Robert Pence

The view tally was 666. I just clicked on the thread to break that.

I think I'm a fan of your brothers work! Us lefties can be diabolical when crossed. I know once you cross me...there is no turning back. You're ass is toast! I know the following strays off topic but I just want to clarify one statment, and then I'll shut up about it. Do you scam and con well-meaning people into helping you because they think you're in a desperate situation from medical bills, and then slander them to all their friends, relatives, and associates so no one will listen to them when they figure out that your whole "emergency" was a sham? Do you steal from family members who have helped you out of one self-created disaster after another, and then slander them as above? Did you walk out on a wife and four small children after emptying the bank accounts, leaving them with no car, no food, and no money to pay the rent or utilities or buy groceries, and then tell everyone you left because she was running around with other men, when in fact it wasn't her that was whoring around in toilets in city parks, rest areas and in adult bookstore backrooms? Do you torture cats and dogs? Have you taken advantage of an elderly mother's dementia and devotion to steal so much money that, had not one of your brothers intervened, she wouldn't even have been able to pay her taxes? If you have done these things, do you experience absolutely no remorse and continue to seek revenge on anyone who has tried to interfere with your schemes? He has done all these things, and continues to try whatever he can get by with.

Winter weather and cold nights are here, but still an electric blanket is less annoying than a boyfriend. Besides, I decide when it comes out of the closet, and when it goes back in.

Very beautiful; I like the formal design of the boulevards. The street surfaces (cobblestone or brick?) are part of the overall texture, very inviting.

^Beautiful. Is that Lake Erie? I remember (and it doesn't seem like that many years ago) when that sort of view would have been muddy brown.

Really nice work. I found myself smiling as I looked through these; you have a very good eye for capturing the less-common views of a city that's much-photographed by UO forumers. I like your attention to architectural details.

I'm in PR, we always have....Questions. ;) That's been my experience in dealing with PR people. They never have any answers, just more questions meant to divert the discussion away from uncomfortable topics. :wink:

I suggest a very sharp old-time straight razor.

Interesting to see the designs; I've seen similar treatments of windows, etc. in my neighborhood, sometimes on surviving houses that have been altered beyond recognition compared to what they originally were. If you ever find yourself in the Warren vicinity, you'd do well to visit the county seat, Huntington. It's an old canal town that has a lot of history and some surviving vintage homes. The CBD is impressive, notwithstanding a lot of vacancies and buildings in need of TLC. I did a photo set on it a little over a year ago. I snagged the domain name some time ago in case someone should come along who'd like to create something similar to Urbanohio.com. I have neither the time nor the technical expertise to do it myself. Meanwhile, it's my personal playground. My main site is RobertPence.com, and it links to UrbanIndiana.com.

It used to bother me but then I realized that's because I would torture myself and not wear enough clothes. I don't go outside in winter anymore without thermal shirts and thermal pants under layers of clothes. It makes a big difference. This time of year, LL Bean catalog is my resource. It doesn't have the snob-label stigma of Eddie Bauer, and the clothes are durable and priced to make them a good value; they'll outlast cheap stuff by years. Last year I bought their Baxter State Parka (~$200). It's bulky but not heavy, and waterproof and down-filled. I tend not to notice when I'm losing too much body heat until it's gone too far, and a few times I've experienced mild hypothermia, a dangerous situation. With that parka, no more problems. Layer on thermal underwear, jeans and a flannel shirt, a fleece pullover, and my parka, and I can stay out as long as I like in the nastiest weather and stay cozy. It even has a fashionable fur ruff that I can attach to the hood when I go to the Big City. :-D

That's interesting info about Barber. I don't know anything about the history of the home, but I wonder if its location across the road from the mill indicates that it might have been the home of a former mill owner. It was most recently a used-car dealership, and there's a large, later addition on the back that accomodated that business. I don't know if the home is even occupied now; it would be wonderful to see someone with deep pockets buy it and restore it to its former splendor. The "moongate" window really needs stained glass to keep it from looking like a huge hole in the house. There's more to Warren, including more commercial enterprises, a large and highly-regarded United Methodist retirement home, and a history center. I ran out of time, and will cover those later. Warren was where I joined up with my brother for our drive to see the wind turbines. I had overestimated the time it would take me to get there, and killed the waiting time taking photos downtown.

My youngest brother is the only leftie I know of in our family. He's also one of the three most evil, sadistic, remorseless people I have encountered in my lifetime. He steals from and defrauds anyone, even his own family members, without any qualms, and if he can inflict physical, mental, or emotional injury while doing it, he enjoys it even more. Edit: Come to think of it, one of the other two incarnations of Satan that I've known was a leftie. I'm not sure about the third one.

Warner & Swasey was a foremost manufacturer of turret lathes. I spent significant time learning to set up and operate one of those while learning the trade of Machinist-Toolmaker, 1958-1960. The ones we had in our shop probably dated to the WWII era. Magnificent, powerful machine, messy job. Edit: The residences of Mr. Warner and Mr. Swasey were among the grand mansions on Millionaires' Row (Euclid Avenue).

This year, somewhat dis-oriented.

It's similar to parts of Northwest Ohio, except perhaps more expansive and with fewer trees. That windswept prairie extends from Western Indiana across much of Illinois; try driving US 24 from about Monticello, IN almost to Peoria, IL if you want to see flat and treeless. As ColDay mentioned, you can see them from I-65 between Chicago and Indianapolis. It's an amazing sight when you first encounter it; it gave me goosebumps - still does, sometimes, just to think of it. There are four similar turbines on the property of the Wood County landfill, just west of Bowling Green (OH) on US 6. You can get right up to them. From a distance they may seem to be turning lazily, but when you get up close it's startling to hear the sound the blades make as they rip through the air. The combination of motion and sound up close is, to borrow a very descriptive word from Eigth and State, mesmerizing. The wide shots are crops from a single wide-angle shot. I thought about shooting a pano, but the motion of the turbines ruled that out. A gif animation might have been fun, but it was cold standing out in that wind and I didn't want to mess around. I shot those with the 24-120 VR zoom for convenience, so I wouldn't have to mess around changing lenses in the wind and get my camera full of dirt. Compared with most Nikon glass it's actually a rather crappy lens for prints, but in a pinch it will get by for on-screen viewing.

Warren, Indiana November 30, 2009 On the way to see the wind turbines. Warren straddles the Huntington County/Wells County line. It was founded in 1837 by Samuel Jones, a veteran of the War of 1812. Jones first named it Jonesboro, but changed the name soon afterward because Jonesboro already had been claimed by another Indiana town. Cute little courtyard The 1884 Pulse Opera House went from traveling shows through various uses and fell into disuse by 1970. It was used for storage until 1986, when restoration was begun. Now it hosts not-for-profit summer theatre, and prior to the Christmas Holidays presented "It's A Wonderful Life." Prowling alleys Cute! Leaf pickup detail Oh, My! Salamonie River, a major Wabash tributary Fleming Mitchell built a water-powered mill here between 1837 and 1840. The mill passed through several owners over the years, and in 1921 was rebuilt as a five-storey structure with machinery powered by four horizontal turbines. The 1921 building burned in 1976, and a new feed mill was built on the foundation of the old one. The remains of a low-head dam, the water intakes, and the tailwater channel still are visible. Prowling alleys again Oh, My! again. There was a "sold" sign in the yard and a U-Haul was parked at the curb, with furniture and a moving dolly on the porch. I don't know if someone was moving in or out.

Western Indiana Wind Turbines November 30, 2009 Wind Capital Group is evaluating Wells County, Indiana, where my brother and I own farmland, for wind energy development. On November 30, 2009, we drove to White County, north of Lafayette, to get an up-close look at an operating development. Here are a few photos. Driving west on Indiana 18, across the level countryside we got our first glimpse of the turbines from a few miles away. All photos Copyright © 2009 by Robert E Pence Typical turbines installed in this area have a rated output of 1.5 megawatts, equivalent to slightly more than 2,000 horsepower. They stand 260 feet (79 meters) to the hub, and the blades are 130 feet (39 meters) long. The top of the arc swept by the blades is 390 feet (118 meters) above the ground.

Sherman, you might find it interesting to visit the Allen County (IN) Public Library's Lincoln Collection. It was unfortunate that the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne closed, but at least the collections stayed intact and in Indiana. Artifacts went to the State Museum in Indianapolis, and documents and texts, "an incomparable repository and resource for information on the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln," went to the local public library, where they're available to to scholars and researchers and are being digitized to make them available on-line and free to the general public.

Beautiful photos of a place with a tragic history. Reading accounts of the battle adds to the intensity of the experience of visiting the battlefield. The slaughter was ghastly and battlefield medicine was primitive by modern standards. Wounded young men died in terrible agony as the battle raged around them, sometimes after lying unattended for hours, and field hospitals performed wholesale amputations without anesthetics. Without antibiotics, many died from infections after surviving surgery. The statisics on various regiments' memorials itemize killed, wounded, and missing. I wonder how many of the missing were atomized by canister shot at point-blank range, and how many saw the carnage and said "f**k this!" and started walking home or to parts unknown.

Neat photo set, interesting-looking area.

Thanks... Funny you mention Holga, as I just came from a gallery opening featuring Holga photos. A friend of mine works for Holga in Hong Kong, and was in NYC for the occasion, which is how I ended up there... I had no idea what a Holga was until just a couple days ago. Technology-wise, Holga is just about two steps backward from the cheapest Kodak Brownie of sixty years ago. It's all plastic, right down to the lens, and shoots 120 roll film. It can produce photos with a soft and dreamy texture, and the negatives are big enough that someone without an enlarger can contact print them.

Nice! I think the iPhone may have been the perfect device for the atmospheric effects. Sort of like using a Holga for softness. We were supposed to have a high of 41F today with rain and snow mixed, but the temp barely broke freezing before heading back down. We've had flying snow flurries from time to time, but the wind is too strong for anything to accumulate in the open. Temp right now is falling rapidly from 20F, with tonights low forecast 11, and wind continuing into tomorrow. The wind is whistling around my house, and if I go outside my back door, I can hear it roariing in the treetops. It's 30-40mph, with possiblity of gusts 50-60mph in tonight's forecast. Snow is moving in, with only about one inch forecast. Combined with the wind, that translates to acres of bare ground with scattered deep drifts. We're one week away from the anniversary of last year's ice storm that took out power for a week or more in some local areas and caused $6,000-plus damage to my two properties.

I've been using IE8 with XP Pro for a while now, and it works OK for me. The only weirdness I encounter is when I'm trying to edit a long post and the text window gets all crazy after a while. Clicking the compatibility button makes the problem go away. One tip for when you encounter that problem; copy what you've written to the clipboard (highlight with cursor & press CTRL+C), because when you click the compatibility button it may start you over with an empty text window. To restore what you copied to the clipboard, put your cursor in the text window and press CTRL+V.

That's sad. For my family, things worked just the opposite way. In 1960, on the afternoon that the big barn on my family's farm burned to the ground, a letter lay on the kitchen windowsill. Dad had written the letter to the insurance company the evening before, stating his desire to discontinue insurance on the barn because we had sold the cows and quit the dairy business. He intended to mail the letter on the way to work in the morning, and forgot it.

Thanks for that info. I knew it worked better that way but I didn't know why, and I like to know how/why things work.