Life is hard.

This is the view outside my window this evening, as I sit here typing this. All I have to do is look up over the computer monitor and this is what I see:



Yup, life is tough isn't it?

And for the record, I actually did step out on the back porch to take the photo, so you can't tell me I need to get outside more.

The two stars in the photo are, I believe, Jupiter and Venus.

i would really like to hate you right now, i've had the shittiest day i've had in a while, and might not have a job tomorrow (i totalled 3 carsa at work today, and didn't get any vague sort of reaction today, just a that's ok), and i'm drunk as hell right now.

but that is gorgeous.

Do you have a larger res pic? That would make a nice background sometimes

i totalled 3 carsa at work today

Holy cow! Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that! What happened?

(This is the off topic forum so you're allowed to spout off and vent.)

I mean, surely the cars are insured at the lot, right?

That's got to be an amazing story. Perhaps unpleasant for you to tell, but we do have to hear it...

Do you have a larger res pic? That would make a nice background sometimes

Original image is 1600x1200, 658k bytes. I can email it to you if you want it.

Actually, I'm collecting a little library of photos from my back porch, I even have one panorama...

those are very beautiful pics. They remind me of the song fluffy clouds by the orb. hmmmm... I wonder if you live in Arizona Tony? I always did hear that the skies were really incredable over there....the sunsets were, red and purple....

i wonder what kind of music you would play in the background of such beautiful scenery.

I wonder if you live in Arizona Tony?

Sierra Nevada foothills in California. In the photo at the top of this thread, you're looking across pretty much most of the state, from east to west. You see three layers of mountains. The darkest and closest layer is the foothills I live in. The central valley is beyond that (you can see parts of the valley floor on clear days) broken only by the Sutter Buttes, the dark-blue mountains poking up in the center of the picture. The faint violet mountains making up the edge of the skyline are the coastal range mountains surrounding the ClearLake area.

i wonder what kind of music you would play in the background of such beautiful scenery.

Whatever comes up in the shuffle on the Rio Receiver. I've got outdoor speakers mounted under the eaves on the back porch, just over the hot tub.

Like I said, life is hard.

Generally, evenings like this, the Receiver plays the "Low Key" playlist which tends to contain a lot of Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Eric Johnson, Pink Floyd, Mozart, Dire Straits, etc.

I am sooo jealous. Not of the skies, as we get similar looking cloudscapes in the far north of Scotland (when it ain't raining), but of the fact that the climate there is warm enough you can have a hot tub and sit outside to appreciate it!!

Although I guess you could get a REALLY hot tub for use in the UK

Generally, evenings like this, the Receiver plays the "Low Key" playlist which tends to contain a lot of Pat Metheny

Well, if that includes "Electric Counterpoint" then Tngo was nearly right...

Peter

Yeah, just today I was going through my digital camera files and reminiscing about my view last year. I lived in one of the few high-rises in berkeley, and had an amazing view of the bay and the golden gate bridge. It did make it dificult to read the monitor while the sun was setting, however.

Now I'm stuck on the wrong side of a different building, and have to content myself with looking at the Berkeley stadium wondering how long it's going to take for an earthqake to knock it down. (A large fault line runs right from goal post to goal post). At least we recently added a hot tub. (Though without the outdoor speakers. Yet.)

Matthew

Here is a pic of what I see pretty much everyday from work. I spend half my life at sea but tend to not appreciate it as much as I should. Tony, thanks for demonstrating an optimistic point of view.

I can email it to you if you want it.

I do, actually. if my email isn't listed on my profile it's (my screen name)@hotmail.com

I'd actually like that panoramic one, too if you wouldn't mind

Heather - I hope everything is okay...

This pic is about the extent of my daily view... my building has no windows!

Ahh - windows. I dream of windows through the week, being mostly underground in bombproof computer halls with no food, liquid, mobile phone etc etc etc! I live for Fridays, when I climb up out of the client's bunker and go back to my own office where I have windows looking out over Edinburgh and the castle.

Imagine a normal Scotsman's tan (ie white) and just think how bad it gets when you don't see the sun at all from October to March. I guess the Canadians on the BBS can probably sympathise.

Life is hard...

Bombproof? Bunker? Who do you actually work for??? Or can't you tell me?

- Trevor

I work for a large accountancy firm(probably the smallest of the big 4) so I have a nice normal office - but I'm never there. Most of my clients have their mainframes and server farms in very large underground bunkers (I reckon the one I'm in now could fit 8 tennis courts, and the ceiling is about 50 feet above my head)

Many, many blinkenlichts and the ever present 50dB hum of hot swap redundant power supplies.

The panorama currently isn't optimal as I haven't tweaked the stitch program to make each bit blend properly. When I get home I'll send you the stuff (if I remember ).

I knew someone who worked in the lower levels of the Pentagon. She took the subway into work in the morning and never went outside or upstairs all day, then the subway home a night. I can't imagine what it's like to not see a bit of sunlight for 5-6 days a week. That job would kill me!

Thanks Tony!

Here is the sun going down over Kelly's Mountain on Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia Canada)...sure drank a lot of beer here last summer....

and another, as luck would have it, the night after....

That's a mountain?


Sorry, just couldnt resist

That's a mountain? .... Sorry, just couldnt resist....F0X

Alberta. Figures!!

Must be california. Here's the view from Downtown San Jose at night over the Arena.



There's a vertical sparkle where the sun set down spackling light onto the clouds like a skipping stone.

Calvin

"I hear the fucking smog is the fucking reason you have such beautiful fucking sunsets."

Heh, love that movie.

"Yeah, but I really wasn't that into it."

The ironic thing is that I hate John Travolta. But that's a great movie.

Okay, I call.

What movie?

"Get Shorty".

Holy cow! Wow, I'm so sorry to hear that! What happened?


I dunno. Major mechanical defect is suspected. Fortunately, no one would ever put doing something reckless with a car on the list of things I would do (no ones ever been with me when I was test abusing, I mean driving any of the newer models). I was pulling one into the warehouse, not going fast at all, and maybe the heel of my shoe hit the accelerator, or maybe the car was [censored] up. I know I came out fine except for a small bruise on my finger. Either way, I [censored] up to the tune of over $100 grand. And I am still employed, and am not in any trouble (scares me, too easy), even though I walked in an hour late today with one fucker of a hangover. I'm more worried about my driving record tho, as insurance in NYC is expensive as hell when you have a perfect record, I can't imagine what it will go up to if that shows up on mine.

Wow, my sympathies.

I always wondered if that sort of thing ever happened at dealerships. With all those new cars around, something is bound to go wrong eventually.

Glad to hear you still have a job. Hope you don't catch too much sh*t from your cow-orkers about it.

I always wondered if that sort of thing ever happened at dealerships.

Yup. Lots of "brand new cars" have already been to the body shop before they're sold.

Hope you don't catch too much sh*t from your cow-orkers about it.

Actually, before I got there, they'd pretty much concluded that most of them were walking out if I was fired. Occasionally it's endearing the way they feel the constant need to protect me.

Awwwww, that's so sweet.

Yup. Lots of "brand new cars" have already been to the body shop before they're sold.

Hehe, my dad was a Toyota salesman at one point. He said one time a car came to the dealership that looked like it had been hit from both sides (about 3 feet narrower than it should have been). He said they fixed it up for about $300, and he personally sold it to a new college student who didn't even haggle the price

He also said they regularly sold cars that had fallen off the carriers

My Memorial Day weekend was spent looking at sites like this, including other things:

This is the moon, not the sun

Not a panorama, but a photo I'm quite proud of

Damn you guys

This is one of my more favorite pics. Sorry I'm not savvy enough (or maybe just too lazy) to embed it into the page.

Sunrise in Borrego Springs desert

Love the pics of the bubbles

the world is an amazing place

Looks like a photo I took at Toby's (prolux) party a year and a bit ago - his (then) gf used to make fire-chains and did a demo... yours is a bit more impressive, but I'll use the excuse that I'd probably had a lot more to drink at the time



Hugo

That would be just before Daniel had a go and threw one of them onto the neighbour's garage roof..

Rob

Sunrise in Borrego Springs desert

Damn, upstaged.

Great photo.

Not as picturesque... (sp?) but this is what I wake up to.. ( I sleep in the driveway )

Why thank you, Tony. I take that as quite a compliment. :-)

cold mornigs eh?

this is turning into quite a show. Let me join...



that's a building in Pessac, France designed by Le Corbusier.

I love this photo for the amazing colors and beautiful lines.

What a great trip that was.

(warning: if you click on the link, you may get some quick architecture education!!)

Edumacation??? Noooooooooo

Wow, that's really cool. It looks more like modern (contemporary) art than a picture.

Finally got a decent local scenery pic to post here

I was quite please with this one take last month after about a week solid of rain.



The lighting was really amazing, the photo doesn't do it justice.

pca

Hey, wow, I think I see actual sky through a hole in those clouds. Was the photo actually taken in England?

Okay, here's one taken this week from the bluffs in San Simeon, while sitting by the fire pit roasting marshmallows. Show this one to Roger as part of his No. Cal. vacation planning:

Here's one from Ibiza, when Hugo and I went back to reinstall the Rio Receivers in the hotel:



There's more here.

cool! Will be there in beginning of September (5th visit in 2 years)



For more pics click the the link below...

Whilst I was on Rogers site I came across this wonderful photo.


Is it the sight of Patrick attacking an empeg with a screw driver that's finally pushed Hugo over the edge?

Here's a view from the land my parents purchased a few months ago. The house should be complete in October. We are in Rockland County, NY so that is the Hudson River. Across the river is Westchester County. Too bad I don't live with my parents anymore.

How much of that is theirs?

5 acres. Somewhere on the other side of that road is where George Washington stood to plan the Battle of Stony Point. There is one of those "historical site" markers there. It's weird to stand where George Washington once did.

Yeah, we've got it pretty tough here too. (sarcasm)
My girlfriend and I just sold our house in Boston for a grotesque profit. We quit our jobs and moved to Cape Cod.
We now spend our days going to the beach and laying in the hammock. It'll end eventually, but for now were taking the time while we've got it.

Heres a pretty nice sunset over Cape Cod bay a couple of weeks ago. I was testing out my new Nikon Coolpix 4500.
Nifty!

Whoops... I f'd up the attachment.
Heres the pic...

So yesterday, I look out the window and there was a huge fire. Flames 700 feet high, and smoke like crazy. Look at the picture and compare to the previous shot. Ouch!


I should point out that this was a clear sunny day. . . .

Woah, that's crazy! I like how the reporter on that story kept talking like the building was going to open on time. She was like "the building is opeining in a few months..." Um, it sure don't look like it.

I live in Arizona and take a bunch of pics from my rooftop of the sunsets. As far as I can tell, they are the best in the world. This pic (and the other four I happen to have on this machine) are all two years old. Let me know if anybody is interested in seeing the other 4.

This is from my last camping trip to Lake Powell. I really need to re-scan it because our scanner had all sorts of fingerprints and smudges on it. This is one of a series of about 10 photos.

Tony, here in America we spell stars such as Jupiter and Venus with the letters p-l-a-n-e-t.


g

I live in Arizona [...] the best in the world.

Do the skies have little fluffy clouds in them?

Peter

I think you're right I had relatives who lived in Tuscon, and every night we'd just go out and watch the sunsets. Beautiful.

Clouds aren't all you need. The sunsets around here aint all that pretty. It also helps if you can see as much horizon as you can

If there are enough clouds to notice them, there are usually a bunch, like around monsoon season

I drove by the ruins the other day. There used to be several floors, and all the upper levels are *melted* down onto the first level (still standing). What is amazing, is that the star attraction around here, the Winchester Mystery House, was literally across the street from the blaze and made entirely out of wood. As luck had it, the wind blew the embers the opposite direction and caught several apartment buildings and houses on fire (burning them straight to the ground). The embers were are big as my arm and red hot and flaming as seen on the news, probably quite a sight to see the sky rain fire -- and I witnessed two different neighborhoods catch on fire (caught on my camera ;-). Cars parked across from the mess were exploding from the heat...

Calvin

That looks like a UFO landing

Calvin

Oh wow! I've heard of that place! I've also wanted to visit it before. Sounds really bizarre.

It just so happens I was just by that place on my road trip. I went from San Diego to Vancouver, BC and back. Went up the 101 and the 1 the whole way, then came down the 5.

The empeg worked beautifully...

I'll post more pics later, but here's a few pics for those interested in what the house looks like.

Another...

and one more

Did you take the special hardhat "behind the scenes" tour where they take you into the basement? :-D~ !

Calvin

Nah, we just did the main tour. I think it was the last one of the day we could take. We got in there around 5pm, I think, and still had to get to Mountain View to have dinner with a friend of mine.

I have to admit, it wasn't as exciting as I hoped. Some of it was a little strange, but I thought it would be a little bit more grandiose. I guess I was spoiled after having just seen Hearst Castle the day before.

Still, that last picture you linked is really pretty. I didn't know the house was attractive as well. Everything I read about it made it seem like this huge, creepy mansion built by an insane millionare

It's actually a very beautiful house. After Sarah Winchester died her heirs stripped the place of its furniture and sold it for very little money. As a result, much of the place is bare, but even so, there's really quite a lot of detail there. The behind the scenes tour is pretty cool :-D. The standard tour takes you on a 1 mile loop through the mansion, and avoids many of the places that have not been sanitized for public consumption.

Calvin

Calvin

Yes, it's really a nice house. Like he said, they sold off all the original furniture. However, they have actually refurnished it with pieces from the era when the house was built. I think all the pieces have been donated. So, it's quite nice.

They also have a room full of all the stained glass windows that never got used. I think they were all made by Tiffany's for like $2000-3000 a piece (which was a LOT back then).

I've attached a picture of the front doors, which were only used twice...once by the contractor who put them in, and once by Mrs. Winchester.

The behind the scenes tour is pretty cool

Every time there is a Friday the 13th, they will do a nighttime tour
by flashlight. I did that. It was fun. And they let you keep the flashlight.

I think they might also do this on Halloween, but of course, it can be a bit
crowded that night.

I'll have to check into this "Winchester: Behind the Music" thing you are
talking about and see if that is interesting (sounds like it would be).

Mmmm - I sooo miss my student days
The Orb were a great influence.

Here's my pic from last night... it was a beautiful sight to say the least!



(Pic shot with a Canon S330 Digital Elph with shutter open for 15 seconds)

Cool!

Good to know that my Canon will be able to capture auroras if they ever come this far south again (they did, once, about a year and a half ago). Gotta have it held pretty still, though....

Wow. That is one thing I miss about living up north (spent 3 years in Anchorage and 9 in Minot, ND). Watching the northern lights was just awe inspiring. I personally don't have any pics from that era, but I'll have to ask my parental units if they do...

Holy nastalgia batman!

A tripod works wonders!

It was quite a beautiful sight... outside with a fire burning and having a few beers. Made the night!

Yep. Speaking of which, the next friday the 13th is coming up, this friday.

Calvin

Is that when the new Freddy/Jason movie is coming out?

Um, no.

it's set for next summer or fall.

i really want to see aurora boralis even more than ever now.