...but is it funny?

OK, maybe this is a guy thing. I'll let you decide.

Last night, one of my co-workers set himself on fire when some solvent flashed in our paint booth. Right up front - he's going to be OK, though he has burns on his arms and face. He says it looks like sunburn, so it's likely a first degree burn. Painful, but no lasting damage. He may have lost part of his beard and his eyebrows.

We use solvent - formerly naptha - to degrease and clean parts. It's mixed with high pressure air in a spray nozzle. I said our solvent was formerly naptha because the company recently changed to another chemical, one with a lower flash point. You can see where this is going.

We think a static discharge ignited the stuff. In an instant, Rxxxxx was surrounded by flames. Fortunately, he was wearing some protective gear: a face shield, an apron, and elbow-length gloves. His arms were burned above the gloves but below his sleeves, and his face received some burns too. He did breathe in some hot gases, but after a visit to the hospital ER, he was sent home.

Now, given that we're a cold-hearted bunch, it's well-established that whenever someone gets hurt, we make fun of them. Like I said, it's a guy thing. My contribution, besides some wise cracks about making barbecue, was the following.

"When you get back to work, could you give us a little more warning before setting yourself on fire again? We'd like to make smores."

2009 MUTCD

The 2009 revison of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Devices is available on line at:
http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno_2009.htm

This is the standard reference book for signage, lane markings, and more. It's useful to cyclists when a local body wants to adapt non-standard devices, and can be instrumental in assisting cyclists involved in advocacy.

A quick personal note

I walked quite a bit on Saturday as I went through the Tulsa Flea Market, a couple of shops, and the thieve's market. I walked with my cane, not because I needed it for support, but because it forces me to slow down and provides assistance with balance.

Here's the good news. The last time I went to the flea market, my knee and hip hurt so badly afterward that I couldn't walk much that evening. This weekend, however, I was pain free! Even better, there were no dizzy spells.

It's going to be a rough week ahead. I'm working early because my daughter had a schedule change and I get up with her for coffee before work. My alarm goes off at 4AM. Also, we're presently scheduled for overtime on Saturday, but I'm on vacation after that.

If all goes well and the extra stress doesn't make me hurt, I plan to try riding my bike this weekend. That may sound like a pitifully small step, but simply walking around the block was exhausting and very painful a few months ago. I'm hoping to start recovering all that lost fitness.

And yes, I still have to see the doctor, but that will be something to do while I'm taking vacation time.

Nice boondoggle

From the League of American Bicyclist's blog:

December 11. League President Andy Clarke heads off to Copenhagen next week as an official observer to reinforce the need for national, state and local governments to include cycling as an integral part of a sustainable transport strategy – which Copenhagen exemplifies so well.

Maybe he can help power their municipal Christmas tree while he’s there.

Is there some international bicycling advocacy education group that I'm not aware of yet? If we're to "think globally and act locally" why is LAB's Big Cheese in Copenhagen? The League is based in Washington and unless things have changed in the last day or two, that's still our seat of government. How many "state and local governments" will have representatives in Copenhagen? Gosh, you'd think that if you wanted to change cycling for the better in our country, it would be a simple matter to talk to legislators in the same freakin' city where LAB is based!

Who wants to bet we'll be subjected to another round of "Copenhagen-style" happy talk when he returns? The League has transparency issues since they've declined publishing a financial report on their website for some time. And in the present recession when most organizations are reporting declining membership, our own Big Cheese chooses a boondoggle trip over the genuine needs of American cyclists.

Hope you had a fun trip, Andy.

Yeehaw! I hit the motherlode!

Crappy cell-phone photo.

Saturday morning, I went to the Tulsa Flea Market, a couple of thrift stores, some pawn shops, and the local thieve's market. And in one of them, I found this jumble of cameras.  There's far more here than is apparent in the photo.  Cameras and accessories are tucked away under the shelves and in small boxes.  While I was tempted to buy, I resisted because Christmas is coming and I need to reserve cash for Mary and the kids.  Still, the temptation is there.

Also, at the Tulsa Flea Market, I came across two Kodak Retinas.  One was a IIA and the other a III.  These are German-made Kodaks and quite likely the very best 35mm cameras they ever sold.  My IIA was a nearly solid piece of stainless steel.  You could beat someone to death with that camera, and then take a picture of the body afterward.  But much as I like the Retina, I probably won't buy another one because there's too great a chance that the bellows is shot.

Finally, one last thing for Steve A - I still can't comment on your blog.  Dunno why.  And in all that pile of cameras, not one Praktica.  Most were junk, but I didn't take the time to look carefully.  Too tempting.

Shiny objects...

Steve A, over at DFW Point-to-Point, has come right out and said that I'm an agent of Satan. I've been called many things over the years, the usual litany of perceived insults that people hurl at cyclists. On one memorable occasion, a highly irate local redneck went to the vilest one he could think of at the moment. He called me (gasp!) a liberal! Now, normally I don't cover politics here on CycleDog, unless it has to do with my friend, fellow traveler, and accomplice in crime, Dr. Walter Crankset, and I won't go off on a tangent about politics now. Suffice it to say that I stand to the left of center, something that's not terribly difficult to accomplish here in Oklahoma, particularly if you have any sort of education and the combined abilities to reason and read.

But religion is another matter entirely. Oh sure, Wally treats it as a scam, just another way to fleece the flock, separating the gullible from their cash and allowing them to walk away happy. I take it much more seriously, however, and to be called one of Satan's agents is a personal affront. An agent is a management position. I'm firmly on the side of labor, so it would be impossible for me to be an agent. No, no, I'm a union steward in Hell.

Oh, you didn't know that Hell is unionized? Of course it is! What better way to torture Republicans for all eternity? I work in the Temptation Wing with all those shiny objects that people covet. There are six other wings. My local is the Amagamated Imps and Demons Local 514. We have embroidered hats with the logo. Seven wings, seven deadly sins. See how it works out?

Then again, you may be wondering about that number - 514. Yep, there are at least that many locals, one or more in every town, in fact.

My job is to dangle shiny objects in front of people, things they'll covet. That's the first step toward greed. For the last couple of months, it's been old cameras. But nearly any highly polished piece of metal will do. Some can't withstand the allure of gold or silver. Gems and jewelry attract them like a porch light attracts moths. Many of my co-workers fall for Snap-On tools, motorcycles, or powerful automobiles.

But the easiest ones to seduce with something shiny are those dumb cyclists! Honestly, they'll sell their own children for the latest titanium widget, and that's only to replace last year's titanium widget. They spend ever increasing amounts of money for something that weighs less and less. I think there's some mathematical formula calculating that if we could only reduce the weight of a bicycle to under five pounds, they'd give us an amount equivalent to the national debt.

The UCI opposes all this, of course, because they work for the Other Guy. Most people don't believe that, and it's been one of our better success stories. It's been a genuine help at recruiting time.

All those magazines and websites touting the latest unobtainium bike, well, we run them from my wing. And just to show that we're equal opportunity guys, we even have those anti-establishment 'bike culture' types on the payroll too. Oh, they sneer at the mainstream bike businesses, but in their hearts they lust after some shiny, tastefully color-coordinated fixed gear bike too.

And the racers, those mincing snobs who won't deign to talk to mere 'Freds'? They're a wholly owned subsidiary. When they finally arrive here in Hell, we put them to work assembling department store bikes. They still get to race, but they have to ride those machines too. It's a real win-win scenario as they get tortured for eternity, the bikes torture the people who buy them, and we profit from it all. What a deal!

So why am I telling you this? Won't it give away our plan to subjugate all those pathetic, weak-willed humans without the self-control to turn away from that oh-so-attractive candleflame? Ha! None of you will believe it anyway, so it will continue right under your noses and before your very eyes.

We gotcha!

Yashica ME-1

Yashica ME-1

OK, I promise this will be the last old camera piece for awhile - that is - until I get my hands on the wide angle zoom I won at auction, and I get the Yashica Electro 35GT in working order.

This is a cheap yardsale item, a Yashica ME-1 that is strictly an automatic camera. It uses zone focusing rather than a coupled rangefinder. The body is plastic and, as is typical of old cameras like this, the light seals have deteriorated. In that large shot taken from a bridge, you can see the light leak in the lower left corner.



The shutter seems to be one speed, probably 1/60 or 1/125 of a second, and the lens includes f-stops ranging from 2.8 to 16 in order to accomodate flash photography. I could apply the 'sunny sixteen rule' and make this camera useable in daylight with the right film, but I haven't done so yet.

A word of explanation - the sunny sixteen rule is a handy way of checking exposure. In bright sunlight, your shutter speed should be the reciprocal of the film speed when the lens is stopped down to f16. My Canonet, for example, is currently loaded with ISO400 film, so I'd be shooting at 1/500th of a second at f16. I prefer to err on the side of over-exposure with print films, so I'd probably use 1/250th instead.


This detail is from the larger image above. The grain is starting to show and the contrast isn't remarkable.

This Yashica is meant to be used in auto mode. If the light is too strong or too weak, the shutter won't fire. Likewise, if the battery is dead or if some fool who looks remarkably like me forgets to remove the lens cover, the shutter won't fire. And if that fool forgets to replace the cover, the battery drains away. Actually, this one drains the battery even if the lens is covered, so I've entertained the thought of putting a switch into the circuit. It's not like this is a collectible camera, so how about a big-assed toggle switch? A momentary contact switch would be better, though. Hold it down to turn on the meter. Let go, and the meter turns off.

One friend called these things 'canoe cameras' because if it went over the side of the canoe, you wouldn't be too upset. That may have been my thinking when I bought it, but in all honesty, that was so long ago that I can't remember.



And since I'm never one to resist temptation, here's a shot of the Yashica Electro 35 GT that came in earlier this week. This is a better quality camera than the ME-1 and it shows. It's in far better shape than I expected, but that's a topic for another post.