Lot of sand in the bottom of the car after going to the beach near Morro Rock.
The sunrise just hitting the top of the hills.
The clouds lit up.
Clouds in the hills.
This neighbor always has a lot of Halloween decorations.
We had dinner at Fin + Field.
Neat bar.
Ogii with her wine.
Cheese plate.
Steak.
Chicken.
Dessert.
I bought this shampoo and conditioner for Ogii because they looked really cool and they say "Maui," but she didn't really like them.
Riding some animals in Star Wars.
They look a lot like the wolves in Lord of the Rings.
We drove up to Mountain View for a volunteer health fair there. We were planning on arriving the morning of, but they didn't have anyone who knew how to set up the equipment, so we went up the night before to do that. Good thing we did; it took a few hours.
Also lots of frames to unpack and arrange.
We stayed at a hotel without front desk staff.
Instead you use a kiosk.
Which has remote staff.
Pretty entrance.
Long chandalier.
Neat sink.
And lamp.
Fountain out front.
Back to the church the next morning.
Lots of volunteers. This is the same group we've volunteered in Soquel with; the Life Hope Centers.
The organizers.
Frames all ready to go.
Ogii performed autorefractions.
Kathleen Shen was a local optometrist who also came. She saw the patients who spoke Chinese.
And I saw the ones who spoke Spanish.
Other volunteers performed lensometry.
And helped pick out frames.
Then we sent the prescriptions and frames to have glasses made.
Figuring out the glasses prescription.
Checking the health of their eyes.
They also had dentistry.
Most of the patients are pretty easy and only need glasses, but there are usually a few who need something more. This guy had a cataract surgery done, but his intraocular lens had become displaced, so he needed to go back and have it replaced.
We had two doctor lanes set up.
A pretty rough estimate, I might have missed or added a few, but I saw around 50 patients.
Stopping for snacks afterwards. Funny name for taffy.
Never heard of this version of Coke before. It was kind of weird.
Woodpecker outside Ogii's office.
Some turkeys there, too.
And a vulture on top of a pole.
Not my picture, but the difference between a vulture on top and a California condor on the bottom. I don't think I've ever seen a codor, even though they're supposed to be around this area.
Someone at work had what smelled like some really good wings, and he said he got them from Mountain Mike's, so I decided to try it out.
Salad bar.
The wings were OK. Maybe he had a different sauce.
It's been super hot lately. This was in my car.
Also very hot in Ogii's office.
Some planes practicing for the airshow this weekend.
They made a heart with their contrails.
House hunting show with an episode in Oahu.
If you're right on the ocean, you have to make sure you have a legal barrier built. If you have no barrier, the ocean will slowly eat away your shoreline and even house, and if you have an illegal barrier, the state will fine you and make you remove it.
Beautiful view.
Lots of condos.
And another show on the Big Island.
Lots of lava on the south side.
Cool house.
A different one right out on the lava.
I don't know if you can really snorkel around here; the waves will push you into the lava walls. You'd want to go somewhere with a beach instead.
Beatiful wooden house.
The Zomei tripod Ogii had bought me a few years ago was not working to well any more, probably from all of the sand that had gotten into it from the beach pictures. So I bought a new one, the Peak Design carbon fiber. The carbon fiber is more expensive than the aluminim version, but it's also lighter. It's also well-known for being very sturdy but also very small, as you can see compared to the Zomei one.
It is a bit shorter, but if I extend the Zomei one all the way, I can barely work the camera, so I don't need those extra few inches.
It also has a custom head. The Zomei on the left is normal; the Peak Design is on the right.
That means you have to buy custom plates for every lens you use. Thankfully they aren't too expensive.
Kind of a different locking mechanism, too.
It has tools hidden away in different locations. This one is in the carrying bag.
And this one is attached to one of the tripod legs.
It's used to attach the base plates.
And also to tighten the legs. A few of the leg slots were awfully loose and slid down just by having the camera on them; you'd think they'd come tighter from the factory.
Also hidden in the bottom of the central tripod section...
... was a cell phone holder.
It worked well.
Unfortunately, while it came with a case, it didn't come with the straps for the case.
I wasn't going to pay $50 for theirs, so I just used the old one I had.
The aluminum Peak Design tripod is $400, the carbon fiber is $600, and the old Zomei tripod was $170.
I don't think the carbon fiber Peak Design one is 3.5 times better than the Zomei, but if it's lighter and easier to carry on long hikes, mainly if I can fit it in the camera bag like this (which I couldn't with the old tripod; I had to carry it separately), it might be worth it.
I also bought a new camera backpack, as the strap that would hold the upper section of the tripod in place broke off.
It's slightly different than my old one, even though it's the same brand.
Mainly in that you can open it all of the way up. I'm not sure if I like that; it seems to lose a little support to add this flexibility, but I'll have to see.
Cheers had a lot of cameos of famous actors. Here's Doc Brown from Back to the Future.
Hard to see, but the license plate of his pickup says, "4HNTIN."
Trying to measure myself for clothing. I couldn't find a tailer tape, so I used a phone cord and a yard stick.
The drink packages on the cruises are so expensive. I don't know why people get those instead of just drinking the water and juice that's free.
I can't find the unsubscribe link in this email.
Ah, they hid it in white text on a white background. That's sneaky.