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Gary and Ginger — Ninth Wedding Anniversary
Gary and Ginger — Ninth Wedding Anniversary . Copyright © 2018 Ginger Allman, all rights reserved. Ginger took a ninth wedding anniversary selfie.
Low-key celebrations this year — we went out for a very nice Indian meal. To repeat a quote from an observer (back in 2007), “These things never last.”
Link: The wedding Pics.
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Mao & Tubbs
Mao & Tubbs I had been getting a refill of coffee from the kitchen when I walked by these two looking particularly cute.
Normally it’s a waste of time fetching a camera as they’ll just carry on with their feline ways and change their pose before I get a chance to take the shot. Today though, I had time to grab the camera. They held the pose just long enough for one picture before Mao (a.k.a. Blue Kitty) turned away in disdain, and Tubbs (a.k.a. Tubby) jumped down to answer the siren call of the heat vent.
Out of Camera jpg — Pro Neg Standard — cropped & slightly tweaked in Lightroom
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7am — View from My Office Window
7am — View from My Office Window. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. This morning’s view from my office window didn’t augur well for an undisturbed day’s work
I’ve had a busy few weeks, and this week kept piling it on. I had a magazine to finalize and publish, and a newsletter to write and send out. The last thing I needed was distractions. But the distractions, in the form of lots of noise and constant movement in my peripheral vision has been the order of business all week.
I thought that we’d seen the worst of it yesterday when they switched us over to the new water main. Alas, that was not the case as I saw when I looked out of my office window at 7 am this morning. Today was even busier — with Concrete deliveries and another crew working down the street replacing a lamppost that had been knocked down at some point yesterday. By the time I’d put the finishing touches to editing the newsletter they’d stopped work for the day. Tomorrow I’m working away on-site with a customer. Maybe they’ll get finished while I’m gone.
I had hoped to get out hiking today (record temperatures 70°F), or at least a trip to the range. But by the time I’d cleared a couple of phone calls I decided it was too late.
Wednesday — Connecting the Water Main. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
The Unknown Joys of Cartography
Piney Creek Wilderness Several years ago we made a map.
A trail map of a wilderness area for which the official maps were sadly lacking. We hiked the trails with our GPS, and I spent many hours overlaying a USGS topographic map of the area with our GPS Tracks and notes. We put the map on our hiking and backpacking website and forgot about it.
Yesterday I was on YouTube looking for videos of local hikes, and I instantly recognized the thumbnail image of one — it’s a great view of the start of a really steep descent at Piney Creek Wilderness — the Wilderness we’d mapped. So I clicked on play. You can imagine my surprise when I saw that the opening credits were shown over a copy of our map. And it was our map the chap used on his hike around the wilderness. Excellent! That was exactly why we made the map and it was good to know that it is being used.
Watching the video I discovered one of the obvious, but previously hidden from me, joys of cartography. In making the map we’d recorded several unmarked trails, and he who makes the map gets to name things. Sure enough, the names we had given to the unnamed trails were being used.
It’s a minor thing, but at the start of a long busy week, it made me smile.
It also reminded me that we need to go back and map the last couple of trails we’ve not hiked. I also suspect there are a whole lot more unofficial trails left for us to discover.
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Late Night Movie Tri-Puss
This is what we call a ‘Tri-Puss’ I was going to read a book, but instead I watched a movie.
I didn’t notice these three sneaking in, but when I paused the movie to replenish my refreshments, there they were in the co-pilot’s seat — we’re flying a helicopter (Google it).
This cat configuration is what we call a ‘Tri-Puss’. It is a fairly rare occurrence as Tubby annoys Sprinky and Blue Kitteh as much as he often irritates us. He can be a demanding little fellow at the best of times, but on the plus side, he’s also very lovable too.
Yes, that is camo on the arm of the sofa, and the movie? Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
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Sleeping Tubblet & I’ve Been Busy
Tubblet, Tubby, Rotters, whatevs – Keeping warm Our poor little tropical Burmese hates winter and takes any opportunity to find somewhere warm to sleep. For example: on the heat vent in my office.
It should be noted that Tubby goes by many names, as do all the cats: Tubby, Rotters, Rot-row, Rotty, Pokey-paws, Irritant, this list goes on …
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I’ve been busy the past couple of weeks so no new posts and hardly any back-filling of old posts. I have been able to find some downtime to watch hiking and backpacking videos on YouTube. Hopefully, it’ll help spur me into some outdoors action. I have a new backpack and my camera carry clip, so I’m running out of excuses not to go. This weekend I have a lot of work to catch up on (and it’s going to be cold and miserable). If I get my work done maybe I can take a break sometime next week.
What should it be, a hike or a trip down the range?
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Gary and Sprinky
Gary and Sprinky on the office couch. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Here we are sitting on the couch in my office (which explains the whiteboard above my head). I took this picture because I thought the way that Sprink was resting her paws on my arm was cute. At 1/17 second, handheld with the camera at arms-length, this came out much better than I expected or deserved.
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Today’s Issue for the Attentionally Challenged
How can I be expected to work with such large, noisy, and fascinating distractions outside my office window?
A new water main is being installed. Most distracting. The trench is quite deep – I can only see the tops of the workers’ hard hats bobbing along in it.
If it wasn’t below freezing out there I’d be tempted to go sit on the front porch and watch.
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Peak Design Capture Pro Camera Clip (and a New Tripod)
The complete clip with the baseplate attached. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. One of the perennial problems of hiking with a decent camera is lugging the gear around.
The camera, in particular, is a problem. With a traditional camera neck strap, the camera not only swings all over the place, but it gets in the way when you bend down. If I keep my camera in my pack, then it takes ages to get at it, and most of the time I just don’t bother taking pictures, it’s too much trouble. A neck strap is just as much of an issue when I’m working in a church, it gets in the way, and taking communion with a camera strapped around your neck is not exactly an inconspicuous way of working. Finally carrying a camera on a neck strap gives me a neck and backache — even with the small and light Fuji’s.
Field Testing The Peak Design Capture Pro. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. … it’s one of the most useful pieces of camera gear I’ve bought …
I have found an excellent solution to the problem. I first saw the Peak Design Capture Clip several years ago. It lets you clip your camera to a belt or strap and it has a quick-release lock that holds the camera in place so that it cannot accidentally fall out. However, two things put me off buying one at the time. First was the price, and secondly, I didn’t want the big heavy Nikon hanging off of my belt or backpack.
Having ditched the Nikon, and wanting to take more pictures while I’m hiking and backpacking (if I say I’ll be going hiking and backpacking, just maybe I will actually get out more), I decided that the time was right to buy one.
Peak Design Capture Pro on a Backpack Strap. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Expensive it is — well-made it is too. There is a lot of attention to detail, and Peak Design provides a lifetime warranty. There’s no fear of it falling out, it’s out of the way and instantly accessible.
The Capture Pro ARCA-SWISS style baseplate on the bottom of the Fujifilm X-E3 shown with the belt/strap clip it slots into. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
I tried out an alternate fixing screw with the Capture PRO ARCA-SWISS Style fixing plate. My thinking was that this fixing screw would save me having to carry an Allen key around. Then I realized that the Peak Design supplied Allen key has a key chain clip on it, and it also fits my tripod. I might as well stick with the original fixing screw – and I’ve since found out I can get an Allen key bit or my Leatherman pocket knife too. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
The camera release twists to lock the mechanism, just in case you want to be doubly sure your camera isn’t going anywhere without you. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.- Would I buy another? Yes, it’s an essential bit of gear for me.
- Would I recommend buying one? Absolutely.
Update after
fivenine years’ useQuite simply it is a must-have piece of gear for me. It works very well and allows me to take my camera everywhere without a bag, hands-free, and without it swinging in the way. I’ve used it on planes, in cars, I’ve backpacked hundreds of miles in all weathers with it, at work I’ve used it in loads of church services and events. It is discrete, it is great. (2026 update — I’ve had the Capture Pro V3 for nine years now, and I’d buy another tomorrow if I lost it. It’s still one of the best bits of camera gear I own).
Tip: Always lock the release button If you fit the clip to your belt and you will be sitting down. It is possible to accidentally release the camera by various body parts (your leg for example) pushing in the release button. This can (and will) result in a dropped camera. It’s not a fault of the clip, the locking mechanism is there, just make sure you use it.
I see the Capture Pro V3 is now available on Amazon (I bought mine direct from Peak Design).
Peak Design Capture Pro V3 – I’ve had this a year now, and it’s one of the most useful pieces of camera gear I’ve bought. Note the wear, proof it’s been well used. Copyright © 2019 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Monopod / Tripod
The Capture Pro’s ARCA-SWISS style camera baseplate also dealt with another problem. I’ve been looking for a monopod I can use when I’m shooting in a church. I can’t maneuver a tripod around in the middle of a service, but carrying a monopod — especially collapsed, should be easy.
My first-step towards getting a monopod was to purchase an ARCA-SWISS compatible ball-head for my existing tripod. No sooner had I researched and ordered a ball-head, than a special offer came up on a tripod that converts to a monopod and is fitted with a removable ball-head. The cost of the tripod was the same as buying a monopod and ball-head. As an added bonus it allows me to retire my existing tripod which has a missing foot, is huge even when collapsed, and weighs a ton. Sold!
I sent the ball-head mount I’d just bought back (which was a shame is it was a very nice one) and ordered the new tripod. My initial impressions of which are that it is so much lighter and easier to use than my old one. I hope this means I’ll be using it a lot more, certainly I will have fewer excuses for handheld shallow depth of field images. We shall see.
The tripod’s makers claim (in Chinglish) that the monopod can be used as an “Alpenstock”. If it really can be counted on to replace my hiking pole, that might be another advantage. Though I’m not so sure I want to use one of the legs of my tripod in the mud and rocks of the Ozark’s trails, let alone immersed in the creeks and puddles.
Note. Unlike the Capture Pro, the tripod didn’t last more than a couple of years. We replaced it with a Manfrotto 290xtra which has been doing sterling work in the studio.
A note about the links. The links marked with a this icon – – are affiliate links, if you buy through them, it doesn’t cost you more, and I get a tiny percentage which helps me offset the cost of keeping this website running. However, please buy from the source that makes the most sense for you!
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Rude Awakening
That moment when a sharp pain in the groin wakes you in the middle of the night … And, upon investigation one discovers a cat’s claw (with attached cat) embedded in one’s scrotum.
I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.
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Gary Field Testing The Peak Design Capture Pro
Field Testing The Peak Design Capture Pro You can read a little bit about the Peak Design Capture Pro camera carry clip here.
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Gary & Ginger on the Silver Trail at Busiek
Gary & Ginger on the Silver Trail at Busiek Yet another short hike at Busiek
I’ll grow tired of taking pictures here soon, I promise. The problem is I’ve not had much opportunity to take out the new Fuji, and I need to get accustomed to it, and quickly.
Busiek Silver Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Busiek Silver Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Looking back before climbing the hill. Busiek Silver Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Hiking the Ridge – Busiek Silver Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Gary on the ridge – Busiek Silver Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Descending the hill – Busiek Silver Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Climbing up the Silver / Yellow Trail at Busiek. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Beginning of the Hike
Busiek Silver Trail I’m really struggling to decide which one of these two pictures I prefer.
I like them both.
A short 3-mile hike on the Silver Trail at Busiek.
Busiek Silver Trail -
Office Fur Factories
My Two Office Fur Balls — They’ve left just enough room for me to sit between them. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this, but recently my office has become very popular with the household felines.
Tubby cannot be seen, probably in his favorite spot standing over one of the heating vents, toasting his poor frozen Burmese underbelly.
And at the end of the day they are still in my office. And Tubby is still standing over the heating vent. -
Busiek Orange Trail
Ginger waiting for Gary before the main climb on the Busiek Orange Trail. A warm break in the weather sent us scurrying out to get some miles on the trail, this time we opted for Busiek’s Orange Trail.
The Busiek Orange Trail Tuesday the whole area was under a few inches of snow and the temperatures were dropping to -5°F at night, and not rising above the mid-twenties during the day. By Friday the temperatures had jumped up and on Sunday it was nearly 70°F, and all the snow had disappeared.
The Orange Trail is not one we do often because, quite frankly the long walk along the creek flood plain isn’t very challenging hiking-wise. Because a lot of the trail running alongside the creek has been graveled it’s not the most comfortable of hiking surfaces either. We decided to go clockwise around the trail to complete the lower flatter part of the trail first.
You get to the Orange Trail via the White Trail The main climb of the trail wasn’t too arduous — obviously I’ve improved a bit since last week’s hike, I managed the main portion of the climb without stopping. Though I did have to stop at the top to get my breath back.
The start / end of the Busiek Orange Trail 
Ginger disappears off into the distance as I take pictures of the trail-side moss. Coming back down, the new-ish switchbacks on the trail go past some very nice seeps and I was hoping that the snow-melt might have set them running. As it turned out, I was to be disappointed. Even though the lower portions of the trail were quite muddy and soft in places, the seeps were almost bone dry.
Going down the switchbacks on the newest part of the trail. As is often the case at Busiek we didn’t see a lot of wildlife, a couple of armadillos and a few birds. Wild life aside, we did get to meet and chat to some Ozark Marble Hunters — Marble hunting is a great idea to encourage people out. We spotted some of the marbles earlier in our hike, but at that time didn’t know that they were part of a hunt. Just as well we didn’t carry them off! They were gone when we came back. Ozark Marble Hunters on Facebook.
Trail-side moss. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Trail-side moss. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Wild Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Wild Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
You get to the Orange Trail via the White Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
You get to the Orange Trail via the White Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
You get to the Orange Trail via the White Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Ginger disappears off into the distance as I take pictures of the trail-side moss. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Ginger waiting for Gary before the main climb on the Busiek Orange Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Going down the switchbacks on the newest part of the trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Going down the switchbacks on the newest part of the trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Last of the ice.. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Last of the ice. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
The start / end of the Busiek Orange Trail. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
It was muddy so I have to take the obligatory gross muddy feet picture. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.The total hike was a smidge under six miles. Google Earth says nearly 1,000′ of elevation — that’s a wild overestimation 4-500′ maybe?
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Busiek White Trail
You get to the Orange Trail via the White Trail You have to hike the White Trail as it runs along-side Camp Creek to get to the Orange Trail. This is one of my favorite pictures from today’s hike.
You can see the rest of today’s pictures here.
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Can’t Wait for Friday …
It’s a tad cold out The forecast says it’ll be 59°F (15°C).
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Father-Daughter Bonding
Lanie – on target with the Beretta. Pretty good groupings. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Lanie and I decided to brave the cold weather (24°F) and visit the range.
Okay the range is indoors but with the huge air changes necessary to clear all the smoke it’s not warm in there. There are some overhead heaters that make the top of your head warm, but that’s about it. As a precaution against the cold, I actually wore socks and shoes.
I’ve been planning a Friday afternoon trip to the range to test Katie’s .380 Sig before she gets back from vacation. I wanted to see if, as I suspected, it has a problem with the slide lock (that’s my excuse for going to the range with yet another gun and I’m sticking with it. You can believe it or not).
The day didn’t start well, my morning didn’t pan out as planned with an unexpected trip out to try and sort out a mid-meeting computer problem at St. John’s. The trip was a success, at least in as far as getting the errant video camera working again, but it cut straight through my to-do list. I arrived back home lunchtime with nothing (planned) done, and thinking I might abandon the idea of going shooting. Approaching the house I noticed Lanie was home, and I wondered if she might be interested in going to the range if I decided to go. I cleared a couple of things, called in at work, signed off for the day, and asked Lanie if she fancied going. She was all dressed, wrapped up ready for the cold before I’d finished putting the guns in a carry case.
Blurry Cell Phone Picture – Sig Sauer P238 & Beretta PX4 Storm Compact. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Lanie’s grandparents have a farm, so she’s familiar with rifles and shotguns, but, she’s just never fired a handgun. We’ve tried to ensure that the kids have a broad range of basic skills, and the safe handling and use of firearms is one of those skills I firmly believe they should all have. So in the course of the afternoon, we went through all the safety drills, and Lanie was particularly interested in why I have a gun, given that they aren’t available in the UK (they were a lot more available when I was a kid as I noted here). At the range I tried out Katie’s gun first — bullseye first (or second) shot, you’ve got to like a gun that enables you to do that. I then put a single round in it for Lanie. She hit the target and thought it was great. I slowly built up the number of rounds, and then let her load and fire as she wanted. She was getting very good groups and bullseyes, probably out-shooting me. As it turned out, I was right about the slide, it did fail to lock back on at least one occasion, but not all the time, so it’s probably not worth replacing the slide-lock spring right now.
Lanie doing fine with the P238. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie doing fine with the P238. I must have taken this after she’d emptied the magazine. The slide lock worked that time then. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.When I fired off a full magazine from the Beretta Lanie was duly impressed by the noise and percussion, but didn’t want to try it. The size, weight, and potential kick put her off. We stayed for about an hour, and as we were getting near to leaving I persuaded her to try a couple of rounds in the Beretta as it is the gun she is most likely to use in the future. It really doesn’t seem to kick much more than the Sig. Lanie went from not wanting to fire it to, “can I try again?” in the time it took to take those two shots.
Lanie – on target with the Beretta. Pretty good groupings. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.
Lanie – on target with the Beretta. Pretty good groupings. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.I guess going to range in future is potentially going to be more expensive, but I’m okay with that. Oh, and I’ve got to clean Katie’s gun tomorrow before she gets home, and I’m alright with that too.
Target Shooting – Sig Sauer P238 & Beretta PX4 Storm Compact. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. This is a mixture of shots from both guns. I did much better than last time, and the picture above is to prove it. Still low and left, but that’s so that there’s room on the target for the gun when I take a picture 🙂 . No excuse for the few stragglers though.
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You can’t escape the EU’s tentacles even in Missouri
I live in America, remind me why I’m studying the 119 page EU General Data Protection Regulation?
— The joys of doing business online in 2018.
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Busiek Silver Trail
Ginger forges ahead up the hill while I catch my breath. Copyright © 2018 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. A short Hike, and some musings on being unfit
It’s been quite cold recently — below 20°F (-6°C), so we’ve not been out. Wednesday saw the temperatures predicted to rise over 35°, which promised a great opportunity to go hiking. I re-planned my week to clear Wednesday afternoon by doing some diocesan work Friday morning (not forgetting that I’m also working most of the day on Saturday). So, I shifted a meeting, and we were free to get out.
We picked the Busiek Silver Trail, because it’s good exercise, with a steep hill and a longish medium gradient climb. It is also quite short at 3.1 miles, and therefore relatively quick.
Ginger’s been going to the gym several times a week for longer than I can remember, so I knew keeping up during the climbs were going to be a challenge for me. I hate fitness centers with a passion, but as a consequence I’m losing my fitness as we are too busy to spend the time going out hiking, backpacking or kayaking. Add in the inescapable fact that the years are passing and it’s not a good outlook. I can eat as healthily as I please, give up alcohol, walk 2-3 miles a day (I’m doing all of those), I’m still unfit. I may be unfit, but I am game to take on a hike on a warm January day.
It was a good hike, and Ginger powered up the hills while I had to stop a couple of times to get my breath back, and then stop at the top to recover. But, I got round. One big surprise on the hike was how soft the ground was. I expected it to be frozen, but puzzlingly it wasn’t. In some places the mud was quite heavy.
All in all, it took me two hours to complete the 3.1 miles. That might sound slow — and it is — but we are also talking very uneven, rough, and in places, downright nasty trails. Especially the part of the trail that is a 1:3 descent on loose gravel, which has to be taken very slowly if you don’t want to slip and fall. I might have been breathing hard in places and felt like I was close to maxing out my heart rate (I wasn’t; I checked it at 140 bpm on the steepest climb), but it was good to get out in the sun and air.
The chances of my suddenly discovering a stash of money that’ll allow me to retire again and regain my fitness by going off hiking at any time are nonexistent. I am beginning to accept that if I am to cut out some of the meds I’m currently taking, no matter how much I hate gyms, I’m not left with a lot of options but signing up.
Silver Trail Map (01-24-2015)
