28-October-2012

The Quiet Before the Storm.

I am home in NJ after 3 weeks on the road, including a week in New Mexico with the Nikonians on ANPAT 12 and 40 days at sea on the M/V Explorer for the fall 2012 Semeseter at Sea Voyage. I got home just in time to experience Hurricane Sandy. So far, only clouds. The strange thing about this storm is that is is cold out, not tropical temperatures. This becomes the problem where we will get a lot of rain as the hurricane hits the cold front and stalls in place.

Before the storm, I am trying to backup all the images from the Semester at Sea voyage and the ANPAT 12 road trip. Some how during these two trips I took over 100K images. My main Drobo server (8 x 2 TB drives) is flashing a yellow light. I am at 85% of the disk array capacity, and the Drobo is wanting some bigger drives.

When I got home, the RV wouldn’t start. Apparently, I left the inverter on so the battery was dead. I charged the battery last night and then moved the RV next to the house before the storm. The propane tank is 3/4 full so should provide power to the generator for some time if the power goes out. Before going on the ANPAT 12 road trip, I winterized the RV. I’m reversing this for the storm by filling the water tanks and charging the batteries. During the last storm, I didn’t have power for 3 days.

As long as I do have power, I can start to process and upload the best images from the SAS and ANPAT trips.

Deer in my backyard before Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Deer in my backyard before Hurricane Sandy. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 500 mm f/4 VR lens (ISO 800, 500 mm, f/4, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)

Monday (22-October-2012) — New Mexico

Gone to See America 2012 Road Trip. Day 16: Roswell, New Mexico

Three Lesser Sandhill Cranes in Flight. Morning at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec).

Sandhill Cranes in Flight. Morning at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell, New Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec) (David J Mathre)
Sandhill Cranes in Flight. Morning at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Roswell, New Mexico. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 100, 300 mm, f/4, 1/2000 sec) (David J Mathre)