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Your Mom

Certifiably Surly
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Everything posted by Your Mom

  1. A deck will wear quicker than a fence but I did my fence with Behr semitransparent cedar a year ago and it’s still looking great. Consumer Reports did some good multi-year testing on stains and it fared better than most in those.
  2. This caught my eye today and I thought a few of you might like it. I haven’t watched any of it yet. Documentary crew follows a group of strangers on the 1200 Pacific Northwest Trail through Montana, Idaho, and Washington. Weather, grizzlies, etc… I guess the PNT is supposed to be the most rugged of the long trails. https://watch.outsideonline.com/series/thru-the-pacific-northwest/7TasvQGk-HU6Xm3Rk
  3. I only carry a hip pack when it's really hot out. In cold or moderate temps I'll do up to 2 hours on a single tallboy bottle in the cage. Mtb shorts with a multi-tool in one pocket and phone in the other. Tube, lever, CO2, and bacon in a Dakine gripper thingy on the frame. If I'm really isolated, alone, and out of town somewhere I'll take a bigger camelbak with a snack, a bladder, and some quickclot gauze, tape and a splint. But on basic rides around town I love having as little as possible on me. Enjoy the new Ripley! I'm going to try to make it to Moab and Fruita again next month. I invited the girlfriend just to be nice, thinking she couldn't get that much time off work, but it looks like she can so... She doesn't ride so I'll be riding solo while she hikes.
  4. I just read someone speculating Mayfield's preferred trade spot is the Colts. 🤮
  5. Thanks guys. I definitely have no idea how to clean the sensor. I was thinking those had been on the lens as I had no lens wipes with me. Will investigate. There was a fair amount of processing in Lightroom on those star pics, but even prior to that it was interesting how different each shot was with different apertures and ISOs. I'll probably sign up for some formal instruction soon.
  6. A couple weeks ago I asked you guys about buying a camera. I ended up getting a used D810. I felt like naija’s advice to go mirrorless was sound but I couldn’t justify the cost. I got the D810 and a used 14-24 f/2.8 lens and a 50mm f/1.8 prime for walking around and getting used to the camera. Spent a few days around my neighborhood and local trails taking pics, playing with different depths of field and exposures, and getting humbled by it all. I have a very poor understanding of the light triangle. I understand how each part works but I’m usually unclear on where to start for a given shot. But I know where to read up on that and I’m not afraid to experiment and fail for a while. I’ve gotten into the habit of taking a pic in Auto mode and checking those settings and then switching to Manual mode to tweak things and see the differences. Anyway, I took it to Big Bend this weekend and was thrilled to catch some Milky Way shots the first night. I failed to get a proper focus on the stars the that night but figured out the process for that by the second night. Still could be sharper but I know what to do to improve it next time. Here’s the best of what I took out there. Pointers and critiques are welcome.
  7. I've canoed through Santa Elena and Boquillas canyons and both are great, with SE being more dramatic. The river has been more or less perpetually low for a long time now but I think it's generally still high enough to run. Lots of outfitters out of Terlingua.
  8. Headed out there again myself this week. The gf's daughter has never camped. We're doing a Star Party at the Observatory and staying the night in Ft Davis to visit my grandparents' graves the next morning. Breakfast at the Drug Store, which is still good but not at all as cool as when it was a full blown soda fountain when I was a kid and not so much the sappy gift shop it is today... but I digress. Then into the park. Lost Mine, Balanced Rock, Hot Springs, and Santa Elena are on the agenda. Camping at Upper Madera in BBRSP and doing day trips into BBNP from there, except I do have one night at a spot down Old Ore Road. It's a spur of the moment trip and that's what was available. Coffee and breakfast at Espresso Y Poco Mas is a must if you're near there. We probably won't eat at Starlight this trip, but it's the best dinner meal around the park for sure.
  9. I don't know if you are just stupid or what, so I'm going to talk slow and assume you are. Mask and vaccines are not 100% effective at preventing transmission and were never expected to be nor described to be by any reputable expert at any level. People who argue against their use because they aren't 100% effective are just refuting a claim that was never made. It's a straw man argument and makes you look silly. Masks and vax are, however, effective at reducing transmission, even while not 100% preventing it, and that has absolutely been a game changer and many people are alive who would not have been had nobody masked up and/or vaxxed. A masked person can still infect others but not nearly as many. A vaxxed person can still get the vid but not usually as severely. So yes, in the sense they were expected to work, they have worked. That said, I'm glad we are now in an environment where we can cut way back on mask usage because I fucking hate wearing mine.
  10. I’d head into the mountains with Jed and Matt Ekhart in Jed’s Chevy stepside with some deer rifles, food, and ammo. Probably stop off at Mr Mason’s place for more ammo and see if his granddaughters want to come with us.
  11. Wordle 257 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟧🟧 🟧🟧⬛⬛⬛ 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
  12. AISD going mask-optional March 7. I'm glad and I hope it sticks. https://www.austinisd.org/announcements/2022/03/02/were-going-mask-optional-monday-en-espanol
  13. A lot of people in Austin talk about a guy in Seguin that runs a bike park and has jump clinics. Chris Wood. Seguin Bike Park. It looks about how you'd expect a bike park in Seguin to look. Not much terrain, but lots of various sized wood ramps and drops. Never been but it looks fun. https://www.facebook.com/seguinmtb/
  14. Wordle 255 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟦⬛🟦⬛ ⬛🟦🟦🟧🟦 🟦🟧🟦🟧⬛ 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧 Tough on for me.
  15. Thanks guys, this has been helpful. I going to do some more reading tonight and make a decision tomorrow. Headed to Big Bend in a couple weeks and would like to have time to play around and learn some before that trip.
  16. Anything specific you'd recommend me checking into in the same price range? Say $1200ish or less and the same or less for a lens appropriate for big landscapes and night skies?
  17. Rookie here. Talk me into or out of buying this camera: Nikon D810. Used. Excellent condition. $1200 Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 lens. Also used in excellent condition. $1200 Both are from Precision Camera in Austin. Reputable shop as far as I am aware. Both pieces have been inspected and are warrantied. I want to take landscape photos. Mountains, sunrises, night sky, Milky Way, rivers, etc... I'm tired of going to amazing places and coming back with iphone and GoPro pics that don't do it justice. Not too interested in portraits or sports. I'm a complete rookie and have never owned a nice camera. I'll need to take some classes and I don't mind the learning curve. The D850 is out of my budget and not an option. I became interested in the D810 based on interweb searches, articles, etc.. and it was confirmed to be a solid choice by the guy at Precision Photo. I have the money, but if I could buy something that would be almost as good for half the price I'd rather do that. One thing that I keep coming back too is the fact that there weren't cameras this great just a few years ago and yet people were taking amazing photos anyway. How much dropoff in quality would there be if I bought a lower tier camera, say $600-$700 range? What else should I be looking at? This will be a camera I'd like to own for a decade, use on 3 or 4 trips a year, and pass on to one of my teenage sons later on as he learns more about photography. It will never be my biggest hobby but I'd like to get decent at taking great pics of the places I go.
  18. Nah that's just the rocky area we camped in. Big Bend Ranch State Park, near Mota Mountain.
  19. The bucket shitter is legit. I take this rig camping. The Reliance Double Doodie bags combine bio gel and a double bag fit for a 5 gallon bucket. A fresh bag for every dump, double bagged, no spills, no smell, and toss it in the first trash can you find on your way back to civilization. Add in some wet wipes and it’s a very pleasant means of busting a grumpy in the wilderness.
  20. I could. But I think we’re both arguing two different points and I’m not sure we even really disagree with each other other than I really don’t like living in Texas anymore and you do. if I lived in Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, etc. I think I would enjoy living there whether or not my family was around. I can’t say the same for Texas anymore. Doesn’t mean I don’t love Texas or that I’m not a proud Texan and proud of our history and heritage. I’ve just had enough of it. Moving to any of the other cities in Texas would not change that.
  21. It applies to other states for sure, but not to the places I’d consider great. To me great places are great on their own merits, not just for family reasons. I took his post about the “stickiness” of Texas to mean he thought of that as an indicator of how great it must be. I’m providing a counterpoint that lots of us are in Texas despite it not being where we’d like to live rather than because there’s something great about it. Me living here doesn’t mean I think it’s all that great in general (although I did list Terlingua for a little bit of Texan homerism).
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