Zooomr is Winning

Sorry, I haven't been kayaking much. The whole family has been fighting a cold. Just photography lately. Zooomr still has some bugs, but I like the member community better than Flickr. Check out some of my latest work here.

OK, I Think Zooomr is Working Pretty Good Now

I have uploaded several photos and figured out what I have been doing wrong as well. If I rework a photo in Photoshop, I need to remember to re-save the file in the original RGB format. That should be no big deal, but the uploader was hanging up on every file that I switched to Black and White. The Zooomr team has been adding features back in a little at a time as well, so Zooomr is getting back to normal finally.

Zooomr MkIII Upload Troubles

I am still struggling with Zooomr. :(

Zooomr is Back Up

Yvette, originally uploaded by rjsteih.

Zooomr may be back up, but its kinda finicky. I have also started a Flickr account, but I have maxed out my upload for this month. So in the next few months, I plan to evaluate both services, and try to decide which I like better. I have placed a link in the column to the right. Look them over and feel free to let me know which you like better.

Zooomr is Down....Still

Zooomr is down and I am bummed. I don't know when it will be back up, and I am considering switching to Flickr. It seems like everybody with photos on the web has a Flickr account, but I like Thomas and Kris, the guys that run Zooomr. I like their photographic style, and general "coolness", but even they have Flickr acounts, which doesn't say too much for Zooomr. I guess I'm going to hold my breath for a couple more days and see what happens.

Holiday Paddle

I got out of the house finally this evening, and paddled to the east, down to the yacht club. I spent about two hours total on the water tonight. It was much more subdued on this little cottage lake than I had expected. I could hear a lot of powerboat traffic all weekend long. Must be everybody packed up and went home earlier today. It was good to get out of the house for a little while. Being a holiday weekend, my wife was scheduled to work, and the baby has been feeling a little under the weather, so I spent the last four days taking care of her, so mommy could get plenty of sleep. This is a nice picture of the small sailboats at the yacht club.

I Saw My Father in my Reflection

I was standing in the back yard, and I caught a glimpse of my father in my reflection in the sliding glass window. I had been mowing the lawn, a job that I don't particularly like, when my wife yelled at me that she needed some help. So then she handed me the leash with the dog attached and I got to do another little job that I dislike. As I was standing by the dog's favorite tree, I felt a little like the fool that closes the barn door after the horse has gotten out. Anyway, my wife was in the house cleaning up the dog's "deliberate", lately they have not been accidents, but deliberates, because he is jealous of the baby. So its hot and humid, I'm sweaty and tired, I have a grumpy scowl on my face, wearing my tired old worn-out boots, my jeans that are baggy in the butt, and my denim shirt is untucked, and the blurry reflection in the sliding glass door looks just like my dad, twenty five years ago. Only difference is he had a smart-alack teenager to put up with, I on the other hand have a teenage dog to put up with.

Jackson Area Paddle and Wildlife Viewing Session

Beautiful weather this morning on my paddle to the west on my local lakes. I was on the water by 10am and spent about three hours total. I paddled to the west toward the less developed lakes, so as to hopefully find more wildlife to view. I was rewarded well for my choice.

Mute Swans: Several pairs, some with signets swimming along with the adults.

Canada Geese: Can't walk without stepping in their "leavins".

Red Tailed Hawks: Chased everywhere by crows and red-winged blackbirds.

Blue Herons: They go unnoticed until they jump into the air.

Sand Hill Cranes: Huge birds with almost silent flight, but a real alarm klaxon for a voice.

Muskrats: Lazily swimming in tight circles, completely aloof to my presence.

A little snake: I don't know what kind, but it liked swimming around my kayak when I took a break at the halfway point.

Tom Turkey: I didn't see him, but I heard him and by the location I believe him to be wild.

Rooster Pheasant: Didn't see him either, but could not miss his crow.

Total distance today was only about five miles, for three hours, a very leisure pace.

See My Feet

I have been taking more pictures lately than kayaking, so check out my Zooomr pics to see what I've been up to.

After Dinner Walk

Paddle Season has Begun!

Well for me at least. The water temp was about 60 deg F...too cold to go for a swim, but survivable, if I did. I had a chance to try out my new NRS Mambas. They work really well. My hands stayed very warm. So warm in fact, I took them off after a while.

I paddled for about three and a half hours total today. I didn't break any speed records, but I did paddle further than I had originally planned. I investigated a part of Michigan Center lake that I have not paddled before. It was like paddling at a totally new lake for me. I almost had the entire place to myself today. I saw a couple of fishermen, a small family out in a little Zodiac, and two teenagers in kayaks. Of course the teenagers were dressed for the air temp and not the water. I remember being young and stupid....how did I survive?

I felt pretty good today. My back didn't start hurting, and the kayak didn't feel unstable to me either. Both were concerns when I planned earlier this week to go paddle today. The kayak did however feel very tight. The back band and foot pegs were still in the same locations that I had left them in from last fall. Like Alex, I felt very slow and heavy, after a long cold winter.



I did see a lot of wild life today. Spring is in full swing and there were a lot of birds on nests. I saw a Sand Hill Crane sitting a nest...a first for me. There were also Mute Swans and Canada Geese sitting nests as well. While paddling I had to be very careful not to get too close to them.

First Ride

Last night was my first ride this year. The weather was perfect. The weather wasn't really holding me back until now, but with all of the back problems that I had this winter, I figured that I would just take it easy. This happens to be the put-in that I use when I paddle near home. I just had to stop and dip my fingers in the water. It is still pretty cold. We had snow flurries just last week, and we haven't had any warm rain to warm up the lakes yet. The back feels good now, and this weekend is forecast to be warm and sunny.....Finally.