Jeffrey E.F. Friedl's Blog, page 54

The Effect of a Polarization Filter on Wet Rocks, Etc.

Note: this article may not appear properly in news readers.

This article contains interactive aspects that are likely removed by most news readers. Please see this particular article directly on Jeffrey's blog for full functionality.

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Spinning the Polarizer

wow, what a difference
Animatable (4 frames) — slowly sweep mouse from side to side to view changing polarizer effect
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすと偏光フィルターの影響が分かります。
1)return true;var x=Math.floor((e.clientX||e.pageX)/BW);if(X==0)X=x;else if(x!=X){var which=x>X?i+(x-X):i-(X-x);if(which>=I.length)which=I.length==2?0:I.length-1;else if(which

The reflections on the wet rocks and foliage during the visit to the
Honen'in Temple (法然院) presented in my previous post made for
some interesting possibilities with the polarizing filter.

Swiping the mouse side to side on the photo above shows the effect of different filter rotations.

I like the rocks better when the bright reflections, but that also leaves the reflections on the foliage in
the background, leaving them relatively washed out compared to the richer colors seen when the polarizer is
turned to block reflections.
(More impactful examples of foliage-related reflections
are shown in
“Heading Out To Photograph The Fall Foliage? Don’t Forget The Polarizer Filter”.)

But all in all, I'll take the reflections on the rock.

This next example, a close-up of the rocks, is just freaky, as the different surface angles have
their reflections attenuated at different stages of the filter rotation:

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Freaky
Animatable (7 frames) — slowly sweep mouse from side to side to view changing polarizer effect
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすと偏光フィルターの影響が分かります。

1)return true;var x=Math.floor((e.clientX||e.pageX)/BW);if(X==0)X=x;else if(x!=X){var which=x>X?i+(x-X):i-(X-x);if(which>=I.length)which=I.length==2?0:I.length-1;else if(which

The next two examples of the same water basin show how well reflections are cut from the surface of the water, but like in the first shot, I want it both ways: I'd prefer to keep the reflections in the water, but cut the reflections from the moss, bamboo, and rock. Oh well.

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Animatable (4 frames) — slowly sweep mouse from side to side to view changing polarizer effect
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすと偏光フィルターの影響が分かります。

1)return true;var x=Math.floor((e.clientX||e.pageX)/BW);if(X==0)X=x;else if(x!=X){var which=x>X?i+(x-X):i-(X-x);if(which>=I.length)which=I.length==2?0:I.length-1;else if(which


div#dujWMBUxUxRdD img { width:452px; height:690px; visibility:hidden; position:absolute; top:0; left:0; border: solid 10px #311}










Animatable (5 frames) — slowly sweep mouse from side to side to view changing polarizer effect
写真の上をマウスで左右にゆっくり動かすと偏光フィルターの影響が分かります。

1)return true;var x=Math.floor((e.clientX||e.pageX)/BW);if(X==0)X=x;else if(x!=X){var which=x>X?i+(x-X):i-(X-x);if(which>=I.length)which=I.length==2?0:I.length-1;else if(which

I've been doing so many of these interactive comparisons lately
(such as comparing various shutter speeds with flowing water and
comparing apertures) that I decided to make a category for them
on my blog, Interactive Photo-Effect Presentations.

Skimming through my 2,000+ blog posts for articles to include, I was surprised to find more than 20.

Views at the Honen’in Temple in Eastern Kyoto

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Entrance from Afar

Honen'in Temple (法然院), Kyoto Japan
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The view above, of the entrance gate to the Honen'in Temple (法然院) in eastern Kyoto, is from the outside looking in,
as opposed to the views in yesterday's post, which were from the inside looking out.

The path leading to the entrance gate is in two parts... the first being
an exceptionally-well-done cobblestone path with what seems to me to be a
decidedly modern feel...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 10000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Path onto the Property

eventually leading to the main gate
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Frankly, I find the modern feel to be a bit jarring in the rustic traditional temple setting, but I like
the cobblestone path a bit better than what follows directly in front of the main gate: plain dirt.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Standard View

of the famous, photogenic gate

The duo-nature path includes some cobblestone steps rising toward the
gate, and in the lead photo I placed myself such that the lens was just
slightly below the level of the dirt part of the path, thereby rendering it
invisible in that scene.

The thatched gate roof had lush moss, which I always love but can never do justice in a photograph...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 8000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Lush Moss Roof

From just inside the gate you can look down on the path and sand sculptures that we saw yesterday...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 140 —
map & image data — nearby photos




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 140 —
map & image data — nearby photos
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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Ferny Northern Slope

of the entrance-gate roof

Better view of the ferns, which I love:

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Ay Be a Pirate

at least me boots be






Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 560 —
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Sand Detail




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 —
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Gate Sans Sand




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 —
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Damien and Gate




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 360 —
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One More Try

all in all, the one posted yesterday, at 24mm, is probably the best




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 —
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Different Angle




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 800 —
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Mossy Lawn
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 360 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Back Pathway

behind the mossy lawn
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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1400 —
map & image data — nearby photos
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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Building Detail

Normally you can not enter the temple buildings nor see the private
gardens, but they are apparently opened for a few days every few years, and
due to Dameon's encyclopedic knowledge of Kyoto temples, our visit this day
was not a coincidence.

You are not allowed to take photos in the buildings, but I was permitted
to take them of the garden areas...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Curved Stone Bridge

made from a single piece of stone

When going through these photos last night I came across one in black & white; apparently I'd fiddled
with it soon after loading the photos in November. I'm not sure it's worth sharing, but FWIW, here it is....

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1000 —
map & image data — nearby photos




Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 3200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Slightly Off Kilter

with a pretty engraved deer
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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Lake of Moss




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/13, ISO 2200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Private Inner Garden
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/13, ISO 2200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Vertical View
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1600 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Unweathered

I think the stones provide a sturdy area for roof runoff to hit the ground
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Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2800 —
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Courtyard Tree

in groomed sand




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/80 sec, f/1.8, ISO 110 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Garden Basin
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Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/80 sec, f/2.5, ISO 500 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Gargoyle Detail

( it looks like he has a splitting headache )

I love how a leaf is used for the spout. The only other time I've ever seen that was in an outside basin at this very temple, the first time I visited
it 8½ years ago:

Canon IXY DIGITAL 600 — 1/125 sec, f/2.8 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Shot in 2005 with a Point-n-Shoot

before I got much into photography

Back to the Nov 2012 visit, here's someone else taking a picture of the basin/gargoyle...

Nikon D4 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — 1/400 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5000 —
map & image data — nearby photos

In Silhouette

doing a fedora right

Entrance Path to Kyoto’s Honen’in Temple

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Grand Entrance

entrance path at the Honen'in Temple (法然院)

Kyoto, Japan
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Dipping into my archives to last November (of “A Long But Photogenic
November in Kyoto” distinction), here are a couple of photos from the
Honen'in Temple (法然院) in north-eastern Kyoto. It's a simple temple with
some nice garden features, including its famous entry gateway seen above
(and here).

The path is flanked by two meticulously-groomed piles of sand.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 — 1/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 280 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Checking Mail
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I'll post more from this temple tomorrow.

A Bunch of Old Men Hitting Baseballs With a Little-Kid Bat

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/400 sec, f/5, ISO 160 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Clash of Titans

my brother Alan pitches to my brother-in-law Marty

Trying to get back into the swing of a normal routine after returning home to Kyoto from a
three-week family vacation, I'm starting to look at more of the photos I
took during the trip.

Half of the trip was spent in Bellingham Washington (near Vancouver) at
my sister Marci's place — it's her son Josh featured in “Slice of
Americana: Anthony’s Cousin is Bat Boy at a Local Baseball Game”
— with our brothers Mike and Alan (and their families) later joining
us so that all of Anthony's American cousins were together for the first
time in four
years.

I'm in good shape for the first time in many years, though I was never athletic to begin with, so
I was excited to give it a shot when the opportunity came to go hit some baseballs. I think I last
tried baseball when I was in second-grade little league, where I never got a hit during a game.

We had only a little-league kid's bat, so that made it somewhat of a
challenge, but we were all able to hit well and especially for me, being my
first time in 40 years and all, it felt supremely satisfying to do so.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/400 sec, f/5, ISO 140 —
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Marty Crushes One




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 170mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Mike's Pitching Form




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160 —
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Fruit of Alan's Hustle




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 140 —
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Ready For Mike's At-Bat




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 116mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 160 —
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Little-League Bat

big-league hit




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 —
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Good Luck With That




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 130mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 220 —
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Playing Deeper




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — 1/1250 sec, f/3.5, ISO 280 —
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The Crusher

Alan, who played adult softball for many years, knows his way around a bat




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 400 —
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Sadly

lacking the requisite beers that should accompany the day's efforts

My brother Alan may know his way around a baseball diamond, but despite
giving it a good try, wasn't so hot his first time with a Nikon D4 and a
70-200m f/2.8 zoom, so there aren't too many pictures of me....

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 400 —
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Focusing on the Ball

at least one of us is

photo by Alan Friedl




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/4, ISO 320 —
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Imminent Contact

photo by Alan Friedl

It was great fun, and even with the tiny kid's bat we all got shots out
near the 300-foot wall of the little-league park. Marty had the most
difficult time of it because he didn't have the benefit of him pitching to
himself (he's the best pitcher among us), so he had to make do with
the less-than-stellar pitching of us brothers.

I hope we can try again next year with a big heavy adult bat.

Back in Kyoto Following an Uneventful Flight

I'm back in Kyoto after several weeks visiting family in The States. The size of my waiting inbox is impressively depressing.

Though the flight back had pluses and minuses, it was much nicer than
the flight the previous
week. Here are some of the pluses and minuses of the day, on our
Cleveland→Minneapolis→Seattle→Osaka-Kansai trip on Delta Airlines...

Minus: Had to leave the hotel before its restaurant opened; missed free breakfast.

Plus: Lady let us grab a couple of muffins anyway.

Minus: 6:00am line at Cleveland airport security was unexpectedly long.


Plus: Airport staff said neighboring security area was close and empty. It was.

Minus: Arrival gate in Minneapolis was far from our next departure gate.


Plus: Long peoplemovers were fun for Anthony; terminal is beautiful.

Minus: Minneapolis departure delayed due to mechanical problems.


Plus: Still arrived to Seattle a minute early.

Minus: Didn't have Seattle→Osaka boarding passes; had to pick up when we got to Seattle.


Plus: Arrival gate was directly across from where we needed to be.

Plus: Delta's trans-pacific flight has USB charging ports at every seat.


Minus: Discovered that they're not powerful enough to charge an iPad.


Plus: In-seat movie selection was impressive; both Anthony and I satisfied for the entire 11-hour flight.

To top it off there were no minuses to the arrival into Osaka Kansai:

The line at immigration consisted of just one person in front of us. Through in a jiffy.
Our luggage was already visible on the carousel as we walked up, so it was grab-n-go.
Zero wait at customs; through in 10 seconds.

From touchdown to meeting Fumie (and her dad, who kindly drove) was 16 minutes. Wow.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon (now it's Monday). So far I'm managing
jetlag okay; I was zonked yesterday, but went to the gym to get Well and
Truly tired, and slept a full six hours last night. I'll probably try to do
the same again today, if for no other reason than to avoid my email queue.

Don’t Use “Guest” WiFi Hotspots for Local Multiplayer Minecraft

After having heard of (but not paid much attention to) the game “Minecraft”, I got it for
10-year-old Anthony and me to play together, and found it to be delightful
fun. The gameplay is completely unstructured (you explore, mine for
resources, and build stuff), though how things work is a bit opaque at
first until you figure out how to build stuff. Anthony did so quickly, so
he kindly explained it to me.

However, I ran into trouble setting up the WiFi link to play together, and felt like an idiot once I realized what the problem was. I thought I'd
share it here for the search engines, in case others had problems setting up multiplayer Minecraft over local WiFi.

The standard instructions are simple:

Ensure both devices are on the same WiFi hotspot.
On one device, open the world you want to play; ensure that the “local server multiplayer” option is enabled. Start playing.
On the other device(s), press the [PLAY] button to bring up the list of worlds.
See the WiFi world shared by the first device, select it, and go build things together.

For the life of me I could not get this to work... no shared world appeared in the last step... until I realized that “guest” WiFi
networks (such as created by an Apple Time Capsule or Time Machine, and
probably many other home WiFi routers) explicitly isolate each client from
all others, so even if both devices are connected to the same hotspot, they
can not talk to each other.

I'm sure it's the same for most public WiFi hotspots.

So don't use “guest” or public WiFi hotspots for local
Minecraft multiplayer (or any local multiplayer game, for that matter), and
you'll not waste an hour of your life pulling your hair out.

Oh, it's getting dark and I hear a zombie coming, so I gotta go...

Kicking Around a Soccer Ball with Anthony and his Cousin Josh

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Fast Break

photo by my sister, Marcina Kreta

The time we spent with family in Washington last week was filled with
lots of sports, mostly baseball (both playing and watching), but Anthony's
love of soccer was not overlooked. One day before the bulk of the family flew in,
we visited the playground at his cousin Josh's elementary school to kick a ball around a bit...

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Basic Instruction

I don't know much about soccer, so can't help him beyond the basics

photo by Marcina Kreta





Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Goal?

I got a finger on it, but was it enough? Probably not.

photo by Marcina Kreta





Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Penalty Kick




Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 95mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
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Practice with Josh

Anthony's cousin Josh is really talented in baseball — he's seven years old, but holds his own playing against twelve-year olds — but he has little experience with soccer, so the play today was a bit lopsided.

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Easy Goal




Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR at an effective 97mm — 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800 —
image data

Me

wearing one of the seven new pairs of shoes just bought

(since getting even close to my size in Japan is difficult)

photo by Marci Kreta






Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 —
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Squaring Off





Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 70mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 —
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Shot on Goal

(he scored)

photo by Marcina Kreta

The soccer was fun, but once my brothers came in, there was a lot of baseball (among the kids, the adults, and at the ballpark).

To be continued...

More Airline Fun: the Impressive Price for Checking In Just a Bit Too Slowly

As part of my summer travels, I moved from my
sister's place in Washington State to my folks' place in Ohio this week.
As the last time I
traveled to The States, the flight schedule involved some unpleasant
experiences, but unlike last time where the memorable highlight was an anonymous hero, this
time the memorable highlight is a check-in agent
with a black heart.

(This is one of those “too long for anyone to read” story
that I'm writing mostly for my own memory, and as a bit of a cathartic measure, because it was a quite frustrating
experience, to say the least.)

The schedule was for Anthony and me to travel out of the tiny regional
airport in Bellingham, Washington on a
puddle-jumper to Seattle (25 minutes), then to Atlanta and finally
to Akron Ohio. Door to door would be 12 hours.

The puddle-jumper out of Bellingham was scheduled for 7am, so we arrived
at the airport at about 6:20 for what I expected
to be a leisurely few steps to the gate (the
airport has only four “gates”, doors that open up to the tarmac
for the walk to the plane, each accompanied by a
barrel of umbrellas for use in inclement weather).

My whole itinerary was ticketed as being on Delta Airlines, but it took
a bit to figure out that this puddle-jumper
flight was run by Horizon Air (which actually appears in this airport as
Alaska Airlines), so it took a few minutes for me
to find the correct check-in counter. When I did,
I met “Tanya”.

Tanya quickly made three facts clear:

The official cut-off time for baggage check was 6:20 (it was now 6:25), so she didn't have to check us in if we had bags (which we did; Anthony and I each had one).

She could check us in if she felt like it.

She was not going to check us in on this flight.

It was surreal because the area was almost empty, with two TSA agents
just hanging around waiting to inspect luggage before what must be the
shortest conveyor-belt ride in America. Tanya didn't give any reason for
her denial other than that the cut-off time allowed her to deny us. If they were short-handed in back, or if they were
running late for some other unknown task, or if there was some other kind
of practical reason, she never mentioned it.

Of course I apologized for not having paid attention to the
Alaska-Airlines Bellingham checked-bag cut-off policy, and begged her to
reconsider, since I had multiple connections to
meet and a 10-year-old child in tow, but she
quickly went from “let me see the bags and decide” to a
“nah, not gunna do it” attitude (seemingly making the decision
without regard to the bags, so I don't know why
she asked to see them).

A minute or two after we arrived at Tanya's station, a mother and child also showed up and was told the same
thing. The mother mentioned that they had gotten
caught in an hour-long wait at the border (apparently having come from
Canada), to which Tanya made an animated and incredibly smug
“that's not an excuse” involving a
sweeping “talk to the hand” motion with both hands.

They were trying to get to Disney World, so they presumably had other
connections and hotels and such also on the line. Not
only did Tanya not seem to care, she actually seemed to enjoy the
situation. Maybe she enjoyed the rush of power in deciding others' fate, or
maybe it was simple Shadenfreude. I suspect the former.

The father eventually joined the mother and child and learned of the
situation, and made some attempts to plead, but it was clear Tanya was not
in a charitable mood. To the
credit of all us customers, no one but Tanya ever raised their voice
or said anything in anger, despite what was clearly a
highly unreasonable situation.

As Tanya made preparations to leave the check-in counter to head to the
gate, the words “I'm sorry” somehow came from her mouth, but it
seemed clear to me that she wasn't the least bit sorry or sympathetic so
I took the opportunity to say (calmly,
softly):

“It sure doesn't feel like you're sorry. In fact, you seem to
be delighted to do this to us.”

That was the key word for Tanya... “delighted”.

She stormed off leaving us and the other family wondering what to do,
and moments later the only other two customers in the area (talking to
a different Alaska Airlines check-in agent) came
over to me and said “I'm so glad you said that. We were two minutes late. I
wanted to say something, but couldn't.”

They were two minutes past the allowed-to-deny-you time, and Tanya
wouldn't check them in. Wow. Just wow.

Again, to everyone's credit, no one said the choice emotional words of
anger toward Tanya that I'm sure we were all feeling... at this point, it
was still more jaw-dropping disbelief and wonder than anger.

I felt particularly bad for the Disney World family, because they left
plenty early enough that they should have had no problem — no one
expects an hour delay at the Canadian border at 5am — and now they
were stuck in limbo. My situation was much more
my own fault, and much easier to handle at the moment since I could just call up my sister to return to pick us up.
I had Anthony wait at curb for her as I tried to figure out what to do.

It was as that point that one of the TSA agents came over and said
“I want to compliment you for how you
handled that, keeping your cool in front of your boy”. I thanked her for her kind words, but since I certainly didn't feel cool on the inside, I didn't know that I deserved
them. She said that I
showed great restraint.

“Does Tanya often elicit the need to show this kind of restraint?”

“Not usually.”

The other check-in agent, Thomas, was left to handle Tanya's discards. He was soft-spoken and kind. He rebooked us on
the exact same itinerary for the next day, took the $200 ticket-change fee,
and said “see you tomorrow”.

What upset me the most in all this was not the fee nor the disruption in
schedule, but the way that Tanya handled the situation. Even if the end
result would have been exactly the same, a little
bit of compassion and empathy in her words and tone would have made a
world of difference, but Tanya displayed not the slightest hint of
either. I'm deeply upset by what she did, yet at
the same time I have pity for her and what kind
of life she must have had to have brought her to this.

Anyway, on a whim, later that afternoon at my sister's house, I called Delta Airlines to confirm the schedule for the
next day, only to find that they had no record of any of this; they said
that the ticket hadn't been changed since May. An hour
and $625 more in fees later, Anthony and I
had a confirmed schedule.

Neither Delta nor I have any idea what the $200 I'd paid was for, nor
what happened to the itinerary that had been created.

The TSA agent who had so kindly complimented me had suggested that you
can avoid the check-in line by doing the check-in online, then bringing the
printed barcode and luggage directly to a window
set aside just for that, so I went to the Delta
site to check in, but they handed me off to the Alaska Airlines site
because the day's travel was to being with them. There I
found out that I couldn't check in online
because, for whatever reason, my name was marked with a
special request as “deaf / hard of hearing”. This was
a surprise.

There's likely a completely innocent reason for this... even perhaps my
own mistake when I created the reservation... but
part of me wonders whether it's Tanya's idea of a “joke”.

I called Alaska Airlines to tell them that I
didn't need the special request, and to ask about the $200 and the
disappearing reschedule, but the lady I talked to
had no idea, and in what seems to be a recurring
theme for the day, I missed their Customer
Service hours by 10 minutes.

We arrived to the airport much earlier the next morning and saw that
Tanya was there, so I was thrilled when lucky
timing placed us in front of Thomas. We did have
to hand Tanya our tickets when walking out to the plane, but I had Anthony do it so that I
didn't have to even look at her. We passed
with the same cheery “Have a nice
day” that everyone got.

The Delta flight from Seattle to Atlanta had some stress because our
short connection time in Atlanta was made shorter by the flight running
increasingly late, and we were in the 2nd-to-the-last row (which meant that
it would take forever to exit the plane). The
flight crew was kind and sympathetic, but there was nothing they
could do. At least I
could use the on-board Wi-Fi (a first for
me) to keep up to date with the flight status, but things didn't bode well
when an hour out, our projected delay grew so big that the Delta iPhone app
said that we wouldn't make our 5:15pm connection and started offering
alternatives (all of which left the next morning). Yikes.

A kind lady closer to the front of the plane was traveling with
daughters seated right behind us in the last row, and since they had no
connection, I gently asked whether she'd swap
positions with me and Anthony so we'd have a
better chance to get out early. I felt
horrible putting her on the spot, but she immediately said
“oh, of course”, and so joined her daughters in the back of the
plane. The kindness of strangers can do wonders.
Thank you kind lady.

Atlanta is a big hub for Delta, so many people
had connections, and most seemed tight. We were
to park at gate A1, and leave from F4. They're not the two
most-separated gates in the airport, but very close; to walk between them
is over two kilometers(!), but there's also a
train for most of it.

We landed 14 minutes late, and on the way to the gate we promptly
stopped and sat on the tarmac for a while before
the pilot announced that someone was in our parking spot (another Delta
flight with mechanical trouble), so it would be a
few minutes while they looked for a
spot.

I had the tightest connection of anyone I
talked to, but the family across the aisle had a 5:30 flight to
Zurich (it was now 5:00) leaving from the same far-flung terminal I had to go to. I didn't
think any of us would make it.

Anthony and I ran like the wind.

Finally reaching the train out of breath and covered in sweat, we waited
for the train next to a pilot of some sort. I jokingly asked whether he was flying on Delta to
Akron (he wasn't), but he advised me that the train was the best way to get
to the gate, and wished me luck.

The train had to make six excruciatingly-slow stops before getting to
Terminal F, but along the way the pilot comes up to me and, looking at his
iPhone, tells me my flight is delayed to 7pm. That eased the pressure a bit, but just in case we still sprinted to the gate.
We arrived almost exactly at 5:15, so if it had
not been delayed, we would have missed it.

It ended up being delayed until 7:30 because the flight crew was late
arriving from some other flight. It took a while
before the Delta Airlines iPhone app was updated to show the delay, so
I bet the pilot was running a
private corporate app. He said that they
don't announce a delay until they're really
really really sure it's going to be delayed, because once passengers
see the delay they scatter throughout the airport and can't be recalled if
needed. Still, Delta knew the crew wouldn't even arrive to the airport (on
a flight from Mexico) until almost 7pm, so they
certainly could have let us know many hours earlier. That would have saved
a lot of stress. Maybe they were holding out hope
that another crew could be found. I dunno.

My folks picked us up after arriving 2½ hours late, and we
finally reached home at about 10:30. Thrillingly, it was actually with our
luggage (it's been long delayed on a few recent
trips).

I slept well the first night, but thoughts of Tanya and her
“delightful” lack of empathy kept me awake last night. I just tried to call Alaska Airlines customer service,
but they're not open on the weekend, so I'll give them a
try on Monday to let them know about my experience, and to figure
out the deal with the $200 I paid.

I've flown at least 250,000 miles over the years (including almost a
hundred transpacific round trips) and have on occasion called the airline
to offer words of praise for specific employees, but this will be the first
time in all these years to complain about a specific employee. It doesn't
feel good.

Tasty: 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon

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image data

Tasty

I don't know anything about wine other than “I like” and “I don't like”, and I found out today that
I really like this 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon.
My sister-in-law normally has an educated idea about what wines she buys, but today was in a rush and just grabbed
this Washington State wine on display at the front of the store.

Apparently it's a fairly cheap (low price) commodity wine available all over America.

My sister-in-law thought it was just okay, but I really liked it.

Slice of Americana: Anthony’s Cousin is Bat Boy at a Local Baseball Game

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/400 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 —
map & image data — nearby photos

Cousin Josh

Joe Martin Stadium

Bellingham, Washington, USA

We're visiting my sister in Bellingham Washington, where all Anthony's
American cousins will get together for the first time in four years (this time
with one more than
last time).

We happen to arrive just in time for cousin Josh (7½) getting to be a bat boy for the first time, at a Bellingham Bells
collegiate summer league game. He's attended many games and sat near the
dugout, so he knew the players and was super excited at this opportunity
(especially since one must normally be at least 11 years old, but they
interviewed him and decided he knew enough about baseball to perform his
duties appropriately).

Nikon D4 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 160mm — 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 160 —
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Helping the Coach

during pre-game practice




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Pre-Game Photo Op

with his favorite player, second baseman Ryan Yamane out of Colorado State




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National Anthem

next to head coach Gary Hatch




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Saying “Hi” to the Family

on the way back from picking up a foul ball




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Consultation

with the dugout manager




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Fetching a Ball from the Infield




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Fetching a Bat




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All Smiles

in the setting sun




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Our Seats

courtesy of a friend of Marty (Josh's dad, my brother in law)




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Reverse-Angle View

Anthony watches the opposition take a strike




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“Slice of Americana”

with some “creative” processing




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Balls for the Ump




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Base Hit




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Watching the Action

from the Dugout




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Mid-Inning Entertainment

with the Bellinghamster team mascot




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Groundout to First




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Finer Points

Uncle Marty explains baseball to Anthony




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The Stance

taking a personal moment on the way back after fetching a bat

Anthony is quite the soccer fan, and didn't really know much about baseball, but we saw two games to nights in a row,
and he learned quickly, so he's developed an interest. We'll be going to another game next week.