Nikon Nightmare; Lather Over Lathe

Remembrance Day 11/11

Sun Nov 14th 

Canadian Remembrance Day this year
represents 100 years since Canada first recognized the end of WWI on November 11, 1921.  

Snow on the local peaks
The diversity and pluralist nature of Canadian gives it a different feel compared with the UK.

November 11th is a public holiday for federal employees.  Public offices and schools close.  Many small businesses are also shut, though not the national chains.   

The Canadian Legion, the equivalent of the UK's British Legion, has a major role and individual groups such as the First Nations, Sikhs and Punjabis honour the day. It feels as though they get better coverage than in the UK.  Canadian Poppies, which are a different style to the UK, are evident but perhaps not quite so prominent, except on TV.  The only common feature is that the pin is just as useless at keeping a poppy in place! 

My Nikon nightmare started when I sent my camera body and the large 200/500 lens I use for wildlife photography off to Nikon Canada for a service, via London Drug.  Dust in the camera body and lens was starting to show up on images.  

It went off at the end of August and was returned Friday Nov 12th, after a wait for a spare part, delayed by the current global supply chain shortages.  A few test photos later, the autofocus/focus was not working properly and all the images showed 'Box Brownie' resolution when enlarged.  I am deeply unimpressed by Nikon's service and expect to be without the camera for a few more weeks.  I should add the problem was the same with both lenses, so definitely Nikon D850 body related.  It was fine when it went in and it was only for a service/clean! 


Sadly my technology problems were not limited to the camera.  I started turning a bowl on my lathe on Wednesday and the machine stopped and showed 'Hardware fault'.  Several checks and resets later and I could not fix it. As Nick and Lizzie were over at the end of last week, Nick took the head back to a company in Vancouver for repair.   The joys of technology.  Do technology problems come in threes!

As I write this Monday morning, southern BC is being battered by another 'Atmospheric River'.  Howe Sound is forecast to receive another 150mm of rain, parts of the interior up to 230mm.  A number of major highways are closed, some in several places.  Highways 1, 3, 7 and 11 are affected with a combination of mudslides and water coming of the mountains flooding the roads.  The red triangles show the closures.

Red Triangle road closures

At the moment the Coast seems to have avoided the worst of it but as the rain reduces the winds pick up, which are already quite strong.   The waves across West Howe Sound, usually protected by Keats, Bowen and Gambier Islands are white capped and close to the shore the water is brown from silt being washed down Langdale Creek.  Jack has not shown any great enthusiasm for a morning constitutional we're relieved to report.


The trees in front of the house, which run along the power cable are getting the wind broadside!  At the moment the power outages (58 at the time of writing) all seem to be on the mainland or Vancouver Island, but it's still early.  There is only one on the Coast.  


Walkers and hikers (in this weather??) are being advised to stay away from creeks and rivers because of the water coming off the mountains.  A rise in temperature has also led to snow at lower levels melting which is adding to the rise in river water levels and risk of mud-slides.

Last weekend the tree falls had taken out some one of the bridges a Cliff Gilker Park.  Probably not an isolated incident this week.

Probably an interesting start to the week.  I'll keep you posted.










Comments

  1. BobNovember 15, 2021 at 11:25 AM

    Grey, mild and still here with the odd bit of mizzle - not quite as exciting!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MikeT67MNovember 15, 2021 at 11:27 AM

      Drove in to Gibsons this morning and quite a few 'puddles'!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Frustrations of Canadian Immigration Services

Image
And other things  Sat June 1st The pause in blogs was due to Immigration Canada announcing at the beginning of May that a further draw would be made from the remaining pool of the 2020 Expressions of Interest (EOI) for Parent and Grandparent sponsored Permanent Residency.    Friday was the last day and again we did not get through.  The fifth year running.  I suspect that later in the year they will invite a new round of EOI's which probably means we will be a small fish back in a very large pool.  On the grand scale of all suffering and instability in the world, it is insignificant  (I keep telling myself),  but it is hugely, bloody frustrating.  Our tenure continues under the Super Visa scheme, which runs until our passports expire in 5 and 8 years time respectively. Other news ...  on Sunday 27th w e went to a wedding reception. It is the first time I have worn a jacket in over three years.  My boarding pass from our Air Can...
Read more

Cream Crackers & Stilton

Image
Blue Sky in Whistler!!!!! Fred on the Piste - not overly busy Before I get on to Whistler ........ In my early BBC career I spent a couple of years working at the BBC’s Television Centre (TVC), in west London.  This was long before the BBC flogged it and it was turned into an apartment hotel and restaurant complex, plus a few TV studios for the industry to use as a nod to its history.   Amongst other things I did a stint as a studio supervisor and worked on the Two Ronnies, Morecombe & Wise and Top of the Pops.  Anyone remember Pan's People? Phwoar! Interesting times. TV Centre was huge and had several thousand staff. The restaurant block, on three floors, included a waitress service restaurant on the '2nd floor' where stars were entertained by their producers over long lunches and the odd glass of wine.  This was the late 70’s before ‘hair shirts’ and the critical public attention the BBC gets today.   Occasionally, a couple of fellow wor...
Read more

Fall Leaves and Rainfall

Image
Jack Vs Car Sat November 9th Fall seems later this year and the deciduous leaves have been a lovely mix of golds and reds with the predominance of Maples in all of its varieties. After last week's storms, most of the leaves are now down along with quite a few trees.  Further up the Coast a tornado was reported taking out multiple trees that closed the main highway and took out power for local residents for around three days.    A local driver caught the trees coming down on video .  After two consecutive dry summers, 2024 has been wetter with no significant water restrictions on the Coast.  I assumed this was good news until reading an article in the UK press that suggested late autumns are just another sign of global warming. The storm left us without power for nearly 12 hours and a huge number of properties were similarly affected across southern and central BC.  Fortunately we had a good supply of candles and a gas lamp.  Some friends near the ...
Read more