Month: October 2010

Maiden Voyage Of Ol’ Leaky

This is Ol’ Leaky. We bought this thing in July for $1,500 and thought we either got a good deal or something was wrong with it. What was wrong was the roof leaked like a sieve. It had a big air conditioner on top and the roof sagged noticeably. After doing some research on the Internets I found out that this particular model requires special braces from the manufacturer when installing one of those aftermarket air units. It had no special braces. So I removed the air conditioner and sold it on Craigslist. Then I installed a roof vent and patched up some other stray holes and replaced the weather proofing on the roof seams. The seat and bed cushions had also been wet in the past so they were pretty stinky. We tossed out the big bed cushions and washed the upholstery and replaced the foam in the bench seats, which helped with the smell.

A Fairly Fun Time

[slideshow id=statefair w=600 h=400]

I love the fair. I love the little county fairs and the huge state fair. The fair offers people watching opportunities you won’t get anywhere else.

We took Abby to the State Fair in 2008 and she didn’t much like it. Everything scared her and she didn’t like the food. We were prepared for a similar experience this time. But just when you think you’ve got her figured out, she goes and does something new. She actually liked the fair. She rode the ferris wheel, the kiddie roller coaster and a bungee-jumping-trampoline-kinda deal – twice. I was pretty floored that she agreed to do any of those things. She also scarfed down a giant corn dog.

I’ve struggled with shooting good pictures at fairs even though they are full of bright lights and colorful stuff and great weirdo people. This time I was so enthralled with Abby having such a good time, I didn’t try very hard on the photo deal.

Kansas Star Trails

Abby and I went up to Kansas to my parents’ place over the weekend for my Grandma’s 95th birthday party. I wanted to take advantage of the clear skies away from the big-city lights to try some astrophotography. I needed to find something interesting for the foreground of a star trails photo and the gas well on their back 40 seemed as good as anything. I’d already done a few similar shots in the past using hay bales, a nearby church and an old grain silo. I made this photo by combining 19 photos each with a four-minute exposure using a cheap intervalometer I got off eBay. I lit the pump with a blast from an external flash during one of the exposures.