<delays in approving because the paddlewise moderator found this categorized in a strange location. - my apologies - Kirk > Craig mentioned that this list is very quiet, but not nearly as quiet as Bagboater, which I moderate. I guess it is an effect of the times we live in, many have to ecomomize, so a new paddle, kayak, or adventure, is not top on the list. It is everyday survival. And the Facebook takes a lot of people away - some I got in contact here I have now contact on the Facebook, so I am one of those, too, I guess. My shoulder isn't getting any better - and after numerous examinations the verdict is not in, yet. But I have problems paddling, or just holding anything high with my left arm. Doing a Nazi greeting with my left arm stretched forward at an angle is totally out, not least because it gives me severe pain (Serve me right)! Probably wrong arm as well! Mel Lammers, who some of you might know, was the founder of the Bagboater group for owners of foldable skin-on-frame kayaks, and anyone else interested. Anyway, Mel found a new hobby, photography, and that's how I got the chance of taking over the Bagboater group. Odd as it might seem, I must say I'm following in my master's footsteps, so the last year I've spent more on cameras than I ever did on kayaks, and kayak related stuff. I think Mel is a Nikon man, but we, the wife and I, have kept away from Canon and Nikon, originally due to the size of the those cameras, and their cost. But now we have Olympus (C-8080, E-PL1 and XZ-1), Nikon, Canon, Sony (two NEX-5N - lovely cameras) and quite a few Pentax (including two K-5s, lovely cameras in every way, and water-resistant!). The Sonys can use the Pentax FA lenses (which means they have an aperature ring, originally made for so called Full Format cameras - alas Pentax haven't made one for years!), which makes those tiny NEX cameras even more awesome. They are definitely not optimised for water, the sea, or paddling, nor the deserts, as they are non-water-resistant, non-dustproof, non-rugged, and so on. But what cameras, wow! SO next year we're going to the UK, again, to do more bird photography, this time with some serious equipment, with names like Gitzo, Berlebach, and Wimberley, plus suitable lenses, most from Pentax, Samsung, and Tamron, but a few from Sony and one, or two, from Zeiss ;-)! Enough about cameras - time for some shut-eye: it is soon 3 am. Seasonal greetings from a Gothenburg without snow (except in a few shady places). This winter must have been the warmest in a few thousand years - a few weeks back friends saw Mallard ducklings, freshly hatched (this on a latitude similar to Churchill, on Hudson Bay)! And even after that we saw Mallards doing it - guess they too soon will have ducklings! Global warming is here - the reasons for it I don't care much about - it is either a celestial thing, a man-made problem, or both - either way it will lead to a quite new world in 20 years time! Central New York City will be under water, as will many other big cities, as will Gothenburg be! Not to mention low countries, like the Maldives, and many US-controlled islands in the Pacific! Time for kayaks! <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Tord S Eriksson, MA in Journalism; ex Editor-in-Chief; Avid Photographer; Pentax Fan, Articulated Bus Driver; Hon. Member of East Horsley Aerospace; Hon. Member of PAN, the World's Oldest Photo Club; On FlickR: Tord55; </font> *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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