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Baku, Azerbaijan
I thought I'd fill you all in on the events of this day... which has nothing to do with my picture except to say it was the culmination of a very long day!
Our flight out of Istanbul's new International airport was early morning which meant an even earlier get-up and check-in. The hotel booked us a taxi from the front door and off we set. Now we'd enquired about travel times to the airport as this was just on the cusp of the rush-hour start. Typically the airport run is about 30 minutes away but we were advised to allow 40 minutes just in case of traffic build up. This was going to be no problem - we always plan ahead, unfortunately our taxi driver had other ideas.
Having studied all about velocity, mass and momentum at college, I/we always put on seatbelts front or back but these seemed inadequate in this particular taxi... a full four-way racing harness would have been better. Whether someone had just beaten his airport run pole time we'll never know but he was sure as hell intent on regaining it this very morning!
Speed signs and limits were just for other drivers this morning as we hurtled down the main highway out of the Sultanahmet. He was only forced to brake when we came across what looked like a road block or accident... mainly lorries for some reason! We came to a stop in the outer lane only for our driver to crunch his gearbox into reverse and driver backwards down the road before we had chance to compute what the hell was going on. We passed a break in the central reservation Armco barrier... low and behold back into first gear and drove through the gap!
So there we were driving up the wrong side of the road with cars coming head on, flashing their headlights (who wouldn't in a situation like this) darting out of the way for this madman.
"What the hell (please insert fruitier language here) are you doing!!!" I shouted or was it screamed to the driver as we both looked for grab handles and planned for the brace position. "It's ok, this shortcut and I put hazard light on"
That's ok then, I thought, perfectly understandable! What seemed like an eternity could only have been about 400 yards for we quickly passed the road block which turned to be a lane closure for road works and the "good" traffic had filtering into the one lane at the crossroads.
Just to keep the tension on heart attack levels we darted back onto the right side of the highway without a consideration for the lights or who had right of way. We sat in stunned silence with our hands gripped vice-like to the roof handles in fear. The rest of journey was somewhat of an anticlimax after that incident albeit at breakneck speed. We arrived in 22 minutes dead... he seemed pleased with himself so I assumed he had just regained pole position. I paid him the fare... I didn't give a tip!
The flight was pretty uneventful except to mention it was full of gymnasts on their way to a competition in Baku. The young South Korean girl gymnast in the seat next to Mrs R was clearly very excited for she practiced her floor routine in her seat for the full duration of the flight... with that dedication I hope she won a medal!
Fast forward to Baku...
Taxis in Baku are wonderful compared to our last one. The state owned ones are Hackney carriages, like in the UK, but purple in colour. Fees are all fixed and very cheap compared to UK black cabs... you can, however, hail private cabs but run the risk of getting ripped off by as much as 1 or 2 Manats (50p or £1), the choice is yours!
We got a purple cab from the airport to our hotel - the Flame Towers, and passed the very reason I wanted to come to Baku in the first place on route, but that's another story. Our hotel is simply a jaw dropping example of modern architecture that reflects the economic wealth of Azerbaijan in oil and gas hence the flame design. We had paid for an upgraded room for a sea view and upon checking in, the hotel had upgraded us to a suite... without wanting to sound gloaty it was bigger than the footprint of our home.
We don't squander time when on holiday and headed out after a very quick unpack and freshen up, which leads to this picture and the previous one. The afternoon was spent gaining our bearings and wandering down the promenade and into town. It was late afternoon and we hadn't eaten so the first diner we came across that took care of that. By the time we came out the light was fading and so we decided to head back to our hotel. It's at this point we realised how high the hotel is situated and it's a bit of a hike up the hills. When we eventually arrived back it was dark and we felt a little disappointed that the three towers weren't illuminated. I must confess I hadn't researched whether these were only illuminated for special occasions or a nightly show... we needed have worried! By the time we exited the lift, we pass a glass fronted balcony overlooking the sea and the opposite tower on the way to our room - the show was in full swing!
I hadn't planned on going out first night for photography as this wasn't that sort of holiday but how could I by-pass the opportunity. "I take it you'll need your tripod?"... bless her!
So we went out into the night... by the way this was Mrs R's idea and the picture her's as well.
Se non trovi la tua strada, siediti e rifletti, metti a riposo tutti i pensieri del momento affinchè quello che hai nel profondo del tuo cuore possa emergere. - MDR
SN1189
Resetting the clock forward tonight means I'll be grumpy tomorrow morning (but I do like the longer evening light).
67/365
Take Aim: signs of spring
125 in 2025, #54 leaning (and it took me a long time to figure out how to prop the minifigure up at a leaning-forward angle)
-93- Julian Lautenschlager (EC Bad Nauheim), DEL 2 - EC Bad Nauheim gegen Starbulls Rosenheim, Bad Nauheim, Colonel-Knight-Stadion, 20.01.26
Life is full of surprises; we never know what's ahead around the corner, but we keep moving forward.
Minolta SRT 102, roll #2
Kodak GC/Ultramax 400, expired
Argentix.ca/Unicolor
Tears Of A Clown
The Beat Version
Now if there's a smile on my face
It's only there tryin' to fool the public
But when it comes down to foolin' you
Well, now honey, that's quite a different subject
So don't let my glad expression
Give you the wrong impression
'Cos really I'm sad, oh, I'm sadder than sad
Well, I'm hurt and I want you so bad
Like a clown, I appear to be glad, ooh, yeah
There's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than
The tears of a clown
When there's no one around
Say, oh, yeah, baby, baby, baby
Oh, yeah, baby, baby, baby
Now if I appear to be carefree
It's only to camouflage my sadness
And honey, to shield my pride, I try
To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
So don't let my show convince you
That I've been happy since you
Decided to go, oh, I need you so
Look, I'm hurt and I want you to know
Just for others I put on a show, ooh, yeah
There's some sad things known to man
But ain't too much sadder than tears of a clown
When there's no one around
Sitting in Dublin Airport on my lonesome, after saying goodbye to Family and Friends. Feeling a little lonely, but also looking so forward to seeing my two girls back in Sydney on Sunday morning. This was the first image I took during my Ireland trip. Tork Waterfall, in Killarney. The image is very deceiving. This waterfall is huge, and I got this on the first attempt. Hope you like "Tears Of A Clown". Cheers, Mike
Forward swept wings are an obvious feature of both the S-37 (left) from Russian and the X-29 (right) from the US. The latter was purely intended as a research aircraft and to save costs and because it didn't have to carry weapons or combat systems, the aircraft could be made quite small. The Sukhoi design was intended to eventually replace the Su-27 Flanker as Russia's air superiority fighter, and consequently was supposed to have a long range and advanced sensor systems and it had an internal weapons bay. As a result it's a big beast. Both of these models were built at the same scale of roughly 1/40, so the size comparison is realistic.
Woman having to carry the purchases on a day of extreme heat. Translation of the sign written in Hebrew and Arabic: "Entrance to buses is prohibited, except public transport."
"Step Forward- Give Back" Walkathon 2026 participants arriving early morning at 5 AM to take part in the event in Bengaluru.
I took this photo a couple of weeks ago and quite like how it turned out apart from the lighting. Bearing that in mind I liked the relaxed feel of the photo. I was wearing a Per Una top and a skirt from the sadly missed East company.
Hopefully the Astra Zeneca vaccine will be approved in the U.K. today and we can start vaccinations in earnest and start beating the virus.
Stay Safe,
Jane xxx
Thoroughly dominating the main hall of the California State Railroad Museum is one of the most impressive steam locomotives that I have ever seen displayed indoors. Weighing in at more than 650,000 lbs, and having over 124,000 lbs of tractive effort, this powerful 4-8-8-2 locomotive was built for the Southern Pacific Railroad for use on mountain routes, where long snow-sheds and tunnels were commonplace. The front-end exhaust of conventional steam locomotives typically filled such structures with hot, toxic gasses which could easily asphyxiate crew members on the train. To solve that problem the SP built several classes of "Cab-Forwards", such as this Class AC-12. They offered the crew not only cleaner air to breathe, but fantastic forward visibility, although their ability to watch their engine's workings was diminished considerably. The use of oil as a fuel allowed the firebox to be moved to the forward end of the locomotive...something that was impossible with solid fuels. The 4294 was the last member of the ultimate class of cab-forwards and only enjoyed a relatively short service life, from 1944 to 1956. When these locomotives were retired, all but one...the one seen here, were scrapped. Thanks to a good relationship between the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society and the SP, this one was preserved. After spending some time as an outdoor display, she was restored and brought to the California State Railroad Museum, where she is clearly the centerpiece of their display. The cab is open for viewing daily and is manned continuously by museum docents.
WE 304-303-300 tied down on the main track with no crew at Bruceton, PA awaiting track work to clear ahead. Train includes 6 loads of rip-rap in side-dumps and 95 empty coke hoppers that will go to Monessen, PA. The gas bottles on the left are from the recent welded rail project that has been ongoing east of Pierce.