Mark @wizardofosmium@mastodon.social

@fitheach
This is a scan of the photograph I took in Smoo Cave, I think it was in 1989. It was so dark I could barely see where the light was coming in. The camera, a Pentax, suggested a setting of maximum aperture and a shutter speed of 4 seconds. I held the camera at an angle using a fence for support. I didn't have much film to use so I only took 1 shot.

Typical, I went out on a walk without my camera and as usual something comes up that would have been good to photograph. Today there was a kingfisher on the Water of Leith, we watched it for a while and even saw it dive into the water and catch a fish.
I only had my phone so the image is a bit blurred.

I've just noticed that my Windows machine has a weather app on the task bar and it says that it is raining now.
I've just looked out of the window and there clouds but it is sunny.
What a waste of electrons.

Step 1. heat the back to soften the glue and remove the cover.
Step 2. remove all the screws and remove the housing.
Step 3. unplug the connections and replace the board.
Then put it all back together.

I plugged the phone in and it seems to be working fine.
Much cheaper than a new phone.

My wife and I have both had the same model of phone for just over 2 years and strangely they are both having problems with the USB port. Charging is taking ages and when plugged into the PC the option to transfer data is gone.
We were not planning on changing phones so I thought I'll fix it myself.
A replacement charging port board was only £17.50 Inc. delivery.
How hard could it be?

We walked from Dunbar to East Linton yesterday, following the John Muir Way, but some of the track was made up with small sharp stones. The dog was finding it too difficult so we found a solution, luckily he's a small dog.

I got a good view of this deer in the Pentland hills this morning. We had the dog and had to lift him up so he could see it too. I like the fact that I can walk from my front door in Edinburgh to see things like this.

We were supposed to have a plasterer over to work on our conservatory roof conversion last Saturday but he didn't turn up. He didn't turn up on Monday either. The guy in charge told us yesterday that he had Covid 19 but he didn't want to tell anyone.
I think he wanted to keep working so as not to lose money. He had to let people know in the end though as he is now seriously ill.
I hope he gets better soon but it's people like that who put us all at risk and make more lock downs likely.

A time-lapse from this afternoon. Which way is the wind blowing?

I saw a swallow dipping into a pond this morning, probably catching insects. I tried to get a picture of it, I got one before it flew off.

I've recently learned how to use the physics in Blender. Here's a couple of short videos I made. The second is a virtual model of my desk with some added extras.
https://youtu.be/JUQeB4hPgKI
https://youtu.be/-ZQfu9p7UI8

We had a walk beside Castle Law this morning. Loganlea and Glencorse reservoirs can be seen in the distance. There were lots of lambs about and a coal tit posed for the camera.

Something new I learned. Today is the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Baugé. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baug%C3%A9

My favourite bit is:
"On hearing of the Scottish victory, Pope Martin V passed comment by reiterating a common medieval saying, that "Verily, the Scots are well-known as an antidote to the English."

I see the vaccinations are going well. I got my first last week, my wife is due next week and my son (30 yo and no health issues) is due before the end of the month. That's a lot quicker than I expected.