About that rain deficit..

If this 7-day forecast verifies, that big November dry spell will be pretty much erased. We're an inch above normal for January right now and this will add maybe six more! Daily forecasts for later this week are blunt: Rain.

We'd best stand outside today and soak in this one dry day! No sunshine though - but let's not get greedy.

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1/25 update - October 2017 was our wettest month on the hill-top.
Given the forecast, this month will come in a strong 2nd!


Final score: 18.75 inches, more or less. Firmly second behind October 2015's 20+ inches. More than Tom had last YEAR in Walla Walla.

Trying a tech shift

I'm about to try something that surprises me!

Plenty of watch-type assistants are available now - as do genuine phone watches! 
I picked up a sub-$20 model which can take both a Sim card and microSD. It may work poorly as a standalone phone in some low-coverage areas, but if so it can just be tethered to my current phone. The microSD card makes for easy Bluetooth music playback, whether tethered or not; that could be useful at work!

When it arrives I'll explore the possibilities. I'm not certain that the SIM allows for more than data transfers, but wifi calling might function.. perhaps? I know for sure that facebook twitter and the like will Not be connected, as i will not allow such apps to intrude on my life uninvited. I also have no great sentiment for heart rate and other measurements, though steps are a good proxy for activity level.

The main advantage of a phone watch is that it will be crippled relative to a regular cell phone! Tiny screen + no 4G ability = no time wasted on apps and browsing. Limiting myself to just receiving phone calls and texts sounds mighty appealing. If this doesn't work perhaps I will mutilate my phone to that level instead?

More after the shipping break . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .. .

Well that didn't work - yet I have a watch anyway! Order was cancelled but my wife isn't a huge fan of the one I got her, so now it's mine. I have turned off messages and calls, so it's a smartwatch that counts steps and can do heart-rate checks. Maybe I'll turn on messages at some point. Its battery lasts about a week, which is nice, and the charging apparatus is easy compared to fitbit-style devices.

What's wrong with this picture?

I have a "5-in-1" weather station. It has served me well for a few years now, though recently it's gone offline many times. The cynic within wonders about the coincidence with the 'offer' of  a subscription-pay firmware update, but we'll ignore that for another day.

mine is similar to this

The issue is the convenient all-in-one module, which provides temperature wind and precipitation to the indoor base unit. Simple and effective!
But..

A good precipitation readout needs to be taken in a clear area where trees aren't blocking any wind-driven rain. Wind measurements also need a swirl-free zone. Temperature is best taken in the shade so direct sunlight does not affect the sensor or that area near it. Shade needs trees or other obstructions - which is a conflict for an all-in-1 base. The station includes a solar-power fan to keep heat from biasing the readout; sadly it doesn't cool the adjacent area and the bias is evident, especially in the summer when sunrise adds a temperature spike before shade takes over.

So if my system is failing, perhaps the next system should be more like the previous one. Wind and precip can be in one unit but temperature reading should be separate and shaded. Do any of those connect to the internet, without subscription fees? Maybe not. Can I add a separate temperature sensor with priority reading?
Hmm..

six days to better snowpack!

A week of snow levels under 3000 feet, and about 7" of rainfall in our gage at 750 feet, has made large impacts on regional snow-pack! This is good news but could still result in a dry summer - but for now it's good to see.

And the local snowpack is about to "improve" as well! Maybe six inches, possibly more -

Update 1/13 - OK possibly four? A storm just turned left and changed everything after Wednesday..

the price of a bargain

Buying used gear entails some risk. The seller had reasons to part with it, and those reasons may be clearly stated - or they may not. Caveat emptor, indeed!

I picked up an Olympus E∙M10 for under $150 when most bodies are still over $200. A dealer had it, so the original owner was not available to describe any issues (and is not compelled to reveal all, in any case). It's in great shape for the most part, fully functional and takes great images. Yes the SD card slot has lost its spring, so the card stays in without tweezers; that's part of the risk and is an inconvenience but not a real issue for the price I paid.

I may have found the larger issue though.
After trying the WiFi feature several different ways, I looked online and found that, for many E∙M10 owners, WiFi starts to run and immediately stops again without connecting. The fix is a hardware thing, and costs about $150 - in this case, it would double the cost of my bargain. Ouch!

- but how important is WiFi for this camera, to me? I have a GX7 that works just fine with WiFi, so for the second body this really isn't a major issue. It doesn't mess with my shooting in a typical setup - in fact I've not used WiFi yet on a m43 body. Some day a camera will be attached to a telescope and take photos, and it would come in handy. On the other hand a 2-second timer would suffice.

I need to try out more features to see if my bargain is still truly that. The Live Time and Live Composite features are in fact the reasons my 2nd body is Olympus, and short tests look fine.  Video looks decent as well, with functioning stabilization too.

I had speculated that the E∙M10 could actually replace the GX7 at one point, but that's not a good idea with the WiFi problem.. we'll see if other problems appear.

silver set take II, more or less

In my distant past, only briefly, I owned my silver K-3ii and 20-40 Limited - so this is in fact take III.  

I will find very few instances where a K200d and telephoto zoom lens will be a big deal. However that isn't zero so why not chase a cheap opportunity? I bid at shopgoodwill's site for a pair of silver FA zooms, and won for about $20.

These are 2nd-generation autofocus lenses in silver to match the K200, and have aperture rings in case the micro43 cameras wish to play with them. When I saw the auction I looked into owner reviews of the lenses and found two things of note: reviews average under 7/10, and those who paid $30 or less rated them as 8 often for value, weight and decently contrasty / sharp images. Therefore at $11 apiece they should be great!

Mostly it's the 80-200mm that would see use along with my 18-50, but having the 28-90 is an added bonus; in fact I have a Sigma 28-80mm that can now be donated when I arrive to pick up the other two. I might even scrape up another lens or two to donate and make a cleaner shelf in the back room!

As of 10.Jan tests with the 80-200mm have been pretty good, but grey light and a big head-cold have limited my tests. One nice feature is its internal zoom which keeps the lens small at every part of the range.