As Robbi mentioned in the last post, we have not got the boat yet – and it’s not just because of the bad weather. Unfortunately the dealer we were getting the Sea Ray from started to move the goalposts and we opted to cancel the order as opposed to getting something we really did not want. As it happens though, this turned out to be a good move on our part – as we put a little extra thought into deciding what we should do next.

Our initial purchase of the Sea Ray was based on getting a boat that would fit in the garage, which was very limiting when it came to length. In fact we only had about 20 foot to play with and this meant we were restricted to getting a boat that was about 18ft maximum and a trailer length of 20 foot with a swing away tongue. As most boaters will know, that does not leave you much choice, especially when you want a boat with more than the usual 135hp engine. Anyway, the Sea Ray actually had a 190hp engine, but it turned out that in the end they could not provide it in the color we wanted, nor with the extras we wanted. Needless to say – we cancelled. Luckily Texas is a state where deposits are 100% refundable by law. So no loss on our part.

Anyway, in the search for a new boat – we actually decided to do away with the idea of keeping the boat in the garage and opted for storing it at a local storage facility in Seabrook – this gives us much more scope for power and length of the boat. We have looked at SO MANY boats in the past weeks including Sea Ray, Chaparral, VIP and Tahoe. All of them are very nice and have great features – but they all had one thing in common. You have to buy the extras to get the specification you want. Myself and Robbi hate that, and it was only when I stumbled across a review of a Yamaha Jet-Boat that we actually found something that not only suited our needs, but it exceeded them! So we have opted for, ordered and are now awaiting delivery on the 21st July, a Yamaha SX210 Jet Boat. This puppy has 2 engines, 220hp, seating for 9, all the extras you would ever need and is more than perfect for a shallow lake launching.

Yamaha SX210 Jet Boat

We will of course have plenty of photos when it arrives– the kids all have life-jackets and harnesses ready for when we take her out!

We are still working on a name, but at the moment the favorite is “Alfie’s Wings”.

Richard

Posted by Richard at 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A lot of you already know this, but for those that do not I have some news.

I have succumb to the draw of being an IT Geek and gone back to work!  Although the Photography and Real Estate Imaging was fun – it just did not give me the buzz that I really get when fixing IT issues.  

We will be installing some extra webcams in the house for watching the dogs, and Robbi will now be working from home the majority of the time.

Might even get some regular updates to the blog done too!

Richard

Posted by Richard at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have moved to a new server! And it went as smooth as could be expected!  In fact I am really pleased with the way everything went.  We are now running on a VERY STABLE Windows Server. 

Anyway, as I was moving the site I also decided to move the web-cam to give a better view of the boys.

Denny,Charlie & Alfie Cam

Posted by Richard at 01:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We expect to be moving all our sites, including this one, over to a new server in the next few days.  This is due to too many on-going problems with our current hosting solution.

We do not expect there to be any downtime, but I cannot guarantee it.

So, my apologies in advance!

Richard

Posted by Richard at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It’s here… my new lense.  It arrived last night and I still have not had much time to play with it!   Unfortunately I have to clean the house today for Thanksgiving, incidentally this is my FIRST!, and then I will hopefully get a chance to take some shots.

Anyway, better get my pinny on! Time to clean!

Richard

EDIT:

A pinny..... GOOGLE DEFINITION

This will be my first time celebrating Thanksgiving, and I kinda like the idea.  We will be spending Thanksgiving with the Pugs and Munchkin the cat. Just the two of us - my folks are coming over in Dec (11th) for 3 weeks - so we are going to have a big Xmas Dinner spread then. Its nice, our first Thanksgiving and Xmas in our new home.... Cool.

Richard.

Posted by Richard at 09:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

My new business is all about “raising the bar” in Real Estate Photography and to do this I really needed something special for those interior shots – the wider the angle the better. 

Unfortunately most SLR Digital Cameras, like my Sony A100 and my Dynax 7D have a crop factor of 1.5 and that means that you have to multiply the focal length of any lense by that number.  For example a 17mm Lense becomes 25.5mm which effectively reduces the angle captured.   Luckily Sigma Imaging released a lense for Digital SLRS some months ago and I have been wanting an excuse to buy it for some time now…. the new business has given me that excuse. 

On Thursday last week I ordered the Sigma 10-20mm F/4-5.6 EX DC HSM Zoom Lens from www.Sigma4Less.com.  This basically means I will have a 15mm to 30mm lense.  The possibilities for some great interior shots are endless. It’s due to arrive in the morning and I am getting quite excited! I know, thats rather sad… ;-)

When it arrives I will post some shots of the boys!

Richard

Posted by Richard at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Robbi sent me an email this morning from the office.  “Do you want to go to the STS-115 Crew Return celebration at Ellington Field?”.   5 Minutes later I was in the car and on my way to pick her up from Johnson Space Center.

We arrived a little late due to traffic and my inability to remember the way to Ellington Field (Its like a straight road from JSC!!!).  Anyway, we missed the Commander and Pilot on the podium, but we did catch the Mission Specialists Joe Tanner and Heidi (Xena) talking about their roles and the memories they will have of the whole thing.  Heidi unfortunately was a little overwhelmed with the situation and obviously has not 100% re-acclimatized since her return from space.  The upshot of that was that she fainted during her session at the podium.  Needless to say, she got the biggest round of applause!  It takes guts to do what they did.

Anyway, here are some photos I snapped! 

Johnson Space Center Flags

Joe Tanner

Steve McClean

Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper (Xena)

Dan Burbank

JSC Director Michael L Coats

Thanks Robbi! 

Richard

Posted by Richard at 01:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I took a trip out today, mainly to take some more photos to restock my library, and decided to stop at the T-38 Park which is located at the entrance to Johnson Space Center.

The park is small, with a couple of benches and some information boards on the T38, the Jet of choice for the NASA Astronauts.  Then, right in the middle of a concrete base are two real T-38 jets standing proud and aiming at the sky.  Awsome to look at!

N900NA and N968NA

Almost feels like your flying in formation with them…

Aiming for the sky…

Wonderful, sleek and fast…

N900NA

Richard

Posted by Richard at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Its been a while since I posted an entry, but so much has happened in that time.   So its about time I gave you all an update!

Robbi now works for NASA!  Yes, the mothership called and now Robbi is working with the Constellation and Orion teams working on the next mission to the Moon scheduled for flight testing in 2014 and a first manned mission in 2020!  How cool is that!?

To say i am a little jealous is an understatement, but unfortunatley you have to be an American Citizen to work for a Governement Agency and I wont have that title until my three years on a VISA are completed.  But then, oh trust me, I will do everything in my power to get myself on that workforce!  A dream come true?  You bet!

Anyway, just because its Robbi who has the job at NASA does not mean I cannot reap the benefits!  I have already been showered with STS-115 patches and flags and today I got to enter Johnson Space Center in the Employee Only sections to watch the launch of STS-115!  Yes, I entered the Johnson Space Center with my wife and watched the launch on the BIG SCREEN in the Teague Auditorium!  The atmosphere was special, as you would expect when you have the people that make it all possible sat watching the fruits of their efforts!

NASA is such a family orientated organisation, and for every launch they make sure that they encourage you to bring your families to watch and be part of the experience.

2 Minutes before launch…

We have live off!  Go Atlantis!

My day is complete!

Richard

Posted by Richard at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since we changed over from www.OnePug.com to www.DennyandCharlie.com and also changed the blogging software, we have seen a major drop off in comments. It would be really nice if visitors dropped in to say hello now and again, and perhap even send us an email with some photos of their own furkids.

Anyway, it is REALLY easy and secure to leave comments on here - but you need to register first. This is not so we can harvest email addresses, its a way of filtering out comment and trackback spam that is now so prevelent in the world of Blogging.

So please, if you get the time, drop on over to TypeKey to read about how it all works and then if you would like to contribute create yourself a commenters account by registering here. Once you have created an account you can comment on www.DennyandCharlie.com and other MovableType Blogs by simply entering your credentials when you click on the Comment link on any of our entries.

Go on! It would be great to hear from you!

Richard

PS> You can email us at richard [at] dennyandcharlie [dot] com

Posted by Richard at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have been noticing a lot of activity on the web-cam lately..... with one big hitter being in Cleveland, OH.... American Greetings to be precise..... HELLO!!!

Drop us an email if you like, perhaps share some photos of your furry friends..... richard [at] dennyandcharlie [dot] com

Richard

Posted by Richard at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I noticed that the camera was showing a whole lot of nothing over the weekend, so I decided to do something that we geeks generally do not do - read the manuals!

It seems that with a little firmware upgrade the camera was able to do "motion detection" in a more proficient way that it was out of the box. So upgrading I did go and now the camera is only updating when something happens. Much better than lookng at an empty driveway!

Don't worry, Tigger and Munchkin seem to be setting the thing off on a regular basis!

Richard

Posted by Richard at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We now have he new camera installed and working. The picture quality is much better then the Logitech unit we were using and best of all it's wireless. This means we can put the camera anywhere we like as long as it's in range of the router.

At the moment we have it sat in the summer room, which is at the back of the house - but this weekend I may move it under the canopy to give it a little more chance of "action".

Richard

Posted by Richard at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We were proud of ourselves last night, we did a lot of background work on the site and even got the camera working, but this morning it seems like the camera has given up on us.

I was monitoring the camera this morning, and noticed that most of the images coming back had a pink cast to them, and it now turns out that the CCD seems to be failing. This is indeed a shame as this the camera that was intending to use in the USA to keep in touch with the folks here in blighty.

So I have bit the bullet and ordered a dedicated network camera which should arrive in the morning. A Panasonic BLC30 Wireless IP Camera

Posted by Richard at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have to be honest, I thought that the USA would be a little bit further ahead in the technology race with regards broadband internet connectivity, but how wrong I was!

As I intend to continue on the self-employed track when we get to the USA, I have been for the past week been trying to organize business class internet connectivity for the new house. First of all may I just say that ALL of the cable providers in Houston are charging what I consider to be ripoff prices for a service I can get in the UK for around £39 a month. All I wanted was 8meg down and 1meg up with a static IP address, and the quotes are coming back in the region of $600 to $700 a month! And if I want another 5 IP's on top of that I am looking at another $100 a month. In the UK you can get 8meg down cable with 768k up for £39 from a company called NTL. It uses the same cable as their TV service, as all the services in Houston do. Why the ramp up in price? It all uses the same cable, whether its business class or residential. And what is all this nonsense about a 2meg cap on the residential service? Sheesh!

Next step was to look at ASDL. Yet another shock. It seems the new house, as it is on a subdivision on a lake, is a little too far from the exchange (13000 FT) to achieve a speed any greater that 1.5meg down. That's something I have to live with, but when I asked the provider about the possibility of telcos upgrading to ASDL Max as we have just rolled out in the UK - I was told that was not on the cards. ADSL Max is a boon here for us, we only had 1.5 meg a month ago due to distance from the exchange, and now we get about 4.5 meg after switching.

Anyway, it looks like we will have to go for the ADSL and stick with co-locating the servers with a company in Houston, which should be about 75% cheaper than paying for business class cable! We have opted for www.OpLink.net as they seem to be getting lots of good reports from many of the broadband forums.

Now, all I need to do is sort out some telephones lines and HDTV! Wish me luck!

Richard

Posted by Richard at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)