I finally paid off my student loans this month. Thanks goodness.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Christmas Letter 2010
Dear Family and Friends,
2010 has been a good year for us. 2009 ended with us getting married on November 7th. We went on our Honeymoon to San Diego. While there, we went to the zoo, the marina, the beach where we tried body boarding and surfing (which is a lot harder than it looks). We went to the temple, to a farmer’s market, little Italy, Disneyland, and to Tijuana. It was very enjoyable.
We decided to have a baby and in early January found out that we were going to have one in September. Later in January, Mel’s job with Dr. King ended, she temped for a week in Calgary then started her job at Redcliff Family Dental Centre working in general dentistry instead of orthodontics, which she had previously been doing.
In March, we had a mini wedding reception for Melanie’s Calgary friends. It was a very nice evening. We splurged when we were in Calgary and got a room with a king size bed and have been wanting one ever since. That month, we also decided that it would be a good idea to buy a house and started looking for our new home. We gave our baby the code name Snuffaluffagus, Snuffie for short. Gary thought the baby was going to be a girl and Melanie thought the baby was a boy. Gary was right. Snuffie was going to be a girl.
In April, we decided to go to the Regina Temple, as neither one of us had really been to Saskabush before. We enjoyed going to the Temple, walking around part of Regina near the legislative assembly building and taking some pictures, and eating some yummy ice cream. On the way home, we stopped in Moose Jaw to take pictures with the moose. We also toured around the city a little bit. We were going to go into Al Capone’s tunnels but it was sold out and a little expensive especially since we didn’t really know what was down there. We saw the Moose Jaw’s wedding cake houses and had a nice visit with the town drunk. In March and April, we looked at a few houses and finally found our house and our offer was accepted. It was in our price range, fairly new (2004), the landscaping was complete and the basement was finished. Two bedrooms up and two down and a nice size yard seemed like the perfect size for us and our growing family.
In May, we moved into the new house and had lots of help, which was very nice. We really needed it.
In June, Gary played in the Ultimate Frisbee league. We also started prenatal classes to prepare for the arrival of Snuffie. Melanie’s sister, Janice, loaned us a pair of baby name books with 49900 made up names and 100 real names to help us name the baby. We made a short list of about 30. The next day we settle on a pair of names and didn’t revisit the subject. Over the summer we really grew to love the names we chose.
In July, we went to the Canada Celebration in Kin Coulee to see the sights and
enjoy the festive community atmosphere. That evening we attended the
fireworks for the second year in a row. Mel went to the VanOrman family
reunion in July and had a nice visit with her family.
In August, we went to the Melanie’s
family reunion in Writing on Stone.
It took us a little longer to get there
as we decided to enjoy the scenic route
of getting to Writing on Stone and visit with each other a bit more (we missed our turnoff). Gary thinks that someone in Foremost should put up an arrow shaped sign with the acronym W.O.S. on it and point it in the direction of writing on stone. We had such a good time visiting, playing in the hoodoos, and floating in the river. Melanie was able to float down the river with her big belly but needed help getting off the air mattress at the end. When the weekend ended, we finished the party at Mel’s parents house and played hide and go seek, which Mel says is quite the experience, with a pregnant belly. I think Jordie out ran Mel. ha ha ha. Mel was able to spend some time with her niece Twyla and sister Leanne. We also spent a day golfing with Leanne, Kurtis, and Mel’s dad. We should of guessed it was going to be a slow golfing day when the first person in the group ahead of us accidentally threw their club into the top of a tree and lost it up there. It was pretty funny to watch it happen, but boy did we wish we were ahead of them. The next week we went to another reunion in Calgary put on by Rob and Janice who both did a spectacular job.The last weekend of August Mel had her 20th high school reunion during cornfest days. She enjoyed the get together even though few of her classmates showed up. She also did enjoy spending time with Carol’s and Gord’s children at cornfest days. Mel also started her Maternity Leave mid August, which allowed her to enjoy the rest of the summer without having to work.
In September, the baby came. September 9th at 7:06pm weighing 8lbs and 8 oz. our baby girl was born. We named her Natalie Jane. We chose Jane for her middle name so she would be named after Gary’s mom and Mel’s aunt. There were mild complications and so she stayed in the NICU for 3 days and then we came home. Mel`s parents came to help during the first week which was a real blessing.
In October, aunt Karen and Jenny Fleming hosted a baby shower for Mel and Nat. We went Halloween trick or treating in Dunmore with Carol, Kenzie, Jordie, and Jaron. It has been one of Mel’s favorite Halloweens. Mel and Nat went to Calgary for their second baby shower, this time with Calgary friends. Needless to say Natalie has lots of clothes that are very cute.
In November, we had Natalie’s baby blessing on our first anniversary and Mel’s mom’s birthday. Mel and Nat went on a scrapbooking retreat in Kelowna. It was Natalie’s first plane ride, which she slept through all but the last 10 minutes of it. For fun we went to an Adult learning Continuing education class to learn how to make crepes in Taber, we had a very enjoyable time. We had crepes with asparagus and ham, chicken and mushrooms, and dessert crepes with lemon and sugar, nutella and bananas, apples and brie cheese, and apricot jam. It was all yummy.
We have enjoyed a lot of our Sundays with Gord, Carol and their family throughout the year. We have enjoyed the meals, the games, and the friendships. We have also enjoyed going to the movies with Quinton, Braedon, Kenzie, and Jordie.
Natalie gets to spend lots of time with Gary’s parents although we’re sure that they would like to see her a little more than they do. We also try to make sure she gets to visit Mel’s parents even though it isn’t as often. As you can see, we are very blessed and have had a very good year.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Gary and Melanie
2010 has been a good year for us. 2009 ended with us getting married on November 7th. We went on our Honeymoon to San Diego. While there, we went to the zoo, the marina, the beach where we tried body boarding and surfing (which is a lot harder than it looks). We went to the temple, to a farmer’s market, little Italy, Disneyland, and to Tijuana. It was very enjoyable.
We decided to have a baby and in early January found out that we were going to have one in September. Later in January, Mel’s job with Dr. King ended, she temped for a week in Calgary then started her job at Redcliff Family Dental Centre working in general dentistry instead of orthodontics, which she had previously been doing.
In March, we had a mini wedding reception for Melanie’s Calgary friends. It was a very nice evening. We splurged when we were in Calgary and got a room with a king size bed and have been wanting one ever since. That month, we also decided that it would be a good idea to buy a house and started looking for our new home. We gave our baby the code name Snuffaluffagus, Snuffie for short. Gary thought the baby was going to be a girl and Melanie thought the baby was a boy. Gary was right. Snuffie was going to be a girl.
In April, we decided to go to the Regina Temple, as neither one of us had really been to Saskabush before. We enjoyed going to the Temple, walking around part of Regina near the legislative assembly building and taking some pictures, and eating some yummy ice cream. On the way home, we stopped in Moose Jaw to take pictures with the moose. We also toured around the city a little bit. We were going to go into Al Capone’s tunnels but it was sold out and a little expensive especially since we didn’t really know what was down there. We saw the Moose Jaw’s wedding cake houses and had a nice visit with the town drunk. In March and April, we looked at a few houses and finally found our house and our offer was accepted. It was in our price range, fairly new (2004), the landscaping was complete and the basement was finished. Two bedrooms up and two down and a nice size yard seemed like the perfect size for us and our growing family.
In May, we moved into the new house and had lots of help, which was very nice. We really needed it.
In June, Gary played in the Ultimate Frisbee league. We also started prenatal classes to prepare for the arrival of Snuffie. Melanie’s sister, Janice, loaned us a pair of baby name books with 49900 made up names and 100 real names to help us name the baby. We made a short list of about 30. The next day we settle on a pair of names and didn’t revisit the subject. Over the summer we really grew to love the names we chose.
In July, we went to the Canada Celebration in Kin Coulee to see the sights and
enjoy the festive community atmosphere. That evening we attended the
fireworks for the second year in a row. Mel went to the VanOrman family
reunion in July and had a nice visit with her family.
In August, we went to the Melanie’s
family reunion in Writing on Stone.
It took us a little longer to get there
as we decided to enjoy the scenic route
of getting to Writing on Stone and visit with each other a bit more (we missed our turnoff). Gary thinks that someone in Foremost should put up an arrow shaped sign with the acronym W.O.S. on it and point it in the direction of writing on stone. We had such a good time visiting, playing in the hoodoos, and floating in the river. Melanie was able to float down the river with her big belly but needed help getting off the air mattress at the end. When the weekend ended, we finished the party at Mel’s parents house and played hide and go seek, which Mel says is quite the experience, with a pregnant belly. I think Jordie out ran Mel. ha ha ha. Mel was able to spend some time with her niece Twyla and sister Leanne. We also spent a day golfing with Leanne, Kurtis, and Mel’s dad. We should of guessed it was going to be a slow golfing day when the first person in the group ahead of us accidentally threw their club into the top of a tree and lost it up there. It was pretty funny to watch it happen, but boy did we wish we were ahead of them. The next week we went to another reunion in Calgary put on by Rob and Janice who both did a spectacular job.The last weekend of August Mel had her 20th high school reunion during cornfest days. She enjoyed the get together even though few of her classmates showed up. She also did enjoy spending time with Carol’s and Gord’s children at cornfest days. Mel also started her Maternity Leave mid August, which allowed her to enjoy the rest of the summer without having to work.
In September, the baby came. September 9th at 7:06pm weighing 8lbs and 8 oz. our baby girl was born. We named her Natalie Jane. We chose Jane for her middle name so she would be named after Gary’s mom and Mel’s aunt. There were mild complications and so she stayed in the NICU for 3 days and then we came home. Mel`s parents came to help during the first week which was a real blessing.
In October, aunt Karen and Jenny Fleming hosted a baby shower for Mel and Nat. We went Halloween trick or treating in Dunmore with Carol, Kenzie, Jordie, and Jaron. It has been one of Mel’s favorite Halloweens. Mel and Nat went to Calgary for their second baby shower, this time with Calgary friends. Needless to say Natalie has lots of clothes that are very cute.
In November, we had Natalie’s baby blessing on our first anniversary and Mel’s mom’s birthday. Mel and Nat went on a scrapbooking retreat in Kelowna. It was Natalie’s first plane ride, which she slept through all but the last 10 minutes of it. For fun we went to an Adult learning Continuing education class to learn how to make crepes in Taber, we had a very enjoyable time. We had crepes with asparagus and ham, chicken and mushrooms, and dessert crepes with lemon and sugar, nutella and bananas, apples and brie cheese, and apricot jam. It was all yummy.
We have enjoyed a lot of our Sundays with Gord, Carol and their family throughout the year. We have enjoyed the meals, the games, and the friendships. We have also enjoyed going to the movies with Quinton, Braedon, Kenzie, and Jordie.
Natalie gets to spend lots of time with Gary’s parents although we’re sure that they would like to see her a little more than they do. We also try to make sure she gets to visit Mel’s parents even though it isn’t as often. As you can see, we are very blessed and have had a very good year.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love,
Gary and Melanie
Monday, December 06, 2010
New Video of Natalie
I made a new video of Natalie for everyone to see. She is such a good baby, she sleeps most of the night and is very happy.
-Gary
Natalie 3 Months from Gary Milner on Vimeo.
-Gary
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Monday, November 08, 2010
First Anniversary
We just celebrated our first anniversary. This is a slideshow that I made for our party in Calgary. I'm not sure if I showed it to anyone else.
Be prepared, the slides go by about twice as fast as they should, because I packed in too many for the length of the song.
The last year has been fantastic.
-Gary
Friday, September 10, 2010
September 9th, The Best Day of My Life
Yesterday was the greatest day of my entire life. This is Natalie. In this picture she is 3 minutes old.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Back to School
The summer went very well. It was relaxing, but as always it would be nice to have two more weeks of it.
We finished our first school of the season the other day. It went very well, it was probably the smoothest first two days of shooting in the 4 years that I've been doing school photography. It seems crazy that I am starting my 5th year here. It sort of boggles my mind. I'm really enjoying my work. I am very glad to be back in the schools photographing again.
Melanie is doing very well, and the baby is coming along just fine. It is hard to believe that she will be here is about two more weeks. The baby's room is ready. Melanie did a fantastic job decorating it. I have to say that she will have the nicest room in the whole house when she gets here. I'm so excited for her to be here. I've been waiting 10 years for this day to finally arrive and while I know that the last two weeks will go by extremely fast, I can't help feeling that time is going by very slowly.
As I wrote in my last post, my istock photos are doing very well. This year I'm averaging $540 a month on it, and the summer is traditionally the slowest part of the year so things will probably be getting better for the last few months of the year. By the end of September I will probably have eclipsed my total from last year. I didn't get as much shooting in as I would have liked to over the summer, but I'm sure that I'll figure something out this fall. I imagine that I will be taking lots of pictures of the new baby.
-Gary
Monday, June 28, 2010
10000 Reasons to Kiss a Moose
Today I finally hit 10,000 downloads on istockphoto.com. I've been a member since March 2006 and let me tell you that 10,000 came a lot quicker than I would have guessed.
With those downloads comes my gold canister on istock which means that I will be getting a larger commission on my photo sales now and that I will be able to upload more photos at a time. Of the two, the money is the important one, I haven't been able to upload my limit since I hit silver and now there is practically no chance of doing it now that I'm a gold.
When I started uploading, the top levels seemed so far away, it didn't really seem possible that I could do it this quickly. Now it seems that I will make it to diamond in not much longer, with some work I'll be at the top level very quickly and with no more work, it is only a matter of time.
I'm still only making about a tenth of what I would like to be making, or maybe I should say a tenth of the amount I would feel comfortable quitting my day job with. I guess I should look at it from the perspective of that I'm making enough to take 2 months off next summer. Although I'll probably do neither of those two things even if I do make enough money to do that.
The reality of it is though, that a few times in the past, money I've made from istock has kept me out of trouble. When I got my appendix out, for example, I wouldn't have been able to pay my rent or eat because of the time I had to take off work. But with those handy istock payments coming in I was just fine. There have been other moments, but that was the biggest one for me.
I'm really happy with how it is working out so far.
-Gary
With those downloads comes my gold canister on istock which means that I will be getting a larger commission on my photo sales now and that I will be able to upload more photos at a time. Of the two, the money is the important one, I haven't been able to upload my limit since I hit silver and now there is practically no chance of doing it now that I'm a gold.
When I started uploading, the top levels seemed so far away, it didn't really seem possible that I could do it this quickly. Now it seems that I will make it to diamond in not much longer, with some work I'll be at the top level very quickly and with no more work, it is only a matter of time.
I'm still only making about a tenth of what I would like to be making, or maybe I should say a tenth of the amount I would feel comfortable quitting my day job with. I guess I should look at it from the perspective of that I'm making enough to take 2 months off next summer. Although I'll probably do neither of those two things even if I do make enough money to do that.
The reality of it is though, that a few times in the past, money I've made from istock has kept me out of trouble. When I got my appendix out, for example, I wouldn't have been able to pay my rent or eat because of the time I had to take off work. But with those handy istock payments coming in I was just fine. There have been other moments, but that was the biggest one for me.
I'm really happy with how it is working out so far.
-Gary
Friday, May 21, 2010
Family Update
We bought a house. We took possession of it May 14th and had most of our stuff moved in on the 15th. It is a beautiful little house. We both love it a lot. Slowly but surely over the last week, we have been getting our stuff sorted out. It is slow going, I don't remember having this much stuff in our old place but I guess it was all stored nicely. We still have a lot of miscellaneous stuff at the old place still. Mel's scrapbook room is still full and my computer room still has tons of random junk that seems to collect around computers, semi important stuff that is only important every 3-5 years but really great to have when you need it.
I spent 3 hours digging out the dandy lions on my new front lawn. I thought I had them all, but the next morning some new flowers had opened up letting me know that I had missed them the day before. Looking at the lawn, I wouldn't have expected it to take so long to dig them all up. I had figured an hour tops but boy was I way off.
I left gas in my lawn mower over the winter and that is super bad for small engines, so now I'm planning on taking out the carburetor and cleaning it out with dad's help although it seems like it might be a little beyond us both. I really don't want to buy a new lawn mower, but I might not have much choice. I wouldn't mind a lawn mower with a bag on the back of it, but still, I would rather have the money.
Work is going well, we'd love to have more grad formals than we do, but other than that it seems that people have ordered sooner this year than they did last year and on top of that we're getting the orders back to people faster than we did last year too. The pictures are looking better than ever, after a couple of grad seasons taking the photos goes more quickly and I felt a lot more confident in the studio. We have this information that we collect from the grads, basically to be able to connect them to their photos. One piece of information that we have is an email address. Unfortunately we told them that all we would use it for is to email them proofing information and then later to let them know that their order is ready. I really would like to use it for a third time to follow up with people that haven't ordered by the end of July. The boss really doesn't want to use the email addresses for a follow up because it isn't one of the things we said we would do. I remain tempted. The boss says that six or more years ago, they would phone all the people who hadn't ordered by the end of the summer to warn them that he was updating the price list at the end of August. I argued that a phone call is much more annoying than an email. Next year I'm changing the policy up front.
Last week, there were 7 streakers from one of the local high schools. The ran through the lobby of a hotel here in Medicine Hat and then through some portion of the mall. The local cops decided that it would be a matter best left to the school admins. I can't say that I disagree. In any case how it gets handled would vary wildly from school to school, on vice principal said at his school they would be out no questions asked. As it stands after a little community service and extra hours at the school the offenders still got to participate in their convocation ceremony. I didn't really understand the full impact of the situation until today I was photographing a kid from the same school and had to ask if he was one of the streakers. He said that no he wasn't and that everyone he meets asks him if he was one of the streakers. Every guy from the entire grad class must be getting bugged about that and I can only imagine how long it will continue.
Anyway, I guess that's my update for now.
-Gary Milner
I spent 3 hours digging out the dandy lions on my new front lawn. I thought I had them all, but the next morning some new flowers had opened up letting me know that I had missed them the day before. Looking at the lawn, I wouldn't have expected it to take so long to dig them all up. I had figured an hour tops but boy was I way off.
I left gas in my lawn mower over the winter and that is super bad for small engines, so now I'm planning on taking out the carburetor and cleaning it out with dad's help although it seems like it might be a little beyond us both. I really don't want to buy a new lawn mower, but I might not have much choice. I wouldn't mind a lawn mower with a bag on the back of it, but still, I would rather have the money.
Work is going well, we'd love to have more grad formals than we do, but other than that it seems that people have ordered sooner this year than they did last year and on top of that we're getting the orders back to people faster than we did last year too. The pictures are looking better than ever, after a couple of grad seasons taking the photos goes more quickly and I felt a lot more confident in the studio. We have this information that we collect from the grads, basically to be able to connect them to their photos. One piece of information that we have is an email address. Unfortunately we told them that all we would use it for is to email them proofing information and then later to let them know that their order is ready. I really would like to use it for a third time to follow up with people that haven't ordered by the end of July. The boss really doesn't want to use the email addresses for a follow up because it isn't one of the things we said we would do. I remain tempted. The boss says that six or more years ago, they would phone all the people who hadn't ordered by the end of the summer to warn them that he was updating the price list at the end of August. I argued that a phone call is much more annoying than an email. Next year I'm changing the policy up front.
Last week, there were 7 streakers from one of the local high schools. The ran through the lobby of a hotel here in Medicine Hat and then through some portion of the mall. The local cops decided that it would be a matter best left to the school admins. I can't say that I disagree. In any case how it gets handled would vary wildly from school to school, on vice principal said at his school they would be out no questions asked. As it stands after a little community service and extra hours at the school the offenders still got to participate in their convocation ceremony. I didn't really understand the full impact of the situation until today I was photographing a kid from the same school and had to ask if he was one of the streakers. He said that no he wasn't and that everyone he meets asks him if he was one of the streakers. Every guy from the entire grad class must be getting bugged about that and I can only imagine how long it will continue.
Anyway, I guess that's my update for now.
-Gary Milner
Thursday, April 29, 2010
My First Photobook Sample
So I've been wanting to make a photo book in Indesign for the last little while. This is a sample from my first foray into actually making something with Indesign and learning a few of the tools and shortcut keys. Along with Indesign, I'm slowly learning a little more about Adobe Bridge, which seems more and more useful the more I use it.
Indesign makes doing the layout for a book so much more intuitive. As a photographer the two main design tools I use are Photoshop and a hammer, because if you can't photoshop it, smash it! Indesign is the right tool for doing layout. Period. You can do stuff like this in Photoshop and you can even get good and relatively fast at it, but it is nothing like doing the design with the proper tool.
Photoshop is for editing photos and Indesign is for making layouts. Even with a template, these 10 spreads would have taken a super long time. I'm pleased with them as a start into my life as a photo book designer.
Indesign makes doing the layout for a book so much more intuitive. As a photographer the two main design tools I use are Photoshop and a hammer, because if you can't photoshop it, smash it! Indesign is the right tool for doing layout. Period. You can do stuff like this in Photoshop and you can even get good and relatively fast at it, but it is nothing like doing the design with the proper tool.
Photoshop is for editing photos and Indesign is for making layouts. Even with a template, these 10 spreads would have taken a super long time. I'm pleased with them as a start into my life as a photo book designer.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Driving Range
Melanie and I went to the driving range the other day. We had a pretty good time. Things are going along pretty well. We'll be moving into our new house in mid-May.
All the cap and gown photos went very well and we are starting up with grad formal photos right away. I'm enjoying my work. The other photographer is moving back east at the end of the month and so I'll be shooting alone for a few months, which will be nice.
My istock photos are doing pretty well, although for the next month or so I hope to sell a larger quantity of small photos rather than equivalent dollar value of large photos so that I can get my gold cannister and royalty bump that comes along with it.
I've been percolating ideas for shoots and models in my head for the last little while and I hope to get a few shoots in this summer. I'm told that it's pretty average to make a dollar a shot per month on istock and so I really need to get out and shoot so that I can build my portfolio faster. It feels like I have been stuck where I am for ages even after adding a bunch of photos last month and in January.
Anyway, things are going well.
All the cap and gown photos went very well and we are starting up with grad formal photos right away. I'm enjoying my work. The other photographer is moving back east at the end of the month and so I'll be shooting alone for a few months, which will be nice.
My istock photos are doing pretty well, although for the next month or so I hope to sell a larger quantity of small photos rather than equivalent dollar value of large photos so that I can get my gold cannister and royalty bump that comes along with it.
I've been percolating ideas for shoots and models in my head for the last little while and I hope to get a few shoots in this summer. I'm told that it's pretty average to make a dollar a shot per month on istock and so I really need to get out and shoot so that I can build my portfolio faster. It feels like I have been stuck where I am for ages even after adding a bunch of photos last month and in January.
Anyway, things are going well.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Gary and Melanie
Things are going great. We're planning on buying a house soonish. We've been out to see six or so houses already, but finding something nice in our price range is turning out to be a little harder than we thought. I guess we are having a hard time finding something nice for only a little more than we are paying in rent is the hard thing. We could afford a semi-nice place with a mortgage that is a couple of hundred more than our rent.
My parents were honoured with a Metronome award for donating their musical talents in the community. The were the guests of honour at a award banquet and over 150 people turned up to help them celebrate. Jeff me and Melanie were the the three youngest people at the banquet followed by my uncle and parents. When they were calling tables to the buffet, the had the head table go then the friends and family of the head table. Then any diabetics. I wasn't sure if that was a joke or not, but apparently it wasn't.
Work is going well. We've finished three of the high schools and are about a third of the way through the last one.
-Gary
My parents were honoured with a Metronome award for donating their musical talents in the community. The were the guests of honour at a award banquet and over 150 people turned up to help them celebrate. Jeff me and Melanie were the the three youngest people at the banquet followed by my uncle and parents. When they were calling tables to the buffet, the had the head table go then the friends and family of the head table. Then any diabetics. I wasn't sure if that was a joke or not, but apparently it wasn't.
Work is going well. We've finished three of the high schools and are about a third of the way through the last one.
-Gary
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Drive to Work
This is a time lapse video of my drive to work. Unfortunately my laptop ran out of batteries before I got all the way there.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Camera Control Pro 2.3
I recently got Nikon's Camera Control Pro 2.3 and after installing it kept getting the error "No camera was detected" even thought my Nikon d70s was connected and the folder structure was both visible and navigable. It turns out the the problem was that my camera's usb mode was set to mass storage rather than PTP mode.
The D70 connects to a computer via a USB port, as either a Mass Storage or PTP device. The PTP protocol allows Mac OS X and Windows to recognize the D70 as a camera, so it can launch camera-specific operating system software. Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) is an image data transfer protocol (like the TCP/IP protocol for the Internet) that is intended to do away with the need for special digital camera drivers.
The Mass Storage option lets the camera appear as a standard removable disk device. The Mass Storage option is almost always more convenient, since it doesn't force you through clunky downloading software, and is reportedly faster. You just have to remember to switch it when you want to shoot tethered to your computer.
The D70 connects to a computer via a USB port, as either a Mass Storage or PTP device. The PTP protocol allows Mac OS X and Windows to recognize the D70 as a camera, so it can launch camera-specific operating system software. Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) is an image data transfer protocol (like the TCP/IP protocol for the Internet) that is intended to do away with the need for special digital camera drivers.
The Mass Storage option lets the camera appear as a standard removable disk device. The Mass Storage option is almost always more convenient, since it doesn't force you through clunky downloading software, and is reportedly faster. You just have to remember to switch it when you want to shoot tethered to your computer.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Friday, January 08, 2010
Wedding
It was my two month anniversary yesterday. I've been thinking about what I want to write about it for a while now. It seems that I'm never going to be able to put my feelings into words.
Last year was a great year for me. I met Melanie, I had fun all summer long dating her and getting to know her. It was a summer of accelerated emotional healing for me. Melanie had a huge hand in that and then in the fall when I had life saving surgery Melanie spent hours in the hospital by my side, because she loves me.
She has turned the house into a home. She worked so hard to get all of her stuff set up and put away. She painted her scrapbook room. She's training me to keep the house clean. I love her. I hug her when she's standing still long enough for me to get close to her. She made a little scrap book for me as a wedding gift.
My heart aches from the moment she leaves for work in the morning until the moment I get home from work to see her in the evening.
I love her.
Last year was a great year for me. I met Melanie, I had fun all summer long dating her and getting to know her. It was a summer of accelerated emotional healing for me. Melanie had a huge hand in that and then in the fall when I had life saving surgery Melanie spent hours in the hospital by my side, because she loves me.
She has turned the house into a home. She worked so hard to get all of her stuff set up and put away. She painted her scrapbook room. She's training me to keep the house clean. I love her. I hug her when she's standing still long enough for me to get close to her. She made a little scrap book for me as a wedding gift.
My heart aches from the moment she leaves for work in the morning until the moment I get home from work to see her in the evening.
I love her.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Monday, October 05, 2009
Watching the Fight
I'm not really watching the fight. The blue colour cast was created in photoshop. In fact, the tv wasn't even on when I took this photo. It was just an experiment for a series of couch potatoe photos that I want to do soon. Maybe even a slumber party series.
My stomach is healing nicely. I don't miss my appendix, I should have gotten rid of it years ago. I got the stitches (actually staples) out of my stomach last week and now I just have non-Band-Aid brand band-aids on my stomach to hold my guts in. The nurse let me keep the staple remover she used on me. That was really nice of her and now after future surgeries, I can remove my own staples. I suppose now that I have the proper tool for the job they will be using regular stitches on me.
I'm slowly gaining back the weight of my appendix. I get the feeling that appendi's (appendixuses?) don't weight very much and that most of the 10 lbs that I lost were actually from not eating anything for 2.5 days. I was hoping that I could use this to spark some more weight loss. Keep the ball rolling and all that.
Everyday my stomach feels a lot better than the day before. I think that I am healing very well.
My stomach is healing nicely. I don't miss my appendix, I should have gotten rid of it years ago. I got the stitches (actually staples) out of my stomach last week and now I just have non-Band-Aid brand band-aids on my stomach to hold my guts in. The nurse let me keep the staple remover she used on me. That was really nice of her and now after future surgeries, I can remove my own staples. I suppose now that I have the proper tool for the job they will be using regular stitches on me.
I'm slowly gaining back the weight of my appendix. I get the feeling that appendi's (appendixuses?) don't weight very much and that most of the 10 lbs that I lost were actually from not eating anything for 2.5 days. I was hoping that I could use this to spark some more weight loss. Keep the ball rolling and all that.
Everyday my stomach feels a lot better than the day before. I think that I am healing very well.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Appendix
Friday night my stomach started aching. It ached all day Saturday. Saturday night, I was on the phone with Melanie and she suggested that I probably shouldn't take chances with appendicitis and that I should probably go to the hospital. I told her that I thought I would be fine. I googled "appendicitis symptoms" there are only 3 or so symptoms. One of the symptoms is that your stomach aches from your bellybutton to the right. Other symptoms include loss of appetite which I had and nausea, which upon reflection I sort of had.
About a hour and a half later, at midnight or so I decided I would go to the hospital and see what they had to say. I figured I would get there be in a huge line of people waiting in the ER, I would get a chance to think it over and change my mind and come home. The worst case scenario would be getting in and being told it was just gas. Well, there was only one guy in the waiting room and he was waiting for someone who had already gone in.
(The American media are liars when it comes to talking about Canadian health care. We get all your channels up here and I don't think I've seen one true thing about how health care works up here. I know they are liars and even I was fooled. I honestly thought I would be waiting in the ER and have a chance to change my mind and go home.)
I didn't even have a chance to sit down before the admitting nurse started getting me booked in. I showed the other nurse my health card and she updated my address from my parent's house.
Another ER nurse took me to a room and got me ready she did some routine stuff, left and then after a short while a doctor came in. He did a similar exam, but I guess he knew where to jab and on one poke it really hurt. I think that spooked him into thinking appendicitis and he left for a little while. The nurse came back and took a blood sample and hooked me up to an IV. The doctor came back and said he was going to have me go for some x-rays. As he was leaving he asked what side the appendix was on and I told him, that yes I had googled it and it was on the right side between the belly button and right hip bone.
I had the x-rays at about 1:00am and then at 1:30am he said that he thought it might be appendicitis. He said that he wanted to keep me overnight and do a ct scan in the morning but that he would try one more thing that might work and I might be able to come home. The other thing didn't work and so I stayed the night. I woke up pretty early after sleeping a lot better than I thought I would without my CPAP machine. It was about 7:00am or so and soon my surgeon came in he took one poke in my stomach and I jumped. He said that's appendicitis alright. He hemmed and hawed about whether I needed the ct scan or not but in the end he just went ahead with it. After the CT scan, he came back and said that with the blood tests, x-rays, and CT scan, I 100% had appendicitis and that I would be getting it out that day.
I figured that it was probably time that I call someone to tell them that I was in the hospital. I ended up calling my parents I asked for my dad because I figured it would be less stressful for my mom to hear it from him rather than from me on the phone, but she stayed on the other line and listened in. They got there by about 10:30 and shortly after the nurse took me up to my room on the 5th floor. They told me that they don't make appointments on Sundays for surgeries but that I would probably be going in at about 3:00 unless I got bumped by someone with a more serious condition. My parents left to go visit other friends in the hospital and came back just before they took me to the OR.
The operating room has a lot more lights than ORs do on television. I told them it would be a lot more realistic as an OR if they would shut off the lights like on TV. Real operating rooms are also a lot bigger than on TV. The operating table is very narrow. My arms would stay on the table by themselves. The table has adjustable arm rests that they pulled out so that my body made a big 'T' shape and they used Velcro straps to fasten my arms to the arm rests. As they were doing my right arm the anesthetist told me he was starting. I was asleep before they finished putting the strap on my other arm.
Being under anesthetic is a lot different than sleeping. Time passes quickly when you are asleep, but for me it felt like I woke up instantly and two hours had passed. I was rolling back into my room on the 5th floor and Melanie was there along with my parents. I was extremely groggy for the next few hours. Even after everyone left at 8:00 or so I was still pretty out of it.
I stayed for two more nights in the hospital and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. The nurses were all very nice. But it was also very easy for them to get along with me and the other guy in my room. I think it makes it a lot nicer for the nurses when the patients are nice.
Anyway, my appendix is out and I have a huge cut on my belly. I lost about 10 pounds over the 3 days I was in the hospital. I'm pretty tired but sleeping well.
-Gary
About a hour and a half later, at midnight or so I decided I would go to the hospital and see what they had to say. I figured I would get there be in a huge line of people waiting in the ER, I would get a chance to think it over and change my mind and come home. The worst case scenario would be getting in and being told it was just gas. Well, there was only one guy in the waiting room and he was waiting for someone who had already gone in.
(The American media are liars when it comes to talking about Canadian health care. We get all your channels up here and I don't think I've seen one true thing about how health care works up here. I know they are liars and even I was fooled. I honestly thought I would be waiting in the ER and have a chance to change my mind and go home.)
I didn't even have a chance to sit down before the admitting nurse started getting me booked in. I showed the other nurse my health card and she updated my address from my parent's house.
Another ER nurse took me to a room and got me ready she did some routine stuff, left and then after a short while a doctor came in. He did a similar exam, but I guess he knew where to jab and on one poke it really hurt. I think that spooked him into thinking appendicitis and he left for a little while. The nurse came back and took a blood sample and hooked me up to an IV. The doctor came back and said he was going to have me go for some x-rays. As he was leaving he asked what side the appendix was on and I told him, that yes I had googled it and it was on the right side between the belly button and right hip bone.
I had the x-rays at about 1:00am and then at 1:30am he said that he thought it might be appendicitis. He said that he wanted to keep me overnight and do a ct scan in the morning but that he would try one more thing that might work and I might be able to come home. The other thing didn't work and so I stayed the night. I woke up pretty early after sleeping a lot better than I thought I would without my CPAP machine. It was about 7:00am or so and soon my surgeon came in he took one poke in my stomach and I jumped. He said that's appendicitis alright. He hemmed and hawed about whether I needed the ct scan or not but in the end he just went ahead with it. After the CT scan, he came back and said that with the blood tests, x-rays, and CT scan, I 100% had appendicitis and that I would be getting it out that day.
I figured that it was probably time that I call someone to tell them that I was in the hospital. I ended up calling my parents I asked for my dad because I figured it would be less stressful for my mom to hear it from him rather than from me on the phone, but she stayed on the other line and listened in. They got there by about 10:30 and shortly after the nurse took me up to my room on the 5th floor. They told me that they don't make appointments on Sundays for surgeries but that I would probably be going in at about 3:00 unless I got bumped by someone with a more serious condition. My parents left to go visit other friends in the hospital and came back just before they took me to the OR.
The operating room has a lot more lights than ORs do on television. I told them it would be a lot more realistic as an OR if they would shut off the lights like on TV. Real operating rooms are also a lot bigger than on TV. The operating table is very narrow. My arms would stay on the table by themselves. The table has adjustable arm rests that they pulled out so that my body made a big 'T' shape and they used Velcro straps to fasten my arms to the arm rests. As they were doing my right arm the anesthetist told me he was starting. I was asleep before they finished putting the strap on my other arm.
Being under anesthetic is a lot different than sleeping. Time passes quickly when you are asleep, but for me it felt like I woke up instantly and two hours had passed. I was rolling back into my room on the 5th floor and Melanie was there along with my parents. I was extremely groggy for the next few hours. Even after everyone left at 8:00 or so I was still pretty out of it.
I stayed for two more nights in the hospital and it was a lot better than I thought it would be. The nurses were all very nice. But it was also very easy for them to get along with me and the other guy in my room. I think it makes it a lot nicer for the nurses when the patients are nice.
Anyway, my appendix is out and I have a huge cut on my belly. I lost about 10 pounds over the 3 days I was in the hospital. I'm pretty tired but sleeping well.
-Gary
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