Strange beasts and wonderful glass
Recovered an hour of my life today. Unwilling to waste such a precious commodity, we (in the team sense) set out to make the best of the situation. And, although we’re still minutes away from dusk, I’m rather self-satisfied.
Prevention was the theme, and we managed to combine medical and political goals; a vaccination against the flu and a vaccination against for more years of demagoguery. Too early to tell if the effort will bear fruit, but our wait in line (for both) was brief and free of stress. Good signs. I did complain about the municipal polls being located in another section of the city, but I complain about things like that. And because I had a whole hour to use, I also picked up new (steel) hoses for the washing machine, and replaced the smoke detector batteries. Whew!
With our future assured, we set off to visit the local version of the Salon de la Photo. For $5, we were allowed to touch expensive equipment, ask questions about the expensive equipment and dodge wild animals. Let me elaborate. On site, a small zoo, brought in because people like to take pictures of critters. A kangaroo. A kota-mundi. A ring-tailed lemur.
All of them, visitors to a strange world. My preferred memory will remain the leaping lemur, capable of jumping and running at waist height, while studiously avoiding the two-footed among us. I now understand the invitation of the organizers to bring our “real” cameras, rather than the limited optics of a cellphone. I’ll know better, next time.
The lens that I wanted to take home? Easy. The Pentax HD DA 40mm f:2.8 “pancake”. Out of my price range, for the moment, but on the wanted list if anyone cares.
And with a new tripod (for future efforts, we purchased a Manfrotto 294 with pan head at a great price), the visit to the “show” was through. More information about memory cards, a chance to see a Ricoh-branded Pentax; all in an afternoon.
