Month: February 2015

Keeping Track of Used and Unused Camera Batteries

Jeff

Do you use a camera that takes AA, AAA rechargeable batteries? Do you have trouble keeping track of which batteries are fully charged and which need to be recharged?

I have developed a method that is simple and effective. I use one of the plastic cases that generally comes with batteries if you purchase them online or via mail order. You can purchase these cases separately as well.

Below is a picture of the case and you will notice that I have two arrows on the outside of the case. These are made with indelible marker. When the plus terminals of the batteries are facing in the same direction as the arrow, the batteries are charged.

Batteries with plus terminal up-charged

When a battery is used up, the terminal goes down. Thus the in the picture below, the battery with the yellow arrow is still charged while the battery with the red arrow needs charging.

Batteries charged and uncharged

When I travel with the batteries, I use a rubber band around the case to avoid a mess if the case should be dropped. That way the batteries don’t go dancing across the floor. Good luck separating them at that point without using a meter. Rubber bands from broccoli in the supermarket produce department are ideal for this!

Battery case with rubber band

If this isn’t “your style”, you can click the link to see how Nick Minore has found a different way to solve this problem.

STATUS QUOtes — 20150228

Jeff

“Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.” — Paul Gauguin

“What moves those of genius, what inspires their work is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.” — Eugène Delacroix

“You create a good future by creating a good present.” — Eckhart Tolle

“People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.” — Will Rogers

Pickleball TipBit: Third Shot Options, Deb Harrison

Jeff

When hearing from Pickleball coaches or reading books about Pickleball strategies, it is often professed that the third shot drop shot is the “gold standard” of play.

What that means is that after the serve, the opposing team returns serve and the serving team should then drop the ball into the non-volley zone (the kitchen). This is a good strategy for many occasions, but it is also a hard shot to make repeatedly without much practice.

Another point to consider is that the opposing team might “catch” on to this ploy and begin to move up on the ball.

Having a variety of third shot options might help. Deb Harrison’s Pickleball Tip Bit (video below) offers some ideas in this area.

STATUS QUOtes — 20150227

Jeff

“There are truths which one can only say after having won the right to say them.” — Jean Cocteau

“Success is not counted by how high you have climbed but by how many people you brought with you.” — Wil Rose

“The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for.” — Louis L’Amour

“True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.” — Kurt Vonnegut

Moments in Time: I Am Photographer

Jeff

Photographer Jeff Hirsch has created this one minute video to explain why photographers do what they do. As he notes, photographers can “seize the moment” and “freeze time.” As I once explained to one of my photography students decades ago: “In the picture you create, there is a world that will never again appear in that exact juxtaposition; ever!”

This is a fast moving video, but watch all the beautiful pictures fly by and admire the sights and “captures” that Jeff Hirsch has seen and made.

Words & Images by Jeff Hirsch: http://www.jeffhirsch.com
Music: “The Time To Run” by Dexter Britain. www.dexterbritain.co.uk
CC (Creative Commons) License

STATUS QUOtes — 20150226

Jeff

“We lose ourselves AND find ourselves in the things we love [ed].” — Kristin Martz

“Being clear about exactly what you want is the first and most fundamental place you need to go to make anything better.” – Tony Robbins

“Our freedom can be measured by the number of things we can walk away from.” — Vernon Howard

“Some folks are wise and some are otherwise.” — Tobias Smollett

STATUS QUOtes — 20150225

Jeff

“In hours of bliss we oft have met:
They could not always last;
And though the present I regret,
I’m grateful for the past.” — William Congreve

“The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” — Pierre-Auguste Renoir

“A grateful heart is a magnet for the positive [ed].” — Unknown

“That pleasure which can be safely indulged in is the least inviting.” ― Ovid

Pickleball: Spot Drops, Deb Harrison

Jeff

SOME NOTES: The audio is a bit low in parts of this video, so listen closely and turn up the sound. Deb reviews the variety of dinks already covered in previous videos; see the elephant dink here:

Deb Harrison shows us how to get the opponent out of their comfort zone by changing the type of dinks used. One drill she demonstrates is the hot spot drill where she can go anywhere with her dinks, but her two practice partners need to keep the ball on her half of the court.

Another very important point that is reinforced is to FACE THE BALL when you can!

“Having the ability to place your pickleball dinks at different spots on the court, moving your opponent out of their comfort zone, is critically important to improving your game. Learn how to drill to hone this skill.”

STATUS QUOtes — 20150224

Jeff

“The years teach much which the days never know.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“A long habit of not thinking a thing is wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.” — Thomas Paine

“The wise does at once what the fool does at last.” — Baltasar Gracian

“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it’s only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.” — Albert Einstein