(no subject)

[neadods]

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig. Or more accurately "the third day in a row I've taken off work." Yesterday I thought I might have turned the corner, although I couldn't put in a full day. Today I realized in the parking lot that just getting to work had taken everything I had... I flailed for an hour and headed home again, where I went down like a clubbed seal. I'm just oozing back to an approximation of life right now.

I've sent regrets to the gamers I'm supposed to be with tomorrow. I don't have the energy; they don't want to have what I've got.

This is the last weekend before Italy and I don't have shoes, I don't have firm plans, and I don't have the ability to breathe or stay awake longer than about three hours in a row. If I was capable of feeling anything other than exhaustion, I'd be alarmed right now.

I have no idea how I'm going to handle the time change. I was going to try to shift my hours closer to their time like I did for the London trip (with exceptions for fall premieres and Yarn Harlot) but that went by the wayside as soon as I got sick; getting up at 3 in the morning would have done me no favors.

There is a certain sense of impending doom.

While I am awake, I'm pondering the continuing clearout. As in, if I'd been steadily clearing out the desk in my bedroom, I wouldn't have been reduced to pawing through detritus to see if I could find the charging cord for my camera (no, but I do have the battery charger).

And I'm pondering the camera itself. I know it looks like I charge into things, but before I lay a lot of money down, I do spend a certain amount of time assessing what I want, what I need, and what I can do with things. When I buy something big and expensive, I only want to buy *one.* The free second iPod was nice but the first one still is still my main one. The Palm Pilot I bought nigh onto a decade ago is still going. I'm going to use this computer and my car until they both die and then some... I've got a spare laptop upstairs that has a broken keyboard but I'm hanging onto Just In Case.

And yet, I recently bought a new alarm clock, and y'know what? It's much nicer and more powerful than the old one. It has features that didn't exist when I bought the old one. And it is rapidly proving worth its price because those features are so helpful.

The reason this is coming up is that when I went for a digital camera, I did it the "this is the one and only one I'll need" way. I have a very nice camera, two batteries for it (I don't like messing with chargers when I travel, especially overseas; I want to be able to pop in another battery and go), two spare memory chips, a reader for said chips, etc. Top of the line.

And yet... it was bought back when digital cameras were relatively new, which means that while it is a perfectly good camera, there are others on the market now that have features that didn't exist when I bought this one. Features that I rather think I'd like to have.

The practical "use it up/wear it out/make it do/or do without" mentality is clashing with the equally practical, "Look, technology becomes obsolete and it's no sin to acknowledge that what was once a prime piece of equipment is now a comparative kluge factory" mentality.

And why yes, I am looking at digital cameras under the membership rewards. Like the second iPod, it's not extravagant if I'm getting it for "free."

In the meantime, I may balance the wish to take pictures in Italy vs the fear of things being stolen and take the also nice, useful, and still functioning analog 35-mm camera...

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I do hope you'll feel better soon !

[neadods.livejournal.com]

You and me both!

I've seen that you've finished your story... I haven't been reading it because my head feels like it's stuff with used rags and I can't keep my attention that long. But I do *want* to, and plan on it!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Thanks !

I kind of felt that way myself yesterday - made three attempts to write the Epilogue and then finally admitted that it wasn't going to happen when I was so tired. Got up this morning and it just flowed from my pen !

[lagilman]

1. this kludge does seem to have a time-delay factor. I thought I was okay on Wednesday, but Thursday nigh knocked me over again. But it is going away, and each day I have more energy. Keep the faith and don't skimp on the protein.

2. Don't worry about the time difference, especially if you've been sick. My trick is simple -- the moment I get on the plane I set everything (watch, phone, laptop etc) to my destination time, and start thinking that way (including changing what meals I eat prior to and while in transit). It really does work.

3. take the camera you're familiar with. A fancy new camera with lovely whistles won't matter if you miss the shot while trying to remember what that whistle does.

/.02 bits

[neadods.livejournal.com]

including changing what meals I eat prior to and while in transit

I noticed on the way to England that the airline fed us meals in no relation to any time whatsoever, ours or England's.

My biggest worry is that I won't have time to grab an expresso as I head to the tour. Expresso is how I got through the first day in England.

[lagilman]

*wrrrrp?*

Nea, you're going to Italy. Finding un espresso is NOT going to be a problem.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Yes, but can I get it before I miss the tour? That's my big question. Because I'm going to need a major snootful the moment I get off the plane, but I've only got an hourish to get through customs and find the tour. Otherwise, I have to get a train, a train, and a taxi to catch up.

[maypanic.livejournal.com]

I do hope you feel better soon. Don't you know that being sick is bad for your health?

Ok, let's see if I can help any with the impending sense of doom. Because travel is definitely a subject that I know something about.
1)Shoes- comfort over style, every time. I paid an outrageous amount for some SoftWalks for my last trip to Europe (although I bought them on ebay, of all places, and paid a heckuva lot less than retail.) Worth every cent and then some.

2)Jet lag- do everything you can to sleep some on the plane. I recommend asking your Doctor for a prescription sleep aid like Ambien- for the plane and the trip. I don't even wait until after food service- it takes hours and the food really isn't worth waiting for anyhow. Let the Flight Attendants know you won't be eating (so they don't wake you up to ask) put on a sleep mask and some ear plugs, take the pills and veg. I have difficulty sleeping even in my own bed at the best of times, but even just a foggy state of relaxation is better than keeping your brain semi-active talking, reading, watching movies.
When you arrive it will probably be early morning there- the temptation is to check in to the hotel and take a nap. This is unwise. Push yourself, relying on excitement of where you are, to keep going all day to as close to a reasonable bedtime locally as you can. Then, if you need to take another sleep aid (you probably won't) and by the next day your internal clock will be mostly reset.
There are homeopathic pills called "No Jet-Lag" that help a lot, too. We had ten people from age 25-75, all who followed this plan were adjusted by the second day. Works coming home, too.
Staying well hydrated is vital to your body coping, as well.

[maypanic.livejournal.com]

3) Cameras- If you take the old 35mm, go to a photo store and buy a shielding bag for the film. Your bags will be going thru x-ray machines multiple times, and often the ones overseas are stronger than here. Shame if all your pictures were fogged or completely ruined. Dealing with film is such a pain anyway... but this is probably a dangerous subject for me to advise on, I have something of a camera addiction.
That said- should be an amazing trip, you deserve amazing pictures.
When shopping for a digital camera, read the reviews.
Higher megapixel doesn't always equate higher quality images.
Digital zoom is worse than useless. Only pay attention to the true optical zoom factor.
Image stabilization is a fantastic feature.
Pocket sized tripods are wonderful, but I won't travel without my collapsing monopod. It's also great as a walking stick on uneven ground or if you reached the point of exhaustion (and people have been known to be more polite and helpful when you're leaning heavily on a walking stick... with my arthritis I couldn't travel without it.) Big metal stick might even help deter thieves.
Theft is a concern, especially in big cities, most especially Rome. If your camera has a prominent name brand on it, a small piece of black tape makes it look more generic. Be alert at all times, thieves are looking for distracted weary tourists. Pacsafe makes some amazing theft-resistant products. The MetroSafe 200 can be worn as a handbag or on a belt, is the perfect size to hold camera, purse essentials, small guidebooks (Rick Steves rocks) travel umbrella and a snack. It has wire mesh lining in the case and the strap so it can't be cut, and tons of amazing safety features. I don't leave home without their theft proof camera strap. Buy it on eBay, resell it when you get home. I am such a cheapskate, and people never believe how cheaply I travel- but I consider PacSafe products as insurance I can't live without. Consider how much more it would hurt to have your camera, wallet, passport stolen.

Common sense is the best protection available. Many a tourist seems to leave it at home.

Ok. So, what part of Italy? Do you speak any Italian? Or Spanish?

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Answering two comments at once:

It's a Tauk tour; the link is somewhere earlier here under the travel tag. Mostly Rome and Amalfi coast. No, I don't speak Italian (or Spanish) and although I have "learn Italian" tapes that I haven't listened to, I've asked for the phrases that I've most needed in other countries and expect, between the tour and my few words and expansive gestures, to get by. Worked in France and Germany!

The problem with shoes is that I have very hard-to-fit feet; my plan had been to buy shoes by now and break them in on the treadmill, as I am also pretty much out of decent shoes, period. Looks like I'm going to be going in a pair of battered boots and even more battered junglemocs, which are not at all stylish, but won't look *too* heinous with my skirts... and are fabulous walking shoes. I've never heard of Softwalk, but I'm going to google them now.

I can usually sleep on a plane unless (as on the way to England) there's a kid doing the "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!" thing for hours on end. But it's not peaceful sleep, so I'll eat if I'm awake and then drift off again.

I grab the tour bus first thing and they haul us halfway across Italy. I have no option to check in right away; my body is going to tell me if I nap or not at that point!

I have assorted "under the clothing" pouches and pockets where everything important is going to be - and one of the ideas for the camera was to see if I could get one of the micro-minis and shove it down my cleavage! (That is not what's going to happen.) For my knitting and my day's shopping, I have a 50-cent purse bought at a yard sale that can be knifed, stolen or otherwise molested without giving me too much grief. I hope.

[shawan-7.livejournal.com]

Get one that takes double-AAs. Take 5+ megapixels (if you can). If you don't want to be constantly adjusting, get a fixed length camer, not a Digital SLR (which is more pricy.)

Get one with double-AAs because you'll find them all over the world, and you don't have to have a cord. Get a 2 gig or more card for the camera because you want more room not less when you're in Italy. A camera's useless if your card takes 5 shots.

The one I'm using now has 2 memory cards built in it, a flash and a zoom lens. It's still a fixed length camera.

Make it smallish to carry around. Put in hand-carry luggage. Remember in Europe you have different power -- you may borrow my plug converter if we see each other before the trip.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Get a 2 gig or more card for the camera because you want more room not less when you're in Italy

To give you some idea of how old the digital is, I paid a great deal of money for the biggest memory chip they had for it - something like $40 for a whopping 256 MB.

Technology being what it is, I can buy a 1 Gb for $20 at Staples right this minute, and an AA-battery smaller one for one half to one third what I paid for the original.

It's the ability to use batteries and the much larger viewscreens in back that are the two main interests; I note that the ultra-slims *don't* take standard batteries.

And that battery part is very big. That's why I like the playaways when I travel too, because they run on AAAs and thus do not need chargers either, unlike the iPod.

[fyrdrakken]

Ooh, camera shopping. I seem to have missed the discussion, but I had the same digital camera from Xmas 2000 (it being a gift from Dad) right up until spring 2006 when it jounced out of my shirt pocket in Stirling while I was jogging back to our tour bus and -- after I don't know how many drops and falls -- cracked the battery cover off. I had to hold the battery door closed to complete the circuit and take any photos, and it didn't save at least half the pictures I took after that (mostly I think my own fault for not holding the cover in place till they were done saving to the disk).

Took me till about August last year to order a replacement (this one), and I kicked myself repeatedly for not having done so before my trip, since I got it on my Dell account and thus could have done so in the spring. I browsed on CircuitCity.com for the reviews as I narrowed down the models I was looking at, and I will note that the claims in the item description (specifically verified by some of the customer reviewers) that it was proof against drops onto concrete were a major major factor in my choice. I bought an extra battery and I'm pretty good about charging up the spare that night in my hotel room after a swap, though the battery usually lasts for days or even weeks in low-photo conditions. (Mind you, I was afraid I'd run out that Saturday at Dragon*Con after taking so many pics at the parade on a non-fresh battery. But the second battery lasted me the rest of the day.) Also, it's small enough to fit securely into my jeans pocket.

Definitely I hope that you've been getting in some practice time with the camera you wound up getting.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Definitely I hope that you've been getting in some practice time with the camera you wound up getting.

I used it to take the picture at the end of my recent fic. I find the interface a little bit more intuitive than the previous one, even though they're the same make, if not model.