Random Photos

[jtbell]

Some random items on display yesterday (Saturday) at the American Philatelic Society's big annual show in the Chicago suburbs.

A letter sent by John Hancock as president of the second Continental Congress. The British post office delivered government mail for free under the inscription "On His Majesties Service". The Continentals delivered official mail (using Patriot couriers, not the British mail, of course) for free under the inscription "On the Publick Service".

A telegram sent from Washington to Philadelphia in 1849 via Samuel Morse's telegraph line.

A stock certificate for a mining company incorporated in Nevada in 1863, with a stamp at left (note George Washington's head) showing payment of US internal revenue fees.

A letter sent by a sailor on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor.

A propaganda stamp produced clandestinely in the German Democratic Republic in the early 1950s, as a parody of a normal GDR stamp.

"Work slowly in the UnGerman Undemocratic Republic"

 

[jtbell]

Today (Sunday) I visited the third trolley museum of this trip. I think this is the last one.

This is in South Elgin, along the Fox River which runs N/S through a string of Chicago's western suburbs. Their 2-mile line was originally part of the Aurora, Elgin & Fox River Electric line. Unlike the East Troy museum, there's no real museum/station building, just a small shed that sells tickets, souvenirs, erc., and a storage barn which houses part of their collection.

Today they were running two cars alternately. First I rode one built in 1945 for the Chicago, Aurora & Elgin, which ended service in 1957.

The other one was a Chicago Rapid Transit 'L' car built in 1924.

Sitting at the museum entrance to show that they were open for business was a North Shore Line car similar to the one that I rode at the IRM on Thursday.

A bike/hike path runs alongside much of the line.

Here are three bridges over the Fox River in quick succession: railroad, road, and bike/hike.

In 1991 I spent a couple of weeks working with an experiment at Fermilab. On one of my free days I bicycled to the museum, probably over this bridge.

So have I visited Fermilab on this trip? Unfortunately, no. In order to get in, one now needs a "Real ID". My driver's license doesn't meet that standard yet. I do have a passport and passport card which would do the trick, but I didn't bring either of them with me. So I could only grab this picture at a traffic light, before turning:

This doesn't lead to the main gate, but I remember going through here occasionally.

 

[pinball1970]

... Final 2025 Nebraska trip post.

Nearly every day when driving around, we would end up passing this new construction with massive amounts of electrical infrastructure involved (electrical substations galore). My brother in-law questioned if it was some type of new power plant being erected. One day we decided to drive a bit closer and investigate.

Alas, not a new power plant. It's the other side of energy flow (consumption, not production)*: probably a new data center. See Fig. 1.

*(I suppose it could be both to some very limited extent.)

View attachment 364534
Figure 1. What I'm guessing is a new data center in the area.

View attachment 364533
Figure 2. Nebraska sunset.

Again, the house is just a house in the neighborhood (Fig. 2). I've never met the people who live there.

View attachment 364535
Figure 3. Omaha's Eppley Airfield.

And finally, the flight(s) home. Starting with Omaha's Eppley Airfield (Fig. 3), and ending with landing in San Diego (Fig. 4).

View attachment 364536
Figure 4. Balboa Park as seen from the airplane window.

You can see Balboa Park's Lilly Pond (Fig. 4, slightly above center).

Approximately 1 year ago, I took a photo of the Lilly Pond with an airplane in the background (See post 2061, Page 42 of this thread). The picture here (Fig. 4) is from the opposite direction.

You can make out a couple of people on the bridge/walkway on the other side of the Lilly Pond. Perhaps one is a photographer taking a picture of me!

And that wraps it up for the Nebraska trip pics. Now it's time to get motivated and take some more pictures in San Diego.

That sunset is spectacular

 

[pinball1970]

Finally unleashed the Ludwig in Manchester.

Took an image in Hull to get the keys in but that BD still owns the stage.

 

[jtbell]

I started for home today (Monday). I wanted to avoid the expressways and their tolls, so I followed local roads south through the western Chicago suburbs to Joliet, then east through the southern suburbs along route US-30, the "Lincoln Highway", continuing through northwest Indiana to Michigan City where I am tonight. It was a rather slow slog until I reached the rural parts of NW Indiana.

I visited the Fabyan Windmill which I had never done, even though it isn't far from Fermilab and I had often seen it on maps. If I had been there yesterday I could have taken a tour inside.

Then I passed the Fermilab main gate, with the main laboratory building (which we called the "high-rise") in the background.

In Valparaiso, Indiana (which everybody apparently calls "Valpo"), I said hello to the state's best known culinary figure: Orville Redenbacher!

Finally, in Michigan City, I visited the new South Shore Line station that opened just two months ago, in connection with relocating the tracks that formerly ran down the middle of the street, streetcar-style.

The façade of the old station was restored and incorporated into the new one, which has a large parking garage for commuters, and will have apartments in the future.

 

[jtbell]

I forgot to post this in yesterday's batch. There are wide loads, and then there are wiiiide looooads!

The driver must have plotted his route in advance, to ensure that he always had at least two lanes going in his direction.

 

[BillTre]

 

[pinball1970]

Werneth Low, Hyde. Fantastic just to escape from the city, go up ont' 'ills and look down at the city. We thought the pubs would go under in 2001 as we had a bad foot and mouth outbreak. They closed a lot of unessential roads to contain it. Luckily a few survived unlike a significant % of the live stock in the area. A terrible time for farmers during those years.

Messed with the filters, trying to bring out those rays.

I'll see what I can do at night too, just the lights.

 

[DennisN]

Messed with the filters, trying to bring out those rays.

If your software has got the possibility to do gamma correction, you could try that (lowering the overall luminance using gamma correction can maybe bring out the rays more).

It's personally one of my most used edits.

Edit:

I forgot to say I also play around with exposure while doing it. Lowering the luminance with gamma correction and then also increasing exposure can bring out more "dramatics", so to say.

 

[nsaspook]

It's going to be a bumpy night.

 

[nsaspook]

The river on a hot day in the PNW.

 

[morrobay]

The Sunday seafood situation

 

[nsaspook]

Right down the road from the local, looks like someone tangled with MAYHEM.

 

[pinball1970]

Back stage at Hull, I have that distorted look, like when the victim in the ring watches the video.
Also note the ghostly Omen like projection to my head.

Something a little more upbeat, Strawberry studios in Stockport.

Today is Cleckheaton festival in Yorkshire, very small charity do.

I'm hoping everyone likes some Black Sabbath!

 

[morrobay]

Stairs carved from cliff, Le Fort de Buoux. From brother in Provence

 

[pinball1970]

Stairs carved from cliff, Le Fort de Buoux. From brother in Provence View attachment 364785

I dream about that scenario, not in a good way!

 

[nsaspook]

 

[nsaspook]

Solar panel emulator with power supply, 12VDC LFP battery bank and 2000W sine inverter for load testing

Working on my home energy controller project. Full test-bed testing the 'final' PCB.

 

[jtbell]

Driving through Indiana on my way home from Chicago last week:

A photo postcard of this wreck, from my collection:

 

[BillTre]

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Bow Sonar Sphere of a Seawolf class nuclear submarine.

 

[jtbell]

View attachment 364861

I don't suppose that's an oil slick?

 

[BillTre]

I don't suppose that's an oil slick?

?
Don't know.
Not a bad idea.

The image has something like a double rainbow, but it seems incomplete. The sequence of colors does not make sense as a rainbow due to diffraction. It could be a fake.

Oil slicks, not thee most uncommon thing in Louisiana, cold make unusual color patterns due to the different distances between reflecting surfaces. Its orientation with the direction of the shadows implies a possible light source cause.
The reflected image in the swamp looks like clear weather. Not usually rainbow associated.

 

[jtbell]

While passing through Huntington, Indiana, I visited the Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center, named for Dan Quayle, vice president 1989-1992 under George H. W. Bush.

When I entered, the first thing I saw was a cut-out photo of Mr. Quayle himself.

Nevertheless, the museum isn't really about Quayle. It's a collection of exhibits about all the US vice presidents, from John Adams through JD Vance. The presentation is purely historical and non-partisan, as far as I could tell.

Quayle does get a bit more space than the others.

Although Quayle was actually born and grew up in or near Indianapolis, he and his wife started their careers as lawyers here in Huntington, before he entered politics.

The guy manning the ticket desk and gift shop told me that their main "business" was hosting school tour groups. They stopped during the pandemic, along with most of the tourists. Traffic started to pick up again, but now they're affected by local streets being torn up for work on sewers or water lines. I had to drive around a bit to find a way there. They can't seem to catch a break! He was happy to see me and show me around.

 

[pinball1970]

View attachment 364818
Solar panel emulator with power supply, 12VDC LFP battery bank and 2000W sine inverter for load testing

View attachment 364819
View attachment 364820
View attachment 364821
Working on my home energy controller project. Full test-bed testing the 'final' PCB.
View attachment 364823

It looks like a geeks scrap yard heaven. Love it!

 

[pinball1970]

While passing through Huntington, Indiana, I visited the Quayle Vice Presidential Learning Center, named for Dan Quayle, vice president 1989-1992 under George H. W. Bush.

View attachment 364897

When I entered, the first thing I saw was Mr. Quayle himself.

View attachment 364892

Nevertheless, the museum isn't really about Quayle. It's a collection of exhibits about all the US vice presidents, from John Adams through JD Vance. The presentation is purely historical and non-partisan, as far as I could tell.

View attachment 364896
View attachment 364895
View attachment 364894
View attachment 364891

Quayle gets a bit more space than the others.

View attachment 364893

Although Quayle was actually born and grew up in or near Indianapolis, he and his wife started their careers as lawyers here in Huntington, before he entered politics.

The guy manning the ticket desk and gift shop told me that their main "business" was hosting school tour groups. They stopped during the pandemic, along with most of the tourists. Traffic started to pick up again, but now they're affected by local streets being torn up for work on sewers or water lines. I had to drive around a bit to find a way there. They can't seem to catch a break! He was happy to see me and show me around.

Very nice for a Brit like me, you give me a glimpse of the US with your images.

 

[collinsmark]

View attachment 364861

I don't suppose that's an oil slick?

Yes, but apparently of an all-natural variety. "The rainbow sheens found as a thin film on top of pooled water in swamps and marshes are the result of natural oils released by decaying vegetation or the biological processes of anaerobic bacteria reducing iron in soil."
https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-46346026

Btw, TIL about "rainbow swamps."

 

[BillTre]

 

[Ibix]

View attachment 364923

When the moon is your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that's... amore?!

 

[phinds]

When the moon is your eye
Like a big pizza pie, that's... amore?!

When the moon HITS your eye, not "is" you eye.