RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2014 Morning all, Cor Waitrose on Wednesday, there's posh. Fortunately (or not) my pension tax system seems quite straightforward - I was born in time to qualify for the current 65-75 age allowance (Mrs Stationmaster missed it by a month, grr) so the state pension is free of tax and what's left of the allowance is used for the railway pension - which leaves the Coding Notice for the other one containing the dreaded letters 'BR' meaning it's taxed at basic rate of course. Long time since I had to do a return - I think they got fed up with having to give me a (small) refund every year so they told me I didn't have to do one anymore and I took them at their word. Bright sunny day so far and Dr Station Cat seems in fine form and might possibly post some piccies at some stage (or instruct me to post them on her behalf). And teh exhibition season is hotting up with Abrail this coming weekend and Basingstoke a week later. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Williams Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 A scan, a scan, my kingdom for a scan ScanImage000007.png This has been reduced to 800x600 and resaved to PNG format, I'm currently saving the masters in TIFF as it's a non destructive format. Now in a quandry, my feeling is I should scan at the highest resolution possible but that takes huge amounts of real estate - time and computing power and storage. The computer power is fine, it can handle the load but the time is an ever decreasing commodity, I have thousands of negatives to scan and I won't be doing it full time - at least not for a few years - so I have elected to scan at 4800dpi as a happy compromise - the original negatives are not always the best so more than that could be wasted anyway, and less would probably be too little so 4800 it is - unless anyone has a better plan ? TIF format seems to be a good choice too, it can be resaved and doesn't lose quality - not that I intend to resave but occasionally my brain f@rts and .. I would have thought that 4800dpi is more than adequate. Eventually, screen and eye-sight limitations must surely come into play so that one can not detect any meaningful improvement past a certain level. I wouldn't have thought you would be printing stuff off at poster size. Don't know if you are pushing them through Photoshop, but I now use CS6 and have set the Smart sharp to 'Lens Blur' rather than the default 'Gaussian Blur'. The radius is set at 0.3, whilst I vary the amount between 70 up to 120. this was following an online tutorial that I watched. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium AndyB Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 I rather liked this Mini horn performance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2014 The sky is clear and blue with Mr Sun in full attendance this morning. If it goes on like this, the postman will be in shorts by the end of the week! Our (possibly ex) postman wears shorts 52 weeks of the year even when it is snowing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Sun has broken through the cloud. Now it's gone again. The deck chairs can stay where they are for now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) Deb`s Peugeot Pupmobile diseasel repair update- 1st. cold start of the day: Key on, timed-preheat and an instant start......it works! Edited February 26, 2014 by Debs. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 Sun has broken THAT'S why it never works!!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDolfelin Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Rain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 3rd season of the day under way - spring. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) Deb`s Peugeot Pupmobile diseasel repair update- 1st. cold start of the day: Key on, timed-preheat and an instant start......it works! Collies probably fixed it while you were sleeping! Have they had their trip out yet? Robbie seems to think proper walks always require a journey, even a short one, in the car first! Edited February 26, 2014 by Tony_S Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium AndyB Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 Rain. Don't worry. I've ordered some turf for tomorrow. So, I'll be outside gardening, so the sun had better come out! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 3rd season of the day under way - spring. Is the weather keeping up with Vivaldi? All quiet in the boring borough. If the rain holds off until 5 I may actually get some paving down today. Yesterday was another washout. I rented a Fiat Punto once. Punt was what I wanted to do with it. Kick the effin' thing off Beachy Head to be exact. that be about all from me. Have a good hump day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
station cat Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Mike, if you are in communication With Fr Doktor Bahnhof Katze, tell her that I really recommend the Prater (and a ride on the famous "Third Man" Ferris wheel) and whilst at the Prater Fr Doktor Bahnhof Katze should lunch at the Schweizerhaus. I heartily recommended it, especially the Erdäpfelpuffer and Hintere Schweinsstelze combo. A really SERIOUS pork and potato meal! I'd suggest washing it down with a Grieskirchner Dunkles or a Budweiser Budvar Schwarzes (no, it's real beer, it's nothing like that gnat's wee that goes by a similar name in a major continent across the Atlantic). The Viennese tram system is quite interesting, at times it seems like a cross between the London Underground and a Basel Tram Line. Worth snapping a few pics. iD The Erdäpfelpuffer and Hintere Schweinsstelze combo as far as comfort food goes, much, much better than the famed Sachertorte (though that's nice as well). Many thanks for the tips. I didn't manage your recommendation for lunch but I did go for a ride on the Ferris Wheel (not that i've ever seen The Third Man). I will be putting up pictures at some point, not just of the infamous bins but also Vienesse trams, Slovakian and Austrian trains and possibly the odd flak tower. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) Richard, the Fiat is a MWB (5.5 metre) Ducato, so commercial vehicle rather than a car based van. It appears well made up until now, but with some silly things - when parked on an off side camber, water runs onto the timing belt.....eek. Alternative drainage arranged! A screen leak was repaired locally by an approved Fiat specialist (no dealer over here) but they still haven't been paid by Fiat UK for the job - almost a year ago, despite it being pre-arranged with Fiat. I can't imagine we're very popular there. The van is nice to drive, and very economical for it's size provided Mrs H isn't driving on UK motorways - she likes to 'get to places' ie foot down. In those circumstances it reduces from easy mid 30's mpg to 20. edit for 'an' before a vowel....as if that's my only failing in written English! Edited February 26, 2014 by New Haven Neil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2014 One happy bunny Bobby here as at 11.00 postman delivered a couple of railway parcels. One of these contained a brand new Bachmann Class 8750 pannier tank which only cost me £35.00 + p&p from eBay. Have added a TCS decoder and it's running as sweetly as anything (even over the slightly dodgy point) The other good thing is that the new postie is a cheerful chappie who is sharing the round with the old postie apparently and will normally be here by 11.00am. Off to play with trains! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Collies probably fixed it while you were sleeping! Have they had their trip out yet? Robbie seems to think proper walks always require a journey, even a short one, in the car first! Yes, we`ve just returned from a lovely beach walkies in the Spring-like sunshine! ..........We`re back to our 'two and me' count now, after our boarder border-collie returned to his own home.....He fitted in so well during those two weeks with us; we`re really missing him. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonBradley Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 AndyB - Do the kids get to eat the earthquake jelly after the demo? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium AndyB Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 AndyB - Do the kids get to eat the earthquake jelly after the demo? Funny you mention that Don. The H&S instructions I wrote say "NO" - same as for the marshmallows, after they've had a dozen kids rolling them round on the tables and in their hands I wouldn't fancy it. But kids are kids.....you can only tell them not to and say it in a way where it is a "really, don't do this" kind of way. The H&S brief also tells them to not poke each other's eyes out with the cocktail sticks! Best, Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Abel Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 A scan, a scan, my kingdom for a scan ScanImage000007.png This has been reduced to 800x600 and resaved to PNG format, I'm currently saving the masters in TIFF as it's a non destructive format. Now in a quandry, my feeling is I should scan at the highest resolution possible but that takes huge amounts of real estate - time and computing power and storage. The computer power is fine, it can handle the load but the time is an ever decreasing commodity, I have thousands of negatives to scan and I won't be doing it full time - at least not for a few years - so I have elected to scan at 4800dpi as a happy compromise - the original negatives are not always the best so more than that could be wasted anyway, and less would probably be too little so 4800 it is - unless anyone has a better plan ? TIF format seems to be a good choice too, it can be resaved and doesn't lose quality - not that I intend to resave but occasionally my brain f@rts and .. I've got the Epson V600 (not quite the mass scanning ability of yours!!) still excellent product. I am scanning/archiving all our slidews from years back. My wife even had about 30+ sets her dad took back in the 60's when they lived in Japan - using the enhancement facilities they produced images that are almost as good as she rememebrs when they were first projected. I'm saving the lot at 4800 and TIFF. Decided that anything larger is simply a waste of space and I'll never need any higher quality. I got a 2TB drive to store the stuff on, they're cheap over here now, must be there too?? Also copy them to DVDs in batches as a safety/archive... Our (possibly ex) postman wears shorts 52 weeks of the year even when it is snowing. Think that's odd, there was a reported sighting today of a high schooler waiting for a bus in shorts here - today it's -20C with a wind-chill of -28 - even the radio announcer and weather reported said that was "just plain stupid and dangerous"!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Abel Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) The morning update - it's just getting stupid here <sigh> broke another record for cold (0F or lower) days in winter. Currently -20, wind-chill -28 as reported in a reply, and no sign of it letting up for a week!! It's so cold ("how cold is it") that the roads are in bad shape, nothing can shift the ice/black ice buildup and traffic is slow everywhere, and plenty of folks insisting on actually BRAKING when they come across a patch of ice, rather than just driving at constant speed across it, and ending up spinning-out and creating traffic jams - 2-3 times normal commute times reported overall today! On the "president" front, as he's visiting St. Paul today and will be 4-blocks from me/the office in about 3.5 hours, I may see if I can snag a photo or two of the ensuing mess/pandemonium/congestion that follows him wherever he goes. However, given I'll be taking photos from potentially "strategic" positions in skyways over the street there's probably a 50-50 chance this'll be my last post ever as they wisk me away to be interrogated and confiscate my cell-phone Edited February 26, 2014 by Ian Abel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium New Haven Neil Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 Ah, homeland insecurity! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 26, 2014 Don't worry. I've ordered some turf for tomorrow. So, I'll be outside gardening, so the sun had better come out! I doubt if you'll have to water it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2014 I got a 2TB drive to store the stuff on, they're cheap over here now, must be there too?? Also copy them to DVDs in batches as a safety/archive... Certainly are - I've got 20 of them at the moment, 15 are NAS drives which are mirrored pairs of 2TB drives and 5 external drives which are also 2TB and contain a copy of the NAS - and are safely stored in a separate building from the house. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Williams Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 The morning update - it's just getting stupid here <sigh> broke another record for cold (0F or lower) days in winter. Currently -20, wind-chill -28 as reported in a reply, and no sign of it letting up for a week!! It's so cold ("how cold is it") that the roads are in bad shape, nothing can shift the ice/black ice buildup and traffic is slow everywhere, and plenty of folks insisting on actually BRAKING when they come across a patch of ice, rather than just driving at constant speed across it, and ending up spinning-out and creating traffic jams - 2-3 times normal commute times reported overall today! On the "president" front, as he's visiting St. Paul today and will be 4-blocks from me/the office in about 3.5 hours, I may see if I can snag a photo or two of the ensuing mess/pandemonium/congestion that follows him wherever he goes. However, given I'll be taking photos from potentially "strategic" positions in skyways over the street there's probably a 50-50 chance this'll be my last post ever as they wisk me away to be interrogated and confiscate my cell-phone When they whisk you off to Guantanamo, just use the statutory defence that orange just isn't your colour and is SOOOO 'last year'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted February 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 26, 2014 About time I shared another bird photo ! A Jay - these are very nervous and hence difficult to photograph, I only managed one snap before he flew off. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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