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Another new year is starting and the more life seems to be a repetition.
Unless one is rich enough to try new things all the time, we all seem to go around in a weekly cycle. Work for 5 days, more work at home for the next two. With the odd week thrown in for something different - vacation. For 2014, we are all a year older and probably still dumb.

On the Cayman side, everything is till the same - same wife, kids, home, hobbies, job, friends, parents and relatives.

I have come to realize that as one gets older, one begins to appreciate the fragility of life. 3 friends have lost family members in the past two weeks. As my good friend Judith told me on Jan 2, the holidays were spent consoling those who had lost family, visiting those who were sick and running around trying to assist those more unfortunate.
There is a certain satisfaction one gets from these activities - a feeling that makes you feel really good about yourselves, not the feeling good that you got something effect that me mainly get.

I do not know what 2014 holds for me nor my family, but I believe that if we can appreciate the life we have been blessed with, the good friends that we have and the opportunities that are placed our benefit, we will all be better off.

Over the Christmas holidays, I did something that I had not done in many a year - build something out of metal. The project was a replacement bumper/trailer hitch for my Land Cruiser. It brought out in me the satisfaction of making something useful. It might have cost more than buying a unit, but I can say that "I did it'!
Of course, one project leads to another and a new expedition trailer is being hatched in my mind. Useful for hauling items to the beach for that party, carrying photography items around, or even for survival use in case another hurricane hits. They are expensive to buy and even more expensive to ship overseas. Plus, the DIY bug means that I can get what I want in the unit. Still working out the details but more to come.

All the best to you and your family is 2014!

Cheers
Mike

Same old, same old

Life goes on as the clock slowly tick to our final minute on this earth. When that is, we do not know. As you grow older, you become very aware that there is an end to our time here.
We continue to live in Cayman and the next major goal in our lives slowly draws near - retirement!
It's coming but I am surprised how many people do not plan for it and continue to carry on a normal up to the end.
One of my co-workers turns 60 this year and when we were discussing preparations, I was surprised to learn that he never planned for it. He know it is coming but did nothing!
Perhaps the wife and I are ultra cautious, but we were making plans since we were in our 40's. Will we be finished the mortgage before we reach retirement age? Will the kids be through school? Any major bills we can expect? Will the retirement funds be enough? And on and on.
There is no doubt that Cayman is an expensive place to retire but the choices are few. If we were in Canada and in your 60s, I do not want to have to get up early in the mornings and shovel snow? Or stay inside because it is -40F outside for days on end. In Cayman, we will always be able to go outside all year, even when it is raining. I might have to cut and wet the grass, trim the trees and pick fruit but it really does not take that long. 4 - 6 hours per month if I take my time, 3 hours if we have help.
Well, in local news, mango trees have blossomed. Our big carrie mango has blossomed all over this year. Usually it only produces mangoes on the east side but this year for the first time in 15 years, the west is laden and the east side is following.
There are so many green ones that we are planning to freeze some and I will be trying my hand at dehydrating the fruits. Many plans online for a solar dyhydrator so I will be making a small one to test.
Chickens are OK and so are the politicians.
This year is election year and for the first time, I am a registered voter - along with about 2500 others. The voting ranks grew by about 20% as more people seem to getting fed up with the current system. Two parties, that sound almost the same.
There were a few independents last election but many more this time around. The two months of campaigning has begun with the elections slated for Wednesday May 22. Interesting times to come.

Bye for now!

2013 - what will it bring?

Welcome to  another year by the western hemisphere reckoning. We survive the Mayan end of the world on Dec 21, another Christmas shopping season adn most of us are here to continue on.
I do not make resolutions any more because in the end, I end up doing what I wanted to anyways.
Island life continues on its daily progression - work , eat sleep, repeat for 5 days straight. On the weekends, house work, yard work or just doing something constructive is the name of the game.
Over Christmas, the wife and youngest daughter decided to sped the holiday with the in-laws in Canada. Great idea and off we went on the afternoon Dec 20th. 4 hours later, the temp was below freezing and we were seeing snow on the drive from the airport in Toronto.
I am used to the cold, and usually 2 or 3 days after we arrive in Canada, I am fine. But this time it was different. Don't know if it was the flu that everyone picked up and had for most of the trip or if I am just getting older, but it was not as enjoyable. Maybe never seeing the sun for the whole 11 days we were their contributed to it? Don't know.
But it was nice to come back home and thaw out. I felt sluggish for the first couple weeks as I continued to battle the flu but everything is back to "normal" now.
Nothing has changed. From chickens to gardening, cutting the grass or small projects, island life continues.
We can look at 2013 as a chance to continue as we are or we can take steps to better ourselves - whether through education, charity or personal development. I have come to realize that life is what we make of it.
Wishing everyone a late happy new year and let us become better persons!

'nother update and politrics

There was stormy weather in October but now things have cooled down and the AC units are off as we prepare for the "cold" weather. This is also the start of the dry period that goes until May to June - unless we get a steady flow of nor'westers.
Life continues as normal. Pirates week is finished and the next big thing is American thanksgiving then Christmas.
It was interesting to watch the stores once Halloween was over. They very next morning, the Halloween stuff was gone and the Christmas goodies were on display. I have remarked that by the time Christmas comes here, we are tired of the whole concept and just want it to be over! The desire for materialism that society currently chases is amazing.
One of the most interesting items is politics. We have our first Premier -Mr. McKeever Bush - who seems to think that if you are not agreeing with him, you are against him.
The Cayman Islands Government collects money, lots of money for an island this size due to the fees charged to companies and the duty placed on items shipped in. The biggest problem is Government wastage. For example, our local airlines, Cayman Airways opened up a route to Panama. The airfare for all the dignitaries and the hanger-ons was over $19K. Not including hotel, food and other expenses. The end result, was that the route was open for a couple months and then closed due to lack of interest. It makes one wonder about research and costing? Was it done? If so, the person/firm was not doing their job. I do not think that the money spent in launching the idea will ever be recovered.
Then we have missed opportunities to collect overdue fees. The Ritz Carlton was given certain concessions including a deferred payment of 6 million dollars for stamp duty. The owner defaulted on his payments and the building was put up for sale. Before the sale, the parent company contacted the Premier's office about the outstanding fees. 5 weeks later, after no response from the Preemier, the building was sold to a new owner. Our smart premier then says that the new owners are still responsible for the outstanding stamp duty and he is in negotiations with them. The new owners have responded that they have not heard from the premier at all. Who do we the populace believe? The report can be read at http://caymannewsservice.com/politics/2012/11/15/mac-denies-blowing-ritz-duty
Elections will be held in Cayman in May 2013. It will be interesting to see if  the opposition (who are almost the same as  the current party in power) will be given another go at the continuing screwing up these islands or if they will elect people who have some common sense and realize that you need to live within your means.
Another item is the police force. They are continually hiring more and more officers - increase of 12% over the last year bringing the total to 408 offices. One for every 136 people on the island. You would think that is a good thing - more officers out on patrol and a more visible presence everywhere.
BUT (or is it YET), during morning and evening rush hours and well as during the day, I have driven from one end of the island to the next and you cannot and will not find one office patrolling! Not one police car visible! Everyone is knowledgeable to that aspect and continue to speed, drive dangerously turn without signals, and break every other one can think of. Not to mention cars with straight pipe mufflers, tinting so dark that you cannot see inside the car at midday, people not wearing seat belts, etc. What is the use of paying them without having them work for their money? I need one of those jobs in addition to my regular one!
But for us normal, 9-5 job holders, life continues with its challenges and happy moments.

Getting behind again

I have been a bit busy the past couple months, and add to that the fact that I could not get into my blog because the local internet provider was blocking it somehow. But that is all in the past.

August came and went without much ado. Life continues as normal with work, photography, picture framing and tinkering using up much of my time.

I have been dabbling in lenses again - this time with  3 FD lenses (35mmF2, a 20mm F2.8 and a 17mmF4). They will be converted to EF mount at a later date. I have to finish the Vivitar 28mm F2.5 and the 20mm F2.8 that I started a couple months ago.
I also made the foray into Zeiss lenses with an 85mm F1.4, a 50mm F2 makro and a 35mm F2. Not their most expensive lenses (I would be sleeping in the chicken coop and alone if I did that) but enough to be able to try them out and see if it is addictive as they say.
My personal comparison between the Zeiss 85mm 1.4 and the Canon 84mm 1.8 places the Zeiss above the Canon. Same for the Zeiss 50mm make against the Canon 50mm F2.5. They might be manual focus, but the Zeiss images just plain look better right out of the camera.
If I was to keep the images under 8x10, their is mainly a difference in the colors and that can be readily rectified by a saturation increase in Photoshop. But go larger, and the Zeiss just plain looks better by my in-house testing family.

I also did a bit of traveling - the island fever thing. I went back to Grenada for  almost 3 weeks in September taking lots of pictures. The one thing I noticed in that when comparing Cayman to Grenada (both are similar in size), there is so much variety down there and lots more photo opportunities - whether in the towns for the old French and early British architecture to the wildlife, flowers, birds, rivers and landscape. Living in a flat place is not always good!

I was also in Mexico this week for a seminar and took a few photos. Mainly of the ruins at Tulum. When you are in workshops from 8AM to 6PM, it leaves little opportunity to explore. But such is life!

Hurricane Sandy affected Cayman and Miami while I was away. I did catch the tail end of it in Miami but it was mainly rain and clouds. While it is not affecting us much, I am still monitoring it as it heads north wondering how it will affect the northeastern US.

The usual chickens, fruits and lawn care continue.

For gardening, I managed to get two shoots of a root crop called dasheen which a relative of taro. The leaves (which are quite large) are used to make callaloo soup which the wife likes and it tastes good too. They like water so I am keeping them moist and they are growing. The plant is considered toxic if eaten raw but edible when cooked.
Bye for now

Full frame DSLR?

I am doing a bit of dabbling in the full photography to see if it is worth getting into. In many online reviews, they come across that if you have a full frame sensor, your images will be brighter, more contrast., nice depth of field, etc. I always wondered if it was just hype or real so when an older full frame camera became available locally, I bought it. For a total of $450, I managed to get a nice looking Canon 1DS Mk1. I knew the seller as I had bought a few items before from him as he upgraded to the newest and best. He could afford it while I have the budget goddess looking over my shoulder .... sometimes!
The 1DS originally sold for approx US$8K in late 2002. It had an 11 million pixel (MP) sensor which was the  rage of that period. About 2 years later (and for the same price) one could get the 1DSMK2 which has a 16 MP sensor. These days, Nikon offers a 36 MP sensor for about $2K less money.
It came with everything that was bought with it including the original box, instruction manuals and CDs plus an additional battery. Some of the accessories had never been opened, like the AC adapter to power the camera from mains power. A shutter count revealed that the camera only had 5570 shots on it. These days, that is like a short test drive. Lots of life left in it.
The first thing that struck me upon lifting the camera is the weight. It's about double my 30D camera. The next thing was to charge up the batteries and start reading the manual. The major differences were how to access the functions and the location of the buttons to press.
I also ordered two replacement batteries from overseas as backups (no name brand) and began to take pictures. So far, I have added about 100 images and you can be sure more will come soon.
Overall impressions - the images are similar to the 30D. Yes, you get a wider image view due to the larger sensor but if you have the 10-22 lens (which is for the crop sensors and cannot be used on the 1D without modifications), you get the same coverage as a 16mm full frame lens. Pixel peeping, there is less noise at 100-400 ISO with the 1DS but this only shows up during low light imaging.
It is a better camera for portraits and landscapes but nothing earth shattering. Would I get a full frame - absolutely YES! I would love to get  a 5DMk3...... but do I really need it?
Based on online reports, an 8MP camera will allow one to print an A3 image (11.5"x16.5"). I can agree with that as my 30D has done up to 13x19 with no visible loss in resolution. The 1DS should easily get to 13x19. To print anything larger, one can use a panorama mode. I recently took an image created with the 30D to Canada to get it printed on 40" wide paper (the cost was about 1/4 of what they charge down here). It was comprised of 9 raw images merged together (about 130Mb). The guy at the camera shop said he could print it about 14' wide with good image quality. Total final image size in jpg was about 10Mb.
In real life, it all boils down to the  photographer - a professional could take a great image with the cheapest digital camera available while an amateur could have the top of the line everything and have nothing worth looking at.
I am starting a new blog on photography and picture framing to get information out to potential clients for my picture framing business. I am getting questions on why I do certain things and it is easier to direct  them to a good explanation than try to condense 10 minutes into 1. It will be called "In the Frame" and the link is............ Aug 25 - still working on this. It seems that I can do all y normal blog posting and editing but cannot create a new blog! Checking in the blog forum and I find that another person from Norway is experiencing the same thing! Hmmmmmm!!!! What's going on Google?
Sept 8- finally got it figured out. You need to create a blog address name at the same time! In the create box, it said that you can add a blogspot address later and I was thinking that I could have left it blank. Well, live and learn.
So, the new picture framing blog address is.....http://intheframecayman.blogspot.com/. Have a look and see what I am up to!

Summer time and OMOV

It is hot! And did I mention humid? And also hot and humid!
In 4 days time, the registered voters will have the opportunity of trying to change the voting system in Cayman. The current system allows voters in two districts to vote for 4 candidates, another gets three choices, one gets to vote for 2 and two get to vote for only 1 person. The current debate is whether this is a fair system or not? At one time, the number of votes was based on the voting population in the district (i.e. if a district had 4000 voters, they voted for 4 persons at once while another district with 1000 only got to cast one vote) - representation by population. It seems fair but there are some perceived problems about fairness by the single voters against the multi voters. The new propose system is that everyone gets one vote (One Man One Vote) and we go from 15 parliament members from 6 districts to 18 members from 18 districts!
The current Government has said that they will not accept that there is to be a change unless the votes against the current system are 50%+1. A strange way of doing things since in most voting systems, the majority is the winner whether everyone voted or not! Needless to say, the current Government is against the new system.
The other thing is that this small community will have one parliament member for every approximately every 900 voters. Way to high in my books.
But then I am no politician so let the people choose! Time will tell what the result is.
In my books, it a day off work with things to do around the house and other duties to attend to.

I have reverted back from the plastic bike panniers to my old nylon ones. It seems that the vibrations from the rack and riding are causing stress cracks on the pannier mounting points. I had anticipated something like this happening and used large fender washers when doing the original installation but the cracks are around the larger washers. The old panniers will last until later this year when hope to get some new Arkel Metropolitan panniers. They are bigger than my current bags, have a reinforced bottom (unlike my single layer unit) and hold a bit more.

Bye for now!

What trouble have I been up to?

Time continues to go by and I have been taking it easy.
In the past couple months, I have been doing a few things. From vacation to small projects, making picture frames to expanding the chicken coop. It seems that it never ends.
I am now the big 53! Where did all the time go? Looks like my next big step in life (should life continue) is to enjoy the fruits of my labors with retirement. The end comes soon and quickly.
The picture framing business is slow to get started but it is off the ground and work is being done. I am still learning (even though I know what to do) and will deliver the best product I can no matter how long it takes. Speed will come later. The client will be viewing my bad work after I am out of the picture. I want to make sure that he/she is happy now only when they get the frame from me, but in the years to come.
Most of my work right now is being done for myself and family. It allow me to practice for people who are willing to give me valuable feedback.
My usual projects are all ongoing - from chickens to riding my bike to work, photography to woodworking. Some much to do.
I was in the Toronto area for a week in June. It was the wife's birthday and we visited her family and old friends. I also took the opportunity to do some photography of rivers, streams, car shows and other items not to be found in Cayman.
Today is a holiday - Constitution Day - so it is off to undertake a few little projects around the home.
I leave with a picture of a little river that is about6 miles northwest of Alliston, Ontario. This would be a lovely place to be on a hot summer day. A shady spot with cool waters!

Pictures, Images, etc

Well, 2012 is beginning to mean a year of some changes and new ventures.
As you know, I have been taking pictures for a very long time - my best guess puts it at close to 40 years! From home developing of black and white negatives to now digitally processing and printing color images. It has been a steady path of improvement and learning - from more modern cameras (although I am still 2 - 4 generations behind the current market) to better lenses, larger printer, experimentation, learning to process digital images (still lots of work to do on this) and more to be acquired in due time.
But things took a turn for the better earlier this year. I visited our local agricultural fair on Ash Wednesday where a gentleman named Ralph was offering to teach picture framing to to anyone interested. He had done some framing for me in the past with great results so I signed up for the course. Over a couple months, we  framed a few pictures and while in discussions with the owner, found out that he wanted to sell the business and stock as he was retiring to Florida. Hmmmm.....
Needless to say, we signed an intention to purchase and I am now in the process of buying everything from him.
So, by May 1 (give or take a couple days, government red tape and any unforeseen paperwork) I will be the owner of a custom picture framing business called" In the frame". It is my second foray into the world of private business (a change in countries killed the first one) but his one will require less of my personal time and allow me to become a bit artistic.
It will enhance the photography side by allowing me to customize my pictures before selling them. So far, interest in Cayman has been very positive.

Below are a couple pictures I took this morning. Minimal processing was done.
The first is of course a bee making his rounds this morning to the various flowers.

 Next, we have a guava flower taken from the tree in my front yard.

 There are also a couple ideas I have about producing picture books. Should make interesting projects for this year and keep me out of trouble!

Bye for now!

2012 - the end of the world?

A belated HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone. And this one started out with a bang!
Close to the end of 2011, my computer started acting up. It would fail to start windows when turned on, when put to sleep it would not awaken, explorer always crashing and other niggling things that just did not seem right! I ran virus scans, etc but no use. At the start of week 2 of 2012, it crashed. Nothing except looping into the start in safe mode screen.
I took it in and it seems I contracted a virus. How, I don't know. I am always careful not to visit questionable sites and my security rating is set to high!
Got the unit back yesterday and they had to wipe the hard drive clean. I now have to reinstall everything - only if I can find the installation discs and the @#%&*$# security codes!
But it's along weekend in Cayman so I will do the best I can.
And of course there is the end of the world scenario - if you believe the Mayans!
Just have to make my mind up if I am going to be a good boy this year or get in all sorts of trouble! :-)
Plans for this year are more traveling and photography. Complete a few house projects that have been started and do need finishing - including a new radio/electronics dungeon that it mine, all mine! Part of hurricane preparations and the ability to communicate with the outside world!

Where in the world have I been?

I was surfing the web and came across a site called world66 that allows you to generate a map of the countries you have visited or lived in. Needless to say, I was interested and entered my travel destinations. I have a long way to go! So far, I have been to 23 countries.
Travelling is fun - it allows one to see how others live and makes you appreciate what you have at home. What we condsider necessities are major luxuries in other countries.
Time to start planning the trips for 2012!

Travelling and projects

I just finished a hectic bit of traveling. I went to Grenada for one week in mid November, back home for a week and on to Canada for another week and a half. In both cases, I reconnected with old friends and family, took some images and relaxed. I managed to see and play in some snow in Canada and I now feel ready for the upcoming holiday season.

In Grenada, everything was green and lush. As one Trinidadian lady put it, if you planted a pencil, it would grow. Local food was abundant everywhere. The people are friendly and helpful. And they have one major item we do not have in cayman -HILLS! The prices are very reasonable and no one tried to hassle you if you said no. Outside of the capital St. Georges and the main tourist areas - Grand Anse, the beaches clean and deserted during the week. The rivers are scenic, clean, cool waters and full of big rocks for a variety. One can easily spend the day eating fruit (depending on what is in season), swimming and keeping cool. It is definitely on my return to paradise list!


I haven't done much bike riding since October due to vacation, seasonal rains and a general touch of laziness. But the cool weather is here and the traffic jams I saw in the past two days back in Cayman make me realize that cycling is the better way! Life goes on!
Looks like my biking mileage will be a little low this year as my main trips were to work and back. I estimate I will finish 2011 at about 1600 miles.
I am upgrading my commuting bike - changing out the nylon paniers for rigid PVC ones. The new ones are waterproof and provide more protection for carrying items. An image is below.

















I am also building a bike trailer using a plastic footlocker and an old child bike trailer. The design is brazenly copied from a crazyguyonabike article. This is one time that all the parts were available locally! The link is http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=8277&v=31
















Time to get moving this morning. Still on vacation so I will be enjoying the time left.

A simple ground pod DIY photo project

Hey there. I decided to make today my first 2 item day! Yep, breaking out of my shell.

I have been trying to take pictures of birds - mainly because they are interesting and come in a variety of colors, sizes and shapes. And they are almost everywhere! You don't have to ask permission and when they are tired of you, they just fly away with no hard feelings!

I have tried walking up to then with a 200mm lens but as soon as you get within 20 or 30 feet, away they go. What this means is that you have to do major cropping of your image to get that final picture that you want. It is usually pixelated and not good looking at all.

I have tried crawling and can get within 10-15 feet before they decide to leave. But again, with a 200mm lens, while they are bigger on the sensor, it is difficult to hold that camera and lens stable while you are on your belly in the sand!

The first thing I tried was going to a 400mm lens. This made the bird twice as large on the sensor and reduced the amount I had crop but I felt I could do better. I added the crawling and while I got great images, my shakiness and even more problems with holding a larger lens became very apparent. Off to the WWW to see what other have done.

I discovered something called a ground pod, a simple flat piece of something that you bolted your tripod head to. It sat on the ground, was very stable and carried all of the camera and lens weight! A bit more searching and I found one made of plastic (won't rust in Cayman), circular in shape and curved at the ends so that it slides in any direction. Great! Let me buy one. US$99.95 for that simple thing? You've got to be kidding!

Time to search DIY. I found one made from a aluminum frying pan and a bolt. Sounds easy enough! Off to ask the wife if I could borrow her frying pan and got a very sound NO! after I explained that I was going to drill a hole in the bottom! Back to the internet! :-(

More searching and I found another made from a plastic type wood and some made from plywood. Hmmmm, got lots of 1' square bits of plywood in the garage so off I went. A suitable piece was found and cut into shape. Three bits of 1" dowel to make the legs and some chair leg caps for gripping. A hole to mount the tripod head and one bolt to hold the head to the plywood. Some glue, couple screws and it was finished. Cost outlay - about CI$4 - US$5. I could live with that! Add a couple coats of Thompson Water Shield to reduce the effects of moisture and ready for field testing.

Completed ground pod

Looking ahead... it can also look down to the front of the pod.

The results I believe speak for themselves.

Getting away from it all

One of the difficulties of small island living is the desire every now and then to get away to somewhere else. You want a change in pace - see a different city, some hill, a river, different beaches, try a different restaurant, etc. Depending on how involved one is with other things like family, friends or projects, the desire can come within 3 months or a long as a year. I managed to get away for a week in January to Washington DC, spent Easter in Honduras and just came back from a one week visit to Grenada. A change is as good as a rest.

Grenada was very nice and I took my wife there. For all the yars we had been married, she had never been to my place of birth. Well, she has now and loves it. Her main comment was "all that green" and " look at that hill"! Of course, the bountiful fruits, beaches, rivers and friendly people also helped. She is already asking if we can go next year! Hmmm.....

The end of summer rains have come and gone and thankfully there were no hurricanes this year that affected us. Temps are a lot cooler and the humidity has taken a big drop. Time for sleeping with open windows and enjoying the fresh air.


Chickens are still there and producing eggs. Time to plan out winter garden - probably carrots, lettuce and beans this year.


Christmas is almost upon us and the advertisements have started. I don't know if age has anything to do with it but it seems that Christmas starts earlier every year. By the time it reaches here and you've had the big dinner and gifts, you are so thankful that it is over! Perhaps I should change my name to Scrooge! :-(

I close for now with a couple images from Grenada. More to come!


The first shows some of the small, colourful homes that people build. The second is of Grand Anse beach.

Shame on me....

..for letting so long pass betwen posts. I have found that the problem with doing a blog is that you don't want to repeat the same things over and over. Who wants to read the same thing but with a slightly different approach? Just like eating the same food but this time with salt, another time with too much pepper...you get the idea.


What have I been up to - mainly trying to keep out of trouble and mostly succeeding. Still continuing with photography - although the main thrust has shifted to DIY projects (something I like) rather than taking lots of pictures. I have dabbled in lightning pics and it is difficult. Some nights, I take 400 images only to hold one or two. Good thing is that it is rainy season adnlots of storms passing through!

I will try and add a better update this coming weekend!

Cheers!

Time continues to fly!

I did not realize that the whole month of September has gone by and I did not post anything! Not to say that there was much to post.

Let's see - did a little travelling to visit old friends, bought some more cheap camera lenses, converted a couple to Canon mount and slowly working my way to having all converted. There are 4 left to do. Two of the latest and greatest acquisitions were a Sigma APO 400mm F5.6 (the easiest conversion I have done to date) and a Minolta Rokkor 58mm F1.4 (waiting on a special adapter that will tell the camera it's a f1.4 lens attached). I just love taking old manual focus lenses and making them work with new cameras. The feel of the old lenses - a nice weight from being mainly metal as compared to the mostly plastic ones now being made. I get the satisfaction of converting something that would have been scrapped and extending its life. I know that most of the lenses will be useable long after I have left this realm. No electronics to wear out!

The Cayman Islands is once again going through a period of crime. We have had a bank robbery and some small store robberies. There have been a couple murders - one apparently related to drugs and the other to gangs. For a small island, these incidents are becoming all too common and the police have recently said that they will not be releasing any details of crimes as they happen. You have to wait for "normal" working hours to find out what is happening unless they determine it is significant! Sounds like they are becoming too complacent about what is going on.
I, for one, would like to know if there is a nutcase running around my neighbourhood!

The weather has been rainy over the past 10 days as one depression after another comes into the region. We have had about 10" of rain in the past 2 weeks! But thankfully, no hurricanes (as yet)!
Once the rains are gone, things will begin to cool down (it is already happening) and we once more get to pleasant weather and sunny skies.

There is a continued exit of expats as work permits are not renewed or companies experience slowdowns. The only blessing to these islands is that almost all of the people leave and hence do not become a burden on the system. On the other hand, it is expertice that is lost! On Oct 10, there will be a census to determine who is here and what they do!

These days, to still have a job, good health, food and shelter are all things one can truly be thankful for! It does not take much of an internet search to find out how difficult things are for some people in the US and EU. But one has to prepare for potential bad times during the good!

What you been up to Mike!

Wow! It hard to believe that almost 2 months has gone by and I have not updated! Obviously my fans decided to give me a break and not harass me for more news! :-)


Well, I've been busy. Spent more time doing photography than any other hobby. Tried to do some wide angle, portrait and learn a little more about Photoshop 4. Got it so better learn how to use it! Janie has been the reluctant victim (when I can convince her) and while they are not all winners, I do think that I have a couple keepers! Of course, my keep to discard ratio is bad but improving. If I could only find another victim ......I mean person to pose! Besides, she never signed any agreement limiting me to what I can do with her pictures .... I think!
N.B. She finally give her approval since she did not know how to get into my blog to change or delete it!





Rainy season continues with some accumulation most every week. Needless to say, everything is green and the grass is growing quickly. Have to make a major trim and cut every two weeks!


Not much done to the house. Broke down and got the AC installed. It was just getting too hot and humid. A couple weeks ago,the humidex went up to 120F. It was nice to come home and turn the AC on.


Chickens are giving eggs. Plants are growing - especially the mangoes and avocadoes. Two trees are laden with fruits - the guava and the june plum. expect to be feasting on those in the next 6-8 weeks. Bananas continue to produce and we usually have a ripe bunch or two every month.


No hurricanes on the horizon (as yet), but they are forecasting that we will have a busy season. So we continue to watch. and wait
I am now fully prepared to take hurricane pictures. I managed to get a digital camera waterproof case for one of the point and shoot cameras. It's good to 100' depth (hopefully that will not get tested) and I can get as high as 500+ pictures (if the batteries hold out).

The world slowdown continues to hit Cayman, and it is affecting us in a strange way. When people have a slowdown at work, they usually move back to the country of origin (if they are not Caymanian). The result is that many jobs are being posted by there are just not enough qualified people to go around. Time will tell how this affects the island!

Bye for now!

Gotta enter something for June....

Another month is almost gone by and life continues.

The rainy season is upon us, along with a bit of help from Invest 93/Tropical storm Alex. While the closest approach of the center was about 150 miles south of Cayman, we did get rain, rain and more rain for a couple days.
During the dry season, there is a very light, continual mist of salt spray the is being deposited over the island. It builds up and up and without the rains, would eventually poison the land. The rains wash and dilute this salt spray so it cannot harm the vegetation. It was needed as we are coming out of a long dry season. Of course, all vegetation is looking green and the grass is growing like crazy! The mosquitoes are out in force (usually happens 3 days after the rains) but the brisk winds are keeping them under control. Most everyone is keeping an eye out for weather disturbances coming off Africa and entering the Caribbean Sea.

All our preparations are finalized. Hurricane shutters installed, generator tested, fuel stocked up and supplies are enough to keep ug going for a coule weeks if needed.

Chickens are as normal, fruit trees are growing and everyone is healthy and alive.

Mango season is starting to wind down (shame). While I did not produce as many as in other years, I did manage to eat my fill a few times.

With the storms that have been passing by, I have had a greater than normal interest in photography - mainly lightning photography. These (like all photographs) are stolen fractions of a second in life. I am sure the neighbours are wondering what I am doing with a camera in the dark but so far, no one has asked so Iam not telling.

Lightning photography can be done two ways - continual long exposures hoping you catch a flash or with the help of a lightning trigger. Thankfully, I chose the trigger method.

A lightning flash lasts for up to 1/4 second (250 milliseconds). Triggering the camera by hand, you stand a very great chance of not being fast enough to record anything. With the lightning trigger, it detects the flash through a phototransistor and triggers the camera (usually in under 100 milliseconds), allowing you to capture the strike. The only problem is to make sure that you are pointing the camera in the right direction.

My only concerns have to do with the lay of the land and the two electrical wires that run in front of the house.

Cayman is very flat! Therefore, you cannot find a location that allows you to overlook a valley or a mountain to get the complete cloud to ground flash. But, I think that I did OK! Pictures are straight from the camera - no editing or cropping.

A long time....

I knew that it had been a while since I had posted anything but I could not beleve that over 2 months had passed! The daily monotony of life keeps going on!
Well, here goes.
Chickens - doing well. Get eggs most every day. And have built up a small number of free eggs clientele - between family, my work and Janie's work. I usually get a small reminder - amy eggs available? We have lost a couple of the Rhode Island Reds as well as a couple of the local chickens. Not sure why but there are no signs of disease. They get quite a varied diets from kitchen scraps, grass, vegetables and the usual staples of corn and layer pellets.
Weather - hurricane season starts in 3 days and I will be undetaking some of the annual preparations that we undergo every year. Communications, generator testing, checking and updating the canned food supply, checking on water in the cistern, hurricane shutters, etc. They are call for an above average number of storms this year so best to be prepared.
Photography - I continue to play with this hobby. I believe that it is the third oldest hobby I have - sitting behind bicycling at about 40 years, astronomy at around 37 and photography at 36. My lens collection is about complete (just the 10-22 wide angle and possibly a 100-400mm telephoto left on my wish list)and I have to say that I am averaging about 100 photos a week. A lot of them get discarded but I do get some keepers.
Travels - I went to Honduras for a long Cayman weekend two weeks ago. It is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere and the sights were an eyeopener. Scenes like young children sleeping on the sidewalks, people scavenging or begging for food, living under a tarp held up by branches, collecting drinking water from a river that runs through town were among the more daily sights.

Horse, bicycle or donkey drawn carts are the norm and most people use public transportation. Some people were collecting discarded water bottles from along the side of the road to sell for some money. Children collecting firewood to cook the meals or walking to get water to drink shows how difficult their lives are. It really made me appreciate how much I, my family and friends have been

blessed. Poverty was much more disturbing in the city. In the country, most people have food to eat but still seek the few limperas that can get for items they cannot produce by selling firewood or a few fruits and vegetables along the roads. I intend to bring the wife and kids there so that they can also see life from the other side. Came back with around 700 photographs.
Other items - I have been busy around the house. Built a few items for the kitchen - cabinet and island as well as planting fruit trees. SO far, I have added 10 mangoes (2 died) and 3 avocado (all OK), 2 limes (1 is struggling), 2 oranges, 2 sweetsop, and will be adding 5 naseberries (sapodilla) as well as an achee.
We curently get a new bunch of bananas about every 6 weeks. Nothing like the flavor of a tree ripened banana.
Still cycling, tinkering and keeping out of trouble. I haven't done any more cooking but with mangoes becoming more available, I am sure some treat will be soon tested!

More, more, more!

I think I have unleased a monster!
After my initial foray into the wild world of culinary delights - namely desserts - I have gone into something I had previously only tasted in Cayman but have now created for myself. Since my first heavy cake endeavour, I have made more and they are still turning out fine. Slight variations in taste, but still OK by my books. Sarah thinks so too.
I have been reviewing the Miss Cleo's Cayman Kitchen book that I borrowed from Janet (not sure when I will give it back at this rate) and found a recipe for cut guavas (also known as stewed guavas). Tonight, after dinner, I decided to give it a go. The recipe was fairly simple
5 lbs of guavas - I picked those from my tree yesterday
8 cups of water
3 cups of water - you need two different batches
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp red food colouring (skipped this because we don't have any in the house)
1/4 cup of lime juice.
The first thing is to peel the guavas, cut in half and remove the seeds. For those who don't know, a guava that is two inches in diameter once peeled and deseeded, leaves about a 1/4" thick shell. A lot of the fruit is mixed in with the seed - probably about 70%- that is thrown away. In my case, the chickens will enjoy their treat.
Place the guava shells in the 8 cups of water and boil until the tender.
Strain the guavas and place again in 3 cups of water, 3 cups of sugar, cinnamon nad lime juice. Bring to boil then reduce to simmer until you have the consistencey you want, stirring occasionally.

Sound simple enough and it is.
From start to finish, 2 hours. I made a quart and a half of cut guavas.
Tomorrow, Janet and Jennifer, my two "at work samplers", will once more put their lives in my hands as their sample my products!

Still on the cool for us side as temperetures only got up to 74F today in the bright sunshine. Currently the temp is 71 and looks like we will be below 70 tonight. Winds are still blowing from the NE at a constant 20 mph but gusts to 35 are recorded. Perfect sleeping weather!

Goodnght all!