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Haley

Haley

I am not a robot
Since I asked for an off topic forum, I thought I better start a thread.

I thought it might be nice to have a place to bring off topic conversations and get to know each other a little better.

Kiln formed glass is another obsession of mine. Mostly I prefer useful items, although I do also do 'art' sometimes. This summer I will be exploring ways to include images and words, and work thicker. The first two are mine, the last is one of my favorites. Artist Brian Blanthon.


I'm also slightly obsessed with Disney. I lived near Disneyland as a teen and young adult and it really is The Happiest Place on Earth. I get to go on a research trip to Disney World with friends that own a TA every Fall. We research the food and wine festival and the tequila bar, among other things.

I don't know how to do unwind and relax style travel. I keep thinking I should try it. I have learned to try to plan a recovery day at the end of a trip.
 
cocobird

cocobird

Level 2 Member
One could probably figure out that I am just a tiny bit bird obsessed base on my avatar and my name. Beyond that, I spend most of my time in the unwind stage of life as I am retired. I spent way too much time when working on 16 hour days, poor eating, sedentary lifestyle, and the like. My current lifestyle suits me just fine, and, as almost everyone who meets me nowadays says, I am the happiest person they know. :D
 
Haley

Haley

I am not a robot
cocobird said:
One could probably figure out that I am just a tiny bit bird obsessed base on my avatar and my name. Beyond that, I spend most of my time in the unwind stage of life as I am retired. I spent way too much time when working on 16 hour days, poor eating, sedentary lifestyle, and the like. My current lifestyle suits me just fine, and, as almost everyone who meets me nowadays says, I am the happiest person they know. :D
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My husband is a bird fanatic.
We got to watch these chicks hatch earlier this year, it was very cool!

Egret With Newly Hatched Chick by mrhaleyb, on Flickr
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Haley said:
Medium fancy.
Nikon D5100 which has been replaced with the D5200 I think.
With the 55-300 Nikon lens.

Unless he had the 35 prime on it.
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Cool - we have a D90, don't use it as much as we should since we like to move fast.. and don't like lugging things around... parenthood should be fun!
 
Haley

Haley

I am not a robot
Matt said:
Cool - we have a D90, don't use it as much as we should since we like to move fast.. and don't like lugging things around... parenthood should be fun!
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Just like travel, you learn fast that you only really need 20% of what most people pack. I used to use a soft sided lunch box instead of a diaper bag. Much easier to carry around. By our third we just stuck a diaper in our back pocket and called it good.
 
M

MilesAddict

Level 2 Member
I'm also slightly obsessed with Disney. I lived near Disneyland as a teen and young adult and it really is The Happiest Place on Earth. I get to go on a research trip to Disney World with friends that own a TA every Fall. We research th e food and wine festival and the tequila bar, among other things..
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I'm also a HUGE Disney fan. My friends and I do a weekend Food and Wine trip every year. Just had some family relocate to Tampa and suddenly I'm there ALL the time.

Sometimes I feel guilty - like I'm doing the travel thing wrong, because I really like a lot of the mainstream touristy stuff that the travel community seems to generally despise. Disney, Cruises, Las Vegas. I even have been known to enjoy a *gasp* organized tour from time to time. I've finally reached an age where I just don't care - f I want spend a long weekend relaxing on the Lido deck with a drink of the day, then so be it.

ETA: Being a travel agent would be my dream job! Seriously, if I thought I could make even a baseline existence doing it, I would. Although maybe, like anything, doing something for compensation diminishes one's enjoyment of it.
 
cocobird

cocobird

Level 2 Member
MilesAddict said:
Sometimes I feel guilty - like I'm doing the travel thing wrong, because I really like a lot of the mainstream touristy stuff that the travel community seems to generally despise. Disney, Cruises, Las Vegas. I even have been known to enjoy a *gasp* organized tour from time to time. I've finally reached an age where I just don't care - if I want spend a long weekend relaxing on the Lido deck with a drink of the day, then so be it.
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There's no right or wrong for a preferred style of travel. I enjoyed backpacking in my younger days, and now my idea of roughing it is no elevator (or a broken elevator) in a hotel. I'm with you on touristy stuff - after all those became popular for a reason. Life is about making the choices that work for you, so enjoy!
 
ElainePDX

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
Haley said:
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Haley, I love the bowl! It really is gorgeous. Have you gone to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma? It is definitely worth a visit if you are in the Pacific NW.

I am not a birder, but there are some great bird photos here too. Beautiful.
 
Rick

Rick

Level 2 Member
Another Disney fan here, though I'm getting a bit long in years to say it out loud in a parking lot. I took my children there most years as they were growing up. They still want to go - how can you not.

Hey, that got me thinking... I wonder if there is a way we could post popular places to go to see if we could mass together and get bulk room rates. Maybe we could become our own travel agency?
 
M

MilesAddict

Level 2 Member
Rick said:
Another Disney fan here, though I'm getting a bit long in years to say it out loud in a parking lot. I took my children there most years as they were growing up. They still want to go - how can you not.

Hey, that got me thinking... I wonder if there is a way we could post popular places to go to see if we could mass together and get bulk room rates. Maybe we could become our own travel agency?
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I want to *be* a travel agent. Maybe after I finally achieve financial indpendence, I can start my own agency without worrying about profitability.
 
TeamZissou

TeamZissou

Level 2 Member
ElainePDX said:
Haley, I love the bowl! It really is gorgeous. Have you gone to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma? It is definitely worth a visit if you are in the Pacific NW.

I am not a birder, but there are some great bird photos here too. Beautiful.
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Love the Museum of Glass! I used to live in Tacoma while I was working at McChord AFB and thoroughly enjoyed my time there before I moved. Haven't been back in 8 years or so, but it remains my favorite place I've ever lived.
 
MarkD

MarkD

Level 2 Member
Very serious issue here - what's the secret to uploading your avatar? :p

I can pick the file I want and it shows up in the avatar editor, but when I check the box to replace the avatar nothing happens. I tried reducing the file size but no go. I guess I'll try something other than .jpg. Oh and it happens at the other similar forum site as well.

What are others using - .png?
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
MarkD said:
Very serious issue here - what's the secret to uploading your avatar? :p

I can pick the file I want and it shows up in the avatar editor, but when I check the box to replace the avatar nothing happens. I tried reducing the file size but no go. I guess I'll try something other than .jpg. Oh and it happens at the other similar forum site as well.

What are others using - .png?
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I use .png most of the time these days, so think so, but not sure. If you want to hyperlink me to the image either here of via PM I'll upload it for you.
 
MarkD

MarkD

Level 2 Member
Matt said:
I use .png most of the time these days, so think so, but not sure. If you want to hyperlink me to the image either here of via PM I'll upload it for you.
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Thanks Matt! As you can see I figured it out. It turns out that if you check the box to delete the current avatar when you do not have one yet it doesn't upload.
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
MarkD said:
Thanks Matt! As you can see I figured it out. It turns out that if you check the box to delete the current avatar when you do not have one yet it doesn't upload.
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Excellent choice! Glad you figured it out, and hope it helps others in similar need of uploading a dog with underpants on its head
 
Haley

Haley

I am not a robot
I spent five days in the art studio. Three days of test tiles, then working with the image and cutting glass, a bit of sandblasting, some time with a tile saw and a bit of time developing a photo mask, more sand blasting, and today the kiln was loaded. Next Friday I'll see if they come out the way I hope. Then a day or two playing with power tools, to finish and polish.

Now I need to get busy with our two new Citi AA Exec cards, they came a few days ago so I'm already running behind a bit.

Cold stack (not yet fired glass)
My glass cutting station

Loaded kiln
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Toni, did you have a technical problem leaving a comment with this quote?
 
Miles to the Wild

Miles to the Wild

Level 2 Member
cocobird said:
One could probably figure out that I am just a tiny bit bird obsessed base on my avatar and my name. Beyond that, I spend most of my time in the unwind stage of life as I am retired. I spent way too much time when working on 16 hour days, poor eating, sedentary lifestyle, and the like. My current lifestyle suits me just fine, and, as almost everyone who meets me nowadays says, I am the happiest person they know. :D
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OMG you mean I am not the only one! LOL!

IMG_9215a.jpg IMG_6683a.jpg
 
Toni Perkins

Toni Perkins

Level 2 Member
Matt said:
Toni, did you have a technical problem leaving a comment with this quote?
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Why yes I did! Sorry! Sometimes when I log in on my computer, it won't let me type anything at all. I don't seem to ever have that problem with my phone. Weird!
 
Matt

Matt

Administrator
Staff member
Toni Perkins said:
Why yes I did! Sorry! Sometimes when I log in on my computer, it won't let me type anything at all. I don't seem to ever have that problem with my phone. Weird!
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Good! I mean, I am sorry that you did have that problem, but if you were really just quoting stuff without a comment it would be weird :)
 
R

RTR

Level 2 Member
Those pics make me want to go out and buy a decent camera. Thinking about one of those mirrorless models rather than a dslr.
 
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