Month: September 2014

Photography Shop Talk

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I spent a good 20 minutes talking to a coworker today about photography. He’s really into it and he and his wife shoot weddings on the weekend. I’ve never been into people photography which is why when a coworker many moons ago asked me to shoot her wedding I declined. I prefer animals and landscapes, plus I’m not very confident about being responsible for capturing a once in a lifetime opportunity. What if I screw up the settings and all the pictures come out like crap? I would feel more than awful. That’s just too much pressure for me.

In any case, my coworker has convinced me to look into buying Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for $120. I’ve been using a seriously old version someone gave me well over a decade ago and after hearing about all the things it can do, I’m taking it into serious consideration. I try not to spend too much money on my photography simply because I’m not making any money off it (a few hundred dollars in the past for being published), but I enjoy messing around with my photos so I might splurge a little anyway.

I really enjoyed talking about one of my hobbies with someone. I could have sat in his office most of the day comparing notes. Plus it didn’t hurt that it was way warmer in there than by my desk so I wasn’t in a hurry to go back to being cold. I mentioned that I was on the fence about buying a new zoom lens and he offered to let me borrow a 3rd party one he never uses so I can see how it performs. I hope he remembers to bring it in next week!

I’ve been wanting to get a new lens for my camera for awhile now; I just can’t decide which one. I’ve narrowed it down to a zoom lens since I love taking pictures of animals at the zoo (even the “undesirables” like snakes) and can never get close enough. I just can’t decide if I should go full hog and get the pricey but nice 70-300mm IS USM for $650, go cheap and get the plastic non image stabilized 70-300mm for only $200, or get the highly rated and affordable 55-250mm lens for only $250. Sure, I’d be losing 50mm, but gaining $400! And then I could use that money to put toward my next lens (most likely a macro). Decisions, decisions.

I noticed that Canon runs rebates on lenses, and the lens I’m leaning toward (the $650 one, of course) has not only been priced much lower in the past (under $400 in March of this year), but Canon ran a $200 rebate on it last September. I checked the current rebates Canon is offering and none of the lenses on my list are included, but based on their history, a new batch of rebates will be offered at the end of this month and I’m crossing my fingers the $650 one is on the list. Ideally if Amazon could drop the price back down to $400 AND Canon could offer a $200 rebate I would be in heaven. Could you imagine getting a kick-ass lens for a 3rd of the original price??!?

I Wiied Like You Wouldn’t Believe

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This past week was rather weird because Joe was in Texas for work from Tuesday morning through Friday night. I got a taste of what it would be like to be single and I gotta say, no thanks. I mean, I can handle taking care of myself and all that, but I missed Joe. And texting just doesn’t cut it. We talked a bit on the phone but the reception in his hotel room sucked. I could never do a long-distance relationship.

Friday I had a friend over for lunch. I made my awesome baked mac and cheese earlier that morning for the occasion. Then we went upstairs so she could see the rats. After that we played on the Wii until she had to leave just before 3 pm. Brother #2 was working in the area so he came over shortly after and we went out for tacos and then played on the Wii.

Joe’s plane was delayed two hours so he didn’t end up getting home until 11 pm. E’s band played at the high school football game that night and his mom was supposed to drop him off after, but she called me just after Joe’s flight home took off to say she’d be dropping him off in the morning instead. I texted her shortly after to get a time and she replied 10 am. Surprisingly, he walked through the door at 10:01 am. To say I was surprised is an understatement!

We went to the library Saturday afternoon and got Angry Birds Star Wars for the Wii which was a lot more fun than I anticipated. I think we played it for close to two hours. I played on the Wii more this weekend than I’ve played all year, hence the title of this entry.

After dinner Saturday we made a special trip out to Sonic only to learn their half price shakes promotion had ended. Joe and E still got shakes, and I got a lemonberry slush since I’m lactose intolerant, but none of the drinks were as good as the last time we went. The flavor was fine but the consistency was off. I guess they did us a favor as we won’t be as likely to visit again anytime soon ($9 for three drinks is rather high anyway).

Sunday morning we all stopped for breakfast at a place called Stacked (they have amazing banana bread french toast) before dropping E off at home. Joe and I hate going out for breakfast because the food is a ridiculous markup compared to lunch and dinner (when you think about how cheap eggs and bread are), but agreed that we shouldn’t get up in arms about it since we rarely go out for breakfast (McDonald’s being an exception). It was funny because E usually orders orange juice at breakfast but only wanted water. I have to wonder whether he did that because he knows Joe’s thoughts about orange juice prices (when they go to McDonald’s they will bring orange juice from home for E). The best part, however, is that as I opened my wallet to get out my credit card I spotted a gift card for $100 I had forgotten we had, so breakfast was actually free!

Labor Day Weekend

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Last Sunday we got up early and grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s and then went to Jamba Juice to take advantage of their BOGO coupon offer. $5 for a small drink is excessive in my eyes but I’ll splurge occasionally and get two drinks for that price! The five fruit frenzy is just too good! After snagging our drinks we drove to the arboretum to get our free gift for renewing our membership. I renewed online for two years this time which, while a bit steep at $170, is cheaper per year than doing one year at a time, plus includes bonus tickets to their Acorn Express Tram Tour which is fun.

The mosquitos were out in full force, however, and Joe is a mosquito magnet, so we didn’t hang out as long as we originally planned. I did grab this awesome panorama, though.

Morton Arboretum Panorama 2

I don’t really think my phone takes great shots (probably because I’m spoiled from my SLR) but the panoramas almost always impress me. I love the clouds in this shot!

On the way home we stopped at Willowbrook Wildlife Center where I was surprised to see they had lots of baby rats. They house snakes so I have a bad feeling they are raised as food. In any case, don’t they look like little hippos? So cute!

Baby Rats

We puttered around the house for a couple of hours and then headed to my parents to hang out. We set up the bad minton net and played with my dad, brothers, and Brother #2’s girlfriend for a couple of hours until dinner was ready. My cousin, who I haven’t seen in forever (but have been chatting with pretty regularly the past couple of months thanks to Facebook messenger), even showed up! She ended up having to leave to pick up her son from work before we played any board games, however. I brought two games but we only ended up playing Smartass. It was a fun time, as usual. The only thing that sucks is the hour ride home.

Rug Shopping

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About five years ago my mom gave us some brand new throw rugs she had purchased that she decided she didn’t like. Unfortunately the rubber backing on them has started to fall apart and we need to replace them soon. The problem is no one has any rugs We like! We’ve looked at Kohls, Meijer, Walmart, Target, TheDump, Bed Bath and Beyond, Home Goods, and even Kmart to no avail! I don’t know why all the rugs out there are so damn fugly but this is getting ridiculous. I might just have to shop online to find something decent. At this point I don’t even care so much about the money (although if they weren’t falling apart I’d gladly use them another five years), but I can’t find a pattern I like. Plus I need a total of four rugs in two different sizes which makes things a little more difficult. Ugh, I hate shopping for home decor sometimes!

Rat Update

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On August 22nd, after a week of them having playtime together, I decided to put Gizmo and Milo into the Critter Nation cage together. Now they have two huge levels (each having it’s own sub-level) to run around in. Of course, they spend 90% of their time at the top level but what can you do? I’m just happy I have two rats who can get along. They play fight occasionally but nothing serious at all. I’ve even caught them sleeping together, and one day I caught Milo grooming Gizmo which was adorable.

Cleaned Cage

I moved Marshmallow into a smaller single level cage so he couldn’t harass the babies. I feel kinda bad because he was here first, but he is too aggressive with other rats and it’s not fair for the babies to be confined to a small cage while Marshmallow lives alone in the huge cage. He doesn’t seem to mind the smaller cage since he spends the majority of his time in his spacepod anyway.

Gizmo has grown so quickly that at first glance I can’t tell him and Milo apart until I look at their faces! I wish they’d stay small because while they are still cute full grown, they are more fun to handle when they are small, plus they don’t murder my skin with their nails when they climb all over me (which they both love to do).

Brothers From Another Mother

As for Doug & Steve, they are still here although the guy who is supposed to adopt them claims he’s just trying to get his hands on a Critter Nation. I just want them gone as I’ve been neglecting them over the two babies. I feel guilty but I only have so much free time and Steve is such a dick. He nips for no reason and I’m sick of him. I will miss Doug, though.

I’ve been concentrating on letting Gizmo and Milo get free-time with me so they remain as friendly as the day I brought them home. Marshmallow gets free-range time too, and even Steve and Doug get some, but it’s just not daily, or for as long as the babies. Plus the babies can be contained on the bed as they haven’t figured out how to jump off. That’s nice because then I don’t have to move the other rats out of the room while they are out whereas I do when I let the others out. I’ll just be happy when I only have three rats instead of five. I don’t know how the people I see online who have 10+ rats do it. Not only must that be expensive, but it’s gotta be a huge time suck if they are giving them all ample free-range time.