105, and other random ramblings

Hmmm! For some odd reason I can now get into this, my "old" blogger account, which I haven't been on for ages. How does one delete their blogger? I don't even see where I can delete the old posts!

Ah, well, onward .... it's not like I really keep up with this blog stuff anyway, or more importantly, it's not as if anyone reads it!

Today... I'm taking my most prized, best, least used - should be used a lot more, lens out of the sock drawer and attaching it to the Fuji. The Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 Ai-S.

Somehow it just seems wrong to put this lens on a digital SLR, but of the lens' I do have, this one is among the few that the Fuji actually 'likes'. Yes folks, a camera that is particular and discriminating.

I don't even know why I'm getting it out. The (natural) light outside today is fugly... a typical south Texas spring day, partly cloudy, and will probably get humid later even though it's fairly nice and cool atm. {with that in mind... mental note... stick the CPL on the 105}. Maybe I just feel guilty about not using the S5 lately.... been shooting the 35mm's much more since I've taken quite a liking to the Porta's.

Well... the day's a wastin', gotta run!

Distress

Never mind.

Noah! How long can you tread water?

What a difference a few hours makes! Yesterday started out with crystal clear blue skies, so I decided to go on a bit of a photo shoot expedition later in the day ... retrace the steps of my past and try to rediscover places I once haunted in my younger days that I recalled to be photogenic. Places like Spechts Store ... way out there in the country.

Well, everything went pear shaped, as the rains came again.....in buckets!! It wasn't a total loss though....I got a few 'disaster' shots!

http://flickr.com/photos/digifilm/

Houston....We Have A Problem!

Dead in the water!

As far as I can tell, it's getting power, but it won't power up!

*scratches head* .... I'm clueless!

It's Done!

the "re-build" of the desktop is, for all practical purposes, complete ....sans a few minor adjustments and the RAM upgrade, which will take place as soon as I can find a good deal on the web.

problem is, I'm afraid to turn on the ignition switch! (was that 4 cans of oil? or 5?)

new cables (mostly). $16.00
new rear fan. $10.00
new slot fan. $10.00
new video card (wound up going with a PNY Technologies Verto NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS, AGP 8X, 512MB DDR2) $100.00
new 'Ultra' power supply (upgraded from 250w to 500w) $75.00
new Seagate FreeAgent 250GB external hard drive. $80.00
added an 80GB Seagate internal IDE hard drive that was the old external drive. might as well put it to use as a swap drive; can't hurt.

I'm guessing the RAM sticks shouldn't be more than $150.00, ballpark figure.

Well Ollie, You've Gone and Done It NOW!!!

Sub-titled... This Is Another Fine Mess I've Gotten Myself Into!

okayyyyyy....

...so the upgrade on the desktop didn't go quite as planned. first of all, the new Ultra power supply doesn't quite fit, and is secured by .... one screw. but it is in place, and not moving about. there sure are a lot of cables to it though. I'm sure I'll figure out where they all go .... eventually. so far, I've got the motherboard cables placed correctly.

secondly. that fancy video card I got? wrong Bus Interface. it's PCI Express. I need an AGP interface. not entirely my fault though... I was misinformed. I'm just hoping BestBuy will take a return on an open box peripheral, otherwise I'm almost broke (figureatively speaking of course). I found a 'correct' interface video card at CompUSA. I'll find out about the return to BestBuy....tomorrow.

thirdly. that Dynex card reader? too small. I need one that will fit a 5.25" bay. I didn't open that package so a return won't be a problem.

fourthly. I didn't upgrade the RAM, ...yet.

on a positive note, the inside of the box got a thorough cleaning. I stripped it down to the bare minimum and went nuts on a cleaning frenzy, which included the room the desktop is in. no more dust bunnies! anywhere! for now. and that dodgy rear fan has been replaced.

I have also come to the conclusion that....building ones own system is not that difficult, providing you have the information and knowledge, not to mention the funds, to get the right parts for it. the only thing that ticks me off about that is, ...everything seems to be based on what is new and shiney. I'm not of the school of thought that everything is disposable, especially if it works just fine!

I took some photos of the work on the desktop. I might post some here.

laterz,
R

Upgrading the compy box!

alo....

... from my crappy, 'not so mach schnell', Dell laptop .... which I am writing this from ... because......I'm in the process of upgrading my somewhat ancient desktop workstation at the mo', which is laying in pieces on my bed right now. I have been wanting to 'optimise' it for CS2, and a possible upgrade to Vista Ultimate, or at the least the 64 bit version of XP Pro, if it can still be found (it's running the standard 32 bit version now).

gratuities wise, I had a rare, excellent weekend, ...especially Friday (thanks, Louis!). my sales that day were $25,744.00 and over $24,000 in cashed winnings, so I should have had a grand day!!

I was going to get a new lens, but decided I wanted it for all the wrong reasons (a rebate), and already have lenses that cover that range anyway, so what's the point?! the old desktop has been needing some work done on it for awhile now, so that is money better spent, and still cheaper than buying a new desktop. I couldn't get a desktop nowadays as powerful as the one I've had for almost 5 years now for less than $2000.00, so an upgrade is much more practical. I could build a better one myself, and for much less, than what is out there today!!!

getting....new memory (upgrading from 1GB to 2GB of RAM). Got, a new PNY Technologies nVIDIA Verto GeForce 8500 GT 512mb video card (on sale...woohooo), but for which I had to also do an 'unplanned' upgrade on the power supply, NOT on sale, upgrading from 250w to the Ultra brand 500w), a new Seagate FreeAgent 250GB external hard drive (also on sale...woohooo), a Belkin high-speed USB 2.0 7 port hub, and a Dynex internal media card reader to replace that floppy drive that has never been used.

it had been quite some time since I had to get into the guts of the desktop. when I first pulled the side cover off yesterday .... EGADS!!!! dust bunnies everywhere!!! now I have to take it to get it 'blown out'. I also discovered the rear exhaust fan is about to go tits up, so will have to make another trip to AlTex Electronics, or CompUSA ...which, actually I don't mind all that much (I'm a techie geek/nerd...lol...just of a different, passable knowledge sort maybe). Last night at AlTex I was walking thru the aisles ooo'ing and awww'ing at all the 'shiney' bits I'd like to get to build my own system!!

well ...gotta get back to work on the desktop now. just thought I'd take a break and post this... FWIW.

Regards,
Randy