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Lanie in the 1930s Dodge “Humpback” Panel Van at Busiek
Lanie in the 1930s Dodge “Humpback” Panel Van at Busiek. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Lanie joined me for a short hike on the Yellow Trail at Busiek. We went off-trail a bit so she could see the old panel van. In total we hiked four miles, nothing strenuous. But it was a warm 82°F.
Lanie in the 1930s Dodge “Humpback” Panel Van (Color version). Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
Laine wouldn’t get in and pretend to drive
Lanie in the 1930s Dodge “Humpback” Panel Van at Busiek. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Lanie in the 1930s Dodge “Humpback” Panel Van at Busiek. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Lanie joined me for a short hike on the Yellow Trail at Busiek. We went off-trail a bit so she could see the old panel van. I wanted Lanie to get in and pretend to drive, but the lack of any sort of solid floor put her off the idea. Which was a shame as I wanted another take on this picture.
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Etched / Embossed Rock on the Busiek Yellow Trail
Lanie spotted this on the trail, and a fair bit of Googling hasn’t come up with a formal name for this, or an explanation of how it forms. Pretty cool though.
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Routine Cleaning
Gun Cleaning. I don’t know about napalm, but I do love the smell of gun oil in the morning. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Cleaning and fixing things was not quite my plan for the day, but that is what I ended up doing. I started with the Roomba – always a joy. Then I washed out and cleaned a bunch of fountain pens that have been sitting around needing some TLC for a month or so. Finally, I cleaned and oiled the Beretta which, I thought I’d cleaned after my last trip to the range. Judging by the state of the cleaning patches, I didn’t.
Variations
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Roomba Cleaning
The dreaded Roomba drive wheel and axle sensor unit. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The Roomba started to do the ‘circle dance’ again. I love the idea of the Roomba, and when it works, it is great. However, the design sucks. Any machine that has to deal with dirt and dust needs to be easily disassembled and cleaned. That’s a major fail on the part of the Roomba. It takes me an hour or two to strip it down and clean it thoroughly – especially hard is getting to the drive motors to clean dirt off the axle sensors that seem to be the cause of the dreaded ‘circle dance.’
Today, it took longer because (a) I managed to drop a screw inside, which meant I had to strip it down again to get at the screw, and (b) somehow I messed up reassembling one of the wheel drives and it was locked solid. So, I had to strip it right down a third time to access the drive. As I said, poor design.
Note to self. I ought to have thought about what I was going to write about. I focused on the screwdriver. I needed a shot of the drive unit. I am not going to spend another hour taking it apart and putting it back together so that I can get the right photograph.
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Sleepy Tubby Dreaming of Birds
Ginger lent Tubby her phone and Tubby wore himself out trying to watch bird videos. It’s tough being a half blind, half deaf cat.
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CamDesign 10MM Diameter Red Metal Convex Soft Shutter Release Button
Red Metal Shutter Release Button on a Fujifilm X-E2s Camera. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
Red Metal Shutter Release Button Packaging with a Fujifilm X-E2s Camera. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I bought these shutter buttons on Amazon. Apart from looking cool, the button makes it a lot easier to fire the shutter without camera shake. Instead of using the tip of my finger to operate the shutter, with the shutter release button fitted, I can use the area under the first joint, which results in more control and less camera shake. It also makes operating the camera one-handed easier. If needed I can focus and trigger the shutter with my thumb.
After reading the reviews I fitted a washer in the hope that doing so will help prevent the release button unscrewing while in use. Time will tell.
The supplied package included two shutter buttons and a wristband lens focus ring. I would rather they included a couple of washers for the release buttons and sold the wristband separately. Washers I need. Wristband focus rings, I do not.
Links
Updates
- July 2025. Eight years of use and still going strong.
- March 8, 2021. It’s still going strong on both my X-E2s and my X-E3 cameras. I will definitely buy one for my next camera.
- December 13, 2017. I like these shutter buttons so much I bought another for my new camera.
- May 4, 2017 and the first button dropped off some time while I was in the middle of a very busy event. I still like the shutter button very much, so I’ve super-glued the second one in place. I’ll add an update if that one ever goes AWOL.
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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Smoke, No Mirrors – Reprise, Black and White
One of the very first photographs I took when I bought my first digital camera.
I’ve always liked this image, when I decided to re-visit the picture I also produced this black and white version.
Fawley Oil Refinery, Southampton Water, Hampshire, UK.
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How many old cameras do I need?
This is not a serious attempt at a picture, I was just pointing my camera at things in my office late one night.
One of the cameras, a No. 1A Autographic Kodak Jr. is nearly 100 years old – which is quite stunning.
I spent a few hours earlier in the week getting all the cameras working. I need to replace the mirrors in some, as they’ve completely lost their silvering, but at least all the shutters are now operational – well all except the Polaroids and the Brownie Hawkeye. I found a roll of film in the latter. I’ve not decided what to do about that yet.
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Standing Desk Update
The new monitor stand and cable tidy channel for my desk arrived today. Anything that clears stuff off of my desk has to be good. I’ve also invested in a wireless keyboard and mouse to get rid of those pesky cables.
Standing Desk – Waiting for the new monitor stand and cable management 
That’s the new monitor stand installed. There is just the cable management to deal with now. 
My standing desk with all the cables tidied away. Update: November 2017
I ended up replacing the monitor stand with one that was even higher (from the same company). I’m hoping that having the monitor higher will improve my posture.
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Local Yellow Pages Directory Cover Picture
Muskogee/Tahlequah/Wagoner yellow pages cover. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Back in August 2013, I licensed one of my pictures to be used for an area telephone directory. I would have preferred that they had picked a nicer picture, but this was the one they wanted.
They sent me a copy of the directory and it has been sitting on a shelf in my office ever since.
Recently I’ve been clearing out ‘stuff’ and I decided that I really didn’t need to keep a copy of the directory. A photograph would do.
Yellow Pages Cover. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. -
January 3. When your wife exclaims: “Shoot! That reminds me, I did buy you something for Christmas.”
Nineteen forties Map of the Solent Area. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Today did not begin very well, my computer refused to start. The power was cycling on and off every few seconds. I suspected a faulty USB device, especially as I added two new (to my computer anyway) devices yesterday. Pulling out all the USB cables and devices didn’t fix it. Working on a hunch, I opened the machine up and proceeded to reseat all the boards and cables. Success! While I had the machine open I gave the insides a good clean.
As I had the vacuum cleaner out I thought I might as well make a mess and drill some holes in the underside of my desktop and sort out the cabling tangle under my desk.
With the cabling sorted, it occurred to me that I ought to finish moving my office furniture around, throw out some unused stuff that was collecting dust and give everything a good clean.
Four hours later I was all done and sitting back admiring my work when Ginger came in. I mentioned that I was keeping a load of maps to get them framed. Ginger suddenly exclaimed “Shoot!” or words to that effect, “That reminds me, I did buy you something for Christmas.” She disappeared off somewhere and when she came back, gave me a 1940s Ordnance Survey map of the Solent which she had found in an Ozarks flea market.
What a great find and an excellent present.
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A Standing Desk for My Health – Assembly
Here you can see the top frame and cross brace. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I’ve been having a few health problems.
Namely, poor circulation in my legs and unhealthily high blood pressure. I’ve got to lose weight, exercise, and take pills to reduce my blood pressure (similar pills to those Tubby — the cat — takes for his high blood pressure). However, apart from surgical stockings, there’s not a lot I can do for the circulation issues in my lower legs and feet. It seems all those years of sitting down driving a desk have taken their toll on my veins — well the valves in my veins. Sitting is not good. What may help is moving regularly to help the blood circulate in my lower legs. Hindsight being what it is, I realize I should have done something about this years ago, but it was only when I started to suffer from swollen feet and nerve damage (loss of feeling in my feet) that it became apparent there was something nasty going on.
To tackle the problem I’ve bought myself a standing desk. Well, actually an adjustable desk that I can vary the height of from 24″ to 50″ at the touch of a button. I’m also going to invest in a Fitbit to remind me to move around every hour.
Autonomous Standing Desk – Unwrapping & Assembly
The desk came very well packaged. Compact, but very heavy. The system is very well designed and engineered. I was impressed that they included extra screws and cable tidies. The instructions were very clear and easy to follow.
In the second level of the packaging are the legs and feet along with the drive motors, controls and cables. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
The desk frame all assembled. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Autonomous Standing Desk – Test Drive
The desk at it’s lowest setting – 24″. Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. 
The desk at my normal standing height — around 40″. The maximum height is 50.7″ Copyright © 2017 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. The lowest setting I normally use is in line with the top of the filing cabinet (which now has its finished wooden top).
Still to buy and fit:
- Monitor stand.
- Cable management.
- Monitor mounted lighting.
To save on costs I’ve reused my old desktop. I plan to replace that at some point with a purpose built top complete with drawers.
Update: January 2021
Geek Moment – Work Laptop (L) Personal laptop (R). switched 21:9 widescreen monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Copyright © 2020 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. It’s still working fine. As I wrote in my first update, I don’t change the height very often, maybe once or twice a year! But I do stand at my desk all day. The biggest problem I have is remembering to step away and get some steps in.
- Do I still recommend it? Yes.
- Would I buy another? Probably. I change the height so infrequently, maybe just a high desk might be a better investment, though being able to tweak the height may well be something that I appreciate over time.
- Do I regret buying it? Not at all.
One day maybe I’ll get round to fitting a nicer desktop with some drawers. One day.
Update: November 2017
The desk is working really well, and I walk 2-3 miles a day despite not leaving the house. I don’t sit at all during the day, and the main reason I change the height of the desk now is to lower it when I’m taking a picture of something on it. I’ve upgraded my monitor stand so that the monitor can go even higher — the original height was giving me some posture problems. Losing weight has not been as successful. I’m only half-way to my target weight of 157lbs, having lost only 11lbs. My plan to lose weight purely by dieting doesn’t seem to be working, so I guess I’ll have to start exercising more.
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Snow, Ice and Fall Leaves
Snow and Ice – wind-blown snow on the ground with fall leaves Last night it dropped to 3°F (-16°C) and we had a light dusting of snow. Needless to say, I had no inclination to go out taking pictures this morning. This afternoon, once the temperature had crept up above 10°, I ventured out for a few quick shots.
Snow & Leaf 
Dragon Eye -
Tubby Takes It Easy
Tubby takes it easy
With single digit temps outside Tubby is quite content to snooze away the afternoon in the warm. -
Iridescence with shadow
A close crop showing the play of light on a window blind in Ginger’s office. And why not?
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Sweet Dreams Getzger
Getzger Cat Later in the day on Sunday Getzger became very quiet. Monday he went on one of his favorite car rides, to visit the vet. The news wasn’t good. Acute renal failure, Getzger was now on ‘final approach’. We brought him home and the big kids came to visit and say their goodbyes. He was loved up, there were tears, and he purred a lot.
We didn’t want him to suffer unnecessarily, so Tuesday morning saw him happily going on his final car ride and visit to the vet. We stayed with him and he purred right up to the end.
To say we miss Mr. Cat would be a massive understatement. He was one of those larger than life characters and he has left a big hole in our lives.
Getzger Cat August 20, 2002 – December 6, 2016
Picture: March 11, 2009.
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Getzger waiting for shower time
Getzger waiting for shower time. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. Mr. Cat has been giving a very good impression of settling onto the ‘final glide-path’ this past couple of days. It was good to see him show an interest in joining me for a shower.
This is part of our daily ritual. Getzger is waiting for me to take a shower so he can drink from the faucet. I grabbed a quick picture of him on my ‘phone and forgot about it.
Postscript
Four days later on December 6, Getzger took his final trip to the see the vet. Sweet dreams Getzger.
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Ceramic Fish
Ceramic Fish. Copyright © 2016 Gary Allman, all rights reserved. I must have had these ceramic fish for 12-15 years, they were a gift from my sister. I take a picture of them every now and then. They followed me across the Atlantic. A tiny bit of the UK seaside here in the Ozarks.
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Root
Black and White picture, with some of the leafy clutter removed. The roots of our two backyard trees occasionally break the surface. When they grow too high the mower trims off the top, producing these interesting patterns as they try to heal.
