Robert Pence

< :speech: >It's been more than twenty years, but twice I've arrived in Chicago from Oakland aboard the Zephyr more than 14 hours behind schedule because of winter weather. Maybe Amtrak's policies have changed, but on those trips after we went beyond the scheduled arrival time, all meals were free. The menu selection was somewhat reduced, and some picky people complained about not being able to have what they wanted, but there was food. Both times, passengers who missed connections out of Chicago received vouchers for a room and meals in a good hotel and cab fare between the station and the hotel, and had much of the next day for sightseeing in Chicago (albeit in near-zero temperatures). The passengers who are complaining might look at how the trip might have gone if they had driven, taken a bus, or flown during the same time. Traveling at this time of year has its risks, and they should be relieved that they stayed warm and had seats or roomettes. They were better off than if they had been sleeping on floors in air terminals and emergency shelters or stranded in their cars. I think a lot of people have no grasp of how dramatic the effects of winter weather can be on the western plains and in the mountains. If they can't handle delays and inconveniences, they should travel at some other time of year.</ :speech: >

I received a belated Christmas gift. I don't think I'm going to have to worry about her much longer! Do you see clear evidence that the misfortunes and injuries you've been inflicting on a likeness of her are taking their toll? :evil:

Theaters should equip seats with audio jacks for personal headphones. You could bring your own noise-excluding headset that would block out much of the ambient noise on the premises, and even adjust the volume down from the head-splitting level that some venues use to accomodate the patrons who have blown out their hearing by playing their music way too loud for way too long.

In the 1940s, the Pennsylvania Railroad's giant, sleek T-1 steam locomotives hauling the Broadway Limited could attain 120 mph on the long, flat, straight stretches across Northwest Ohio and Northern Indiana. Speeds of 100mph were routine then on the PRR. The Milwaukee Road's post-WWII diesel passenger locomotives were geared for 117mph, and regularly exceeded 100mph with the Hiawathas. Likewise, the Burlington's Zephyrs fairly streaked across the plains. If you saw a headlight in the distance, you didn't drive around the gate thinking you could make it across before the train got there. Around 1960, in my '56 Ford I tried to pace an Erie passenger train westbound out of Decatur, Indiana, where the tracks ran parallel to US 224. At 90 mph I was steadily losing ground until I was forced by other traffic to forfeit the race.

52mm is the filter size for all the Nikon prime lenses that I've owned, including older non-AF telephoto. When you get into the zoom and macro lenses, they vary; my 60mm Micro-Nikkor is 62mm, my 70-300mm VR is 67mm, and I think the 24-120mm VR that I sold was 72mm. If I had anticipated all that variation, I might have bought a set of everything in 72mm and then bought adapter rings for each lens. I think the following may have come up in discussion before, but I don't have time to check, so ... If you don't yet have a polarizing filter you'll probably end up wanting one after you try someone else's. They don't make much difference on dull, overcast days when the lighting is flat, but on sunny days they can greatly increase color saturation in foliage, on shiny surfaces like cars, and make clouds stand out and the sky a deeper blue. With autofocus lenses you need a circular polarizer. There are several manufacturers. I've tried a Hoya, and found that it imparted a warm cast to my photos. Some folks may like that, but I don't. I bought the Nikon filter and think it's much more neutral. A polarizer can also work as a neutral-density filter; it has a filter factor of around 3, plus or minus, depending on the filter position and the scene. Sometimes it can reduce the appearance of atmospheric haze, too. The Nikon 52mm circular polarizing filter is pricey (~$70) compared with others that are roughly half that, but to me the difference is worth it.

That's great! Boorish/thoughtless behavior by a few can spoil an experience for which many paid, and I love it when a business takes a stand against rudeness. I've been know to "shush" people who talk during a movie, if they're sitting close and if it looks like I can do it without getting my a$$ pounded. It seems to be a problem sometimes at Cinema Center, the excellent art-house theater here; I think the usual suspects are husbands who had planned to stay home and watch porn and were dragged along by their wives. Probably they reinforced themselves against anticipated boredom with a few drinks. When I saw Transsiberian, a middle-aged guy in front of me started to laugh very audibly as the two trains crashed. I spoke up; "Nothing's funny. Shut up." I did it as reflex, without forethought, and then worried that there might be repercussions. Not a peep out of him from then on, though, and after the film ended he left the theater with his wife without so much as looking in my direction. I hope I embarrassed the hell out of him so he'll never do that again.

No, I don't. Apparently Kokomo is beyond the perimeter of the Fort Wayne media market, because I seldom hear/read anything about it unless something sensational happens. They don't often have a mass murder or whole-block downtown conflagration that would get them mentioned in the news here. :wink:

Nice! I haven't been there in years. Kokomo has been hit hard by the reversals of the auto industry in the area, along with Anderson, Marion, and Muncie. I used to go to Kokomo in the early seventies for an annual New Year's Day Bike Ride. It was a good time, not competitive or strenuous, and ended up with hot chocolate and pastries at a city park shelter.

SSP is down; I haven't been able to access it at all this afternoon. There's no message, just the box that says that Internet Explorer can't open it.

Lots of Southern charm and graciousness there. For a city its size, it appears to have a lot to offer.

Beautiful old buildings! Niagara Mohawk is reason enough to go there. The back-in angle parking is catching on, and I think it's an excellent idea. It's much safer, because you can see other traffic both while backing in and while pulling out. A disproportionately large percentage of low-speed fender-benders occur while someone is backing out of a parking space.

Great photos, LAsam. You managed to find beauty in the bleakest time of year. In Cincinnati a few years ago I walked from downtown up through Eden Park and beyond. It was summer, and I was breaking a sweat by the time I got to that overlook. I love the city's neighborhoods; each seems like a distinct town of its own.

Nice quality residential stock. Rocky River Metropark is beautiful in summer. I've biked through it a few times, and it's one of the most pleasant urban paths I've ridden.

Good film! I love grandpa's sort-of Irish brogue, the way he pronounces the letter "R" sometimes. The kid has it too, to a lesser extent. Note the 3-lane highway for passing at about 5:47. When I first started driving, Indiana 1 between Fort Wayne and Bluffton was 3 lanes, and I think part of Indiana 3 was, also. Even after they resurfaced it and re-marked it to two lanes in the late fifties, some local drivers still drove it as if it were still three lanes. I imagine it was disconcerting to see an oncoming car straddling the centerline as the driver passed a slower vehicle. My '38 Chevy had knee-action front suspension It had a shock absorber built in with the coil spring in a heavy enclosure that contained the shock-absorber fluid. They were great until they wore out, and by the late fifties it was virtually impossible to find a shop or mechanic with the parts/tools/knowledge to rebuild or replace them and align the steering. It was a feature only found on the DeLuxe models; the Standard models still had a forged solid-beam axle and coil or leaf springs on the front. I remember seeing a newsreel promoting the advantages of the all-steel Fisher Body. Before the turret top came along in the mid-thirties, car bodies had pressed steel up through the curve above the doors, and then a wood-framed, waterproof fabric insert that made up the center of the roof. Some car bodies had stamped steel shells with wood frames. In a rollover, the whole upper body structure could collapse or crush sideways. The turret top had greater structural integrity. In the newsreel, they ran cars at speed with two wheels going up a ramp to roll them, and compared the results. It was pretty dramatic.

"Traction" was the popular name for the electrified interurban railway lines that laced Indiana and Ohio and tied much of the Midwest together. :-)

Transportation, especially rail-based transportation, and its supporting industries long have been the backbone of organized labor.

We are starting to see this with OLED technology. Right now it's about $2000 for a 7 inch screen, but we'll probably see large screens at reasonable prices in about 5 years. Before 2020 the technology will become so inexpensive that we'll see it in animated greeting cards, first with pre-loaded ones, and then with ones we can load with our own animations, GIF or MPEG. ... If hard-copy greeting cards haven't become obsolete by then, replaced by images sent telepathically through our implanted chips. :wink: Speaking of which, consider the possible consequences of telepathic communication, unless it's accompanied by some very reliable user-controlled filters and switches. :-o

Newest first, oldest last: The first four digits in the file number indicate the year photographed Edit: Maybe these two should go one after the other.

I don't know about the part or retailers in Cleveland, but would the whole specialty backpack fit inside an ordinary inexpensive, easy-to-replace backpack, one that you could pick up at any outdoor store or even a <shudder at the mention of the name> Wal-Mart or Target?

... and the carbon-arc lights suspended from the roof. There's no bridge at the mid point. The light fixtures on all levels are different, too. The fixtures at the top of the staircase in the foreground are F-A-A-ABULOUS! Do those fit the Art Nouveau definition? That's a long exposure; there are people in it, but because of they're moveming they only appear as ghosts. Note the gentleman on the right by the railing, who has paused to look at a paper and then moved on.

A small town doesn't have to be in suburbia to have a NAPA store; they're one of the essentials in rural areas. They sell a full line of quality automotive replacement parts for much less than the dealers' OEM prices, plus tools and shop supplies, and they have or can get hard-to-find parts for cars, trucks, and agricultural engines that are too old or uncommon for the dealers to stock any more. Usually they're owned and operated by franchisees who live in the communities, they're vital to independent repair shops, farmers, and do-it-yourself mechanics, and they make an important contribution to keeping retail local. :clap:

They always wear them with pea coats too. Looks super lame. Another thing I hate is people who wear sunglasses indoors. I don't think I've ever seen a guy wearing skinny jeans with a peacoat. Are you thinking of straight-leg jeans? I saw one today. I was looking out the window when a car parked outside and a guy mid-twenties got out and went to my neighbor's house. Tall and lanky, all legs, skinny jeans and pea coat.

We saw that Golden Girls episode. If the duck is harmed in any form, it's curtains for the kid. I have two other nephews. Once still in the "cute" stage. Nobody will miss my oldest nephew!! The jeans are gone. Skinny jeans should be banned. My nephew is 6'2". Skinny jeans are ridiculous on tall people. He was warned. Be careful. One day he'll be bigger and stronger than you, and you'll be aging and going toward frail. And he may not have a rubber ducky that you can hold for ransom.

Absolutely. Legislators invest taxpayers' money in highway infrastructure. They draw the line at using tax dollars to subsidize expansion and upgrades to rail. :roll:

Looks like a gorgeous place and a relaxing time! Compared with my short bike ride this afternoon in 18-degree temps and a headwind on the way back, I think I'd prefer a warm, sunny beach. I speculate this photo has UO's urban explorers packing bags and making reservations: