This coming summer is going to be the first in a long time that I am mot going to be going to camp for the summer. It is kind of bittersweet to think about. I know that I will miss camp but I think that it will be nice to have a real summer off and be able to spend time with my wife, my family, her family, our new house, and just relax a little.

As part of the plans for this summer, we have a couple trips planned including time in Israel, Hawaii, Moab, and probably various other camping excursions.  Of course on all of these adventures I will have my cameras with me but I am hoping to be able to do most of the traveling without taking my laptop all over the place.  Why? Well, for most of what I need to be able to do on a daily basis i can do on my iPad, and it is a lot smaller and easier to travel with.  However, the iPad is limited in what it can do with photos, and all things considered, it can’t store all the photos that I will take over the summer.  Of course the other big issue is the fact that I shoot exclusively in RAW, which means huge files and not the best editing software for iPad.  So, how do I travel and take home all the images?

I have been looking into various solutions to solve the storage and organizational products and software. In my searching I came across the various offerings from Sanho. Currently the device that has my interest piqued is the Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA2. I read about it on another photo blog and decided to check it out.  It is basically a housing for a 2.5″ hard drive that has various card readers built in.  Since the iPad can’t directly work with a CF card reader (not enough power) having a way to download CF cards on the go is a must.  The Colorspace UDMA2 can also connect to the iPad via wireless networking.  The drive can even create it’s own wifi network for sharing with tablets and computers.  For faster transfers it can be connected via USB to a computer.  The Colorspace UDMA2 comes either without a drive, or in various drive sizes.  If you are tech savvy and don’t mind dissembling the device and installing your own drive, you can save lots of cash over buying it with a drive pre-installed.

Of the other options from Sanho are two versions of the iUSBport.  The basic version of the iUSBport is relatively inexpensive and can share just about any USB storage device via wifi.  As with the Colorspace UDMA2, it can either connect to an existing network or create it’s own.  This device can power a CF card reader and thus would allow for download of CF cards to an iPad.  However if I wanted the security of backing up photos to a hard drive I would have to download the card to the iPad, then connect a hard drive to the iUSBport and copy the images back to the drive.  On the go, that is probably less than ideal, but since I own all the needed hardware (HDD, card reader & iPad) all I would have to do is buy the iUSBport.  It supports connections via FTP or it has an app for your tablet or smartphone.  I suppose I could also use it to download a card and then I could upload that card to my Copy account where I have plenty of storage for a trip or two.

The second version of the iUSBport is the iUSBportCAMERA. It has all the functionality of it’s predecessor AND it can connect to your camera and allows for wireless tethered shooting.  You can control focus, and other camera settings, trigger the shutter release, and view the images you take, as you take them.  I have been looking for a way to shoot tethered to my iPad!  The iUSBportCAMERA is the most expensive option.

Of course on the other hand, I could just travel with my laptop, but I don’t want to be “that guy” who sits in front of the computer on vacation. I am certainly not going to do any major editing on vacation, maybe just some posts to Facebook and such.  Being able to download memory cards and back them up quickly so that I can go on shooting is the goal. Being able to get images on to my iPad will be useful and allow me to back up to cloud storage as well.

As I move through the process, get a device and create a workflow, I’ll be sure to post my thoughts!

I don’t really think that it would be great for me to publicly talk about what I have been working on quite yet as all of the details are totally up in the air and I don’t want to send the wrong impressions to some people.  I do feel however like I need to say something, mostly on account of there is great potential for exciting opportunities for me.  It was really a chance happening that led to my flurry of impulsive work, but with a little luck I think that I may have set in motion a series of events that could be very good.

Isn’t it interesting though, how things kind of sneak up on you?  I was helping out a friend when I stumbled across the impetus for all this.  Totally unplanned and unpredicted.  I never really thought that I would be pursuing such a course of action at this point in time, though I have always known it was something I would do eventually.  It kinda made me a little stressed out just thinking about things and getting excited, but it could all be for naught so I don’t want to go nuts.

I have never been one for making long term plans.  I have always kind of lived by what comes my way.  Maybe it is the nature of what I do?  I have never liked feeling locked into anything way out in advance, because I always worry about what would happen if things change in the interim.

There is, however, something exciting that I can talk about.  I got the go-ahead from my boss to be able to take time off to go to the Theatre Department Alumni Reunion at my alma mater, Ithaca College.  Now I just have to plan out the logistics and I should be good to go.  The aspect of this trip that weighs heavy on my mind is finding a place to stay while there.  They blocked some hotel rooms, but they are kind of expensive.  I can fly out on miles, but I am not sure that I could afford to stay unless I can find better priced accommodations.  Thus, I don’t know if anyone from Ithaca reads my blog, but if you do and are going or live there and want to split a room or loan me a bed or your sofa, that would be cool!

So, pile all that on with opening the first show of the season this week at the theatre, it has been quite a long week and I am quite tired.  There is still a lot left to do, though I should be able to take most of tomorrow off after I go and shoot photos of the U of U Theatre Department’s production of Alcestis, which is part of the annual Greek Theatre Festival.  Since it is always done in traditional Greek style, it is outdoors at nine in the morning.  So tomorrow could be a long day.

Well, it has been quite a while since I posted anything.  Life got really exciting and hectic at the end of the summer.  The end of camp is always a bigger deal than you ever remember it to be, and this summer was no exception.  I had more things on my plate in the last week of camp than I anticipated, and I still have some unfinished ones that I really need to get around to, especially now that my hard drives are back in town.

Getting home from camp, I had the worst travel day that I have ever had.  It started with bad omens in that we missed being able to go to the post office to mail home one last box of stuff.  Why the post office closes early on Saturdays, who knows.  However, from there, things only went downhill.  On the drive down to the airport I managed to get in a car accident that basically totaled my parent’s truck.  Thankfully everyone was OK, but it was not a good situation (not that any car accident is).  It all started because i had to slam on the brakes as there was another accident that had occurred, and everyone was stopping.  It is probably good that I hit the car in front of me as opposed to going around it as the embankment was very steep and the probability of rolling the truck would have been high.

So, I call my parents, who rush down to pick us up and get us to the airport.  Amazingly, we get there with a little time to spare, which is a good thing.  Why?  Well, when going through security, I got stopped because something showed up when they put my carry-on through the X-ray.  Turns out that I had one of Ruth’s bags in my carry-on and it had her pocket knife in it.  Needless to say, the knife got tossed.

After getting on the first plane, things seemed to smooth out, and for the first time that I had done any major travel with Ruth, it was good.  On our connecting flight from MDW to SLC we managed to snag our own row, with no third person, so we were very happy.  However, upon our arrival back in SLC, there had to be one more thing that would go wrong.  One of our bags decided to take an extended trip around the country, so it didn’t make it to SLC that night.  In fact, when I walked into the baggage office and showed them the claim ticket, they already knew about it.  The good news is that they knew where the bag was and they managed to get it to us the next day.  For that we got a $50 travel voucher which is pretty nice.

That weekend did get better though because we had tickets to see The Lion King on Sunday night.  The Lion King is quite possibly one of my most favorite musicals ever.  The music is great, the costumes and head-pieces are spectacular, and it is just a fun show to see.  If you have never seen it, you should.  I had been lucky enough to have seen it on Broadway back when it was new, and I had always wanted to see it again and see how they would get it on tour.  Well, even slightly scaled back to fit in trucks and in smaller theatres, it was a great show.  I still have the music stuck in my head.

Come Monday it was back to work.  Possibly the first thing that my boss said after “hello” was something to the effect of: “Can you push your schedule up a week and hang the show early so we can fly our scenery?”  What was my response?  Well, in traditional me style I just said: “Of course.”  So now I had to round up a crew and get to work to be able to start a week earlier than I had planned.  That is life at the theatre, always unexpected.

So, things are finally starting to settle down and get back to a normal rhythm.  I have plans to go camping on Labor Day Weekend, and then I am helping to lead services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and then we are doing the show.  I have to figure out my ski-pass situation and all the mundane things that come with being back in the swing of things.  Now that things are normalizing, life is pretty good.

The other thing that happened that is a major time suck is Words With Friends.  It is a iapp for iphone, ipod touch, etc. that is kinda like scrabble, and I love scrabble.  So I am totally hooked.  If you play or want to play, you can get if for free, and then look me up: Icewolf08!

On a side note, I did drop the ball on organizing Bloggerstock for August due to all that stuff I just mentioned.  So, we have pushed the August topic to September for anyone who is interested.  You can get the full scoop at the Bloggerstock Site.

My summer that is.  Yesterday I officially said my goodbye’s at the theatre (just for the summer that is), packed up my junk and this morning I made my trek over to the east coast.  Pretty normal travel day all things considered, 6AM wake-up, have Sunreon pound on my door at 6:20, load up my junk into her car and head over to The Red Moose for a cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito.  I can’t remember if I ever mentioned this little coffee shop before, they haven’t been around that long (I believe since December) but they have great coffee and great food.  They are also practically right across the street from my house which could be a dangerous thing.

The traveling today was pretty painless.  I still think that it is a pain in the ass to get from the door of the airport to the door of the plane, but when you fly early enough in the day getting through security is pretty efficient.  In general, flying on Southwest is pretty efficient.  They seem to really be able to get you from one place to the next without much hoopla.  They also have pretty good fares.  I do love sitting in the terminal and on the plane during boarding listening to the agents and flight attendants try to explain to people about the open seating.  There are some people who really just don’t get it.  It isn’t that hard to understand is it?

As we loaded up the first plane (SLC to MDW) I ended up sitting next to a very interesting gentleman who works for the VA hospital right across the street from the theatre.  We shall call him D for the sake of privacy.  It turned out that he was also flying from SLC to MHT, though his reasons for the trip were not quite as upbeat as mine.  He was a very nice man and we had a great conversation for most of the flight.  In fact, by the time that we stopped chatting I only was able to make it about halfway through the new “Alice in Wonderland” movie.  In the end I suppose that isn’t terrible because now I can watch it on a screen larger than my iPhone.  I never did see it in theaters, and I was totally OK with that.

We arrived at MDW a couple minutes early which is a good thing because the layover was only 35 minutes.  I probably should and cold have grabbed some food, but since people were already lining up to board, I figured that I would hit the head and then get in line.  I ended up sitting with the D again and another interesting person who I believe was around my age.  This flight, which was only around 1:30-sin in length, the tree of us chatted the entire time.  I don’t think that I have ever had that much interaction with the people that I have been sitting with (who are not friends or family) on an airplane before.  In the end, D and I exchanged cards, and will probably connect again when I get back to Utah.  He has kids who he would love to see get involved in the arts, and he knows some people at one of the youth theatre organizations that he wanted to put me in touch with.

With an on-time arrival in Manchester I met my parents and I finally got to meet the new puppies.  They are sooo cute!  They are crazy hyper, like all huskies, but they are a lot of fun.  However they did manage to pinch my old Red Sox cap from my bag and chew it up.  It is a little sad, but I am sure that I will get over it (and get a new cap).  So, since it is Friday, I think that I will leave you with one of my father’s photos of the puppies.  The white one is Ava, and the black/silver one is Zoe.

Zoe and Ava on the back porch

I suppose that I should also mention that for the rest of the summer (until mid August) I will be on the east coast, primarily in Maine and New Hampshire working at Indian and Forest Acres camps.  My blogging may be a little more erratic over the summer, but I will keep you all up to date!

Yesterday I rambled about the complete ridiculousness of airline ticketing and pricing.  Today I wanted to continue to talk about airline travel in regards to what you can and can’t do with your luggage and issues with security.

I know that I mentioned it in my previous post that most airlines have started charging you to take checked baggage on your flight.  With the exorbitant price of tickets to start with, I would think that baggage could still be included in that cost.  At $15 for your first bag and $25 (or more) for your second, what exactly are we paying for?  Seeing as every bag doesn’t get handled by it’s own handler, odds are the cost is not directly related to paying the handlers.  With the number of bags each handler moves in an hour, that would be quite a salary!

I understand the weight restrictions on bags, at least to a point.  I would imagine these are in place to protect the baggage handlers.  Slinging 50lb bags of funky shapes and sizes all day can’t be easy, so having a heavy bag could be an issue.  I don’t know if the baggage handlers have a union or anything, but I could see this being a point for hazard pay.

Now let’s look at airline security.  Is it really more than a joke and an inconvenience?  Every “advance” that we make in security protocols in airports is completely reactionary.  Someone tries to put a bomb in their shoe, so we all have to take off our shoes.  Someone decides to try binary liquid explosives so now we can’t take any real quantities of liquids and pastes.  Ironically, the only thing that I think has regressed is the screening of laptop computers in that you used to have to power them up so that the screeners could see that it was actually a working computer.

Sure, we have added a few things in security that are less reactive, but are they really making us safer or just making us spend more time in line in the airport?  Are they more efficient?  Do they invade our privacy?  Many airports are installing/testing full body X-ray devices.  I don’t have anything to hide, and I am sure that most people don’t, but still, does a full body X-ray of myself really need to end up somewhere in cyberspace.  Does airline security take precedence over personal security and privacy?  All that is not to mention the fact that it takes a lot longer to use the full body scan since TSA has to wait for the images to render.

My real thought that comes from all this is that anyone that is determined enough to make some kind of terror act on an airline will find a way to do it.  When you consider how many people and goods come in and out of every airport every day it almost makes all the the security measures that most people see seem moot.  I mean, does every box of donuts for Dunkin’ Donuts and every bag of coffee beans for Starbucks get screened?  Have you ever gone into the FBO section of an airport?  If you are meeting a private jet you can drive your car right out on the tarmac.

So, what’s the point?  Does it really work?  Does all the “security” make you feel more secure?  Have you ever not felt safe flying?