Project 365 #365: 311217 Retired, With Honours
In 2011 I had a health problem and doctors suggested that being regularly more active would be a good thing.
On September 10th, 2011 - long before 'wearable tech' became a buzzword - my Father in Law gifted me this rather smart USB pedometer.
I clipped it onto my belt, and since then it has been my constant companion. For pretty much every moment that I've been wearing clothes from that day to this, this little guy has been sat on my hip.
We've been through a lot together. It's been to Finland, Belgium, Estonia and Denmark. It's been in a microlight and flown over London in a De Havilland Rapide. It's been missing in action at least three times but always found its way home. In that time we've clocked up 21,460,233 steps together, but when I take it off tonight it's going to enter a well deserved retirement, as product development means that I've now got a viable replacement. More on that in future days...
One thing is for sure, I'm going to be keeping it!
With that done, it's time to move on to my traditional end of year round up, so strap in and get comfortable.
I feel like I've said this before, but with no sense of false modesty, it's not a great haul. There's normally at least one photo that I'm proud of, and I'm not sure that I've got that this year. There's still a couple of nice enough shots though.
I've taken a lot of photos at Goodison Park this year, as usually when I'm at the match it tends to be my photo of the day. My favourite is probably this one of intrepid fundraiser Speedo Mick standing with the travelling Sunderland fans. He's so bonkers and kind spirited that even the most horrible travelling fans usually show him some appreciation.
One thing that's worth celebrating are views of new places, and with much of our holiday time spent on lovely trips to Finland, our scope for travelling is lessened a bit. That didn't stop me seeing some new sights though. There was my first trip to Belgium (outside of an airport transfer) and then this very violent seascape at Church Bay on Anglesey.
Of equal interest are new views of familiar sights (and sites come to that). This is a new viewpoint for me of the beauty of Cumbria, and this bridge certainly wasn't in this view before! This is a strange view on a well trodden path at the back of work in Woolton, and this view of Liverpool was a strong contender for my photo of the year. The contrast between foreground and background reminds me hugely of the end shot of 'Gangs of New York'.
The kids normally offer great value for money when it comes to snaps, and while I've got no real gems this year, this one always makes me smile. :)
One thing I'll remember 2017 for is the dreaded move - we moved into a newly built building in work and that features a few times. This is still probably the single greatest piece of equipment stacking that I've ever been involved in! We did lots and lots of cabling!
My airshow season was a fairly quiet one, but still yielded the odd worthy result. It was the year that we also bid a tearful farewell to Mike Ling as Red 10, and that was genuinely sad for us and the Reds.
Lucy the Cat of course made a few appearances, of which I think this was her prettiest.
What of the happy moments of the year? There were a good few, though many are tied to annual events. Some special one offs neatly bookend the year, with the marvellous murder dinner in February and the rather lovely celebration of Finland's centenary of independence in December.
But in the absence of a 'killer' shot, what is it that makes my personal photo of the year? It would need to be technically competent and visually attractive. Ideally it should also be tied to a happy memory or to tell a good story. But just suppose I found one that could tick every box? For that, I take you all the way back to January and a very memorable night in Soho!
A Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for staying with me through 2017. :)
Project 365 #365: 311217 Retired, With Honours
In 2011 I had a health problem and doctors suggested that being regularly more active would be a good thing.
On September 10th, 2011 - long before 'wearable tech' became a buzzword - my Father in Law gifted me this rather smart USB pedometer.
I clipped it onto my belt, and since then it has been my constant companion. For pretty much every moment that I've been wearing clothes from that day to this, this little guy has been sat on my hip.
We've been through a lot together. It's been to Finland, Belgium, Estonia and Denmark. It's been in a microlight and flown over London in a De Havilland Rapide. It's been missing in action at least three times but always found its way home. In that time we've clocked up 21,460,233 steps together, but when I take it off tonight it's going to enter a well deserved retirement, as product development means that I've now got a viable replacement. More on that in future days...
One thing is for sure, I'm going to be keeping it!
With that done, it's time to move on to my traditional end of year round up, so strap in and get comfortable.
I feel like I've said this before, but with no sense of false modesty, it's not a great haul. There's normally at least one photo that I'm proud of, and I'm not sure that I've got that this year. There's still a couple of nice enough shots though.
I've taken a lot of photos at Goodison Park this year, as usually when I'm at the match it tends to be my photo of the day. My favourite is probably this one of intrepid fundraiser Speedo Mick standing with the travelling Sunderland fans. He's so bonkers and kind spirited that even the most horrible travelling fans usually show him some appreciation.
One thing that's worth celebrating are views of new places, and with much of our holiday time spent on lovely trips to Finland, our scope for travelling is lessened a bit. That didn't stop me seeing some new sights though. There was my first trip to Belgium (outside of an airport transfer) and then this very violent seascape at Church Bay on Anglesey.
Of equal interest are new views of familiar sights (and sites come to that). This is a new viewpoint for me of the beauty of Cumbria, and this bridge certainly wasn't in this view before! This is a strange view on a well trodden path at the back of work in Woolton, and this view of Liverpool was a strong contender for my photo of the year. The contrast between foreground and background reminds me hugely of the end shot of 'Gangs of New York'.
The kids normally offer great value for money when it comes to snaps, and while I've got no real gems this year, this one always makes me smile. :)
One thing I'll remember 2017 for is the dreaded move - we moved into a newly built building in work and that features a few times. This is still probably the single greatest piece of equipment stacking that I've ever been involved in! We did lots and lots of cabling!
My airshow season was a fairly quiet one, but still yielded the odd worthy result. It was the year that we also bid a tearful farewell to Mike Ling as Red 10, and that was genuinely sad for us and the Reds.
Lucy the Cat of course made a few appearances, of which I think this was her prettiest.
What of the happy moments of the year? There were a good few, though many are tied to annual events. Some special one offs neatly bookend the year, with the marvellous murder dinner in February and the rather lovely celebration of Finland's centenary of independence in December.
But in the absence of a 'killer' shot, what is it that makes my personal photo of the year? It would need to be technically competent and visually attractive. Ideally it should also be tied to a happy memory or to tell a good story. But just suppose I found one that could tick every box? For that, I take you all the way back to January and a very memorable night in Soho!
A Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for staying with me through 2017. :)