It’s Monochrome Monday again, and because the colour meter isn’t topped up until Tuesday morning, and because of colour overuse during the week prior, it usually runs out on Sunday night resulting in Monday’s monochrome post.

High Vis Henry (his orange vest being a shade of grey today, so you’ll just have to believe me) watches Andrew and Barclay having a good natter before running the loco around a short rake of empty wagons that have just arrived.

Monday is always a bit of a slow start, but the mine doesn’t produce a huge amount of coal these days, so the workload is light. And anyway, Andrew and Barclay are getting on a bit, so this suits them. But sadly it’s rumoured that the mine might close in only a year or two, for the coal is getting difficult to mine due to the increasingly fragmented nature coal seam which is at best only 4 feet from top to bottom. This is of course not helped by ever reducing demand.

~~~~~👀~~~~~

Yes...this has officially turned into a 52 weeks project. With my current workload, a 365 is just NOT possible. I'll be uploading more than one picture a week, but I figured this way I'll be able to plan things out and create better images for you guys (as well as myself). Yeah.

Dalkey - Ireland

Amos Sewell (1901-1983) is best known for the covers and illustrations he designed for many magazines and for his depictions in popular 20th century pulp magazines. He was privately contracted to illustrate for large national advertising accounts, but admitted that he had to give those up to focus on his added workload from “The Saturday Evening Post.” Though Amos and his wife Ruth had no children of their own, the artist idealized childhood, often choosing to depict children at play or unknowingly making mistakes. Today, Amos Sewell is remembered as one of the Post’s best artist-illustrators.

In 2022., I've learned how to roll a custom-length black and white film roll, and I've been using that intensively. This roll was one of those, 8 shots long. With my current workload, it seemed I'm never finishing the regular, 36-frames long roll, and that discouraged me from even starting a roll.

Taken with Yashica FX‍-‍3 film camera, with Carl Zeiss Planar T∗ 50mm F1.7 lens, on a shortened roll of Agfa APX 400 film. Developed with Adox Adonal, 1+50 dilution, at 21°C.

Scanned with Plustek OpticFilm 8100 film scanner, via VueScan 9.5.

Obviously, I've managed to mess up this roll, somehow. That was one of the first rolls I shortened, so who knows what happened there…

Manufacturer: Boeing Vetrol

Operator: The US Army Aviation Systems Test Activity

Type Boeing Vetrol Model 347 winged helicopter

Location: US Army Museum, Fort Rucker, Alabama, USA

Comment:

Evaluated in 1972 The US Army conducted a Phase II technical evaluation of a derivative of the CH-47 transport helicopter. the Boeing-Vertol Model 347 winged helicopter. The Model 347 winged helicopter incorporated a variable incidence wing with normal acceleration load-sensitive flaps, was tested at the contractor's facility near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The evaluation was conducted to determine the improvements provided by addition of a wing system to a transport helicopter. Compliance with the provisions of military specification MIL-H-8501A was determined. Evaluations of the variable incidence wing system and the retractable landing gear system were also made. With the wing in the hover position, out-of-ground-effect hover performance of the Model 347 winged helicopter was similar to the unwinged aircraft. Both the winged and nonwinged Model 347 helicopter could hover out of ground effect using less power than could the CH-47C. Level flight performance at a heavy referred gross weight (54,000 pounds) was improved over both the nonwinged helicopter and the production CH-47C. Addition of the wing to the Model 347 helicopter did not significantly change the generally excellent handling qualities reported for the nonwinged version of the aircraft. The strong longitudinal stability exhibited by the aircraft reduced pilot workload in maintaining trim airspeed and pitch attitude. Only minimal trim changes in all control axes were required when transitioning between climbs or descents and level flight.

one more in comments.

So, I shot this before I left for uni today because I had an idea that I wouldn't be home till late so wouldn't be able to shoot on time. I was right. I got home at close to 1am and edited this. Then put off uploading it for another hour :-P

I know I've been posting daily and I will continue to do so as much as I can but I never started this thinking I'd have to stick to it strictly or anything. And considering I'm nocturnal, the hours I loose during the day, I make up at nights so for me, 12-5am would still be counted as the day before if I hadn't slept fully yet.

In other news, I picked up another subject today for the year. I was only doing 3 this year so decided I would do 4 (its complicated but basically, I have more units right now for my degree than I should so I can get away with doing only 3 this year). This means I will only have to do 3 next year which is awesome because it will make the workload a lot less. Anyway, so I looked through all the courses and decided the one I wanted to take was "Shi'a Islam".

Hey everyone,

Since my workload at university has reduced significantly, I can finally rebuild my LEGO building setup and get back to creating MOCs again. I’m expecting to have a lot more free time by early June, so you can expect new builds before Summer. Furthermore, I am expecting several Bricklink orders to arrive soon which should allow me to build more creatively. I also wrote down some ideas when it comes to MOCs, which are primarily related to either Star Wars or Batman.

On another note, I decided to create an Instagram page for my MOCs. My name used to be TX-008 [1998], but Reddit’s and Instagram’s username requirements didn’t allow me to use it, which is why I changed my name to TXBricks. As long as you primarily post MOCs and leave a comment on this Flickr post with your username, I will gladly follow you back! Here’s a link: www.instagram.com/txbricks/

As you can see, I already added some older MOCs. There are several reasons why I decided to join Instagram as an AFOL. On one hand, I would like to experience what the LEGO community on Instagram is all about, while on the other I’d like to share more pictures without having to worry about Flickr’s upload limit for non-Pro users. From now on you can also expect to see my builds on r/LEGO and some other subreddits.

This is my next-door neighbor's daffodil. Hers get afternoon light; mine don't and are just barely sprouting.

I wish I could go visiting and commenting as much as I would like to, but I can't because of workload demands. Please bear with me. Thanks.

I also still can't post to groups, though the Flickr problem was supposed to have been fixed this morning.

Reminder: Please do not post notes on my photo or any images in your comments unless they are germane to my shot and of thumbnail size. If you do, I will delete the comment without notification. I welcome your input, but please express yourself in text only, or provide a link to your image. Thank you.

© All rights reserved. No usage allowed in any form without the written consent of Mim Eisenberg.

This week's 52 Frame assignment was "Night Photography" with an extra challenge astrophotography. With my workload, I unfortunately did not have much time for night photos except for the one night I worked late. I fastened my GoPro to the back of the seats and did time-lapse with 2-second exposures all the way home. Here was one of the photographs. I did a 2:3 crop instead of the GoPro's 8:7 frame.

finally got out again this morning after a few weeks break .due to home workload .

three shots across the spectrum as i have done a micro adjust on the lens while at home ,seems to have worked across the board . with this one i have never see a bee as huge as this before it must have been over a inch long

via Instagram ift.tt/1M66cuz

This is part of my Year to Year set.

Remember, no photos in comments and no notes, please.

Bear with me as I work my way through my workload and to the time I can visit and comment and reciprocate. Thank you for your patience with me.

© All rights reserved. No usage allowed in any form without the written consent of Mim Eisenberg.

Home office - a little break from the workload.

Awena 💋💋

“I swore a vow to General Hoth. I promised I would not rest until the Sith had been cleansed from the galaxy. I still intend to honour that vow.”

Valenthyne Farfalla was a male half-Bothan Jedi Master and Lord who served the Jedi order during the New Sith Wars. He had a reputation for being foppish and vain, but he fought with Lord Hoth and the Army of Light in the Ruusan campaign of the New Sith Wars. He was the highest-ranking Jedi to survive Ruusan after Hoth and much of the Army of Light perished after Lord Kaan activated his thought bomb in 1000 BBY. He served the Jedi Order for another 10 years, before being killed by Darth Bane during the Duel on Tython.

/////

Hope you guys enjoy this figure, once I got the legs I knew I’d have to whip Farfalla up. I quite enjoyed his character in the Bane trilogy!

Also, enjoy this semi-regular posting, I should be able to keep it up for a while, until my university workload picks up. :)

I still am at the mercy of the rain and workload it seems.

copyright © Mim Eisenberg/mimbrava studio. All rights reserved.

I returned yesterday from a 15-day road trip with Zoe Bear (who turned out surprisingly to be a fabulous traveler). We first visited our gracious hostess, Judith (jude), and spent some time with her, her sister Lucy (ms.lume) and with Trish (P.J. McAdie), who came down for the friends' reunion. This photo of the downy woodpecker was taken from Lucy's magical kitchen window.

Zoe Bear and I then went on to stay with a second cousin in Philadelphia and on the 25th attended a big cousins' reunion, some of whom I hadn't seen in decades. It was a joy to go through documents and photographs and to share memories, laughter, love and hugs.

Thank you for visiting. I'll do my best to return the favor today, but post-vacation chores and a huge workload are calling me away from Flickr again.

See my shots on flickriver:

www.flickrriver.com/photos/mimbrava/

Please join us on Super Eco and enter our April photo contest, Spring Fling!. Today is the last day to enter this month's contest.

The bokeh sings!

***************************************************

I walked around the street tonight with Chebu during my meal break. I kept shooting aside the pavement and the passer-by kept looking at me. They must think I am crazy. But, who care? I was having great time shooting with Chebu, what a beautiful night!

It’s a great day and I have too much to be grateful for!

1.Grateful for having a cup of nice tea, more importantly with a beautiful mug that my sister bought me, in the morning.

2.Grateful for having an easy working day, light workload and nice sergeant, I can’t ask for more! Tomorrow and the day after would be very busy for sure, but I am not afraid, I trust my ability!

3.Grateful for having a nice colleague who shared the magazine with me!

4.Grateful for receiving two pieces of candies from my colleague. She is a cleaning worker, a very nice lady who helps us every day. I admire her hard work, politeness and smile so much! This evening when I walked into the pantry, she suddenly gave me two candies with big smile. I was surprised and she warmed my heart! It felt like she’s adding a bonus moment at the end of my day with sweetness :)

5.Grateful for receiving my ex-boyfriend’s message knowing that he is fine and keeps fighting there in the Philippines.

6.Grateful for talking to my auntie on phone tonight knowing that she is fine. I miss her so much tonight. She is living alone and I want to give her as much love and care as I can.

7.Grateful for receiving Naoko’s message when I returned home tonight. Her holiday in April matches the leave days I’ve applied! Woohoo! I am super excited!

8.Grateful for reading a comment from one of the flickr friends, Lila Lucena. She said “Sometimes even with a partner you feel alone too... Don't feel that way get, think out of the square and try something new!” Her words awoke my brain cell! Yes, don’t worry too much about the trip, just think out of thee box and try something new!

In 2022., I've learned how to roll a custom-length black and white film roll, and I've been using that intensively. This roll was one of those, 8 shots long. With my current workload, it seemed I'm never finishing the regular, 36-frames long roll, and that discouraged me from even starting a roll.

Taken with Yashica FX‍-‍3 film camera, with Carl Zeiss Planar T∗ 50mm F1.7 lens, on a shortened roll of Agfa APX 400 film. Developed with Adox Adonal, 1+50 dilution, at 21°C.

Scanned with Plustek OpticFilm 8100 film scanner, via VueScan 9.5.

Obviously, I've managed to mess up this roll, somehow. That was one of the first rolls I shortened, so who knows what happened there…

Explore 65! People who (personally) know me will instantly recognize that this is all I ever, ever doodle on books/papers/white boards/cards/binders/arms/legs/etc.

I've been going through some massive (film) writer's block, and getting frustrated. Plowing through a workload (or attempting to, anyway). Tension-cutter: Mad Men.

Sorry for slacking on my stickers. The holiday workload is draining! But here's a few odd ones!

www.Questionjosh.bigcartel.com

The Baker's challenging workplace setting, depicted in an illustration by Henry Holiday (cut by Joseph Swain) to Lewis Carroll's The Hunting of the Snark.

This is the image which introduced me to The Hunting of the Snark. After using the image in presentations on mental workload issues (ISO 10075) for three years, I finally took the time to read Carroll's poem. Then, in December 2008, I made my first discovery.

Fit the Fifth

THE BEAVER'S LESSON

301    They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;

302        They pursued it with forks and hope;

303    They threatened its life with a railway-share;

304        They charmed it with smiles and soap.

305    Then the Butcher contrived an ingenious plan

306        For making a separate sally;

307    And had fixed on a spot unfrequented by man,

308        A dismal and desolate valley.

309    But the very same plan to the Beaver occurred:

310        It had chosen the very same place:

311    Yet neither betrayed, by a sign or a word,

312        The disgust that appeared in his face.

313    Each thought he was thinking of nothing but “Snark”

314        And the glorious work of the day;

315    And each tried to pretend that he did not remark

316        That the other was going that way.

317    But the valley grew narrow and narrower still,

318        And the evening got darker and colder,

319    Till (merely from nervousness, not from goodwill)

320        They marched along shoulder to shoulder.

321    Then a scream, shrill and high, rent the shuddering sky,

322        And they knew that some danger was near:

323    The Beaver turned pale to the tip of its tail,

324        And even the Butcher felt queer.

325    He thought of his childhood, left far far behind—

326        That blissful and innocent state—

327    The sound so exactly recalled to his mind

328        A pencil that squeaks on a slate!

329    “’Tis the voice of the Jubjub!” he suddenly cried.

330        (This man, that they used to call “Dunce.”)

331    “As the Bellman would tell you,” he added with pride,

332        “I have uttered that sentiment once.

333    “’Tis the note of the Jubjub! Keep count, I entreat;

334        You will find I have told it you twice.

335    ’Tis the song of the Jubjub! The proof is complete,

336        If only I’ve stated it thrice.”

337    The Beaver had counted with scrupulous care,

338        Attending to every word:

339    But it fairly lost heart, and outgrabe in despair,

340        When the third repetition occurred.

341    It felt that, in spite of all possible pains,

342        It had somehow contrived to lose count,

343    And the only thing now was to rack its poor brains

344        By reckoning up the amount.

345    “Two added to one—if that could but be done,”

346        It said, “with one’s fingers and thumbs!”

347    Recollecting with tears how, in earlier years,

348        It had taken no pains with its sums.

349    “The thing can be done,” said the Butcher, “I think.

350        The thing must be done, I am sure.

351    The thing shall be done! Bring me paper and ink,

352        The best there is time to procure.”

353    The Beaver brought paper,portfolio, pens,

354        And ink in unfailing supplies:

355    While strange creepy creatures came out of their dens,

356        And watched them with wondering eyes.

357    So engrossed was the Butcher, he heeded them not,

358        As he wrote with a pen in each hand,

359    And explained all the while in a popular style

360        Which the Beaver could well understand.

361    “Taking Three as the subject to reason about—

362        A convenient number to state—

363    We add Seven, and Ten, and then multiply out

364        By One Thousand diminished by Eight.

365    “The result we proceed to divide, as you see,

366        By Nine Hundred and Ninety Two:

367    Then subtract Seventeen, and the answer must be

368        Exactly and perfectly true.

369    “The method employed I would gladly explain,

370        While I have it so clear in my head,

371    If I had but the time and you had but the brain—

372        But much yet remains to be said.

373    “In one moment I’ve seen what has hitherto been

374        Enveloped in absolute mystery,

375    And without extra charge I will give you at large

376        A Lesson in Natural History.”

377    In his genial way he proceeded to say

378        (Forgetting all laws of propriety,

379    And that giving instruction, without introduction,

380        Would have caused quite a thrill in Society),

381    “As to temper the Jubjub’s a desperate bird,

382        Since it lives in perpetual passion:

383    Its taste in costume is entirely absurd—

384        It is ages ahead of the fashion:

385    “But it knows any friend it has met once before:

386        It never will look at a bribe:

387    And in charity-meetings it stands at the door,

388        And collects—though it does not subscribe.

389    “ Its flavour when cooked is more exquisite far

390        Than mutton, or oysters, or eggs:

391    (Some think it keeps best in an ivory jar,

392        And some, in mahogany kegs:)

393    “You boil it in sawdust: you salt it in glue:

394        You condense it with locusts and tape:

395    Still keeping one principal object in view—

396        To preserve its symmetrical shape.”

397    The Butcher would gladly have talked till next day,

398        But he felt that the lesson must end,

399    And he wept with delight in attempting to say

400        He considered the Beaver his friend.

401    While the Beaver confessed, with affectionate looks

402        More eloquent even than tears,

403    It had learned in ten minutes far more than all books

404        Would have taught it in seventy years.

405    They returned hand-in-hand, and the Bellman, unmanned

406        (For a moment) with noble emotion,

407    Said “This amply repays all the wearisome days

408        We have spent on the billowy ocean!”

409    Such friends, as the Beaver and Butcher became,

410        Have seldom if ever been known;

411    In winter or summer, ’twas always the same—

412        You could never meet either alone.

413    And when quarrels arose—as one frequently finds

414        Quarrels will, spite of every endeavour—

415    The song of the Jubjub recurred to their minds,

416        And cemented their friendship for ever!

369/365 - 51/52

Doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doooo

Aaahhh, aaahhh

Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods ?

Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds ?

Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed ?

Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need

I need a hero, I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night

He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast

And he's gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'till the morning light

He's gotta be sure and it's gotta be soon

And he's gotta be larger than life, larger than life

Doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doooo, doo doo doo doooo

Aaahhh, aaahhh

Somewhere after midnight, in my wildest fantasy

Somewhere just beyond my reach

There's someone reaching back for me

Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat

It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet

Obviously this didn't take much thought and is pretty boring in respect to what i had wanted to do but there is that time factor again!

Simply put i need a hero to rescue me from this workload i have so i can spend more time on things that do matter to me and i can create work that i am proud of.

Oh and i love the liquify tool! lol One more to go!!!!!! :)

The Teleidoscope - (51/52) Hero

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Teleidoscope is a project that inspires 10 photographers to make 52 photos, one every week.

10 people, 10 different ideas for 52 themes, 52 weeks long.

Every week we will post our images on our site and our Flickr group.

You can join us!

Every saturday we will pick a winner whose photo will get a special extra place at our site!

theteleidoscope.paspartout.com/pages/portfolio

www.flickr.com/groups/theteleidoscope/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

chaie time on my studio's roof top !

sorry folks for not being able to drop by your streams, I'm stuck with uncontrollable amount of work which pretty much seems to have become part of me till June !

thank you Allah jii for the weekends ....... my recharging source !

E X P L O R E D

A most novel and amusing way of storing toilet paper, in the Men’s Room of the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Ybor City.

With having to do my job online and teach kids at a distance, has doubled my workload and I've had very little time for dolls lately. I've just done some redressing and a couple of silly snapshots of the girls. ;) I hope everyone's keeping safe and healthy! ((hugs))

The last day of operation for Dudley freightliner terminal, 26th September 1986. Bearing a commemorative wreath, 58030 waits to leave with the final departure of 4S50, the 18:55 SX for Glasgow Gushetfaulds FLT.

Dudley Freightliner Terminal was a busy location in its early years after opening in November 1967. It dealt with trains to and from Glasgow, Holyhead, Hull, Newcastle, Stockton, Southampton and Swansea, and was also a calling point for services operating to and from Cardiff and Edinburgh (calling also at Newcastle), and Cardiff and Sheffield. Much of Dudley's workload was switched to the larger Birmingham Lawley Street terminal when that facility opened in 1969. [Thanks to David J. Hayes for info.]

237'8367

Fiction:

Part of my duties as a dark angel is to reap souls, Very labor intensive.

The paperwork alone keeps me in the office half the millininium.

I was watching The cartoon " Family Guy " a while back and saw that Stewie made a clone of himself to take some of the workload off of him.

He called him "bitch Stewie".

So.... I did the same thing and called her "bitch Val".

Unfortunately, a similar thing happened to my clone that happened to Stewies,

His turned into a puddle of mush on the floor but mine turned into a pumpkin, as you see here.

She has the IQ of a potato and never stops talking.

It's always, Hey Val..... Hey Val...... Hey Val...... Where are we going now?????

A compilation from a recent walk just in my neighborhood, which has many cherry trees in full bloom. The tree in the background is my own weeping cherry 'snow fountain', and it indeed looks like a cascade of blossoms. The shots at the bottom left and diagonally atop it are my tree, too.

This was created using Picasa's Collage tool and clicking on Picture Pile.

Remember, no photos in comments and no notes, please.

And forgive me for not being able to visit much. It will be a while before I can resume spending as much time on Flickr as I used to and want to. I so much appreciate that so many of you are taking the time to visit and encourage me as I try to deal with my very heavy workload.

© All rights reserved. No usage allowed in any form without the written consent of Mim Eisenberg.

In life, we tended to resist change. SJMC had just gone through one with the implementation of the computerised Hospital Management and Information System - dubbed the HMIS. I was on call on the moment of implementation - midnight on 1st October 2016 - but the system remained off line until I finished my shift. The moment it became online, the mayhem started.

The management decided to close all outpatient clinic - although some did not have the choice but to remain opened. I did not bother since it was my post-call morning and I have got the photo walk lined up. I came to join the party later on that afternoon after the fun subsided.

There were plenty of kinks over the weekend, but it was helped by the Monday off for Awal Muharram. It is the first day of full day since the implementation today. I still had my clinic closed since I would be in Hospital Ampang examining, away from it all …..

Since I was using the same system at Park City and Ara Damansara, I understood the problems, but my worry was not on my side, but on the network itself. Would it be able to handle the stress and the workload? We could only wait and pray …..

Blogged here.

This is just what he does. He rides a bike. Many bikes. Any bike will do. Neil is on day 169 of his *second* consecutive 365 biking challenge. For those of you about to pick up a calculator, or for some strange reason trying to figure it out in your head, that is a grand total of 534 days of riding. It doesn't matter what the weather, or the workload, or how dark it is outside. He is on his bike, through the streets and trails and parking lots of Vancouver and beyond.

Ran across magnificent specimens of many plants while out walking. The landscapers hadn't butchered the plants yet. They tend to cut back plants more than necessary so as to lighten their workload.

Day 24 - 1st July, 2012

July's here.

I've got to start studying.

Ohh yeah, I know its the holidays, please don't remind me.

But, we've been given the workload of an elephant. Trust me.

Aand, I'm expected to get top grades in my after-holidays exam.

You gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Pfft.

Anyways, I've been watching Sherlock lately.

And myholeygod, ain't he simply amazing.

I watched this serial of his with The Woman, I dunno if anyone of you watched it, and I've forgotten "The Woman's" name, but gah, you have to watch it, haha, he's funny, and intuitive. SO intelligent.

Random fact of the day,

Did you know, that I'm a Sapiosexual?

What is a sapiosexual, you ask?

Well, according to a post on Facebook,

It's a person who's sexually attracted to intelligence in others.

BAHAHAHA! :D

Well, what can I say; I am. ;)

Love ya'll, cheerio! :)

This Friday 17 August, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst will be directing this humanoid robot Rollin’ Justin – based in the DLR German Aerospace Center establishment in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany – from aboard the International Space Station, flying at 28 800 km/h and 400 km above Earth.

This latest two-hour test of astronaut-robot cooperation will be webcast from 11:30 CEST (09:30 Station Time, GMT) on Friday. Join us here.

This is the latest experiment in the multi-space-agency METERON (Multi-Purpose End-to-End Robotic Operations Network) project, investigating how astronauts in orbit might oversee robots on alien planets, allowing humans to explore unknown environments without the hazard and expense of landing.

ESA’s Thomas Krueger from the Agency’s Human Robot Interaction Lab explains: “DLR’s Rollin’ Justin possesses a high level of autonomy. For Alexander it will be more like supervising Justin than performing direct remote control.

“He will use his table on ISS to visually identify which items the robot needs to attend to among a set of solar panels on a simulated Martian surface. The operating principle is similar to a point-and-click adventure game, but with exponentially higher stakes of space robotics.”

Principal Investigator for the experiment is Neal Lii of DLR: “Rather than commanding every joint and every movement of the robot, which demands a high mental workload from the human, we rely on the robot’s intelligence to carry out small task packages as commanded by the ISS crew. What we’re looking for with these SUPVIS Justin experiments is demonstrate robots as genuine co-workers, where astronauts give abstract commands that the robots can compute locally then carry out. Our model is supervised autonomy, with astronauts able to manage a team of robots to achieve a given goal.

“This will be our third SUPVIS-Justin orbital experiment. The first was carried out with ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli in August last year. Paolo got so excited about it that he actually recruited fellow crewmembers Randy Bresnik and Jack Fischer to try it out as well. NASA astronaut Scott Tingle participated in the second session in March 2018, providing us with some great feedback.

“We want to see how we can make the interaction as easy and intuitive as possible, while building up the complexity of the tasks with each successive ISS-ground experiment. Starting with simpler switching on/off tasks, we have advanced to asset retrieval, installation, and dexterous repairs for this session. These represent some of the most dexterous telerobotic tasks to be commanded from space to date.”

This project is led by DLR’s Robotics and Mechatronics Center together with ESA’s Human Robot Interaction Lab, with partners including DLR's German Space Operations Center, ESA's European Astronaut Centre, the Danish Aerospace Company, Airbus and NASA.

Credits: DLR

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The AH-1 Cobra was developed in the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. The Cobra shared the proven transmission, rotor system, and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 "Huey". By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U.S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam.

The U.S. Marine Corps was very interested in the AH-1G Cobra, too, but it preferred a twin-engine version for improved safety in over-water operations, and also wanted a more potent turret-mounted weapon. At first, the Department of Defense had balked at providing the Marines with a twin-engine version of the Cobra, in the belief that commonality with Army AH-1Gs outweighed the advantages of a different engine fit. However, the Marines won out and awarded Bell a contract for 49 twin-engine AH-1J SeaCobras in May 1968. As an interim measure the U.S. Army passed on thirty-eight AH-1Gs to the Marines in 1969. The AH-1J also received a more powerful gun turret with a three-barrel 20 mm XM197 cannon based on the six-barrel M61 Vulcan cannon.

A second Kamov 32A12 joined the fleet in 2015, which replaced one of the K-1300s, and Heliswiss’ last K-1300 was retired in early 2022.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2, plus space for a passenger

Length: 54 ft 3 in (16,56 m) including rotors

44 ft 5 in (13.5 m) fuselage only

Main rotor diameter: 46 ft 2¾ in (14,11 m)

Main rotor area: 1,677.64 sq ft (156,37 m2)

Width (over landing gear): 12 ft 6 in (3.85 m)

Height: 17 ft 8¼ in (5,40 m)

Empty weight: 5,810 lb (2,635 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg) without slung load

13,515 lb (6,145 kg) with slung load

Powerplant:

1× P&W Canada T400-CP-400 (PT6T-3 Twin-Pac) turboshaft engine, 1,800 shp (1,342 kW)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 124 mph (200 km/h, 110 kn)

Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)

Range: 270 mi (430 km, 230 nmi) with internal fuel only,

360 mi (570 km 310 nmi) with external auxiliary tanks

Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 m)

Hovering ceiling out of ground effect: 3,000 m (9,840 ft)

Rate of climb: 2,500 ft/min (13 m/s) at Sea Level with flat-rated torque

External load capacity (at ISA +15 °C (59.0 °F):

6,000 lb (2,722 kg) at sea level

5,663 lb (2,569 kg) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)

5,163 lb (2,342 kg) at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)

5,013 lb (2,274 kg) at 12,100 ft (3,688 m)

4,313 lb (1,956 kg) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)

The kit and its assembly:

This is/was the second contribution to the late 2022 “Logistics” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, a welcome occasion and motivation to tackle a what-if project that had been on my list for a long while. This crane helicopter conversion of a HueyCobra was inspired by the Mil Mi-10K helicopter – I had built a 1:100 VEB Plasticart kit MANY years ago and still remembered the helicopter’s unique ventral cabin under the nose with a rearward-facing second pilot. I always thought that the AH-1 might be a good crane helicopter, too, esp. the USMC’s twin-engine variant. And why not combine everything in a fictional model?

With this plan the basis became a Fujimi 1:72 AH-1J and lots of donor parts to modify the basic hull into “something else”. Things started with the removal of the chin turret and part of the lower front hull to make space for the ventral glass cabin. The openings for the stub wings were faired over and a different stabilizer (taken from a Revell EC 135, including the end plates) was implanted. The attachment points for the skids were filled and a styrene tube was inserted into the rotor mast opening to later hold the new four-blade rotor. Another styrene tube with bigger diameter was inserted into the lower fuselage as a display holder adapter for later flight scene pictures. Lead beads filled the nose section to make sure the CraneCobra would stand well on its new legs, with the nose down. The cockpit was basically taken OOB, just the front seat and the respective gunner dashboard was omitted.

One of the big challenges of this build followed next: the ventral cabin. Over the course of several months, I was not able to find a suitable donor, so I was forced to scratch the cabin from acrylic and styrene sheet. Size benchmark became the gunner’s seat from the Cobra kit, with one of the OOB pilots seated. Cabin width was less dictated through the fuselage, the rest of the cabin’s design became a rather simple, boxy thing – not pretty, but I think a real-life retrofitted cabin would not look much different? Some PSR was done to hide the edges of the rather thick all-clear walls and create a 3D frame - a delicate task. Attaching the completed thing with the second pilot and a dashboard under the roof to the Cobra’s lower hull and making it look more or less natural without major accidents was also a tricky and lengthy affair, because I ignored the Cobra’s narrowing nose above the former chin turret.

With the cabin defining the ground helicopter’s clearance, it was time for the next donors: the landing gear from an Airfix 1:72 Kamow Ka-25, which had to be modified further to achieve a proper stance. The long main struts were fixed to the hull, their supporting struts had to be scratched, in this case from steel wire. The front wheels were directly attached to the ventral cabin (which might contain in real life a rigid steel cage that not only protects the second crew member but could also take the front wheels’ loads?). Looks pretty stalky!

Under the hull, a massive hook and a fairing for the oil cooler were added. A PE brass ladder was mounted on the right side of the hull under the pilot’s cockpit, while a rear-view mirror was mounted for the ventral pilot on the left side.

The rotor system was created in parallel, I wanted “something different” from the UH-1 dual-blade rotors. The main rotor hub was taken from a Mistercraft 1:72 Westland Lynx (AFAIK a re-boxed ZTS Plastyk kit), which included the arms up to the blades. The hub was put onto a metal axis, with a spacer to make it sit well in the new styrene tube adapter inside of the hull, and some donor parts from the Revell EC 135. Deeper, tailored blades were glued to the Lynx hub, actually leftover parts from the aforementioned wrecked VEB Plasticart 1:100 Mi-10, even though their length had to be halved (what makes you aware how large a Mi-6/10 is compared with an AH-1!). The tail rotor was taken wholesale from the Lynx and stuck to the Cobra’s tail with a steel pin.

Painting and markings:

Another pushing factor for this build was the fact that I had a 1:72 Begemot aftermarket decal sheet for the Kamow Ka-27/32 in The Stash™, which features, among many military helicopters, (the) two civil Heliswiss machines – a perfect match!

Using the Swiss Helix’ as design benchmark I adapted their red-over-white paint scheme to the slender AH-1 and eventually ended up with a simple livery with a white belly (acrylic white from the rattle can, after extensive masking of the clear parts with Maskol/latex milk) and a red (Humbrol 19) upper section, with decorative counter-colored cheatlines along the medium waterline. A black anti-glare panel was added in front of the windscreen. The auxiliary tanks were painted white, too, but they were processed separately and mounted just before the final coat of varnish was applied. The PE ladder as well as the rotors were handled similarly.

The cockpit and rotor opening interior were painted in a very dark grey (tar black, Revell 06), while the interior of the air intakes was painted bright white (Revell 301). The rotor blades became light grey (Revell 75) with darker leading edges (Humbrol 140), dark grey (Humbrol 164) hubs and yellow tips.

For the “HELOG/Heliswiss” tagline the lower white section had to be raised to a medium position on the fuselage, so that they could be placed on the lower flanks under the cockpit. The white civil registration code could not be placed on the tail and ended up on the engine cowling, on red, but this does not look bad or wrong at all.

The cheatlines are also decals from the Ka-32 Begemot sheet, even though they had to be trimmed considerably to fit onto the Cobra’s fuselage – and unfortunately the turned out to be poorly printed and rather brittle, so that I had to improvise and correct the flaws with generic red and white decal lines from TL Modellbau. The white cross on the tail and most stencils came from the Begemot sheet, too. Black, engine soot-hiding areas on the Cobra’s tail were created with generic decal sheet material, too.

The rotor blades and the wheels received a black ink treatment to emphasize their details, but this was not done on the hull to avoid a dirty or worn look. After some final details like position lights the model was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish, while the rotors became matt.

A weird-looking what-if model, but somehow a crane-copter variant of the AH-1 looks quite natural – even more so in its attractive red-and-white civil livery. The stalky landing gear is odd, though, necessitated by the ventral cabin for the second pilot. I was skeptical, but scratching the latter was more successful than expected, and the cabin blend quite well into the AH-1 hull, despite its boxy shape.

copyright © Mim Eisenberg/mimbrava studio. All rights reserved.

I spent a lovely couple of hours at the Atlanta Botanical Garden yesterday with Melissa, reveling in the spectacular weather and enjoying the Moore in America sculpture exhibit. Her caption for her beautiful set gives you great information about the exhibit.

This mosaic shows part of the life cycle of the magnificent Southern magnolia.

Thank you for visiting. I'll do my best to return the favor today, but my ridiculous workload (from which I took off a little bit of time yesterday) is still calling me away from Flickr. This will be the case for at least two months. I think that's good.

See my shots on flickriver:

www.flickrriver.com/photos/mimbrava/

Please join us on Super Eco and enter our May photo contest, “Macro May”. The contest ends May 31st.

Walt Disney World, Disney's Animal Kingdom - 08/13/09

A pair of Military Macaws greet visitors in the Oasis Pathway area at DAK.

Lefty continues to recover from his broken arm, although it is still weak and fragile. My workload seems like it's increased tenfold, but I'm sure it's not that bad. It has, however, restricted the time I can spend visiting our wonderful photostreams. I will get caught up and see each and every upload - it's just taking extra time. Thanks to all my Flickr friends. :)

08 705 had been an Eastern Region shunter all its working life allocated new to York Depot in March 1960 its first move came 21 years later in July 1981 when it was reallocated to March Depot. It spent two brief spells in the 1980's allocated to nearby Cambridge Depot before returning to March again in July 1990 which was to be its final home depot. The demise of the Speedlink wagon load network in 1991 decimated the workload in nearby Whitemoor Yard for March allocated shunters with the yard eventually sold for redevelopment. With the depot being run down 08 705 left in early 1993 on hire from BR to TML Construction and it worked at the Cheriton Channel Tunnel Terminal construction site numbered CT78. It returned to BR in December 1993 stored surplus at Stratford Depot in East London but never worked again being cut up on site in March 1994.

THE HAZZARD RANGE HERALD

In their monthly meeting the Hazzard Range county commission heard public comments from many members of the community on a few topics on the commission agenda .

Eagle Lake State Park Superintendent Shelby Anderson gave a presentation about the state park and how many people came visit the park over the summer

County Public Works Dept Superintendent Sherry Diff reported that crews are busy with normal duties and flooding has just added to workload .

Clerk Julia Azzarello reported that the Clerk's Office is getting ready for the 2022 election and early voting starts on Oct 11th .

After reports

The commission unanimously voted to approve 9 contracts and 8 flood work Contracts .unanimously voted to declare a county a disaster from ongoing flooding. Last they approved on 1 to 4 vote to revisions to the county’s subdivision regulations.

Eagle Lake State Park Superintendent Shelby Anderson ,County Manager Monica Ski District 1 Commissioner Jeb Cox , District 2 Commissioner /Vice chair Jake Harpe, District 3 Commissioner Fred Taller ,District 4 Commission/ Chair George Dallas ( G. D ) and District 5 Commission Frank Padilla , Clerk Julia Azzarello

I like the painterly quality to this shot, though it is not sharp. These birds are year-round residents in my garden, and it is always delightful to hear their song. This was taken through my home-office window, 12x zoom, handheld. The bird was foraging for insects in the dormant Bermuda grass, which, when the sun becomes warmer and the days a little longer, will revive and turn green again.

Flickr is having a problem, and I (and many others) can't load to groups. I'll do that if/when they fix it.

I wish I could go visiting and commenting as much as I would like to, but I can't because of workload demands. Please bear with me. Thanks.

Reminder: Please do not post notes on my photo or any images in your comments unless they are germane to my shot and of thumbnail size. If you do, I will delete the comment without notification. I welcome your input, but please express yourself in text only, or provide a link to your image. Thank you.

© All rights reserved. No usage allowed in any form without the written consent of Mim Eisenberg.

The latest addition to the Howards/Springfield is this Scania 114/Irizar Century YN04GHX. Having come back off lease with Clarkes of London, it has been purchased with the intention of raising the profile of the fleet and to help deal with an ever increasing workload!

See this locomotive in the video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDP5mgPXMf0&feature=youtu.be

At last! A steam tour comes to town after months of silence, today in the form of flagship British Railways Standard Class 7, 70000 'Britannia', hauling the 'Torbay Express' from Bristol Temple Meads to Kingswear and return. Here the train is seen swinging around the corner at Eastcliff just outside Teignmouth station, working the outbound service.

One of the last and most powerful steam locomotives ever built, the British Rail Standard Class 7 was BR's top express locomotive, and could have been utilised far better in its short lifespan, but ended up only serving the railways for 15 years, a blink of an eye compared to other mainline Pacifics of the time that had operated under the pre-nationalisation companies.

Designed by Robert Riddles, who had previously coined the design for the War Department Austerity 2-10-0 and 2-8-0 freight locomotives, the BR Standard Class 7's were conceived of as a result of the 1948 locomotive exchanges, which were done to test the best and worst aspects of locomotive design within the Big Four railway companies that had existed before nationalisation. The research gained from operating the best designs of the GWR, LMS, LNER and Southern railways on different areas of the British Railways network paved the way for several new classes of standardised locomotives to be constructed, largely to replace many of the ageing Victorian era engines that even in the late 1940's continued to ply their merry trade.

The first design requested by the Railway Executive was for a new express passenger Pacific locomotive, designed specifically to reduce maintenance and using the latest available innovations in steam technology from home and abroad. Various labour-saving devices were utilised to produce a simple, standard and effective design, able to produce equivalent power to some of the Pacifics that were still available as legacies of the Big Four.

The basic design of the Standard 7's can be traced to LMS construction practices, largely owed to Riddles' previous career with that company, but complimented this with the boiler and trailing wheel design of the Southern Railway's Merchant Navy Pacifics so as to follow the best design practice. The firebox was also similar in having a rocking grate, which allowed the fire to be rebuilt without stopping the locomotive, removing both ash and clinker on the move. A self-cleaning smokebox was used, which enabled ash to flow into the atmosphere, reducing the workload of the engine cleaner at the end of a working day. A single chimney was placed on top of the smokebox, which was unusual for a Pacific type of locomotive.

The Standard 7's were fitted with 6 ft 2 in driving wheels, allowing these engines greater capacity for use in mixed-traffic working, which made them available for both sustained fast running with heavy passenger trains, yet small enough to allow them to undertake more mundane tasks such as freight haulage.

55 of these engines were constructed between 1951 and 1954, with 70000 'Britannia' being the first and flagship of the fleet, with residual locomotives of the class being dubbed 'Britannia-Class'. Three batches were constructed at Crewe Works, before the publication of the 1955 Modernisation Plan.

Britannia was built at Crewe, completed on 2 January 1951. She was the first British Railways standard locomotive to be built and the first of 55 locomotives of the Britannia class. The locomotive was named at a ceremony at Marylebone Station by the then Minister for Transport Alfred Barnes on 30 January 1951. The BR Locomotive Naming Committee were determined not to use names already in use on other locomotives. They tried to observe this by not selecting the name Britannia for use on 70000 because it was already in use on one of the ex-LMS Jubilee Class locomotives, but Robert Riddles overruled them and the Jubilee had to be renamed.

The Britannias took their names from great Britons, former Star Class locomotives, and Scottish firths, although one locomotive, 70047, was never named. The success of these first Standard Pacifics gave birth to two other Pacific classes over the BR years, including the unique BR Standard Class 8, number 71000 'Duke of Gloucester', which was built in 1954 to replace the destroyed Princess Royal Class locomotive number 46202 Princess Anne, lost in the Harrow and Wealdstone rail disaster of 1952, and the fleet of 10 BR Standard Class 6 'Clan' Pacifics that were employed on services in the west of Scotland, but failed to gain a stellar reputation due to their employment on timetables for the more powerful Standard 7's they couldn't keep up to.

The class gained a warm response from locomotive crews across all British Railway Regions, with especially glowing reports from those operating them from Stratford depot on the Eastern Region, where its lower weight and high power transformed motive power over the restricted East Anglian lines. However, negative feedback was received from various operating departments, most notably on the Western Region. The criticism was primarily out of partisan preference for GWR-designed locomotive stock among Western Region staff; in particular, the class was 'left-hand drive' in contrast to 'right-hand drive' GWR locomotive and signalling practice, a factor in the Milton rail crash of 1955.

For this reason, the Western Region locomotive depots at Old Oak Common and Plymouth Laira declared that the class was surplus to requirements. However Cardiff Canton depot displayed its liking for the class (despite being part of the former GWR empire) and managed to obtain good results on South Wales passenger traffic.

The Midland Region also had favourable reports, but a marked consistency in losing time on the longer runs between Holyhead and Euston was recorded, although all complaints were down to the individual techniques of the operating crews. This was compounded by the irregular allocation of the class to depots all over the network, meaning that few crews ever had a great deal of experience in driving them. The Southern Region also had an allocation of seven in May 1953, when all Merchant Navy Class locomotives were temporarily withdrawn for inspection after 35020 "Bibby Line" sheared a crank axle on the central driving wheel.

Repairs to the class were undertaken at Crewe, Swindon and Doncaster Works until the financial constraints of the British Railways Modernisation Plan in terms of expenditure on steam began to preclude the regular overhaul of locomotives. During the mid-1960s overhauls were carried out exclusively at Crewe Works.

Britannia was initially based at Stratford in order to work East Anglian expresses to Norwich and Great Yarmouth, but was also particularly associated with the Hook Continental boat train to Harwich. Subsequently, the loco was based at Norwich Thorpe in January and March 1959 before spending the remainder of her career on the London Midland Region based at Willesden, Crewe North, Crewe South and finally Newton Heath.

The locomotive also had the distinction of hauling the funeral train for King George VI from King's Lynn, Norfolk to London following his death in February 1952 at Sandringham House, Norfolk. For this task, Britannia had her cab roof painted white, as was the custom with royal locomotives. Britannia has also worn the white roof in preservation.

However, as the locomotives entered the 1960's, the modernisation plan continued to gather pace, and diesel locomotives started to replace steam on most parts of the network. Very soon the Standard 7's placement on Top-Line expresses were demoted to the on-again-off-again work of freight and parcels, and cosmetic maintenance was reduced as their final years loomed. The lavish BR Brunswick Green soon faded to grey, and in some cases BR Lined Black was adopted for ease.

The first locomotive to be withdrawn from service was number 70007 Coeur-de-Lion in 1965, and the entire class was gradually transferred to Carlisle Kingmoor and Glasgow Polmadie depots. Britannia was withdrawn in May 1966, after 15 years of service.

A succession of bulk withdrawals began in 1967, culminating in the very last steam operation in British Railways service on August 11th, 1968, where Standard 7 number 70013 Oliver Cromwell, was chosen to assist in hauling the Fifteen Guinea Special, the last steam hauled British Railways passenger service from Liverpool to Carlisle via the S&C. 70013 was chosen as it was the last the last BR-owned steam locomotive to undergo routine heavy overhaul at Crewe Works, being out-shopped after a special ceremony in February 1967. The engine hauled the Manchester to Carlisle leg of the service via the Settle and Carlisle line, with LMS Class 5 45110, and LMS Stanier Class 5 locomotives, 44781 and 44871 double-heading the return working back to Manchester.

Upon withdrawal, 70000 was initially planned for preservation with the National Railway Museum due to it's cultural significance, but because of its prototypical nature, 70013 was instead chosen and bought up for preservation. 70000 would later be preserved by Britannia Locomotive Company Ltd.

After moving from one home to another, the engine wound up on the Severn Valley Railway, where she remained for a number of years in operational but non-mainline condition. With the society wishing to make more use of the locomotive, she was moved to the European gauge Nene Valley Railway in Peterborough, where she was also fitted with an air-brake compressor. Britannia made her return to the main line on 27 July 1991, successfully working enthusiast trips until 1997.

With an expired mainline boiler certificate, due to the high cost of refurbishment, the locomotive was sold to Pete Waterman in 2000. Stored at Waterman's workshops at the Crewe Heritage Centre, after initial assessment the amount of work resulted in Waterman selling her to Jeremy Hosking. The locomotive underwent restoration at Crewe which involved a newly refurbished cab, a new smoke box and major work on the boiler; replacement steel sides, new crown stays, new front section barrel section, new steel and copper tubeplate, repairs and patches to door plate and major work to copper firebox.

Transferred to the Royal Scot Locomotive and General Trust, the locomotive was returned to main line operational condition in 2011, initially out shopped in its prototype black British Railways livery. After a running-in period, in 2012 the locomotive was repainted in British Railways Brunswick Green, but with an early BR crest. On 24 January 2012, the loco hauled the Royal Train with Prince Charles on board to Wakefield Kirkgate, where he rededicated the locomotive. For the trip the loco again had a painted white cab roof, removed after the engine's appearance at the West Somerset Railway's Spring Gala.

open diesel locomotive gearbox

seen at the RTM (Outdorp, Netherland) railway museum.

The pinions show the wear of 50 or more years of workload.

One shaft is missing and maybe used as a sparepart.

When you get too much stress on workload in a crowded city with disorienting soul and want to get some air, Boracay Island is an ideal site to spend time with yourself/family/friends. With its glamorous milky-white-sand beach, bluish-green sea water, various foods, it will soothe your mood and body and most of all, find yourself back.

Wadan, Taipei

Two shots from a weekend meeting with my parents, featuring our daughter JSH. Not my usual subject matter, but I was shooting them for the "family record" and liked the way these two worked together. The tables at the National Trust cafe here are great for the 70-200 - the radius is exactly the minimum focus distance, for nice sharp subjects and decent bokeh.

Another infrequent posting I'm afraid, and apologies for my slow reactions of late. The creature above is one reason, as is a busy workload preparing for a short holiday. Thanks for everyone's continued patience. I'm looking forward to carving out a bit more time come September. Meanwhile, I do hope you're all well and enjoying life.

Gili Trawangan, Indonesia - 2017

Coming soon! (Hopefully :-P)

Still refining the type. Still adding some extra characters, but it's getting there :-)

PS to everyone: I stated before (I think I removed that part of the text in the previous photo) the fact that I moved to Portland for a job and am currently finding myself having a hard time keeping up to date with my contacts (and adding the rest of those who've added me) due to the workload given. This typeface was actually a work in progress that made its way into some of the stuff I was working on at the job. Once mid August hits the fan, I'll be lurking through your photos to see what you guys have been up to! :-)