olympus Stylus 790 street price $263 good to 10ft

Both of these have 27 scene selects including 4 underwater settings.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Wow! did you adjust the 'curves' or what? The Mrs wants to know

Andy

Andy I am not that cleaver. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night (just kidding) and I know how to Google. I will PM you the instructions and anyone else that is interested for tweaking with Photo Shop.

 

[got2travel]

Not sure of the exact area of Valencia that is in danger, but maybe this is the answer to Six Flags prayers?? They've been trying to figure out what to do with Magic Mountain. Tried to sell it a few times. So now if it burns down, then they don't have to worry about it anymore.


sorry....just trying to find some levity in a tense situation

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Not sure of the exact area of Valencia that is in danger, but maybe this is the answer to Six Flags prayers?? They've been trying to figure out what to do with Magic Mountain. Tried to sell it a few times. So now if it burns down, then they don't have to worry about it anymore.


sorry....just trying to find some levity in a tense situation

Unfortunately Monica, Magic Mountain is surrounded by parking lot and most of the park is made out of steel, so it is doubtful that it would burn.

 

[PBader]

Those fires are pretty scary. I hope all of our California friends stay safe. We have been so dry here this year too. But it rained most of the day here and we are forecasted for 3-4 inches this week.

 

[dahuffy]

Oooo ... Look,

Only 100 more to go til the next sprint.

Unfortunately, I am fairly certain I'll not be on hand for it.

I'll be tied up most of the time this evening until late probably.

SO good luck to the gathered sprinters.

May the luckiest Wench or Swabbie sieze it!

TAKE WHAT YA CAN!
​

I'll most likely miss this one too....Dancing With The Stars is on at 7, bout 15 minutes!

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Those fires are pretty scary. I hope all of our California friends stay safe. We have been so dry here this year too. But it rained most of the day here and we are forecasted for 3-4 inches this week.

We are all out of harms way but it is unpleasant. Wind changed direction this afternoon and therefore we have smoke again. Wind has been blowing 30-50 today and humidity around 5%

 

[captaincrash]

Not sure of the exact area of Valencia that is in danger, but maybe this is the answer to Six Flags prayers?? They've been trying to figure out what to do with Magic Mountain. Tried to sell it a few times. So now if it burns down, then they don't have to worry about it anymore.


sorry....just trying to find some levity in a tense situation

Levity...

Actually, they sort of announced they would keep Magic Mountian as an amusement park some time ago Monica. We won some free passes to Magic Mountian's water park: Hurricane Harbor recently. Kalea threw 3 rings of 3" diameter about 3-4' towards a bottle - and the 3rd one squarely landed on the bottle top! She started wooping and the radio folks gave us the 4 passes! So - that said - we visited Magic Mountian's water park and immediately notied the difference in crowd. Plus the entrance was a preceeded by a bank of 20 metal detector gateways AKA airport metal detector tunnels. Plus there was a LA County sherrifs' officers lounging out front of a prominant Sherrif's office right at the entrance to the magic mountian park!

SO - with that in mind I immediately quipped to Alicia that we would NOT be getting Magic Mountian annual passes any time soon.​

 

[got2travel]

Unfortunately Monica, Magic Mountain is surrounded by parking lot and most of the park is made out of steel, so it is doubtful that it would burn.

Hadn't even thought about that....ok, so then guess their safe.

 

[winotracy]

I had been falling a little behind in the thread. I always get panic attacks several days before I go get my mammography. I feel fine but I am always afraid to hear the results every year. I went Friday morning for my mammo. Within fifteen minutes, I got the everything is good!!!! I am fortunate my hospital has digital mammography. If you go early in the morning, the doctors reads them immmediately. My cancer was diagnosed almost seven years ago. I hate to burden people with my worries when everyone else has problems too!!! I do not want to share my joy now!!!!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes for my hubby John. John goes through the stress right with me. The best birthday present he said I gave him was I was all clear.

Glad to hear of these results!

 

[captaincrash]

Intersting.... I'm watching what looks like live coverage on Cable TV of a DC-10 Jet Water bomber. It's called a "10 Tanker Air Carrier" .... one of only two in the world fitted for this purpose. I am amazed that they use resources like this to fight fires. WOW.... It just dropped it's load of RED fire fighting retardant! I just found a citation which says this craft can drop 12,000 gallons (45,600 liters) of water in 8 seconds - covering an area 300' x 1 mile! On June 26th of 2007 this craft was used for the first time - and was damaged when it struck some trees while engaged in a water bombing run! This craft can carry as much as twelve S-2 fire fighting aircraft.

In 2006 the aircraft was operated on a limited evaluation contract from the State of California. During the 2006 season, the aircraft was offered on a "call-when-needed" basis, which came with a $26,500 per-flight-hour (three hour minimum) cost and a 12- to 24-hour activation delay.[2] Under these terms, Tanker 910 flew on six fires in California and one in Washington.[4]

For the 2007–2009 fire seasons, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger authorized a contract for exclusive use of the aircraft at a cost of $5 million per year, or an average of about $41,000 per day for the June 15 to October 15 fire season; there is an additional $5,500 per-flight-hour charge.[2] The exclusivity of the contract allows the aircraft to always be ready for dispatch, and it will be able to launch to a fire within one hour of being called.[4][6]

The aircraft has not been certified by the U.S. Forest Service, so it is not permitted to fly on fires which are on USFS land in California.[7]

[edited]

Tanker 910 experienced its first serious incident on June 25, 2007. While on its third run over the White Fire in the Kern County mountains near Tehachapi, California, the aircraft was in a left bank while turning from base to final approach, when it encountered severe turbulence, the left wing dropped, and the aircraft descended 100 to 200 feet lower than expected.[6][10] The left wing struck several trees before pilots were able to power out of the descent. The aircraft climbed to altitude for a controllability check and to dump its load of retardant, then returned to its base in Victorville, where it made an emergency landing and was grounded pending an investigation, inspection, and repairs.[6][7][10]

A post-incident investigation showed that the aircraft suffered damage to the left wing's leading edge, slats, ailerons and flaps.[11]

Despite the accident, the CAL FIRE has stated that they are happy with the aircraft.[12] The aircraft returned to the sky for a test flight after repairs on July 30.[11][12]

The news folks just mentioned that 500,000 people have been evacuated or relocated on account of the fires. I find that citation pretty HARD to believe. However, I could believe 100,000 could have been forced to evacuate. Well... just with the loss of 128 homes in TWO of the local fires - and assuming that 10x the number of lost homes were threatened - then that could account for 4-5,000 people.​

 

[eeyorelvr10]

Laura this is the one that Andy took the pictures with.

Olympus Stylus 770 street price $349 good to 33ft

Olympus Stylus 790 street price $263 good to 10ft

Both of these have 27 scene selects including 4 underwater settings.

Thanks Roger - I knew that someone would answer it. Now if I could just take a crash course on Photoshop. So many options but not enough digital time.

 

[PBader]

That is a pretty nifty plane.

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

Thanks Roger - I knew that someone would answer it. Now if I could just take a crash course on Photoshop. So many options but not enough digital time.

Laura I followed the following instructions.

How To: Editing Underwater photos with Adobe Photoshop

 

[got2travel]

Wow, those sound like instructions that I could follow. I don't have photoshop though, but I do have a free program called paint.net that is very similar. I've tried checking their message boards to learn how to do things, but always have so much trouble. But with the instructions you posted, I think I could follow that.

 

[sk8ingmom]

Evenin' s

Well, you all know how my night went yesterday. The only thing left to be decided is what Clevelanders are going to call it. For those scoring at home, we already have Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, The Shot, The Sweep, Joe Table (or Game 7), The Other Sweep.

Current nominees for the debacle that was the last week/game:

The Collapse
The Skinner
The Steal

Sure, the Red Sox went 86 years between World Series win, but Boston also had the Bruins, Celtics & Patriots win championships in the meantime. No professional team from Cleveland has won a championship since 1964. Hmmph.

annywho, we were busier than usually around here. We sort of have an unannounced houseguest. A guy we were stationed with 10 years ago found himself homeless (long story, involves landlord's indictment...), so he's bunking with us for a little while. Add hockey practices, Cub Scout Go See It, Costco & commissary runs, & actually finishing unpacking and organizing the outside areas (deck, shed, front porch, carport, workshop), I was ready for the relaxation that Monday brings!

Here's my crazy ketchup...

Love ya M!

Yup, that's me. Lovable loser.
Enjoy the series Diane.

I got this pic of Angelina as she was on her way to meets friends before heading to the Homecoming Dance earlier this evening.

Very nice! Gosh homecoming dresses have changed a lot since I was in HS. Do Angelina and her friends even know what 'tea length' is. I wish the shorter dresses had been more of a thing when I was a teen.

Once again, I'm behind and it will take me forever to ketchup. But at least the excuse I have is GOOD for a change. Been busy with therapy, for one thing...and it's going well. She'll have me whipped into shape in no time!!

Just think of is as getting in shape for your next Disney trip!

Oooooo that's a great idea! Of course I think our OBC will get blown by our Shutters bill!

I think my bar bill will eat up those OBC's.

That's exactly what I was thinking...

everybody - just ducking in to say hi and wondering if I can ask for some help from all you lovable and creative people out there. Turns out I will be hosting a Baby Shower on the 27th. Its kinda late minute. Anyway, we decided to turn it into a baby shower/costume party/poker night.

How very Steel Magnolias of you! I think the shower sounds like fun. I HATE the traditional bridal/baby shower games. I’d rather play poker.

My baby shower had a Batman theme. My dad's name is Bruce. DH's dad is Wayne. So of course we always said we would name our first born after his grandfathers - Bruce Wayne Sk8ingfam - and just call him Batman.

As for the pictures - OMG! These are precious! How awesome - I wonder if I can dig up ANY pictures of me at 17/18! Much less have them displayed. One day I vow to get organized.

Debi - these are precious! Thanks for sharing - BTW - your both "hot."

Maybe some day I will get motivated enough to scan the picture I have on my wall of DH & I leaving for my Senior Prom.

My 2 turds have been acting so OUT of character that I called my son and had him take them for an hour. They respectively turned 3 on the 15th and on the 29th (soon anyway) and Isis - the turd has greeted our arrival with so far THIS WEEK with : 2 torn up books brand new - 5 newspapers and an accident - her first since a puppy when momma lost it and yelled at her - it was a brand new hardcover book that she ate. You'd of thought I had beat her which I don't do - I just bark! This is so out of character for her that I thought it might be because she got over her heat 2-3 weeks ago but now I'm not so sure - anyone else having problems with their babies?

Is it the full moon? She's also scratching the carpets and moaning and whining which is so unlike her - she's not vocal and has been howling like a banshee lately. Anyone else?

Maybe they need to run more . There are very few things in Malley's life that can't be solved with a long run.

Hey Crash!
How about this one?

To Andrew, David, Celestine and any of our other UK friends, please note you cannot bring your surfboard or kayak (or javelin, if you are so inclined) with you to the TOAL (at least on British Airways):

"New rules effective from November 6 will prevent customers checking in surfboards, windsurfing boards and sails, hang gliders, kayaks or canoes, pole vaults and javelins. People wishing to take these items will need to contact a separate freight company and arrange for the delivery of these items to their destination. You can still bring scuba tanks and bikes."

Shoot, and I was going to take my pole vault to London next summer.
Isn't it just a 'pole' not a 'pole vault'. The actual act of vaulting isn't in the pole, right. I'm a stickler for semantics.